What is Dave wearing today? Dave is wearing a pink polo shirt, brown shorts, Stan Smiths, and a Chelsea cap.
What is making Dave happy today? Dave had another good day at work, and is anticipating the biggest, most important sporting event of the year the weekend — the Puppy Bowl!
What is Dave’s inspirational thought for the day? Dave couldn’t think of one, so he asked ChatGPT.
Why is Dave’s title for today’s post so bad? Dave says he didn’t write it.
When I was a lad in London, there was only one way to see the city: from ground level.1 And I never gave that much thought until the Complimentary Spouse and I visited my ancestral homeland in 2004 and took our first spin on the London Eye.
It was a revelation.
I knew all the landmarks — the buildings, the parks, the major roads, the Thames — but had never seen them from this perspective. New shapes and patterns emerged. The scale and sizes of buildings appeared to change, especially the train stations. Who knew they were so big?
Since that first experience on the London Eye, I have gone out of my way to seek out observation decks and wheels. The higher, the better. Here are my thoughts on the places that took me to new heights.
No need to repeat what I’ve said above. Let’s jump straight into some photos and videos!
In case you’re wondering, my last ride on the Eye was on the same day as my unplanned emergency room visit.
My take: After three whirls, I have little interest in going on the Eye again, but I always recommend it to people visiting London for the first time.
I vaguely remember visiting the Empire State Building as a child. I remember there were long lines to get in, and it was crowded, cold, and cage-like at the top. So, I’ve never been eager to return.
In 2006, I found another strong reason to avoid the Empire State Building. That’s when Britt and I went to the observation deck at the top of Rockefeller Center. It was a cold and windy day, so we didn’t stay outside long. We had a great south-facing view. The space where the World Trade Center once stood was still vacant. So, the only major landmark was the Empire State Building. It was beautiful: Not just an architectural masterpiece, but a symbol of resilience in a skyline transformed violently by terrorism.
I realized then that if you go to the top of the Empire State Building, you can’t see the Empire State Building. And what is the New York skyline without the Empire State Building in it? With so many other observation decks in New York, I don’t see the use of visiting that one.
Top of the Rock wasn’t crowded. Tall, clean sheets of plexiglass kept us safe without compromising our views. It was a good experience, but not so amazing that I feel compelled to go back.
My take: In any other city, Top of the Rock would be a must-see. In New York, there are better observation decks.
SkyTower isn’t just the tallest building in New Zealand. At more than 1,000 feet, It’s one of the tallest buildings in the Southern Hemisphere. It’s so tall that it seems incompatible with the rest of Auckland, standing out like a sole redwood in a field of shrubs.
Britt and I visited in 2005 on our first trip together to New Zealand. It was a little overcast, which was disappointing because you can see up to 50 miles away on a clear day. Even with limited visibility, the views were incredible. I walked away with an appreciation for the balance between urban development and natural beauty.
One thing that’s not visible from the observation deck: how hilly Auckland is. I’d say it compares to San Francisco, Lisbon, and Istanbul regarding steepness. I was very out of shape at the time and had to catch my breath every few blocks.
Oh, I forgot to mention that you can go bungee jumping from the observation deck. This is because Kiwis are crazy.
My take: Me haere koe ki reira mena kei Aotearoa koe.2
Je suis un crétin!3 When putting this list together, I only remembered the Eiffel Tower at the last minute. I don’t know why. Perhaps the building is so unique that it’s hard to lump it in with anything else.
That being said, the Eiffel Tower has not one, not two, but three observation decks. Britt and I went up one night in the spring of 2008. It was cold and dark. By the time we reached the top level — which is tiny — it had started to rain. Teenagers visiting from Spain were running amok. I was worried about slipping on the wet, slick floor. Honestly, I don’t remember anything about the view. I didn’t even take any photos from up there.
Britt and I have been back to Paris several times since then, and I simply haven’t had an interest in going back up to the top of the Eiffel Tower, even though I know the views on a clear day would be spectacular. I think I’ll just continue to appreciate the Eiffel Tower from ground level.
The gist: Go. You’ll probably have a better experience than I did.
I live 8,000 miles from Auckland but only 2,500 miles from Seattle.4 It’s surprising then that I had been to Auckland twice before my first trip to Seattle.
When Britt and I went to the Space Needle in 2016, it felt like an older, shorter, slightly more run-down SkyTower. The two buildings look alike at first glance, but SkyTower is more than 400 feet taller and is much roomier at the top.
I’m not knocking the Space Needle. The views are incredible. You can see Puget Sound, Mount Rainier, the Cascades, and the Olympic mountain range. But, as an experience, it simply doesn’t measure up to its successor in the Southern Hemisphere.
My take: Definitely worth a visit in you’re in Seattle.
I gambled on the High Roller — and I lost big. Not long after this observation wheel opened on the Strip, I went to Las Vegas for a conference and made plans to check it out. As soon as we cleared the hotels, I knew I was in for disappointment. There is simply no benefit to being 550 feet in the air in Las Vegas. Casino roofs are indistinguishable from warehouse roofs. The mountains look about the same as they do from the ground — far-off and unimpressive.
On my visit, I shared my capsule with a couple who was clearly hoping they’d be by themselves to make out. I wish they had. At least there would have been something interesting to see.
Actually, I take that back. It was a straight couple. Nothing disgusts me more than heterosexuals flaunting their lifestyle in public. Think of the children!
My take: Not worth the time or the money … and you might end up being a cockblocker.
I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I was to visit the observation deck at the Shard. I was anticipating an experience like my first spin on the Eye — this time, seeing entirely different parts of London from a new perspective.
And do you know what I saw?
Grime. Streaks. And my reflection.
The windows were filthy — they hadn’t been cleaned in who knows how long. And instead of using matte glass, they installed reflective glass. It was such a disappointment.
If only the Shard had a window washer and non-reflective glass, the views would have been spectacular — even on the somewhat gloomy day in May 2015 we were there. To the north were all the new towers of London, such as the Gherkin, the Walkie-Talkie, and the Cheesegrater. A little to the east was the oldest tower of London — i.e., the actual Tower of London — as well as Tower Bridge and the H.M.S. Belfast.
What a dirty shame.
My take: I won’t go back until someone assures me that the windows have been replaced and cleaned.
This was so in-fucking-credible that I will save it for a blog post of its own.
Once, in Havana, Britt and I went to the bank to exchange dollars for pesos. We spent forever in line, the building was run down, customer service was terrible, and we ended up getting nothing of value.
The only difference between that experience and our trip to the observation deck at John Hancock Center is that the observation deck also had overpriced, lukewarm beer for sale.
Really, it was terrible. We were there on a family trip with my brother, my cousins, and all our spouses. After grabbing our tickets, we waited in line in a dark basement for an hour before we even got a glimpse of the elevator. The staff was unfriendly and unsympathetic, even when we asked for a chair for someone in our group who needed to sit down.
When we got to the top of the building, half of the observation deck was closed off for renovation (so much for a 360-degree view at 360 Chicago), and the other half probably hadn’t been renovated since the ’80s.
What about the views? Who the fuck cares? After that experience, all we wanted to do was go back down and find something to drink.
My take: If you give me a choice between a root canal without novocaine and going back to the John Hancock Center, I’ll plug in the drill myself.
When I went here in 2005, it was still called Sears Tower. I guess it didn’t make too much of an impression on me because the only thing I remember is that we had to go down in one of the freight elevators because there was an issue with the passenger elevators. I don’t even have any photos from the top.
I wonder why I don’t recall anything. Perhaps there was a Men in Black incident.
My take: I wish I could remember my experience at Willis Tower and use one of those red flashy Men in Black thingies to erase my memories of the John Hancock Center.
Before Britt and I went to the top of the new World Trade Center in the summer of 2017, we revisited the tragedy of what happened there in 2001 by exploring the 9/11 Memorial and Museum.
The museum part is underground, somewhat dimly lit but not gloomy. I left thinking it was too focused on artifacts and not focused enough on people. In hindsight, I was probably drawn to the artifacts because they are less painful to contemplate than the loss of life. A warped steel girder doesn’t have a name, a family, a career, a dream.
But L. Russell Keene III did.
Russell was Britt’s former student. He worked for KBW and was killed on 9/11. His office was on either the 88th or 89th floor of the South Tower. The plane hit several floors beneath him, which meant all the stairwells were cut off. He died, as did 67 other KBW employees in the office that morning.
Before we entered the museum, Britt and I found Russell’s name etched on the memorial. We stood silently for a while. And then moved on.
Not long after we visited the memorial and museum, we were in the elevator to the top of the new World Trade Center. The doors opened and … wow.
Observation decks at the tops of older office buildings usually feel like an afterthought — it’s just a regular floor they didn’t lease out to a tenant. The World Trade Center observation deck is nothing at all like that. It’s a thoughtfully designed, light, airy, multistory space that showcases and celebrates New York. You’re high above the city, and yet somehow feel closer to it.
We could see miles in all directions through the clean and non-reflective5 floor-to-ceiling windows. I stood for a while, just entranced by the cars on the Brooklyn Bridge and the boats on the East River. To our north, the Empire State Building stood proudly over the jumble of buildings in Midtown. The newly completed 432 Park Avenue struck out like a sore thumb. It was the supermodel of condo towers: skinny, tall, expensive, and arrogant. (Since 2017, more supermodels have moved into that area, which is now called Billionaires’ Row.)
One World Trade Center’s observation deck is one of the best. If you’re looking for deep meaning, you’ll find it there. If you’re looking for awesome views, you’ll find them there. If you’re looking for a Swarovski-encrusted necklace in the shape of the building, you’ll find it there (in the gift shop).
My take: Go there. It will take you less time to visit than it took you to read this rambling blog post.
Here are the observation decks I’m looking forward to visiting:
Sky Garden: A lush, airy green space at the top of the Walkie-Talkie in London? Yes, please! We wanted to go on our last trip to London, but we couldn’t get a ticket.6
The Edge: Hudson Yards in New York has the highest outdoor observation deck in the Western Hemisphere.
Gran Torre Santiago: The tallest building in Latin America wasn’t quite finished when we went to Santiago in 2013. The six-story mall at the bottom was open for business, but the rest of the building — including the observation deck — was not.
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1 Keep in mind that, unlike New York, there were very few tall buildings in London at that time, and I don’t think any of them had observation decks. The only tall structure I can recall is the Post Office Tower, a communications tower.
2 That’s Māori for “You should go there if you’re in New Zealand.”
3 That’s French for “I am a moron.”
4 Or, if you prefer, I’m 17 time zones away from Auckland and just three from Seattle.
5 You paying attention, Shard folks?
6 Access to the observation deck is free, but you still need to reserve a time to visit.
What is Dave wearing today? Dave is wearing a Lightning T-shirt, Alabama cap, blue shorts, and Stan Smiths.
What is making Dave happy today? Dave just finished several hours of training and is taking a break with the doggos.
What is Dave’s inspirational thought for the day? Dave says the task you’ve been putting off for two days will only take 20 minutes to complete. This may be based on a real incident.
What is Dave going to do this evening, since the Complimentary Spouse is out of town? Dave’s plans involve Crumbl cookies and reruns of RuPaul’s Drag Race.
What is Dave wearing today? Dave is wearing an England Football polo shirt, brown shorts, white socks, and Stan Smiths.
What is making Dave happy today? Dave is delighted that he got an early start and was super productive today. In fact, he was so productive that he knocked off work a little early so he could lie down with the doggos and finish his reading for tonight’s book club.
What is Dave’s inspirational thought for the day? Dave says don’t try to speed things up when you take the dogs outside. It’s their walk, not yours.
What is the status of Dave’s teevee remote? Dave’s teevee remote stopped working at 6:30 a.m. so he ran out to the Spectrum store at lunch to swap it out for a new one. It looks exactly the same, but it has that new remote smell. Ahhhh!
What is Dave wearing today? Dave is wearing a blue short-sleeve button-down shirt, a Chelsea cap, khaki shorts, and flip-flops.
What is making Dave happy today? The Complimentary Spouse and Dave are about to have a meeting with all his cousins to plan this year’s Cousins’ Weekend.
What is Dave’s inspirational thought for the day? Dave says even if something is on sale, don’t buy it if you don’t need it. Spending $50 is better than spending $100 … but spending $0 is better than spending $50.
What is the Cousins’ Weekend Dave alluded to? Once a year, Dave, his brother, his cousins, and all their spouses converge on a major American city to hang out, do some sightseeing, eat great food, and become drunkened on liquors.
What is Dave wearing today? Dave is wearing shorts, a Lightning T-shirt, his black Adidas hoodie, and flip flops. It’s very similar to Dave’s ensemble from yesterday.
What is making Dave happy today? After a somewhat busy day, Dave is finally relaxing on the couch and watching a Lizzo concert on teevee. It’s the same tour that The Complimentary Spouse and Dave saw in Tampa a few months ago. Here are some photos. The flute Lizzo’s playing in the third photo is named Sasha.
What is Dave’s inspirational thought of the day? Dave loves the following quote by Lizzo:
I don’t think that loving yourself is a choice. I think that it’s a decision that has to be made for survival; it was in my case. Loving myself was the result of answering two things: Do you want to live? ’Cause this is who you’re gonna be for the rest of your life. Or are you gonna just have a life of emptiness, self-hatred and self-loathing? And I chose to live, so I had to accept myself.
Lizzo, 2019 interview with NBC News
What were the results of Dave’s DNA test? Dave, sadly, is not 100% that bitch. He’s 94% European Jewish, which should come as a surprise to nobody.
What is Dave wearing today? Dave is wearing a grey T-shirt, blue shorts, black Adidas hoodie, and flip-flops.
What is making Dave happy today? Dave is celebrating the end of a successful work week.
What is Dave’s inspirational thought of the day? Dave says don’t fast and break things. Instead, move intentionally and improve things.
What book did Dave just finish? Dave finished reading “Profiles in Ignorance” by Andy Borowitz. It’s about how stupidity in conservative politics, once something to be concealed, is now celebrated. His premise:
By elevating candidates who can entertain over those who can think, mass media have made the election of dunces more likely.
Profiles in Ignorance, Andy Borowitz
What do we do about it? We need to do more than observe, Borowitz says. We need to act.
We think we’re participating in politics, but we’re often just spectators, following it the way we follow sports. Obsessively watching cable news, checking Twitter, and monitoring the latest polls — all of which I’ve been guilty of — makes us feel like we’re staying informed, but to what end? When I do these things, I’m just a passive observer, rooting for my team. There’s a difference between going to a Super Bowl party and playing in the Super Bowl; only those who do the latter affect the outcome of the game.
Profiles in Ignorance, Andy Borowitz
Yesterday, in my blog post about the Bruce Springsteen concert, I wrote a lengthy footnote about how I no longer enjoyed the song “Glory Days.” I wrote that, as a gay man:
… it’s unsettling to look back at the cultural touchstones of my youth and discover I was invisible in them.
The Daily Dave
Today, I want to double-click on this idea, because invisibility is just one part of the story.
When I think back on the TV shows, movies, and music I experienced as a very young kid, LGBTQ people were:
That’s it. End of list. There was no LGBTQ representation whatsoever in entertainment created for people my age.1
As I got a little older, the list grew a little longer. LGBTQ people were either:
I really can’t recall the first time I saw an LGBTQ person or character on TV or in the movies, but I know it wasn’t a fair representation. They were mincing, effeminite, lisping men. This made a strong yet subconscious impact on me: For many years, that’s what I thought gay men were and how they should behave.
Some might say these people were in on the joke. But they were still the butt of the joke.
I shouldn’t even call these characters LGBTQ people. They’re queer-coded — they’re clearly lesbian, gay, bi, trans, or queer, but it’s not stated explicitly.2
Oh, the list gets longer. In my teens, there were three types of LGBTQ people:
Two examples of No. 2 and No. 3 immediately spring to mind. The first is Sean Young’s character in “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.” She’s trans, she’s the villain, and she’s there for us to ridicule. When other characters discover she is trans, they are disgusted.
”The second is ToneLōc’s “Funky Cold Medina,” which was a massive hit. From the lyrics:
So I took her to my crib, and everything went well as planned
But when she got undressed, it was a big old mess, Sheena was a man
So I threw him out, I don’t mess around with no Oscar Meyer wiener
You must be sure that your girl is pure for the Funky Cold Medina
“Funky Cold Medina”
The message: Sheena is disgusting, deceptive, and despicable.
As I grew up, the list grew longer. LGBTQ people were:
I’ve written at length about the Bury Your Gay and Dead Lesbian Syndrome tropes. LGBTQ people were wicked and always got their comeuppance. The AIDS crisis played out during my teenage years, and the message, in many cases, was that they were getting what they deserved. When people living with AIDS were treated with sympathy, they still died.
As I wrote in the aforementioned blog post:
Bury Your Gays and Dead Lesbian Syndrome are destructive in a way straight people might not realize. What would it do to your self-worth if the only images you saw of people like yourself on TV and in movies involved death and misery?
The Daily Dave, the world’s No. 1 source for Dave-centric news
It makes me happy that things are getting better. You’ll find accurate, fair, and affirming representations of LGBTQ people in children’s programming, especially animated shows.
I’m worried that things will go backward quickly, thanks to an increasingly hostile political climate. But we’ve come too far to only come this far. While I didn’t grow up seeing myself in popular culture, I’ll do everything I can to ensure today’s kids do.
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1 You might point to characters like Bugs Bunny, who would kiss men and dress in drag — but that was done to benefit straight audiences. Bugs didn’t kiss Elmer because he was attracted to the bumbling hunter; he did it because it was outré and, therefore, funny.3
2 Queer coding happens a lot. Ursula from “The Little Mermaid” is a Divine-like drag queen. Scar from “The Lion King” is campy. I’m hardly the first person to note that nearly every classic Disney villain is queer coded.
Beyond Disney, you’ll find quite a few queer-coded villains in old Bond films. Just look at butch lesbian Rosa Klebb from “From Russia With Love,” and femme lesbian Pussy Galore from “Goldfinger.” Pussy Galore is especially problematic because she switches from a villain to a hero when Bond sleeps with her. The not-too-subtle message: lesbians bad, heterosexuals good.
3 On the other hand, perhaps I shouldn’t dismiss Bugs Bunny so quickly. Here’s what the Supermodel of the World has to say about the wascally wabbit. Shantay, Bugs, you stay!
The first CD I ever bought was Born in the U.S.A. by Bruce Springsteen. It was 1985, and I got it when I purchased my Sony Discman from the small electronics store on our High Street. As an American kid living in England, I didn’t know much about Bruce Springsteen. Still, I had heard a few people in school talking about him, and the album cover seemed more patriotic than a bald eagle soaring past Mount Rushmore while firing an AK-47 and drinking a Coke.
I got a second CD that day: Paul Young’s The Secret of Association. Unlike Springsteen, I knew all about Young. He was well-known in the U.K., and the album was No. 1 on the charts. I still remember skipping the syrupy “Every Time You Go Away” — the biggest hit from the album — to get to the faster-paced “I’m Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down.”
So, as you’ve probably figured out by now, I listened to Young way more than Springsteen. But Springsteen had a longer-lasting impact. I’ve bought every album since Born in the U.S.A. I dipped into his older songs, like “Thunder Road,” “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out,” and “Atlantic City.” I learned to appreciate both the high-energy rock songs and the slower, more intimate ones.
In 2023, I have no idea what Young is doing, but I know exactly what Springsteen is up to: Last night, he kicked off his first tour in six years — right here in Tampa.
Now, I don’t consider myself a big Springsteen fan. I enjoy his music and recognize his artistry, but I don’t know all the songs. I only know a handful of lyrics. And if you asked me which song came from which album, I’d probably give you the wrong answer every time.
Nevertheless, I didn’t think twice about getting tickets. I saw Springsteen in concert once before — it was right after The Rising was released — so I know what a dynamic performer he is. And the Complimentary Spouse had never seen him live. Many of our friends got tickets. And my cousins’ husband, a die-hard fan, was going to fly down from New York to see the show. It wasn’t just going to be a concert — it was shaping up to be a shared cultural experience.
Springsteen took the stage at 8 p.m. and played for nearly three hours without a break. He opened with “No Surrender,” and I couldn’t help but wonder if a song about staying strong in the face of adversity was a deliberate choice in a state where people’s rights and dignity are under attack. Perhaps “No Surrender” should be our new rallying cry!
I was surprised at how many songs I couldn’t recognize. As I said, I’m not the biggest Springsteen fan. But I’m a fan nonetheless, and I’ve heard his music quite a bit. When you’re dealing with an artist whose career spans several decades, a casual listener will miss a few things.
When I knew a song, I felt alive and engaged. When I didn’t, it was a weird experience — everyone around me was dancing and singing along, and I felt like a novice among experts. I was in a 400-level course when I didn’t even pass the 100-level prerequisite.
Springsteen’s cover of the Commodores’ “Night Shift” was exceptional. He reclaimed “Because the Night” from 10,000 Maniacs. And “The Rising,” performed live, gave me chills.
Springsteen saved the best for last. For the encore, they turned on the house lights and went through a whole bunch of crowd-pleasers, including “Rosalita,” “Dancing in the Dark,” and “Glory Days.”1
For the last song, the house lights went dark again and the other performers left the stage. With just a guitar and a harmonica, Springsteen performed “I’ll See You in My Dreams.” It’s about love, loss, and death — themes worth exploring when you’re a 73-year-old man. It was a quiet yet powerful way to end the evening.
Did last night’s concert convert me to the Church of Springsteen? Not really. I’ll always be a fan, but never a rabid one. But I walked away more in awe of the man and his music than before. And, once the ringing in my ears goes away, I’m eager to explore more of his work.
That CD is long gone, but Springsteen is still here. And that makes me thankful.
Now let’s check out some photos!
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1 I have come to dislike “Glory Days.” A lot. The song celebrates the joy of being in high school and implies that life goes downhill after you graduate. No LGBTQ person I know looks back at high school fondly. If we weren’t being tormented, we were sacrificing our mental health to conceal who we were. Those were other people’s glory days, not ours.
In other words, the world Springsteen is describing doesn’t seem to have people like me in it.
I’m only harping on “Glory Days” because it’s top of mind. I think this way about a lot of things these days. At my age, it’s unsettling to look back at the cultural touchstones of my youth and discover I was invisible in them.
This is in no way a knock on Springsteen. He is an ally, and I like that he’s authentic and finds inspiration in his personal journey. This has nothing to do with what he wrote. It’s about the way it makes me feel.
Plus, plenty of other songs don’t reflect my life experiences. After all, I’ve never left a cake in the rain, and yet I love “MacArthur Park.”
If you know, you know.
