Photo of the Day

Aerial Dancer 5, 2015

Stella Niagara

Double Rainbow

The Franciscan Sisters have a convent along the Niagara River just north of Lewiston.  They recently donated the portion of their property that sits alongside the river for use as public space.  So Sara and I headed down to check it out.  I took these pictures as we wandered around the grounds.

Ghostly Nutshell

The Grotto

Queen Anne's Lace 1

Queen Anne's Lace 2

Queen Anne's Lace 3

Hidden Cove (Possible Underground Railroad Landing?)

Abstract Sunset

Photo of the Day

Santa Monica Beach, 2015

Toonerville Thursday

In Case You Were Wondering...

New episodes of The Idiosyncratic History of Rock/Dr. John's Record Shelf will be back on regular rotation here in about three weeks.  I took a break from broadcasting over the summer, but want to assure you that the blog title will soon be more accurate than it has been in recent weeks.

Photo of the Day

Niagara Falls at Dusk, 2015

Photo of the Day

Contemplating Theft

Our Boarding House

I thought I'd supplement the fairly regular postings of Toonerville Folks panels with another favorite classic-- Our Boarding House by Gene Ahearn, featuring the exploits (often thwarted) of Major Hoople.  These will appear as the mood strikes me, which may not be every week, but I hope fairly often. Enjoy!

My Alma Mater

Baird Point

With nothing else to do of a summer evening, I often head over Lockwood Library at the University at Buffalo to peruse some of their vast collection of photography books.  This evening I spent some time with the work of Weegee, Marion Post Walcott, Cindy Sherman, Saul Leiter, and a whole set of others from between the World Wars.  After that, I was naturally inspired to take some pictures myself-- so I wandered around campus and shot these.  Keep in mind, it's summer so there was very little of the normal activity one would expect during the school year.  As a consequence I kind of emphasized some less-obvious aspects of the place.  I hope you like them.

Walkin' & Talkin'

Solitary Student

Engineering Building Facade

Lockwood Stacks & Duct

"Get in the Game"

Rolling Lawn

Law School Hallway

Leaving the Commons

Clemons Hall in Shadows

Baldy Basement

Computer Science Building at Dusk

Studying Late

Waiting for the Bus

Security Mirror Self-Portrait

Photo of the Day

Emma on the Run, 2015

Six Portraits, Bird Division

Yesterday's photo ops came at the Buffalo Zoo, where I spent a very pleasant evening with Sara, Tom, Theresa, Dan, Nik, Helen & Emma-- as well as the animals.  Here are a few pictures taken of some of the avian inhabitants.

Photo of the Day

Ben at 19, 2015

Six Portraits

I spent a good chunk of yesterday at the Cleveland Museum of Art (a truly great collection), and had some fun practicing my composition and lighting skills by trying to shoot interesting takes on some of the statuary there.  Here are some of the results (I added the sepia tint to reflect the antiquity of most of these pieces).

 

Toonerville Friday

Photo of the Day

Akron Falls, 2015

City of Night 2015

City of Night is an annual event in Buffalo where a group of diverse creative folks set about to reclaim abandoned industrial spaces and turn them into viable cultural venues.  The first three editions happened amongst the old grain silos that dot the Buffalo River, now known as Silo City; and sure enough it has become a go-to site for all manner of cool events from poetry readings to a blues festival (which I attended last week).  So this year City of Night moved to the Old First Ward, where they set up all kinds of exhibits along old railroad tracks, painted murals on old factories (like above), staged music, poetry and comedy performances, and invited the whole town to come out to enjoy their efforts.  I went and took my camera.  Here are some of shots which should give you some small notion of what was going on.

Aerial Dancer 1

Stand-up Comic

Skater

Hula Hooper Contemplating His Muse

Junior Art Appreciator

Part of the Old First Ward

Junior Dance Troupe

Aerial Dancer 2

Putting the Rails to Use

Rain Held Off Despite Somewhat Ominous Sky

Aerial Dancer 3 (you can tell these young ladies impressed me)

Part of the Crowd Checking Out Some Poetry

"You Are Here"

Another Mural (In Progress)

Aerial Dancer 4