a shira and ken day
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Off to the ‘Hands Off Assata Shakur’ demonstration going on at 5pm today on Harlem 125th st (Harlem state office building). If you’ve been following this up and you’re near any of the locations you should stop by and support too.
treetop selfies
My travels in Brooklyn, N.Y. A photoset [p1]
I forgot to mention an important detail for the Starfest; you must print the admission now yourself (it’s free) and take it there to the event in order to attend (and it would help if you RSVP’d). They need to know how many people are going to plan it right. They have a limited amount of instructors and guides and material so it’s only fair. You can find the admission to print and later fill here, and the RSVP event page here. Happy stargazing! ..(hopefully)
“Here’s an excuse to stay outside tonight that doesn’t (necessarily) involve any drunken shenanigans: according to Accuweather, we may be able to see a display of the northern lights over the city Saturday! They write: “The [solar] flare is also expected to cause vibrant northern lights from the Arctic as far south as New York, the Dakotas, Washington and Michigan, with a smaller possibility of it going into Pennsylvania and Iowa, even Kansas.” — Accuweather
Images: Accuweather
From Article:
A solar flare that occurred around 2 a.m. Thursday morning may create a spectacular display of northern lights Saturday evening. The midlevel flare had a long duration and was directed at Earth. According to AccuWeather.com Astronomer Hunter Outten, who stated that this flare was “impressive”, these are the best conditions for seeing a direct effect on our planet. On the Kp index, the flare has been categorized at 6 to 8. This is a scale for measuring the intensity of a a geomagnetic storm. The 6 to 8 rating means that the effects of the radiation will have a greater reach.
The radiation from such a flare may cause radio wave disturbances to electronics such as cell phones, GPS and radios, causing services to occasionally cut in and out. While traveling slower than was originally anticipated, the flare effects are moving towards Earth at 1000 km per second.
The flare is also expected to cause vibrant northern lights from the Arctic as far south as New York, the Dakotas, Washington and Michigan, with a smaller possibility of it going into Pennsylvania and Iowa, even Kansas. The lights are currently estimated for 8 p.m. EDT Saturday arrival, with a possible deviation of up to seven hours. If the radiation hits much after dark settles on the East Coast the lights may be missed and will instead only be visible for the West.
Solar flares create auroras when radiation from the sun reaches Earth and interacts with charged protons in our atmosphere. The effects are greater at the magnetic poles and weaken as they move south from the Arctic or north of the Antarctic. In the northern hemisphere the results are called the aurora borealis, with the aurora australis being its southern counterpart. The result is a spectacular display of light and color for areas with clear enough views.
Reminder: The Amateur Astronomy Association of NY is hosting a starfest event and will be located in great viewing conditions (unless it rains or gets too cloudy) for the aurora as well.
NYC Star Party - Heads Up Astronomy Enthusiasts and Amateur Astronomers of NY:
Mark your calendars, on Saturday April 13, the Amateur Astronomers Association of New York (AAA), in conjunction with the Woodlawn Conservancy, will take a tour of our solar system and universe during its annual Spring Starfest , held this year in Woodlawn Cemetery.
Woodlawn Cemetery is a national historic landmark that has commanding open area views, free of glare from local lighting, where the majority of the urban night sky can be seen. There will be telescopes of various magnifications and design, capable of reaching out into the Milky Way Galaxy and beyond. Come have a look at the universe in The Bronx, easily reachable by public transportation.
The event will begin at 7:00 pm, when trained AAA observers will be setting up their scopes and determining their celestial targets. Guests are welcome to watch this process, and speak with AAA members and supporters about telescopes, astronomical binoculars and solar observing equipment.
More information at: Click here
Please note access for this venue is at the Jerome Avenue Entrance to Woodlawn Cemetery (directions)
I’m gonna be there! (Also for some info on what a star party is check out my post here.)
was on the train tracks checking out graf and snapped these by the GW bridge. so serene even amidst the craziness.
I can’t be the only one worrying “what about the TREES look what happened to the TREES”. Like shit man look :/ peep the before and after (top 4 is before bottom 4 is after), it’s heart breaking.
For those of you who are seriously considering coming (should go down next week). Add me on FB so we can keep in touch and you can stay updated on what’s up with the trip. If we can get a designated photographer that’d be awesome as well!
So guys this is what might go down (chances are high): My boss at the tattoo shop and I have been in talks about setting up my own limited-time art gallery/show with my drawings. We were thinking of setting a cheap admission and do it at the shop.
We’d scan, clean via photoshop and blow it out into bigger proportions. It would probably happen in about a month while I rework on the sketches we’re putting up. But an awesome idea occurred to me… so as many of you who have been following up on my artwork know, I love drawing women. It’s literally my specialty and I feel (as well as my boss) that when I get awesome at tattooing, people will want me drawing women on them or designing something for them that has women in it.
But back to my idea, I figured, why not up the ante and challenge myself as an artist and draw women that aren’t society’s idea of sexy and desired. I want them to represent the diversity within the Earth’s female population. I can use my first ladies (the traditionally sexy ones) and present them as society’s idea of what beautiful is, as well as my artistic perception from before I got into feminism to after I got into it, which will be represented by my more broader, accepting, and diverse vision of women.
So in short, I want to center this showing around the diversity of women, and my evolution as an unaware privileged male whom objectified women and set unfair bars for the idea of beauty to someone who’s aware of the problems of machismo and patriarchy. I want ideas from you guys as to what kind of girls you’d like to see drawn in my style. Thick, chubby, frizzy hair, curly hair, really skinny, whatever you got in mind. I want to see what I can do with that.
If I fail then at least I tried and knew for sure I couldn’t do it. But we’ll see, this isn’t exactly the most favorite of subjects up here in washington heights (which you could pretty much call machismopolis). If I get enough support I’ll do it for sure and I’ll even let people, women, whomever, some space on a separate sheet of paper for them to write anonymous accounts of their experience within this culture that embraces patriarchy so openly and feverishly.
Be creative with the women you’d like to see on the diverse perception side of the show. And if you’re in the NY area or can easily come, then you’d better come support or else!
The element of surprise has been long lost in me whenever I see ‘NYPD mistreats/shoots/kills a black/latino’ in NY. This has been a saddening realization for me, to no longer express anything but disappointment and hopelessness. Many of you probably read stories like this and may even live in an alright neighborhood so you think “can’t be that bad”. Well it really is. Take it from my point of view (someone who looks far from threatening), I can hardly ever just stand around in front of a building without bringing my risk of being harrassed by cops up 50%.
If I hang at the park at night with friends (not even drinking or smoking weed) I still risk getting stopped and frisked just because we fit the bill of young hispanic (or young and black in someone else’s case). I can’t be in a corner without a general assumption that I “may be selling drugs”, and for this I could also be taken in. I’ve been given summons for walking in the park at night twice, the second time I got taken in and spent the whole day in jail (that was the day I missed out on 4/20 and my niece’s first birthday) because of a past summons I didn’t acknowledge, which I got for “disturbing the peace” when in reality I was waiting for my friend in front of his building - Me and my friends have gotten summons for BBQ’ing, for being in a public park after 10p,.
Now if this is the point of view from someone who doesn’t really fit the bill aside from being brown, just imagine what they do to the ones who do fit their bill of brown and “thuggish-looking”.
I don’t say “fuck NYPD” or fuck the police to be young and edgy, I just really do hate them.
