Posts Tagged ‘New York City’
cursed season
“follow” me on Twitter at @newtownpentacle
– photo by Mitch Waxman
During the snow storm on Friday, Our Lady of the Pentacle indicated that she had become a bit peckish and desired a meal. Unfortunately for us, many of the restaurants here in Astoria had wisely shuttered their doors early.
Accordingly, we set off across the frozen waste to find acceptable comestibles. Naturally, one brought a camera along with him.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This will be a week of darkness explored, here at your Newtown Pentacle.
As mentioned in an earlier post, an effort to betray normal sensibility and habit is underway, one of which is to shoot during the optimal hours of diurnal light. Nocturnal Astoria was fairly deserted, at least by Astoria standards, and an eerie pall of quiet hung about the place- punctuated only by the sound of plows and salt spreaders and the occasional exhalations of Spaniard revelry.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Small groups picked their way through the snow, as an obscuring miasma of wind blown ice particles occluded vision. It was not particularly cold, oddly enough, just windy. Road salt lent an oddly oceanic scent to the air, which mingled with those foul humours rising up from the subterranean sewage tunnels underlying the street.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A fine icy powder as it fell, the snow hardly interfered with my lens, as it did not cling to the glass. In the end, it was the always reliable Politos Pizza on Broadway just off Steinway which satisfied the gastronomic urges of Our Lady and myself. An alcoholic drink was procured next door at the venerable Cronin and Phelan pub for dessert.
At only ten at night, the barkeep announced last call, an indication that the storm was growing worse- for if a NYC Irish bar is closing up early…
Also:
Remember that event in the fall which got cancelled due to Hurricane Sandy?
The “Up the Creek” Magic Lantern Show- presented by the Obscura Society NYC- is back on at Observatory, on February the 15th- This Friday.
Click here or the image below for more information and tickets.
energetic struggle
This is the one thousandth posting of this, your Newtown Pentacle.
“follow” me on Twitter at @newtownpentacle
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The other day… or night… it’s all kind of hazy… your humble narrator was afflicted with insomnia.
Having no commitments for the following diurnal cycle, a daring plan was hatched and executed wherein one left HQ here in Astoria and plunged forth into the dark. Perambulating past clustered inebriates, and cab drivers arriving at work and congregating while waiting for assignment from yard dispatchers- a steady path for the East River was magnetically adhered to. Casting myself wildly forward from ferry to ferry, one soon realized that the vast human hive had been crossed and the ground that this veritable mendicant stood upon was none other than… Staten Island.
That’s when the gargantuan Cosco Osaka container ship came into view, shepherded by the Gramma Lee T. Moran tug.
from morantug.com
The LEE T. MORAN is an expression of brute power and utility that belies the refinements of technical engineering below her waterline. There, twin ports are cut into the steel hull to make room for the tug’s Z-drive units. On the floor of the shop they look like the lower units of giant outboard engines. Made by Ulstein, a subsidiary of Rolls-Royce, the Z-drive functions much like an outboard. Imagine two outboards extending straight down through the hull, each having the ability to rotate 360 degrees. That makes even a heavy, 92-foot tug with a 450-ton displacement very maneuverable. “It can turn on a dime,” says Doughty. “The hull bottom is slightly flatter to adjust to the two drive units. By turning each drive out 90 degrees, the captain can go from full-ahead (14 knots) to a dead stop in no time.”
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Awake for what would probably be two days at this point, your humble narrator was a mass of symptoms and early warning signs. Shaking from the cold, my eyes sunken back from fatigue and reddened from lack of sleep, it felt as if a narcotic haze fell over me while watching the small tug maneuver the larger vessel out of the Kill Van Kull.
Nevertheless, the attempt to soldier on was successful and these photographs were captured.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A wearier narrator scuttled back to the St. George Ferry Terminal for a ride back to the docks in Manhattan, wherein another ferry trip brought him back to Queens. By this point, the insomniac possession had lifted and pregnant fatigue indicated that it was time to fall into that same state of involuntary unconsciousness- with its bizarre hallucinatory imagery- which has plagued him since childhood.
Also:
Remember that event in the fall which got cancelled due to Hurricane Sandy?
The “Up the Creek” Magic Lantern Show- presented by the Obscura Society NYC- is back on at Observatory, on February the 15th- Next Friday.
Click here or the image below for more information and tickets.
anxious band
“follow” me on Twitter at @newtownpentacle
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I keep coming up empty at Calvary lately. Today’s examination of the great polyandrion of the megalopolis centers around an odd monument of somewhat ambiguous vintage. It likely dates back to the time of the Civil War, give or take ten years on either side. The face of the piece is in rather bad shape, exhibiting a partnership between natural weathering and acid rain coupled with what would appear to be impact damage.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
An attempt to describe the inscription:
I read the first grouping as:
“In Memory of Jeanne Du– obscured text is possibly a P and a U- Epan in Pau FR– obscured text is likely ANCE or France.
There is a Pau in France, so that means she was likely French!
The stone follows:
“On the– obscured text is possibly 14th- of November, 18- X5, – obscured text is possibly DIED- in the City of New York, November 10 18- X5.”
“In memory of– obscured text”
“John P. Ferr– obscured text is possibly an E. Born in– obscured text is likely France. Died Jan – obscured text is possibly an 18 or 28- – obscured text is likely 1876. Aged– obscured text likely 73 or 78- Years.”
– photo by Mitch Waxman
All attempts at searching for the couple, using variations of Jeanne D’s name likely for someone of her ancestry and variations of the gentleman’s name, failed. This is deucedly odd, as Calvary normally gives up her secrets to me. The monument is remarkable for the double portrait, incidentally, which is a signifier of social standing and material wealth. I will continue to research this spot, which is nearby the Connell monument recently discussed at this, your Newtown Pentacle.
Also:
Remember that event in the fall which got cancelled due to Hurricane Sandy?
The “Up the Creek” Magic Lantern Show presented by the Obscura Society NYC is back on at Observatory.
Click here or the image below for more information and tickets.
passages beneath
“follow” me on Twitter at @newtownpentacle
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Confession is offered, lords and ladies, that your humble narrator has been experimenting all over the neighborhood. Trick shooting, long exposure times, specialized equipment- the whole shameful arrangement has been employed in a vainglorious attempt to alleviate tedium. It has literally been months since I’ve had anything but ground under my feet, and I can’t even remember the last time I was on a boat by gum.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A desire to just go and ride the Staten Island Ferry, braving the cold and weather, forms in me. Too timid to actuate even such a mundane plan as this, instead retreat is made to the usual and familiar, so a scuttling across the frozen concrete and urban desolations go I. An attempt has been underway to utilize some of the older cameras which have accumulated on the shelf, as well as to grow practiced with some newer gear. I’ve also been try and “slow it down” a bit, process wise.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
During the summer, at whatever adventure I happen to be participating in, things pop up fast and furious- photo wise- and speed is essential for the successful capture of a quality image. A dolphin or giant snapping turtle isn’t going to just hold a pose while you fumble around with settings on your dslr after all. Problem is that the speed you develop becomes a habit, a shortcut to the shot. At the moment, I’ve actually got some time to experiment, and I plan on using it.
Also:
Remember that event in the fall which got cancelled due to Hurricane Sandy?
The “Up the Creek” Magic Lantern Show presented by the Obscura Society NYC is back on at Observatory.
Click here or the image below for more information and tickets.
last reserves
“follow” me on Twitter at @newtownpentacle
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It’s all so depressing, but at least I’m having a better time of it than one of the neighbors. He found himself carted off by the FDNY to the hospital the other night for reasons unknown to one such as myself.
A short post today, meant to spotlight what was an extremely difficult exposure and photographic capture to pull off, and all from the relative safety of my porch. It has been a VERY long time since I noodled a photo as much as this one. Worth it?
My neighbor seems to have pulled through, as I’ve seen him wandering around the neighborhood and wildly gesticulating at unrelated strangers since.
Also:
Remember that event in the fall which got cancelled due to Hurricane Sandy?
The “Up the Creek” Magic Lantern Show presented by the Obscura Society NYC is back on at Observatory.
Click here or the image below for more information and tickets.
The Newtown Pentacle 