May 31, 2006
CAMERATRUCK - a truck-sized camera
I've dreamed about doing this, and this guy is doing it! Huzzah for him!
May 30, 2006
Art & Architecture Shell
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Who said Paul Rudolph was brutalist, when h put shells in the Art & Architecture building's concrete?
May 29, 2006
Mystic Bolts
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Bolts on the Mystic River Bascule Bridge, in Mystic, Connecticut.
Memorial Day
Today as we grill out and enjoy the nice weather, we need to remember the fallen, who have given their lives protecting this country from forces both foreign and domestic. Memorial Day has changed through the years, but the history of remembering is deeply rooted in our Union:
Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service. There are many stories as to its actual beginnings, with over two dozen cities and towns laying claim to being the birthplace of Memorial Day. There is also evidence that organized women's groups in the South were decorating graves before the end of the Civil War: a hymn published in 1867, "Kneel Where Our Loves are Sleeping" by Nella L. Sweet carried the dedication "To The Ladies of the South who are Decorating the Graves of the Confederate Dead" (Source: Duke University's Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920). While Waterloo N.Y. was officially declared the birthplace of Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson in May 1966, it's difficult to prove conclusively the origins of the day. It is more likely that it had many separate beginnings; each of those towns and every planned or spontaneous gathering of people to honor the war dead in the 1860's tapped into the general human need to honor our dead, each contributed honorably to the growing movement that culminated in Gen Logan giving his official proclamation in 1868. It is not important who was the very first, what is important is that Memorial Day was established. Memorial Day is not about division. It is about reconciliation; it is about coming together to honor those who gave their all.
Have a good Memorial Day.
See what other people are up to on Flickr by checking out these two tags: Memorial Day & Memorial Day Weekend.
May 28, 2006
Yale Library Cards
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As a proud member of the publicly-schooled sector of America, I can't help but heap good-natured scorn on Yale, Yalies, and New Haven in general; but the fact that there are still library cards in use at the main library is a welcome, though patrician, through-back (although I have to point out that on the other side of the hall, there were computer workstations to do the real searching).
May 26, 2006
Evenhanded discussion of the Columbine RPG, Columbine, Videogames as Expression, and Ineffability
I shouldn't be surprised that the legacy media is getting this story so wrong
Artist reads names of all US Soldiers KIA in Iraq in the game, America's Army
May 25, 2006
May 24, 2006
New Model
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I was lucky to have the fortune to try out new kinds of photography - model portraiture - this last weekend, and here is one of the photos from that session.
-
geek humor a its'
worstbest
May 23, 2006
Vitra Wine
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We visited the Vitra showroom in the Meatpacking District to check out Greg Lynn's new chair (which is quite nice, actually) and it wasn't five minutes after drinks were handed out that two full wine glasses were placed on the nice cast iron column footing.
Heathens.
May 22, 2006
May 21, 2006
5 Pointz Graf
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We took a tour of 5 Pointz (more photos) - the giant warehouses in Long Island City (Queens)- yesterday, during their open house hours. You can't miss 5 Pointz when you are taking the Manhattan-bound 7 Train, and inside the building - which is best-known for legal graffiti work both inside and out - is a great collection of artists from every medium. It was quite exciting to meet the artists and see their work, showcased in their own studios. It is a pretty amazing assemblage of buildings and people, and it is heartening that there is still a place for them here in New York; I will be uploading more photos of the spaces when I have a bit more time.
May 19, 2006
May 18, 2006
May 17, 2006
May 16, 2006
May 15, 2006
May 14, 2006
Why the NSA Spying on you is both bad and illegal
sure, you might not have anything to hide, but think about all of the possible ways government can misuse your information
President Al Gore on SNL
Heh, Al Gore on SNL... Lockbox... funny.
May 13, 2006
May 12, 2006
Buttons
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A pile of anti-war buttons were dumped in a pile near my apartment.
May 10, 2006
More Greenpoint Terminal Market Fire
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Yet another photo from the Greenpoint Terminal Market fire & check out all of my GReenpoint Terminal Market photos.
The Monumental Task of Warning Future Generations
too bad access would probably be restricted, because this site would be haunting to visit
May 9, 2006
May 7, 2006
May 6, 2006
May 5, 2006
May 4, 2006
Han Shoots First! Lucas to release the original as-shown-in-the-theater versions of Star Wars, Empire, and Jedi on DVD
these are the DVD's you've been looking for... (via)
May 3, 2006
Sunset
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The day began with a warehouse fire (which is still burning as I speak) and ended with a beautiful sunset.
If you missed them, check out my photos from the Greenpoint warehouse fire.
Super Mario Kill Bill
I can't believe I haven't seen this yet - Kill Bill overlaid with Super Mario Bros soundtrack. Possibly NSFW - Tarantino violent, so be warned.
The Remains of the Greenpoint Terminal Market
The Remains, originally uploaded by plemeljr
Here's an aerial from Live Local highlighting the area which seems to have been destroyed as of this morning during the Greenpoint Terminal Market fire. I Will update this montage as more reports come in.
I've noted photo locations of some of my (and other's) photos.
May 2, 2006
Greenpoint Fire
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Yet another photo from today's Greenpoint Terminal Warehouse fire.
Greenpoint Terminal Warehouse Fire
Fire @ the Warehouse, originally uploaded by plemeljr
One of my favorite buildings in Greenpoint, the Greenpoint Terminal Warehouse is on fire. I was able to get right down to Oak and West Streets and the air was noticibly hot. There wasn't much for the firefighters to do: the building was unstable and when I was there a large portion of the exterior masonry walls fell:
Fire @ the Warehouse, originally uploaded by plemeljr
It is a shame that these building had to go like this; there was talk by the uniforms about a "developer fire," but right now this is just speculation.
Holy crap! It went to a Seven alarms fire - I thought it stopped at 5!
Well, look at this, look who is a partial owner of the site:
Going south from Greenpoint Avenue, a 14-acre parcel is rumored to be slated for development by developer Joshua Gutman, who owns several buildings in Dumbo, and who declined to comment for this article.
Immediately south of Gutman's parcel is land owned by B & H Photo, Vance said, and a few smaller lots where various owners have no plans that have been made public.
Joshua Gutman is the notorious developer who owned 223 Water Street which suspiciously caught on fire two years ago (pdf). Two fires in two years? This guy can't be that lucky, can he?
Update @ 13:12
Holy crap - the fire is up to 9 alarm fire! If a 5 alarm = 200+ men, then there are upwards of 300+ men figting what the fire department says, "is the largest fire in New York City in 10 years, not counting the World Trade Center disaster."
From Flickr Thread:
Also called Mary Habstritt of the Society for Industrial Archaeology. She explained that these mills were built to burn slowly, to give workers time to escape and fire crews time to arrive. Fire was an ever-present hazard in mills full (in this case) of thousands of bales of jute and hemp. It looks like this fire had some "help" getting going. Although these are an old, abandonned buildings, they still should've burned slowly.
Mary said she's seen a lot of fire in historic buildings that being renovated. The "help" that gets these fires started sometimes comes from construction crews doing demolition. Sparks from their tools can ignite something very small, which then grows into a bigger fire after workers leave for the day. There were crews at the AMC doing clean-up work (removing windows, etc).
She also quoted a fire dept contact who told her that 20 years ago crews taking down the piers that used to be on the Hudson got paid a premium if sites were fire-damaged. As a result there were many, many fires set by crews in order to collect the premium.
Anyway, it's much too early to know what started this fire. It's just heart-breaking for me to see it go. Apparently these buildings are held up by their wooden internal structure. Once the roof trusses burn, the walls will cave in. Certainly looks like that's what's going to happen next....
Check out the Perkins Eastman designs for the renovation. Looks like they have a tabla rasa now.
Update @14:55
If you wondered how much equipment does into a 9 alarm fire, then FDNY Dispatch Policy is for you:
Fifth alarm (signal 5-5)
- 20 engines
- 11 ladders
- 5 battalion chiefs
- 1 rescue
- 1 squad
- 1 deputy chief
- 1 RAC unit
- 1 satellite
- safety battalion
- SOC battalion
- 1 tactical support unit
- field comm
All subsequent alarms, add:
- 4 engines
- 2 ladders
So that would be the following minimum equipment on site:
- 36 engines
- 17 ladders
- 5 battalion chiefs
- 1 rescue
- 1 squad
- 1 deputy chief
- 1 RAC unit
- 1 satellite
- safety battalion
- SOC battalion
- 1 tactical support unit
- field comm
With 6 men per apparatus that works out to around 370 men on site. That's pretty insane.
More to follow...
May 1, 2006
Satmar Pamphlet
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This weekend, besides seeing Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, I wandered around the Hasidic part of Williamsburg (Brooklyn). Beside little children looking up and me, pointing at me, then running away, it was a fantastic visit. Many people came up to me - being the only Gentile in the area - and started talking to me. Which was quite interesting.
Inside one of the parks, there was a large tent erected, and there were literally thousands of Hasidic men, women and children milling around and chanting coming from the tent, I didn't have enough time to stay to take many photos, but via Gothamist, I found out that this was one of the Satmar brother's doing - the one from upstate - and being he Sabbath, they were praying (here's some backstory about Rebbe Moses Teitelbaum and his feuding sons). Here's a sensational version from the News, some info from WikiPedia, and Hasidic News which is curiously in English and somewhat directed to the non-Hasidim (strange...).
Tons of photos pouring in from the Day Without Immigrants (see photos from the last march)
the Internationale in 30+ languages
don't forget to wear red!
Interesting article on the Mayday 1971 direct action protest
The world's largest shuffle FM radio station
Gmaps mashup: Google Maps Guide to Ghostbusters: