Airships over Manhattan

Posted on by scott

It’s been a particularly good week for writing about airships. Several times I’ve looked up, and there was the Direct TV blimp floating past.

Now, obviously, this mere blimp isn’t as cool as a dirigible. Blimps are just big, cigar-shaped balloons, while the airships in Leviathan and the Zeppelin I rode in Germany have frames to keep their shape. (That’s why they can be so much bigger.)

But still, it’s cool to see that classic airship silhouette among the cranes, water towers, and skyscrapers of the Manhattan skyline. There’s nothing to make me grab my camera like a future that didn’t happen intruding politely on a weekday afternoon (or evening).

So enjoy, and by all means click to enlarge:


Photos by Scott Westerfeld. Steal them—steal them all!

490 thoughts on “Airships over Manhattan”

  12. yay convieniently placed (kind of) zeppelin
    that last picture is made of fawsome

  15. fawesomeness…

    wish i wooda got on earlier! ive NEVER gotten the first comment. third, but not first. or even second.

    -Lizzy-wa OUT! 🙁

  16. Man, here in Vegas they always have blimps flying around whenever there are any races going on, which are a couple of time a year.
    Suddenly they hold so much more significance to me:D

  18. is this in nyc? cause i saw a blimp yesterday for the allstar game!!!!!!
    it was coolio
    wait, so zepplins are made of wat….metal????

  20. Cool! is anyone here? Scott, if you read this, please let us all know what is going on with the movie!!! Are they still making it? It’s been FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope you know. Your the sorce materiel maker, you should know.

  22. oh, and a response to #18 by gabi: Blimps are not made of metal, they are FRAMED in metal, in other words, their “skeleton” is made with metal rods probaly. the outside is some type of fabric. the inside is filled with a gas that’s lighter then air, helium, i belive. it’s like a big giant balloon. The part where people go is a tiny little box like structure that “Hangs” at the bottem, towards the front.

  38. It’s strange, every time I’m on and somone replies to my cries of “Talk to me, someone!”, it’s allways you, andrea-la

  49. Whatever. My parents don’t care about what music i listen too, as long as it’s appropiatte.

  52. Nobody is “normal”. Everybody has somthing diffrent and uniqe. Hey, I don’t listen to American music. I’m part Greek and part Turkish, as well as American, and a slight bit Germen, too. I listen to greek and turdish music. If you want to learn about the greek singer i listen too, then go here: kalomira.com. You can google her, too. to learn about my turkish singer, then go to gruphepsi.com. they have a weird site. you can google them, too. sorry this comment took FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  53. Do you like Irrawaddy Dolphins? I like Irrawaddy Dolphins. I just can’t pronounce their scientific name…Orcaella brevirostris…i mean, who can pronounce that?

  62. oh wow, my dad just gave me a really weird look when he walked past…i’m pretty sure it’s because he does that when i’m listening to music…

  65. what did it say? in other words, which one? oh wait, you wouldn’t know. give me the link, i’m curious.

  72. UHHHHHHHH…stupid links…stupid computer…it must of not copied and pasted proporly…stupid computer…oh crap, now it’s gonna get mad at me like when i tried to delete my blog…

  75. yeah…my computer froze when i tried to delete my blog…then i outsmarted it and deleted it anyways and now i regret it…stupid computer…

  77. If you go to my link, click on the one that says “Paizeis”. That is my favorite song. no, i have not seen will it blend.

  81. LOL LOL LOL!!!!!!!!!!! i CAN’T BELIVE HE JUST BLENDED AN I-PHONE!!! YOU DO NOT BLEND I- PHONES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!WOWOWWOOWWOWWOWWOWWOWWOWWOWWOWWOWWOWOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  91. I see blimps all the time at sporting events, and my wife and I have decided there is a definite hierarchy when it comes to blimps.

    Level 1, of course, would be zeppelins.
    Level 2 is the Goodyear blimp.
    Level 3 includes the DirectTV blimp (the video screen is cool) and the MetLife blimp, which has Snoopy.
    Level 4 includes all other commercial blimps.
    Level 5 includes all indoor stadium blimps, including but not restricted to those shaped like mascots.
    Level 6 is for mini-blimps that are tied to the ground on strings.

  94. i’m back! that was some good chinese food… my fortune said “if you continually give, then you will continually have.” Kinda cool.

  108. Hey, do you guys want to join my neopets guild? I would really Appreciate it b/c today’s athe last day of the house cup, and it ends at 9 nst , and I just need to get ahead.

  128. Yeah, my dad made me. He though I had “built up energy”…he might have gottan that idea from the fact that I was almost crying because I was laughing so hard for no reason….but that’s only an idea…

  131. sorry guys, but i want to do other stuff right now, so see u later or somthing! hey, if u want, i can give u me e-mail. i never get e-mails.

  141. Why not? It’s just e-mail, no one can track you down with e-mail. It’s not like your giving your address or phone number.

  150. I am a very kind and honest person. I would never try to hurt someone, even if they were my greatest enemy. That is a belif that is part of my christianity.

  156. sooo, e-mail? come on, i would never lie about comment 150. and i would never give it away to a stranger. hey, i want to risk giving my e-mail, and you have to put it to write comments here too! I never get junk e-mail or anything! Please?

  168. Okay, so I don’t want to post my email here because I can’t delete it here, right? So I’ll post it on my blog where I am free to delete it right after you peoples have it…

  188. Those are totally awesome pictures. I love the third one especially. That is so cool that you actually saw one of those passing by.

    The last one has camera shake (I think…the only explanation I can think of), but I think it makes it cooler. That happens all the time to my pictures…but it doesn’t look cool.

    Completely awesome pictures.

    Have I mentioned how much I can’t wait for Leviathan?

  200. Okay I g2g, but Andrea-la,when you join could you go to the guild message board and say I reffered you, and then get sorted. Ravenclaw prefferebly but..Yeh, then the Ravenclaw’s It would be great if you would go to the webbie and do as many activities as you can/classes. Today’s the last day for the housecup.

  202. yay! i got your e-mail, andrea-la!!!!!!! yeah, as you could guess from my e-mail address, i live in texas.

  206. that was clever of you, by the way, andrea-la. e-mail me everyone elses e-mail so i can e-mail them, too.

  211. so. much. comments.

    neopets! i hate neopets. i stopped going on it when i was like ten or whatever when they sold the site to some other PEEPS that screwed up the layout and the buttons and the foolio little pets. now my aisha looks like a freak. and it looks like shes christmasy. when shes not supposed to. and i dont like that neomall whatever thing. charging money for stuff online?! messed. up.

    -Lizzy-wa OUT! 8)

  226. Blimp is one of those words that make me giggle like a little school girl.

    blimp….blimp….blimp….BLIMP….blimp….

    Great pictures, Scott!
    Is there an earthquake going on in the last one?

  229. pssss, im in my room on my ds, on the internet. barely have one bar on it ad its hard to type with this,so yeh….I love the interner

  243. Am I the ONLY person who read the guild rules about having to do one activity and one homework assignment per week? And that you get house points for it?

  246. okay, i’m leaving. remember, just e-mail me if you want to say somthing!!!!!bye!!!!ttyl

  254. okay i realy got to go w, do as many activties and classes as you can, and btw noneed to do ancient runes,that start next house cup. here it’s bou 11;00, soyeh. night!

  263. Hey Scott, I don’t know if you’re going to read this and/or reply to it, but I’ve got a couple of questions I want to ask you, if that’s okay…yes I know this is off topic, bear with me. 😀

    1. I’ve read some of the earlier blogs that showed me how you felt about people nowadays thinking that they aren’t pretty, and not liking the way they are, so they want to get plastic surgery to change things about themselves and look more like those photoshopped celebrities.

    So I was wondering…how do you feel about make-up? Do you also think that people shouldn’t wear it? Do you think it’s another one of those things that people are doing to look like everyone else, and do you think it should be stopped?

    I wear a bit of make up myself but it’s not because I’m not happy about the way I am, or because I’m trying to fit in or anything…the reason I do is because it adds a little fun to going out and touches everything up a notch.

    2. The second thing I wanted to ask was quite a simple question…on the cover of Pretties, is the guy David or Zane? I myself think it is Zane-Tally wasn’t really with David at all in the book, except for that moment at the end. Besides, David is supposed to have that scar…But Zane is supposed to have ink-black hair. So I’m very confused.

  268. I just sent it in two parts…and I had to shorten it…I had to leave out my rant and random guys in their mother’s basement saying that’s it’s gonna snow in Indoniesia….

  271. I really want to do math, but I don’t really want to do math, but i’m soooooooo bored right now…i like math…i like Harry Potter stuff too…hmmmmmm…

  279. hey Sella-wa! yeah. thats supposed to be Zane-la and Tally-wa. too bad the guy that made the cover sucked at picking models. i mean. seriously! he TOTALLY doesnt look like Zane-la. and yeah, his hair is supposed to be black. but its not. cuz its messed up.

    -Lizzy-wa OUT! 😉

  283. Lizzy-wa: Yeah I agree, they should have picked someone better! It’s messed up. And Zane doesn’t even look like a pretty, at first I thought it was David because he looked like an ugly.

  287. I’ve seen the good yr blimp land once on a way to a swim meet. 🙂 lol. it was cool. but not as cool as that. I’m looking forward to whatever your next book may be Scott! 😀 i’m a huge fan of your books. Are they making a movie of Uglies? i hope not! because they’d ruin it! 🙁
    Shan

  288. Shan-la, they ARE making a movie out of Uglies- and guess what? It’s going to be made by the same producers that made Eragon!! Oh no!! It’s REALLY going to suck. They killed the book eragon…

  290. NO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CRAP CPAP NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! NO MOVIE THEY WILL RUIN IT!!!!!!!!!!! I totally agree They are going to ruin my favorute book!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NO!!!! It is going to suck on ice. it will be the MOST bogus movie ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  304. lol…but don’t you think that metaphorical boxes are interesting? I mean, the one that I was thinking about is like the state of mind, but then when you step out your foot gets caught in a mousetrap and then you have to keep going just to get to a brick wall and you die eventually just like the people in the box….so now i’m really depressed because in the end does it even matter if you got out of the box or not?

  305. what if u make your box into a fuel efficient buldozer car and go over the brick wall and mousetrap? ugh, too many what ifs. i think what matters about getting out of the box is the willingness to try.

  307. because if u don’t all ur ever gonna see is ur cardboard box walls then you’ll never learn, you’ll never grow into the person you were made to be.

  309. well..*abby steps up on her soap box*
    i have four things to say.
    1. this soap box is really high up.
    2. being content in a box is like saying your content watching the same epesode of Home Improvement over and over. maybe your content in the begining, but your mind is going to want something more soon. you are going to starve your brain and it will die.
    3. wanting to be in the box is a normal feeling but that’s only because you’ve never stepped outside of it to know what your missing. now we are back to killing our brains.
    4. if you got trapped outside the box i doubt you would notice because you’d be so filled with wonder about your new world. you would use your box as a slightly comfortable resting place when you get tired or as a pedestool like me.
    *abby gets off her soap box and runs into a brick wall*

  313. hm. fine. tell me i’m living in a sucky world outside my box.
    i find my world to be quite nice.
    very few ppl live in mansions that doesn’t mean they’re bad.
    plus how do you know how many ppl are outside of their boxes if u arent?

  317. so what do windows have to do w/ anything?
    i’m outside the box. i’ll meet up w/ you until u can find ur metaphorical back up key. outside the box is where artists and authors are. photographers! philosiphers! only the best of the best come outside the box!

  321. oh gosh, ur metaphorical windows have confused me.
    hmm…well then so long as u don’t have a roomate who left to see the betters of the outside world then you’ll have different box walls to look at!!

  329. certainly. what kind of metaphorical cake doesn’t have lemon flavored icing? hey Kenzie-La! care for a slice of metaphorical confusion cake w/ metaphorical lemon icing?

  331. hmmmm…metaphorical lemon icing….we found yet another thing to do with the metaphorical lemons that life gives us….but I would still rather throw them at the metaphorical window…

  333. well, i don’t know how to go through the metaphorical door so I would much rather break the metaphorical window and go through that!

  339. Why are we talking about boxes?

    And why did we change the subject to abruptly from the Uglies movie to boxes?

    I’m confused :-/

  340. Ello, peeps. What’s up? Metaphorical boxes? Hum…interesting…amd Sella-wa, you’ll find that the subject can change preeeeetttttyyyyy quickly…LoL.

  341. I have been sad latly. This isnt a good time of the year.

    Has anyone ever seen the Bye Bye Bunion Commercial? “A Bunion is a bony bump on the big toe.” Cracks me up!

  348. Lol Tally & Zane!! hope ur okay…

    yeah, i injure myself pretty easily too…im a clutz. (did i spell that right?)

  352. OMG sella-wa. 🙁 🙁 that’s so bogus that’ they’re making a movie. the book was like a movie in my head. and to see it on the big screen would be totally uncool. they’d make everything all wrong!!!! >:( *grr* god, they shouldn’t make the Uglies movie or the Twilight movie

  353. Yeah…hehe, it involved a baseball. And a pitcher. Gah. Can’t believe I let it get past me. But I was distracted! LoL. Ya, I don’t really mind that there’s an Uglies movie. It’s cuz I KNOW how it is in my head, so I can see how other people(aka the movie people) portray it, but that’s not gonna change the way I see it so I don’t really care.

  355. Gabi, yeah, they’re making a movie.. .same producer who made Eragon (sp). :(.. its going to be totally bogus *bleh*

  357. that is bogus,
    but idk maybe it wont be that bad, although yeah theyre gonna completely ruin twilight.
    have they like started filming it? or like casted anyone????

  358. Ello! So, whats everyone up to? I havent been on in what seem to be forever. Actually i dont even no the last time i got on. Like 4 or 5 days ago??? I have been busy (avoiding ya’ll). Just Kidding. Haha.

    Or am i?

    Okay…so, as you can tell i am a teeny bit hyper or maybe a lot but that is ok but i will need to energy. I dont no why but i will! Yes, i will! Bored…help me have fun again by talking to me. I will be disappointed if you dont. And if you read through this post like normal, read through it again but fast and in a peppy voice. This will give you a feeling for my hyperness. Haha.

  360. Shan-la, I agree! They shouldn’t make the Uglies or Twilight movie, it’s going to ruin the books…I don’t know if I’ll watch either…*sigh* But I think I’m too curious not to…

  361. I double agree the movie will be TERRIBLE but I’ll watch it any way but I still wish they weren’t making it I AM ANTI MOVIE 100%!!!!!!!!!!

  362. PS i believe all metaphorical boxes should be eaten by metaphorical nanos PPS is anyone on?

  364. haha, sella-wa. i’ll prolly get ’em off of netflix. why waste my money on at max two hrs worth of dissapointment? :/

  366. me! i’m on! 🙂 finally home. ..after a week long road trip through 7 different states with a bunch of friends. it was sooo very much fun! i LOVE the Ocoee river… yesterday i went white water river rafting on it and it was AMAZING! it was definately my favorite part of the trip.. and then one day we went to Nashville and went on a huge riverboat for the afternoon and that was a lot of fun too.. there was this live band playing and they were hilarious! it was a really good time!

    …so what have i missed??

  374. yep yep. sorrys.
    i went downstairs to get a glass of water…
    and then i read your blog.
    …sorry about your cousin.. that really stinks!
    …i don’t really know how you feel because i’ve never had that happen… or at least i wasn’t close to them.
    but i’m sure he will be fine… and i will pray for him.

  376. i bet. it would be horrible being a mom and your baby going off to fight in a war. …hopefully we won’t be there much longer.. hopefully our new president will put an end to all of it sooner rather than later.

  379. Kenzie my older brother’s in the Army and he had to go to Iraq for like 15 months. It was seriously scary. I hope your cousin doesn’t have to go but that’s cool what he wants to do.

  380. thanks guys
    Im feeling better I think
    but I hope my cousin isnt in Iraq for 15 months
    though Im glad your bro’s ok
    I dont think my brother could even get into the army he’s SKINNY like flesh and bones which for that I guess is good

  382. Yeah, I have a military family. My Dad was in the Army, my Uncle, My Cousin, My other cousin in the Airforce, My other other cousin is a marine, and My brother’s National Guard. It’s really frustrating sometimes. But we’ve been lucky cuz they’re all okay, thank God.

  386. my great grandpa fought in some war.. it might have been the vietnam war.. i don’t remember. and my uncle, who i also don’t know very well, fought in the war when i was younger. but my mom comes from a really big family so i don’t even know some of the people.. like i have an uncle Sam that i’ve never met and he has like 5 kids or something. and then some other ones that i’ve only seen like once in my life cuz they moved away or something. my mom grew up with 15 brothers and sisters… but they came from 2 familys.. cuz my grandmas 1st husband died and then my grandpas 1st wife died and then my grandma and grandpa met and they already had like a bunch of kids each and then they got married and had my mom and my aunt Becky. it’s so very complicated. i don’t even know all of the story.

  392. yea i love having a big family though… our family reunions get so crazy like i have sooooooo many cousins and a bunch are my age or really close to my age and so we have the best times together. last reunion we went to my aunt and uncles cabin and all the adults slept inside and all of us kids slept in this huge tent and ate giant pixie sticks and drank pop all night long.. we were on a serious sugar high. fun times.

  401. AHHHHHHHHHHH! I am going to blow up into a million little itsty bitty pieces if i dont get help on this!!!!!!!

    I. Need. Something. To. Write. About. I love writing but when it is a boring story…then its no fun to write. I NEED SOMETHING! ANYTHING! I NEED SOMETHING SCI-FI THATS ALL CRAZY AND FUN!!! PLZZZZZZZZ!

    Please…i need it….please!!

  404. OMG! I met this guy at my second cousin’s wedding, and he was the nephew off the girl so we weren’t nessesaraly related or anything, just by marrage. Well he is 15 and I’m 12. I DON’T LIKE HIM HE IS TOO OLD 4 ME! Anyway he told me a bunch of lies about himself.
    Examples:

    He said he was a straight A student. Yeah right!
    He had to use his FINGERS to figure out the difference between our ages!

    He also said he was in every sport in his school. WRONG!
    He was the tiniest boneyst guy EVER!

    One of those sports was cheerleading (because I said I liked it) He’s supposuvely in level 9.
    There is no level 9!

    Anyway, I gave him my number, and he asked me out in a text message. this is kind of how it went.

    “Would you go out with me?”
    “Uh… You live in Texas. don’t believe in long distance relationships. Besides the LAST thing I need in my life is a new boy.”
    “Plz just try it.”
    “I’m 12.”
    “So? I’ve dated a 12 year old before.”
    “But I haven’t dated a 15 year old! Listen, you are really nice… but I can’t.”
    “Come on just try it.”
    “No. I cant.”
    “Ok then, could we be friends?”
    “Yeah, I’d like that.”
    “Ok, we are friends with BENIFETS.”
    !!!!!!!!! That guy was IMPOSSIBLE!

  407. I KNOW! I tried to get rid of him by saying I had to go to a friends house and he asked What gender and the age of my friend! I was like, she’s a 12 year old girl what would you expect!

  409. lol! Yeah! I was telling my friend Delaney about it when my friend Ryan came up. (He likes me. He’s admit it.) And he listened and offered to fly to Texas to kick his ass! I wish he did. 🙁

  417. :Very Happy:
    :Smile:
    :Embarassed:
    :Crying:
    :Stare:
    XD
    :3nodding:
    :biglaugh: :Big Laugh:
    :Gonk:
    :Scream:
    :Stressed:
    :Sweat:
    :Heart:
    XP
    :Whee:
    :Wink:
    🙁
    :surprised:
    :shocked:
    :confused:
    😎
    :Laughing:
    😡

  420. :Razz:
    :Evil:
    :Twisted:
    :Rolling Eyes: :rolling eyes: :rollingeyes:
    :Exclamation:
    :Question:
    :Idea:
    :Arrow:
    :Neural:
    :mrgreen:
    :Ninja:
    :Cute Laugh:
    :rofl:
    :Pirate!:
    :AUGH! My Eyes!: :augh!myeyes!: :aughmyeyes:
    :dramallama:
    :wahmbulance:

  423. :veryhappy:
    🙂
    :embarassed:
    :crying:
    :stare:
    XD
    :gonk:
    :scream:
    :stressed:
    :sweat:
    :heart:

  430. Yo-las peeps. I just sat in a hair salon for four hours enduring torture. Well it wasn’t really that bad, just super boring. But I got my highlights redone cuz I needed it really badly and now I look blonde. Which isn’t necesarily a bad thing considering that it looks okay but it’s weeeeeiiiirrrrddd…I keep having to take a double-take when I look in the mirror I’m like wth? Not like I look in the mirror a lot…I’m not vain…hehe, *giggles nervously*. HaHa, jkjk. My sister says that if I start acting like a ditz then she’s shaving my head in my sleep. Loving family huh? But that’s just a stereo-type, plus she’s the natural blonde she’s one to talk. Anywho, after tomorrow I won’t be on here for two weeks! Sad, right? HaHa, yeah you probably wanna get rid of me…but I’m gonna be in New York with no internet access. Stupid broken laptop. But yeah soooooo….what’s up?

  431. You can visit me in New York. Where are you staying? I hate when people call me ditzy because I am blonde. I am like the smartest person in my grade. Don’t trying to brag or anything.

  432. I can’t believe there isn’t a new post yet, Scott-la stop doing whatever you are doing that is important and give us a new post! please!

  437. Seriously people, i need something to write about and no one is helping me. I’m like totally brain dead so i need as much help as i can get.

  442. I should. My last book was about werewolves. Oooooh, ScArY! Yeah, since then i couldnt think of anything…ill find something to do with vampires, no matter what it takes.

  443. Romance vampire books sell a lot. All my friends talk about them! (Including me). have you published it? If so what’s it called I want to read it!

  446. Bran-la and I are talking about her writing a book. have you guys read Twilight. I’ve read each one like 15 times each. (I can’t sleep well @ night so I have a lot of spare time on my hands.)

  449. HORRAY! I’m working on a book too. But I’m only 12 with barely ANY writing skills soooooo there’s NO WAY I’m publishing it.

  450. I can’t wait untill you publish a book. That’s what the HORRAY was for. :mrgreen: I’ll buy a copy no problem!

  456. I’m dying of boredom. Hurricane Dolly rained on us here in san antonio a ton. we all are soaked, so it’s all muddy outside and wet and stuff, so no one’s out, and my friend is all the way at the mall at san marcus, so there’s nothing to do!!

  472. yah realllyy
    there hasnt been a new post in like 4evvvvvvvvverrrrrr
    y cant he stop watever important thing he’s doing and devote his life to entertaining us???
    lol

  473. I agree SCOTT-LA STOP LIVING YOUR EXCITING LIFE AND GIVE US A NEW POST PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!! Isn’t it weird how none of us are on at the same time anymore, is anyone on?

  474. *sighs* Yeah, I’m on but you’re probably gone now…but I just wanted to say Bye to everyone! For two weeks! Gah! Adios mi loco amigas! LoL…

  483. hehe zep i have found that funny since i didn’t know wat a zep was since i started playing wow lol. its like another of my obession other than reading very time consuming both of them lol. well i am afriad of heights n its strange how just seein it in a picture or goin it on the game scares me. If i ever do get on 1 i would b scared to death but thrilled at the same time lol.

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