happy birthday jackson pollock

i'm not sure i really got it until i saw his work in person. it's quite possible i don't really get it now, but i do enjoy it. there is a monumental quality to his work. viewing it, for me, is a near endless process of discovering little portions that seem just right. it's a bit like discovering an amazing tiny detail on flower you never looked at closely enough--that's on a scale so vastly different from the forest it lives in. an amazing tiny detail that makes you smile. he would have been 97.

"Every good painter paints what he is." -JP

so, go paint yourself.

sam

over dinner a conversation grew out of a simple "do you have monday off?" into a somewhat heated debate over civil religion, and especially the observance of patriotic memorials (martin luther king, jr. day in this case). being a week out from barack obama's inauguration makes this muppet show tidbit feel somehow more relevant. i'm cautiously hopeful about our soon-to-be president. i really hope he doesn't fuck it all up. he definitely has his work cut out for him.

mostly the voice...

my first time to the santos party house, i went for the obits. after all, as far as i was concerned, i went to an obits show. following the obits excellent set was a band that took too long to get started, made too many stupid jokes, and persisted in their banter and multi-encore with a self important tone. i was ready to leave before they even started, but i figured i'd give them a couple of songs to turn me around. it took me about one and one half seconds to be sure, but i was certain. i knew this band, (the night marchers) or at least i knew this singer. fast forward another one and one half seconds, and i had my answer. rocket from the crypt! that distinct and ferocious voice was a dead giveaway. there was enough awesome in their music for me to forgive the crappy stutter start. while the night marchers certainly aren't rocket from the crypt, for the time being, it will plug that hole in my heart.

unreality.

unreality is what makes fiction worth reading. it makes animation worth watching. it sells copies of photoshop. it's why we make anything. i've always liked the idea that in creative pursuits you really can do anything you want to. that freedom asks of you a bit ingenuity and vision, and it demands full responsibility and accountability. if the result isn't good, or at least compelling...well, then you really haven't done much at all. chinese photographer Li Wei uses this freedom to make something great. his images tell a story that might not be strictly factual, but is truthful nonetheless. if that makes any sense.



via design observer

punks rock.

bullshitting today at the bike shop, where i'm working a few odd days a week to slow the draining of my checking account, Allan Dias came up. Allan Dias the bike mechanic...or if you prefer, Allan Dias the bassist for PiL. This guy. The one in the middle.



His is a pretty interesting story. What no one at the shop seems to know is what exactly happened to him--musically. apparently he wrote and produced much of PiL's music while he was with them, and so it's a bit hard to understand his just dropping out. i'd definitely like to get to the bottom of it, but i can't imagine i ever will. In talking about it, and scouring the internet for pictures, video and the like--i came across this gem. gotta love johnny rotten. in the whole process i rediscovered a band i really like, which for me is the best part of the story.



fuck tom snyder. how do you host johnny rotten on your talk show, and have no idea what you're in for? enjoy.

severely disappointing

i feel a bit cheated. the way anyone who thinks that they know what they're getting does, when they get something else. i love just before dark...and that's what i hoping to get from last friday night at joe's pub. instead i got a thoroughly decent opening set by kelly (jones) williams (with mike viola on bass and backup vocals), and ONE song by mike and only mike. after which he called much of kelly williams' band back on stage, followed by the ickiest of LA ways...the all star cameo. after mandy moore, and tracy bonham got up on stage and got their star studded mitts all over the music...i couldn't take it, and i had to leave.



i understand the need to get paid, the natural creative desire to do something new--or at least something new to you. i think in general i understand why. i just have a hard time with viola's chosen path to a greater success, and so i guess i'm saying farewell to yet another musician that used to provide me with delight. see ya mike. see ya never.

some kind of human loser...

i like bikes. i like my bikes. i like to ride them, so i really like it when they have two wheels. one of my bikes, sadly, has only one. i might feel a bit better about it if the wheel had been stolen--the problem is i'm just not sure what happened to it. i could easily have left it leaning against my car in one of the many times i've given that bike a ride instead of the other way around. all i know is, i've got three bikes--and only five wheels.



i love kids in the hall but i found this video via trackstar

oh and...one more.

politics is funny.

the best thing to happen to get your war on, is the animated adaptation from 23/6. it really brings to life a cynical and funny but sometimes dry political comic. true to form, and much more internetable...or something like that.

Get the latest news satire and funny videos at 236.com.

more GYWO
via copyranter and 23/6

it's like twitter only...

sometimes, you just need a little something stupid.

as good as it gets.

i fucking love maryland. it's been a while since i've been back for a visit...so perhaps i had forgotten that. i got a healthy dose this weekend. full of riding, scenery, tasty beer and food, good company, and ton's of laughter. by far the most epic and photo-documented element was sunday's ride. i think my pictures tell it better than my words can.


spoke cards, liquor, and organization courtesy of james.










via single speed outlaw

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...

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.

…why is it that folks don’t like cops again?

a repost from ride lugged.



you can like or dislike critical mass...but regular people go jail for shit like that.

what the fuck?
what the gothamist?
what the snob?

marketing works...sometimes.

it's amazing how easy it is to spot unsuccessful marketing campaigns in their various forms. it's easier still to bemusedly disregard those that are dated, intended for another age group, culture, or nation. seen that viral video that was so unremarkable, you told no one? so, maybe your real amazement should be reserved for the unlikely event that some clever marketing flows seamless and stealthily into your life. how is it that our cultural identities are so finely tuned, yet so hard to explain, so difficult to share, and nearly impossible to teach? some things people are really good at...and i think most of them surround disagreement. we always know when it's not quite right.


one image from a slideshow given by IBM back in 1975.
via swiss miss

check.

i don't make lists. check or otherwise. but, that doesn't prevent me from knowing when it's time to check a few things off that list i never made. this weekend i did a few things i'd been meaning to do, and i managed to accomplish all this without one list. i'm not sure that i'm exactly ready to die now, but i am a few steps closer.

√ i went to coney island. not in-and-of itself a goal, but something i'd figured i might wanna do at some point. i'm glad i did...not stay any longer than i did. i can't handle that place. why are boardwalky-amusement-parky places so damn trashy?

√ i got to see the islands. they were good. i am relieved, because i have a hard time liking a band as much as i like the islands if i know they suck live. the free-ness of the show made up for the douchey-ness of the audience.



√ i saw stephen malkmus and the jicks. they were pretty good too, judging from what little i heard. because hey, i had hot dogs to eat. hope i catch a little more of your show next time steve-o...

√ i ate approximately 2000 calories worth of nathan's hot dogs and french fried potatoes and still had room for dinner. ok, so the item not appearing on my list wasn't reigned into a caloric constraint--but i finally got to try them dogs.



√ i rode the cyclone, twice. new-old rumors are in constant circulation about how this is the last summer for astroland (or the cyclone at the very least). so the i guess the urgency finally caught up with me. ok, that's not true--it was right next to the stage. how could i not ride it?



it's nice to check a few things off your list.

human nature.

what the fuck. something is wrong with everything. if i do something shitty...and it turns out ok, i feel like i got lucky. since i'm not persistent in my shittiness, that is that. if you make a career (or part of one) out of doing something shitty--spamming in this case--i hope it's hard work, pays shit, and earns you a few substantial personal losses. because...it's shitty. you're shitty. stop it. create something. don't ruin something that required the blood and sweat of another. why is it that society seems unable to cure itself of the exploitation of goodwill. someone one will always find a way to get over...and ruin a perfectly good thing--a free lunch.

nothing lasts forever...

via boing boing

simplicity.

i'm reading john maeda's book on simplicity. i've been resisting the urge to swallow it whole. it's short (only 100 pages), and even being an incredibly slow reader, i could be done with it in a tick. it's a bit like a collection of really good short stories--you finish one and even though you want more, you also kinda want to dwell on that last one a bit. let it soak in.

i highly recommend it.

oh baby i like it raw...

i've been riding a ton lately, like a few hours every day, and i'm not sure quite why. maybe i'm trying to make up for the race i missed last weekend (my car and i are still in the process of making up). maybe i've found a once lost bottomless pit of energy and motivation. maybe i'm just in that kinda mood...like a junkie for pedaling.



my. hands. are. raw.

i don't mind one bit.