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October 31, 2006
HAPPY HALLOWEEN
(Betty Page reincarnate via Mariya)
Today is officially Halloween, when kids go out and trick-or-treat. My personal Halloween coinciced with a friend's b-day party this Saturday. It was a good party. Kudos to hostesses Colleen and Meghan for putting on a hell of a good time. They even had a trick-or-treat box, where one could either reach in and grab a piece of candy or choose wrong and put your hand into a box full of brains and eyeballs [possibly spaghetti and grapes].
Colleen's sister Erin outdid herself with the desserts. A chocolate grenoche damned us all to our own peraonal fatty hells. A puffed pastry stuffed with brie cheese, strawberrys and kiwi was equally damning. The only salvation we had were candy sushi, which replaced rice with rice crispy treats, seaweed with green fruit roll-ups, and tuna with licorice. Freaking brilliant!
Anyway, thanks to Colleen and Meghan for a wonderful party. You guys know how to throw down like champs.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 4:31 PM | Culture & | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 27, 2006
HERE'S TO EVERLASTING OPTIMISM
Just a few months before Linus Van Pelt takes the small screen to impart his heartfelt bible passage of the birth of Jesus with the three wise men, he tips his hat in more pagan directions. Tonight at 8pm, ABC airs the classic "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown."
In this autumn classic, Linus foregoes trick-or-treating to wait in a pumpkin patch all night for the appearance of the "Great Pumpkin", who he believes will bring toys to all good boys and girls. He is kept company by his unwanted but adoring companion Sally. Charlie Brown of course goes out trick-or-treating in a ridiculous ghost costume.
"All I got was a bag of rocks. Rats."
Still, there's something to be said for Linus' unflagging optimism and belief in the unsubstantiated; i.e. it's hard to quantify love or faith or friendship. The only thing I wish was still included in the airing of this broadcast is that psychedelic rotating graphic that said "SPECIAL" accompanied with the stacatto drum soundtrack. I think it was CBS that used to use it to indicate regular programming was being interrupted for a holiday show and it always made me jump with excitement every few times a year it came on.
Whatever your weekend plans may be, may the Great Pumpkin bring you gifts.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 3:07 PM | Television | Comments (1) | TrackBack
October 26, 2006
MIXED-UP COMPANY
I'm not a big fan of political correctness. Hypersensitivity to ethnic and sociological differences can be more divisive than helpful. Still, it's interesting to wander upon a cinematic time capsule to reveal some insight into how how far we've come in matters of racial sensitivity or rather, lack of blockheaded-ness in that respect, over the last 30 years.
Today I stumbled upon a movie called Mixed Company starring Barbara Harris and Joe Bologna. The latter's character plays the coach of the Phoenix Suns--an actual NBA team--and the former is his wife. In the movie, the wife cajoles her reluctant husband into adopting an African-American, Vietnamese, and Native American boy girl and then boy into their family when they already have three children of their own. The tagline of the movie is "SURE YOU'LL LAUGH--IT AIN'T HAPPENING TO YOU!"
I think it would be instructive to screen this movie before college audiences around the country. There were few instances where I even contemplated thinking about laughter. It was more of a cringe-inducer. The strange thing is, I think this was supposed to an appeal to liberal toleration of minorities and the saving power of family over racial intolerance. Nonetheless, I was transfixed for an hour and a half by scene after scene of a through-the-looking glass peak at what American life must have been for minorities.
When the coach's wife drags him to a foster home picnic trying to convince him to adopt more children, the sympathetic and well-meaning social worker explains that one of the girls is the offspring of an American GI and a Vietnamese woman. "She's a mongrel. They found her abandoned in a 'hooch'" using a verbal pause in place of those little parentheses fingers people put up in the air. This was delivered completely straight without a hint of irony. It sounds like she's shopping puppies out of a storefront.
That is just the tip of the iceberg as far as this movie goes and the only quote I could grab my pen and notebook in time for. There are far far worse. The thing is this was supposed to be a progressively liberal picture of the times. I'm still against political correctness and over-sensitivity to racial affiliation--I think it's self-destructive to a healthy society--but I now have a much better appreciation of why the progress we've recently made was necessary.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 11:05 PM | Film | Comments (0) | TrackBack
COMEDY FROM UNEXPECTED CHARACTERS
The history of film is filled with actors one wouldn't expect to see in a comedy, yet Marlon Brando was hilarious in The Freshman and Robert DeNiro has re-invented himself as a comedic actor--only Robert Redford maintains a strict lack of humor in his roles. There is one other actor one would expect to remain hardboiled to the end: Humphrey Bogart. "What's funny about Bogie?" one would think. His entire career is centered around being a humorless tough guy.
I highly recommend seeing the movie We're No Angels. Starring Bogart, Aldo Ray, and Peter Ustinov as a trio of scamsters and murderers it is one of the most understatedly comedic and droll movies I've ever seen. The three men are convicts at Devil's Island who are intent on escaping after robbing and murdering the proprietor of an island store and his family after being farmed out to repair the store's roof. As movies go, however, they all turn out to be somewhat soft-hearted without letting go of their murderous intentions.
We're No Angels is funny for two reasons: one is the deft physical comedy of Bogart, Ray, and Ustinov. There are no pratfalls or Chaplinesque scenes. It's just little things worked into scenes, like the three of them washing dishes, where wash, rinse, and dry are accomplished by casually tossing plates and saucers blindly; I wonder how many takes that took. The second reason must be given to the credit of the writers, Albert Husson and Ranald MacDougall. The dialogue is full of double entendres and sly wit. As the three convicts being to realize they actually like the family they're about to rob and murder, Bogart's character insists "I hope none of you are losing your nerve!"
We came here to rob them and that's what we're gonna do - beat their heads in, gouge their eyes out, slash their throats. Soon as we wash the dishes.
That pretty much sums up the whole movie. A threesome of unavowed murderous and thieving men who are nonetheless seamlessly integrated into a happy domestic environment. It's set on Christmas Eve and Day, so this year, do yourselves a favor and skip It's a Wonderful Life and rent a much funnier film celebrating the spirit of redemption.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 4:48 AM | Film | Comments (1) | TrackBack
October 24, 2006
I KNEW THERE WAS A REASON
Some of my friends ask for it; some appreciate it; and some probably find it an unnecessary affected act of chivalry; but I generally make a practice of walking or cabbing female friends directly to their front doors late at night. I don't think it's irrational paranoia to fear for my friends' safety. It's a remote possibility, but every time I hear about some push-in rape, robbery, or murder, I shudder to think that it could be someone I let walk out of a door unaccompanied. NYC is safe, certainly, but it's not completely safe.
Late last week I was taking the subway home at a relatively late or early hour, depending on how one looks at it. My iPod's battery was dead so I got to eavesdrop on other people's conversations. Actually, eavesdropping wasn't completely necessary as the conversation, as it were, was pretty loud. A group of young men got on the train downtown and surrounded a young woman trying to read a book. Not-so-subtle flirtation quickly descended to abject crudeness and aggressiveness. These guys were clearly drunk and the girl eventually stood up and moved to the seat across from mine, looking a little shaken. Catcalls ensued and eventually she looked over at me. I mouthed "Are you okay?" and she moved to the seat next to me. I guess I have a trustworthy face. The catcalls then died down, despite my completely unimposing stature, but cowards are cowards. When her stop came up I asked her if she wanted me to walk her home and she answered only if those other guys get off the train here. I stood up with her at the door as if we were leaving together and shot a look at the morons. They were watching but not moving, so I let her get off by herself and I sat back down.
Over the past ten years, NYC has achieved one of the lowest violent crime rates per capita in the U.S. That doesn't immunize individuals from the inevitable victimization of a criminal act. I know this isn't fair, but hot girls in short skirts should not ride the subway alone at night. That's not a judgement on demeanor or action, just a pragmatic piece of advice. There are freaks out in the city. I see them more than I'd like. And that's why I walk my female friends to their doorsteps.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 6:38 PM | NYC | Comments (0) | TrackBack
ILLEGAL ENTERPRISE AND ADVERTISING
The online gambling world has apparently hit hard recently by the strengthening and enforcement of federal measures:
NEW YORK (AP) -- Gamblers may look over their shoulder now, but experts say a new Internet gambling ban won't keep bettors from ponying up, just turn them on to overseas payment services out of the law's reach.
''It has put a terrible scare into people,'' said I. Nelson Rose, who teaches gambling law at Whittier Law School. ''But it won't by any means wipe out Internet gambling.''
The fright swept through the $12 billion industry on the heels of the recent arrests of two gambling company executives and a new law President George W. Bush signed Oct. 13 that seeks to ban most online gambling and criminalizes funds transfers.
I'm glad this article was run today in the Times because I've been wondering about something for the past few days. If one goes into almost any commercial establishment's restroom these days, placed over the urinal or next to the sink, one will find relentless advertising for online gambling sites. And I mean relentless. In addition, the company that owns PartyPoker.com must spend millions in televised advertising. Why am I not seeing bathroom ads for NYC weed delivery services? The drug trade must equal the gambling industry in revenues at least.
I think the recent crackdown has less to do with a moral objection to gambling than a way for established corporations that operate huge casinos involving massive capital investments to attempt to stifle competition. That's too bad and will ultimately force gamblers into shadier and shadier unaccountable online venues or traditional local sportsbook operations, whose operators are more likely to bust your kneecaps than ruin your credit rating.
NB: I'll admit that I have a gambling problem. While I don't care to play or lose money on craps, poker, the slots, black jack or sports, I can't resist a good game of Left-Right-Center. Before anyone gets too concerned, LRC is the ultimate in low-stakes gambling. It's a dice game played with dimes, quarters, or dollars. It's about as nefarious a pastime as spin the bottle. The low stakes and fact that no one is eliminated from the game until the final roll makes it about 90%-less-tension-filled than your average Monopoly game, but as lively as a group around a craps table. So every few weeks, when someone says "Who wants to play Left-Right-Center?!" at a party or elsewhere, I find it hard to resist. I would estimate my total losses to this pastime over the past year to be under $10, while I strongly suspect I'm on the plus side. That's a gambling problem I can live with.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 4:40 PM | Culture & | Comments (0) | TrackBack
CINEMATIC PHILOSOPHY AND ANTI-PHILOSOPHY
God, that really is the worst title for an entry I've ever written. No one's clicking on this link. They should, however, because it's about a movie I saw this weekend that I can't resist watching every time I catch it on cable and called The Tao of Steve. The indie film is about navigating the personal difference between perceived satisfaction and actual happiness in love.
The Tao of Steve that the title refers to explains the difference between Steve personalities and Stu personalities. As explained by the protoganist Dex (Donal Logue), Steves are ultimate cool, who always get women without even having to try, e.g. Steve Austin, and Steven McQueen. Stu characters are Gomer Pyles, Jugheads and Barney Fifes; likeable to be sure, but not getting the girls.
Despite his total lack of ambition, pathetic physical condition (he describes himself to the woman he's wooing as "Alright, now I'm a fat disgusting pig"), and willingness to do a few bong hits first thing in the morning before heading off to teach first-graders--very successfully--Dex has an incredible way with seducing women that he credits to practice of the Tao of Steve, i.e. women always want what is retreating from them.
Dex, despite his slacker lifestyle, is a farely erudite philosophy student even ten years out of college. He believes his life of total inambition and acculturated non-desire affords him happiness as defined by philosphers such as Buddha and Lao Tzu. Sleeping with one of his friend's wife allows him to be completely unentrappable in romantic entanglements.
Then Syd (Greer Goodman) shows up for a few weeks to live with Dex's friends. Their relationship remains antagonistic throughout, but eventually Dex realizes that a life without longing and desire might not be what he's looking for, while he finds it difficult to shed his Taoist gameplan.
There are a few things I love about this movie. One is the setting, which is in New Mexico, apparently a beautiful section of the country I can't wait to visit. Second is the cast. Unlike most movies--especially romantic comedies--filled with impossibly good looking characters, The Tao of Steve seems like it could be cast with people you might know. Greer Goodman in particular is an unconventional beauty one could see almost anyone becoming infatuated with. Third is the soundtrack. You'll just have to watch the movie to appreciate the excellent selection the music director picked out. Fourth--and this is probably just exclusive to a minority of people, including myself--is the desire not to dumb down the script. Dex and Syd debate the meaning of the opera Don Giovanni over the hood over a pick-up truck, Dex can be found casually reading an examination of the Gnostic Gospels while sitting on his beat-up couch in his driveway next to his dog, and the film's title obviously clues one into the fact that it involves the use of eastern philosophies as a way to get girls.
It's an entertaining movie. I recommend it.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 8:32 AM | Film | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 21, 2006
THE OUT-OF-TOWNERS
You know when you know someone for ages and have heard countless stories about a third party you have never had the opportunity to meet? Last night I got to meet H, down from Boston to visit her cousin K who I count as my Loud-Mouthed Savior. So I was thrilled to finally get the opportunity to meet her, a woman I've heard more stories about than books read or Tostitos consumed. She seemed delightful and I hope I get to see more of her.
Fulfiilling out the weekend double bill is S. We used to be neighbors on the UES before she bolted out of NYC on a year-long tour of Australia and southeast Asia. It seemed to have been an excellent decision for her based on the dispatches I've received. Still, her plane's wheels touched down back in NYC this afternoon for a short while. We'll be catching up this evening; the World Series can wait.
There are few things sweeter than long-heard-about people fulfilling perceived expectations and distant friends finally returning home, no matter where they currently live. It also doesn't hurt when they're both stunningly beautiful women. Despite indications to the contrary, I'm a lucky lucky man.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 7:08 PM | NYC | Comments (0) | TrackBack
TRYING TO CATCH A LIVERY STABLE
The other week I was walking back from dinner at a friend's parents' apartment. It was one of those superb early autumn strolls that you'd like to remember for a while. My friend and I walked past and then paused at the former carriage house currently located at 201 1/2 East 29th Street. It's one of the cutest (and that's really the only way to architecturally describe it: freaking cute) in Rose Hill, which is generally dumped in with Murray Hill.
Manhattan is obviously great; Murray Hill is pretty picturesque as well. But for the most part, middle Manhattan is a sad historic and architectural wasteland. There are a few standouts, like the Morgan Library and the NYC Public Library, but for the most part it's a blighted landscape of corporate budget-minded modernism and ill-conceived nouveau structures. Clearly, the Chrysler Building escapes this designation.
Let's go back a few weeks. So there we were, standing in front of this tiny cottage-looking structure on 29th St., abutting a wood-frame house that was equally out of place in its Murray Hill neighborhood. I promised to go home and check out my AIA Guide to see what I could find. Turns out, this carriage house and it's neighboring structure are two of the oldest in the city. Given the neighborhood, I find it astounding. Regarding the adjoining house:
bet. Second and Third Aves. 1790? (carriage house). 1870 (house). James Cali, architect, John Sanguiliano, restoration architect.
A rare wood frame building, particularly in the Mannattan streetscape--not hidden in some out-of-the-way backyard. It seems too prim for its surrounding neighbors.
Like I said, the two buildings' presence in the neighborhood are enough to stop and give one pause, even when is well fed and strolling with a beautiful woman. Alright, that's a good start, but I'm a researcher of little-to-no dinstinction. What to do when one is posed with an urban architectural conundrum? That's a no-brainer; get in touch with Kevin Walsh, the editor of Forgotten NY and guider of historic tours--all in his spare time. I asked Kevin what he knew about the carriage house and he responded admitting he knew little. Goddamn--I say Goddamn!--if the guy didn't come up with something though.
This week he sent me a link to a New York Times article on the wood-frame house. There's not that much about the significantly older carriage house, but I'll take what I can get.
This tall post-and-beam structure is recorded on its site no later than 1840, and dating buildings in this period is usually a combination of inference and luck — especially luck.
In 1747, John Watts bought 131 acres between what are now East 21st and East 30th Streets, and named his place Rose Hill Farm, apparently after the family's property near Edinburgh. Mr. Watts was outspokenly loyal to the British crown, and before the Revolutionary War was banished from New York, forcing him to forfeit his land.
The main house at Rose Hill burned in 1779, but a deed from the 1780's mentions "houses, buildings, orchards, gardens" on the land.
In 1786, Nicholas Cruger paid "144 pounds" for most of what is now the block bounded by 29th and 30th Streets and Second and Third Avenues. Later notations indicated that the parcel had been divided into building lots in 1811, the very year the Commissioners' Plan establishing Manhattan's present street grid was adopted.
Thus, the odd lot on which 203 East 29th Street now stands was created at that time. It runs for 50 feet along 29th Street but is only 24 feet deep.
The creation of the lot suggests a particular purpose — perhaps to receive an outbuilding relocated from the Rose Hill estate because it lay in the path of new roadways?
The Department of Buildings first started issuing building permits in the 1860's, and before that time researchers must rely on yearly tax assessments to date buildings. The tax assessment for 1830 for this location says that Joseph Haskett, a saddler, had two lots and one building — but doesn't indicate whether the lot at what is now 203 East 29th was the one with the building on it.
It is not until 1840 that the tax assessment clearly indicates that there was a house on the lot at 203 East 29th, although it gives no indication of height or size. Tax records for 1860 indicate that the house was three stories high. Most people would describe the present house as being four stories high: a masonry-walled ground floor and three upper floors covered with clapboard.
This may not mean a lot to New Yorkers, but I find the existence of an 18th-century carriage house on 29th St. astounding. Even Stone St. downtown, which evokes the historical seafront of NYC was completely rebuilt following the huge fire of the mid-1800s. This particular little carriage house, was built circa 1790, just less than 25 years after George Washington hauled ass out of Brooklyn to flee across the East River then Hudson to Jersey, eventually culminating in the independence of the U.S. They knock down cathedrals in Manhattan. If you ever get the chance, take a stop and look at the carriage house at 201 1/2 E29th St. It may just be the oldest building you ever get the opportunity to see, in NYC anyway.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 10:50 AM | NYC | Comments (0) | TrackBack
KILLING WITH KINDNESS
Sometimes this nicest things are the things left unsaid. The New York Sun had an unintentionally hilarious article in its weekend edition: Muslim Brotherhodd Member Blocked From Participating in NYU Panel. It described how a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, an organization based in Egypt and the regularly acknowledged progenitor of a bizzare stream of homicidal Islam, was denied entry to the U.S. to attend a conference at NYU.
Kamal Helbawy, a prominent member of Britain's Muslim community, was on his way to New York to pariticpate in a panel on the Muslim Brotherhood at the New York University law school.
Probably intending on shaming the U.S. government, a panel participant threw gas on the poor bastard's personal and professional bonfire:
A senior fellow at the Nixon Center and a consultant to ABC News who partipated on the panel, Alexis Debat said Mr. Helbawy's absence was "outrageous.
"This was a huge missed opportunity for the U.S. government," Mr. Debat said. "Kamal Helbawy can help us in a major way to defeat Al Qaeda. He can be as helpful as CIA officer."
Mr. Helbawy did not reply "What? Wait, what? WHAT!?"
It gets better. Further in the article, there are more descriptions of the panel discussion.
The panel discussion, which proceeded despite Mr. Helbawy's absence, addressed the Muslim Brotherhood's role in world politics. But conversation inevitably veered toward Mr. Helbawy's conspicuous absence. Another panelist Nick Fielding, called Mr. Helbawy a "natural leader" and attested that he heard him give a very warm, very fascinating and very Christian" speech.
Again, Mr. Helbawy did not respond "Insh'allah, you guys are fucking killing me over here!
I know nothing about Kamal Helbawy other than from the article that he has said that Jewish people are involved in some bizarre satanic conspiracy; yeah, that makes a lot of sense. From his friends' direct quotes I do know this: they are goddamn morons. Nice going guys. Assign Christian sentiments to a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood and equate him with a CIA agent. Why don't you just shoot him the face at the airport and save his family the return fare?
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 10:10 AM | Current Events | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 20, 2006
ANY COMESTABLE PITCH IN A PINCH
The gentrification of Manhattan may have just arrived at its high tide, when its lowest-ebb residents demand fine dining from their street vendors. When I say lowest ebb, that's not meant in a pejorative sense, just that that it's in the city that never sleeps, there are highs and lows of activity. Apparently some break-of-dawn diners aren't satisfied with huddling into 24-hour-a-day coffee shops.
UNDER a nearly full moon, a small crowd was clustered around a street cart that spewed charcoal-scented smoke into the night air. It was 4:30 in the morning, and customers were clamoring for the kimchi hot dogs, kalbi burgers and other Korean-accented bites that Sam Talbot, the cart jockey, was dishing out on the Lower East Side.
Once the glassy-eyed gentleman in line ahead of me had secured a marinated and grilled short rib sandwich, agreeing enthusiastically to Mr. Talbot’s offers of additional kimchi, he turned to his more lucid companion and asked, “What is this?”
There was a time when more-well-heeled customers flocked to all-night establishments like Odeon or Blue Ribbon. Now even the heel-and-toe crowd can enjoy sidewalk knoshing on better than dirty water hot dogs. Five years ago--in the wake of 9/11, I remember walking around downtown in the early hours and it was a veritable ghost town. I'm not sure if this is encouraging or discouraging.
Kudos to the guys who stay up all night servicing annoying customers though. Every dollar is probably well earned. I've been tasked to squire a young out-of-town woman home this morning for a friend after what should be her quality evening of revelry. Maybe we should do some field reporting first.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 7:28 PM | Food & Drink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 19, 2006
IT'S OFFICIAL, LA IS THE NEW NYC
The New York Times Magazine recently chronicled the hilarious and futile fight against pigeons by some Los Angeles residents.
Dodson has lived in Hollywood for 29 years. She likes pigeons and does not want them killed or made to suffer. She said this repeatedly in the clipped, mildly truculent way she says a lot of things. But having helped muscle gangs and drugs out of her neighborhood in the 80’s, Dodson says she feels besieged again. She and her group, the Argyle Civic Association, have turned to a series of unconventional approaches to neutralize a problem they simply refuse to put up with. “We’re in the middle of the biggest boom, and there’s pigeons everywhere — like where they’re going to put the W hotel,” she says, invoking, as she often does, the upscale hotel as a symbol of Hollywood’s hard-won renaissance. “There’s nothing but pigeon poop.”
The equivalation of street gangs, luxury hotels, and pigeon shit in one paragraph illustrates why Los Angelenos are functionally insane and wouldn't last two minutes on the East Coast. I can give them a tip though. You can hate the pigeons. You can kill the pigeons--some of them. You're never going to get rid of all of them though. Learn to live with them.
UPDATE: A reread showed that Ms. Dodson wasn't equating a new luxury hotel with pigeon shit or street gangs; it was something to be welcomed. Insanity charges remain pending, based on what I've seen on Rivington St.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 2:47 PM | Current Events | Comments (0) | TrackBack
HALLOWEEN CANDY
Free candy. That pretty much makes Halloween the best holiday ever. The New York Times, however, has addressed the second-best-thing about October 31st: women feel emboldened to dress like total sluts.
“It’s a night when even a nice girl can dress like a dominatrix and still hold her head up the next morning,” said Linda M. Scott, the author of “Fresh Lipstick: Redressing Fashion and Feminism” (Palgrave Macmillan) and a professor of marketing at the University of Oxford in England.
The trend is so pervasive it has been written about by college students in campus newspapers, and Carlos Mencia, the comedian, jokes that Halloween should now be called Dress-Like-a-Whore Day.
Halloween is an adaptation of a religious holiday (All Saints' Day) copped from a Celtic pagan festival (Samhain), so perhaps we've just come full circle. I'm certainly not going to complain.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 10:29 AM | Culture & | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 18, 2006
I RECOMMEND NOT MISSING IT
Tomorrow night, AMERICANS are playing at The Annex on Orchard St. between Rivington and Stanton on the LES. They're playing with The Waylons, Aerovox, and The Coast. I know that neighborhood pretty well, but have never been to The Annex. A good friend did drag me to the Americans' show at The Mercury Lounge a few months ago, and between hanging out after that show and recent encounters, I got to tell one of the members that their unreleased album kicks ass. I listen to it constantly.
Truly good bands don't last forever. Hear them while you can.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 11:36 PM | Music | Comments (0) | TrackBack
BROKEN ANGEL FOUND TO BE ACTUALLY BROKEN
Broken Angel, a house that is a quixotic attempt to tilt at architectural windmills in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn caught fire last week. The fire was put out, but an ensuing inspection found the building unfit for safe habitation and its owners are being evicted.
The city’s Buildings Department inspected the four-story building on Thursday, two days after a fire in its rooftop addition. “Generally speaking, this building had numerous building-code violations that made it unfit to occupy,” said Jennifer Givner, a department spokeswoman.
After buying and moving in to the building, formerly the headquarters of the Brooklyn Trolley, in 1979, Mr. Wood gradually transformed it into a quirky piece of sculpture in and of itself, with an elaborate structure on top, partly exposed sides and intricate masonry. Marty Markowitz, the Brooklyn borough president, has described it as “a Rubik’s Cube of a spaceship.”
The New York Times was gracious enough to disclose that it had previously described the building in less-than-gracious terms.
Yet Mr. Wood has not always been happy with how his building has been portrayed. In a 2002 letter to The New York Times, he took issue with published comments characterizing his home as “a moonshine distillery gone crazy” and “just a crazy old man’s house.” He also disputed the description of his building as “a jumble of structures cobbled together seemingly without reason.”
HA! I'll have to check the NYT Style Guide, but I doubt that they approve of the editorial use of the phrase "crazy old man."
The following description of Broken Angel rang a bell:
The Woods’ son, Christopher, a stone carver, recently posted an appeal for aid at the Web sites brownstoner.com and flickr.com. “Many of you wonder what the hell my parents are doing with that building,” he writes. “They always were building an outline of a dream, a building that was different from the usual architecture of today.
“They did this while never having enough money to complete their dream. But that didn’t stop them from using found or discarded objects that we throw away every day like the glass bottles that they used to create stained-glass windows.”
The Broken Angel architectural project sounds a lot like Wing's Castle, located in Millbrook, NY in Dutchess County. For more than 35 years, Peter Wing has been constructing a residence overlooking the vineyard of the Millbrook Winery constructed of 80% recycled materials. He forages destroyed buildings and the surrounding farm country for elements to incorporate into his home. To date, the result is astounding. If one is ever in that part of the state it's worth stopping and taking a look.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 10:07 AM | NYC | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 17, 2006
MODERN PARABLES
There are as many theories about the true meaning of the film Donnie Darko that it's easy to dismiss the whole movie as a MacGuffin for conversation or a meditative koan. I recently watched the movie again, however, and found some interesting parallels. I think Donnie Darko's character is a highly reluctant Christ-figure, sent into the world to save it from darkness.
For those who haven't seen the movie, Donnie Darko is about a troubled teenager who appears to be mentally ill--and possibly could be--but who is visited by a dream figure who saves his life, directs his actions, and eventually introduces him to a world of time travel and the salvation of others.
In a discussion with his science teacher, Donnie talks about the seemingly contradictory nature of fixed destinies and the ability to see into the future. The teacher explains that the ability to see the future disposes of destiny, because one has choices. Donnie responds that one could control the future without disrupting destiny if one were travelling in "God's channel."
In one of the later scenes, Donnie's psychiatrist discusses the possible end of the world that he's foreseen:
If this world were to end, there would only be you... and him... and no one else.
The "him" they're talking about is unclear, but most likely about Frank, the omnipotent character dressed as a rabbit that keeps visiting Donnie in his dreams and directing his actions.
Donnie: How can you do that?Frank: I can do anything I want. And so can you.
Donnie is a reluctant savior because he feels completely detached from humanity and doesn't understand why. Discussing with his English teacher:
Karen Pommeroy: This could be the death of an entire way of life, the end of an era...
Donnie: Why should we care?
Karen Pommeroy: Because the rabbits are us, Donnie.
Donnie: Why should I mourn for a rabbit like he was human?
Karen Pommeroy: Are you saying that the death of one species is less tragic than another?
Donnie: Of course. The rabbit's not like us. It has no... keen look at something in the mirror, it has no history books, no photographs, no knowledge of sorrow or regret... I mean, I'm sorry, Miss Pommeroy, don't get me wrong; y'know, I like rabbits and all. They're cute and they're horny. And if you're cute and you're horny, then you're probably happy, in that you don't know who you are and why you're even alive. And you just wanna' have sex, as many times as possible, before you die... I mean, I just don't see the point in crying over a dead rabbit! Y'know, who... who never even feared death to begin with.
In the movie, Donnie has a history of social destruction and commits destructive acts against evil people that mirrors Jesus' overturning of the moneychangers' tables in Jerusalem's temple. Eventually, he comes to realize his role in life and death:
Donnie: Why do you wear that stupid bunny suit?
Frank: Why are you wearing that stupid man suit?
Donnie's purpose is to save mankind as personified by his girlfriend, who has the sins of humanity weighing on her shoulders.
Dr. Lilian Thurman: What did Roberta Sparrow say to you?
Donnie: She said "Every living creature on earth dies alone".
Eventually, Donnie Darko sacrifices his own life to save his girlfriend. At the moment of her death, Donnie whispers "Deus ex machina. . . Our Savior" That's a literary device to effect a plot seemingly from nowhere. Literally translated in latin, it means a device of God. It is the time when he realizes to save her life he must sacrifice his own.
In the end, Donnie Darko gives his life up willingly and laughing and his corporeal body remains on earth, yet also has been transported through a "hole in the sky." And his girlfriend has been saved, unaware that she's never even met him.
There are several allusions in the film that substantiate this interpretation. One is the marquee of the movie theater panned to when Donnie and Gerladine go on a date. It's a double feature showing Evil Dead and The Last Temptation of Christ. The first title is a metaphor for the spiritual state of the world before Donnie chooses his sacrifice. The latter title refers to a movie about Jesus' struggle to choose sacrifice and mankind's salvation over the promise of his own life.
This is a fairly extemporaneous interpretation of Donnie Darko, one that I came up with just while watching the film for the 10th time or so. I could be totally off, but it seems logical. Blame the Jesuits.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 3:12 PM | Film | Comments (2) | TrackBack
NUTS!
Hey, remember when I said that I thought that NYC was getting a little unhinged? The other day a guy was verbally assailing K at work with death threats for being reminded that he was 86'd several times a few years ago for abberant behavior--alright, asshole behavior. My attemtps to calm him were completely unsuccessful.
A neaby bartender recently notified K that this nut who'd threatened her with death had decided to rob a couple at gunpoint on the same Avenue where K works. So now there's a complete lunatic running around with a gun!
As far as I knew, the guy was locked up, but I was walking up 2nd Ave. Saturday night to meet some friends and bumped into one of the cops I know from the 17th (Precinct). Apparently they arrested a guy by the same description, but it's totally the wrong guy, so this psycho's still wandering the neighborhood.
I spent Sunday feeling like a Secret Service officer at the arm or on the ass of a politician as K and I went grocery and candle shopping. They better arrest this guy right quick or I'm going to have an anxiety attack. I'm waiting for some Mark David Chapman-like freak to jump out out of the shadows and I'm afraid I'm the type to take a bullet for someone I love. Yeah yeah, she's a total freak; but I love her like a sister.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 2:04 AM | NYC | Comments (0) | TrackBack
WORST CASE SCENARIOS
Sometimes worst-case scenarios are realized and one's kid is diagnosed with cancer. I spent some time last night with a guy who'sa member of a family I've known for almost a decade. As far as I know him, he's a good guy who's spent a lot of time and energy generating a lot of funds for others in tortuous situations. Now he's in the proverbial crapper with a young daughter with leukemia.
Fortunately, she was diagnosed with the less deadly version of the disease (ALL). Knock on wood, a six-year-old will get through the more difficult session of her chemo not hating life and surviving.
There will be a benefit at the Black Bear Lodge this Thursday to raise funds for her care. It's gonna be crowded, possibly somber, but possibly fun, because the people there all have good hearts and good spirits. Plus, people may be drunk; I'm just saying.
If anyone wants to make a donation to the personal interest of a family with a child suffering from Leukimia and can't make it to the benefit, please get in touch with me personally. I'll put you in touch directly. And if one doesn't have the means to make a donation, please send your best wishes directly or indirectly.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 1:27 AM | NYC | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 14, 2006
SILENT PROTEST
The New York Times reports today on unrest at the nation's pre-eminent college for the deaf:
The authorities at Gallaudet University, the nation’s only liberal arts university for the deaf, moved on Friday to end a three-day siege by protesters by arresting the students opposing the board’s choice of the next president.
The campus police went into an area where about 100 protesters sat with arms interlocked, arresting them one by one and handing them over to Washington police officers who had blocked off the street along a side entrance to the university where the student protesters had gathered. As organizers had rehearsed in days leading up to the confrontation on Friday night, students went limp when arrested. They were then carried away by three or more officers.
In one of the lousiest pieces of reporting I've ever read--one that leaves more questions raised than answered--the Times doesn't elaborate on why nearly a hundred people would choose to be arrested.
The protesters are demanding the immediate resignation of Jane K. Fernandes, the former provost who was named last spring to succeed Dr. Jordan as president. Students have complained that the selection process was skewed and that Dr. Fernandes lacks leadership qualities. Dr. Fernandes met Friday with four protesters and Mr. Goldstone for more than an hour, but they found no resolution to the standoff that has paralyzed this university for a week.
I may be exceedingly obtuse, but it seems like there may be some more backstory to this story, right? Can the Times elaborate, please?
The only redeeming feature of this story is the laugh line from one of the arrested students: "Go get the drug dealers"
Anyone who's ever lived in DC will join me in a hearty chuckle on that one. Ha! Ha ha ha ha ha ha! College kids! They're so cute.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 12:28 PM | Current Events | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 13, 2006
BIG RED AND BLUE, BUT I'M COLORBLIND
I'm an infant of IBM, no doubt. My parents met each other while they were IBM employees, married as IBM employees, and raised all four of their children under the umbrella of IBM healthcare.
My mom recently retired, after difficultly ceding her job to someone in China.
I.B.M., based in Armonk, N.Y., spends 30 percent of its $40 billion annual procurement in Asia, the company said in a statement yesterday, confirming the move to Shenzhen that was first announced to suppliers in May. This is the first time that I.B.M., the world’s biggest computer services company, has moved the headquarters of one of its largest divisions to China.
I was in Shenzen, China, where they relocated operations, a decade ago. Hookers and barbers seemed to be the primary industry and they weren't mutually exclusive. Kudos to China for making great strides, Shenzen in particular. IBM: I hope you know what you're doing.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 4:41 PM | Science & Technology | Comments (0) | TrackBack
LIKE IN THE OLD NEIGHBORHOOD
I was in one the neighborhood corner stores in Brooklyn early this afternoon. As I waited for my sandwich to be prepared, my eyes started wandering over the multiplicity of scratch-off games, dried meats, and candy they have at the register. Eventually, my eyes settled on a half sheet of yellow legal paper posted behind the counter filled with a cryptic string of numbers.
"Hey, are you guys part of a numbers racket?" I asked because I know them well enough that I didn't think they'd be insulted.
"Is not racket."
"You do know it's totally illegal though, right?"
"You play?"
"Nope, just wondering."
Leaving the store with my sandwich, I had to laugh to myself all the way down the block. They're still running the numbers in Crooklyn!
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 1:24 PM | NYC | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 12, 2006
BEST ALBUM TITLE EVER
Yo La Tengo released a new album yesterday with possibly the best title ever issued. I'm not a fan of violence or personal confrontation, but there is a certain poetry to the adjoinment of an idiotic challenge with arcticulatness that makes the album title pure poetry.
"I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass"
I'm sorry, there's just something about that that makes me smile a little and giggle.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 1:01 PM | Music | Comments (2) | TrackBack
GOOD QUESTION
"I can't see him doing anything like this," said the perplexed father, who hasn't been able to speak to his son. "He never did anything like that before, so why would he be rabidly anti-gay?"
That's the question asked by the father of a 19-year-old who allegedly beat and chased Michael Sandy onto the Belt Parkway in Brooklyn, where Sandy was struck by a car and now lies in a vegetative state on his 29th birthday. The attacker, John Fox, lured Sandy to a spot near Sheepshead Bay over the Internet.
John Fox, 19, of Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, was the man Michael Sandy first met after communicating via MySpace.com, e-mail and instant messages.
Fox then lured him to a spot by the parkway, where the suspect and three friends allegedly robbed and beat Sandy, whom they considered "an easy mark" because he is gay, police said.
I won't hold my breath for any plays or movies to be made of this incident, a la the Matthew Shepard affair, because it doesn't involve benighted ignorant red-staters, but dyed-in-the-wool New Yorkers. This is so depressing. What kind of malevolent idiots want to beat on gay people? Even the people of Mayberry left Floyd the barber alone, and I'm pretty sure he was totally gay. The emptiness of some people's lives that allows space for that volume of hatred really scares me sometimes.
Condolences to Michael Sandy's family. I hope he recovers.
UPDATE: Unfortantely, Michael Sandy died from his injuries.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 11:57 AM | NYC | Comments (0) | TrackBack
THE TIDES HAVE IT
When I lived on the Upper East Side, I occasionally would head over to Carl Schurtz Park and watch the East River. One would think that such a large river would flow slowly and gracefully, but it's actually pretty rapid moving. When I worked on 42nd St., I'd often take lunch a few blocks south at the river and watch it up close. Just three feet away, one could see that there were whirlpools and eddies throughout.
New York Harbor is actually an estuary where ocean and river mix. This causes extremely strong tidal currents in the rivers, where the ebb and flow of the ocean meeting an outgoing river causes water to roil to the point of creating spontaneous whitecaps. It's fascinating to watch.
My sister visited Roosevelt Island this week and clued me in to a plan that a company has to form a submarine power network to harness that energy. Like windmills, there would be several submerged propellers that would harness the powerful tidal energy to power the [and this sounds historically inane] the Gristedes Market on Roosevelt Island at first.
Yeah, that sounds ridiculous. But until you've stood at the edge of the East River and noticed that it's not just a slow-moving estuary, but a large rushing stream, you'll know the possible potential of the project.
A related Gothamist post on the same topic.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 2:45 AM | NYC | Comments (2) | TrackBack
October 11, 2006
MAKING MY MOM HAPPY, FINALLY
Finally, one of my siblings stepped up to the plate and a wedding is in the planning. Barring a Vegas or City Hall elopement, my brother Tom will be the first of our merry band of four to marry after proposing to his now-fiance Sarah this past weekend. Congratulations kids.
I'll be in Santa Fe, NM next Labor Day, so don't invite me to anything else.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 11:56 PM | Current Events | Comments (1) | TrackBack
A FATE WORSE THAN LOSING
New Yorkers received a terrifying scare and then news of a tragic loss today. Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle, who is an amateur pilot, was flying up the East River when his single engine prop plane suddenly veered to the side and slammed into a high-rise apartment building on East 72nd St., starting a fire in the building and scaring the bejeezus out of NYC residents who couldn't help but remember 9/11.
Lidle's last performance as a Yankee was during the ALDS Game 4 loss against Detroit when he pitched 1 1/3 innings in relief of Jaret Wright, striking out one and allowing 2 hits.
Fortunately, no one in the building was killed, but a second man--Lidle's flight instructor--perished in the crash. There is really no upside to a tragedy such as this, merely reassuring signs. The nearest hospital was reportedly ready for casualties even before the crash happened when observant nurses noticed a low-flying aircraft and immediately sent the ER into crisis mode. And within minutes of the crash, Manhattan's airspace was being patrolled with fighter aircraft--something that will be significant to those who have seen United 93, in which the disconnect between civilian air controllers and the military is disconcerting. On a kind note, I was happy to hear that the Red Cross did not have to house any of the people evacuated from their building on a rainy day in NYC. The owner of the building is paying for hotel rooms for every tenant in the 50-story tower.
Cory Lidle is survived by his wife Melanie and his six-year-old son Christopher.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 11:11 PM | NYC | Comments (0) | TrackBack
EASTER RISING
'Tis, the follow-up to Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes--that ended in an escape to America from poverty and desperation in Cork to a hopeful new start in America--wound up being a depressing repeat exhibit of the author's father's self-destructive alcoholism.
A few years ago. Michael Patrick MacDonald wrote a similar memoir of growing up in a community of dysfunction and poverty among the Irish, except it was of Irish Americans living in the Cork of America: South Boston, an insular community plagued by criminality, discrimination, poverty, and substance abuse. It's called All Souls and I highly recommend it.
Unable to flee a country where he saw four of his brothers die, MacDonald fled to a different social milieu: the '80s punk scene and eventually NYC's Lower East Side. Unlike McCourt, who waited until old age to acknowledge himsef, MacDonald came to terms with his past and wrote his memoir at an early age. His follow-up parallels McCourt's in that, what do you do when you escape?
I know the author and talked to him a few times while he was writing this book. The last time I talked to him was on the subway. You've never seen anyone until he's wrung out and a few weeks past his publisher's deadline, trying to finish the story of his life. That is pressure. The revelation that he was part of the '80s punk scene is amazing, because he's the most soft-spoken and reserved guy I've ever met.
I haven't read the new book Easter Rising: An Irish American Coming Up From Under yet, but plan on doing so soon.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 1:15 PM | Books | Comments (0) | TrackBack
WHAT? WHAT?
This story brings me one smashed guitar closer to Pete Townsend:
A Columbia University study shows those sometimes cringe-inducing sounds in the subway can exceed the recommended hearing guidelines set by the World Health Organization and the Environmental Protection Agency.
The research finds as little as 30 minutes of exposure to subway noise per day can result in some form of hearing loss.
What the report doesn't note is that the loudest noises generated by the subway system are by teenagers, who apparently are compelled by hormones to communicate solely in a shouting volume. It's fascinating to watch a group of people separated by inches or less than two feet conduct a friendly conversation in a SHOUTING VOICE. It's like they all just came out of an AC/DC concert and are suffering from temporary tinnitus.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 12:56 PM | NYC | Comments (0) | TrackBack
AN AWARD FOR A TRUE GEM OF A GENTLEMAN
(A Man of Family and Biz-Ness)
The story of the old family firm put out of business by big-box retailers and large-volume retailers is, frankly, becoming a tired one. Sometimes the key to success is superlative customer service and relationships maintained within one's community.
I am happy to publicise the recent honoring of a man who has served the upstate community I grew up in and have known for decades. Leonard Zimmer, Jr. was recently awarded with its Business Excellence Award by the Dutchess County Economic Development Corp. That almost seems laughable at the outset, as Leonard Zimmer, Jr.'s business has probably pre-dated that organization by about a century.
Still, Leonard Zimmer, Jr. has a reputation that must be acknowledged:
The family-owned jewelry business has a long, successful history in Dutchess County.
The first store was opened 113 years ago by Thomas Zimmer Jr., whose father was a cigarmaker. It was on Garden Street in the City of Poughkeepsie. In 1899, Thomas Zimmer Jr. and brother Fred Zimmer joined forces and moved the store to 148 Main St. That's how it got it's name — Zimmer Brothers.
In 1914, Zimmer Brothers moved again to be near the Luckey Platt department store, to 319 Main St., and two years later, Thomas Zimmer Jr.'s son Leonard Zimmer Sr. joined. In 1918, the store relocated to 329 Main St.
Thirty years later, Leonard Zimmer Sr.'s son, Leonard Zimmer Jr., went to work at Zimmer Brothers and began his 58-year career in the business.
The company has since expanded and contracted and currently holds fast and profitable down the street from Vassar College. This is not a disinterested post. I've known the Zimmers and Gordons for going on 20 years. Save for my own family, I've spent more Thanksgivings and Christmas Eve's with the Zimmers and Gordons than anyone I've ever known. They're a fantastic family, to the end of every branch.
Congratulations Mr. Zimmer. I'm surprised it took so long for you to be recognized as the true asset to your community that you are. Your family and friends have known it for a long time.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 12:37 AM | Current Events | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 8, 2006
WHO OWNS WHO?
The New York Times highlights a fascinating legal mobius strip involving the legal ownership of the images of public figures. The article focuses on the personality of Rosa Parks, an iconic figure of the civil rights movement, but also an image that is pawned on everything from sidewalk tchotchkes to corporate ad campaigns.
Rosa Parks — civil rights symbol in life, marketing phenomenon in death — has become the centerpiece of the kind of posthumous peddling usually associated with athletes and Hollywood stars. While licensing experts estimate the current value of selling Mrs. Parks’s image at only six figures a year, they say that over time millions of dollars will be made by those who control her likeness. Mrs. Parks’s courage and standing have also made her one of the few recent African-American political figures, along with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, whose image can generate handsome profits.
One would figure fair use for the image of a public figure, but sometimes that use can get ugly and crass:
William McCauley, 47, one of Mrs. Parks’s nephews, is leading the family’s legal battle against her estate’s executors. Mr. McCauley said he began seeing his aunt’s image pop up in advertisements all over Detroit shortly after her death. One of those ads, which ran in The Detroit Free Press, showed his aunt’s smiling face, along with the dates of her birth and death, next to a logo for the Greektown Casino, a local gambling establishment. “What a ride,” the ad said in bold type.
The image pictured above, in fact, is from an Apple Computer ad campaign. So who's a public figure? Bob Dole was a U.S. Senator and also shilled erection medication for a pharmaceutical company. Could a penis-enlargement-pill company use his face promoting its product? What about the day after he died? What right does he have to control the commercial use of his public image? Sports figures like Michael Jordan tend to be strictly commercial--and make hundreds of millions of dollars off of their appearances--but that money is derived from the public figures they are.
An easy distinction could be made by saying that the use of a famous personage should be illegal if it's for strictly commercial purposes. Here's the rub though. What happens when a person or the estate of a public person makes their entire life proprietary? The estate of Martin Luther King Jr. recently sued that the entire contents of his life were private property and license-worthy.
What are the implications there? Any textbook or newspaper (given, they're commercial operations) are required to pay a fee to excerpt segments from MLK's "I Have A Dream" speech? How far can one monetize history? Will the spread-out family tree of William Jennings Bryan get back to their roots and try to crucify us on a "Cross of Golden Reparations" for millions of unlicensed references?
I honestly don't know.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 6:19 AM | Current Events | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 7, 2006
SAY IT AIN'T SO JOE TORRE! SAY IT AIN'T SO!
The Yanks are done for the season. After attaining an ironclad lead in their division during the regular season, the team folded like a vinyl billfold in the ALDS: cheaply and easily.
Nothing against the Detroit Tigers; they were excellent throughout most of the season and their playoff pitching was matchless. 23-year-old Jeremy Borderman has already attained historical status, even if he plays baseball for another 25 years. He shut down what is possibly the greatest hitting team in the history of baseball for 8 2/3 innings, allowing only 4 hits and one run. The Yanks were completely hitless through the first 5 innings of the game. It's as if a baggage handler at Detroit's airport secretly replaced New York's bats with leaden wands.
The only highpoint of the game was catcher Jorge Porsada smacking a two-run homer for the Yanks in the penultimate at-bat of the game. Cold comfort, to be sure, but I've been writing half the season about how great Jorge is. It seemed like tragi-poetic justice.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 7:34 PM | Sports | Comments (0) | TrackBack
MAKE OR BREAK TIME
As I write this, the Yankees are probably feeling like a family of stranded Mormon motorists in the breakdown lane on the wrong side of Detroit's 8 Mile. I don't use the word stranded lightly. New York left seven baserunners parked and unable to score as Detroit starter Kenny Rogers dealt a dead man's hand to the Bombers.
Rogers was incredible. Facing 30 hitters over 7 2/3 innings he continually shut down the most powerful offensive force in Major League Baseball, allowing five hits, no runs, and striking out eight. The 9th was the only inning the Yanks didn't reach base offensively, but they could just not get anyone home.
I'm not an ARod hater, but Alex Rodriguez insists on continuing to disappoint. He was 0-3 and hit by a pitch in the top of the sixth. The people I was watching the game with seemed to actually sigh in relief; at least he got on base somehow. The only real standout performance--and this is a sad statement--was by Jorge Posada, who went 2-4 with a single and a double.
If the Yankees don't win this afternoon the whole season is over. Some people are griping that the Yanks just need to trade ARod if he doesn't shape up tonight and, hopefully, through October. The thing is, there are few teams who could afford his roughly $25mn/year contract. The organization would have to suck it up and just take a huge hit to get rid of him. I see a little merit in that option. When Gary Sheffield and Hideki Matsui were out with injuries, the Yanks got fantastic performances from called-up players from Columbus, meaning they can win without relying on checkbook mercenaries. Still, acquiring the older and pricey Abreu from Philly late in the season seemed to pay off in spades.
This may all be academic. All sins tend to be forgiven when The Boss is holding the World Series trophy and banners are being raised. We'll know over the next few hours and nine innings.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 4:07 PM | Sports | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 5, 2006
LOOKING BACK AT NOLA
(Photo taken without permission from Alvaro Morales)
It's a little past the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and the near-total devastation of New Orleans. While one can't prevent the weather, the massive loss of life that occurred over a few days will remain a blight on our national reputation for generations.
There are millions of stories to tell about a city underwater. My brother's girlfriend had to evacuate and the pictures of her once-submerged apartment are telling. My favorite professor from school had to curtail one of his first year's as the head of a New Orlean's university due to the overall shutdown of the city.
Some of the most horrific stories coming out of the Big Easy are related to healthcare facilities. Stories about the infirm and elderly with no way to escape and no infrastructure to evacuate them are heartbreaking. Some doctors were recently charged with homicide after being accused of euthanizing patients rather than leaving them to drown or die of heat exhaustion.
For the most part, however, the measures taken by medical staff to care for people in the wake of Katrina were no doubt heroic by any reasonable standard. I was lucky to get in touch with Dr. Jaime Alleyn by email recently, looking for his impressions of the New Orleans disaster. After an impressive stint as my college roommate, Dr. Alleyn went off to med school and found himself a new home at Tulane's medical center in New Orleans. A native of Miami, FL, Alleyn is no stranger to hurricanes, although he was always an irritating super-fan of a team by the same name. I asked the good doctor some questions a few weeks ago. The answers follow:
WHAT WERE YOU DOING BEFORE KATRINA?
1. I had just started my fourth year of residency at Tulane in the Dept of OB/GYN. I was the Administrative Chief Resident at the time.WHAT WERE YOU DOING DIRECTLY (24 HRS) BEFORE KATRINA?
2. I was in charge of making the hurricane schedule. Anytime that a hurricane is announced, the hospital declares a code grey. We then have to submit a code grey team to the hospital. This team consists of two shifts of personnel. There are residents from all levels(house officers I-IV) and attending physicians. The idea is to have two teams that can alternate working in shifts. This team is required to stay in the hospital until the code is called off. Some people also bring their families to the hospital with them. We have to select a code grey team for every hospital that we cover(3). The rest of the residents are told to evacuate the city as per the Mayor's order. In the past, this meant staying the hospital for a couple of days until the threat passed. Once the team had reported to University Hospital 24 hours prior to the Katrina, we began to discharge all patients that were not critically ill. The patients that were left were ones that had to stay( for medical reasons or transport reasons).WHAT DID THE CITY'S PREPAREDNESS APPEAR TO BE; DID THE HOSPITAL STAFF SEEM WORRIED?
3. We usually go through about 4 code greys throughout the year. Most hurricanes avoid New Orleans, and all we get is a little bit of rain. This year had been particularly busy, but most of the team had already experienced a hurricane in New Orleans. While this one seemed to be a little more powerful, I didn't sense that people were really scared. I personally have lived through several hurricane in the past, including Georges in Puerto Rico and Andrew in Miami. I couldn't have imagined that this would have been worse. For the first 24 hours, things progressed as planned. The code grey was running as scheduled and the whole process was relatively well organized. It was just as we had run it in the past.WHAT WAS THE HURRICANE LIKE?
4. The actual hurricane was very similar to the ones I had experienced in the past. There was lots of wind and rain. There were some broken windows, but overall the structure seemed to withstand the hurricane fairly well. That first night the electricity shut down, but the generators were working. In the morning, there was flooding in the streets, but that was relatively normal. Those streets usually flood with just a little bit of rain. At this point, we still had running water and spotty cell phone coverage. We rounded on our patients in the morning. There were no major complication with any of our patients. At this point we tried to find out, what was going on outside. As the water level continued to slowly rise, we knew that something had to be wrong. In past code greys, there was some flooding, but it usually went away fairly quickly. Since the generators were on the first floor, they stopped working. I finally got through to my parents in Miami, and they told that it seemed that the levees had broken. This is when we realized that we were going to be here a while.HOW WOULD THE GENERAL RESPONSE--CITY, STATE, AND LOCAL MEASURE?
5. Obviously, there was a breakdown by all parties involved (Federal, State, Local). From our point of view, we could not tell what was going on in the outside world. There was very little information coming in. In the end, we were in the hospital for six days following the hurricane.WHAT WERE YOUR EXPERIENCES FOLLOWING KATRINA?
6. I returned home to Miami following the hurricane. I was there for three painful weeks, not knowing where or if I would be able to finish my residency. By the last week of September, I was told that we would be going to Houston to continue my residency for the next couple of months. As I was preparing to move to Houston, I found out hat a hurricane was about to hit the city. I eventually made it to Houston, and was there for five months.ARE THERE ANY STARK MEMORIES YOU HAVE OF THE INCIDENT?
6. After going through an experience like that, there is no way that you could say that we are the same. That goes not only for the people that were in New Orleans for Katrina, but also those that were forced to evacuate. I think that everyone that was affected by Katrina is now stronger and has a different outlook on life.
Although we were dealing with some very sick patients, some of which did not make it through the storm, I will always remember the chaos of the Superdome. It is sad to think that in a country as powerful as ours, this would be allowed to happen.HOW LONG WERE YOU IN NOLA FOLLOWING KATRINA?
7. I was in the hospital for six days following Katrina. I am now living in NOLA trying to help rebuild this wonderful city.A YEAR LATER DO YOU THINK YOU'VE CHANGED AT ALL?
8. After going through an experience like that, there is no way that you could say that we are the same. That goes not only for the people that were in New Orleans for Katrina, but also those that were forced to evacuate. I think that everyone that was affected by Katrina is now stronger and has a different outlook on life.
Super-thanks to Dr. Alleyn for answering these questions and contributing to Lexiphane.com. I know typing has never been his strong suit, so I really appreciate the effort. I'm also sure the entire country echoes an appreciation of what healthcare workers managed in an impossible situation. Give it up for NOLA's Kindest!
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at 7:13 AM | Current Events | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 4, 2006
SAME AS IT EVER WAS
Gothamist today pointed out an article in The Daily News about the difficulty of being a street vendor in NYC.
"It's a battle every day," said Sims, 31, of Brooklyn. "They give you a ticket if you are 20 feet from a storefront. They give you a ticket if you are 20 feet from the crosswalk. Where are we supposed to go?"Sims was among dozens of angry licensed vendors who rallied in City Hall Park yesterday as the Urban Justice Center released a report showing most of them live near the poverty line and pay an average of $433 in fines every year.
"These are honest people," said Sean Basinki of the Street Vendor Project at the Urban Justice Center.
"They work hard and they support an average of four other people," he said. "Most of them make around $7,000 to $15,000 a year."
James Dickens, who also sells handbags in midtown, said sometimes he is hit with four or five tickets at once. "I feel like we are being harassed," said Dickens, 51, who lives in the Bronx. "I just want a fair shake."
Man, that shook something out of the inner recesses of my brain that I haven't thought of in years. According to Amazon.com the book was reissued in 1986, but I could've sworn that I did a book report on it 25 years ago or least. I'm talking about The Pushcart