…Move to the first five cars of the train

Last chance, kiddies. According to several sources, this weekend is the last time the Westside IRT (#1 line to you) South Ferry station will be open to the public, as come Monday morning, it will be permanently closed, and trains will finally use the new, straight station. The current station is a time capsule, dating back to 1905, which features a loop platform (like the closed original City Hall station), and a beautiful collection of mosaic signage, with a terracotta sailing ship motif. The new station cost a reported $530 million, and was plagued by problems like leaks (still) and platform gaps (fixed). Come Monday morning, you can see for yourself if it was money well spent.

Let’s just hope we don’t have a repeat of what happened there 104 years ago today.

Next up, the Second avenue subway, planned since 1929…..

MIA culpa

Okay, I admit it, I have been a bit lax about posting lately- between prepping over 50 final CMYK files for my book, SHE'S OUT THERE!, installing CS4 (and the related video card incompatibilities headaches), APA board responsibilities (yes, I am now a VP on the National board), some industry seminars and events, winter break, a trip to Costco and even a few actual jobs, I have not been working on keeping this blog up to date. Sorry. Full refunds for everyone!

Here are a few snapshots to placate you…

Shoot your partners

Just did the authors portrait shoot for our book, SHE’S OUT THERE! Below you can see my co-conspirators, Amy Sewell, the author and Heather Ogilvie, the editor.

Egg and circuses

I went to the Whitney Museum here in NYC principally to see the William Eggleston show, but I figured since I just dropped $15, I might as well take a peek at the Calder show. I was not a huge Calder fan- I liked the idea of the mobiles, but they left me a little cold.

However, I was blown away by this show of his wire sculptures and home made machines. The most amazing thing was how some of the sculptures moved, or were made to mimic real actions. His most famous, his most complicated and his grandest series of these was what was called his circus. Like a real circus, Calder had a series of animals, trapezes, tents, performers- sword sallower, lion tamer, clowns, bareback rider, a chariot race, etc.


They had a video of old footage of Calder performing his circus- the performers and big top environs that he stored in a series of suitcases, and traveled with between NY & Paris performing this one man show.

The film has him on the floor, pulling strings, blowing tubes, making music and noises as he makes the animals & performers come to life. A trapeze artists swing back & forth, then suddenly plunges off the swing and catches onto another bar, all due to the skill & perfect timing of Calder pulling and releasing strings, like a puppet master and magician all in one.


One of the highlights was a strange knife thrower flinging a series of small swords, daggers and other sharp implements at his equally fantastical assistant. The absurdity builds, until he finally misses- “fatally” injuring his wire assistant, who is then carried away by two equally whimsical wiry attendants, carrying her body off stage on a stretcher.

In an age of CGI special effects, I was surprised at how the children at the museum sat enthralled by all this, in spite of the lack of English words, and the low tech quality of the film projection.


And Eggleston? Egg is god, but he is also the devil in the details. Mundane yet profound, after seeing his work you can’t help but see his images everywhere you walk, which can make you think that you too could make those kind of images by the pound.

Tomorrow night

If you are in New York tomorrow night, I will be among the presenters at the NY PhotoGroup Salon, where I will be showing some images from my book project, SHE’S OUT THERE! 35 Women Under 35 Who Aspire to Lead The Next Generation of Presidential Candidates.

Wednesday January 21st, 2009 at 6:30 pm
SoHo Photo Gallery
15 White Street
New York, NY 10013
(The gallery is 3 blocks south of Canal Street between Avenue of the Americas and West Broadway,
diagonally across from the Tribeca Grand Hotel.
By subway: A, C, or E train to Canal Street; #1 train to Franklin Street.)
There is a $10 cover charge to pay the rent.

First snow of the season

The almanac predicts a cold, snowy winter, but this storm was just perfect for the first December New York City snow storm, although kids may be disappointed....

Or, maybe this is just a precursor of things to come…?

Leaking boat?

My 11 year old asked me today where’s his bailout? I said with a $5 a week allowance, I am the one who needs a bailout.

Then I see Nikon has a new, 24.39 MP full frame chip camera, the D3X, which lists for only $7,999.95. Where’s my bailout?

I need a new laptop, as my iBook is a candidate for the museum of old technology. Where’s my bailout? And while I am there, I can also use a new Quad-Core Intel Xeon processor Mac Pro, crammed with ram. A 120 GB iPod would be nice as well. I will even drive to DC to pick up my bailout check.

I also heard on the news that utility rates are going up, subway fares will probably go up, food has definitely gone up, unemployment is up, everything seems to be going up except for gasoline, which means my 10 year old car can now be driven in circles for less money. Whoopee!!!