Me v. Savages

Shepard Fairey takes on the hood

2012-01-07T15:21:00.000-08:00

You know the hood is picking up when shepard fairy comes to down. RIP Commandant Biggie!

What the fuck is wrong with America. Part 1.

2012-01-03T13:44:00.000-08:00

When traveling I often find that local populations often have difficulty understanding Americans or seeing thing form their perspective. It is is no wonder why. Today in What the fuck is wrong with America part one, I introduce to Edward 40 Hands.

Edward 40 Hands is a great time had by all…well, all who can drink two 40’s. If you can’t, read on anyways because we have another option for you. According to wikipedia (the source of all truth) the game is also known as “80 oz to freedom” and “The 40 Challenge.” Whatever you call it, here’s the rules:

1. Have a friend duct tape a 40 oz of malt liquor to each hand (or both hands to one 40oz if you’re taking it easy). The last person to tape in will have a harder time, but with some ingenuity they can manage.

2. Nobody can remove the 40’s from their hands until they’re finished drinking all 80 ounces of beer.

That’s it, those essentially are the two official rules. You can add some competition to the game by racing to finish, but completing the game is a solid accomplishment, so I wouldn’t worry about racing. You are allowed to go to the bathroom, answer the phone, have a smoke, whatever – that is, as long as your hands are still taped to those quickly-warming 40oz beers. If you can do that, cheers. It’s funny though, I’ve seen some very awkward times when a slow-drinking gent has to request a male friend to pull his pants zipper down. And that’s really just half the battle to emptying the bladder. The other half requires a weird wiggle dance…I guess you’ll figure it out if you have to.

The true beauty of the 40cozy is displayed when you use two 40cozy’s, one on each hand. With these on your paws, you’ll be able to take as long as you want, as your beer won’t become warm for a long time. The only thing that will rush your drinking is the increasing urge to urinate.

Don’t worry about the duct tape ruining the 40cozy’s, they come out looking great afterward. Next time you and your friends are sitting around with nothing to do, go buy a case of 40’s and strap up. Drink strong!

Thanks to 40cozy.com.

You know you live in the hood when...

2011-12-11T17:39:00.001-08:00

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.

2011-10-30T17:15:00.001-07:00

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.

2011-07-02T19:10:00.000-07:00

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

2011-06-21T19:28:00.001-07:00

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

2011-06-20T18:50:00.001-07:00

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

2011-06-19T19:03:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-19T20:55:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-17T17:36:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-08T19:19:00.000-07:00

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

2011-04-09T14:46:00.001-07:00

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

2011-03-20T11:40:00.000-07:00

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

2011-02-26T18:36:00.000-08:00

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

2011-01-28T06:38:00.001-08:00

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

2011-01-24T19:43:00.000-08:00

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.

2011-01-20T13:12:00.001-08:00

Something that also made my day unrelated to human heads

2011-01-19T21:20:00.000-08:00

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

2011-01-05T17:14:00.000-08:00

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

2011-01-03T16:44:00.001-08:00

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

2011-01-02T19:31:00.001-08:00

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?

Snow, you get what you ask for...

2010-12-26T18:44:00.000-08:00

First blizzard of the winter season.

weather, seriously...

2010-12-25T21:29:00.000-08:00

So the weather channel has told me that as of 3 hours ago it is 100% chance of snow. I ask where the hell is it? I love the first snow if the season, the rest of the season sucks.

Sorry bout that

2010-12-20T20:33:00.001-08:00

Jesus Christ, have I slacked off.

Sorry about that! So to make up for it I have posted some family dirt. See below:

so vampires do exists

2010-11-28T21:07:00.000-08:00

or so I was told by my old lady. Seriously who scratches holes into drywall anyway? and not remember anyway? im not sure which team that is team victor or team jacob but that is going to be a bitch to fix for sure.

Free Chief

2010-11-21T20:50:00.001-08:00

Ok, so this is totally not PC, but let me perfuse this as Chief lives in Singapore.

As perhaps the only living Native American or as you Canadians would call him "First Nation" person living in Singapore he has gained the name Chief; ill just leave it at that. So many of Chiefs friend have been missing him on account of the fact that his girlfriend and some of his friends have not been getting along and have resulted in an absence of his presence. As such I was commissioned by an undisclosed person to make some propaganda posters for the release for Chief into the greater community.

Lee Kwan Yew, Father of modern Singapore approves this message.

Faux Soviet propaganda poster demanding Chiefs release.

Post first day of FOWD

2010-11-15T21:17:00.001-08:00

This blog is clearly no medium for design or UX but I have to say todays presentation by Daniel Hall at the FOWD conference was without a doubt one of the defining moments fo the conference. although Dan eluded to using gratuitous trickery to get the audience to listen, the greater affect was to engage them and really hone his talking points home. I personally was inspired after a 7+ hour of lectures that only a master can accomplish. IMO this is only the beginning that we will hear from Dan and it will be a pleasure to seem him speak again.

See dan and the designswap here

have been absentee...

2010-11-10T22:01:00.000-08:00

Sorry for that, will post soon. with real stuff. no mater how bad it is. Bat none the less.

oh sister....

2010-11-10T21:57:00.000-08:00

As I sit here tonight i cant but think the relevance of these lyrics are lost today, arnt we in the same fucking quagmire? who has a map an a art? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhBpUJcpiCg

Oh, a storm is threat'ning
My very life today
If I don't get some shelter
Oh yeah, I'm gonna fade away

War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away

Ooh, see the fire is sweepin'
Our very street today
Burns like a red coal carpet
Mad bull lost its way

War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away

Rape, murder!
It's just a shot away
It's just a shot away

The floods is threat'ning
My very life today
Gimme, gimme shelter
Or I'm gonna fade away

War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
I tell you love, sister, it's just a kiss away
It's just a kiss away
It's just a kiss away
It's just a kiss away
It's just a kiss away
Kiss away, kiss away

NYC, seriously? DIck move!

2010-10-19T21:16:00.000-07:00

NYC, seriously

So dont get me wrong, I am 100% behind the in initiative to distribute condoms to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS, call me an asshole but I don not want to find the remnants of the party in my house. Seriously, dont shit where I sleep.

Dont shit where anyone else sleeps for that matter, can you be considerate with the free condom, and, I dont know, maybe toss it in the trash can?

Dick move, literally!

Why I love Nepal!

2010-10-19T20:38:00.001-07:00

In no particular order

Transportations

Medicine

Green economy

My kids (the best in the world if I do say so myself)

File under WTF

2010-10-13T15:27:00.000-07:00

4 train to downtown 14th street.

him: You know I just got out of prison baby.

her: Yea, I know, I missed ya. You going to stay out for good this time?

him: You know how I roll girl, take last night for instance. There was this chinese delivery guy, what can I say, right place wrong time.

her: don't you mean right place right time?

him: no it was the right place for me but the wrong time for him. I caught him slipping, took the food and ran.

What is the rate of recidivism in new york city anyway?

L train - 14th Street - Bushwick

Guy to girl:

You know I really need to get on food stamps, I spent all my money at the bar and am hungry.

Notes from Nepal

2010-10-03T13:12:00.001-07:00

09/21/2010

Two day in ktm has come and gone. Perhaps the most interesting part of my time was that spent with sim young mi, the north Korean hospitality hospitality represent and intelligence service operative.

It seems that I an effort better equip the member of the axes of evil to deal and to somewhat better understand their enemies, members of those few families who can trusted ate able to work in nations friendly or sympathetic to their cause.

More on this later, if I remember...

Sent from my iPhone

Notes from Nepal

2010-10-03T12:51:00.000-07:00

Pashupatinath cremations...

I suppose I will keep this one short as a picture says a thousand words.

The cremations in Pashupatinath take place on the Bhagmati River, a Nepali tributary of the Ganges. Although other cremation process take the bone and pound it to a fine dust, I did not see this happen at Pashupatinath, but rather the dust and fragment going directly into the river. Children wash and play in the river as the remains of the bodies are burned the returned to the river.

Posts form Nepal.

2010-10-03T12:34:00.000-07:00

10/22/10

The lot of these seem to be incoherent and incomplete but I suppose they serve a purpose whether I know what that is at this time or not.

Part fuck I don't know, we'll call it "5" - the Canadians

Cat, Britney & Paul(?).

Young 20 something Canadians sitting lamenting their time in Nepal, a distraction from the grind of life in shanghai and New York respectively. Although the grind is hard, the material payoff is worth it; or the prospect there of. Through conversation talk of institutional impropriety is dismissed as a sad consequence of being caught rather than graft of those whom you bare fiduciary responsibility being the problem. Granted I am no authority on canadians but as an American, I myself anyway have this romanticized vision of them being this somehow better or at least of a more compassionate nature than we.

The interaction with them remind me of my time at one unnamed financial giant that benefited from a large cash injection of my money via the treasury and at the expense if my fellow Americans. The irony, or perhaps lack there of perhaps was the age old finical wisdom of graft and or deception still considered status quo.

Conversation drifted to the times article about the secret world of partners at GS or there secret fall from the inter circle and the hope that these wall street insiders would someday become chief regulators, the vary people who are meant to prevent wholesale graft becoming the proverbial foxes in the hen house.

Would it be acceptable to put a pedophile as the administrator in a daycare? I think not, yet we advocate for those who wish to fulfill their own immediate gratification at the expense of those just as naive.

Sent from my iPhone

Posts form Nepal.

2010-10-03T11:50:00.000-07:00

Part one in no particular order.

Katmhandu detainment at the U.S. Embassy Resort (Thu, 30 Sep 2010)

Me: hey
Friend in America: Hi
Me: at work?
Friend in America: No
Friend in America: Getting ready.
Friend in America: It's 7 30
Me: sorry, I can let you go if you need to
Friend in America: What did you do today?
Friend in America: It's ok
Friend in America: I am just doing my hair and makeup.
Me: tomorrow is my last day here. going to take the
> children to school in the morning. Saw them today
Friend in America: How are they doing?
Friend in America: That's great!!!
Friend in America: Did some of them remember you?
Me: they are well. some of them are so big. I am going
> to take photos tomorrow. michelle got a few today
Friend in America: Ok.
Me: you see north korea has a new leader in the works
Friend in America: That must be the best part of trip.
Friend in America: Haha
Friend in America: Yes. But we knew that already.
Me: the north koreans? that was only one night
Me: oh, I was just arrested by the military
Me: was released after 25 min
Friend in America: What?
Friend in America: What happened?
Me: apparently I took a photo of an american embassy
> recreation grounds and I was taken by machine gun point to
> this building. they told me I was going to the embassy but
> it was some shabby room. I refused to give them the photo or
> my passport until I spoke to an american.
Me: spoke to the state department rep Paul McSomething
> or other
Me: way to fuck up my afternoon
Friend in America: O
Friend in America: Ing
Friend in America: Omg
Friend in America: Shit
Friend in America: Were you by yourself?
Me: they were going to put me on the terrorist watch
> list but after I spoke to Paul, he told the military that
> they didnt need to take my info
Friend in America: Omg
Me: Yes
Friend in America: Shit.
Me: I told him it was bullshit and there was no way in
> hell I was giving my passport to some Nepalese guy, stating
> it is not mine to give but rather the property of the state
> department and if i was going to hand it over to someone it
> needed to be an Emerikan
Friend in America: Shit.
Friend in America: And you didn't know you weren't allowed to take
> photos.
> Last message received on 9/30 at 5:32 PM
Me: his response on the lack of americans and only
> Nepalese contractors with american flags on their shirts was
> "Oh, I never considered people would not want to give up
> their passport camera to someone claiming to be representing
> america with a fat accent and brown skin"
Friend in America: Haha
Me: i told him you can get anything fake in KTM, they
> aint got no papers with Hillary's signature on it
Friend in America: Haha
Friend in America: Man. I guess it's been a while. Since Bosnia
Me: told them there was no way in hell that I was
> giving them shit until i spoke to the consulate
Me: they kept saying "it doesnt work that way"; i told
> them there was no way in hell i was giving them anything
> with out representation
Friend in America: Wow.
Friend in America: Were you by yourself?
Me: the worst part was the military garding the place
> were trying to get me to go there for 30 min or so but there
> english was fucked. I kept saying "I dont know what you are
> talking about". Took them 4 people before there was one that
> could explain why I had to go. Then he asked for my papers
> and camera, i told him not a chance, you said I am going to
> the embassy, take me there or shoot me
Me: I was
Me: michie is sleeping

Posts form Nepal.

2010-09-17T12:02:00.000-07:00

Posts from Nepal in no particular order or relevance... Part Zero!

Observations...

9/17/10 8:43pm EST or so my iPhone tells me.

3.5 hours into at 14 hour flight and I must admit, I am pretty happy with my choice of air service providers.

In all honesty, the meal of chicken tika salad pistachio rice pudding and plain yogurt was by far superior to any cattle class meal I have had on any other member of the star alliance they are trying to join.

Too shelf liquor serves gratis too boot, too bad I am dry in anticipation of the long march forward. Wonder if Mao got a little hair of the dog during campaign to oust the kaomantang.

USB power, iPhone happy; when will Americans catch on. I suppose as a nation we have all but forgotten what it is to use a service, more often than not it is the service provider dictating to us what we as a consumer get.

Seriously, and bottled water at every seat?

Sadly no wifi, suppose I didn't need at 14 hour reddit marathon anyway. r/no_plug_intended

Note to self, iPhone notes is the worst program to engage in written observations with and by written I am using the phrase liberally. As this will likely go up on v. Savages unedited; it's not likely to win any pulitzers. Grammar and spelling police likely to be on patrol in full riot gear.

Annoying, the human element...

The Indian fellow next to seems fecundated with the "new English" movie section, seems odd to me that a guy with a US passport has never heard of any of the movies, new or old. Sure I didn't see the remake of clash o the titans or date night, but "what is chariots of fire about?" and "the dirty dozen, is it ok for me to watch that in pubic?". I'll let home slide on the good the bad and the ugly because the only one who could be in a western more blatantly raciest or pack more stereo types into an hour forty-five is the Duke. God that guy was an asshole!

2:00 o'clock, Jennifer Lopez, a desi female and a two legged dog dragging a rickshaw? Who the writes this shit? Guess this answers the question why I am trying to estimate how many seconds it will take the unscientific map to get from the edge of Greenland to Iceland at 1017 km/h. I don't give it more than 97, max.

Hum, bottom of plane camera... Nothing but static, hope it isn't a message from the gas huffing oracles from mt Vesuvius. Achilles wouldn't take these odds. Was more of a hector fan anyway.

Nothing so easy to obsess about with the desis. Jesus, the French really do make it easy.

World clock what the fuck moment.
Current time: New Delhi, India. 6:59am (tomorrow)
Current time: Kathmandu, Nepal. 7:15am (tomorrow)
Granted time us a man made concept, suppose I am just use to living on hourly divisions.

Adult humanoids, more annoying that infants. Hey lady, shut the hell up, I don't care that your single serving friend played footsie with you on his sleep. Shit happens. I'm not even sure she has a seat mate, for all I know it's Tyler fucking Durdan. Go make some soap and shut the fuck up

The grinding highs of what can only described as one of the most violent dubstep sets i have ever listened to is noticeably disturbing my 3 o'clock, he is starting to twitch in his upper extremities. His eyes wide as a dear in headlights, staring through the wall in slightly darkened bulkhead ahead. This must have been what it was like for Noriega inside the Vatican embassy with Reagan's marines outside for those 30 some odd days. Unlike Noriega, this guy could go back to his ticketed seat and stop pushing my arm of my armrest. How do I know it is mine? In a commercial aircraft? A) my poorly constructed aluminum food tray folds out of it. And B) I saw his ass move from his ticketed seat two rows ahead at 30B forty-five minuets into the flight. By any house rules this shit is mine.

Wonder what the longest "notes" note recorded in history was? Scratch that, don't want to know but am sure to give it a run for it's money,

Novelas Indian style...

11 o'clock ( direction not time)

The middle aged woman seems to be watching the Indian version of gladiator, no bollywood shuffle but super high budget. The lady of affection is bar far the most gorgeous desi I have ever seen and the main male protagonist, is the size of Andre the giant with a face a charming as that drunk kiwi. I sure hope the maharajah gets it.

Really wish it had subtitles, sure it give anything on the "latest english" menu a trashing.

Console game selection...

Filed under arcade

Fruit punch, icy blast, manika and snoodles.

"Snoodles: Whet you appetite for fun controlling thus crazy snoodle as it gobbles on power pellets!! The object of the game is to help the snoodle eat up all the pellets that appear on the screen. Use the arrow keys to help it slither away from certain death!!!"

And we winder people want to become a shaheen and join the jihad. Given a childhood with these as the only option the choice this a no brainer. Note to the concessional comity on counter terrorism and the senate finance comity, send out a fucking pacman machine here and there and put an end to this shit for good.

The game play...

Jesus, the only thing slower than this in-flight console is an iPhone 3G with iOS4 on it.
Good news for those who ever owned an 82 ford focus, you will be use to the handling and it's responsiveness.

The game better known as "no English" other times referee to as "don't know any better"...

Jesus, forgot about this one until the lady decided to use my row as a crosswalk. Dude, seriously. who does that? Really? Act surprised when I yell "hey lady, what are you doing"? I didn't forget that we just got on the plane from New York or the fact that you are conversing with your friend in English.

The Egyptian rules queue.

A TSA agent kindly excuses himself as he wheels a man the better part of a century old through he endless line that snakes through the security section of the A section of terminal 4 like the Nile through the middle kingdom.

Slithering in tow a woman with a stylish hijab on a cellphone talking the soaps. Three adolescents in trail in the finest of jersey suburban gear. Hair and chains so fresh Polly D would have been proud.

The elder gentlemen with his escort moved into a position a few slots north of my location with and halts abruptly and starts speaking to the person on his left in polish. The two carry on for a minute or, come to sort of agreement and bid each other farewell.

As jersey shore starts that take up the rear it dawns on me that I have seen this maneuver before. Egyptian rules queue are in effect? It is 12 hours from Egyptians airspace at best, this shit ain't foible to fly at JFK, you could get killed for way less out side the terminal in Jamaica.

This must be stopped at all cost.

Only possible solution to halt a dangerous president allowing the Egypt sweep is to employ the south Jamaica stomp.

As the little situation made his pass I seeped on his dragging bag fastener and stopped him dead like a hemmy with a ceased piston. Young situation looked up and exclaimed no English to which I turned and looked at hijab soap who then exclaimed "come on boys, that is far enough". Seriously people, have you no shame?

One would think as a parent you would want yo teach your children how to work with in the system not how to get around it.

Reminds me of an article I saw on the post online addition recently (don't judge me, it was linked).

Capitalism, a war story.

A 12 year old girl in upstate ny was ticketed by the police for opening a soft drink stand on a downtown street corner with the help from her dad. After a number if hours of peddling her wares, police arrive at the scene and ticket the poor girl for vending without a hack license.

As the comment roar on, pope are getting more and more enraged about how the police harassed this poor little girl. Perhaps they missed the larger point. Granted we live in a capitalist society and entrepreneurship is encourages, but there are rules to it. The lesson had the girl learned had she not been stopped would not have been that of free markets, but rather, it ok to cheat the system for money.

The most likely scenario is that a local vendor called the police, pissed that they had to pay taxes and rent fir their corner.

7 or so hours in...

Jesus, I have way too much time on my hands. For gods sake, I'm only over Lille'.

The state af American film.

Really Jennifer Lopez fighting with a two legged dig over a pregnancy test? Fir the love golf god.

Cue next scene, over and over again.

The seat nomad next to me keeps replying the scene with Jennifer Lopez on the elliptical machine. Sure I was impressed too by the way she powered through it and perhaps a little jealous but it has to get old at some point.

Over Iran two and a half hours to go, that's more than I've had in days. About an harbor so from kabul, I'll quit my bitching because there is one thing that I am certain if and that is this plane is way more comfortable than a foxhole.

09/18/10 7:05am
Namaste India, once again.
All In all not a bad flight all things considered.

5:05 pm Indian time

I had forgotten just uninhabitable this land was, when they said 70deg they mist have meant 90 with 80% humidity. I forgot how hard the life was here and the medicines necessary to make it bearable. This I was reminded of by the haze of hashish smoke that drifted over me as I moved past the hard of men making large swatches of dirt into mud across for the new terminal.

The addition to the airport are vast and expansive, quite the marble considering what it looked like last time I was here. The one thing India has is people and labor is cheap if nothing else.

Sent from my iPhone

An exercise in brilliance! Self, thy worst enemy.

2010-09-16T17:21:00.000-07:00

T - minus 14 hours and counting until liftoff for Nepal.

Jogged 4 miles in the rain in anticipation of 30k a day hikes up tall mountains with limited oxygen. No doubt am I ready for the adventure and pain ahead. If I live and nothing else, at least I will be fit as a burro after the big fight.

Seems to be par for the course really... or of late anyway.

Did manage to see a few interesting things on my gallivant across Brooklyn this evening however.

A first, at least in the united states. A two block live poultry market. It wasn't that fact that it was a poultry market per se, but rather the fact that it took place on Flushing Avenue, for two blocks mind you. Trailer ofter tailer, crate after crate, nothing but feathers and the stench of death lurking. Perhaps it was not only the death alone, but the fact that there must have been at least five or six hundred people in attendance. The event seemed not only for the matriarch or patriarch however, but a gathering for the whole family. I found it rather odd to see childern no older than 5 or 6 years of age hold these foul in the air while take close note of their assets, if that is how you refer to the greater parts of the flock anatomy.

Perhaps this is just a reflection on what was lacking in my own childhood. Wait a fucking minuet, what the hell am i going on about. I have a leaking skylignt and I am lamenting hasidic children fondling the undersides of live game. I must really need a vacation.

File this under what are you thinking................

Photos from the pro Park51/ Cordoba House Rally

2010-09-11T16:16:00.000-07:00

9/11 conspiracy found outside the chambers st station

Line of police scooters

RESPECT

Signs reflected in attendents glasses

Muslim mourners

Priest

I blank NY

Love

Hate

Flag

Abortion protester

City Hall

BK Bridge

1st Amendment

Bigotry

bushwick quote of the day

2010-09-02T20:31:00.000-07:00

Girl on the cell phone: No, its ok, his indictment has been put on hold for a day...

The Wall

2010-08-24T16:17:00.000-07:00

So I seem to have been neglecting my blog after my move to the swick so here goes. There is a lot of paint, graffiti and or street art int he swick, goes with the territory i suppose. There is one wall in particular though that is a for all painters, kind of like a wall of fame. The wall on is painted on al 4 side and houses a factory of some sort in side. The wall can be found at bogard, white, boerum and ingram streets (http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&q=40.706913,+-73.935091&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=mlR0TJ2-EcP_lgeFmoHJCA&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&ved=0CAkQ_AU). So rather than continue to slack off I though id post some photos I took a few weeks ago to post what is currently on the wall (note it is a living breathing art piece and is ever evolving as people lay down bomber over other peoples work).

Kelly Daen, SMOG & Dubstep

2010-08-23T17:50:00.000-07:00

So i've been listening to a lot of dubstep.fm and they really love to play Kelly Dean. No doubt he is a kick ass DJ with super wobbly tracks, but man does that guy never shut the fuck up. I dont hate on people in particular on my blog, not like anyoine reads it anyway. holy shit, this guy loves to hear the sound of his own voice; perhaps only surpassed by rush limbaugh or glen beck. For the love of god man, shut the fuck up and let us hear the tracks, we dont need you to tell us that they rock, we would be able to determine that for our selves if you weren't talking all the time.

Anyway, here is my favorite track of the moment, but not on SMOG and not by dean, not hating now but provided for your listening pleasure. sorry YouTube compression killed most of the wobble.

Sub woofers and the battle for reggaeton supremacy

2010-08-14T20:31:00.000-07:00

My decent into Bushwick has been filled with many new sense sensations; sight, sound & taste a full submersion into all things Bushwick.

Today's focus is sound; in particular, that of the musical style known and loved by the natives: Reggaeton (for those of you who are unfamiliar, a video can be found here).

The ritual of listening to reggaeton involves sub woofers, in particular, custom sub woofers and high powered amps that are installed in cars. It matters not what kind of vehicle you drive, be it a 1978 datsun b210 or a 2010 lexus with spinners. The rules of engagement seem to be the same. All players must pack at least 500 watts in the trunk. Any good sound engineer worth his or her salt will tell that the bass doesn't fully develop for at least 35 feet form the source even with properly ported for the point of origin of dispersion, a fact that all participants must be unaware of. The next stage of the ritual involves participants not hearing the base in the vehicles while setting off as many car alarms of as possible.

Another possible home court rule is, rather than driving, one can opt to pull over and open all the windows, turn the radio up to 11 and then stand on either side of the car and have a conversation while shouting at the top of your voice to make sure the other players can hear you and properly engage in the conversation; albeit with a lot of whats, huhs and ques.

Ironically enough, many of the older residents do not seem to take issue with this this game, grandmothers nor school children complain. As I write this a new match has just began, granted it is only quarter after 12 on a Saturday night, leaves at least 5:45 left in this, the 3rd period.

A turn of events happened last night when the live/work art space in the building next door to me deiced to host a robot themed party with a dub step sound track complete with 18" sub woofers.

As the night drew on, the players from both the art complex and the people from the neighborhood mounted attacks one by one not to be outdone by the former. After an intense battle lasting till 6:00 am Team Reggaeton could no longer hold on after an injury resulting in a blown left woofer, I am still not sure if it was the result of a wattage to impedance miscalculation or a sharp object office sides offense by one of the men in the trunk trying to tool up the amp to push the extra oms. None the less, the natives were forced to abandon Fridays episode of battle for reggaeton.

There is no doubt in my mind that this battle will be repeated like that of civil war reenactments for years to come but the real question is, what kind of ammunition will they pack in the future?

Welcome to the Bushwick beatch!

2010-08-14T19:14:00.000-07:00

^{The raid was called on after narcotics officers observed a drug deal in front of the Ridgewood apartment Monday afternoon. The search led cops to the white mountain, scales, and clues leading to a house in Bushwick, where officers found an AK-47 rifle, two Uzi submachine guns, five handguns, and ammo.}

So recently I moved to Bushwick in good old Brooklyn. I must admit it was quite a change from the life I was living in Manhattan. While there are still rows of tenement housing lining the streets of the swick, the swick of today is much different of the swick of the past. Granted there is no shortage of abject poverty, crime, fatherless children and drug addiction, the swick I know is something that politicians who long ago gave up on this neighborhood and perhaps even the residents would have never expected; a beacon of hope.

Today's has seen a return of diversity to the neighborhood, partly fueled by the housing boom leaving neighboring Williamsberg unaffordable for the artist who started to flock there by the prospect of cheap commercial warehouse converted into live work spaces. With this influx of new blood and the reintegration of a diverse mix people businesses and the local economy are starting to thrive.

Although the old residents are enjoying the new life and influx of spending into the neighborhood, it is hard to forget the swicks not so pleasent past. Perhaps nobody could tell the story of the fall and rise of bushwick than that of Ron Carritue as he recalls in his interview titled: Bushwick the firestorm years.

For more on the history of Bushwick, see the wikipedia entry

New York City, the living breating ant farm

2010-07-29T21:11:00.000-07:00

It is kind of funny, some things you take for granted, but I had a realization this evening. New York is living and berating. While trying to move all my superfluous crap out of my apartment on the Upper East Side on the eve of the new month, it has amazed me how fast thing that are placed on the side walk disappear into the night. Doesn't mater, if it is a microwave, bed, couch, elephant, where there is a precised dollar value there is a picker. It is like a giant rat maze where there are droppers and fetchers, the two don't have a understood schedule, or maybe they do the picker being the smarter of the two, but as fast as it goes out, the instant it goes away. I have yet to see anyone take anything, or walk down the sidewalk for that matter, but once I return to the building and return down the stairs, the items are gone. it as if they move between worlds or time space for that matter.

perhaps only a video can portray the real movement of the city.

On oral surgery

2010-07-19T19:10:00.001-07:00

Just some thoughts....

On Thursday I had 4 wisdom teeth removes, as a 36 year old male this is quite a horrific experience.

My first memory is being led out of the operating room and on to the curb where an orderly was told to get me in a cab, in my loopy state I told the kind fellow I was ok and I could walk home, form 16th street and 2 ave to 83rd street and York. He said ok, you look good to me. While I am no expert, I am pretty sure this was illegal; I then spent the next hour trying to find morels in Whole Food in Union Sq, success, I have yet to eat them as I am still having issues chewing.

Day two: what was I thinking, I need to go find plantains in east Harlem because while you are still suffering form post anesthesia insanity (yes, they put me out with a general), the best thing to do is to walk around aimlessly in 100 deg weather...

As they days have passed, only a couple, I must admit, perhaps eating mofongo con chichron is not the best choice of meals when you can not chew on any side. Currently it looks like I was hit in the face with a canseco bat and some how crawled out of the sewer. Errrr.

Just a rant!

You've been Iced bro!

2010-06-29T18:35:00.000-07:00

Ice ice baby...

Maybe you've been out of america for a while or just haven't live the collage lifestyle in a number of years, in either case you are missing out on all the rage across america at this moment in time.

Icing!

Friend of smirnoff or not, a bro has little choice.

The rub is as follows: Young college students carry a bottle (warm in most cases) of smirnoff ice in anticipation of another young (wo)man pulling out their own bottle of smirnoff ice in a challenge. If said defendant is not equipped with their own bottle of smirnoff ice, they then must drink the one the attacker presents them in a single chug on one knee and a requisite second bottle (god only knows where bottle number 2 comes from). In anticipation of being Iced or in an effort to opt out of the game large numbers of college students are equipped with an extra bottle of ice at all times. If you have ever had a warm malt liquor beverage, you know that this is a disgusting beverage, if you have ever consumed a smirnoff ice, you can imagine the hell that might consume your taste buds with the prospect of a warm smirnoff ice (think zima post UI track).

Lets hope like all american fads this one passes with a quickness much like the way of the piano tie and the zipper pants.

A video for inspiration:

Savage today

2010-06-25T18:21:00.000-07:00

Filed under savage

It has been quite some time since I commented on a savage or savage act in New York City, but this one was hard to pass up. While there are no shortage of naked people seen on the street, this one took the cake. Enter the older gentleman who simultaneously wears a diaper on a park bench, while wearing flip flops and plastic gloves while he scribbles incoherently on a newspaper. I have spaired you the shot form behind, not for the weak of stomach.

Today in New York

2010-06-25T16:36:00.000-07:00

Today in New York
June 24, 2010

Bridge on the FDR
Upper East Side, NYC

Rosevelt Island,
New York City

Shadow of a runner on the FDR
Upper East Side, NYC

Young lovers on the East River
Gracie Park, NYC

Man on a bench
Gracie Park, NYC

Gracie Park, NYC

Sr on a bench,
Gracie Park, NYC

Luxor - Egypt

2010-06-20T00:39:00.000-07:00

Truth be told I have been holding out, and most likely will continue to do so.. That being said here is the first installation of Egypt.

Today in New York City: the 53rd annual Puerto Rican Day Parade

2010-06-13T18:40:00.000-07:00

Today in New York,
June 14, 2010,
The 53rd annual Puerto Rican Day Parade edition.
Note there are no comments on photos, all were taken in Midtown East, NYC.

Today in New York City

2010-06-12T16:26:00.001-07:00

Today in New York
June 11th, 2010

Beer sign at Kenka, St. Marks St NYC

Female patron, outside Kenka, St Marks St.
East Village, NYC

Female cook at Kenka, St Marks St.
East Village, NYC

Waitress at Kenka, St Marks St.
East Village, NYC

Waitress 2 at Kenka, St Marks St.
East Village, NYC

Male patron at Kenka, St Marks St.
East Village, NYC

Fire escape,
East Village, NYC

2 AM cooks,
Lower East Side, NYC

Fire hydrant,
Lower East Side, NYC

2 AM cooks #2,
Lower East Side, NYC
Bikes on the street,
Lower East Side, NYC

People in front of Meet Da Johnsons,
Lower East Side, NYC

Today in New York City

2010-06-10T15:16:00.000-07:00

Today in New York City
June 10, 2010
Lovers on the street
Park Avenue and 79th Street, NYC

Children at play,
The Pond, Central Park, NYC

Boat on the Pond,
The Pond, Central Park, NYC

Lovers on a bench
The Mall, Central Park, NYC

Petty Cab Driver,
Park Avenue & 59th Street, NYC

Japan Cuts 2010

2010-06-10T13:25:00.001-07:00

It is that time of the year again, Japan Cuts comes back to the Japan Society in NYC. Like every year you can expect a wide gambit of films form the truly ridiculous to the morbidly depressing.

Although it is impossible to see them all, granted people I know try and actually take a week or so off work to get as many on a possible (I will not name any names), there are a few that I though I would try to get out and see.

Alien vs. Ninja

World Premiere
Saturday, July 3, 6 PM

Synopsis according to the japan Society:

"In medieval Japan, no one can hear you scream. And no one can prepare you for the arrival of a great big honking rubber alien who wants to party in space-invader style--meaning tearing off heads and ripping out intestines. This sick extraterrestrial freak even wants to impregnate our species with its hideous jelloid babies. It's unstoppable. It's unkillable. It's unbeatable! Almost--it's not ninja-proof."

Seriously, how could you go wrong with that. Pure mindless entertainment.

Next on the list a little suspense that should prove macabre:

Confessions

告白(Kokuhaku)
U.S. Premiere
Thursday, July 1, 9 PM
Sunday, July 4, 2 PM

Synopsis according to the japan Society:

Tetsuya Nakashima made Memories of Matsuko, the greatest musical about a dead bag lady ever filmed. Now he's back, four years later, with this darkly gleaming masterpiece. It's a showcase for Takako Matsu, who plays a middle school teacher whose four-year-old daughter is murdered. Some dodgy evidence convinces her that two of her students are the killers, and she engages in psychological warfare with her entire class in a highly unhealthy attempt to make them confess.

If you liked Tokyo Gore Police, you are sure to love this.

Mutant Girls Squad

戦闘少女血の鉄仮面伝説 (Sento shojo: Chi no tekkamen densetsu)
International Premiere
Saturday, July 3, 8:30 PM

Synopsis according to the japan Society:

In 2009, Tak Sakaguchi (Versus), Yoshihiro Nishimura (Tokyo Gore Police) and Noboru Iguchi (RoboGeisha), came to the New York Asian Film Festival, got drunk and decided to make a movie together. The result: this splatter-ific, kick-tastic, raunchy riff on the X-Men movies. It takes three directors to make a movie this messed up.

A complete list of films, synopsis' and show times can be found on the Japan Society's web site http://www.japansociety.org/japancuts

Today in New York (Central Park Edition)

2010-06-06T14:31:00.001-07:00

It is kind of strange that we have a day to celebrate a country and a people that we carpet bombed and then nuked, not only once but twice; but then again New Yorkers never miss an opportunity to go and free food in the park.

Kimono girl

Kimono Girl and her friends

Ninjas coming out of the wood work.

Little Girl and friend

Not quite sure what to say about this pair

WTF BP? - green peace is doing a BP logo contest to bring attention to the spill.

2010-06-03T19:41:00.000-07:00

Here is mine!

The gallery

A day in the life of New York

2010-05-30T23:07:00.000-07:00

The city through my eyes or rather my lens not that of Sex and the City or Jerry Bruckheimer

Fleet Week provides a much needed reprieve to those serving in the Navy and Marines. I may not agree with the mission but I can appreciate an all volunteer military and the sacrifices they make. St Marks and 2nd NYC

love is in the air. St Marks and 2nd Ave

Girl on a stoop, St Marks St Manhattan, New York

Lanterns at ケンカ, St Marks, NYC

のれん(Noren) at ケンカ(Kenka), St Marks, NYC

Menu at Kenka on St Marks, NYC

The Badger at Kenka, St Marks, NYC

Chinese delivery man on 9th and 1st Ave, NYC

Man with writers block in Thompson Sq Park, Alphabet City, NYC

Bike on a tree, Thompson Sq Park, Alphabet City, NYC

Public garden, Clinton St Lower East Side, NYC

Statue, public garden, Thompson Sq Park, Alphabet City, NYC

The King of CLinton St, Alphabet City, NYC

La Rasa on Delancey Street, Lower East Side, NYC

Lantern on Clinton St, Lower East Side

Fire hydrant on Clinton St Lower East Side Manhattan

Never acknowledged in Sex and the City or any Jerry Bruckheimer, this is the real back bone of the New York economy and the people who make our lives possible.

Today in New York

2010-05-16T18:58:00.000-07:00

I decided to create a new thread called today in New York, chronically what I see on the street from the perspective of a living, breathing, working New Yorker.

Queens bound N train

Manhattan bound N train (31st street, Queens NY)

East River

East River Tug

Mexican Ice Cream Truck

Window reflection, York and 84th Street

Things that make you say "What?".

2010-05-14T16:05:00.000-07:00

Excerpt form conversation with a Unix administrator.

Person 1) So these demonstrations at the ableton live expo are pretty cool. You going to try it live?

Person 2) Yea, here check it our. Person 2 plays a Ramones cover.

Person 1) wait, arn't you a 7th day adventist?

Person 2) Yea, why?

Person 1) But you just played a Ramon's cover, is that allowed? I though you couldn't play that sort of music.

Person 2) My parents are cool with it as long as I don't play it in church. My parents and I still don't watch moves though.

Person 1) What do you mean you don't go to movies?

Person 2) Well you never know when the Rapture is going to happen.

Person 1) wait, does Jesus take a snap shot or something at the time of the Rapture and review what you are doing?

Person 2) Yea, something like that.

Person 1) but Jesus is cool with you playing the Ramones.

Person 2) I guess so.

Person 1) Something is just not satisfying to me about that answer.

Too many serious posts lately, time for more mindless ranting.

2010-05-01T17:09:00.000-07:00

Mindless observations from central park.

1) Who buys this crap?

When ever I go to the park, there is always an endless precession of these vendors selling generic photos of new york city and central park in winter/spring, yet I have yet to see anyone buy any of these fabulous pieces of art let alone walk into someone's home in new york and see one hanging on the wall. Clearly they must make enough to pay for their hack license and i suppose enough to eat but where does the merchandise go? It is as if there is some void that swallows the "art" and regurgitates money. And is this what happens when you move to new york to become an "Artist" after college and discover that the world thinks your no warhol; thus doomed to a life of street art sales associate? Suppose it is better than being a walmart super store sales associate, same amount of insurance coverage anyway.

2) people in new york resemble their dogs, do they buy dogs that match their personalities on purpose or is it their subconscious that drives the purchase?

Take the two subjects to the left for instance.

Dog A), small, yapping, in your face and overtly shaking. From my observations the owner, his yapping in your face behavior came in the form of snark and sarcasm, I don't doubt that if push came to shove he would stand there shaking like a bald little chihuahua.

Dog B) much like his owner was a mild mannered friendly individual, burly but but super friendly. However; he had the swagger of an ex-marine or perhaps a former apartheid soldier. Friendly on the surface but when in a bind has no problem slaughtering the first available animal for a dinner of bush meet.

3) the diametrically apposed fringe of the park crowd.

Although there is great diversity in the fare weather park crowd, there are two groups that stand at the extreme polar opposite, they fall into the following categories: the uncomfortable over dressed and the near naked sunbather.

The first group make every uncomfortable, I didn't take any photos but these are the people who are wearing jeans, a sweater, and a sun hat in the park when it is over 90 degrees out. I understand that you have a fundamental fear of a tan, perhaps like a vampire but wouldn't it have been mush easier to stay indoors?

The far left of this is the urban sunbather. Although central park is not nearly as bad as the high line with all the people having sex in the windows of the Standard Hotel, it is almost nearly perverse. Although I do not mind seeing a woman in a bikini with the body of an olympic athlete taking in the rays, it may have some profound on little jimmy. It would be really embarrassing to get your first erection in the park after viewing a almost nude tight bodied sun bather. I understand that Manhattan is far from the beach, but come on, there are no shortage of tanning salons or pools in the city, perhaps a more appropriate venue for bearing almost all.

That's it, Christoff out -->

The Buy America provision and the effects of protectionism on global trade.

2010-05-01T16:51:00.000-07:00

Although there is no doubt that in the current system of integrated economies that has come to exist through globalization has had many benefits for all of those who choose to participate, often in times of crisis people look to protectionist measures. First and foremost we must consider that politicians are subject to the approval of their constituencies. During times of economic growth and stable domestic employment, politicians generally have carte blanc to conduct what matters they see fit, provided it does not result in the embarrassment of their constituencies or erupt into a nation wide scandal. During times of chaos, finical turbulence or high unemployment coupled with inflation such as those during the 70’s 80’ and today, many constituents often feeling the pressure of finical woes call their elected officials to come to their rescue through domestic initiatives that will lessens the amount of capital leaving the countries and thus stimulate domestic investment to provide economy growth in the local economy.

The question of whether or not protectionist clauses like the buy America provision of the US Recovery act of 2009 or the similar Buy China Act currently floating around Beijing may have more to do with the political make up of the country and the balance of trade rather than a direct effect of the spending initiatives themselves.

According to the US Census Bureau, between January and May 2009, the US trade deficit with China was about $85 billion. The deficit may suggest that because US companies and manufacturing have all but left the greater United States for lower cost labor and resources, we many not even currently have the manufacturing infrastructure to meet the demands of all the capital need to move the projects forward towards their construction. In addition, Americans have become so use to relying on the relatively cheap cost of good coming from China, that in the event of a buy America clause, US project holders may not be able to make enough profit as the cost of the project will skyrocket do to paying full price for domestic products that were not kept artificially low by dumping on the market or other government subsidies.

In addition, because of the US trade imbalance, in order for the American economy to stay afloat, money will need to continue to pour out of America is people from other countries are to be able to buy the expensive good that are left in the American market, such as car and software.
The US political system also plays an important role on the speed of recovery, unlike China and its centralized government; the US is a democracy and as such is often burdened tedious amounts of red tape and bid contract in order to achieve anything, something that is particularly noticeable when you consider that only 10% of the US Recovery Act funds have been used as of this date. Precisely because of the amount of bureaucracy and infighting among members of congress and their pet projects that a Buy America provision would never work, as nobody would agree on a vendor of choice.

China unlike the US with a strong central government would and is not at a disadvantage because of its protectionist policies found in the Buy China portion of their recovery act. Because much of China’s FID has resulted in a build up in manufacturing heavy and other wise, the country is readily able to produce the product it needs locally increasing the side of its workforce and getting its materials for the cheapest possible price, maximizing its cost – efficiency ratio while simultaneously decreasing unemployment, creating more spending and increased productivity. Due to the large holding of foreign reserve currencies, especially US Dollars, any durable goods and services that are not readily available in China can simply be purchased form its other trading partners, whether here in the west or of a more centrally located producer such as Japan or Korea.

China's ability to move out of a recession thought protections means may be directly influenced by the model the government runs on. Unlike the west, China has a strong central government, as such there is little in the way of fulfilling its commands. That is not to say that there is no infighting nor pet projects in China, however, since the government is in control of the construction efforts, projects can be made shovel ready with little to no administrative time waste. Evidence of this can be seen in China’s continued GDP growth, although it is less rapid than in the past could of years, statistical data suggests the economy is still growing upwards of 6% while that of the US stays relatively flat even after the capital infusion into the market by congress.

Whether or not protectionist moves by local governments are a bad thing perhaps can be directly tied the method in which your political system is built on. Clearly in this day in age, a fully global integrated market economy like that of the US is unable to sustain itself without strong international trade. On the other hand China with its strong central government seems to be doing quite well for itself, perhaps the question isn’t whether protections is bad or not, but rather how far are you willing to leverage your growth and economy on the backs of your trading partners and as a government what responsibility does the government have in regards to regulation to prevent further financial crises form starting?

US Census Bureau. "Trade in Goods (Imports, Exports and Trade Balance) with China." http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/balance/c5700.html#2009 (July 27, 2009).

Iran and the proliferation of fusion weapons.

2010-05-01T16:29:00.000-07:00

In an ever divided and volatile Middle East, what will be the impact region and the world at large if Iran does gain the ability to produce and maintain a nuclear arsenal and if indeed Iran does go nuclear, should someone intervene and how?

This essay will first attempt to explain why states such as Iran would desire to go nuclear, focusing on internal political forces, technological resources, domestic security and regional hegemonic desires. This essay will then try analyze the impact on the region if any, and what can or should be done about their proliferation.

Why would Iran want to go nuclear? Although many might think the answer is simple, to case the destruction, its sworn enemy by its own hand, but perhaps the answer is more complicated than that. States frequently acquire or at least attempt to acquire nuclear weapons for a number of political reasons. Political pressure can come not only from outside the country but also in. One may as how political pressure is exerted from outside of the country that may drive states to build and test nuclear weapons but often it is the pressure form other states that are a driving force in the development. Both Iran and the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea are prime examples of this. While the outside world develop U.N. Security Council sanctions and more often embargos, the isolation only drives “rogue states” further pressure their goal. It is precisely these sanctions that make leaders want to assert them selves even more vigorously in shows of swagger. Iran for example has been had a growing policy roll in the middle east especially with the invasion of Afghanistan since the U.S. invasion but many in the west do not give it the credence or respect in foreign policy circles that the mullahs feel they deserve. How does the perceived foreign policy impotence influence demotic pressure to develop nuclear weapons?

Often when countries are marginalized, there is a large public out flow of anger and resentment. This is particularly applicable in the case of Iran, who still holds resentment, albeit justified, for the roll the U.S. government played in the coup de tat that ousting of the elected Nationalist president Mohammed Musaddiq and resulted in the instillation of the Shaw. The domestic pressure provided by the people is only intensified when the U.S. labels their state as rogue or a member of the “axis of evil’. Internal pressure also comes from military leaders who are always pushing for increased military spending in hopes that their budgets will not get cut the following year or and from politicians who use national pride as a means to secure votes. Although domestic pressure may provide political willingness to develop nuclear weapons, what are the effects of technological development?

According to Singh and Way, “once a country develops the latent capacity to develop nuclear weapons, it is only a matter of time until it is expected to do so”.[1] Thus as Iran has developed into a relative modern nation by Middle East standards, it does not seem unreasonable that they would indeed seeks to develop a modern weapons arsenal. The revenue that Iran has amassed from its rich oil resources have offered Iran a spring board to modernity, increasing its scientific development, increased literacy and economic prosperity, all tools necessary for the development of a modern nuclear state. With the increase of scientific discovery and literacy standards, it becomes cheaper for state to develop nuclear weapons and thus increase the likely hood of them doing so. Increased scientific it seems provide a state with an avenue to produce, but what are the domestic security concerns that make states like Iran move from the discovery state to the acquisition and development stage?

The willingness rather than the ability to produce nukes can perhaps be explained in realist terms best, security concerns. According to Waltz, this because of the “threat environment”, states are highly likely to build nuclear arsenals when there is an increased external security threats. The threat environment however will result in a security dilemma as other rival states attempt to level the playing field by building their own nuclear weapons to stifle said rivals military edge. In the case with Iran, it could be argued that their building of nuclear weapons is merely a response to the uneven distribution of power in the region, as Israel, Iran’s regional rival, already possesses an estimated 20 to 60 nuclear weapons. By realist arguments, it is only logical that Iran would indeed seek to build its own stockpile to increase its own security. In addition, with the end of the cold war, there is no bipolarity of superpowers, which provide a security guarantee. With no structured security alliance, Iran has only itself to rely on to provide security agenized attack form states that are proceeded to be credible threats, namely the United States or by extension, its alley, Israel to whom the United States transfer its own nuclear weapons technology to. Israel’s own action in the region can only see by Iran as a threat as it is has historically bombed other countries suspected nuclear enrichment sites with little to no Security Council action. Also, many states in the region see Israel as carrying out on ongoing war agenized Islam, only personified by the ongoing occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, leaving Iran and it ruling Mullahs no alternative to see to build up a credible military deterrent from what it see as the aggressor in the region. In edition to defensive ability, how might the acquisition of nuclear weapons increase Iran’s regional hegemony?

According to Sagan, nuclear weapons provide and a states military ability can serve the same function as that of an airline or Olympic team[2], providing a state with an air of legitimacy with out the need of costly war, on the cheap. These weapons serve as a litmus test for modernity and can be used as symbol to their peers that they are the most powerful and legitimate in the region. In Iran’s case, this symbolism is particularly important given its historic record of foreign interference in its domestic political affairs and US assistance to Iraq in the Iran/Iraq war. Since the 1979 revolution, Iran has been struggling to reshape its economy, pride and regional standing by improving their oil production capability and updating its infrastructure. The vast amount of revenue that it has amassed has provided Iran with the ability to indeed become a modern state. The production capability does not just provide Iran with economic power, but also gives it resource power over its trading partners in the region and perhaps across the world. The ability of Iran to have nuclear weapons and an economic grip on its regional partners places it right at the center at regional politics and Iran is happy to be a part of it, perhaps striving for a position much like the roll that China plays in East Asian politics.

The internal political forces, technological resources, domestic security and regional hegemonic desires have shaped Iran’s desire to obtain nuclear weapons, but what security implications does that have on the region and what is anything should be done about it?

According to Waltz, since the post war world, nuclear weapons have been a instrument that have worked for peace because the cost of war is so incredibly high, the act of war itself is in fact discouraged by the perceived horrific outcome[3]. History has show that now two states who possess nuclear weapons have ever engaged in an active war with each other. In essence there is no empirical evidence to suggest that any new state that was to gain the technological ability to enrich fissile material and subsequently build a bomb. Iran therefore, is no more likely than any other state to use its nuclear weapons agenized a rival, Israel included, because the ensuing second strike would result in catastrophic amounts of collateral damage to the civilian populace that it would make the initial strike out of the question. Iran’s rhetoric of destroying Israel aside, there is little factual evidence to suggest that this posturing is indeed a prelude for Iranian actions to come, not if, but when, they finish building their nuclear arsenal. So what about the safety of the region at large?

The spread of nuclear proliferation will very likely result in increased regional security if states that share borders have weapons. Historical evidence this can be seen if one looks at the relationship between China and Russia, though bitter rivals, they never once used their weapons on each other, but rather, had very limited military incidents once they had both developed the thermal missile capabilities. The same set of out comes can be assumed would result if Iran was also to acquire nuclear weapons. Perhaps even greater regional cooperation would evolve is Iran were to gain “the bomb” and become a regional hegemony by extending a regional security pact to smaller more venerable nations. Although the advent of Iran going nuclear may increase regional security, states such as Israel and the United States are sure to oppose it, but what could they do to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons?

Many experts agree, any attempt to bomb enrichment facilities such as the gas centrifuges near located near Natanz would only slow Iran’s weapons development process and not stop it. It is commonly believed that Iran has come too far in its technological development to stop Iran agonized its will and may even give the Iranian government the political support to complete the process at an increased rate with increased domestic support and an increased sense of national pride. Likewise, if the Bush administrations handling of North Korea in their attempt to develop nuclear weapons, there is no doubt that isolation and sanctions are not effective in persuading a regime to give up its pursuit of nuclear weapons. Isolation rather, give North Korea more incentive to develop WMDs and ultimately test them to get the United States to reengage in direct negations. Iran, unlike the DPRK, has a vast about of oil revenue and as such, isolation is likely to have a much milder effect. Direct engagement is likely the only possible course of action for the U.S. and world community to talk, America’s military forces are spread think around the planet, and perhaps even if they we not, Iran is no Iraq and it is not likely that our forces would be able to secure a geographic area the size of Iran. So where does that leave us now?

It may be now surprise as to why Iran or other states may want to go nuclear, internal political forces, technological resources, domestic security and regional hegemonic desires can readily be satisfied by their development. It remains abundantly clear that we can not take steps that have been historically in dealing the development of nukes in “rogue states”. What is apparent is that if the U.S. and their regional allies do indeed want Iran to cease and desist, they will need to engage Iran directly, much like Moammar Kadafi of Libya, to get them to voluntarily disarm. But perhaps the spread of nuclear armed states is not the worst thing that can happen, sure we may loose some leverage, but is the gain in regional piece not worth the discomfort it may cause?

Bibliography

[1] Sonali Singh and Christopher R. Way, "The Correlates of Nuclear Proliferation: A Quantitative Test," The Journal of Conflict Resolution,. Vol. 48, No.6 (2004) Page 4

[2] Scott D. Sagan Why Do States Build Nuclear Weapons?: Three Models in Search of a Bomb International Security, Vol. 21, No. 3 (Winter, 1996-1997), pp. 74

[3] Kenneth Waltz, “The Spread of Nuclear Weapons: More May Better,” Adelphi Papers International Institute for Strategic Studies, No. 171 (1981).

The case against Goldman Sachs in plain english

2010-04-27T18:01:00.000-07:00

On Goldman

by Hale "Bonddad" Stewart @ 6:27 PM

By now we've all heard the SEC is suing Goldman Sachs for fraud. I'm going to walk you through my thoughts on the complaint to explain what's there and why it's important.

First, the document filed by the SEC is a complaint. The purpose of this document is to define the issues for trial. Usually, the person filing the complaint has done a lot of investigation before filing the document -- so much so that they can more or less anticipate what the defendant will do.

The government is arguing Goldman committed fraud under the securities laws.

The full case

Observations from the pool in Luxor Egypt.

2010-04-19T12:44:00.000-07:00

A note about Europeans while on vacation, whether in north africa it
anywhere else; it would seem that the older and more out of shape you
are the less clothing you are to ware around the pool or gym.
Seriously? 65 and in a spedo or 55 and morbidly obese and in a bikini?
And what is the deal with having 8 - 10 year olds in bikinis? This is
the middle east for Christ's sake, as if isn't insulting enough to
the cultural sensitivities of the people, what about the pedobear
factor?

And another thing, what us the deal with people swimming in sun glasses?

The British love the all inclusive holiday, I suppose I can't blame
them. What is not to like, airfare, hotel and meals; only downer is
they never leave the pool. Might as well have stay-cautioned in bloody
England. Seems like a shame to fly to Egypt and have never left the
pool and seen the sights...

Euro tourists observations continued.

What is the deal with the French? They seem to travel in packs like
wild jackals. Do jackals even travel in packs? Guess that is one I
will have to wikipedia when I get an Internet connection.

Note to self, perhaps iPhone note app isn't the best medium for
scribing these observations; then again I'm no boroughs.

WTF moment, is that german swimming with quetips in
His ears? Perhaps it is the latest and greatest in Japanese technology.

Speaking of the Japanese they seem to devoid in this hotel. In all the
places I have traveled this pool may be the one time there wasn't an
armada of japanese tourists armed with the latest in electronic
gaditry. Then again, the Japanese don't tend to idle their time
whether at work or on holiday.

Note to self part daux, remember to add photos of some of the freakish
phenomena.

The british news to invest in sun block technology, the may have had
the greatest empire in modern history but somehow missed the whole
innovation of sun screen. I don't know how many British people were
human going on lobster I've seen in my time but it never ceases to
amaze me. One would think all that time they ruled south Asia and the
african continent they would have learned by now. I don't know
perhaps it is just one of that is unavailable in the U.K. like toothpaste.

Day two by the pool and it is 103•f.

Seems as the British all inclusive crowd believe that if you take a
lounge chair by the pool, you are entitled to it all day. Seems
however that the Germans beg to differ. An altercation erupts when the
germans challenge this assertion; chruchill is turning in his grave,
Germans 1, the queen 0.

I must admit I was as pissed as the Germans, there is no reason there
should be 50 lounge chairs by the pol with towels on them as if they
are being used with only 8 people in the pool. People have never
accused me o being the most civil of persons but those Germans have
stone far greater than my own.

Observations about the hotel Isis....
In the rooms there is a shameless promotion, "Write a positive review
on Trip Advisory and get 10% off or a free room upgrade". Funny thing
is, as I as in the lobby weighting a review, I selected the option "No
I would not recommend this hotel to a friend" and was promptly logged
off the wireless. Thinking this was an error, I logged on again. Fast
forward 3 more attempts to write a negative review and long and behold
the same outcome. Perhaps it was because I was using an iPhone rather
than a laptop with firebug that I didn't notice all page views and
button functions where being passed through an authenticated page from
the hotel. Seems that any attempt to press the no submit button were
governed b a JavaScript that results in a log off of authenticated
session thus preventing negative feedback from with the hotel;
shameless to say the least.

Captain's log, date 4/11/10

There has been an out break of varicose vains on the bridge. It would
appeared there has been a disruption in the manufacturing of gym
equipment in the european union. This phenomena may have originated
in the united states but seems the have become infectious and is
spreading. It is unknown if this contagion is water, airborne or
communicable, one thing is known however, if this doesn't stop soon it
may take over the entire colony.

Photo day 03/27/2010

2010-03-27T18:49:00.000-07:00

Went out with Merser and Stan (Montreal, CA), didn't run into a whole lot of savages but got some shots off despite the fact that the sky was ugly and gray. Perhaps the sky was the omnipresent savage.

Jay Street, D.U.M.B.O., Brooklyn

Brooklyn Bridge f22

Brooklyn Bridge Merser and Stan

China Town from Above

Under Divisions St Bridge

China Town Fruit Market

Common Misconceptions about New York City

2010-03-16T14:49:00.000-07:00

Common Misconceptions about New York City

When people often think of NYC they think of bright lights, big city and the American aristocracy that comes with it. Sure this may exists but it accounts for less than one half of 1% of the population. Meet Floe, Mary and Jack, my neighbors in the upper east side of manhattan. The three of are a prefect representation of what the real New Yorker encompasses. The three off them have likely never ventured out side of a ten block radius in their live. All three of them were born at a local hospital, 8 blocks away. All have lived in the same apartment for most of their lives. And rather than taking a foreign vacation, most of them use their vacation time to stay home and watch fox news and friend or hold down a stoop. These New Yorkers do not enjoy in depth financial analysis of the Wall Street Journal nor new literature section of the New Yorker but rather spending their reading time engrossed in the gossip of the dirty rag known as the New York Post.

The subway game.

2010-03-16T10:33:00.001-07:00

If you have never ridden the New York City subway system, it is dirty, crowded, and just another unpleasant burden of the workers' day. There is a ritual of the subway. Once there, you lose your humanity. You are transformed into a savage, brutal and selfish automaton. Savage in that you push and shove other riders out of your way to get into the car. Brutal in that you never excuse yourself for any atrocities that you commit to get in the car. Selfish in that you never give up your seat to any one no matter how cripple and old and pregnant they are. Automaton in that you never look at any one else as a human being.

Now there are certain strategies that you can employ to be a successful subway rider. You can stand by the door and obstruct the way just to be selfish and ornery. That strategy is designed to increase your standing with your fellow passengers by impressing them with how vicious you can be pushing back at people trying to push into the car. Whenever I see this strategy employed, I immediately piggy back on it. I move to the center of the car. There will be no one there as the "doorman" is keeping the other passengers bottle-necked at the door. Of course this only works if you are already on the car.

If you happen to encounter a "doorman" and you are outside the car, you could use the "linebacker" technique. This is the one that I favor and use. It is also known to its victims as the "flying elbows" technique. I bring my elbows up so that they look like wings in front of me then I charge the door. A few others have used the "refrigerator" technique. Here you have to be at least three hundred pounds. It is so simple, you just stand by the door and lean in. Watch out for this technique if you are in the center of the car for that is where the doorman usually lands when "leaned" upon.

Women have their techniques too. My favorite is the "bag Lady". You get yourself a bag so big that it weighs three hundred pounds then apply the refrigerator technique. A select group of women are lucky to have the natural requirements for the "red sea" technique. Here you need to have very large bust. Somehow that bust out front seems to part the crowd at the door like Moses at the Red Sea.

Once in the subway car, you try to get a seat or at least a good standing spot. The basic strategy is not to appeal to your fellow passengers' kindness (see remarks on cripples) but to force them to move. The easiest technique is to be a smelly, crazy, homeless person. You will sometimes clear out the whole car with this technique. If you are going home from work on the subway, it is obvious that you are crazy but not a smelly homeless person. You will have to rely on some method like the "fat lady" technique.

In the "fat lady" technique, you find the smallest space you can and sit there. As the space is really too small for you, you are really sitting on your fellow passenger's lap. Eventually, that passenger will get the hint and move. You now have your seat!

There are other techniques like smoking out a quarry from a seat with a foul smelling cigar, or the loud boombox which deafens both your victim and yourself. Note: some techniques are regional in nature, for example, the foul smelling cigar will not work in certain Brooklyn neighborhoods where a foul smelling cigar is a naturally occurring phenomenon nor will the boombox approach work in upper Manhattan where boomcars (or is it carboxes) are known to exist.

Once you have staked out your spot or have a seat, never look your fellow passengers in the eye. There is no strategy per say except to look everywhere else. This is easy if you are standing. You can look at the hemorrhoids or AIDS advertising for the forty-five minutes of your trip. If you are male, you can be fortunate to get a young lady with a low cut blouse sitting below you. In which case, it is permissible to look down her blouse for forty-five minutes. But all too often, all you get is a bird's view of someone's dandruff.

If you are sitting, you have only one option, you must close your eyes and pretend to sleep. If you do not close your eyes, you will only get an eye-level view of the crotch of the person standing in front of you. If you are female, you can be fortunate to get a young man with his fly open. In which case, it is permissible to look at his fly for forty-five minutes.

There are hidden advantages to the sleeping technique. You can pretend that you are asleep and hence did not realize that there was a cripple, old and pregnant person standing in front of you. You can pretend that you are really in the caribbean on a lovely beach with a handsome/beautiful, sexy, well endowed man/woman. Or you can do as I do, have wonderful fantasies about your fellow passengers being loved/tortured. But that is for another story.

Some words of wisdom about Subway Etiquette form my fellow New Yorker.

Spring is here

2010-03-16T10:29:00.001-07:00

Another typical spring time even in new york city is the walking of the skanks. This morning I was unlucky enough to be walking behind a woman who it seems to have forgotten to put on some pants this morning. Maybe it is just me but I dont think it is appropriate to walk around in a jacket and stockings wearing some festive colorful underwear. someone please all the fashion police.

2010-03-15T21:05:00.000-07:00

Sorry internetz, ive ben slacking off but I have plenty of material. be back soon!!!

WTF chinese food

2010-03-15T20:40:00.000-07:00

wtf chinese food in new york? Can I get another shrimp and maybe less swag?

Dick of the week, Rikki Kasso

2009-08-27T14:29:00.001-07:00

Dont get me wrong, Rikki Kasso is an awesome photographer, he is just a total douche bag though.

Came across this interview with him recently and I wanted to smash my 24'' screen with my nortell phone.

The interview

he work can be found at http://tokyoundressed.blogspot.com/ and http://www.rikkikasso.com/KASSOPIA/Kassopia_Open.html

Really?

2009-08-16T19:11:00.000-07:00

So I went to the Basix LIC party and witnessed many a ridiculous thing, but perhaps this took the cake...

What an a@@

Love me some hipster...

Today's savage...

2009-08-16T19:04:00.000-07:00

What a piece of work, I witnessed this man force a pregnant woman and her child out of the way so he and his 2 kids could take up 4 seats on the 5 train at 8:45 pm on sunday night...

<-- the perp.

--> the victim

What a prick!

What was she thinking?

2009-08-12T12:00:00.000-07:00

I suppose this is the perfect way to start this new blog of mine. Living in New York you are constantly surrounded by what can be called nothing less than savages. Whether they are cutting you off, blocking the door on the subway or just a plain nuisance, they are in your face constantly. As such, I have made this blog as a place to vent. Im pretty sure no one will see it, but its for me and not for them anyway.

So fuck'et shall we start.

This little honey didn't realize that she has her underwear on backwards> Im pretty sure the rhyne stones are supose to go in the front.

Taken at Pangea Resturant LowerEast Side Manhattan