Montauk is awesome. I tripped out there a few weekends ago. This photo is from Montauk, but not reflective of the experience. Don’t worry, I’ll write about it in a sec….

Montauk is awesome. I tripped out there a few weekends ago. This photo is from Montauk, but not reflective of the experience. Don’t worry, I’ll write about it in a sec….

I watched the fireworks from our humble yet awesome rooftop last night. It was actually a spectacular view–you could see the big 34th street show as well as the Statue of LIberty/South Street Sea Port show and another show in Brooklyn.
The gloomy weather lead me to a weird realization. The 4th of July is to celebrate our independence from the King and Queen, but I wonder if the use of fireworks in the celebrations stems from the fact that we’re actually celebrating war. The overcast skies created a scene of obscured flashes in the clouds, bright explosions near ground level and loud distant booms. Comparing it to the constructed revolutionary battle scenes from movies, (John Adams, awesome), I’d say the two are eerily similar.

The peak of Mauna Kea is the #1 best location of earth for star gazing and astronomical research due to it’s great distance from any major city, extreme elevation and clear weather 90% of the year. The Mauna Kea tour also included awesome star gazing.
The visitor’s center at night. All lights on the mountain are red to minimize light pollution.

The Milky Way. The red on the ground was caused by the red interior lights of the tour van.

Greg Takayama © 2004 - 2012