Caissons - Brooklyn bridge

 

Morning Butterfly

Right outside my door, as large as life and twice as natural 

Night at the Museums

I went to the Finance Museum on Wall Street for the first time as part of this event.

The gold and jewels Monopoly set was pretty cool:

Not a big fan of the game though -- so I'm not sure the bling would be enough to make it interesting and fun for me.  Unless the host was giving out the gold tiles and jeweled pieces as souvenirs, maybe?  But still - meh.
 

One of many two-by-fours mailed to the Federal Reserve in protest.
(I like that they sent a board to the board; more subtle than calling someone a blockhead!)

They had several exhibits of fakes and forgeries - including a light table where you can see how your own bills stack up to the Approved 100% Genuine bills on display.  My $20 was OK, but no one was willing to lend me a $50 to test.

For this exhibit of three fakes, I was intrigued by the middle one (the most obvious, natch) and so called in to find out all the details of what was wrong.

Apparently, what they did to the middle one is called "kiting" - you try to stick the corners of a $10 onto a $1 bill.  I can't imagine this is ever very effective, but who knows.  The $5 was much more subtle, it involved low quality ink that got a bit smudged below Lincoln's ear.

We could have stuck with wampum and clam shells or something!

Also liked the display of the evolution of negotiable papers as it reflected political changes (e.g., Revolutionary War and Civil War).

Then I went to the NYC archives, where they had a special display of maps and papers depicting downtown Manhattan.

The original NYC Aquarium was in downtown Manhattan.  It was apparently open for about 40 years.
I love that the plan identifies exactly which animals will be displayed in each of the large tanks.

"Room of Lost Footsteps" - i.e., the concourse

A close-up of the display plan

High Water Mark - downtown manhattan (1873)

One amazing night at the theatre!

The 411 on Houston Street

"A patrolman investigating the troubles of one of his small charges"

Father's Day at the Beach

Adams Point

My dad and I went for a ramble around Adams Point.  It was a lovely forest walk, for the most part, with stretches of meadow and nice glimpses of the water.  

Thresher

Great Bay

Hemlock hugs an Oak

Iridescent Green Bug

It looks like there was a forest fire (see the blackened ring).
We aren't sure why the outer rings are so much darker than the central rings.

We saw many of these - perhaps a form of lady slipper or wild orchid?

Foxglove

There was abundant, even luxuriant, poison ivy throughout the walk, but we fortunately managed to evade it. 

Bless Hiking, Damn Yankees

I was lucky enough to be able to travel north for a showing of Damn Yankees, which featured four illustrious persons of my acquaintance: two on-stage and another two behind-the-scenes. 

We started with a tour of a local museum.  The guy at the front desk was really proud of their temporary exhibit, an African-American artist's reimagining of The Odyssey, but it really didn't grab me.  I much preferred the annex to that exhibit, in which they displayed line drawings by the same artist -- though rendered solely in black ink on white paper, I found them far more evocative, expressive and filled with movement than the bright, static colorful works in the main room.  

In another exhibit, near the entrance to the museum, I really liked this painting for its luminous color: 

As before, I liked the museum's collection of paperweights - I hadn't remembered seeing ones with tiny animals hollowed out of the center before:

More blown glass - these made me think of chessmen (knights)

We nonetheless managed to tear ourselves away from static, historical culture in time to see dynamic, living culture -- yes, my first-ever experience seeing "Damn Yankees."  (Although admittedly, I've seen the damn Yankees before; in fact, last time I saw them, they lost to the damn Angels.  Not that I hate the Yankees; I just have issues with them.)

Thanks to our inside connections, we had seats right in front, which was very fun.

Another bell curve distribution: The height of cast members in the production

Several cast members were really impressive, including the boy who played Applegate.  Other cast members showed their versatility by playing several roles with aplomb.

Power suit: A young actress commands the stage.

In the back, another young actress plays a judge.
(Unfortunately, I couldn't get a clear shot of the gavel from this angle!) 

Well done everyone!  Sources indicate that it was a bit touch-and-go during the rehearsal process (even as recently as a few days before the show), but -- "I love it when a plan comes together," as they say.  

Afterward, we adjourned for a meal with the rest of the fan club.  Lee showed off her handstands -- alas, yet another skill I have utterly failed to master!

The following day, my parents and I went for a hike in Northwood Meadows State Park.  We were not treated to the extravagant display of fungi seen in prior years, but we did see a snake!  It was really attractively striped:

It kept still once we started taking photos, but we would never have noticed it in the first place if it hadn't moved.   There's a lesson in there somewhere, I'm sure.

Ready for its close-up!

Afterward, an uneventful bus ride home.  

Miscellaneous

Here are some of the events I've gone to in the past month or two: Carolina Chocolate Drops at BAM. Hawaiian music at Carnegie Hall Bossabrasil at Birdland