Snows of 2010 and 2011

Just in time for 60° F. weather on Friday and probably the last melting of New York’s winter (fingers crossed), here’s a gallery of night snow images. None are particularly great but you get the idea. Obviously, the most dramatic are the first batch from post-Christmas blizzard. Despite some glitches, New York continued to function fairly well after around 57 inches fell this season. I think I got the dates right for the others but the date stamp on my camera got messed up after the batteries died at one point.

Camping and Stuff, Summer 2010

Here’s a photo dump from last summer. A friend and I went up to North Adams, Massachusetts in the Berkshires for Bang on a Can’s Mass MOCA festival. Unfortunately, none of the performance shots came out and I didn’t take many other pictures while up there.

For Labor Day, we decided to go camping again last minute and Bear Spring Mountain (not to be confused with Bear Mountain) was the only campground in the area that had open spots. We found tons of yummy wild mushrooms in the area mostly growing around the spruces and we cooked up many a mushroom feast while we were there and even pickled a big jar of them!

One night, we went to Upright Citizen’s Brigade and I left my camera behind. The staffers took one of the shots below…

Playing Games at Fat Cat

Musicians prep for a show at Fat Cat
One of my favorite places in New York has to be Fat Cat. It’s a gigantic basement of games (pool, ping pong, scrabble, chess, shuffleboard) plus live jazz music all night long. A large percentage of the clientele is NYU students who don’t give a shit about the music but even so, the atmosphere is usually pretty crazy. The musicians might be jazz students or veterans hanging out late and playing with the kids. If you don’t like the games, have some beer or wine and just dig.

Roof Lawn at Lincoln Center

roof lawn at Lincoln Center
I actually wrote a letter to Lincoln Center in the 1980s saying they should make it more of a hang-out and add more low-brow entertainment further advising them that it would pay off in the long run. Since then, they’ve expanded the whole “Out-of-doors” program and rebuilt the plaza to include this amazing roof lawn on the north side. Ta-da.

Rocks Off Boat Cruise Photos

On July 20th 2010, I went on a Rocks Off boat cruise that cost only $10! What a deal! I took some pictures of the bands (Miniboone, The Naked Heroes, and the Mess Around) but they were all pretty blurry. I’ve seen all the bands before and they’re all great local acts from New York and Brooklyn. I don’t think you’ll find a cheaper rock’n’roll cruise but I highly recommend catching at least one of the remaining rides if you want to blow off some summer steam in New York fuckin City.

Books Love the Kids

In the words of Jim Anchower, I know it’s been a long time since I rapped at ya. I have many photos to sort out and things to think about — and whether I’ll write more than two sentences about these things. In the meantime, here’s a short series from Bushwick, Brooklyn. I took these the night of the Bushwick Open Studios Music Festival many weeks ago. A few may be pleased or dismayed to learn that photos of people are coming.
books love the kids, bushwick
bushwick train station
bushwick train station

Circles of Central Park

columbus circle, night, ladies sculpture
Another shot of Columbus Circle at night. I had a gander around the new Frederick Douglas Circle on the north-west side of Central Park and it is the most austere of traffic circles around the park. It’s lots of large stone tile design and unwelcome benches with little vegetation although that might change. Let it be noted. I’ll get some shots soon… Has anyone been to the Museum of Arts and Design pictured above? Let me know if you want to give it a whirl.

High Line at Night

I finally went to the completed High Line which I saw way before the renovation thanks to OHNY. It’s probably the most unique/odd renovated space in any urban environment. In this case, WFMU was broadcasting a live show. I’ll be back. My old cheap camera seems incapable of taking sharp night shots anymore–maybe because I dropped it so many times.