Good to see Broadway market intact and thriving after the year England has just endured. Maybe that's why the falafel was a little smaller and the brownies are no longer three for two.
The park was heaving, the Rasta selling DVDs on top form and the Victoria plums selling for extortionate prices. But what's this? A chanting circle with a couple barefoot guys jigging around in baggy linen.
There are some pursuits that other cultures should leave alone. British Capoeira is one of them. I could barely watch as these two men awkwardly contorted and writhed out of rhythm with both the chanting and each other. It was at best bad interpretive dance. Through the fingers of my hand (clasped over my face) I glimpsed a ill balanced slow motion roundhouse kick connect with the other toppling participant's forehead as he attempted to pull of a the worst cartwheel ever.
Colour me dry. It's not the only activity that a group of people have adopted... for the worst...
Hipsters and skateboarding. I have never seen a good move pulled off in tight pants.
Fixed riders and polo. I'll get it in the neck for this but even the best matches I've seen have still been a clashing of spokes and sticks and miss-hits.
All three, in their original form are things of beauty. A perfectly balanced Brazilian effortlessly twisting through the air with Olympian grace; the casual Californian who busts a succession of precision kick-flips and grids in the parking lot without breaking a sweat; the elegance and finesse of the Arabian thoroughbred as it's rider connects a perfect 100-yard pendulum strike.
I'm not talking about transitions of style or equipment but ill-executed embraces. Leave it alone or get amazing at it. I'll be ducking for cover if you need me.
