Posts Tagged ‘Manhattan’
hollow voice
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– photo by Mitch Waxman
The Consolidated Edison facility on 13th street and avenue D in Manhattan famously exploded during Hurricane Sandy. Oddly, just a few months prior to this, I had found myself perched upon the DEP property across the street- when the shot above was captured. Embedded below is a video which seems to have been captured from a vantage in Long Island City (by someone else) which depicts the explosion.
raised place
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s the Marie J. Turecamo, a Moran tug, getting all iconic on the East River. This tug has been discussed in earlier posts at this, your Newtown Pentacle, specifically the posting “Circumnavigation 1” from which the following is quoted:
…along came the Marie J. Turecamo tugboat- a 2,250 HP twin screw tug operated by Moran Towing. It was originally built as the Traveller in 1968, by Tangier Marine Transport which operated out of the Main Iron Works facility in Houma, LA.
from morantug.com
Moran is a leading provider of marine towing and transportation services, a 150-year-old corporation that was founded as a small towing company in New York Harbor and grew to preeminence in the industry. The cornerstone of our success has been a long-standing reputation for safe, efficient service, achieved through a combination of first-rate people and outstanding vessels and equipment.
Over the course of its history Moran has steadily expanded and diversified, and today offers a versatile range of services stemming from its core capabilities in ship docking, contract towing, LNG activities and marine transportation. Our tug fleet serves the most ports of any operator in the eastern United States, and services LNG terminals along the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts and the West Coast of Mexico. The Moran barge fleet serves the U.S. Atlantic and Pacific Coasts, the Great Lakes, the inland waters of the U.S. eastern seaboard, and the Gulf of Mexico. We also provide worldwide marine transportation services, including operations in the Caribbean and periodic voyages to South America and overseas waters.
Another appearance of the tug, wherein it played a similar iconic role and chewed a different bit of harbor scenery was in the posting “curious customs“.
Also- Upcoming tours…
for an expanded description of the October 20th Newtown Creek tour, please click here
for more information on the October 27th Newtown Creek Boat Tour, click here
for more information on the November 9th Newtown Creek Magic Lantern Show, click here
for an expanded description of the November 11th Newtown Creek tour, please click here
20th annual Great North River Tugboat Race
Last Sunday, the race was run on the Hudson River. Your humble narrator was onboard the “officials” boat and the following slideshow is what was captured on the day of. How’s that for a “Maritime Sunday”?
max impact
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Moving through the squamous and tourist choked streets of accursed Lower Manhattan, and heading for a rendezvous with a boat trip at South Street Seaport, a rhythmical thumping began to filter through my headphones.
The closer I got to Pier 16, the louder it became, and that’s when I encountered Max Impact.
from usafband.af.mil
Max Impact is the premier rock band of the United States Air Force. Commissioned in 2005, the band’s seven members perform exciting original music, rock, country, patriotic favorites as well as classic and current pop hits. In addition to entertaining military and civilian audiences in the United States, Max Impact has thrilled troops with their hard-rocking energy and amazing musical versatility at forward deployed locations including Iraq and Afghanistan.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A military band, Max Impact was playing a medley of rock anthems to an interested crowd of European and Chinese tourists which didn’t quite know what to make of a group of American military personnel performing Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing”.
Your humble narrator too, found this a bit odd, but no less so than any of the other bizarre allocations that my tax dollars go to.
also from usafband.af.mil
Technical Sgt. Matthew R. Geist is a guitarist with Max Impact, The United States Air Force Band, Washington, D.C. In addition to his performing duties, he serves as music director for his flight. Originally from Chicago, his career in the Air Force began in 1995 when he served in the Band of the West, Lackland AFB, Texas. From 2004-06 he served with the Band of Liberty, Hanscom AFB, Mass.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
They were actually pretty good- technically precise- in the manner of studio musicians. They didn’t miss a beat, and were perfectly in tune with each other. Of course, this is what soldiers do. Max Impact is officially part of the United States Air Force Military Band.
It seems there are several “units” within the band, specialized into music genre or style operations- classical, jazz, country etc.
also from usafband.af.mil
Master Sgt. Shani Prewitt is a vocalist with the Max Impact, The United States Air Force Band, Washington, D.C. In addition to her performance duties, Sergeant Prewitt is the assistant noncommissioned officer in charge of the Singing Sergeants. Originally from Staunton, Va., her career in the Air Force began in 1990.
Before joining the Air Force, Sergeant Prewitt was a vocalist at Kings Dominion, Busch Gardens, Opryland and Disneyland.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A little online research afterward revealed that this unit performs for troops deployed oversea and here at home, and seems to be particularly popular with front line soldiers. In the case of the Air Force, front line means their Special Operations tactical units (analogous to other Special Forces like the Green Berets or Seals in the Army or Navy).
from usafband.af.mil
Master Sgt. Ryan L. Carson is a vocalist with Max Impact, The United States Air Force Band, Washington, D.C. In addition to his performance duties, Sergeant Carson is the Air Force District of Washington/11th Wing protocol liaison for the Band’s Outreach office. He is originally from Rapid City, S.D.
A 1999 graduate of the University of Wyoming, Sergeant Carson earned a Bachelor of Music degree, specializing in voice performance. While there, he garnered a first place award at the Colorado/Wyoming National Association of Teachers of Singing Competition, and was also named Outstanding Male Vocal Jazz Soloist at the University of Northern Colorado Jazz Festival. Sergeant Carson was also a Distinguished Graduate and Commandant Award Finalist at the Non-Commissioned Officers Academy in 2003.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
They went from playing pop music over to their own compositions, which were a bit edgier.
You already paid for them, so might as well download a sampling of Max Impact’s recordings, which can be accessed at this page
additionally, here’s a Max Impact video produced for the Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC.)
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