Signature

Apart from this photoblog, I also do a moderate amount of photography for my business, shooting all the various products we manufacture and sell. We were very pleased with the dramatic variety of effects we got recently with a shoot, so I thought I would share five of the photos (out of 35). I revealed the unique nature of my business in a previous post - click here and note the 4th comment. This is also how I have the privilege of knowing high-wire artist and juggler Philippe Petit who has been featured twice (see other related postings below).
LEDs have become cheaper and brighter over the years, which has resulted in the proliferation of all types of illuminated items in a myriad of product categories including toys, shoes, clothing, ornaments etc. Juggling is no different and the performance aspect is really driving the interest in illuminated products - companies like mine are endeavoring to offer everything possible in an illuminated version. People just love illuminated props and the simplest routines elicit oohs and aahs from an audience - jugglers get a lot of mileage from their skill set when using illuminated juggling equipment. The photos are of me juggling three clubs in the dark with our color changing model. In this LED variant, the hue slowly cycles through the color spectrum. So in a figurative and literal sense, this really is my signature ...

Related Postings: Artiste Extraordinaire, Spinning, Fire and Drums, Spiegelworld, Titans

Our Lady of Pompei

This was looking like an average story of a nice looking church. Until I read that this church was named after the Basilica of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary of Pompeii in Italy which was founded by a former Satanist - Bartolo Longo (1841-1926). Read his story here. He was later beatified on October 26, 1980 by Pope John Paul II, who referred to him as the "Apostle of the Rosary." The church in the photo (built in 1928), Our Lady of Pompeii, is located on the corner of Carmine and Bleecker Streets in the Village. It has very high visibility from nearby 6th Avenue and is a landmark in the area. I have shown it as viewed from behind (to the west) along Bleecker Street. Its construction was organized by Father Antonio Demo (born 1870 in Lazzaretto di Bassano, Italy - died in 1936 in New York City) to replace a former church where he was pastor. In an interesting side note, the former church is where St. Frances Xavier Cambrini worshipped and taught - she was the first American citizen to be canonised. The church was built in 1928 in Italian-Renaissance style with an interior graced by marble columns, frescoes and murals. This area of the South Village still shows signs and remnants of its Italian heritage - the shops along Bleecker Street between 6th and 7th Avenues are a good example. Between 1880 and 1920, more than 50,000 Italian immigrants settled here. Father Demo's legacy continued with the naming of the triangular plot across the street from the church - Father Demo Square - click here ...

Danger and Caution

The rules to Capture the Flag are incredibly simple (in theory) - the goal is to capture the opponent's flag, located at their team's base, and bring it back to your team's base. Yet to watch this game played in the city is to witness something bordering an anarchistic mêlée. Some players are running everywhere (nearly crashing into onlookers) and others are standing for no reason I can fathom; some are chatting with the enemy, sometimes in jail; boundaries seem ill defined or not at all, and the score is not announced. The members of the two teams - Danger and Caution - wear identifying plastic strips around their wrists. The flags are knotted rags as seen in the photo. Thinking this was a new geek creation unique to the city, I was surprised to learn that this is an old game - I actually found reference to it in a Boy Scout manual from 1947 and that Robert Kennedy Jr. has been known to have 100 person games at his property in Mt. Kisco, NY. There are versions which incorporate areas of neighborhoods in Brooklyn. The photos show the game as played by NYU students in the evenings in Washington Square Park. Capture the flag is part of a trend in urban gaming with others like Pacmanhattan and manhunt. I've discussed the game with a professor at NYU (with a PhD in physics) who frequents the park and has observed the game and also is confused while watching. He agrees that it is only fully understandable by the young and wild spirited :) ...

Photo Note: The photos are from from August 30, 2007. I intended to coordinate with the group of players and do a more extensive shooting with a flash system, but it never happened.

Housing Stock

This magnificent building at 451 Broome Street in the SoHo Historic District caught the eyes of couple of photographer friends and myself on a recent walk. I could find no details on this building specifically - amazing, since in another locale something of this quality would be worthy of group tours. But SoHo is packed with quality structures, so a building really has to really stand out in an extraordinary way architecturally or historically to make itself known. SoHo is bounded by Houston Street on the north, Lafayette Street on the east, Canal Street on the south, and Varick Street on the west. Like much of the city in the 1960s-70s, this industrial neighborhood was in decline and was discovered and populated by artists who found upper story floors (which became known as lofts) with their enormous spaces, large windows and cheap rents very desirable. Most of the use of these spaces for living was technically illegal, however the state of the neighborhood caused these violations to be overlooked. SoHo has also been known as the Cast Iron District - the ornate facades of many of these 19th century buildings are done in cast iron. Like Tribeca and DUMBO, the quality of housing stock ultimately determines the degree of gentrification a place will attain. We see this all over the world with places like the Marais in Paris or Providence, Rhode Island, which is seeing a renaissance, driven by its old factory buildings. Contrast this with neighborhoods like Williamsburg, Brooklyn or the East Village - they certainly have been gentrified but I do not believe you will ever see these neighborhoods approach the level of SoHo, with Madison and Fifth Avenue retailers like Louis Vuitton, Cartier and Coach. Here we had a centrally located neighborhood with beautiful architecture and cobbled streets. It was just a matter of time ...

Related postings - click any of the following links: Bleecker Tower, Scholastic Building, Bayard Condict, The Wall, Jersey Girls, Stephanie, Hoopmobile, Gourmet Garage, Alidoro.

First Oasis Restaurant

On February 19, 2007, I posted on one of my favorite dishes - Ful Mudammas (click here) - made by First Oasis Restaurant at 9218 Fourth Avenue in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, where I travel to get it. The owner/chef, Said Albahari from Syria, previously owned Magic Carpet Restaurant on Carmine Street in Manhattan for over 20 years, where I was a regular customer from its early days. At the time, I was a strict vegetarian. Middle Eastern and Indian cuisine quickly became favorites - both have some extremely good vegetable dishes. I have generally found vegetarian fare from an ethnic restaurant to be much tastier than meals from vegetarian restaurants, where the food is driven more by the dietary restrictions. Ethnic restaurants, on the other hand, have a real culinary tradition behind them with a creative use of spices, condiments and unique preparations. However, even in NYC, authentic Middle Eastern food is not that common. The cuisine is perhaps a little too exotic for the average American palate. A perusal of Middle Eastern restaurant listings shows mostly falafel/shawarma type places. Many of the better places are found in the outer boroughs where there are neighborhoods with concentrations of various ethnic groups and their attendant restaurants. One of my favorite meals is Ouzi - shown in the photo upper left. This is absolutely delicious with raisins, nuts, vegetables and rice in a phylo pastry dough, served with a yogurt sauce (meat and vegetarian versions are available). Moustache (previous posting click here) in Manhattan, also serves ouzi. First Oasis is very authentic with an extensive menu of Middle Eastern specialties like kebabs, mussaka, kebbeh, labneh, hummus, baba ghanuj, stuffed grape leaves, tabuleh, seafood. traditional desserts (halavah, baloza, baklawa, ladyfinger) and beverages (tamarind). The owner takes his cooking seriously - dishes are made from scratch. The food is excellent and inexpensive. Highly recommended ...

Interesting Note: I discussed the dearth of Ouzi and Ful with the chef from Olive Tree Cafe (previously posted - click here). His feeling was that customers were too unfamiliar with these dishes and would not order them. In the case of Ful, the cooks made in regularly for themselves in the kitchen.

Interesting Anecdote: During one of my last meals I had in Magic Carpet in the Village before it closed, I was accompanied by Sara Jessica Parker (of Sex in the City fame) at a nearby table. According to the staff, she was a regular, getting deliveries frequently (she lived around the corner). One of her last comments during the meal was enthusiastic: "This food is delicious."

Photo Note: At the top from left to right: Vegetable Ouzi, Spinach Pie, Ful Mudammas.

Black Friday

Today is Black Friday - everyone knows the day after Thanksgiving is considered the commencement of the Christmas shopping season and is one of the busiest shopping days of the year. The most common explanation for the origin of the term Black Friday is that it is the start of profitability of many businesses - putting them in the black (an accounting term hearkening back to when accountants used red ink for loss and black for profits). In actuality, many businesses do rely on holiday sales to show a profit for the entire year. An older origin of the term is an implied comparison to stress and chaos of other black days such as Black Tuesday, the day of the 1929 stock market crash.
It's remarkable that holiday shopping has taken on such epic proportions - frenetic shoppers fueled by desperate retailers. I once remember hearing a remark that shopping is what Americans do best. So shop 'till you drop :) ...

Photo Note: I have assembled a collage of photos of the major retailers I have featured on this site since its inception (March 2006). The photos are listed clockwise starting at the upper left. (click on any to go to that posting and it photos): Saks, Macys, Tiffany, Takashimaya, Apple and Sherry, Cartier.

Horn of Plenty

Apart from the traveling, I find Thanksgiving to be a comforting time of year - very comfy as far as eating is concerned. It is a time of year where family, friends and food come to the foreground and other responsibilities can be pushed aside. Thanksgiving Day is still rather non-commercial, with the emphasis on thanks and giving. This is a nice respite from the over-the-top commercialization that has affected virtually everything. It also is the day where overeating is not only allowed but encouraged and expected. An old Saturday Night Live skit comes to mind where wives were virtually force feeding their husbands (who could eat no more) in their plush upholstered chairs on Thanksgiving day. And then there is the famous scene in Monty Python's the Meaning of Life where the enormous Mr. Creosote is persuaded to eat one last wafer-thin after-dinner mint, whereupon he literally explodes.
The photo shows the scene at Dean and Delucca, the gourmet emporium in SOHO, the evening before Thanksgiving. There was a time when places like this inspired awe and wonder with residents and visitors. This food mecca has been a destination for many. But we are all a little jaded now, given places like the ubiquitous national chain Whole Foods and exposure to a myriad of goods and services via various media and the Internet. The kind of things these iconic NYC gourmet shops were renowned for have become much more available outside the city. For most, America has become the horn of plenty ...

Note about the Horn of Plenty or Cornucopia: There are many variations on the telling of this Greek myth. In one telling, Zeus was raised by Amalthea on the milk of a goat. In return, Zeus presented her with the horn of the goat which had the magical power to be filled with whatever the holder desired. The modern cornucopia is now a wicker basket with the shape of a goat's horn.