PJ's Studio: July 2023

Sunday, July 30, 2023

Brighton, England

Brighton is a seaside resort 1 1/2 hours from London, so it’s a favorite place for locals to visit.

It’s known for two things, The Pier and The Royal Pavilion.

The latter was built in the 1800’s by King George IV when he was still the Prince of Wales.

Son of the infamous George III, he is best known for his sense of fashion.

The pavilion was his pleasure palace.

Its architecture was influenced by India and inside motifs include both Indian and Chinese inspired designs. It is quite fanciful and a bit overwrought.

The pier was a whirl of human activity,

and the town had pretty stores complete with picturesque signs.

Sadly, most of our photos of the pier were lost in development. (Yes, this was a pre-digital trip)

But luckily our cheesy tourist shots survived. 😉

Here’s a link to a UK blog, and a few from London…

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2018/09/uk.html

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2012/07/london-part-1.html

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2012/08/london-part-2.html

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2012/08/london-part-3.html

Cheers!

Sunday, July 23, 2023

Chinatown 7

The tourists are back!

I went to Chinatown the other day to pick up some herbs and seafood and there they were – clogging the sidewalks buying counterfeit handbags, watches and sunglasses.

And listening to self-appointed expert guides who may or may not be spreading fake news.

I have to admit that even though I grumbled as I walked around them it was nice to see their return.

NYC just wasn’t the same without them.

I even had an invitation to “come with” after I helped some ladies on the train figure out which stop they wanted to get off on.

I’m still not sure that they got it right.

But, as I explained to them when I turned down their offer to join them, I needed to get home before my shrimp took a turn for the worse.

Given the warm weather we’ve been having, I wasn’t sure that shlepping seafood on the subway was a great idea, but the seafood is so much fresher in Chinatown it was worth a shot.

Luckily, it was fine. 😊

Here are links to some previous Chinatown blogs…

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2023/01/chinatown-5.html

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2021/09/chinatown-4.html

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2018/12/chinatown-2.html

Cheers!

Sunday, July 16, 2023

For The Birds 2

So far I haven’t found any outdoor art exhibits in NYC this summer that speak to me.

So I thought I’d post another set of pics from last year’s birdhouse exhibit at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

I had forgotten how creative they were.

On the website they pay tribute to the artists.

They also give advice on “how to become a birder.”

Hmm. I would have thought it was self-explanatory.

https://www.bbg.org/forthebirds

They auctioned off roughly half of the houses after the exhibit ended but I was unable to find out how much money they brought in.

Hopefully it was enough to keep the gardens happy.

Meanwhile, in Manhattan these days all the birding attention is on Flaco – the owl who escaped from the Central Park Zoo last spring, who is currently enjoying his freedom in Central Park – but not as much as the local birders are enjoying watching him.

I may just have to join them one of these days.

Here is a link to the previous blog from the exhibit…

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2022/10/for-birds.html

Happy Birding!

Sunday, July 9, 2023

Mermaid Parade 2

I took so many wonderful photos at the Mermaid Parade that I had to post a second round of favorites.

There weren’t too many bands in the procession, but those that were involved were well received.

Many of the children who marched appeared to be less than thrilled. But this young lady is definitely destined to be a star!

By the time I got across the street, the line at Nathan’s was so long I decided to forgo the opportunity to check out their frogs legs.

I read an article about Nathan’s that mentioned that when they first opened, they offered neighborhood doctors free lunches if they came in wearing their white coats in an effort to convince the public that hot dogs were ok to eat.

I’m not so sure about that.

When I read that there are more nutrients in buns than there are in the hot dogs I stopped eating them.

But I still admire Nathan’s salesmanship.

And I am curious to try frogs legs. Maybe next year –

if I can find a good costume.

Here's a link to the previous blog…

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2023/06/the-mermaid-parade.html

Cheers!

Sunday, July 2, 2023

Collaboration with Tim #33: Freedom Tower

Little Island is a great place to visit. Not only is it adorable in and of itself, it has great views of lower Manhattan. Since I visited in the summer, I took advantage of the opportunity to frame the Freedom Tower with some of its flowers.

The result caught Tim’s eye. (He said it was the flowers that did it for him.😉 ) But he used his artistic license to turn the view into a vertical – which I much prefer. Two points for analog!