Posts Tagged ‘New York City’
mad and fantastic
Busy bees, and misanthropy, in today’s post.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The insect above was busily raiding Our Lady of the Pentacle’s herb garden one recent afternoon. Accordingly, I chased it around from blossom to blossom with a camera and flash. Soon, it was chasing me around. Such is my lot. The bee was merely attempting to shoo a representative of NYC’s human infestation away, something for which I can hardly blame it. There’s too many of us.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One shouldn’t be surprised at the various indignities and inequities commonly experienced along the daily round, I suppose, given that many of the places I find myself have the word “hell” in their place names. Over in Manhattan’s Hells Kitchen, for instance, this taxi garage was queerly devoid of human habitation. A good start, I guess, but there’s still too many of us.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Down on the Lower East Side, in an area once known as “Jew town,” this laundromat scene reminded me of certain Edward Hopper paintings. The facility was offering the humans housed therein a chance to remove the soils and bodily excreta which had accreted into their textile garb – using a variety of semi caustic chemicals, detergents, and mechanically agitated hot water. There’s way too many of us, and I fear that what this city could really use is a good plague.
Someday a real rain will come and wash these streets clean…
Sorry for the misanthropy, I get a bit “Travis Bickle” when my back hurts…
“You talkin’ to me? You talkin’ to me? You talkin’ to me? Then who the hell else are you talkin’ to? You talkin’ to me? Well I’m the only one here. Who the fuck do you think you’re talking to?”
photo courtesy wikipedia
“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.
cold and humorless
Well, here we are again.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
September 11th is the only thing that can make a New Yorker flinch, a subject which causes all of our carefully cultivated callouses to fall away. City people have thick skins, but the subject is still raw around these parts.
A world ended thirteen years ago.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
War came to New York City that day, and we weren’t ready for it. There were no air defenses at the ready in the defacto capital city of the United States that morning, when the Twin Towers fell. This is something one still finds stunning.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Here’s to absent friends.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
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
singular division
Everywhere I go, there I am.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A busy holiday weekend for a humble narrator, and for you, ended with a humid exhalation of heat it would seem. Ribald barbecue notwithstanding (one grills a mean pork chop), the holiday interval has been personally marked with a stunning amount of photos which were captured during it. There was a Tugboat race on Sunday, y’know.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Additionally, I attended a “Newark Bay” tour with my pals from the Working Harbor Committee on Saturday, so an abundance of new maritime shots are currently being processed here at HQ. Intervals like this one are great, as I capture a lot of images, but also stink as I need to process and “develop” them afterwards – trapping one in front of the computer for days. Still, no reason to complain, as I have a system for turning these shots around quickly, and sticking to it means everything.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Interestingly, I might have discovered a spot where other dimensions rub up against our dross material world, over in Queens Plaza. Not sure if we live in the evil mirror universe, where Spock has a beard, or if our reverse counterparts do. I can tell you that the humble narrator staring back at me from the other side was clean shaven, so perhaps I’m the evil version, as I sport whiskers just like evil Spock.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
This weekend-
Saturday, September 6th, The Insalubrious Valley of the the Newtown Creek
Walking Tour with Atlas Obscura, click here for tickets and more info.
The Newtown Pentacle 