charles c ebbets looking cool shooting lunch atop a skyscraper

Charles Clyde Ebbets was the photographer, on September 20th 1932, who took the iconic photographs of the workmen sitting high up on a girder in New York, building the Rockefeller Centre, especially the much parodied  'Lunch atop a Skyscraper'.  Here's a photograph of him on a girder himself, taking the pictures.  Good to see he got dressed up and decided against sensible shoes. What l would like to know is who took the picture of him, and which poor sod had to carry all the equipment up there.  There wasn't too much Health and Safety about in those days, and those people had nerves of steel.

Here's the most famous shot

And here's some more

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central park from above and ali flattens williams

A photograph of New York's Central Park that is new to me and looks fantastic shot from above.

Which reminded me of this poignant and spectacular photo, from when Muhammad Ali knocked out Cleveland Williams (By Neil Leifer)

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l'm not buying keith richard's old home yet

Damn!!!
I haven't won the Euro Lottery of about 170 million pounds, which is a crying shame, as l've had my eye on Keith Richard's old place by Washington Square Park, New York, which would have been a small drop in the ocean for me at a me if l had have won at a mere10 million pounds or so. It's spacious, has a great location and views, and doesn't look as though there are many places for spiders to hide.
What's not to like?
It was on sale last year by Douglas Ellman Real Estate, and some photographs are below.

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don letts confirms l was ahead of my time - plus skinhead reggae music

Many moons ago when l was out and about in New York, l often used to wear a green hat that looked a bit like a tea cosy. l was mocked by some of the people l was with for wearing it, but what can l say - l had style.
This has recently been confirmed when watching a Don Letts programme on the BBC about Skinhead culture. It was interesting and well presented by Don, but the main thing that stood out for me was that he was wearing exactly the same kind of green hat l was wearing back in the day.
A man of good taste obviously.

Also, l've often argued about the original skinheads love of reggae and their openness towards blacks at the time. This obviously changed for later skinheads, but here's some top reggae tunes that the skinheads used to like that l used to play constantly when driving my sister and her daughters about (and no - l'm not a skinhead or racist).

John Holt - Ali Baba



Dave and Ansell Collins - Double Barrell



Toots and the Maytals - Pressure Drop



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nine inch nails at panorama nyc 2017

I might be knocking on a bit, but l still love a decent racket when it comes to music, and l still love Nine Inch Nails.
I've been listening to this show while waiting for the football to start. Marvellous stuff.
Live at New York's Panorama concert in 2017



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bruce gilden - faces

Some of New York street photographer Bruce Gilden's 'Faces' project.
Unsettling close ups of 'interesting' characters on the mean streets of the US of A, some of whom you certainly wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley.
More from his 'Faces', plus other projects, are here.
You want to look away from some of them, but find yourself being drawn in and studying them more.
Or maybe that's just me.

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the new york bombings, plus prince buster - madness

As I've been out and about the last few days, l didn't know anything about the recent bombings in New York until this evening. I will also admit that l am making a judgement and jumping to conclusions without any great knowledge of the events, but l would like to suggest that any suspected bomber such as Ahmad Khan Rahami that falls asleep in a doorway of a pub / tavern afterwards, rather than going into hiding, is not part of an organised and well drilled terror organisation, no matter what the captured individual or credit seeking organisation may subsequently claim. More like a lone (or small group of) disenfranchised and radicalised person (or persons) with an skewed take on religion and the (in their view) imperialistic war mongering west.
Then again, what do l know?

Here's todays video. The recently departed Prince Buster - 'Madness'




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captain america's birthplace gets changed

This is a sketch of the Captain America statue that is about to be placed in Brooklyn, New York's Prospect Park, with the inscription 'I'm just a kid from Brooklyn'.
The trouble is, he was actually (according to the comics and his co-creator, Jack Kirby) born in Manhattan's Lower East Side, the son of Irish immigrants. Supposedly this is so films fans can identify with it, rather than the comic fans, which to me, is the wrong way round.
This is one of the reasons why, although some of the superhero films are pretty good, it drives me up the wall when they change the stories, so best not to get me started on the Spider-Man movies (again). I'm not even sure whether l should risk the 'Captain America - Civil War' film, as l really enjoyed the comic version, and don't want to taint my memory of that.
Time for a lie down before l get too worked up.

toodle pip.

the statue of liberty view of new york

An old view of New York that you don't usually see, from behind the Statue of Liberty (designed by Frederic Auguste Bartholdi).
A previous similar version was going to be at Port Said, at the entrance to The Suez Canal, and one design even had the torch on top of the head.
Here's some photos of it being built (and yes, it was copper coloured)

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the jenni sparks new york map

I was looking at some maps the other day with a view to framing a couple (probably of Manhattan and London), and was reminded of this little beauty by Jenni Sparks.  It's a hand drawn map of Manhattan and can be bought from here.  It's very cleverly done, and it looks great, but l might just go with the normal kind of maps so they both match (I'm sure l might be autistic!).
Then again, l might easily change my mind tomorrow (I'm that kind of guy).

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