City Daily Photo Theme Day - Music

Had to do a bit of dumpster diving to find something for this theme day. This is my ticket stub from The Beatles second concert at the old Shea Stadium in New York, August 23, 1966. My sister and I went. The stadium was just a few stops down the Number 7 train line in Queens, where we lived. It would have been just before the start of my senior year of high school.

I remember some things about it. Mary Beth and I arrived early. The stands were already full of mostly 12 and 13 year old girls, screaming non-stop at the top of their lungs. Nothing was happening yet. And then there were the Beatles themselves on a stage behind second base. Couldn't see them very well but I remember the singing: yeah, yeah, yeah.    

Inside The Whitney

           

The Whitney Museum of American Art isn't real big compared to, say, New York's gargantuan Metropolitan Museum, but it's big enough that there's always something interesting. The current main show is a retrospective of Grant Wood's work. His iconic painting is American Gothic, below, which made him an instant star. You can look at this link to the museum's website while it's still up. Wood, who spent most of his life in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, had a distinct style and a definite dark side.

The other main show was about the photographer and sculptor Zoe Leonard. Frankly, it didn't do a lot for me except for the witty sculpture (for want of a better word) seen farther down - a long line with stacks of old Kodak manuals for the general public.

And if nothing else appeals to you, you can stare at the wall - or read a placard describing a work - or walk your kids around while looking at your phone.

STL DPB In New York - We Always Go To The Whitney

Just about as much for what's outside as what's inside. We often make it the end of a walk down The Highline (which I may get to but which was bloody packed on Sunday). The Whitney Museum of American Art, in the Meatpacking District of southwest Manhattan, has such interesting architecture with its many terraces and overlooks that the views around the building are about as engaging as the art displayed inside.

Non-stop cameras around the place. The fourth picture is the museum's cutely named restaurant, Untitled, on the ground level.          

We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Broadcasting Due To . . . HOLY BLEEP!!!

I got an email yesterday from the Museum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA! MOMA!) asking if they could use this image in a photography exhibition this fall and winter called Is Fashion Modern? Podunk me, in the temple. I think they like the black leather motorcycle jackets. Yet I may swoon.

This was taken at St. Louis' 2008 St. Patrick's Day parade and I sure hope I can find the original. My archive system is pretty sloppy and I'm not sure it's still on a drive somewhere. OMG I hope it is. If I can dig it up we may all have to get together for a party later in the year in my home hood.

UPDATE: I'm still searching through old external hard drives and have not yet found the hi res version of this photo. However, I found the original raw file, which I can re-edit. Looks like a go.         

Christmas Afternoon

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Most of the excitement is over. Everybody who is interested in loot has got theirs. It doesn't matter whether you're naughty or nice any more. Santa is exhausted and needs a ride home.

We are visiting my family in Ridgewood, New Jersey, for a few days. The other divisions are driving distance, coming in from suburban Boston and central Pennsylvania. We have to fly. Something got my attention at New York's La Guardia airport while we were waiting for our bags. Those of us who watch Jon Stewart's The Daily Show will recognize it as one of those moments of zen. Stare at it long enough and it could drive you mad.   

Blast Off

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We blasted out of New York yesterday back to the furnace in St. Louis, where it was 108F/42C. It was the city's 10th consecutive day with a high temperature over 100F/38C. People are going outdoors as little as possible. If you're poor and don't have air conditioning, you are in trouble.

The top photo is similar but not the same as yesterday's. Just a better quality image. It feels like you could be approaching a space station or looking upward within the atrium of the Guggenheim. (The second option is the correct one.)  I got barked at by a guard for taking the second picture near the top. They have a rule against taking pictures above the ground floor. It is understandable that they don't want people holding cameras six floors over the heads below, but I was well back from the wall here. Well, they didn't make me erase it. It shows the spiral structure of the gallery.

Another Day In Gotham

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I bet the people in the next car never even noticed. So where are they supposed to be, in a tunnel (it's never too long until the next stop) or a station? Did they mug the conductor so they could lock the doors shut? What's with the Robin Hood meets dirty old man outfits? This poster I saw at the Gypsy Caravan must have been for an old movie. You can tell - no latter day New Yorker in his/her right mind would ask for a sum as trivial as one million dollars. Donald Trump would fire them.

That's it for the Gypsy Caravan unless I run out of new material down the line. There is a set with all I've edited, many of which were not on the blog, at http://www.flickr.com/photos/bobcrowe/sets/72157629975865922/ . Tomorrow we start looking at a lot of people who like to pretend they're in central France 500 years ago, and their pals who like to drink with them.