No Justice, No Peace

Finally getting to my pictures from the march last week... for anyone who hasn't been keeping up with current events, the Saturday before last was a terrible one for justice in Rochester, and oppression from the RPD. A peaceful anti-capitalist march was trapped on the East Ave/Inner loop crossing, and 18 protesters arrested, some violently. At the closing of the Puerto Rican festival, RPDs in riot gear began breaking up a crowd with no provocation, setting off a police riot that led to 32 more arrests. Finally, barely 12 hours after the march, a punk show in an East End…

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Mosquito Coast

After watching the tower come down, Anna and I continued on to our real adventure planned for the weekend -- bike camping along the lake shore. On our way out of town we stopped at the public market to pick up Katie, Jake and Tom, and went on from there to route 101, and about a 40 mile ride to Sodus Point. Our destination: Beachwood State Park, a newly acquired property that was once the boy scouts' Camp Pioneer (which would be replaced in 1951 with the current Adirondack site), then the girl scouts' Arrowhead Camp, before closing around 2000.…

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And BOOM! Goes The Dynamite

St. Ann's Tower, the tallest building in Irondequoit, came down with implosion at 9:06 Saturday morning. Anna and I went on a bike ride as close as we could get to it, and pointed our cameras at the tower. Believe it or not, it was a very quiet process, from half a mile away we couldn't hear a thing from the falling building, and only a few dull thuds from the dynamite!

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Secret Base

With what's left of summer days, I will build a secret base A complete departure from what I normally do -- I actually took pictures of people! And why not, we actually got this thing off the ground again. Concrete Discussion Group is back, and better than ever! Our first adventure together brought us to Iola, a place where we've all spent too much time already, so we got a bit more creative. (Only capitalism was harmed in the production of these photos) Jake-- Anna--

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Paper Trail

From the turn of the last century, the economy of New York's North Country has been based on three industries: mining, tourism, and paper. The trees of the vast Adirondack forests, and power from the fast-flowing rivers, were perfect for giant paper mills to develop, to the point that most paper in the United States in 1900 was made in New York and Maine. Rising demand and falling supplies of trees led to Canada taking over this position by the 1970s, then a precipitous drop in demand during the Information Age and into the present day led to the closure…

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Disappointment Island

After Benson Mines, this one was something of an impromptu explore halfway through a trip. We missed the exit onto 3A and took an unplanned detour into Carthage, when what to our wondering eyes should appear but a disembodied smokestack looking for its factory We chased it through the village, and finally figured out it was on an island, which would take some searching for. The island itself ended up being completely overgrown in eight-foot tall grass, and filled with a minefield of old foundations. Adding to our woes it just happened to also be 94 degrees with the sun…

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