My Brush with a Psycho

On Saturday night Lyndsay and I had a party. It was awesome! A ton of people came and it was very pleasant. There was an added benefit - the guys who run the barbershop next door, Don Juan, were hosting a street party in honour of the de la Hoya boxing match. Two parties in one! They projected the fight onto the wall of Fine Fare, the grocery store across the street. It was just like being in Zoran's basement, but outside! There were about a hundred people gathered on the street, watching the fight, boozing and cheering. I headed downstairs to survey the mayhem, and I took a couple of photos of the projected fight. As I was taking a picture, this enormous man walked into the frame, and freaked out. "That's a federal offense!" he screamed (it's perfectly legal to take photos of people in public space, by the way). "Delete it! Delete it!" So, of course I deleted it. But he wasn't satisfied, and he flashed this totally phony badge that said "Tactical...something". A federal agent, apparently! I wasn't quite sure how to read the situation; I wasn't sure if he was joking or not. Then he forcibly took my camera from my hands, and gave it to his friend, who started going through my pictures. I thought they were going to steal my camera. The guy couldn't figure out how to delete the photos, so the psycho took my camera and took out the memory card. "Take the photos off the camera!" he demanded. "They're on the memory card, which is in your hand," I explained. Try explaining how digital cameras work to a psycho. He was convinced that the photos were not only on the card but in the camera itself. He demanded to see my ID, which I didn't have and wouldn't have shown him anyway. So, then he held up his cell phone and took a photo of ME! I would have appreciated the irony if I wasn't so unsettled by the whole experience. As he took my photo he said, "I'm going to do biometrics on this", meaning that since I refused to show him ID he would find out who I was through biometrics! Sinister! So I started laughing because that was the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. Imagine scanning my pupils from that cell phone pic and hunting me down. But, then he started yelling, "you think that's funny? That's not funny!" So I got my camera back (thank god!) and ran upstairs. It was a very bizarre situation but at least it made a good story for the party.

On a more positive note, I went to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden this weekend to see the blossoming cherry trees. This garden has the most cherry trees outside of Japan. It was amazing. I'll post some pics as soon as Joseph comes to New York to fix my computer this weekend. Til then, stay safe!