Brian’s PhotoPile

I realize I’m a bit late for posting photos from Halloween, but thought you might enjoy them.
Having slithered out of my crypt that evening I visited some of the other spooks in my neighborhood. In our travels we found a party at a house that backs up to Highland Park just within walking distance of the cemetery. Many varieties of beings seemed to have flocked to this location safe in the cradle of the night. My favorite room was the kitchen for here I was able to lick my chops on some of the best pies I’ve ever had the pleasure to eat. Drinks were on the house. Loaded, I traveled north into City Center. Here at the East End I found a veritable hive of activity. Stumbling about, I walked past many faces, phantoms in the night, only to be seen for these brief dark hours.

Some of my friends like to tell me what to take pictures of. Tom does that. I don’t really mind much, after all I am visiting him, accompanying him on a ride out in the country. Once in awhile, his vision opens my eyes/mind to something new. However, I feel that I’m humoring him. I’ve thought of trying to convince myself that I’m working with a great director and need to bring about his vision, but haven’t been able to do that yet. So I take his pictures, accumulating images that differ from what on my own I would have taken.  This presents a slight problem in my archive. I feel I have to label his so that in the distant future, if I go back to this days shoot I won’t find myself complimenting myself on what a beautiful picture I took long after I forgot Tom told me to take the photo. Here’s a picture of Tom telling me I should stand where he is and frame this picture just like so and so. So I do it and this is what I come up with. I don’t think it’s all that great and it probably doesn’t even come up to what he was seeing. It’s always an adventure riding with Tom.

Dancers from out of town, the Barvinok Ukrainian Dance School of Mississauga, swirled, jumped, pranced, bounced, and skipped on the stage set up behind St. Josaphat’s yesterday afternoon.  I think the Ontario and Ukrainian Arts Foundation Dancers of Rochester, NY were there too. The photos only give a hint of how energetic and joyfully the dances are performed. These young people were refreshing to watch exhibiting skill and stamina despite the heat and humidity in the tent.

On a Sunday two weeks ago I drove out to the State Historic Site at Ganondagan to see Cercle Celtique. I missed Cercle Celtique when they performed at the Fingerlakes opening reception at the Memorial Art Gallery because I was over listening to Jessica Lange discuss her photographs at the George Eastman House. Cercle Celtique is a group that performs traditional Breton dance and music. The group was founded in Rennes, France, our sister city, and they were visiting Rochester as part of the Rennes-Rochester Sister City program. Wearing traditional Breton attire the dancers performed round dancing, square dancing, line dancing and the gavotte, which was a favorite in the court of Louis XIV. Some of the musicians pereformed with authentic instruments such as the Biniou, which is similar to a Scottish great Highland bagpipe and a bombarde which is a conical bore double-reed musical instrument. The drummer for the most part used his hands beating on a set of bongo drums and cymbals. It was a lively performance and was topped off at the end when the audience, including Peter Jemison wearing his traditional Indian garb, joined in a line dance.

A couple friends of mine who play in the Crooked Lake Fiddlers group let me know they would be performing at the New York State Expo VIII (locally know as the John Deere Festival) in Canandaigua on July 11th. I went down there with another friend and we arrived fifteen minutes before they where scheduled to perform. The tent where they were going to be was at the other end of the grounds from the parking lot. It was just starting to rain, so I walked across the grounds with an umbrella in one hand and camera in the other snapping pictures as we went. The fiddlers group was just starting to play when we got to the tent. They played for a good hour or more during one of the heaviest downpours I’ve seen this year. Tom Close, wearing dark classes, lead the group; a tall fiddler, Al Christianson, resurrected some old tunes he learned as a child; Betsy Galbright sang some spunky tunes while strumming her dulcimer; Oliver Pears played chords on the bass box; Tom Hold on guitar sang a solo piece; Carol Gruscho strummed a washboard throughout the performance; my friends Al Caster, with the long hair, and John Harrington with the long beard, along with several other musicians composed the rest of the group.

The fiddlers were a lot of fun and by the end of the performance the heavy rain had let up. I was planning on looking at some of the exibits afterwards, but being that it was the last day of the event and still raining many of the exhibitors had pulled out. Most the tractors where gone and the sale items in all the tents where boxed up. The only pictures I got where these as we came into the event.

Four days and nights of movies in two theaters and parties late into the evening hours. Of the movies I saw my favorites where Nerakhoon (The Betrayal), Unmistaken Child, Woman in Berlin, Skin, Yoo-hoo Mrs. Goldberg, and I thoroughly enjoyed Saint Misbehavin’: The Wavy Gravy Movie. Renee Sotile & Mary Jo Godges where wearing astronaut outfits for most of the festival to promote the premiere of their film Astronaut Pam: Countdown to Commander. Using archival NASA footage and actual interviews with Pam Melroy they where able to put the viewer in the drivers seat for a trip to the Space Station and back. That’s “Susan B. Anthony” in the picture along with the two “astronauts”. I didn’t take very many pictures at the parties but did catch this one photo of filmaker, actress Kim Leslie who was talking with filmaker Dave Puls of Animatus Studios. I got a chance to talk with Margot Starr Kernan (the lady on the right in the photo of two ladies). She submitted a five and half minute short film of  the play of light and water in a Vermont firehouse. Lori Barnum let me take a picture of her and a friend who I cropped out of the picture. The Saturday night party was held at Max of High Falls on the event center’s opening night. There is also a Max at the Memorial Art Gallery, one downtown on Eastman Place, and another out in Pittsford on Monroe Avenue. Who is Max? I like the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari like windows that look out over the foyer at Max at High Falls.                                                                                                                                                                            (click on thumbnail to view slide show then click on right or left side of picture)

Portents to come? Naw, not really. Why when linking what was heard, done, seen, sensed with something else happening in non-existent time do I often think it means something? Like what do I know? Be careful what you say… it may happen, this or that, or this does it and that doesn’t. Lost my bike the other day, this after telling Paul and Peggi the night before, what a great lock I have. Someone took the bike and left the helmet and lock where the bike once stood.

Asphalt everywhere,  getting in and out of the car dozens of times daily, walking, biking. Some streets have more embedded objects than others. I don’t know what I’ll do when I retire July 1st. I can just see myself walking down the middle of some neighborhood street, camera in one hand and directing traffic with the other.

Bicyclists are everywhere these days, I especially like the ones zooming down Main Street with little miniature people sitting on park benches. Shadows on buildings at sunset make me think of things in hiding. Broken walkway, missing downspout… instant spring. Cars have wings.                                                               (click only once on thumbnail to view slide show)

SE Neighborhood Service Center staff where found looking at  the Lieutenant’s police car when they arrived at work this morning. During the night someone applied a little original artwork on one side of the car. I think there is a message there, if not in the graffiti itself, maybe the perpetrators own satisfation. The car went directly to the paint shop. The Wavy Gravy Movie, at the High Falls International Film Festival… psychedelic color reminescent of the 60’s. Wavy Gravy was in attendance along with the director: Michelle Esrick. At the end of the program’s question and answer segment we all sang Happy Birthday to Wavy who will be celebrating his birthday tomorrow… 70th I think, but don’t take my word for it. He was visibly moved and his prescence was a blessing to us all. The movie portrays all the wonderful programs Wavy has and still is supporting. Rochester has a lot of trees, I also like the little fragile leaf/branches that grow on tree trunks.

Wednesday night, Margaret Explosion not at the Little Café.  Alan Holdsworth was playing at the German House but I didn’t go.  AMP was at the Little Café. Scott Regan and Sue where listening to them. It was blues, jazz, pretty mellow. I got a couple good pictures of the drummer, Pete, and really blurry ones of Alex on guitar and Micky on bass. They had a guest pianist, John, who was out of sight. He sang a couple really soulful blues tunes. Bobby Henrie and the Goners where playing at the Dinosaur BBQ.

Building 5, 350 East Henrietta Road, 14620. I keep coming back here once a month to check if anyone has torn the plywood off the windows and wandered inside. Secretly that’s somethng I’d like to do. I don’t even know what the building was used for. Someday it will probably be torn down. The developer who owns it and other vacant buildings on this parcel plans to build a hotel, a small shopping mall, and apartments on the land. These plans and revision after revision have not yet come to fruition. With the recession who knows when they will take shape. Meanwhile I continue to snap pictures, each time seeing something new in the same old thing.