yellow

yellow, originally uploaded by ridavio.

red

red, originally uploaded by ridavio.

The sun is out again in Manhattan!

touch of pink

tulip, originally uploaded by ridavio.

cover up

cover up, originally uploaded by ridavio.

An Antony Gormley statue is covered in Madison Park - perhaps to avoid offending sensibilities during the Sikh Day Parade? 

tgif

tulips, originally uploaded by ridavio.

More tulip color at the end of the week. This time with sunshine.

The Making of Tehom

From ridavio. Two years ago Angelo Musco started production on Tehom. I documented one of numerous photo shoots that took place in a private pool on a penthouse rooftop in Tribeca. It was a beautiful day and the small cast of models was upbeat and very creative that afternoon. After months of shooting, Angelo would continue work for two years creating an underwater world with an architecture of tens of thousands of nude human bodies. As he explains in the video, Tehom comes from a Hebrew word in Genesis signifying the great deep of the primordial waters of creation. The final piece will stretch 48 feet long and 12 feet high with some figures reaching nearly life size. As I edited the action from above the water and cut it with the photos Angelo was taking below the surface, I attempted to evoke the feeling of Tehom, the deep, as seen in the details from the final work toward the end of the video. Tehom exhibits at the Carrie Secrist gallery in Chicago, opening May 1 and running through July 10, 2010.

fado

On Wednesday nights, Ryan sings fado at a restaurant in Soho call Pão at 322 Spring. This particular number happens to be more upbeat, as fado can lean towards the mournful and emotionally charged, as Ryan explains it. He will also tell you the story about how he fell in love with this nostalgic music from Portugal. Stop by tomorrow at 8:30pm to get your dose of saudade and vinho verde. The food is good too!

tulips

tulips, originally uploaded by ridavio.

On a cloudy day on the southeast corner of the American Museum of Natural History.

bright

bright, originally uploaded by ridavio.

hawk watch

The Red-Tailed Hawks are back in Riverside Park north of the 72nd Street boat basin again. This year they picked a tree much closer to the path, almost directly under the benches and pavement. The male had just returned and was in another tree when I arrived. A woman I met informed me the eggs were laid and should hatch in two weeks?

sail

sail, originally uploaded by ridavio.

Net Neutrality, Why Should You Care?

So you are an independent filmmaker and you have just finished an amazing project that is buzz worthy and definitely has, dare you hope, Oscar potential. You don't have a lot of resources, but you have some marketing savvy and you launch your online campaign to build an audience for your west coast theatrical run. But suddenly AT&T, the largest broadband provider in your target area sends you a message that if you want to reach their customers you are going to have to pay 4¢ per view. Your east coast broadband provider only has a 15% market share in that area, suddenly your maxed out credit cards have slammed into another brick wall.

While this scenario is hypothetical today, it could be a reality in the near future. The Coalition for Media and Democracy and VoterBook sponsored a panel on Net Neutrality in New York City last week with a panel that discussed the current state and future implications of broadband access. Hannah Miller of the coalition explained to me before the panel that it is a difficult issue to put on the radar of most concerned citizens.

Currently we live with net neutrality, so there is no perception of real danger. You pay an internet service provider for access and the content you post is available to viewers who are accessing the internet with competing providers. There have only been a few isolated incidents to date where providers blocked access to content, explaining in one case it was to free up bandwidth. Yet the technology exists to restrict access and as panelist, Michael Livermore of the Institute for Policy Integrity maintains, the major broadband providers are fighting very hard for the right to do so, while maintaining they have no intention of carrying through on it.

As panelist Tim Karr of Free Press stated, the market is ruled by duopolies and in some cases monopolies that are only growing larger as the proposed merger of Comcast and NBC Universal indicates. We already pay higher prices to access broadband in this country than in similar markets overseas. The United States ranks 14th among industrialized countries in availability to high speed internet connections on a per capita basis.

Panelist Kris Rios with People's Production House explained how the digital divide is hurting individuals in low-income communities and rural areas where large providers have less economic incentive to provide access.

As a consumer who relies on the internet for your life and work as much as you might rely on your public utility for water and electricity you may want to stay current on the National Broadband Plan that is currently in the works, and the organizations that are advocating on behalf of consumer access.

The video clip contains excerpts from the panelists. The full show will air soon on Manhattan Neighborhood Network.

highline

Highline, originally uploaded by ridavio.

My first Highline visit for 2010. Having breakfast with Lewis who was up from DC.

spring snow

My first trip upstate to the Catskills with Ben this season saw a light dusting of snow, but it quickly melted away when the sun came out later in the morning.

blooms

Blooms, originally uploaded by ridavio.

garden

Hudson Garden, originally uploaded by ridavio.

The community garden along the Hudson River Bike Path in the west 80s.

tulips

Tulips, originally uploaded by ridavio.

On Manhattan Avenue near 105th Street

daffodils

daffodils, originally uploaded by ridavio.

blooms

blooms, originally uploaded by ridavio.

on 105th Street