"Your Huddled Madras Yearning to Breathe Free"

Temptation

By the time I arrived in NYC in '84, New Order's, 'Temptation' had been out but not for long. I wound up with a bunch of the French guys who were rebuilding the Statue of Liberty torch in the same repousse way the original was constructed.

We wound up in a bar in midtown and lady luck and, I think, Lady Liberty, were looking down on us -- Not that it doesn't hurt to have 13 Frenchmen who make a living banging copper against wood. Girls were everywhere and so were the French. Me? I was lucky to be along for the ride.

I think it was an Irish bar - A massive place and we were on a balcony over looking the bar. 'Temptation' came on and the French started dancing by themselves. In no time, and I mean, NO. TIME. They were joined by women from every direction. I joined the human car wash and I remember it as a pure miracle I was lucky enough to join. The song seemed to just go on an on...

The French slowly paired up and left the balcony with their new American friends but I didn't want the dance to stop.

Thousands Are Sailing

The Pogues

All photos taken on Ellis & Liberty Islands, 1984-1985

Happy St Patrick's Day

Identity is not bought but earned...

1886


1984

Coming To New York: Madras & Popped

Castillo de San Marcos Ranger Log: Sept 1, 1984 Dr T. (John Tinseth) last day at the Castillo (old fort). Tomorrow he's off to the 'Big Apple" N.Y. Good luck Dr T from the gang.

6:00 PM Labor Day 1984- Big shot, Statue of Liberty Foundation contributor, offers yacht to NPS employees for a tour of the Hudson and East River. Third day working at the Statue and I figured this would happen many times -- hence my smile. It never happened again. Maybe because of my trousers.



How embarrassing. I 'popped' until meeting a nice girl from Chicago. She told me it was affected. I never 'popped' again.

Happy Independence Day

Liberty Island, NY - February, 1985

I remember three things very clearly when I took these. It was cold. And windy. And the scaffolding swayed.

Weekend Archives - Ellis & Liberty Island 1985

Ellis Island- Jan 1985



Liberty Island - Feb 1985



Ellis Island - Feb 1985

Ellis Island, My Boss- Jan 1985

Liberty Island, Old Torch - Jan 1985

Ellis Island, Lehrer McGovern - Feb 1985

Ellis Island, Power House- Mar 1985

As a GS-4 I made $12,400 a year working as a seasonal park ranger at the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island in 1984 thru 1985. It was the lowest paying and most enjoyable job I ever had. I'm glad I had a camera with me. These are all Kodachrome 64 taken with an Olympus OM-1 and a Canon F-1.

The Friday Brace: Happy 4th of Thanksgiving

A 2000 Bordeaux Supersized

I know. This post should be a Pinot Noir with a turkey belt from Stafford but I didn't order it in time. Still, Thanksgiving reminds me of the 4th. There's no connection to religion. Everybody can celebrate. It's fairly simple and there's no gifts. You ask me -- we need more holidays like Thanksgiving and Independence day.

The 2000 Bordeaux are drinking nicely...when you can find 'em. I bought all the 2000 I could find under $15 this year. It seems to be disappearing but larger formats like this magnum are still around. It's not that it's an expensive wine. It's not. But it's a great year. Most likely it will be consumed this Saturday at a Thanksgiving / Birthday party. Or, I may put out the Greg Norman Cabernet Merlot. It's a 2007. Yeah, you guys don't want some old wine from 2000. You deserve the new wine. There's not so much dust on it.

There is some dust on the those braces. I remember buying those at Britches of Georgetown thinking they would be perfect for Independence Day. Of course, I never wore them on Independence Day because I had the day off. Still, I wore them a lot. I liked to wear them in London where they generated a lot of disdain from the Brits who hate most things French. They refuse to say French cuff and call it a double cuff instead. They did like French wine though. I don't think they ever had a problem saying that.

A Mid 80's Fourth

STLI 1985

Trad Sex, Dinty Moore and Timberlands

The Free & Easy cover for October 2008 (which features the Abercrombie & Fitch coat below) reminded me of something. But what? After dropping $14.50 for the magazine at Kinokuniya, a beautiful Japanese book store in NYC, I walked across the street to Bryant Park and consumed the images in about 10 minutes. Not much to read and even less if you can't read Japanese.

Heading up to midtown it hit me. My boot shot from Ellis Island. Yes, it would appear I've been taking pictures of my shoes for many years. The shot of my Timberland work boot was taken circa 1985 from a window high above the Main Registry building on Ellis looking at the Statue of Liberty. This image could also be titled, "Free & Easy."

As a National Park Ranger assigned to the Statue and Ellis, I made $12,500 a year in 1985. While the work wasn't "Free" - - it was "Easy" as the above pic testifies. The best and lowest paying job I ever had. I was able to stretch out a one and half pound can of Dinty Moore beefstew over a week thanks to a 10 pound bag of Basmati rice. I drank lots of tap water. I ate a can of tuna fish for lunch...every day. I was 150 pounds, a 30" waist and in the best shape of my life. Better than the Army. But I was poor. And NYC is no place to be poor. "Rich girls don't date poor boys, J. Gatsby." No shit.

I remember the occasional complaint to other Rangers about how hard it was to date (ie:get laid) in NYC as a poor park ranger. I am now told by an old Ranger Buddy my complaints were hourly. He's still with the Park Service and mentioned to me the upcoming Park Service documentary by Ken Burns. I suggested a major film star, Martin Sheen, could read my letters as voice over, describing my lonlieness and desire for female companionship (ie: get laid) while assigned to the Statue and Ellis. My Ranger buddy replied, "Don't you mean, Charlie Sheen?"

When the Statue was closed to the public, I was transferred to Ellis Island and worked as a Museum Technician on the artifact removal. That is, everything on Ellis was packed up and moved to a warehouse somewhere in Manhattan. This allowed me to purchase a pair of steel toed boots courtesy of the federal government. God forbid, I drop something on my foot and file a disability claim for that whopping $12,500 job.

I went to a number of shoe stores and was overwhelmed with just how ugly work boots were. Not that they've changed much. It was in one store I saw the Timberland boot. I fell in love with it. But it wasn't steel toed. So, I bought 'em anyway, submitted the receipt to the Park Service and was reimbursed. I suspect I could've bought a pair of wingtips without any questions.

I still have the same Timberlands 23 years later. They've survived 19 Chicago winters as the only boot I ever wore with a suit. Toasty warm with decent traction on the ice sidewalk in front of the Hancock. Great looking with jeans but something of a statement untied with shorts and a untucked button down somewhere on the North Shore. A wonderful boot with soul - - I can't wear them without a strange desire for some Dinty Moore.

Trad Ranger

The scaffolding dates this... but the guy in the middle isn't dated. And isn't that the point of Trad? Simple yet loud (that madras is yelling). It is a timeless approach with these basics -- Blue Blazer, white oxford cloth button down, shotgun shell belt, Ray Ban Aviators and Madras trousers. Any of it could have been worn 20 years earlier and any of it can be worn 20 years later.

In the mid 1980's, a contributor to the Statue of Liberty Foundation offered a Manhattan cruise on his yacht to National Park Service employees assigned to the Statue of Liberty. This guy was the only Ranger who dressed properly.