My first impression of the subways of New York was that they are a public entertainm- ent, later associations with that particular public transport system led to a change of mind. Barry Smotroff lives out in Queens and the Proxima Puddle was in the village so getting from one to the other took a good hour on the subway, it might have been less but with nothing better to do but look at the lights flashing by and the rails in the tunnel ahead (if we were in the front carriage) it seemed like a lot longer. Everything that people have said about the subways is true but what most impressed me were the Subway Police which get on for a ride at the occasional station, they look like one man armies. We'd decided that it was the day to see some of New York and Barry was only too willing to be our guide. A train ride brought us to the 14th Street station and from there it seemed a short walk to the Proxims Puddle where Susan Wood was waiting to join us. Getting to see New York ia an event in itself but getting to do it with a Hugo winner is even something more so were looking forward to the event. Susan wanted to visit a record shop or two before we got under way. I was only too willing to go along with the idea since we'd been in America for a couple of weeks and hardly been inside a shop to spend money on all those incredibly cheap things that are supposed to be available in America. Barry led the way and very soon we were lost, Valma and I that is and even Susan confessed that she wasn't really sure where we were. After a few streets of apartment buildings we seemed to get into more commercial type areas and almost by magic we suddenly seemed to be in a street which was nothing but shops. Barry led us along past the shops for a bit and then led us into a record shop and let us loose. I had never seen anything like it before. rows and rows of boxes full to overflowing with records. The prices were even more amazing. Susan disappeared off into the section of music she's interested in and I lost myself in mine. Occasiona- lly I'd look across and see her peeking out another record and I suppose that if she looked over in my direction she would have seen the same thing. Both Valma and I were going through boxes of records pulling out and inspecting the occasional one. My interest is contemporary classical music and there was more of it on record in that shop than I'd seen in all the shops of Melbourne so we had to be selective. You wouldn't have thought it though if you'd seen us in action. I'd pull out the occasional one and keep it, Valma would would pull out the occasional one and I'd nod approval and we'd keep it. 42