As Above, Not Below

It’s amazing how two completely different images can be taken at the same location within minutes of each other.

Details: Trinity Park, downtown Plattsburgh, NY. Thursday, July 24, after a thunderstorm. First image: 8:22 PM. Second image: 8:24 PM.







With my eyes on the heavens I have to watch out for my feet on the ground.

Downtown Saturday Night

Parking lot next to Olive Ridley’s restaurant. Screaming. Sirens. Flashing red lights. Three police cars and one ambulance show up. Unknown person taken away in ambulance. Then a heavy rain hits. Police cars leave.

So what was the commotion? Sorry, I’m not the Press-Republican.

Pattern Interrupted

Patterns. I’m always looking for patterns.



I’m walking down Clinton Street when I notice a series of bright rectangles on a building’s façade. Apparently the glowing bars are being created by sunlight reflecting off windows.

I back up and zoom out to the telephoto end of my lens to compress the perspective. Then I lean against the wall to line up the pattern.



Suddenly a woman peers out from a doorway. She wonders what I’m doing. I reassure her that nothing bad is going on; I’m just trying to take a shot of a pattern.

But I can understand her concern. After all, if I stepped out of a doorway and saw some stranger leaning against a wall, camera aimed at me, I would also wonder what was going on.

Downtown Jokers

Props To DPW

A regular reader of this blog is Mike Brodi, Superintendent of the Department of Public Works, City of Plattsburgh. He introduced himself to me Thursday evening at a Common Council meeting. I asked him if he had seen the item I had put up the previous night. It showed the latest damage to the crosswalk marker on Margaret Street near the Oak Street School. The sign had been ripped and its post had been twisted around.

To my surprise Mr. Brodi told me that the sign had been fixed that day. As you can see from the above image, DPW personnel patched up the sign and returned the post to its proper position. Kudos to Mr. Brodi and his workers for quickly fixing the problem.

Now if something could be done about inattentive drivers…

State Law: Yield To Crosswalk Sign?

Well, another vehicle apparently has banged into the sign in the school crosswalk on Margaret Street. And this time the damage was done with a twist, as evinced in the above image.

Compared to metal, I wonder how well human flesh bends when impacted by a motor vehicle operated by a driver oblivious to bright cautionary colors.

Make a note, pedestrian: Your yellow raincoat doesn’t ensure increased visibility.

Mayor's Cup Festival: Kids Activities

Mayor's Cup Festival: Winters Brothers Band

Headline Of The Week

Idiotic

Hardcore show next to the sewage treatment plant? How appropriate. Rock on!

Crank that sound, thunderous volume. Use the F word in all its permutations (noun, verb, adjective, adverb, interjection.). Free speech, man.

But if you’re a vendor trying to sell antiques or crafts, such a scene ain’t conducive to sales. And if you’re an operator of an inflatable slide for kids, punk language causes parents to drive in, hear what’s being blared, and then drive away.

What idiot on the Mayors Cup committee decided to pit Manson family values against traditional family values?

The area by the sewage plant should have only featured the bands. Vendors and kids activities should have been located downtown, far away from the blasting music and raw language.

(Of course, for those parents who hate their kids, they could’ve left their rugrats at the mercy of the mosh pit.)

Fireworks: Pro & Amateur

Taken Friday, July 4, in the Plattsburgh City Beach area.

(Click on each image for larger view.)

Lollygagger

Weed Expo 2

The original Weed Expo in the open lot next to the Koffee Kat café is no longer with us. But don’t despair – another one has opened on the corner of Margaret and Cornelia Street. So if you like ugly weeds, check it out the next time you’re downtown. (Allergy sufferers should stay away.)

And don’t forget: Weed Expo 2 is conveniently located near City Hall. So stop by and tell the mayor how you greatly enjoy such downtown attractions.

Sidestepping From One Problem To Another

Great. Another sidewalk obstructed by wild plant life growing out from an untrimmed hedge. OK, I’ll walk on the median lawn. But someone left booby traps there…

BANG!

(The damage seen in daylight.)

The violent sound of metal hitting metal rings out in the night. A car pulling a trailer has just sideswiped the school crosswalk sign on Margaret Street.

The street is well lit by streetlamps. The crosswalk sign is bright yellow. Yet the driver didn’t see the caution sign in the middle of the crosswalk.

Fortunately the sign is anchored with a big spring. It just pops back up into place – unlike a pulpy human being.

Ant In A Reflective Mood

You can clean up the invaders but sometimes they come back. Next thing you know they’re hogging the mirror, deep in self-contemplation. Buggy navel gazing.