Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Madison Avenue, May 2007


This cracked me up - a cheerful spring planting that has to be chained to the standpipe. It's the intrusion of the practical on the aesthetic. And it's so New York.

Had another busy day yesterday. I spent the morning reading and doing computer stuff, and then went to Dumbo in Brooklyn for the afternoon. Dumbo is actually an acronym that stands for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass. It's a waterfront neighborhood that's somewhat similar to nearby Williamsburg - once popular with artists, it's now gentrifying, but there's still lots of interesting street scenery.

I went to a bookstore/art gallery and had some coffee at a local cafe, and of course took more pictures, which at this rate I'll get around to posting in a few weeks!

6 comments:

  1. Some days I see lots of photos, other days, the world looks either not as vivid or has some quality I believe can not be captured by my cheap camera. It's interesting ... I would like to take pics every day, but that never happens.

    Sounds like another great day of exploring!

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  2. It doesn't happen every day for me, either - which is partly why this weekend was so great!

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  3. HA! love the photo! I noticed these little kid-sized wooden chairs (used as a display in my village) were securely duct taped together and chained to the door of the shop. It was done so well that you didn't notice it at first. I didn;t notice the chain at first in your photo--i saw the stand pipe sign, the brick pattern first. the planter must weigh a ton. there is a lot of notice in this one shot.

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  4. So true - that is very New York (actualy, it's very "any big urban area"). ;-) Happy Monday!

    P.S. - RE: syncronicity - you mentioned that you think things are really random and chaotic versus "linked" - but, ultimately, since one could look at chaos as being perfect order/perfect connection (taking the view that nothing can exist without it's opposite and therefore all things are balances of both extremes), syncronicity would most certainly exist.

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  5. Yes, it's an assault on the aesthetic; I like how you worded this. How absurd, and yet, how lucky to have flowers in the city ;)

    Enjoy your day!

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  6. it would be easier to cut that pee wee chain than to move the monster planter.

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