The "Bang Booth" Photo Cut Out

The "Bang Booth" Photo Cut Out

Image by emilydickinsonridesabmx
This is so odd...The "Bang Booth". Get your photo taken in a cutout of a wildy proportioned woman in a corset. With a filthy name to boot!

Shots from the famous 3rd Avenue festival in Bay Ridge Brooklyn, Sunday October 2, 2011. NYCis filled with street fairs. During the warm months, they are practically a nuisance. You can hardly walk 10 blocks without running into one. Sadly, they mostly suck. The street fairs are mainly terrible because they all feature the same, basic 5-10 vendors: crappy chair massage, terrible fried foods, junky fruit shakes, people selling bed sheets, and several other identical and interchangeable vendors.

The 3rd Avenue Festival isn't like this at all. What makes this festival great, is it is mostly the local neighborhood stores and restaurants doing something special for the fair. The restaurants setup stands and make all kinds of fantastic food (homemade pitas baked on the spot? Yes please!). The stores offer specials and sales. Then there's the entertainment. You can see 6-7 different bands throughout the course of the day. You can see pole dancers and dance troupes stru their stuff. This year, there was a full blown wrestling ring with some great grapplers taking each other apart. There are a variety of funky carnival rides for the kids, midway style games of chance, and of course, funnel cake. To top it off, all of the bars are open, offering specials and drinks in plastic cups yu can walk the street with (this is probbably illegal but no one seems to care). The crowd is chill and friendly, as only South Brooklyn can be.

If you get the chance, make your way out to the end of R train line and spend the afternoon out in the streets of Bay Ridge.

"the quality of..."

Image by icedsoul photography .:teymur madjderey
"...these holodecks is lacking these days."
"yeah sure, but don't be so negative all day long."
"yeah relax. we have no work, can enjoy the peace, have some good food and drinks."
"yeah I know... you're right"
"you always know but still whine."
"see..."
"guys easy! everything is cool. take a deep breath, shout your eyes, concentrate on your center, just as lord vader tought us."
...
"oooom..."



-day onehundredforty-
of my one year photo project

"ok man. we have to..."

Image by icedsoul photography .:teymur madjderey
"... go to this wedding thing today, so you can relax and ejoy the silence for once."
"yip. you have painkillers, drinks, snacks, the remote, the phone for emergencies and food orders. you hould be set."
"thanks guys. I'm gonna watch some podcast and so, surf flickr a bit. should be nice, but just one thing..."
"sure shoot."
"well... what about the potty situation...?"




-day onehundredeighteen-
of my one year photo project

DSC_4011.JPG

Image by Rich Gibson
Warning! Footless and Handless Rock Climbers nearby! Everything is under construction, at all times.
11/20/2004 When in Rome! Heather and Rich fly to Rome and have fun on their first day.

It is 11:30 pm local time, and oh but we've been footsore and on the way. It all started a couple of day ago, Thursday for us, when we left home about 6:40 pm with Maddy and Spencer. I officially finished the book by writing two chapter intros. I later got on line and learned that Schuyler planned to do intros for ch1 and ch6, and write the 'how gps works' section for ch5. This meant that I am, officially, at least until QC (quality control) comes back, done with the book.



Wow.



And we drove to Dad's and the kids were rambunctious until we opened up our new CD's for Harry Potter and the Prisonar of Azkaban...we listened to the first CD and that quieted them right down!



And we had a dinner at Dad and Judy's and then up to my Mom's, where we chatted a bit...then bed. And the 5:15 am alarm. It didn't feel all that bad, surprisingly.



The flight to NY went well. I watched the incredibly stupid, but still amusing, movie Anchor Man, heather geeked on our itinery. Then I did a bit, then geeked with my GPS.



Note to self...GPS is cool, and this whole idea of narrative of place is cool, but really, taking GPS tracks in Rome doesn't work that well. I think it is best supplemented with voice recordings of places and later geocoding to a map.



hmmm. I try and create meaning by automatically/quasi automatically parsing track logs of less meaningful trips or segments of trips-down I5 to go lobster diving, for example, but perhaps it is the meaning in the trip that is more important. The GPS is a tool for helping to look at that, but I think I can post process intermittent track points, coupled with memory and photos and voice recordings, to get a better sense of trip.



Anyway...the leg to NY went very quickly. Then we were stuck on the tarmac for a bit while our gate was cleared for us. Eeeks...I had to pee!



Then we actually were in a bit of a rush to make our connection...we got there before the 'we are closing the door on your ass' stage, but not much!



I felt a bit ick for a bit, but once I took an ibuprofen, got rid of my heart burn and had some dinner i was okay. We took sleeping pills when we took off. I took another one after dinner, and then forced myself to try to sleep.



It didn't feel as though it were working-almost as though the sleeping pill made weary but not asleep...odd feeling. But I guess I slepped. Heather woke me when they served breakfast. I did not wake easily, and I went back to sleep a couple of times. I was seeing double for part of the time.



Poor Heather says she only slept about 2 hours.



But we arrived, and waltzed through customs and onto the train. Amazing! About 10 euros apiece and we had a nice train ride with two Italian women and an italian man...we didn't really talk, but, oh well.



Into the train station, and a bit of trouble getting oriented to find our hotel. Now it is easy, but the first time was not so easy.



And then somehow it got later and we figured out the metro to go to the vatican. I was pissy about wanting to eat, and we had trouble with that-the place Heather wanted for us wasn't open until 12:30. We had okay ham and cheese sandwiches and excellent olives from a deli, ate in the plazza (?) by the gellatti milleneum.



Then we went up to the vatican. We had missed the vatican museum, sadly, but we perservered and toured Saint Peters. Heather and I were seperated at this point. I hooked up with a free tour guide and learned lots of great stuff.



Heather called when I was about to learn how to become a Swiss Guard. I accidentally hung up on her, and then couldn't figure out how to call her back, but I guessed she'd be in the front, and she was. She was pooped! But gamely lead me through the tombs of the popes. That is neat...it is so non-cave like...and yet, there is plenty of room for more of them :-)



Well we hiked back to the metro, metroe'd back to the train station and walked back to the hotel and took a 2ish hour nap...it was about 3:00 when we started this 'nap' thing.



Well we woke and did like the Romans, and then got ourselves out of the hotel. We took the 40 bus out and walked down to campo di fiori and did Rick Steve's 'Nighttime rome' walk...



We had dinner in the Piazza Navona at the 'Tre Scalini' cafe/Mokarabina coffee bar. We had drinks an appetizer and a primi-ie, we shared 1 appetizer and 1 primi, and a desert, shared, and it cost a bit. Later we saw what looked like better food for much less money. live and learn. I loved the pantheon (only the outside, as it was closed) and saw where kids had set up to camp at the pantheon, etc.



We got minorly scammed at the Trevi fountain over some flowers that were 'given' to us...and when I didnt' pay enough for them the guy took 2 of three back! ack. I was not too annoyed-I mean, I should know better, right?



And I took pictures and we made our way back to the hotel.

tags: italy heather rich rome

MM, LIQUIDS

Image by roboppy
I took a photo of the guy's basket in front of me because...I just thought it was funny. Half of it seemed to me tea and juice. Then again, my basket was full of crap (baking supplies), so...um...