diptych # 144 / civilized ku # 2922 / tourist polaroid / rain # 70 ~ an organizing principle

Yacht•Boat House / Episcopal Cathedral ~ 1000 Islands, NY / Buffalo, NY • click to embiggen
building mechanicals with flowers ~ Buffalo, NY • click to embiggen
polar bear / Kingston Brewing Co. ~ Kingston, Canada • click to embiggen
Canadian island ~ 1000 Islands, Canada • click to embiggen

I have figured out what to do / how to categorize those pictures which do not fall into any of my existing bodies of work. The answer is simple .... create another body of work labeled tourist pictures.

Despite the name, the pictures which will fall into that body of work will not necessarily be pictures made while on my various travels. The defining characteristic of tourist pictures will be those pictures made of people / places / things which are rather obvious referents which motivate most people to make pictures. That characteristic will stand in contrast to my other pictures which fall into one category or another of my existing bodies of work, virtually all of which are pictures of people / places / things which people see but most often overlook.

An obvious referent would be like the polar bear picture in this entry - if one is in the Kingston Brewing Co. pub, why wouldn't one make a picture of the polar bear? That picture stands in contrast to the building mechanicals with flowers picture wherein the question might be - why would one take a picture of that stuff*?

Just as my pictures of referents overlooked have a black border, the tourist pictures will all the presented as pseudo polaroids. And, just as my black border is a throwback to the days of analog printing to include film edges, the polaroid shtick is meant as a throwback to the days when a lot of tourist / casual pictures were made with polaroid cameras. In addition, the tourist pictures body of work will also allow me to create printed books with multiple pictures per page in order to present a look much like the family picture album of days gone by.

*ANSWER: It's not what you see, it's how you see it. And, I like making pictures of referents people see but most often overlook.

diptych # 143 / kitchen sink # 28 / tourist polaroid / life in pictures #19 ~ a picture making dilemma of sorts

graffiti ~ New York, NY • click to embiggen
hotdog debri ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
red umbrella / Hugo ~ 1000 Islands, NY • click to embiggen
Chanel N˚5 ~ New York, NY • click to embiggen

Over the past few weeks I have been moving about the landscape and have managed to make almost 100 pictures. As is my wont, those pictures are all over the landscape (metaphorically writing), referent wise. Some of the pictures fit into some of my various bodies of work but most do not.

Consequently, as I sit viewing all of the pictures - all open on my screen - I find myself ill at ease with the notion that I may be making too many pictures for my own good inasmuch as I don't know how to organize / categorize the ones which do not fit into one or the other of my existing bodies of work.

Some of the pictures suggest opportunities to create new bodies of work, assuming that I want to do so. While I have, in fact, been contemplating my next picture making thing, I am limited by my location in pursuing specific picture making opportunities. As an example, I live in a rather remote area so any thought of pursuing a body of work which requires regular access to big-city stuff - reference the graffiti pictures in this entry - is somewhat of a lost cause. So, looking the reality of the situation in the eye, I feel that I should (must?) find a new picture making thing which is within reach, literally and figuratively.

While I will never be able to rein in my picture making promiscuity, I do have the desire to sink my picture making teeth into a focused endeavor. Fortunately, thanks to a couple angst filled days of staring at my recent accumulation of pictures, I believe I have come up with an idea for my next picture making thing.

diptych # 142 / civilized ku # 2920-21 ~ Canadian sojourn

vintage pictures ~ Kingston, Ontario CA. • click to embiggen
mural / Jayna Hefford ~ Kingston, Ontario CA. • click to embiggen
Don Cherry and the wife ~ Kingston, Ontario CA. • click to embiggen

This weekend past, there was an unexpected / last minute trip to Kingston, Ontario (Canada).

Late Thursday evening, Hugo finagled his way, with the help of a friend's father, on to yet another summer tournament hockey team, the Syracuse Cadets. He traveled to Kingston with his friend (classmate and hockey-mate) late Thursday evening. I drove up on Friday morning, watched 2 of his games and drove back home - 4 hours each way. On Saturday, I convinced the wife to go with me back to Kingston for Hugo's Saturday evening game.

We stayed over Saturday night and we (+ Hugo) spent Sunday exploring the 1000 Islands by boat. The 1000 Islands are misnamed inasmuch as the archipelago is consists of 1,864 islands which straddle the Canada-U.S. border in the Saint Lawrence River as it emerges from the northeast corner of Lake Ontario. The highlight of the boat tour was a stop over at Boldt Castle.

FYI, the old time pictures were spotted at: 1. Boldt Castle, and, 2. the Kingston hockey rink. The mural features Jayna Hefford, a Kingston native and leading figure in Canadian Women's hockey.

The goalie picture is of Jacques Plante, the first to wear a mask in a NHL game ....

During the 1959–60 NHL season, Plante wore a goaltender mask for the first time in a regular season game. Although Plante had used his mask in practice since 1956 after missing 13 games because of sinusitis, head coach Toe Blake did not permit him to wear it during regulation play. However, on November 1, 1959, Plante's nose was broken when he was hit by a shot fired by Andy Bathgate three minutes into a game against the New York Rangers, and he was taken to the dressing room for stitches. When he returned, he was wearing the crude home-made goaltender mask that he had been using in practices. Blake was livid, but he had no other goaltender to call upon and Plante refused to return to the goal unless he wore the mask. Blake agreed on the condition that Plante discard the mask when the cut healed. The Canadiens won the game 3–1. During the following days Plante refused to discard the mask, and as the Canadiens continued to win, Blake was less vocal about it. The unbeaten streak stretched to 18 games. Plante did not wear the mask, at Blake's request, against Detroit on March 8, 1960; the Canadiens lost 3–0, and the mask returned for good the next night. ~ Wikipedia

I believe that the man on the left in the guys driving a boat picture is George Charles Boldt.

civilized ku # 2919 (kitchen life # 73) ~ a slippery slope to idiocy

kitchen window light ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen

During this AM's internet media sweep, I came across 2 articles which, to my way of thinking, seem to be related.

The first, a somewhat satirical piece in the New Yorker mentioned that a new poll by the University of Minnesota’s Opinion Research Institute states that .... Many Americans are tired of explaining things to idiots, particularly when the things in question are so painfully obvious .... According to the poll, while millions have been vexed for some time by their failure to explain incredibly basic information to dolts, that frustration has now reached a breaking point.

While I won't mention any dolts by name or by group, those of you who live in a fact-free world (should, but probably don't) know who you are.

The second article, again in the New Yorker and again somewhat satirical, states .... 1. “The Supreme Court has decided, apparently, that every American should have access to quality health care,” said Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas). “What if it decided to say the same thing about education? I don’t mean to be an alarmist but, after today, I believe that anything is possible.” and, 2. Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) also blasted the Court, telling reporters that “a government that protects health care is one small, dangerous step away from protecting the environment .... The nightmare that I have long feared is now suddenly upon us,” Paul said. “Mark my words, we are on a slippery slope toward clean air and water.”, and 3. On the campaign trail in Iowa, the former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee raised another doomsday scenario, telling his audience, “If the Court thinks people should be allowed to see a doctor when they want, they probably also think that people should be able to marry anyone they want. My friends, that is not what God intended when He created America.”

Satire aside, if one takes the time to discover what these 3 dolts "candidates" for POTUS stand for, the one thing they have in common is to reduce government to the size where it can be dragged into the bathroom and drowned in the bathtub (Grover Norquist) ....

.... after which we - the great un-educated masses - can all drown in polluted water while gasping for polluted air. And remember, if by some chance we are pulled from the water just in the nick of time, there'll be no hospital for you. (think Soup Nazi)

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.

single woman # 30 ~ painted lady

single woman ~ Brooklyn, NY • click to embiggen

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.