After Hours

I've never seen this guy before, but lordy, is he ever weird! Apparently, somebody's pet snake or some such escaped in the New York area, which is the reason for the bizarre impersonation. Even though this is a very surreal minute and a half, it's still nice to see somebody get that excited about the weather.

After Hours

Fabrika. Ne vinovataya ya

This video drops in and out of existence on the YouTube from time to time, but I enjoy it so much that I must feature it again. It is very much what we suppose modern Russia is: powerful men and and the kept women who make fun of them. Hell, that was a major theme with Tolstoy, wasn't it? Anyhow, it's a very catchy tune about who, out of eight daughters, has ended up with whom. My favorite is the Ginnifer Godwin-like one with the awesome Slavic cheekbones. I can't help it. It's the way I'm made.

After Hours

Lester Young and a bunch of other people: Blues for Greasy

Here's Lester and other folks doing a tune I'm sure that nobody really meant to write, but it's certainly a blues and there are times that it works. Yes, that's Buddy Rich playing the drums. He was voted America's biggest bastard until George W. Bush came along. Other mentionables include Ella Fitzgerald on vocals and Ray Brown on bass. The trombone player is Bill Harris - history rarely mentions him - and Flip Phillips on tenor saxophone. I've never been a big Flip fan, but he did excite them back in the day. And that's why nobody's ever heard of Flip Phillips.

Your Sunday Squirrel

Here's a photo from just this week. The Denny Park squirrels were enjoying the sun and I happened by. I took about two dozen photos, but only three turned out good. This is one of them. Let's face it, squirrels are just too twitchy for my sluggish camera. That's why you see a lot of them nibbling on peanuts, as that's the only time they hold still for my languid Sony Cyber-shot. I was there today, but squirrels were few. I did, however, get a good candid crow shot. And here it is:

The bust is of some dearly departed clergyman (I can never remember his name) who croaked in the forties or some such. He was beloved by all - even, apparently, by crows. As in life, his head made a comfortable perch.

Spring Has Sprung

Well, it was just a short time ago that the weather was so icky, I was pretty much trapped inside my apartment all week long. But that has changed. Instead of cold, rainy weather, we have somewhat warmer rainy weather. The photo above is the purple leaf plum at the corner of 2nd & Battery. It's really quite lovely. Unlike last year, the trees aren't blooming early and all at once. The pear trees on my block are slowly mustering blossoms. It matters little, though, because we all know that we're still in for several months of ickiness. Don't we all remember last year? I totally froze my ass on the Fourth of July. That was not cool. Anyhow, take a stroll and check out the purple leaf plums around the neighborhood. There are some nice ones on 1st between Battery & Wall. And keep an eye out on these cherry trees on Battery:

They don't look like much now, but they'll be really spectacular in another week or so. More photos of general bloomage will follow.

Your Sunday Squirrel

As I mentioned in the earlier post, this was a great week for squirrels at Denny Park. They were everywhere. I gave them lots of peanuts and they didn't get freaked out by the camera. Huzzah! This fellow let me close enough to his tree for this fine picture which just might have to go on next year's calendar.

Bonus Squirrel!

I've gone to Denny Park twice in the last two days and it's been a squirrel bonanza. And they've been very hungry. So I thought I'd share a photo. This little guy was hungriest of all. He must have downed at least six peanuts. But he was just one of about ten who were circulating around my bench. I found out an interesting thing today: squirrels can growl. They don't do it a lot, but they can. And now you know.

After Hours

OK, Elvis sounds sped-up here, but he did take a lot of pills, so maybe those had something to do with this. Judging from the content, back in the early sixties, women who wore lots of feathers were considered attractive by the opposite gender. Otherwise, why would they be in an Elvis movie?

After Hours

Well, I managed to find another version of this French pop gem. Please excuse the low-end distortion. It ain't my fault. This song is just so booming that, in the wrong hands, all kinds of bad sounds can abound. Fortunately, with such a genuinely great tune, those things are forgivable. While this isn't quite as memorable as the legendary Barbarella video, it is marginally better than the chaotic and slipshod color clip. You've gotta admit that this is really one of the finest tunes of the sixties in any language. Sure, it's disposable pop fare, but its worth has outlasted its shelf life.

Your Sunday Squirrel

Well, I've been remiss with the blogging once again, but I did manage a few trips to Denny Park this week. Unfortunately, no tree rodents were very friendly. Luckily, I have many, many photos from a few weeks ago to fall back on. This is one of them. I hope you enjoy it.

Your Sunday Squirrel

It's been a lean week for squirrels at Denny Park, but luckily I encountered quite a few a little while ago. This guy was very friendly. He did a lot of scuttling around and freezing in place. He held this particular pose for a good ten seconds. This is the best of all the shots I got. I'm hoping that this week will yield similar friendly and productive meetings.