The Newtown Pentacle

Altissima quaeque flumina minimo sono labi

Magic Lantern Show

with 5 comments

– photo by Mitch Waxman

It is needless to say, of course, is that my magic lantern is digital. In the dawn of the age of photography, journeyman shooters would travel all around the world, or to corners of the City which the genteel upper crust would eschew- and capture images of titillating subjects for the entertainment and evangelization of the moneyed classes who would otherwise never encounter such things. Jacob Riis and Matthew Brady come to mind, and whereas your humble narrator would never allow himself to invoke those names for fear of the vast hubris it would call crashing down about my ears, a belief nevertheless persists around Newtown Pentacle HQ that such an exhibition can still find a modern audience.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

Just under an hour long, this Magic Lantern Show about Newtown Creek is personally narrated, and transports the viewer to every corner of the Newtown Creek- every tributary and street end, on the water and above it, and is presented in the idiosyncratic and off beat manner which has become familiar to regular readers of this- your Newtown Pentacle. It attempts to explain certain core questions in under an hour which have been repeatedly presented to me over the last couple of years, and the entire talk is illustrated with both my photography and historical researches and documents:

  • What exactly do you mean by the “Newtown Pentacle”?
  • When did the Newtown Creek begin to matter?
  • Why should I care, how does the Newtown Creek affect me, as I live in Manhattan?
  • Where exactly is this place?
  • Who is responsible for this mess, and exactly who is it that’s going to clean it up?
  • How can I get involved and help my community revitalize and or restore the Newtown Creek?

– photo by Mitch Waxman

The entire evening will cost you a mere sawbuck, or $5 as it’s referred to in modernity (and I’m not altogether certain what the deal is if you’re already a GAHS member, you’d be best served by checking in with them), and will be presented at the Greater Astoria Historical Society on June 6th, 2011 at 7p.m. I’d love to see you there, and there will be a question and answer period after the show, in which I’ll endeavor to respond to any random question from the audience. Luckily, GAHS will be there, should my knowledge fall short. Come one, come all.

Believe it or not, this still isn’t the BIG announcement. Await with baited breath the next thrilling installment of this- your Newtown Pentacle.

5 Responses

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  1. $5 = one fin
    $10 = one sawbuck

    T.J. Connick

    April 15, 2011 at 12:30 pm

  2. The Old Ones, but for their abnormal toughness and peculiar vital properties, were strictly material, and must have had their absolute origin within the known space-time continuum; whereas the first sources of the other beings can only be guessed at with bated breath.

    T.J. Connick

    April 15, 2011 at 12:43 pm

  3. Well, its only money.

    cav

    April 18, 2011 at 2:02 am

  4. […] from a Newtown Pentacle post of April 13th, 2011 […]


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