Tag Archives: landmark

Arts and Culture

Asteroid Landed Softly, Salt Lake City

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M
All Photos By Gail

If you don’t know already, it will soon became apparent from my posts that I was recently traveling (on vacation) in the beautiful state of Utah!  Our first stop on a ten-day road trip was Salt Lake City, where I was able to see this ‘floating boulder,’ entitled Asteroid Landed Softly (1994) by Japanese artist  Kazuo Matsubayashi, from my window at the Marriott hotel!

Aside from being a stunning public landmark, Asteroid Landed Softly is a working sundial that also suggests the image of Southern Utah’s landscape. The sundial works through a slit in the tower (seen in the above photo) as a beam of sunlight is cast on the plaza floor.

asteroid landed softly photo by gail worley

The mirrored column supporting the pinkish-brown rock also beautifully reflects the changing faces of the surrounding office buildings  and fluctuating weather patterns to offer a limitless number of perspectives that can be captured in photos.  I did not realize when I took this particular photo that I had also captured a resting pigeon!

asteroid landed softly photo by gail worley

The above photo was taken a bit later in the day, so there’s a complete shadow on the face of the sundial.  You can read more about this beautiful and functional work of public art at This Link!

Photographed at The Gallivan Center, Salt Lake City, Utah

Arts and Culture

A Lone Astronaut Roams Deserted Urban Landscapes in Scott Listfield’s Quarantine

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quarantine by scott listfield photo by gail worley
All Photos By Gail

In the early days of the Covid 19 lockdown, most of us — not just here in Manhattan but around the globe — were spending close to 24 hours a day in our homes. It was during this time that photos began appearing on the Internet and Instagram depicting places like Times Square and other generally heavily-populated ‘tourist destinations’ in states of complete abandonment. It was as if civilization as we know it had ceased to exist, and our cities been left to the elements. The world was looking more apocalyptic by the day. The only thing missing were the zombies.

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Arts and Culture

Mural at Dirty Franks Bar, Philadelphia

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Frank Burns FLW Pope Francis
Frank Burns, Frank Lloyd Wright, and  Pope Francis Are Just a Few of the Franks You’ll See Outside Dirty Franks Bar! (All Photos By Gail)

Dirty Franks a local dive bar in Philadelphia that dates back to prohibition. Geoffrey and I countered it as a stop on our hours-long walk of the city’s Mural Mile tour, which takes you through many different neighborhoods in search of unique street art, public artworks and memorable landmarks. Dirty Franks stands out for the murals painted on its multiple façades, which depict the likenesses of famous Franks. The mural was designed by David McShane, painted originally in 2001, and restored with additions in 2015.

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Music, Pop Culture

Video Clip Of The Week: Hippo Campus, “Buttercup”

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Hey whats up. I don’t know about you but, without getting into the gory details, my brain is about to explode from the non-stop, mortifying horrorshow that passes for news in this crazy world in which we now find ourselves living. Sigh. This morning, I would enjoy watching some colorful animated images bounce around on my eyeballs while thoroughly delightful pop music plays in the background. I found this hallucination-inducing clip from the band Hippo Campus (which is a part of your brain) buried in my inbox. I dig it. Maybe get yourself some pancakes while you check out this tune called “Buttercup,” which comes from the group’s debut album, Landmark, out now on Grand Jury Music. Enjoy!

Hippo Campus Video Still

Arts and Culture

Midtown Skyscrapers Made From Plants at the NYBG Holiday Train Show

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Midtown Skyscrapers
All Photos By Gail

The New York Botanical Garden’s annual Holiday Train Show just closed for the season this past weekend, so if you missed it, there’s always next year! I had the chance to check it out with a friend on the Saturday when we had that amazing snow storm here in the city, and it was a pretty sweet time. The Train Show —  which is about so much more than just model trains —  takes place inside the enchanting setting of the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, where you can travel back in time, it seems; wandering through  miniature landscapes featuring more than 150 scaled iconic buildings, private mansions (many of which do not exist today) and other structures which stretch out  amid the plants,  under thousands of twinkling lights through various rooms of the conservatory. Also, there are model trains, but they are not necessarily the show stoppers!

Enid Haupt Conservatory

Inside the glass domed conservatory is an authentic city in miniature, where famed New York architecture is recreated using bark, leaves, and other natural materials. The recent exhibition had expanded since the previous year, with more trains, an all-new Queensboro Bridge, and a true New York finale featuring a whimsical tribute to the iconic Coney Island amusement park’s architecture and attractions, which was one of my favorite assign with cluster of some of NYC’s most iconic, landmark towers.

Midtown Skyscrapers

Here’s another view of the section which featured the NY Stock Exchange, the Flatiron and Chrysler Buildings, the Empire State Building and, up front, Rockefeller Center.

Rock Center Tree

There was even a miniature replica of the iconic Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, flanked by the gold statue of Prometheus, who represents the ancient Greek legend of the Titan, bringing fire to mankind. And I even managed to get a train in this picture — not always easy to do, as they can zoom by quite quickly!

Enid Haupt Conservatory

Find out more about the NYBG Holiday Train Show, and start planning your visit for late 2017, at This Link!