Parade photos

For more of my parade photos on Facebook click here.

Spotlight on the neighborhood

***There's an interesting story in today's Globe magazine about cars that are sent to Haiti from the East Boston waterfront, and the piece is written by Chris Burrell, a freelance writer, illustrator and radio producer living in the neighborhood.

***Today's Herald has a story on ZUMIX's new firehouse headquarters and the successful programs that the organization runs. (I do wish the Herald's web site would avoid the tendency of their articles to be split into two pages when there is just one sentence after the jump.)

***Check out photos taken by Elliot Haney as he and other City Year volunteers took part in a clean-up of East Boston on May 22. (Thanks to George Cumming for pointing these out.)

Images from the past

This week's East Boston Times has an item on photographs of the neighborhood's struggle against Logan Airport in 1973. The images were taken by a photographer named Michael Philip Manheim and were commissioned by the Environmental Protection Agency as part of a program called Documerica. The photos are now the property of the National Archives, which put them online for viewing at Flickr. They're worth a look.

For art's sake

Atlantic Works is hosting an exhibition of the work of Valentina Oppezzo, "a young Italian photographer now living in Cambridge." The subject of the photos include toys, food and Italian landscapes. The exhibit, sponsored by Italia Unita, runs through Oct. 31, with a cocktail reception next Thursday.

The gallery is also hosting "Phallic Confessions and Flaccid Truth" -- new work by Laura Torres and Samantha Marder -- through Oct. 24.

For whom the Belle tolls

I've mentioned it before, but it deserves mentioning again: the OrientSee photo blog maintained by George Cumming is a wonderful, almost daily, record of a little piece of East Boston that many of us don't witness firsthand. Luckily, George is out there with his camera, taking and posting fantastic shots of Belle Isle Marsh -- mostly birds, but also other fauna, flora and more. (Who would think he could make a rusty spoon look beautiful?) Check it out.

Local calendar available

George Cumming, who runs the wonderful OrientSee blog, has created a 2009 calendar using some of the photos he's taken at Belle Isle Marsh. (That great blue heron landing at the marsh is a sample of his work.)

It is always surprising and awe inspiring to see the birds and other animals that live and frolic in our neighborhood and within Boston's city limits at the marsh. Take a look here at the calendar and consider ordering one.

Sign of the times

As I took a few photos of the sign of a bakery in Davis Square, Somerville, I saw a small commotion inside the place and a woman came to the door. "Excuse me," she said. "Why are you taking pictures here?"

I explained that I thought the sign was cool and was then ready to tell her that I was on public property and could therefore take a photo of her sign if I pleased, but she said, "Oh OK."

This is not the first time that I've shot businesses and had an owner or employee worriedly confront me. Maybe it is post-9/11 paranoia, which is understandable to a degree, but really -- I don't think the terrorists are coming after our baked goods.

I actually did get chased away one time by a security guard at a condo development in East Boston that was in the midst of construction, as if I were stealing state secrets about plasterboard and brickwork.