civilized ku # 2918 / diptych # 141 ~ lots of Buffalo

beer taps / Pearl Street Brewery ~ Buffalo, NY • click to embiggen
Buffalo Trace ~ Buffalo, NY • click to embiggen

Before departing to Buffalo I picked up a bottle of Buffalo Trace Kentucky Bourbon to have for the hotel room. During my walk about in downtown Buffalo, I stopped into the Pearl Street Brewery for lunch and to sample some of their beers.

As I sat at the bar, right there in front of me was a Buffalo Trace napkin / straw fixture. Needless to write, I wanted it but no amount of offers (money wise) could get it in my hands. As it turned out, that was a good thing because the wife said I would have to get my own apartment if I showed up with it.

FYI, Buffalo Trace bourbon is not made in Buffalo. It is made in Kentucky, as are most bourbons, at the Buffalo Trace Distillery. The name of the bourbon derives from the fact that the distillery - 200 years old and named as a National Historic Landmark - is located near what was once a buffalo path/trail. In Kentucky, a path or trail is referred to as a trace. Hence, the name.

If one is not a bourbon aficionado, one would not know the distillery makes (under contract to various recipe holders) quite a number of highly sought after bourbons including the # 1 rated bourbon in the world, Van Winkle.

single woman # 31 / civilized ku # 2915-16 - a (another) painted lady - in the nickel city

single woman ~ Buffalo, NY • click to embiggen
hotel fountain in rain and fog ~ Buffalo, NY • click to embiggen
sailing themed hotel bar and restaurant ~ Buffalo, NY • click to embiggen
Hugo / rink parking garage mural ~ Buffalo, NY • click to embiggen
main rink ~ Buffalo, NY • click to embiggen

We're back from the hockey tournament in Buffalo, nicknamed the Nickel City*. The tournament was held in a beautiful 2 rink facility. The rinks are located on the top (6th floor) of a parking garage.

Between games on Saturday, while Hugo and his dad (the Cinemascapist) visited Niagara Falls, I roamed around downtown Buffalo making some pictures. Those pictures will follow.

* for those non-US citizens, the American nickel (5 cent coin) has a Buffalo on its face.

civilized ku # 2914 / triptych (civilized ku # 2915-17) ~ hanging with and smelling like the cows

Holsteins ~ Miner Institute / Chazy, NY - near the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
2220 and infrastructure ~ Miner Institute / Chazy, NY - near the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
Estate Tax and Succession Planning ad for the agriculture community • click to embiggen

Been kinda busy over the past 5-6 days with a client project. Since I am the Creative Director / Art Director / Copy Writer / Picture Maker / Media Research and Placement Coordinator on the project, it has consumed most of my working time. Hence, no blog entries.

Fortunately, the end is within sight and things should return to a more normal balance of work and play soon ... soon being after this week's hockey tournament (Thursday - Sunday) in Buffalo, NY (at the other end of the NY State).

FYI # 1, the Holsteins were pictured at the Miner Institute, an institution which "conducts integrated, cutting-edge education, research, and demonstration programs that optimize the biological and economic relationships among forage-crop production, dairy and equine management, and environmental stewardship".

And, if you want a picture making challenge, try making a picture wherein ad message specific facial expressions of 3 different people need to be captured simultaneously (in one frame). That is always somewhat of a challenge. Now try it by substituting a cow for one of the people. That's a real picture making challenge if ever there was one.

FYI # 2, the ad project is focused on estate tax and succession planning services for the agriculture community - in this case, dairy farmers. The ad, with only the headline in place, can be viewed above.

diptych # 140 ~ mixed message

2 ideas, re: art ~ New York, NY • click to embiggenTo make or not to make. That is the question.

civilized ku # 2910-13 ~ hotel ennui

hotel great room ~ Warwick, Rhode Island • click to embiggen
view from hotel window ~ Warwick, Rhode Island • click to embiggen
view of living room from hotel bedroom ~ Warwick, Rhode Island • click to embiggen
great room tv ~ Warwick, Rhode Island • click to embiggen

Some hotels are better than others when it comes to creating common space with a modicum of intimacy / people-scale-ness. The hotel in Rhode Island was not one such hotel.

Fortunately, we had suite which included a small kitchen / dining space, bedroom, bathroom with a separate vanity space, and a living room space. As a NYC apartment, the suite would probably qualify as "spacious" and cost a thousands of dollars a month to rent or, literally, a cool million to purchase. In any event, the suite provided us, ennui aside, with a space to hangout and relax without having to go to a common area to find a comfortable place to sit.

A question: Does the word "ennui" cause you look at these pictures in a manner that you might not without that word? Just wondering how much of an effect, if any, a word might have on influencing the viewing of a picture.

civilized ku # 2906-09 ~ the hustler

fighting through a hook ~ Warwick, Rhode Island • click to embiggen
face-off win against the big guy ~ Warwick, Rhode Island • click to embiggen
Mr. Hustle ~ Warwick, Rhode Island • click to embiggen
Mr. Hustle redux ~ Warwick, Rhode Island • click to embiggen

Even though Hugo's team, the Northern Vermont Wildcats, lost the tournament championship game (in a shootout), Hugo had a great tournament - 2 game winning goals, 9 points and a +6 rating. In addition, there were only 2 tournament individual awards - Best Goalie and The Hustler (bad choice of words) awards. Hugo received The Hustler award / trophy. Next up, in 2 weeks, is the North American Prospects Showcase tournament in Buffalo, NY.

diptych # 139 ~ flying bag and the juggler illusion

flying objects ~ New York, NY • click to embiggen

When in NYC, it's almost impossible to resist the pull of making street pictures. I would assume that to be true, at least for me, in any big city.

That written, my take on street picturing is a bit different from the "norm" inasmuch as Street Photography pictures are most often pictures which focus on the people on the street. In my case, I like to place people within the context of the street. Perhaps a better name / descriptor for my street pictures would be something along the lines of "streetscapes". In any event, when making streetscapes, I am always on the look out for situational happenstance.

In the case of this diptych, the flying bag and the illusion of a man juggling a white ball were only apparent after viewing the pictures on the camera LCD screen (chimping). These visual elements and illusions were truly an example of lucky happenstance. But of course, one makes their own luck because luck favors the prepared and I am always prepared with 2 cameras - 1 with a moderate WA lens and the other with a moderate tele lens - at hand.

Now, it's off to Rhode Island for the next installment of Hugo's hockey quest. I'll be near Boston and some other seaside cities so perhaps some more streetscape pictures will be in order. Each day, all of Hugo's hockey will be over by noon, leaving us plenty of time to explore the area.

diptych # 138 ~ dark places

garage / subway ~ New York, NY • click to embiggen