man & nature # 150 ~

Church - Waterville, NY • click to embiggenThis church with its sun-etched and dazzlingly brilliant facade and architectural details stopped me dead in my tracks.

I am interested in the nature of things. The nature of something is quite different from the way it looks. ~ Duane Michals

civilized ku # 170 ~ it ain't over 'til the fat lady sings

The Fat Lady rows on Lake Placid • click to embiggenTook the wife out to dinner last evening for her birthday and a good time was had by all.

We went to an inn/restaurant, The Interlaken Inn, in Lake Placid that has been around since 1912. In addition to superb dining, the Inn does a very credible job of showcasing local/regional arts, crafts, and local history throughout the premise.

One of things that I have noticed during previous visits is a sprinkling of old pictures of Kate Smith in various spots around the place. I have spent some time, for what should be obvious reasons, staring at the one pictured above. This time around I pictured the picture.

Even though the attribution of the adage, "It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings", is far from settled, for many of the early years of television, the broadcast day was indeed not over until Kate Smith sang. And it's worth noting that Irving Berlin's song, God Bless America , languished unknown and un-sung for decades until it was sung - and thereafter popularized as the so-called "second" National Anthem - by Kate Smith (at Berlin's request).

In any event, it is over for Kate Smith in as much as her body, just like that of John Brown, lies a-mouldering in the grave here in Lake Placid. I also think that it's safe to say the her voice - just like John Brown's soul - goes marching on.

PS - Last evening, for dessert I had rhubarb pizza topped with strawberry sorbet.

And, it's worth noting that laissez les wc dans l'etat ou souhaiteriez les trouver en entrant - I left the WC in the state I wish it to find it when I enter it.

hardscapes # 3 ~ maybe, maybe not

Danny's Diner - Binghamton, NY • click to embiggenNow that former college boy is a former college boy, the wife has remarked that she/we will have no reason to ever visit Binghamton again. Never say "never" ...

... because I really feel that I missed a wonderful place / opportunity to picture a "patina-ed" (to be kind) urban hardscape. Although, just outside of the southern side of the Adirondacks is the equally "patina-ed" similar-sized city of Utica. Although, once you're in Utica, it's only another 90 minutes or so to Binghamton. Although, as the saying goes, "in for a penny, in for a pound", so if I'm going to do it, why not do both cities?

hardscapes # 2 ~ everybody must get stoned

Cobblestone building - somewhere along Rt. 5 & 20, Central NYS • click to embiggenWhen we got off the interstate highway this past Sunday, the wife & I headed for Rt. 5 & 20 which was, pre-interstate, the major east-west highway in NYS. As mentioned, the wife and I just wanted to slow down, relax, and see what we could see.

One of the things I was hoping to see was cobblestone structures - houses, mills, stores, et al. There are cobblestone structures in NYS than anywhere else on the planet and a ride across Rt. 5 & 20 cuts right through the heart of cobblestone country. It is estimated that 95% of all cobblestone structures ever built (about 700 of them) were built in NYS, primarily in central and western NY.

Cobblestones where everywhere in this region (glacial deposits) and the early farmers, after clearing them from their fields, started to use them as cheap (as in, free) building material. Although, one might think that the cost of labor by specialized cobblestone masons might have raised the total cost of a building above that of a conventional wood-frame building. However, on the plus side, was the fact that a cobblestone building was quite a bit more fireproof than a wood-frame one.

The sign on the building pictured here reads ...

WAGONS•HARNESS•BLACKSMITH•HORSES SHOD
EST 1844 LOCHLIEN McQUIEN PROP

... which means that this cobblestone structure was built in the middle years of the cobblestone building era which spanned the years 1825 - 1860. It is now an antique shop.

man & nature # 149 ~ urban growth

Early Sunday AM, The Binghamton Regency Hotel, Binghamton, NY • click to embiggenA day after 2 tornadoes touched down just short distance and a bit upstate from Binghamton and it rained - no, make that a 2-hour traffic-stopping, street-flooding deluge - in Binghamton late Saturday afternoon, Sunday morning dawned sunny but cold.

hardscape # 201 ~ the reality of the American Dream

Late Sunday AM, Jake's Wine & Liquor - Binghamton, NY • click to embiggenDuring our recent trip to Binghamton in NYS's the Southern Tier (right on the border with Pennsylvania) I spent a little time picturing a few urban hardscapes. If I had the time, I could have easily spent a day or two indulging in that activity.

Binghamton, like many other American cities its size - approximately 45,000 (down from 85,000 in 1950), is a very tattered and decaying semblance of its former self. The opportunities to picture things as they once were are everywhere apparent. All of which got me to thinking - and quite angry - about how, over the last 4-5 decades, Corporate America has basically destroyed small-to-mid-sized American cities.

Their basic business model - acquire, merge, consolidate (growing bigger to serve you better) in the name of "efficiency" - is now at the point where we have quite a few businesses that are "too big to fail" and, as an added benefit, are big enough to destroy big American cities. Anyone been to Detroit lately?

This is just one more example of "silo thinking" in the hollowed halls of academia. It is quite apparent that none of the economic business models coming out of those institutions have ever included any notion whatsoever regarding the effects of those ideas upon the health and vitality of communities. The bottom line of virtually all economic has been focused exclusively upon the health and vitality of corporations at any cost.

Hell, even our former Chief of State, Bill Clinton, told the American people that they, as individuals, had better be "prepared" to have quite a number of different jobs in their lifetime - in effect be prepared to be wage gypsies who move around following wherever/whatever the dictates of their Corporate Overlords.

Because, "What's good for General Motors is good for America."

Say what? No ... wait. In fact, nevermind - there's a bit of "wisdom" that needs more than a bit of re-thinking.

All of that said, this is a photo blog, so, on a picturing note - I prefer my hardscapes - because they are certainly not landscapes - pictures to have the look of a view camera created picture. That is to say, to appear as though they were made with tilt-and-shift perspective controls, AKA - the scheimpflug principal, - vertical lines that are parallel in the real world appear that way in the picture world.

Since Olympus does not offer a tilt/shift lens, I do my scheimpfluggery post-picturing in Photoshop. To date, I have found absolutely no downside to this approach.

Has anyone out there ever noticed this about those of my pictures formerly known as urban ku (now hardscapes)? Do any of you use this technique?

PS - Jake's Wine and Liquor, which was located near our hotel, had a selection that was definitely aimed at the reality of the local economy - The median income for a household in the city was $25,665, and the median income for a family was $36,137. Males had a median income of $28,774 versus $23,014 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,067. About 16.5% of families and 23.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 28.4% of those under age 18 and 10.3% of those age 65 or over.

man & nature # 148 ~ below the surface of things

Howe Caverns - stuff on the ceiling • click to embiggen
man & nature # 149 • click to embiggen
man & nature # 150 • click to embiggen
man & nature # 151 • click to embiggen
man & nature # 152 • click to embiggen
man & nature # 153 • click to embiggen
man & nature # 154 • click to embiggenDuring our trip down to the Southern Tier of NY State for now former college boy's graduation ceremony, the wife, Hugo, his bother, and I stopped at Howe Caverns.

The caverns are a 180 ft. elevator ride down under the surface where the temperature is 54˚F year round. It's an interesting place in and of itself so I don't understand why the place is illuminated by colored lights. The net effect of that situation is that it's nearly impossible to see the natural colors of the various formations and growths but I guess that's show biz.

On a picturing note - thanks to the techno-geeks for in-camera image stabilization. It was very dark and most of my pictures were made handheld with a shutter speed in the 1/3 - 1/4 second range. Most people were picturing with flash - notice the flash illumination on the cavern wall in man & nature # 154 - but that's no way to capture the ambiance of the place.

a bit of photo history, albeit slightly mis-named

Waterville, NY • click to embiggenOn our return trip from down-state, where we attended college boy's (make that former college boy) graduation ceremony, the wife and I took the long way home just to see what we could see.

While I was looking at other stuff, the wife spotted this historic marker that marks the spot of George Eastman's birthplace in Waterville, NY. The house is no longer in residence in Waterville - it was moved to the grounds of The George Eastman House / Museum in Rochester, NY quite a few years ago. It has since been moved to the Genesee Country Village and Museum.

One of these days I'll have to return to Waterville and re-photograph the marker with Kodak film. It seems like the right thing to do.