The Upside-Down Kitty

This is Sam, the upside-down kitty.  I swear he spends half his life on his back.  If you come near him, he rolls over so you can pet his tummy.  He sometimes even sleeps upside down.  He is a n absolutely a beautiful cat, with his fine, gray fur, and cute as a button and endlessly fascinating, as are all our cats!

The Addams Family Musical

Kathy has a friend who is a musician, and she and her two sons were involved in a production of "The Addams Family Musical" at a church in Glen Cove.  So we went to see the show this afternoon.    It was an amazing show with great production values, and some amazing student actors and singers.  We were astounded at how good the show was!  I decided to take some photographs, but only from my seat - I didn't get up and move around as I would have done if I was shooting a job for someone.  So my photographs aren't that great, but I think this in an interesting shot.  Oh, and we had never seen this musical comedy, and it is really funny!

Shampoo Lenses

I bought two bottles of shampoo and when I came home, I set them on the kitchen counter.  Sunlight was shining in the window, and suddenly there was this bright yellow flash as I moved one of the bottles.  So I started experimenting.  The bottles in cross section are in the shape of lenses, and this is what the shampoo lenses do to the sunlight.  Cool, huh?

The Lamp

"The Lamp" you say?  Clearly that is a dress form.  Well, actually it is not.  I thought so too when I first saw it, but then when I stopped to photograph it, I saw the white cord coming out of the bottom and realized that it is made out of translucent blue plastic.  It stopped me cold, seeing it out at the curb like this.  It just seems incongruous photographed against the background of the lawn and the plants in the garden.  It's in perfect condition, so I don't know why it was thrown out.  The good news is that it apparently was picked up by someone before the garbage men came!

UNTIL

This is an astounding installation in one of the largest galleries at Mass MoCA.  What we are seeing are twelve thousand eye-dazzling spinners hanging on 1,500 thin cables from floor to ceiling!  Each of the spinners create constantly changing patterns - and some are quite dizzying.  As you look more closely, you start to notice spinners surrounding images of handguns.  The name of the installation is "UNTIL" as in "Innocent Until Proven Guilty."  The artist's work began as a protective response to violence, particularly within the black community, and the recent deaths of African Americans in the United States.  

As you wander the internal pathways of the "forest" you see the spinners in different light, and they appear quite different when they are back lit as they are here.  The installation is by the artist Nick Cave.  Please click on the images so you can see all of this in more detail.

Are You Really My Friend?

So a woman who lives in Maine, and who has 626 Facebook friends decided to go around the world and photograph them all!  The results are on display at Mass MoCA and they are amazing.  She has done an enormous number of wonderful portraits of individuals, children and adults, and families.  She was able to actually photograph 420 of them and each of the portraits is on the wall.  On sheer material hanging from the ceiling are images of Post It notes where people were asked to talk about what a real friend is..  

This is a close-up of some of the portraits that were on the huge wall display that stretched the length of the gallery.  The idea is really amazing, and the variety of the photographs such a joy to see.

Harley Road King

Yesterday when we were all walking around Port Jefferson, I saw this motorcycle parked at the curb.  I saw all the chrome and realized it would make an interesting photograph.  While I was taking the pictures, I heard Jenny behind me say to someone: "Is that your motorcycle?"  So after I finished with the picture, I went over to talk to the owner.  He was such a nice guy and really interesting to talk to.  We talked about motorcycles, and riding across the United States, which he has done a few times, and sailing and cycling.  All this talking was going while the women were in the cutsie shops on the street, so I stayed out of the shops and had a great conversation!