Concrete memorial garden on Ludlow Street. Does the bike chain indicate it was a bicycle accident?

“They denied her children and she became an angel to be with them.”

“Estefan and Nathan, her children, will carry her qualities to a new horizon.” Quoted from the laminated memorial text. I don’t understand how these correlate.

This has the feel of the spontaneous street memorials that happen in this neighborhood when someone dies on the street. But it is made of concrete, hoping to be permanent, I presume. I wonder who ‘they’ are?

I couldn’t find anything on web about this talented young woman.

A good friend visiting from SF tells amazing tales of the far West and beyond. We gathered in the great Williamsburg beer bar, Mugs on Bedford at N 10th.

Hyperdrive.

Contemporary Opera Premiere Explores Biological Warfare,
Mind Control, and Famous 1950’s CIA Misdeed

Man: Biology of a Fall, a new full-length opera with music by Evan
Hause and a libretto by Gary Heidt, will have a four-performance
world premiere run on October 4, 5, 6 and 7 at Kumble Theater, the
new cutting-edge performance space of the Brooklyn Campus of Long
Island University (1 University Place, Brooklyn).

The opera, presented in chamber orchestra version and utilizing live
electronics, will feature a cast of 10 male singers, 2 female singers
and 2 actors. The opera stars Lyric Tenor Steven Ebel supported by a
large cast consisting of Darren Lougée, San-ky Kim, Mark Peters,
David A. Gordon, Mary Ellen Assue, Raemond Martin, Jeffrey
Mandelbaum, C. David Morrow, John Schenkel, Kamala Sankaram, actors
Christopher Burris, Miriam Tabb and Yuval Boim. It will be directed
by Jyana S. Gregory with lighting design by Matthew Richards,
costumes by Jessica Ford, and sets by Rumiko Ishii. Conducted by the
composer.

The opera deals with Frank Olson (1910-1953) who was one of the first
American scientists to study biological weapons, such as anthrax, for
the Army. He also witnessed violent interrogation techniques used on
ex-Nazi POWs in post-war Europe, some ending in death. He observed
first-hand accounts of fighter pilots returning from the Korean War
who reported the use of biological weapons on enemy soldiers. He was
ultimately drugged with LSD and subjected to interrogation himself
when he began having reservations about his work. Then he went out a
hotel window in New York City. Suicide or murder? – The opera is a
fictional account of the final mysterious days of his life.

This opera, Man: Biology of a Fall, is the third and final opera of
what composer and librettist call the “Defenestration Trilogy
(written between 2000 and 2007) of which two already-produced operas
are The Birth and Theft of Television concerning the suicide of F.M.
inventor Edwin Armstrong and Nightingale dealing with the last days
of James Forrestal, the first Secretary of Defense who went out a
hospital window under unknown circumstances. In reviewing the work,
Opera News called it “fresh and dramatic” and the Village Voice
called it “dramatic and haunting.”

Performances: Thursday, October 4, 7:30 PM, Friday, October 5, 7:30
PM, Saturday, October 6, 7:30 PM, Sunday, October 7, 3:00 PM at
Kumble Theater (1 University Place, Brooklyn). Tickets $35 & $25; $15
Students and Seniors. Kumble Theater Box Office: (718) 488-1624 or
www.KumbleTheater.org. Directions: 2/3/4/5 trains to Nevins Street; B/
M/Q/R trains to DeKalb Avenue; A/C trains to Hoyt-Schermerhorn; G to
Fulton; LIRR to Flatbush Terminal.

ManBiologyOfAFall.com

A stuffed pickup encountered on our camping trip to the Catskills. It was small-game season while we were there, but I didn’t hear any shots. It is illegal to hunt near camping areas, but it would have been wise for me to wear one of those stupid orange hats on hikes.

Flowing water: one of the best parts.

Mushrooms and lichen growing on a fallen tree trunk.

Fungus eating another fallen tree trunk.

Someone created several beautiful, if precarious cairns near one of the falls on Buttermilk Falls Brook.

My friend Chris leading the way.

I see the face of an ape or one of the Geico cavemen.

Another face, Charles Laughton in the Hunchback of Notre Dame?

Moss was everywhere in the forest. This is a very close macro shot. It’s amazing how bug- free the forest is. It was nearly bug-free when we were there in the Spring, as well. A local said this was because how cool and shady the area is, and that moving water doesn’t allow mosquitoes to breed. Some areas are so shady that ice-caves form. Road crews keep their six-packs icy there all through the summer. At least that’s the story we got from this same 4th generation local, encountered on one of our hikes.

Artistically eaten leaves.

These mushrooms look like they should have stunk, but I didn’t notice a smell.

Tree roots on Rondout Creek

More Catskills camping:
August 2005
June 2007

Via: Boing Boing

Chalk stencils from Heather Johnson underneath the approach to the Williamsburg Bridge. She transcribed snippets of conversation heard in the neighborhood. This was done for the Conflux Festival.

Buena aqui para “the little rocket.”
Conflux Video Here