Posts Tagged ‘Zuzu’
farewell friend
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Zuzu the dog passed away yesterday afternoon. She was a very good girl.
Note: I’m writing this and several of the posts you’re going to see for the next week at the beginning of the week of Monday, August 24th. My plan is to continue doing my solo photo walks around LIC and the Newtown Creek in the dead of night as long as that’s feasible. If you continue to see regular updates here, that means everything is kosher as far as health and well being. If the blog stops updating, it means that things have gone badly for a humble narrator.
“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.
various candles
Zuzu the dog!
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’m continuing my little summer vacation this week, which actually hasn’t been much of a vacation – truth be told. A couple of projects have landed on my desk, which is good, as my landlord likes it when I pay my rent. Bad, however, as I really just wanted to go out and aimlessly wander around Queens and have some fun for once. There you are. Being busy is a problem you actually want to have.
Single images will be found here, refreshed daily, until Monday the 26th when I’ll resume my complaining and kvetching.
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.
nightmare labyrinths
Zuzu the dog!
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’m continuing my little summer vacation this week, which actually hasn’t been much of a vacation – truth be told. A couple of projects have landed on my desk, which is good, as my landlord likes it when I pay my rent. Bad, however, as I really just wanted to go out and aimlessly wander around Queens and have some fun for once. There you are. Being busy is a problem you actually want to have.
Single images will be found here, refreshed daily, until Monday the 26th when I’ll resume my complaining and kvetching.
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.
intimate setting
It’s National Macaroni Day, in these United States.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Just a summer Friday quickie today, lords and ladies, focusing in on Zuzu the dog. Zuzu has a double coat of fur, which makes the summertime quite uncomfortable for her. Accordingly, whenever Our Lady of the Pentacle is watering the plants, Zuzu makes a game of it and lunges for the stream of water coming out of the hose nozzle for a cold drink and a quick cool down. This results in an immensely wet dog, as you’d imagine.
I happened to have the camera handy one recent and quite hot morning, and was lucky enough to capture the moment.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I love the “freeze frame effect” when a dog begins to shake off moisture, and never so much as when my soaking wet and double coated girl goes into her “barrel roll.” The problem with Zuzu cooling off by lunging at the hose, of course, is that she gets completely soaked. This results in everything within five feet of her getting wet as well as she discards the water.
Zuzu doesn’t actually care about that, she’s a dog.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’ve always found this spiral shake business that dogs utilize to dewater their fur fascinating. They all do it, so there must be some sort of genetic programming behind it which is innate. If you watch it happen “live” it’s all over in a few seconds, but by slowing time down to the tiny increments captured in a photograph the canine procedure is revealed. The head shakes and sheds water first, and then the motion travels down the spine to the tail. Along the way, excess water is released in vortices.
Dogs are fascinating critters, IMHO. Back Monday with something completely different, at this – your Newtown Pentacle.
Upcoming Tours and events
13 Steps Around Dutch Kills Walking Tour, with Newtown Creek Alliance – July 15th, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m..
The “then and now” of Newtown Creek’s Dutch Kills tributary in LIC, once known as the “workshop of the United States.” with NCA Historian Mitch Waxman – details here.
The Poison Cauldron of the Newtown Creek Walking Tour, with Atlas Obscura – July 22nd, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m..
Explore the hellish waste transfer and petroleum districts of North Brooklyn on this daring walk towards the doomed Kosciuszko Bridge, with NCA Historian Mitch Waxman – details here.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
sinister family
“follow” Mitch on Twitter at @newtownpentacle
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Note: Mitch is taking the day off today, and welcoming a guest blogger for commentary on these shots. They were captured recently at Astoria Park while on a “family walk” with Our Lady of the Pentacle and Zuzu the dog. Zuzu the dog, everyone tells us, has gotten fat (even considering the fact that she has a thyroid issue, she has nevertheless put on weight over the winter) and an increased amount of exercise has been called for. Accordingly, we took her on the first of several long weekend walks to Astoria Park, and everything from this point springs from the pen of today’s guest blogger.
Squirrel!
from wikipedia
The word “squirrel”, first specified in 1327, comes from Anglo-Norman esquirel from the Old French escurel, the reflex of a Latin word sciurus. This Latin word was borrowed from the Ancient Greek word σκίουρος, skiouros, which means shadow-tailed, referring to the bushy appendage possessed by many of its members.
The native Old English word, ācweorna, survived only into Middle English (as aquerne) before being replaced. The Old English word is of Common Germanic origin, with cognates such as German Eichhorn, Norwegian ekorn, Dutch eekhoorn, Swedish ekorre and Danish egern.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Squirrel!!! Squirrel!!! SQUIRREL!!!
from wikipedia
Astoria Park, a 59.96-acre (242,600 m2) park located along the East River in the New York City borough of Queens,contains one of the largest open spaces in Queens. The park is operated and maintained by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Situated in Astoria and adjacent to the Triborough Bridge and Hell Gate Bridge, the park contains New York City’s oldest and largest swimming pool. The outdoor 54,450-square-foot (5,059 m2) pool, planned by Robert Moses, was used for qualifying events for the 1936 and 1964 Summer Olympics.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
SQUIRREL, SQUIRREL, SQUIRREL!!!
from wikipedia
As with other wild game and fish species, the consumption of squirrels that have been exposed to high levels of pollution or toxic waste poses a health risk to humans. A recent example of this took place in 2007 in the northern New Jersey community of Ringwood, where the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services issued a warning to anyone who eats squirrel (especially for children and pregnant women) to limit their consumption after a lead-contaminated squirrel was found near the Ringwood Mines Landfill. Toxic waste had been illegally dumped at this location for many years, before authorities cracked down on this practice in the 1980s. The warning especially affects the local Ramapough Mountain Indians, who have hunted and consumed squirrels from before European contact. The hunting and eating of squirrels is considered to be one of this people’s time-honored traditions, linking them through a process of cultural identity to their ancestors, and to each other. On learning of the ban on squirrel meat consumption, one member of the Ramapough Tribe told a reporter, “I feel my ancestry is disappearing, my heritage”.
Today’s guest blogger, as you might have guessed by now, has actually been the increasingly hungry Zuzu the dog. Her keen observations on urban wildlife, as told from a knee high perspective, are always enlightening.
Also: Upcoming Tours!
13 Steps around Dutch Kills– Saturday, May 4, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Atlas Obscura, tickets now on sale.
Parks and Petroleum- Sunday, May 12, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Newtown Creek Alliance, tickets now on sale.
The Insalubrious Valley– Saturday, May 25, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Atlas Obscura, tickets now on sale.
Hidden Harbor: Newtown Creek tour with Mitch Waxman – Sunday, May 26,2013
Boat tour presented by the Working Harbor Committee,
Limited seating available, order advance tickets now. Group rates available.
The Newtown Pentacle 