You know you live in the hood when...

Many people say Bushwick is an up and coming neighborhood, I was reminded today of just how coming it really is.

Between the hours of 4:00 and 5:00 PM on a Saturday afternoon, what must have  the ghetto equivalent of the NASCAR pit crew hoisted my neighbors car on blocks and removed his wheels without a single person noticing.

I can't imagine how a group of youths could swoop into action and without a single person noticing.

Welcome to life in the hood.

Signs you live in the hood.

There are a number of things that exist in the hood that are not found other places. If you can recognize these items you will greatly enhance you chances of survival.

The bodega is the life blood of any under privileged or otherwise financially anemic neighborhood and often is the only place where a member of the community can obtain sustenance and 'nutrition'.

The bodega often offers food group much different than that found in the USDA food pyramid and often are separated by color such asa the yellow or blue food groups or by price. $.25 cent is perhaps the most often consumed food group of the bodega and includes items such as the quarter chips, water, muffin, exec.

Above a photo of the 'quarter water', generally the only form of fluid of the non alcoholic nature that is affordable by the general popular of the hood. The quarter water is generally available by color and often lack more description than that. The above featured item is comprised of water, High Frutos Corn Syrup, Citric Acid, Sodium Phosphate, FD&C Blue #1 & Sodium Benzoate (to protect flavor).

Regardless of color, the quarter water tastes exactly the same, like cough medicine.

Christmas comes twice a year.

Fourth of July is like a second christmas in the hood. People save up their money for half the year, drive on down to Pensilvania and load up on fireworks. Only problem is, they shoot them off in the street. In many places in PA this is not an issues as people have lots of space, but in brooklyn, we have a population density of ,920/mi² (according to the 2010 censes). With a population density that great, almost all building are connected by necessity to house that many people. Once one house goes up you can almost bet two or more are to follow suite in this summer heat.

So happy second Christmas to you Bushwick, you deserve it. Lets just hope you don't torch my house when blowing your wad because we all know there is no pressure in the fire cans as you are using them as a ghetto swimming pool (likely another post regarding the ghetto shower in the future, summer is still young).

Today in type

Currently I am fortunate enough to taking a class with typography legend Ed Benguiat at New York City's School of Visual Arts. I expect to learn a lot from Ed and will post assignments here accordingly.


Today's assignment. Make logo with a 130 degree drop shadow. Sounds easy with just a click of a mouse right? Illustrator failure. Notice the drop doesn't remain even among all letters. Almost as if the light source is shifted between letters.
Option II, hand kern and stretch the letters. The shadows for the X may be distorted but looks much better optically.

Fucken 'eh Brooklyn

The Bushwick Ghetto Blaster. Down the street from my house this is a throwback to the 80's when life was not so nice in Bushwick. According to historians, during the crack epidemic of the 80's and 90's, people would torch building just to get the copper piping to recycle for their crack addiction. I am told that ever 3rd lot was empty and one in four houses was a crack den where not only could one buy their warez but also consume them.

Best find of the week, the new east river ferry service form brooklyn - queens and manhattan. Free for the next week to boot. 15 minuets form manhattan to williamsberg.



Last but not least, the Lee Burgess roof top party at 47 Tames in the East Williamsberg Industrial Complex. Found by a sheer fluke, that party was epic and apparently will be happening once a month for the rest of the summer.

SUmmer is here once again

And bushwick is cracking.

It is motherfucking hot out and the fire cans have the tops broken off and gushing freely into the street.

The Bushwick Public Works is having their summer series of modern dance, at least they offer free beer for the neighbors who share a roof connection.

Crime is up 12%

And best of all, the Bushwick Farmers Market is back in full swing. Thanks to Sean-Michael Fleming!

Sorry Ive been neglecting you, shall try to keep it updated sooner.

90 different bitches and a problem aint one of them

90 different bitches and a problem aint one of them

Seems this little nugget of gold came from a DC charter school, seems the republicans were right, coupons can perhaps provide a better education than the government.

http://andiamnotlying.com/2010/types-of-bitches/

Torcik piernikowy

While shopping in Greenpoint Broklyn today I came across this 8th wonder of the world. Torcik piernikowy!
It is a well known fact that the Nazis and Hitler in particular were obsessed with the occult, in search for that magic item that would perhaps provide an edge; an edge that would give them a strategic advantage over the allied forces. Perhaps it was rumored that an item so powerful existed and right next door.
The invasion and full occupation of Poland took nearly 3 year. Many men, women and children lost their lives to keep the secret of the Torcik piernikowy. The mere mention of the word makes mothers and dentists shiver in fear, an ungodly invention that should have never been know to man.
The Torcik piernikowy, a dense confection made of two layers of ginger bread bound together by a tart black cherry marmalade covered in a rich dark chocolate shell boasts 500 calories and 20 grams of fat. The flavor is rich, spicy, tart and tangy in a dense cloud like layer of zen that should be a cardinal sin to fantasize about much less consume.
If you ever find youself with a cult of personality and a standing army in Eastern Europe or in Greenpoint, go all in and never look back.

Colicchio and Sons

Just finished the prix fix menu, it was good for the most part.

First course:
Razor clam risotto: The dish came out and it was a vibrant green color from the parsley stock used in the creation. Although I could feel the texture of the razor clams, the dish lack a clammy flavor. The dish seemed a little grassy and lacked proper seasoning. killing the nature salt from the clams is a feat of magic, and not a good one at that.

Grilled octopus and citrus salad: Octopus was very tender and had a smokey char to it. The citrus also worked very well with it. Seasoning was spot on and the dish was very enjoyable.

Second course:

Niman ranch pork loin: The loin itself was nothing special, a little tough IMOH. The morel stuffed with sausage was kind of a letdown for someone who love morels and look for any chance to get them on a plate. The pork belly which I didn't know was coming with it was divine and paired well with the rhubarb stew. I think I will steal that idea and serve it myself, it just made sense. Well played Tom.

Pork belly whit squid in ink: The belly was good again but am not a fan of ink, just tastes uber squidy; personal preference, I am sure it was find for people who are into the ink.

Main course:

Lamb loin with hirasa: loin was fantastic, jous was also spot on. Lamb was cooked perfectly. The garbanzo beans were a nice touch. Wasnt a fan of the deep fried sausage, not sure it added anything to the plate. I would totally order this dish again!

Short ribs: The ribs were not as tender as they could have been. The bed of parsnip was delicious; I would give it another try.

Desert was delicious but standard fair of the new york restaurant scene, warm chocolate tart with vanilla and passion fruit ice cream.

Also had the panocotta; good stuff.

Staff were attentive and well trained, something I can appreciate.

The decor was like factory meets las vages, kin of strange. Obsessive use of vertical lines.

I will likely go back but you can get a 5 course prefix at Nougatine for $10 less that is more refined and spot on 99.9% of the time.

New York Pizza

When people speak of their time in new york pizza is often one of the topics. Although new york does have some dare I say it legendary pizza spots many if not most are mediocre at best. There are also some standard pre maid slices that I never experienced before moving here and combinations that many wouldn't have considered making had they not see it.

The list:

• Fried chicken cutlet and broccoli
• The Salad Pizza (sauce and cheese slice with iceberg lettuce, tomato, and maybe onion)
• The White Pizza (cheese no sauce)
• The Buffalo Chicken Pizza (normal cheese and sauce slice with fried chicken cutlet on top, blue cheese crumbles, cheddar cheese, raw red onion, raw tomato and buffalo wing sauce)

This is all for now but will come back and add to this as notice more items in the pizza trend data

Tales from the hood

The Man Who Cried Mommy.

Living in the hood you have to get use to the fact that life is different than that of your native environment, but every now and then something catches you of guard.

Every 6 weeks or so the southing sound of "MOMMY, MOMMY, MOMMY, MOM, MOMMY" fills the air outside my window. Upon further investigation and a sneak peak out the window or over the veranda, the perpetrator is alway the same. A late twenties to early thirties hispanic male of painfully average height and wight, lacking any significant features what so ever. I suppose it is the fact that he is so remarkable unnoticeable that I often forget my twice quarterly serenader is.

Given this day in age I am still taken aback but by the fact that a grown man will stand on the sidewalk for sometimes up an hour screaming for his mother. I often wonder what message must be of such importance that he will shamelessly stand out in the cold like a child lost in the shopping mall desperate to get her attention. If there is this much information of such great importance needling to be conveyed to her; wouldn't a cell phone be a much easer option?

Suppose I will never fully understand the little differences between myself and the natives, but if nothing else, I suppose it will continue to provide for entertainment value if nothing else.

Rally for Planned Parenthood NYC

Today thousands of New Yorkers amassed at NY City Hall to rally for women's reproductive rights, Planned Parenthood & to Schedule 10 medicare payments. The even lasted over 4 hours and had 20+ speakers and bands including Bikini Kills Kathi Wilcox and My favorite House Representative from New York, the tenacious Anthony Weiner, the killa form Queens.

snowpocalyps part 2

Crippling snow and massive delays the following days on the subways do not make for a great week.
L train turns 10min, 3 mile ride into two hour sardine adventure like only the little mermaid or the Japanese could endure.

Alex Chen: Conductor in progress video

This blew my mind today.

This is a new piece I started this weekend. Tentatively titled Conductor, it recreates the New York subway system as a musical instrument. It’s currently built in HTML5 + Javascript. SVG was very useful, as I could create the design in Illustrator, then import the coordinates into Javascript.

These videos are still in-progress tests. I plan to import an actual subway schedule from the MTA’s subway API and have subway trains triggering the performance. After that, I hope to start on an iPad version that would function more as a user-driven instrument.

Came across this epic in the anuals of rap battles.

Something that also made my day unrelated to human heads

Was jamming this song all day. It kind of takes me back to a lost decade or even before so, San Francisco I miss you and romanticize you from New York even though I know it is incongruent. I suppose in the end you would much rather hear about nostalgia than biomedical infomatics, CPOE function or EHR implementation anyways.

Tales from the hood

For those who have never lived in the hood, it isnt that much different from your own neighborhood. We have our nosey neighbors, the loud guy across the street or even the lady with 100 cats.

What is different in the hood form the rest of the world is how people go about doing thing, everyday common sense things.

There are far to many of an example to rattle off in one sitting so I have decided to devote a article theme to chronicling them as I run across them.

So, whit out further adue. The first installment of Tales from the Hood.

My local chinese restaurant is quite the interesting place. It is not everyday that you come across a chinese joint with bullet proof glass, much less one who also has a "spanish" menu to bout. My curiosity must have gotten the better of me on the way home form the local ghetto mart, a popular supermarket chain that can be found in almost any hood in the north east. Anyway, after looking at the menu I decided to opt for the "Chickin Sanduwit", as I tried to order it became pretty apparent that the old chinese grandmother was unable to speak english. While her lack of english fortitude was not surprising, that fact that she then reached out in spanish to try to take my oder took me back just a little.

With my order in, I stood there and watched the lady do her kitchen magic. While my filet lay there frying, I watched the lady go though her secret recipe of fried rice. The fired rice was made not of white rice, but rather of yellow "spanish" rice mixed with about a half ounce of chinese chao sui pork; oddly delicious looking. Next she turned attention to my sandwich. After applying the layers of chicken, tomato and lettuce, the old lady then proceeded to grab a piece of american cheese. Wondering how she was to melt it, she looked at the salamander then turned away, this would not do it fast enough. Then out of no where she pivots her body and turns back to the fryer. With one hand extended she dunks the cheese in the hot fryer oil and then moves the multon dripping substance towards the sandwich, upon which she say, "queras salsa de soi?". Maybe it was the look on my face but she said no more and packet it in a bag and handed it to me. I dont think she really knew it was the fact that she had just dipped her hand in a fryer to save 10 seconds of time in the cheese melting endeavor rather than wondering what I would need soy sause for a chicken sandwich that had cough me off guard....

Photo of the day

Photo of the day Monday January 3, 2011

Public Cremation - (Aryagath in Pashupatinath Temple) Kathmandu, Nepal 10/2010 Canon 450D - F4.5, 200

Recently discovered silver effects, a program that lets you mimic gelatin silver prints in photoshop or light room.

Sara Palin's Alaska

Having never seeing the show I though I would indulge myself on a sunday night of mindless television, nothing however would have prepared me for what was to come. Sarah Palin's father's pile of dead animal parts. Although dubbed as a science teacher on the show, I highly doubt any credible "scientist" would construe a person whose life mission was to kill, tortue or maim living creatures with the same veracity of Joseph Mengele either a scientist or teacher of science. I have no great admiration for Kate Grosselin but I think we shared a moment when we both responded with horror. Dont get me wrong I love a stake as much as the next man, and also believe that people should kill their food at least once in their life to gain respect and understanding of where their food actually comes from and answer the black box question as to how the cow goes in and the burger comes out of the black box but for the love of god, who needs a garage of different animal parts, ones that arnt even considered edible in the mores of our colture.

I can see the marketing appeal of the show as to make the future canidate more likable or accessible to the to Americans at large but have to agree with Newt on this one, this will not give her the creditable nor aptitude to be the next leader of the free world. Rather, high light her inept ability to preform the most innate of tasks that much more apparent.

Seriously, did I just agree with Newt?