Mark Marchand blog - Dispatches From Upstate NY

The Guggenheim walk

Post published:February 6, 2018

(This is the second in a series of posts about hikes I've taken through New York City and elsewhere) New York City. There is, in my opinion, no other city in the world that so easily reveals an eclectic mix of history, arts, entertainment, business/finance, retail, architecture, and simply people from literally every corner of the globe. All are slowly unveiled while walking the avenues, streets, bridges, and alleys of The Big Apple. Over the last decade, I have embarked on many New York City hikes to experience the wonders of this…

Walking from Manhattan to Brooklyn, 1880s style

Post published:September 28, 2017

A set of bridges sits just south of where I live in Saratoga County, north of Albany. The small suspension spans carry interstate highway traffic across the Mohawk River between Albany and Saratoga counties. The bridges are formally known as the singular Thaddeus Kascsiusko Bridge, but most locals know them simply as "The Twin Bridges," or even "The Twins." I've gone along with this for years, but I've always felt twins was a better moniker for two not-that-similar looking, historic bridges that link lower Manhattan with Brooklyn. Viewed via Google Maps from…

‘I’m being followed by a Moon shadow…’

Post published:August 25, 2017

(Headline: Lyric from "Moon Shadow," written and sung by Cat Stevens, 1971) It's Aug. 21, 2017, and much of the Western Hemisphere is glued to TVs, the sky, and computer screens. Let's meet our players for the afternoon's drama. First there's the sun, the fiery provider of heat and light to our precious planet. Our own personal star is hurtling through the cosmos at a relative speed of about 45,000 miles per hour. The second participant is our faithful satellite, the moon. At a distance of about 240,000 miles from its mother…

A story in 100 words: Lives short-circuited by the screen

Post published:April 4, 2017

Source: Lives Short-Circuited by The Screen This is an original short story of mine that was accepted and published in "The Drabble" literary website, which challenges writers to deliver a story in 100 or fewer words. It's derived from an actual experience where I teach in the University at Albany (SUNY) Journalism Program.

Detail of the surface of Pluto, from NASA' New Horizons space probe. 2016

Scientists gather in Boston to discuss research and battle anti-science political agenda

Post published:March 7, 2017

In the city that helped launched the great democracy experiment known as America, scientists from around the world gathered last month to discuss and share their latest research — and to draw battle lines against the ideological, anti-science platform of the new administration in Washington.