A Visit To Coney Island: The Home Stretch

So with a heavy heart, I turned from the Sea, and started my journey back to the land. 

A Visit to Coney Island: Walking In The Surf

So now we come to my favorite part of every trip to Coney.  The place where I leave my landbound troubles behind and walk down to the water.

We Apologize For This Delay

I fully intended to have another Coney Island picture post up today, but RL interfered, and I’m afraid I still have a few hundred pictures from that trip to sort through.  Stay tuned, and the remaining posts will go up Monday and Tuesday in preparation for Wednesday’s story.

We at Dreams Of The Shining Horizon thank you for your patience.

A Visit To Coney Island: Boardwalk East

So, after reaching the place where Stillwell Avenue grounds at the beach –

I looked West,

Then East.

See how deserted it is?  That did not last long.  Anyway, as is my custom (and the custom of the protagonist from my upcoming story), I set out to the East.

A Visit to Coney Island: Arrival

It was hot and hazy in New York City last Saturday, even early in the morning when I set out for Coney Island.

Running for the Horizon

It’s that time of year again.  The wander-time.  The horizon-time. 

All of the rituals of Summer have been completed.  The official first day has passed.  The Mermaid Parade has been marched.  The fireworks and brass bands of the Glorious Fourth have faded.  It is High Summer, headed for the dog days.

And just like every summer since 2009 or so, I’m feeling the Call.  The Wanderlust. 

Delay in Service

I fully intended to have a post up today.  It would have been the first of a series of posts filled with pictures illustrating a trip to Coney Island.  The purpose of this series of posts is twofold: 1) because I love Coney Island and want to share it with people who’ve never had the pleasure; and 2) to help create the mood for the story going up on the 31st. 

Unfortunately, it was a busy weekend (well, not really so unfortunate; it was also a fun weekend), not least because I spent most of Saturday at Coney taking pictures, and I was unable to process the pictures in time for today. 

Be on the lookout for that post to go up tomorrow.  Your intro to Coney shall not be delayed long.  In the meantime, another post on Summer will be provided for your entertainment and edification.

Horizon Review: Man of Steel (Or: Superman Is A Monster)

I know I’m a bit late out of the gate with this.  The movie’s been out for more than a month now – is it even still in theatres?  Probably – but real life interferes.  If you want to think of this as an analytical essay instead of a “review”, that’s fine.  Not that I’m ever very scholarly with these things.

So to begin with my now-traditional Short Answer: I liked it.  My approval is not without reservations, but overall, I’d say spend the ten bucks.  You want to see this on the big screen.

Songs of Summer In The City

It’s hot down here in the City, but we don’t let that stop us.  Let’s have some tunes to get us through, because Summer is that hot time, that rock and roll time, that time when all the kids in the sands on the beach glisten like diamonds, when the motorcycles roar down the streets and you can kiss under the streetlights until dawn without once feeling the cold.

In Rock and Roll Heaven, it’s AAAaallllways summertime.

Let’s start with the one you’re all already thinking of, the Lovin’ Spoonful’s Summer In  The City:

Next, to remind us what those summer nights are like in the land of American Rock and Roll, we have Wild Summer Nights from the film Eddie and The Cruisers.  Stay tuned for that review!

Then for a bit of local color, we have The Ramones with Rockaway Beach, a bit of awesomeness I only discovered a few days ago when I saw Duke dancing to it.

I really need to check out Rockaway Beach sometime (yes, it’s real, the Ramones weren’t being cute), but it’s even more of a trek than Coney Island.

And finally, to bring it all to a nice, smooth ending, I bring you the Drifters with the Coney Island theme song:

Of course, it’s hard to do anything under the boardwalk these days, since there’s a hundred years and one big hurricane’s worth of drifting sand under there, but rock & roll remembers.

Quick Thoughts On Pacific Rim

…because honestly, not that much thought is required.  This movie turned out to be exactly as awesome as it looked, no more and no less.  No surprises, but no disappointments.  It did exactly what it set out to do, and didn’t try to be more than it was.  I can respect that.  I like the 2009 version of My Bloody Valentine for the same reason. 

Two-sentence review: Three out of five stars.  Spend the fifteen bucks, because you’ll want to see this on the big screen. 

Want more?  Below the fold.