I saw a bright emanating from the other end of my street (72nd, if you must know), and realized that I really had no excuse not to join in with the inevitable crowd of freaks mourning John Lennon's death, 30 years later. I'm not really into deifying people, nor deities, but I do find it inspiring that an individual can have such an impact on people solely through creative expression.
The High Line is old hat to me, but it occurred to me that I had somehow neglected to shoot video of it. So, here's a very brief look, along with a few other Downtown shots.
New York Triathlon competitors, from my window. This is the last leg; a run down 72nd Street from Riverside Park to Central Park.
It started with a swim and bike ride at 6am, so I'm gonna guess these are the stragglers.
I'm going back to bed.
Independence Day was my latest excuse to bust out the new(ish) camera, and I figured I ought to go downtown, where our founding fathers spent a fair amount of time.
Of course, I'm still obsessed with the street pianos, so I had to seek out a couple of those.I'm kind of disappointed in New York's tepid response to the pianos. I saw some footage of a similar display in London, and there appeared to be crowds of people lining up to play. Maybe they were all in one spot.Here, they seem to be hidden away at the end of piers, or in low-traffic parts of city parks, and finding them is a bit of an adventure, verging on a hassle.Speaking of which, why do people in booths labeled "Information" rarely possess any useful knowledge? When I asked about the pianos at Lincoln Center, I was met with a slack-jawed stare from the dude behind the counter. And today, at City Hall Park, I was confidently told, "those haven't been installed yet."In his defense, the booth wasn't labeled "Correct Information." But, in a possibly futile effort to help the kid's veracity average, I went back later and told him exactly where it was.I hope my compulsion to continue busting out my HF S20 continues even after the new-camera smell wears off. Picture-wise, it's not that much different from my old camera, but the flash memory and gigantic battery (purchased separately) eliminate two of the biggest headaches I experienced with the HV20. I finally have a camera that can outlast everything I want to shoot.
Today I roamed around my neighborhood and gathered a some fun shots of people, music, and scenery, including a few of the pianos placed around the city as part of an art exhibition.
Earlier this month, old pal Brian and I took a trip to Beijing, all thanks the generosity of my Aunt Lily (a flight attendant for United Airlines). I didn't really know what to expect, but I was taken aback by how Western and Capitalistic it all seemed--from the expensive cars and luxury hotels, to the vulturous salesfolk trying to hustle foreigners (that's us) at every turn. I'm sure if you spend more than five days there, or leave the big cities, you begin to feel the sting of Communism and draconian laws. But through my eyes it was just another big city, with people of all stripes, and enough sights and sounds to keep my head on a swivel. Enjoy the video.
