Venturing Back Into Unfamiliar Turf

Just a quick post before I hit the road first thing in the morning for Kansas. I won't be back in NYC until the 22nd, but I hope to report at least once while I'm away. Tomorrow night I'll be stopping in Bloomington, Indiana. It's just going to be a quick overnight stop after a 12-hour drive, and I'm not sure how much I'll feel like playing. But by Wednesday night I'll be in Wichita and should have a few days to chill and find a game or two. On the 15th I head up to Manhattan, Kansas to teach photography at a journalism workshop called the Flint Hills Publications Workshop. The bulk of my time will be spent there, editing and critiquing student photographs. But in the evenings many of the instructors head out to Aggieville, where I know of many places to play pool. Maybe once the workshop is over and I'm back down in Wichita I'll have some stories to tell. Pool is big in Kansas. It's not uncommon to go into a bar and see at least three pool tables.

But I just wanted to get caught up on some images I've been sitting on recently. A few Sundays ago I met up with my good photographer friend Aris Economopoulos as well as another shooter, Michael Brown. The three of us ended up staying out way too late but it was a good time. The top photo is a picture taken by Aris, and the middle photo is of Michael. We were playing at 119 Bar, which is a bar I've written about, up near Union Square. To the right is a shot of Aris racking up a week earlier over at The Hog Pit, in the meatpacking district. I could have written an entire post about The Hog Pit but there's not much to say other than it's good to play pool while waiting for your barbecue to be served.