Weekend Shots

Between the financial panic downtown (with its long-term repercussions) and the dim-wittedness of Sarah Palin, I'm too depressed to write anything substantive. So here's an eclectic foursome of photos from the weekend: subway tile work from Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, a Hudson St. bodega cat, a fire call box in Astor Place, and an interesting arched doorway on 7th Avenue in the West Village.

9/11

This was the view from our roof garden last night. Each year the city sets up the "light cannons" from the World Trade Center site on September 11th. Obama and McCain were downtown yesterday, but I wasn't downtown and thus didn't get caught up in the security nightmare that doubtless paralyzed lower Manhattan traffic. The event seems rather distant now, seven years later. Aside from the flowers and candles left outside our neighborhood fire company and police precinct, there was little I witnessed to distinguish the day from any other. (And yes, that's the moon shining through the clouds to the left of the "ground zero" lights.)

Box Camera Scans

Our annual autumn vacation to Vermont is just a month away . . . a realization that started me thinking about photographic and painting possibilities for the trip. So I started digging through my camera collection, trying to decide which of these "heavy metal" cameras would join my Canon digital for the ride. And what a happy surprise! I remembered the undeveloped roll of 120 film in a 75-year-old box camera (a Zeiss Box-Tengor) that I had shot last year in Vermont. Here are scans of four of the negatives. Not bad for a camera that essentially no more than a box with a simple lens and three-speed leaf shutter. They almost have a 19th century feel, as if I had taken them on a view camera with glass plates for film. Hmmmmm, maybe I should use this camera again.

Sunflowers

Ah, Sun-flower, weary of time,
Who countest the steps of the Sun,
Seeking after that sweet golden clime
Where the traveller's journey is done:

Where the Youth pined away with desire,

And the pale Virgin shrouded in snow
Arise from the their graves, and aspire
Where my Sun-flower wishes to go.

WILLIAM BLAKE

The "Angry Left"

The other night President Bush referred with contempt to the "angry left" in his address to the Republican convention. Of course the Left is angry - as are many Americans who would never identify themselves with the Left or liberals in general. We're angry that this president and his administration have hijacked the Constitution. We're angry that they've subverted basic human rights - for citizens and detainees alike - in the name of national security. We're angry because this administration has made ideological orthodoxy the litmus test for government office. We're angry because the Justice Department was crippled by unethical and illegal conduct. We're angry because the Bush administration is responsible for the deaths of thousands of American soldiers - and many more thousands of innocent citizens of Iraq and Afghanistan. We're angry because Bush and Cheney have turned back the clock on efforts to protect the environment. We're angry because this administration's energy policy caters to the interests of "big oil" and "big coal" while scarcely acknowledging the necessity of developing alternative energy programs. We're angry because Bush and the Republicans pander to the anti-intellectualism of the fascist, evangelical right wing. And the list goes on and on and on. The Republican party should take the opportunity this week to apologize to the American people for the last eight years, while promising to right the wrongs of the Bush administration.

As for McCain and Palin . . . McCain has drifted farther and farther to the right in an effort to appease the fascist wing of his party, reversing his previously moderate views on numerous issues. Moreover, while he talks about fixing the mess in Washington, neither he nor his campaign advisers have offered specific ideas on how that might be accomplished. In fact, four years of John McCain would look very much like the last eight years of George Bush. A responsible energy policy? The Republican convention crowds' chants for more drilling suggest otherwise. Tax reform? McCain would make the Bush tax cuts permanent, benefiting corporations and the wealthiest Americans.

And Palin? Her daughter's pregnancy, as Democratic leaders correctly intoned, is a non-issue and has no bearing on her ability to serve as vice-president. However, her anti-intellectualism, as well as her views on abortion, gun control, and evolution, should have disqualified her from consideration. For example, shortly after taking office as mayor of her small Alaska town she investigated the possibility of banning certain books in the local public library, while trying to fire the librarian as well. Is this the kind of person we want just a heartbeat away from the presidency? Someone who is so ideologically short-sighted and intellectually limited that she would even think about pulling books from library shelves simply because they don't square with her evangelical, conservative mindset? This is neither Nazi Germany nor Soviet Russia. No thank you.

City Textures II

Photo Booth

I love these old photo booth machines. We usually make a point of trying them - and use them as an opportunity to mug and make faces for the camera!

Shell

Here's a bit of detail from my latest painting, focusing on a derelict Shell gas station in southeastern Virginia. Given the market for vintage fixtures, I'm surprised the pumps were in such good condition. (Pen and ink, watercolors, on Fabriano paper)

Chelsea Synagogue

This is Congregation Emunath Israel ("Faith of Israel"), located on 23rd St. near the famed Chelsea Hotel. The building was constructed in 1863 for the Third Reformed Presbyterian Church. Congregation Emunath Israel was founded in 1865 on 18th St., moved to West 29th St., and relocated to this 23rd St. site in 1920. The synagogue runs Project ORE (Project Outreach to the Elderly), a program that founded to help homeless Jews in the community. Offering free kosher lunches, Torah classes, and counseling, Project ORE now also reaches out to non-Jews in the neighborhood.

I'm Shocked (Not)

I'm not surprised by this result. If you're curious about whether or not you fall into the ADD spectrum, click on the graphic to take the quiz. Realize, of course, that this is hardly a professional diagnosis.

City Textures

New Flowers

I haven't photographed many flowers of late, but encountered these little late summer gems over the last couple of days. The marigold (2nd photo) reminds me of my first gardening efforts as a child. I remember starting marigolds and zinnias from seed in our back yard. (I've recently learned that the marigolds are edible, with the blossoms providing a substantial dose of lutein.) Fairly easy to grow, the flowers proved resistant to our best efforts at neglect. Still, I remember watching the dirt impatiently - like watching a pot of water that refuses to boil - for the first green evidence of sprouts. Part of the problem was that typical annuals and perennials just didn't fit into the design scheme of my parents' yard, a yard dominated by low-maintenance pine trees, azaleas, and boxwoods, with a couple of dogwoods added over the years. The most colorful residents of the pine straw covered beds were the camellias, which still provide a beautiful display of blooms each year. The half-hearted attempts to grow roses were quickly stifled by black spot and moles. Thus it's no surprise that when I finally had my own garden in Tennessee, I was determined to have more variety, with annuals, perennials, dozens of tulips and roses, as well as plenty of shade-loving favorites.

Subway Ride to Coney Island, Part 1: Graffiti

I love the ride out to Coney Island on the D and F trains. Once you come up from underground, there's a great view of the diversity that defines Brooklyn. On the elevated tracks it's especially easy to get a look at the graffiti that adorns so many buildings. Some of it is actually quite artistic and rises above the level of the ordinary "tags." There are even buildings that have had nearly every square foot of available wall and roof space covered. I'm always curious about the acrobatics that must have been performed to reach some of the more precarious locations. How do they get up there?!