October 31, 2006
October 30, 2006
Meta-photo-fun: The Pisa pushers Pool
October 28, 2006
A giant rock in Brooklyn: Exposing an Ancient Rock and the Bigger Picture
October 27, 2006
830! How a carpenter got the highest Scrabble score ever
There are Scrabble tournaments? Now I dislike the game, even more
NBC will not air the The Dixie Chicks' Ad for their movie, Shut Up & Sing because
they are disparaging to President Bush
(more commentary)good job NBC: he's such a big boy, he can't take the heat
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this recently happened at my favorite watering hole (Pencil Factory) recently installed one, and it kills the ambiance
October 26, 2006
Broken Angel
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I was asked to remove this, since the creator of Broken Angel claims copyright on this item.
However, I believe this is wrong, and his copyright of his work does not extend to any photos of said item; I am removing this photo for the account of comity, and because he asked me to.
October 25, 2006
Dia Art Foundation Calls Off High Line Museum Project
How unsurprised am I? It might be better if The Whitney took over the space - Dia is quite an introverted organization & it was unclear how well suited they would be to the very public zone at the High Line site (map) would create
October 24, 2006
Virginia Ballot won't show Democratic Senate Challenger's name on official ballot
Electronic ballots will only show "James H. 'Jim'" not the full "James H. "Jim" Webb" while the racist George F. Allen gets his whole name on the ballot. WTF? Is this still America?
Professional photoblogs du jour: Time Magazine White House Photo of the Day & Kodak - A Thousand Words illustrate that photoblogs aren't for amateurs anymore
October 23, 2006
Jack Black: Don't be a douche, stop piracy
nice PSA sendup
October 21, 2006
October 20, 2006
This Stuff is Old
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another visit to Hatch Show Print in Nashville, Tennessee.
Only in France: Is Nothing Sacred? Paris Mayor Auctions Fine Wines
October 18, 2006
Cable Car Lines in New York and New Jersey
more on this soon...
Book review: Does the Constitution need to be rewritten? On Our Undemocratic Constitution
42nd Street Crosstown Trolley
October 17, 2006
Post No Bills Memorial
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At the Downtown (South) end of the World Trade Center site, next to the Deutsche Bank Building and the FDNY September 11th Memorial, is the "official" viewing platform.
Behind the viewing platform there is a constriction wall for the Deutsche Bank Building (which is being deconstructed), which is stenciled with typical "Post No Bills" signs.
As things go, visitors have used the white stenciled letters to write mini-memorials.
Can You Tell a Sunni From a Shiite? - your Congressman can't
October 16, 2006
Casino owner Steve Wynn put a silver-dollar sized hole with his elbow into a priceless Picasso painting; read the first-hand account of the incident by Nora Ephron
As well as the New York Fire Patrol, CBGB Is History
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Foolish, all five bags were found within hours, and both were arrested. "See Something, Say Something" does sound hokey, but it obviously works.
USA vs Japan in the open a beer bottle with a helicopter contest (via)
October 15, 2006
21 demonstrations in five hours and 15 minutes in the Socpa zone (via)
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good riddance
New York Fire Patrol Closes
Fire Patrol No. 1, originally uploaded by plemeljr
Today at 0800 hours the New York Fire Patrol officially stood-down (final roll call) and will ceasse responding to calls. I've written about the Fire Patrol before, and I still believe that a vestige of old New York died this morning.
For those not in the know, the New York Fire Patrol was a 203-year-old department privately funded by the New York Board of Underwriters, charged with protecting property during fires. They would go in after the FDNY would secure the area; Fire Patrol members have the same equipment, but wear red helmets, and are dispatched by the FDNY. Here is a google cache with some good info. I also heard that there isn't a lot of love lost between the FDNY and the Fire Patrol.
The argument for shutting down the Fire Patrol by the Underwriters was that the patrol was too expensive:
With dozens of patrolmen in attendance, patrol representatives called insurance companies greedy. The patrol costs $8.5 million a year to run, and patrol members estimate that they salvage more than $50 million in merchandise a year. "These people invented the bean counter," the president of the Uniformed Fire Patrolman's Association, James Nunez, said of the underwriters.
I always figured that the reason why the Patrol was being shut down was because the three remaining station houses are in prime real estate locations - one is in Midtown and one is in Cobble Hill; regardless, those properties will soon most likely be up for auction.
Today, an interesting comment was left on a previous entry:
as a former member of the fire patrol its said (sic) to see it go. I was at the happy land social club fire (ed link), the empire state building and so on. I don't recall us doing much good. By the time the firei departmenr (sic) would let us in all the property was alrteady damaged. as far as the 1000+ runs a year nonsense. We would stay in quarters and then listen for the officer in the f.d. to call in the i.e."10-35" (ed10-35 is an alrm system emergecy), defective alarm and record in the book under then seargent Leonard that we responded. If my word is not sufficent check the logs they were always, the book runs, for 30 mins
If there are any current or former New York Fire Patrolmen who could contact me for interviews to chronicle your experience in the New York Fire Patrol, please email me at ima@grubbykid.com. I am interested in any ephemera which could be recorded and anything I could scan, such as any sort of general orders, pamphlets, insignia, etc besides your stories.
Full confidentiality is always honored. Also, if anyone has keys to the three firehouses, I would love to photograph the station houses.
October 13, 2006
Michael Bierut pens a tribute to the University of Cincinnati DAAP Aronoff Center entitled, What's That Crashing Sound, Or, Eisenman in Cincinnati
Two thought experiments: If humans disappeared overnight & Imagine Earth without people
October 12, 2006
Cool historic photos of the day: Grain Elevators
Great first ad from the September Fund:
NY Times: A small plane hits building in Manhattan
nicely detailed infographic
Reflections on today's Manhattan plane crash from a Cirrus SR20 pilot (the same plane which crashed)
from the author's review of the Cirrus SR20:
In terms of avoiding an accident, one problem with the Cirrus is its unforgiving handling compared to other basic four-seaters. The plane is harder to keep level with rudders in a stall than a Cessna or Diamond; if in a deep uncoordinated stall, the Cirrus wants to drop a wing and go into a spin.
From the comments of the Sukkah, Sukkots, Sukkot post, comes Sukkahs of the World, a photographic collection.
October 11, 2006
Heat Sink
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Another photo from the MTA Substation 13 during the openhousenewyork weekend.
Was Jeffrey Sebelia kicked out of Project Runway for cheating? Won't know for a week, but his collection was shown during Fashion Week (more photos)
Breaking: Helicopter Crashes Into East 72nd Building
as usual, local blogs have more info than CNN
The Treacherous Medium: Why photography critics hate photographs (via)
Small Craft Crashes Into East 72nd Building
, originally uploaded by Jenblossom
Breaking: Helicopter Fixed Wing Aircraft Crashes Into East 72nd Building
... it appears that the small craft crashed into the 50 story condo at 524 East 72nd Street at York Avenue.
...CNN reporting that NORAD is scrambling fighter coverage over major cities as a precaution.
...listening to the alarm calls online (sorry can't get a link), and FDNY has increased this fire to a Four Alarm fire, which includes the following equipment:
- 16 engines
- 9 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
...reports are coming in that the fire has been extinguished, Gawker has photos.
October 10, 2006
Stairs
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Cellar stairs at the MTA Substation #13 from the Open House New York weekend.
On photographer Platon: Getting Ready for the Close Up
Customs discover vodka pipeline (via aa via email)
unconfirmed reports also point toward undiscovered chocolate stream emanating from a candy factory
Worst Resume Ever: Aleksey Vayner's Video Resume - more coverage & AP article (via)
Frontline: Kim's Nuclear Gamble (via)
My, we think highly of ourselves...
Gmail has a built-in RSS reader, which sometimes will list advertisements. After viewing an email regarding the upcoming UN-Habitat Conference on
Sustainable Urban Design (pdf), I noticed the RSS reader had the following advertisement:
Just for good measure (and for google), the ad says: Bofill Architects - The most prestigious architectural studio in the world.
My, we think highly of ourselves - and pay google to tell it to the world.
Separated At Birth?
At what point do designers start recycling themselves, or take their iconoclastic style to the breaking point? How do you break out of a style, like Frank Gehry or Richard Meier, when clients come to you for the next Guggenheim or Getty Center? Or conversely, what happens when you become a chameleon flirting with styles from year to year? Philip Johnson quipped that, "After 50 years, you shouldn't do the same thing," but there seems to be a fine line between steady refinement and abject oscillation.
Case in point: Pritzker winner Zaha Hadid is world-renowned for her idiocentric style and design sense, and yet there are distinctly similar motif's in the following projects; first the Centre for Contemporary Arts, Rome begun in 2003 and the Dancing Towers in Dubai, a mixed-use series of three towers combining a hotel, speculative office space, and residential space.
It is superficially easy to say that the Dubai project is merely the Rome project turned 90 degrees. It is hard not to pass judgement on Hadid's projects from a merely visual standpoint: her projects are so iconoclastic and surface/skin dependant that it makes superficial critique easy.
October 9, 2006
Dot Com Crash 2.0 Bellweather: Google buys YouTube for $1.65 billion in a stock-for-stock transaction
wow, Google must be banking on having really good lawyers
How President Bush allowed North Korea to get "the bomb"; also, see the USGS seismic event along with Google Map
Didn't get to Open House New York this weekend? Check out the Flickr photos taged with openhousenewyork and ohny
51 Birch Street: Mom Dies, Dad Doesn’t Grieve, and So a Film Is Born
MTA Substation Photos
Rotary Converter, originally uploaded by plemeljr
Check out my MTA Substation #13 photos from the Open House New York weekend.
Sukkah, Sukkots, Sukkot
Sukkots, originally uploaded by Peter Elk
Wondering what all of those shacks on the sides of buildings in Hasidic Williamsburg are? Well, they are Sukkahs which the holiday of Sukkot is celebrated; Sukkot is a 7-day holiday, with the first day celebrated as a full festival with special prayer services and holiday meals. Wikipedia says:
The word Sukkot is the plural of the Hebrew word sukkah, meaning booth or hut. During this holiday, Jews eat their meals, entertain guests, relax, and even sleep in a sukkah, a temporary structure (see below). The sukkah is reminiscent of the type of huts in which the ancient Israelites dwelt during their 40 years of wandering in the desert after the Exodus from Egypt, and reflects God's benevolence in providing for all their needs in the desert.
In Israel (and among Reform Jews), Sukkot is a 7-day holiday, with the first day celebrated as a full festival with special prayer services and holiday meals. Outside the land of Israel, the first two days are celebrated as full festivals. The remaining days are known as Chol HaMoed (festival weekdays). The seventh day of Sukkot is called Hoshanah Rabbah and has a special observance of its own.
So there you go.
By the way, I'm told that the urban Sukkah market is quite lucrative, and just by perusing a google search of "Sukkah" finds all sorts of e-commerce supply houses for all your Sukkah needs.
Later 12-OCT-2006
From the comments, comes Sukkahs of the World, a photographic collection.
October 6, 2006
Open House New York Weekend
This weekend is the third annual Open House New York (or openhousenewyork as they have branded themselves), where over 180 sites normally closed to the public are open for tours and talks throughout this weekend (disclaimer: I've volunteered for the last three years for OHNY).
From past years, here is my list of sites particularly worth seeing, in no particular order:
- Jefferson Market Library (sat 1300-1700) map photo
Climb up the massive tower for the excellent views up and down 6th Avenue
- High Bridge Water Tower (sat 1100-1600) map photos
Climb up the old water tower for excellent views of the Harlem River valley and Upper Manhattan
- The Bohen Foundation (sat 0900-1700) map
Designed by architects LOT-EK (who have an office down the street, this art gallery/foundation uses shipping containers on rails as space dividers for dynamic gallery/office spaces. Last year the architects were on hand, no word if they will be on hand this year.
- Little Red Lighthouse (sat/sun 1000-1300) map photos
At what other time will you be able to visit and climb into a lighthouse in Manhattan? While you are up there, visit St. John the Divine.
So, go and visit the sites and use this as an opportunity to visit areas you have no other reason to visit.
For more information, check out the OHNY Google Maps, site listings, and site updates.
And check out Open House New York tag on Flickr.
FREITAG SHOP ZURICH
stock-in-01, originally uploaded by FREITAG ®
Check out the store by Freitag in Zurich made out of recycled shipping containers (pdf):
The FREITAG SHOP ZURICH is completely built from rusty, recycled freight-containers. Lovingly they were gutted, reinforced, piled up and secured. Zurich’s first bonsai-skyscraper: Low enough not to violate the city's restriction on high-rise buildings. High enough to send shivers down anyone’s spine.
Constructed out of 17 shipping containers, this is the first container project which actually make sense; Freitag's main product is taking recycled vinyl truck wrappers and turning them into bags, so using recycled shipping containers as a module is fitting.
And they have a Flickr account: here are , pilling photos, and Stocking Photos.
