M. L. Liu

War on Civilians in the Dem. Rep. of the Congo

2007-05-23T12:10:00.000-04:00

The most devastating piece of news that I heard last week was a report filed from the Democratic Republic of the Congo:
Woman Tells of Congo Murders (RealAudio file)

Fifty people from this woman's village were captured by the Interahamwe, armed Hutu militia from Rwanda who were involved in the genocide in that country. The woman was the only survivor of that attack.

Excerpt from interview:

After they killed the members of my family, 19 members of the Interahamwe raped me. And then they killed two of my children in front of me. And then they took the baby off my back, and they tied a rope around its neck, and they forced me to pull the rope and kill my own baby.

Also check out the BBC news article "DR Congo's Unending War" for some background on the situation there.

Filed in: Politics

Peanut Butter Jelly Time

2007-05-17T09:59:00.000-04:00

To answer Slayve's question, it'd be best to watch this instructional video:

Brian, in a banana suit, holding maracas (from Family Guy).

According to a Wikipedia entry,

"Peanut Butter Jelly Time" is a Flash animation that emerged in the early 2000s and became an Internet phenomenon. Based on a song of the same name recorded by the Buckwheat Boyz, the best known version of the animation (usually distributed as a Flash clip) shows a pixelated dancing banana moving back and forth to the song's repetitive chorus.

The dance that the male Tauren from World of Warcraft does is basically the peanut butter jelly time dance. But without the maracas.

Filed in: Oddities Culture

Where the Hell Is Your WoW Character?

2007-05-10T21:45:00.000-04:00

Last year, I blogged about the musical genre known as wizard rock, which is music based on the Harry Potter universe. This year, well, today, a friend caught me up to speed on World of Warcraft (affectionately called Warcrack), the massively multiplayer online game. I'd asked him about it because of a phenomenon I'd noticed on YouTube. Specifically, people emulating the Where the Hell Is Matt? videos.

"Where the Hell WAS Matt?" The original video, made in 2003-04.

Matt Harding really started a phenomenon with his video, which depicts him doing the same silly dance in various locations around the world (Mongolia! Summit of Kilimanjaro! Siberia!) with Deep Forest's "Sweet Lullaby Dancing Remix" playing in the background.

In tribute to Matt, several people have created videos set in Azeroth, the Warcraft world, using characters from the game. By the way, you'll appreciate the following videos more if you watch "Where the Hell WAS Matt?" first.

There's "Where the Hell Is Rudinio" by Rudysin. Great transitions and his human character Rudinio's dance moves are well timed to the music, the same music as in Matt's video. What's hilarious is the fact that other players occasionally wander across the screen. At one point, another player even jumps over Rudinio while he's dancing.

Rudinio at Ironforge.

Another favorite of mine is "Where the Hell Is Grylax" by bucko415.

Grylax at Ragnarous' Lair--The Molten Core.

I wish the character was a little closer to the screen. But Grylax the orc has got some great dance moves and even convinces his friends to join in at the end.

I got a kick out of the fact that the characters in World of Warcraft can even dance. There's a whole page dedicated to dancing on the World of Warcraft Community Site. All the different races have their own gender-specific dances. And apparently some of those dances are based on "real" dances, like peanut butter jelly time.

Filed in: Culture Oddities

Daemons

2007-04-30T21:40:00.000-04:00

While reading Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass, I'd wondered what kind of daemon I'd have if they so existed. In the book, a daemon is an outward, physical manifestation of a person's soul. It appears as an animal that reflects a person's true nature.

A friend who introduced me to the His Dark Materials trilogy told me about this quiz on The Golden Compass movie Web site. After answering a series of 20 questions, I found out my daemon's a fox.

I am "modest, spontaneous, sociable, inquisitive, and dependable." Sound like me? On a previous run-through, I'd scored a crow daemon. As much as I love crows, I have to admit the fox traits more accurately describe me.

Anyway, I highly recommend the trilogy, which though marketed as a young adult fantasy, is actually a very smart, philosophical inquiry into religion and the meaning of life. The Golden Compass (which incidentally co-stars Daniel Craig and Eva Green, who were in Casino Royale together) comes out this Dec. 7, so there's still time to devour the books before then.

Filed in: Miscellaneous Movies

It Happened Last Night

2007-04-06T13:15:00.000-04:00

I submitted this listing to Craigslist's Missed Connections:

Downtown D Train around 7:45 p.m., Thurs., 4/6 THANKS
Reply to: pers-306975493@craigslist.org
Date: 2007-04-06, 1:13AM EDT
Tonight, I found out the hard way that projectile vomit isn't just a special effect from "The Exorcist." I thought I'd be able to make it off the D train at Broadway-Lafayette but trying to hold it in just made it worse. After I threw up (explosively) on the train, a few passengers scurried away in disgust.
But some of you came through for me. I would like to thank the woman who gave me a plastic bag so I could clean up, the men who handed me wads of napkins, the train conductor who came out of his compartment to ask if I was OK, and above all, the red-haired guy who actually helped me clean up my mess. Your kindness was unexpected, and I can't thank you enough.
And for those who were wondering but chose to mind their own business, I apologize for having overdone it. I'd given blood for the first time only half an hour earlier. I thought I was good to go but apparently losing one pint of blood does take a toll on one's body, and I should have rested more before returning to my feet. (Not to discourage anyone from donating blood--just remember to give your body time to recover!)
*Location: D Train

No, it was not a fun experience. Yes, I'm feeling better.

Filed in: Miscellaneous

Movie Plugs

2007-04-05T17:23:00.000-04:00

Twin Peaks: The Second Season is finally available on DVD, five years after The First Season came out. The season one DVD set got me hooked on the series, but in the intervening five years, I had to scrounge for VHS copies of season two. Maybe this release will foster a new legion of fans. "Damn good coffee!"

For fans of Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, directed by Edgar Wright, will be in theatres Friday, Apr. 20. I've always enjoyed movies with recurring casts. Although Simon Pegg plays a much more competent guy in this movie than he did in Shaun of the Dead, it's good to see Nick Frost again cast as the bumbling sidekick and Bill Nighy bring a faintly sinister edge to his character.

For fans of the Russian fantasy thriller Night Watch comes Day Watch, directed by Timur Bekmambetov, opening on Friday, June 1. Night Watch reminded me of The Matrix movies in its epic scope and action sequences. I know some people thought it was cheesy, and I agree that its story about the eternal struggle between good and evil isn't masterfully original. Still, the movie had some gorgeous cinematography, and I expect to be awed by the effects in this second movie in a planned trilogy. (The final movie will be Dusk Watch.)

Filed in: Movies

Happening: High Line Festival 2007

2007-03-27T23:01:00.000-04:00

What: Inaugural High Line Festival, a multidisciplinary arts festival. David Bowie is curating this year's edition.
When: Wed., May 9-Sat., May 19, 2007
Where: Assorted New York City venues, including (but not limited to) the following:

May 9 | Arcade Fire, Radio City Music Hall
May 10 | Air, Theatre at Madison Square Garden
May 11-May 18 | Bowie Picks, 10 Spanish Language Classics of the Last 100 Years, Clearview Chelsea Cinemas
May 19 | Ricky Gervais, Theatre at Madison Square Garden

Cost: Varies

A portion of the proceeds will go to Friends of the High Line, which is working with the City of New York to convert an old elevated railway in Manhattan into a park.

Filed in: Happenings

A Conversation at Work

2007-03-23T12:41:00.000-04:00

Me, standing on scale: Is this number right?
Ricardo: Well, you might want to take off about four pounds from whatever the scale says.
Me: Oh, is the scale off by a little bit?
Ricardo: No, because you have a box in your arms.

I had a box of Mini Moos (creamers), which I'd just grabbed from the supply cabinet. It totally slipped my mind that I was still holding onto that box when I stepped onto the scale. I can be an idiot sometimes.

Filed in: Miscellaneous

Happening: The Changes

2007-03-17T09:49:00.000-04:00

What: The Changes
When: Tues., Mar. 20, at 10 p.m. | Wed., Mar. 21, doors open at 8 p.m.
Where: Pianos, New York, NY | Union Hall, Brooklyn, NY
Cost: $10, both shows
The Changes are a great little indie group from Chicago. I've only seen them play live once, about three years back, but they've since become one of my favorite bands because of their smart, earnest lyrics and fun sound. Reminiscent of The Sea and Cake.

Filed in: Happenings

A Curious Headline

2007-03-07T11:03:00.000-05:00

One of the headlines from yesterday's New York Post. I was highly amused. Not because a student was stabbed or that a student stabbed someone, but wait, oh, nevermind.

(A boy had been attacked by three other boys after school. Apparently assaults are common in the Union Square area after school lets out for the day.)

Filed in: Media

Monstertrack 2007

2007-02-27T22:43:00.001-05:00

What: Monstertrack 8
What? Alleycat--a type of race based on what bike messengers do, with checkpoints in an urban setting. Also, only fixed gear, no brakes (!).
When: Sat., Feb. 17, 2007
Where: Across Manhattan and Brooklyn, New York, NY
Here are some pictures that I took. A telephoto lens would have come in handy.

Checking in at Seward Park in Manhattan's Chinatown.

Two spectators on bikes.

Getting ready to release the hounds. The event organizers kept telling the competitors to get back against the wall.

The participants run for their bikes and take off.

Prior to the beginning of the race, we waited around for about an hour. I'm not sure what caused the delay. Consequently, the race didn't start until 4 or so. I believe the fastest racers finished in about two hours.

Once the racers took off, I couldn't get any good pictures. I lost sight of them as they raced into the distance, but a cacophony of honking car horns took their place.

Monstertrack competitor robotikon posted footage taken from a helmet cam:

Crazy, crazy! Notice how the racers didn't stop for traffic (auto or pedestrian). As far as I know, no one got hurt. I also understand that they took advantage of some non-bike-sanctioned paths. The last part of the race took competitors across the Williamsburg Bridge into Brooklyn. Savvy racers biked across the bridge with auto traffic, a faster route than the elevated pedestrian/bike walkway.

Filed in: Photos Happenings

Happening: Pillow Fight NYC 2007

2007-02-20T16:49:00.000-05:00

What: Pillow Fight NYC
When: Sat., Feb. 24, 2007, at 2 p.m.
Where: Union Square, New York, NY
FREE! Rain or shine. Soft pillows only. (A video of last year's pillow fight can be found on the event Web site, linked above.)

Filed in: Happenings

Incandescent vs. Compact Fluorescents

2007-02-14T22:15:00.000-05:00

60w incandescent bulb.

Philips 14w Universal Marathon compact fluorescent bulb (40-50w equivalent).

Philips 16w A-shape compact fluorescent bulb (50-60w equivalent).

Compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs) have gotten a boost from different quarters recently. I've noticed, however, that many people still have reservations about the quality of the light given off by CFLs. My first CFL was from IKEA, and I found out, along with many other consumers, that its light was truly soul-sucking.

After reading a discussion on purchasing "non-killer" fluorescent lightbulbs, I felt prepared to give them another try. For one, I learned that the quality of a CFL differs from brand to brand. A CFL's color rendering index (CRI) is also important. The higher a bulb's CRI, the better its ability to render visible colors. (The sun has a CRI of 100.)

One brand people seemed to recommend consistently was Philips. So I got the Philips Universal Marathon ($9.50) and the Philips A-shape bulb ($10.50) (from online retailer EFI). Both bulbs boast "Alto" technology, meaning less mercury content and thus less hazardous waste when they are disposed of.

L-R: 60w incandescent, Philips 14w CFL, Philips 16w A-shape CFL.

I'm pleased so far with both bulbs, which I use in my bedroom. I took some pictures and have posted them here. Although it's hard to tell by the pictures, I haven't noticed a difference in the light given off by the CFLs. I highly recommend them. And the cost shouldn't be a deterrent. They are pricey, but they should save one money in the long run.

Filed in: Green Technology

Breaking

2007-02-13T00:03:00.000-05:00

"Lego Breakdance X3M," by skaliz.
The other evening on my way home from work, I was trying to snooze on the subway when some kids began to perform. I've seen kids dance on the train before for money, but I was impressed when these four boys started breakdancing. (And they looked like boys--the youngest might have been only 11 or 12.) They pulled some incredible moves. One kid "hopped" up and down on one arm. Another kid did a running backflip off the train doors. They easily did backward handsprings. All this in a space that's approximately 7 feet by 7 feet. I was envious.

Check out skaliz's YouTube video Lego Breakdance X3M. Those Lego men are also pretty good breakdancers.

Filed in: Culture Oddities

"Global Warming Needs Our Help"

2007-02-08T00:41:00.000-05:00

Favorite line: "Fact: Global warming will cause the dead to reanimate and roam the Earth as zombies once again. But don't be afraid. They're going to be, like, fun zombies." -A Very Convenient Truth, Sarah Silverman

Filed in: Culture Politics

When Bootlegs Go Bad

2007-01-01T18:06:00.000-05:00

These screen captures are from a bootleg copy of Red Dragon, purchased while abroad by someone I know. Whoever did the English subtitles seemed to have only a passing familiarity with the language, getting something like one word out of every 10 correct. Oftentimes, the subtitles have no relation at all to the dialogue.

WHAT WAS SAID: The Harvey Keitel character is explaining to Edward Norton's character about murders that took place in Birmingham and Atlanta.
SUBTITLE: Even we have to move from Bominghan to Atalanta

WHAT WAS SAID: Norton's character talks about how he "doesn't think about this stuff anymore."
SUBTITLE: I have got used to clam life
Norton's character doesn't use the word "calm," but the person doing the subtitles might have intended to use it to paraphrase what Norton said. If so, I like how the transposition of letters into "clam" life implies a similar sentiment, i.e., Norton's character's life being somewhat slow and of minor significance, like a clam's.

WHAT WAS SAID: It's Chromalux.
SUBTITLE: This is carmax

And you know how positive blurbs are always splashed across a movie's posters? I typically ignore them, but I noticed that this was the blurb on the cover of the bootleg DVD: "It includes the initial capture" (no period, in big red letters). It's attributed to "The New Youk BBC TV."

Filed in: Movies Oddities

True American Stories

2006-12-26T01:36:00.000-05:00

A friend of mine was home for Christmas and went to see visit a high school friend of his, let's say Chris just to make things easier. Chris had become a mortgage broker. He gave my friend his business card and showed him some of his business associates' cards as well.

My friend noticed that Chris's business associates had their photos on their cards. Chris's business card, on the other hard, only showed a photo of a mansion.

Chris explained that, as a black man, it wasn't a good idea for him to put his photo on his business card. He said in their photos, however, his white associates seemed to be saying, "Hey, come on over, you can trust me!"

That reminds me of a conversation I had recently with an acquaintance who'd become a district attorney. I asked him if his work was at all like it's portrayed on Law and Order. He responded, "No, because white people actually get convicted on Law and Order."

Filed in: Culture

Reading Recommended

2006-12-24T01:24:00.000-05:00

Updated 3/5/07.

Graphic Novels

Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea / Guy DeLisle

V for Vendetta / Alan Moore and David Lloyd

Watchmen / Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
TIME article about Watchmen, which made its list of All-TIME 100 Novels.

Persepolis / Marjane Satrapi
Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return / Marjane Satrapi

Fables Vol. 1: Legends in Exile / Bill Willingham
Fables Vol. 2: Animal Farm / Bill Willingham
Fables Vol. 3: Storybook Love / Bill Willingham
Fables Vol. 4: March of the Wooden Soldiers / Bill Willingham
Fables Vol. 5: The Mean Seasons / Bill Willingham

Filed in: Books

Hooray for Pigeons!

2006-11-13T00:15:00.000-05:00

Upholstered pigeon seats from designer Lorna B. Hughes, via Apartment Therapy. (Love the photo too.)

And a pigeon pillow by Salvor Fauna. The pigeon pillow is part of a larger collection of pillows with animal prints on them, including cats, bears, porcupines, and owls. They are pricey though. Some of the large pillows, up to 22" high, will set you back $99.

Filed in: Design Oddities

"Relative to a Tea Cup"

2006-09-20T23:33:00.000-04:00

I recently stumbled upon the National Geographic Animals site, which looks quite interesting, with images so cute it makes you want to just punch someone.

Hedgehog.
Could the illustrator be British perhaps?

Ruby-throated hummingbird.
The flower's a nice touch!

Mola (sunfish).
Holy smokes, I had no idea sunfish could grow to be so big. (I first learned about their existence from a Banana Yoshimoto story, in which the protagonist visits this sunfish at an aquarium.)
The National Geographic site says that "they are harmless to people, but can be very curious and will often approach divers." This photo, by Mike Johnson, shows just how bizarre sunfish look.

Filed in: Oddities

Refugee Camp Exhibit

2006-09-20T23:10:00.000-04:00

If you're in New York City this weekend, be sure to check out the Refugee Camp in the Heart of the City. This outdoor exhibit is being hosted by Doctors Without Borders to give visitors a sense of what life in a refugee camp is like. According to their Web site, the exhibit consists of materials used by the humanitarian group, including "emergency refugee housing, a food distribution tent, water pump, health clinic, vaccination tent, therapeutic feeding center, and a cholera treatment center."

The exhibit runs from now through Sunday, Sept. 24, at the Long Meadow in Brooklyn's Prospect Park. Hours are 9:30 to 6:30 daily. Visit www.doctorswithoutborders.org/education/refugeecamp/index.cfm for more info.

Filed in: Happenings

Pixelated Pirate

2006-09-18T00:19:00.000-04:00

Guybrush: The Early Years. Image from The Legend of Monkey Island.

Guybrush in 3D. Image from The Legend of Monkey Island.

Call me old-fashioned, but I think the "younger" Guybrush Threepwood looks cuter. Sometimes I get nostalgic for old computer games, with their heavy pixelation and rudimentary graphics. I especially loved the adventure games, like Sierra's King's Quest or LucasArts' Monkey Island, in which the background would have to refresh everytime you moved your character to the edge of the screen.

On the subject of pirates (Guybrush being one), Tuesday the 19th is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. YAAAAR! Check out the official site for pirate vocabulary and information on how to speak like a pirate in German, Spanish, or Chinese.

I started a dance class today. For an idea of how I felt, watch this clip from Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, of when Aunt Vivian goes to a dance audition, and look at the expression on her face. My instructor would demonstrate a step, and it seemed like everyone else was able to pick it up and do it right away. Although the class was billed as an absolute beginners' workshop, I think it would be hard for someone with two left feet or no sense of rhythm to keep up. I still had a blast, however.

Filed in: Oddities Miscellaneous

Adventures in New York

2006-09-16T23:43:00.000-04:00

I love exploring New York. Here are some photos I took of the city in summer 2005:

Candles inside St. John the Divine

View looking back toward the beach from a pier at Coney Island. (And no, Coney Island is not an island.)

The Cyclone, a wooden rollercoaster, which I rode, at Coney Island. Wooden rollercoasters are the best.

Jellyfish at the Brooklyn Aquarium, in Coney Island. I love jellyfish, even if I can't hug them.

A view from Inwood, at the northern tip of Manhattan

A street performer in Washington Square Park spins his twin brother on his head!

Fried clams from Johnny's, at the end of the bus line on City Island. (And yes, City Island is an island--in the Bronx!) From Brooklyn, it took me two and a half hours to reach City Island by public transportation. If you make the trip, take some reading material.

I still need to check out Roosevelt Island, Governors Island, and Long Island City, among other places in New York City. Hopefully more photos to follow.

Filed in: Photos

Out to Lunch?

2006-09-12T20:43:00.000-04:00

Stuff and Junk

Add information about major bridges here.

Needless to say, neither of these Web sites proved very helpful.

Filed in: Oddities

Memorial

2006-09-12T00:29:00.000-04:00

What appeared to be a single beam of light from Brooklyn resolved into two as seen from Lower Manhattan. With clouds directly overhead, the two spotlights at Ground Zero shone beams that looked like pneumatic tubes to the sky, express routes for the saintly. When the clouds would pass, the two towers of light would go up up up then bend, following the curve of the Earth. The Brooklyn Bridge was crowded with good-intentioned gawkers. One had to dodge the aim of their cameras as one might dodge a laser security system, trying to avoid stepping into the frame of a stranger's shot. Tourists posing in front of Lower Manhattan's absence.

Filed in: Miscellaneous

Politics and Play

2006-09-07T22:42:00.000-04:00

Whenever I'm feeling low, I just repeat these words to myself:

Fantasy Bundestag
Which of the German parliament's 613 seats will you choose? How well will your political party do as the current legislative session advances? (Thanks to Sean and Vin for the awesome concept.)

I also get my kicks from the Prime Minister's Questions.

If you're in New York the weekend of Sept. 22, check out the Come Out and Play Festival.

Filed in: Oddities Politics Happenings

Odds and Ends Pt. 6

2006-08-30T23:46:00.000-04:00

"Real Life" by GameSpot--Just in case you need to get an idea of what real life is like before you participate.

"What's Lost Is Found, Very Cheaply"--If you're ever in Scottsboro, Alabama, be sure to stop by the Unclaimed Baggage Center. I'm not sure how people lose some of the stuff that ends up in the store. One shopper, called Allan, is quoted as saying, "When Jesse Jackson was running for president his suits came in here. And one year when M.C. Hammer was touring, his backdrop came in here from his concert stage." Jewelry, skis, works of art. Nothing's too priceless to lose. (Check out the interesting stuff section of the store's Web site for more gems. I won't spoil it for you.)

Driving Under the Influence--I've only ever seen a few minutes of Reno 911! And I will look back on those minutes fondly.

Ask MetaFilter--Have I ever mentioned that I love this site? All the discussions I've ever read on there have been surprisingly good (and spam- and flame-free). Get or share your answers to such timeless questions as "What exactly do people, especially young people (18-22) DO at the lake or beach all day?" I'm still trying to decide whether or not I want to pay the $5 one-time registration fee to be able to post comments.

Metropolitan Opera--This New York institution (see Moonstruck) is having its first-ever open house Sept. 22. For those with no obligations that Friday, you can attend the final dress rehearsal for Madama Butterfly, which will kick off the Met's 2006-07 season. Tickets to the rehearsal are free and will be distributed Wednesday, Sept. 20 on a first-come, first-served basis.

Survivor--The next season of this reality adventure show will premiere Sept. 14, with four teams of five members each based on race. Which means that the show will boost the total number of Asians on TV to 5. (OK, that might be a little harsh. More like, 6.)

Pluto's demotion--Did anyone stop to think about the astrologers??

Filed in: Culture Oddities Miscellaneous Happenings Media

"They exist to be used ..."

2006-08-30T16:59:00.000-04:00

When did a sheep last die of old age? Sheep do not own themselves, do not own their lives. They exist to be used, every last ounce of them, their flesh to be eaten, their bones to be crushed and fed to poultry. Nothing escapes, except perhaps the gall bladder, which no one will eat. Descartes should have thought of that. The soul, suspended in the dark, bitter gall, hiding. -Disgrace, J. M. Coetzee

Finished the book today. It's the first Coetzee book I've ever read. Really amazing--unsympathetic characters one can actually empathize with.

Filed in: Books

Black-and-Whites

2006-08-10T10:39:00.000-04:00

My friend got her first published piece in the New York Times! Cause for celebration... The piece, "In Baghdad, a Beachhead for Black-and-Whites," is about black-and-white cookies, which I thought only existed on Seinfeld. I've learned from her article, however, that they are actually sold in a bakery in New York. (Use BugMeNot to bypass Times registration.)

Filed in: Miscellaneous

Odds and Ends Pt. 5

2006-08-08T23:15:00.000-04:00

As it seems to happen to most people sooner or later, I've become slightly addicted to YouTube. Two recent favorites: MADtv's Gangsta Shop Quartet, which is exactly what it sounds like, and Dave Chappelle in Grand Theft Auto. I haven't seen much of Grand Theft Auto, but the clip is surreal, and hilarious.

Also, crazy story from my friend's blog about her boyfriend, who was sent to a convention last weekend. When he checked into his hotel, they gave him the key to a room that was already occupied. He saw a sleeping figure, panicked, and didn't even close the door all the way in his rush to get back to the elevators.

He told my friend, "How are they gonna send me, a black man, into someone else's room? I could've gotten killed!" Which, as my friend observed, is sad but true.

Filed in: Culture Miscellaneous

The Zen of the Driving Range

2006-08-07T10:55:00.000-04:00

"In so many ways, his family's life feels like a string of accidents, unforeseen, unintended, one incident begetting another. ... And yet these events have formed Gogol, shaped him, determined who he is. They were things for which it was impossible to prepare but which one spent a lifetime looking back at, trying to accept, interpret, comprehend. Things that should never have happened, that seemed out of place and wrong, these were what prevailed, what endured, in the end." -The Namesake, by Jhumpa Lahiri

It's something I'm continually trying to learn, that disappointments are petty and that life goes on.

The day after the driving range, this spot on my thumb was sore and filled with fluid. But it's finally deflating, hardening. (I used to get blisters all the time as a kid playing on the monkey bars, but now that my days consist of sitting at a computer, there's no time for that.) Maybe if I ever get serious about this, I'll get some golf gloves.

I've been going to the Chelsea Piers driving range during summer hours, taking advantage of the weekday daytime specials. Last Friday I chose the "Ball Blitz," $20 an hour for unlimited balls and free club rental. The day was clear and hot. Only occasionally did a breeze lift off the Hudson, relieving everyone of us perched on the multistory driving range.

I love going to the driving range, though I've only been a few times. (Many thanks to Athena and Tomo for introducing me to it.) I have no interest in learning how to play golf, but I find the act of hitting the ball itself very calming and meditative. I don't worry about where the ball goes, though it is always satisfying when my club connects perfectly with the ball. It makes this certain sound--maybe there's a physical term for it, the same sound one hears when a bat hits a baseball dead-on or when one makes a desirable break in pool--a significant crack, not a superficial sound at all.

And then tracking the ball against a blue sky. After my hour was up, I watched two men practice their swings. They both looked like serious golfers, with appropriate attire, their own sets of clubs, concentration. My routine had been to swing every few seconds, almost as quickly as the balls came up out of the ground (one of the things I love about the Chelsea Piers driving range is the automation, no need to retrieve balls out of a machine, stooping over repeatedly to set the ball on top of the tee). But these two men would each focus on his ball, swing, observe the ball's flight, absorb the outcome, gather himself mentally for the next swing. Their golfballs would arc through the air, describing mathematical equations.

Filed in: Books Miscellaneous

Jump

2006-08-01T17:09:00.000-04:00

A few years ago, while I was still living in Chicago, I met up with a friend on the Lake Michigan waterfront. We sat on the edge of the cement walkway, a few feet above the water. It was bright and clear, hot but not too hot to sit out in the sun. Because I'm constantly coming up with crazy ideas, I told my friend that I had this urge to jump into the lake in order to cool off. I remember the water as being blue, not particularly clean looking but an invitingly short drop away. And because I never follow through on my crazy ideas, I watched instead as my friend leapt into Lake Michigan. He hauled himself out of the water, clothes completely drenched, sat down again beside me, and resumed our conversation.

It's brutally hot today in New York City. Heat that constricts one's chest like a vise. It's shorts and a T-shirt but sweat still pouring down one's face hot. The subway stations are worse than ovens--they're like broilers today, people crisping in their suits while they lean over the sides of the platforms, cursing at the trains that never show. Surely someone must have keeled over today in the middle of the street, somewhere in this blasted city.

I wish I'd jumped into the lake too.

Filed in: Miscellaneous

The Simple Life

2006-07-25T01:18:00.000-04:00

I went to bed late but woke up at 7:30 to the sound of flapping. I thought it might have been a bug trapped between the window screen and curtain, but curiosity overcoming sleepiness, I pulled my curtain aside to see three mourning doves sitting on the railing of my fire escape. I think it might have been a family because at one point, one of the doves held the second dove's beak in its own beak and then shook it, as if it were regurgitating food. Then again, it was early and I might have imagined seeing that. I went back to sleep, but before I did, I thought how being woken by doves must be one of the more pleasant ways to wake up in the city.

Tonight, I took the train back late with a friend, and we happened to board an empty car. I excitedly said that we could run up and down the car screaming, and no one would care. My friend then pointed out a guy in an adjacent car. This guy was apparently the only one in his car. Through the narrow windows in the car doors, we saw him run toward then grab one of the metal support poles. He threw his weight onto the pole and spun around it with his feet in the air. It made me happy to see him having fun, like a child would have done without fear of embarrassment or self-consciousness.

Filed in: Miscellaneous

Booooo Hoo

2006-07-24T15:48:00.000-04:00

Sad Ghost Lamp, Marcel Dzama, $150

I wants it. Who could not love a crying ghost?

Filed in: Art Miscellaneous

Kidney for Sale! Kidney for Sale!

2006-07-21T01:00:00.000-04:00

Not exactly a new story but I still found "Human Kidneys for Sale" to be interesting. It aired on public radio and was filed from India by filmmaker Samantha Grant. What I found especially disturbing was Grant's observation that

"India's Ministry of Tourism is promoting what's being called Transplant Tourism, aimed at drawing wealthy foreigners in search of a cheap medical fix. Its website even has a page called 'high-tech healing' and boasts that a 'kidney transplant package' in India would cost only $7,000, a fraction of what it costs in the developed world."

(The Web site she's referring to is Incredible India. According to the site, India also offers wellness services such as bone marrow transplants, joint replacement surgery, and, of course, yoga.)

Grant's documentary on the same subject can be viewed online at PBS FRONTLINEt/World. I haven't had a chance yet to check it out, but it's only about 11 mins. long. (Though the ending probably won't be as satisfying as that of Dirty Pretty Things, the Stephen Frears-directed film about the human organ trade. It's excellent!--I highly recommend it.)

Filed in: Culture Politics Movies

Where Science Meets Culture

2006-07-18T23:06:00.000-04:00

Jesse recommended I check out Phylotaxis. Pretty.

Filed in: Culture Art

World Jump Day

2006-07-17T22:16:00.000-04:00

World Jump Day is fast approaching! On Thursday, July 20, be one of the 600 million jumpers needed to help change the Earth's orbit to stop global warming. Check out the official Web site for local jump times. (Or just check out this article, which explains the premise of the project.)

Filed in: Happenings Oddities

Really, Really Free Market (Really!)

2006-07-12T00:22:00.000-04:00

Got the word from Treehugger that there will be a Really, Really Free Market this weekend in New York City. I didn't make it to the Free Meet that I blogged about earlier, but I might just drop by this one with some stuff I'd like to get rid off, like my ax collection, which I've been warned is not good feng shui for the bedroom.

Filed in: Happenings Green Oddities

Wizard Rock

2006-07-07T12:37:00.000-04:00

While in Boston, I was introduced to the music genre Wizard Rock, which according to Wikipedia dates from 2002 with Harry and the Potters being the first such band. My friend Alice had seen Harry and the Potters and dragged me to see The Remus Lupins at T.T. the Bear's.

The show was actually quite fun. Despite the plural in the band's name, Alex Carpenter is the sole member, though he was accompanied on one song by friends on other instruments. I bought a copy of his CD--you can hear some of his music on his Web site and myspace page--though it lacks the energy of his live playing. (He also played the show in a Hogwarts uniform, sweater and all; I don't know how he withstood the heat.)

Still, he's a talented musician, and it was interesting to learn about another facet of fandom. (See Wikipedia articles on cosplay and slash fiction).

Filed in: Culture

Tents and the T

2006-07-05T22:40:00.000-04:00

Tents and sleeping bags

More tents and sleeping bags

Took these photos awhile ago. I've only ever seen these miniature displays in Target stores. I got such a kick out of them the first time I saw them. I like to think of them as matching tents and sleeping bags for your ferret should you go camping with your ferret. You could have the miniatures inside of the human-sized counterparts. Very postmodern.

I spent the July 4th weekend in Boston. I've been to Boston a few times now, but I still learned new things about the place, the characteristics that make each city unique. For example, sometimes two people will go through a rotating turnstile together on one subway token. I'd never seen that done anywhere else, but apparently it's common in Boston, at least in places where security cameras have yet to be installed. I'm not even sure two people can fit into the turnstiles here in the New York City subway.

The T is phasing out its token fare system. One night, I had to buy a token from the attendant. I could see through the glass that he had lined up all the tokens on the counter to his left. On his right he'd lined up different coins so he could quickly give out change.

The T passes are known as CharlieTickets and CharlieCards, named after the Charles River. That'd be like New York City's MTA naming its passes the Hudson or, as a friend pointed out, the East.

The announcements on the T sound a little mournful, not at all jaunty like the announcements on the Chicago El. No one can hear anything on the MTA, at least not on the older trains. (Saturday Night Live got it right with its sketch about why subway announcements are impossible to understand.)

Filed in: Photos Oddities Culture Miscellaneous

Hulk! Smash!!

2006-07-03T12:43:00.000-04:00

You are Hulk.

You are a wanderer with amazing strength.

Which superhero are you?

Filed in: Oddities

Homemade Air Conditioning and Alienation in New Jersey

2006-06-27T00:29:00.000-04:00

I was looking online for some tips on cooling off (it's not the heat, it's the humidity, as they say) and found a university student's account of building an air conditioner using nothing but a garbage can, a large fan, copper tubing, vinyl tubing, zip ties, clamps, and water. MacGyver would be proud.

Today, green blog Treehugger covered how to build a solar-powered air conditioner. Treehugger also linked to the blog lifehacker, which also posted instructions on making your own air conditioner (similar in design to the university student's but with a "closed-circuit" system that reuses water).

I'm happy to learn that even something as unwieldy and technically incomprehensible as an air conditioner has a cheap, homemade counterpart. Of course one shouldn't expect such units to cool one down as much as a commercial unit, but the savings in cost (on the unit itself and electricity) might make this an option worth exploring for some.

And here's a completely unrelated quote:

"And I thought that one natural effect of life is to cover you in a thin layer of ... what? A film? A residue or skin of all the things you've done and been and said and erred at? I'm not sure. But you are under it, and for a long time, and only rarely do you know it, except that for some unexpected reason or opportunity you come out--for an hour or even for a moment ... as when you were a kid.
And you think: this must've been the way it was once in my life, though you didn't know it then, and don't really even remember it--a feeling of wind on your cheeks and your arms, of being released, let loose, of being the light-floater."

-The Sportswriter, Richard Ford

A good book on alienation in contemporary life, set in the New Jersey suburbs outside New York City. I first read Ford in the New Yorker. His short story "Quality Time" is one of my all-time favorite pieces of literature. The story is reprinted in one of his recent collections, and I'd highly recommend it.

Filed in: Green Technology Books

Reduce and Reuse!

2006-06-22T23:58:00.000-04:00

Forgot to mention that this Saturday, June 24, Freecycle New York City is hosting a FreeMeet. Their Web site describes it as their way of "helping to reduce New York's waste and promote reuse with a day of giving (and getting). Bring your usable, but unwanted goods and come see what's being given away. Leftover items will be donated to local charities to the extent possible."

It will take place from 11 to 4 p.m. at the Habana Outpost Eco-Eatery, at 757 Fulton St. (at S. Portland) in Ft. Greene, Brooklyn.

And, of course, the event is free!

Filed in: Happenings Green

The Last Frontier

2006-06-22T23:21:00.000-04:00

Of course, once I sit down to write in my blog, I completely forget what it was that I wanted to write about.

I've been thinking about swimming lately, probably because it's been so hot. The weird thing is that I haven't really swam (swum?) in years, and I don't really remember how.

When I went off to college, I had to take a swim test along with all the incoming students. I had some misgivings, as the last time I'd gone swimming prior to that was maybe when I was 10 or so, when I took swim lessons one summer. I was never a strong swimmer, but I could do 25-50 meters if I pushed myself.

When it came to my turn, I tried to start off with the crawl. I have no idea what I did exactly. I made it to the other side of the tiny pool, but I seemed to have gotten there with a lot of splashing and flailing. Pretty embarrassing, as there were still several lines of people waiting to take the test. I couldn't seem to coordinate my breathing and the movement of my arms. I finished the required laps doing the back stroke but since then I haven't tried swimming again.

I find the water very mystical, for lack of a better word. I once described to a friend how, when I think about being out on the surface of the ocean, or in the middle of the deep sea, I feel agoraphobic. I typically never have that feeling in wide open spaces on land, but there's something that both terrifies and fascinates me about water.

On land, one can look up to forever. When it's really dark, one can still hear when something flies overhead. But life in the sunless depths of the ocean seems oppressive to me--all that liquid around you, this forceful presence limiting vision and distorting sound. (I once read that the bottom of the sea, as opposed to space, is the last frontier. We're still discovering life in places that we'd thought uninhabitable.)

So, I'm slightly scared of swimming. But sometimes, for lack of being able to fly, I dream of lithely curving through the water like a dolphin, free and quick and without bounds...

Filed in: Miscellaneous

Awake Late

2006-06-22T02:43:00.000-04:00

I was just telling a friend earlier that I think my resistance to caffeine is waning. We were chatting over coffee--I had my last sip of the stuff around 10:30 p.m.--and here I am, nearly 3 a.m., and I'm just beginning to feel tired. Caffeine, exercise, big meal late, I used to think of myself as one of those people who has no trouble falling asleep. Lately, however, sleep has been hard to grab, what with the heat, mosquitoes, and lack of a proper sleep system.

Summer began yesterday, which means I'll have a few more months of extreme heat and mosquitoes to look forward to. I don't know where the 'lil buggers are coming from, but I dread lying down at night. I've considered wrapping myself in mosquito netting, mummy style, for protection. But I'm planning on getting a replacement screen instead--and what my friend describes as a slow-release citronella gizmo, if I can find one.

What I've noticed lately:
-Standing outside my building late at night, the only sound I hear being that of humming air conditioners up and down my block.
-...Standing at an empty intersection late at night, the only sound being that of the pedestrian signal alternately clicking between walk and halt.
-Sparrow perched on a short, thin-limbed tree, singing loudly above the din of Midtown.
-A baby bird out back screeching every time one of its parents approaches the nest. This bird is a bad neighbor--it has woken me up a few times. (I believe it's a northern mockingbird based on glimpses I've had of the parents, but I'm not certain.)
-Men and women toting brown paper shopping bags in the Garment District. Specifically brown paper shopping bags without any logos or text on the sides.
-Waiting passengers interacting with the musical instrument sculpture in the 34th St./Herald Square train station.

The world looks beautiful once you notice it.

Filed in: Miscellaneous

I'm a Crispy Noodle

2006-06-07T20:59:00.000-04:00

I received this fortune today:

"You are the crispy noodle in the vegetarian salad of life."

(And of course, it would so happen that other people have received this fortune and already posted about it online. Scooped again!)

Filed in: Oddities

They Have Come Back from the Dead!! Ahhhh!

2006-06-03T01:24:00.000-04:00

Zombie March in Boston. The site also gathers links to zombie marches in other cities. But apparently the undead have yet to make an appearance in New York.

Filed in: Oddities Happenings

More Cardboard Furniture

2006-05-27T22:53:00.000-04:00

I was poking around online looking for sustainable design and found Crazy Cardboard, which offers corrugated cardboard furniture, including the "Royal Assets," at right. They also have tables, a bookcase, a fireless (fire)place, and a line of kids' furniture.

I'm not sure how durable their furniture is, but like the cardboard bed that I blogged about in an earlier entry, you can throw this into your recycling bin once it's past its prime.

Filed in: Design Green

More Spring Observations

2006-05-22T23:10:00.000-04:00

Walked by a fenced-in grassy lot tonight that smelled of freshly mown grass, whatever those chemical compounds are that cut grass emits. Which reminds me that I recently read about "freedom lawns" in the book Suburban Safari, by journalist Hannah Holmes. Freedom lawns are free of pesticides and fertilizer and are basically the antithesis of the mini golf courses that some people cultivate as their yards. I no longer have the book handy, but the Christian Science Monitor reported on this environmentally friendly trend way back in 2004.

I saw Saturn on Saturday (well, I did!). Two men had telescopes set up by an entrance to the subway station. One telescope was focused on Saturn, the other was trained on Jupiter. Jupiter was a bright spot in the sky. But Saturn looked like a marvelous paper cut-out set against a nightlight. Although the image was small, it was possible to distinguish Saturn's rings from its body.

Filed in: Green Miscellaneous

Krampus

2006-05-21T15:27:00.000-04:00

Went to check out the Whitney Biennial yesterday, the title of the 2006 exhibit being Day for Night. I usually tend to "get" the mixed media projects, appreciate the works displaying obvious technical proficiency, and ignore the films altogether. I am not one of those people who rushed out to theaters to see Drawing Restraint 9. (Did anyone?)

I was surprised to discover then that my favorite work from the Biennial was Cameron Jamie's Kranky Klaus. The Whitney Web site describes the work as a document of "the pagan myth of Krampus—a shaggy beast said to roam the valleys of Austria on the night of December 6."

In his film, Jamie follows a group of four or five Krampus as they make their way through a village on a snowy evening. The way the Krampus worked was this: a man dressed as Klaus would enter a building where a group of people were gathered in expectation. From a wicker basket that he carried, Klaus would distribute these satchels with "Gold Pass" stamped on them.

Shortly after Klaus left, the Krampus would enter. (Refer to picture.) Not only do the Krampus look grotesque, but they wore these bells the size of coconuts around their waists. They would come in, hopping from foot to foot, not only physically intimidating the villagers but overwhelming them with this awful clanging. They would start assaulting the people, pulling them from their chairs, wrestling them to the ground, and overturning tables. Most people, half-smiling, tried to resist. There was no fighting back. But one girl in the film did start crying.

Then they would leave for their next destination, the men playing the Krampus occasionally walking with their costume heads off (and at least once stopping for beers).

The soundtrack for the film was provided by the Melvins (warning: unnecessarily intense Flash site). The music was throbbing heavy metal-like, which underscored the oddly violent--yet organized--nature of the whole thing. LA Weekly has more pictures from Krazy Klaus. Artangel, which commissioned and produced Krazy Klaus, has more information about the other films in Jamie's trilogy focusing on "vernacular rituals": Spook House, about a working-class Detroit suburb's celebration of Halloween, and BB, about "LA teenage wrestlers."

The Biennial closes Sunday, May 28.

Filed in: Art Movies Happenings

Spring Observations

2006-05-18T15:38:00.000-04:00

Flash of blue: I don't know why I should have been surprised, but I hastened to catch another glimpse. There it was, a bluejay, perched on the gutter of a house. Its feathers were a rich blue, not glossy bright like on the bluejays I've seen (when was the last time I saw one?), but blue with purple tones, regal.

Yesterday I passed a young squirrel on the same route. I guessed it was young not just because of its small size but because it didn't scurry away at the sight of me. It was investigating a set of concrete steps leading up to the front of a house. The squirrel was nearly level with my head. But instead of balking, the squirrel merely turned its back to me, then swung back around to face me, eyeing me, as if it had changed its mind and had decided to stick around to see what I'd do.

The pigeon's still there on the nest I first noticed about a month ago. One of these days I expect to hear the shrill begging of squabs. I worry about who else might notice because surely they'd tear the nest down if they knew it was there.

Filed in: Miscellaneous

Loss

2006-05-14T21:45:00.000-04:00

"We lose our youth as we grow, we're all losing our parents, losing people we know; we're losing all the time. There's a deep sense of loss. It's what I'm dealing with in my work. ... It hurts me to see these things die, fall down, collapse, decay. ... But then I see the beauty in that, the sense in that." -British sculptor Andy Goldsworthy in the documentary Rivers and Tides

Filed in: Miscellaneous

Long Time, No Post

2006-05-09T00:02:00.000-04:00

We're all agreed at the office that Tuesdays are the worst.

Tuesday lacks the notoriety of Monday. Yet the 24 hours separating Tuesday from the weekend do not soften much the impact of a new week (assuming one is on a Monday-Friday schedule). Wednesday--hump day--has always been neutral. The end is in sight, but it's not quite the release provided by Thursday, considered by some to be the best day of the work week. Thursday has a leg up over Friday because one can revel in anticipation. Friday night, although it's the beginning of the weekend, can be a bust just because one's energy might be sapped after five days of work.

John Porcellino's Perfect Example is perfectly lovely. Next, I will be tackling the 592-page graphic novel Blankets, by Craig Thompson, which a friend recommended highly.

Filed in: Miscellaneous Books

Overheard at the AC&C

2006-04-05T14:16:00.000-04:00

My submission finally made it onto Overheard in the Office! (though they got the location wrong--I overheard the conversation at the city's Animal Care and Control in Manhattan, not the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals).

Filed in: Oddities Miscellaneous

MIT Dome a Winner

2006-03-14T15:13:00.000-05:00

Happy Pi Day to all you geeks out there!

On a roll from yesterday's post, here is another great line from an article about a prank at MIT:
"The school ... said it never gave permission for the building to become a gold medal winner."
Check out the photos -- the medal's impressive.

Filed in: Oddities

Those Venomous Australians

2006-03-14T00:56:00.000-05:00

I was looking for information on platypuses (platypi?) when I stumbled across the following abstract (emphasis added):

The platypus (ornithorhynchus anatinus) is a furry duck-billed mammal that inhabits the waterways of eastern Australia. The male may reach 60 cm in length with a 20 cm beaver-like tail. We report the case of an American naturalist stung whilst trying to study the male in the wild. This resulted in an intense local reaction. Warning signs should therefore be erected at air and sea ports warning tourists of the dangers of these venomous Australians.

Filed in: Oddities

Smart Cards for Public Transportation

2006-02-13T21:11:00.000-05:00

While looking at credit cards, I came upon Citibank's SmarTrip Mastercard -- a Metro farecard and credit card in one. The Metro (in the D.C. metropolitan area) released the SmarTrip farecard a few years ago, and I definitely prefer them over the plastic farecards one usually buys. For one, the SmarTrip card, which is made of heavy, stiff plastic, is more durable. The card gets you through the turnstile more quickly, no swiping over and over again while a line of impatient passengers builds up behind you. You can also add value to it online, as the card is registered to your information. Though that might present privacy concerns (future episode of Law and Order?).

Apparently New York City's MTA will begin experimenting with smart farecards in the spring. Newsday reports that these farecards will be credit cards or key-chain tags.

Martians and Cardboard Beds

2006-02-11T22:20:00.000-05:00

Studio 360 this week explored violence in entertainment. Comic Jack Handey (whom most people might know for his "Deep Thoughts" on Saturday Night Live) was invited to contribute. The result, "My Speech to the Martians," is hilarious. An excerpt:

People of Mars, you say we are brutes and savages. But let me tell you one thing. If I could get loose from this cage you have me in, I would tear you guys a new Martian asshole. ... I came here in peace, seeking gold and slaves. But you have treated me like an intruder. But maybe it is not me who is the intruder but you. No, not me. You, stupid."

(I just did a quick search and it seems as if this "speech" first appeared in the New Yorker. It's probably even better hearing him read it. He speaks in this deadpan, which is part of the reason I like his work. He's not deliberately trying to be jokey. His humor's kind of twisted, almost cruel.)

The itbed, from Swiss firm it design looks awesome. It's kind of hard to believe that cardboard can be manipulated to support something as heavy as a mattress and sleepers, but I guess it's all about the triangles. (Any other geeks remember building a tower out of balsa wood to support as much weight as possible?) Now that's portability.

Odds and Ends Pt. 4

2006-01-28T00:07:00.000-05:00

A man tries to make paper by referring to a poem. Learn about the results in his hilarious report "Recipe for Paper," which recently aired on public radio program Studio 360.

Goto Reviews, which bills itself as "A Guide to the Most Efficient Things in the World," is a nifty site. For example, it made a reference to the "Mealbox" table. The chairs and table are all shaped in such a way that they can be stacked together and packed into a box.

And thanks to dan dan noodles for his concern. When I tripped, it was on a poorly lit, nearly empty block. A guy walking in the other direction turned around and asked me if I was OK, and that was about it, no snickering or laughs that I could hear. Incidentally, today around lunchtime, I was walking down 14th Street, which some of you know as one of the major crosstown streets in New York, when an older woman in front of me tripped and fell. The gentleman who'd been walking in front of her and I stopped to make sure she wasn't hurt, but she seemed more embarrassed than anything else, her sunglasses sitting askew on her nose.

Odds and Ends Pt. 3

2006-01-25T23:34:00.000-05:00

One gorgeous afternoon, walked down Minetta Lane, quiet winding street like nothing out of New York. I recalled something a classmate had seen when doing a photo essay on the street. And there it was, just as he had described -- a rainbow macaw in a courtyard, several yards away from a locked gate that led onto the street. Perched on the railing next to a second-floor back door. It bobbed its head, walked back and forth on the railing and then -- zip! Though not as quickly as the word might imply, though in one smooth motion, the parrot slid down the railing to the bottom of the staircase. Bobbed its head. Then turned, walked up the railing, claws grasping metal.

In a less poignant moment, I tripped and fell while walking in the East Village this evening. I'm not a clumsy person, at least I don't think I am. I happened to be looking up at the back of a residential building, wondering at how dingy it looked, when my foot hit a slab of concrete sidewalk jutting about an inch out of the ground. I caught it in just the right way. Next thing I knew, I was falling, not in slow motion but violently. I just managed to catch myself on my hands and knees. Thank God I didn't hit my head or crash onto my face, but my palms are still numb from the impact -- I couldn't believe how such a common ... blunder ... could hurt so much.

An Incident One Evening

2006-01-10T01:15:00.000-05:00

I had a very postmodern experience this evening as I was walking home from the train station.

I'd stopped by my usual corner grocery store and upon exiting took a different way home. As I was walking down this dark, primarily residential block, I heard a commotion and saw a crowd of silhouettes gathered at the intersection at the bottom of the hill. I assumed it was just a bunch of kids fooling around. As I neared the intersection, however, I saw some people running toward the crowd as a fire truck wailed by me.

When I reached the end of the block, I saw it -- a fire in the top floor of a walk-up. The window had shattered or been shattered. Flames were pouring out, shooting several feet into the air. The word conflagration came to mind.

I often hear fire trucks go by. I don't know if this is typical for a New York neighborhood, but I clearly recall in the past year two incidents on my block alone. Once I saw only smoke coming from a building, no fire visible, though a firefighter climbed from his truck to the roof. The other time, I was sitting in bed late one night when I heard a loud explosion. I figured that a gas line or some utility under the street had burst. I couldn't see that much from my window, but the street seemed to be on fire. The following day, I noticed that fresh asphalt had been laid near that spot.

This was different, however. As I watched the proceedings, I realized that I'd never seen a house on fire in real life. I'd seen it in movies and on the news but never in person. Although only one room of this apartment seemed to be on fire, I couldn't believe the enormous energy behind the flames. How bright it was.

A firefighter raised the ladder on his truck and drove it toward one of the apartment's other windows. Suddenly, the pane of glass exploded. It wasn't like the sound made when a small object flies through a window. This was a high, crackly explosion with a low oomph behind it.

Another firefighter who'd made it into the apartment broke some of the other windows. Some errant sprays of water started coming out of the room in which the fire was concentrated. The flames diminished.

Later, a firefighter took a chainsaw to the stone molding at the top of the building, cutting into it with a shriek. No more flames seemed to be coming from the roof, but the roof was still on fire. The firefighters aimed water at it. Water spurted out from the gaps and gushed down the side of the building.

As planes passed overhead, I wondered if the passengers on board could see the fire and the red and yellow lights, not nearly as bright as the glow of the fire, of two police cars, two ambulances, three or four fire trucks and a fire department SUV.

As the fire was beaten, the crowd dissipated. At the fire's peak, quite a number of people had converged on the spot -- people coming home from work or the grocery store, delivery workers on bikes, families, people out walking their dogs, people out running. Car traffic slowed to avoid hitting gawkers standing in the street. Every time I lifted my coffee cup to take a sip, I felt as if I was at a movie, enjoying the show.

It was rather heartbreaking, actually. There was something about the ferocity of the fire, eating up the room and crawling up the walls from what I could see of it. I wondered how I'd feel if I came home and saw my place on fire, wondered what I'd be in anguish over losing. Photos? Old letters?

Fortunately, I don't think anyone was hurt. I kept expecting a firefighter to descend the ladder with an unconscious person slung over his shoulder, but the rest of the apartment had been dark. Either no one had been home or the apartment had been vacant.

On an entirely different note, I guess library cops do exist.

Hurray for Dirt

2006-01-06T13:03:00.000-05:00

Jesse wanted me to point out these instructions for making a nifty sod couch, a perfect project for someone looking for something both environmentally friendly and comfortable (if not a little messy): http://www.readymademag.com/feature_6_sodcouch.php

Does that remind anyone else of the Adobe, the "sassy new Mexican import that's made out of clay"?

Danny Leiner's "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle"

2006-01-05T02:28:00.000-05:00

Note: My thoughts on this movie were originally posted in my sidebar and was written a few weeks ago.

Yes, the "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle" is silly, but it's refreshing to finally see a film that doesn't feature an Asian male as The Nerd, The Japanese Mafia Guy, The Martial Arts Expert, The Immigrant or The Restaurant/Laundry/Cornerstore Owner.

The fact that two Asian males are the leads make this film even more remarkable to me. I feel that here's finally a movie that reflects my experience, i.e., people of color as average Americans. (I also liked how the film touches upon the issue of racism. At one point in the movie, one of the "villains" snears at Harold and Kumar, "Better luck tomorrow!")

The Accumulation Project

2005-12-31T01:17:00.000-05:00

Instead of tossing out all those AOL CDs, which are about as ubiquitous as weeds, you can make sure they end up in the service of art!

Eric Brown is collecting AOL CDs as part of the Accumulation Project. In November 2006, he will build "Pillars of Decency" with all the AOL CDs he will have collected. As of the end of November 2005, he had collected 2,792 AOL CDs. The project began in September.

There's information on the Web site linked above about how to get the CDs to him. Help spread the word! And check out some of the other fun stuff being accumulated by other artists.

Note: I'm slowly going through all my old blog entries and tagging them for del.icio.us. I'll bookmark all the entries in chronological order once I've finished tagging. So for now, the categories aren't functional.

Odds and Ends Pt. 2

2005-12-27T16:02:00.000-05:00

A friend told me about this man she saw on TV who owned a life-size, realistic-looking doll. The man looked like a fairly normal guy, except for the fact that he treated this doll like his girlfriend. He would have a neighbor come over to put makeup on the doll. He would also dress "her" up in provocative outfits. He talked about how he was satisfied with the arrangement -- although his girlfriend wasn't real, she was quiet, and he always knew where she was.

I took a look at the Web site of the company that manufactures these dolls, appropriately called RealDolls. Standard female dolls cost $6,499 while standard male dolls cost $6,999. (Shipping and handling is a whopping $450.)

The dolls are fully customizable. Not only can the dolls be made in a number of body types (e.g., "supermodel," "dancer," "voluptuous," with thoroughly listed measurements), one can choose from among a range of faces, skin tones, and umm, pubic hair colors and styles.

The company also offers "SheMale" RealDolls!

For amusement of a less provocative nature, check out this 2000 paper from the Annals of Improbable Research titled "Postal Experiments." (The same people who publish "Annals" are responsible for the annual Ig Nobel awards.)

The New York City Transit Strike Cont.

2005-12-21T22:47:00.000-05:00

On the Brooklyn Bridge during the evening commute, walking toward Brooklyn.
I've posted some pictures that I took yesterday during the transit strike. You can view them here.

The New York City Transit Strike

2005-12-20T11:53:00.000-05:00

Due to the transit worker strike, only vehicles with at least four occupants are allowed to enter Manhattan between 5 and 11 a.m. (More on the city's strike contigency plan can be found at its official Alternative Transportation Information Center.) I've heard some people express doubts about jumping into a car with complete strangers for the rush-hour commute into Manhattan. An Auto Club of New York spokesperson who was interviewed on the news this morning even discussed liabilities and insurance and how you can't trust a stranger to drive safely.

Obviously, these people are not aware of the fact that in the Metropolitan D.C. area, commuters are "casually carpooling" every workday. It's a phenomenon called slugging.

Here's a description of this unique form of transit from Slug-Lines.com:

A car needing additional passengers to meet the required 3-person high occupancy vehicle (HOV) minimum pulls up to one of the known slug lines. The driver usually positions the car so that the slugs are on the passenger side. The driver either displays a sign with the destination or simply lowers the passenger window, to call out the destination, such as "Pentagon," "L’Enfant Plaza," or "14th & New York." The slugs first in line for that particular destination then hop into the car, normally confirming the destination, and off they go.
No money is exchanged because of the mutual benefit: the car driver needs riders just as much as the slugs need a ride. Each party needs the other in order to survive. Normally, there is no conversation unless initiated by the driver; usually the only words exchanged are "Thank you" as the driver drops off the slugs at the destination.

There's a bevy of information on the Web site, including advice on how to start a slug line and a lost-and-found bulletin board. Oh, and the term "slug" apparently comes from the use of the word to describe counterfeit coins, which people try to pass off on buses. According to Slug-Lines.com, bus drivers began referring to carpool passengers as "slugs" because they would stand at bus stops when actually they were waiting for a ride from a car (i.e., they were "counterfeit" bus riders).

Operation Santa Claus

2005-12-19T19:43:00.000-05:00

On Saturday, I went to the main Manhattan post office to check out Operation Santa Claus, which I wrote about in a previous entry. I was pleasantly surprised by the numbers of people there, both men and women of different races and ages, including some parents with kids. The post office had separated the letters to Santa by area -- the five boroughs, New York state and out of state -- and there was also a bin exclusively for letters in Spanish.

Although many of the kids requested items like an XBox or an iPod, a good number also wanted stuff like a new winter coat because they had grown out of their old one. I also didn't expect the letters from adults, some of whom wrote of losing their jobs or only making enough to pay for rent and utilities. Probably most distressing, and exasperating, to me were the letters from single mothers asking for clothes for their six children. Distressing and exasperating because I don't understand (OK, maybe a little) why these women chose to have so many children when they can't provide for their basic needs.

Operation Santa Claus operates through Friday, Dec. 23, so I'd urge anyone with some time to participate. You can look through as many letters as you like to find one (or more) you think you can fulfill. I think some of these kids would be grateful to receive anything, however small, so you don't necessarily have to spend a lot of money to make a child's Christmas.

A9.com Maps

2005-12-17T12:09:00.000-05:00

I've been looking for apartments on Craigslist and found the Web site A9.com Maps to be helpful. A9.com Maps, a subsidiary of Amazon, provides images of selected cities, block by block. The photos are taken from the street, from a perspective perpendicular to the flow of traffic on the street. Both sides of a block are usually documented.

Not all blocks have been covered (on the Web site, you can choose whether or not you want to see which blocks have been covered -- otherwise you just get a street-level map image). I also found the interface a little confusing. And, of course, if you're interested in seeing a place outside of the 24 cities currently listed on the site, the service isn't going to do you much good.

But in terms of just getting a general sense for a neighborhood, in a city that I'm already familiar with, it's nice to know what's in the direct vicinity of a listed apartment. Is the neighborhood more industrial? In transition? Very trendy? Do the streets look uncomfortably deserted? Are there any trees?

Apartment Camping

2005-12-14T22:14:00.000-05:00

The Orikaso Bowl

I've never gone camping before, but I'm endlessly fascinated with camping equipment. They feed into my dream that one day, I'll own only so much that I can throw everything into a car and take off.

I also admire the design of some of these products. I recently saw the Orikaso Bowl at a sporting goods store. Orikaso, the company that makes the bowl, also sells foldable cups (it even has handles!) and plates. Awesome.

Then there are those nesting camping cooksets, where the pans can be pots and the lids double as plates. How ingenious is that?

On a completely different note, I found out about an effort similar to NYCares' Winter Wishes program. Called Operation Santa Claus, the program originated with the USPS, which every year receives letters from kids addressed to Santa. In 1912, the Postmaster General authorized the use of these letters for "philanthropic purposes."

If you wish to help answer one of these letters, you can visit Manhattan's General Post Office at 421 8th Ave. (33rd and 8th) between now and Dec. 23, between the hours of 9-4:30 Mondays through Fridays except on Thursdays, 9-7 on Thursdays and 10-4 on Saturdays. You can also send donations, which will be used to throw a Christmas party for underprivileged kids.

The Wonder of Craigslist Pt. 2

2005-12-14T14:03:00.000-05:00

I've become slightly addicted to Craigslist. As I mentioned in a previous post, I've been visiting some of the forums, and I'm continually amazed at the stuff I see. It's like an ever-improving cultural encyclopedia -- for example, I learned that "420" is slang for marijuana (did everyone know that already?).

I've been looking in Craigslist's Wanted forum to see if I can unload any of my crap before I move. I also found this useful city-maintained Web site, which lists items accepted by various New York City nonprofits. You can donate your furniture to Furnish a Future, a free furniture bank for formerly homeless families. Other organizations accept everything from school and art supplies to bikes to tools.

Ethical Lapses in Recent Procedures

2005-12-14T10:59:00.000-05:00

I keep meaning to post about the world's first partial face transplant, which was performed in France earlier this month. Of course the procedure would be pioneered in France, I thought. One of the most disturbing films I've ever seen -- Georges Franju's Eyes Without a Face -- came out of France. The movie is about a man who kidnaps a succession of young women so he can transplant their faces onto his daughter's disfigured one.

Now the New York Times reports that there might have been ethical lapses in the case. The face donor might have committed suicide, and the patient might have tried to commit suicide as well, raising questions about whether she was mentally stable enough to consent to such a risky surgery.

The article also says this about the patient:

Whether her overdose was a suicide attempt or not, Ms. Dinoire's doctors say that she had argued with one of her daughters earlier in the evening before taking the pills. She passed out on a sofa in her apartment as the pills took effect and her black Labrador, Tania, apparently tried to wake her, pawing at her face and eventually biting and chewing at her lips, nose and chin.

I can't help but think of the movie Hannibal!

Questions have also been raised in another pioneering operation, this one in South Korea and involving stem cell research. I don't know that much about it, only that there are questions about the egg donors (one of whom was? or possibly might be? a junior member of the research team, leading to speculation that she might have been pressured to donate). NPR also reported yesterday that one of the paper's co-authors wants to remove his name from the paper due to his concerns about its accuracy.

Who Should Pay for Healthcare?

2005-12-12T11:46:00.000-05:00

Tuesday's Brian Lehrer Show will be a discussion of who pays for healthcare in the United States. Visit this Web site to download a copy of the Wal-Mart memo leaked last month. The memo includes possible strategies for reducing the company's healthcare costs.

Honor Killings Not about Honor

2005-12-09T17:16:00.000-05:00

Recently heard this chilling report on NPR's All Things Considered about so-called honor killings in Iraq. NPR Foreign Correspondent Anne Garrels speaks to one family in which this occurred.

A daughter was kidnapped and threatened with death unless her brother quit the police force. The brother complied, and the girl was returned to the family. But because everyone assumed the girl had been raped while she was a captive, the family killed the girl. All for the sake of maintaining the family honor. The report is particularly chilling because the father, in his interview, is so forthcoming about what happened. Without any apparent shame, he explains that honor killings are a tradition.

That story typifies one of the reasons why I am wary of traditions. It's one thing to have turkey on Thanksgiving and another when people use the term tradition to justify, or excuse, hateful behavior. It's a shame that so many people accept injustices as a part of society instead of challenging injustices to further society.

The Wonder of Craigslist

2005-12-09T11:00:00.001-05:00

So I've been bumming around Craigslist (an online bulletin board) lately, looking for sublets and rideshares and items wanted as I prepare to move yet again. I'd known there's a lot of stuff on Craigslist, but I didn't realize just how crazy some of that stuff is. It seems that there is a forum for everything and anything that people might want to purchase/sell/trade/give away.

For example, I saw the following post, titled "2 free* dave matthews band tickets...read for explanation," in the "free" forum:

i found two dave matthews tickets in the park. i have something to do that night, plus i know there are some really hard core fans out there who would appreciate it more than me, so here's what's going on. because i found them i A) have no idea if they are real and B) they might be tickets that were lost and therefore reissued to whoever tried to buy them originally. in that case they may get you into the event, but then the original buyer might be sitting in the seats in which case you have to just move around during the show...it is also possible that at this point if the original buyer cancelled these then they might not even work to get into the show...in that case i would say avoid any hassles by saying "oh man somebody on craigs list sold me these oh my gosh!" since there is no way to prove that they'll haveto just let you leave...so i guess these are perfect for someone who was going to try there luck with scalpers anyway...this way if you can't get in you were already prepared to buy a ticket : ) i will post the free ticket exact location later tonight around 8pm...the pick up area will be hidden in the vicintiy of the broadway/houston street train station somewhere.

I like the fact that the person went to so much trouble to explain what happened and what might happen at the concert. And that the person was going to hide the tickets somewhere for someone to pick up.

The "wanted" forum is also a goldmine. For example, I learned something when someone replied to another post:

If people didn't know, Cartoon Network was a recently busted marijuana delivery network. They used "cartoon" as a code word. Add it to the list of drug slang idiots use on craigslist because they think they're slick and no one knows what they're talking about. Original: Seeking replacement for Cartoon Network

I found the following post -- titled "Are you (or do you know of) an old wooden door?" -- particularly well-written:

I'm looking for an old wooden door to perform tasks not usually performed by a door. Ideal candidate should possess or be capable of possessing the following attributes: 1. 100% wood. The kind from living trees as opposed the the compressed paper-fiber-pressboard crap that comes from the genetically engineered square-trunked trees in New Jersey. 2. Solid core. Not a hollow interior door covered with veneer. 3. Character. Unpainted or very old paint, panels, small windows, heavy hardware, etc. 4. At least an 18" width along its entire length (height) without rot or severe damage. 5. The door must be willing to be ripped (not on booze or like a phone book) to the above mentioned 18" width and attached to my wall as a sort of counter/bar. If you know of or have a door that you feel is highly qualified, please respond with the door's relevant statistics and coordinates for consideration. As this is an internship of sorts, no significant payment is offered. A small finders fee may be negotiated for an extraordinary candidate and transportation is provided.

Another thing I've realized in my online browsing is that no one seems to know what to do with old futons.

I've seen listings for free futons and futons for sale, but I haven't found many non-profits that specifically request futon donations. I tried to look for information online about deconstructing a futon, but that proved fruitless. There must be some way to reuse/recycle an old futon by taking out the cotton batting, and, I don't know, turning the futon cover into pillow covers or something.

Anyone have any ideas, let me know.

Threat of Transit Strike in NYC

2005-12-08T22:20:00.000-05:00

There's the possibility that a strike by New York City transit workers will take place Dec. 15. The Gotham Gazette provides some background on the situation here.

I wasn't aware that a transit strike had occurred in New York City in 1980. For a city so dependent upon public transportation, it boggles my mind to imagine how people would move about without it. There are taxis and car services -- though I heard a taxi driver say on public radio that he and other drivers would support the strike by refusing to make multiple pickups -- but that would mean spending more money when I already have an MTA (Metropolitan Transit Authority) pass. And because I travel between Brooklyn to Manhattan, I'd be even more concerned about the cost of using private transportation.

I'll refrain from making any judgments about the strike threat until I've learned more. In the meantime, you might want to check out the transit workers' union's Web site at http://twulocal100.org. The MTA does not seem to have released an official statement on the negotiations, but the agency's Web site is http://www.mta.nyc.ny.us.

Well, my commute is only 5.5 miles. Maybe it's time to break out ye olde running shoes.

Riding the NYC Subway

2005-12-07T14:53:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago, I boarded the train and noticed an empty stroller at one end of the car. A woman was sitting across the aisle from it, but the stroller did not seem to belong to her. I looked at it warily. This wasn't exactly a suspicious package, but it was suspicious nonetheless. Why would someone leave an empty stroller on the train? Did its owner get sick of it and ditch it on the train, deciding to carry the child instead? Was the woman seated nearby homeless? But why would a homeless person want a stroller?

Apparently I wasn't alone in my thinking because a few stops later, two men got on together. They walked to my end of the car, where there were plenty of seats, but then turned around and took seats toward the other end of the car.

I wondered whether or not I should tell someone. The NYC transit system is always broadcasting announcements about reporting suspicious packages in the subway. But if it turned out to be nothing, I knew the other riders would curse at me for messing up the rush-hour commute.

The other problem is that even if I'd decided to alert someone, I don't know how I would have gone about doing it quickly. There's the train operator who opens and closes the train doors -- I could have called out to this person when the train stopped at the next station. But the lack of call systems in the individual cars is worrisome. The trains on the 4/5/6 lines, which I occasionally use, do have intercoms. But if there's an incident where immediate action is necessary, it seems that riders on the older, crappier trains have their work cut out for them.

Strike at New York University

2005-12-06T00:00:00.000-05:00

Some of you might have heard about the graduate assistant strike at New York University. It's been going on for three weeks now, longer than I think most people expected. It's been an inconvenience: my one class has bounced from location to location, meeting at a coffee shop one week, then in a theater space (the rent for which my professor paid) the next. But, it's not really more inconvenient than getting anywhere else in New York City, so I don't really mind.

To be honest, I don't know too much about the strike, and it seems that many of my classmates (who aren't GAs or TAs, teacher assistants) don't know either. But everyone is either for or against the strike. I've heard some grumblings in class, and after three weeks, quite a number of people are tired of not knowing where their next class will be held.

I decided it was time to educate myself on the strike.

The NYU administration's response can be found at http://www.nyu.edu/public.affairs/gata/. Here is a passage from a FAQ the administration put together about NYU's GAs:

The financial aid package is worth some $50,000 dollars per year for doctoral students carrying a full course load, including:
a full tuition scholarship (the value of which for most students ranges from $25,183-$33,880 per year)
a minimum stipend of $19,000/year for doctoral students ($14,000 for masters students)
100% payment by NYU of the premiums for the student health insurance plan for each GA (approximately $2,000)
(For fully-supported graduate students, this same financial aid package applies even in those semesters in which graduate students do not have assistantship duties).
On average, a graduate assistant is expected to spend about 20 hours per week during a 30-week year satisfying the requirements of his or her assistantship, typically through teaching or research related to his or her degree.

The union's Web site is http://www.2110uaw.org/gsoc/. (The GAs are part of United Auto Workers Local 2110.) What does the union have to say? Here is a passage from their Web site:

Economic Package: NYU suggested pay increases of $1000 for the first three years of the contract, followed by four years of 2 per cent increases (a significant reduction from the current 4 per cent increases enjoyed under the current contract, in the case that your stipend is above the minimum). The administration's offer fails to address many other concerns that are important to GSOCers [Graduate Student Organizing Committee], like housing, child care, job security, and overtime protections.
Healthcare: While there would be no premium costs for individual health care, NYU would be allowed to reduce benefits over the life of the agreement. Moreover, their offer does not include any of the improvements that our members asked for in our bargaining survey, like dental and vision coverage.

So now I know a little bit more about the strike. But mucking around online, one might come across media coverage like this New York Daily News op-ed:

New York University's graduate assistants are learning a valuable life lesson: You don't always get want you want. ... For 20 hours a week of classroom-related work, they get at least a $19,000 stipend with guaranteed raises, free tuition and free health insurance. They get the money and benefits even for semesters when they don't teach. That's a good deal. And NYU has committed to maintaining it. What the university will not put up with is further disruption of classes for undergraduates, who pay $31,000 a year in tuition alone.

What bothers me about the op-ed is that the writer basically rewrote the administration's press release. Is the situation really that simple?

But even the New York Times glosses over the reasons for the strike. A Nov. 1 article states, "The university said that some of the grievances the union had filed interfered with academic decision-making. The union denied that it had encroached on N.Y.U.'s academic rights and rejected the offer."

A Nov. 29 Times article says, "N.Y.U., which was the first private university to be told to allow the unionization of graduate students, in 2000, said the union had tried to interfere with setting academic policy. It said it would continue to recognize a union only if it would forgo grievances. The union said the university exaggerated the impact of the grievances filed."

Neither Times article tells me what the grievances filed were. Instead of delving into the exact claims made by each side, it's as if the writer acknowledges that no one party is right and that it boils down to a case of he said, she said.

It's possible the writer talked to a number of representatives on both sides and that the article was edited for length. But then, how are the interests of the reader served? If I'd wanted a summary, I'd read a story off a wire service.

What I'd like to see is an article that breaks down the numbers. NYU thinks the GAs are paid a fair amount, and the GAs think what they received as the result of negotiating as a union got them a living wage.

My own quick search reveals that, according to the NYU Office of Financial Aid, grad students living on or off campus can expect to pay $22,934 in living expenses alone (room and board, etc.). (Students living with their parents get a reprieve from New York City's high rents -- the estimated cost of their living expenses is $8,214.) So even though a GA does not have to pay tuition nor health insurance premiums, the minimum stipend he or she might receive still barely covers the cost of living in New York City.

One might argue that all students should expect to take out loans, whether or not they work. GAs do teach classes, however, classes that count equally toward students' degrees and for which students pay full tuition. The university saves money by having GAs teach classes instead of hiring more tenured professors, who are obviously paid a lot more.

Those are just my initial thoughts on the strike. Maybe with more reading, my sentiments will change.

Extreme Makeover: Christmas Tree Edition

2005-12-02T09:44:00.000-05:00

Hardrock, Coco and Joe, only slightly less pitiful than the Charlie Brown tree.

If you think you've got those magic hands, and all you have to do is wave them around a few times to make a Christmas tree look special, you might want to enter the Chicago Tribune's tree-decorating contest. The newspaper may no longer be accepting entries -- the article states that the three entrants chosen to make over the trees will get them by Dec. 4 -- but I'm nevertheless looking forward to the contest results. Who will prove more adept than the Peanuts Gang?

And I appear to be late by a few years in covering this product (I just noticed them for the first time the other day at an arts supply store), but at least I can catch up on all the latest slang with Knock Knock's Slang 2 Flashcards.

The flashcard reads, "I'm going to be up in your grill for just a second now."

A Suitcase that Really Goes

2005-11-30T23:22:00.000-05:00

A friend and I recently walked into a Sanrio store, where I noticed a suitcase with not two but four wheels on its base. Of course an empty suitcase will roll easily across a tiled floor, but I could tell that the suitcase also met with less resistance because the "additional" two wheels allowed it a greater range of movement. According to my friend, such suitcases are common in Japan. I'm not sure why such suitcases haven't crossed over to the United States, at least not in any way that I've noticed. But I think these suitcases would make life a little easier at the airport (where I always seem to be flying out of the gate farthest away from check-in).

The Latest Rage in Mail

2005-11-21T13:27:00.000-05:00

If hearts and flowers aren't for you, or you want to get that perfect shade of green to match your wedding invitations, you might want to consider personalized stamps (as long as your chosen image is deemed "'acceptable' by the general public," according to one vendor).

The Most Popular Sperm Donors

2005-11-19T19:47:00.000-05:00

I had a thought when I was reading this article on the New York Times site. The article is about children conceived through donated sperm who find their half-siblings through the Donor Sibling Registry. Interesting idea that I'd never considered.

Illustrating the online version of the article, however, are two pictures of two different sets of half-siblings. The eight children in the pictures all happen to be blond. The article describes one sperm donor as being "6 feet tall, 163 pounds with blond hair and blue eyes" according to his sperm bank profile.

Given that fewer people in the population have blond hair than brown or black hair, I wonder why these pictures show only blond-haired children. Is it because these photographs were the best of all the ones the photographer took? Is it because of the newspaper's preference for images of attractive, blond-haired children? (I realize the print edition of the article probably includes more photographs.) Or is it because the mothers interviewed deliberately looked for blond-haired, blue-eyed sperm donors? That would lead me to wonder about the most popular sperm donors -- are they all men over 6 feet, for example, because our society values height? Just some thoughts.

It's in the Details

2005-11-16T11:56:00.000-05:00

The writer of this Associated Press piece is a genius. An excerpt:

The store was filled with shoppers at about 2 p.m. Sunday when the Subaru station wagon plowed backward through picture windows in a reading area in the store's northwest corner. The car took out the travel section and barreled about 40 feet through the bookstore before coming to rest in nonfiction. ... People screamed and shrieked and dodged the car as it headed toward the fireplace, jerked right, and smashed into shelves of travel and history books.

Notice how the writer gets all the details.

I Am Surely Going to Hell

2005-11-15T23:56:00.000-05:00

A little late on this, but Pat Robertson, founder and chairman of The Christian Broadcasting Channel, issued this warning on "The 700 Club" last Thursday: "I'd like to say to the good citizens of Dover: If there is a disaster in your area, don't turn to God. You just rejected him from your city."

Later the same day, he issued this statement clarifying what he'd said:

God is tolerant and loving, but we can't keep sticking our finger in his eye forever. ... If they have future problems in Dover, I recommend they call on Charles Darwin. Maybe he can help them."

I appreciate it when people take it upon themselves to inform others the punishments God has in store for them. It proves that they have a true and direct connection to God.

On a completely unrelated note, I flipped the TV on Sunday evening and "Charmed" was on the air. It was an old episode because Shannen Doherty was still on the show. Following "Charmed" was "What I Like About You" (which I've never watched, I swear!), co-starring Jennie Garth. Who would have thought that a decade after "Beverly Hills, 90210," the two actresses would appear back-to-back on The WB?

"Cronicas" and "Awful Normal"

2005-11-14T23:18:00.000-05:00

I've seen two films about child molesters in the past two days, which makes for depressing viewing. The first is Cronicas, directed by Sebastian Cordero and starring John Leguizamo. I remember hearing an interview with Leguizamo about this movie -- he speaks Spanish throughout most of the movie, which, if I remember correctly, is a relatively new experience for him -- and thinking that the premise was intriguing.

A man in an Ecuadorian town accidentally kills a boy with his truck. Leguizamo is a star reporter from Miami on assignment in Ecuador to report on a serial child rapist and murderer. While Leguizamo is out chasing interviews, he witnesses an angry mob try to lynch the man who struck the boy. He interferes, saves the man's life and is subsequently hailed as a hero. But that proves to be just the beginning of the story.

The movie's a thriller, but it also concerns the power of the press and the role of journalists.

The second movie that I saw is Awful Normal, directed, written and produced by Celesta Davis. The movie's a personal documentary of sorts, as Davis prepares to confront the man who sexually abused her when she was five.

Unfortunately the film has not gotten much of a distribution because Davis has not been able to secure insurance covering possible lawsuits brought against the film. Apparently theaters and cable channels won't show any films that don't have this insurance. (The movie is being released on DVD, however, which are available here.)

The movie is powerful, though, and important I think because so many children are abused and so many people who have been abused as children have never reported it. I've read about the numerous lawsuits involving priest molestation, but this movie made it personal by allowing me to understand what the individual sexual abuse victim goes through. It's really amazing that the viewer is with Davis every step of the way as she talks about the abuse with her family, makes a plan to confront the man and then puts the plan in motion. By granting viewers such access, she will hopefully make it easier for other people to come forward with their stories.

Stanley Kubrick's "Lolita"

2005-11-13T21:57:00.000-05:00

Note: My thoughts on Lolita were originally posted in my sidebar and was written a few weeks ago.

I really enjoyed Kubrick's 1962 version of Lolita. Shelley Winters blew me away as Charlotte Haze, Lolita's mother. I'd seen Winters in The Night of the Hunter, another great movie, but she wasn't onscreen for very long. Winters played Charlotte as both a disgusting and pitiful woman.

James Mason was also excellent as Humbert Humbert. His Humbert struck me as being a much more despicable than Jeremy Irons's Humbert in Adrian Lyne's version of the story. Now that I think about it, I would say the same goes for the two Lolitas. I could sympathize with Dominique Swain's Lolita, but as far as I can remember, Sue Lyon's Lolita was closer to the precocious brat depicted in Nabokov's novel.

"Shiri" and "Lost"

2005-11-12T11:27:00.000-05:00

I was rewatching the Korean movie Shiri last night, just the conclusion -- so sad -- and realized that the actress who plays the movie's female protagonist is on the show "Lost." Though Yoon-Jin Kim speaks with a foreign accent on "Lost," she grew up on Staten Island, attended the High School of Performing Arts (the school in Fame) and earned an acting degree from Boston University. Anyway, I thought that was interesting how an Asian-American actress would end up playing a foreigner on an American show. At least "Lost" is careful with character development, and I appreciate the fact that two Asians feature so prominently on a primetime sitcom.

Munchkins

2005-11-10T22:59:00.000-05:00

I've wondered before why one doesn't see the amount of physical variation in domestic cats that one sees in dogs. Although domestic cats can have different kinds of coats and face shapes among other things, all the cats I've seen, in particular the domestic shorthair cats that dominate shelters, are about the same size.

Then I found out about the munchkin. A fairly new breed, the munchkin is relatively normal in size and appearance except for its very short legs. The cat kind of looks like the feline version of a dachschund. I've read that munchkins move quickly like ferrets and exhibit a similar playful nature. Apparently the shortness of their legs is due to a random mutation.

Odds and Ends

2005-11-09T21:35:00.000-05:00

I've had to interview some children this week for two articles I'm writing. One child, a nine-year-old girl in Georgia, was flawlessly polite on the phone. She would say "yes, ma'am" and "no, ma'am." When I finished questioning her, I asked her if her teacher wanted to talk to me. She answered, "I don't reckon." That's not something one hears up in the North.

Today I talked to another kid, this one an eleven-year-old in Nevada. He also used "ma'am" at the end of his answers. It made me feel old; at the same time, I appreciated the fact that they were so well-mannered. I know I wasn't that articulate when I was their age.

And people thought I was crazy with my big raver pants. Hammacher Schlemmer is selling upside-down Christmas trees this holiday season, which just seems wrong (even though it is an old tradition in some parts of the world). NPR did a story on it today.

Tompkins Square Dog Run Halloween Parade Photos

2005-11-09T00:51:00.000-05:00

I've posted on Flickr another set of photos that I took. The photos are from this year's Tompkins Square Dog Run Halloween Parade.

Phew!

2005-10-31T23:28:00.000-05:00

My blog is worth $1,693.62.
How much is your blog worth?

Then again, my friend's anime blog is worth an envy-producing $14,113.50.

What Iraqi Casualties?

2005-10-31T22:57:00.000-05:00

Heard a thought-provoking episode on the public radio show "This American Life" this past weekend. The episode, titled "What's in a Number?", included a discussion on a John Hopkins University study published last year in the British medical journal "The Lancet." The study (free registration required) concluded that approximately 100,000 Iraqis had died since the beginning of the war.

Although the study did not distinguish between civilian and combatant dead, its estimate was much higher than other numbers that had been posited. Apparently, the major media outlets either ignored the study altogether or gave it very brief mention. According to the report, many pundits attacked the study without even understanding the study's statistical method.

Also in this episode, an American soldier who served in Iraq is interviewed about his thoughts on Iraqi casualties. For full information about this episode, go to http://www.thislife.org and look in the 2005 archive for episode 300, dated 10/28/05. You can listen to the episode on RealPlayer by clicking here.

Note: The Iraq Body Count Web site is mentioned in the episode.

"The Tavis Smiley Show"

2005-10-30T16:42:00.000-05:00

The Tavis Smiley Show, which concluded December 2004 when Smiley chose not to renew his NPR contract, is back on public radio. This time, his show is distributed by PRI (Public Radio International).

Knitted Digestive System

2005-10-28T00:36:00.000-04:00

Oh my God, I just saw a link to this from Boing Boing and had to link to it here. It's a knitted digestive system!

Made by craftster user "arrmatie"

You can also get plush microbes from ThinkGeek.com.

They come in pimple, syphillis, gonorrhea, flesh eating disease, bad breath, common cold, flu, HIV, mono, sore throat, stomach ache, ulcer, beer yeast, ebola and bookworm. Aww ...

"WAL-MART" Documentary to Be Released

2005-10-27T23:55:00.000-04:00

"Wal-Mart Memo Suggests Ways to Cut Employee Benefit Costs" has been a popular article to e-mail this week on the New York Times Web site. Which reminds me that the documentary "WAL-MART: The High Cost of Low Price" will be released the second week of November. The film is directed by Robert Greenwald, who also made "Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism" (which I haven't seen). What I find exciting about "WAL-MART" is that it's coming out on DVD, and Greenwald is encouraging people to host screenings in their towns. According to the screening list on the movie's official Web site, "WAL-MART" will be shown in churches, schools, cafes and living rooms across the country. You can sign up to host a screening or register to attend one through the movie's Web site.

Robert's Snow for Cancer Research

2005-10-24T18:11:00.000-04:00

If you live in Boston, you might want to attend the 2005 kickoff of Robert's Snow. Robert's Snow was founded by my friend Alice's sister, Grace, and Grace's husband Robert, a two-time cancer survivor. Their campaign seeks to raise money for cancer research through the auctioning off of wooden snowflakes decorated by children's book illustrators. Last year, artists such as Marc Brown (creator of Arthur), Ian Falconer (Olivia) and Chris Van Allsburg (The Polar Express) contributed snowflakes to the campaign. (Grace herself is a children's book author and illustrator.)

For more information about the campaign, please visit http://www.robertssnow.com. The 2005 campaign kickoff will take place next Thursday, Nov. 3, from 7 to 9 p.m. at Locco Ritoro Gallery in Boston. The 200 snowflakes that will be auctioned off this year will be on display at the gallery. You can RSVP for the event on the Robert's Snow Web site.

If you can't attend the kickoff, you can still view this year's snowflakes on the Robert's Snow Web site. And, of course, you can bid on a snowflake or snowflakes. They will be auctioned off on eBay beginning Sunday, Nov. 6 (link TK on Robert's Snow).

On Michelle Wie's Disqualification

2005-10-23T18:03:00.000-04:00

On this week's edition of On the Media, they discussed the controversy surrounding Wie's disqualification from her first tournament as a pro. Thought it was worth mentioning because it concerns an ethical dilemma faced by a journalist. More on this later.

I've also uploaded the photos that I took at the anti-war march in Washington, D.C., last month. You can view them at my Flickr site.

The "Passion of Cruise" and the Devil's Work?

2005-10-18T23:45:00.000-04:00

Best quote of the day, from "Miers Finds Support from Evangelical Churches" on NPR's All Things Considered:

"I think that she [Miers] is a wonderful person, and I just think that when opposition comes, it's a lot of times, it's just the work of the devil." -Audrey McKee

On the subject of religion (or "religion"), a satirical Web site has come under fire from the Church of Scientology, even though the Web site indicates that it's a satire and its main target is Tom Cruise. Now the site's creator, who lives in New Zealand, says he's being harassed by phone, e-mail and visits to his home. His site, ScienTOMogy.info, is worth a visit.

ScienTOMogy.info refers to another Web site, which I vaguely remember for its involvement in another conflict with the Church of Scientology. The Church of Scientology either pressured or sued Google into removing the site, which is critical of Scientology, from its listings. I've only browsed the site, Operation Clambake-The Inner Secrets of Scientology, on a superficial level, but it's pretty interesting.

I Never Knew ...

2005-10-16T15:40:00.000-04:00

that a compost bin could have such personality (from the NYC WasteLe$$ Web site on recycling).

This little guy (a pile of mulch), also from the NYC WasteLe$$ site, looks slightly terrifying. At least the city's trying.

These images remind me of this article, titled "Graphic Artist Carefully Assigns Ethnicities to Anthropomorphic Recyclables," from The Onion.

The News Today

2005-10-16T00:37:00.000-04:00

I'm baffled by this article on IMDB, titled "Grace Horrified by Holloway Robbery." Here's an excerpt:

Josh Holloway's Lost co-star Maggie Grace is horrified to learn of the actor getting robbed in his home, because she knows he only just completed work on the dream property. ... And Grace, who learned of the incident during her current visit to New York City, knows just how much the home and vehicle mean to Holloway.

There's a brief description of the robbery and an even longer quote from Grace about her reaction to the incident.

Either the article should have been about the robbery and about how Holloway feels, or the article should have mentioned that Holloway could not be reached for comment. Instead, the article ends up sounding like it's trying too hard to make something (a robbery) out of nothing (comment from a person who did not witness the event and was not in the area at the time).

Maybe this was just an excuse to put up a portrait of Grace, who's in a movie that came out the same day this article was posted?

On a lighter note, I saw a commercial for an upcoming episode of NOVAscienceNOW that will feature a segment on fish surgery (!). Incidentally, I just read about fish surgery in Herd on the Street: Animal Stories from The Wall Street Journal, which I picked out from the library today.

According to this 2002 Wall Street Journal article reprinted in the book, there are only 20 or so vets in the entire country who operate on pet fish. The number of such vets might have grown since then, as the reporter noted that demand for such services is rising as increasing numbers of people install backyard ponds with fish.