..money makes the world go round, the world go round.. la la la..
..here‘s something funny to watch this monday (and educational too.. i promise.. all that stuff about photographer’s rights etc. etc.)
..um, so, what mall are we gonna hit up next?
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running man
..running man.. that’s a dance move, right?
..the end of the line, it’s friday!
..this here’s 432 broome street (as seen from google street view).. i’ve passed this place multiple times and often see bustling activity going on inside, however, this time, the door was closed and the mural looked good, so i snapped away.. as it turns out (according to google), this establishment is owned by Josh Hadar of Hadar Metal Designs.. and they make pretty wicked bikes.. check it out here..
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henry hudson
..the henry hudson bridge on the northern tip of manhattan.. there’s a boathouse there somewhere to the right.. i bet this looks great in spring.. or summer.. 🙂
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hooligans
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guggenheim
..like a giant eye staring down at you..
..a graffiti-laden ATM somewhere off SoHo…
Answers.com Katsu – (Japanese). In Japanese zen, an expletive uttered by one who has had a breakthrough experience, such as solving a kÅan or realizing enlightenment (bodhi; satori). In ordinary usage, it is a verb meaning ‘to win’ or ‘to gain dominance over’. There is also another word pronounced ‘katsu’ that occurs in Zen literature represented by a different Chinese character which means simply ‘to shout’.
..John Stewart from The Daily Show always ends his show with “your moment of zen”.. well, every payday for me is a moment of zen.. lol! and i end every atm transaction with an expletive.. haha..
..hey mister, you got nom noms for me??
..i hear they have squirrel chips in UK.. ew..
..it’s a friday.. too bad the giants aren’t in the superbowl.. tsk3..
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color your life
..it’s the middle of the week and some of you might be having a bad day because of the weather.. my wife says it’s gonna be pretty crappy in nyc so, grab a cup of coffee, hot choco or what not.. grab a beer for all i care.. just be happy.. 😀
**yeah yeah.. i know.. bad composition.. the guy’s got nowhere to “go to”.. but still i liked how it looked.. so there..
..explored the tip of pembroke parish and found this stairway leading down into the water.. i was tempted to wade towards those small islands but thought better of it.. 😀
..ah, monday.. wouldn’t it be nice if you were at the mall now? 🙂
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the B of A
..taken from bryant park, the brand-spankin’ new bank of america building..
..and..um..
(**copy, pasted, edited from Ivar’s page.. hehe..) I got an award yesterday from a talented blogger/photographer, Ivar . So now its my turn to send this award on its way to someone else. The rules are simple, link to the one you got the award from, send it on to up to 7 others and let them know you gave them an award… At least that’s the rules as I know them 😉
..as what Ivar did, i just choosed randomly.. and to make things easy and fair, i just ran this bit of code below, and came up with these.. 😀
SELECT comment_author_url, count( * ) AS ctr FROM wp_comments WHERE comment_author_url <> '%blu%' GROUP BY comment_author_url HAVING ctr >50 ORDER BY rand( ) LIMIT 7
..not that i totally agree with what this picket sign says, but you get my point.. i don’t want rockets raining down my country’s border either but i also don’t want civilians getting hurt.. so here i am making a stand while sitting on my beanbag..
..protesters at 2nd ave where the israeli consulate is located (taken: 1/3/09)
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blurry skates
..winter scenes..before winter ends..
..skating @ bryant park..
..tgif..
..have a great weekend..
..taken a week ago at the casino.. i got permission to shoot this one from one of the guys in suits so, cool!
..upper left looks like elton john, upper right.. elvis?, lower left.. madonna, lower right.. mick jagger? and a pair of grannies..
..okay, some complained about the featureless sky (including me), some liked the featureless sky (including me).. so i thought of doing a little bit of (sloppy) work and added a blue sky with fluffy clouds.. whee! (now i’m off to bed..)
..there are several ways to go about exploring the islands.. walking, taxi, bus, car, bike and scooter.. the latter option was what i chose during my first day there.. it came with a helmet with the company’s name emblazoned on the forehead, as if to let the locals know that i’m a tourist and a pretty ignorant bloke who’s used to driving at the right side of the road, (they drive at the left side of the road) roads which were pretty skinny, cars were the size of mini coopers.. speed limit was 35kph but everyone was driving faster than that so i sometimes floored the gas on long stretches of the road which was pretty cool, but admittedly dumb.. equipped with a bunch of maps i think i covered a lot of places even though it was raining/drizzling.. i was pretty soaked but had a lot of fun.. and i got home in one piece (despite a few close calls)
..this one was taken on a bay on the western tip of pembroke parish after a 30-minute drive through the blinding drizzle..
..i’m pretty much threatened by any fish bigger than a foot swimming beside me, and as tempted as i was to take a dip, with no one in sight, i thought it prudent to stay clear of the water.. 😀 who knows, a shark might have been lurking down there too.. i think i’ve been watching too much shark week..
Most people don’t know it, but sharks are extremely common in Bermuda’s waters. The good news is that sharks on the whole, and especially the ones found around Bermuda, are extremely harmless creatures which rarely come close to the shore. More often than not, sharks will try and avoid direct contact with humans.
The most abundant types found around Bermuda are the Galapagos and dusky sharks, both noted for being particularly passive. The last reported shark attack in Bermuda was a minor incident over 30 years ago. (…)
..end of the weekend..
..the kiddies are off to school, and the oldies are off to work..
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globe hotel
..and of course i heard about the US Airways crash in NYC.. of the eight flights i took, four of them were US Airways planes inbound/outbound of NYC.. eek!
..walking around the parish of St. George, here’s the Globe Hotel, which isn’t a hotel but is in fact a museum..
..another thing that i liked about Bermuda are the pastel-colored houses and structures.. they’re cute.. 😀
Bermuda National Trust Museum in the Globe Hotel
It was built by Governor Samuel Day c. 1700, on Government land using Government slaves and materials. When his administration ended he claimed it for his own, and a long court case began. Before its conclusion, however, Governor Day died in prison and never learned that his audacious claim had been successful.
During the American Civil War the Confederate agent, Major Norman Walker, had his office here, so it is the appropriate location for the ‘Rogues & Runners – Bermuda and the American Civil War’ exhibition.
..following Elaine‘s advise, I subtly HDR’d this 2-image pano.. 😀
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sir george somers
..after a total of eight connecting flights (round trip), i’m back.. and since i noticed that i was gone for two days, instead of going straight to bed, i thought, “what the heck..”
..and despite the weather, to say that i didn’t enjoy the trip would be totally ridiculous.. in fact, i was out most of the time even if it was raining.. hah! 😀
..and as i was roaming around St. George, i saw this statue of Sir George Somers (info below), in a pose (sans the smile) mirroring my lamentations against mother nature..
Admiral Sir George Somers (1554-1610) was a British naval hero. Born in Lyme Regis, Dorset, the son of John Somers, his first fame came as part of an expedition led by Sir Amyas Preston against the Spanish navy in 1595. He is remembered today as the founder of the English colony of Bermuda, also known officially as the Somers Isles. (more..)
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turquoise?
..i’m here in bermuda up until saturday and the weather isn’t cooperating.. aaargh.. the scenes and vistas that have tremendous potential turn out flat and boring, a series of bermuda images in mono aren’t what i was looking forward to but it seems that’s what i have to do to remedy the booring sky.. or maybe composites.. oh well, work with what you have..
..okay, impressions? hmm.. lemme see, well, the thing that really impressed me the most is the water’s clarity and color.. i mean, it’s really friggin’ clear!! ..and blue..
Why is the sea turquoise?
The sea around bermuda is very blue in comparison to many other places because phytoplankton levels are low. Phytoplanktons are microscopic plants which are found in the water. In abundance, phytoplankton can turn the sea colour green, brown or even red. The water around Bermuda is low in nutrients and therefore there is not a lot of phytoplankton.
..+$1..$13..$0..+$1..$0..+$1..$0..game over..go figure.. 😉
**update 12:03 (Atlantic Time)
..that’s a rather cryptic commentary.. in short, i had a dollar, won 13, lost it all, used up another dollar, lost it again, used up another one and lost it again.. at that point, i gave up.. my 3 bucks lasted me an hour or so on these slot machines..
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biloxi lighthouse
..walking westwards towards the biloxi lighthouse and saw these funny looking birds (i can’t name them) staring out at the sea.. the funny thing was that while approaching them, one bird (the leader, i suppose) would quack or squalk..or whatever birds do, and tell the others that an intruder is approaching them, so they would take to the air one by one (like a sheet of cloth) and slowly land farther away from me (again, like a sheet of cloth).. this went on for about 15 minutes, and i was still thinking of a way to capture the “flow”.. (**i’ve added an extra crappy post below of what i was trying to achieve) well, i gave up and screwed in a telephoto and ended up with this one instead..
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words of wisdom
..went off to biloxi, ms last saturday..took a walk along the beach before feeding the casino’s slot machines..
..i guess the reason why these signs were put up was because of some numbskulls who jumped and hit their head on something..
..the image is something not particularly worth posting but i still have it here because the info that comes with it is pretty interesting.. 😀
Frank Zappa (1940-1993)
Frank Zappa was one of the most accomplished and prolific record makers in the history of rock music. His musical influences ranged from contemporary classical artist Igor Stravinsky to blues great Johnny “Guitar” Watson. Using these influences, Zappa paved the way for rock experimentation. He tried his hands at Classical, Jazz Fusion, Blues, Doo Wop, as well as Heavy Guitar Rock. Some of the musicians Zappa surrounded himself over the years include Steve Vai, Adrian Belew, Lowell George and Terry Bozio. Sadly, in 1991 he was diagnosed with cancer, but still pressed on with the release of his albums. Frank Zappa died on December 4, 1993. This panty quilt was commissioned by Frank Zappa after his 1981 tour. It is made entirely of underpants and bras thrown on stage during Frank’s shows.
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out for a stroll
..here’s another curvy “lead-the-eye-up-the-frame” shot taken on a stroll around Fort Tryon park..
..hopefully, that’s what i’ll be doing this saturday too.. 😉
..enjoy the weekend..
..pretty pooped from a new year’s resolution i’m trying to observe.. i don’t wanna mention it though, maybe later when i have successfully finished it.. 😀 ..in the meantime, here’s some squiggly posts up in the cloisters..
..whee! the “moleman” won a photo contest.. well, technically, i didn’t win it, someone else did.. but the photo that won the competition was “moleman-ey” / “moleman-esque” (or so i’d like to call it..) check out page 42 of popphoto’s january 2009 magazine.. if you don’t have it, then check it out here.. looks familiar? yep, leslie wargo noticed it a while ago too.. it’s the first and second photos of the “moleman series” taken last october.. and alex’s photo won the grand prize! whee! to alex’s credit, he took this shot last july so he had this idea before i did.. i was just a few months late.. wah!
..and while we’re on the topic of talking about the “moleman”, i’d say my main inspiration for starting the series goes out to archie from whateverland.com whose fishtown photo totally blew my mind and had me looking at NYC thru a fisheye.. 😀
..now on to the image, taken from lower manhattan’s zuccotti park, this here’s mark di suvero’s 70-foot-tall red steel sculpture Joie de Vivre, which anchors the park’s southeast corner.. it’s northwest corner is decorated by j. seward johnson’s Double Check, a dark bronze sculpture of a man with a briefcase, which sat in the original park for early 20 years and was relocated after 9/11.. i guess i was subconsciously thinking of archie’s spokes & legs shot when i saw this sculpture.. 😀
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fifth and 53rd
..i’m in a trippy mood..how cool is it to have trains buzzing by the walls..
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bloomingdale’s
..window displays on Bloomingdale’s on Third and 59th..
..i’m pretty much indecisive as to which one should i put to the left.. santa or the tree..? i opted for this one instead.. (no reason whatsoever) either way , it still doesn’t matter.. but somehow in the back of my head something’s nagging me to think about how this one should be arranged.. crap, it’s a monday.. i need a beer..
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unicef snowflake
..hmm.. what if snowflakes were that big..
The lighting of the UNICEF Snowflake—which is suspended at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and 57th Street in New York—marks the beginning of the holiday giving season and exists as a beacon of hope, peace and compassion for children around the world. The New York Snowflake, donated by the Stonbely family, was engineered and entirely handcrafted by designer Ingo Maurer and his team in Germany, and is 23 feet in diameter, over 28 feet in height, weighs more than 3,300 pounds and uses 16,000 Baccarat crystal prisms.
**lesson learned: having your carry-on luggage checked-in at the last minute with a 30-minute timeframe on a connecting flight is a bad idea.. bad Delta.. bad.. 😛
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trump tower lights
..i guess if you want to experience “the city that never sleeps“, swing by during the holidays and walk down fifth avenue or anywhere for that matter..
..today i fly back to mobile.. join me in reminiscing christmas in the next few days here.. lol..
..shot while seeking warmth inside a mall..
..these look like floating “death stars” **i’m talking “cartoon” here..
..start the new year right, bury yourselves in debt.. lol.. these “sale” signs are everywhere..
..wow, my first post for 2009.. i’m pretty bleary-eyed and sleepy from last night.. so in the meantime, here’s the place where some blokes freezed their asses of watching jonas brothers.. lol..
..the times square ball will be dropped down the same time tomorrow as i post this image now.. referencing a clock face, it’ll be at the building located at six o’ clock.. the One Times Square Building.. and the stage where the performers would be is where i stood while taking this shot.. dunno if we’ll be standing there freezing our asses off / watching fireworks somewhere / boozing at a bar / wolfing foodies / sleeping soundly.. i just wish everyone out there a HAPPY NEW YEAR!! 😀
..well, i took a friend out for a stroll around manhattan’s tourist traps so i wasn’t able to get some good shots today.. also, i can’t keep my hands out of my pocket for long periods of time because of the cold.. and so.. (har har) the moleman’s back from the grave..
..this here’s the helmsley building at park avenue.. i passed by this place a while ago and saw that one side of it was under renovation so i thought about posting it here now.. 😀
..some factoids from wikipedia:
Located at 230 Park Avenue the Helmsley Building is a 35-story building straddling Park Avenue. Before the erection of the Pan Am Building, now the MetLife Building, this building was the city’s dowager queen, lording over the city’s second most prestigious avenue and marking the elegant heart of the city as it was the tallest structure in the great “Terminal City” complex around Grand Central Terminal designed by Warren & Wetmore. The building was designated a New York City Landmark in 1987.
**btw, those aren’t dust spots – or dust bunnies, as i’d like to call them.. they’re just flares from the street lights etc..
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train talk
..pretty bad day, i’ve been hit by a train.. lol.. not really, i won’t be here posting if i was hit by one of these battering rams.. it’s just that i don’t get any email notifications whenever a comment gets posted here so it just sucks.. and i don’t want to spend the time debugging what’s wrong.. i wanna go out and walk around.. speaking of which, there’s just a bunch of people here in nyc right now so lugging around a tripod is not so practical so im just boosting up the ISOs in most of my shots (like yesterday).. besides, sharpness is overrated.. hehe..
..i think this one looks particularly cool because of the red circular thingy “radiating” off of the train’s “forehead”.. it reminds me of aquaman talking to the fishies.. 🙂
..smooching at times square where a bunch of cameras go randomly flicking around, you’re bound to be papparazzie’d.. and think of the time i took taking out the camera from my bag, tweaking the settings and composing the shot, they were still at it after shooting 15-20 shots.. i bet they were still at it when we were in the trains.. lol.. 😀
..took a walk yesterday to relieve myself of all the calories i’ve been wolfing down..
..okay, so the guy on the right isn’t showing any butt crack, but still, the position is pretty close.. 😀
..these here are chocolate truffles.. yum yum.. 🙂
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touchdown
..merry christmas y’all! 🙂
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engulfed in blue flame
..i’m running out of titles for this one, it’s just as well because this’ll be the last of it’s kind posted here.. unless i’m fortunate enough to be at the right place at the right time.. oddly enough, i was standing in the middle of a railroad track while composing this one.. lol.. 🙂
..i’m off to nyc again to spend the holidays there with families and friends.. i still hope to be active in visiting your sites as well too, and thanks for visiting here as well.. for the meantime, enjoy the rest of the day.. see you in a few clicks.. 😉
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gazing upwards
..shot at the corner of dauphin street and royal street..
..planned on shooting some local street life in what i guessed was the busiest street in downtown (dauphin) but ended up with nothing.. they were all in the mall shopping.. my timing was off, so i let my eyes gaze upwards like they always do..
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book vault
..still from government street..
..the library..
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bee hive
..back to government street.. here’s a church named ‘the bee hive’..
The congregation of Government Street United Methodist Church, Methodism’s Mother Church in Mobile, began in 1826 on Franklin Street. Called “The Bee Hive” because of it’s activity, it sent “swarms” throughout the city to form new congregations. A brick structure replaced the original wooden church in 1848-49. The move to this corner was accomplished with the dedication of a Gothic structure in 1890. The remodeling to Spanish Colonial architecture was begun in 1906 and completed in 1917. Architect was Mobilian George B. Rogers, and Harry E. Goodhue of Boston created the stained glass windows.