Alien Vegetation

Saturday morning I stopped into the little Asian fish market a couple blocks down West Side Ave. and picked up a few Asian delicacies. I got some wasabi (ate some straight 'cause I think I'm tough -- but damn -- it got to me), some super salty pickled radish stuff, and this gorgeous piece of fruit. I had no idea what it was when I saw it, but who could resist something as incredible looking as this?

It's Dragon Fruit, and honestly, I'm having trouble believing it was spawned here on earth. According to wikerpeedier, It's native of Mexico and Central and South America and cultivated in parts of Asia. It's also known as Pitaya. It reminds me of the Bird of Paradise or orchids, one of those flora that seems as though it was brought here by aliens.

The flesh is quite lovely and unique -- almost stark white with tiny black flecks (the seeds). Its texture is similar to kiwi fruit, but it doesn't have as much tang. Really not much flavor at all. It would make a great visual addition to any fruit combo though.

Demolition Mission

So, we took the day off today to recover from our weekend birthday bash (ballgame Friday night followed by drunken bowling, sunset sailing on a beautiful schooner along the Hudson Saturday night, and the Jersey Shore Sunday). I awoke miraculously around 10-ish after finally crashing around 5 (stayed up after Glavine's 300th win and watched "O Brother Where Art Thou?" and old Mr. Show episodes) to loud crashes and booms emanating from down the street. Turns out a house about three doors down across the street was being torn to shreds.

I grabbed the camera and ran outside to take some shots and a couple mini flicks (need to compress those). So, according to some guys outside who'd been watching the demolition, this was the progress after about an hour or hour and a half. Pretty amazing.