Skip to content

1014 - landmark for hungry americans


Vacancies at the Howard Johnson motel on Afton Mountain in Virginia.

• Celine & Julie Go Boating . I read a few reviews before catching a screening of this with my coworkers, and critics were saying things like, “there’s film, and there’s Celine & Julie Go Boating.” The film, shot in Paris in 1974, is certainly bizarre. It revolves around a strange romantic-undertones of a relationship between the title characters who go on to connect themselves with a haunted Parisian mansion. Interspersed moments of silliness (matching burglar outfits and rollerskates to “break into” a library) assist in keeping the movie from ascribing to strict singular generic conventions; instead it walks the line of an architectural ghost film (ie: The Shining (1980), The Others (2001), etc), mixed with screwball comedy. But, personally, if I hadn’t heard laughter in the theater, it would have stayed consistently creepy to me. The final shot is brilliant, and worth the three-and-a-half hour wait.

• A few weekends ago, Jenn and I made it over to a new place called Ten Sushi on Seventh Ave in Park Slope during minor flooding. It was an early summer evening, and people were squeeling while running down the sidewalk fully drenched from the unexpected downpour. The storm front had previously been over the midwest, and was pounding Brooklyn enough for a dozen cops to block off a lot of side streets as rivers formed from drainage overflow. The restaurant was excellent (and presently BYOB), with super kind staff.

• Last week I caught the monthly Bluestockings travel talk show here in the Lower. It’s quite good if you haven’t been; they have three guests who present stories and then slides, with a host (Jeff Stark ) who keeps things rolling with questions and comments. This past week the presenters included: an upstate video artist student, Dara Greenwald , who spent a few weeks in Serbia. She wasn’t super interesting but she seemed to understand her project’s limitations. She did bring up the interesting situation of blue collar workers migrating from Serbia to a neighboring country each year to make more money than the local white collar workers, to return briefly during summer months and build large, incredibly vacant mansions in the countryside. I had heard of a similar thing happening within Russia, I believe. Second up was Brooklyn-based painter Chris Kannen , who received a grant to spend three months in Antarctica’s Dry Valley area to photograph the experience (to later turn it into paintings). I found the interior shots of the permanent Antarctic camps the most compelling: sometimes stuck in the 1970s (or older), but certainly possessing a coziness (even when it’s just sterile lab equipment) compared to the negative fifty degree weather outside. Last up was professional storyteller Martin Dockery who told of a few eventful days in West Africa involving fruit-induced sickness and beatboxing. His story was the most polished, from beginning to end, but not that it’s ever a contest. If you can make it over there next month, it’s worth the suggested $5 donation.

• A trip down to North Carolina and Virginia for my grandmother’s funeral. In the end, it became a positive family reunion of the close and distant relatives. In transit, we discovered an abandoned Howard Johnson motel. We stayed in a nice family’s house on my grandmother’s mountain. The family had at least 9 bikes.

• After some scotch at Sara & Nick’s place, we all went down the street to Press 195 , where we met up with Constantine & Erica . Big ups to free sangria pitchers.

• 7A with Erica & Jenn to see Constantine play some “mad blunted jazz” style stuff (ala DJ Cam, etc) over at Nightingale , with a live band. The bartender couldn’t confirm my suspicion it was the jazz bar of the same name in Eyes Wide Shut (1999) . Actually, looking at Wikipedia now, I think Tom Cruise’s friend’s last name is “Nightingale,” and it may not in fact be the name of the jazz bar in the film. Anyway, Constantine had a CDJ and normal turntable hooked up to a Serato mixer and also a drum machine. Apparently the drum machine can even be turned into a theremin , bizarre. He’ll be there every other Wednesday night for a while, so let’s get some people together.

• I know I mentioned it a few weeks ago, but not a day goes by in New York without me hearing people rocking the new Lil’ Wayne album in their cars. Everyone seems so unified with the love for Weezy. Walking down 4th Ave in Brooklyn today, I heard it blasting out of no less than 6 cars.

• Happy birthday wishes to my mother today.

• “Don’t lock your doors, I have these punks on the ropes.” - I Heart Hiroshima

Posted 26 June 2008 § standard ‡ Comments (0) °

day 1000 - here’s to the first thousand


I vote for more than one bike month.

• So it has been a good thousand days. A few years ago, it got off to an action-packed start, with this little quote from Day 2:

“…two of them start beating the dreads guy’s head against a parked car’s door… Blood is running down the faces of at least 3 of the men, several have cuts near their ears that look pretty rough, the dreads guy has blood coming from his nose, perhaps mouth.”

I’ve been debating about it, and I think I may be dropping the “day” nomenclature. At least to see how it feels for a while. We’ll see. In the meantime, here are some recent film scans from an old Canon SureShot 80 I’ve been testing out for a few months.


A concrete factory near the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn.


Timeless Fort Greene, Brooklyn.


Maybe one day. Fort Greene, Brooklyn.


Spare mountain bike tires. Fort Greene, Brooklyn.


Foodstuffs outside of Mama’s Food Shop in the East Village, Manhattan.

• I caught up with Mr. Appalachia, Corey, and Jenn over at that new barbecue place that replaced the old barbecue place (Biscuit BBQ) on Fifth Avenue in Park Slope, and the verdict is in: it is somehow equally bland. While the food has more flavor, the lameness of everything being served in Mason jars combined with overpriced meat results in a bland experience.

• I walked to a bodega last night about a block from my apartment for some gatorade and heard no less than three cars rocking the new Lil Wayne album. I mean, I’m certainly not one to hate on him, but it’s no Weezy mixtape. Just saying.

• Also: a goodbye goes out to my dear grandmother. She’ll be missed.

Posted 12 June 2008 § standard ‡ Comments (2) °

day 998 - if it’s yellow, let it mellow


4th Ave and 9th Street in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

• The heatwave this week has certainly brought some odd people out into the streets.  “So, Barack Obama or that other guy?  You American?  You speak English?”  I was asked on the street, from a man who then ran up to a guy in a wheelchair and dove onto the sidewalk, pretending to shoot the man with a rifle.  New York.

• Jenn and I saw a pretty serious screening of The Living End (1992) over the other night, but followed it up with a slightly happier screening of Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull a few days later, also at BAM. The Living End was my first Gregg Araki film. The director’s introduction, plus an extended Q&A after the credits rolled, provided a full context (of the AIDS epidemic in the west coast gay community during the late 80s and early 90s). Slightly stylized violence and a large amount of character sympathy drive the film’s momentum, and keep it interesting. And yes, the token film school guy was there… with his trademark voice and that “I already know the answer to the question I’m going to ask, but I’ll ask it anyway so that other people can hear me asking it” style.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, the fourth Indiana Jones, the latest Spielberg blockbuster, certainly felt successful on all fronts. Not only did the plot revolve around skulls and mummies in South America, but it also had borrowed cleverly from Dominic Sera’s Kalifornia (1993), when Indy finds himself in a fake desert town used as a nuclear testing facility (some may argue Brad Pitt’s identical discovery of the same location in Kalifornia is the only memorable moment in that film). My coworkers were right in suggesting the only lacking element of the fourth installment are the down/slow moments that can foster a little character development. Regardless, it fits right alongside the originals. I only wish I could have watched it with my siblings, like old times.

• The rolling summer thunderstorms are here. It’s not to the same voracity as down south for the most part, but the other night, Brooklyn did receive some hail.

• Jenn and I saw Leticia at the newest vegan hangout, ‘Snice, in Park Slope last night — happy birthday! The cafe/restaurant has good prices, though I foolishly felt tricked into thinking my sandwich contained meat (on the no-meat front though, the meatless wings at Kate’s in the EV are good though).

• On Saturday evening, The Opera Singer & Archie threw a going away/engagement party at Justin’s loft in Bushwick. Big Joseph and James were there in great spirits, plus a bunch of other people. They head out for Illinois later in the month.

• Radio Lab from WNYC (the full hour-long shows, not the 10 minute crappy ones) is a great option for helping one get through the morning office hours, in between meetings. I’m still catching up on a ton of old episodes. At moments, the two hosts become far more compelling even than Ira Glass’ praised “This American Life.

• “Who gets the girl? The guy in the SUV, or the guy on the bike? We know—at least in New York City… it’s the guy on the bike.” - Brendt Barbur (in an interview with L Magazine).

Posted 10 June 2008 § standard ‡ Comments (0) °

day 994 - BK stands for burger king


Fort Greene, Brooklyn, shot yesterday evening at 6:15. I believe the diagonal street is Fulton Ave.

• The first of the Prospect Park days kicked off this past Sunday, after being bumped from a thunderstorm-filled Saturday. Things were in full swing with Mike & Elizabeth Morarian, Mimi, Rachel, Nate & Heidi, Brian & Rachel, Johnny Juice, and Jenn, then we ran into Addie, Brandon, and Neil in the main lawn. After filling up on tabbouleh, guacamole, cinnamon-crusted cheese, mojitos, wine, pinwheel sandwiches, celery, grapes, and oreos, there was some soccer ball kicking before hopping back on the bikes.

• Last night, Jenn and I made it over to the Escapes photography opening at 20 Jay St. in Dumbo, where Tod Seelie and some other photographers had work on display. We didn’t spend a ton of time there because it was sandwiched in between a rooftop party at the Forte building in Fort Greene, and some necessary exercise time in Prospect Park.

• You know summer is on the cusp in New York when the Chinatown odor hits you in the face going over the Manhattan Bridge at about 9AM. Wait for the return commute when you can practically taste it as well as smell it. Kinda rough.

• Some additional Seattle shots can be found here.

• Jenn, DLISH, Mehgan, and I finally checked out the 4th Avenue Pub and Sheep Station this past Saturday evening. Great Australian food at Sheep Station (though I still feel like Bondi Road’s “burger and the lot” is a tough one to beat), however no meat pies or anything on the menu. The 4th Ave Pub has free popcorn and also a private, cozy back patio (albeit, filled with cigarette smoke). Lehman was given a copy of “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus” on the street, and it seemed to be a great conversation piece for everyone around us, haha.

• This past Tuesday, The Opera Singer had several roles in a 6-part opera performance at the Merkin Concert Hall on Broadway and 67th Street, in both German and Italian. The crowd “ooh”ed and “ahh”ed when he kissed a Russian singer on stage. Very great performance, despite my Americanism causing me to sadly not understand a single word. It does seem like it may be physically easier for women to hit their high notes in opera than for men to hit their low notes… or maybe I mean that high notes seem to project a lot further, and are more piercing. Jenn, Matt, and I briefly met Archie, and spoke to John again (Justin’s voice teacher, who had us over about a year and a half ago).

• Recently I found some of Keiichi Nitta’s polaroid work online, and found out that he was Terry Richardson’s assistant for about seven years, before now carrying on a similar lo-fi and scandalous approach to photography at his own studio in Japan. He certainly looks crazy, but apparently in just the past 2-3 years he’s shot everyone from Pharrell to Morrissey to Kanye, M.I.A., and tons of actors/actresses. He runs in very interesting social circles.

• Wednesday evening, I met Kathleen, Hill, Amy, and Republican Rob out at Reservoir near the NYU-ish area for a handful of drinks and some catching up on the gossip of the retail fashion world.  Somehow Black Label Jeff always comes up in some context.

• A shot of mine (of BAM’s lobby) was featured on Brownstoner. Mac Premo created the suitcases, I created the lobby animations, and some of my coworkers built the rest of the experience. But speaking of Sundance at BAM, the opening night last Thursday ended up being a lot of fun. The screening of “American Teen” was introduced by Marty Markowitz, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Peter Saarsgard, and some others. Then, afterwards, there was a prom-themed party where Andrew Andrew and a lot of others were seen dancing around. (Also, the Animated Shorts Program on Sunday was excellent, especially “Chonto.”)

• My sister, Hillary, (haha, Jeremy, if you’re listening) started a blog. About her time she’s spending over in a Thai prison, I mean, in a university in Thailand. She’ll be there up until about the end of the year. Of course we’re jealous.

• Also, worthy of mention is that the new (Brooklyn-based) Ratatat album drops in just about a month. It’s pretty sick stuff (as to be expected). If you haven’t heard anything from it yet, check out this video for a new single called “Mirando.” Certainly bring earplugs though if you see them perform in person.

Posted 06 June 2008 § standard ‡ Comments (2) °

day 985 - emerald underbelly


Memorial Day, the Sasquatch Music Festival , and a handful of friends were enough reasons to escape to Seattle for six days.


It turns out that the middle of Washington is sorta an arid desert. We camped near a mini-grand canyon of sorts (not seen here). No rattlesnake sightings, only small lizards. Thanks to Maddy for the spare tent. Unfortunately David couldn’t make it out to the festival.


We saw performances by MIA, The Breeders, REM, Modest Mouse, Ozomatli, Dave Bazan (Pedro the Lion), the Fleet Foxes, and some others, out in “The Gorge,” in the middle of Washington.

We stopped by North Bend, Washington , the town that inspired Lynch’s Twin Peaks. It’s large falls seemed to attract many tourists, even on rainy days. The local diner advertises having the legendary cherry pie from the cult TV show.

• We ate at a conveyor-belt style sushi restaurant: Blue C, a French place that surprisingly was a scene: Cafe Presse, an amazing Mexican place in Ballard: La Carte de Oaxaca, a greasy spoon in the middle of the farmlands, and drank an underground and Mexican wrestler themed bar: Cha Cha, the clean and somewhat empty Grey Gallery, a super-popular gay bar on Capitol Hill: The Cuff, and a handful of other places.

• We paid a visit to Archie McPhee for some Glen’s Smart Shop-esc trinkets.

• David and Chad grilled some excellent sweet potatoes, turkey sausage, and shrimp over at their 1970’s style house in the neighborhood that borders some questionable motels. David’s Mexican-inspired salad dressing made the meal.

• It was explained to me that while Seattle is politically liberal, it is often socially conservative.

• I can’t count the number of times that Warren Buffett’s name came up in conversation this past weekend. Turns out that Dhruv (Brad’s roommate) is one of his biggest fans, well, aside from Dhruv’s relative that paid $600,000 to have lunch with him. Some fascinating stories.

• We went to a chimposium at Central Washington University, where large chimpanzees have learned sign language and can communicate with humans. It raises more questions than it answers, very interesting.

This little diner was near a complex, functional lock system on the river in Seattle. There were a fair amount of bikes, however there are also some ridiculous San Francisco-esc hills that require a little bike-walking. Thanks to Maddy and Chad for the extra bikes. While there was an absence of bike lanes in most areas, cars seemed pretty chill about bikes all over the place. It must be the general west coast chillness. I was sorta jealous that people could use incredibly small & minimal locks on their bikes, and sometimes leave them without a lock at all. Surprisingly there were a considerable about of brakeless fixies around town as well… those hills are killer.


An early morning breakfast for some local cats in the Ballard neighborhood, a few blocks from Matty’s boutique design studio, Turnstyle.


Recreational horticulture.


Pike Place Market near the downtown area. Many well-stocked seafood stands, with large crowds watching.


Chad, Jenn, myself, and Brad . Shot in the photobooth of Re-bar during the longest-running, monthly house dance party on the west coast.

Posted 28 May 2008 § standard ‡ Comments (3) °

day 976 - wake up early


Mike (left) remained incredibly enthusiastic on the Metro North ride up via the Hudson Line to the famed Dia:Beacon art museum in Beacon, New York on Sunday. Delish, on the right, played the role of Little Red Riding Hood.

• The Dia:Beacon greeted our group (Kyle, Lisa, Jenn, Lehman, Mike, Ben, and I) with a surprising top-shelf brunch on Sunday morning, consisting of unlimited bloody marys (with rosemary-infused vodka), excellent baked-filo pastries, and some ham-and-horseradish-mustard baguettes. The actual museum space, living up to everyone’s hype, is massive, and worthy of the trek. Many large-scale pieces line the walls of this former Nabisco factory-turned-remote-gallery. Alright, enough with the hyphens. I ran into a coworker, Pauline, just before Jenn and I scored free tickets from a nice woman to a sold out dance performance in the building by the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. While I wasn’t really feeling any of the dancing, it did feel significant that John Cage historically maintained ties with the company, and had created the music for this piece. The Dia also has some Richard Serra steel creations, plus the best-looking Louis Bourgoise welded enormous spider I’ve seen yet (better than those in the Tate Modern last year).

• On the subject of music, I picked up the newest Atmosphere, after WOXY was playing “Painting” a few times on their evening set. While it lacks anthems, it does get a little better on a second listen. It’s definitely not that Epitaph sound Slug accidentally picked up a few albums back. Personally I still think nothing is as golden as the Lucy Ford EPs a few years back, but, that being said, impressive that he’s still dropping albums on the regular, about a decade later.

• On Saturday, Jenn and I caught up with Brian and Rachel to do brunch over at Hi-Life in the Upper West Side before catching a performance of Len, Asleep in Vinyl, up on 76th and Broadway. Cheers to comp tickets. The play was set in the remote mountain cabin of an aging record producer, who is visited by his rockstar son, and a few other odd characters. While the acting was stiff (and bad) the first few minutes, it got pretty interesting for the rest of the brief 75-minute duration. The crowd was super old, and maybe received a different meaning from the performance, but the four of us definitely enjoyed it. Personally I’m a sucker for the lodge aesthetic. Exposed woodgrain and taxidermy taps into that inner, partially-constructed nostalgia. (The only taxidermy ever in my parents’ home were a few large fish on plaques, collecting dust. Though, there were many wood-paneled walls).

• While I don’t have a photo to show evidence of this, there’s been a recent trend of cutting subway platform advertising to form new hybrid ads. For example, cutting out Harrison Ford’s face from the new Indiana Jones film, and putting it on the face of a dog being walked by some fashionista, etc. Of course, you can also find this supplemented by the normal dozen speech bubbles and such. There’s certainly a correlation of this minor vandalism with the frequency of trains on these lines. I’m talking the L, G, and C trains for the most part. Late at night, might as well start making some new ads: they aren’t wheat-pasted, they’re self-adhesive vinyl. Collage-away. (Though they did call the police on me once at an L station a few months back).

• This evening in Key Food on Avenue B:
cashier 1: (concerned) I think there’s a stalker.
cashier 2: really? where?
cashier 1: here, I mean, he comes in and says hi, and then waits for me to leave.
cashier 2: (sad) oh, him? he never even talks to me.


The BAM Harvey Theatre is located on Fulton in Fort Greene, Brooklyn.


Astoria, Queens, circa 2005 when I had just moved to New York. There used to be weird stuff over in Queens, like random chickens in alleyways and stuff (though, just today my boss mentioned a family who keeps chickens in the basement of their Lower East Side building).

Posted 19 May 2008 § standard ‡ Comments (3) °

day 973 - family wheels


We left the room, and Clay had removed the rear brake in a matter of minutes. Purchased at Pearl River Market on Broadway in SoHo.


Jenn and I flew down to North Carolina this past weekend. There were some bicycles involved. Top left: Hillary tries out a petite converted single-speed Spalding Blade. Top right: I admire the threadless fork on Clay’s Bianchi Pista. Bottom left: the lineup. Bottom right: the Pista rides like butter, top notch.


I’m not sure if I’m becoming too much of a New Yorker, but down south felt ridiculously green. I mean, I was stunned with the magical lushness all over.


After the party it’s the after party. My good friend Mitchell’s wedding is what brought Jenn and I to North Carolina.


It happens.


Safely back in New York, though this seems outside the boroughs.

Posted 16 May 2008 § standard ‡ Comments (1) °

day 963 - alphabet city


Between Avenues C and D, in the heart of the Alphabet.


The rear bumper is pretty intense.


There seems to be no shortage of gangster 1950s cars.

• Jenn and I spotted Terry Richardson walking his dog a block from his studio, here in the Lower, on Sunday afternoon. He was rocking his trademark red plaid. I think he’s immune to aging.

• The Great Bike Walk 2008! Despite getting off to a slightly later than expected start (following a “quick” 45 minute ride over to Park Slope and back around 7AM), I still rode in a good-sized pack of close friends: Jenn, Kate, Mr. Appalachia, B.Nasty and Delish. Regrettably, the delayed start caused my coworkers, Shane, Adam, and Matt, to need to go ahead and line up, which was more than understandable, given the intense crowds and our predetermined meet-up time. There were almost thirty thousand other cyclists. I heard yesterday that there were only 39 injuries associated with the ride, which is a pretty low number. After numerous bottlenecks and claustrophobia, we ended up bailing in Queens, halfway through the forty-three mile tour, to set out to carve our own path through to Brooklyn, via one of those more remote bridges, then a long, great trek through Bed-Stuy and some neighboring communities. As those California cycling coaches put it, “sometimes you have to control the lane.”

• Following the ride on Sunday, Mr. Appalachia hosted a great cookout in his backyard over in Red Hook. Beautiful weather. Great, large group of people, but the night really began at sunset when a raccoon attacked a cat, by chasing it up (and then back down) a fire escape. Animals make crazy noises when fighting. Defend Brooklyn.


Shane brought in this killer candy from Chinatown the other day. Chocolate tree stumps, complete with a wooden typeface. Golden. (And yes, Kathleen, that’s the clear skull in the background of the shot).

Posted 06 May 2008 § standard ‡ Comments (0) °