Archive for the ‘Broadway’ Category
combats betwixt
Just like the good old days.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Lugging a dslr and its associated kit around can be quite a drag.
Camera body and lenses, and all the other crap I use, weigh something like ten pounds. Doesn’t sound like much, but that’s all on one shoulder and after awhile, it feels like you’ve got an anchor suspended across your back. I used to exclusively carry a Canon G10 with a specialized sort of mini tripod that involves rare earth magnets, and just to mix things up, for the last couple of days I’ve left the dslr and camera bag at home and taken the G10 and its mount with me instead.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The G10 is a grand little camera, notable mainly for its lens. The tiny sensor captures a quite noisy image – these shots were captured at ISO 200’s digital equivalent. My 7D dslr would render ISO 1000 in a similar fashion, something you can chalk up to sensor size and processor chip power. Still, it’s quite liberating to be carrying something that isn’t much heavier than a book for a change, and the bulk of multiple lenses was not missed on recent walks.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The singular virtue enjoyed when carrying this particular camera emanates from the fancy magnet tripod I’ve attached to it, which was originally designed to work as a mount for the sort of laser leveler which a carpenter or drywall installer might employ.
Multiple rare earth magnets provide a steady grip on any ferrous surface, allowing for a steady and unyielding mount for the image capture. At night, I’ll attach a wire release trigger to the device, which further minimizes camera shake and allows long exposure shots at ISO 100, the lowest and least noisy setting the thing is capable of.
Have a cool holiday weekend, lords and ladies, and take lots of pictures. I know I will.
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continuous scheme
A thing, encountered, in Queens.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Innocently, one decided to take advantage of the recently favorable atmospherics and engage in a relaxed perambulation of the greater neighborhood here in Western Queens. Measured gait carried a humble narrator in a generally eastern direction, from almond eyed Astoria toward the spicy elevations of Jackson Heights, and soon one found himself on Northern Blvd. and the “carridor.”
That’s where I witnessed the unexpected, the unwelcome, the inconceivable.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Monstrous, this flapping giant was lurking observed on Northern Blvd. in front of one of the many used automobile dealers, for whom the name “Carridor” has been assigned to the section, found along the great road. It was at least two stories tall and animated by an unknown motive force. Malevolent in appearance, the entity filled me with some nameless dread.
Vast physical cowardice, coupled with an uneven constitution, caused ones blood to run icy cold at the mere sight of it.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Its movements were a staccato of jerking movements, a sort of rising and falling dance which betrayed a jellyfish like quality. Clearly – this creature bore no endoskeleton, nor external carapace, and it flopped about in the steady breeze – and would occasionally lunge toward pedestrians and passerby.
All reserve cracked, and I soon found myself descending into “one of my spells.”
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Worried that knowledge of this entity, this untrammeled and unknown thing, might consume my already fragile sanity – a hasty retreat back to Astoria was enacted. Why, oh why, must I leave the safety of my home so often? There are things… squamous, flopping, unnatural things… inhabiting the streets and alleys out there.
Who can guess, all there is, which there might be lurking out there?
There are two public Newtown Creek walking tours coming up, one in LIC, Queens and one in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
Glittering Realms, with Atlas Obscura, on Saturday May 17th.
Click here for more info and ticketing.
Modern Corridor, with Brooklyn Brainery, on Sunday May 18th.
Click here for more info and ticketing.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
worried faces
Would it kill you to smile?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
While riding the Subway in New York City, observation of the interesting social behaviors exhibited by the citizenry entertains. There are those who present the “pfft, ain’t no thing” and those who present the “what the hell are you looking at” and also present are the “please, for gods sake, do not notice me” lean. Others pretend to sleep, or stare blankly at the floor (that’s the one which I favor), while a small group of extroverts feel the need to shout and otherwise draw attention unto themselves. Then there’s the buskers.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There are Mariachi’s, young couples who perpetrate the “gypsy baby” scam, those three kids who dance and perform acrobatics. Worst of all are the religious zealots, whose clumsy attempts at evangelism are enough to drive one into the arms of Satan itself. Skillfully ignoring these buskers and con artists, or not, is what separates the true New Yorker from the tourist. The tourists are the worst, of course, breaking all of the unspoken rules of subway etiquette which “regular” riders subconsciously obey and enforce. Nobody smiles, the MTA has a rule against that.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My camera is always at the ready whenever entering these concrete bunkers with their pungent atmospheres, and one of the odd things I’ve noticed in recent years is the reaction some have upon seeing the device. Lens cap on and power switch off, they will stare at the camera in the manner one would watch the countdown clock on a bomb. I don’t understand this. Humans, they’re weird, and need to smile more often.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
unidentifiable flowerings
Catching up with the Newtown Pentacle.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This long winter has been especially difficult for one such as myself, who possesses no reserve of warmth. Accordingly, hermitage is enacted. Hair, beard, and nails are allowed to seek their natural length while an induced stupor was enjoyed by the brain. Now that the burning thermonuclear eye of god itself has once more attained an efficacious position in the sky, all of the dead cellular material external to the skinvelope has been trimmed back and an understimulated brain called to action once more.
The long marches across the concrete devastations have resumed.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The spot of trouble enjoyed by my household in recent weeks, regarding the reliable availability of internet service – as supplied by Time Warner Cable – seems to have been resolved due to the actions of this fellow. Last Saturday, the third most hated corporation in modern day America sent this fellow, Jose, over to rewire and rekajigger the connections. The connectivity issues seem to have been repaired accordingly, and now the service has returned to “it just sucks” as opposed to “doesn’t work at all.”
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Last Sunday, whilst crossing the Pulaski Bridge to visit Greenpoint via Long Island City, these graffitos were spotted. Displaying an unusually literate and somewhat scientifically accurate credo, my attentions were caught. It wasn’t this screed which stopped me in my tracks, instead it was the one in the penultimate photograph adorning this post.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
No comment, except to say that hidden in green slimy vaults, in his house at R’lyeh…
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crush and engulf
Late again, sorry. Here’s why.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Since the weather broke, your humble narrator has lost nary a minute to the Newtown Pentacle, and much in the way of shoe rubber has been expended in the last few days. Saturday, I walked the so called entire “upper creek” (the area of Newtown Creek found between Maspeth Creek and English Kills, which borders Ridgewood and Bushwick). Sunday, I was in Greenpoint all day, but sadly missed getting a shot of that baby seal which turned up at the Newtown Creek Nature Walk.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Monday (yesterday), I conducted a tour of the lower Creek for a group of film students from Pratt University, and this afternoon, I’m hoping to find some time to pop over to Hell Gate in the hope of capturing some interesting images of maritime traffic.
Recent efforts of note – which appear on external websites – include a series of posts describing the non profit scene of Red Hook on the Red Hook Water Front site, and my coverage of Sunnyside’s St. Pat’s Day for All parade can be found at Brownstoner Queens.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It is magnificent, this throwing off of the shackles of ice and snow, and returning to the streets. Conversely, a humble narrator’s physique has largely transformed into a quivering jelly over this long winter, and every muscle in my legs and back are liberally painted with lactic acids. Hopefully, within a few weeks, I’ll be back in fighting condition and enjoy a fineness of fettle.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
The Newtown Pentacle 