A Very Big Happy Crowd
Also, there were a lot of young people at the No Kings rally in Philadelphia, October 18, 2025. We gathered at City Hall and strolled down Market street to Independence Mall, which we filled, both blocks.
I'll leave the numbers game to others. I think we did our job. Here are a few photographs, starting at City Hall and finishing on the Mall.
We Need to Build a Stage
Actually, SeaHearNow, the annual music festival in Asbury Park, comes with three stages - two built on the sand (there's something biblical about that) and one in a grassy park just next to the beach. (I looked up the sand thing: Matthew 7:24-27.)
The festival this year was on the weekend of September 13-14. On the Thursday before, I decided to go for a walk on the boardwalk. All the pictures here were taken between 6:55 p.m. and 7:54 p.m.
Above is a picture of the back of the main stage. (How many people can you count in this picture?) And below you have the front of the stage. (Again, how many people can you count in this picture?)
The light seemed perfect for a portrait of Marie's.
And parts of the beach were still open to the public.
I have no idea what this sea creature is doing here, but I like to think that he's happy playing in the sand.
And now the sun has left us, for a little while, and it's time to test some lights. (Again, how many people can you count in this picture?)
See also Umbrellaville; Evening on the Boardwalk; Surf School, Asbury Park; How Surfboards Get Around; Advantage: Bicycle; Sea Hear Now 2023.
We Must All Be Antifa Now.
It's so much fun watching antifa eat what's left of Donald Trump's brain. I doubt that Stephen Miller has gotten around to explaining what happened to Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini at the end of their reigns. It would be a difficult conversation, and I expect that both of them will do their best to avoid it.
Antifa does exist, by the way. Have a look at the picture above. The place is, appropriately, Tom Paine plaza, next to the Municipal Services Building and across the street from City Hall in Philadelphia. As for the time, I'm not sure. I think it was probably early in Trump's first term, perhaps around the time of the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville.
I loved the little camera I was using at the time - it managed to produce this picture under almost impossible lighting conditions - but I'm afraid that its ability to tell time left something to be desired. If anyone who was at this rally recalls when it took place, please feel free to let me know. But if you're too busy giving Donald Trump nightmares, I'm okay with that.
You'll notice that the antifa in the picture are armed only with words. Let me direct your attention to their platform in the chyron running across the bottom of their banner: anti-racist, anti-capitalist, feminist. I'm okay with all of that, but you don't have to be.
The main thing, at this point, is to be antifascist. The great grandchildren of Hitler's brown shirts and Mussolini's black shirts are running amok on the streets of American cities. We need to stop the madness and get our country back.
I am antifascist. I am antifa. I hope you are too.
See also Is Stephen Miller the Next Reinhard Heydrich? and What Happened in Ferrara?
Rewind!
There is no substitute for showing up. It was a Sunday, and I was tired, and I really didn't want to go.
And then I went anyway, and the Mummers were putting on their costumes near Rouge. (For out-of-towners, Rouge is a restaurant next to Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia.)
And was there a Mummers picture I hadn't taken? I've been shooting them for decades.
I didn't think I had anything new to say about the Mummers. I was wrong. My thanks to Prema Gupta and the whole Open Streets team at Center City District. And to the performers (particularly the fabulous guitar player) and the many civilians who just showed up and had a good time. Sunday, September 28, was a good day.
This time out, Open Streets West Walnut is running for six Sundays instead of four - all of September and also October 5 and 12.
As a bonus, I came across a gentleman sitting in the middle of Walnut street, quietly holding center stage for Ukraine. I mustered my best Slava Ukraini, which wasn't very good, and we had a brief, pleasant chat. I was cautiously optimistic about Ukraine's future; he was inclined to wait and see.
There was a cheer from the television farm on 18th street. The Eagles had done something good. They went on to win the game.
See also Open Streets: West Walnut, On the Art Museum Steps, Can Open Streets Go Year-Round?
And here are some older stories on streeteries: We're Actually Winning, Checking in With Outdoor Dining, Winter Shelters in Rittenhouse, Philly Plein Air.
