Photo of the Baffling Illusions Now: 29 June 2011

The Chelsea library invited Baffling Bill the Magician to put on a magic show for local kids.

Bill brought a book full of magic words hoping to light a candle…

…but it didn’t quite work out that way.

He also brought a rope…

…and invited two volunteers to tie his hands…

…after which he quickly (and humorously) extracted his hands from the rope.

(Take a look at the volunteer on the left: he might be doing his best to sneak a glance at the trick without looking like he’s peeking.)

The kids were eager to volunteer.

Baffling Bill was astounded to discover his magic wand was broken.

Later in the show, Bill introduced his rabbit, Gus.

Gus displayed his own magical talent…

…by correctly identifying the card a volunteer had picked.

Photo of the KABOOM!, Oooh, Ahhh Now: 3 July 2011

We interrupt the usual delayed timeline to bring you these unusually timely photos.  Happy Fourth of July!

The Dexter area’s tranquility was shattered last night by the always well-attended fireworks show at Hudson Mills Metropark.

I’d never been inside the park for the fireworks, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.  I got an idea, though, when I was told to show up at 6pm if I wanted a decent parking spot inside the park.  (The fireworks start at 10pm.)  This turned out to be excellent advice.

What do you do when you’re going to wait four hours for a fireworks show?  You bring comfortable chairs and tasty food, and you enjoy the park’s amenities.

Hudson Mills includes an excellent playground.

One of the sand volleyball courts didn’t have a net, so a number of kids repurposed it as a very large sandbox.

Some kids took the opportunity to declare their independence from instructions and rules.

(Actually, as far as I could tell, that hill wasn’t actually off-limits until the fireworks started: the launch site was just a bit beyond those trees.  But the photo opportunity was too good to refuse.)

The Bearclaw Coffee van did an extraordinarily brisk business.  The line you see here was as short as it got.

For those inclined to lose a little bit of hearing, there was live music.

A number of vendors were selling various light-up trinkets like necklaces, swords and mohawks.  They weren’t too interesting in the daylight, but when the sun went down, they became a prime target for a strange-looking long exposure photo.

Finally, the fireworks started.  Hudson Mills puts on a great show.

The finale was crazy enough to give me slightly overexposed photos…

But that also provided a look at the smoke produced by all those launches.

Photo of the Sounds & Sights Now: 16 June 2011

On Thursday evenings during the summer, downtown Chelsea gets a little more lively thanks to Sounds & Sights on Thursday Nights.  What’s that, you ask as you don’t click on that link?  (Hey, it worked last time.)  That’s a weekly festival that brings a variety of live music, entertainers and art to the streets of Chelsea.

Thursday the 16th marked the first Sounds & Sights of 2011.

The library has started to bring in comedians to perform on its front lawn.

Comedians like to smile.

As usual, there were lots of musical sounds, like those from Bill Bynum.

Dave Boutette and John Latini were there, too.  This is John:

And this is Dave:

For the kids, there were various balloon creations.  Take note of the hat on the right side of the photo:

Is that hat amazing?  Yes.  Yes it is.

Photo of the Pomp and Circumstancin’ Now: 5 June 2011

Chelsea High School graduated another class of young whippersnappers.  Before I get to the photos, you should go listen to this to get you in the mood.  (No, really.  Do it.  Skip to around 50 seconds if you want.)

Yes, they were playing that song.  Over and over and over and over and over again.  Is it time for another song to be associated with graduations?  Maybe a song longer than five seconds?  Yes.  In fact, that time came right around the moment that song was written.

Anyway.

Graduation is a happy time.

See?!

Because the graduates’ brains are so full of accumulated knowledge that they might not be able to remember the current year, the tassels feature a reminder.  It’s very helpful.

Occasionally, faculty members or administrators have the privilege of giving diplomas to their graduating kids…

…and this year’s ceremony had a particularly notable such moment featuring outgoing athletic director Wayne Welton.

I told you graduation is a happy time.

As one final test, the graduates were asked to test the continued existence of gravity.

Obviously, their tests confirmed gravity’s presence.

Photo of the Library Pergola Now: 4 June 2011

Remember the photos of the tile installation at the library’s new pergola?  It’s all done, and the library held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the completion of the pergola.


Ribbon cutting action shots: for professionals only.  Please don’t try this at home.  Unless you’re having a ribbon cutting at your home, in which case…well, go for it, I guess.


If you think it’s strange that they’d install clay tiles on a white plastic table, you’re right: these are the leftover tiles.  They’ll be given homes somewhere around the pergola.