Archive for the ‘Astoria’ Category
hungry ghosts
– photo by Mitch Waxman
On a recent sunlit afternoon, the Hermetic Hungarian ventured forth from the Shining City once again. Recovered from a spell of bad dreams which our recent visit to the Grand Ave. Bridge- with all its loathsome implications- had awakened in him, the studied recluse announced that a new digital camera was in his possession which needed a test drive. Always an atavist and luddite, the Hermetic Hungarian (HH from this point on) had already decided that it was inferior to the chemical emulsion process of image capture- film- which he has spent much time mastering.
This, like the Mac vs. PC debate, is a conversation that your humble narrator does not wish to have anymore.
from wikipedia
Operating system advocacy is the practice of attempting to increase the awareness and improve the perception of a computer operating system. The motivation behind this may be to increase the number of users of a system, to assert the superiority of one choice over another or out of brand loyalty, pride in an operating system’s abilities, or to persuade software vendors to port specific applications or device drivers to the platform.
Operating system advocacy can vary widely in tone and form, from published comparisons to heated debates on mailing lists and other forums. In its most extreme forms it can veer into zealotry. Advocates are often normal users who devote their spare time to advocacy of their operating system of choice; many have a deep and abiding interest in the use, design and construction of operating systems and an emotional investment in their favourite operating system.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Allow me to lift the curtain for this post- and talk shop.
Once upon a time, in the brash days of youth, I too shot film. I carried a Yashica FX3 fully manual, 1984 vintage camera, which I still have. Unfortunately, the cost of the film itself and the consequent expense of development and printing cramped my urge to shoot and shoot. For years, I had a goofy point and shoot 35mm camera, which has long disappeared into gadget heaven. When the Canon Elph’s first came out, I was hooked on digital and haven’t looked back since. Yes, the recording medium of film is capable of capturing and storing FAR more information than a digital shot can- even today. But- as I’ve mentioned in the past- I work in the advertising industry.
from nycgovparks.org
Astoria Park, on the west shore of Queens, extends from south of the Triborough Bridge to north of the Hell Gate Bridge. With a panoramic view of the skyscrapers of midtown Manhattan in the south to the Hell Gate channel in the north, the scenery presents the diverse landscape of New York City. The Hell Gate channel, formed by faults deep underground, contains some of the deepest water in New York Harbor. Its treacherous reefs bear picturesque names such as “Hen and Chickens,” “Pot Rock,” “Bread & Cheese,” and “Bald Headed Billy.”
Throughout the centuries the stunning natural beauty of this location has attracted visitors and settlers. Before the arrival of European colonists, a trail passed by the site, and an Indian village flourished at Pot Cove. Local inhabitants grew maize on the shores, fished in Hell Gate, and drew water from Linden Brook, a small stream that still flows under Astoria Park South. In the mid-1600s the Dutch parceled out this land to various owners, including William Hallet whose grant embraced hundreds of acres. During the American Revolution, several British and Hessian regiments were stationed in the area. On November 25, 1780 the frigate Hussar and its five-million-dollar cargo sank to the bottom of Hell Gate, where despite some removal of cannons, the treasure still remains.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
What used to happen when a photo entered the agency was that a medium or large format “chrome”- which is a sort of giant slide- would be handed off from photographer to agency (and still does, sometimes). This chrome would then be photostat reproduced (in the very old days) and it’s “for position only or F.P.O.” representation would be worked into a mechanical board so that the printer would understand where to place it or “strip it in”. When the Macintosh came along, the chrome would instead be scanned, at first by highly specialized devices called drum scanners and later by advanced versions of tabletop scanners.
The digital scan actually matters more than the original at this moment, and the tipping point from film to digital was reached when the ad agencies began requesting digital files from their photographers.
from omh.state.ny.us
Kirby Forensic Psychiatric Center, a maximum security hospital of the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH), opened in 1985 and provides secure treatment and evaluation for the forensic patients and courts of New York City and Long Island. Most patients are received through the courts under Criminal Procedure Law (CPL) or through the OMH Commissioner’s office via the New York State Code of Rules and Regulations (NYSCRR) regarding hospitalization of the mentally ill.
Treatment is provided in accordance with the current standards of professional care outlined by the Joint Commission of Accreditation of Health Organizations (JCAHO) and is carried out with respect for each patient’s privacy and rights, in agreement with his/her level of functioning and need for security. KFPC has an active staff education program as well as academic affiliations with several metropolitan area colleges and universities, to help assure quality treatment and state of the art care.
and from wikipedia
The Manhattan Psychiatric Center is a New York-state run psychiatric hospital on 125th Street on Ward’s Island in New York City. As of 2009 it had 509 beds. The current building is 14-stories tall.
The hospital’s roots date to 1848 when Ward’s Island was designated the reception area for immigrants. Some additional structures were originally part of Blackwell’s Island Lunatic Asylum, which opened around 1863.
The building was significantly enlarged in 1871, and a Kirkbride Plan style building was built. After the immigration entry shifted to Ellis Island in 1892 the state took it over from Manhattan in 1899 and expanded it even further. At the time, it had 4,400 beds and was the largest psychiatric hospital in the world.
At the time it was one of two psychiatric hospitals for residents of Manhattan that had been take over by the state. The other psychiatric hospital would become the Central Islip Psychiatric Center in Central Islip, New York. Both hospitals were referred to as Manhattan State Hospital.
It later became the Manhattan Psychiatric Center. The facility is currently run by the New York State Office of Mental Health.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Its taken the camera companies a while to catch up with the desktops, but they’re getting close- the high end Canons, for instance, do 25.3 megapixel shots (which I’ve retouched and let me say that these are well wrought images).
My current cameras- the Canon G10 and Canon T1i both hit 15 megapixels, giving me ample detail and clarity. I’ve got fairly quick SDHC cards in them, which allows burst shooting, and at any given time I’m ready to pop off a couple of thousand exposures. The batteries in both are rechargeable, and once the photos are copied to my desktop- the cards are formatted and used over and over. Film never offered me this kind of freedom to just shoot and shoot.
from wirednewyork.com
The massive beauty and advanced technology of the Hell Gate Bridge (more properly the New York Connecting Railroad Bridge) contrast sharply with nineteenth-century descriptions of the channel that it spans. Named for the dangerous rocks and perilous waters at the confluence of the East and the Harlem Rivers, Hell Gate is surrounded by Manhattan, Queens, and three islands: Wards, Randalls, and Roosevelt (formerly called Blackwell’s, then Welfare). Philip Hone (1780 -1851), writing of an 1844 visit there, described “the delightful scene: the clumps of fine old trees clothed in the gorgeous foliage of autumn, the lawn still bright and green, the mild, refreshing breeze, the rapid waters of Hell Gate covered with sailing vessels and steamboats -all combined to present a picture of consummate beauty.“
– photo by Mitch Waxman
HH, however, feels limited by digital- as do other “old school” photographers encountered during my long walks through and around the Newtown Pentacle. He lugs around a gigantic medium format film camera, which is a best of breed sort of machine. Coney Island Mike, another friend of the Pentacle, also decries the prevailing winds of technological advancement and pines for some 1970’s golden age of film availability and creative darkroom techniques.
I really do see the point, as mentioned above, film does capture and contain more information than any digital image can- so far.
from wikipedia
Construction was overseen by Gustav Lindenthal, whose original design left a gap of 15 feet (4.6 m) between the steel arch and the masonry towers. Fearing that the public assumed that the towers were structurally integral to the bridge, Lindenthal added aesthetic girders between the upper chord of the arch and the towers to make the structure appear more robust. The original plans for the piers on the long approach ramps called for a steel lattice structure. The design was changed to smooth concrete to soothe concerns that asylum inmates on Ward’s and Randall’s islands would climb the piers to escape.
The engineering was so precise that when the last section of the main span was lifted into place, the final adjustment needed to join everything together was 1⁄2 inches (12.7 mm). The bridge was completed on September 30, 1916.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Back at my day job as photo retoucher and advertising industry print production specialist, however, I can tell you that its the digital file that’s going to the printer- not a piece of film. That makes anything shot in film second generation at best. Of course, many of the images I present here are highly processed- shot in raw format, sharpened or color corrected in photoshop, or produced by esoteric digital sleight of hand like “tilt shifting” or HDR.
(all the shots in this post are “straight” shots, raw files which were fed through my normal workflow)
from nycroads.com
PROVIDING A MUCH-NEEDED RAILROAD CONNECTION: In 1892, Oliver W. Barnes, an engineer associated with Pennsylvania Railroad president Alexander J. Cassatt and bridge designer Gustav Lindenthal, conceived plans for the Hell Gate Bridge. Cassatt saw the Hell Gate project – originally called the “East River Arch Bridge” – as an opportunity to bring rail traffic from Pennsylvania Railroad routes in New Jersey and points west through New York City to New England. The project was to also tie into the Long Island Rail Road routes, in which the Pennsylvania Railroad had a controlling interest. Meanwhile, Lindenthal saw the Hell Gate project as his chance to construct his Hudson River Bridge, a suspension bridge with a 2,800-foot-long main span that would have been the longest in the world. That same year, the New York Connecting Railroad was incorporated to help realize this plan.
In 1904, Lindenthal, who oversaw the opening of the Williamsburg Bridge and the construction of the ongoing Manhattan Bridge and Queensboro Bridge projects, was chosen as consulting engineer and bridge architect by the Pennsylvania Railroad, which had just acquired the New York Connecting Railroad. Under these auspices, Lindenthal was engaged in a project to connect the tracks of the Pennsylvania Railroad in New Jersey, the Long Island Rail Road in Queens, and the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad in the Bronx. Although the project allowed Lindenthal to design the Hell Gate span, it would not include his long-sought goal: a great suspension bridge across the Hudson River. Instead, the Pennsylvania Railroad decided to use exclusive tunnels for rail traffic across the Hudson and East rivers.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One of the mantras that I’ve followed since my heady days at art school (School of Visual Arts) where I studied Illustration and Comic Book art is that you don’t need to use expensive mediums to make a good image. In accordance, my friends and I used to draw comics on brown paper bags or whatever other commonplace material we could procure. Later on in life, I will admit to the occasional red sable brush purchase, but by and large most of my “kit” came from staples and I’ve done comic cover art that was colored with Crayola Markers in the past.
I try to follow this philosophy with photography, which is the greatest way to spend money- short of crack addiction- that America has ever found.
from wikipedia
On June 15, 1904, the General Slocum caught fire and burned to the waterline in New York’s East River. At the time of the accident she was on a chartered run carrying members of St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church (German Americans from Little Germany, Manhattan) to a church picnic. An estimated 1,021 of the 1,342 people on board were killed. The General Slocum disaster was the New York area’s worst disaster in terms of loss of life until the September 11, 2001 attacks.[2] The events surrounding the General Slocum fire have appeared in a number of books, plays and movies through the years.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Fantasies about radio triggers and tripods that cost more than my first car bounce in my head, and I fiend for trick and ultra wide angle lenses. I pore over the BH Photo catalog in the manner of a fetishist, but it’s just camera pornography to me. I can barely afford to feed my little dog Zuzu these days, and Our Lady of the Pentacle has suggested homespun garments for next winter. HH however, insists that no digital camera he’s yet found suits him. I suggested either a Canon G10 or G11 to him, or if portability was a consideration- the very attractive Canon S90.
from wikipedia
Amtrak is no longer required by law, but is encouraged, to operate a national route system.[ Amtrak has some presence in all of the 48 contiguous states except Wyoming and South Dakota. Service on the Northeast Corridor, between Boston, Massachusetts, and Washington, D.C., as well as between Philadelphia and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, is powered by overhead wires; for the rest of the system, diesel locomotives are used. Routes vary widely in frequency of service, from three trips weekly on the Sunset Limited (Los Angeles, California, to New Orleans, Louisiana), to weekday service several times per hour on the Northeast Corridor, (New York City to Washington, D.C.) Amtrak also operates a captive bus service, Thruway Motorcoach, which provides connections to train routes.
The most popular and heavily used services are those running on the Northeast Corridor (NEC), which include the Acela Express, and Northeast Regional. The NEC serves Boston, Massachusetts; New York City; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Baltimore, Maryland; Washington, D.C.; and many communities between. The NEC services accounted for 10.0 million of Amtrak’s 25.7 million passengers in fiscal year 2007. Regional services in California, subsidized by the California Department of Transportation are the most popular services outside of the NEC and the only other services boasting over one million passengers per annum. The Pacific Surfliner, Capitol Corridor and San Joaquin services accounted for a combined 5.0 million passengers in fiscal year 2007.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
These shots, of course, were accomplished with my increasingly trusty DSLR- the Canon T1i, but the vast majority of photos you’ve endured at this blog have emanated from the Canon G10. The S90 is functionally a G10 with a smaller lens and form factor, will be dramatically discounted around Christmas, and HH ordered one to try out. That’s how we ended up in Astoria Park. Originally, we planned on walking the Triborough Bridge, but last minute information reached me that the Bridge has a series of “Photography Prohibited” signs posted and we decided that it just wasn’t worth the potential hassles with the law.
That’s what the eggheads call a “chilling effect on civil liberties” in action, by the way.
from railroad.net
As a retired TBTA sgt, I can definetly state that photography IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN on all bridges & tunnels operated by that agency. This edict has been in effect for many years, but it was not strictly enforced before 9/11/01. It is now. Signs prohibiting “filming” are, (and have been all along) posted at all facilities. Summonses can, & usually will be issued (criminal court “C’ summonses) to filmers/videotapers who are seen “filming” on TBTA property (mainly bridges, tunnels and toll plazas, but also in other areas under control of the TBTA).
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Over the course of an hour or so, your humble narrator cracked out a couple of hundred exposures, a few of which were good enough to “show”. HH shot 22. I had mine “developed” and online within 48 hours (I was busy) and HH waited a full week for his transparencies to be shipped to him. Are HH’s shots superior to mine? I still don’t know, because he hasn’t managed to scan them yet. I’m not mocking him, nor deriding film, just stating that immediacy is a selling point for me as well.
As a good American, I crave and demand instant satisfaction, sometimes for urges I don’t know I have yet.
from wikipedia
Ward’s Island is situated in the East River in New York City. Administratively it is part of the borough of Manhattan. It is bridged by rail to the borough of Queens by the Hell Gate Bridge and it is joined to Randall’s Island to the north by landfill. The two Islands together are run by the Randall’s Island Sports Foundation under a partnership agreement with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Together, the two islands form New York County’s Census Tract 240, which had a total population of 1,386 living on 2.2 km² of land area, according to the United States Census, 2000.
Viaducts leading to the Robert F. Kennedy Triborough Bridge and Hell Gate bridges pass overhead. Vehicular access is by the Little Hell Gate bridge from Randall’s Island, while a narrow pedestrian and bicycling bridge, Ward’s Island Bridge, links the island to the east side of Manhattan in Harlem.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The Hermetic Hungarian of course, feels the least melancholy when surrounded by relict technologies. The upper west side rooms he occupies enjoy shelves of watch making equipment and rare mechanisms which originate in the darkest corners of Europe. His current project is to end time mechanically, freezing the world’s motion by the actions of a vast clockwork which he is assembling in accordance with instructions found on a scroll that might be written in Sanskrit that HH claims were scribed by some mad monk.
At my insistence, he has not installed a battery or self winding mechanism on the device, so sleep easily, my Lords and Ladies of Newtown.
from wikipedia
The Bhavacakra is represented as being held by the jaws, hands, and feet of a fearsome figure who turns the wheel. The exact identity of the figure varies. A common choice for the figure is Yama, the god of death or Kala the lord of time. This figure is also known as the “Face of Glory” or Kirtimukha.
There is always a figure or symbol in the upper left and the upper right. The exact figure or symbol varies; common examples include the moon, a buddha, or a bodhisattva. In the picture of the Tibetan Bhavacakra in Sera, Lhasa the clouds take the shapes of certain Buddhist symbols, eg. svastika.
Tombstone Territory
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Just a short posting today, and as you might observe, your humble narrator has been hanging out around cemeteries again. The other day, as I was leaving Calvary via the Greenpoint Avenue Gates, I spotted Ladder 128’s truck (which had apparently just been washed) sparkling in the cascading emanations of the thermonuclear eye of god itself. As I’ve mentioned in the past, the subject of the NYFD and their wonderful equipment reduces me to early childhood. When a fire engine or ladder truck screams past with lights and sirens on, it is a very difficult thing for me not to run after it yelling “Firemen, Firemen!!!”.
from nypost.com
Ladder 128 has played an integral role in the community over the past 100 years, and the stories from within the house were feted as that which makes a life complete by the hundreds who attended Friday’s celebration at the Blissville location. The firehouse covers the areas of Blissville, Long Island City, Sunnyside, Woodside and Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
“Ladder 128 has produced some true strong leaders,” Fire Commissioner Salvatore Cassano said. “%u2026 You’ve responded to some of the toughest fires we’ve had. Members of Ladder 128 have served this city with distinction.”
Chief of Department Edward Kilduff called the centennial a tremendous milestone for the firehouse, nicknamed “tombstone territory” thanks to its location across from Calvary Cemetery, one of the largest and oldest burial grounds in the country.
“This is one of the most diverse areas in the city,” Kilduff said. “You have everything here from high-rises to tunnels to rail yards. The commercial buildings are extreme challenges for anybody. A place like this really represents the heart and soul in the Fire Department.”
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Far away from the carven hillocks of Calvary, along the graven lanes of Broadway in Astoria, that’s Engine 263 and Ladder 163 doing something important that involved the ancient Subway platform at 46th street.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
What I believe is Ladder 136 at the scene of a 5 alarm fire in a Dutch Kills commercial building last year.
City of Marble and Beryl
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Note: One of those things that your humble narrator is guilty of is a tendency, when confronted with something alien or unknown, to “fill in the blanks” via an inexact mixing of logical supposition and impressionist reasoning. The opposite of exactitude, this can result in wild ideas and false assumptions being presented and accepted as fact. I would love to tell you which cultic group these artifacts belong to- but the fact is that I just don’t know. Certain assumptions can be hazarded, based on cursory resemblance and observed phenomena, but they will be guesses. Don’t assume my interpretation of things is correct.
Witness, then, what I observed in St. Michael’s Cemetery on the Saturday before Easter- April 3rd, 2010- right about here.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
In St. Michael’s, there is a hill which faces East and whose tombstones are very old. The graves are in a state of disrepair, and the stones are found to be in a ruined state. This is no fault of the Cemetery, which maintains its grounds in a meticulous fashion, instead it is merely time and weather which have worked their havoc on the monuments. Perambulating through the grounds on Saturday with Our Lady of the Pentacle, we found this scene.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A variety of Afro-Cuban syncretic faiths use similar iconography, but the one which most of the english speaking community is passingly familiar with is called Santeria (aka Regla de Ocha, La Regla Lucumi, or Lukumi). This appeared to be Santeria to me at first- because of the particular color scheme of the candles (red white and blue) and the co-mingling of coinage and sacrificial bones. But the Santeria folks generally do their thing indoors, in a ritual space consecrated and blessed by their own padrinos, just like the Catholics. Graveyards are usually avoided for rituals as they are negative places.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My observation has been that the local latino populations in Astoria tend to be South rather than Central American, and the geographic heritage of Santeria is Caribbean and Central American. Afro-Cuban religion sprang up amongst the African Slaves brought to the New World to work the sugar and tobacco fields who were forced to adopt Roman Catholicism. Voodoo in Haiti and Louisiana, Hoodoo in the American South- all products of the French empire- with Santeria, Obeah, and Palo progeny of the Spanish.
The other great Catholic nation that held huge numbers of west africans as livestock was Portugal, and it did so in Brazil- where Umbanda, Candomblé, Macumba, and Quimbanda originate. Brazil is in South America, of course, and there are tremendous populations of Brazilians living nearby St. Michael’s in surrounding Astoria. This is some of that logical supposition I warned you about…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Folk magic sites like this raise the ire of Eurasian morals, as ritual animal sacrifice is kept out of sight in our modern communities, and commoditized as Kosher or Halal or Organic meat. Blood sacrifice and submission to cultural norms, from circumcision to ear piercings to the elaborate face paint called “cosmetics”, are part of our daily lives. This sort of visceral aftereffect of some unfortunate avian’s end, however, is disturbing. No less though, than a crucifixion or any other blood ritual.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One of the many ridiculous totems tucked away in my jacket pocket is a small magnetic compass. When I began these long walks around what I would someday call the Newtown Pentacle, it served me well, and today it revealed that this ritual space was lined up exactly on the cardinal points of my trusty little friend.
The scattering of bottles, bones, coins, and candles sits east of the stone which is aligned north south in the long dimension, and its anterior face is west facing. This will become increasingly important.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This little package and knife are north east of the monument which I’ll be referring to as an altar. I did not open it, of course, it is against Newtown Pentacle policy to actually touch any of the odd things I come across, like the Pulaski Bridge, with bare skin. This whole neighborhood could use a good scrub, if you ask me.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As always, if you click any of these images- a new window will open up its Flickr Page. Clicking the “all sizes” button found there will take you to progressively larger incarnations- all the way up to “actual pixels”. Check these out, I’ve spent some time trying to figure out what’s inside of the package. Do any of you sharp eyed Ladies and Lords of Newtown out there wish to hazard a guess? Use the “leave a comment” link.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Seeing the blade and little kidney shaped package gave the whole scene a somewhat sinister air, and that’s when I remembered to check what else might be found on the cardinal meridians of the compass.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The western facing of the altar sits at the pinnacle of a muddy ridge, which bears much subsidence. The underpinnings of the stone, and declination of the hill itself, fall away rapidly. These candles were observed.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Nothing special about one of them, the other was unusual. Both red.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The west facing side of the scene, from the bottom of the little hill. Note the tumbled and disorganized state of the masonry. North is to your left, south to the right.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Moving north, a white candle .
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Back on top of the hill, directly east of the white candle above, and north of the main altar.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A green and a pink candle on a dish of “some quality”.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
West of altar, a tumbled monument, with odd etchings on it. Can this be some sort of language?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
South of altar, west side of hill, a plastic bottle with some sort of red/brown liquid in it.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Notice that the ground is depressed here, as if something very heavy- like a tombstone- had been moved recently.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Just at the other end of the divot was this foil wrapped bottle which looked like it had been in the ground for a long time. Notice how the moss grows right up to it.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Top of hill, south side, looking north across site. There are feathers scattered around the grass, mainly just north of the altar. Click here for a flickr page which shows some detail of the feathers.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There was also this upside down cross.
Bacchanal
Astoria Back Yard – photo by Mitch Waxman
The Romans had a name for March 16th and 17th, specifically for tonight and all day tomorrow, and it was the Bacchanlia. A central holiday for the cult of a fertility and wine god called Bacchus, who was a latin interpretation of the greek Dionysos, the Bacchanal (which was originally a gathering of women, but was made co-ed in 188 BC) would take place on the Aventine Hill. Shackles of conventional morality and licentiousness would be thrown off and vast celebrations of oinoculture would be enacted.
from wikipedia
In the rites, men were said to have shrieked out prophecies in an altered state of consciousness with frenzied bodily convulsions. Women, dressed as Bacchantes, with hair dishevelled, would run down to the Tiber with burning torches, plunge them into the water, and take them out again. Their flames would not diminish as they were made of sulphur mixed with lime.
The rites gradually turned into sexual orgies, particularly among the men, and men who refused to take part were sacrificed. It is said these men were fastened to a machine and taken to hidden caves, where it was claimed they were kidnapped by the gods.
The festivities were reported to Postumius who persuaded the Roman Senate to authorize a full investigation. In 186 BC, the Senate passed a strict law (the Senatus consultum de Bacchanalibus) prohibiting the Bacchanalia except under specific circumstances which required the approval of the Senate. Violators were to be executed.required the approval of the Senate. Violators were to be executed.
Lexington Avenue, Manhattan – photo by Mitch Waxman
Just as our modern Republic seeks favorable comparison with the ancient titans of Rome, so too did the Romans see themselves as the inheritors of the advanced cultures that preceded them in dominance over the Mediterranean world, and which they conquered in the most brutal manner imaginable. The Bacchanal was a conservative Italian version of the wild Dionysian Mysteries and the Greek Bacchanal.
from wikipedia
If the Dionysus Cult first came to Greece with the importation of wine, as seems likely, then it probably first emerged around 6000 BC in one of two places, either in the Zagros Mountains, the borderlands of Mesopotamia and Persia, both with their own rich wine culture since then (arriving in Europe via Asia Minor), or from the ancient wild vines on the mountain slopes of Libya / North Africa. North Africa was the source of early Egyptian wine from around 2500 BC, and home of many an ecstatic rite involving animal possession—notably the goat and panther men of the Aissaoua Sufi cult of Morocco (though it is also possible that this was of later origin and influenced by Dionysian cults itself). Whatever the case it appears Minoan Crete was the next link in the chain of transmission, importing wine from the Egyptians, Thracians and Phoenicians and exporting it to its own colonies, such as Greece. Thus it was in Minoan Crete (c. 3000 to 1000 BC) that the basic Mysteries probably took form—certainly the name Dionysus exists nowhere else other than here and Greece.
Ia, Santorini – photo by Mitch Waxman
Even the Greeks, or “Hellenes” as they would have and do call themselves (Greek is bad latin, a derogatory term meaning short legged- Graeki). When the christians gained power and influence in the latter days of the Roman Empire, Hellenes was the term used for heathen or pagan, and so it fell out of usage.
The Hellenes themselves were late comers to the mediterranean milieu, conquering a civilization which modernity refers to as the Mycenae (which had supplanted the still earlier Minoan) some 10,000 years ago. This culture, which is believed to have traded with Pharonic Egypt and Phonecia (also modern terms), fell to ruin after the explosion of the Santorini (Thera) volcano ca. 1600 BC left them defenseless. The Bacchanal, however, was already an annual tradition by then.
from wikipedia
Cultic rites associated with worship of the Greek god of wine, Dionysus (or Bacchus in Roman mythology), were allegedly characterized by maniacal dancing to the sound of loud music and crashing cymbals, in which the revellers, called Bacchantes, whirled, screamed, became drunk and incited one another to greater and greater ecstasy. The goal was to achieve a state of enthusiasm in which the celebrants’ souls were temporarily freed from their earthly bodies and were able to commune with Bacchus/Dionysus and gain a glimpse of and a preparation for what they would someday experience in eternity. The rite climaxed in a performance of frenzied feats of strength and madness, such as uprooting trees, tearing a bull (the symbol of Dionysus) apart with their bare hands, an act called sparagmos, and eating its flesh raw, an act called omophagia. This latter rite was a sacrament akin to communion in which the participants assumed the strength and character of the god by symbolically eating the raw flesh and drinking the blood of his symbolic incarnation. Having symbolically eaten his body and drunk his blood, the celebrants became possessed by Dionysus.
Kalives, Crete – photo by Mitch Waxman
Crete, which is the true cradle of the western tradition, was an important cultic center for Dionysus- but the Cretans are known and commented on historically for their parties. Come and spend a night out in Astoria, you’ll see what I mean.
from wikipedia
The idea of a mystery religion consisted essentially of a series of initiations which benefited the individual or their society in some way. Initially associated with the passage from childhood to adulthood and maturity, they later became seen as what we might call an evolutionary rite. And it was in the form of a Mystery Religion that the Dionysus Cult was first channeled in a more civilized way, probably first in Minoan Crete.
The notion behind the Dionysian Mysteries seems to have been not only of the affirmation of the primeval bestial side of mankind, but also its mastery and integration into a civilized psychology and social culture. Given the dual role of Ariadne as the Mistress of the Minoan Labyrinth and consort of Dionysus, some have seen the Minotaur story as also partly deriving from the idea of the mastery of mankind’s animal nature, though this remains controversial. The self mastery achieved in this way was not one of domination as in similar cults, most famously preserved in contemporary culture as George and the Dragon, and perhaps the original Minotaur myth, but one of acceptance and integration. Thus while the Mysteries did much to lighten the darker aspects of the cult they often failed to reassure its perhaps excessively civilized critics and continued to be regarded by many as dangerously liberative (particularly given its egalitarian tendencies as well).
Astoria Maenads – photo by Mitch Waxman
Fascinating, the way that some traditions just will not die out. St. Patrick’s day is tomorrow, and when you raise a glass to some wee lass in a pub, or go to some drunken revel at a friends apartment, think of the Maenads and realize that you are enacting the bacchanal- and carrying out a tradition that extends back through time. Watch out for the ladies, though, they have a tendency to go a little wild on this sort of holiday, even the prim and proper ones.
from wikipedia
Carry A. Nation (November 25, 1846 – June 9, 1911) was a member of the temperance movement, which opposed alcohol in pre-Prohibition America. She is particularly noted for promoting her viewpoint through vandalism. On many occasions Nation would enter an alcohol-serving establishment and attack the bar with a hatchet. She has been the topic of numerous books, articles and even a 1966 opera by Douglas Moore, first performed at the University of Kansas.
Nation was a large woman, almost 6 feet (180 cm) tall and weighed 175 pounds (79 kg) and of a somewhat stern countenance. She described herself as “a bulldog running along at the feet of Jesus, barking at what He doesn’t like”, and claimed a divine ordination to promote temperance by smashing up bars.
Kneeling upright
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The local supermarket, a Pathmark on Northern Blvd., has installed a device on its shopping carts that lock the wheels when you try to roll them off the property line. A buried wire, perhaps, or some sort of radio signal keeps the carts from distributing themselves around the neighborhood like the Home Depot and Stop n’ Shop carts that can found in basements and garages across the Newtown Pentacle. Once, this was the preferred cargo carrier for New York’s unfortunates, an uncovered wagon for the concrete prairies.
from wikipedia
Shopping cart theft can be a costly problem with stores that use them. Often the carts end up in apartment complexes, low-income housing, bus stops or locations where the person doing the shopping is unlikely to own a car. The carts, which cost between $75 and $150 each, have been used for such purposes as barbecue pits, go-carts, laundry trolleys and even shelters, or they are simply abandoned. Because such losses can be substantial (up to $800 million globally lost every year), stores have resorted to various systems to prevent theft. Stores may use one or more of these systems (i.e., cart retrieval and electronic).
Cart retrieval service
Some stores utilize a cart retrieval service, which collects carts found off the store’s premises and returns them to the store for a fee. The drawbacks of this measure include that it is reactive instead of proactive (i.e., it can only be used once a cart has been taken from the premises), can become costly, and does nothing to deter hoarders. Some retrieval services have also been caught taking carts from the store’s parking lot and turning them in as stray carts.
Electronic
Electronic systems are being increasingly used by stores because of their successful deterrence. In principle, the system is similar to electric fences that give dogs’ necks a yank when they cross an underground boundary. Each shopping cart is fitted with an electronic locking wheel, or ‘boot’. A transmitter with a thin wire is placed around the perimeter of the parking lot. The boot locks when the cart leaves the designated area. Store personnel must then deactivate the lock with a hand-held remote to return the cart to stock. Often a line is painted in front of the broadcast range to warn customers that their cart will stop when rolled past the line.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The cheap wire shopping carts offered to perform the curb to house function today just can’t compare. The bottle and can collectors favor this sort of model, and an iteration of it is found in my own kitchen. It’s not sturdy, quite unstable, and has an incontrovertibly high center of gravity making it prone to unexpected tipping. A sudden abundance of laundry here at Pentacle HQ was instrumental in discovering its load capacity was a mere 80 pounds (don’t ask) which causes the wheels to snap off. A sturdy supermarket style cart carries an unknown, but substantially higher weight.
from nyc.gov
To ready your metal, glass and plastic containers for recycling, rinse them clean and place them in a clear bag or blue-labeled container; caps and lids should be removed. You should place paper recycling in a separate clear bag or green-labeled container and tie flattened corrugated cardboard with strong twine.
Collect glass, plastic or aluminum beverage containers with a 5-cent deposit, such as those for beer, soda and other carbonated drinks, and take them to a local grocery, deli or other store for recycling. (You can also put your redeemable cans and bottles out with your other recyclables where needy individuals may find them and turn them in for the nickel deposit.)
If you live in a building that does not recycle, contact your building manager or superintendent to set up a recycling system for tenants. You can report recycling violations anonymously online or by calling 311.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
To a veteran of the 1980’s and early 90’s iteration of New York City- when 42nd street at Times Square was called “dadeuce”- a time when endemic homeless populations ruled the streets, it is disturbing to see their population swelling again. The local Croats and Serbs refer to the village madmen as “sin eaters”, and the more august members of the community have other colorful terms to describe them. New immigrants are typically less than charitable toward such individuals, but to be fair- their perspective is that of having showed up in this country with just a suitcase and then building a life for themselves within just a few years. It is inconceivable to these new citizens to see an American who would live in such a state, when the solution to all their problems is “work”, an opportunity not available or perhaps denied in their countries of origin.
from wikipedia
The term sin-eater refers to a person who, through ritual means, would take on by means of food and drink the sins of a deceased person, thus absolving his or her soul and allowing that person to rest in peace. In the study of folklore sin-eating is considered a form of religious magic.
This ritual is said to have been practised in parts of England and Scotland, and allegedly survived until modern times in Wales. Traditionally, it is performed by a beggar and certain villages maintained their own sin-eaters. They would be brought to the dying person’s bedside, where a relative would place a crust of bread on the breast of the dying and pass a bowl of ale to him over the corpse. After praying or reciting the ritual, he would then drink and remove the bread from the breast and eat it, the act of which would remove the sin from the dying person and take it into himself.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The fellow pictured above, a “regular” along Northern Blvd., is actually quite mad. I’ve spoken to him- he calls me “Mr. Camera Lens Man”. Back in my merciless youth, a time when I scorned weakness and foreswore empathy, individuals who exhibited similar appearance and behavior were christened Shipwreck Victims. They appear to have been deposited on the sidewalk by some titanic wave, mournfully lost in a foreign city. For many years, I lived on the corner of 100th and Broadway in Manhattan, and the neighborhood had a colorful cast of mendicants.
from nypirg.org
- In its 1998 survey of 30 cities, the U.S. Conference of Mayors found that the homeless population was 49% African-American, 32% Caucasian, 12% Hispanic, 4% Native American, and 3% Asian (U.S. Conference of Mayors, 1998).
- 46% of cities surveyed by the U.S. Conference of Mayors identified domestic violence as a primary cause of homelessness (U.S. Conference of Mayors, 1998).
- Research indicates that 40% of homeless men have served in the armed forces, as compared to 34% of the general adult male population (Rosenheck, Robert, Homeless Veterans, in Homelessness in America, 1996).
- Approximately 20-25% of the single adult homeless population suffers from some form of severe and persistent mental illness (Koegel, Paul, The Causes of Homelessness, Homelessness in America, 1996, Oryx Press.). According to the Federal Task Force on Homelessness and Severe Mental Illness, only 5-7% of homeless persons with mental illness require institutionalization; most can live in the community with the appropriate supportive housing options (Federal Task Force on Homelessness and Severe Mental Illness, 1992).
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Larry “the Wild Man” Hogue haunted 96th street, terrifying residents and attacking random passerby- the Police had him on a revolving door version of jail. This was, of course, before Rudy Giuliani defined the Bill of Rights as containing no provision guaranteeing the right to sleep in the street.
There was Raggedy Andy, who suffered from AIDS, and would tell you as a matter of fact that he didn’t want handout money for food, he was going to use it to buy crack. Andy was meant to take the homeless bus every night to a medical dorm at Riker’s Island, to get his antibiotics for the various infections afflicting his skeletal frame, but the trip from the upper west side would deliver him there at 2:30 AM and wake up was at 6 so he only went 3-4 times a week (or so he said). The original “ship wreck victim”, along with “the suffering man” and my 80 year old friend Bent Willette (who was on heroin since the 1930’s- an astounding run- in her 70’s she started doing crack to “stay alert”) worked the 96th street and Broadway subway stop. On the east side, my pal Ricky lived behind the basketball game in a Third Avenue Irish bar, working for drinks as a bar back and signing his social security check over to the owner as rent for the pile of rags he slept on. An NYU student dormitory is there now.
from the nydailynews.com site, dated May 30, 2009
Larry Hogue, a drug-addicted wacko who terrorized Upper West Siders in the 1990s, strolled away from the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in Queens on Thursday.
The notorious hell-raiser was arrested “without incident” in his old stomping grounds Saturday morning after being spotted on 96th St. between Broadway and Amsterdam, cops said.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
In the angle between Astoria and Woodside, all along the LIRR tracks- I observe long established homeless camps. There’s a well developed one on Shore Road by Astoria Park at the river bank, down at the bottom of the wall. LIC’s empty corridor, and all along Borden Avenue as it tracks toward the hallowed altitude of Calvary sustains a large population of tyvek tents. A few weeks ago I showed you the Black Crow’s nest at Dutch Kill’s Borden Avenue Bridge, and a while back ran a few shots of the troll who lives up the block (he does live under a bridge).
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not making fun of these people, or making light of their desperate plight or calling for the massive powers of the government to do anything at all. Most of the homeless guys (especially guys) that I know are square pegs, or addicted to something, or stark raving mad. This is one of those societal “things” that cannot be fixed, and its a problem as old as civilization. See, the problem is that this population resists being “civilized” (read civilized as a verb) which they perceive as living in a prison. As always, no moral overlays- not good nor bad- just “is”.
Build all the shelters you want to, but all that Raggedy Andy wanted was to just get high and be left alone, especially when it was snowing.
The Newtown Pentacle 