August 6, 2019
Los Angeles City Hall
Last month I went on an L.A. Conservancy tour of L.A. City Hall.
Union Station seen from the observation deck on top of L.A. City Hall.
The complete set of photos can be seen here.
permalink | August 6, 2019 at 08:39 PM | Comments (0)
November 3, 2018
Los Angeles Just After Sunset
permalink | November 3, 2018 at 06:16 PM | Comments (1)
October 15, 2018
Wende Museum Of The Cold War
I recently visited the Wende Museum of the Cold War in Culver City, which had been on my gotta-see list for quite a while. Open to the public Friday, Saturday and Sunday; no charge for admission; check the website for variations on that. It's right next door to Veterans Memorial Park which is right next door to Veterans Memorial Auditorium.
On the other end of the museum sits the House of Warrior Poetry (Dance. Parkour. Acrobatics. Action Arts. Yoga. Movement.).
Veterans Memorial Auditorium - the marker out front was placed in 1950, so call it 1950.
In the museum I thought the cover of this magazine said "1961." Only when I went to edit it did I see it was actually 1981! It sure has the look of 1961.
Yuri Gagarin hanging out with kids.
You can see all the photos here.
permalink | October 15, 2018 at 11:12 PM | Comments (0)
September 25, 2018
2018 Burning Man Photos
A view of my camp from the elevated deck at Box Office Camp. This was taken my second day on the playa.
Trago Peak on the eastern edge of the playa.
Burner Buddies Stephanie and Klank.
Every year there's one art piece that is obviously dangerous, and BMOrg will let people play on it until someone gets seriously hurt and then they make some changes. Before this one had been open for too many days, someone fell off and it was shut down.
The front of Box Office while we were setting up.
My first evening on the playa.
My truck in the Nugget Casino parking garage in Sparks.
A menorah constructed on a tandem bike.
At the Burner Buddies Little Black Dress Party.
The Champagne Bitches art car stopped in front of Burner Buddies for a while.
Customers at the Burner Buddies Drive-thru.
Aerial view shot by Frank with Burner Buddies camp highlighted.
Burner Buddies group shot by Ed.
My complete set of 2018 Burning Man photos can be seen here.
permalink | September 25, 2018 at 08:00 PM | Comments (1)
May 15, 2018
Photos of the Library of Congress
The ceiling in the grand hall where one enters the Jefferson building.
Naked baseball players on the ceiling of the Library of Congress. I've got another photo showing football players.
Down in the tunnels connecting the Jefferson and Madison (and I'm sure other) buildings.
Columns at the entrance to the Madison Memorial Building.
Click here to see all 22 of my photos from the Library of Congress.
permalink | May 15, 2018 at 09:04 PM | Comments (0)
April 9, 2018
Low Clearance On New York Parkways Results In Bus Crash
Here's the news story about a bus striking a low clearance bridge on the Southern State Parkway on Long Island. "Major David Candelaria of the New York State Police...estimated the height of the clearance to be less than 10 feet." The article says it was an 8-foot clearance, but the signs say 7' 7". I'm really surprised the state police are so far off estimating the bridge height. The parkways in NY state were intended for passenger vehicles only, so designers intentionally made the bridge clearances low in order to discourage any future legislature from opening up the parkways to trucks and buses. Here's an interesting article that discusses the motivations of Robert Moses, who designed this particular parkway, to make these bridge clearances even lower than they are on other New York parkways. The primary accusation made against Moses was that he was rabidly racist (apparently a proven fact) and he didn't want low-income people (who he assumed would be mostly black or Puerto Rican) to come by the busload to the parks and beaches that are connected by the parkways. The author identifies one beach that was obviously designed for bus access, so he thinks the racism story may not be true.
The comments are very interesting. The ones from locals are like "Driver's fault, everyone knows about NY parkways," "Driver's fault, everyone in the northeast knows about NY parkways," or "Driver's fault, there were warning signs." I've been on NY parkways just a few times (when I lived in the northeast), and while I greatly appreciated their aesthetics, I wasn't consciously aware of the bridge heights, so I think there's just a lot of New Yorkers who think everyone knows all about New York.
The article says the bus passengers were returning home from Europe. I assume, therefore, that they were coming from one of the NYC area airports and heading east (the accident site is east of any airports). In fact, it seems most likely they were coming from JFK airport because from JFK you can get on the Belt Parkway from either I-678 or the JFK Expressway. The Belt Parkway then takes you to the Southern State Parkway.
I used Google Streetview to search for warning signs and the photo below shows the first (and only) warning sign that the parkway is for passenger cars only. This is coming from I-678. I could find no similar sign for those coming from the JFK Expressway.
First (and apparently only) warning signs entering Belt Parkway from I-678 leaving JFK Airport.
I used the New York State database of bridge heights that the Post author referenced. You've got to zoom in a lot before it becomes useful. I would expect a state department of transportation database of bridge heights to have both the highest and lowest clearance heights from both directions, a total of four heights. But the NYDOT only lists one height (the lowest) for each bridge. They only distinguish the different heights for either direction if the bridge has two arches. One arch bridges get only one height. IOW, inadequate.
Searching for info on the typical height of intercity buses, I found that the limit is 12 feet, but I didn't find any particular bus models taller than 133 inches (11' 1'). The extra 11 inches is probably a safety margin to allow for heavy snow on the road surface or changes in the height of the road due to repaving. I found a couple of trucker forums where drivers claimed that posted clearances in New York State are 12 inches lower than the real clearance. If those claims are true, then an 11' 1" bus ought to fit under any New York bridge with a labeled clearance of 10' 2", giving a tight one-inch safety margin.
Using that state database and following the route of the bus, the first bridge that appears too low for them is where the Belt Parkway passes under 130th Avenue. The photo below shows that underpass.
NB Belt Parkway under 130th Avenue. The 9' 8" warning sign is the lowest clearance in the right or left lane. If the bus had been in the center lane at this point, the clearance there might have been a nominal 10' 2" or more (11' 2" in reality, if we trust the alleged 12-inch safety margin) and the bus would have cleared it with an inch to spare.
As the bus transitioned from the Belt Parkway to the Southern State Parkway, it would go under the nominally 8' 6" bridge shown below.
First warning sign on EB Southern State Parkway coming from Belt Parkway. If 8' 6" means 9' 6", the clearance over the leftmost lane would need to be at least 17 inches higher than that over the right lane. It's possible.
BTW, the only height clearance warning signs I could find on the parkways were the single signs mounted on each bridge, small and usually white, although some were yellow as shown in the photo above. On entrance ramps I could usually find one standard "No Trucks" sign and two diamond signs showing the clearance of the first bridge to be encountered. The sign on I-678 is the biggest, flashiest warning I could find and even that one says nothing about low clearances. There were no "No Trucks" signs on the parkways, other than a single one at each entrance ramp. There were no "Trucks/Buses Must Exit" signs at any exit.
The next underpass has a nominal clearance of 8' 11", but that sign (white) is obscured by vegetation, as you can see below.
EB Southern State Parkway under Elmont Road. An additional 15 inches of clearance would be needed for an 11' 1" bus (again, assuming the NYDOT actually deducts a 12-inch safety margin from their signs). There might be 15 inches difference between the righthand edge of the road and lanes number 2 or 3 (counting from left to right).
Then we come to Fletcher Avenue where the nominal clearance is 7' 8" which is only one inch higher than the underpass at Eagle Road where the bus accident happened.
EB Southern State Parkway at Fletcher Avenue. Google Streetview sometimes pixelates the height signs because they appear to be similar to license plates, which Streetview routinely pixelates, but the NYDOT database says this one is 7' 8", and that does not appear to be inconsistent with the pixelated sign. There would need to be a whopping 28 inches of additional clearance in lanes 1 or 2 (left to right) for the bus to pass under it, but pass under it the bus did.
Continuing east, the next bridge at Corona Avenue is nominally 9' 3". The next very low clearance bridge is at Franklin Avenue where the nominal clearance is 8' 7". After that the bus passed through four underpasses that seemed to have a nominal height sufficient for the bus to clear. And then they came to Eagle Avenue which is nominally only 7' 7", shown below.
Eagle Avenue bridge across Southern State Parkway, eastbound..
Click to go to the Google aerial view of the interchange of Eagle Avenue and Southern State Parkway.
The photos of the wrecked bus in the Post article show much greater damage on its right side than on its left, so I think it was in the right lane and hit it at 7' 7" (or 8' 7" in reality) which would be about 23 inches lower than the top of the bus.
The bus driver is a professional, so he should have noted the one warning sign he went under when going from I-678 to the Belt Parkway (if indeed that was his route). And he should have known that buses were prohibited from parkways. The bus company is based in New Jersey, so I think it's save to assume they do a lot of driving in New York State. In addition, the driver should have noticed his hairbreadth clearance under some of the bridges before he got to Eagle Avenue. If he'd been paying attention, that alone should have caused him to question the wisdom of his route.
The signage, however, erected by the NYDOT is all consistent with the assumption that every driver knows you can't take a bus (or truck) onto a parkway, and every driver knows there are very low clearance bridges. But that's a bit like the reasoning "but I had the right of way" as you lie dying on the pavement somewhere. Three vehicles a year strike this bridge! How many hit the other very low clearance bridges on this parkway? Construction of the Southern State Parkway began in 1926. It's been 92 years and no one has ever felt the need to upgrade the signage?! "In December [2017], Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced a $4.3 million project to install an electronic warning system that detects when oversize vehicles enter parkways." Here's what the NYDOT claims in that article: "An over-height vehicle entering would break the beam, triggering a warning message on a full color LED variable message sign display. The warning would indicate that the vehicle is over height and alerts the driver of impending bridge strikes ahead," but if you look at the photos you'll see the sign falls far short of what they claim.
Full color LED? I don't think so. This is old technology, certainly not any color but amber. I don't think these lights are LED or I wouldn't see so many burned out elements both out on the road and in this photo. If they are truly LED, they could do a lot more with them than simply display crude dots. As for "The warning would indicate that the vehicle is over height and alerts the driver of impending bridge strikes ahead," uh, I don't think so. If the sign in the photo actually does that, it's going to have to scroll three or four message displays to do so, and the offending vehicle will have passed by the sign already. In addition, the sign is placed too late. Is the driver of the truck or bus supposed to back up or do a u-turn across the grass or just stop and call the highway patrol to assist? In the photo it appears that the detector is actually placed AFTER the warning sign, so its only real function would be to alert following drivers to get their cellphones ready to record the expected crash.
The NYDOT seems to work on the assumption there are no stupid or ignorant drivers on their roads. Most other states have learned the folly of that assumption when dealing with potentially life-endangering road hazards. In California there are generous warning signs where stupid or ignorant drivers might do the wrong thing. The bus driver is technically at fault in this case, but the NYDOT is doing less than the minimum to try to mitigate the risks of these low clearance parkway overpasses. The very least they could do is use the standard big yellow signs that are mounted on bridges directly over the roadway...and clear the damned vegetation!
There are at least a couple of low clearance bridges elsewhere in the United States that are routinely struck by high clearance vehicles. Go here to read and view videos about the infamous 11' 8" bridge in Durham, North Carolina. Note the extremely generous warning signs for the stupid or ignorant. Even so, plenty of drama still happens.
permalink | April 9, 2018 at 02:07 PM | Comments (0)
March 22, 2018
Slide Photos Of The Past (well, we couldn't have future, could we?)
Somewhere in New England (Maine, most likely).
A view of the skyline of downtown Boston from Alewife Station on the Red Line. I think the very white steeple you can see towards the left part of the downtown skyline is a church that used to stand in Porter Square. You can see the Federal Reserve building on the righthand part of the skyline.
My brother's stepdaughter at the wedding between her mother and him in 1986, Fremont, California.
Polaris and the star trails around it. I probably shot this while out camping, which means it's probably Maine.
I can't remember where this is, but I'm tempted to say Chicago. Kodachrome, 1987.
Prometheus in front of the Prudential Center in Boston, 1986.
The old John Hancock, Back Bay, Boston. Kodachrome, 1986.
The reflecting pool at the Christian Science Center in The Fenway, Boston.Agfachrome, 1985.
Chicago City Hall, Kodachrome, 1987.
The Christian Science Center in Boston. Kodachrome, 1986.
More scanned slide photos can be seen here.
permalink | March 22, 2018 at 07:34 PM | Comments (0)
February 23, 2018
Sliiiiiiiiides
Harvard along the Charles River as viewed from the John W. Weeks pedestrian bridge. I'm facing the Cambridge side, of course. At the extreme left you can see the North Harvard Street bridge. On the right you can see as far as the Western Avenue bridge and the power plant next to it.
Yes, this couple looks like a Duane Hanson sculpture, but they are, in fact, living tourists in Hawaii. Kodachrome, 1986.
Paris Street; Rainy Day by Gustave Caillebotte at the Chicago Art Institute.
Marina City, Chicago - Kodachrome, 1987.
The LDS Temple in Oakland - 1986.
Coast Guard pier in Provincetown, Massachusetts - 1985.
![[Former] Polaroid Headquarters](https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4607/39738064354_2dbb499397.jpg)
Polaroid headquarters on the Charles River in Boston (Allston).
permalink | February 23, 2018 at 06:59 PM | Comments (0)
February 11, 2018
Scanned Slide Photos Again
The Charles River after sunset, looking westerly. Kodachrome, 1987.
Sal Sorrenti and David K. This photo is from about 1986 or '87 and is somewhere around Boston, maybe Westboro. Sal, on the left, was my boyfriend at that time.
If you can identify this portrait, please let me know. I don't recall the artist or where this was on display. It might be in the Chicago Art Institute.
The Na Pali coast on Kauai. Kodachrome, 1986.
MBTA Alewife Station in Arlington, Massachusetts.
Louis Sullivan monogram on Carson Pirie Scott & Co., Chicago. Kodachrome, 1987.
This is Hammond Pond behind Chestnut Hill Mall in Newton, Massachusetts. Kodachrome, 1988.
The 1985 gay pride parade in Boston passing in front of the State House.
permalink | February 11, 2018 at 08:31 PM | Comments (0)
February 2, 2018
A lot of slides from around 1987, mostly
Also Chicago, Kodachrome, 1987. This is probably the last time I saw this sign on the Allerton Hotel. I had always wondered if the Tip-Top-Tap was still a going concern or was it just too expensive to take down those letters. But that was before the internet. Now I can find out without having to actually go to Chicago and ride an elevator to the top. The Tip-Top-Tap opened in the 1920s and closed in 1961. It is used now as a ballroom or meeting room for private parties, but the bar is gone.
Chicago, but I can't identify these buildings. The sleek one is not the Willis Tower. This is 1987 (Kodachrome again). If anyone can identify these buildings please leave a comment or email me.
Ferns in the inner courtyard of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.
Kilauea Lighthouse, Kauai; Kodachrome 1986.
Kodachrome, 1989. I don't recall where this is.
Lower South Branch Pond, Baxter State Park, Maine; Kodachrome 1987.
The Nantucket Light Ship, Kodachrome, early 1980s.
The Robie House by Frank Lloyd Wright in Oak Park, outside Chicago. 1987, Kodachrome.
The Reserve Channel in Boston on Ektachrome, early 1980s. When I lived in South Boston in the early '80s, I worked downtown at 100 Summer Street, so most mornings I would walk to work (a couple miles) rather than suffer the crowded bus. This was along the way and almost always offered a photogenic view. But it never changed much, either. Sometimes a ship would tie up and stay for more than a year.
The Royal Hawaiian Hotel on Waikiki Beach, Kodachrome, 1986.
On the Charles River Esplanade in Boston looking across the river at MIT in Cambridge. Kodachrome, 1987.
My first visit to the Vietnam Memorial Wall on The Mall in Washington, Kodachrome, 1987. I was quite impressed with the feeling of grief that grows to almost overwhelming levels as I walked down into the memorial and the walls rose higher than my head.
A serendipitous moment at the Art Institute of Chicago, 1987.
Dunes on Cape Cod near Provincetown, Kodachrome, 1987.
permalink | February 2, 2018 at 10:48 AM | Comments (0)
January 22, 2018
Slides, Slides and Slides
Reverend Ch's T. Torrey in Mt. Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
"It is better to die in prison with the peace of God in our breasts. than to live in freedom with a polluted conscience.
Torrey's Letter Feb. 7. 1846Reverend CH'S T. TORREY.
Born at Scituate Nov. 21. 1813
Graduated at Yale College Aug. 1833.
Ordained at Providence
March. 1837.
Arrested at Baltimore
June 24. 1844.
Died in the Penitentiary of that City May 9. 1846The friends of the American Slave erect this stone to his memory as a Martyr for Liberty.
Sunset view from Kauaʻi. That island on the left is Niʻihau. Kodachrome 1986.
The interior courtyard of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in The Fenway, Boston.
The Connecticut State Capitol, Hartford.
I have no recollection of where this is. Kodachrome, 1987. In 1987 I lived in New England and traveled to Chicago, Washington DC and New York City. If you recognize this place, please leave a comment.
Chicago Water Tower, Kodachrome, 1987.
Alcatraz 1985 on Polapan film.
Sunset behind Beacon Hill in the 1980s.The point of view is the Charles/MGH Red Line station.
Chicago, Kodachrome, probably 1987.
Yellow hibiscus, probably in Hawaii.
Myself (on the right) and Bob, aboard the Provincetown II ferry between Boston and Provincetown, 1986. IIRC, we just went to P-town for lunch and then came right back to Boston. That was a thing to do back before the higher speed ferries appeared. The ferry would depart Boston about 9 AM, taking about 3 hours to get to P-town. Then you could do whatever until 3 or 3:30 when the return ferry embarked.
Boston General Mail Facility (i.e., main post office) in Boston on Fort Point Channel. This panorama was shot on Kodachrome.
Flowering trees on the Charles River Esplanade, Kodachrome.
Boats on the Charles River with the Longfellow Bridge and Back Bay skyline in the background, 1985.
The dome of the Christian Science Mother Church Annex on Agfachrome, 1985.
Myself (with the camera, duh!) and Dan in Hawaii, 1986. The film is Kodachrome.
John alongside the Charles River, 1985.
I don't recall where this is, but it must be in New England - probably the Boston area. Kodachrome, 1987.
Steam generation plant on Kneeland Street in Boston.
A roof peak on Trinity Church in Boston with the old John Hancock building in the background.
The complete collection of scanned slide photos can be seen here.
permalink | January 22, 2018 at 07:07 PM | Comments (1)
January 9, 2018
These slides aren't going to stop anytime soon
The Prudential tower in Boston. This was stitched from several Kodachrome slides shot in 2001.
The Mormon Temple in Oakland in 1986.
Downtown Hartford, circa 1986.
One of the towers on the Golden Gate Bridge from 1985.
Diagonal, Iowa's centennial in 1988 still being promoted in 1991. Well made sign. This is Ektachrome and was shot during my bicycle ride from Boston to Kansas City that year. As I go through my slides I'm finding a few photos from that trip that I can't place at all, other than to say it was during that ride. If the scenery is level then the photo is probably from Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, or even Kansas or Missouri. If it's hilly, it's probably New York, but could be Massachusetts or even the corner of Pennsylvania that I rode through.
At the Living Desert, probably 2001.
There are many more slide scans to be seen here.
permalink | January 9, 2018 at 06:00 PM | Comments (1)
January 6, 2018
A Small Batch Of Slides
Zebras at Living Desert, 2001.
"They That Go Down To The Sea In Ships", Gloucester, Massachusetts. Kodachrome, 2002. This was erected at the tercentenary of Gloucester in 1923 as a memorial to all fishermen lost at sea.
"The Scout," a sculpture of a Sioux Indian astride a horse. Kodachrome, 1991. This is in Kansas City and is considered one of the icons of the city. It was on the cover of the Kansas City phonebook for a number of years. Originally displayed at the 1915 Panama-Pacific Expo in San Francisco, it was installed temporarily in Kansas City after that. It was paid for and dedicated in 1922.
A resort in the Warm Sands neighborhood of Palm Springs. Ektachrome, probably 2001. This B&B used to be across the street from Inndulge, but has changed hands and undergone a major transformation since then.
In winter, the Frog Pond in Boston Common is transformed into a skating rink. Stitched from three Kodachrome slides dated 2002.
Customs House Tower in Boston. Kodachrome, 1991.
The Bunker Hill Monument on Breed's Hill in Charlestown, Boston. Stitched from three Kodachrome slides from 2002. The statue at the base of the monument is of Colonel William Prescott, commander of the American forces at the battle who gave the order "Do not fire until you see the whites of their eyes."
permalink | January 6, 2018 at 08:55 PM | Comments (0)
January 3, 2018
I've got some slides to show you
The Zakim Bridge in Boston, Kodachrome.
Zakim Bridge under construction, 2001, Kodachrome.
Myself on the northern walkway of the George Washington Bridge, 1996, Ektachrome. This was on the way to our second GNI Gathering in Pennsylvania with Michael C. The first year we had done a big curve coming from Boston so as to avoid NYC, crossing the Hudson at Poughkeepsie, I think.
This second year, we decided to go for the shorter route: Boston to New London, ferry to Long Island, thence to Queens, Manhattan, and then over to New Jersey on the Geo. Washington.
Neither of us had biked or walked across this bridge before and we were following some old directions that said the north side was for bicycles, the south side for pedestrians. Well, after some challenges, we got to the north side only to find it gated and locked. No way were we going to retrace our route back to try to find the entrance to the south side, so we just climbed over the gate, and climbed over the other one on the New Jersey end.
[I had a similar problem in a later year when I crossed from Queens to Manhattan via the Triboro Bridge rather than the Queensborough. Locked gates. Tossed my bike over and then climbed - both ends.]
This turned out to be the best way to get to New Jersey (as long as we didn't repeat the north side mistake), but after a couple years of this I found the best way to cross New Jersey itself (herself?) was to get a permit from the NJDOT to bicycle on I-80. Suddenly, there were no hills in the Garden State.
The Massachusetts Turnpike in Allston. I'm not sure exactly where this is. I think that bridge is Comm Ave just east of the BU Bridge. In that case, I would be standing on the BU Bridge to get this photo, but I'm not sure this angle is actually possible. If anyone familiar with the area can nail it down better, please leave a comment.
San Francisco viewed from Twin Peaks, Kodachrome, 1992.
Hoover Dam, 2001, Kodachrome.
Frog Pond in the Boston Common, 2001.
A pair of 18th century grave markers in Boston. I do not recall exactly which cemetery this is, but those buildings in the background should help narrow it down. It's not Phipps in Charlestown. Maybe one of the Dorchester cemeteries. It's likely to be one of the city-owned cemeteries, since I led a bike tour of those a couple of times. Anyway, this is Mary Swift who died in 1785 (age 51?) and Mrs. Sarah Baker "the pious consort of Mr. John Baker." Date of death was 1788. This photo is Kodachrome from 1990.
This is the building that sits above the State MBTA stop on the Blue & Orange lines in downtown Boston at the intersection of Devonshire and Water Streets (7 Water Street). Kodachrome from 2002. It's the Winthrop Building. Architect: Clarence H. Blackall. Completed in 1894.
The dedication of the first LGBT Veterans memorial in an officially designated Veterans area of a cemetery. Cathedral City, 2001, Ektachrome. This is in the Welwood Murray Cemetery.
I'm not sure where this is, but as farm equipment it looks a bit too large and potentially efficient for New England. I'd have to guess Midwest, but where I was in the midst of the Midwest in 1989, I do not recall. Kodachrome.
A Civil War Veteran's grave marker in the Swan Point Cemetery in Providence, Rhode Island. The photo is from 2001.
Looks like September on the Charles River Esplanade in Boston. 2002, Kodachrome.
This construction (2001, Kodachrome) was beside Causeway Street, next to the Boston Garden and was connecting the new Zakim Bridge to the new Big Dig. I can't recall how they kept the traffic flowing here, while changing from an elevated highway to a tunnel and switching out bridges at the same time. Someone had described the Big Dig as being like open heart surgery performed on a marathon runner while he is running.
permalink | January 3, 2018 at 08:23 PM | Comments (1)
December 26, 2017
Slide Restoration
On the left is the slide as it actually appears. It's about 30 years old and I don't know what kind of slide film it is, but I can say for sure it is not Kodachrome. Even though it appears to have faded to just monochrome, there is actually still color info in it and a few clicks in Photoshop, will bring those up. That's the photo on the right.
 Before Photoshop |  After Photoshop |
The photo depicts Boston City Hall, Faneuil Hall, the JFK Building and part of the Quincy Market as viewed from atop the Customs House Tower.
permalink | December 26, 2017 at 09:16 PM | Comments (0)
December 14, 2017
Slides
Looking up Canal Street to the old Boston Garden.
Looking upstream on the Charles River from the Harvard Bridge. Boston University is on the left. This is from a black & white slide, and I'm pretty sure that was Ilford film.
Commonwealth Avenue and Green Line east of Allston Street.
A DC-3 at the Smithsonian in 1983.
Fort Point Channel, Boston; Ilford black & white slide film.
Frog Pond in the Boston Common.
Looking at the Ritz-Carlton from the Public Garden, Ektachrome.
The John Hancock Buildings, Back Bay, Boston.
Storrow Drive seen from the BU Bridge; Ilford black & white slide film.
The conversion of the building at 360 Newbury Street for Tower Records.
permalink | December 14, 2017 at 07:38 PM | Comments (0)
December 10, 2017
Aged Slide
In my recent slide scanning I hadn't come across any badly aged or damaged slides until today. It's from the mid-1980s. I don't know what kind of film it is, but it sure ain't Kodachrome. I've got lots of Ektachromes and Agfachromes that show no aging, so I'm sure this isn't either of those. BTW, I have no recollection of what this building is or where it's located.
permalink | December 10, 2017 at 11:50 PM | Comments (0)
December 7, 2017
Slides, More Slides
Sears warehouse building in The Fenway, Boston, Agfachrome, 1985.
The Nantucket Light Ship, Kodachrome.
Construction of the MBTA Back Bay Station in Boston, 1986.
Copley Square, Boston, Kodachrome, showing Trinity Church and the two John Hancocks.
permalink | December 7, 2017 at 04:31 PM | Comments (0)
October 7, 2017
President Clinton Library
On my way to Tennessee I stopped in at the Clinton Library in Little Rock, Arkansas.
The complete set of photos is here.
permalink | October 7, 2017 at 06:54 PM | Comments (0)
August 11, 2017
Los Angeles Neon Tours
Recently I went on two different bus tours offered by the Museum of Neon Art in Glendale. We toured on two Saturday nights, starting at 7:30 PM in downtown Los Angeles. The tours, while mostly about neon, become tours of architecture and history as well as drinking and dining suggestions. The buses rarely stop and stand still just where you want them to, but the surprisingly good image stabilization and fast focusing of one of my cheap Canon cameras managed to produce some good images.
Tower Theater, which has been acquired by Apple to become the downtown Apple Store.
Just like it says, in downtown LA.
To my utter surprise, I learned this is the oldest gay bathhouse in LA! I'd never heard of it before...nor had any of my friends who I asked. Klyt (I don't know what it stands for) opened in the 1920s on 4th Street not as a gay bathhouse, but evolved into one. How this escaped the 1980s, I can't imagine. My fear of bedbugs will keep me from exploring this one, although I'd really like to check it out.
The Chinatown Chevron must have the highest prices in the state. The price at Furnace Creek this day was only $3.069.
Angels Flight, which is supposed to return to service in 2018.
2nd Street Tunnel video. Click through to see the video.
Still the tallest building in L.A., IMO.
Eric, the tour guide for the first tour I went on. The guide for the second tour was also named Eric, but looked a little different.
"New Chinatown" is Chinatown, which was moved here in the 1930s to clear way for the construction of Union Station.
The Bradbury Building with its controversial new lighting.
A parking garage at 4th & Main. I think it's just art.
