Love Canal was a toxic waste dump cum community development gone devastatingly awry. It was home to the first mass-media publicized movement about chemical pollution and its incredible effects on nature and the human body. It’s significance years later lives on considering its not too far off from what still goes on all around us today.

Roughly twenty minutes or so west of Niagara Falls, researching Love Canal was how I spent my college thesis. For one year (and more than that really) I was inundated in creating a retrospective about the site. The finished product resulted in nine super-sized panoramas, seven detail shots, permitted use of period aerial photographs, and a book explaining the drawn out catastrophe. The entire work was shot on 35mm film and probably was the last work I recorded as such.

Steven Kobasa, a local writer, came across my work at a City-Wide Open Studios a few years ago. An acquired taste, indeed, we connected through my work and kept in touch. Stephen has recently invited me to exhibit one of the pieces in an upcoming art show (the entry’s featured image), which is why I’m showing it to you today. It’s strange to only show one, but in a way I feel comfortable considering the theme of the show itself.

The photograph above is entitled “Demolished Duplexes” and is now ironically flanked by a newer development of senior housing. The creepy thing about Love Canal is that it actually held up its blueprint quite well. They still mow the grass and the street lights still work. And all the homes you find sporadically placed are people who decided to stay.

This work meant quite a bit to me, so I invite you to observe more on my Flickr site. This also includes a more detailed understanding of why.

More information about the exhibit (if you’ll be in the New Haven area, of course!).

There are several things great about Mr. August: John Sousoulas and the 24-hour diner he’s been running for more than 25 years. The traditional cum contemporary eatery had recently undergone a renovation that decorates the place with beautiful lookouts of Santorini, and of course, sizable remakes of the Parthenon itself.

We commend you, Mr. Sousoulas – ahem, excuse me,  Mr. August – for the divine food (and mystery hiding under that apron) you bring to the table.

Mr. June | Mr. May | Mr. April | Mr. March | Mr. February | Mr. January | Mr. December | Mr. November

Well, I got these for free – on the side of the road from a woman clearing out her late father’s furniture for bulk pickup. But alas, nothing in life is free and after spending just short of the entirety of a season, the once ratty, heat-melted lacquer and plastic-covered granny chairs are now a magnificent distressed shade of English chestnut adorned with a modern twall toile.

So blame the chairs. Not me.

Editor’s note: I recommend a heavy dose of patience when sanding and a lot of paint stripper for detailed spindles.

Well, if I must say! This could possibly be the greatest month of them all. Mr. June is the one, the only, Chuck Conti of Weichert Realtors – Shoreline Properties. A good friend of the family and one with a charm all his own depicts here the selling of a home to the stereotypical first-time home buyer couple. Guess who? I’ll give you a hint… she’s typing and the gentleman to the left is her favorite. Futhermore, the Mother Bear is credited for depressing the shutter button.

Disclaimer: No house was purchased during the making of this picture.

Mr. May | Mr. April | Mr. March | Mr. February | Mr. January | Mr. December | Mr. November

Meet Frank Morale. Frank and his son, Anthony, run Anthony John’s Pizzeria in North Branford, Connecticut. Frank started making pizza when at the ripe age of 13 in Brooklyn, New York and has made every single pizza pie at Anthony John’s since opening in May of 2010. No joke; this is some of the best pizza in Connecticut. Hands down. All you pizza connoisseurs are invited to take a trip to 5 Foxon Road in North Branford and try it for yourself.

On May 5th, Anthony John’s Pizzeria competed alongside five local flavors at the North Branford Senior Center’s third annual Pizza Wars competition. Drawing in more than 400 blind taste testers, Anthony John’s came in with a close second, losing first place to only 8 votes. Nevertheless, pretty damn good for a first year entrant and first year in business.

Check out my video introducing all the competing pizzerias that aired the day of the tasting:

Better late than never, eh? Mr. May is none other than Mike Savinelli and Jason Truscio of the quintessential shoreline eatery, Nellie Greens. Situated cozily behind a factory cum boat marina, this “casually elegant” establishment comes with all the perks including wonderful service and waterfront views of the Branford River. Named after rum runner Nellie Greens herself who ran a speakeasy down the street during the 1920s at the former Talmadge Hotel.

Remember, remember, the Calendar of Branford: Flashback to Mr. April, Mr. March, Mr. February, Mr. January, Mr. December, and Mr. November.

Bang bang, Mr. April! I present to you the one and only Chris Dogolo of Chris’ Indoor Shooting Range in Guilford, Connecticut. This pistol-whippin’, bullseye-shootin’, no messin’ around marksman is the owner of the highly acclaimed indoor range along the shoreline. Length of pistols in hand were not editing during the making of this calendar (his arms were getting a little tired).

Remember, remember, the Calendar of Branford: Flashback to Mr. March, Mr. February, Mr. January, Mr. December, and Mr. November.

During our two-or-so hour Salton Sea sojourn, there was much to be seen as light fell swiftly. Leaving Bombay Beach, our group trailed up the gravely roads on foot paralleling the Chocolate Mountains, which revealed their every crevice with the setting sun. This is a fleeting memento of the transient memories and of more to come.

To all the countless times you’ve let me take your picture and all the terrifically winsome, goofy faces produced from them;

To your instinctive intellect, old-fashioned vestments, grammatical correctness, rugged manliness, talent for being spontaneous, and soulful sentiments;

For tirelessly traveling the world, shooting from the hip, and effortlessly putting a smile on my face the whole way through (as long as your appetite has been sufficiently satisfied, and as we have learned mine, too);

For being supportive of my every endeavor including, but not limited to, seeing numerous pictures of you on my blog celebrating our happy hearts;

For simply being you,
helping me be a better me.

Here’s to two years of ever-great memories and many more with you.

In honor of yesterday’s brief and unbecoming snowfall (which, granted, has already melted away), it recalled a scene in Branford’s Youngs Pond Park and Mother Nature’s winter trickery: the day it fell cold once again after several successive, and convincing, spring-like days. Oh, how finicky she can be.