Important work during a Canal Nest Colony meeting in South Slope, Brooklyn.

Last Friday, DLISH and Katie joined Jenn and I to see the Vivian Girls & Les Savy Fav play a great show at BAM’s Opera House, as the opening night of the Sounds Like Brooklyn music festival. As I had heard about/seen photos, the lead singer of Les Savy Fav made sure to bring a high-energy performance, large belly out, only wearing shiny purple leggings the whole night, charging through the crowd with a corded microphone.  The Vivian Girls, on the other hand, didn’t quite know what to do with the large space (compared to their usual dingier Brooklyn haunts), and calmly played a set amidst spectacular stage lighting. After the show we got drinks at Brooklyn Public House before many more drinks in South Slope until after 4am.

Thanks to Pavel for buying my Centurion, enabling me to finally build up the Kogswell P/R frame I bought from Malcolm (via James Stacher, thanks guys!) though I’m still dialing it in a little, and hadn’t yet trimmed/capped off wires as of this shot.

Thus far it rides really comfy around town, and I can’t wait to see how it feels fully loaded. The risers won’t be ideal for long distance, so I may look for an alternative that won’t cut into the cetma’s space too much.

build list:
59cm Kogswell P/R w/ low-trail fork
26″ Mavic M117 to Deore LX hubs w/ 1.4″ Michelin City tires
Bike Planet Hardcore Freddy fenders
Sugino XP triple cranks, currently running as double
Brooks Team Pro saddle
IRD cafam cantilevers (with longer link cables to come)
Cetma 5-rail rack
MKS-GR9 pedals w/ MKS clips
Dia-Compe downtube shifters (having some issues with the installation)
Thomson zero-rise stem
Kalloy risers (to be swapped out for other bars at some point)
Kalloy seatpost
Tektro brake levers
Deore rear derailleur / Deore LX front derailleur
Incredibell brass duet (haha)

And here’s my older bike:

For comparison’s sake, here’s a recent shot of my main fixed-gear commuter.  It does look like a brother of the new bike (as my own brother mentioned), though it certainly the other end of the spectrum.

If you’ve been keeping up with the weeds in Brooklyn, it seems that even the heartiest of the smaller guys are on their last leg (as seen in the light snow this past Thursday).  If you recall, this same red root pigweed was still thriving in late October, and back in September as well.

Speaking of urban weeds, my good friend Brian Davis (of FASLANYC) was telling me about some recent stuff Brett Milligan was writing about recently over at Free Association Design about weeds in urban spaces.  I noticed the use of the term “subnature,” and found out it may have been coined recently by David Gissen in a book of the same name.  Essentially, the core of subnature is the nature & elements that exist within densely urban environments, including (but not limited to): weeds, insects, debris, puddles, etc. (paraphrased from Jason A. King’s recent review). I think the lack of subnature in some American cities (fended off with a systematic sterilization) eliminates beauty.

Kanchanaburi, Thailand, 2008.

Near Burlington, North Carolina.

Cary, North Carolina.

Over the past week, I traveled to North Carolina, Virginia, and Ohio for the holidays. A great break from work to spend time with my family and Jenn’s family.

Happy New Year, also.  A little less chaotic than Times Square, there was a decent turnout for the annual ukulele drop at our building in South Slope, Brooklyn, where the Hawaiian-sounding band performed on their balcony with microphones, amps, speakers, and a handful of instruments for a crowd of 30-40 people around midnight.

Jenn’s sister, Maria.

An amazingly Gummo-esc polaroid of Jenn, circa 1990-ish.

In mid-December, a vast, vacant field of weeds still thrives in Bushwick, Brooklyn.

I was recently wandering around Bushwick on a shoot for my office, and took a moment to snap a few shots of empty lots — a type of urban space that always intrigues me, not having any land of my own.

• I caught a lecture with Adam by painter Eric Fischl at Pratt last week, about the history of the human form in painting, and some connections between painting and photography.  Fischl is best known for works like “Bad Boy,” and the controversial, 9/11-inspired, “Tumbling Woman.” While many interesting points were made, he did seem to make some arguments around objectivity of photography (versus painting or performance art), which I don’t entirely agree with.  But in general, certainly an educational and solid talk.

• Speaking of Adam, he hooked Jenn and I up with free tickets to see a Doors tribute band called “The Soft Parade” at the BB King Blues Club.  I have seen very few tribute bands, I was realizing, and I hadn’t been to the BB King space before (it’s right near the center of Times Square, ouch), however it seemed to exceed our expectations.  It was great to see all of the classics in the Jim Morrison catalog performed with the help of a 1960s organ (though it broke halfway through and had to be replaced), and some other vintage instruments. The vocal delivery and sound in general seemed to be spot-on, though the lead singer was possibly a little bit heavier than Morrison (perhaps later-bloated Morrison?).

• Yesterday morning: As I wait underground for the train during an especially rainy and windy winter morning, I notice a few small flashes of light in front of me, down in the tracks.  In what appears like dimly-flashing Christmas lights, one of the small pylons elevating the third rail a few inches from the railroad ties is in the path of a slow orange-ish ooze, and has a handful of tiny spots that appear to be lighting up, then going out a split-second later.  The ooze appears to be leaking out of a crack in the ceiling, much like what occurs in limestone caverns. I guess it’s this sort of environment that is almost conducive to track fires that I’ve heard about, but not seen (”almost” because there was run-off water in the primary/center bed, between the tracks — that “safety zone” of filth, of which you can lie in, when a train is coming). I have seen plenty of sparks before – and have assumed they had to do with friction possibly combined with electricity – but the controlled, almost predictable/pattern-like nature of the flashing lights coming from the metal support was more mesmerizing.

• Thanks to everyone who came out to the party this past Saturday night in South Slope!  Good times — backpacks and clothing were left behind, which I think is a fair indicator of a success.

• WNYC’s culture section just started a new series where they take street photography submissions, and potentially run a video piece on the photographer. Could be worth giving them a shout if you find yourself shooting on the street regularly.

• I’ve been surprised at the number of freshly-dead animals Suckapants finds on the street.  I came across one the other night in Windsor Terrace, and have decided to self-censor a little, by instead of featuring it, just posting a link, but be warned, it’s a little rough: here.

• A few weeks back, I found myself sitting next to a Christian conflict resolution guy on a flight.  We started discussing his job some, and he seemed to be almost the bouncer or secret police of his denomination – his church would fly him all over the US to different branches to “kick some a**” and “bust some heads together,” as he put it.  I was surprised as his frequency of throwing four-letter words around to describe his duties; it didn’t come across necessarily as him trying to impress me, but perhaps just that he’s super proud of his role as a hired gun, haha.

Washington State, May 2008. I happened to flip through some old shots that hadn’t seen the light of day.

Brad showing off his Honda Ruckus on Capitol Hill in Seattle, Washington, 2008.

Leaning over the edge of a steep cliff, there were a few battered shells of automobiles at the bottom of the ravine near George, Washington (yes, that’s the actual name), 2008.

If you’re familiar with David Lynch’s cult early-90s TV show, Twin Peaks, then you’ll recognize this as the waterfall from the title sequence (plus subsequent & frequent establishing shots), featuring the lodge owned by Benjamin Horne. Having recently watched the entire catalog of episodes, seeing this small town (including the diner) was quite a treat.  May 2008.