It’s been just over a year since I was making the commute from Manhattan out to the Songlines office in Westchester County. As many of you probably remember from talking to me back then, the daily trek wasn’t particularly challenging in nature — only in length. It took about an hour and fifteen minutes to go door-to-door each way, and involved a short subway ride, a bit of walking, and a long haul on a commuter train.

While most of the days (especially in retrospect) tended to blend together as far as the train rides were concerned, some of the moments that impacted my memory the most took place on the short walking stint. The transfer from the underground subway to the above-ground train involved hoofing it down a very busy block of 125th Street, in the heart of Harlem. I can’t count the number of times I was hit on, yelled at, offered interesting wares, forced to run in heels when I saw the train approaching, splashed by buses crashing through puddles — you name it. But while all of this might sound a bit negative to a casual observer, my lasting impression of the block is one of constant movement and variety, peopled by friendly, busy New Yorkers every bit as invested in their day-to-day as I was. There was something so vital and real about the scene; I can honestly say I miss it.

Apparently, someone at Slate agrees with me — Camilo Jose Vergara has brought brought the block to life with much more eloquence than I ever could. Check out this vibrant photo essay.

Our lives seem to be flying by at an increasingly rapid pace. I often wonder about the little details I’m missing, and take an inordinate amount of pleasure from the information that I actually retain by the end of each day.

Maybe this notion is the reason why I find Al Hoff’s Walking to New Orleans blog so pleasing. Last month, he set out from my hometown, Pittsburgh, for New Orleans — on foot.

In the forced slowness of the journey, he’s coming upon the unusual sights of a forgotten time, such as the Dean Martin mural on a grocery store wall in the industrial town of Steubenville, Ohio (the birthplace I share with Martin).

Hoff obviously got more than he bargained for, with Snowpocalypse sweeping this section of the country. I wish him well, and can’t wait to see what bits of Americana he discovers along his way.

One of our favorite annual pastimes is reading Roger Angell’s humorous rhymes of the holidays-soon-departed. Angell is also one of America’s best baseball writers.

This collection of some of the most culturally relevant and evocative photos I’ve ever seen has been haunting me since the VSL featured it last week. The astonishing shots are the work of Associated Press photographer Emilio Morenatti, who began covering Afghanistan in 2003 and is currently based in Pakistan. Here’s a sample:

Summer festivals have grown exponentially in importance and in scale over the last decade. Many of us are fortunate enough to attend Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits, Coachella, Bonnaroo, Rothbury, or SXSW.

The biggest festival in the world, however, isn’t staged in the U.S. Glastonbury takes Somerset, England by storm each summer. This year’s festival took place this past weekend; headliners were Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, and a reunited Blur.

Here are some amazing photos from the event, including some incredible aerial views and live shots of the aforementioned artists, as well as Fleet Foxes, Bat for Lashes, and others.

For those who missed the NonCOMMvention in Philly this year, WXPN has put together a couple of very cool ways to review the action.

Here’s a video featuring GM Roger LaMay as well as many of the conference participants:

And here’s a post with audio from many of the live performances.

If you’ve got posts or highlights from Bonnaroo, we want to hear about ‘em!

If the financial mess down here on Earth is getting you down perhaps it’s time to look up. A group of astronomers were asked to vote for the Top 10 photos taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and, in order, here’s what they chose:

#10

The Trifid Nebula is 9000 light years away. It’s a ’stellar nursery’ where new stars are born.

#9

The glowering eyes from 114 million light years away are swirling cores of two emerging galaxies called NGC 2207 and IC 2163.

#8
.

Starry Night reminded astronomers of Van Gogh. It is a halo of light in the Milky Way.

#7

The Perfect Storm, a ’small area’ in the Swan Nebula, is made of hydrogen, oxygen, sulphur and other elements.

 #6

The Cone Nebula. The part shown here is 2.5 million miles in length or equivalent to 23 million round trips to the Moon.

#5

The Hourglass Nebula is 8000 light years away. It has that pinched-in-the-middle look because winds that shape it are less turbulent in the center.

#4

Cat’s Eye Nebula.

#3

Nebula NGC 2392 is called Eskimo because it looks like a face surrounded by a furry hood. The hood is actually a ring of comet-shaped objects flying away from a dying star.

 #2

The Ant Nebula is within our galaxy and resembles an ant when observed using ground-based telescopes.

#1

The Sombrero Galaxy, 28 million light years away, was voted best in show. The dimensions of the galaxy are as spectacular as its appearance. It has 800 billion suns and is 50,000 light years across.

M. Ward chronicled his most recent 24 hours in New York with his iPhone. It reminded us of some things we love about our city.

Two of nature’s most spectacular forces produced an incredible brew in the skies of Chile as a volcanic eruption met a lightning storm. Tons of dust and ash from the eruption of the Chaiten volcano poured into the night sky just as an electric storm passed overhead. The resulting collision created a spectacular sight as lightning flickered around the dust cloud amid the orange glow of the volcano. The eruption was all the more spetacular because the Chaiten volcano, 800 miles south of Santiago, has been dormant for nine thousand years. The Patagonian volcano left a 12 mile high plume and left vast tracts of land coated with a layer of ash.


 

   

I don’t know about you but I’m always a reluctant fool when the Olympics come around. At first I think I’ll avoid them all together but eventually I break down and take a peek. I’ll see something exciting like a great dive or floor exercise or track event and eventually I’ve succumbed to the competition to the point where I’m watching every night and am truly sorry when the games end. Sure, there was way too much beach volleyball in primetime but overall, this was an amazing year. Perhaps the best ever. Hats off to NBC for spectacular camera work. As long as we kept the sound down when the annoying announcers were blathering, we found that we could enjoy the proceedings fully. Here’s a link to some great photographs taken from Beijing 2008.

–Sean Coakley