googlefight!

the world is becoming increasingly quantifiable, measurable, and web-browsable...so what do we as a species do with that? i guess you could learn about obscure highly specialized things, glean copyrighted media, or even talk to far away friends. no, that would be stupid. i wanna know the definitive (or at least google derived) answer to the time honored question: who would win in a fight? it's true--people don't want what they want, they want what they know.

fight!

seriously.

it doesn't take much more than awareness--so think twice, which is a pretty good rule for just about everything.



via snob

making the most of a late arrival.

i've been busy. or feeling busy. maybe both. that seems to have an effect on my approach to free time. what form that effect takes has a polarity i don't quite understand. on one hand, time is precious--and i'd like to make the most of every second. on the other hand, i want to relax in the hardcore-junkie-squatter sense of the word. recently i've been erring on the side of doing more, not less.



via flickr

summer stage events, mccarren park pool parties, david byrne's playing the building, and olafur eliasson's east river waterfalls are some of the really wonderful things about new york. to not take advantage of these things seems like a mistake. a mistake i felt i was making until only a few weeks ago. this weekend i managed to catch two summer stage shows, and reclaim a bit of my integrity. battles on saturday, a band i can't seem to get enough of--and sharon jones and the dap kings on sunday, a woman i liken to james brown in the best possible way. to say i saw sharon jones would be slightly misleading. i did hear her though--and i won't underestimate her popularity the next time. lesson learned.



the bucky fuller exhibit at the whitney was really enlightening. the socially awkward obsessive genius quality of the man is impossible to miss--but it doesn't make his vision any less compelling. for all his idiosyncratic quasi-futuristic dymaxions--that guy was more than just on to something. i guess i have a soft spot for anyone who's driven to make reasonable and cost effective tools for living. faulted and exceedingly human, i came away from the exhibit liking buckminster fuller a bit differently than i thought i did in the abstract.



more on fuller...

a little sad.

when our conversation turned to maya (the software), which i've been working with quite a bit lately--a friend showed me a short animation by jon schroth. it's an exceptionally endearing little story of loneliness, and making what you can out of what you've got.



i recommend you see it bigger...

he might be a genius...

aaron mcgruder that is...then again maybe he's just a regular guy. what he is, or does rather--is provoke reactions, and consequently consideration. that encouragement to evaluate for yourself, for me, justifies the sometimes inflammatory delivery found in the boondocks. i love the show, and feel it's much more effective than the serialized comic strip. unfortunately it may also be misunderstood.

not so long ago, i referenced the boondocks in conversation--to a fellow i didn't know all that well. he said disapprovingly, that he thought it was a racist show. i was kind of staggered. it was something i'd never heard--and couldn't quite understand. sometimes something is that is so apparent to you, may be invisible--or even missing entirely from inside the shoes of another.

i'd argue that giving each of characters equal weight is a mistake. similarly, lending the same sincerity to this expanse of fictitious caricatures--is just as ridiculous as it would be to do so in your day to day. which might be what makes it such a delight for me, and in ways--so much like real life. to reference a really tired washington post sales slogan: if you don't get it, you don't get it.




enjoy!

what didn't i do this weekend?

after a ten day marathon of freelance craziness, i had a much needed couple of days to myself. we'll call that the weekend. instead of doing nothing, i did a lot. spending time with friends seems like a given--so i'll limit this to the more material highlights.



saturday, i visited philip johnson's glass house, which was pretty inspirational. i'm looking forward to a return visit, even though it's booked until spring. i kept having the feeling that i'd have gotten along pretty good with philip. what was particularly interesting, was getting such a strong impression of a personality from a person's work, or more specifically--the things that person left behind. instead of historical, it felt distinctly personal.

sunday was about taking it easy, as any sunday should be. i got take out, and watched the science of sleep--which has been on my unwritten list of movies to be seen for quite a while. i enjoyed it a great deal. after reluctantly identifying with the protagonist, i then felt quite alienated from him--and a bit confused. enough to haunt my own dreams.



monday delivered a highly anticipated burger at Prune. without question, the best burger i have ever had...really really really the best. in case you're wondering, yes you are missing out. complimented by my first choice in summertime beers, brooklyn pilsner.



the wackness...which i expected to be good, was. a well written movie, that is generally well acted--and has, for the most part, solid period references. ben kingsley retains his status (in my mind anyway) as a general indication of quality. paul finch was there too, uh...i mean eddie kaye thomas. who, incidentally, looks the same in person as on screen. i'm astonished that i recognized him as anyone notable, because i'm usually incredibly unaware when it comes to "celebrity".

that evening was rounded out by a nap, some ATHF, and especially delicious fried chicken at a bon chon chicken joint...mmmm. i feel much better.