Schenectady (Then and Now)

I’ve always been a fan of local history.  There’s a new book out by Schenectady Historian Don Rittner. Inside you’ll see interesting photos of what Schenectady looked like then, and what it looks like now.

I highly recommend it!

 

Click to preview "Schenectady (Then and Now)"

 

Pirates of the Mohawk River

One of my favorite events of the Lock 7–12 Canalfest is the Boat Parade down the Mohawk River. I was very happy to see that one of my photos from last year was published in Thursdays Gazette so I made sure to take some more great photos this year.  I have a new 400mm lens this year so you can see that everyone was having a great time.

Click for Canalfest Boat Parade Photos

Canalfest Boat Parade 2006 Photos

Canalfest Boat Parade 2005 Photos

Canalfest Ski Show Practice

I stopped by Jumpin’ Jack’s this evening and caught the U.S. Water Ski Show Team during one of their many practice sessions. You can see the Ski Teams full show this Sunday night.

Click to see more Ski Team Practice Photos.

For more info on the U.S. Water Ski Show Team, Click here.

For more info on Lock 7–12 Canalfest, Click Here

I’ll be down on Saturday night at 6:00 to take photos of the Canalfest Boat Parade which you won’t want to miss. I hope to post photos online again this year in case you miss it.

On Sunday night, the Water Ski Show starts at 6:00 followed by Country Singer, Sean Patrick McGraw in Freedom Park. The night ends with a fireworks display for all.

J Yager Forms "The AUDIOSTARS"

A lot people know of J Yager as the front man for the Freedom Park favorite,  Burners U. K.  Some may even recognize him on the TV commercials for Comfortex Window Fashions. The U.K. performed its final show last New Years Eve.

Well,  you can’t keep a good man down and that goes for J who will be out this summer with his new band, The AudioStars. According to their websites calendar most of their summer performances will be at The Horseshow Inn located across the street from the Saratoga Racetrack.

The new band includes J Yager (vocals/guitar), Matt “Lanky” Pirog(Lead Guitar), Chad Ploss(Drums) and Bobbie Van Detta(Bass Guitars/Vocals).

Happy B-Day USA, Good and Bad

It’s a holiday in the USA today but most of us will have been celebrating all week. Even July 15th there will be more fireworks in Scotia thanks to Canalfest. Our own party for family and friends was last Friday night with help from Jumpin' Jack's.
For my friends outside the USA, July 4^th is “Independence Day” when we celebrate the American colonies Declaration of Independence from the British Empire.

There’s some good and some bad this week.

The good news for our family, our nephew John is home on a two week leave from his post in Iraq with the 10th Mountain Division based out of Watertown NY.

The bad news is an onslaught of malware spam disguised as holiday greetings is collecting in all our Email in-boxes. Many appear to come from reputable greeting card companies like Hallmark.com or BlueMountain.com.

The topics are wide ranging and here’s an example of what I received just this morning.

Independence Day At The Park from postcardsfrom(dot)com.
Independence Day Celebration from funnypostcards(dot).com.
July 4^th Fireworks Show from vintagepostcards(dot).com
God Bless America from hallmark.com
Your Nations Birthday from FunnyPostcards(dot).com
July 4^th Family Day from Postcards(dot)org
Celebrate your Independence from riversongs(dot).com
Fireworks on The 4^th from BlueMountain.com
4th of July Celebration from egreetings.com

Take my advice and Delete, Delete, Delete!

The USA is really a nation made up of people from every other country in the world so you all should take the day off too. Thank you Great Britain for a great start and y’all have a great week!