[wichita]henge

new york has this phenomenon called [manhattanhenge].  it's the time of the year when the setting sun perfectly aligns with the the grids of manhattan, allowing the sunset to be seen perfectly in between the skyscrapers.  for new yorkers this happens twice a year, may 31st and july 12th and produces some very cool shots of the city.

wanting to try and capture [wichitahenge], i realized first i'd have to figure out when exactly the setting sun aligned with the direction of the our street grid. embarrassingly, it took longer than it should have to realize our grid runs perfectly east and west which means the sun should align on the equinoxes, march 21 and september 22, exactly  like it's namesake [stonehenge].  it's manhattan's slightly skewed grid system that gives them two unique dates.

i looked up the time of the sunset and searched out downtown wichita's most "canyon-like" street.  there weren't the hoards of people you'd find in manhattan, but to my surprise there were a couple other people taking pictures.  once i found my spot i waited for the shot.  i've never watched the sunset downtown but was really surprised how fast it happens.  having it framed between two buildings and a pedestrian bridge puts a new perspective on it.  dodging a few cars, i was able to get a shot looking due west at the sun set.

i don't know if [wichitahenge] will ever be as big a [manhattanhenge] but if you're curious, no need to search the internet and find when it happens, our east and west streets makes it pretty simple.

[trivia] pursuit

wednesday's have become my favorite day of the week.

a little over a year ago one of our friends suggested we find a trivia night.  searching the internet we found a great little dive bar which hosts a trivia game every wednesday.  it was only a dollar to play, and with the special being two dollar beers we decided to try it out.

we discovered quickly our group had infiltrated a bar full of teams who knew each other rather well.  that night, and the weeks that followed, found our team getting "slammed" often.  a feature in the game where a team can force another team to answer a question, ideally one you they won't know.  being the youngest team by a decade, any question dealing with topics prior to 1985 would usually be "slammed" our direction.  we did stick with it however, and have attended almost every week since.  eventually the other teams started to realize what topics were in our [wheelhouse], and the "slamming" lessened.

fast forward 60 some weeks later and i  believe we can officially be considered regulars now; knowing the bartenders by name, and the weakness of the other teams.  on occasion the host will even cater a few questions to us, featuring a [pop music] category instead of the seemingly standard [seventies rock].

although we've lost a few of the original team members over the past year, we've added several as well.  you'd think this would have changed the knowledge base of our team, but it still seems to solidly rooted in 90's and 2000's pop culture, with sports and science not far behind.  our team also changes weekly depending on who can make it.  we've held our own as a booth of four, and have annoyed other teams with upwards of 12 people crowded around a table.  naturally a little bickering always breaks out, but they enjoyment wednesday night trivia holds far exceeds any arguments that happen.  if you ever find yourself bored on a wednesday night, hit us up, as we're always happy to have more people, especially if you're knowledgeable in literature...or anything from the 1970's.

 

 

catch me if you can [sir]

[sometimes] the best way to escape the stress of adulthood is by acting like a kid again.

[sometimes] it's fun to put on a costume and roam the streets like a bunch of gadabouts.

[sometimes] photographs aren't about art or rules, but rather capturing the moment and feeling at the time.

[always] you're friends are the best to do these things with.

enjoy a few pics from last weekends [crawl for cancer] depicting all the above statements perfectly. 

 

 

 

 

the [shows] of summer

one thing i miss terribly after entering the working world is the annual rhythm the educational system provided.  for twenty some years, it was ingrained in us the summer was a time to relax and take a break, a chance to get our minds back to neutral and recharge.  then in august, you would be presented with new teachers, new classmates, and new subjects to learn.  this constant annual change created clearly defined chapters in minds ever expanding memory book. songs, movies and other pop culture events are easily recalled because i know exactly what grade i was when they happened.  since getting a real job however the years are molding together forming a long, heavily architecturally worded, run-on sentence that just goes on and on, never changing, always staying the same.

that being said, there are a few things in my life providing some annual rhythm.  for the past six years i've purchased season tickets to wichita's music theater which spans ten weeks during the summer.  the first performance always gives me the feeling of the summer beginning and as the curtains close on the last show i'm reminded summer is coming to an end as well.  this year, however i changed the tradition slightly.  not only did  i purchased season tickets along with a couple of wonderful friends, but they were also for a different day of the week.  not a huge difference, but still a change.

all the shows this season were wonderful, with my personal favorites being "singing in the rain" and "fiddler on the roof".  ironically both musicals deal with the theme of adapting to change in the face of tradition.  one being the onset of "talkies" in a world of silent movies, while the other deals with changing morals, and expectations in a very traditional world filled with cherished customs.  i think reb tevye sums it up best when he says,

"without our traditions, our lives would be as shaky as... as... as a fiddler on the roof!"

all this got me thinking, what ingrains memories better in our mind, following tradition and doing same thing over and over, or breaking from the norm and changing tradition?  can you only break the norm and do something different, if there's a norm to break from?  do you have to have both?  i'll stop there because i get the felling i'm getting too philosophical for midnight on a tuesday.

i'm not sure if it's the fact i went on thursday's this year, or because the shows were enjoyed with wonderful company, or the chardonnays quickly consumed during intermission, a new tradition i was introduce to, but the summer musical season of 2012 ended up being extremely enjoyable and will hold a very memorable place in my mind.

my [sunday] with marilyn

i love all things associated with the 50's and 60's and you can't really enjoy that time in history and without forming a natural affinity for the very iconic ms. monroe.  coupled with the fact she stars in one of my all time favorite movies "some like it hot", i think you can officially call me a fan.  i wouldn't however call myself obsessed with her.  i couldn't tell you when or where she was born, i only know a few details of her life, i'm far from seeing all of her movies, and i couldn't tell you when she died, until today.

the wichita orpheum theatre has been showing marilyn monroe movies every sunday all summer long, an event i had yet to attend. however with today's movie being "some like it hot" i was bound and determined to see it on the big screen.  not only did it seem very authentic to watch tony, jack, and marilyn on screen in an old theatre, but i still laughed as hard as i did when i first watched it. after the showing, as i was walking out, i heard someone mention the fact today was the 50th anniversary of her marilyn's death.  walking home after the film, pondering this new bit of hollywood history, i passed by a thrift store window.  looking at the furniture and other items placed on display, my eyes moved across the window and that's when i saw her.  standing in her famous pose made famous from "the seven year itch" was marilyn.  if you haven't seen the movie, "the seven year itch" takes place during a very hot new york summer and the draft from a subway grate not only blows up the dress, but provides small cooling relief from the heat.  a draft i could have desperately used as i stood sweating on the sidewalk. [even though the image of me holding down my baggy khaki shorts is much less sexy and far less iconic.]

recognizing the serendipity of walking by that particular window, on this particular summer day, after coming from one her best movies, i decided to take a picture and blog about it.  my little way of thanking her for spending a delightful summer sunday with her.