The more years I live in Boston, the more soft hearted I feel about July 4th. Like I mentioned in a previous entry, I didn’t even used to celebrate July 4th. I had no feelings about the US. I wasn’t a citizen. It wasn’t my country necessarily. Or so I thought.

Then this weird thing happened. I moved to Boston, started working with international students and turned American. Can’t explain it, but anyway, here we are.

The fireworks. Yeah, so as usual I attended with my gang of 50 people. I do everything in Boston with 50 people, minimum. We got there a couple of hours early, hung out, played cards, listened to the anthem, ate food and generally enjoyed ourselves. Fireworks are much better in a big group, I have to say.

Every year too with the fireworks, I try to photograph them in a different way. Fireworks are fireworks, I guess one could say. Or would say, but shouldn’t say. They really are interesting and unique and I quite enjoy photographing them. One time I saw this 60 minutes piece on these two people named Dereck and Beverly Joubert, who make beautiful films about lions. At one point, they are on their jeep, in Namibia and they’ve got lions on every side of them. The commentator says “so it is safe to say that right now we are surrounded by lions?” Dereck answers yes. And this exactly where they want to be. The commentator asked them at the end “have you ever thought about giving this all up?” Dereck goes “and what? Go and live in New York?” He said this like this was the worst fate that could ever befall a person.

Photographing fireworks I’m not surrounded by lions obviously, but I love it. It is a challenge and you are in the middle of a difficult situation with ever changing conditions. If it isn’t a challenge, then obviously I don’t want to do it.

Anyway, here I go. Surrounded by lions again:

But this was a good way to bring it too. On second thought, bring it like this next time. The delivery was good. REALLY GOOD:

Can you see the matrix?

Eh, I’m so predictable. I just turned around yesterday and saw this scene unfolding behind me and had no choice but to immediately start photographing, lest I miss it:

Just kidding!!!!!!

I went to the USS Constitution yesterday and encountered these cuties over there. One of the dogs was making some funny sounds out of their mouth and I asked the owner about that. The owner goes “and they come out the other end too!!!!”

Oh the joys of dog ownership:

Stars and Stripes forever edition.

I can’t even believe that a few years back I didn’t celebrate the fourth of July. I never went to see fireworks and it wasn’t even a holiday for me. It was just a day off, to be spent doing nothing much at all.

Now it is a major celebration. I always say that it has to do with the fact that I became a US citizen and just kind of decided to start participating in what was going on in the United States, but I do now enjoy the holiday. I have an American flag t-shirt that I wear every year and this year I got a tattoo. A fake one, but a tattoo of the American flag to commemorate the occasion.

Other people, well other people choose to commemorate the holiday in much more colorful ways that I did.

Example number one. This man, who I did a double take and nearly thought was Flavor Flav, but it just turned out to be a guy who looked like the be-clocked, be-horned former boyfriend of Brigitte Nielsen:

Next up, a man (or woman) who is on this blog continually. The legendary, famous, telegenic Keytar Bear celebrating American freedom the only way he knows how, by wearing a t-shirt and playing the Keytar:

Next, a couple of be suited patriots:

Last but certainly not least, a man who decided to express his patriotism. Through his beard. God love you:

Happy July 4th!!!!!

Where’s the beach?

That is what I thought of immediately when I saw these guys today. I asked them if they were an act or performers. Nope. Just a bunch of guys hanging around the North End, well, dressed like this:

As a kid, I spent many a fun filled vacation out on the Cape. It probably set me up for the fate of eventually settling in Massachusetts permanently. I loved those vacations.

We were always near Provincetown, which was as weird and interesting and colorful as New York City. Of course nothing has changed since then. One place we’d always visit was called “Marine Specialities.” It was an Army-Navy store with all kinds of military stuff from all over the world, including (no joke) unexploded grenades. It also features (in no particular order) excess dishes, t-shirts, shells, first aid kits, license plates, old magazines. I mean just heaps of unrelated stuff for sale for any takers. Oh and an old fashioned diving suit. Back in the day, they had this space man copper one that was also pretty nifty looking.

As I was in Provincetown this weekend, I had to revisit the place I had spent so many happy days exploring as a kid.

It hasn’t changed even one bit in the 30 years since I started going there:

ME WITHOUT MY CAMERA AT THE READY TO DOCUMENT ALL OF THIS.

I work in Downtown Crossing. All sorts of weird things routinely cross my path at all hours. How I didn’t have my camera ready to snap a photo of the scene I encountered is beyond me.

I was leaving for an afternoon work commitment when I encountered a man playing some rather loud music, waving a sign that said “Free Brady” referring to the Patriot’s quarterback and his recent deflation related suspension, wearing the aforementioned gorilla mask. Actually a gorilla suit to be precise.

Anyway, this was a crazy scene and since I am a kind of a magnet for these things, I needed to photograph it immediately. I went into my bag to grab my camera (50mm lens at the ready) when the guy takes off the gorilla mask and runs into his car. He’s about to be arrested. I pleaded with him to put the mask back on for one second, wave the sign, I will take the photo and fame and fortune will follow.

Alas, it was not to be. He sped away, but I did snap two photos.

Lesson learned. Camera at the ready. Maybe I can just have it surgically attached to my arm:

Cape-ian. LOVE IT!!!!!:

Yesterday I attended the world premiere performance of a play adaptation of Moby Dick from Herman Melville’s symbolism filled classic novel of the same name. The plot of the story is known to many of course. Fair Ishmael, having no money in his purse and nothing else to do joins the ship Pequot in search of Moby Dick, a whale that took off the leg of the Pequot’s captain and (SPOILER ALERT) in the end kills everyone else on the ship.

Now I have a difficult relationship with Moby Dick going back years. Some years ago, having no money in my purse, I thought I would read Moby Dick. Well, that is not exactly the whole story. I tried to read the book when I was about 16 so I could get three points for my literature study class. I loved that class. All we did in class was read books and write reports about them. HEAVEN. Anyway, we got an insanely long list of books where each book was worth between one and four points. War and Peace (which I read 200 pages of) was worth four points and Moby Dick three points. I got about 10 pages into Moby Dick and gave up.

Enter my good friend James Armstrong. James and I became friends some years ago, never mind how long ago precisely. Well, again, that is not the whole story. We became friends when I was living in New York working as a financial reporter. James is a very fine playwright who, among many other things, transforms classic books into plays and makes them digestible to the general public. One day, he came to work and said “My play with all of Charles Dickens’ thirteen books is going to be produced” to which I said “even Nicholas Nickelby” which has about 600 characters. And he goes “even Nicholas Nickelby.”

Anyway, precisely two weeks ago James got in touch that his play adaptation of Moby Dick was going to be at the Wellfleet Actor’s Theater. Wellfleet is on the Cape, one of the most magnificent places on this earth. I talked my mom into joining me for the weekend and off we went.

The play was magnificent, as was the company.

After the whole thing was over, we attended a lovely cast party and got to meet the aforementioned performers and portrayers. I loved how they embodies these various characters on stage and then just came out and they were themselves again. I guess that is the magic of acting.

Anyway, if you have a little money in your pocket and nothing else to particularly interest you, head over to the Welfleet Actors Theater and check out this wonderful cast: