The Newtown Pentacle

Wednesday

– photo by Mitch Waxman

Every time that I try to say what kind of a bird a bird is, I screw it up, so I just make up names for them. I also think that birds are uniformly dicks, and would take my eyes if they could. This bird prejudice is a problem for me, as the Audubon Society can be harsh, and I shot these photos at the National Aviary where these flying lizard things are venerated.

Never forget, birds are jerks.

Those two are obviously Flamingos, but I didn’t see any signage to suggest what sort of Flamingo they were, so I’m just going to say ‘Variegated Antarctic Flamingo.’ They must really stand out against the permafrost and glaciation with their bright colorations.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

Dual lobed Snail Gobblers. That’s what I’d name those two, which are actually and probably Pelicans. Simply known as gobblers to the world’s fishermen, these things.

They’re the National Pelicans, I would point out, as they’re housed at the National Aviary – which was so named by an act of Congress, which was signed into law by a President.

Remember that? Law? Process? Democracy? Predictability?

– photo by Mitch Waxman

A Five Eyed Cumulonimbus Hen, that’s what I’d call that thing above.

It was actually pretty neat having these evil eye stealing critters roam around during the event. There were ‘no touching’ signs and a goodly number of staff volunteers were watching out for their charges.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

A songbird room absolutely captivated Our Lady for a bit.

Me? As stated, I think birds are assholes. Feathered lizards who will take your eyes and shit on you from high above. Maybe I’m scarred by all the Canada Goose problems I’ve experienced over the years.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

That character up there, and this time around there was sign, is a juvenile Bald Eagle. Teenagers, huh?

As mentioned, your humble narrator is also not a fan of being caught up in the tidal flow of a crowd of humans. The Aviary began to really fill up towards the end of our visit, and it was clearly time to start heading for the exit.

As a rule, I don’t do crowds. You’ll never see me at a protest march or a stadium concert. I’ve talked about this particular wrinkle in my psyche before, and an obsessive need to know where the fire exits are when in public spaces. When I stay in a hotel, I walk into the hallway and close my eyes, and then count how many doors it is to get to the fire exits. Just in case.

I know…

– photo by Mitch Waxman

When I shot this one, your humble narrator was thinking about the implied metaphor of the National Birds above. The one looking left seems indignant, and is completely ignoring the one on the right, which has its head up its ass.

Of course, a cigar is just a cigar. Don’t assign meaning or interpretation to images. That’s for the person looking at the photo to do.

Back tomorrow.

“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle

Buy a book!

“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.

Tuesday

– photo by Mitch Waxman

Recent endeavor found your humble narrator, in the company of Our Lady of the Pentacle, on Pittsburgh’s North Side at a fundraiser event for the National Aviary. Read all about the Aviary at Wikipedia, or visit their site to hear it from the horse bird’s own mouth.

It was quite a party, with a tropical theme, and there was food and drink and entertainments involved as well. To wit, upon our arrival, a lion dancer troop were busily starting a performance.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

A locomotive trench, which I often shoot Norfolk Southern rail traffic along, is next to the Aviary’s property which is similarly located in Allegheny Commons Park, so this isn’t an altogether unfamiliar spot to me. Saying that, I knew that the Aviary was here, but circumstance hadn’t carried me and the camera here as of yet. Normally, spots like this are filed under ‘winter stuff’ for me.

Museums, zoos, interior spaces, churches. Winter stuff.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

This was a pretty well attended fund raiser. After getting the ubiquitous wrist bands, we entered the facility. They had bar and food set-ups, but I have to mention that the ‘way finding’ here was just awful.

Those ‘you are here’ wall maps you often see in public spaces like hospitals and museums would have been helpful to move the crowd along but… alas. There were, therefore, hundreds of people congealing and crowding wherever they first discovered a bar or catering style table.

This sort of event planning thing annoys me, and it is one of the many subjects which I’d jump and down about when doing tours and galas and all that back in the Non-Profit sweatshops of NYC. ‘You enter the event,’ ‘what happens then?’ Where do I send you, what will you find, where are the bathrooms? Where do we want them to leave their money behind?

You really need to figure all this stuff out in advance before the guests arrive. Every time is somebody’s first time there, so plan on that too. Greeters shouldn’t be clustered around the entrance, rather stationed at strategic points along the route you want to the guests to ‘discover.’

I have spoken.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

There’s a series of environmental set ups at the National Aviary, with this wetland one hosting a number of smaller critters. They’re flying around, and walking around, in the same area which the guests are. Neat.

If you’re wondering, tomorrow. Tomorrow is when you see all birds. Today is when you see the Aviary.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

Ok, here’s a few of the birds.

I was walking around with the wide angle 16mm lens on at this particular moment. Nobody likes hearing what I’m carrying in my camera bag more than Our Lady, and she was absolutely ‘rizzed’ by my lens choices. So exciting.

Her husband can be sooooo entirely pedantic when discussing his gear, which is part of why Our Lady is so long suffering.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

I’m told that’s some kind of duck up there in that shot above.

This was a social event, so I was trying to travel light and left the heavy zoom lenses at HQ. I had a very basic kit with me – an 85mm f2, a 35mm f1.8, and the 16mm f2.8. This is the core of my night kit tools, as I figured (correctly) that it would be dark inside – as far as the amount of light that a camera would need. See? Pedantic.

Tomorrow – lotsa boids.

“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle

Buy a book!

“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.