Madden Hotel Sale

I'm conflicted.

A part of me wants to unleash my scorn at Jack Diamond (the Glens Falls mayor), the Post-Star, and the city system of Glens Falls for their collusionary eminent domain tactics in closing the Madden Hotel. It was clear from the start that no matter who owned it, nor how much they compiled w/ the city's request to get it in code compliance, the city was going to force a closure. The city was bound & determined to get their way, kicking out even legitimate residents like the Open Door food kitchen. I guess they are collateral damage in this tiff.

The city has spent so much tax payer dollars cracking down on the property & its residents, one has to wonder if those expenses could not have been spent more wisely. Like fixing the drainage system by Kensington Elementary School that floods everytime there's a minor rain or snowstorm.

Then there are days like today when I walk to my local library. My route takes me past the hotel. It doesn't matter what time of day it is, there is ALWAYS riff-raff in front of that place clogging the sidewalk. Furthermore, they act like I'm burdening them when I politely say "excuse me" because I'd like to pass through.

I'm not delusional in thinking that the Madden's closure will actually solve the problems of finding a place in the city for affordable housing. But if its closure (& hopefully its demolition) addresses trying to get rid of the riff-raff that's CONSTANTLY there, all I can say is good riddance.

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In other news...
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This here is Danielle.

The antcedote behind this image is that the day prior it was an unseasonably humid 80 degrees. The day this was shot it was a frigid 50 degrees. It didn't help matters that a downpour earlier that day forced me to cancel a shoot w/ her roommate. Well, that & any sort of inclement weather turns drivers into complete (expletive deleted) morons one of which nearly sideswiped her while yacking on their cell phone.

Anyway, Danielle was participating in my ongoing Abandonment Adventure series. The one people sometime refer to as "Urbexing" or "Urban Exploration." I like the visual contrast between the "dirty, blah" environment juxtaposed against the "pretty, clean" model.



Feel free & comment away if you so choose.

Enjoy.

Operation Paperback

Saw an interesting blog entry by Bee Balm Gal about Operation Paperback:

http://www.operationpaperback.org/

This organization collects gently used books and sends them to American troops deployed overseas. Since 1999, they have shipped over 1.1 million books to locations around the globe. They are also specifically looking for active-duty, National Guard, Reservists, & their spouses to figure out the needs of the military community.

As a firm believer in encouraging books to have their own adventure once they're read (& thus be aggressively giving mine away), this is an organization is something that I can get behind.

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In other news...
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This here is Corey.

She came up to the area last Autumn, a little after the peak leaf season but prior to it being blistering cold.It was a fun, quick shoot that cut short by her being called into her workplace. Bummer maybe but I can't hold it against her.

After she got the results, I wasn't pleasantly tickled that she not only acknowledge receipt of the pictures but called to gush how pleased she was. That doesn't happen often (the gushing or the acknowledging), mostly because people get busy w/ their lives. I've been there, trust me. It just is what it is.



Feel free & comment if you dare.

Polanski

Everytime Roman Polanski appears in the news, I always hear about how "cruel" the prosecutors are for continually dredging this up & thus causing the victim more pain.

I have to disagree.

The prosecutors bent over backward to give him a sweetheart plea deal for drugging & then anally raping a 13 YEAR-OLD GIRL to spare her the agony of going through a trial.

Supposedly he fled because the judge reneged or was going to give him a harsher than expected sentence (which is his perrogative). Let's assume that's the case & not the self-serving statement that it is. If he truly didn't like the sentencing agreement, Polanski could have withdrawn his plea agreement & taken his chances at trial.

Yes this whole thing is being perpetuated because there's a big-name attached to a high profile criminal case. Its no wonder that the 13 year-old girl 33 years later wants to just put this sordid affair behind her.

On the other hand, its also about the integrity of the entire criminal justice system. Because it is a high profile name attached to the case & they let (publicly) let him go, its telling EVERY criminal out there that if you have the means to flee; it ok not to take responsibility for ones own actions.

I empathize w/ the victim but I care more about the integrity of the system because it effects EACH & EVERY ONE OF US. If someone rapes my sister, its ok because if the case is to tough, we won't hold the perp accountable. If someone beats their wife sending her to the ER, they won't be held accountable. If someone steals my identity, that's ok because they won't be held accountable. Victims have to have faith & trust the system because A. they won't report the crimes (a problem already showing in cities as well as immigrant communities) & B. it encourages people to take the law into their own hands.

I'm also bothered by the hypocrisy. If the Polanski did not have a high-profile name attached, no one in their right mind would think its ok to let someone go who drugged & anally raped a 13-year old girl. I guess that's what having a high-profile name gets you, reasonable doubt off-the-bat regardless of what the nondisputed facts are.

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In other more cheerful news...
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This here is Vanessa.

She was looking for actor-headshots but kinda wanted a natural light kinda vibe to it. I'd like to think I did the best I could under the weather circumstances provided (bright overcast sky that kinda blinded you even when you weren't looking at it).



Feel free to comment on any part of this blog if you so choose.

Whole Lotta Nothing

I had a blog planned out but I just don't feel like posting it anymore.

It ran something along the lines of ass-hat says something questionable; I challenge said notion & ask for a clarification; ass-hate opens mouth & proves they're an ass-hat (as opposed to keeping it shut & giving himself reasonable doubt).

Whatever. The schmuck isn't worth the effort.

Stuff really hasn't changed much or has been said better elsewhere.

1. The idiots in the NYS legislature still haven't reached a budget as I write this. Depsite this being, 2 months overdue if not more. God forbid they do their one constitutional duties. I'm not sure which is worse, them taking off 2 months last year because they cannot act like adults & getting paid for it or pretending to act like adults, still getting nothing done, & STILL get paid for it.

Its a shame because the Governor is the only one TRYING to get something done & is actually in tune w/ the economic reality we're in because the voters don't like him & is on the way out anyway. While the rest are to busy trying to get reelected.

If we the voters are to stupid to keep these guys in office, sometimes I think its the government we deserve.

2. I've kinda gotten into World Cup fever. Its definately not a sport that Americans are accustomed to watching (constant scoring, breaks in the action). Not to mention, most (timed) regulation games revolve around the 60 minute timeframe plus halftime, soccer (at least at that level) revolve around the 90 minute games plus halftime. But once you get passed that, its sorta like hockey in the sense that its the scoring chances & the near misses that make exciting. That & the inevitable controversies but I'm not going to get into that.

3. Its been pretty hot lately. I wish I could be sympathetic but I've lived (& worked) in a tropical juggle for a year & a half. There was literally zero difference between the sun & the shade.

Don't like the heat? Do something about it. No sense whining about it because doing so isn't going to make it any cooler. Or one could think of it this way, would you rather it be blistering hot or blistering cold? Me, I'd rather have it blistering hot because at least I can operate outside my house doing (I dunno) taking a drive w/ the windows rolled down (the original air conditioner), take a swim in any of the natural swimming spots here in the beautiful Adirondacks, hover around the air-conditioner, cool off w/ the hose.

Just have to keep things in perspective.

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In other news...
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This here is Rika participating in my Abandonment project. People sometimes refer to stuff like this as "urbexing" or "urban decay" or "urban exploration".

Anyway, this is her outfits but playing around w/ one of my fabric thingies that I always seem to have. I just kinda ran w/ it at that moment.



Feel free & comment away if you so choose.

Baseball Hall of Fame

This weekend, my brother & I took my baseball-loving father to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown as a belated Father's Day present.

As a fan myself, the biggest question I had going in was how they were going to address the performance enhancing issue. I soon got my answer because of how we choose to tour the museum (visiting the most recent stuff to the least recent). Maybe I should say that I got my answer by what they weren't showing.

On the contrary, they acknowledge the steroid issue by having a big exhibit of Hank Aaron, the former holder of the all-time home run record & generally agreed upon nonsteroid user. They acknowledge the various records (most home runs, most doubles, most games played, etc) & those that hold it. But other than that, no artifacts of tainted players. No special no-hitter balls, no bats, no uniform items, etc.

Conclusion: Steroid users have no place in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

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In other news...
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This here is my dear friend, Melanie, who is participating in my never-ending abandonment project (sometimes commonly referred to as "urbexing" or "urban decay"). Locations like these, I've learned to use them as much as you freakin' can because they WILL NOT be there indefinitely.



Feel free & comment away about any part of this blog if you wish.

Bait and Switch review

Just finished Barbara Ehrenreich's "Bait & Switch" .

The author goes on an undercover investigation to investigate & experience white-collar job hunting. Specifically trying to get a communications field & middle management sectors. The results are humorous & chilling at the same time.

Her conclusions are equally depressing. Actually landing a job (to say nothing about an interview) means being likable over results oriented, being a true-believer at the sacrifice of having an outside life (no hobbies or family life), & basically being a yes-man at the detriment to results.

Because SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO many people are in this sector of the workforce trying to get back in, I encourage everyone to read it.


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In other news...
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This here is Ashley & her mom, participating in my Breast Cancer Awareness project while I was in Boston last summer.

Actually this was kinda the run-up to it (the building a rapport stage), the vision for BCA is more something like this. But still it was part of their journey & easily one of the most physically, mentally, & exhausting shoots I can remember doing.

Ashley's mom being a breast cancer survivor (2 weeks post-op at that) is one of the bravest people I've ever met. I am forever grateful for the oppurtunity in working w/ them both.



Feel free & comment away if you so desire.

Local Purse Snatching

Saw an interesting article in today's local newspaper.

http://poststar.com/news/local/article_be434480-700b-11df-852e-001cc4c002e0.html

There's something about this where its setting off my BS detector.

The red flags:

1. "The attacker was described as a thin black male, 6 feet to 6-feet-2 tall, wearing baggy black pants, a red shirt with a black logo and a red bandana on his head. He also reportedly had gold teeth and thin mustache or goatee."

Sounds like the stereotypical "big black" man, wearing "big black man" appearal, w/ gold teeth & facial hair to make him sound more menancing. Never mind the fact that Northern NY is hardly known for its ethnic diversity. Never mind the fact that that stretch of the bike trail isn't really near any residential areas (we'll get to that later).

2. "The incident happened shortly before 2 p.m." "the man jumped out of bushes and grabbed her purse"...Jumped out of the bushes during the middle of the day?"

Jumped out of the bushes in the middle of the day? Considering biketrail stretch has a nice straight away, the victims are saying that he lay in wait specifically for them?

3. "The woman and her boyfriend struggled with him, the man punching the woman -- who is battling breast cancer -- in the chest before he was able to rip the purse away and run off."

This is the most head-scratching part. Petty crimes like purse snatching are what's called "crimes of oppurtunity." You prep, you make your attempt, & get the heck outta there. You don't stick around & fight. To many things can go wrong.

It also makes me wonder what the heck the boyfriend was doing. Did he try & run after the perp?

4. "The couple continued walking on the bike path until they got to Maple Street, where they spotted a relative who they told about the alleged attack."

Admittedly, this is less of a red flag. In today's day & age of instant & portable communication devices like cell phones, between the two of them you'd think there'd be pretty good odds that they'd have one. Where they could report the incident near the scene of the crime. Apparently, that's not the case.

Though a purse-snatching by a "big black" man is plausible, there are so many concidences. To many things don't add up for it to smell right.

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In other news...
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This here is Rika doing the relationship w/ her boyfriend.

We were playing w/ the short span of late afternoon winter sunlight while we could.



Feel free to comment on whatever you like. It'd just be helpful if a first name was left in case I choose to reply (so I know who I'm addressing).