Jersey City

Keep The Art Alive!

July 1, 2015 — 16 Comments

Demolition Exhibition

F/3.5, 1/250, ISO 100.

Day 182 / 365

The best way to tell if a modern painting is finished is to touch it. If the paint is dry, it is.

DEMOLITION EXHIBITION : 100 Artists, 30,000 Square Ft of Graffiti, 12:00pm to 8:00pm Till July 4.

410 Marin Blvd, Jersey City, NJ 07302

Interesting Fact: Green Villain is a small group of social entrepreneurs and creatives that in the past few years have developed a diverse portfolio of projects and partnerships. Our regional mural program encompasses 22 sites across Jersey City, New York City, Brooklyn and Paterson and is accessible to the world through Google’s Cultural Institute. Monthly party and vinyl imprint, Green Village, is the by product of 5 years of producing DIY parties around the greater North East.  In addition to our creative ventures, we offer expertise in event production, creative consulting and project management. Our primary focus is build brand recognition by balancing between an artistic vision and serviceable platform. ( http://www.g.reenvillain.com/about/ )

Hoses Up!

June 28, 2015 — Leave a comment

fire rescue boat

F/9.0, 1/320, ISO 100.

Day 179 / 365

Why do firemen wear red suspenders?

To keep their pants up.

Interesting Fact: The first recorded[citation needed] fire-float was built in 1765 for the Sun Fire Insurance Company in London. This was a manual pump in a small boat, rowed by its crew to the scene of the fire. A similar craft was built in Bristol by James Hillhouse for the Imperial Fire Insurance Office in the 1780s. All fire fighting in Bristol was carried out either by private insurance companies or the Docks Company until the formation of the Bristol Fire Brigade as a branch of the police in 1876. In New York City, a small boat with a hand-pump was used to fight marine fires as early as 1809.[4] By the middle of the nineteenth century, self-propelled steam-fire-floats were beginning to be introduced. The FDNY leased the salvage tug John Fuller as the city’s first powered fireboat in 1866.[4] Prior to the “John Fuller”, as early as the late 1700s, the FDNY used hand-pumpers mounted to barges and large rowboats. The first purpose built steam driven boats were introduced by Boston Fire Department (William F. Flanders) and FDNY (William F. Havenmeyer) in 1873 and 1875 respectively. The first European fireboat to appear in Bristol was the Fire Queen, built by Shand Mason & Co., London, in 1884 for service in the city docks. The 53 ft. (16.61 m.) long craft was equipped with a three-cylinder steam pump supplying two large hose reels; one of these was replaced with a monitor, or water cannon, in 1900. Fire Queen served until 1922. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fireboat )

I Look Down On People

June 20, 2015 — 18 Comments

European Starling 1

F/ 6.3, 1/125, ISO 200.

European Starling

Day 171 / 365

“That car looks clean, it is time to piss off the owner.”

 

A pirate strolls into his favorite bar and the bartender says, “Whoa, dude, what happened to you?”
The pirate says, “What do you mean?”
The bartender says, “Well, for starters, you never used to have a peg leg.”
“Oh, that,” replies the pirate. ” Well, you see, we had a sea battle and a cannon ball blew off my leg. But the ship’s surgeon fixed me up with this peg leg and I’m as good as new.”
“Well, what about the hook?” asks the barkeep.
“We had another sea battle and some guy lopped off my hand,” the pirate explains, “but the ship’s surgeon fixed me up with this hook and now I’m as good as new!”
“What about the eye patch?” asks the bartender.
“One day I was on the top mast keeping watch,” says the pirate, “when an bird flew over and pooped in my eye.”
The bartender is incredulous. “You mean to tell me that bird poop will put out your eye?”
“Well,” the pirate explained, “this happened shortly after I got the hook.”

( http://www.verifine.org/Humor/pirate.html )

Interesting Fact: Starlings are great vocal mimics: individuals can learn the calls of up to 20 different species. Birds whose songs starlings often copy include the Eastern Wood-Pewee, Killdeer, meadowlarks, Northern Bobwhite, Wood Thrush, Red-tailed Hawk, American Robin, Northern Flicker, and many others. ( http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/European_Starling/lifehistory )

Paparazzi!

May 20, 2015 — 8 Comments

Paparazzi

F/5.6, 1/125, ISO 140.

Day 140 / 365

Pants: Anthropologie

Sweatshirt: Abercrombie and Fitch

Necklaces: J.Crew

Shoes: INC

Bag: Zara

Sunglasses: Le Specs

Model-Joanna

Interesting Fact:  In the 1500s, fashion designers showed off their clothing by putting it on miniature dolls. There were no such thing as models until 1853. ( http://www.younghollywood.com/scene/15-amazing-fashion-facts.html )

Beautiful Flowers, But They Smell Terrible.

April 29, 2015 — 8 Comments

tree flowers

F/6.3, 1/200, ISO 125.

Day 119 / 356

Why is the letter A like a flower?
A bee (B) comes after it!

Interesting Fact: The oldest living organism on Earth is believed to be the “Pando” colony of Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides) in Utah, also known as the Trembling Giant. The colony of trees covers some 41.7 hectares (103 acres) and is estimated to weigh nearly 6,000,000 kilograms (6,600 tons), making it also the heaviest known organism. Being a clonal colony, the tree “trunks” all share identical genetic makeup. It is estimated that parts of the inter-connected root stock that links the colony together is in excess of 80,000 years old! ( http://landarchs.com/8-amazing-facts-trees-didnt-know/ )

Angry Bird!

April 27, 2015 — 19 Comments

Northern Cardinal

F/6.3, 1/200, ISO 125

Northern Cardinal

Day 117 / 365

You wouldn’t like him when he’s angry. For more info ask the pigs!   🙂

Interesting Fact: Many people are perplexed each spring by the sight of a cardinal attacking its reflection in a window, car mirror, or shiny bumper. Both males and females do this, and most often in spring and early summer when they are obsessed with defending their territory against any intruders. Birds may spend hours fighting these intruders without giving up. A few weeks later, as levels of aggressive hormones subside, these attacks should end (though one female kept up this behavior every day or so for six months without stopping).  ( http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Cardinal/lifehistory )

Tug Life!

April 15, 2015 — 5 Comments

Tugboat

F/6.0, 1/250, ISO 640.

Day 105 / 365

♫ ♫ ♪ Tug, tug, tug your boat. ♪  ♫  Gently down the stream. ♫ ♪ ♪

Interesting Fact: Tugboat engines generate from 750 to 3,000 horsepower. ( http://www.examiner.com/article/facts-about-tugboats )

They See Me Rollin’ They Hatin’

April 12, 2015 — 8 Comments

Honda S2000

F/7.1, 1/200, ISO 100.

Honda S2000

Day 102 / 365

“Life is too short to drive boring cars”.

Interesting Fact: The S2000 was introduced in 1999 for the 2000 model year and was given the chassis designation of AP1. It featured a front mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout with power being delivered by a 1,997 cc (122 cu in) inline 4-cylinder DOHC–VTEC engine. The engine (codenamed F20C) produced outputs of 177–184 kW (237–247 hp), and 208–218 N·m (153–161 lbf·ft) depending on the target market.[5] The engine was mated to a six-speed manual transmission and Torsen limited slip differential. The S2000 achieved what Honda claimed as “the world’s top level, high performance 4-cylinder naturally aspirated engine” ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_S2000 )

Backyard Bully!

March 31, 2015 — 18 Comments

House Sparrow

F/6.3, 1/320, ISO 1600.

House Sparrow

Black and White  Day 2 of 5

Day 90 / 365

This little guy was bullying all the other birds today. So small yet so feisty.

Interesting Fact: The House Sparrow takes frequent dust baths. It throws soil and dust over its body feathers, just as if it were bathing with water. In doing so, a sparrow may make a small depression in the ground, and sometimes defends this spot against other sparrows. ( http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/House_Sparrow/lifehistory )

I was challenged by Cynthia at http://cynthiamvoss.wordpress.com/  to take up the Black and White 5-Day Challenge.  Part of the fun is to nominate another blogger, one on each day.

Today, I nominate Maggie of https://magscorner.wordpress.com/ Maggie, if you accept, the goal is to post one B&W photo each day for five days, and to nominate a fellow blogger each day to join in.

There is no pressure to accept this challenge. It’s just for fun!    🙂

I Am Branching Out!

March 19, 2015 — 22 Comments

squirrel

F/6.3, 1/125, ISO 800.

Day 78 / 365

I made a flute out of this branch.  Now watch me play.  ♪ ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪ ♫       🙂

Interesting Fact: Squirrels communicate with each other through various vocalisations and scent marking. They also use their tails as a signalling device, twitching it when uneasy to alert other squirrels of potential danger. ( http://www.onekind.org/be_inspired/animals_a_z/squirrel/ )