OK Go!

Friday On My Mind....

And here's New Dehli's Jama Masjid, literally Friday Mosque, India's largest. Surprisinly, the top attractions in India's capital are all Moslem, simply because the city was never ruled by Hindus until 1948 and independence. It was built by the Moslem Moguls, who ruled until the British came in. I was there in 2001, and saw female Westerners with sheets covering their bare arms and legs. Under the Mosque's portico, I saw sleeping transients woken up with the billy club of a nasty Indian policeman. During my visit, a week before the WTC attack, my hotel was hosting the state's annual gourmet cooking festival, and I set out to eat the slowest, most scrumptious meal of my life, with some success.

And now for some humor, including a cartoon...

Onion 1 - From the Onion Archives of my favorite feature, “What Do YOU Think?
Question 1: “The National Sleep Foundation recently announced that American children are not getting enough sleep. What do you think?”
Answer 1: "It's no surprise. The obese often have trouble sleeping."





Question 2: "Decried as gas-guzzling road hazards, SUVs are also under fire for supporting terrorism by increasing U.S. dependence on Mideast oil. What do you think?”
Answer 2: "Yes, the average U.S. automobile has doubled in weight since 1990, but so has the average U.S. citizen."

Hello, Mali...

Pack yer bags. Tired o' my own pictures, we're going to Mali, east of Mauritania.. ...and home to many sacred sites. At left, Bina Shrine on Mali's Bandiagara escarpment.

Cartoons will follow at the very bottom...

Uneventful day. I worked a lot. Dis-assembled and re-assembled my computer for absolutely nothing... Some screws just won't unscrew....


Rite of passage ceremonial site for Dogon boys becoming men:


The Dogon village of Songo, with its reknown mud mosque...


Handy map of Mali:

Happy Birthday, Brian!

It's the big day for Bri - on Sep 28 of fall after the summer of love, baby Brian came into this world. Our birthday salute to Bri includes photos taken in Paris, Sweden (the tongue), the Norwegian-Russian border, and that happenin' city, Pasadena.

Grease In Dubious Formations (Castle Hassle)

What Do All The People Know? : - )

Vanity Fair was thoroughly enjoyable and engaging, I thought. Good plotting, acting, and dialogue, and glorious period recreation - think of it as a two-hour trip to 1820 England, in interesting company. Not bad for a summer movie headlined by a Hollywood starlet. I'm glad I wasn't deterred by mixed reviews, my gut feeling was it's better to aim high (british lit) and fall short of a perfect 10. True, I hadn't read the book, and thus had no pre-existing images in my mind, esp. of heroine Becky Sharp. Reese Witherspoon (pictured here as pregnant Becky) brought a tough-girl, ambitious, somewhat mocking sensibility to the role, and created a convincing character. My friend Pat, an english lit enthusiast, was not disappointed. Now I'd like to see Bright Young Things, the adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's Vile Bodies (title reportedly changed to avoid confusion with horror films!).

This evening I'll post Friday's awful White Castle lunch party at work - the most vile meal I've eaten in ages.

Spanish Sunday / Domingo en Castellano follows, in honor of Andres in Argentina, who was my boyfriend from 1988-1993 and who I'm still very close to. He recently sent me a great poem...

Hoy es domingo, ya van 5 días que es otoño pero todavía parece verano. Hay mucho sol, lastima que tenga que trabajar por lo menos 3-4 horas para ponerme al día con mis proyectos.

Panned

G'mrng.

Deep Blue Sea

Memories Of Chair-Man Mao

Go South, Young Man...

(Reach Up For The) Sunrise

Take Me To The River...

Don't bathe me in these waters : - ) But how prettily they shimmered yesterday under the resplendent pre-autumnal sun. I took my bad self to Hudson River Park, Greenwich Village section, to a long pier, with a lawn and benches, jutting a hundred feet over the river and ringed by chrome railing (see picture below). From the far end, I could see, gleaming in the distance: the towers of Jersey City, lady Liberty, and the Verrazano bridge, which has the thankless task of uniting Brooklyn and Staten Island. Later, I thought I saw a friend there, sleeping shirtless on the grass, peaceful, oblivious to the pigeons pecking at his torn jeans. Turned out later that I was mistaken.

A nice, quiet, very musical weekend (my new Nomad Jukebox kicks major hind quarters! what an improvement! goodbye to you, Archos.) A sunny weekend, a social weekend, a reflective weekend. Summer's last. The 6:50pm sunset drove that home, as shadows covered the canyons of Manhattan around five-ish and the wind blew cooler.

A Bicycle Built For Eight...

Want To See A Really Good Movie?

"We Don't Live Here Any More," a tale of infidelity and two marriages in trouble, offers complex characters, emotional truth, sharp observation, compelling acting, and deft directing. One-line summary: guy cheating with best friend's wife as both relationships hit the breaking point. Four amazing actors bring the two couples intensely to life and leave indelible impressions. These actors' credits are practically a compendium of this decade's most distinctive drama: Mark Ruffallo of "You Can Count On Me" and "Eternal Sunshine," Naomi Watts of "Mulholland Drive" and "21 Grams," Peter Krause, the emotional center of "Six Feet Under," and Laura Dern, whose slightly older masterpieces include "Rambling Rose" and "Blue Velvet." This unusual and interesting film was aptly described by NY Times as "an uncomfortable four-way game of envy, longing, and dissatisfaction."

French Fri-Days / Vendredi Français - after the cartoons - aprés les desseins

Happy Weekend, everybody!

weekly summary, en français, pour mes amis de la ville lumière:

Cette semaine j'ai eu mon jour aux tribunaux! Apres avoir attendu deux heures sur le trottoir devant la porte, on m'a conduit a la salle de justice, ou j'ai regardé un melange personne de different races et classes sociales. La moitie était lá accusés de petits delits, vol de marchandise chez Daffys, par exemple; l'autre moitié se trouvait lá a cause d'infractions civiles qui ne sont guere des crimes - jetter des ordures sur la route, faire la bicyclette sur le trottoir, faire du bruit insupportable a 3 heures du matin. Bref, la juge a regardé mon dossier et a dit a l'avocat que l'état m'avait fourni: 'ce dossier est annulé. le prochain, s.v.p.!' Donc issu de cette aventure, pas d'amende, pas de service communautaire, meme pas de dossier. Comme si ça ne s'était jamais passée. Ma vie en rose.... / Mardi j'suis allé avec Thomas (qui part ce soir pour San Francisco) á Irving Plaza voir 'Snow Patrol', qui font du rock intelligent et subtile a la Coldplay ou U2 et habitent Belfast. Ils étaient très sympa, l'humour modeste de l'irlandais de province. Leur tube 'Run' est une balade qui fair venir une tourbillon d'emotion, qui se deploie peu a peu... / Hier soir j'ai travaillé jusqu'aux 11h / Ce weekend, diner avec des copains de Denis et Chrisitian ce soir, diner avec Bart a Park Slope demain, des films, du dodo. A bientôt, j'espère..

The Great Beyond?
Or The 'Just OK' Beyond?

Even If You Cannot Hear My Voice...

Aaron Faces The Music...

Today I face the music both figuratively and literally. At left, my summons to appear in criminal court (!) for my recent escapade trespassing on the High Line (see my July 18 post), that great defunct elevated railroad that will probably become an elevated park within this decade.

I must show contrition. I must not only say, but exude, just how sorry I am, and how clueless I was, climbing up there just to take pretty pictures... I must not, under any circumstances, try to photograph the court proceedings for this blog. If I am a good boy, I'll get off with a fine, and will be feeling fine ten hours later as I....

...see Snow Patrol at Irving Plaza with my pal and fellow music fan Thomas. Snow Patrol, hailing from Northern Ireland, make pretty progressive music, like a slightly more pop Coldplay. They have a good site. They will be prominently featured on my Autumn Mix CDs, which are completed and will be shipping shortly!

Once Around The Block - Part One

Wow! Did Hurricane Frances reach Chelsea last Sunday while I was sleeping? : - ) Lately I've been hitting the street practically right out of bed on weekends, soaking up the morning sun with a latte, my mp3 player, stubble, and slept-on poindexter-type hair formations. The streets are nearly empty at 9am on Sunday morning... Some of neighbors are probably still dancing somewhere, or worse... : - ) I'm a blue-state boy, and the outpouring of anti-Bush creativity here warms the cockles of my heart (see photo below). I wonder how Bill Clinton's cockles are.. probably clogged. no more steamers, movie popcorn...

For some unexplained reason, somebody affixed a cooked ham to the posts of a local church gate. Atavistic ritual sacrifice? Abandoned leftovers? You be the judge! Note the flies on the smaller slice. Yuck.


Now this is Wicked:

Grim Reaper Humor:

Don't Wanna Be An American Idiot...

At left, Towers Of Light, two blue beams into the sky commemorating the third anniversary of TDTCAF.

Scissor Sisters Homecoming Hits A New High

The Ferd Rocks The House!

Wow-ee! energy blast! electric musical moments! Franz Ferdinand kicked major posterior at Roseland last night (pictured right). A highly kinetic display of charimsa, sharp playing, formidable songwriting, and fey-scotch-art-student-chic. Five hundred spectators became one surging, bopping, singing, saluting mass as FRF dazzled with their instant classics, 'Take Me Out,''Matinee,' 'Tell Her Tonight,' and, best of all, their homoerotic ode to the pleasures of dancing closely with 'Michael.' Shimmering multicolored lights bathed FRF and its warm-up bands, which were: the Futureheads with by-the-numbers guitar new-wave with a-capella overtones, and the Delays, two 'right on time' sets of british brothers with intriguing melodies and arrangements, crowned by impossibly beautiful and high-pitched lead vocals and good playing.More concert pictures to come. Up tonight: Scissor Sisters, the gay pop sensation that's rocking the nation. This will be the third time this summer I've seen them with Thomas, this time, at Irving Plaza.

Pardon My French / Pour Mes Amis Français

Wash In The Rain...

Apples Are The New Cows

One recent morning I noticed there was a giant apple in front of the Starbucks in the lobby of my building... ...and a few feet away, another mammoth apple, with an "I Love New York" logo, seemed to befuddle a local bag person (see below)... I quickly realized that this was no coincidence. Similar to the Cow Parade competition of years past, painted apple sculptures were popping up everywhere like, well, apple trees...

With a little luck, today might be foot surgery day for my sister, marking the end of two weeks of waiting in a nursing home and the beginning, I hope, of her road to recovery... Crossing our fingers here.







Spotted these two apples while walking near Lincoln Center with Pat Stumpp on Saturday:

Wolverine Humor:

Future-Rama

File Under: "Why didn't I do this sooner?" I finally visited MOMA QNS, Museum of Modern Art's temporary digs in Queens on Labor Day Monday. At Thomas' wise suggestion, I feasted by senses on the banquet of visionary skyscrapter architecture in models and computer-generated images that is "Tall Buildings." Featured are 25 mammoth buildings, both finished, underway, and shelved. If you're in or near NYC, don't miss this - it closes Sept 27. MOMA QNS is in Sunnyside, and is easier to get to from Chelsea than the Met at 81st & 5th - literally 25 minutes door to door, via the 1 and the 7. See it!

This is Shanghai's Pagoda-like Jin Mao tower, 1350 feet and 88 stories, with pagoda-like structure and motifs in octagonal sweep. I saw this building close up while touring there with my Mom in August 2002.

And this is Beijing's future Central Chinese Television Tower, recently designed with projected completion in 2008. It's a novel continuous loop of a structure, with a central cavity. The concept is one of permanent interconnection, 'to promote solidarity rather than isolation, collaboration instead of opposition.' I like it.

Leaving New York's Never Easy...
... I Saw The Light Fading Out...

French Adrenalin -- Adrenaline Français

Red Light Green Light 1,2,3... What a movie! "Red Lights", hailing from France, is an utterly gripping thriller, a witty, observant character study, and a subtle puzzle. It literally puts you in the passenger seat for some of the most harrowing - and fascinating - reckless driving ever filmed on a European highway. At its center are a marital crisis, an escaped convict, and the vagaries of French transportation... See it. (For Christian: Quel film! "Feux Rouges" melange plusieurs genres avec success: le thriller, l'etude de character très observatrice, et la devinette. ça te fait vivre la randonée la plus fascinante et terrifiante jamais filmée sur une autoroute europeéne. Il s'agit d'un couple en crise et les hasards des transports français. va le voir!)

It's Gonna Be A Lovely Day

And I feel fine... Not reading about politics sure frees up a lot of time. I started a movie. it's 10am, and off I go, out into the sun, feeling younger and more alive than in a long time. Nice to have my city back. and my shoulders... : - ) At left, an aerial view of Provincetown, which is the tippy tip of Cape Cod (its foreskin?), where I was lucky enough to spend last weekend. Below, a close up of Provincetown harbor and environs...

Because I Can...

This poster ad, near 52nd and Park, tells passers-by that "if you think fun always requires money, think bubble wrap." It's part of Citigroup's "live richly" campaign, stressing that life means more than money, so let them take care of your money, or something like that...

The poster looked slightly worn... or was it.. could it be.. made of bubble wrap?

So I went to investigate, and lo and behold..

pop, pop, diddley-opp, it IS made of bubble wrap. hehe. ah, the things that amuse me...

My Vow

I Miss Provincetown!

Answer 1: "People with SARS should not be ostracized. Many people with SARS live happy, productive lives for three days before their lungs fall into their underpants."
Answer 2: "I've always said the Chinese don't know how to handle a crisis. Have you ever seen their fire drills?"
Answer 3: "SARS has a 90 percent survival rate. That's a higher survival rate than the one for just living in China."
Answer 4: "Finally, they've hit on a workable method of population control."
Answer 5: "We shouldn't be critical. It's an old Chinese custom to shoot people for no good reason."
Answer 6: "We should let the World Health Organization do the executing. They never get to do the fun stuff."