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April 26, 2006
SPAM FREE VERSE OF THE DAY
war and Your expertise, would be in a maximum security prison. He called you everything in the rotten black book and demanded that you reveal your real name-which you wouldnt do, couldnt do, because your first wifes Cambodian family would have been slaughtered. He tried to tie you in verbal knots, and, failing that, threatened the military court with exposing the whole bastard battalion, which it also couldnt allow. ...
Oooh, POW edition.
Spam Free Verse of the Day is a highlight of randomly selected words and prose inserted into spam e-mail eo evade electronic filters.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 11:13 AM | Science & Technology | Comments (0) | TrackBack
COMMENTARIAT
God bless the Irish, whose apocryphal heritage is drinking and arguing.
"The mere fact that you're born in England does not mean that you owe allegiance to the queen," replied a bearded Muslim. "If I was born in a barn, does that make me a horse?" But then again, this was not your typical pub. It was Leviathan, a kind of soapbox-in-a-pub that has become the city's hottest ticket by capitalizing on two time-honored Irish traditions: drinking and arguing. Held on the first Thursday of every month, it draws a sell-out crowd to Crawdaddy, a subterranean club in the arched stone vault of an old train tunnel on Harcourt Street."
And no exchange is better served than one exchanged when one is overserved:
The crowd wasn't buying it. "Answer the question!" barks a 30-something heckler from the balcony. The audience members nod their heads in agreement. "Yes or no!" Mr. McWilliams, seated on a stool between the couches, steps into the fray. Switching from provocateur to mediator, he struggles to keep the discussion from boiling over into unintelligible shouting. "Now, now! You're getting very rowdy," he says, pointing an accusatory finger into the crowd, like a headmaster of an elite prep school.
This isn't light hearted craic. Islamofascism is the topic of discussion--no breezy bar talk. It's too bad we all can't talk things out nonviolently. A drunken shouting match between a group of capulous idiots in a bar is unpleasant and disruptive, but preferred to a terrorist self-detonating in the same. Unrestrained dissent is the sort of thing the Muslim world needs more of, although it didn't help the IRA a wit.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 10:55 AM | Culture & | Comments (0) | TrackBack
70's NOSTALGIA
A lot of readers may not remember sitting in the back seats of sweltering cars during a summer in the late 1970s when federal price control policies for gasoline caused shortages and rationing; I barely do, but some things are indelible. Some politicians are attempting to resurrect the "good old days."
In an effort to keep New Yorkers from digging deeper into their pockets, some members of City Council are fighting to bring gas price gouging to a halt.Several City Council members are introducing legislation tomorrow that would prevent gas stations from increasing prices at the pump more than once a day.
Officials say gas stations only receive fuel deliveries once a day, therefore hiking up the price of gas more than once a day is considered price gouging.
Price controls = shortages. That's an economic concept so basic that any Sociology Major forced to take a semester of Micro Econ could grasp it. Memories are short, however, and legislative hubris is never-endingly brimming.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 10:43 AM | Current Events | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 25, 2006
SPAM FREE VERSE OF THE DAY
The second installment of this feature, which excerpts the prose included in spam entered to evade email filters:
futile. They believe that successful people have become successful because
fate had ordained determined. They believe that all the trials and
tribulations that men face in this world is dNathaniel
Angsty!
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 10:32 AM | Total Jackassery | Comments (0) | TrackBack
A MILLION LITTLE CRIMSON EXPLUSION-WORTHY LIES
Oooh, who doesn't love an acclaimed Harvard student who garners a six-figure book deal before she decides on a major? Maybe someone who sees that young woman get nabbed for plagiarizing before the book hit the presses.
Kaavya Viswanathan, the Harvard sophomore accused of plagiarizing parts of her recently published chick-lit novel, acknowledged yesterday that she had borrowed language from another writer's books, but called the copying "unintentional and unconscious.The book, "How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild and Got a Life," was recently published by Little, Brown to wide publicity. On Sunday, The Harvard Crimson reported that Ms. Viswanathan, who received $500,000 as part of a deal for "Opal" and one other book, had seemingly plagiarized language from two novels by Megan McCafferty, an author of popular young-adult books.
As a best-case defense, any account of a first year of college by a young female author is going to seem sadly similar and familiar, i.e. got drunk; got laid; regret everything. Thus the popularity and attention paid to this book.
In an illustration of how nauseating the college application process has become, I offer the following excerpt:
In a profile published in The New York Times earlier this month, Ms. Viswanathan said that while she was in high school, her parents hired Katherine Cohen, founder of IvyWise, a private counseling service, to help with the college application process. After reading some of Ms. Viswanathan's writing, Ms. Cohen put her in touch with the William Morris Agency, and Ms. Viswanathan eventually signed with Jennifer Rudolph Walsh, an agent there.
Ms. Walsh said that she put Ms. Viswanathan in touch with a book packaging company, 17th Street Productions (now Alloy Entertainment), but that the plot and writing of "Opal" were "1,000 percent hers."
Only an English major would ever utter the phrase "1,000 percent". For Christ's sake!
Oh yeah, here's an excerpt from the book that Ms. Viswanathan allegedly plagiarized from, along with the lead editorial review from Amazon.com:
“My parents suck ass. Banning me from the phone and restricting my computer privileges are the most tyrannical parental gestures I can think of. Don’t they realize that Hope’s the only one who keeps me sane? . . . I don’t see how things could get any worse.”
When her best friend, Hope Weaver, moves away from Pineville, New Jersey, hyperobservant sixteen-year-old Jessica Darling is devastated. A fish out of water at school and a stranger at home, Jessica feels more lost than ever now that the only person with whom she could really communicate has gone. How is she supposed to deal with the boy- and shopping-crazy girls at school, her dad’s obsession with her track meets, her mother salivating over big sister Bethany’s lavish wedding, and her nonexistent love life?
Oh! My! God! Someone got into Harvard plagiarizing Sweet Valley High!
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 3:31 AM | Books | Comments (2) | TrackBack
April 24, 2006
KNOTTY SITUATION
Former first baseman for the Mets Keith Hernandez stepped right into the deepest pile of crap possible by pointing out that there was a possibly unauthorized Padres personnel in the dugout during Sunday's game, mostly by highlighting that that person was a woman:
Hernandez made the remarks during the second inning of New York's 8-1 victory in San Diego on Saturday night. Mike Piazza homered for the Padres and exchanged a high-five in the dugout with Kelly Calabrese, a full-time massage therapist for San Diego.
"Who is the girl in the dugout, with the long hair?" Hernandez said during the broadcast. "What's going on here? You have got to be kidding me. Only player personnel in the dugout."
Hernandez found out later in the broadcast that Calabrese has been with the Padres training staff since 2004, but stood by his comment that she didn't belong with the team during a game.
"I won't say that women belong in the kitchen, but they don't belong in the dugout," Hernandez said.
Hernandez appeared on the Sports New York channel this afternoon abjectly apologizing for what he characterized as extremely inappropriate comments. The point that he maintains, however, stands. Ballclub personnel that are in the dugout--in uniform--is unusual. Obviously Hernandez was caught off guard and shot off his mouth inappropriately. Would he have noticed and remarked the same if the masseuese was a man? Who knows? Does he deserve to be hung out and dried? Who knows?
Calabrese just stated that the reason she was wearing a uniform was part of a team-wide instance of wearing camo uniforms in order to honor the military. It would be a shame if that was the reason for a celebrated NYC player to get his reputation ruined for some unfortunate and ill-advised comments.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 5:13 PM | Sports | Comments (0) | TrackBack
WHERE IS THE BEEF?
AOL put together a brief and undetailed survey of where one can get the best hamburger in NYC. I'm not going to dispute it; I haven't been to a lot of the places they put on their list. I just make burgers a default selection of menus around town because I'm constantly looking for the same " best burger". And I'm not talking about some $150 ice-cube-melted-in-the-middle-while-being-seared fiasco either. I make a mean burger at home for about $1; I expect similar results for less than a hundred times that cost.
AOL Cityguide listed Peter Luger's as the maker of NYC's best burger. All I can say is one would have to be an absolute jackass to haul onesself out to Peter Luger's and order a burger instead of a steak. Other rankers were J.G. Melons and Corner Bistro, I prefer the former, although the latter's quality is undisputed. One prominent ommission is REDACTED REDACTED's bacon cheeseburger, which outshines any candle held to it in the city. [Redacted to prevent further crowding of an undersized venue.]
If you have any ideas about what was left off the list or overlooked, feel free to comment.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 4:11 PM | Food & Drink | Comments (2) | TrackBack
BRING IT!
With Brooklyn becoming Manhattan's Lower Lower East Side real estate-wise lately, it's nice to see the former borough doing a reverse anschluss, right at the heart of the latter's.
Brooklyn's best cheesecake is coming soon to the Crossroads of the World.
Junior's restaurant plans to bring its legendary desserts - plus fried chicken, brisket and pastrami sandwiches - to the heart of Manhattan with a big new Times Square eatery opening in June.
"We're going to bring the whole Brooklyn experience to Manhattan," said Alan Rosen, whose grandfather opened the original Junior's on Flatbush Ave. more than a half-century ago.
Junior's actually already has an outpost in Grand Central Terminal's lower level and one can buy its cheesecakes on the first level, near Track 35. Brooklyn was an independent city until just over 100 years ago (108, actually.) It's good to see the boroughs' culture disseminating in all directions.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 3:54 PM | Food & Drink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
SF STANDS FOR SCHADENFREUDE
("Ha ha!" says Will Booth of The WaPo)
William Booth of The Washington Post apparently has a bug up his ass about the city of San Francisco. In a news piece about the public attention to regional vulnerability to earthquakes--heightened due to the centennial anniversary of the quake of 1906--Booth adopts a somewhat glib, if not mocking tone.
SAN FRANCISCO -- This is a city obsessed with itself, and lately it has been really obsessing about the fact that a century ago, it was almost obliterated. And so, naturally, commemorations of the centennial of the April 18, 1906, earthquake have consumed the city, obsessively.
Organizers have staged earthquake film fests, ecumenical earthquake services and a ballet that "spotlights the advances in earthquake engineering technology." There was interpretive dance, performed to the sound of the Earth's magma. It seemed like there was a lecture on soil liquefaction every night. Tours of seismic retrofits were hot tickets. If there is a kid left in San Francisco who doesn't know the difference between a strike-slip and a dip-slip fault, he should get to the Exploratorium immediately for an exhibit called "San Francisco in Jell-O."
You couldn't turn around here without bumping into a banner showing sepia photographs of the city as a smoking ruin -- like, wow, once upon a time we were reduced to rubble. And on and on, in an endless loop, the PSAs reminding residents in one of the best-fed, highest-tech cities on the planet to store 72 hours' worth of water, food and D batteries. Why? For the Big One!
Uh, what the hell man? Did you go to San Fran for a vacation and have your wife leave you suddenly for a life of lesbian veganism? Everyone knows San Franciscans love the smell of their own farts, but the tone of this article is bordering on unhinged.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 3:10 PM | Science & Technology | Comments (0) | TrackBack
SPAM FREE VERSE OF THE DAY
Everyone gets spam e-mail. One of the attempts at thwarting this e-mail plague is to scan messages for commercial content. As a countermeasure, spam generators started including randomly selected words that attempted to fool anti-spam software. Some of this content is positively Dada-esque. Today we inaugurate the Spam Free Verse Of The Day feature, that may or may not last more than a day. Today's entry:
Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded. When the wine is in, the wit is out
Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.
A lender nor borrower be.
Edwardian English footnotes lend a hint of anachronistic class to this gibberish.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 11:17 AM | Science & Technology | Comments (0) | TrackBack
WNBC HAS APPARENTLY GONE INSANE
Channel 4, WNBC, has apparently gone insane. Hacking down the thin wall between editorial and advertorial, the channel's site features a news article describing an upcoming professional wrestling feature:
Listen up!Class is in session.
Sunday night Total Nonstop Action Wrestling was back with its latest and greatest pay-per-view, "Lockdown," where everything was settled in a cage. Let's get to it!
Arm Wrestling Challenge: "Bullet" Bob Armstrong (w/The James Gang) vs. Konnan (w/The Latin American Exchange)
What Should Happen: Armstrong, the father of B.G. James, takes on the thug Konnan. Here, the losing team gets strapped by a leather belt. I'm guessing the 66-year-old Armstrong will win, but will still pay for it in the end.What Will Happen: Armstrong takes it, the James Gang gets their licks in, but all heck breaks loose anyway. I'm guessing this will be the match with no wrestling, but plenty of blood.
What Did Happen: Armstrong easily beat the younger Konnan, and the James Gang got their licks in.
X Divison 'Xscape' Match: Chris Sabin vs. Elix Skipper vs. Petey Williams vs. Chase Stevens vs. Shark Boy vs. Puma
What Should Happen: The great Petey Williams should shine in this format. The six performers will battle it out elimination style until two fighters remain. At that point, the winner is determined by whoever escapes the steel cage first.What Will Happen: Sabin and Williams are the favorites. I'm sticking with Williams.
What Did Happne: Dang! I knew I should have stuck with Sabin. He won the thing, with his feet hitting the floor before Petey's.
Anthem Match: Team 3D vs. Team Canada
What Should Happen: The winners of this match get their national anthem played over the loudspeakers. Go Dudleys!What Will Happen: My cash is on Team 3D to get the win, with their latest addition, Spike Dudley, playing a huge role in the victory.
What Did Happen: Team 3D won it, with Spike (now called Runt) securing the victory.
X-Division Championship: Samoa Joe (c) vs. Sabu
What Should Happen: Future Superstar Joe should no doubt win the match, but the hardcore legend Sabu will make him bleed. This will be worth your money, kids.What Will Happen: In the end, Joe will win with a clean pin.
What Did Happen: Joe won the match cleanly to retain his X-Division belt.
Lethal Lockdown Match: Sting, A.J. Styles, Rhino and The Truth vs. Jeff Jarrett, Scott Steiner and America's Most Wanted
What Should Happen: Here, weapons will be in the mix, as they'll be hung from the top of the cage. Nevertheless, A.J. should be allowed to shine, carrying the bulk of the match for the good guys. In the end, I say it's smart to see Sting smack around Jarrett for a bit, advancing their feud.What Will Happen: Team Sting will win, perhaps with Borden making Jarrett tap out.
What Did Happen: Sting's Squadron won it, with Borden making AMW's "Wildcat" Chris Harris tap out.
NWA World Title Match: Cristian Cage (c) vs. Abyss
What Should Happen: It's nice to see the monster Abyss get a title shot. He certainly deserves it. But he's not a performer who should be at the forefront of the organization at this time. I'd keep the strap on Cage for a bit. He's still doing a great job in the ring and on the mic.What Will Happen: Despite interference from heel manager James Mitchell -- Cage will prevail, keeping the NWA title.
What Did Happen: Cage took it in a cage, keeping his NWA gold. The monster made him pay for it, though -- by hanging Cage with a chain after the match ended.
That's it: "Lethal Lockdown" 2006. Not a bad show at all. As for your professor, another stellar showing, as I nailed five of the six big matches. But then again, it's what you expected. Friday: My WWE "Backlash" picks. Be there!
Now scram!
Class dismissed!
Are we supposed to assume that Channel 4 news is now not the "real news", but rather staged for our entertainment?
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 10:56 AM | NYC | Comments (0) | TrackBack
BLUE AND GOLDEN BOY
Fans of Notre Dame football have reason to be excited after last season's better than expected performance. After nabbing coach Charlie Weis fresh from a string of Super Bowl championships with the New England Patriots, the Irish transformed from a flailing team to bowl contendors in one short season. And success begets success in college sports due to recruiting.
At the College Football Hall of Fame yesterday, high school junior and quarterback phenom Jimmy Clausen announced his intent to head to Notre Dame. Clausen is from West Lake, California and already led his team to three sectional championships for the Christian Oaks Academy--a school that sounds like a Div. I recruiting combine--by throwing 3,665 yards and completing 69% of his passes. That includes 58 touchdowns with only 6 interceptions.
How hyped is Clausen? Well, the California kid announced his collegiate committment at the College Football Hall of Fame--in Indiana. In a profile in Sports Illustrated last year, these were some of the names bandied about:
College recruits aren't immune to overhype. Ron Paulus was the Irish's last second coming of Touchdown Jesus, with an incredible high school pedigree and staggering stats. His tenure was underwhelming at best. Less charitable people would say he oversaw ND's transformation from a college football mainstay to a college basketball comer.
Clausen has a year of high school left to go, so he'll be ready to slip into Brady Quinn's shoes a few months after the latter graduates from ND into the NFL. Clausen is apparently looking forward to four consecutive national championships with the Irish. You gotta love the kids these days.
An account of Clausen's announcement with updated stats is available here. The College Football Hall of Fame is located in South Bend, IN for some reason.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 9:56 AM | Sports | Comments (0) | TrackBack
THE GREAT BEYOND
Yesterday I met and talked with writer and choreographer Colleen Hooper and a few members of her dance group, An Outer Space Project. AOSP is performing June 9-11 at BRIC Studio in downtown Brooklyn and were running bingo games and selling cupcakes last night to fund their efforts. From Hooper's site:
How often do you think about outer space? When is the last time you pondered black holes, space exploration or the sun? Confronting the vast unknown can be daunting and fun at the same time. I decided to rediscover outer space and learn more about our observable universe. Under my direction, Kate Garroway, Erika Hansen and Joëlle Worm have each researched a topic related to outer space. Together, we compiled facts and stories that you may have forgotten or never learned. The project is a combination of personal and scientific perspectives on space and the emphasis is not on cutting edge technology or the most up to date shuttle missions. It's about what appealed to us personally. An Outer Space Project is comprised of movement, text, sculpture and costumes inspired by the words and pictures that we found.
I'm afraid I'm going to have to go to this, just to satisfy my curiosity.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 9:30 AM | Culture & | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 23, 2006
AN ICON RETAINED
With the destruction of the Twin Towers in 2001, the Empire State Building regained its status as New York's tallest building. Architecturally speaking, it's a much more fitting and handsome candidate for that designation. Designed by firm Shreve, Lamb & Harmon, with William Lamb as the chief engineer, the ESB was erected between 1930 and 1931. In a strange similarity to the Twin Towers, the ESB was regarded as a white elephant during its first years, with vacancies difficult to fill and only later attaining beloved iconic skyline status. While I personally prefer William Van Alen's more graceful Chrysler Building, the ESB with its masculine Indiana limestone facade, gives a forceful edge to its Art Deco design.
The Empire State Building turns 75 years old this year and The New York Times has an exhaustive and quality special section marking the occasion. One article includes odd facts and stats about the building, one of which is that there's a second ESB in NYC:
New York has two Empire State buildings — or, more precisely, a new one and an old one. The old one is at 640 Broadway, at Bleecker Street, and it is built of an unlovely tan brick but graced with occasional arched windows and decorative cornices. It is nine stories tall and has fewer than two dozen apartments. Downstairs, one can enjoy scallop broccoli for $4 at Hong Kong Restaurant, or have a $125 deadbolt installed from RBD Lock & Alarm, and say it all came from the Empire State Building, although nothing on the building today displays that title.
This, the original Empire State Building, was built in 1897, replacing a structure destroyed in a fire in 1895. According to news reports, the Empire State Bank occupied the first floor of the burned building, with occupants on the upper floors that included Hecht & Company, a fancy goods store, and the New York Feather Company.
Though the new building rose into the sky, the bank to which it owes its name had dissolved in 1896. The Empire State name continued to be used in press accounts about 640 Broadway, But such mentions dwindled, as did the building's fortunes, and in 1929, it was sold at auction. Two years later, when Al Smith's counterpart opened uptown, no mentions of the old building's name could be found at all.
The lights illuminating the upper spires of the ESB are changing daily to commemorate or celebrate various events or causes. I include a link on my home page explaining what these mean. The Times addresses the issue as well here.
Buildings in NYC are like natural phenomena in other environments. They're landmarks, guideposts, and seemingly permanent features that come to define one's home. Unlike a mountain or a river, however, buildings don't last. Some people fight to tear them down. Some fight to keep them up. Some disappear in spates of neglect and or indifference. The occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Empire State Building is a good time to look up and around and appreciate the architectural heritage we've inherited. I live in a city full of treasures. The Empire State Building is only one of them, but happy birthday.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 1:52 PM | NYC | Comments (0) | TrackBack
CHICKENSUIT!
I'll be damned if I can think of anything at all warranting the posting of the picture above.
Austrian Edgar Honetschlaeger said he decided to work with the Japanese on the project because he hoped to make the chicken label clothing essential.He said "It's something that you don't really need but everyone wants to have anyway."
He is promoting the range on his website, www.chickenssuit.com, and a fashion show is now touring the world.
Several farmers have already had chicken suits with the name of their farm ordered and many advertisers have enquired about the possibility of having sponsored suits promoting everything from KFC to chicken soup.
The chicken suits come in various sizes, and had their first presentation in the Austrian pavilion of the World exhibition in Nagoya, Japan, where 20 chickens paraded a catwalk with Mozart music playing in the background.
The chicken suit collection will continue its world-wide tour with shows planned in Tokyo, Paris, Mexico City and Vienna.
I smell a prank, but at face value I can't think of a single thing to add to this.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 6:01 AM | Total Jackassery | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 22, 2006
THERE ARE MOVIE SHOWS -- DOWNTOWN
The New York Times ran a good article on The Tribeca Film Festival yesterday, even including a decent interactive guide.
IMAGINE you are at the multiplex. There are 17 movies — indies, comedies, dark dramas, foreign films and documentaries. Most have something to recommend, and each one would meet at least someone's fancy, maybe yours. Surveying all the options, you wonder where to head first.
Now multiply by 10, and you have some idea of the scope of the Tribeca Film Festival, the downtown orgy of cinema that begins Tuesday with the premiere of "United 93" and winds down on May 7 with a lovingly restored version of the 1955 noir, "The Big Combo." The Tribeca Film Festival was conceived as a civic gesture to help the neighborhood get back on its feet after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and has mushroomed into the film fest that ate downtown. Last year, its fourth, it sold 135,000 tickets to over 700 screenings. This year there will be at least 764 screenings — 174 features and 100 shorts — bursting out of TriBeCa and heading even north of Columbus Circle.
The Times advises against getting overwhelmed by the number of offerings, although that could be difficult. I was handed a program guide on the Lower East Side last week and it looks to be jammed with good stuff. One I'm looking forward to: Colour Me Kubrick
John Malkovich gives a hilarious tour-de-force as Alan Conway, a conman who successfully passed himself off as the famed and notoriously reclusive director for the last decade or so of the filmmnaker's life. Combining breathtaking chutzpah undeterred by a barely fleeting knowledge of Kubrick's work, Malkovich's Conway switches accents, costumes and mannerisms with sly delight.
That sounds like fun cultural criticism, pitting celeb-obsessed society against blinding ignorance; the punchline being that John Malkovich in any amount of makeup looks absolutely nothing like Stanley Kubrick. Absolutely nothing.
Here is the offical site of The Tribeca Film Festival. A PDF file of the program guide is available here.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 11:29 AM | Film | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 21, 2006
SENSATION-AL
My friend Tara is showing a collection of her work this Thursday at a gallery on the Upper East Side. The woman's been hard at work for the past several months getting her pieces ready for the show, so it should be a real treat to finally get to see them. It's called the Black & White Galleries at 221 East 71st St., which is between 3rd and 2nd Avenues [map]. The opening is the evening of April 27th, from 6pm to 9pm and the name of the show is Dopplegangers
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 5:35 PM | Culture & , Current Events , NYC | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 19, 2006
E IS FOR EGREGIOUS
The Yankees rebounded from a strong finish in Minnesota last week to blow a four run first inning lead last night with some astoundingly bad play by NY's fielders. Randy Johnson only lasted three and a third winnings on the mound and seems to be absorbing most of the blame for the loss in the media, but he was getting no help from his teammates.
In a potential repeat of Derek Jeter's incredible grab and throw from the knees in a game against the Twins last week, Jason Giambi snatched a ground ball in the bottom of the third inning, paused, contemplated, deliberated, and then made a quick snapping throw to . . . nowhere and no one in particular. He may have been attempting an impromptu game of catch with the ballboy on the first base line. In the bottom of the 7th, Gary Sheffield attempted a casual waist level catch of a seemingly easy--we used to call it a "can of corn" in Little League--fly ball. Attempted being the operative word, because it just kind of glanced off Sheffield's half-open glove. The hitter Molina would go on to score and the Blue Jays blew out the Yanks 10-5. Johnny Damon was put out five times at the plate and in the field, but some great defensive plays on his part salvaged an embarrassing defeat from abject humiliation.
The second game in Toronto for the Yanks is an afternoon outing, starting at 12:30 ET today. The Yanks are now 1-6 in night games this season, so hopefully the earlier start augurs well for the team. Mike Mussina starts the game versus Toronto's Lilly. The roof is open at the Rogers Center, so perhaps the fresh air will keep the Yankees' fielders alert.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 12:11 PM | Sports | Comments (0) | TrackBack
TRUMP NATURE
In an effort to erase one of the few places in the tri-state area where it's possible to escape the Trump moniker/branding juggernaut, a NY State park is being named after Donald Trump.
The new Donald J. Trump State Park will comprise two separate areas along the Taconic State Parkway, near or abutting other parkland including the Franklin D. Roosevelt and Fahnestock state parks.Trump and Gov. George Pataki were scheduled to announce the donation at a news conference Wednesday on one of the parcels, known as Indian Hill, which takes in 282 acres straddling the border of Westchester and Putnam counties, about 45 miles north of Manhattan. Indian Hill is a mix of deep woods, meadows and a wetland.
The second parcel, known as French Hill, takes in 154 acres in Westchester, entirely within the New York City Watershed. It is heavily wooded and has a 20-acre wetland.
Future winners of "The Apprentice" will be assigned the high-level executive job of picking up roadside trash alongside the Taconic. Separately, it's expected that Trump's preservation efforts of "Indian Hill" will be parlayed into an attempt to open a casino on NY park land, claiming Native American heritage.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 11:49 AM | Current Events | Comments (0) | TrackBack
STUCK IN THE MIDDLE WITH YOU
(Photo by Rahav Segev for The New York Times)
Did you know that NYC has a tram that ferries people across the East River from Manhattan to Roosevelt Island? It's an indelible skyline feature that most people probably only recognize from the film Spiderman, but an inexpensive adventure to take in good weather. The gondola's route parallels the 59th St.--or Queensborough--bridge and offers incredible views of Manhattan and Queens.
Last night, tram riders had an especially exciting and lengthy trip when a power failure left 69 riders stuck dangling between the two boroughs for approximately 12 hours.
Rescuers began their first midair rescue efforts around 11 p.m. after initial attempts to start the generator and backup generator failed. The rescuers shimmied a large orange wire gondola up towards the Roosevelt Island-bound tram, which was suspended over the East River with 47 passengers.Passengers, including several children and an elderly woman with a walker, were pulled from a side window and loaded into the gondola, which had a capacity of about a dozen people. The passengers were all rescued by 3:30 a.m. through five midair rescues that took about 45 minutes each.
"I felt like I was a movie stuntman a little bit," said Dax Maier, 12, after he was rescued in the second group. "I just told myself, 'Don't look down.' " Dax was heading over to Roosevelt Island for tennis lessons with his baby sitter, Naida Mattis.
That kid is so lucky! Most people have to appear on "Fear Factor" to exit the tram unconventially.
It sounds like a bit of a festival atmosphere started to surround the rescue efforts, with retrieved passengers going high with the Mayor:
Cheers accompanied each successful rescue effort. Children from the first group, which had eight children and five adults, exchanged high-fives with Mayor Bloomberg after touching ground at the Roosevelt Island terminal about 11:30 p.m. Passengers were greeted with juice, cookies and, for several Hasidic Jews in the first group, matzo. In addition the city had set up stretchers and ambulances, in case they needed medical attention.
The Roosevelt Island tram is about 30 years old, but was shut down for several months about two years ago to replace the system's cables
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 11:25 AM | NYC | Comments (2) | TrackBack
April 18, 2006
AWAKE AND CRINGE!
Bartlett Sher directs a star-inclusive revival of Clifford Odets' Depression-era play Awake and Sing!, currently on display in NYC at the Belasco Theater on West 44th St. The Belasco was the actual theater that the play opened in on Feb. 19th, 1935, according to my version of the script. Featuring Mark Ruffalo, Lauren Ambrose, Ben Gazarra, and Pablo Schreiber (Liev Schreiber's brother?), the production would seem to have the vitality of a vanity piece put on by film actors on the verge of making serious bank but wanting to retain their struggling artist credibility.
For those of you who haven't read it, Awake and Sing! is a stage play written by Odets during the Depression and performed briefly by the Group Theater, a company whose name telegraphed its lefty earnestness. It tells the story of a family grappling with economic uncertainty and family turbulence in the 1930s. I'm sure there are some people out there who feel that Odets' work retains certain timelessness qualities that will still resonate with present day audiences. In reality, Odets' plays are as stale as 8mm films shown to public school children in the 1950s extolling the virtues of the Dept. of Agriculture's food pyramid guidelines.
Moe: That's why they had the big war--to make a new world, they said--safe for democracy. Sure every big general laying up in a Paris hotel with a half dozen broads pinned on his mustache. Democracy! I learned a lesson.
Jacob: An imperial war. You know what this means?
Moe: Sure, I know everything!
Jaconb: By money men the interests must be protected. Who gave you such a rotten haircut? Please (fishing in his vest pocket), give me for a cent a cigarette. I didn't have since yesterday--
Oy brother! If you wanted to write a play of a stereotyped Jewish family sitting around caviling about cash, marrying off offspring well, and bitching about the good fortune of others, too bad, Odets beat you to it.
The New York Times helpfully provides a link to its original review of the play from 2/20/1935, which I find very cool.
So the Group Theater batters its way on. To this student of the arts 'Awake and Sing," in spite of its frenzy, is inexplicably deficient in plain theater emotion. There is something unyielding at the core of the play. Charge that comment off to the higher criticism. The pleasant news is that the Group Theater has found a genuine writer among its members and knows how to set his play rattling on the boards.
Damn, I think the Times writer could have used a Strunk & White's back in the day. That shit is clunky!
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April 17, 2006
DAY AFTER EASTER EXPOSE
This short film attempts to explain what the Easter Bunny does the other 364 days of the year that aren't Easter. The answer? He's kicking ass all over NYC.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 8:24 PM | Film | Comments (0) | TrackBack
WHAT'S IN A NAME?
(Which one is the Pilot Inspektor?)
The New York Times spilt some ink recently to examine why celebrities single out their children for a lifetime of playground ridicule by giving their offspring unusual names, e.g. Coldplay's Chris Martin and actress Gwyneth Paltrow naming their daughter Apple Martin. Come to think of it, Bruce Paltrow named his daughter Gwyneth and she seems to have turned out ok.
It seems almost unimaginable for any 21st-century movie star to send his children out among the Hollywood elite equipped with ordinary names like Michael, Eric, Joel and Peter, as Kirk Douglas once did.
This point was driven home again last week, when Gwyneth Paltrow and her husband, Chris Martin, the frontman of the band Coldplay, named their newborn son Moses. It was an unlikely enough name for a baby boy born in 2006, but perhaps less startling than the much discussed (and mocked) handle his sister, Apple, born two years ago, will carry through life.
Not that a name like Apple Martin stands out among celebrity children anymore. The director Peter Farrelly plucked that very name for his daughter before Apple Martin came along. Even that name seems drab compared with Hollywood baby names like Pilot Inspektor, cooked up by Jason Lee, the star of "My Name Is Earl," or Banjo, the inspiration of the "Six Feet Under" star Rachel Griffiths, or Moxie CrimeFighter, a name chosen last year by the comedian and magician Penn Jillette for his daughter.
I actually like that last one, although the second name is a bit bizarre. I can see myself flipping the kid a quarter and saying "Here ya go Moxie; go and get yourself a licorice whip!" It might get old for the girl quick, but I'd still laugh every time I said it. Plus, Penn Jillette is awesome. He's a talented magician, confirmed libertarian, and has a fantastic skeptics' program on Showtime called "Bullshit!"
At least, I thought Jillette was awesome:
"You're likely to be the only one in any normal-size group with that name," Mr. Jillette said by e-mail, adding, " 'Moxie' is a name that was created by an American for the first national soft drink and then went on to mean 'chutzpah,' and that's nice."
Besides, Moxie CrimeFighter fits right into the creative world.
"Everyone I know with an unusual name loves it," he wrote. "It's only the losers named Dave that think having an unusual name is bad, and who cares what they think. They're named Dave."
Whoa! What the hell? The Lexiphane personally feels such ad hominem nominem attacks go beyond the pale.
West Coast gadfly and friend Defamer looks at lunatic celebrity behavior here.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 12:42 PM | Culture & | Comments (2) | TrackBack
EAST SIDE SUBWAY GO-AHEAD
Looking to extend the streak of not building a 2nd Avenue subway line, the Federal Transportation Alliance just approved funding for the construction of a 2nd Avenue subway line.
The Federal Transportation Alliance is set to announce approval for the building of the first section of the long-awaited Second Avenue subway plan, allowing federal money to be used for the project.
Plans call for the line to run from 125th Street in East Harlem to Hanover Square in the Financial District, easing crowding on the 4,5 and 6 lines.
In a city that is all about change, there is only one immutable municipal constant: the 2nd Ave. subway line is never going to be built. I'm in favor of a second East Side subway line personally. The rush hour crowds on the 4,5,6 lines are currently intolerable and the level of high rise construction around 2nd Ave. and further east is proceeding at a pace that will soon make taking the Lexington Ave. subway nearly impossible. Nonetheless, the city has been trying to build a 2nd Ave. subway for approximately 70 years, even digging a tunnel deep through Manhattan's schist at one point. And we still have no 2nd Ave. subway.
Wikipedia has a decent account of the plans and failures associated with a 2nd Avenue Subway line. People will be commuting in flying cars before a 2nd Avenue Subway line is built, i.e. it will never happen.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 12:11 PM | NYC | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 16, 2006
THE CONDOS ARE COMING! THE CONDOS ARE COMING!
NYC has more than one skyline. There's Manhattan's crenulated profile from afar with recognizable skyscrapers and then there is Brooklyn's, which is accentuated by one phallic bank tower and reminders of its less-residential past. One of the most recognizable features of the latter is the old Revere Sugar Factory in the Erie Basin, where the Gowanus Canal meets the harbor. The Erie Basin is one of the most interesting spots in NYC. Aside from the decrepit Revere Sugar Factory, the basin features an old grain terminal, a building on a pier hosting artists' studios, and a city lot that is the repository of towed cars.
The Revere Sugar Factory's profile stands out the most. The conical structure is highly visible from the water, the surrounding neighborhood, and the elevated F Train line. Not for long though:
A plan to convert the rusting Revere Sugar refinery on the Red Hook waterfont into luxury housing took a step forward last week, thans to a city decision to exempt the site from a proposed industrial-only zone.For owner Joe Sitt, the vote by a mayoral panel to exempt the Revere site from the city's proposed "Industrial Business Zone" in Red Hook, was a sweet victory. But for niehgobrs, it left a bitter aftertaste.
"We'll fight residential conversion there," said Eary Ray, director of Red Hook Rise, a community organization. "Engertainment, recreation, retail or manufacturing could all be good, but residential is never going to bring jobs."
only one member of the panel voted against the exemption, citing the importance of the Erie Basin Barge Port, which services tugboats, shipping vessels and water taxis adjacent to the Revere site.
"The barge port is crucial to miantaining the city's infrastructure," said Adam Freedman. "Residential shouldn't even be on the table for the site."
But mayoral spokesman Ben Branham said that despite last week's exemption, Sitt's plans must still undergo a lengthy public approval process before he can realize his dream of turning the iconic waterfront refinery into a mixed-use development with apartments, stores and a fish restaurant.
"We're optimistic that. . .The Barge Port will be able to stay in operation," Branham said.
Sitt -- a Brooklyn native who made his first fortune through the plus-size clothing chain Ashley Stewart -- bought the rusting site for $40 million in August. It has been abandoned since 1985, when its former owner -- a business partner of Philippine dictor Ferdinand Marcos -- went bankrupt. --Ariella Cohen
While I'm sympathetic with the aims of Earl Ray's Red Hook Rise organization, I think he's being a little disingenuous in trying to keep the neighborhood's economy on an industrial footing. Red Hook hasn't been an economically viable industrial zone since NYC's port moved across the harbor to New Jersey. The opening of the Cruise Ship Port in the Atlantic Basin [see ANY PORT IN A FOGGY STORM, 4/15/06] seems more a stopgap measure than anything else.
I was down in Red Hook late yesterday afternoon and the neighborhood looked like a gritty Park Slope, with more strollers than stevedores. When I visited the neighborhood last year on a sunny day, the streets were a veritable ghost town. Skyrocketing real estate prices, however, have apparently driven the family set a year later to this supposed "industrial zone."
I can certainly sympathize with Ray; Red Hook is a great residential neighborhood on the harbor that is probably unreasonably affordable because most NYers haven't stumbled onto it yet, and there's little public transit. The idea of pulling down the Revere refinery is awful, but I can understand why its owner would try something. If I had $40 million laying around, I'd turn Red Hook into South Street Seaport South and be rich times two.
A PDF file of the above Brooklyn Paper article can be found here. Despite it's very slick site, Red Hook Rise has no apparent connection to Bruce Ratner and his real estate development plans.
(Photo from Kevin Walsh's forgotten-ny.com site.)
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 10:14 AM | NYC | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 15, 2006
ANY PORT IN A FOGGY STORM
With mega-ship building an industry trend, I'm not sure if the Queen Mary 2 is still the largest passenger ship at sea. I do know that it has to time its arrivals in New York Harbor with the tides, otherwise it won't be able to clear under the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge. I watched as the QM2 made its maiden embarkation from NYC 2 years ago, and talked to an older woman who reminisced about her prior voyages on the original Queen Mary with her late husband. She was nostalgic for the days when every dinner was black tie and perhaps an occasion to dine with the Captain of the ship.
The picture above is one of the QM2 at dock on the west side of Manhattan, where most cruise ships reside when in port. As one can see, the QM2 is absolutely enormous. A recent initiative, however, is the development of a cruise ship depot in Brooklyn's Atlantic Basin. The QM2 docked there this morning in heavy fog. It must have been a difficult bit of maneuvering because the Atlantic Basin is pretty cramped, especially for a ship of the QM2's size. Here's a picture of the Atlantic Basin I took two years ago. I wonder what they did with that Staten Island Ferry ghost ship that was moored there?
Amy of Newyorkology.com did the heavy lifting this morning and got herself down to the Brooklyn/Red Hook Cruise Ship Ferry Terminal to snap some pictures and record the arrival of the Queen Mary 2. Her account is available here.
Frankly, I'd rather disembark from a transatlantic voyage on a luxury cruise ship on the West Side of Manhattan instead of Red Hook's Atlantic Basin. And I'm not sure how comfortable I'd be leaving my car parked in that neighborhood for any extended period of time--it's sketchy, lots of barbed wire and Dobermans behind chain link fences. But the times are a-changing. The development of the Atlantic Basin does raise the possibility that I'll be able to look out my apartment window and see the Queen Mary 2 steaming out to sea on a regular basis and I'm not going to complain about that.
Gothamist has an entry on the QM2's entry into Brooklyn with an awesome eagle eye photo of the ship dwarfing the surrounding buildings. It's not as cool as Amy's shot of the QM2 emerging out of the fog though. That pic is Pulitzer material!
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 8:21 AM | NYC | Comments (0) | TrackBack
FUNNEY/STRANGE
I'm not sure how William Wegman is considered an artist while the guy that photographed a kitten clinging to a tree branch with the caption "Hang In There!" has become shorthand for pop culture hackery. Wegman's artistic bona fides are based on dressing up his dogs and taking their pictures, although the pets are named for culturally legit figures, e.g. Fay Wray and Man Wray. Nonetheless, I'm a big fan of Wegman's work, mostly because Weimeraners are my favorite breed of dog and the man must have something going on to get them to dress up and pose for the camera as he does.
The Brooklyn Museum is currently featuring the first public show of William Wegman's work in 15 years and it's called Funney/Strange.
William Wegman: Funney/Strange is the first retrospective of William Wegman's art in over fifteen years and represents his work in all media, including photography, painting, collage, and video. In all of Wegman's work the light humor of "funny" mediates the darker human comedy of "strange." His career, as the exhibition and the catalogue attest, has never been static or predictable; it is woven of enduring threads of interests and explorations that engaged him early and compel him still.Beloved by the general public and held in critical esteem within the international art world, Wegman fascinates both audiences for much the same reasons: his smart, gently subversive humor that destabilizes the familiar to reveal life's essential oddity. Throughout his career, he has moved seamlessly among various media, from conceptual works to commissioned magazine images, from video work to television segments made for Sesame Street and Saturday Night Live, from artist books to children's books, from photographic "landscapes" employing his dogs to his most recent series of collage paintings that incorporate scenic postcards with drawing in addition to paint. This exhibition brings together well-known Wegman images with rarely exhibited material and surprising new work to reveal the full range and savvy voice of this remarkable artist.
Funney/Strange is on display at The Brooklyn Museum through the end of May. The Brooklyn Museum is located just north of Prospect Park here. William Wegman's official site is located here. An example of the "Hang In There!" genre can be viewed here.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 7:37 AM | Culture & | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 14, 2006
EASTER WEEKEND
While it's not exactly Good Friday weatherwise, things should improve for the rest of the Easter Weekend, which is great for those looking to spend some time outdoors searching for eggs:
The annual Spring Eggstravaganza in Central Park is the feature Experience Spring event and will take place from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in the area surrounding the Naumberg Bandshell. New Yorkers will enjoy a variety of fun, free activities throughout the day, including egg dyeing, live entertainment, seed planting, Puppets in the Park, knitting clinics, a greenmarket, tons of free candy, and even a visit from Peter Cottontail!
What was that about "tons of free candy"? I should probably take this time to give a shout out to my Peeps. Peeps, I'll be seeing you in about 48 hours.
Citywide events are listed here. Gothamist.com highlights some more events here. Rhino Records has an awesome page of Great Moments in Peeps Rock History here.
(Chocolate bunny photo courtesy of Chela B. via Michelle K. Thanks ladies.)
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 3:11 PM | Current Events | Comments (0) | TrackBack
LUCKY 7
A certain young man I know is turning seven years old today. Wow, you're more than halfway to being a teenager! If I remember correctly, 7 years old was a very good year for me, although that was way back in olden times. I hope you have a good year ahead of you as well. Happy Birthday N.! Love you buddy.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 2:44 PM | Current Events | Comments (0) | TrackBack
UNITED 93
The Tribeca Film Festival debuts the film United 93 this month and the movie opens nationwide April 28th. It tells the story of the fourth hijacked airline on 9/11/01 that was allegedly going to be crashed into the White House or Capitol, but instead met its end in a field in Pennsylvania. I've seen the trailer online and have to agree that it's disturbing. I disagree, however, with the decision to pull it from NYC theaters.
The story of United flight 93 is one of the most dramatic from that day. After communicating with people on the ground via cellphone, the passengers on that flight knew that they were facing certain death and could very well be involved in a plot to kill hundreds if not thousands more. What happened next is still unclear, but the actions of the passengers in the ensuing minutes resulted in the only unsuccessful link in a heinous terrorist plot.
The site of the planned Flight 93 National Memorial is here.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 12:49 PM | Film | Comments (0) | TrackBack
LAST STOP
The terminus of the N Train line in Brooklyn is the Stillwell Ave. stop in Coney Island. Recently renovated, the station at Stillwell and Surf Aves. has been voted the best subway station in the city and I can't disagree. Unfortunately, when the N pulled into the station Thursday morning, one passenger wasn't getting off.
A man who remained in his seat after his subway train pulled into the last stop in Coney Island on Thursday was found to be dead, police said.
The man, whose name was not immediately known but was described by police as in his 50s, was found sitting in the front car of an N train at 1:55 a.m. When police checked to see why the man wasn't getting off at the Surf and Stillwell avenues station, they discovered that he was dead. The man did not appear to have any injuries, police said.
It was not immediately known how long the man had been dead before police found him.
A spokeswoman for t.he medical examiner's office said an initial autopsy was inconclusive.
The N Train is a favorite for homeless people looking to sleep through the night by riding the subway since the line goes all the way from Coney Island, through Brooklyn, through Manhattan, and then out to Astoria, Queens. It's not surprising that a dead person would go unnoticed for some time, especially at that hour.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 12:26 PM | NYC | Comments (2) | TrackBack
UNCOMMON CENTS
No one really pays much attention to pennies anymore. Many people behind the counter at stores round down their prices or round up you change in order to avoid dealing with cents. I tend to leave my pennies for the next person if I receive them as change. New Yorkers may want to check their change more carefully this week though.
A coin collector and former vice president of the American Numismatic Association is crisscrossing Manhattan this week and deliberately spending three rare one-cent coins.Scott A. Travers said one of the coins, a penny from 1909, could be worth more than $1,000.
Travers said he hopes the exercise will get people caught up in what he calls "the magic of coin collecting."
The other two pennies are from 1908 and 1914.
Cool!
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 12:16 PM | NYC | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 13, 2006
"BE EVIL"
"When Sergey and I founded Google, we hoped, but did not expect, it would reach its current size and influence," the letter said. "We also believed that searching and organizing the world's information was an unusually important task that should be carried out by a company that is trustworthy and interested in the public good. We believe a well-functioning society should have abundant, free and unbiased access to high quality information. Google therefore has a responsibility to the world."
That was two years ago, before Sergey Brin and Lawrence Page were filthy rich; well, maybe a day after they were filthy rich. Now that they're taking daily baths in room-temperature liquid gold, they've decided that the benighted rest of the world can go to hell.
Google's chief executive, Eric E. Schmidt, whose company has been sharply criticized for complying with Chinese censorship, said on Wednesday that the company had not lobbied to change the censorship laws and, for now, had no plans to do so."I think it's arrogant for us to walk into a country where we are just beginning operations and tell that country how to run itself," Mr. Schmidt told reporters from foreign news organizations.
Mr. Schmidt is visiting China this week to promote Google's new Chinese search engine and to meet with officials of government ministries. He announced the opening of a research and development center in Beijing's high-technology district and also introduced a Chinese-language brand name for the company's domestic search engine — Gu Ge, which roughly translates as "a harvesting song."
They may as well make that brand name "Gu Ge Go Fuck Yourself", because Google's Chinese service won't even let users know when their searches have been censored by their government.
Wait, the shit gets thicker and deeper:
Brin and Page, in their early 30s, will oversee the company in an unorthodox manner as "co-presidents" and may also invest its resources in unpredictable ways."We would fund projects that have a 10 percent chance of earning a billion dollars over the long term," the letter said. "Don't be surprised if we place smaller bets in areas that seem very speculative or even strange."
Danny Sullivan, editor of Search Engine Watch, said the letter struck some as being filled with hubris, while others sensed a refreshing message from a highly profitable company -- Google earned more than $100 million last year -- whose leaders have long said they want to do the right thing more than they want to make money.
Let's savor that for a moment shall we? ". . .they want to do the right thing more than they wan to make money."
Don't worry shareholders; that's just lip service. Google is following an example of good-hearted failure:
But Sullivan also said the letter reminded him a bit of Ben & Jerry's, the Vermont ice cream company that eventually stumbled after operating unconventionally for years. He said Google's "ivory tower" mentality means that it can stumble and seem out of touch, as it did recently with the introduction of Gmail, its free e-mail service with ads that was attacked by privacy advocates."They think nobody will have a problem since they think they are this lovely company out to do good," Sullivan said. "The real crunch will happen to them when the money is not rolling in."
I sat in on a lecture by a former chairman of Ben & Jerry's when I was in school and I actually pitied the poor bastard, who was made to mouth platitudes as he was required to run the company into the ground. He was fired the next year, although I hardly blame him.
Bear in mind that the founders of Google are the favored poster boys of anti-capitalist "humanitarians" around the world. When they chose to take the company public--and accept hundreds of millions of dollars of investors' money--they structured the deal to give shareholders no say in how the company was run. This supposedly was to prevent traders from influencing short-term company policy. Like many successful tech geek companies, there seems to be a very strong pro-authoritarian anti-democratic vibe thrumming throughout Google. And while I have no current recommendation on Google stock, the following language generally would lead me to advise investors to run in the opposite direction as quickly as possible:
The founders have an answer. They will retain voting control over all major decisions after the offering is completed, and warn potential investors to stay away unless they are willing to trust the founders and hold onto Google stock for the long term. The company, the letter said, won't pay attention to swings in quarterly earnings and has no intention of providing Wall Street with guidance about its financial outlook or business strategy.
Perhaps Brin and Page are off spending their billions, but their asinine pronouncements about corporate responsibility--the kind of moronic shit I had to endure for half a semester in undergrad b-school--has gone completely out the window. Others had a good idea where it was going two years ago:
Andy Beal, vice president of Websourced Inc. -- a firm that advises companies on how to advertise online -- said a quick survey of 100 customers revealed that 27 percent doubted Google could stick to the founders' principles after going public, while 20 percent thought they could. The rest were unsure.
"They are not prepared for the pressures of their shareholders and from Wall Street," Beal said. "At some point, the two sides are going to clash, and something has to give."
There's pressure from shareholders and then there's just being unprincipled billionaire pricks who can't differentiate between freedom and a murderous Communist dicatorship. I'm sure the latter's victims will eventually understand your position gentlemen.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 6:47 AM | Science & Technology | Comments (2) | TrackBack
April 12, 2006
THE LITTLEST CHEF
SOY is a small Japanese restaurant located on Suffolk St. right above Delancey in the Lower East Side. Its proprietor Etsuko Kizawa learned her cooking craft from her mother when growing up, and this becomes evident in the relaxed home-cooked style food and friendly atmosphere. SOY is not a sushi restaurant, rather specializing in soy dishes, although meat and fish items are available. The restaurant also offers a variety of made-on-the-spot beverages like ginger lemonade. Etsuko Kizawa maintains a blog for her restaurant and some of the entries demonstrate why it's such a pleasant place to visit and is a favorite of my nephew. An entry from earlier this week:
We had another incredible run last week. Friday night, my favorite boy Namazzi came for his usuals: a big glass of ginger lemonade, soy croquettes and of course, nameshi. He's been a faithful customer since he was four years old and he'll be seven next week. After meal, he wanted to come help in the kitchen. We were a little busy in the kitchen but the little guy was quietly begging me. So I brought him into the kitchen and told him to sprinkle little sesame here and there, lay avocado slices for spicy tuna bowls, and bring dishes to the front. I guess I inherited the skill to make use of a little person in the kitchen from my mother. She was always able to find me stuff to do to help her, aquiring culinary skills from early age. Namazzi was such a delightful eager help I wondered if I can have my own little slave in the kitchen some day.
Yep, that's my nephew she's talking about helping out in the kitchen above. The kid seems to make a good impression wherever he goes. He even has his picture up on SOY's customer polaroid Wall of Fame in the restaurant. I highly recommend SOY for casual dining. Not only is the service fantastic, but the food is fresh and well prepared. I've been informed that they recently got a liquor license as well, so one may want to try out some of their sake offerings. And if your food looks like it's been prepared by tiny little fingers, now you'll know what's really going on back in the kitchen. A map of SOY's location is available here. Check out SOY's menu here. And those interested in cooking might want to look into taking classes offered at the restaurant.
Gothamist.com's Youngna Park reviewed SOY this week.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 12:47 PM | Food & Drink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 11, 2006
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
After mixed results starting the season on the road, the New York Yankees are enjoying perfect spring weather this afternoon for the team's home opener in the Bronx against the Kansas City Royals. A three-run homer in the bottom of the first inning by Jason Giambi has the Yankee Stadium crowd buzzing happily. One crucial element that is missing, however, is the voice of Yankee Stadium announcer Bob Sheppard. It's his first missed home opener in 56 years after he threw out his hip last night at home. Get well soon Mr. Sheppard.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 1:21 PM | Sports | Comments (0) | TrackBack