Torrid Zone

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It's such a Guatamelan sweatbox outside I almost don't want to go into Manhattan for screenings. It's that bad. I can roll with Palm Springs heat. Bone-dry cactus heat is actually kind of pleasant if you've got a drink in your hand and an air-conditioned store to pop into when you need a break. But jungle-sweat Eighth Avenue heat is awful. You're walking down the street and going "oh, man" with every other step. It affects your attitude, the sharpness of your thinking...everything. You feel two or three steps away from suffocation while standing on the West 4th street subway platform. Imagine what New Yorkers went through before air-conditioning came along.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on August 18, 2009 at 10:56 AM

comment #1

BoshBarnetWonkyDonkey says ...

Yeah, it's grim outside. I went out for lunch about half an hour ago and it was brutal just wandering five minutes from my office.

Waiting for the 4-5-6 at Union Square subway station is like being in a sauna.

This is what summer blockbusters are good for. An escape from the humidity for two hours without having to think much.

Posted by BoshBarnetWonkyDonkey at August 18, 2009 11:27 AM

comment #2

Rod32303 says ...

Waaaa!! Waaaa!!!!!!!! Little bitches the both.

PLEASE come try TALLAHASSEE FLORIDA heat...where the closest water is like an hour and a half away...where it was literally 91 degrees at 8:45 am...where there is delirium walking to your MAILBOX because the heat is so oppressive that it affects your vision and equilibrium...

...actually, NYC heat may have that beat. I've been there when it's like this. Oven.

Posted by Rod32303 at August 18, 2009 11:34 AM

comment #3

Stringer Bell says ...

The 1 Train platform on 66th Street is indescribable.

This weather blows (actually, I wish it blows just for a little breeze).

Posted by Stringer Bell at August 18, 2009 11:40 AM

comment #4

BoshBarnetWonkyDonkey says ...

Manhattan heat has the added fun of car fumes and concrete and big tall buildings, so it's as grim as it gets. Even going to Brooklyn you notice a difference in temperature.

Posted by BoshBarnetWonkyDonkey at August 18, 2009 11:41 AM

comment #5

Sabina E says ...

I still prefer scorching summer heat over a chilly, cold, damp, miserable winter day anytime.

Posted by Sabina E at August 18, 2009 11:43 AM

comment #6

Wrecktem says ...

That's why you are all INSANE living in NYC. The entire east coast is a humid hell. I'd sooner die than subject myself to that kind of shit.

At least the RATS have lovely curly fur with wonderful voluminous body.

Posted by Wrecktem at August 18, 2009 11:51 AM

comment #7

dp4m says ...

I'm glad I moved this past weekend. Across from Riverside Park, a block or two MAX from sustainance and/or coffee and nice walking weather when it gets to about 5:30 - 6 pm at night. :)

Posted by dp4m at August 18, 2009 11:52 AM

comment #8

Floyd Thursby says ...

The platforms at Penn Station are even worse than the subways. That said, I lived five miserable years in Baton Rouge, and nothing can beat that for heat and humidity. Then there's the added pleasure of the lovely aroma from the refineries, which always seemed to be releasing some especially noxious fumes on Sunday mornings. All this may account for the rudest people I've ever encountered.

Posted by Floyd Thursby at August 18, 2009 11:55 AM

comment #9

QualityGibberish says ...

Manhattan was great when it was a native-American hunting preserve. Since then, not so much.

Posted by QualityGibberish at August 18, 2009 11:58 AM

comment #10

BoshBarnetWonkyDonkey says ...

On the plus side, as Regina Spektor sings: "Summer in the city means cleavage, cleavage, cleavage."

Posted by BoshBarnetWonkyDonkey at August 18, 2009 11:59 AM

comment #11

dp4m says ...

I'd honestly like to just marry Regina Spektor and then she can sing to me about it all she wants...

Posted by dp4m at August 18, 2009 12:04 PM

comment #12

p.Vice says ...

I'm glad you finally got around to openly advocating for not thinking much, Bosh. Your subtle hinting over the past few weeks has really been a tease.

Posted by p.Vice at August 18, 2009 12:08 PM

comment #13

BoshBarnetWonkyDonkey says ...

Glad to be of service, p.Vice.

Posted by BoshBarnetWonkyDonkey at August 18, 2009 12:11 PM

comment #14

Rich S. says ...

Rod's on the right track. Never lived in NYC but I've lived in North Florida/Southern Georgia. Under the top soil is all red clay. So not only does it get hot, but the ground holds the heat like a pizza oven. Not unusual for it to be in the upper 80s long after dark.

Posted by Rich S. at August 18, 2009 12:14 PM

comment #15

Joshua Mooney says ...

W. 4th Street subway station is, I'd argue, the hottest and most oppressive in the city. Or at least in the top 10. I don't understand how people survived summer back in, say, 1910. Middle- and upper-class dress codes were quite strict: Men wore suits and ties, with shoes and socks and hats. Women wore essentially long underwear under their dresses, which themselves went to the ankles and buttoned tight at the collar.

Posted by Joshua Mooney at August 18, 2009 12:19 PM

comment #16

MikeSchaeferSF says ...

I listen to a lot of NY radio on-line. Haven't people been complaining since June that NYC has hardly had any "real summer weather" because it's been cool & rainy? And now a couple days of hot'n'humid and you're freaking out? Sorry, but that's hilarious.

Posted by MikeSchaeferSF at August 18, 2009 12:46 PM

comment #17

Wrecktem says ...

"I don't understand how people survived summer back in, say, 1910. Middle- and upper-class dress codes were quite strict: Men wore suits and ties, with shoes and socks and hats. Women wore essentially long underwear under their dresses, which themselves went to the ankles and buttoned tight at the collar."

The obvious explanation, of course, is that people today are whining pussies.

Posted by Wrecktem at August 18, 2009 12:53 PM

comment #18

bildeaux says ...

Come down here to Austin. It's only been 105+ every day for the past 3 months.

Posted by bildeaux at August 18, 2009 1:11 PM

comment #19

bmcintire says ...

Los Angeles / Century City: Sunny, 73 degrees. Again.

Posted by bmcintire at August 18, 2009 1:19 PM

comment #20

Aris P says ...

At least you have seasons to speak of, in NYC. This bullshit, monotonous, over-hyped LA weather is like living in a never-ending space- time continuum loop where every single day is the same as every other single day, for the last 1000 years.

Posted by Aris P at August 18, 2009 1:21 PM

comment #21

Wrecktem says ...

Burbank: Mostly sunny, 77 degrees, mild humidity.

Posted by Wrecktem at August 18, 2009 1:21 PM

comment #22

Wrecktem says ...

"At least you have seasons to speak of, in NYC. This bullshit, monotonous, over-hyped LA weather is like living in a never-ending space- time continuum loop where every single day is the same as every other single day, for the last 1000 years. "

Spoken as a true transplant. A real Angeleno can easily differentiate the subtle and sometimes unsubtle changes to the city's weather over the seasons. East coast transplants are just as whiny as those who stay put.

Posted by Wrecktem at August 18, 2009 1:26 PM

comment #23

mccool says ...

I don't understand how people survived summer back in, say, 1910

They were much thinner.

Posted by mccool at August 18, 2009 1:34 PM

comment #24

Aris P says ...

Sorry, I should have specified the June gloom and the occasional rain in December and January. There are no seasons in LA, just slight temperature shifts.

Posted by Aris P at August 18, 2009 1:37 PM

comment #25

lipranzer says ...

You all do remember it didn't used to be as hot in the "olden days"?

It's supposed to cool down Thursday, thank goodness. I'm just glad the AC in our store works.

And yes, Florida is much worse (I don't know about the rest of the South, not having been there, but I had to go to Florida for a wedding one summer, and oh my God was it humid).

Posted by lipranzer at August 18, 2009 1:45 PM

comment #26

mccool says ...

I love the humidity. It reminds me I'm alive and healthy and that I've been blessed with the LUXURY of being able to complain about such a trifling matter.

For a proper NY vs LA discussion, see http://hollywood-elsewhere.com/2009/08/proudly_rocking.php

Posted by mccool at August 18, 2009 2:01 PM

comment #27

dp4m says ...

From Mike: "I listen to a lot of NY radio on-line. Haven't people been complaining since June that NYC has hardly had any "real summer weather" because it's been cool & rainy? And now a couple days of hot'n'humid and you're freaking out? Sorry, but that's hilarious."

The complaints in June about not having Summer weather wasn't that it wasn't warm (it was okay) it was that it rained like 27 days of 30 in June and then like 30% of July. Late-June to late-July is usually the "wheelhouse" of Summer weather. Perfect, not too humid, warm, breezy... basically, y'know, Summer! (or San Diego) August (like it is now) tends to get into this hot 'n' sticky humid weather, but for us it's like we went from frickin' 0 - 80 in 2.2 seconds.

And, since it's a movie blog, I almost feel like Mother Nature should be screaming "Roads?!? Where we're going we don't need ROADS!" at this point...

Posted by dp4m at August 18, 2009 2:10 PM

comment #28

Steven Kar says ...

Last summer was worse than this summer. And I should know because I absolutely cannot handle heat, the sun, humidity, and the like.

However, since I'm leaving NYC for good after having lived here for 6 years, I'm savouring the days, as disgusting as the weather may be.

Posted by Steven Kar at August 18, 2009 2:28 PM

comment #29

Joshua Mooney says ...

I guess I should have been more specific, "Wrecktem." What I'm curious about is the amount of sweat that one had to deal with in those days. How did they contend with it? I carry a pocket hanky even when dressed in shorts, loose T-shirt and flip-flops. I go through three a day during a heatwave. Did people sweat less back then? Or how did they contend with the heat? Your suggestion that they weren't "whining pussies" doesn't answer my question at all. If you have no answer, man up and admit as much. "Wrecktem." That's a... Jewish name, isn't it?

Wrecktem says ...

The obvious explanation, of course, is that people today are whining pussies.

Posted by Joshua Mooney at August 18, 2009 7:12 PM

comment #30

bluefugue says ...

Ah, we had it tough. We used to live in a lake! At half past two we'd have to get up, clean the lake, and our father would beat us about the head and neck with a rusty shovel.

Posted by bluefugue at August 18, 2009 11:55 PM

comment #31