Yes, post titles are fun. This should be called, RIPPING UP SECOND AVENUE AND A NEW SITE ABOUT BOOKS TAKES A FIRST STEP. Best movie title: Dr. Strangelove or how I stopped worrying and learned to love the bomb… or at least has got to be the longest title… no?

The picture below doesn’t work – is weak – because there’s no mystery to it. Yes, dark and rainy window, but not enough clues to keep you looking. And there is the connection between photography and the site I’m working on (see below) — mystery. I don’t think you can have a really good image without some real mystery. It might just be a little thing; but there really should be some sort of question mark in the photo. I suppose that sometimes it’s the design, but the really good shots make you want to come back and wonder…

This is the window of a what d’ya call ‘em — earth moving machine parked on Second Avenue.  They’ve been removing trees and replacing them with metal plates.  All of this has something to do with the second avenue subway, but what exactly I don’t know.  On Tuesday, engineers are coming to the apartment to take pictures, proof of what the place was like before they began their project – in case something happens they can prove it wasn’t their fault.  I guess.

Who would have thought, when I took some infrared shots of trees on the corner during the spring, that those trees would be gone in the fall.  You just never know if you are taking a shot that may end up being of a documentary nature.

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In other news (uhm if you want to call it news) I’m starting to put a site together to feature public domain detective books.  It’s very early in development, but you can get a free peek if you want to and you’ll get the idea.  It’s called: www.ebook-house.com .

Newborn American

Of course you aren’t allowed to take any pictures at the Metropolitan Museum’s exhibit of Robert Frank’s prints from the Americans.  And although I was admonished a few times by various guards – it was just a cat and mouse game.  If you visit the shrine of the street photographer, you should take pictures there.  It’s the appropriate thing to do.

And sure, the exhibit was great – and expansive – and much too much for one walk through.  That’s Matt Weber by the no-camera sign.  The subtitle, from what I could tell was something like “black and white things.”  Extensive.  There was the hand-made book (a MAQUETTE) of The Americans, proofs, contact sheets etc.  It was one of the better photography exhibits at the Met, maybe the best one I’ve been to.  And I will go back at least one more time.

I have been known to go off on tangents in the blog, and this is one of them for sure, but since when did it become necessary for automobile drivers to have licenses.  The reason I ask is because it was the first time that citizens essentially had to carry identification papers.  Did the early licenses have photographs?  I can’t imagine that a license is much proof of identification without a photograph so was there [more]

If you’ve been following the blog (uhm some part of my life) for a while, you might remember that a while back I bought the Sony PRS 505 e-book.  That took me down some roads that were interesting (other than the reading) and I was mulling around a site that would specialize in free or inexpensive  e-books that I like.  Yes, that I like.  Though it would also have some ebook articles as well. And [more]

2004.

I am always surprised by what you can dig up when you are searching the web. I came across this post about the discovery of an unknown island in the South Seas. The post said that it was only ½ a mile by ½ a mile wide but that there were still a tribe living there. I’m not sure from the article why they decided to call it Gangle Island since the tribe calls themselves [more]