this morning i went to go see the "gods in color: painted sculpture of the classical antiquity" at the harvard sackler museum. as soon as i got there a guard approached me and told me photography wasn't allowed in this special exhibit. that's okay, that's pretty customary for museums, so i wasn't too disappointed. but then in the permanent exhibits (asian arts) - where photography is allowed - i received another warning because i was within 3 feet of the exhibits. "you should know how far, your camera should tell you," the guard informed me. i looked at my camera then looked at the guard. maybe she was from the future where cameras also function as tape measure, but i had no idea what she was talking about. so i switched out my short macro lens and replaced it with my long telephoto. with that i could be standing on the other side of the museum and still be able to shoot fine, 3 feet range be damned. that's when the guard came out again, and said the weirdest thing to me, "you think you're a clever young man, but try to be honest. why do you think the museum has these policies? they don't make them up for no good reason. think about it." i wasn't sure what she was talking about. "they don't want people touching the artifacts?" i answered, even though some were behind plexiglass cases. "no, it's so people can't get a clear photo. with your camera you're being dishonest, and this will come back to haunt you." even more confused, i asked her, "why doesn't the museum allow people to take clear photos?" she told me it was for security reasons. i didn't even bother explaining to her the irony that anyone would try to steal something from the museum when in fact most of the items are stolen antiquities anyway. strange thing is i don't think she was saying i couldn't take photos with the telephoto lens, just wanted to give me a hard time. but she hassled me so much that i just wanted to leave after that. as for the "gods in color" exhibit, it was interesting, but most of the stuff there were painted replicas, and you could basically get the gist of what they were trying to say by seeing a few photos.

since it was still early and the weather was nice, i thought about doing a spot of naturing for the rest of the day. visiting the garden to water my plants, i noticed a flyer taped to the gate about the honkfest that was happening in davis square today, so i decided to do that instead, figured there'd be more photo opps. i made myself a bagel for lunch before taking off.

what it was was several marching bands were performing live and for free at various locations around davis square. these weren't just local bands, but from all over america (rhode island, new york, louisiana, oregon, california) and even one band from rome.

i'm biased when it comes to marching bands. i don't consider being a former band nerd particularly cool. after seeing some of the bands performing though, i may have to reconsider that. there's a reason why football games have marching bands because there's just something about that particular kind of music that lends itself to rallying up people.

the best band i saw today was rude mechanical orchestra from brooklyn. they all wore green and they all had that cool hipster vibe going. unlike some of the other bands, they actually had a lot of young women, and they worked in some rocking dance choreography along with their kicking music. i was already digging them but when they played "push it" i was completely sold.

i was stalked by some weirdo asian girl. i saw her smiling at me from a distance like she recognized me, but i paid her no attention. a few minutes later, when i was busy taking a photo, i looked down (i was standing on a wall) and saw her shooting a photo of me with her camera. "hey," i said, but then i walked away, didn't even bother asking her what she was doing. i hope whatever it is, she uses it for good and not for evil.

i got there at 2pm and stuck around until almost 6pm. i'd circulate from venue to venue, snapping a few photos then moving on. i even bumped into my neighbor renee, who was there with her singing grannies group, probably trying to drum up support for a bush impeachment.

i've never seen davis square buzzing with this much activity before. now that harvard square is just a black hole for corporate interests, davis square might be the new epicenter of local arts. even better, honkfest continues tomorrow as well, with a noontime parade down mass ave towards harvard square (weren't we just talking about that?) to crash the octoberfest. i will naturally be documenting this whole festivity, trying to juggle the pats and red sox game while doing so.

when i got home my next door neighbor margot was outside her house. "i don't have electricity in my house. do you mind checking your place?" i didn't have power either, and turns out several nearby blocks were in a state of blackout as well. with what little daylight still available, i found my candles and lit them all before it got dark. even with no electricity i still had hot water (from the reserve tank) so i managed to take a shower via candlelight. i called nstar and their automated service told me the problem had already been reported and would be fixed by 7pm. i fell asleep on the couch when it looked like we still wouldn't be getting any power by 7. i woke up at 8:30 when the power came back on finally. i made some hot dogs for dinner.