Third place in a one-horse race?

On Saturday, I drove to Syracuse to pick up my award-winning creation The Cathedral of St. Philco, and the blue ribbon attached thereto.  It was a bright spot in what has turned to be a dim Competition Season 2016, with my entries (outside of Altamont) receiving rejection throughout. But hey, I got a big blue…

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Some post-9/11 memories…

I have two stories to tell.  One of the stories took place on the anniversary of 9/11, one only tangentially involves 9/11.  So bear with me. The first story takes place on September 11, 2004.  It’s the three-year anniversary of that somber date.  At the time, I was freelancing for an antiques and auction publication…

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Where do goats and cathedrals go?

By the time you read today’s blog post, I will be on my way to Syracuse, as today is “pick-up day” for my award-winning dollhouse artwork, The Cathedral of St. Philco.  And a few weeks ago, I picked up my award-winning photo of the three cute little San Clemente Island goats in a poultry shipping…

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Raskolnikov and the Colorizebot

As you can imagine, I’ve been having some fun with this layered-film attempt to photograph a switchback road in the Helderbergs.  And in doing so, I snagged a great five-layer film shot with my Krasnogorsk FT-2 ultrawide camera (the one I’ve nicknamed “Raskolnikov”). I posted this shot of Intersection 5 on the social media site…

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When “Star Trek” was banned in Albany

On September 8, 1966, NBC aired a new science-fiction television drama.  The show, Star Trek, went from a humble hour-long drama to a worldwide phenomenon, with spinoffs, sequels, movies, books, with generations of fans and devotees. On that September evening, NBC broadcast the episode ‘The Man Trap,” on a Thursday night lineup that started with…

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Best of our TU Independent Blogs, September 8, 2016: Ten for Thursday

I hope you’re having a great morning.  And if you are, then these blog posts by the Times Union’s assemblage of community and independent bloggers will make your day even better. And if you’re not having a good morning, then these blog posts by the Times Union’s assemblage of community and independent bloggers will help…

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Week 10 of the Graney’s Stout Summer Trivia League

I’ve got three weeks to go and over 120 points to gain. This is what happens when you’re in fifth place in a trivia league and the final prize money goes to the top four squads. With that in mind, I had to change my strategy and change it quickly. Throw all caution to the…

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Idiot cosplayers wear flaming 9/11 Twin Towers costumes

We all know where we were on that horrible Tuesday in 2001.  We saw the aftermath of the planes crashing into the tallest structures of the World Trade Center, into the wall of the Pentagon, into a field in western Pennsylvania.  We mourn the death of the innocent, we champion the bravery of the flight…

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So I’m busy on August 21, 2017…

I have a serious love-hate relationship with the social media site reddit.  I’ve met great people on the site, and I’ve met people for whom the words “restraining order” fit them perfectly. But this time, while participating in a special themed reddit gift exchange, I received a gift that, for all intents and purposes, blocked…

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