Siren Music Festival: A Perfect Excuse to Spend a Summer Saturday in Coney Island

Some good things in life are free. Some even give you more than you put in. It is also possible that the sum is greater than its parts....

Every year in the summer, the Village Voice puts together a music event called Siren Music Festival.

It's a huge event, with two stages against the boardwalk, separated by a the amusement park in Coney Island. Thousands of people spend half a day listening to many indie bands (mostly alternative, punk, loud music), all for free.

Actually, at the end of the day, I had at least a dozen free tees and other promotional gifts. In the following picture, these guys were printing (silkscreen?) tees on the spot. The black one is mine! Basically they had a screen, applied paint and pressure with a spatula; then they used a blow dryer to dry the printed design.

The freebies included ..body wash. Well, it was a very hot day, so it was appropriate. I'm sure these girls were promoting something but many of us failed to notice it. I don't think it had any educational value despite the word "college" appearing on signs & clothing . Hmmm... Interesting. Maybe colleges found a new way to recruit new students nowadays! We'll never know, until next year...

Music fans

There was music throughout but the bands started playing around noon and the event lasted until 10 or so. The trip back on the subway took about 45'--from Conney Island to midtown. Mass transit makes a lot of sense when you attend events where lots of people show up because traffic and finding parking is a nightmare.

Also, sun-blocking lotion is necessary as well as drinking lots of non-alcoholic beverages. Fortunately, at the Siren event there were lots of vendors who were giving away all sorts of drinks (no alcohol), most of them refreshing. I didn't care for the coconut-flavored water, or some kind of organic mush that was more suitable for a mud bath than a "smoothie."

Oh, and if you go to Coney Island, you have to try a couple famous Nathan's hotdogs, at least once. Here's a coupon for a free dog.

The Great American West

I always wanted to go on several cross-country trips. The longest I ever took was from New York to Wisconsin and then down to Oklahoma, returning through Arkansas, Tennessee, Virginia, etc. The other long trip was from NY all along the Atlantic coast, up through Maine, New Brunswick, to Nova Scotia.

I've also toured Washington state--one of the most beautiful and diversified states in the US. And, from there, down through Oregon, to California & Nevada. If you are to do one long trip, do this one. Take your time, transversing left & right in Washington, Oregon and California, from Seattle to San Fransisco, and back.

This film shows the huge territory of the Louisiana Purchase--that is, when president Jefferson bought this vast, mostly unexplored land, from France for $15 million. The US in the early 1800s, was a much smaller country, mainly a collection of states on the East coast. The lands west of the Mississippi were home to sparse Indian tribes, unchartered, and a true wilderness. The Lewis-Clark expedition, funded by Jefferson was a great feat to accomplish. They reached the Pacific Ocean while they mapped the lands later to become part of this country. [hit the link and watch the PBS wonderful series on the subject]
It's summer, and many of us associate it with travel, time to see parts of this magnificent cosmos, and in particular this beautiful continent. The world is my home; there are no borders in the experience of life and of imagination.

Long Beach Island, NJ, a Laid Back Place on the Jersey Coast

All along the eastern seashore, there are many barrier islands, most of which are long and very thin. On one side, the powerful Atlantic Ocean, and on the other the tranquil waters of the bay. Those islands are prime locations, despite the threats of erosion, bad storms, and hordes of tourists.





Unless you find a nature preserve or a piece of land not yet developed, most places by the sea have been under attack by too many visitors, shoddy development plans, and bad taste. This nice but not crowded beach is on Long Beach Island. To the right of the picture (not seen) is a tiki bar on the beach, perhaps the only there on the sand. Below, the channel that separates two islands, and where the Barnegat lighthouse is located--these pictures are taken from ontop of it.

New Jersey is the most densely populated state in the country, yet, once someone leaves its big cities & towns, it certainly doesn't seem that way. The northern part is much more packed, and the Jersey shore is known for gridlock and huge crowds.

According to some, LBI is like Cape Cod (MA) only closer--to us in the NYC metro area. I still prefer Cape Cod, but I can see some similarities here.

Long Beach Island is situated about half the way down towards Cape May, just before Atlantic City. No public transportation gets near it, no boardwalk with tacky establishments, and not as many shops as other similar spots. It's therefore much more quiet, and a good place for relaxation--if that's what you're after. LBI is about 2.5 hours south from NYC & Bergen County, NJ--depending on the traffic of course. Since NJ is narrow and the beaches are on the eastern part, traffic can be absolutely horrible.

I recently spent a few days on LBI, and I'd recommend it. Since the seasonal visitors are fewer this year (due to the economy and fuel prices), you can rent a house for just about what you'd pay for a hotel room for two people. Just bring something to protect you from the green flies and the mosquitoes; they tend to be most bothersome until August usually.



The Barnegat lighthouse is the second tallest in the US, and visitors can climb the narrow stairs--which I recommend--because the top offers spectacular views. As of 2008, the admission is only $1.



The moon shines over the southernmost tip of LBI. This southern section in Holgate is off limits to people in an effort to protect the bird nests of the disappearing piping plovers. The lights in the distance are from Atlantic City.

A Bicycle is a Great Means to see Parts of New York City

There's an effort to make the city a bicycle-friendly place, but right now it is not! The exception to this is the dedicated bike lanes (safe from vehicular traffic) from George Washington Bridge down the Battery Park City (pictured below), looping around to South Street Seaport and the Brooklyn bridge. Central park is another nice place to experience it on a bicycle--more on this in a future post.All along the Hudson river on the West Side of Manhattan there are access points to the river and gorgeous views. In the picture above, far in the distance it's Liberty Island with the famous statue celebrating liberty and immigration--let's not forget that.

The Winter Garden below has been fully restored after it was destroyed during the World Trade Center attack on 9-11-01.


The area between the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges is undergoing lots of nice development with plans for improving the waterfront.

The famous Brooklyn Bridge. Lots of people take advantage of the walkway. The bridge opened in 1883, after 17 years of construction. Further to the north, the Manhattan bridge. You can see the "waterfalls" art project under the bridge.Williamsburg in Brooklyn is the center of the Hasidim community. Williamsburg bridge, north of Manhattan bridge, made easier for lots of immigrants, especially Jewish to move to the borough of Brooklyn from the Lower East Side.



Pier 17, a nice place to visit but it's become a tourist destination and because of its smaller size, it gets very crowded. You can have a drink and hang out, but there are only a couple good places to eat, because all the rest are overpriced tourist traps of dubious quality.

The New Jersey skyline, Jersey City on the left and Hoboken on the right. It was a hazy dusk, around 8:30pm.

Did I Ever Tell You that I Like Taking Pictures?

There's a pattern of rain on the weekends here in NYC. Hope it doesn't prevail throughout the summer.

Scenes at Pier 17

Even though I've taken lots of pictures of a particular locale, there are ample opportunities to take some more, somewhat different pictures. I enjoy it. My digital camera is getting too old now. I want to do more, and it's not the kind I'd rather be using right now. In the digital world of rapid technological change, a 4 year-old piece is ..old!

Independence Day, July 4th, 2008: Scenes From the Long Weekend.

On the sister blog, Liberal Citizen, there's a more serious treatment of this national holiday, but would life be without taking the time to enjoy some leisure time with a bit of fun in the summer?

The 4th of July fell on a Friday this year, so the long holiday began on the evening of Thursday. Many towns in the metro NYC chose to have their fireworks on the 3rd as no not compete with the famous Macy's fireworks show on the East River. People also chose to leave town for a few days taking advantage of the extended weekend. But, from what I hear, many Americans can't cope with the shock of high fuel prices, so there was significantly less traveling this holiday.

There was so hot & humid that you could cut the air with a knife. It gets like a pea soup sometimes around here in the summer. Not pleasant. The picture above shows a blurry Manhattan at dusk. Below, the southernmost tip later in the evening.


Yes, it rained during the fireworks show, like last year on the 4th, if I recall correctly. July is hot and humid and unstable weather-wise.


Actually, I don't want to complain too much about summer in New York City and the metro area. If you can avoid the very congested centers of activity in the city, then there are plenty of opportunities for enjoying the summer. This is a very cosmopolitan place, always something interesting going on. The weather, well, it's hot & humid, but within a short distance you can find cool(er) ocean breezes.