Flora home garden Lens experimentation The iPhone can zoom into macro mode, but the olloclip system can get to 7x, 10x, 14x, and 21x. I am still feeling my way with the strength of magnification. Fauna in and on the home front Flora & Fauna at The Queens Farm Museum, my now-place for fresh eggs and produce
Continue reading →I put away the heavy gear years ago and enjoyed a very nice, lightweight Nikon with built-in 18x optical zoom. I still enjoy it; it’s been fine for blogging and other site posts. But something crazy happened: instead of graduating to a big-ass camera with all the accoutrements, I remained satisfied. When I got an iPhone 5 I began to find something fresh about it being with me all the time, being available and having a zen-like simplicity. Then I got “the 6.” It was a better camera and I began to decode the settings and to learn … Continue reading →
The Krauter Vesuvius Plum does not bear fruit, but beautiful blooms. It was consolation when the very old apple tree in the back yard died. Pink is pink. Gotta have it. This is just the beginning. After the tree fills up with beautiful blooms, they will drop and make way for red leaves. Waiting to be planted: violas. Alas, it is too cold. Inside, the violets bloom and the orchids, wait to be let out. In time, it all changes The flowers leave like pink falling snow, and red leaves take their … Continue reading →
Here I am again in Tissue-Box City. There is “something going around” and it got me. Started with one innocent sneeze while at Bed, Bath and Beyond, and it went beyond, onward, upward, downward. But the good news is I am trying to catch up on some editing. I have so many photos to edit and it is always a job. In addition I am taking some on-line studies in iPhone photography and digital imaging. Spending a lot of time looking and trying to process and apply the information. And, the news is that the iPhone has become a … Continue reading →
A perfect evening began on the pre-Christmas streets of New York City where each block was punctuated by a parade of shopping bags. Throughout were LED globe-like light arrays in different colors: Everything was dressed in lights. This rarely happens: There was a parking spot in front of the restaurant. Andanada. Who knew that the restaurant near the Alice Tully Hall (show to follow dinner) was so superb and had one Michelin Star? Don’t want to sound like Anthony Bourdain, but I had no reservations; still got a table. Let me share this meal with you. On the house: … Continue reading →
Made it on the subway in a light snow. Nothing like Manhattan; streets are packed day and night. I’ll try to reconstruct the concert for you. This is not full of yuletide cheer, if anything it is downright sorrowful, depressing, and serious. Sometimes you need some of that. The 2oth Century was one helluva hundred years. Each composer was affected by war. May the century rest in peace. Ralph Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 6 Excellent introduction. Listen for the saxophone solo. Gyorgy Ligeti: Requiem A most incredible choral piece. Think: you have heard it. … Continue reading →
Looks like I have been missing in action, hasn’t it? It’s been a busy month: celebrations of good things, museum visits, meals out, cultural events, mother issues, the daily migraine … and yes, I got lazy. Most museum exhibits cannot be photographed if there are copyright issues and the material isn’t owned by the museum; this makes it difficult to construct a post with my own work. There are some things I’d like to share but it looks like I will have to rely on internet material. I’ll let you know what is mine and what isn’t. So, … Continue reading →
This was the twelfth annual Open House New York weekend, where New Yorkers get to prowl around, crawl through and visit places in the city that are normally closed to the public. It’s a great way to see the behind the scenes operations of the city, see architects’ and artists’ studios and offices, tour incredible architecture, learn about history, see entrepreneurship in action. I spend a lot of time in Brooklyn and Saturday provided me with entré to: 1. The Brooklyn Navy Yard. Here we learned about some young folks who got together and started a distillary in a beautiful old … Continue reading →
Peppers were not the only things that were hot; meanwhile, next door at The Brooklyn Museum it’s time for the most incredible shoe exhibit ever. Last year I reported on the Gaultier exhibit. Now for shoes: the history of high heels. Not only did they elevate the rich and aristocracy, they were a necessity to keep their shoes and feet clean and dry. Initially they worn by male royals, then the ladies adopted them from Europe to Asia. The exhibit covered the most incredible specimens: if you ever dreamed of a pair of Manolo Blahniks or Christian Laboutins … Continue reading →
Everything about yesterday was hot: the weather was redolent of August, the one that never really came, the fiery chile peppers, the music, the tasting. The annual Chile Pepper festival is a fun event. There was a massive crowd this year, forming lines, tasting the wares and hanging out on the lawns. First some local color: Brooklyn, New York, one of the five boroughs of New York City has evidenced that more and more people want organic, healthy food; rooftop city farms are sprouting all over. I believe this is the wave of the future. … Continue reading →
Last night I attended a fundraiser-dinner-concert on the magnificent roof of my mother’s building for the elderly which is owned and run by a ministry: the idea is that when the old folks run out of money, they will not be evicted; fundraisers like this will keep them in their homes. In my continuing tale about my mother, the terror of running out of money and subsequent eviction was always the lingering fear. I was more than happy to be there as part of this worthy cause. Three jazz groups played as the sun went down. And, as the sky darkened the planes … Continue reading →
Vivian Dorothea Maier b. February 1, 1926, New York City d. April 21, 2009 (aged 83), Chicago More and more people have stumbled upon the story of the New York City born photographer who worked as a nanny in Chicago, and, who, in her “spare time” took more than 150,000 photographs. The photographs were taken mainly in Chicago, but also in New York City and during worldy travels; street photographs that document the quotidian nanoseconds of the lives of people of all ages; laughing, crying, looking at the lens or moving past, clueless. She favored a Rolleiflex; black and white … Continue reading →
The soon-to-end cool, Summer of color. A walk through the New York Botanic Garden. Current featured exhibit: Great American Gardens and the Women Who Designed Them. (Exhibit ends September 7th). Featured are the women who designed famous gardens and who photographed them. All we know comes from nature … Shape, color, size, texture … All we love surrounds us … In water … On land … In the desert … From the sky … From seeds to color… Our Summer … Continue reading →
On the way home, how can you not stop for a final frank or two at Super Duper Weenie in Fairfield, Connecticut? They were on the Food Channel with Guy Fieri on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. The final frank marks the end of vacation.
Continue reading →A walk on the rail trail over the Connecticut River. What I saw along the way. The A to Z Science and Toy Store in Northampton. The way every toy store should be. Dinner in Northampton at Viva Fresh Pasta. A candy shop in Thorne’s Marketplace; a mall with great stores in an old building, a walk along the main street, ice cream at Herrell’s, the super moon. .
Continue reading →The annual visit to the Yiddish Book Center was brief this year due to time constraints, but it was a gorgeous day and perfect for a picnic. Later, the best burgers evah, at The High Horse Brewery in Amherst was found recommended in a magazine. The staff was wonderful and knowledgable, the brews were excellent and the burgers with bottomless hand cut fries were super. The only problem was that there can be a long wait because the place is packed and it is extremely noisy. Our waitress was a teacher. What does that tell you about teachers’ … Continue reading →
An exhibit in the town of Adams, Massachusetts, of child mill workers was moving; I have been to several mills that now have exhibits. I have seen photos of the children, babies, who toiled from dawn to night, feeding thread to machines, handling cotton and slipping on oil in their bare fee even in the freezing Winter. They were used because their hands were small and dexterous. Many lost digits and limbs to machines. Finally the child labor laws came into effect. Lewis Hine’s photographic documentation of child labor–child slavery are a testament to our country’s history. Here are photographs of … Continue reading →
Breakfast at the Porches Inn helps you prove to yourself that: 1. You have no willpower at least on the first day you are there, 2. Your eyes are bigger than your stomach and 3. What the hell? This area of Massachusetts is full of old mills that have since been abandoned and many have been sold. Artists have moved in and set up galleries. (believe me, I’ve been tempted). New York City is just too expensive for many artists. North Adams, Adams, and other towns like Lowell, are a terrific venue for the art world. Then … Continue reading →
The Clark has reopened and it is fabulous. The expansion was long awaited and it is spacious and serene. Again, I spent time with some great friends who live fairly close to Williamstown. We explored the exhibit on loan of abstract art, we visited some classical art galleries, and marveled at an exhibit of Chinese art on loan from Shanghai (no photos allowed), that was thousands of years old. The (free) tablet explained everything and we were able to hear a song played on the ancient Chinese bells. I often find that the art viewer is just … Continue reading →
Mezze is a wonderful restaurant in the Berkshires that works closely with farms to obtain the best possible food; it is what you could call a farm to table restaurant. I have been there a number of times and the roast chicken is always superb; it reminds me of the chicken of my childhood. The greens are spectacular as well. Isn’t it amazing that fresh food has become an adventure? .
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