Shots from November 10

I had to get photos for a new Taiwanese passport several weeks ago. I rode my bike since that's been my main form of transportation for so long, but this is the first Winter I'm riding into. Don't know how long it will last. That day was the first getting cold day, so it was sort of a test. It was still OK that day, but I had too many layers and was sweating uncomfortably by the time I got back.

Suburbia:

Castle Drive, just down the road from my parents' house.


New Jersey being so bike-unfriendly, I use the backroads to get to Fort Lee. This really isn't a Dead End, the road goes through. Remember, this is New Jersey. When I drive through here with other people in the car, I say, "aw, nuts! it's a dead end" and then just drive through. Even if we've been through there a hundred times. Don't ask about the shopping cart. Remember, this is New Jersey.


Crossing the highway approach to the George Washington Bridge.

The passport photos took 10 minutes to process, so I stepped out for some light shooting:



That was supposed to be a cold day. Today was the first day that I deemed too cold to go on my 20 mile default ride. Artic blast coming in over the next few days. I might not be able to do that ride again until Saturday, when temps get back into the 40s.

current sounds:
1. Rastaman Chant (The Wailers)
2. Now (Edie Brickell & New Bohemians)
3. Tali Lama (Victor Wooten)
4. Raining (Skip Holiday)
5. Line Up (Elastica)
6. Worms and Angels (Echobelly)
7. Pompeii (Sleater-Kinney)
8. Sabbath Prayer ("Fiddler On the Roof")
9. Vera (Pink Floyd)
10. Tripping Billies (Dave Matthews Band)

the beauty of dying

Sorry, but I just have a huge backlog of ride photos:

That same old S-curve I've already posted 4 or 5 times. Needless to say, my ride doesn't look like this anymore. Leaves have been falling, folks have been raking and landscapers blowing, and piles of leaves have been growing on the curbsides of these suburban towns. Like this-ish:

Lydecker St., Englewood, NJ

I really do think I overdid it on the ride photos. There's only so much one should shoot of the same thing, unless it's a project. The problem with Autumn colors is you want to keep shooting because every moment is a gorgeous moment, and you keep wanting to capture it. But I'm finding it's about the experience, not necessarily something that can be captured over and over.

Like, is this lomo:

any real improvement over this lomo:

or vice versa? Aside from one having the George Washington Bridge in it? Different parts of the same ride, shot on consecutive frames. I think not (but I hope you're giving me credit for coming up with cheap excuses to post this backlog of ride photos).

current sounds:
1. Soul Survivor (Rolling Stones)
2. Symphony No. 2, Mvmt. 2 (Allegro molto-meno mosso) (Rachmaninov)
3. Road Movie to Berlin (They Might Be Giants)
4. Take (Throwing Muses)
5. If This Bass Could Only Talk (Stanley Clark)
6. Randy Described Eternity (Built to Spill)
7. Tumbling Dice (Rolling Stones)
8. The Swimmer (Sleater-Kinney)
9. Helicopter (XTC)
10. Portions for Foxes (Rilo Kiley)

Bass for your face, homes.

Spector NS-2000:

Thru-neck body, meaning the neck isn't bolted on, but is made from the same piece of wood as the body for better sustain. "Ergonomically" curved back, incredibly comfortable, but strictly speaking has nothing to do with ergonomics. Passive EMG-HZ pickups, but active electronics. Decent, but I prefer full active pickups and electronics.

Riverhead "Unicorn" headless bass:

I'm sure I can get a better picture of this freaky looking bass. It's called a "Unicorn" for a reason, but someone once refered to it as a "Squid" bass, and I liked that better, so that's what I call it. Semi-thru neck body, meaning it's still not a bolt-on neck, but the wood of the neck is extended and embedded into the body. Active pick-ups and electronics. Japanese made. The bass came with more than a full set of Allen wrenches to perform all the little adjustments required, and as such, must be one of the most poorly designed basses of all time!

I can swear I had a third bass around here someplace. Must've misplaced it.

current sounds (last 10 songs shuffled on iTunes):
1. Sugar Water (Cibo Matto)
2. Unauthorized Autobiography (Unwound)
3. VI. Denn wir haben hie (Ein Deutsches Requiem, Brahms)
4. Learo, You're a Hole (Archers of Loaf)
5. The Funky Avocado (Michael Hedges)
6. Angel (Echobelly)
7. Nothing Without You (Tery Bina) (Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan)
8. Mexican Seafood (Nirvana)
9. Sukiyaki (Sandii)
10. Usnisa Vijana Dharani (Mantras of the Sanskrit)(Imee Ooi)

The Bronx, pt. 2, November 3rd

I discovered the adventures of riding to the Bronx several weeks ago. Yea, that won't be happening again anytime soon.

I can't say there's anything wrong with the Bronx, it's just a long way to go from New Jersey. In fact, I started understanding it when New Yorkers would say to get to the "real" New York, you have to go outside of Manhattan - Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens (not Staten Island, give me a break, it's only New York in name. Geographically and culturally, it's New Jersey).

Unfortunately, I didn't get any lomos of this mythic "real" New York. I don't know what the hell is wrong with me, I need to be shooting a lot more than I do, and varying my shooting as well. I'm still learning, though, and I'm finding the limitations of my subject matter, what I'm seeing, and I should try to remedy that.

I rode to the Bronx to go to Woodlawn Cemetery, and that's mostly what I shot. Although soon after I crossed into the Bronx, riding under some neat, old-time, elevated tracks, I paused for some exciting flooding in the street:



Woodlawn Cemetery is really nice, especially in the Autumn. Unfortunately, I got a flat tire just after I got into the cemetery. I entered in at the far end, so I got the flat literally at the farthest point away in my ride. I wasn't too concerned, though, I thought I was prepared for a flat, so I continued walking through the cemetery and took a few shots:



Flash is necessary with the lomo fisheye in low-light situations. Other people have commented on that in the flickr fisheye group. Also, the flash isn't very powerful, so if you're too far away from a subject, you won't get it, but if you're too close to a subject, all you'll get is the flash. Optimal use of the lomo fisheye is in sunlight.




It's a cemetery, what can I say? Nothing really to comment on.

Anyway, it was after this that I realized I was about as prepared as FEMA for a flat tire. My fatal flaw was to not have my own pump. I had a spare tube. I had a patch kit. But as it turned out, without my own pump, I was screwed. I had no idea where bike shops were in the Bronx, and indeed I saw none as I wandered the streets hoping to find one, or a gas station with air.

I did find a gas station with air, but that's when I really found out I needed my own pump, because it turns out the spare tube I had uses a presta valve. It was the first presta tube that I had gotten for my mountain bike, and I don't even know why I had it since I'd been using Shrader valves since I got the bike. I was wholly unprepared for a flat tire, the only thing I could depend on was a bike shop, and I had no idea where one was.

Fortunately, it didn't turn out to be a complete worst-case scenario. I had all the time in the world, I didn't have a meeting to get to, it wasn't raining, it wasn't freezing. I just had to resign myself that I would have to find my way back to the George Washington Bridge via subway, and then walk my bike across the bridge to my parents' office, where, again fortunately, my mother had taken my car for the day, and it has a bike rack.

It was bad, but it definitely could've been worse. The subway wasn't too bad, although it was approaching rush hour. Well, except for the part when I got on a crowded "A" train, and realized just in time that it was a downtown train instead of uptown. That would have seriously sucked, so thanks to the disgruntled passengers who had to get out of my way. I could have said, "Sorry, so sorry, I'm from New Jersey". Hey, I like that excuse, I think I'll use it at some point. See what kind of sensayuma New Yorkers have. That's "sense of humor" for you non-New Yorkers.

All that, and not a single lomo. Bah!

current sounds:
1. Bizarre Love Triangle (Frente!)
2. Night of the Swallow (Kate Bush)
3. Love is Blindness (U2)
4. Everybody's Got the Right ("Assassins" - Sondheim)
5. Opened (The Breeders)
6. Silverfuck (Smashing Pumpkins)
7. Harlem Congo (Chick Webb)
8. The Greeting Song (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
9. Off With Your Head (Sleater-Kinney)
10. Let Me Love You, Baby (Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble)

ride *yawn* lomos

Another lomo of me and my shadow from October 28:

That front tire has had it, just look how bald it is. I've been riding on it since San Francisco, where I rode often. My back tire is still pretty fresh, having gotten it last Fall, but then not riding from November of last year to August or September of this year. I'll replace the front tire after this season, if I'm around for next year's season, which I'm hoping not to be.

Another lomo from the same ride:

A 20 mile ride isn't enough to warrant bringing water along. I'm not big on hydrating while exercising. You probably can't see the Sailor Moon stickers on the seat tube. Don't ask.

All I'm adjusting on these negatives are brightness, contrast, and saturation, but some of these lomos seem sharper than either my digital or SLR. Go fig. I'm not a big fan of image manipulation, but I think those parameters are fair game for the lomo fisheye, which isn't supposed to be serious photography with artificial standards of integrity. Lomo is a "look" anyway. Furthermore, those same parameters are adjusted in any print, whether you're printing them yourself or getting it done commercially. Take a negative to five different photoprocessors, and you're going to get some degree of variation.

current sounds:
1. Even in the Quietest Moments (Supertramp)
2. Anata ni Salada (Dreams Come True)
3. Brandenberg Concerto No. 4, Mvmt. 2 (J.S. Bach)
4. Can't Stand Losing You (live) (The Police)
5. Black Girls (Violent Femmes)
6. King of the Kerb (Echobelly)
7. Strange Meadow Lark (Dave Brubeck Quartet)
8. Spaceboy (Smashing Pumpkins)
9. Here Come the Bastards (Primus)
10. Mandolinita (Sukay)

me and my shadow

November 1, 2005 - Dear Diary, no more taking Bebe with me on rides. I have a backlog of ride shots, it's ridiculous. What makes me think any of these are interesting. Pretty colors, tho'.

Here's some sunset shots from my window:

Through a screen.


Bebe poked out the window.

current sounds (last 10 songs shuffled on iTunes):
1. Cashout (Fugazi)
2. Buri Buri Borderline (Southern All-Stars)
3. KB (Elastica)
4. Aquaboogie (Psychoalphadiscobetabioaquadoloop) (P-Funk)
5. Go For It! (Dreams Come True)
6. Fences of Pales (Shannon Wright)
7. Young Conservatives (The Kinks)
8. I Would Love To (Steve Vai)
9. A Pile of Time (Ryuichi Sakamoto)
10. The Ocean (U2)

Bronx, Part I, part 2

Here's another lomo from where that bridge is. I don't know if I was supposed to be there, but there was an access road and nothing to keep people out. I'm not sure it's a place you'd want your children playing.


After that is where I almost got a little lost. Well, I don't think I was ever really lost, I just didn't know where I was or where I was going, but I could always find my way back to Manhattan. But riding along the Harlem River, I ran out of real estate in the Bronx and had no idea where I was. So I got on a bridge catwalk for the Triborough Bridge, thinking it would take me to Manhattan. It looked like the right direction, but I ended up on what I later found out was Randalls Island, and I got on another bridge catwalk, which I suppose was the same bridge, but the catwalk didn't go through.

Triborough Bridge. Three boroughs. Bronx, Manhattan...Queens. I was riding along the bridgeway catwalk thinking it would take me to Manhattan, but after a mile I recognized the main part of the bridge up ahead. You have to cross it to get to JFK. I was headed towards Queens. I panicked ever so mildly realizing how far I had to backtrack, and turned around to head back to Randalls Island and the Bronx:

Toll approach off the Triborough Bridge.

The sun was getting on in the west, and I was getting a little tired and hungry, so I didn't think of shooting much. I backtracked all the way to the Bronx and found a proper crossing to Manhattan, and fortunately, it put me into Manhattan at 125th Street. I still had to cross town and go up 50 blocks, but I was expecting to be at, like, 59th St., so I was happy. My last lomo of the day was crossing the George Washington Bridge as the sun dipped below the horizon:

Camera use is prohibited on the bridge, but whatever. I didn't stop for this, just pulled Bebe out of my pocket, took off the rubber lens cap, pointed and shot.

current sounds:
1. Antenna (Nokko)
2. Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream (King Crimson)
3. The Brown-Skin Gal (In the Calico Gown) (Duke Ellington)
4. Eternal (Joy Division)
5. Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats ("Cats")
6. T.B.C. (Terminal Baggage Claim) (Chick Corea Akoustic Band)
7. Gravel (live) (Ani DiFranco)
8. We Work the Black Seam (live) (Sting)
9. One Song For You (Sleater-Kinney)
10. What a Day that Was (David Byrne)

Bronx, Part I, part 1

So a couple weeks ago, after an unseasonable nasty cold spell, tempertures rose and I felt compelled to head out on my bike. Not on "a ride", but just to ride. Imagine that. I ended up crossing the bridge into New York, and then finding myself going where I had never gone before. Instead of turning south after the bridge like I usually do, I ended up crossing town and heading south on the east side of Manhattan. I only got as far as 155th Street (from 178th) when a bridgeway looked too inviting to pass up:


Safe rider that I am, I was on the sidewalk for the first time on that road. You can see a bike rider in the shot cruising down the middle of the road. This bridgeway ended up not only leading me to a bridge that crossed the Harlem River into the Bronx, but the quickest way to Yankee Stadium:


You know, I've never been to either Yankee Stadium or Shea Stadium. I've only passed them both in a car since driving to JFK airport from New Jersey will take you past both. This is the closest I've ever been to Yankee Stadium. I'm a Mets fan, but I live in a Yankee stronghold in New Jersey. I had friends in grade school who would have Yankees over for dinner back in the 70s. Still, living in the New York area, I really should avail myself of the opportunity to say that I've been to Yankee Stadium. ...And being a Mets fan, I have no excuse for never having been to Shea Stadium, except that they don't play so good these days.

I hadn't planned on ending up in the Bronx, so to keep from getting lost, I rode along and as close to the Harlem River as possible. This way I could keep track of all the bridges leading back to Manhattan.


Over the shoulder shot in the Bronx.


I don't think this is a named bridge, it's for subway lines. You can't miss it driving down the east side of Manhattan on the Harlem River Drive (or the FDR Drive, I don't know which it is at this point), and I've seen it countless times. Never from the Bronx side, though.

current sounds:
1. School Night (Ani DiFranco)
2. Mother of Violence (Peter Gabriel)
3. I'll See You in My Dreams (Django Reinhardt)
4. Run (Supergrass)
5. So Sad About Us (The Breeders)
6. Hang Down Your Head (Tom Waits)
7. Blue Sphere (Thelonius Monk)
8. Spring (Kristin Hersh)
9. Thinka 'Bout It (Paris)
10. Two of Us (The Beatles)

me, the wrench

My mountain bike was out of service for about a week, but I'm happy to say that it is back in action without a trip to the bike shop, except to buy stuff. I'm pretty proud of myself, I must say, to have a bunch of stuff go wrong with the bike and taking care of them myself one by one. It is not the Way of the Parents, which is when something goes wrong, throw money at someone to make the problem go away. Not only is that how they raised us, but that was how they raised us. Oy.

The problems started a week and a half ago when I got a flat in the Bronx, which is an entry in itself. After I got my bike back home, I pulled an inch and a half nail out of the back tire. I should've figured it wasn't a simple patch, and found out the hard way that the nail went through the inner tube in two places. And after two patches, I found that one of them wasn't holding. Not wanting to go out of my way to confirm that I don't know how to patch a tube properly, I chucked that tube and put in a fresh one. It was time for a new one anyway (I told myself).

Next was adjusting the rear derailleur which got knocked out of whack. Now's a good time to mention the hazards of riding on a gusty Autumn day. You need to be watching the way the wind is blowing leaves, because you don't want dried leaves getting caught in your gears and getting all mucked up. So, for example, when you see leaves being blown at you from the right, you want to stop pedalling so that if a leaf hits your chain, you won't pedal it into your gears. Leaves, they seem so harmless, but no...

I don't think there's a science to adjusting rear derailleurs. In fact, I'm willing to guess that a bike mechanic doesn't do much more than I did, which was randomly fiddle with adjustment knobs until things "seemed" right. The difference being that bike mechanics have done it a lot more times than I have. I'm thinking there isn't a definitive sign which tells a mechanic (or "wrench", as they're called in the biz) that a derailleur is perfectly aligned. No green lights or bells dinging. Just a sense of "alright, that'll do, let's see if that works out".


Using my car's bike rack as a stand to adjust the derailleur.

Then the most frustrating problem which almost got me to bring the bike in was that the rear brake was catching on something and not returning to its neutral position. I fiddled with the cables, springs, and levers and couldn't figure it out. Finally, using my finger to discover exactly where the friction was, it turned out the brake pad was so worn that it had formed a lip. Every time I applied the brake, the lip would go past the edge of the rim and get caught on the rim on the way back. New pad, problem solved. This, by the way, is the work of no genius. Any cyclist who isn't aware that a brake pad needs replacing is probably not someone you want to ride with. Which kinda explains why I always ride alone.

Having my mountain bike out of service for a week was no big deal, since all I rode last week was my 20-mile default on my road bike. My Tour de France face:

Not a very good TdF face, this is totally posing, I was going like 12 miles an hour on flat road. But there are times when I actually catch myself doing a Tour de France face and think I must look real cool, but really I just look real silly.

current sounds:
1. Speakin' o' Bob (National Joy Band)
2. Tommy the Cat (Primus)
3. Namida ga Kirari (Spitz)
4. Distant Early Warning (Rush)
5. Matte Kudasai (King Crimson)
6. Funny ("City of Angels")
7. Over the Falls (Primus)
8. She Caught the Cady and Left Me a Mule to Ride (Taj Mahal)
9. Don't Push Your Foot on the Heartbrake (Kate Bush)
10. Out Like a Light (764-HERO)

Lower Manhattan

Several weeks ago, I helped move a futon for a friend of my brother's. He had just moved into an apartment in Lower Manhattan with his partner. He's German and works in online finance, so he's flexible where he could live. He's not quite as flexible as to where he could afford, though, and as he tells it, the only place in Manhattan he could find that he could afford was in a building right next to the World Trade Center site. I don't know if that's the reason why it was cheaper, or because there's going to be construction next door for a long while. In any case, he doesn't have a view of the site, but the building really is directly south of the site.


October 20, 2005 - the WTC site is on the other side of that walkway. Those two similar looking buildings are the World Financial Center buildings.


The building had been damaged, but has been repaired and recently opened for tenants.

current sounds (last 10 songs shuffled on iTunes):
1. Papillon (Rilo Kiley)
2. I Don't Want U (Blonde Redhead)
3. Whipping (Pearl Jam)
4. Shiver (Coldplay)
5. The Meeting Place (XTC)
6. Mama (live) (Genesis)
7. The Hem Around Us (Shannon Wright)
8. Big Business (David Byrne)
9. Carry That Weight (The Beatles)
10. Friends (The Police)

Hudson River Boat Basin

The town my parents live in is on top of cliffs. The Palisades. If you've ever heard of them, it was either from history books, George Washington's retreat during the Revolutionary War, specifically, or a Billy Joel song. There's a road that winds down off the cliffs to the Hudson River where the riparian land use is recreational. Fishing, boating, picnicing, walking, biking. I used to run along the top of the cliffs.


Hudson River Boat Basin, looking back up the cliffs and a big poofy cloud.

Turning around 180 degrees to the opposite view:

Hudson River

Walk about a mile south and there's a more extensive recreational area that has been developed since I last lived here. I know that because I found photos from the 90s taken from the top of the cliffs that I shot during visits to my parents, showing the construction.

It's quite nice now:

I think these are classically the Palisades. Whatever that means.

turn around 180 degrees and the George Washington Bridge is right there:


current sounds (last 10 songs shuffled on iTunes):
1. Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, 3rd Movement (Bach)
2. Quicksand (demo) (David Bowie)
3. Kipenda Roho (Orchestre Super Matimila & Remmy Ongala)
4. The Tower That Ate People (Peter Gabriel)
5. We Both Reached for the Gun ("Chicago")
6. 19-2000 (Gorillaz)
7. Trees (live) (Rush)
8. Is There Anybody Out There? (Pink Floyd)
9. Negative Creep (Nirvana)
10. Blacking Out the Friction (Death Cab for Cutie)

two rides

Ride one, shot while riding:


Shot of trees:

October 21, 2005

Ride two, shot while riding:


Shot of trees:

October 23, 2005

I make no apologies for the monotony of days, where the highlight of lomo shooting is my 20-mile constitutional, with very little variation. I notice in my shooting notes that most of the roll currently in Bebe are ride shots. More and more of the same Autumn shots, less and less to say about them.

I believe we are now past Autumn peak, and with a cold front pushing through for the next few days, and leaves streaming by outside my window, I'll be done shooting Autumn color and see if anything new gets reveal on my ride.

current sounds (last 10 songs shuffled on iTunes):
1. To The Teeth (Ani DiFranco)
2. Quiet Steam (Peter Gabriel)
3. Fun (Sly & The Family Stone)
4. I Love This Town ("Bounce" cast recording)
5. Stay (Faraway, So Close) (U2)
6. Muqin ("Thoroughly Modern Millie")
7. Jealous Guy (John Lennon)
8. Electric Guitar (Talking Heads)
9. Impengu Dek Bengi Kai (Java Street Musicians)
10. Stare At the Sun (Deadweight)

ruins

Still on Autumn colors. I go for these rides and I feel like I'm just shooting color, over and over. Pretty colors, though.

November 2, 2005, that's the day I found the ruins by the Hudson River. Parked my bike to get a closer look.


Now, these ruins I found. They are right by one of the "official" picnic stops on the Hudson River Drive. I'd stopped at the picnic area before, but I didn't find the ruins before because they require venturing down a path that I hadn't seen before. I imagine the path used to be the driveway to the building that had been built there.

Anyways, I love ruins. I love what they symbolize - something that was before, but isn't anymore. A mystery.



Whatever was built, I imagine it was before the George Washington Bridge was built, but it still must have been a nice view on the Hudson.


My default 20 mile ride takes me by the same scenery, including going under the George Washington Bridge for this obvious shot:


current sounds (last 10 songs shuffled on iTunes):
1. Petals Like Bricks (Unwound)
2. Another 100 Years of Solitude (Concrete Blonde Y Los Illegales)
3. Union Square (Tom Waits)
4. The Supermen (David Bowie)
5. Tonight, Tonight, Tonight (Genesis - live at Wembley Stadium)
6. Down To Earth (Echobelly)
7. Watch the Silverware (764-HERO)
8. Cousin Mary (alternative take) (John Coltrane)
9. Meeting Across The River (Bruce Springsteen)
10. It's Hard To Be A Saint in the City (David Bowie (Springsteen cover))

Yamaha Beech Customs

Yamaha Beech Customs
Originally uploaded by keauxgeigh.

Testing out the "blog this" feature on flickr.

Eh, I don't like it.