After our wedding last year, Toe & I headed back to Tokyo for a few weeks with family in tow. As such, we never really considered to be our honeymoon. We always planned to do a proper trip together at a later date.
Whist we initially considered the UK, we decided on a place neither of us had been, the States, so we could experience somewhere new together. Our experiences of the three cities we visited: New York, Portland & San Francisco, follow.
New York was an obvious first stop. We stayed a week in a loft apartment in Greenpoint & a few days at the Wythe in Williamsburg and loved the area, despite the hipster reputation. Proximity to Bedford Ave & Brooklyn Brewery were definite pluses.
In addition to the great galleries (MoMA, Guggenheim, New Museum) our big NY highlight was the Highline. The park itself is superb, and much of the new development it’s spurned is exciting.
Why did we go to Portland? I see Portland as an example of what a city like Adelaide could be, and wanted to see it in person. That and the beer, bikes, bridges, books (Powell’s) and Portlandia.
Our smartest move was starting with a bike tour to get the lay of the city, and then hiring the bikes for ourselves to explore deeper and hit up some the food carts and then some brewpubs like Rogue and Brewport. The lack of traffic was a shock, and felt the scale and feel of the city centre was perfect.
Our last stop was San Francisco. Staying in an apartment in SOMA near the Caltrain depot, we had a nice walk right to the centre of the city. Toe was in cafe hunting mood, so we made our way through her coffee list whilst traversing the hills and parks.
We happened to be around for the launch of The Bay Lights project, which was quite spectacular, although very damp as heavy rain set in just prior to the start.
It’s no secret to anyone that Loveless is amongst my favourite albums. So imagine my delight that their appearance at the I’ll Be Your Mirror festival coincided perfectly with our lay-over in Melbourne on-route to the US. And then, they surprise released m b v.
How does one live up to an album with two decades of deification? By seemingly both continuing on from it, and ignoring it at the same time. It’s cut from the same cloth as Loveless, but as it progresses through three acts, it shifts to new directions. It’s surprisingly relevant and to me becomes a welcome addition to their legacy, rather than an over baked tarnish to their reputation.
I never warmed to digital cameras. Despite the advantages, spinning soft dials and ploughing through menus to control basic camera features felt hideously unintuitive. Then Fuji’s X series arrived and completely won me over.
Finally, a digital camera with an aperture ring on the lens and a dedicated shutter speed dial where I can shoot the way I learnt to on a film SLR. There’s an immediate connection to your actions and your shots that you just don’t get with on-screen menus. And that’s why the X-E1 is now my trusty shooter.