It's looking better all the time

The Bad News:
1. Yosemite on fire.

2. I bought tickets to see the Apples in Stereo and Earlimart at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple (5 mins from my apartment) but it got cancelled.

3. My job leaves much to be desired. And I can't start the one I want without a) paying more money to go back to school or b) working for free as an assistant. Though there is a silver lining here.


The Good News:
1. Summer Friday tomorrow. The weekend starts now!

2. Watching the Dark Knight at midnight tomorrow - IMAX.

3. I know what I want to do finally but it is a matter of psyching myself up to do it. In order to do what I want, I need to have a flexible schedule. I have also wanted to start a supper club run out of my apartment, where I cook a 3-course dinner for 4 people at a time, at around $30-40 per person. Since Alex works nights, this would be great to do during the week. Plus it only requires about $1500 to start it up, for more furniture, table decor, seat cushions, cookware and table settings. I could set my own schedule, which would leave me free to freelance as a food stylist/photographer. And even tho this other venture will take a lot of on-the-job training for free, I'll still have some income from the supper club.

Easy peasy. So they SAY.

Weekend

On Friday we decided to check out some bars in our area. We headed first to Tavern on Dean, which didn't have the vibe we were looking for. So we kept walking down Underhill until we hit Vanderbilt, and ended up at Barrette, new since September 2007. We were drawn in by the site of a burlesque dancer in the back and were kept in with the choice of tap beers and interesting cocktails. I started with a Strawberry Negroni (the classic drink with muddled strawberries) after which I had an Albino Python, a white lager from Coney Island brewed with coriander and ginger. It was like drinking juice! So refreshing and summery. Food is served til 3am, and happy hour daily from 4-7, with a second happy hour from 2-4am from Sunday to Thursday. You can bet your tassels I'll be back.

On Saturday I did a little networking. More on that later, hopefully. All I can say is, I am finally getting my ass in gear and out of an office chair. For this I am very grateful and excited. Afterwards, we headed down to the West Village.


Beautiful rays from behind the clouds


Corner Bistro, where we had an early dinner. Their burgers are solid but the buns could be better. Cheap beer too.


Excavator at a construction site


At 3rd Ward gallery in Bushwick, to see my friend Unplate's work. This was my favorite, but the name of the artist escapes me right now. For more photos of the decks being auctioned, check their Flickr set.

On Sunday, we biked to Williamsburg to catch a concert at McCarren Pool but it looked like rain. We decided to bike then ended up at Dumont for a late brunch. We biked home, in some light rain and then watched the first two episodes of Shadow Warrior, an old Japanese TV show from the 70s starring Sonny Chiba. Good good stuff.

Alex posing by art by Os Gemeos, now on view at Deitch

There goes the neighborhood

Last night I attended a meeting at Queen of All Saints Church in my neighborhood, intended for community members and parishioners to air grievances about Brooklyn Flea. Eric Demby and Jonathan Butler, founders of the Flea, were in attendance for the first time, after being told for the first three meetings that they should not attend.

Legitimate complaints were raised:
* The public had been using the church's restrooms. (To which the Flea founders responded that they had rented two port-a-potties for the Flea)
* There is not enough street parking, both for the church and the elderly home on Clermont. (NO PARKING ON SUNDAY fliers have been posted but people tear them down in protest of the Flea. Also, they suggested blocking of Clermont to residential parking only)
* There is a huge amount of trash on the street and overflowing from garbage cans (More garbage cans will be put out)
* People lock their bikes to the church's scaffolding. (More bike racks proposed, as well as bike valets. Signs have been put up but people ignore these.)

Unreasonable solutions proposed:
* Having the Flea start and end at a later hour, essentially dictating Demby's and Butler's business hours.
* Having the Flea in another location. The Flea is held in the playground at Bishop-Laughlin, a privately owned school. A part of the proceeds goes to the school to spend money on programs and equipment for the children. True a public school would be better, but at least the money is going towards a good cause.
* Have the Flea on a Saturday instead. The school has year-round events on Saturdays. They've considered double-booking the day but have yet to come to a solution. Also, don't think it would make much difference because it would be a case of same noise, different day.

It was interesting to hear both sides of the story. While the community had some very legitimate complaints, they were also stubborn and un-budged. Many were throwing out crazy generalities like "My whole life is changed!" The Flea founders stated that they couldn't help if some people simply didn't like the idea of the Flea, but if people stated specific, solvable problems they would do their best to comply and come to a neutral solution. They are at the Flea every Sunday, all day and are very approachable should any problem occur.

I hope they are able to come to some sort of compromise. You can only fault the Flea for so much - they are trying very hard to be good neighbors. People who attend should be respectful and responsible as well.

Read more about the meeting here on Racked.

And here at the NY Times.

Death by Drone

Daily Candy describes the designs of Death by Drone as embodying Edward Gorey-like ghastliness. Which could be true, if you've never actually seen Edward Gorey's work.

No matter, I am quite taken with the horrid, absurd nature of these illustrations. The frocks themselves are cute in stature, especially the strawberry dress with square open back and little globular buttons at the back.

Universal language

Deaf Indie Elephants is a music blog I stumbled upon. I like it because there are videos and downloadable mp3s, and the music taste is similar to mine. Here is the latest, a live set by Portishead.

Recently I purchased my first CD in about 5 years. Shameful no? At MoMA's Home Delivery party I made the acquaintance of Tropical Jeremy, who played a Wally Badarou track and I had to ask him what it was. So it was "Endless Race," a track from Echoes, which I later purchased.

Here is Tropica Jeremy and another DJ at the Natural History Museum.

I feel like chicken tonight!

Alex just sent me this website, WeFeelFine.org

It tracks websites that have the text "I feel..." and links to the site. See what the Internet feels like right now!

Late Sundae photos and some random things...

A spattering of photos from Sunday. We packed a picnic of homemade peach-cherry chutney, crackers, goat cheese, salami, foccacia and rose and trekked up to Central Park to sit outside Summerstage for some listening fun times.

First of all we were surrounded by weirdos. Second of all the music was mildly horrible.

We headed to Time Warner Center to search out a travel Scrabble game - never leave home without it!

Boulder Canyon makes the best malt vinegar & salt potato chips.

Christian Bale, what the hell is wrong with you?

BK Flea in trouble over parking space??

Other movies I am looking forward to besides The Dark Knight and Hellboy II:
Vicky Cristina Barcelona - 1. Javier Bardem. Scarlett Johansson. Threesome.

In Search of a Midnight Kiss - The producer worked on Before Sunrise and Dazed & Confused. This looks annoyingly heartwarming.

Man on Wire - Utter maniac. I saw a TV special about this guy and was enthralled.

Burn After Reading - Brad Pitt's first flick since he became Mr. Angelina and he picks a Coen brothers movie. Trailer is hilarious.

Read read read read read

There are not enough hours in the day or days in the year to accomplish all I want to see, read, hear, do. For example, take this literature map that shows you what else people who read Harlan Ellison have been reading. Click on each author's name to travel along.

I really need to pick up another copy of Deathbird Stories.

Here is a movie map for Wings of Desire. They also have a music map that makes suggestions based on inputting 3 bands that you like.

Here is a fun time-waster from Jams Bio. The website is a place for you to share memories associated with certain songs, but they also have a game where you have to match the album art to the album title. And so I waste my day...

Saturday in pictures

Saturday was a super fun-filled busy day. We woke up early and biked across the Gowanus Canal to the Red Hook ballpark, where opening day of the Red Hook vendors was just starting to get lively. This year, they were delayed in setting up due to permits and DOH regulations. It was our first time to go and we ordered grilled corn, pupusas, tacos and ceviche.

Back home to rest and shower before heading out to Soho, where we ate more delicious Van Leeuwen ice cream, then up to midtown for MoMA's Home Delivery House Party. I love that midtown has all these hidden art treasures, like rotating sculptures at the Lever House and pieces of the Berlin wall.

Then back home for yet another shower, after which we got dressed in evening wear and headed to a house party down the block. Nice to know that after 10 years, I can still fit into my old prom dress.

It's Friday I'm in love

Photo from Home Delivery

Weekend plans:

Sabado
* Red Hook vendors back in effect! We will brave opening day mob scene and bike to Red Hook nice and early to partake of this much-awaited and very delayed summer treat.
* MoMA's Home Delivery House Party. DJs and street cart vendors.
"Home Delivery explores the prefabricated house as a replicable object of design and a critical agent in the discourse of sustainability, architectural invention, and new material and formal research."
* House party at JR's, who lives in a brownstone just 3 blocks from us. "Big band. Evening wear required."

Domingo
* Pack a picnic. Menu includes poppyseed & sesame crackers with goat cheese and homemade stone fruit chutney, fresh fruit, cold cuts. And I suppose a bottle of wine or two.
* Santogold, A-trak, Plastic Little at Central Park's Summerstage. I never want to sit inside anymore as it is disgusting and expensive, and there is absolutely no shade. However I am not against sunning myself nearby, where I can still hear the music.

Happy Friday everyone!

More from my book

Image from Gold Seal Foods

More from Carl Safina.

To put this in context, he is talking about how over-logging is damaging the salmon population in the Pacific Northwest. In essence, trees keep the soil rooted. Dirty, muddy water clogs riverbeds and inlets, where salmon lay their eggs. If the water is dirty it cuts of much needed air and nutrients from the growing eggs and salmon.:

"The globalization of markets is one of the biggest prolbems I see," he says. He explains that in the Indians' original, very local economy, the feedback between the resource and the user was felt very directly as food or starvation. As we have moved to a more regional economy, then to a national, now to a global economy, those feedback loops have first lengthened, then disappeared. "The companies are no longer tied to regional areas or local communities. The markets creating demand certainly are not. Local loggers and fishers still have direct and personal ties to regional resources, but when the corporation cuts all the trees around those people and moves its logging operations elsewhere--perhaps Borneo or the Philippines--it continues to feed the same market at a profit." In a sense, it uses people as fuel.

Jim continues, "It's always seemed a real irony for me that the political party that most touted families also touted the global economy that has devastated families in our local communities. The two are totally incompatible. When communities no longer control their resources they no longer control their destinies, and they become caught in these boom-and-bust cycles that demolish families. Throughout the history of logging, the owners have treated the loggers like crap. Yet when it came down to it, the loggers supported the owners."

Jim says that around the now depressed town of Forks, the owners could have logged on a sustained rotation forever, but they boomed and busted. Coos Bay could have supplied the local mill for eighty years--two working lifetimes--and then be ready for the next rotation, but the owners logged it all off in twenty years for export. The companies have the money earning interest, but the loggers are out of work. (pp. 184-185)

Your love is like a rollercoaster baby...

Photos from Trifster

For Alex's birthday we went to Lake Compounce in Bristol, CT. Boasting the world's #1 wooden rollercoaster Boulder Dash, it is also the oldest amusement park in North America, having been in operation since 1911.

We arrived at around 12:30 after a two-hour drive in a weak, no-guts Mini Cooper. The park is a lot smaller than say a Six Flags but to me it was the perfect size. Here are the rides we went on:

Zoomerang: A turquoise and purple back-and-forth ride with two loops and a killer first drop. As the first ride of the day, this definitely put us in the mood for some screaming.
Thunder and Lightning: Basically, a giant swing that seats about 8 people on each side, sitting back-to-back. At its highest point, you are parallel to the ground staring straight down at it. This looked lame but turned out to be pretty fun, as evident by my screaming.
Boulder Dash: The main attraction. You get in and head up a hill, surrounded by trees on all sides. It's built right into the mountain and at almost 2 minutes long, is worth the wait. Or non-wait, in our case. Best ever!
Down Time: Twelve people sit around the base with their backs to it. You're lifted 185 feet into the air, where you pause for a few seconds to take in the beautiful view (the water park, the lake...) before being dropped to the ground. I hate rides like this but it really wasn't bad. And it was great to get a view of the entire park.
Enterprise: Little enclosed 2-person vessels hang in orbit and spin like a Ferris Wheel. At its height, you are completely upside down. This made me very dizzy.
Ghost Hunt: You're in a car with a raygun for each passenger. You're supposed to shoot at targets when ghosts pop up, and in front of you it keeps track of your score. I wanted a scary ride but this was more fun. And I had the highest score!
At the water park, we did one waterslide that was completely enclosed and went round and round. Then we rode inner tubes around a "lagoon" where we were doused with water. Good fucking times.

On our way home we ate at Chili's which was a big favorite for us when we were younger. I ordered the baby backs and kept exclaiming "It tastes like my childhood!" Which it really did. And it was the perfect end to the day, for us big kids.

Handmade

Some stills from Handmade, a movie by CISMA aka Denis Kamioka (via NOTCOT).

Great images and soundtrack. Inspiring and heartbreaking.

Not exactly an evil, big-brained monkey...

In the bathroom at White Rabbit...is that BLOOD on the floor??

It's Photojojo, a new photo newsletter I just signed up for that features DIY instructions (a BikeCam mount), tips, fun projects and anything fun and interesting photo-related.

Take pictures of your feet wherever you go? You're not the only one.

Smile

Hayao Miyazaki's latest has just opened in Japan. Entitled Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, it is not only about children, but told from the point of view as a toddler. Seeing his images always brings a smile to my face.

Lightweight

I am so hungover.

Last night we went to d.b.a. in the East Village for Alex's birthday. It's an awesome, laid-back bar with an extensive beer menu (at least 100 bottles from N. America, Belgium, France, Germany...). Tequila and whiskey make up a big part of the menu as well. Good times, good people.

Toile the boys I've loved before

Some pretty samples of toile, which I am loving right now. Nothing in my apartment would match some of the more ornate prints, but I think a few pillows here and there or a reupholstered chair would look nice.

From Fashion Fabrics Club:




From Interior Mall:




Here's a slideshow from the NY Times' Shopping section - toile with textile designer Richard Saja. Some beautiful examples, especially from Cowtan & Tout:

The lovin's easy

Photo: Dean Isidro for the NY Times

I love this photo. Even though it's for an article about chopping up your nice slacks to make shorts out of them, Gossip Girl style. Although I'm not sure I could see Chuck Bass in something so lowbrow. It's just so preppy summer it kills me. Don't for get to check out my summer mix. It's been a long time since I've made one but I grabbed a bunch of new music lately so there you go.

Dropping science

Literally. A couple years ago my friend Aaron gave me a few books, including one that I recently picked up again, Song for the Blue Ocean by Carl Safina. It's a large book dedicated to... the bluefin tuna. Safina traveled the east and west coasts and the far Pacific to write a well-rounded account of the state of bluefin tuna populations today.

The chapter I just read was about swordfish, a predator of the tuna. With their sword, they charge a school of fish, then come back to eat the wounded. I learned this awesome tidbit:

"The eyes and brain of billfishes are warmed by a muscular furnace unlike anything else in the animal kingdom. Discovered in the 1980s, this unique system is most highly developed in the swordfish. Tunas and the warm sharks conserve heat incidentally generated by their muscles. But the billfishes, rather than merely conserving muscular heat, have gone an additional step, evolving an organ specialized to produce heat for their brain and eyes." (page 74)

Basically, tuna and other fish hide in the colder temperatures to avoid predators that need light to see or air to breathe. The swordfish's special "furnace" allows them to keep their eyes and brain warm in freezing temperatures, allowing for better hunting.

I got one word for this: AWESOME.