9 1 7 press

Typealyzer

2008-11-20T11:17:00.001-05:00

I have no feelings or ideals.

ISTP - The Mechanics
The Mechanics enjoy working together with other independent and highly skilled people and often like seek fun and action both in their work and personal life. They enjoy adventure and risk such as in driving race cars or working as policemen and firefighters.

The independent and problem-solving type. They are especially attuned to the demands of the moment are masters of responding to challenges that arise spontaneously. They generelly prefer to think things out for themselves and often avoid inter-personal conflicts.

Grete's Great Gallop

2008-10-05T11:50:00.001-04:00

Three weeks after the Montreal half marathon I ran Grete's Great Gallop in Central Park yesterday. My hubristic goal shortly after Montreal was to shave off 2 minutes only later to discover that my recovery was not as quick as I expected. In the week leading up to Grete's I didn't run much, and didn't feel like I ate well... so frankly didn't expect very much. If hit 90 minutes, I'd be happy. On the plus side, I expected the weather to be better, and would run with headphones, and more importantly, knew that the field would be deeper, all of which would help me keep pace.

Much to my surprise, I managed to shave off a minute and finish in 1:26:07, placing 181st in a field of 3871 and 33rd in my age and gender category. I averaged 6:34 minutes a miles (4:05-ish a Km). Perhaps most surprising was running the two laps in exactly the same time. (The course was two laps, plus a mile to Tavern on the Green). Another amusing note: I'm old enough to have an age graded discount of 21 seconds off my time. Somewhat daunting is how that discount really sets me back 110 places by gender.

Also running were Josko, Miguel and Susan, who did this race together two years ago. It was my first NYRR race. I almost missed this, but Ian Chillag, formerly of the Bryant Park Project, finished ahead of me at 1:21:07 in our age/gender category. We had talked in the summer about running together. Thanks to all that sent congrats.

Ownership Society

2008-09-23T19:00:00.000-04:00

TPM has a video on a right-wing pivot on the financial meltdown: blaming past Democratic Presidents and minority home ownership.

I remember another fellow talking up an "Ownership Society" a few years ago:

To give every American a stake in the promise and future of our country, we will bring the highest standards to our schools, and build an ownership society. We will widen the ownership of homes and businesses, retirement savings and health insurance - preparing our people for the challenges of life in a free society. By making every citizen an agent of his or her own destiny, we will give our fellow Americans greater freedom from want and fear, and make our society more prosperous and just and equal.

Yes. That's George W. Bush's 2005 inauguration speech.

DFW

2008-09-16T15:08:00.001-04:00

News of his death brought a dark cloud to an otherwise happy weekend. David Foster Wallace's piece on Roger Federer made me get a grounds pass for my first US Open in 2006.

After a couple aborted attempts, and a rendering of the book into three physical parts, I read The Infinite Jest in 2004 while studying public finance at Wagner. Both dealt with our desires and how to measure and realize them. I used to be a bit embarrassed to claim the Infinite Jest as one of my favorite books, as being a bit macho, but after reading the Memories at McSweeney's, there's no need to apologize for loving the work of a modest man who left a giant footprint.

Update (9/18): Jason Kottke provides a great collection of DFW links.

Montreal Demi Marathon

2008-09-15T22:42:00.000-04:00

For my first major roadrace since high school I ran the Montréal half marathon in 1:27:06.8, nearly three minutes under my goal of 90 minutes. I placed 47th out of 3053, 7th in my category of Men 30-34, and behind three women. I averaged about 6:40 a mile, and 4:10 per kilometer.

My 5K splits were fairly consistant, 20:18, 21:06, 20:25, 20:45. The second 5K was mostly up hill. It took me a while to figure out the markers, so my first 4 splits are real screwy. I would love to push my pace down to 6:30 miles, or better yet, 4:00 kilometers, and getting down towards 85:30 to 84:30 when I run in Grete's Gallop in Central Park on October 4th. On the otherhand, I don't really know how feasible losing 2 minutes is, it might be more like pounding out 2 minutes. My greater goal is to qualify for Boston, I think this was a good first step.

Josh ran his first marathon, and Mollie ran the half to help prepare for the New York Marathon.

Thanks to all that sent congrats.

Yasso 800s

2008-09-03T21:36:00.001-04:00

Josh and I did track work tonight. We a did a variation of Yasso's 800's, 8 x 800. The theory is the average time of the intervals become your target marathon time, i.e. 3:00 minute 800s translate to a 3:00 hour marathon. Though on the website, the number of intervals is 10.

So here's how I did:

1 2:49.0
2 2:42.2
3 2:40.6
4 2:37.0
5 2:41.3
6 2:41.0
7 2:42.2
8 2:36.6

Average: 2:41.6

Before I get too excited, there are skeptics. Nonetheless, it was great, and grueling workout. Yesterday I spilled over ten seconds to squeezing in a 5k in 18 minutes. My goal for the half marathon is 90 minutes. We shall see.

Black Star

2008-08-26T09:50:00.002-04:00

This is completely meaningless, but shows how good staging can create a nice juxtaposition... I like how Michelle's ~~necklace~~ brooch at times became rays emanating from the black microphone head... making a beautiful black star radiating from her heart.

It reminded me of Nikki Giovanni's magnificent poem "Sound in Space." Here's a bit:

Science teaches us that there is no sound in space and I think that's hogwash because if there is no sound in space how will all those wishes get up to the moon and anyone with an ounce of sense knows science fiction is much better than science fact because science fact tries to prove things like Thomas Jefferson wasn't diddling Sally Hemmings and everybody knows people diddle people all the time especially when they can't say no so yes there is sound in space and a large part of it says: I love you in a lot of different ways and when the language is unknown to the hearer other people say things like that is gibberish but love can never be gibberish . . . foolish for sure . . . silly you bet but the basis of all relationships is love which is then followed by trust and not the other way around because if trust was the basis there would be world peace and safe international travel but what I want to point out since it is always so important to do something useful is that you should, quite naturally, floss and nickels and dimes have a relationship with dollars and sense but not halves and quarters and machines that tell you deposit more money and Good Luck when it isn't luck that you need but better science which can explain how and why when all is said and done we are left with this density that forces us to recognize the Eagle Nebula is falling into itself and will one day be a planet though mostly we will not be around to see it and then there are those troublesome Black holes which are so totally fascinating though no one can exactly put their finger on what makes them so important and I am here to tell you I know: the density of a Black hole does not prevent light from escaping but rather that once light encounters the Black whole it finds such beauty and peace and comfort it no longer needs to search which is another word for love . . . and I do.

That last line gets me every time.

Resisting Arrest

2008-07-28T17:36:00.000-04:00

... so this is resisting arrest?

Museum of Jurassic Technology

2008-07-27T08:52:00.000-04:00

I had a couple recommendations to go to the Museum of Jurrassic Technology while in LA. Not to brag too much, but as a whole I think they're my favorite set of pictures from the trip. Keep in mind, I took these with a point and shoot, albeit a nice one.

There was a lot of fun stuff, but I was really excited for what I had already read about, several years ago. That is: Ricky Jay's antique dice collection. They're decaying, and I'm sure you'll agree, beautiful. I've been fan of his story telling, and read about them in New Yorker. There is a book of photographs of the collection and dice history in general.

Pineapple Street

2008-07-24T15:24:00.000-04:00

I was amused to see my little historic neighborhood in an iPhone spot. They're driving on Pineapple Street. Lady Middagh would be amused.

Replace Sheldon Silver

2008-06-20T13:08:00.000-04:00

Sheldon Silver cowardly sinking of congestion pricing made me mad. Now I can get even, by supporting Paul Newell for his Assembly seat.

National Security

2008-06-19T13:45:00.000-04:00

via Andrew Sullivan

"I refuse to be lectured on national security by people who are responsible for the most disastrous set of foreign policy decisions in the recent history of the United States. The other side likes to use 9/11 as a political bludgeon. Well, let’s talk about 9/11.

The people who were responsible for murdering 3,000 Americans on 9/11 have not been brought to justice."

They are Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda and their sponsors – the Taliban. They were in Afghanistan. And yet George Bush and John McCain decided in 2002 that we should take our eye off of Afghanistan so that we could invade and occupy a country that had absolutely nothing to do with 9/11. The case for war in Iraq was so thin that George Bush and John McCain had to hype the threat of Saddam Hussein, and make false promises that we’d be greeted as liberators. They misled the American people, and took us into a misguided war.

Here are the results of their policy. Osama bin Laden and his top leadership – the people who murdered 3000 Americans – have a safe-haven in northwest Pakistan, where they operate with such freedom of action that they can still put out hate-filled audiotapes to the outside world. That’s the result of the Bush-McCain approach to the war on terrorism," - Barack Obama, yesterday.

Loney, Dear

2008-06-19T10:13:00.000-04:00

A Mix of Blues

2008-06-18T15:11:00.000-04:00

Tipjoy

2008-06-13T15:57:00.002-04:00

Joško's brother & sister-in-law have a start up called Tipjoy, a site that enables users to give small contributions to great content. It builds on long-tail theory, and I think is an excellent revenue model where web browser ad blocking is common (I'm certainly guilty). The minimum is $5 to start tipping, and tips range from 5 to 50 cents. I'm set up at 10 cents, and find that I'm eager to pass them out.

Dap-per

2008-06-04T09:32:00.001-04:00

Before the audacity of blowing away the eXcel Energy Center... there was the dap. Forget stand by your man, Michelle elevated spousal support to a whole new level.

Two Fronts

2008-05-09T16:51:00.003-04:00

a) my election malaise is burning off... a twitter meme started "When Obama wins..."

My favorite: When Obama wins... we will all shower in beer and soap will be replaced with bacon.

Runner up: When Obama wins... Robert Downey Jr. will celebrate with hookers and blow.

b) I achieved my 4 mile goal on Wednesday, squeezing 4.1 miles in 26 minutes.

c) a new pair of Nike free 3.0s arrived today... when will I test them out?

**Update** I achieved my 6-mile goal tonight in the 3.0s, squeezing 6.05 miles in 40 minutes, missing my 5-mile goal by 20 seconds, I should have tried to push on the the 10k goal, but oh well.

Splits

2008-05-06T14:54:00.001-04:00

Along the lines of goals... here's a list I'll try to check off in the next two months.

Miles; Time; Pace (Min); MPH/Level

1/4- 1:10; 4:40; 12.85
1/2- 2:30; 5:00; 12.00
1- 5:30; 5:30; 10.90
2- 11:30; 5:45; 10.43

3- 18:00; 6:00; 10.00
4- 26:00; 6:30; 9.23
5- 33:00; 6:36; 9.10
6- 40:00; 6:40; 9.00

10K- 41:30; 6:40; 9.00

As a high school runner, I got my 1/2 down to just over 2 minutes (I could never get my first split much below 55 seconds); 4:55 mile, 10:10 2-mile and a 5k at 17 minutes and change. The one 10K I ran as part of the Drake Relays I vaguely recall being around 44 minutes, as I wasn't used to racing more than 2 miles during the spring. I didn't run competitively after my junior year.

Stronger Feet to Tougher Feats

2008-05-06T11:30:00.000-04:00

I've been loosely following the school of a less supportive shoe leading to stronger feet and a healthier body for a couple years. While in London, I came across the factory outlet for Terra Plana shoes and almost bought a pair. Then New York Magazine had Adam Sternbergh's extensive article when I returned. Which led me to search for athletic shoes along these lines.

I settled on some Nike Free's, which seem like the only large commercial line to follow this path. Even so, they're a bit elusive, so I picked up one pair of 5.0's at Niketown and a pair of 3.0s online. I toyed around with customizing a pair, but they don't allow the word "sweat" or "shop" let alone together.

See the video at NikeFree.com

Goals

2008-04-27T11:15:00.000-04:00

I joined a gym recently and have been thinking about goals. My first running goal was to get my 5K under 20 minutes (a little quicker than a 6:40 pace), and I did it. So I've set a new goal of 18 minutes, which I'm not too far from. This morning I entered the lottery for the NYC Marathon (November 2). If I get in (the drawing is in June) I'll have pretty intense new goal, but I'll go much slower.

The Letter of the Law and the Spirit

2008-03-29T21:02:00.001-04:00

A storyline is building in the Democratic primary of two kinds of leadership, more or less: the hard worker verses the prophet. The line tends to continue... this is what the worker has accomplished, but the prophet just talked.

But let's run the line in a slightly different way. My lait understand of a major difference in British and US law is that the US loves the letter of the law. The clarity that this activity is governed by that regulation, and here are the things you can do and this is what you for forbidden. The British conversely say these are principles we have to govern our actions, how we want it to work, but let's not get into details until we have a specific case with details.

In the US we see often see the negative implications in things like three-strikes, or the regulatory differences between regular and investment banks, or hedge funds and derivatives. More recently there was the TSA stomping on the civil rights of the poor woman with the nipple piercings. I'd argue that you also nurture a legal personality that parses words to build in loop holes, as we see with HRC. Sometimes the burden of keeping all that parsing clear becomes too difficult.

The problem with conflating the letter of the law as the best means to attain the spirit is that the letter is of the law is merely a means of measurement, but not a true representation of what is. "What is" takes context, descretion, consideration of impact, things that seem soft with out context, but crucial in the heart of any difficult problem.

Obama on the otherhand, while not being so detailed in the interest or tax rates, carries a heavy burden to deliver principles. Principles aren't so vulnerable to context. Principles see the effects of the details and realizes that the means of enforcement need to change (where the three strikes, the TSA fair particularly poorly).

Religion and Gender

2008-03-20T10:02:00.000-04:00

Obama's speech on race and religion has me thinking back to the church I grew up with. But for me, it was gender instead of race that disgusted me.

I grew up in the rather conservative Missouri Synod Lutheran Church since there was not a practically available parish from our family's (more conservative) Evangelical, or Norwegian Lutheran Synod. Here are churches that don't see women fit to vote on church matters, and who, in my experience, frequently called on wives to submit to their husbands in weddings.

I feel that I couldn't get out quick enough and spent several years with no interest to belong to a church. When I did, I went to Quaker meeting. And yet my parents still attend those synods, knowing that women and men are equal in the eyes of God... but also because church is important for spirituality and community, despite the shortcomings of those that preach there.

Campaigns Need to Cool It, Supporters Do Too

2008-02-26T14:28:00.001-05:00

From the LA Times, a great piece of leadership...

"It is important for me as well as Sen. Clinton to communicate to our staffs as well that . . . we're both trying out for quarterback, but we're on the same team," he said in a press conference, where he picked up the endorsement of Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.).

With tensions rising between the two remaining Democratic candidates, Obama was asked about Clinton's mocking comment that he was selling a vision of "celestial choirs" in attempting to persuade voters he could solve problems.

"I think things have gotten a little hotter over the last couple of days, but these things have gone, sort of, in ebbs and flows," Obama said.

One day after allegations that the Clinton campaign had circulated a photo showing Obama in Somali native dress, a reminder to voters of his African ancestry, Obama attempted to move on from the controversy.

"At this stage of the campaign, there are going to be dust-ups, particularly at the staff level," Obama said. "Certainly I don't think that photograph was circulated to enhance my candidacy. I think that's fair to say. Do I think it's reflective of Sen. Clinton's approach to campaigning? Probably not. And so at this point, my interest is just moving forward and talking about the issues that are going to be helpful to the people of Ohio.

This goes for supporters too.

The Pyrotechnic Imagination

2008-02-20T16:54:00.000-05:00

Arthur Lubow has a nice piece on Cai Guo-Qiang in the Sunday NYTimes Magazine.

For those that don't know, my blogger avatar is from Cai's piece Inopportune: Stage One when it was at MassMOCA.

Lessig

2008-02-20T12:07:00.001-05:00

Larry Lessig, one of my favorite people in the United States, is exploring two ideas:

a Change Congress bipartisan Congressional coalition that pledges not to take lobby/PAC money; ban expenditure earmarks; and support public campaign financing
that he is considering a campaign in California's 12th district

I think he can be the kind of inspiration Paul Wellstone was.

Guess who has a posse?

2008-02-07T13:38:00.000-05:00

Another piece of supporter created campaign material... from the street artist cum graphic designer Shepard Fairey.

Larry Lessig said of Wil.i.am's video that "It means something important about the potential for this man to bring together a nation, to signal change, to inspire, that he is literally the only candidate for whom something like this can look real." I think the same applies here, particularly since any other character would come off as Owellian in his oeuvre.

Lessig has his own interesting take on OBama.

Better Media

2008-02-03T08:51:00.000-05:00

I've never really understood how campaigns go through millions, and still have really lame content. So will.i.am's video is pretty moving, particularly capturing a beautiful multi-cultural, idealistic modern United States. And it was done on his own.

Motorhead Says It's OBama!

2008-01-14T14:58:00.000-05:00

I've been listening to Motorhead lately. I noticed that Bomber could be a rallying cut for Barack.

Ain't a hope in hell,
Nothing's gonna bring us down,
The way we fly,
Five miles off the ground,
Because we shoot to kill,
And you know we always will,
It's OBama

...
Because, you know we do it right,
A mission every night,
It's OBama

No night fighter,
Gonna stop us getting through,
The sirens make you shiver,
You bet my aim is true,
Because, you know we aim to please,
Bring you to your knees,
It's OBama

Campaign l337

2008-01-10T15:23:00.000-05:00

Another 1337-y campaign moniker... via Wonkette...

9iu11ani

OB in 08

2008-01-05T14:42:00.000-05:00

I just noticed how convergent OBama is to 08, OB 08 verses Ob 08.

It looks like you're thinking

2007-08-24T16:02:00.000-04:00

I caught another great Kinkenborg piece on the road about e-mail, sms and instant messaging.

So why does I.M. seem so radical? I think it's the slight delay built into the system -- the pause when the software indicates that the other person is typing. On the telephone, that would sound like the awkwardness of dead air. In I.M., it sounds like thinking, and anything that can make the chatter of two people typing over each other sound like thinking is incredible.

From Wiring the Frog, or Personal Tales From the Electronic Present, 16 August 2007.

Awesome comics-reading space

2007-08-22T13:40:00.001-04:00

Awesome comics-reading space
Originally uploaded by 917press

I'm in the midst of posting vacation pictures from Stockholm, Gothenberg and Copenhagen on Flickr. This is from Stockholm's Comic Library. Comic Library! Stop by and have a look!.

100% Walkable

2007-08-03T13:31:00.000-04:00

I've never owned a car* so it's been important for me to have good public transportation and walkable options where ever I've lived. After years of living in Brooklyn, I've managed to connect many neighborhood on foot. Walk Score is a site that scores an address for walkability. I thought the contrast between where I live now and where I grew up to be fascinating: 100 to 28.

One of the great stories of my adolescence was how in 7th or 8th grade (Mount Olive Lutheran parochial school) I was sent home by my teacher/principal for wearing shorts on a hot day. I ended up walking the whole way home (West Des Moines to South side, 10 miles) over the course of the day.

*I have made prodigious use of parental vehicles though.

Via Swissmiss

Look at me getting all 2.0'd

2007-07-31T18:11:00.000-04:00

Ironically, my Flickr photo Do Not Duplicate found its way into a presentation slide (slide 56) in the presentation Social Media for Communicators (Web2.0).

Hope Larson: The Escape Artist

2007-07-25T09:50:00.000-04:00

The Times continues to feed my psyche. This time it's having Hope Larson whose Gray Horses enchanted me earlier this year. She's got a little strip on finding Elizabeth (Smith, nee Bond) Custance's grave in Nova Scotia. She was the estranged wife of Henry More Smith, one of Canada's most notorious con men. Larson is also the partner of Bryan Lee O'Malley whose Scott Pilgrim series is pure pop fun.

Astroland: A Night Over the Town

2007-07-24T16:17:00.001-04:00

I've been to Coney Island three times this summer and gothamists seem universally nostalgic as Astroland and the Boardwalk will change with a huge redevelopment plan. So it was with particular glee I read constantly wonderful and usually rural Verlyn Klinkenborg's City Life piece today.

In particular:

If only more of life were as obvious as the Cyclone! What if every huge mistake felt as ineluctable as the moment when the gears mesh and the cogs cog and you feel those coaster cars lurch upward out of the station?
What if the pace of life always outpaced every dread and every dread contained so much secret pleasure? What if every day made your heart rise and your stomach sink and your head rattle, and the cost of doing it all over again was two bucks less than the cost of the original ride?

Here's to doing the good stuff over again, with a two dollar discount.

A Night Out With Dean and Britta at Heathers

2007-07-09T13:16:00.000-04:00

Heather's on 13th is where we have 78 RPM Sunday's. It's a nice time listening to records, with the kids running around, Heather is a great host, and very conscientious of her neighbors. Still, since opening Heather has struggled with her neighbors who don't seem to want her no matter how quiet her patrons are. So it was with delight I read in the Style section about Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips grabbing a drink there:

The quartet walked up to Heathers, a bar on 13th Street. As they stood outside smoking Camels, the bartender — probably mindful of noise complaints — popped out to shush patrons like a wayward librarian.

In the paper there was a nice shot outside of Heather's that didn't make it on the web, but I'm happy to hear more stories of how considerate Heather is to her neighbors.

First Time For Everything.

2007-06-22T16:01:00.001-04:00

Nice catch
Originally uploaded by matt semel

We celebrated Miguel's birthday by taking in the cross harbor rivalry. Despite two fierce rain storms, the game made it through nine. Most folks left after the third inning when a torrential rain came down. Those that stayed were treated to prime real estate behind home plate.

Odds of getting a souvenir increase at minor league games, and when 90% of 8000 leave... your odds get better. With improved odds, I caught my first foul ball, after bouncing off a sky box. Earlier, I asked several folks if they had ever nabbed a souvenir at a game. Next I'm going to ask people if they've ever won the lottery...

I've got Pics and so do Matt and Rebecca

What do you know about this place?

2007-06-06T12:19:00.000-04:00

I scored 112 points on the TONY "Essential NYC" Quiz! What about you?

Donate! Race for the Kids

2007-06-01T11:37:00.000-04:00

Many of you know about my 13-year old friend Mitchell. At the end of September, we're participating in Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York's Race for the Kids. The fundraiser supports the social workers and staff that make our match possible. In addition to our usual one-on-one time, BBBS also organizes great group activities like the camping trip we did in April. It's a fundraiser, but it's also an event that Littles, Bigs, family and friends can come together so you're welcome to join our team.

I'd love to collect as many small ($1-5) donations as possible. If you're interested in mentoring, please join our team, it's $25 to participate.

Thank you for your consideration and thank you for your support.

--
http://raceforthekids.kintera.org/2007/samteigen

Competing With Low Cost Competition

2007-05-11T09:44:00.000-04:00

The current war budget show down brought this to mind: when big corporations compete with smaller competitors with lower fixed and lower variable costs... they'll lose (Or at least they need huge subsidies and protections like the old integrated steel mills... and then lose).

So consider this paragraph:

The bill approved by the House would provide $42.8 billion total, with about $30 billion directed to the war effort for the next two months. It requires the president to report by July 13 on how the Iraqi government is performing in building its military and moving toward achieving political unity. Congress would then vote a second time on whether to give the administration the remainder of the money — about $50 billion — to maintain operations in Iraq through Sept. 30 or to restrict that money to deployment.

$30 + 50 equals $80 billion for war operations through September. What are the insurgents spending for their share of the conflict?

The Arcade Fire at Union Theater

2007-05-09T15:14:00.000-04:00

Joe and I were at Tuesday's show. One particularly nice thing announced at the performance was $1 from each ticket was going to Partners in Health for their work in Haiti. I was lucky to see Paul Farmer, the founder of PIH, speak a week ago in Seattle.

Another pleasant suprise, Joe saw a HS friend he hadn't seen in 10 years at the restaurant across the street.

Great show. Fun times.

Thomas Allen Pulp Fiction Diaramas

2007-02-16T15:33:00.000-05:00

Via Chip Kidd's James Ellroy covers, via Kottke, these wonderfully shot diaramas cut from pulp covers.

Super Hero Profiling

2006-12-30T17:03:00.000-05:00

Your results:
You are Spider-Man

Spider-Man		80%
The Flash		75%
Superman		65%
Hulk		60%
Iron Man		55%
Robin		55%
Supergirl		45%
Wonder Woman		40%
Catwoman		30%
Green Lantern		25%
Batman		25%

You are intelligent, witty,
a bit geeky and have great
power and responsibility.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test

Where Have I Been? I've Been Flickring

2006-11-13T11:30:00.000-05:00

Though I haven't been writing, I have been snapping. I even upgraded to Pro at Flickr, adding new photosets to navigate easier.

The MTA Is A Typographer’s Dream

2006-09-23T09:35:00.000-04:00

A couple weeks ago, as the doors of a 6 train were opening, I was struck by the typography on the outside of the train. Of the lit line signs, most are either LCD-like a crude calculator, or LED-looking like the crosswalk. But here was an LCD that had this beautiful criss-cross of lines that enable the train to change lines and maintain nice smooth typography.

Based on NYCsubway.org photos, they appear to be a variation of R142 or R143, and not new enough to be a R160. There may have been some sign revision among R143s.

It recalled the wonderful typography in Paul Pope's Batman 100 series, as done by Jared K Fletcher and John Workman. Below is a detail and larger portion of the credit page.

Here are text samples

And other line signs... Even though the 5 is in dots, the directional text would be like those above.

Bonus points for those who caught the Adam Bock/Clubbed Thumb reference in the title.

A Lot of Beliefs in One Magazine

2006-09-22T12:00:00.000-04:00

I'm kinda in the midst of jury duty now. After being selected on Tuesday, I went to court on Wednesday without much reading, expecting to be in court all day. I was wrong and without much reading until my lunch break when I picked up the latest issue of Believer. There's a lot of pieces in this issue that I connect with of late.

First of all, I owe it to Scott for bringing it to my attention a couple weeks ago. His partner Peter Bebergal has a review. Peter is also the close childhood friend of Jason, who just moved to Providence to teach at Roger Williams.

Jason got me back into comics this spring. The cover artist is Charles Burns, who did the beautifully creepy Black Hole, which I read early in the summer. Great intro, but not so satisfying ending in my esteem, nonetheless, the art is killer.

This issue is on games, which I love. The lead article is Paul LaFarge's profile on Dungeons and Dragons, and meeting one of the creators E. Gary Gygax. This closes out my LaFarge obsession, having read three of his novels in 3 months. The piece has a lot of good nuggets for novices and playas. I've been pushing LaFarge's The Facts of Winter to all my bilingual friends. Including my 18-year old cousin Max who is staying with me this month. He's got a one way ticket to Paris. Until then, he's exploring the City as a bike messenger.

Nick Hornby has an essay. I read his Fever Pitch before going to London and World Cup madness. Then Brian McMullen has a piece on how Zidane's headbutt was wikied in wikipedia.

Lastly, Georges Perec writes on crosswords and other word games, which I've been doing more since the spring, including seeing Wordplay with Joe's dad.

Of course there's more in the magazine, and there are other interests going on in my head, but this was a lot of overlap.

My trial doesn't start until Monday, and who knows how long it will last. But two days in, I got a lot of reading in and not much court time.

Style.com v. La Nano

2006-09-22T07:55:00.000-04:00

The bright light emininating against the sillouette, the tiling of monochromatic sheets... who's flattering whom?

Sik Muniz

2006-09-18T09:54:00.000-04:00

Vik Muniz: Atalanta and Hippomenes, after Guido Reni (Pictures of Junk) 2006

Fall has returned, not because were in mid September, but that the calendar of things to see quickly filled up.

Friday Jen and I saw People Speak at 45 Below. People Speak is a staged presentation of Howard Zinn's Voices of a People's History of the United States and is part of the Impact Festival.

Saturday I met Joe and Gretchen to catch a few gallery shows. First I wanted to make sure Joe saw Richard Serra's show at Gagosian: Rolled and Forged. I posted a few pics in Flickr.

Then we caught the show I was really looking forward to: Vik Muniz' Pictures of Junk. Last year I met Muniz when he gave a talk about his book Reflex. In the back room were his equally astonishing pictures of pigment. Though his art speaks for itself, there, was some icing: a time lapse film of Pictures of Junk being composed. This series took up area the size of a basketball court, requiring the photograph to proportionally higher. Leaving, I just shook my head, this stuff is just sick.... it's that good.

Then yesterday, I took in the Atlantic Antic with Gretchen. I met some folks who dig up old glass and other stuff from old Brooklyn cistern wells. Jen and Denise also had a table and scored an early long sleave Raeburn Ink tee.

Max and I went to Heathers for a 78 RPM Sunday, where Ethan spun some shellaced jazz from the 30s and 40s. I learned about Slim Gaillard in particular. Max, my 18-year old cousing from Rockland County, is staying with me this month to work as a bike messenger before heading off to Paris to do the same.

Geotagging

2006-09-15T13:15:00.000-04:00

This is how I spent my morning, geotagging my Flickr pictures. I didn't get it until I tried it, but this was really easy and amazing. Check out where my pics came from, particulary the Hay Lake photos.

Learning a New Camera

2006-09-15T09:34:00.000-04:00

Four months after a failed camera purchase, I'm trying again, and so far with better results. Check out my Flickr page for the test results...

These are (occasionally candied) fennel seeds from Hurry and Tasty Curry, my office Indian joint. The fennel aids digestion and tames breath if you didn't know.

Namaste

2006-09-13T14:16:00.000-04:00

After a few weeks of rooftop yoga, I finally got on the ball to look up some of terms that whiz by me. In particular, "namaste" (na-mas-tay). I was thrilled to learn means, "I bow to that of God in you." How amazingly Quaker... appreciating the light within. Though we speak of it in meeting, we do not greet each other as such, but if we acknowledge it more in each other, perhaps individually we'll exhibit it more.

As I think more about it, some talk as if it is easier to kill or otherwise devalue other human we feel are godless, infidels and the like... but what would/does it mean to a being that has part of God in them? Frequently Genesis is cited how God made humans in God's image. Being the dawn of humanity it means all humans, regardless of Jew, Christian, Muslim et al, has God in them. So for every human we kill and maim, we do unto God, whether directly or indirectly.

Bahn Mi Oh My, An Explanation

2006-09-13T14:07:00.000-04:00

Clint asked that I explain what bahn mi is, besides some cheap food that I seem to like.

Bahn mi are Vietnamese sandwiches. The standard is on a French baguette (8in). Then a few slices of fatty roast pork, with some pate spread on, then filled with daikon radish, pickled carrots, peppers, cilantro and mayo. In the end, it's balanced between sweet and savory, gooey and crisp, rich and bitter, hot and cool. They also have meat balls (usually with some fish in it), and more of a pulled pork.

Josh put it best three bites into his first bahn mi, "Say what you will about colonialism, but this is a darn good sandwich."

They usually go for about $3, though around 4.25 in more gentrified neighborhoods. You can usually get SE asian beverages (lychee juice, durian shakes, White Birds nest, tamarind) for and dollar or two, for a complete meal for $5. A couple of the better known shops split their store front with jewelry shops or other business ventures. I'd look for it anywhere with a significant SE Asia population.

Pent Up Miscellany

2006-09-13T13:59:00.000-04:00

Thus opened a flood gate to spew forth pent up miscellany...

I was struck by Maggie Gyllenhall's blonde job in Sherrybaby... if for nothing else that it echoes, but not quite captures the poor-rural-bottle-blonde that some of my cousins have sport... though with severe roots.

I'm reading Paul LaFarge's Haussmann, Or The Distinction, where there is something to gnaw on for urban planners, students of LeCorbusier or Moses, and even those obsessed with the Atlantic Yards project. Plus there's a great passage that made me a bit more cat-allowing..

(p56) "And Madeleine loved most of all that which was catlike in herself, in other words, that which achieved freedom without struggle and independence without loneliness, and for all that never had to go long without food."

Between him and Amy Hempel, I might yet turn out to be an animal lover.

David Foster Wallace's profile on Roger Federer put me over the edge, so I went to my first US Open. Highlights include seeing the unseeded Misha Youzny upset #6 Tommy Robello, he then beat #2 Nadal then lost to Andy Roddick in the semis. Also, I saw eventual champion Maria Sharapova in her third round match. All tennis related DFW writings are magnificent

I've graduated from AM New York and Metro's crosswords to the Times. Thursday is possible in collaboration. Wordplay is what really put me over the edge.

I've been listening to... a torrent of new music. The hottest track this summer is Lily Allen's Friday Night. I'll zap it anyone who's curious. There's also a sharp cut from Talib Kweli with HiTek, Slim Thug and Snoop Dog called This is How We Do It. Also the new Dylan is as good as reported.

I had my best trip to MoMA since I saw the Bonnard show eight years ago. Mariani was back from Providence, so we met at MoMA where Karen was leading a gallery tour of MoMAs new show, Out of Time. After coffee in the sculpture garden, we did a quick tour of the Dada show. Having gone once, it was great to have two art historians and crafty lady to go through and chat with.

Cherimoyas are in season... such a narrow window for such a creamy delicious fruit.

Mariani, Josh and I went to the Scott McCloud book release party at Rocketship. He signed my copy of Understanding Comics, and I got to chat with him about how much the book has occupied my attention in the rest of my work. It's one of the best books on aesthetics, not just of comics.

Rolling Birthday Outings

2006-08-09T15:24:00.000-04:00

Observances started with my last supper... with Jason and Marianthi, the night before the movers came. We caught a small action movie. Well really, it was Jen crossing Fifth Avenue, trying to get the bus without the bus getting her. There was quick glances in either direction, some indecision, and a final sprint.

As the case my five prior birthdays, I got a lot of mail... our proposal deadline. I also got some nice messages from all over. I didn't have formal plans for the evening, so I was going to go to rooftop yoga at the Can Factory. I got some nice treats from Bill and Fredrica, so I was going to bring them to class too... but when I got home, I was locked out. I had left my house keys at office. But when I got let into the building, I went to get my spare hidden set... but I had given them to David and Molly.... and was still locked out. Yoga time came and passed and went back to the office to get my keys. As a small consolation, I picked up the very excellent collection of Yoshihiro Tatsumi comics edited by Adrian Tomine.

Wednesday I got a bahn mi, caught a show, and caught up with Dave's inaugural outing of his rolling week of birthday celebrations. Thursday the heat broke, Josh and I caught Captain Jack and company. Friday Josh & I played tennis and got Indian, then Dena and Melissa & I took in some sights and sounds around the Gowanus Canal.

Saturday was the planned event of inexpensive eats and soccer watching at the Red Hook Ballfields. The food was even better than I had hoped for, including the very excellent and refreshing cantaloupe juice. I got to kick around with Mitchell and Adam, then cooled off with a few cervesas.

Sunday I went to meeting, got a Brooklyn bahn mi, bought some summer clothes. Monday Gretchen introduced me to a taqueria near the office, for which I'm very thankful for. And then last night brought closure to last Tuesday's frustration. I had cool rooftop yoga class and shared my goodies (cheese, quince and rioja) with Joe, Gretchen and Lucy. It was a perfect way to close out a week of birthday happenings.

No Title [a poem]

2006-08-05T12:46:00.000-04:00

I write mysteries on napkins
I build homes with sand.
My world is governed by tides.
Their washing away of monuments,
My soaking them up in blurred sheets
Torn easily by charms and spells disguised
As urgent notes and phone numbers.

My New Favorite Amy Hempel Line

2006-08-04T11:19:00.000-04:00

From the novella Tumble Home:

Where is the consolation in this? It is in humiliation, which brings the softness of heart that allows you to listen to God.

How very Quaker of her.

Other sticky lines:

The need for the new love is faithfulness to the old -"The Children's Party"

And when the men kissed the women good night, and their weekend whiskers scratched the women's cheeks, the women did not think shave, they thought: stay. -"Weekend"

Russians in the Backyard

2006-08-03T16:15:00.000-04:00

I've often been lukewarm on Chekhov and many of the Russian bougeois dramas of boredom... and then it snapped. Last night really, seeing Ripe Time's Betrothed. The play draws on three stories of women about to be married. The second section is based in Chekhov's story Betrothed.

But what snapped for me were two lines by Sasha:

"It all seems somehow strange to me here, now I am out of the habit of it," he went on. "There is no making it out. Nobody ever does anything. Your mother spends the whole day walking about like a duchess, Granny does nothing either, nor you either. And your Andrey Andreitch never does anything either."

Later...

"And however that may be, my dear girl, you must think, you must realize how unclean, how immoral this idle life of yours is," Sasha went on. "Do understand that if, for instance, you and your mother and your grandmother do nothing, it means that someone else is working for you, you are eating up someone else's life, and is that clean, isn't it filthy?"

And then it hit me. This is what the suburbs are like. This is what retirement homes are like. This is what many of us strive for. A place where one does little, and aspires to do less. Yeah, we work... that's what we call it, but how much do we engage with each other, and how much do we fantasize about it. Besides that, what exposure do suburbs give us? Very little, and and aspiring to less. The idea I suppose is that we fill it up with what we want: mTV, fantesy sports, glossy magazine, directTV.

It detaches us from what most people struggle with: lame jobs, crap to buy, severe medical and environmental conditions. Where can it take us? Desperate Housewives, Colombine, Chekhov.

The Times Likes Tacos Too

2006-07-26T11:20:00.000-04:00

Photo from NYCnosh Flickr set

Mark Bittman has a nice piece on making tacos at home, and it doesn't involve Old El Paso or seasoned ground beef.

He aptly captures what I've been looking for in my recent taco craze: "It’s about the ingredients, as high quality and as fresh as possible."

I think he's a bit too disparaging about the state of east coast tacos, though even among my favorites, there is a huge chasm between the top and middle tiers. My advice for taco hunters, besides just going to the Slope's Tacos Nuevos Mexico or Tehuitzingo in Hell's Kitchen, is that taco quality is an inverse function of decor sophistication, a primary trait being the abundance of green neon lighting. But good tacos exist in New York as surely as the Mexican workforce.

Now That's Lip Smacking

2006-07-25T13:41:00.001-04:00

New York magazine just released it's list of 101 Best Cheap Eats. It's a topic I'm particularly fond of. I've gone through many phases over the years (currently bahn mi and tacos) and built up my favorites joints. I used to guide visitors through the city based on what kind of food they craved and cheap eats were the staple. It 's fun to see this list of things to discover and gems still hidden (so I'm not really sweating the snubs).

Noted that I recommend too: Frankies in Carroll Gardens, Danny Meyer's Shake Shack, Schnack in Columbia Heights, Oms/B near the office, and Le Parker Meridien's Burger Joint.

The omissions: Rice in Nolita and Dumbo, Tacos Nuevos Mexico on 5th Avenue Brooklyn, Ba Xuyen in Sunset Park (better Bahn Mi than Saigon Bakery), Flor's Kitchen's arepas in the LES, Ruben's empanadas on Broome Street, Baraket's stuffed grape leaves on Houston, and Golden Krust west indian pockets scattered around the boroughs.

Thus several of my food cravings are outlined: shakes, dogs, tacos, bahn mi, West Indian pockets, grape leaves, arepas, empanadas, and this doesn't even include street vendors. Any one care to grab a bite?

Tragic Ending to 25 Matches [Update]

2006-07-10T11:51:00.000-04:00

In the past month, I saw the better part of an astonishing 25 World Cup games. Like Nick Hornby's admission in Fever Pitch, I spent starling amounts of time as an idiot. And I'm sure I'll do it again.

In the end, I was for France, drawn in by not only the story of their older (as in my age) squad, but by beautiful and tenacious playing by Zizou and Ribery in particular. And so their loss wasn't so crushing as seeing Zidane's thuggish head butt. An unsettling reversal to Italy's early thugghishness against the US. Moreover, the loss was hardly convincing. Though Italy dominated the first half, France dominated the rest, having the best scoring chances and the more beautiful play.

Sport, as much of our lives is unpredicatable and confusing. How can we love players who mar themselves and their sport with brutal violence or distasteful cunning? Poor judgement driven by emotions also struck Rooney, Figo, C.Ronaldo, Frings, Ballack. Is it any consolation that Mazeratti is a known thug? Little. Zidane scripted his mixed legacy of the Best Player of this Cup and the most regrettable exit. Pundits were calling for opera and we were given a grand tragedy.

[Update]- Robert Weintraub offers an interesting perspective in Slate.

Recent One Liners

2006-07-10T10:28:00.000-04:00

Josh, three bites into his first Bahn Mi: Say what you will about colonialism, but this is a darn good sandwich.

Norm (via his Demesne): It used to be that one had to go to the circus and pay money to see a lady with a tattoo. Now I only have to ride my bicycle around Lake Calhoun to see the same thing for free.

Holiday Music

2006-07-06T13:57:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago I was excited about Au Revoir Simone playing two NYC shows (6/29 & 6/30), and ambivalent about We Are Scientists, the headliners... but when the 6/30 show soldout, I leapt at Jean's offer to see the first evening. As much as I love their intimate album, I found Au Revoir Simone to be cold on stage and not much fun at all. But We Are Scientists really blew me away. Their songs were jolty, plucky, full of life. The drummer in particular was a superb contrast to cold rhythms of ARS and the other opener, the tedious Double.

On the Fourth, a team of us went to Battery Park to see Belle & Sebastian. After hours of a frustratingly penned line, we finally got to stake our claim by the sound board. Storms threatened, thankfully cutting short Martha Wainwright's set short. I've now seen her twice, and will only see her as a hurdle to endure before a band I want to see.

B&S had dropped, in particular to the mediocre "Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like A Peasant." Dear Catastrophe Waitress wasn't enough of a rebound, but I was open to their latest, The Life Pursuit, in part due to the unrelated collection of Belle & Sebastian comics Put the Book Back on the Shelf.. Nothing like celebrating independence with a band from the old country.

In the evening Lars & Frauke joined Jason &amp; Mariani, Tam & Lisa and me on my roof to catch the fireworks.

Tommorrow, I'm psyched to round out the Scottish invasion with my new favorite band... Camera Obscura. I'm going to teach Mitchell some tennis strokes in the afternoon.

Freedom Tower: An Unfortunate Mirror

2006-06-28T14:47:00.000-04:00

The major change was to the 187-foot-high base,
which will be clad in a screen of glass prisms rather than metal panels.

The latest design for the Freedom Tower has just been released. A year ago I lamented the awful decision to make the first 20 or so stories a grim steel and concrete base. But in a regretable progression, they are now sheathing the base in a screen of glass prisms. Thus the poetic effect enhanced. The screen becomes superficially inviting while remaining impentrable at its core. A fitting monument to a unilateral, devisive administration with a knack for Orwellian double-speak. A "Clear Skies" type facade to compete for symbolic meaning with the 1776 foot spire.

France over Spain: Thoughts on Dives

2006-06-28T10:26:00.000-04:00

For full disclosure, I wanted France to win (which they did 3-1) and I share the consensus that, when it matters, Spain will choke.

There is a bit grumbling among Spanish fans that Thierry Henry of France (known for his tenacity to keep on his feet) took a dive in the second half that led to the set play where France took its lead. But how did Spain score in the first place? On a foul, and not a particularly hard on in the penalty box, giving them a PK in first 30 minutes. Take away the set piece and the PK, then France wins 2-0.

The prevalence of dives and their ensuing penalty kicks have been important in several games for me (Ghana against the US, Italy over Australia, the Ukraine over Tunisia). A penalty kick awarded by an official, on average is 70% certain, a set play hardly as successfully. France still had to put it in, and only by deflection did they.

There are a couple interesting perspectives on dives. Dave Eggers theorizes US mistrust of soccer is fueled by flopping , being "a combination of acting, lying, begging, and cheating." But today Austin Kelley advocates for the devil, and compellingly so.

"Far from being a sign of corruption, diving is, in certain ways, a civilizing influence. Divers are usually quicker, smaller players. As athletes get bigger and stronger, the little guy gets nudged aside. If professional fouls and brute force reign supreme, creative play and joyful improvisation will suffer."

I'm not convinced, and I blame FIFA and their officials as being too zealous to call fouls and book players. Officials can punish divers by ignoring them. There are number of great players sitting out games for lame cards (diving is a bookable offense, though not applied consistantly), and enough questionable penalty kicks to alter the final eight. The flip side is watching Brazil benefit from calls, providing their second goal against Ghana that should have been waved for a clear offsides. No one anticipates it getting better, we're merely near the end of the tournament.

London: The Cup Runneth Over

2006-06-27T13:07:00.000-04:00

While in London, I watched a slew of matches. Before seeing Titus, I saw the US look hapless against Croatia (3-0), and France and the Swiss frustrating draw before catching Enemies.

I got sucked into the Rooney watch as England stumbled its way out of the first round. Judy led us to the Korean dominated Nags Head tavern where Korea beat Togo. Only when we stepped out did we realize that the Korean over took all of Covent Garden as they took to the streets to celebrate. (Jason later told me of the corresponding chaos in LA). And then there were the amazing nail biters of Germany over Poland and Sweden over Paraguay, each victorious 1-0 in the final minutes.

My enthusiasm was stoked by print media adverstings and of course all the #7 & #9 jerseys.

So on returning I've continued to follow games, dispite the dearth of Cup coverage here. On top of that, my faithfulness is often met with frustration. My teams keep going down: the US, Korea didn't advance, Mexico dropped by Argentina, Australia falling to Italy, the Dutch to Portugul. On top of that, key players are sitting on the wings hardly controling games, Henry, Zidane, C. Ronaldo, Ronaldhino, Beckham, Rooney, the only stars who seem to shine are Germany's Klose and Ballack.

Perhaps the most formidable and frustrating team to watch has been the officials, doling out record numbers of bookings. They gave Ghana a win over the US with an awful PK at the close first half (it should have been a tie); Italy's PK-win in the extra time (90+) against Australia (it should have gone into over time); just now padded Brazil's win over Ghana, failing to call a clear offsides. Ghana, whom I was still upset by their US game, won me over by dominating the midfield and short game against Brazil. If only they had someone who could finish.

The other annoying persistant team is ESPN who have dominated english language broadcasts to no one's benefit. The commentary is inane and the their spastic graphics usually cover the ball the action on field. It's enough to learn Spanish.

Good To Be Home: Funny Sights

2006-06-23T10:09:00.000-04:00

I don't like words on clothes for the most part. But last night on the UWS there was a deliciously revealing instance. Waiting to cross the street, there was a pretty, petite lady dressed mostly indescript. Except the back of her t-shirt had a small logo, mostly obscured by her bag's strap, leaving only the tag line: The Future of Adult Entertainment.

---

Tuesday night, during the intermission of the Classical Theatre of Harlem's movingly Katrinafied staging of Waiting for Godot, Michael and I went to a bodega to get a cold refreshment. Ahead of Michael, this little boy, eight or ten years old is buying a bag of ice. He pays with a Benjamin. Without blinking or holding it up to the light, the counter guy takes it, hands back some change without counting it back. The kid takes the change without counting and leaves.

London: Books & Plays [Updated]

2006-06-21T15:48:00.000-04:00

Why some habits are hard to regain and others so easy, I'll never understand. After a few days, the trip to London with my folks is digesting in a number of ways. So I'll try to break it down.

First off, as my habit, I loaded up on complementary reading material: Fever Pitch, Nick Hornby's memoir of his football obsession; Plays 1, the first collection of plays by Caryl Churchill, including Owners and Cloud Nine; and The Complete Plays of Sarah Kane. All of which delve into the not so pleasant aspects of the British psyche.

I managed to catch two plays: Titus Andronicus at the Globe and Enemies by David Hare (after Maxim Gorky) at the Almeida.

Titus, Shakespeare's money making blockbuster, lived up to expectations in this gory production. I've only seen this production and Julie Taymor's film, but both make me marvel at some of the soliloquays inbetween the horror... in contemplating grief and violence. The one major distraction was the awful bouffant mullets forced on Tamara's son's ..not quite fitting the otherwise predominant Elizabethan staging.

Enemies was searing with intense commentary on owners and the proletariat, and a nifty bit of metatheater, fitting for Hare's Stuff Happens, regarding the Iraq War, particularly the role in government to protect or exploit civilians. All sides seem tragic and disaster is prophesied. It was also good to get out of Central London as the Almeida required.

In a coda of sorts, I just read Korean filmmaker Park Chanwook's interview in Bomb by Esther Chae. Chanwook just closed a much heralded vengeance trilogy composed of Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy, and Lady Vengeance. Chae mentions Titus among others as classic tales of vengeance and asks Chanwook to cite any Korean classics that deal with personal vengeance, to which he says there are none:

"We have tragedies related to war and colonization, but we don't have a culture where on expresses anger in an aggressive way. I didn't' have any literature to refer to. And I find it stifling that we don't have such traditions"

[Update] Ben Brantley must have been at my heels. The show I wanted to see but couldn't get a ticket for was Tom Stoppard's new play Rock N Roll that just opened. Brantley's review came out today. 2/3's down he give a mention of Enemies:

"What is to be done?" might also be the mantra of "Enemies," a new adaptation by the industrious David Hare of Maxim Gorky's 1906 drama of aristocrats and proletariats at loggerheads, which ends this weekend at the Almeida Theater.
Performed with naturalistic vibrancy by a fine cast directed by Michael Attenborough, "Enemies" oozes the juicy ruling-class angst, idiosyncrasy and moral paralysis associated with classic Russian fiction. But it also presents an array of ardent, revolution-ready factory workers. The more insightful of the fluttery aristocrats envy the workers their certainty. But it's telling that the uncertainty of the doomed upper-class characters is what feels convincing, and unsettlingly familiar.

SuperHirn Mini!

2006-06-06T21:23:00.000-04:00

Joe & Gretchen have this game I really love: MasterMind, but in mini-travel-small apartment size.

A couple weeks ago I was visiting and we played a couple rounds, causing me to lament how the travel version is no longer made. And in a flash, I realized I could see if there was one available on EBay. There was one auction from the UK, and Joe did the bidding for me (since I lack paypal and any history). Well we lost.

Then, like a better date when another falls through, another came out of no where (well Greece), had a "buy it now" price, and was in German to boot. So here's the good parts: it's prestine, never played; the "grading peg" hols are in a little circle; and best of all, Joe brought it over tonight.

Simply amazing how quickly it all happened, almost as amazing as having a friend like Joe to carry it out.

Interweb... mehr als nur ein Spiel

No Title [a poem]

2006-06-03T11:30:00.000-04:00

we love legends and myths
to exaggerate the heroic
and make it supernatural
and yet
we remain in despair
because we forget
of what we are capable

Sparks on Streets & Screens

2006-06-02T16:09:00.000-04:00

I have seen "sparkling rain" that crackled and struck up sparks when it hit the ground.
--From Breathing Jesus

This line had just been sewn into my thoughts... I'm deep into Amy Hempel's Collected Stories now, and yesterday we had sparking rain. Well last night, since that's what happened. Is it a purely modern night time urban phenomenon, reliant on pavement and head/street lights? After pilates, I got drenched, so I had to quick run home to change to less absorbant clothes before catching An Inconvenient Truth with Josh. When I went back out, I walked without my glasses on, faced the warm rain, and caught some great lightning flashes.

An Incovenient Truth was an incredible film, accomplishing several things at once. Primarily, it lays out the threat and possible solutions to global warming with great clarity. Second, it presents a rich, layered portrait of Al Gore and how long he's absorbed this issue. Third, and I think this is paradigm shifting, I think this will lead to the politician as film subject rather than book author to herald national ambitions. The rich portrait of the person, the thorough treatment of an issue protrayed as complex and controversial, a unifying film, of nation and species. It is truely populist.

Please see this film, for yourself, for me, for our kids.

Bowled Over By Short Plays

2006-06-01T12:22:00.000-04:00

My thumbs are sore, but that's at the end of the story.

Last night's Take 5 organized by Clubbed Thumb was a delight on many accounts. First it was a treasure hunt of guerrilla theater around the Ohio Theater: 15 plays, 70 or so minutes, scattered over 2-ish blocks. Sibyl & I hit 7 or 8 of them after some necessary preliminary strategizing and mapping. We occasionally ran from site to site... but as old people do... that awkward prance.

First on my list was Scott Adkins piece, a concise meditation on parasites and attacking toy monkeys. Sigh, how far he's traveled from the squishy cuddly sock monkey. The last two pieces were particularly fun for their spectacle... an olde tyme revival celebrate Pocahontas, complete with call and response and congregational singing. Then the finale: a seemingly ad hoc glee club and a "song against terror."

The ensuing party presented the bonus, zany treat of bowling complete with discrete lanes. It was like candlepin bowling I imagine, only with water bottle pins, and coconut/turnip balls. Sibyl and Homer both picked up some difficult spares. Then another bowler missed the pins, struck the backstop, causing the coconut to split with Homer catching the two halves. The juice sprayed over Homer, but the meat was ready to be eaten. It was from prying coconut meat from the shells that my thumbs are sore. At a certain point, my determination (and thus my thumbs) was not match for the nut's stubbornness. Mmmm coconut meat...

Fine Leather Goods

2006-06-01T12:19:00.000-04:00

Many people know that instead of a wallet. I use a rubber band. It dates back five years when I was mugged. I developed a perverse rationale that I could just hand away my cash and potentially keep my cards if it happened again (it hasn't). But now there are several advantages: It's no bigger than it needs to be in my pocket; I'm not limited to five bills (as with a cigarette case); the postman brings me two every day so I'll never be without a replacement.

So two wallet related interactions gave me chuckles. First, another friend/vendor with Jen at the 5th Avenue Street Fair makes leather bags and footware, but none for boys. Her initial response to asking about stuff for boys, was wallets. Then Monday, since he missed my graduation cook out, Mitchell gave a present.... a leather wallet (Kenneth Cole Reaction no less).

I gave using it some serious thought, but realized that I can't stuff it into my pocket, especially without pleated pants. But I've got to keep it. So I'll use it for the cards at home that I don't carry with me. That seems fair. I used the box for another gift already.

Pigment [a poem]

2006-05-30T08:11:00.000-04:00

Prone to breezes, I get carried away,
Steeped in my environment,
Though failing to dissolve.
The city was colored with visitors,
A crudely scrawled moustache
On the Mona Lisa, easily removed
But always replaced.

Bruised by the irony
Of fragile charcoal,
Exquisite color rubbed out
By time if not by hand;
I prayed for oil and a painter.
Someone to capture me and
Someone to fix me
To a lip, a breast, a heart.

The Universe We Perceive

2006-05-29T23:04:00.000-04:00

As much as I was engaged by Freakonomics, I was bothered by a phrase repeated, that economics analyzes the world as it is, not how it ought to be. I my contention is that economics only analyzes the world as it is measured, not as it is. Especially as we consider policy, it's an important distinction.

So I was very impressed at the end of The Golden Ratio by Mario Livio when he writes "mathematics is the symbolic counterpart of the universe we percieve" (italics his). The last chapter touches on the ontology of numbers and their use in scientific models, challenging the popular notion that mathematics is objective. Another aspect of this "challenge" is our notion that 1+1=2. Livio writes:

Other itelligent civilations out ther might have developed totally different sets of rules (for science & math), if their mechanisms for perception are very different from ours. For example, when one drop of water is added to another drop or one molecular cloud in the galaxy coalesces with another, they make only one drop or one cloud, not two. Therefore, if a civilization that is somehow fluid based exists, for it, one plus one does not necessarily equal two.

And to tie this all together, the Golden Ratio (phi=1.6180339...) is used to calculate the spirals of galaxies much as nautilus seashells and pentagrams.

Thoughts on Creators, Divine and Human

2006-05-28T16:01:00.000-04:00

"That, which can change us, is within us"

"When I attempt something of my own design, I lose that peace"

These were lines from different testimonies at meeting this morning. One line led me, the other line I opposed.

A couple days ago, I poo poo'd Sibyl for saying that she doesn't feel that she is the one writing her plays, but more along the lines of channeling from some ineffable source. It's a common sentiment. Somehow sitting in Quaker meeting got me to think of Frank Miller and Sin City. In the collection of the first volume, Miller writes that he didn't expect the "Marv" story to go on so long, but that he had no choice, Marv wouldn't quit. Despite the vicious violence that Marv exerts, he is obviously a hero. He survives and strives because it's in his character, and at the end, he accepts his punishment at the electric chair because he accomplished his goals, far beyond what his creator first imagined.

Two thoughts come out of this. First, human striving is it's own reward and goal. Second, that writers, creators and audiences, delight when their characters take off on their own, writing themselves through trials, victories and defeats... why should this be any different for our creator.

In the first thought, it makes more satisfying the end of Goethe's Faust. After spending 5+ hours watching Faust travel with and benefit from his time with Mephisto, at Faust's death, Mephisto leaves empty handed and Faust's soul goes to Heaven. Believe it or not, there is a similarity with Frank Miller's Marv. Demonic in their adventures, both remain true to themselves, Faust to his human striving, Marv to his vengeance. As an audience, we are compelled with the nature of their struggles; Faust's realizing that power does not bring happiness; Marv's escalating danger as he discovers Goldie's murderer.

The second thought is closely related, and illustrates why I don't believe in an intervening God. The best characters are envisioned by their creators with everything to take them through the story whether or not the ending is pleasant. Note too, how stories and characters disappoint when their creator clearly jerks them apart from what their soul (for lack of a better term) would otherwise choose. Tolstoy can't save Anna Karenina by writing in a good shrink. Likewise, I believe our creator set us in motion, and like fictional characters, we make choices, we determine action. For God to intervene to answer our prayers, and undermines our life, which is to say, the story.

Another thread to consider, is the nature of worship. When has a fictional character worshiped it's own creator? Doing so suggests no self determination on the part of the character, and unbelievable arrogance on the part of the creator. Though God is god and we are mortals, there is an interesting juxtaposition. Do we not celebrate the creator by loving the creation: the characters, the setting, the opportunities? Furthermore, characters tend to regard their creators like Daffy Duck did Chuck Jones ( in Duck Amuck), teasing and fighting efforts to erase body parts and draw ridiculous situations. But there is still a bit of love, affection and joy in that tension. Could a similar relationship lies between our creator and ourselves?

Returning to the first two lines. I do feel that which can change us lies within us. It is part of our creation, endowed by our creator. But in contrast to the next line, perhaps we should not pray for peace so much as we should pray for striving, it makes for a better story.

Squared Poem I

2006-05-27T13:12:00.000-04:00

Lucid moments drawn from the inkwell
Moments of unconsciousness steeping in paper
Drawn out of mulched conversations and bleached
From the taillights of passing thoughts,
The words disappear and reappear in the
Inkwell, refusing to stay on the page.

Literary Event of the Year? Amy Hempel Is Back In Stores

2006-05-26T10:27:00.000-04:00

This may become the summer of short stories.

I've been delighted with Etgar Keret's stories, and I'm a bit hungry for more.

But I've got another gem on deck. Ever since reading Chuck Palahniuk's essay "Not Chasing Amy," I've been fruitlessly hunting for books by Amy Hempel. They're out of print. Good luck finding a used copy. But a few weeks ago her collected short stories was released, and I snatched a copy up right away... hardcover no less. Adding to my excitement was a little piece by Benjamin Strong in the Voice.

Each ode to Hempel (Palahniuk, Strong, the intro by Rick Moody) pulls out singular lines that hit you like a ton of bricks. For instance, "The impact knocked two days out of my head, but all you can see is the cut on my chin," or "The year I began to say vahz instead of vase, a man I barely knew nearly accidentally killed me."

The Anti-Allegory of the Cave

2006-05-24T18:16:00.000-04:00

Flickr pic by Wsyz

So there are lot of pictures and articles and hubbub... but it took me a few days... and an actual visit to realize that Apple's new store entices us into Plato's cave, rather than escape.

This effect is heightened when you go down on a nice sunny day. There are those who argue, and rightly so, that Fifth Avenue commerce is hardly reality, but in a literal sense, there are obstacles, climate, risks, food, beauty and so on. But what do shoppers do, they step down, away from the light. They position themselves in front of the screen that projects images that aren't there, merely forms. Or perhaps they put on headphones and listen to musicians scattered across the globe. Perhaps most ironic, that for the obsessed, it was their own philosopher-king that drew them into the cave.

Too much fun to concentrate [Updated]

2006-05-23T16:47:00.000-04:00

For all sorts of reasons there hasn't been much opportunity to post lately, mostly because there's been all sorts of thoughts and conversations swirling around my head that haven't really formed themselves in any coherent way. Plus, I'm having fun, being social, and I'm getting plum tuckered out.

So in no particular order.... last night Frauke and I saw the Girodet exhibit at the Met. This painting in particular was fun as the artist's revenge against an unhappy patron. I spent a lot time with Frauke and her husband Lars this past week since David and Molly were visiting. David & Lars have known each other for over 15 years.

The five of us all saw Target Margin's Faust. Among the marvelous elements was this gem of a line: "to be polite in German is to lie." Really, when I thought about it, one is polite when there isn't genuine affection. A lie indeed.

Sunday's highlight was picking up another Raeburn Ink shirt, street fair corn on the cob, and blue ribbon sushi.

I've been reading The Golden Ratio, when a line is cut in an extreme and mean ratio. So it was fun to open up Esopus #6, on process, with cut-outs by mathematician John Conway to make your own dodecahedron model (a platonic solid).

I also just picked up Etgar Keret's collection of short stories The Nimrod Flip Out. Dan and Victoria had screened the film version of Pizzeria Kamikaze, so I felt impulsive today to dig a bit deeper. Very fun so far... a bit of George Saunders, a bit of Will Self... and a whole lot that's new.

[Update 5/26] The NYTimes has a review of the Girodet show.

No Title [a poem]

2006-05-06T08:06:00.000-04:00

I’ve struggled with waltzes.
unable to block out
the iambs of heartbeats
or depart from
hurried spondaic steps
stepping on feet, and then
tripping over anapests

---

Hurray! Norm returned to the blogosphere, dropping a bunch of posts like peanut shells.

Cherishing What Persists: the Photography of John Szarkowski

2006-05-05T09:47:00.000-04:00

I was lucky enough to clock out a bit early yesterday, so I headed up to MoMA primarily to catch the Munch show. While the show was nice, the paintings haunting... the experience just didn't live up to expectations. Perhaps because I was more interested in seeing wood cuts and prints, perhaps dealing with crowds, perhaps the heaviness of the pallet was too dissonant with the brightness of the day.

There were a couple pieces that made clear the challenge of painting before the use of photographs. One in particular, when Munch had an eye disease, really seems to communicate on canvas what was experienced in his mind's eye.

As often, the real treat is in being surprised. This time it was seeing John Szarkowski's photographs, particularly of the Midwest. There was nice contrast of pastoral, but settled composition that felt set in time and a number of wilderness landscapes, many near or part of the what is now the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. Some pictures are much like my own, particularly dawn breaking on one lake with a lingering mist over the water. But for those less inclined to portage, these are more accessible and better composed.

Pictured above: John Szarkowski. From Country Elevator, Red River Valley. 1957.

A Symphonic Week With Many Notes

2006-05-04T10:10:00.000-04:00

Dave Ramirez & Sarah Sze. Photo by Joshua Lutz

It's been a great week, being social naturally leads to funny interactions and fun surprises (I guess that's why we long for social lives). As often, this week's stories are mostly through the Courtney-Adkins social network

Monday, after my final, I blew off some steam at 13P's Triskaidekaphiliac benefit (Erin Courtney is a P, which stands for playwright, not pool). Scott & Erin's friend Scooter showed up, where reveled in our mutual dislike of phone talking. The two of us basically use the phone to get off of it. We feel that cell phones lead to poor planning (he was stood up, mobile-less that night), and that unthoughtful cell phone use further encroaches on the otherwise ambient serenity of public spaces.

Tuesday we had our program-wide capstone end event, where I gave our presentation at least ten times, but early on I got totally zapped on the generalized methods of moments (an economic modeling term). Bill & Fredrica came by, as did Joe and Jason, which was great to explain to them what I've been doing all year. Overall it was fun, and I developed a greater understanding of our study by presenting it so often.

Last night was full of fun and surprises. After work, I went up to Freedman Plaza at the Southeast corner of Central Park for the Public Art Fund's "opening of Sarah Sze's installation "Corner Plot." Sarah is another Courtney-Adkins friend, as is her installer, Dave Ramirez, with whom I'm more familiar, and invited to the opening. There was a bonus fun of pictures in the New Yorker, New York Magazine and the NYTimes.

As with her other work, there is a visceral playful reaction of entering Sze's universe. But in my talks with Dave, I've realized a certain irony of her work. On the surface, her work is composed of familiar every day objects, often disposable or cheap, or seemingly so (Styrofoam, #2 pencils, painter's masking tape, and so on). Further, elements of her work seem fragile, creating a "lightness" in the overall composition. But when Dave tells me about the installations, there is a huge juxtaposition with the intense labor, problem solving and very foreign processes to execute the pieces. At SFMoMA, she cut up a truck, hanging and stretching around the atrium. Here, they had to dig a huge hole to encase the world you spy in the windows. Furthermore, the top casing was dropped in by a crane. If you didn't know, a crane costs around $350 an hour. In this way, much of Sarah's magic lies masking the sweat so we can focus on the sweet.

Afterwards, I went over to Scott & Erin's for dinner with the kids and their friend Sibyl. Sibyl made a spaghetti squash dish that rocked my socks off. Instead of pasta, the strands are squash... which really made it look like Sibyl is an incredibly accurate and meticulous vegetable chopper. She then revealed that it's just the nature of the squash, leading to my most profound food revelation since Mark Schofield introduced me to quinoa.

Then (yes there's more!), Erin, Charlie, Sibyl and I played Blockus, a game that Scott had only finally read the directions to the day before though they had the game for months. Especially since I started at BBBS three years ago, my interests in game play has skyrocketed, and this game was great in so many ways. First, it's simple, second it's challenging, third it's colourful. Towards the end, the grown ups were getting a bit absorbed in the game, which was bit too much Charlie's 5-year old psyche to handle, so there was a bit of a melt down... but man, that kid is wicked clever.

I read him a couple books to help him get to sleep. I've got to admit, reading a child to sleep has got to be one of the most therapeutic activities one can do.

In closing, in my last week of school I've seen old friends, met some choice new folks, explored the city, seen art, and started a book for fun (see the "Lately" section). These are the things I was pining for in my earlier post complaining of little new.

The Court of History

2006-05-03T14:57:00.000-04:00

In the face of overwhelming opposition, the Bush administration is fond of saying that history will vindicate them.

Today's NYTimes had an interesting article by Jim Robbins about terrorism, or at least treason in an earlier era. Let's consider a couple issues in light of this article: detainees at Guantanamo, and civilian wire taps under the rubric of the war on terror (which is not an enemy, but a tactic... good luck fighting that one... and declaring victory)

Through my daddy-o's interest in the NPL and the sedition act of 1918, I was interested to read Gov. Brian Schweitzer of Montana's posthumous pardon of three women and 75 men. Like today, the advocates for those men and women saw the charges were unfounded, and had less patriotic motives. From the article:

Clemens P. Work, who was conducting research for the book when the Sept. 11 attacks occurred, said he had found the similarities between 2001 and 1918 to be eerie.

"The hair on the back of my neck stood up," Mr. Work said. "The rhetoric was so similar, from the demonization of the enemy to saying 'either you're with us or against us' to the hasty passage of laws."

---

The sedition law, which made it a crime to say or publish anything "disloyal, profane, violent, scurrilous, contemptuous or abusive" about the government, soldiers or the American flag, was unanimously passed by the Legislature in February 1918. It expired when the war ended, Mr. Work said.

Those charged faced penalties of prison, death, and high fines, often ruled long after the war. So how does history view Governor Sam Stewart?

Blame should be laid at the feet of Governor Stewart, Mr. Work said. "In the last 100 days of his term, he commuted 50 sentences, including 13 murderers and 7 rapists," he said, "but not a single seditionist."

Forget about kids, history can be so cruel. Beware Mr. Bush, I'll wager that history will adopt my opinion of you, and it won't take 80 years. Even though it is pop journalism, the Rolling Stone article made for interesting reading.

Wed with an Empire at Their Feet

2006-05-02T00:10:00.000-04:00

Though it was back around Valentine's Day when they were wed there, my friends Lisa Hinshaw and Tam Nguyen were featured in yesterday's Daily News piece (picture and all!) on the the Empire State Building's 75th Anniversary.

Now they're expecting, will they have a story book birth in a cab?

I think it was covered in Metro or AM New York when it happened, but I never saw the article.

Boom Boom

2006-05-01T09:38:00.000-04:00

No, not the incredible John Lee Hooker cut... but really two boom's.

After a couple weeks of missed calls and missed outings, Mitchell and I took a nice long bike ride. Over the Manhattan Bridge, through Brooklyn Heights, Carroll Gardens, Columbia Heights and down into Red Hook, where we admired the Statue of Liberty and the New York harbor on a most beautiful day.

Then we heard two faint booms, and saw a dark cloud of smoke, more like the aftermath of a fire cracker than a continuous fire. We rode off to investigate, but it was clear that whatever happened was further away than it seemed.

So instead we had a super indulgent snack at Schnack involving root beer floats, hot dogs and fries. It was Mitchell's first root beer float ever. The stereo was perfect for trying to teach Mitchell about headbanging and how to rock! He was skeptical... seeing it as a bit too weird and silly. I really felt like a parent out of touch with the aesthetics of kids.

This morning I read about the booms. Gothamist has more pics and a video.

--
In other news... Gretchen conveyed this funny story at her birthday party. In her spanish class, they were assigned to describe some one they know. Gretchen described me as being offended by the name Banana Republic (and not shopping at the store), favoring colourful pants (I wore red linen to the party), and enjoying a drink (I had scotch & soda). Apparently her classmates were intrigued, and would like to meet me.

Lot's Wife [a poem]

2006-04-30T10:35:00.000-04:00

To hear them talk
you’d think there was
a pillar of salt
at every corner

So many preachers
so many voyeurs
leaving pillars
to support the subway

Previously Pressed: Tulips Are Great Reminders

2006-04-29T12:05:00.000-04:00

Walking through Cadman Plaza this morning, admiring the early flowers reminded me of a poem I wrote many years ago. Then I remembered, that the poem was in the chapbook I made, Toggled, for which I coined 917press in the first place.

Why it took so long to realize that this blog is as good a venue for my poems as any, I can't say. Perhaps I'll get back into the swing of things with my poetry. Without further ado, the poem:

brothel

it was almost
obscene
the seduction
by my neighbor’s
tulips

at first
they puckered
for sweet kisses
as they woke
from winter

but soon they
were flashing me
in garishly bright colours
on dreary grey days
full of cold rains

the girls were
brazen enough
to lean towards me
voluptuous as they were
as I passed

petals spread open
rich with the bouquet
of their pollen
and the lingering
smell of rain

I admit it
I went out of my way
to see them

but as April became May
I found new romances
leaving the tulips
to scream at me
in disgust

Underselling our results

2006-04-28T10:12:00.000-04:00

Last night's presentation went very well.

The most encouraging part was our advisor's feeling that we under-sold part of our findings. Earlier I reported to you that Brazil's highway density did not show a positive correlation with gross state product in the aggregate.

She felt that we needed to stress how highways behaved differently between the South/Southeast and non-south and between the coastal and interior states.

The pictures were a big hit.

Two Echoes from My Past

2006-04-28T09:25:00.000-04:00

I'm being a little nostalgic I suppose. There are two pieces in this week's New Yorker that were particularly resonant.

The first is reading Bill Buford's piece "Carnal Knowledge" in the New Yorker, about his learning traditional Italian butcher techniques and subsequently butchering a pig from the Union Square greenmarket.

Besides its intriguing perspective on the tension between traditional crafts/skills in a modern age, there was this great quip:

"We had many meals, four hundred and fifty of them, or what worked out to less than fifty cents a plate as we ate from the snout (which went into the sausages) to the tail (which I added to the ragu). But the lesson wasn't in the animal's economy. This pig, we knew precisely, had been slaughtered for our table, and we ended up feeling an affection for it that surprised us."

My fellow Larsonites may identify with this passage as well, as it reminds me of Pig Roast, a spring tradition of my college dorm (Larson). Pig Roast was one instance that brought me out from my vegetarianism precisely because of Buford's sentiment.

We got the pig from a local farmer. We kept it on ice the night before in our friends' Tim & Howie's bathtub (he was the dorm manager). Then very early, I helped light the coals, and put the spit in the cooker, and blessed the pig with a poem. Ben Coltvet made an audio diary of the day, which I've listened to occasionally. Really, more than the idea of pulled pork sandwiches (which were delicious), I got swept up in the communal feel of the experience, and the localness of the meat. My vegetarianism at the time was based on the feeling of disconnect with where our meat was coming from.

This ties in nicely too with previous thoughts on consumption, food and morality/theology.

--

The other thread has to do with the film United 93. I've been dreading its release, admitting to myself that it is one aspect of 9/11 that I am not quite ready to experience. But reading David Denby's review in the New Yorker, I was reminded of similar theatrical experience that was very powerful, Collective Unconscious' Charlie Victor Romeo (CVR), a theatre piece based on the cockpit voice recordings of plane crashes or near crashes. It was gripping to see several scenes begin with the mundane, move to tense, and end in tragedy or relief. The sound in the show was deep and powerful, further pushing the visceral feeling of the piece.

In my most defensive frame of mind with United 93, I'd chalk up my interest in CVR as morbid fascination. But when I actually think of what it was like in the audience, there was much more going on. I can't say that led to some understanding of life, but it was one of the most powerful experiences of theatre or art. So, maybe I'll go.

Presenting our paper: Brazil's highways misbehave

2006-04-27T12:14:00.000-04:00

We are presenting our paper today to our research class, and Tuesday as part of Wagner's Capstone End Event.

What did we find? We found that there was not a consistent, positive relationship between highway density and gross state product. However, when dividing the country by region (South/Southeast) or if a state was coastal, we did see a positive relationship while the non-south and interior states continued to show a negative relationship. There are lots of conditions that lead up this conclusion of which I'll spare you.

The most fun seeming part of the project was putting together our slide presentation and raiding Flickr for fun pictures like the ones above, used to introduce our presentation and discussion sections.

Using Scott McCloud's comics concept of closure (the meaning conveyed by the juxtaposition of frames), these two slides convey our findings, and in some ways our process. Nonetheless, we've arrived at our destination.

Rest in Peace Jane Jacobs [Updated]

2006-04-25T14:31:00.000-04:00

Jane Jacobs died today. I've never read her seminal work "The Death and Life of Great American Cities," but I certainly appreciate the impact of her work. Not the least involves standing up to Robert Moses so we still have a Chinatown, SoHo and Greenwich Village to walk through.

Like many who become too cool to live in the US (Steve Lindstrom, Ramona Flowers to name two), she relocated to Canada.

[Update] Here are some more profiles and obits from the NYTimes and Toronto Star (with a super cute pic) and The Project for Public Spaces. NYMetro even pulled some quotes from NYU Wagner's Mitchell Moss.

The AP Obit gave a mention that her clash with Moses inspired the 2004 play "Boozy." That play was produced by the plucky Les Freres Corbusier, a Greenwall grantee. Jacobs was portrayed by the lovely and fiery Nina Hellman.

CBA Backlash at 85 Adams Street

2006-04-24T20:59:00.000-04:00

For a number of reasons, I read with interest an article in Metro about an ACORN protest at 85 Adams Street in Brooklyn yesterday, not the least being how I've watched it grow all winter as I walk down to DUMBO. But what leads me to this post were a number comments (#s 6, 9, 10, 15, 19) in the related post on curbed.com (who doesn't seem to believe in citing authors, so I will, Amy Zimmer).

There's quite a bit of skepticism and hostility towards ACORN, who participated in negotiating a community benefits agreement(CBA) with Bruce Ratner for the Atlantic Yards development (AKA Nets Stadium).

Writes "Concerned":

Yes, I think ACORN's ulterior motives are questionable. I think the authorities should investigate ACORN's organization to see if maybe bribes are lining up another set of pockets. Pockets of so-called activists in sheep's clothing. That could very well be a lucrative enterprise since they can use innocent Brooklynites with good intentions as pawns to promote ACORN's agenda to extort the developers.

We've talked a lot about community organizing in my community equity and wealth building class, as well as how CBAs are negotiated, and the seeming conflict of interest that emerge when community organizations get large settlements as part of them. Like negotiations to enforce the Community Reinvestment Act, when not clearly representative of the community in question, can look like "bribes" or extortion.

On one hand, shouldn't developers and businesses give back to the community part of the very lucrative breaks they get from local government? On the other, it does not bode well for business climate and economic incentives in communities suffering from decades of disinvestment to be so demanding, and in many ways hostel to local investment.

In any case, affordable housing is huge issue in the city. It's good that people are aware of what kind of breaks developers capitalize on.

Sourcing Stravinsky

2006-04-22T18:18:00.000-04:00

Jen joined me for Sourcing Stravinsky at DTW last night. It was a series curated by Annie-B Parson, whose own work, as much as anyone I've seen, suggests that we all can move with grace.

As a whole, the dances illustrated how much the avant-garde has changed since then. Much of the music seem somber, harshly accent with jarring, stabbing phrases. In contrast, none of the dances executed those phrases with somber, serious movement. No, there was irony. There were video snippets of Balanchine and Robbins’ sincere movement. There was video of Stravinsky himself conducting, serious, without irony. It was easy to envision Martha Graham, channeling that rhythmic, intense music in stark seriousness. But every piece last night had a wink. Yes there was reverence, but many winks. And I think that's good for the avant-garde.

You can read more about the evening in two NYTimes articles.

Edible Brooklyn

2006-04-20T10:08:00.000-04:00

I spotted a new neighborhood publication yesterday, Edible Brooklyn; celebrating the borough's food culture, season by season. This ties in nicely recent thoughts on consumerism and morality... being more aware of local, seasonal, and slow food culture. It's part of a larger group of "edible" communities. The first issues featured Jacques Torres, my neighborhood chocolatier. If you didn't know, I love those chocolate covered orange slices!

A couple of weeks ago, my community equity class had someone from NYIRN talk about sectoral development, that is targeted economic development by business sector. One of the most exciting sectors in NYC is food processing. Thus the program "Food from New York." It tends to be small business, somewhat specialized labor that has a growing market among artisinal foods. There are over a thousand firms employing approximately 14,400 in the City.

Catching Up Is the Only Thing New

2006-04-19T18:44:00.000-04:00

Ask me what's news, and it's mostly the same refrain: school, comics, and in the past week, being ill. I'm really looking forward to a new verse.

I recently picked up Adrian Tomine's Sleepwalk, a collection of stories from his comic Optic Nerve, that Jason once passed on to me. The pathos in the story telling is devastating. One piece about a widow who eats lunch in her driveway, in the car her husband courted her in, made me a little weepy.

Another story, of an ex-hippy dad taking his teen twin daughters to a comics convention as a family trip was equally evocative for me. It reminded me of when I got really into comics, my mom would drive me to a shop in Valley Junction, an old part of West Des Moines, so I could pick up new ones. Could we have done this every week? Probably. For how long? I don't know.

Part of what is compelling is how it conveys a shift in parent-child relationships. Like when the child forgets how accommodating the parent has been and continues to be. The parent is left in a lurch just getting used to this new phase in their kid's life. The kid no longer needs the parent for or wants to share this part of their life with the parent. All this stuff happens without words being exchanged. The reader may feel sadness for the parent and frustration at the kid, but it's tough, no one is expected to have that conversation, or be well equipped to say, "I need independence, but I don't know how... yet."

Anyway, thanks mom, for keeping interested, for trying stuff, for being a really great mom. And thanks dad, for keeping interested, for trying stuff, for being a really great dad.

Remembering Skeate Books

2006-04-13T15:51:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I mused on remembering old acquaintances... yet there was one tangent that I couldn't remember... what was the name of the bookstore in Decorah when I was at Luther?

I recently started re-reading parts of How to Dream, a gift from David many years ago, before going to sleep. It definately is increasing dream recall, but last night it helped regular recall. The answer to my question above is Skeate Books, run by Jeffrey and Elizabeth Skeate, though many years out of business. The answer popped into a night full of dreams.

They connect with the previous post in that Jeff Skeate encouraged me to go hear Seamus Heaney read in Iowa City by giving me the store copy of Heaney's collected poems to have signed. He said whether or not I bought the book, it'd be a good experience. It was a good experience, I bought the book, and it is the first book I had signed by the author. I often think of that exchange when I have books signed.

I had Charles Simic sign some books when I saw him with Jay, and Seamus Heaney was mentioned in the Writers Alamanac to mark his birthday.

Dynamite on a China Plate: a Voice from the Past

2006-04-12T09:38:00.000-04:00

I got a nice heads up from an old acquaintance. Poet Jay Leeming is having poems from his book Dynamite on a China Plate read by Garrison Keillor on The Writer's Almanac on Wednesday April 12 and Friday April 14.

His name brings back a couple memories... I recall meeting him at the Russian Samovar in the west 50s. We were waiting to see Charles Simic read but got the night wrong and met again on the right night. We had the Twin Cities in common and chatted about books and music. I ran into him at another reading in Bryant Park with Charles Simic, Stanley Kunitz, and Derek Walcott. I have a silly picture I took of Stanley Kunitz from very far away, and only of his head. But I when I came across it last weekend, I immediately remembered that he was in it.

Charles Simic reminds me of Jim Francis who gave me that recommendation. It is one of the best literary recommendations. Besides loving his style of poetry, his poems and essays helped me fall in love the City and food so great, they are an event in themselves.

Tune in, read some poetry, think about old acquaintances.

Pizzeria Kamikaze and the Gospel According to Judas

2006-04-09T12:15:00.000-04:00

The coming of Palm Sunday helped me make a couple connections. The first piece was picking up Pizzeria Kamikaze at Rocketship. It’s an Israeli comic, done gorgeous in silver and black, about several characters who killed themselves and exist in an afterlife (what’s the Hebrew word for purgatory?) much like their former lives, except the characters keep the wounds and disfigurement from their offing. The continuity of the afterlife with their former lives is reminiscent of Will Self’s story The North London Book of the Dead.

There are two particularly poignant episodes. The first, the two main characters (who are Israeli) enter a bar full of Arabs, the bar tender having been a suicide bomber. The exchange offers leveling perspective of the Palestinian conflict.

The second episode features Joshua, who had first offed himself in a sacrificial suicide. Even if you didn’t know that Joshua and Jesus are the same Hebrew name, the connection is clear. The short of it is J kills himself a second time, plunging him to a place with more despair with other second suicides.

I only now thought about Stephen Adly Guirgis’ The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, and Jose Saramago’s The Gospel According to Jesus Christ, both of which offer intriguing perspectives on the Passion, great “truth” telling from the devil (dare I say devil’s advocate?), and suggest that damnation under an omniscient, omnipotent god is suspect. As one might guess, the real link in all is this is the announcement of the Coptic manuscript of the Gospel of Judas this past week.

In PK’s absence of a Judas, there is no distinction between suicide and self-sacrifice, there is only premeditated death (with the expectation of resurrection in this case). The newly revealed gospel argues that Judas was only disciple who understood that Jesus must die to conquer sin. Still Judas’ cardinal sin lingers not as treachery, but as despair in the act of suicide, and as argued by Guirgis, the despair of mortal incapable of knowing the future. In contrast, Jesus, as God incarnate, knows all. Saramago imagines, not just of resurrection, but of Christian persecution at the hands of Romans, of slaughters in the name of Christ in crusades, inquisitions, colonization, and the holocaust.

Thus, the cause of Christianity has many sacrifices, but Jesus was the only one who could rise again. One can read it as a blessing or a curse.

In other Messiah related news, if Elijah knows what's good for him, he'll show up Wednesday at J&M's for the most excellent charoset, not to mention company, ever.

The Cause for Scaffolding

2006-04-09T10:25:00.000-04:00

420 Lex Brick.jpg
Originally uploaded by 917press.

Several years ago I learned that the scaffolding up around the City's buildings are to check, repair and protect against deteriorating brick, mortar and terra cotta.

But until last month, I had never had a good vantage point of what the repair might entail. This is taken from the 25th floor.