Archive for the ‘Photowalks’ Category
delicate adjustments
The night time is the right time…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Wandering about Astoria with a little dog called Zuzu, one observes a series of interesting tableaus. Zuzu requires a certain daily amount of marching about, so as to check her “pee mail” at every tree pit – and given her legendarily thick double coat of fur, this is best accomplished long after the burning thermonuclear eye of god itself has exited the scene and the pavement has cooled. Luckily, this puts me out on the street just as the party seems to be getting started for everyone else.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The human hive is surprisingly active well into the wee hours around these parts. Parental admonishment rings forth from open windows, queer foreign voices drunkenly slur and babble in unknown tongues, automobiles operated by adolescents screech along the streets. The smell of curry and burning olive oil are everywhere, along with the occasional wisps of cannabis. Eventually, things will quiet down, usually when the saloon keepers have served their “last call.”
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Lately, one finds himself yearning for elevation over the dross theater of Astoria. Vantage over the scene calls to me, although what one might encounter up here is no different than the sidewalks, except for its lower population numbers. You’ll find drunks and inebriates up here if you look, or forget to lock the door. Once or twice a week, when the LaGuardia flight path carries aeronauts over the neighborhood on the way to their landing strip, an NYPD helicopter will appear and play a light over these tar beaches – likely searching for foreign sappers seeking to cause chaos. Not up to anything more sinister than photographing one thing or another, your humble narrator usually just waves at the aerial gendarme. Zuzu could care less, as she cannot climb ladders.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Upcoming Walking Tours-
Saturday, September 27th, 13 Steps Around Dutch Kills
Walking Tour with Atlas Obscura, click here for tickets and more info.
Sunday, September 28th, The Poison Cauldron of the Newtown Creek
Walking Tour with Brooklyn Brainery, click here for tickets and more info.
half impassable
I’d say I was getting old, as if I wasn’t already there.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A few archive shots in today’s post, as your humble narrator is busy licking his wounds. A tear to the skinvelope on my left foot, a minor injury, has been causing me to walk “funny,” or at least funnier than usual. The changes in my normal gait have, over the course of the last few days, created a few sore muscles in the lower back. This, in turn, has transmitted along the entire spine. Accordingly, today, I’m a hunched over malcontent given to emanating odd sighs and groans whenever a transition from sitting to standing is required.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The foot injury itself is decidedly superficial, a few irritated and or raw spots on the top layer of skin that don’t “hurt” but which are uncomfortable. Unfortunately, the affected area is found deep within my shoe, and walking mile after mile has caused further irritation on the tender spot. I’m a bit like a tropical flower, it would seem – delicate. I can tell you that twenty years ago, I could have laughed off a bleeding hole the size of a ping pong ball, whereas today an overly large pimple is capable of reducing me to bed rest. Summon the clergy.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Luckily, I have a long list of pedantic tasks to accomplish before the computer and a longer list of books that require reading. Unfortunately, infirmity means I won’t be walking that much for the next couple of days in the hope that my skinvelope will regenerate enough tissue to protect the underlying firmament of tendon and muscle. The back thing has to sort itself out, as usual.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Upcoming Walking Tours-
Saturday, September 27th, 13 Steps Around Dutch Kills
Walking Tour with Atlas Obscura, click here for tickets and more info.
Sunday, September 28th, The Poison Cauldron of the Newtown Creek
Walking Tour with Brooklyn Brainery, click here for tickets and more info.
mournful planets
Caedite eos. Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Many times have I commented on the odd causality surrounding certain dates in the historical record. Obviously – September 11 has become the center of attention for NY historians since 2001, but this is a week wherein propitious events seem to have happened over the centuries. To begin with, the European discovery and description of our little town seems to have begun some four hundred and five years ago today.
In 1609, September 12th was the day that a fellow named Henry Hudson sailed up a certain river after having noticed two or three large islands in a natural harbor, onboard a Dutch East India Company ship called the Halve Maen.
Oddly enough, September 12th is considered to be the anniversary of the Battle of Marathon by scholarly sources.
Then there’s the First World War, and September 12th is the day that Gerry decided to dig in – which began three and a half years of trench warfare.
from greatwar.co.uk
From 12th September 1914 the German Army began to “dig in” on the high ground of the Chemin des Dames ridge on the north bank of the river Aisne. The Germans dug defensive trenches with the intention of securing the position and preventing any further possibility of withdrawal. This battlefield area witnessed the beginnings of entrenched positions and the change from a mobile war to a static deadlock between the opposing forces. From this date the entrenchments would gradually spread along the whole length of the Western Front, would become deeper and more impregnable and would characterize the siege warfare fighting of the Western Front for the following three and a half years.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As mentioned in the past, your humble narrator has been writing a bi-weekly column over at Brownstoner Queens.
There’s a few of these posts which I’d direct you to check out, including:
- Thousands of Gallons of Oil Dumped Into the Dutch Kills Tributary This Summer –
A scandalous act, and the impressive investigative prowess of the DEC are brought to bear - Introducing: The Smiling Hogshead Ranch, LIC –
Wherein an urban farm and community garden project on Skillman Avenue can finally be recognized - From High Above LIC –
Shots from atop the Z Hotel in LIC, and I finally get to meet Borough President Melinda Katz. - New York Consolidated Card Company Building –
A profile of the Dutch Kills factory building. - My Beloved Creek –
A boat trip with the AnchorQEA superfund contractors down my beloved Newtown Creek.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Oddly enough, I’ve got this weekend off from tours and obligations.
I plan on attending Kevin Walsh’s Forgotten Tour #83, which will explore Little Neck and Douglaston, in an effort to ameliorate my utter ignorance about eastern Queens. Also, I just received my paper back copy of Robert Caro’s “The Power Broker” from Amazon, so there’s a bit of reading I’m anxious to get into.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Upcoming Walking Tours-
Saturday, September 27th, 13 Steps Around Dutch Kills
Walking Tour with Atlas Obscura, click here for tickets and more info.
Sunday, September 28th, The Poison Cauldron of the Newtown Creek
Walking Tour with Brooklyn Brainery, click here for tickets and more info.
plutonic gulf
Supermoon, September version.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Monday last was when one might expect to witness the so called Harvest Moon, which was coincidentally a “Supermoon” as well. As one who seldom needs a reason to stare at the moon shaking his fist, with camera gear in hand I surmounted the roof of HQ and set up shop to do some night time photographic stuff. Nothing too esoteric was found in my camera bag, other than a 2x tele extender for my long lens, just for those who might be curious. The main bit of required kit was ultimately a tripod. The shot above is looking east along Astoria’s Broadway in the direction of Woodside and Jackson Heights.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Amongst the worst sorts of weather for trying to get shots of the night sky, there were vast seas of wind driven clouds that were boiling about and occluding the moon. Seeing that a break in the clouds was coming and that an interval of clear sky was blowing in from the west, I decided to just sit and be patient up on my roof, so I was soon texting Our Lady of the Pentacle to let her know that I hadn’t fallen off the building and that I’d be up occupied up here for awhile. While I was waiting, I listened to a historical podcast by Dan Carlin about the opening shots of the First World War.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Finally, she popped out into somewhat clear sky, and Selene was wearing her halo. The light from this moon was strong enough to cast shadows, which illuminated the rooftops all around me. The podcast was busily describing the massive Wehrmacht efforts in France, and the absolute heroism of the French armies who were ground into bloody paste before it, while your humble narrator was busily clicking away at the one thing which all humans from the beginning of time have had in common – staring up at the full moon while awestruck by its otherworldly fluorescence.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
ragged and dusty
A few views of “Our Town” in today’s post.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Your humble narrator has finally attained a few hours of sleep, and plans on spending a rare day off dealing with the abundances of laundry which have collected around HQ, then doing some banking, and attending a Newtown Creek Monitoring Committee meeting over in Greenpoint. If it doesn’t rain tonight, one plans on capturing some tripod shots of Newtown Creek on the way back home to Astoria. Things seem to come at me in bunches these days, with back to back events that are followed by long intervals in front of the computer developing shots.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Once upon a time, one was known for his ability to “multi task,” accomplishing several things simultaneously. This is what always made me a valuable hire in the advertising world, but the ravages of advancing age have reduced this quality. These days, one is happy if he can chew gum and walk at the same time, what with the calcification of the jellies in my head and all. Soon, I will be reduced to only being allowed to use spoons, in the name of safety. The sharp tines of a fork will be naught but the stuff of cherished memory.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
All ‘effed up, this sort of whining about infirmity and the advance of personal entropy is the product of too much solitary time. For some reason, one is surprised when somebody recognizes me, or offers a compliment about one of my little histories and accompanying pictures. It is easy to brush aside what you have done, in the name of what you haven’t. Why is it that the “big” good stuff you’ve accomplished is so easy to forget, why the “small” bad stuff can easily keep you awake at night? Others seem to remember the former, while I’m obsessed with the latter. Odd.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
The Newtown Pentacle 