Full of Hot Air?

Up and away

Last year, summer of 2016, I experienced, for the first time, a ride on a hot air balloon at the “Balloon and Craft Festival”, in Ballston, NY.  It was a bit unusual to go to this event, because I have a slight fear of heights. So what was my purpose? I was with two friends of mine who asked me to help them shoot a children’s tv show for them, so i thought why not. I wanted to see what journey my new hobby with cameras would take me. I was blessed with a beautiful weekend, sohttps://www.linkedin.com/feed/ our ambition was on and charged. With so much great food and activity going on at this festival, one can’t help but feel happy. The smiles were shining along with the sun, the kids laughter made all of our worries go away. The old school barbershop band had me feeling nostalgic even though I didn’t grow up in that era I couldn’t help but feel inspired. We had such a great shoot, and i was able to sneak in some photos from this enjoyable and creative weekend. On a side note, I must say the lemonade was one of my favorite parts of the entire weekend, it went perfectly with my sausage, pepper and onion sandwich. It’s everything you’d expect from a festival. I highly recommend everyone to go and check this festival out, or any hot air balloon festival in your area. After the first day of shooting we had a chance to experience the festival in small doses because of our busy shooting schedule, but the next day is when it was all going down. My first ride on a hot air balloon will be forever engraved in my mind. It was sort of like the first time i ever kissed a girl but less romantic and more fun. Moments leading up to take off I was hesitant, because I have a slight fear of heights, but something told me to  let go of that fear, because i may never get this chance ever again. It was a decision I will never regret, ever! It was a very liberating experience to see the world from this point of view. For a moment there, I was lost in awe, and forgot that I was on that balloon to shoot a scene for the children’s show. My friends had to reel me back in to focus and shoot, but I know they were just as excited as me, because we were all experiencing our first flight on a hot air balloon.  The pilot who was in charge of the family business was great with making us feeling comfortable, especially when he purposely brushed the tops of trees to slow the balloon down so we wouldn’t crash land, it immediately played on my fears which made me feel a bit uneasy, as we approached landing the pilots wife, daughter and son-in-law found us a safe place to land which was literally in someones front yard. Once we landed an old tradition for the pilot is to bare a gift for the person whose yard we landed in, which was cookies and a bottle of champagne. After landing safely from this exciting ride, the pilot and his family threw a ceremony for us to make us official aeronauts. They prepared a little breakfast for us and everything. We were knighted. We were asked to kneel down on one knee as the (wife and daughter) held a champagne bottle over our heads while they read an aeronautic right of passage. It reminded me of my days in the navy when we crossed the equator to go from a pollywog (a sailor who has never crossed the equator) to a shellback (a sailor who traveled a vast amount of the earth’s oceans). You can’t make this stuff up. Our trophies were empty champagne bottles with the date on them, from the mimosas we drank.  I’m not one to have champagne poured on my head but I didn’t mind because now i can tell people that i am officially an “aeronaut”. I’ve conquered land, air and sea.

Getting things started

Look up and smile

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No clouds and full of color

Who's that?

Old fashion music

Enjoying the show

Testing 

All in the family

Inside view

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Fill with hot air!!

A very calming experience

Amazing view

We land, I look up!

Neighbors woke up to this

Wings N Tings

There is a really great restaurant in  the heart of Williamsburg, Brooklyn called “Pearl’s Bake and Shark”  an authentic Caribbean restaurant who specializes in Bake and Shark, Jerk and other Caribbean dishes. With a full cocktail bar, music and vibes to make you feel like you’re in the islands. This is a place that I frequent.  They have a lunch, dinner, brunch (a bottomless brunch Saturdays and Sundays 12pm-4pm) and catering menu, a happy hour on Mondays through Fridays from 4pm to 7pm, and is a favorite stomping ground of celebrities like Nicki Minaj, Patra, The Hot 97 morning show crew and other notables. It’s an urban oasis with old world charm. Strange and interesting in a pleasing way. They’re insider art mural, old classic speakers and picnic table garden, was a great escape from everyday New York troubles and challenges. On the menu you can find small plates, bakes, mains, sides, cocktails, beers, wines and non-alcoholic beverages. My usual order consist of the  braised brown stewed oxtail with coconut rice and steamed cabbage, the curry goat with potato and channa along with the coconut rice as well. I’ve eaten virtually everything presented on the menu, including their amazing drinks. Pearl’s rum punch and watermelon juice are a couple of my favorites. This particular time I went was different because it’s the first time I tried their “tamarind wings”. I am familiar with tamarind balls, which is a Caribbean candy, it kind of looks like a ball of brown sugar. Normally I am not a fan of tamarind, but I was raised to always try something at least once before rejecting it. Steamy, succulent, juicy, thick sprinkled with scallions and culantro (shado beni), it would forever change my perspective on wings slathered with tamarind. The first bite I was taken away by the blast of the sweet and tangy flavor. Although pretty much every dish is on point on this menu those wings just really stood out, because it wasn’t what I expected. These wings made my day. I highly recommend everyone check Pearl’s Bake and Shark located at 178 North 8th Street in Brooklyn, NY. You will not be disappointed. Run don’t walk.

My Day at the 2017 Bushwick Collective Hip Hop Art Festival

2017 Bushwick Collective Hip Hop Art Festival

Hip Hop a very live and vibrant culture gave Brooklyn and much of NYC a bit of a treat this weekend, the 2017 Bushwick Collective Hip-Hop art festival was everything I expected it to be. On such a beautiful spring afternoon local artist and artist from around NYC graced the streets of Bushwick with some beautiful street art. The performances were classicwith the exception of one, which bascially didn't happy due to a cancellation last minute from veteran MC Busta Rhymes. The crowd was great and the music played by the Dj on the stage was vintage and great. My only gripe with the festival was that EDM had a bit on an annoying prescence during the festival at the local bars, in my personal opinion I believe that if you are going to participate in any kind of festival involving hip hop you should play to the genre, but unfortunately bars wanted to play to the crowd which was full of "implants" as real Brooklynites would call them, the trendy EDM hipster infected the festival with prescence somewhat tainting the festival with a not so genuine hip hop feeling. All in all the festival was a great experience and I left with a smile on my face. Peace and Love, JoJo Giles