Fun, Diversión, Family, Familia (2)

We're still at Newington's annual Mill Pond Extravaganza, so let's continue with our stroll around the park.

I'm sure you're quite hungry, and as you can see, we have a great selection of foods that you gorge yourself on. Be careful though as the heaviness of all those great carnival foods will become downright lethal in that hot New England sun (yes, the temps are still kissing that infamous triple digit).

This is another view of some of those carnival rides from last week. This pic was taken from the half of the park where no one was wandering through save a few of the vendors. The sky is mighty fantastic looking blue, don't you think?

Now I'm thinking that you think I'm pulling your leg about the hot summer day, but if you compare this picture of the pond with one from this particular post, you'll see that I am definitely not pulling your leg (as a matter of fact, the 3rd picture in the link was taken almost from the exact same spot as the one you're currently looking at). That white looking stuff on top of the pond is actually algae. During this particular week, Newington was suffering through a spate of exquisitely hot weather sans rainfall, and this was the end result. Because of this algae, there were no paddle boats rides during the Extravaganza either.

Again, this is a view from the seldom used section of the park showing just how many vendors (arts and crafts, local businesses, and even the politicos that were campaigning) there were that weekend.

A random shot of another street vendor's wares. No idea who the guy is off to the right, because beyond the general purpose crowd shots, I made a concentrated effort not to get any individuals in my shots.

Fun, Diversión, Family, Familia (1)

And we're back with yet another series of photos designed to keep you warm through these cold December/January days, for that's how long this particular series will last. The first part of the series will concentrate on fun, with the second part concentrating on family.

The first batch of photos were taken during Newington's July 4th (held on July 19th) Extravaganza, so of course we start off with a shot of the old red, white and blue. On this day, where this flag was hanging, this was the only naturally cool spot that my weary bones actually enjoyed. Why?

Well...if you click on the photo to enlarge, you will see that the lunchtime temperature starts with the number 9. Did I mention that there was absolutely no breeze that day? Did I also mention that they were no clouds in the sky to speak of? Did I mention that the air was just a tad moist? Finally, did I mention that it got hotter and the temperature briefly started with the number 1? Factoid: The bank sign that you see stands for the Connecticut Bank & Trust, of which back when I was a child was a well respected bank. However, corruption back then caused the bank to become seized by the FDIC and thus was merged out of its 100+ year existence by Connecticut National Bank, which was eventually merged into Fleet Bank, which merged with BankBoston, which finally merged into Skank of America.

Anyways, every year its held in Mill Pond Park, but this year was the first time that in addition to the arts & crafts, assorted vendors, beer garden and sound stage, a carnival and a petting zoo were added to the mix. This shot was taken from across the public library which even though people were partaking of the Extravaganza, was used as a temporary cooling off place by the various visitors of the Extravaganza (like myself).

I took this shot because I wanted to give everyone a basic idea of how many visitors we had to the Extravaganza that day, as well as what kind of rides there were. Not much really to add other than you can see just how cloudless it was that day. I'm telling you, it was extremely hot, and fortunately for me, I didn't shave my head that day, so I wasn't forced to choose between razor burn and sunburn.

This wasn't really one of my best crowd shots, but to the right was one of those vendors that you usually see wandering about during parades. The yellow tent is where people sat to eat, rest and/or watch the various performers on the concert stage.

Furlough Weekend (5)

After an unfortunate hiatus, due mostly to this, I now present to you the fifth and final post of my Furlough Weekend. Considering how cold its starting to become in certain sections in the U.S, as well as the mighty snow dump being foisted on the general public in the U.K., I figured everyone appreciated the summer season in which these series of photos were taken. And don't be concerned with the summer ending here at Shooting Suburbia because next week's series of post pick up where this one ends, as our annual Mill Pond Extravaganza will be in full swing next week. I guarantee that you'll be sweating up a storm, in spite of the lo double digit weather that you're currently suffering through.

When I got back to work on Tuesday (that would be July 6th peoples), I had my camera with me, simply because I had a few pictures left and I figured work would be a good place as any to waste them. So here are five silly pictures to hopefully brighten your day. Picture number one features a few of my non-human friends, because they're the only ones who never give me grief. The line up that you see there is almost the same now, with the only exceptions being that the teddy bear is normally on the extreme left of the window sill (click here for what my cube usually looks like), and the raccoon being directly behind the chair. The other items, specifically the card and the promo for my chapbook are still there as well.

One of the unique characters that calls my cubicle "home" is Mr. Sunshine. Mr. Sunshine is quite the versatile character. For instance, Mr. Sunshine's favorite bud is some strange feller who goes by the name of Georgie. And if you ask him if Georgie is his favorite potato spud, he'll let you know by giving you a thumbs up.

One of Mr. Sunshine's favorite games is Hide and Seek. Unfortunately, Mr. Sunshine has quite the circular shape and thus is unable to hide very well from prying eyes. Fortunately, the sunglasses came in handy to block out the blinding light of the camera flash when his best spud Georgie took his photo as proof positive that he won the game, because you know Georgie isn't the sharpest tool in the shed on most days, which of course makes him the perfect employee for his current employer

One of Mr. Sunshines's favorite sports is whale surfing. He likes surfing on this particular whale, which he gives his whole hearted approval on. Mr. Sunshine would like to point out the various items that you can see through the back window. The planter is a scrawny little thing and very rarely is it healthy during the spring and summer. The small plot of land that you see surrounded by the crumbling wall has been in the same sorry state of disrepair since Mr. Sunshine's potato spud Georgie started working at this latest truck stop in 2006. That's 4 1/2 years of non-repair performed by another state agency who is notorious for having 17 people on a job site of which 14 are supervising and 3 are "working". D'oh!!

And finally, we come to another one of Mr. Sunshine's favorite pastimes, hanging ten on the police tape. Mr. Sunshines's best potato spud Georgie would like to point out that this big fancy schmancy metallic object that Mr. Sunshine is currently hanging ten on, is a metal detector. This was installed shortly after the state of Connecticut suffered a modified version of going postal when a employee of the Connecticut Lottery Corporation snapped and murdered four of his coworkers before killing himself. Unfortunately, just like everything else the state purchases, this was purchased without the appropriate software, so in essence, this building has two giant metal detectors that cost over $200K gathering dust and taking up space.

On that note, Mr. Sunshine and his best potato spud Georgie (not to be confused with the lunatic called Sweet Potato that harasses people in the chat rooms) will not only talk to you tomorrow but talk to ya later.