Friday Fotos – East River Views

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During my two month stay in New York City in 2010, one of my favorite places to hang out on Friday evenings was Pier 17, one of the last remnants of the extensive pier system that jutted into the waters of the Hudson and East Rivers.

As the sun set in the west, a beautiful golden glow would light up the buildings along the Brooklyn side of the East River.

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As an added bonus, Friday evenings at 6pm also saw a weekly roster of great indie bands from New York and elsewhere playing free gigs from the small stage set up on the pier. Pier 17 was always packed with office workers winding down at the end of the working week, and visitors enjoying the vibe and the stunning views of the Brooklyn Bridge.

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As I have written elsewhere on this site (Brooklyn Hidden Harbor Tour,  and Up A Lazy River to Bear Mountain), I have a particular fascination – some might call it a fetish – with rivers and water borne activities, and another of the pleasures of sitting at the end of Pier 17 was watching the constant too-ing and fro-ing of pleasure boats, working boats and other marine activity on the East River.

Below: a river barge (out of view) is being pushed up the East River by the tugboat Calusa Coast. From whence have they come, and to where are they going? And what are they transporting?

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Below: I never did take this Friday evening river cruise, but next time I think I will add it to my list of ‘things to do in New York City on a Friday night’ – or indeed any evening the vessels heads out for a cruise up the East River.

Note: Click on images to view full size

Eating Vegetarian or Vegan in Adelaide

Renae Melnyk from London, England has generously provided a bunch of vegetarian and vegan eating spots around Adelaide for those visitors and locals who have made the commitment to this type of fare.

Renae writes: I find that the best places are usually the places that aren’t listed on Happy Cow – the places that aren’t vegetarian/vegan but have options. Here is my locals guide to being vegan in Adelaide!

Thanks to Renae for posting this information to the Adelaide Couchsurfers forum. I’m sure it will be much appreciated. Here are her recommendations.

Breakfast/Brunch

Hawker Street Café
- 22 Hawker Street, Bowden: beautiful café with a great community vibe and cute outside setting out the back. Wonderful coffee with option of organic soy milk. Do a wonderful vegan or vegetarian big breakfast, plus the crew working there are wonderful/total babes. Warning though, kitchen closes at 1:30pm on weekends, so don’t sleep in too late! Make sure you try the house made baked beans on the weekend!

Queen Street Café
– Elizabeth Street, Croydon: gorgeous, bustling café in a cool little suburb. Great coffee, good vegetarian options. Vegans, ask for the ‘Lewis special’ or go the clay pot beans sans egg. A tad pricey. Soy pot of chai is a definite winner.

Brown Dog Café
– Goodwood Road, Goodwood: The BEST little courtyard out the back to laze in on a Sunday morning! Vegetarian breaky that can be made vegan on request – yum!

Nano to go
– Ebenezer place, CBD: bust, trendy café just off Rundle Street. Good vego options, good coffee, vegans go for the mixed bruschetta made vegan.

Bliss Organic Garden Café
– 7 Compton Street, City: Good food and a nice setting, however the owners are not very nice to their staff and have some whack ideals, so I tend to avoid this place. If going for breaky try the tofu scramble, pancakes or the Bliss Big Breakfast. Pretty pricey though and service can be very slow. All vegan.

Lunch

Thea
– Gawler Place, CBD: A wonderful haven to escape the city rush! Mostly vegan menu. Make sure you try a flavoured iced tea – my favourites are grape or grapefruit. Best dishes are Thea cold noodles (vegan, but not specified so on the menu as the noodles used state “may contain traces of egg”), crispy Hainan rice (get a side of peanut sauce to go with) and sweet and sour thing. Get a side of yam samosas too, yum!! Open Mon-Fri., 11-4 and Friday nights.

Vego n Lovin’ It
–Rundle Street, CBD: The BEST burgers! My favourite is the Mexican with added cucumber and avocado. Make sure you try the smoothies too! Apricot mixed with chocolate is AMAZING! Can be hard to find, it is upstairs through a small yellow doorway, look up for the mosaic sign. Can be busy. All vegan. Only open Mon-Fri., 11-3.

Zen House
– Bent Street, CBD (Just off Rundle st): Mock meat dishes and a wide variety of teas. Favourites are vegan SFC burger with satay sauce, mee goreng and cold salad noodles. Open for lunch and dinner most days.

Burp Burritos
– Hindley Street, CBD: Vegan and vego burritos or tacos. I love the el vegan burrito with mango and corn salsa. Mmm!

Also
Vegetarian Garden, Renaissance Arcade, just off Rundle Mall: You MUST try the Laksa here! Cheap and tasty!

Bent Street, CBD (Just off Rundle St): Mock meat dishes and a wide variety of teas. Favourites are vegan SFC burger with satay sauce, mee goreng and cold salad noodles. Open for lunch and dinner most days.

Click images to purchase directly via Amazon.Com

Dinner

Wah Hing
– Gouger Street, CBD: Asian restaurant with vegetarian /vegan options. Best dishes are salt and pepper eggplant (a MUST try), salt and pepper tofu and BBC (bean curd, broad bean and Chinese chutney). Good for a cheap dinner with friends!

Goodlife Organic Pizza
– various locations, Glenelg, Hutt Street CBD and O’Connell St., Nth Adelaide: Two vegan options; a roast veg pizza and a mushroom pizza, ask for it made vegan. The garlic bread is sooo yummy and also vegan. A tad pricey, but worth it.

Falafel House
– Hindley St, CBD: good for take away quick snack/dinner. The falafel burger is only 5 bucks and tasty as!

Café Michael 2
– Rundle St, CBD: The best Thai food in Adelaide. Ask the waiting staff and they’ll be happy to let you know what can be made vegan. The Tom Yum soup is really, really good.

Also
Burger It: O’Connell St, North Adelaide has several vegetarian burgers with vegan options. Chips are vegan. Try with the relish or satay sauce.

Dessert

Eggless
– Goodwood Road, Goodwood: Open Weds-Sun from 8pm. Make sure you get here early or else you’ll have to wait for a table as it gets quite busy! Menu changes every month and generally half of the menu is vegan or can be made vegan. Good selection of drinks and a few savouries as well.

Chocolate Bean
– Union St, CBD (just off Rundle St): Great selection of hot and cold chocolate drinks with a wonderful variety of flavours (e.g. gingerbread, coconut, caramel) which can all be made vegan. Often have vegan chocolate truffles. Good selection of vegan cupcakes, a vegan peanut butter cheesecake, and my favourite – choc hazelnut praline mousse cake. Yumm!

Dragonfly Bar
–Victoria Square, CBD: Not a dessert place as such, but a gorgeous little cocktail bar with clearly labelled vegan bar snacks like edamame!

Coffee

Bar 9
– Glen Osmond Road: a ten minute bus ride from town, but well worth it! The coffee here is just amazing!

– Coffee Branch
Leigh St, CBD (just off Hindley Street). Amazing, amazing, amazing, amazing, amazing.

Also: Hawker Street Café/Queen St Café (see Breakfast/Brunch above).

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Here is a small selection of Vegetarian cookbooks if you want to explore this type of cooking - and eating further.

Click images to purchase directly via Amazon.Com

Tribute In Light

Click to view full size

Tribute In Light. September 6, 2011. © Kirsten Shiller.

Just days out from the 10th anniversary of September 11, 2001 attacks and preparations for commemoration ceremonies are reaching fever pitch across the United States, and in New York in particular.

I love this image by Kristen Shiller, who maintains On The Street as “…a place for me to share some of my favorite photos from around town.” In Kristen’s case, ‘town’ is New York City where Kristen is “…an urban planner and amateur photographer.”

Check out Kristen's sites:
http://wtcrising.tumblr.com/
http://web.me.com/kmshill/OntheStreet/

Follow her on social media:
http://twitter.com/kmshill
http://flickr.com/kmshill 

Three (More) New York City Cultural Institutions

Image: Hayagriva in gilded and painted copper. Mongolia, 18th century. Copyright © 2005, Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art. All rights reserved.

In August I wrote about Three New York City CulturalInstitutions (the China Institute, Japan Society and the Korea Society), and thought I’d follow it up today with a look at several more.

As I wrote then: There is more to New York City than tall buildings, the bright lights of Times Square, and free rides on the Staten Island Ferry. Visitors and locals looking for something on the road less travelled might consider a visit to one of these three cultural institutions [which] help add something unique to any New York visit.

In that spirit then, here are three other institutions that locals and visitors to New York might want to explore further.

Jacques Marchais Museum ofTibetan Art
The Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art, is located on Staten Island. The museum (which officially opened in 1947), is home to one of America’s most extensive collections of Himalayan artefacts. It was created by Jacques Marchais, an American woman, to serve as a bridge between the West and the ancient cultural traditions of Tibet and the Himalayan region.

Marchais designed her center so well that the Dalai Lama praised the museum for its authenticity when he visited in 1991. The museum resembles a rustic Himalayan monastery with extensive terraced gardens and grounds and a fish and lotus pond.

As well as a changing program of permanent and special exhibitions and displays, the museum runs regular classes in guided meditation, Tai Chi, and mini retreats. Information about these can be found on their website.

Visiting
Address: 338 Lighthouse Avenue, Staten Island, New York
Phone: 718-987-3500

Summer Hours: April-November
Wednesday to Sunday
1:00 PM– 5:00 PM. On Sundays the last admission time is 4:30 PM. Note: if visiting via the Staten Island Ferry, you are advised to take a ferry that leaves before 2:30PM as it takes a while to reach the museum using public transport.

Admission
Members - Free
Adults - $6
Seniors (60 and over)/Students - $4
Children under 6 - Free

More Information
Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art...
Wikipedia…

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The Center for Jewish History 

Established in 2000, the Center for Jewish History is a partnership of five organizations of Jewish history, scholarship, and art which are all based in Manhattan.

The organizations are the American Jewish Historical Society, the American Sephardi Federation, the Leo Baeck Institute, the Yeshiva University Museum, and the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. The Center is also an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution.

Located at 15 West 16th Street, Manhattan, the Center's collections include more than 100 million documents, 500,000 books and thousands of art objects. Today, the Center is heavily involved with the preservation of records that define important moments in Jewish immigration to New York City.

The collection includes the original handwritten copy of Emma Lazarus' 1883 "Give me your tired, your poor" poem that was later inscribed on the base of the Statue of Liberty, Sandy Koufax's Brooklyn Dodgers jersey, a letter from Thomas Jefferson to New York's oldest Jewish congregation, the first Hebrew prayer books printed in America, and correspondence from Sigmund Freud, Albert Einstein and Franz Kafka.

The collection also includes pieces of art, textiles and ritual objects, as well as music, films and photographs.

Visiting
Address: 15 West 16th Street, Manhattan, New York, NY
Phone: 212-294-8301

Free Gallery Spaces
Monday and Wednesday, 9:30am - 8:00pm
Tuesday and Thursday, 9:30am - 5:00pm
Friday: 9:30am - 3:00pm.
*Free Gallery Spaces do not include the Yeshiva University Museum exhibits

Yeshiva University Museum
Monday, Free 5:00pm - 8:00pm
Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday 11:00am - 5:00pm
Wednesday, 11:00am - 8:00pm (Free 5:00pm - 8:00pm)
Friday, Free 11:00am - 2:30pm
Note: The Center for Jewish History is closed on Saturday, all major Jewish holidays, and all major national holidays.

More information
TheCenter for Jewish History...
Wikipedia…

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Studio Museum in Harlem

The Studio Museum in Harlem is the nexus for artists of African descent locally, nationally and internationally and for work that has been inspired and influenced by black culture.

Since opening in a rented loft at Fifth Avenue and 125th Street in 1968, the Studio Museum in Harlem has earned recognition as a catalyst for promoting the works of artists of African descent.

The scope of the Studio Museum includes exhibitions, an Artists-in-Residence program, education and public programming, a permanent collection, and archival and research facilities.

The Studio Museum's permanent collection contains over 1,600 works, including drawings, pastels, prints, photographs, mixed-media works and installations. It comprises works created by artists during their residencies, as well as pieces given to the Museum to create an art-historical framework for artists of African descent. The Museum is the custodian of an extensive archive of the work of photographer James VanDerZee, the quintessential chronicler of the Harlem community from 1906 to 1983.

More Information
Address: 144 West 125th Street, New York, New York
Phone: (212) 864-4500

Museum Hours:
Thursday: 12pm-9pm
Friday: 12pm-9pm
Saturday: 10am-6pm
Target Free Sunday: 12pm-6pm                       

Location
The Studio Museum in Harlem is located in Manhattan at 144 West 125th Street between Lenox Avenue (Malcolm X Boulevard) and Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Boulevard (7th Avenue).

Admission
Suggested donation: Adults $7.00
Seniors and students (with valid ID) $3.00
Free for members and children under 12
Target Free Sundays: Free admission every Sunday thanks to the support of Target

More Information

StudioMuseum in Harlem website…

Wikipedia…

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The Viewing List #1

Photograph by Damon Winter

Yesterday’s Reading List is complemented today by our Viewing List – a selection of slide shows and video’s that have caught our attention and interest while trawling across the far reaches of the Internet over the past week.

Ironworkers of the Sky

For those readers lucky enough to live in New York and who have had an opportunity to watch the building of the new World Trade Center over the past three of four years, I hope you have taken the time to spare a thought for the thousands of workers who have been labouring day and night on the new tower.

The New York Times online has a great feature on the new 1 World Trade Center, and the men who are responsible for its construction. The photograph above is one of many that can be seen in a video entitled TheSky Cowboys, which features the photography of Damon Winter.

You can also view some of Damon’s images in the eleven image slideshow, Raising High Steel Atop 1 World Trade Center by following this link…

Note: Although initially available online at no cost, much of the New York Times’ online content is eventually available only by subscription. As of this posting date, the above video and slideshow is freely available, but may not be when you try to access the content.

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Blade Runner Convention Reel (1982)

With talk of prequel to Ridley Scott’s classic Sci-Fi masterpiece Blade Runner doing the rounds online, this thirteen minute featurette produced by M. K. Productions was used to promote the film through America’s horror, fantasy and sci-fi conventions.

The short promotional film features interviews with Ridley Scott, Syd Mead (visual futurist), and Douglas Trumbull (special effects), gives viewers some insight into the making of the Blade Runner universe.

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Time Lapse New York
This time lapse film by James Ogle uses hundreds of New York City images woven together to create a lovely homage to the "city that never sleeps". I don't know how long it took James to put the film together or how many images were used, but it flows together beautifully, and on viewing it, I immediately wished I was back in New York again, seeing this amazing city with my own eyes.

Most of the iconic buildings and locations you associate with New York are here: the Brooklyn Bridge, Times Square, Grand Central Terminal, Staten Island Ferries, and of course the Statue of Liberty among many others.

TIP: Click on the cluster of four arrows (located between the letters HD and the word VIMEO) to enlarge the video to full screen view for optimum viewing pleasure.

new york city. from James Ogle on Vimeo.

The Reading List #1

A weekly roundup of some of the more interesting news, advice and information I discovered during my online rambles.

20 Reasons to Travel by Train (by Kim Mance).

Kim provides 20 good reasons to travel by train instead of by air in this post on Gadling. Here are just five compelling reasons:

1.  Downtown to Downtown – Saving on cab fare, rental cars or time spent commuting from airports on the outskirts of a city is a definite train travel perk.
2. Leg Room – Tall people sometimes have to pay extra to bring their legs along while traveling. In contrast, regular economy class on a train comes with space for my legs to happily accompany me at no extra cost.
3. Unrestricted Tech and Comfort – Smart phones, iPods, laptops, DVD players and other electronic devices are unrestricted from the time you step foot on a train until you get off.
4. Private Cabins – On a long train it's splendid to curl up in bed and sleep like you mean it... Plus, it's fun for a little hanky panky ... and much easier to deal with than the logistics of joining the Mile High Club.
5. More Luggage, Less Fees – You'd have to bring a startling amount of luggage to be charged extra for it on a train, while fees for even one checked bag has become the norm for most airlines.

Read more... >

The Grand Canyon: How To Get The Most From A Short Trip (by Andy Murdock, Lonely Planet Author).

Sadly, most visitors to the Grand Canyon only spend a few hours at this magnificent wonder of the world. On my visit there in 2010 I was able to stay two nights on the South Rim but even that was no where near enough time to appreciate this magical place.

Lonely Planet author, Andy Murdock also acknowledges that he did not allow enough time for his first trip to the Grand Canyon. In this piece, he outlines a number of suggestions for making the most of your trip to the canyon. These tips include arrival routes, short hiking suggestions, the best time to visit to avoid the crowds, mule rides, the best viewing points, Park Ranger-led hikes and interpretive talks and more. Read more... >

How To Travel Outside Your Comfort Zone (by Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott).

I recently wrote a piece called Listen To Your Inner Adventurer which makes the point for breaking out of your comfort zone while travelling.

Daniel Zoll and Audrey Scott have also written on the same topic and I like their particular take so much that I am happy to include their suggestions for making your travels more memorable here. Their tips:

1. Strike out on your own
2. Ask questions like a kid
3. Walk, even if it involves long distances
4. Stay open to getting lost
5. Don’t judge a book by its cover
6. Be courageous in foreign language environments
7. Visit the fresh market.

Read more... >

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Friday Foto: 5Pointz, Queens

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A recent article in the New York Times: Writing’s onthe Wall (Art Is, Too, for Now)* , took me back to my 2008 visit to New York City. It was a beautiful spring day in early April when I headed out to visit the Museum of Modern Art offshoot known as PS1 in Long Island City, Queens. It was here that I discovered the amazing 5Pointz Arts Center.

The five story 5Pointz building is now pretty much all but derelict following the collapse of a fire escape in 2009 that seriously injured a jewellery artist who worked in the building at the time. Never the less, the building has become famous for the hundreds of graffiti art works that cover the façade of the building.

According to the New York Times article, Jonathan Cohen, aka ‘meresone’, has been managing the site since 2001, although it is not clear from the article if that is when the graffiti art began to be added to the building.

Apart from the many New York artists that have added their work to the 5Pointz building, artists from all over the USA, as well as from France, Australia, Spain and elsewhere have also contributed to the site. The building is mentioned in some foreign guidebooks and it has become a tourist attraction in its own right, and is well worth a look if you have the time to fit it into your New York visit.

While tagging is illegal in New York, it appears to be permitted if a building’s owner gives the Ok for a work of graffiti art to be painted on their structures. Permission to use the warehouse as a giant canvas has long been granted by the owner, Jerry Wolkoff, who also rented out studio space until the afore mentioned accident in 2009.

Now however, Mr. Wolkoff wants to raze the building to make way for two 30-story apartment towers. As you might imagine, graffiti artists are not happy with this decision, and a campaign is underway to preserve the building at 45-46 Davis Street, and convert into affordable art space for many of New York City’s artists and craftspeople. While I wish them luck with their campaign, I have a feeling that commerce will eventually win out, and this incredible building and its unique works of graffiti art, will eventually only exist online.

*Note: Articles in the New York Times are eventually only accessible via paid subscription. While the article referred to above was viewable when I wrote this entry, it may no longer be so.

Click here to see a New York Times slide show of images from the 5Pointz building.

The 5Pointz site also features many images of the graffiti art.

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Spring Down Under



Semaphore Jetty at Sunset

Wow. September already.

Spring is in the air, down under, and as I write this it is a beautiful day in Adelaide, Australia, where right now, I am house sitting for a member of my extended family who lives close to Semaphore Beach.

With the prospect of warmer weather and summer just a few more months away, my thoughts are turning more and more to travel.

In January I will spend five weeks house sitting again in Melbourne which coincidentally, has just been voted the most liveable city in the world – according to the latest Economist Intelligence Unit’s Global Liveability Survey of 140 cities. Three other Australian cities (Sydney, Adelaide and Perth), have also made it into the survey’s top ten. Canada has three cities in the top ten list, which gives the two countries a total of seven of the ten most liveable cities in the world.

Never the less, despite the fact that Australians are spoilt for choice when it comes to great cities and panoramic vistas, I am planning to head overseas on my third extended journey towards the end of April next year. Once again I’ll travel to Europe and the United States. I’m especially hoping I will be able to apartment sit for the same person I house and cat sat for last summer. The prospect of spending another two months in New York City fills me with great anticipation, as you might expect.

I just hope the Australian dollar continues to stay high on the foreign exchange rates over the next twelve months.

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New York City's "Mosaic Man"

Image of Jim Power by David Shankbone, circa 2009.

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Jim Power has been called New York City's "Mosaic Man" for many years, and it's not hard to see why. Jim is on a mission to cover as many New York City lamp posts, benches, building façades, plant holders, and other structures with the recycled ceramic materials he uses in his creations.

Jim received permission from New York City’s Department of Transport over 20 years ago to decorate up to 80 lamp posts. Once he was bitten by the mosaicing bug, however, there was no turning back. Now businesses or landlords also commission Jim to complete works on their property.

Now in his 60s, Power has been transforming New York’s streets with his unique works that in turn honor the city and the people who call it home. Check out this short video now…

Filmed, Edited, Produced & Written by Sahar Sarshar
Music by Wild Yaks
Narrated by Arian Boroumand

Jim Power Online…
Jim Power on Twitter: @MosaicManNYC
Read an online article by Abby Luby at The Villager.Com…

Adelaide Festival Centre: OzAsia Festival

The Adelaide Festival Centre’s OzAsia Festival was established in 2007 and is held annually in September/ October (according to the lunar calendar) for approximately ten days.

The OzAsia Festival presents work by Australian artists that identify with an Asian heritage, stages collaborative work between Australian and Asian artists, and presents a cross section of traditional and contemporary cultures of Asia. The OzAsia Festival has a broad cultural reach and includes theatre, dance, music, film, visual arts, food and design culture.

In 2011 the Moon Lantern Festival will be held on Monday 12 September in Elder Park.
When: Sepember 2 - September 17, 2011
Where: Adelaide Festival Centre, King William Road, Adelaide
Entry: Free
More info: http://www.ozasiafestival.com.au/

Friday Fotos – Rockefeller Center

The GE Building towers into a perfect New York sky

One of the highlights of my 2008 visit to New York City was a trip to the ‘Top of The Rock’ – or if you prefer, the viewing deck of the Rockefeller Center located in midtown Manhattan.

The Rockefeller Center is in fact a complex of 19 major buildings, the largest of which is the GE Building. Directly in front of this building is a large sunken outdoor plaza which doubles as an ice skating rink in winter and restaurant during the summer months.

Paul Manship sculptures, Youth and Maiden

Stunning works of art (like the two shown above), are what help to make the Rockefeller Center a location worth visiting in its own right, rather than simply a place to get a birds-eye view of Manhattan. So much great art is located around the complex that books have been written about the collection (see links below).

Michael Hammers 2008 Installation: Electric Fountain

With the loss of the twin towers of the World Trade Center, the Empire State Building can lay claim to being the highest building in New York City, although this will change once the new tower is completed on the site of the WTC. While it is tempting to visit the ESB rather than the Rockefeller Center building, I preferred the Top of The Rock if only because one can get great views (and photographs) of the Empire State Building which is near by.

Top of The Rock view of Manhattan skyline and Central Park

Getting There:
The nearest subway station is the 47-50th St - Rockefeller Ctr. Station which can be reached by the B, D, F, and M trains (more info: http://www.mta.info/).

Tickets:

• Adult $34.00
• Child (6-12) $28.00
• Senior (62+) $32.00
• Sun & Stars Ticket: Adult $63.00
• Sun & Stars Ticket: Child $43.00
• Note: Sun & Stars tickets allow guests to visit twice in one day.
• A range of add-on's and combo tickets are also available.

POST UPDATED MARCH 11, 2017

NOTE: The above ticket prices were correct as of March 11, 2017.
For up to date ticket prices, and to pre-purchase tickets to the Rockefeller Center click here... 

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Arteries of New York City

Check out this short film produced by Encyclopaedia Britannica Films during the 1940s.
The film shows transportation corridors into and out of New York City, using animated diagrams indicating directions of flow for trains, ferries, highways, tunnels, subways, buses, etc. It provides a unique view, not just of transportation in 1940s New York, but some great aerial footage of the Big Apple before the start of the post-war rise of the modern skyscraper.

There are also scenes of a very crowded Coney Island boardwalk, apartment houses and suburbs, Times Square, the 34th Street subway, Grand Central station, New Jersey ferry boat commuters, The Brooklyn Bridge and much more. You even get a glimpse of the many wharves that once jutted out into the Hudson River from lower Manhattan.

The file on Archive.Org gives the date of its production as 1941, but as some of the comments from other viewers of this clip point out, some images featuring a rocket and jet fighter as well as vehicles that were produced after 1941, can also be seen in the film.

Enjoy.

Friday Fotos – London May Day

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Ah, those were the days. I remember them well, or at least as well as my aging memory is able to recall after more than 30 years.

Back, way back, when I was in my 20s living in London during the 1970s, it seemed as if there was a demonstration taking place there every weekend, and I’m sure I attended most of them. There were liberation struggles in Africa to support; anti-racist protests against home-grown nationalists; support for the burgeoning women’s movement, and of course the struggle to unite Northern Ireland with the rest of that troubled country.

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The series of images captured here were taken around London’s Trafalgar Square in the aftermath of the May Day march that ended there in 2008. To be honest, I had completely forgotten the anniversary, and just happened upon the event as the final speeches were taking place and the crowd was dispersing.

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May Day (celebrated on May 1) is an ancient northern hemisphere spring festival related to the Celtic festival of Beltane and the Germanic festival of Walpurgis Night (after Saint Walpurga, an English missionary to the Frankish Empire who was canonized on 1 May ca. 870 by Pope Adrian II).

Since the end of the nineteenth century, May Day has also become synonymous with International Workers' Day, or Labour Day, and the annual anniversary is often used as a day of political protest.

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Now this is more like it! Forget the KISS principle, let’s combine a series of slogans on one placard to maximise the message.

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Luminous New York City

Empire State Building, 2008. By Joergen Geerds.

The photo above is just one of the many stunning photographs taken by German born photographer Joergen Geerds. Joergen now lives in New York City, and is carving out a photographic niche for himself by specialising in panoramic night images of the Big Apple. His website, Luminous New York —Lumin-o-City contains dozens of these images, each of which is available for purchase via the 532 Gallery at 532 W 25th Street, New York, NY.

The images all come in large formats. For example the dimensions for the above image of the Empire State Building in 2008 are 120x72 inches (304x182cm), and are mounted against UV non-glare plexi glass with a rigid backing to keep them from distorting. Prints can be ordered online via the 532 Gallery website.

Joergen Geerds studied photography and design in Würzburg, Germany, before moving to New York in 2000, where he worked for several years as an art director in the advertising world. Inspired by the grandeur and grime of New York City, Joergen branched into panoramic photography in 2006.

To quote from his website: During this time, he refined his love of wide-angle photography and ventured into the world of panoramas. He found the un-cropped cityscapes that his flattened, 360-degree photos revealed were unique in the market. This led him to develop his own distinct style—large-scale, hyper-wide night panoramas of New York City.

Joergen documents his ongoing panorama work on his blog at New York Panorama, and his dedicated fine art photography can be found at Luminous New York.

Thanks to the Thumb Press website for bringing Joergen’s images to my attention.

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Listen To Your Inner Adventurer

One of the things about travel that I find to be a constant challenge is getting out of my comfort zone. At the age of 62, and officially a ‘senior’ – a term I use as little as possible, by the way – I am becoming very conscious of my growing limitations.

Limitations such as falling levels of fitness, a growing list of aches and pains, and the need to rest more, drink less, get to bed earlier and sleep in longer! Limitations that I try to ignore, confront and test as much as possible. So in keeping with today’s theme: Listen to your inner adventurer, here are some of the ways I have found to push back against my own fears, limits and insecurities.

Make Your Own Travel Arrangements

While it may not always be possible to organize every aspect of your own travel itinerary, it doesn’t hurt to do as much of it yourself as you can.

Last year I undertook a long, slow round the world trip that lasted a full eight months. The only aspect of the trip I didn’t book myself was the airline ticket. All other travel arrangements, from insurance, accommodations, sightseeing, additional air and bus travel within countries and across continents, I organized myself.

As a solo traveler, taking responsibility for my own travel arrangements has given me the confidence to plan and undertake future journeys, secure in the knowledge that I have already displayed the skills, resources, self-reliance and self-belief to take care of myself under most circumstances.

Of course, not everyone has the luxury of undertaking an eight month journey, which allows time to chop and change travel arrangements, sometimes on a whim. Travellers who are pressed for time, and who need to be keep to tight schedules and strict deadlines may well find that their travel agents are the best people to help organise and arrange their trips. At the very least, a trip to your travel agent to discuss your plans is always a good idea.

When in Rome…
I know many people who go to extraordinary lengths to avoid the ‘When in Rome do as the Romans do’ principle. They only eat meals they are already familiar with. Or consume drinks they’ve had a hundred times before. The idea that they might experiment and try something different terrifies them. A seemingly endless list of ‘what ifs’ seems to paralyse them with fear.

Ok, let’s be clear here. I’m not suggesting you go looking for the most disgusting meals and drinks available to you (raw blood soup, fried tarantula’s, or balut, i.e., duck fetus), but a little experimentation to broaden the palate can make the travel experience that much more interesting, and add to any sense of adventure you derive from your trip.

The most unusual meal I can claim to have eaten is patsas, a Greek soup made from tripe, which in Greece generally involves using the stomach of goats rather than cows – the more common source of tripe, although tripe is also produced using the stomachs of sheep, pigs and deer. I can’t say it was the most appealing meal I’ve ever had, but (pardon the pun), I was able to stomach the meal without too much trouble.

As an interesting aside, the Illawarra Folk Festival (held each year in Wollongong, Australia) claims to be the only festival in the world that kicks off with a fully fledged tripe eating dinner. I wonder how many people have added that event to their ‘bucket list’?

Field of Dreams
Travel also gives you a chance to experience aspects of a culture in the home of that culture. Like baseball. During my stay in New York City over the summer of 2010, I attended my first baseball game – ever. That’s right, at 61 years of age (which I then was), I had never attended a baseball game – whether at the amateur level or professional.

I should point out that baseball is nowhere near as popular in Australia, where I live, as it is in the United States and some other countries, so I might be excused for this lapse in my sporting education. However, I was keen to experience the atmosphere and excitement of a professional baseball competition in the home of the game, and this I did when I attended a meet between the Staten Island Yankees and the Brooklyn Cyclones at MCU Park in Coney Island.

Sure, it’s hardly earth shattering in terms of adventure travel, but it would have been just as easy for me to ignore the opportunity to catch the game, and stick with the usual tourist fare available to every visitor in New York City – tall buildings, a top ten list of major attractions and such like. As it happens, my visit to MCU Park only wet my appetite for more, and hopefully my next visit to New York will coincide with a major league baseball game rather than one from the minor leagues.

The point I am trying to make is that there are many ways to break away from the usual and the mundane when you travel, and whether your idea of adventure is bungee jumping, or an exotic meal, travel often gives you the excuse and licence to try something new. Something you may never have considered trying before. Something which may in fact turn out to be one of the highlights of your trip.

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Crater Lake Under the Stars

Screenshot of the Star Trail home page

Ben Canales describes himself as “...an East Coaster, transplanted to the gorgeous Pacific Northwest,” where has taken to shooting stars with a passion, as can be seen in the time-lapse video below shot at Crater Lake National Park.

Ben writes: “This was certainly a demanding trip in all aspects: before/during/after, financially, and relationships. But, damn, the results are one of my favorite so far from the years I've been shooting stars.”

“My photography is about wonder. As adults we’ve lost the child-like wonder our world was beaming with when we were younger. I believe it is still there to be seen one just needs to work a bit harder to find it. My images are purposed to show the wonder of the sky as if you were standing under it yourself looking up.”

The time-lapse motion in the video is made possible by using the Dynamic Perception Stage Zero dolly system.

Ben maintains his own Star Trail website from where you can view and purchase a range of great images and see more videos. Music used in the video is by Joshua Radin.

At a length just 90 seconds, the video gives no idea of the real hours that must have gone into capturing the images, but the film gives city dwellers are real taste of exactly what it is they are missing out past the city lights.

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Crater Lake Under the Star -Reprocessed from Ben Canales on Vimeo.

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