Being a fan of the drama Downton Abbey does have its ups and downs. No, I don’t mean its upstairs and downstairs, that’s another show. But in the meantime… PBS, home of Downton Abbey‘s American network anthology series Masterpiece, brings us this hilarious mash-up featuring Dame Maggie Smith, as Violet, the Dowager Countess of Grantham,…
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The Fencesitter at Thacher Park
Two years ago, I took some photos from the Helderberg Escarpment at Thacher Park. One of them, “Star Trails of Thacher Park,” was presented at several contests. Last Sunday, I took my Nikon F100 film camera, along with some rolls of film and a couple of my lenses, up to Thacher Park to capture some…
Read MoreWhat would you give up to get a Wegmans in the Capital District?
Last week, when my buddy Jeremy McNamara and I ate breakfast at the Miss Albany Diner, we talked about the various businesses and restaurants that have arrived and departed over the years. “Everybody went crying because the Troy Co-Op shut down,” I said, “and a short time later everyone forgot about it because they were…
Read MoreThe Station fire, nine years later
It was an accident waiting to happen. And it never should have happened. It’s February 20, 2003, and the rock band Great White is playing at a small venue in Warwick, Rhode Island. The place is packed, and Great White goes into their first song. Some pyrotechnics erupt behind the band, as is the plan…
Read MoreSomewhere Over the Rainbow, a Lawsuit is Pending
Ah, The Wizard of Oz. The 1939 motion picture classic that still holds up today, 75 years later. The original 1899 book by L. Frank Baum is one of the best-selling children’s stories of all time, and it spawned dozens of literary sequels, as well as a Broadway play, a 1939 motion picture, several children’s…
Read MoreCould clear eyes and full hearts take the field again?
One of my favorite sports dramas of the past 10 years has been Friday Night Lights. I’ve been a big fan of the show since its debut episode, and I’ve followed closely the highs and lows of the Dillon High School football team – the Panthers for the first three seasons, and then the last…
Read MoreThe Stained Glass Window of Kenwood Avenue
Inspiration comes from various sources in my life. And on December 3, 2011, it came from a salvage company. Background. From about 1968 to 1971, I lived with my maternal grandparents in a small house on Kenwood Avenue in Slingerlands. One of the things I always remembered about that house on Kenwood Avenue was that…
Read MoreYour amplifier may go up to 11… but my lens can go up to 19.
And as I unzip my camera bag… I pull out the newest lens in my arsenal. Say hi to the Vivitar 19mm f/3.8 wideangle lens. At 19mm of focal length, it’s my most-defined wide-angle camera in my bag. I just got it over the weekend, and paid for it with my share of the winnings…
Read MoreMay 5th. Blotto. Fear of Strangers. The Penny Knight Band. Ernie Williams and the Wildcats. I am SO there!!
If you wanted to see top entertainment at a local, intimate performance venue in the late 1970’s – early 1980’s, you could go to the Ritz or the Chateau or the Falcon’s Nest… but really, you wanted to go to JB Scott’s. The Central Avenue locale was the place where everybody performed. U2 played three…
Read MoreK-Chuck Radio: Yes, it’s a 45 rpm record… and it’s shaped like a heart.
It was January of 1979, and I was listening to American Top 40 on my little radio. And at that time, Casey Kasem announced that a new record had debuted on the Top 40 charts – and for the first time, it wasn’t a round record. It was actually shaped like a heart – and…
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