Sailfest, The Boom-Booms, and Me

Years ago, during Sailfest, we used to boycott the Boom-Booms. I really don't know why, but Mistah and our friend Matt and I would go to the Thai restaurant on State Street instead, sit in the front of the restaurant next to the big picture window, and eat pad thai instead. Of course, I'd spend the entirety of my meal craning my neck to look out the window at the boom-booms, because, well, because they're boom-booms which by definition are entertaining and mesmerizing, and hard to look away from.

I am now a big fan of the Sailfest Boom-Booms -- and so are about 30,000 of my best friends, from the looks of downtown New London on Saturday night. But we had *the* best spot in town, on an outdoor deck overlooking the river, away from the masses, with great friends and great drinks, and, of course, our very own Mistah Schleckah, with trusty camera in hand:

I especially love it when Mistah gets ca-razy with the camera, with long exposures and weird results:

But I also love his good, old-fashioned, representational photography. There's just something magical about watching rockets shoot up into the sky, and the ensuing, well, fireworks:

I mean, how do they do it? How do they get the low-riders and the squigglies and the gigantic, symmetrical, sky-filling blasts to look exactly how they want?

It's magic, I tell you.

But the best part -- by a mile -- is the Grand Finale:

Everybody knows The Fest is The Best.

The Sailfest Boom-Booms? The Best of the Best of the Fest.