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February 27, 2006
AND I CAN STILL SEE BLUE VELVET THROUGH MY TEARS
Film Forum marks the 20th anniversary of the release of David Lynch's Blue Velvet with a two-week run of the film that starts this Friday. The movie is an examination of the dark underworld that lurks below the surface of a seemingly serene candy-colored town. Jeffrey Beaumont, played by Kyle McLachlan, returns home from college after his father is hospitalized to run the family's hardware store. When he finds a severed ear in a vacant lot, he reports it to the police and is drawn into a frightening alternate reality filled with psychotic and desperate characters. Jeffrey is a young man on the verge of adulthood forced to confront the depravity that exists in society that he was heretofore unware of. Dennis Hopper inhabits the role of the psychotic Frank Booth in one of his most memorable roles ever.
Film Forum is located at 209 West Houston St. in Manhattan.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 5:14 PM | Film | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 26, 2006
TAKE US SERIOUSLY!
Just a reminder, today's is the 13th anniversay of the truck bombing of the World Trade Center. Masterminded by the same people that went on to bring the the WTC down with airliners as guided missles, the first attempt was not as successful, only killing six people. President Clinton declined to even visit the attacked site at the time, foreshadowing the lack of seriousness we all gave to the imminent threat.
"It felt like an airplane hit the building," said Bruce Pomper, a 34-year-old broker.
Prescient and tragic.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 5:44 PM | War | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 18, 2006
CRIMSON WEEZER
The New York Times has an interesting article online today, visiting Rivers Cuomo, the frontman for Weezer, at his Harvard dorm room. Rivers is a semester away from completing his degree in literature after a multi-year on-and-off-again stint in Cambridge.
In the video for the song "Beverly Hills," which was nominated for a Grammy Award and ranked as the second most downloaded song from iTunes last year, Mr. Cuomo plays power-pop chords on the lawn of the Playboy Mansion surrounded by shimmying Playboy bunnies. By comparison, his life as a student is almost comically austere. He lives alone, in a modest 14-by-9-foot room with the standard-issue desk, bureau and bed, to which he has added only a map of the world, taped to the wall, and a small Oriental rug bought for less than $200 by Sarah Kim, his personal assistant. "Most people wouldn't expect a rock star to be happy living in a dorm room," said Ms. Kim, "but he is."
According to the article, returning to Harvard necessitated Cuomo giving up the closest thing he'd had to a conventional adult home: a converted one-car garage he'd been renting in Hollywood. It's an interesting piece about an interesting guy.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 1:05 PM | Music | Comments (1) | TrackBack
February 17, 2006
FRIENDSTER AS A TONIC FOR CONSPIRACY-MINDED NUTS
One of the hallmarks of conspiracy theories is the trotting out of supposedly hidden but significant links between certain public figures that connote a web of intrigue. These can seem significant to people who are looking for connections where none exist in actuality.
Friendster is hopefully a psychological antidote to people who like to believe these types of things. The site is basically a networking service that allows people to profile themselves with the added benefit of seeing how closely they're personally related to others. It's also a good example of how stupid most conspiracy theories are.
My Friendster profile shows that I am only one degree of separation from actress Maggie Gyllenhaal--a conspicuously significant close link in conspiracy theories--because I happen to be friends with someone who is her friend from high school (school ties are also prominent in conspiracy theories.) Have I ever met Ms. Gyllenhaal? No. Would she probably even answer an email or accept a Friendster invitation from me, even given our one degree of separation through a mutual friend? No. On paper we seem to be closely linked, but in reality there is no connection whatsoever.
Here's another ridiculous connection. It would not be inconceivable for me to be linked by one degree of separation from The Strokes drummer Fabrizio Moretti, again through a mutual friend that he went to high school with. This is less ridiculous because I've actually met the man a few times and am friendly with some of his family members, but to say we had any significant connection is so far beyond a stretch it's hard to describe. Double bonus: since his girlfriend is Drew Barrymore, I'm only two degrees of separation from her.
Does this item seem like a vain exercsie in name dropping? Yes, it does! That is what conspiracy theories are. Fanciful theories coupled with meaningless name dropping. I lead a fairly limited life, yet still seem to be closely linked to some famous people. The next time you read about someone who's spent their entire middle-aged life networking with people and some apparent connection to a scandal turns up, take a second and think about what the real significance of that connection is.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 12:40 PM | Science & Technology | Comments (0) | TrackBack
HOW TO EMBARRASS YOURSELF
Ariana Huffington is hardly a serious character; she's more a parody of a monied eccentric than one would think possible. This is being exhibited brilliantly by the accented crank in the wake of Dick Cheney's hunting accident. By Wednesday, Huffington was already proclaiming the accident a "coverup" because the VP didn't contact the press until 18 hours after the incident and didn't appear on national tv to take full responsibility for the accident until four days passed. Stonewalling bastard!
Of course, no good exhibition of full-blown crankery is complete without somehow dragging evil genius Karl Rove into the mix, which Huffington obliges us with today. Ariana expresses shock that Rove was one of the first to find out about the incident and that he was friendly with the owner of the ranch where the accident took place. My God! You mean that one of the administration's top advisors was quickly informed of something the VP did and was friendly with a close supporter of the same administration in Texas? The web spins ever tighter!
Commentors on Huffington's site compound her idiocy with rumors of an extramarital affair Cheney is supposed to be having that this shooting was simply a means of distracting the press from. Yeah, that makes a hell of a lot of sense. I have no problem with people that don't like Bush and disagree with his policies, but really, certain other people need to take a big deep breath, step back, and listen to what they're saying. When the loyal opposition turns into a loyal joke characterized by wild-eyed paranoia and ridiculous assumptions it becomes easy to dismiss.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 12:12 PM | Politics & Policy | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 15, 2006
CINEMATIC CONTRASTS
Quick on the heels of the heralded Million Dollar Baby, I saw an advance screening of the Irish film Rory O'Shea Was Here--titled Inside I'm Dancing in the European release. I remember walking out of Million Dollar Baby disgusted, not at the movie so much, but because the day before I'd seen James Woods on "The Tonight Show" saying that it had gotten a standing ovation at the screening he'd seen. When I saw the movie, this turned my stomach, because it was about a woman who, when faced with a handicap, decided she'd rather be dead than lead a less than complete life. Her character, portrayed as heroic in the film, was more pathetic. She was someone pre-occupied with an all-consuming goal, and her existence outside that goal was completely nonexistent. Million Dollar Baby is more a tragedy of moral and existential vacuousness than any type of triumphal tale of a right to die.
Rory O'Shea Was Here is about as hammy (in truth, Million Dollar Baby could've passed for a Lifetime movie of the week), although touching at times. Michael is a speech disabled and physically MD-hampered man, who meets Rory, a completely paraplegic but communicative and rebellious friend. The latter teaches the former that a fulfilling life is still possible despite their disabilities. And a complete life involves sucking up disappointment and getting over it--there is very little sense of entitlement in the film. While somewhat romanticized, the film does not shy away from the difficulties of such a life--neither from the handicapped themselves or those who have to care for them.
I still remember the bad taste that Million Dollar Baby left in my mouth as I walked out of the theater. With memories of James Woods' recollections of standing ovations in my head I thought we must live in a society bereft of humanity. And I shuddered to think what a handicapped person would have thought walking out of the same screening, i.e. people applauding my death rather than my life. Guh!
Watch Rory O'Shea Was Here. It's a helpful tonic to the bathetic nihlism Clint Eastwood displayed in late 2004.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 5:24 PM | Film | Comments (0) | TrackBack
LUNATIC WAKE-UP CALL
I was obviously diappointed at Spain's capitulatory electoral reaction to the Madrid bombings when they ejected Aznar from office, on the supposed grounds of his alliance with the U.S. in the fight against terrorism. And I thought that Britain might have had its steel resolved when Islamist terrorists bombed its Underground. And when Paris burned this summer by out of control Muslim youths I thought that would be a breaking point. But apparently terror and murder slides off Europe's back like water off a duck's.
I'm happy to see a little spine being stiffened over the recent Mohammed cartoon controversy. I think it's a wake-up call to Europeans that there really is no amount of deference one can offer to radical Islamists that will satisfy them. They're realizing that a pluralistic society is incompatible with bowing and scraping at the prayer rug of religious lunatics. There is a real place for religiously adherent Muslims in Europe, but Western Europeans are beginning to learn that there's a place for themselves as well.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 3:19 PM | Politics & Policy | Comments (0) | TrackBack
SHOT THROUGH THE HEART, AND HE'S TO BLAME
Everyone's gleeful over the tragic story of VP Dick Cheney accidentally shooting a prominent Republican donor during a hunting trip. It's a story that contains everything the Democratic base could hope for. Shooting animals is evil. Fatcat donors hobknobbing with the VP are evidence of corruption. Guns are evil. Cheney is a murderer. You couldn't pack more memes in there unless Bush swore the gun was unloaded at the time (a mistake or a lie, you make the call).
One of the things that has arisen is that this is not Cheney's complete fault because the victim, Harry Whittington, walked into Cheney's line of fire as the VP was shooting at a covey of quail. I read an article earlier this week that faulted Whittington for not announcing his presence as he moved into the area. Sorry, that's not good enough for me. If you're ready to shoot off a gun, it's your responsibility to be aware of your surroundings--in the foreground and the background, and Whittington was in the foreground. Cheney is an older man and wears glasses; it's possible his peripheral vision is compromised. He should have taken that into account. If Whittington is responsible at all, it's stupidity for assuming a fellow hunter would recognize his presence the way someone wanders onto a fairway in the path of a friend who is about to hit a 3-wood down course. Nonetheless, awareness and ultimate responsibility resides with the shooter. Guns are dangerous and must be treated and handled with respect. That means total awareness of one's surroundings.
That being said, this was obviously an accident. The energy being spent by the media discovering that Cheney or anyone in his group didn't pay a $7 hunting fee or how doctors didn't recognize the risk of a pellet in Whittington's heart is somewhat ridiculous. Leave this to Letterman and Leno. If this is the best story the major media can chase, the Bush/Cheny administration and the world at large must be in the most pristine condition in the history of mankind. Focusing on the personal demonization of this administration blinds the press to its actual policy shortcomings. Get it together major media!
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 2:45 PM | Politics & Policy | Comments (0) | TrackBack
RED HEADED STEP-AMBASSADOR
In one of the more odd events of international relations recently, Conan O'Brien was just received by the President of Finland, Tarja Halonen, in Helsinki. The first female president of that country wanted to thank him for campaigning on her behalf, something O'Brien did because of their somewhat tenuous resemblance to each other. Thank goodness someone is keeping up the role of genuine goodwill ambassador, when most of our emmissaries prefer to go abroad and badmouth the U.S. (e.g. Gore in Saudi Arabia, Harry Belafonte in Cuba, Clinton nearly everywhere). It's a good thing Jay Leno wasn't the host of The Tonight Show in the 1930's, because he may have attempted the same thing with Mussolini because of their similar prominent chins (Benito's being more a jutting act). That would've turned out horribly.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 2:30 PM | Television | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 14, 2006
BLIZZARD '06
Over a two day snowfall, NYC set a record for blizzards in Central Park, with nearly 27" of the white stuff, although other parts of the city received significantly smaller amounts. Walking home from a friend's place Saturday night I can characterize the storm as fierce. It wasn't just a heavy snowfall, it was howling wind driving the snow sideways and leaving people covered in a head-to-toe veneer of snow. Sunday was a good day for hiding out as most of the sidewalks were still barely passable and the snow continued through the afternoon.
Monday, however, was gorgeous. The thermometer said 25 degrees, but bright sunlight made it seem warm enough mid-afternoon to safely take off one's gloves to snap some pictures. It looked like a lot of kids were playing hooky from school in Prospect Park as dozens ran their sleds down the hill near the Tennis House. Things were quieter on the eastern side of the park, but people were still showing up around 5:30, trying to squeeze in a few sledding runs before sunset.
I have a few pictures up from Sunday evening and Monday afternoon up on my flickr site. Check them out. The one above is statuary flanking the steps of the old U.S. Customs House, just below Bowling Green at the foot of Broadway in southern Manhattan. The Customs House was designed by Cass Gilbert and constructed between 1902 and 1907. It now houses the National Museum of the American Indian.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 1:27 PM | Lexiphotos | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 10, 2006
HEART OF GOLD
I hate aged rockers. I thought the Super Bowl halftime show was not only pathetic, but grotesque. Senior citizens should not be prancing about singing anthems of youth. It's undignified and embarrassing for the viewer as well as the performer. I'll give a pass to one and only one musician on this count: Neil Young. The man's music transcends age and period. He manages to avoid looking foolish because his body of work is as aesthetically varied as it is anachronistic and forward-looking at the same time.
Ted Demme [CORRECTION: Jonathan Demme directed, Ted Demme died a few years ago] directed Neil Young: Heart of Gold that is opening on the coasts this week.
Mr. Demme shot the film over the course of two concerts recorded on Aug. 18 and 19 in Nashville's storied Ryman Auditorium, original home of the Grand Ole Opry. The first half of the film includes 9 of the 10 songs from Mr. Young's most recent album, "Prairie Wind" (Mr. Demme saved one song for the DVD); the second features 10 titles from his songbook, a number of which were first recorded in Nashville. Although this part of the film — this set, really — begins with "I Am a Child," which he recorded with his former band Buffalo Springfield, many of the other titles in this section — "Old Man," "Old King" and "The Old Laughing Lady" — suggest that Mr. Young, who turned 60 in November, is in a ruminative state of mind.
Jim Jarmusch directed Young's last film, Year of the Horse, and it's highly entertaining, although Young and Crazy Horse's tendencies towards unending song versions filled with feedback, refrains, and codas can be tiresome when you're not actually at the venue. Trailers are available here. The film opens today.
Nashville, by the way, is an incredible city. I visited last year and actually went into Ryman auditorium--the site of the film. While small, the town bleeds music from its pores. Memphis may be the home of Elvis, but Tennessee visitors would be wise to bypass it in favor of "Music City, USA."
UPDATE: I wonder if there's a cached version of the article I linked to above anywhere. I could have sworn that it originally cited Ted Demme as the director, which momentarily gave me pause because I thought that he was the Demme who'd died of a heart attack a few years ago, but I figured I'd gotten the two mixed up. The New York Times now cites Jonathan Demme as the director. Did they do a re-write with no official notice of correction?
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 3:10 PM | Film | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 9, 2006
THIS IS HOW YOU DO IT
Sony Studios is the outfit behind the upcoming release of the film adaptation of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. The book's fictional and central assertion that Jesus didn't actually die on the cross, but lived a long married life in France, probably couldn't be more offensive to Christians that believe he died, rose from the dead, and ascended to heaven. That's pretty much the bedrock belief of Christianity. Yet the book is a huge bestseller and the film is going to star everyone's favorite actor, Tom Hanks.
Like Martin Scorcese's The Last Temptation of Christ, which envisioned Jesus living an alternative life of marital bliss with Mary Magdalen, the movie has ruffled a lot of feathers. Sony has innovatively given a forum to the critics of its own product at The Da Vinci Challenge, inviting a host of scholars to dispute the basis of the film. This is freaking brilliant. Nothing takes the wind out of critics' sails faster than letting them have their say. Plus, it's just plain healthy. Could the film be considered blasphemous? Sure! Here's some space to excoriate us publicly! Let's all agree to disagree. Flame wars definitely beat theaters in flames.
That said, I think an alternative site should be set up to protest Dan Brown's crimes against literature. I haven't read The Da Vinci Code, but I did read the predecessor novel Angels and Demons. It is close to the worst piece of crap I have ever read--a page turner only because one can't wait to uncover another cliche or horrible turn of phrase for one's personal amusement. Filled with declarative sentences describing scenes, Dan Brown apparently never found a metaphor or simile he didn't hate. It's like reading Dick & Jane for the ecclesiastically interested.
In summation, kudos to Sony Studios for giving a voice to its critics. A contentious non-violent society is a healthy society.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 2:16 PM | Books | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 8, 2006
MAJOR MEDIA SHOULD HANG HEADS IN SHAME
Monday I submitted an entry [STILL LOOKING FOR COMEDY IN THE MUSLIM WORLD, 2/6/08], regarding the controversy over the publication of satirical (and many sympathetic) images of the prophet Mohammed that have ignited embassy burnings, protests, and violence in Europe and the predominantly Muslim world. I had no real compunction about reproducing one of those images because, frankly, no one really reads this site and any remote possibility of a firebombing of my apartment would seem more hilarious than threatening.
The folks at the New York Press, however, have a slightly larger forum. In contrast to most major media outlets, they wanted to reprint the offending cartoons, along with an editorial criticizing major media organs for cravenly refusing to do the same. Ironically, the paper's publisher spiked the cover story:
Wednesday's front-page article before it was spiked by the publisher was: "Where's Muhammed -- the Danish Cartoon Madness" -- complete with reprints of the drawings portraying the prophet Mohammed as a terrorist."A lot of papers haven't run these cartoons because they've felt threatened," said resigning editor in chief Harry Siegel. "And they've been worried about the consequences. And if that happens, then this violence has been worthwhile and it's accomplished its goal."
In the wake of the article's silencing, four of the paper's top personnel have resigned in protest. Tim Marchman, Managing Editor; Harry Siegel, Editor in Chief, Azi Paybarah, City Hall Reporter; and a fourth person, unnamed in the article, all quit yesterday. This is an editorial team that took over the paper just about six months ago with a new vision for the publication, so it wasn't a decision made lightly. I wonder if papers like the Times or the WaPo even have the balls to run the story of this editorial abdication. Given the former's abdication of conscience and courage, I imagine it might be too embarrassing.
UPDATE: There is absolutely no reference to this incident on the New York Press' site, which only reinforces the fact that the current publisher is a complete wussy (and I use that phrase with full assonensceitcal implications.)
UPDATE II: The fourth, previously unnammed person from NYPress, who resigned is Jonathan Leaf, Arts Editor. Just wanted to add his name to the Honorable Roll.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 8:17 AM | NYC | Comments (0) | TrackBack
MOST RHETORICAL HEADLINE QUESTION OF THE DAY
After clicking past a headline that said "Bottled Water: Is It A Scam?" that I couldn't relocate, I found this one:
Bottled Water: Nectar of the Frauds?
Here's another rhetorical question: Is Today A Slow News Day?
On a more serious note, can we really take these studies seriously? Sure, I know that tap water is just as good as bottled water, but are they really replaceable on a liter-for-liter basis. On the rare occasion that I buy bottled water, it's for the same reason that I go to the bathroom in places other than my apartment. I have a perfectly functional toilet in my place, but guess what? I'm not always there! I suppose I could arrange to equip myself with some catheter-like equipment to use until I got back home to dispose of my waste the same way I could outfit myself with a gallon of water every time I decided to leave my house, but that's really not practical, is it?
People who drink bottled water at home are most likely spendthrift fools. Drink it straight from the tap, or as I like to do, use a Brita if it makes you feel better. But a large increase in people drinking bottled water basically means that people are drinking more water. That's a good thing, right? With constant bitching about obesity and its links to sugar-filled soft drinks, I personally applaud anyone I see chugging water. Although I think we could get rid of the nutritional labels on those bottles. Carbs: 0 gms, Fat: 0 gms, Protein: 0 gms, Calories: 0. No kidding? Talk about wet brain.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 7:54 AM | Food & Drink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 7, 2006
THE HOUSES IN THE WOODS
Architect Richard Greaves has been salvaging materials from old barns on his property in northern Quebec for over 20 years. He has used them to create a series of houses and other structures that are a collection of unsymmetrical angles and seem on the verge of toppling. His work has been documented by Swiss photographer Mario del Curto in black and white prints. They are currently being shown at the Andrew Edlin Gallery at 529 W 20th St. between 10th Ave. and the West Side Highway, 6th Floor. The show is open to the public Tuesdays through Sundays, 11am-6pm.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 3:33 PM | Culture & | Comments (2) | TrackBack
February 6, 2006
MALAPROPISM WATCH or THE PEDANT
This weekend The Discovery Channel aired Werner Herzog's documentary Grizzly Man. Herzog was the perfect director for a film about a man driven by disturbing and destructive personal demons. The film is superb and I highly recommend watching it. It's about Timothy Treadwell, who was killed and eaten by a grizzly bear in Alaska after spending more than a decade "studying" and interacting with the creatures.
One of the scenes shows Herzog listening to the audio tape recording of Treadwell's and his girlfriend's, Amie Hugenard, killing. He advises that the inheritor of the tape, Treadwell's former business partner and girlfriend, never to listen to it and actually destroy it, lest it become a "white elephant" in her living room for the rest of her life.
Herzog is a brilliant filmmaker and was distraught at just listening to audiotape of two people's deaths. Nonetheless, he's guilty of a major malapropism here. He's referrering to the idiom "elephant in the living room", which is supposed to describe something momentous that people attempt to ignore despite its obvious presence. A "white elephant", on the other hand, is a conspicuous failure that becomes financially burdensome to maintain. Herzog clearly mixes his idioms in this case, although it does little to minimize the dramatic impact of the scene unless one is an anal retentive pedant such as myself.
While it doesn't appear to be scheduled for re-airing anytime soon, keep your eye out for Discovery Channel broadcasts of the movie. The commercials depicted it as kind of a feel-good feature of an eccentric do-gooder. In reality, it's a portrait of a deeply self-involved narcissist who seemed to possess a death wish that was ultimately fulfilled.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 10:56 AM | Film | Comments (0) | TrackBack
LIVING LARGE
When not taking 9-minute helicopter rides to and from JFK, it's nice to be able to kick back in a 15,000 square foot NYC apartment. The Times elaborates:
"The question is not 'What do you need?' it is 'What do you want?' " said Deborah Grubman, a broker with the Corcoran Group in Manhattan, who is helping to market three 8,360-square-foot co-ops in the converted Stanhope Hotel on Fifth Avenue. "It is a question of ability to buy."This week Ms. Grubman and Sharon Baum, another Corcoran broker, gave a guided tour of a floor plan for one of the jumbo apartments. In addition to a master suite that could comfortably house a family of four, the apartment will feature seven other bedrooms with en suite bathrooms, a drawing room, a dining room, a family room, a media room, a library and two wet bars, one attached to the master suite. "So if, God forbid, you should get thirsty at night, you don't have to go all the way back to the kitchen," Ms. Grubman said. At nearly $4,200 a square foot, that yields an asking price of $35 million, not to mention the $26,000-a-month maintenance fees.
First, what the hell is a guided tour of a floor plan? That sounds about as exciting as a description of a porno film. Second, let's look into why someone might need more living space than my current Brooklyn compound:
In a way this is just the latest version of keeping up with the Joneses. "It's like raising your voice at a crowded cocktail party," said Robert H. Frank, who is a professor of economics at Cornell University and contributes to the Economic Scene column in The New York Times. "If everyone is speaking loudly, you have to raise your voice a little louder to be heard. They just want something that feels spacious to them, but when the houses and apartments all around have gotten bigger, for a place to confer a feeling of spaciousness, it's got to be bigger than before."
That raising-one's-voice-at-a-cocktail-party thing is an apt analogy. It's also known as being that asshole that won't shut the hell up and you wish would leave your party. Just remember: the larger one's master bath, the smaller your member looks when you step out of your 200-square-foot shower.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 8:41 AM | NYC | Comments (2) | TrackBack
NEWS YOU PROBABLY CAN'T USE
Finally! Sometimes my limo driver bores me with his incessant small talk about how bad the Knicks suck. And my God, driving through Queens is like watching a bad episode of "All In The Family" without the amusing racial and religious slurs. That's why I was thrilled to read in today's New York Times that my rides to JFK on my super-important business trips will be soon shortened to only nine of my valuable minutes.
As soon as next month, travelers could be boarding helicopters at the foot of Wall Street and flying straight to Kennedy International Airport, zipping past city traffic — and also past other passengers waiting to clear security at the airport.
That service, which will cost more than $140 each way, is being arranged by a start-up company and the federal government. The Transportation Security Administration, a division of the Department of Homeland Security, is setting up screening equipment for passengers and luggage at the Downtown Manhattan Heliport, making it the first heliport in the country to be "federalized," said Ann Davis, a spokeswoman for the administration.
Actually, $140 doesn't seem like that bad a deal. I rode with a friend out to JFK last Thursday afternoon in light traffic and it took about 45 minutes. Cost with reasonable tip: $56. Taking the AirTrain and LIRR back to Penn Station cost me $12 and doubled the time. It's good to know that now the not-so-common man has a way of avoiding the hassles of mingling with the hoi-palloi when getting out of town. It'll do until that next promotion comes along and I can take the corporate jet out of Teterboro.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 8:19 AM | NYC | Comments (0) | TrackBack
OOPS! OOPS AGAIN!
Someone needs to get WNBC a diction editor. Here's the channel's site describing a traffic incident that occurred over the weekend:
NEW YORK -- Police are trying to track down a sport utility vehicle involved in a hit-and-run accident Friday morning in Queens.A man was struck around 4 a.m. while standing on the sidewalk at Steinway Street and Broadway in Astoria, police said.
Here's the following sentence:
According to witnesses, the driver of the SUV backed up the vehicle and tried to hit the man again.
Does that sound like an "accident" to you?
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 8:09 AM | NYC | Comments (0) | TrackBack
STILL LOOKING FOR COMEDY IN THE MUSLIM WORLD
The image above is considered graven in the religion of Islam. Not simply because it equates the prophet Mohammed with terrorism, but because it is an image of Mohammed himself, and any actual portraiture is considered a grievous sin against God. The publishing and republishing of this cartoon ignited protests around the world by angry Muslims, initiated the recall of ambassadors from Syria and Saudi Arabia from Denmark, and the Danish embassies in Lebanon and Syria were burned over the weekend.
Sensitivity to religious strictures is a good thing. If I'm making dinner for Jewish or Muslim friends, I would not be serving them bacon cheeseburgers, considered both un-kosher and non-hallal. Is there a limit to how far sensitivity must go though? UK tabloid The Sun ran an opinion piece explaining what was so offensive about this and other cartoons and it's a valuable perspective. Nonetheless, this was a cartoon printed in a newspaper in a western country, where certain ecumenical liberties are expected to be tolerated. There's toeing the sensitity line and then there's plain kowtowing to fundamentalist browbeating.
Ecumenism is the promotion of world-wide unity, tolerance, and understanding among world wide religions. It is something the western world has gradually adopted through centuries of painful (and recent) periods of religious intolerance and violence. While an ecumenical societal tone does not stamp out incidences of religious intolerance and disagreement, it generally frowns upon elevating these feelings to violent social protest. Americans may disagree vitriolically about things like abortion or gay marriage on religious grounds, but the practice of firebombing clinics or gaybashing is acknowledged as beyond the pale of acceptable behavior.
It seems that a good portion of the Muslim world currently demands a good dose of ecumenism. Even if within its own borders it desires a certain adherence to religious principles, eventually a tolerance for dissenting beliefs must be adopted. Otherwise, nothing short of burning the Mona Lisa in The Louvre will be considered acceptable. In the greater scheme of things I think this is all a tempest in a teapot, albeit a very hot teapot on fire. Moreso, however, it seems to be a symptom of a corrosive insularity among some Muslims unable to accept alternative ways of thinking even among others. It's a tendency that has seriously weakened that society over the past several centuries and one that should be tried to overcome in order to flourish.
UPDATE: For those of you who think I'm exagerrating about the preferred burning of the Mona Lisa, mentioned above, remember the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan in 2001 by the Islamist Taliban government. The Bamiyan Buddhas were the largest statues of Buddha in the world, nearly two thousand years old, and rightfully considered world cultural and religious treasures of the highest order. Yet, a bunch of intolerant religious fanatics thought it was a great idea to plant explosives on them and blow them to smithereens. At the time, a spokesperson for UNESCO tried to soft peddle the grotesquery:
Matsuura urged the international community not to take its anger at the Taleban action out on Muslim sites elsewhere.
"As inexcusable as this action is, I hope that it will not provide fanatics elsewhere with an excuse for acts of destruction targeting Muslim cultural properties," he said.
If only Muslim cultural properties could be so fortunate to have Matsuura's protection. Saudi-funded reconstruction projects in war-torn Bosnia and Kosovo have focused on destroying major Muslim cultural landmarks that don't adhere to fundamentlist religious aesthetics. Furthermore, even sacred mosques in Mecca and Medina have been destroyed by fundamentlists for their ties to Mohammed himself or anyone with non-fundamentalist leanings out of fear that it could inspire idolatry. This type of bizarre cultural cannibalism shows that fundamentlist Islam is not only destructive to outsiders, but to the religion and cultural history itself.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 7:24 AM | Religion | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 5, 2006
NO FLUKE
While most of the country is preoccupied with the Super Bowl this Sunday, a victory over the top-ranked Duke Blue Devils [see HOYAS ON THE RISE, 1/30/06] two weeks ago that vaulted the Georgetown Hoyas into the realm of nationally ranked teams is seeming less and less like a lucky break. This afternoon, the Georgetown men's basketball team held up against a late charge by #9 ranked Pittsburgh, gaining the team's second win against a top ten team in two weeks. The final score was 61-58 with Georgetown rallying midway through the second half and sinking crucial free throws after nearly blowing a 10-point lead with 39 seconds remaining (reminiscent of the Duke game). In only two seasons, coach John Thompson III has led the Hoyas from the depths of the Big East conference to reasonable contendors for a national title, without the benefit of a full multi-year recruiting cycle. The man may outdo his father yet.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 7:18 PM | Sports | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 3, 2006
HAWALA WITH SPRINKLES
WNBC reports today on a Brooklyn ice-cream shop owner who has been charged with illegally funneling money overseas.
NEW YORK -- An ice cream shop owner from Yemen was sentenced to 151/2 years in prison on Friday for illegally funneling $21.9 million overseas in a case stemming from a major terrorism investigation.Abad Elfgeeh, 51, was convicted last year of running an illegal money-transmitting business and structuring bank deposits to avoid reporting laws. Prosecutors alleged that at the behest of a radical Yemeni sheik, he had sent money around the world from bank accounts linked to his tiny storefront in Brooklyn.
While not mentioned in the article, the business Elfgeeh was conducting is known as Hawala and is an informal mode of international banking that dates back nearly a thousand years. Originating in medieval times before there was the means of enforcing laws across borders, Hawala is the perfect example of a anarcho-libertarian-type social organization that ensures fair dealing through trust and reputation. From Wikipedia:
Hawala (also known as hundi) is an informal value transfer system used primarily in the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
Its origins are not entirely clear, but it is believed to have been used first in the financing of long-distance trade in the early medieval period on trading routes such as the Silk Road, the Eastern Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean. Hawala is mentioned in texts of Islamic jurisprudence as early as the 8th century. In South Asia, it appears to have developed into a fully-fledged money market instrument, which was only gradually replaced by the instruments of the formal banking system in the first half of the 20th century. Today hawala is probably used mostly for migrant workers' remittances to their countries of origin.
In the most basic variant of the hawala system, money is transferred via a network of hawala brokers, or hawaladars. A customer approaches a hawala broker in one city and gives a sum of money to be transferred to a recipient in another, usually foreign, city. The hawala broker calls another hawala broker in the recipient's city, gives disposition instructions of the funds (usually minus a small commission), and promises to settle the debt at a later date.
The unique feature of the system is that no promissory instruments are exchanged between the hawala brokers; the transaction takes place entirely on the honor system. As the system does not depend on the legal enforceability of claims, it can operate even in a defunct legal and juridical environment. No records are produced of individual transactions; only a running tally of the amount owed one broker by the other is kept. Settlements of debts between hawala brokers can take a variety of forms, and need not take the form of direct cash transactions.
Hawala is essentially the free market in one of its purest forms. In countries with less competitive or more regulated banking systems, customers can pay more competitive or lower transfer fees. And in eras where currency exchange rates are fixed, a more market-based rate can develop. One reason authorities dislike it is because it is relatively unmonitorable. While official banking institutions must keep records of money transfers and report to the government transactions greater than $10,000, Hawala is basically off the radar and thus favored by people who would prefer to remain so. This can lead to abuses by criminal organizations, but Hawala is generally used by immigrants with no more sinister purpose than sending first world wages back their third world families. The almost-complete lack of contextualization in the WNBC story is disappointing, but not surprising.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 3:16 PM | Current Events | Comments (1) | TrackBack
February 1, 2006
YEP, THAT'S ABOUT IT
For those disappointed I didn't post my usual blow-by-blow recap of the State of the Union Address, sorry. Baby sitting duty and a preference for viewing a college basketball game took precedence. I've got it recorded and a full recap may be forthcoming, but don't bank on it. Alternatively, may I share my friend Belle's impression of the event, which I think would be difficult to add to.
This is what I got out of the State of the Union....
turns out the President is republican,
the country's at war,
Bush's sense of humor is drying out into beef jerky as it is suffocating under mad loathing for bad press and hippies.
CBS has a much clearer signal in my house,
drinking during politics is fun just like Shawn said it would be,
I can use the state of the union as a come on with my new man,
Ray nagin wore a bow tie to the event (did i get that right or was i drunk) ?!?! ,
Iran is stupid and evil,
we are a generous nation,
you still have to get the Price is Right number wheel all the way around for it to count.
somethings you can always count on.
Unlike my logorrhea, Belle is succinct and to the point and I think captures all the major memes. Now if you'll excuse me, I suddenly have a hankering for beef jerkey.
N.B. to Belle: expect a call from Ted Kennedy about that "drinking during politics is fun" comment. Just don't let him offer you a ride anywhere.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 4:26 PM | Politics & Policy | Comments (1) | TrackBack
GOOGLE WILL GET YOU THERE
Google is obviously the pre-eminent search engine on the Internet, helping millions of people find the information or recondite pornography they're looking for. Over the past several months, however, the company has been helping people find their way in the Outernet, i.e. the real world. Google Mobile, or more accurately Google Mobile (SMS), is a beta program from the company that allows people to have addresses, numbers, and other information texted to their mobile phones. If the number of times I'm accosted on the streets of NYC by people asking directions to certain bars, restaurants, or other businesses is any indication, there is a strong demand for this service. Although perhaps I just give off a very sage-like vibe.
Here's how it works: say you're looking for the address or number of a restaurant (and I'm going to do this right now) named Barna, where you're supposed to meet your friends, but you've never been out of your neighborhood before and don't know Gramercy from Adam. Use the text messaging function on your phone and dial the number GOOGL (46645). In the message section of your text, enter the name of the location you're looking for and the zipcode. If you don't know the zipcode, just enter in any NYC (or your area) code and that tends to be close enough. Send the message and usually in under a minute (my response clocked in at exactly 15 seconds) you'll receive a text message with the name, number, and address of the locations you're looking for. Let's see what happened with my Barna experiment after entering "Barna 10017" (zipcode approx. 42nd St. on the East side):
Barna
365 Park Ave S
New York, NY 10016
212-532-3800
1.0 mi, SW
So not only do you get the address and number, but approximate distance and direction of the location. This is a free service and the information remains on your phone, so it beats the hell out of 411. Google Mobile (SMS) is available for all areas throughout the U.S. and works with all major cellular providers. For business travelers and tourists, I imagine it's an invaluable service. But even for native residents in a large city with unfamiliar neighborhoods, it's incredibly useful. The only suggestion I could give to Google would be to add the nearest cross street. Technically, I don't think that would be so difficult and it would improve the utility of the information ten-fold.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 3:47 PM | Science & Technology | Comments (1) | TrackBack
WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON CAT ROUNDUP (ONE TIME ONLY)
This past summer I admitted myself to the strange fraternity of people who own cats when I adopted a pet from a local shelter. Some may take issue with the "strange" characterization, but I hereby submit the following evidence. First off is Kitten War, a Thunderdome-type pairing off of pictures of kittens. Viewers are supposed to choose which one is cuter. I hope that there is an algorithm behind the site that continually matches ever-cuter kittens against each other until finally one super-cute kitten overlord will be designated. There can be only one. My friend Katie recently directed me to the superb StuffOnMyCat.com site that features pictures of awake and asleep cats with objects piled on top of them. Sometimes the objects are other animals or small children. Other times it's inanimate objects like a dozen remote controls or a pile of Legos. All I can say is that there are few things funnier than an action figure riding a cat. In a more Dadaesque direction, we have Cats In Sinks, remarkable for its eponymous simplicity. Put or find your cat in a sink, photograph, submit, voila!
While it is said that cats cannot be trained like dogs and are notoriously independent, there apparently is no limit to the situations an owner can put them in to disturb their indifference. And that sometimes equals hilarity.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 3:26 PM | Culture & | Comments (1) | TrackBack
TASTE OF THE UNION
Someone once memorably remarked that politics is showbusiness for ugly people. If that is truly the case, then the annual State of the Union Address is the Academy Awards of government, complete with fake applause, manufactured moments, and barely supressed grimaces among competitors.
Given the apt-in-my-mind analogy between the two events and the wall-to-wall television the SOTU Address receives that the Oscars could only dream of, I think the former should receive the same red carpet treatment the latter does. I want to see Joan and Melissa Rivers out on the steps of the Capitol interviewing members of Congress and other bigwigs.
"So, who are you wearing? Who did your hair tonight? Seriously, who did them, because they need to be sent to Gitmo immediately and for the rest of their lives!"
"Justice Scalia, normally black is supposed to be slimming, but not when you wear it like a mumu."
All the while, Mr. Black would be huddled in a nook in the Rotunda, crying his eyes out, trying to figure out how he was going to cull his worst-dressed list to under 200. Until they introduce this State of the Union concept, I may have to stick to just reading the transcript.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 3:04 PM | Politics & Policy | Comments (1) | TrackBack
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