Archive for June, 2010

30
Jun
10

JANE’S CAROUSEL.

By Lu Logic Leave a Comment
Categories: Photography
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I wanted my last blog post for the month of June to be one of peace, Zen and maybe to some people bring back memories of their childhood. Jane’s Carousel http://www.janescarousel.com/ located at 56 Water Street in DUMBO Brooklyn might bring back some childhood memories, to people and to others of a different generation they might think “Carousel’s actually exist?”

Unlike other carousels that are massed produced this was one that was carved and handmade. I recall my childhood and my parents taking me and my sister to Coney Island http://www.coneyisland.com/ in Brooklyn and getting on the rides and various carousels that were at the amusement park, but they never looked at good as Jane’s Carousel.

You cannot ride Jane’s Carousel at the moment due to the restricted space that it’s currently located in. But once it moves down the block to the Brooklyn Bridge Park http://www.brooklynbridgepark.org/ that might change. But it is still fun to watch and look at. Below are some photos that were taken during a recent visit, in some of the photos you will see the quality and details of the craftsmanship put into the making of it. If you recall a carousel in your childhood, then enjoy the trip down memory lane.

28
Jun
10

GAY PRIDE PARADE IN NEW YORK CITY.

By Lu Logic Leave a Comment
Categories: Photography
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Yesterday thousands of New Yorker’s flocked to the West Village in Manhattan to celebrate the fortieth annual gay pride parade. The parade commemorates the historic Stonewall riots back on June 28, 1969. The Stonewall riots were a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours on that day in nine-teen sixty-nine. Police raids on gay bars were routine in the 1960s, http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/html/home/home.shtml but officers quickly lost control of the situation at the Stonewall Inn, http://www.thestonewallinnnyc.com/Home_Page.php and attracted a crowd that was incited to riot.

After the Stonewall riots, gays and lesbians in New York City faced gender, class, and generational obstacles to becoming a cohesive community. If I recall my gay history correctly the rioting lasted about six days and was the start of the gay rights movement in New York City.

The gay pride parade in New York City has grown over the years from being an event that was tolerated by those that did not accept homosexuality. To what is now an open major event that is welcomed by everyone each year.

The theme for this year’s gay pride was “Liberty and Justice for all.” I have been too many gay pride parades over the years and have actually marched in one ten years ago. It’s a totally different experience when you march in it and not just stand on a street corner to observe it if you ask me. But I will say this, being in the parade or just watching it are both enjoyable.

It’s never the same every year, each parade for I feel it tries to outperform the one from the previous year. Below are photographs that I have taken of this year’s parade. Granted not everyone in the photos is gay. However it does show if anything the diversity, support and growth from what has started so many years ago. From a riot many years back is now a celebration of a life style and a show of support for equal rights for everyone regardless of race, gender or color. It is an event where everyone is considered equal.

25
Jun
10

TWITTER A DATING WEBSITE, THE FINAL CHAPTER.

By Lu Logic Leave a Comment
Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Every story has a beginning a middle and an end. If you have read my past blog posts about the adventures (or miss-adventures…) that I have had on Twitter when someone tried to make a pass and pick me up on the website then you know how the story has gone so far.

And actually after my second blog post about the subject, I thought it would be best to give it two weeks time just to make sure that nothing new has come up with this subject. There has been no further contact with this person. Granted I have made no effort in reaching out to this person and that was part of my plan for I wanted to see if he would have reached out and make contact with me. But they have not done so at all.

And I thought that would have been the case originally but I just wanted to make sure about it. I no longer follow this person on Twitter, but have noticed that they still follow me. Then again he does have over three-hundred people following him. So if anything I am lost in his data stream and he is not keeping track of me.

And if he is still following my “tweets” then I am generally not aware of that fact. So it maybe just safe to say that I don’t have a stalker following me, and that is a very good thing if anything. And to be totally honest after my last post about the subject I really have not given it that much thought. So I think that it’s fine to say that this incident was a onetime deal never to be repeated again.

If anything I will file it mentally as a “life lesson” and move on from there. But it does make me wonder how many other people has he tried this stunt with? Possibly quite a few or maybe I was the first. I doubt that I was the first person that he tried that stunt with.

Guess I will never know and I am totally fine with that. I know that one day knowing me of course I will look back at all of this one day and have a good laugh about it. And of course share this story with a friend or two. Any story that you can tell to a friend or person about your life can be a good story. It’s when the story has to be told by someone else because you are dead from its outcome, then that is not a good story at all.

But I do live to see another day and like I have mentioned before it’s a “life lesson” for me. Actually I am glad that this story has a quiet ending with no drama. For we all have heard stories with similar subject matters and how it ends with one or two people being seriously injured or dead.

So if this story was a movie then it would end with me walking off into the sunset and as the screen fades to black the words “to be continued” would show up on the screen. However… the only thing that will continue will be the next chapter of my life and not another adventure like the one I had.

If anything I will stick with having a pass made at me or being picked up at a local bar or street corner and not on Twitter.

23
Jun
10

IS A BLOG A PERSON’S LEGACY?

By Lu Logic 1 Comment
Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

When you think about it, everyone has a different reason for starting a blog. It could be to share thoughts with family, friends or the world. Or even a way to get a person’s point across. There are way too many reasons to list as to why one would start one.

We all log onto the internet and go to our favorite websites to get the latest news and stories. And to a small portion a blog is an extension of the person that has created it. We never think about the persons reasoning for posting an article on a blog, we go to such sites for items that we all find of interest.

Now blogging for me I have discovered has been enjoyable, and I will be the first to admit that sometimes it’s hard to do. But with all things in life we take a hard or difficult moment and turn it around to make the best of it or improve it.

When I started blogging three months back my original vision of my blog like myself has evolved to become something different. And actually I have become quite proud of my blog. But beyond the viewing of a person’s blog, does one ever wonder how a thought or subject becomes a blog posting?

When you look at human history individuals such as Ernest Hemingway have left us with great literature to read. Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo as well have left us with great paintings and drawings as well. And in most of these cases their works show us in a way what was on their minds.

But what about the average person such as you and me? What will our notes and photos that we take will tell us about ourselves? After all not everything becomes a blog post and just maybe become archived for no one else to see.

What if the world was to end today and life as we all know it stops to exist? And in the distant future an alien race discovers our planet and searches for our history. And they discover that we had a thing called “the internet.” But they cannot get the full details of mankind because even that was badly damaged in the recovery process of trying to find out who and what mankind was.

Then all that is left would be to discover the random notes or items left buy us. Almost like trying to explore the pyramids of Egypt. We look for artifacts that were left behind and try to put together a person’s past.

The items that I use for my blog are shown below.

My camera, my tripod and pouch that holds extra camera gear. And of course my favorite item my moleskine note book. http://www.moleskine.com/ The reason it’s my favorite item is because this is where all my notes and thoughts get written down into and from there becomes a blog post. And in some cases they might not become a posting. But it does share insight of who I am. I have joked about this book calling it “the book of Lu’s Logic.”

Random notes and a drawing of my right hand.

A floor plan drawing that I have done one night.

Even a photograph that I had once taken for a blog post, out of everything that I use for my blog this book is what I hope someone finds when the world ends. For this “little black book” tells the back story of who I am. This will tell my thoughts after I am long gone and I am sure as time goes on there will be other books as well once this one gets filled up.

You can also say MS Word documents and even a video or two can tell a person’s story. But a book in its own little way can say so much more. So the question now is if the world did end and a part of you was left behind for someone else to discover. What would that item be for you? What do you want to leave behind so that others can discover and learn about you?

After all… A blog and all your notes and images used to create your blog postings can become ones legacy. What do you want people to remember you for?

16
Jun
10

58 DAYS.

By Lu Logic Leave a Comment
Categories: Uncategorized
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So it took President Obama this long to address the nation on the oil spill on television.

It took less time for BP and this man Tony Hayward.

Less time to do all of this damage in the Gulf of Mexico and wildlife.

Is it going to take that long as well to set up the twenty billion dollar trust fund? BP says they will give the money to set up the funds. But how long will that take? As well they are talking about the month of August to fix this. The delays have been way to long in dealing with all of this damage. The time to fix and correct this is now! Not within days or weeks, but now. Now is the moment and time to fix this. People in the Gulf of Mexico who make a living from fishing and tourist need help now not later.

I feel that no one should have to wait for this to be fixed and corrected.

13
Jun
10

THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE ACCORDING TO THE NEW YORK TIMES.

By Lu Logic Leave a Comment
Categories: Uncategorized
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I came across the following article on CNN entitled “The New York Times bans use of word ‘tweet.’” You can view the article at. http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/social.media/06/11/new.york.times.tweet/index.html

And it has been posted as well via the website. http://www.theawl.com/ You can view the post on the awl also at. http://www.theawl.com/2010/06/new-york-times-bans-the-word-tweet

Merriam-Webster defines the word “tweet” as the following.

Main Entry: tweet

Pronunciation: \twēt\

Function: noun

Etymology: imitative

Date: 1768

: A chirping note

— tweet intransitive verb

Within both online news articles the following comment was made about not using the word “tweet” by the New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/ Their reasoning for this was the following. “Some social-media fans may disagree, but outside of ornithological contexts, “tweet” has not yet achieved the status of Standard English. And Standard English is what we should use in news articles.”

Judging by the Merriam-Webster definition of the word “tweet” they would stand to be correct on this subject. However what would happen if Merriam-Webster updates the definition of the word “tweet” to include the following such as.

“A method of communications via the internet or smart phone device with a limit of one-hundred and forty characters.”

After all the word “blog” was added to Merriam-Webster.

Main Entry: blog

Pronunciation: \blȯg, bläg\

Function: noun

Etymology: short for Weblog

Date: 1999

: A Web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks provided by the writer; also: the contents of such a site.

— blog·ger noun

— blog·ging noun

That was entered into Merriam-Webster in nineteen ninety-nine, Twitter was founded in the year two thousand-six. From the creation of blog or “blogging” back in nineteen-ninety it took about ten years give or take for Merriam-Webster to add it into is dictionary. If the pattern remains the same then the word “tweet” could be modified to reflect the micro-blogging website Twitter in the year twenty six-teen. Now that is only six years away.

There seems to be a pattern by Merriam-Webster to see if a newly created word is used for proximity ten years by society and or all of man-kind and that it’s not just a “phase” or “short trend.” This would explain the long period of time as to when a word is added to their dictionary.

Maybe the “The Gray Lady” (as the New York Times is nick named) is playing it safe in its own little way by not using  the word “twitter” until Merriam-Webster officially adds it to its dictionary? And if so are we all wrong for using it in such a format? Maybe that is the case or not. For if I recall correctly the position of standards editor at the New York Times was created after the Jayson Blair plagiarism and fabrication scandal. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jayson_Blair So maybe the New York Times does want to play it safe? It would be funny I think if Merriam-Webster added the word ahead of the ten-year schedule of waiting and added it within another year or two.

So I guess until then we are all using improper English? As long as we are all are trying to get our message across to the other person that we are communicating with and that they understand it, then it should not be major issue. With that said I now plan to do my usual Sunday tradition which is to read the Sunday New York Times.

11
Jun
10

TWITTER A DATING WEBSITE PART TWO.

By Lu Logic 1 Comment
Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

About two weeks ago I did a post on my blog called “Since when did Twitter become a dating website?” A brief summary about the post was about the time when someone on Twitter made a pass at me via my Twitter account located at.: http://twitter.com/LUIS_CASTRO_NYC

This post is the follow-up on what has happened to me via Twitter. Now I have to admit that I was taken back when someone made a pass at me on Twitter two weeks ago. After all there is only so much you can say with one-hundred and forty characters.

As well who would ever think of making a pass on a person or try to pick someone up via Twitter? For myself it would be the last place I would ever think of doing so. Then I did a little research. If you use Twitter and type in the following in a search #twitterafterdark (pound sign, Twitter after dark) and review the “tweets” you would think that one has never left the time of free love and orgies.

You see tweets such as the following below, mind you I am not making this up these are actual tweets from people.

“I love when his whole face is in it #twitterafterdark”

“I apologize but my penis needs attention. I couldn’t wait till #twitterafterdark to say that. Its the freak in me < no class”

“he love to hit it backwards, call it pig-latin! #twitterafterdark”

“welcome to my sex room #twitterafterdark”

Now seeing this was somewhat of a warning sign for me when it came to the person that made a pass at me. And they did ask me at one point about “twitter after dark.” and did I not know about it. But at that time I was totally clueless. Then again when anyone makes a pass at me I am usually very cautious it can be in person at a bar or even a public place and even on-line. I usually try to be very careful on who I let into my life, it’s just who I am. Better safe than sorry (or dead) I feel.

After a few days of chatting with this person online via Twitter just chatting and in one way or another trying to figure out what this person was all about. And I have to admit that when they asked me questions about me I kept my replies very short and not really giving out any major detail.

After all one just never knows what the other person might be all about or what kind of agenda they have. And at one point during the days that we were chatting online they claimed that they had seen my blog post about our online encounter.  Now of course you know that I was going to post this on my blog since it is an extension of me, my life and my adventures and miss-adventures.

They were taken back of the fact that I posted it to my blog. But as I told them and mentioned before above, “my blog an extension of me, my life and my adventures and miss-adventures.” Then I thought to myself “let’s see what happens if I don’t make contact with this person for a few days.”

So after our last online chat ending with “we will talk again soon.” I waited to see if they would send a message saying “hello” or “how are you?” Needless to say I have gotten no such of message, not even to this day have I gotten any time of message from this person. Now of course you can say “You could have reached out to them instead of waiting for them to contact you.” But I see it like this… They were the one to make the first move and reach out to me. And if they showed any true interest they would have continued our conversation.

But at last they did not. And I thought that would be the case and I am totally fine with that. I did have my suspicions from the beginning, but I think of it as “playing it safe.” For you just never know what the other person is all about. Then again they might have just lost interest as well. I will never know what the outcome could have been. Would I call this an adventure or a miss-adventure? I would answer that question as the following. “It’s an event that I have learned from and was able to walk away with no harm done to me.” For in this digital age one should always be safe. Besides maybe my next encounter on Twitter if that happens might turn out different from this one.

On a final note I do have to say that I no longer follow this person on Twitter. But I have noticed that they still follow me. Which makes me wonder if they still read my blog? If so I am sure that if they read this post one or two things may happen. They might reach out to me and comment about it, or they might not say anything at all. Well… If they do make a comment or send me a message via Twitter to me about what they think about this post, then you know there will be a “part three” to this story.

10
Jun
10

THE DEATH OF ST. VINCENT.

By Lu Logic Leave a Comment
Categories: Photography
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

St. Vincent’s Hospital in Manhattan, New York City referred to as “St. Vincent’s”. Was a major hospital in the Manhattan neighborhood of Greenwich Village in New York City. St. Vincent’s was founded in 1849 and closed in 2010.

Yes you read correctly closed. St. Vincent’s http://www.svcmc.org/ if you lived in New York City this was the primary admitting hospital for those injured in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. St. Vincent’s was the third oldest hospital in New York City after the New York Hospital http://www.downtownhospital.org/ and Bellevue Hospital. http://www.nyc.gov/html/hhc/html/facilities/bellevue.shtml

And as of now it’s no longer in service. A hospital that would take anyone in for medical care, if you was homeless or unemployed with no medical insurance that was not an issue. Unlike other hospitals when you walk in and the first thing they say to you is. “What type of medical insurance you have?”

For St. Vincent’s Hospital that was the last question they would ask, and if you told them that you had no insurance it was never an issue with the hospital. You could have just made a small donation of whatever you could afford at the time, and they would absorb the rest of the cost.

Other services they provided were. A comprehensive cancer center, HIV center, a chapel that was within the center of the hospital and would perform weekly and Sunday mass for hospital staff and patients. As well a hospital pet care program, if you were sick and had to stay in the hospital for a few days or weeks. Just inform the staff that you had a pet at home and they would provide for the pets during your stay in the hospital. Animals were either walked and fed in the patient’s home, or were temporary relocated to care facilities or short-term foster home.  And so many more services they offered, too many to list I feel.

My question is “Why did such a great hospital have to close?” It did so much for the city and was there for everyone’s time of need regardless of race, class structure, life style. What is left of the hospital is just so sad to see right now. Doors boarded up and locked closed. The ambulance fleet is just left outside on the street, signs from people who wanted the hospital to remain open. I too wrote a message on the wall expressing my sorrow about the hospital closing, it read.

“Wendell,

I remember the days when I use to come visit you here when you were very sick with AIDS. And every time you came into this hospital to the point of near death. They always managed to bring you back to life to see another day. R.I.P. Wendell and St. Vincent.

Luis”

When my friend did finally pass away he was not in the care of St. Vincent. Such a great service to the community should not have ended and I feel that other hospitals should learn a lesson from this institution on the care and treatment of people. Is this what health care is all about now? The closing of hospitals? I only hope this is not going to be a new trend for New York City or any other place for that matter.

Below are a few photographs of what is left of the hospital.

The above photo is the main entrance into St.Vincent.

Main lobby of St. Vincent hospital now empty.

The ambulance fleet is just left outside on the street

Signs from people who wanted the hospital to remain open.

Main entrance for ambulance fleet and trauma center now closed.

Side entrance to St. Vincent and sign left on ambulance window.

St. Vincent’s hospital. I wanted to show the size of this hospital. This complex was very large.

06
Jun
10

I WALK IN, AND DID NOT SEE ANGELS, DEMONS OR DR. ROBERT LANGDON.

By Lu Logic 1 Comment
Categories: Photography
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Only beautiful things I saw when I walked into the church of St. Veronica. One of the interesting things I actually like about churches is the way that they are constructed for so much detail is put into the design and building of them.

Now of course this church is not at all like St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. http://www.saintpatrickscathedral.org/ But I still found and discovered a sense of beauty within the church that I visited.

The Roman Catholic church of St. Veronica was established in the year 1887 and is located at 149-155 Christopher Street between Greenwich and Washington streets in New York City. At the moment the church is going through some restoration work, but has currently stopped the project due to lack of funding.

I have to admit that when I walked in and started exploring the church I felt like Dr. Robert Langdon in the movie The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons.

And actually at one point during my photography session without warning I was approached by what seem to have been church staff and asked what I was doing. After explaining myself I was given the approval to continue.

But for a moment I did think that maybe I did discover something that I was not supposed to see. I would have asked of course when I first walked in. But I at that time did not see anyone to talk with about me taking photos. So I just proceeded to take my photographs. With that said here are the photos that I had taken.


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