Archive for the ‘Long Island City’ Category
known gods
It certainly has been quite an interesting life.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
No man is a failure who’s got friends, or so they told George Bailey in “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Homespun aphorism and Capraesque cliche notwithstanding, I would argue that having the wrong friends is a wholly different sort of failure which far outweighs the dollars and cents of conventional success. A loner, malcontent, and altogether difficult and argumentative know it all- your humble narrator’s few acquaintances tolerate my presence, but only in small doses.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
You’ve got to use it or lose it, but what if you never had “it” in the first place? One such as myself, bereft of natural advantages such as speed, grace, strength, or athletic prowess on any level knows full well the shame of fumbling, stumbling, and or striking out. The only advantage possessed by me is a rat like cunning, although given my standing amongst the humans it would be logical to presume that I would make a poor specimen of Rattus rattus.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Like some ancient mariner lost upon the storm tossed waves go I, lashed to the frozen deck of a broken life. My wants and desires are nonexistent beyond the purely existential issues of food and shelter, as I have long ago given up pursuit of material success. There is no plan, things just happen, and the daily round is just a series of dull events. Your humble narrator is not at all driven by avarice, vainglory, or ambition in the ways that most are. Just think of me solely as the battered, the disabused, the disenfranchised, and always an outsider- if you feel the strong urge to categorize or quantize me.
Upcoming Tours
Saturday – October 19, 2013
The Insalubrious Valley of the Newtown Creek with Atlas Obscura- tickets on sale soon.
Sunday- October 20th, 2013
The Poison Cauldron of the Newtown Creek with Brooklyn Brainery- tickets on sale now
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
seven lands
Come on Queensicans, we can do better.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Illegal dumping is the native art form of Queens. One has presented ample evidence to back up this bold assertion, over the years at this, your Newtown Pentacle. Saying that, what I recently witnessed along Northern Blvd. was simply a degenerate bastardization of this Queensylvanian mode of self expression. C’mon, no broken cabinetry or busted 1999 vintage computer monitors? Where are the piles of tires? What kind of “Long Island City Art Installation” was this?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This pavement midden was encountered nearby the 36th street R/M station, and I would prefer to think of it as art. The work was composed of a heterogenous collection of paper and plastic simulacra. It looked a great deal like litter, which might have been the intent of the artist. If so, the illusion was achieved and my disbelief was positively suspended. The composition left me flat, however, with its banal and well rehearsed commentary on the post industrial urban milieu.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
When I was a young narrator, not yet humble but instead filled with the vainglories of youthful ambition, an enormous act of social engineering was perpetrated upon my peer group by the government. Woodsie the Owl always reminded one to “give a hoot and don’t pollute” and use proper receptacles for trash, with an impression made that disobeyance of said missive would end all life upon the Earth. This sort of environmentally friendly messaging has been absent for quite some time, and is a curricula which has not been offered to subsequent generations, as evinced by the bold compositions offered by these street artists in Queens.
Upcoming Tours
Saturday – October 19, 2013
The Insalubrious Valley of the Newtown Creek with Atlas Obscura- tickets on sale soon.
Sunday- October 20th, 2013
The Poison Cauldron of the Newtown Creek with Brooklyn Brainery- tickets on sale now
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
psychologically sensitive
Another darkling image in today’s post.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As mentioned yesterday, an attempt to catch up on my many deadlines is under way, hence a single shot with little commentary is offered.
Upcoming Tours
Saturday- September 28, 2013
Newtown Creek Boat Tour with the Working Harbor Committee- tickets on sale now.
Saturday – October 19, 2013
The Insalubrious Valley of the Newtown Creek with Atlas Obscura- tickets on sale soon.
Sunday- October 20th, 2013
The Poison Cauldron of the Newtown Creek with Brooklyn Brainery- tickets on sale now
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
suffocating crawl
Moon crazed scenery in today’s post.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Finally, the swelter and perspiration choked season of summer has ended, as signaled by the appearance of the eye of Hecate in the eastern sky. One such as myself normally enjoys the summer, but the season just passed in 2013 bore more than a passing verisimilitude to tropical climes, weather which produced naught but dripping perspiration and dangerous levels of ennui. The filthy black raincoat has left the closet and hangs upon a hook awaiting a return to duty and its winter campaign. Finally, it is spooky time once again, in the Newtown Pentacle.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Diana is best appreciated when she hangs over the water, say I, lending her bluish glowings to the inky waves of NY Harbor. That glow is the reflected magnificence of the burning thermonuclear eye of god itself, of course, which travels through weird wavelengths on its journey to the water. My little dog Zuzu is often in an odd psychological state during this time of the month. The moon provides a psychological menses for the canine race, during which they are prone to nervous barking and short tempers. Perhaps the keen sensory prowess for which Zuzu’s kind are renowned are cogent enough to realize that which we can or choose not to witness, and that the dogs know something about the planetoid which we dross primates cannot discern.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Selene herself appeared before me recently, her position in the sky during the autumn months is complimentary to the position of Newtown Pentacle HQ upon the earth, and one decided to break out the whole kit and kaboodle to capture her likeness. Using one of my worst (albeit “longest”) lenses, whose already spotty resolution was further degraded by the use of a “teleconverter”, I managed to pull the shot above off somehow. This was a tripod shot, which is a necessity when attempting anything involving the night sky with a somewhat telescopic lens attached. I set the camera to f18, iso 100, and left the shutter open for nearly a full second. The moon is nearly as bright as the burning thermonuclear eye of god itself, despite appearances to the human eye, and it is quite a challenge to capture in a fashion acceptable for one such as myself.
Upcoming Tours
Saturday- September 28, 2013
Newtown Creek Boat Tour with the Working Harbor Committee- tickets on sale now.
Saturday – October 19, 2013
The Insalubrious Valley of the Newtown Creek with Atlas Obscura- tickets on sale soon.
Sunday- October 20th, 2013
The Poison Cauldron of the Newtown Creek with Brooklyn Brainery- tickets on sale now
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
paternal way
Everybody gets better reception than me.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Recent obligation called for one to leave the blessed hillocks of Astoria and enter the concrete bunkers which underlie the ancient village in order to participate in the “mass transportation” craze onboard an electrical apparatus maintained by the municipality solely for the express purpose of shuttling the human infestation to and from the Shining City of Manhattan. Ghastly chance demanded that one would be forced into transferring between lines, an abhorrent but clearly foreseen happenstance. One such as myself loathes these intervals of transit, and wonders. What else may there be, lurking about in darkened tunnel and subterranean vault, down there?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My business in the Shining City was plain and predictable, taking place onboard a boat full of the scientifically minded who desired a close look at the battered shorelines of New York City. Your humble narrator spent some time humbly narrating, and the rest photographing. The event concluded, and the blaring cacophony of Times Square presented itself. Choked with phantoms and other tourists who have come here hoping to see something happen, this has always been the section of New York City which one such as myself likes to avoid.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Back on an aluminum and plastic box, which carries an unknown annual tonnage of primate meat to and from the Shining City, everybody around me was busily interacting with their personal tracking devices. In the name of the black goat of the woods, I never though the day would come that cellular radio frequencies would emanate through the powderized rat feces and clouds of fungal spores down here. This is not a good thing.
- Upcoming Tours
Saturday- September 28, 2013
Newtown Creek Boat Tour with the Working Harbor Committee- tickets on sale now.
Saturday – October 19, 2013
The Insalubrious Valley of the Newtown Creek with Atlas Obscura- tickets on sale soon.
Sunday- October 20th, 2013
The Poison Cauldron of the Newtown Creek with Brooklyn Brainery- tickets on sale now
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
The Newtown Pentacle 