Home
s2dbaker [entries|archive|friends|userinfo]
s2dbaker

[ userinfo | livejournal userinfo ]
[ archive | journal archive ]

The Beekman [Nov. 19th, 2009|06:13 pm]
[Tags|, , , ]
[mood | blank]

I can't take a picture in the afternoon anymore because it's dark when I get out of work, so here is my morning shot of The Beekman. No huge photo today, I got lazy and accidentally erased it after saving this one.

linkpost comment

Don't Jump!! [Nov. 16th, 2009|09:29 pm]
[Tags|, , ]
[Current Location |William Street and Beekman Street, New York, NY]
[mood | cheerful]

Two people were sitting on a ledge this morning. That's about 40 stories up. They must have has a fantastic view of Downtown and Brooklyn.

linkpost comment

A Good Man Is Hard To Find [Nov. 15th, 2009|11:08 pm]
[Tags|, , ]
[mood | Nostalgic]

linkpost comment

The Internet Is For Porn [Nov. 14th, 2009|06:47 pm]
[Tags|, , , ]

The Internet is for pr0n. A man in Florida was arrested for calling 911 looking for sex.

Imagine being in this guy's cellular calling circle!?

I love the look of surprise in his mugshot.
linkpost comment

Rats! [Nov. 10th, 2009|09:29 pm]
[Tags|, , ]
[Current Location |Fulton Street & Gold Street, New York, NY]
[mood | blah]

I saw a real one scurrying about the subway tracks this morning and then when I left the subway..

Big Non-Union Rat
link2 comments|post comment

A Beekman Update [Nov. 9th, 2009|08:35 pm]
[Tags|, , , , , ]
[Current Location |William Street and Beekman Street, New York, NY]
[mood | pleased]

They're still pouring concrete up top but I think they've finally gone as high as they're going to go. I counted off the floors and there's 75 of them, more or less.


Click for Big
linkpost comment

Catholic Terrorism [Nov. 9th, 2009|05:50 am]
[Tags|, , , , , , , ]
[Current Location |Orlando, FL]
[mood | nauseated]

Jason Rodriguez shot up Orlando in a rampage of Catholic terrorism. I'm assuming that he's Catholic because many people with the name "Rodriguez" are Catholic. I can jump to this conclusion because Joe Lieberman said as much.

Here's what the Senator from Connecticut had to say about the incident.
WARNING - Fox News Link:
It's — first, this was a terrible tragedy. Second, it's too early — it's premature to reach conclusions about what motivated Rodriguez. But it's clear that he was, one, under personal stress and, two, if the reports that we're receiving of various statements he made, acts he took, are valid, he had turned to Catholic extremism.

And therefore, if that is true, the murder of this person and injuring of 5 others was a terrorist act and, in fact, it was the most destructive terrorist act to be committed on American soil since 9/11.

But I want to say very quickly we don't know enough to say now, but there are very, very strong warning signs here that Mr. Rodriguez had become a Catholic extremist and, therefore, that this was a terrorist act.


Open and shut case for me, Senator Joe!! Catholics need to be punished for this heinous terrorist act of violence against America. Perhaps we can round 'em up and then torture them in Guantanamo.
linkpost comment

Caption This [Nov. 4th, 2009|08:59 pm]
linkpost comment

The Beekman [Nov. 2nd, 2009|08:19 pm]
[Tags|, ]

Latest/Greatest photo of The Beekman


Click For Bigger
linkpost comment

P'Town [Oct. 29th, 2009|05:02 am]
[Tags|, , ]
[mood | giddy]

Yay, I'm off to Provincetown for the weekend. I'll take a camera.
link4 comments|post comment

I Was Young Once [Oct. 19th, 2009|10:34 pm]
[Tags|, , , , , , ]
[Current Location |Nursing Home]
[music |Rock Lobster - B-52's]

This is what happens when you're gay in Georgia in 1978:



One of the signs of the apocalypse is when you hear your cutting edge favorite songs from the recent past in a slot machine:

linkpost comment

Gray Day [Oct. 17th, 2009|01:38 am]
[Tags|, , ]
[Current Location |Beekman Street & Gold Street, 10038]
[mood | artistic]

It was a gray and rainy day in New York today.

I took my morning picture of the Beekman:

Click for Monsterous


I usually snap an afternoon picture too but I got out from work late and the Sun had set.
link1 comment|post comment

The Friends of Mr. Cairo [Oct. 10th, 2009|08:24 pm]
[Tags|, , , ]
[mood | Reflective]
[music |The Friends of Mr. Cairo, Jon and Vangelis]

I barely remember this song but I also remember that I used to request it on WRNW radio when it first came out. It's called The Friends of Mr. Cairo and it's a collaboration by Jon Anderson of Yes and Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou who goes by the stage name Vangelis. Vangelis is probably best known for the soundtrack of the movie Chariots of Fire and Blade Runner. Also well known was his album Heaven and Hell which was selected by Carl Sagan's producers to be the background music for Cosmos. Come to think of it, maybe it's Jon Anderson who needs the career recap more here.

linkpost comment

Peace [Oct. 9th, 2009|06:49 am]
[Tags|, , , ]
[Current Location |Oslo, Norway]
[mood | surprised]
[music |Give Peace a Chance]

Wow! That was unexpected.

Congratulations to President Barack Obama for winning the Nobel Peace Prize.

linkpost comment

Love [Oct. 8th, 2009|11:29 pm]
[Tags|, , , ]
[mood | disappointed]

Didn't love it.



I think my expectations were too high going in. The highlight for me was the strong start with Eleanor Rigby and later on, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (LSD). Although visually exciting, LSD was a letdown conceptually. They should have gone full Acid trip with that. I was disappointed with the While My Guitar Gentle Weeps segment of the show. The song has a big finish which was dropped. I then lost interest after that.

Love isn't a bad show but Ka, Mystere and O are all much better.
linkpost comment

Just Flew In From 'Vegas, Boy! Are My Arms Tired! [Oct. 7th, 2009|08:51 pm]
[Tags|, , , , , ]

I took some pictures while I was in Las Vegas. This one is of David:

Biggie Sized


I'll spare you the hours of scrolling and put the rest behind the cut:
Read more... )
link1 comment|post comment

There's No Place Like Home [Oct. 7th, 2009|05:50 am]
[Tags|, , , , ]
[Current Location |Home]
[mood | content]


New York New York, Las Vegas


One of the things I noticed when I first walked off of the plane last night was the air. There is water in the air here on Long Island. It's moist. I think I like moist.
linkpost comment

FED [Sep. 24th, 2009|12:30 am]
[Tags|, , ]
[mood | angry]



The solution is simple. Pull all of the census workers from the flyover states. Make certain that no census worker risks their life by venturing into an area where they might be the target of conservative hate. Then in Congress, in 2012, each of the flyover states will then be reapportioned one and only one congressman in the House of Representatives per the census taken in 2010. You don't count if you can't be counted.

It's as simple as that.
link3 comments|post comment

The Beekman [Sep. 21st, 2009|06:34 pm]
[Tags|, , , ]
[Current Location |William Street and Beekman Street, New York, NY]
[mood | bored]

It grows, like a mushroom, except less mushy:


Click For Embiggering
link1 comment|post comment

Rachel Maddow Interviews A Conservative [Sep. 17th, 2009|10:50 pm]
[Tags|, , , ]
[mood | happy]

Rachel Maddow interviews conservatives when they agree to appear on her show. Today she got a good one, Frank Schaeffer who wrote "Crazy For God". The interview starts at about 6 minutes in but the whole clip is a h00t to watch.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/vp/32886436#32886436

Some highlights:

"Fifth column of insanity"
"Can Christianity be rescued from Christians"
"I think 'Beyond Crazy' is a better explanation"
"These people are standing on a hilltop waiting for 'The End'"
"We have a village idiot in this country, it's called fundamentalist Christianity"
"A village can not reorganize village life to suit the village idiot"

It goes on and on! I need to memorize this!
linkpost comment

Sad [Sep. 14th, 2009|08:35 pm]
[Tags|, , , ]
[mood | sad]

linkpost comment

Hotel of Doom [Sep. 13th, 2009|01:12 am]
[Tags|, , , , , ]
[Current Location |Pyongyang, DPRK]
[mood | cheerful]

The 105 story North Korean Hotel of Doom, which has never opened is getting a face-lift. The crane on top still hasn't moved going on 18 years.



Now that's lipstick on a pig.
linkpost comment

The Weather Is The Suck [Sep. 10th, 2009|11:55 pm]
[Tags|, , ]
[Current Location |New York, NY]
[mood | wet]



It's coming right for us, a full-on Nor'easter. Tomorrow, umbrellii will be useless. Quite a contrast to the lovely weather that we had eight years ago.
link2 comments|post comment

Keith Olbermann Makes Fun Of Glenn Beck [Sep. 3rd, 2009|10:39 pm]
[Tags|, , ]
[Current Location |1211 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY]
[mood | amused]

Keith Olbermann makes a funny at Glenn Beck's expense. Keith used to just point out the stupid, now he's openly mocking it. He's having too much fun :)
linkpost comment

Beekman and William [Sep. 3rd, 2009|08:47 pm]
[Tags|, , , ]
[Current Location |William Street and Beekman Street, New York, NY]
[mood | thoughtful]

Beekman Street and William Street Before ( thanks to Googlemaps ):


Beekman Street and William Street After ( thanks to Googlephone ):


Notice that the streetlight has been replaced.
linkpost comment

The Beekman [Sep. 3rd, 2009|07:11 pm]
[Tags|, , ]
[Current Location |Beekman Street & South Street, New York, NY]
[mood | Touristy]

The Beekman Tower from a far away perspective. As you can see, downtown Manhattan tends to eat up its skyscrapers:


Click For Biggering


Or one can hunt around for a better perspective before snapping a photo, this is from the start of the street upon which the tower stands and after which it is named:


Click For Biggering
link1 comment|post comment

Running Over A Squirrel [Aug. 25th, 2009|07:04 pm]
[Tags|]
[mood | amused]

linkpost comment

Convert the Unwashed Heathen Hoards [Aug. 23rd, 2009|11:57 am]
[Tags|, ]
[mood | chipper]


And groove to the techo-pop soundtrack
linkpost comment

Douchebag of Liberty [Aug. 18th, 2009|10:03 pm]
[Tags|, , ]
[mood | annoyed]

The traitor Robert Novak is dead, we mourn, not really.


A Highlight Of Novak's Career
linkpost comment

Chrome [Aug. 15th, 2009|04:39 pm]
[Tags|, , , , ]
[Current Location |Blydenburgh Road and Pauls Court, 11788]
[mood | happy]

I made the chrome extra shiny today


Click For Biggering



Click For Biggering
link1 comment|post comment

1977 Mercedes 450SL [Aug. 15th, 2009|11:34 am]
[Tags|, , , ]
[mood | chipper]

Got one in all of its baby-shit brown glory:


Click For Biggering



Click For Biggering



Click For Biggering



Click For Biggering



Click For Biggering
link2 comments|post comment

A Reason To Avoid Churches [Aug. 13th, 2009|07:53 pm]
[Tags|]
[Current Location |Hell]
[mood | mischievous]

Nothing that will give you nightmares, unless seeing someone dancin' for the Lord gives you nightmares:



Thanks to Jesus' General for finding that gem.

Oh, and by the way, Sarah Palin doesn't actually write the stuff in her own Facebook page even though the notes that show up there reference "Me" and "My" as if she did.
linkpost comment

Mid August Wisteria [Aug. 12th, 2009|10:56 pm]
[Tags|, ]
[mood | impressed]

The Wisteria vine is forcing out some blooms late into the season:


Purplies in the middle of August
linkpost comment

Still Rising [Aug. 11th, 2009|06:30 pm]
[Tags|, , ]
[Current Location |Beekman Street & William Street, 10038]
[mood | curious]

The Gehry designed Beekman Tower continues to grow. I took a picture.


Click for Embiggering
link4 comments|post comment

On The Road Again [Aug. 9th, 2009|08:22 pm]
[Tags|, , , ]
[mood | accomplished]

It's hard to believe that the Silver Hark has been on the disabled list for over half a year now. This weekend finally saw it get back on the road. The reason for its gimpiness was that the bracket that holds on the alternator snapped in half. Fortunately that happened as I was pulling the car out of the garage one day. It would have been a disaster if that had happened on the road far from the house. The problem with the alternator bracket stems from the fact that the car had a generator originally and the replacement alternator needed a new bracket to fit it to the car.

There is a part from GM that fits the studs but it doesn't hold the alternator far enough forward to clear the belt from the radiator hoses. The person who owned the car before me, jury rigged a piece of metal to hold the alternator on. He didn't do a very good job. First off, the bracket should be an F bracket. The alternator is attached to the two bits of metal that stick out ( think of the letter F, the alternator would be attached between the two jutting stems by a long bolt ). Well, he took a shortcut. Instead of an F bracket, he made sort of a Gamma bracket ( Γ ). That eventually snapped in half and that's where we were until yesterday.

I purchase the F bracket from GM thinking that it would fit. It fit the studs on the header just fine but as I mentioned earlier, when you attach the alternator, it's too short to clear the hoses and it didn't align with the pulley at all. After calling around and asking everyone in town if they knew a machine shop that would make something up for me, I had started to give up hope and was planning on training myself to do metal shop work. Then early last week, a friend of David's said that he could make something like an F bracket if we gave him the measurements. We gave him the part from GM and told him that we needed this piece to be exactly one inch longer. He came through. It was perfect:



While the alternator was out of the car, I took the opportunity to take out the leaky radiator and have it recored. Now it's all better too.



So I washed it today:


Click For Biggie Size
link2 comments|post comment

Speaking of Things That Bother Me [Aug. 7th, 2009|06:56 pm]
[Tags|, , ]
[Current Location |100 Gold Street, NY, NY 10038]
[mood | surprised]

Unsupported concrete bothers me. I looked up at the new Beekman Tower and noticed that the SouthEast corners of the top floors are not supported by anything. They're just sort of floating there. Now I'm certain that it's all engineered with the highest quality concrete that the City of New York has to offer from nothing but the most upright of contractors, but don't sign me up for one of those SE corner apartments.



I'm just sayin'
linkpost comment

The Brooklyn [Aug. 6th, 2009|06:54 pm]
[Tags|, , , ]
[Current Location |Broadway-Nassau]
[mood | annoyed]

It's not called The Brooklyn and neither should it be called The Bronx.


Just something that really annoys me that really shouldn't.
linkpost comment

Beekman Tower ( All In A Day's Work ) [Aug. 5th, 2009|07:14 pm]
[Tags|, , ]
[Current Location |Beekman Street & Gold Street, 10038]
[mood | Observant]

I snapped a shot in the morning on the way into work at 8:25 and a shot as I was leaving at 4:05 and put the major difference in an inset. It just occurred to me that the window washing rigs for this building, once completed, are going to be fabulous!

link3 comments|post comment

Infrastructure [Aug. 4th, 2009|09:03 pm]
[Tags|]
[mood | Moist]

New York has reservoir levels at 100% in August.



Nevada's Lake Mead on the other hand...


Click For Website


Lake Mead hasn't been so low since they started filling up Lake Powell.

I blame Al Gore.
linkpost comment

Lt. Commander Cuckoo Bananas [Aug. 3rd, 2009|06:38 pm]
[Tags|, , ]
[Current Location |Not Kenya nor Tel Aviv]
[mood | amused]

You must watch this train wreck:
link5 comments|post comment

The Mystery Tower Grows [Aug. 1st, 2009|08:13 am]
[Tags|]
[Current Location |Beekman Street & Gold Street, 10038]
[mood | amused]

I took these two pictures a week apart. The mysterious "they" added three stories to this new tower of mystery in the meantime. Some of the "they" are kinda hot but mostly not. One of these days, I'll actually care enough to find out what this building is intended to be.


July 22, 2009


July 31, 2009
link2 comments|post comment

Wo Hop, Mott Street [Jul. 29th, 2009|07:30 pm]
[Tags|, , , , ]
[Current Location |17 Mott Street, New York, NY]
[mood | Perspirationy]

Photoblogging today. Here's a steamy picture looking Northward of the South end of Mott Street in Chinatown. It was about 85 degrees and very, VERY humid. I walked to Wo Hop ( on the left ) to get some Chicken Mei Fun. At Wo Hop, the experienced patron knows to go to the downstairs restaurant at 17 Mott Street, not the upstairs one at 15 Mott Street. The place was packed. When ordering take-out, they make you wait outside in the very, did I mention VERY humid weather. Click on the image for hugeness.
linkpost comment

Miss Opposite Marriage [Jul. 20th, 2009|07:52 pm]
[Tags|, ]
[mood | giggly]

Carrie Prejean. Yes, you thought you had heard the last of her but she has signed a book deal with the right wing lunatic publishing house, Regnery a.k.a. Books-No-One-Buys-Except-Some-Asshat-Named-Richard-Mellon-Scaife, Inc. It would be less embarrassing for all involved if Mr. Mellon-Scaife just gave a buttload of cash to the dethroned Miss California instead of funneling it through a fake publisher. One pleasant side effect will be getting to see the hilarious outtakes from Miss Opposite Marriage's book. I assume that she'll have at the very least an editor if not an outright ghost writer. But the quality of writing from that side of the political spectrum is usually pretty sad. The new screed will be out by Christmas. I look forward to a good laugh.


Noted Author Carrie Prejean
linkpost comment

Catcerto [Jul. 19th, 2009|10:06 pm]
[Tags|, , ]
[mood | contemplative]
[music |Mindaugas Piecaitis' CATcerto]

linkpost comment

Atlantic City [Jul. 18th, 2009|09:24 pm]
[Tags|, ]
[Current Location |Atlantic City, NJ]
[mood | amused]

I had nothing to do today so I went to Atlantic City to take this picture:


Click for SFW context.


Nothing special. Just thought I'd share.
link2 comments|post comment

Over a year and a half [Jul. 14th, 2009|11:42 pm]
[Tags|, , , ]
[Current Location |Fulton St. & William St. 10038]

This was Fulton Street in December on 2007:


And here is Fulton Street today. I'm actually standing on the place that hole is in the photo above. It's all put back together with a new water main planted firmly beneath. I think we may see it reopen before the end of the month.
linkpost comment

Ground Zero Update [Jul. 13th, 2009|06:18 pm]
[Tags|, , ]
[Current Location |40.709646,-74.011695]
[mood | Impatient]

It's been 7.836 years since some Saudis hijacked some planes and flew hem into the World Trade Center, towers one and two. I took this picture today of the progress that's been made since that time. You'll see that there is exactly one new building on the right. That's the new Seven World Trade Center. It's very glassy. The previous one was four stories smaller but a bit larger in square footage due to its larger footprint. The new Seven doesn't cut across Greenwich Street like the old one did.



Just for comparison, here's a picture of a building going up just 4 blocks away to the East next to Pace University. This project started around the same time I started my job back in August of 2007. Not quite two years later, it's looking quite a bit further long than anything at the actual Tower One and Two site. Although I must say that in their haste, they may have made some of the building parts melt.

linkpost comment

Oh My, God! [Jul. 11th, 2009|05:57 pm]
[Tags|]
[mood | Repenting]


The Flying Spaghetti Monster reveals himself.
link1 comment|post comment

Evil Trains [Jul. 6th, 2009|08:07 pm]
[Tags|, , , ]
[Current Location |FarmingdaleWyandanchDeerparkBrentwoodCentralislipRonkonkoma]
[mood | annoyed]

Next week has been ruined. Not only am I not going to Provincetown but I have to suffer the friggin train.
linkpost comment

Billy Mays, Dead at 50 [Jun. 28th, 2009|12:50 pm]
[Tags|, ]
[Current Location |Cone of Silence]
[mood | gloomy]



Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson couldn't get me to post but this one....

Billy Mays the guy with the dyed black everything who yelled at you from the TeeVee set, died at the age of 50 today. Who's going to yell at me late into the night from now on?
linkpost comment

navigation
[ viewing | most recent entries ]
[ go | earlier ]

Advertisement