p s e u d o r e a l

Better Than Real Because It's Not.


Saturday November 29th 2008, 12:00 am
Filed under: General

(November 23) In what is likely to be the last expedition for November, I headed from the Tree Huts in Madison Square Park to the Roosevelt Island Tram terminal to see Dylan Mortimer’s Prayer Booths. I got there just in time not to see them assembled, which was a bummer in that I saw one of them enough that I’m not likely to spend the time and money to go back. Allow me to say once again, that I despise Standard Time.

phone booth
These, are the sorry excuses (kiosks) for what passes for a phone booth these days.
Above, are from our local telephone monster, Verizon.

prayer kiosk
This, would be most of a Prayer Booth. Apparently he takes them in at night, possibly due to the graffitti.
Although to be honest, the graffitti stain adds an authenticity to the Prayer Booths that would have been otherwise absent given nothing else around here is free from some kind of …. urban weathering.

sign

In keeping with my previous Astroland theme, I probably won’t go back to see them in an assembled condition, but now that I’ve said that,….

As of now, for the first time in months, there’s nothing left in the queue here.


Friday November 28th 2008, 12:45 am
Filed under: General

(November 12 & 15) I don’t think there had been any “unorganized” protest marches in this city since my arrival, but during the week of November 12 there were two.

protest
The first was at night, in midtown Manhattan.

street closed
It shut down Broadway.


Three days later, there was another, this one downtown.


It sort of shut down Broadway.


I couldn’t tell how big this one was.


Thursday November 27th 2008, 2:33 am
Filed under: General

(October 31) After long last, I finally made it to the NYC Halloween Parade. Another disappointing trip into the darkness with my camera. It’s really the flash that kills me I think, since I get decent shots when other people’s flashes are lighting things up.

yawn!
As I waited for the connecting subway, I saw the Grim Reaper.
(Blurry, but that’s the shot I got.)

skeletons
It moves along pretty quickly once it starts, all things considered.

woooooo!
It’s not Halloween without ghosts.

teh scaries
To be in this parade, you just show up, in costume.

whaa?
Even ZipCars dressed up.

klaatu barada nikto!
There were robots.

where's pc?
Mac was there too.

he put the puck between the goalposts
And I got to see Levi Johnston and Bristol Palin.

banana split, anyone?
These guys were a little bananas.


Wednesday November 26th 2008, 12:39 am
Filed under: General

(October 31) The mission on this day was as follows: Tree Huts, Banksy, Parade. Things didn’t work out so well on any of the three counts; light and timing were the lessons of the day. Though there were people inside looking at paperwork and eating real food, Banksy’s Village Pet Store & Charcoal Grill closed eariler than was reported by the press and all I got was a glimpse through the windows.

adopt the pets today, or eat them next week
Oddly enough, I suppose I didn’t really miss too much, it’s a small store.

psst... it's not real!
I could see more than I could realistically photograph through the windows.

who's got camera baits?
These things breed like rats, there’s as many cameras as rodents in this city.

mrs. peter cottontail
I took the obligatory shots….

now you know where the chicken nuggets come from
… the same ones that ten thousand other people took.

papered over
And then… it was gone.


Monday November 24th 2008, 12:47 am
Filed under: General

(October 31 & November 23) Unless you grew up in a city or a suburban area that isn’t quite ready to admit it has become urban, there’s probably a tree house in your past somewhere. While the Tadashi Kawamata Tree Huts in Madison Square Park aren’t real, they evoke memories of the tree houses of childhood. If they were real, it just wouldn’t work. Half would be occupied by squatters, the other half would have been rented out for $1200 a month by unlicensed real estate swindlers.

tree hut
Unfortunately, it was already getting dark when I arrived. I hate Standard Time.
Still, I took photos, not knowing if I’d be back.

clock tower
On November 23, two days after the exhibit officially ended, I went back. It was getting late again, though not as bad as last time. I still hate Standard Time.

tree hut

tree huts

treehut

the squirrel of authenticity
The squirrels lend an air of authenticity to the tree huts.

tree-hut

tree the hutt

Next stop…. the Prayer Booths at the Roosevelt Island Tramway.