Posts Tagged ‘Astoria’
Magic Lantern Show
– 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.
Things To Do!!!
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Mr. Kevin Walsh, supreme and unyielding webmaster of the intrepid Forgotten-NY.com will be teaming up with Richard Melnick of the Greater Astoria Historical Society for a walking tour of Skillman Avenue, a street which begins in Long Island City at 49th avenue and ends in Woodside at Roosevelt Avenue. Your humble narrator will be along for the trip, and has been busy producing the snazzy collateral booklet for the trip, and folks- this one is a visual feast.
Photography enthusiasts will find themselves especially pleased, as will the general antiquarian community, as we move through a fast moving and epic landscape crowded with the sky flung monumental relics of an industrial revolution.
Trace the history of Queens from a civil war era rail road station, stagger through the mighty Degnon Terminal, marvel at the titan Sunnyside Yards, and experience the pastoral glories of entering the Sunnyside- all in under 3 miles on Saturday, April 16th at 11:30AM.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The price of this tour, and one just might think of it as tuition, for time spent with Mr. Walsh and Mr. Melnick often leaves one with the sense of having attended a scholarly dissertation- will be $25. This relative pittance, however, includes the price of an informative and handsome BW booklet written by Mr. Walsh and illustrated with photography whose odd style would be familiar to regular readers of this- your Newtown Pentacle.
The intended route is detailed here, or visit Forgotten-NY’s tour page here.
As mentioned, Mr. Melnick of the Greater Astoria Historical Society will be assisting Mr. Walsh, and has vouchsafed a discount of some 20% for the existing members of his esteemed group, bringing the price to a mere $20.
little memories
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Primarily stated, I really have no idea just what it is you’re looking at right now. Was it sitting on the corner sidewalk of 43rd street and Broadway in Astoria on March 5? Yes. That’s the only factual thing which can be presented about it, along with a studied opinion that it’s some sort of ritual object.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One of the local gentry had shown me a cell phone photograph of something similar last year, which matched the style and workmanship of this object in substantial ways. The figurines seemed to be composed of some sort of dough, which brought to mind the exquisite and artistically evolved sculptural artifices of “Dia de los muerte” or “Day of the Dead” celebrations that emanate from the near equatorial cultures of North and Central America (Mexico, Ecuador, Honduras etc.).
Those objects, however, are stylistically differentiated from this.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
What we’re looking at here, and we’ll take a closer look in the following shots, had obviously been intruded on roughly by the hustle and bustle of Broadway with its teeming multitudes. Doubt is expressed that this was the original configuration of these objects, which obscures its meaning.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As mentioned, the obviously hand molded pieces appeared to be composed of dough. Notice the central figurine with the drawn in hair and face, and the torn lottery ticket. Notice also the grains of rice and coins.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Isolated to specific areas, various odd components seem to contrast each other, which is a standard technique in selecting ritual offerings.
The yellow orange powder in the North East corner had the appearance of having been machine milled, and looked a great deal like a saffron powder of some sort. There’s also a bead.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
South East featured a rough hewn clump with a cocktail sword sitting in it and some unidentifiable brown organics which might have once been fruit or flowers.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
South West had this composite clumping, with another hunk of brown mystery.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
North West featured variegation, with a bisected lime, several raw chile peppers, what appeared to be a piece of meat, coins, and rice.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Long time readers know the ridiculous lengths normally gone to at this- your Newtown Pentacle- to explain and detail the meanings of these ritual sites and objects which may be found around the City of New York. Remember the weirding works at St. Michael’s Cemetery, the Grand Lodge of the Freemasons in Manhattan, or the witch knots at Calvary?
This one, however, has me stumped. Anybody out there have any idea what we’re looking at beyond the material and obvious?
Note: All comments are moderated (by me personally), so if you’d prefer to stay private, please indicate it and your message will not be “published” although I’ll filter out any identifying information about you.
weirdly afar
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Long have I harbored secret ambitions to some sort of throne, but ironic hubris would strike from its lurking perch. Rough hewn, this specimen was observed recently on Northern Blvd. in Queens, at the thoroughfare’s junction with 34th Avenue.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This is a difficult retail location, of course, which requires some showmanship and the grandiosity of this chair (obviously a showpiece) made me think about the sort of home decor into which it might blend.
One might expect to find a cheetah on a leash wandering about.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I jest of course, as my personal space looks like a server room, and hums audibly. Personally, I’d love to have one of those Frankenstein lightning things going in the corner, but my little dog objects to the sound of electrical discharges.
Which is how I’d describe this chair- upholstered electricity…
shadowed lips
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The fairly excellent Watercourses blog presents this post on Sunswick Creek, a waterbody which once existed here in Astoria, and still runs to the East River through manmade corridors deep below the modern streets. No, really. Watercourses has been down there and has photos! More importantly, the post also carries two maps from the 1870’s which show the early street plan of Astoria.
You’ll notice, on the 2nd one, a “Ridge St.” and a “Camelia St.”. The road running between them is Broadway, and at its intersection with Vernon Ave. the latter takes a wicked hook and becomes Sunswick Creek XXX (at this moment, it remains obfuscated to me whether this is a street or avenue or road, I think I can hear somebody at Greater Astoria Historic Society sighing right now).
This bit of geographic reckoning, of course, is simplified by saying- “Stevens Est.” = Costco, and that weird mouth of the creek is Socrates Sculpture Garden, and these photos were shot just beyond where that little dock shape is, between the “n” and second “s” in Sunswick. (I also wanted to send a shout out to Watercourses. Well Done!)
Whew!
– photo by Mitch Waxman
According to certain sources, two aboriginals named Shawestcont and Erramorhar (as witnessed by their cohorts Warchan and Kethcanaparan) sold much of what we know as Astoria (but which they called Sintsinck) to William Hallett (who was similarly accompanied by a company of witnesses and countrymen) on August 1, 1664- which is how the place got its name.
For a more complete view of highlights from Hallets Cove, and Sunswick Creek- check out this Newtown Pentacle post from February of 2010, and the “The Horrors of Hallet’s Cove“ from June of 2009.
The very fact that temperatures have risen once again to the point at which the atmosphere can sustain water in a liquid state, by the way, is a font of joy for your humble narrator- as walking the East River shoreline is once more possible for both man and duck. Which means that a winter’s worth of book research can finally be explored materially.
Whew!
I’ll be that weirdo in the dirty black raincoat you might spy scuttling along the waterfront…
The Newtown Pentacle 