In the near-middle of that trapezium-like state of Connecticut is the city of Middletown and near that near-middle city is a world unto its own. I’m talking about Wild Bill’s Nostalgia Store, which is home to many many things – as in piles of piles of things and boxes of things stacked on stacks of stuff, leaning against walls made from containers full of objects. I mean this place has it all – one of everything.

And some things which are the only one of their kind, in this case the World’s Largest Jack-in-the-Box, a 600-pound behemoth of a head mounted on a log housed inside a giant brick silo. When this thing emerges it floats more than 30 feet off the ground, yet manages less to terrorize and more to strike awe and inspiration into all who see it! Perhaps because the only reason you would be at Wild Bill’s is because you know how freaky and strange this world already is, and a giant floating head is simply a punctuation mark on something already understood.

Originally a traveling sideshow item, the head was retrofitted to live in the silo:

the mounting mechanism:

the 600-pound counterweight! including antlers and hopefully-dead bullet rounds!

more photos of Wild Bill’s at my Flickr

So yesterday morning, real early like, my phone beeps me awake. It’s early, around 7:30am. My phone never beeps this early, or if it does I never wake up to it. For some reason this particular morning I not only woke up to it but was even further-bothered to actually pick up my phone and see why I was being prompted. I glanced at the home screen – oh, new email. Go figure. Nothing new there, I get new emails every hour, whether I’m awake or asleep. Then I actually opened up my gmail, which I NEVER DO, at least not at 7:30am! WTF was I doing!?

Well, I had this short-n-sweet email waiting in my inbox, from someone named Jason whom I’d never met before – the subject was simply “makers notebook”:

Found a notebook of yours at a swap meet thing a while back. Was just flipping though it and it looks as though it might not be something you want to lose. Let me know…

Around 7 weeks back you’ll remember my notebook was stolen at a public swap event.

Stolen. Swapped. Pinched. However you describe it, I went 7 weeks without some very valuable information. But it’s just information – names, websites, notes, drawings, etc. Nothing very valuable, and nothing I couldn’t recompile over time. Granted time was a factor in my planning of the forthcoming World Maker Faire, and after my notebook was swapped I went a couple days without going outside because I was so shook up. But the event eventually made me start thinking differently about information, how I record it, how and where I access it, etc.

Don’t get me wrong I’m super-happy to have the very physical and analog book back in my possession. But as I mentioned to Jason during our conversation over a couple rounds of beers at the Bohemian in Astoria, I’ve started to migrate more of my sensitive data to the cloud, and automate my backups more frequently. Oh yeah, that was another weird thing, was that of all places Jason lives in Astoria, and I in Long Island City, and that he’s even biked by my studio on numerous occasions, so pretty wild to think that my book was so very close to home all those weeks!

A full-time practicing nurse and self-avowed biblioholic, Jason admitted that he originally swapped the book because he recognized the “MAKER” label, and thought the book might be something about maker culture at large. Like I said, a biblioholic, the book sat in a pile of piles of books until he got around to “flipping through” his swap items. He quickly realized the mistake, and thanks to my information (POBox, phone number, email, even a bit.ly shortlink to my web domain!) being written on the inside cover, he contacted me with the above quoted email.

And while we both operate in completely different worlds it turns out we had other ideas and interests in common! Jason is originally from Albany and just happens to be the announcer for the Albany All-Stars roller derby team – a sport which I’ve developed an interest in over the past year or so. We also talked about Creative Commons licensing, copyleft and hacker cultures, cloud-based storage, how we hope Google never become evil like other info-giants, and the interesting dilemmas that technology forces us to reconcile given our previous multi-millennial dependence on analog interactions.

I also showed Jason how I moved on to a new notebook, and even had a section in my new notebook titled “stolen notebook notes” – notes I was attempting to remember or recall, or which I was reminded of in conversation or email. Jason had some regret in recognizing how much trouble I went through, but I let him know that there were no hard feelings, and it was pretty obvious that it wasn’t intentional – so in turn I gave Jason a brand new Maker’s Notebook!

Mostly I was just happy to see my notes again:

I have this method of blocking out data I never need to see again, while highlighting other information that is “done” but which I want to recall if necessary – everything that isn’t blocked or highlighted means it’s still being worked on!

And of course some drawing notes and other projects that have already happened or should still happen in the near-future I hope:

In total around 60 pages of notes, spanning 4+ months. I’m almost not even bothered to write in the old notebook anymore, because I’ve moved on to a new one which has a different layout and purpose. But damn was it rewarding to open that thing up and read all those names and details again! Hell my neon green push-pencil was still in there even – man I missed that pencil!

Most important to me now is that there are a good few dozen names that I’m reminded of, people with projects that I want to participate in the forthcoming World Maker Faire – and there’s still time for them to apply to the open call so I have a lot of work ahead, and suddenly it feels less stressful, more exciting again! And I told Jason that I’ll get him some tickets for his good samaritan assistance. It’s going to be a blast!

turned into this:

which quickly turned into a spontaneous street parade:

1 goal. That’s all you need to get people dancing in the streets!

Seen in the subway on the way to day 2 of The Next HOPE conference – a simple hack involving a piece of white duct tape. You should hurry to waste your money, there are only a few days left! Clever.

my good pals – thanks Dan! – over at the New York Hall of Science ( @nysci ) sent me a secret special flyer for a FREE kids pass to that most-awesomest science museum (the rocket pad, tornado chamber, and articulating sound pattern alone are worth the trip). What a great place to explore and have fun, and it’s in my favorite NYC park, Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. There’s so much to see and do there – NYSCI, QMA, Unisphere, Futurama, USTA, Light Cycles, Meadow Lake, Queens Wildlife Center, and more! – but it’s also just so peaceful and tranquil (there are some great cattails and walks to be had around Meadow Lake for sure!).

Anyhow, you can download the reduced ticket either as PDF or GoogleDoc:

nysci-friends-and-family.pdf or view the online GoogleDoc

GO QUEENS!

In the blink of an eye the World Cup final is upon us. ¡Viva España! I say. They’re both exciting teams up to this point – and what’s really exciting is that neither of them have won a World Cup before – which means one of those two countries will become still only the 8th country since 1930 to win the coveted trophy, and joining England and France as the only countries to win once. With the last World Cup final being played between Italy and France, with Germany taking 3rd place against Portugal, and this time the final being played between Holland and Spain, with Germany having just defeated Uruguay, this signals a return of the dominance of European football, which many Latin/South American bloggers and journalists are hush-hush about – since a South American team has won the Cup every other time since 1962, this will be the longest drought in their history since Italy won twice in ‘34 and ‘38. Just sayin’.

The Madagascar Institute will be running Chariot Races at Maker Faire NYC, September 25th and 26th at the New York Hall of Science out in Queens. (we will also be doing a whole bunch of other stuff, like running ten years’ worth of dubious carnival rides and a whole rube-fueled midway- more to come on that later this Summer). We want you to be a part of it. We want you to make a chariot, and race it, and if you survive we guarantee that you will get so, so laid. (or, at least: screwed. Whatever.) .

We are going for something like that classic scene from Ben Hur ( ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpoKdPNM10M ) except without horses, but with more whips, dirty tricks, and Charlton Heston.

To keep things interesting, we have decided to distill out the essence of chariot-ness and leave that as the only necessary condition, and pretty close to the only rules: the thing has to move, and it needs to have at least one person standing, nobly, exposed and unsupported from the ribs up. If it fits those criteria it is a chariot. All the rest (how it is propelled, how many people ride on it, the defensive/offensive weaponry) is up to you.

There are a few more things- not rules, per se, but caveats and things you should know:

-A web entry form will be live soon, but before that e-mail chariots@madagascarinstitute.com if you want to build a chariot. Include a team name, contact info, the size of your crew and number of riders, and a little something about your chariot.
-No projectile weapons. If you want to hit your opponents with something, by all means go for it, but take responsibility for your actions and tie that water balloon to a stick.
- No whining. There will be blood: We expect, and are looking forward to, mayhem. You will prob be crushed, burnt, spindled, poked, and ground into a fine paste. People will laugh at your misfortune. If the possibility of the Hurting is too much for you stay away. Riders assume all risk. Also, the races might or might not be “fair”.
- There is no money. We are operating on a budget of zero, which after our expenses leaves zero to give you, so we will not help fund your Chariot, no matter how awesome, there will be no prize money, and we will not pay to repair you or your thing after it is destroyed during the race. However, we might provide transportation to get your Chariot from Gowanus to Queens, and there will prob be beer for participants. Details will come in September.
- No fake ideas. We do not want to hear about the awesome thing that you thought of but will not actually make.Reality is a lot more interesting. -If you want to be a part of the Chariot races but do not know how to make anything and don’t want to learn, or if your talents lie in other areas we can still use you. For example, we are willing to act as a conduit to link up workers without ideas and idea people without tools and so on, but it would be better if someone more organized than us stepped up to do this. Also, there will be a ton of work for costuming, set dressing, barking, trumpet playing, and on and on. If you want to be a part of this in any way e-mail chariots@madagascarinstitute.com.

We want this call to go out far and wide, to all the people out there making cool, dangerous shit (or, at least, really really wanting to) that we do not know and have never met; the people who are inspired and scheming and building but have been lacking a concrete goal and solid deadline. Forward this on to all of the metalworkers, gearheads, and builders, actual or aspiring that you know. Maker Faire has been a big deal in the Bay Area for a few years now, and it has become yet another chance for grubby, Burning Man obsessed Oaklanders with their ginormous spaces and repetitive fire art to shine. Enough of that- Maker Faire is coming to NYC, and this is your chance to represent.

Excelsior,
Hackett

…

the above was copied verbatim (minus the image which I inserted) from a “Mada” email. For another example of not only how serious but honest they are about their call to arms, check out this video from Gadgetoff ‘09 featuring a DIY jet-powered merry-go-round they built:

(takeoff is around the 1:20 mark)

so I bought this Bell helmet with the intention of modifying it and making it more “cautious”, hazardous, and look-the-eff-out. Eventually the idea is for the whole thing to be fluorescent orange, but first I wanted to do a test. I learned long ago to put faith in rubber cement as an agent to apply to plastic and inorganic surfaces in order to later pull up the cement and anything that might find itself attached to it, in this case some spray paint. Painter’s tape is good for the foundation because it’s easy to apply and cheap, but the rubber cement allows me to make a much finer line, on curved surfaces without worrying about spray paint running underneath the cement – once the cement sets it won’t let anything through.

So first thing I did was lay my tape line in the area I wanted to test:

and then I applied the rubber cement around the edges of the cavity:

I taped off the perimeter where I wanted the design to be, and I taped the interior of the cavity space so no spray got inside the helmet. Basically with the interior tape, hold the helmet up to a light and look inside the helmet. If you can’t see any direct light, then no spray particles will be able to get in either! This will keep the inside of your helmet nice-n-clean.

then I taped a plastic bag around the entire helmet to protect the areas I didn’t want sprayed:

Get out yer paint! I probably should have painted the helmet white first, but 1. I didn’t have any laying around and 2. I was lazy to get some and 3. eager to test it out!

The helmet after one coat:

Then remove the plastic bag and perimeter tape line:

The remove the tape in the cavity area and you’re left with something like this:

Then use any tool to remove the rubber cement. Since it was only recently applied it will pull up quite easily. I’ve found a graphite pencil is ideal for most applications, because it can even be erased from certain surfaces, if necessary. Not necessary with the foam of a bike helmet, but it does work well:

I’m not sure how these things are made because the top of the helmet is like some sort of plastic, but the foam is overlapping the plastic in some places. Basically I’m setting myself up to allow for some wiggle-room in how smooth my lines are, or how strict I am about the design. In the end I think this came out really well! I plan to tape off the rest of the helmet cavities, get another can of spray paint, and finish the job – I just need a half-day or day where I can let the helmet dry and still use my bike for daily commutes. And of course I plan to keep adding to the helmet in the months ahead.

Hanging out with Becky Stern yesterday at the FIGMENT NYC festival on Governor’s Island, the boat disembarked and within 50 feet I ran into Doc Advencha and then Ohio Mike aka 0h10m1ke. The rest of the crowd proceeded on when somehow Becky and I were picked out of the crowd to have our 1-minute matchbook portraits drawn!

Simple! and Lovely! a 1-minute contour line-drawing on the inside of a labeled and numbered matchbook. Having passed the 8k mark the day before in this series, Mike says the matchbook project will end with the 10,000th portrait – how soon, where and when is unknown, as Mike walks the streets of New York and attends events like Figment to fulfill his drawing volume dreams!

Maker Faire New York 2010 Open Call is now… Open!

This has been in the works for a long time now, and I’m really happy – beyond words – to say that I’m a part of it!

If you know me you know I love culture. I love events. I love people and artists and crowds and activities and mobs and spectacles and life. Loving is the easy part though.

The best culture is D.I.Y. culture, and that means for it to happen, we have to make it happen.

WORLD Maker Faire NY is taking place later this year at the New York Hall of Science, and will provide one of the most exciting, dynamic and fruitful make it happen environments that New York City has ever seen – at least in my opinion, and during my near-6 years here.

If you Make something, I want you involved.

If you teach how-to something, I want you involved.

If you instruct-a-thon, I want you involved.

This IS the WORLD’S Largest D.I.Y Festival!!

IF YOU ARE A MAKER THEN NOW IS YOUR TIME TO SHINE!

Do you DIY:

3d printers
circuit bending
wind power
dorkbot
marching band
compost
arduino boards
origami
steampunk
LEDs
beer/wine
mycology
game-makers
telescopes
chocolate
permaculture
rube golberg
MIDI
scrap booking
book-making
silkscreens
photography
kinetic arts
circus
ceramics
beekeeping
radio transmission
CNC milling
model railroads
non-profit arts
hydro power
breadmaking
catapults
solar anything!

If YES to any of the above, then I WANT YOU INVOLVED!

How to submit a proposal? CLICK THIS LINK – It’s a VERY SIMPLE form, not complex or convoluted. It will require you to make an O’Reilly account, that’s just so we can keep track of your data and contact you through our backend if necessary.

Please please submit your proposal sooner than later. The Open Call will stay open for approximately 7-8 weeks but we are tight on resources and will start allocating them as soon as the proposals arrive.

I want to be accessible throughout the success of this project, so if you have any questions, comments, concerns, ideas or general thoughts please feel free to contact me. I’ll publish my details below, or you can access me through various social networks that I’m involved with.

THANK YOU SO MUCH for reading and I really want you to be involved!

CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT A PROPOSAL TO MAKER FAIRE NY 2010

CONTACT:
email: nick [at] geekathon [dot] net
Twitter: @nicknormal
my Facebook profile
my Flickr account

…

Do you want to help spread the word about Maker Faire NY? Great!

Blog about it! Tweet about it! Or send people to this blog to talk with me or use this shortlink to send makers straight to the proposal form:

http://bit.ly/mfny2010

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

to see more of what MAKE culture is all about, visit

MAKEzine
Craftzine

or to see Maker Faire in other cities, including San Francisco and Detroit visit the main

MAKER FAIRE website

After coming back from St. Louis and seeing the Smashinistas v Stunt Devils ARRG derby match I was hooked, addicted, fiending for more. This time I was vying to see some All-Stars class sport with the Gotham Girls’ season opener at home against the Charm City (Baltimore) All-Stars. Some mates of mine wanted to go too, but we got around to the website too late and all the tickets were gone. I got in touch with the GGRD and asked if there was any possibility in getting on a waiting list for last-minute available tickets. There wasn’t, but a small batch of extra tix were going to go on sale on some day at midnight. 4 minutes after they went on sale they were GONE! I attribute that to a bug with their ticket software (that’s the nerd in me talking). Still, I persevered! A week later, just a couple nights before the bout, I got mention of a small – 20 – batch of post-press tix available, go, get them now! Needless to say within an hour of those final tickets getting posted they were snatched up!

The stress of getting a will call ticket was totally worth it, the payback was the excitement of the bouts and the top-notch class of sport played by Charm City and the Gotham Girls.

The opening bout was between Lake Effect Furies (Buffalo, NY) and the Wall Street Traitors, one of the local teams that make up the Gotham Girls All-Stars. The Traitors lost and it was unclear to me if this was in-part because some of their players (Hyper Lynx, Ginger Snap and OMG WTF) were playing on the All-Stars team and thus not playing in both bouts. It was good to see, but like I say I was really eager for the All-Stars team to make their debut.

Gotham v Charm City

It was back and forth for the first few matches, with Gotham routinely taking a lead and then Charm City coming back within a few points or to tie. Until! At some point it was 33-29 in Gotham’s favor. Then it was 44-30, then 48-30, then 57-30, then 71-30! Gotham just kept pulling away and pushing ahead and they went into the halftime at 89-34! Of course Charm City have given Gotham a fight in the past, so it was known that they could come out after the half and do just as much damage in return, forcing a tough 2nd half. But whatever pep talk the Gotham girls got was more riveting because the 2nd half saw some incredible teamwork and explosive action. Keep a watch out because if the Gotham All-Stars stay healthy and play the rest of the year the way they did, it’ll be a monumental season! Notable players that made a big impact were Em Dash (8212), Hyper Lynx (404), OMG WTF (753), Suzy Hotrod (55), Carmen Monoxide (12 – MVP), Fisti Cuffs (241 – Co-Captain) and especially Bonnie Thunders (340 – Captain) – those last two derby girls blocked and jammed their way to at least a hundred points! It’s understandable why Bonnie Thunders is captain – there were times when this ex synchro figure skater could hold her balance and skate through the pack sideways to get the lead jam and score points. Seriously impressive!

That’s Fisti Cuffs (241 – Co-Captain) on the far right in the penalty box – notice how high up her knees come!

The Gotham pack trying to hold Charm City’s jammer Joy Collision (747 – Captain) at bay. For the most part they did a damned good job!

Another shot of Joy Collision (what can I say, she’s hot, and good!) maneuvering to get ahead of the Gotham jammer to put a block on her. Joy was the clear candidate for Charm City’s MVP, as she was about the only one doing any significant damage – blocking or jamming – against Gotham.

the final score was actually 201-75 – way to go Gotham!

and lastly a big THANK YOU to Louise and Anne Frankenstein from the GGRD crew. I asked around trying to find where either of you were but no one knew exactly where to find you. so I’ll see you at the next bouts and again, thank you for organizing such a wonderful sport!

[my full photo set on Flickr]

here’s the second half of the Gotham v Charm City bout, you’ll see Gotham simply blow Charm City out of the waters!

Watch live video from Modern Roller Derby on Justin.tv

Add English (“normal”) to that list and you’ve got yourself nearly 2 billion native speakers!

(just to clarify, I found this in storage. circa 1998-1999, when I worked at SAIC – probably a joke but knowing that institution maybe not. and yes, I keep things for long time.)

This is a little late, but not really. Flux Factory finally started its first Kickstarter campaign with a drive to purchase and install a new heating system (unit, ducting, labor) for our remodeled facility in Long Island City’s Dutch Kills neighborhood.

We’re only two weeks shy of the arrival of Spring, so we’re definitely through the thick of Winter, but this campaign is still as valid as ever. Oddly enough on the day we made this film it was also warm outside, but there were definitely days where everybody was wearing 3, 4, 5 layers in order to stay toasty. Plenty of times my sock-layer scene was lived out. Or hot water became super-chilled in minutes. It wasn’t always very pleasant. We survived – clearly – but the building still needs work, adjustments and improvements. So help us raise the money we need by pledging. With Kickstarter, your money is only pledged if we meet our target goal of $5000 – and our thinking is that if everybody we know gave us $1 we should be good (yes, we know mad numbers of peoples!).

CLICK HERE TO PLEDGE $ WITH KICKSTARTER

scroll down to watch the incredibly awesome and hilarious video made by Gregg Conde and Jaime Iglehart – big ups to them for their hard work on this project.

CLICK HERE TO PLEDGE $ WITH KICKSTARTER

Wanted posters. Two-part portraits. Detective files. Booking photographs.

The mugshot is a pretty interesting phenomenon of photography. Most-interesting to me is that the notion of the modern mugshot we know today was conceived by Allan Pinkerton, founder of the Pinkerton’s National Defense Agency – during the latter part of the 19th century they were two-faced, on the one face they were the first organized detective agency in the United States, and on the other face they doubled as thugs-for-hire to suppress workers’ unions or other semi-organized groups, through use of overwhelming force. They were interested in criminal justice, yes, but they were also very intimidating motherfuckers at heart, and the mugshot was merely a means to an end.

Anyhow! I was called up about 5 hours before the Thunder Gumbo III and asked if I had my camera available to take mugshots. A little ill-prepared but the results are wonderful. The lighting is a little off-mark, but works. I’m actually fond of the blue background but next time I plan on using this faux cinder block pattern I have, and some lettering or numbering to sequence the CRIMINALS!

If you recognize any of the faces, be sure to tag them on the Facebook album.

How far ahead do you plan? I remember seeing a Brownline brand day planner once that spanned two years. Yeah, 365 x 2 = 730 pages, minimum. Throw in those extra pages for currency conversions (that become outdated by the minute), distances between cities matrixes, and the accompanying non-adequate “black book” and the thing was well around 800 pages. A brick of a planner. Not the kind of thing I’d want to be carrying our when the End of the World is nigh.

(click for larger image)

The KIMCHI-ology (or how to make your own kimchi) workshop was a smashing success (they always are it would seem)!

We started with a smorgasbord of available veggies. These included red onions, carrots, garlic, ginger, radishes, red cabbage, green cabbage and some peppers and spices. Oh yeah and some apples!

Before the students arrived we laid out all the food and necessary kitchen tools. As it would turn out this wasn’t the wisest idea. We wound up inadvertently using the cuttings boards as plates and then had to wash everything again before the cutting boards could be used for their intended purposes: chopping veggies on! Anyways, I learned my mistakes when leading a FOOD workshop.

After 20+ minutes of talking about the history of kimchi, the differences between kimchi and sauerkraut, and the health benefits of “good bacteria” as told by ex-Fluxer and ceramic artists and food guru Ellen, we had a tasting session:

YUMS!

We talked about what went into each different kimchi, and it was generally regarded that the dill kimchi (either bottom-middle or bottom-left) was the bees knees. Then each student took into account how they wanted to flavor their own kimchi, and we proceeded to cut, dice, chop, mince and then pack our jars:

Here’s a kimchi student hard at work packing their jar:

We made a total (good) mess. We used every single vegetable! We packed 10 jars in total!

48 hours later, and this is what some of the jars are starting to look like:

Of course the real way to judge a kimchi is by its smell, so believe me when I say these stink! The short squatty jar on the right has apples in it, so it has a sweet and spicy smell to it. The one on the far left contains an equal volume of onion and cabbage! It also has a fair amount of garlic and ginger in it. And the middle one was basically all the leftovers packed into another jar (along with some unknown spices to produce a surprise meal).

It’ll take another 7-10 days for these to totally ferment. And then Colonic Justice!

Later this week at Flux Factory, then again later this month, I’ll be facilitating another workshop as part of my on-going education platform Open Pedagogy Programming. The workshop this month is called Kimchi-ology, a how-to on chopping, making and eating your own kimchi! We teach you everything!

The EventBrite links are below if you want to purchase a ticket; they’re $20 and will include a tasting session and each person will walk away with a “starter jar” to enjoy later!

Thursday – 12 November – 7-9pm – http://www.eventbrite.com/event/474510273
Monday – 23 November – 7:30-9:30pm – http://www.eventbrite.com/event/481698774

Meng is a fellow artist and friend of mine. She lives in a box:

Thanks to the advancement of modern technologies, she has WiFi inside the box. She recently sent me an email from inside the box, regarding some ducks I keep on my window sill:

Subject: A SECRET DUCKY THROWING MISSION

Holahola Norbot,

This is bot talking from Mengbot…bbbb….01110001……i am going to go on a secrete robotic mission for the LED Pro Julius throwing one of his duck to some secret water place.So …i am going to steal one of your duckies from your window…..would you please let me know the great time for me to be the ducky- thief?? probably somepoint this week when you are THERE or maybe when you are NOT THERE(since it will make more sense for a thief to steal somthing)….and also giving you somtime to say goodbye to your ducky friend by the window…haha

TIME FOR WINTER DUCKY MIGRATION

Mengbot talking…OVER…

Well I couldn’t let her get away with that, now could I? So I replied,

qu Ack, QuackquaC k quACK quackq Uack. Quack!

QUack QUackquackquack quack qua ck qu a cKQuaC k. QuaC Kq uAc Kquack. QuacK Quackq uaCKQuac K q u aC kqua CK.
QuAC k Q u AC k.

Quack quack,
Nick Normal

That’ll make the Mengbot think twice before stealing my duckies! She has been warned!

spotted outside Nurture Art in Brooklyn. spotted because I put it there!

Kale is delish. Drawn food unfortunately doesn’t have as many nutrients as real food. But if kale grows this well in a bucket in this weather I’m thinking I might try and grow some in this hydroponic plastic bottle system I have designs for sometime this winter.

Growing up in the Midwest meant being surrounded by a lot of craptastic fast food, which sure I had my guilty pleasures and indulged in, but this is beyond belief:

And yes, it does exist:

(image via food geekery)

this sammich is so elusive it’s only available in Rhode Island and Nebraska, FOX News reports:

oh yeah, and This Is Why You’re Fat.

someone, TELL ME!

[via Peanut Butter Jelly Time]

I’ll spare you your life: watch to get an idea of how good he is, then for the WTF-moments fast-forward to 1:16 and 2:50 or just watch it all the way through (the music is shite but he’s actually really good). Point of interest: this guy racks his bass guitars the way I rack my socks!

Jeff Koons sculpture Green Diamond (2004) was bought for a reported $12 million recently, and now it adorns the penthouse terrace of an Upper East Side building:

(via Curbed)

Meanwhile, below the streets, the MTA plans on cutting 360 maintenance and managerial jobs by 2010 including subway car cleaners and station cleaners.

(NYPost article)

and lastly, no recession is complete without a diamond-encrusted remote-controlled lamborghini neck chain piece. POW:

Long story short the new Flux Factory building is officially open for business, and once again I can look at the project and say one of the reasons why it is a success is ME. I made it happen. It ate two months of my life so hopefully it’ll pay off, otherwise I’m not sure I’ll ever invest that much time and energy in anything again without some sort of guarantee (or lots and lots of moola).

Anyways, while I’m parsing through literally thousands of feeds and emails in an attempt to catch up, here’s a selection of visual memes and intrigues that I missed while away:

I soooooo want this!

this puts things into perspective:

a building in Shanghai fell over. more images and articles here.

a K9 glory hole:

I dare you. I triple-DOG dare you!

I lived in Hong Kong for 3 weeks in 2000, and was always intrigued by its duality of East and West. A crazy city even by my standards, but I’ve always been a little nostalgic for it, and of course I love pixelmaps:

I lived somewhere to the left (north) of this area:

see the entire pixelmap here.

some politicians are taller than others:

it’s the fine print that matters:

Tomoshirinkata
what is your Ninja Name?

A- ka
B- zu
C- mi
D- te
E- ku
F- lu
G- ji
H- ri
I- ki
J- zu
K- me
L- ta
M- rin
N- to
O- mo
P- no
Q- ke
R- shi
S- ari
T- chi
U- do
V- ru
W- mei
X- na
Y- fu
Z- zi

why not to fall asleep at parties:

they’re actually constructing a giant robot in Tokyo:

My favs,

the pink chair warehouse:

where green thrives:

the snow factory:

prefab shantytown:

and lastly the mostamazingawesomemodernism:

Nghhhhhhhh na na na nah!

mostly dogs and cats, they’re the best! They make my friend Lucy go “Nghhhhhh, na na na nah”!

they arrive early next week. I need to start making these more often, in short bursts, constantly giving them away. Lots of networking and contacts to be made in life still.

So tonight a guy on the streets actually challenged me to a game of Wii Bowling. Inside his ground-level apartment (visible, and clearly safe) was a large HDtv and Wii running, ready and waiting for a challenger. I would have taken him up on it except I already had a date with the pub. I guess his offer stuck with me, made me think of these images. Pretty wonderful how enthusiastic senior citizens are with the Wii. An uncle of mine, I saw him over Christmas, and he’s by no means aged but aging, still he was kicking the kids off the Wii so he could have a go at bowling and golf and whatnot. It’s crazy how much good that platform  has done for the world. And older people seem particularly adept with the Wii compared to the other latest generation consoles.

(Quick note I think next week will be This Week In Geek Week, as in all geek all week, I have so much stuff I absolutely have to clear some of it out. Plus I’m moving house this weekend and will be out of commission for a couple days so I’ll schedule content while I’m away. So look forward to that! Dorks!)

People who know me know I love to listen to Pandora, the Music Genome Project (aka internet radio). Their ‘Quick Mix’ feature added a few months back has been a real blessing. Their algorithm will switch from Jimi Hendrix to System of a Down to Talib Kweli to Led Zeppelin all in the same session, all based on my previously created radio stations. It’s brilliant. I don’t have masses of time anymore to prepare playlists, fill up my HDD with mp3s ripped from my own CDs (cough cough), or even listen to entire albums by one band anymore; I much prefer random and continuous listening, changing beats and rhythms, all combined with my input.

Clearly a large percentage of what they play is pop or rather well-known musical pieces (the bands I just listed prove this). This is all due to licensing, legal forms, and the fact that larger labels will simply always carry more influence. However every now and then there’s a little gem thrown in, someone I don’t recognize, and it’s refreshing. They have a “bookmark” function for saving songs that intrigue you in exactly this way, but there’s no way to share the list. It’s manual and tiresome, but I’m going to keep a continually growing list here of some of the tracks that really caught my attention in the hope of tracking down these artists later.

If you got an artist to recommend, leave it in the comments!

Band – Song Title:

Beats Antique – The Lantern

Ima Robot – STD Dance

J.J. Cale – Travelin’ Light

The Rootsman – Ta Travudia

Plastician – Cha Vocal

Yoshimoto – Du What U Du

Devin the Dude – What a Job

Metallica – Turn the Page (of course I already know Metallica, I just forgot how gooooood this song is!)

Jimmy McCracklin

Rossignol

El Ten Eleven

In the LAPD Probation Department they observed the Bring Your Child to Work Day on the 21st; other organizational bodies have it slated for today.

Either way, I really just wanted to put up that image.

and poor Staten Island, what body fluid must it be composed of to make it on the map?

via Cosmic Art Gallery

genius!

So that’s how you plant peanuts! spotted in Washington Square Park.

(can’t see the slideshow in RSS? view the original post container.)

I bet they didn’t have this in Tokyo when you were there! (he loves these things)

Whereas most American roller coasters are in theme parks that are outside of some nearby city, surrounded by rural or wooded terrain, it seems the Japanese have a fascination with their theme parks being situation in urban environments, to the degree that at one point this roller coaster even goes through a building. Watch for yourself:

these paltry non-moving-image jpegs won’t tell the story of course.

click this link to see WIRED (owned by Conde Nast) magazine live, in motion, with clickable bits and draggable pages. The future of web publishing?

Even though I’m only subletting for the month, I took the liberty to rearranging my living room furniture, for the better, waaaaay for the better.

I didn’t get a before shot unfortunately, but basically the long couch was against the wall on the left, the short couch was where the long couch is now facing the long couch and the TV was on a small stand (below) in the middle, so sitting on either couch meant rubber-necking to watch the tube. There was always a table in the middle that because of its proximity to the front door meant it got clogged with the house mail and abandoned cups. I took the liberty to swapping the two tables, putting the more often looked at piece of furniture under the TV so its more-pleasant to look in that general direction, and placing the small table behind the short couch near the front door so it becomes a more-utilitarian piece of furniture; I’m certain it will still stack up with mail but eventually enough is enough and some will get thrown away.

Another purpose to putting the big couch facing the wall (with the TV at a slight angle) is to eventually project movies onto the big wall from behind the couch, theater-style!

My biggest improvement I think was integrating the plants with the surrounding design.

The speakers and stereo system were previously on the floor, which meant too much bending over and getting wires tangled on the floor. This way everything runs behind and is hidden, and sound travels better higher up too.

When you walk in now you’re confronted with your mail and gaming options, without needing to potentially bother someone watching TV by slamming mail on the table as some roommates might do.

SALES PITCH!

I love doing this stuff. I’ve done some home improvement around the five boroughs and can even refer clients but if anybody is looking for simple jobs or interior design work or painting or help with audio-visual cables and signal, drop me a note I want to do some more of this and am especially mobile in the months ahead! ( contact : nick [at] geekathon [dot ] net )

One thing I’ve never really understood about Mac users is where this perception of the habitually clean workspace comes from? There is this belief that they are the only ones capable of ordering their lives like so, and that because of such a regiment they conditionally produce more than PC users, have increased workflow and creativity levels, that they aren’t “cluttered” by all the excesses of PC living.

This perception is sometimes very sterile however:

Wow, looks nice. But not really. The clock is nifty but I’d find staring down and beyond the screens into a white void of a wall like that mind-numbing.

Furthermore, it simply isn’t true. Mac users are messy. But this perception that they are ordered is sold to them by the Apple brand via their stores, product ads and overall “lifestyle” package. It’s summed up in a moment in the Onion’s “One Button. Endless Possibilities” parody of the no-keyboard click-wheel laptop when the lady in the store who is not an Apple employee (she’s not wearing the blue-shirt uniform) spends seconds on end compulsively straightening a display box so there’s as little gap and as much grid-order as possible:

But again, it simply isn’t true. We all know it’s not true, Mac users especially. It isn’t about the branding but about the person, it’s all about the user. So check out these Mac users who are not only messy but intriguing because of such a chaotic lifestyle. Personally I like the clutter, the chaos, the choices of inspiration that users post on the walls around them, the detritus they leave on their desk, their personal sense of stability and usability and order.

I love this next photo. It’s not only a remarkable photograph but truly chaotic, and check out the row of pipes on the back wall. How wonderful!

The point is it should be about the user. It’s about what do you want to get out of computing? Why are you using such a device and interface? You want chaos, then make chaos! You want order, then make order! The argument could be made that Apple’s stripped-down design let’s you focus on the things you want to be using a computer for (or at least not distracting their customers), and is therefore in the best-interest of the user, but anybody reading this far knows that’s also untrue. Apple is a very controlling company, which yes does frequently benefit its users; but again these images are concerned with Apple’s almost forceful approach of streamlined lifestyle branding, which any computer is capable of delivering.

sick.

AOWWWW!
I never used to snore in my sleep 'til this rap shit started
Warm thoughts fill the hot-headed and cold-hearted
Your whole paycheck, you burp it and then fart it
And y'all think I'm gon' stop?  BLOW IT OUT YA ASS!
In one year I got rich, now life's movin so fast
But bein broke with no food is just a thing of the past
Plus I'm the new phenomenon like white women with ass
And y'all prayin that I flop?  BLOW IT OUT YA ASS!
In New York I buy clothing, in Cali I get green
In Atlanta I get sleep, in Texas I sip clean
All these rappers wanna know what I'm gettin for sixteens
Try 80, want a discount?  BLOW IT OUT YA ASS!
See in just six months I infiltrated the system
If you find somebody better, then I'm sorry I missed him
Niggaz hate givin me props cause I might use it against them
C'mon, get Ludacris out!  BLOW IT OUT YA ASS!

[Chorus 2X: Ludacris]
If you mad I'm on top, then wish me gone
If you mad I'm on the road, then wish me home
And if you mad that I'm right, punk wish me wrong
But after your three wishes - BLOW IT OUT YA ASS!

[Ludacris]
It's time to saddle up the Tontos cause I'm the Lone Ranger
I eat dinner with Jews but don't talk to strangers
I'm just a few albums from filling your disc changer
If you ever think of stoppin me - BLOW IT OUT YA ASS!
I'm a hustler by nature but criminal by law
Any charges set against me, chunk it up and stand tall
Next year I'm lookin into buyin Greenbriar Mall
You probably own a lot of property!  BLOW IT OUT YA ASS!
C'mon and take a look, he's got gigantic balls
Plus his money keeps flowin like Niagara Falls
We all know Jesus saves and Ludacris withdraws
I'm 'bout to go on vacation - BLOW IT OUT YA ASS!
Shout out to Bill O'Reilly, I'ma throw you a curve
You mad cause I'm a THIEF and got away with words
I'ma start my own beverage, it'll calm your nerves
Pepsi's the New Generation - BLOW IT OUT YA ASS!

[Chorus]

[Ludacris]
My black people show me love when I'm up on the block
And Latinos always waitin for my CD's to drop
White people love the flow, they say, "Dude, you fuckin rock!"
Yo' fans are my fans, right?  BLOW IT OUT YA ASS!
So find my album in the stores and look for the white steam
Rip it open, play it and yo' momma might scream
It's hard, other albums are softer than ice cream
Yo' scans are my scans, right?  BLOW IT OUT YA ASS!
Now Luda's throwin up A's, and I'm lightin up L's
Around the globe gettin paid, you home bitin yo' nails
DTP, the only label that practice fightin ourselves
We probably gettin on your nerves, huh?  BLOW IT OUT YA ASS!
I been eatin and gettin FAT while y'all dyin of hunger
I get drunk in the winter, stay high in the summer
Watch out, my album's puttin up McDonald's numbers
You over 6 million served, huh?  BLOW IT OUT YA ASS!

[Chorus]

BLOW IT OUT YA ASS!
WHOO!

On an aside my webhost is really fukhing with me these days. I can’t auto-create thumbnails of the above images anymore because suddenly they’ve dropped some PHP library support. I guess with the new month they rolled out some new code and for anybody unwilling or unable to pay $50/month for the primo-package you get left in the dust. Even though everything worked before they don’t simply drop support they remove the code entirely! So I’ll have to be moving webhosts again soon in the next month I reckon. Yeah I’m really looking forward to that.

I originally thought this might by the KLVY-TV mast in North Dakota but I was wrong. Appears to be some guy-wired radio mast in Russia originally taken by Victor Professor (some great photos of high-altitude icing there!). His stuff is in Russian so don’t worry you won’t be able to read anything, but the photos are marvelous! Now imagine the radio mast in North Dakota is 2.3 times taller than the radio mast his images come from! And imagine furthermore that the Burj Dubai recently surpassed the KLVY-TV mast as the tallest structure in the world and will double as the tallest building upon its completion later this year.

And a video about high voltage cable repairmen that remains one of my favorite videos on the nets:

I hope more people who work these jobs, window washing the Burj Dubai or scaling the KLVY-TV tower to replace a light bulb take their becoming-ubiquitous digital cameras with them because this stuffs is amazings!

Now, has anyone seen satellite imagery from the event? I love that stuff!

you deserve better.

blah blah blah

“Awesome infogram” from old Wired Science blog about water distribution on this little blue planet. One stupid reference in the article however is this phrase “water footprint” as if we’ll be talking about water the same way we talk about carbon emissions. Not. “footprint” suggests something you leave behind, like an impression in the mud which fossilizes (the irony of the expression being us using energy sources like oil produced from fossil-compression and then terming the excessive use of such fuels as footprint) and leaving behind a legacy that others later will have to deal with. Water is not the same. Water is finite yes but its availability will produce “water anxiety” long before it produces a “footprint” (that term is more appropriate to the world of Dune circa the Children of Dune and the excesses of water in standing puddles on the desert planet – it is true, I am Dork).

Lake Mead behind Hoover Dam, slowly drying up. This, I guess, is a type of “footprint”.

whether they be needle nose, snub nose, vice grips, channellocks, just get yourself something where two solid pieces of metal can squeeze together to get a good bite and rip that sucker right off!

With that thought having hopefully grossed you out entirely (if not, video of said procedure is at the end), proceed:

First off get a puny 12 lb. canine to bite your nail. Yeah, you think they’re all cute and cuddly, but if you abuse them enough they’ll be inclined to bite the hand that feeds. Rather than a whole bite, make sure you get one good tooth under the nail of your choice. I opted for my right index finger; I also preferred to remove the nail from the cuticle end – a completely unorthodox procedure!

Mild bleeding will occur immediately. Be ready first to apply pressure to stop the bleeding – the pressure won’t hurt incredibly, you’ll be too shocked by what just happened to really focus on any acute pain; besides the pressure is for your benefit. Then be ready to immerse your finger in some cold water with ice to numb the nerves. Believe me you’d rather have a cold finger than feel the throbbing.

Let that sucker really dry out and start to rot before clipping it. Don’t panic, parts of the fingernail will still be alive but we’ll slowly ensure it all dies out and gets removed. Be sure to follow the rot-line but don’t feel obliged to trim-away everything that’s dead, be sure to leave a couple millimeters like so:

There now isn’t that nice.

Now don’t forget you have an exposed fingernail so be sure to keep your skin free from bacteria and moisturized. I recommend Isopropyl Alcohol to kill any bacteria and sort of dry out the skin, then an application tea tree oil to moisturize; wrap that in a bandage and continually treat like so, trimming any cracked or split parts of the nail in the following days and weeks.

Like so:

Lookin’ good! Of course eventually the entire nail will simply rot out underneath and you’ll find yourself actually wanting to remove it! Here come the pliers:

At this point you have a great opportunity to make your fingernail anew. Maybe you want to build your new fingernail to assist you with mobile computing; or maybe you need additional data storage; personally I want to figure out how to put a retractable and refillable ink pen into my nail so I always have a writing instrument at hand (pun intended!).

I’ll be working with an artist-friend of mine to design some replacement; more on that soon!

Awesome picture, depicting the power balance of nature attributed to some herbivores, in this case some species of cattle plowing through a cheetah. Reminds me of the “Big Animal Fight” video from a few years back which I guess has gone on to be an extremely popular video (42 mil views and counting, ranking in the top 100 of all time) and renamed the Battle at Kruger with its own website and merchandising arm.

Doing plenty of site maintenance today (what with the new theme and all ), and while browsing through some stats data I noticed a large number of hits for one image in particular. Bit strange I thought. Browsed some of the sites that were linking to this particular image when I noticed one of the sites in particular was using some google image search widget.

Huh? I thought.

Open up google, enter search query, click images, I am the 3rd result for jowling now!

Not even the best photo of me jowling to be honest. I’ve done better, but I guess it gets good hits because of my evening outfit.

The photo of Stefany jowling that I took is also the 6th result at this time. The other photos I took don’t even appear in the first 10 pages of results (I got bored to click any further).

(all of this meta will eventually blow up when google starts image caching the image of my search results of me jowling – how’s that for a mind-bender?)

Serves 6.

Ingredients:

• 8 oz rice noodles (or 6 oz for a less-noodles-more-ingredients approach)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• little more than 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 1/2 tbls soy sauce
• 2 tsps worcestershire sauce (secret ingredient!)
• 2 tbls vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups tofu, FIRM, drained and diced
• 1 1/2 cups shrimp, small, cooked (option, for meaties)
• 2 tsps minced garlic
• 1 egg beaten or 2 egg whites
• 3 cups bean sprouts
• 1/2 cup edamame
• 1/2 cup green onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup peanuts (or more to taste, unsalted)

First, soak your noodles for 30 minutes in standing hot tap water. After 30 minutes simply drain and set aside.

WHILE noodles are soaking, mix sugar, ketchup, water, soy sauce, worcestershire sauce and a dash of cayanne if available in a bowl (this is your pad thai sauce!)

Make sure your noodles will have a full 30 minute soak before proceeding.

Now heat oil in very large frying pan. Recommend a medium setting on gas but it depends on your hob. First add garlic and stir constantly for one minute. Add tofu and shrimp (optional) and stir constantly for another 2 minutes.

Mix in your pad thai sauce and let it heat up, just barely to the boil.

Now grab those noodles and toss them in. Mix all together, stirring constantly for 2-3 more minutes or until sauce appears to have been absorbed by noodles.

Push that mixture to the side or I like to make a hole in the middle. Drop your egg or egg whites in the open part of the pan, the noodles will stop it from spreading too far. Don’t scramble yet let it sit for 15 seconds. Now add half of your bean sprouts, edamame, green onion and peanuts and quickly mix everything in the pan together! QUickLY! Stir until there seems to be an even consistency throughout.

Remove and serve, sprinkle remaining bean sprouts, edamame, green onion and peanuts on TOP after servings are divided. This way there’s some crunchy stuff on top and some cooked stuff inside!

Modify to taste, this recipe is released under NNOSC – Nick Normal Open Source Cooking.

If I made this the background, you’d puke, right?

Classic diner on the outskirts of STL city in Maplewood that caters to the midnight crowds, there’s always a good rush between 1-2am and they are open 24/7. The crowds are loud which is a good thing because there’s always a conversation to join in on, and people here are expressive! Joann is the type of waitress whose been here 30 years, an old dame with a quick attitude and her own personalized approach to crowd management: if you are loud or obnoxious she will hit you with her stick!

Not actually the stick she will hit you with (she keeps that behind the counter), this BIG STICK is displayed right by the entrance. Been going here since 1997 or 98 and can’t say I ever noticed it before. The joint still manages to surprise.

The menu is classic, and includes local fare like the Slinger, a must-have for carnivores (even I recommend it, simply for the sheer OMG-factor!).

further reviews here and here

Then I didn’t realize until I started thinking about this post that Nietzsche took it up a notch – BAM!

At the London Calling party I mentioned in the previous link there was this douche of a guy with mutton chops and a trench coat and some rocker shirt just standing in the middle of the dance floor. Just standing there. He might have been a nice guy, he seemed to be with good company, I’m sure to him it was some test of social boundaries, but really he was just a wanker. And when people asked him, “Hey are you gay?” or “You gonna take that coat off?” while slinging their hair around and spraying their sweat on everybody, he would play it off as though the questions you’re asking should be about yourself and why you are even bothered by him in the first place. Okay, bullshit excuse. You’re just standing there!

Earlier in December I was at some rocker bar. Lots of dice, leather, too-tight brassieres and being in St. Louis at the time, heavy indoor smoking (almost forgot what that was like living in London and NYC for so long). But rockers these days just don’t dance, and therefore I don’t trust them. Sure enough this room with a ratio of 4-to-1 men/women just stood around for the most part, the men gathering in clusters and when the moment occurred, gawked and cheered at any female dancer. American rockers are too-often attached to some nostalgic image, or perception that you have to act and look and organize yourself a certain way because that’s how it was done back then – that is where I come from.

But I’ve always been more attracted to the cultural export/import than the original.

And the Japanese just uprooted my perception of rockers-don’t-dance:

No way! Okay, but is image everything? What moves do you have?

At this point I’m thinking, “It’s gonna be another movie about wacky Japanese subcultures huh. It’s not like he’s gonna start dancing or anything!”

some stretches, warm-ups, then suddenly:

WHOAH!

rival “dance” gang? You’ll have to watch to find out!

synchro-kick session

respect!

trailer here (.mov 37.3Mb)

by Peter, Bjorn and John

full image link – it’s super-wide, over 13,000 pixels, 1.0Mb

Meet ninjasonik! Go figure as soon as I return to NYC they go on tour, so I’ll have to wait til May at the earliest to see them, but these guys have it figured out:

I got a MySpace, I got a gmail, I got that Facebook, but I don’t do Friendster.

From their track “Internet Bitch” – give a listen at their MySpace.
Also:

So good!

an Atheist Bus campaign in the UK. preach it Brother Bus!

Update:

Jim, you’re six eleven and you weigh ninety pounds, Gumby has a better body than you. Boom roasted.

Dwight, you’re a kiss-ass. Boom roasted.

Pam, you failed art school, boom roasted.

Meredith, you’ve slept with so many guys you’re starting to look like one. Boom roasted.

Kevin, I can’t decide between a fat joke or a dumb joke boom roasted.

Creed your teeth called your breath stinks. Boom roasted.

Angela, where’s Angela. Whoa there you are I didn’t see you behind that grain of rice! Boom. Roasted!

Stanley! You crush your wife during sex and your heart sucks. Boom roasted.

Oscar, you’re gay!

Andy, Cornell called, they think you suck! And you’re gayer than Oscar. Boom roasted!

I recognize the police officers as British by design (those neon jackets are hard to forget) but I don’t know anything about the event or the mechanized monster machine.

Anybody?

Update: artist Craig Atkinson informed me this is La Machine from the 2008 Liverpool Biennial. thanks Craig!

Supplement -

another image of this amazing machine in situ:

it stops in 2007 at 3176 stores. seriously, three thouuuuusand one hundred and seventy six walmarts? about the only place you appear out of their reach is central nevada, upper montana and in maine along the canadian border.

and in case you missed it, here’s the link. watch it, only about 60 seconds long.

Straight chilling in the streets. This photo doesn’t tell the whole story, but there was actually a fair amount of shade on this street, and it was a bit chilly – in New Orleans, that means 55F – out, so the goat found a large swath of sunlight, with the street’s asphalt no doubt being the warmest spot available. Got off the bike, played with him for a couple minutes. I’m told it’s standard to encounter various uncommon domesticated mammals here.

spotted in Studio at Colton in New Orleans. makes one wonder about the word ‘Be’ and how it became removed. Was it an accident, the wear and tear of time; or the intent of some urban youth (Studio at Colton was a public school prior to Hurricane Katrina, during which damage was inflicted to the building making it unsuitable for learning and teaching) to subliminally deliver a message about the exploitation of working class youth to bolster territorial armies. If you’re familiar with New Orleans you know about the at times overwhelming military presence here, so the bumper sticker has a tinge of irony to it really.

be sure to visit Change at whitehouse.gov

Just so we’re all clear on this one, there is only ONE Nick Normal, me. But in the late 80s the Sesame Street had Nick Normal and the Nickmatics perform the letter N for Ntv hosted by Nora Nix. Ntv, the first channel that is all letter N, all the time, N. Nick Normal and the Nickmatics didn’t start creeping up in google search results until the mid-2000s when video embedding became more pervasive and metadata was attached. Before that there was no trace of the Nickmatics, even though they made several appearances throughout the 80s (I was born first, btw).

The letter N: I love this letter. It’s definitely one of my favorite letters in the alphabet. Not like G, what an awful letter. Writing G in cursive was always a bitch, whereas a N in print is clearly a superior letter, a letter that commands its presence. The 3 lines that make up the letter N can really be scribbled in myriad ways (you should see my signature), from hard-edged to curved and flowing. Turn it on its side and you get Z or Zed, another awesome letter.

And just for the record, I was a big Sesame Street fan, have always been a big puppet and muppet fan, so if anything I’m honored that Sesame Street adopted my name for the lead singer of the Nickmatics. Kinda looks like me too:

Enjoy some video:

An observation: read wikipedia. Example given, landlines are on their way out entirely; they will be ubiquitously replaced by mobile phones within 10 years. A fair number of people will say “duh” but where’s the proof? Evidence: read the wikipedia landline article then glance at the wikipedia mobile phone article. You can actually read the landline article in a couple minutes – but the mobile phone article has as many links and citations as the landline article has words!

It’s not to say that landlines aren’t or won’t continue to be extremely useful, merely that their purpose or even consideration is being increasingly replaced and usurped. Imagine if you had a fire in your building, would you think first to reach for the landline where you would be stuck as the fire approached, or reach into your pocket for your mobile where you can keep moving, escape the fire, and still talk with emergency workers at the same time?

Mobility makes sense.

But the argument here is that if you’re curious where society is headed, Wikipedia can be used as an observation tool. As the trend of a tool or resource becomes increasingly popular so its Wikipedia article becomes more complex in citations and increases in length; it’s competition does not necessarily dwindle proportionately, but merely becomes stagnate, confined to historical reference.

Or you could be one of the lucky ones and receive your body weight in stuffed babies:

and happy today by the way, I hope you will be enjoying some time away from the grind with friends or family or whatever makes you tickled.

As for dancing, if you’re itching to shake your rump I recommend London Calling this Saturday, which will be the final Calling at the Upstairs Lounge on South Grand near Tower Grove Park. It’s $10 to get in but it’s a guaranteed good time as long as you like to dance! At 4am after the previous set at a local diner I was kindly referred to by one of the DJs as ‘the guy on the dance floor’. I don’t think he meant THE guy, but I definitely like to boogie down & let loose. What’s really incredible about their set is they’re largely VJed, as in Video Jockeyed. The music is banging, and that they have accompanying music videos for about 80% of what they spin (with downloadable set lists and mp3s also!) is downright incredible! It’s a layer of culture often overlooked in clubs and provides visual stimulus when your legs are otherwise out of the game (even I need a water break). They’re also very clever at documenting all of their crowd, including me from their previous gig:

while talking with my friend Andrew, note the Sheffield belt-knife and the bling ring.

[from Anti-Terrorism Exercises in China]

Driven by Boredom has some great photos of the recent closing of the Donnell Library in New York City, across the way from the MoMA, including this wonderful shot of what I assume to be shelving carts or trollies of sorts with their books entirely wrapped in plastic. Lovely, lovely wrapped up knowledge.

those who know me, know how this shirt resonates with me. I’d rather modify one of my $2 Canal Street t-shirts to make my own expression. Also, white jeans? Pshaw!

[via Steve, and from the Gothamist]

Obama’s Kenyan relatives, including his step-grandmother Sarah Obama (center top), party in Kogelo village, Kenya, after his victory.

Teachers and students at Obama’s old primary school in Jakarta, Indonesia, react to the win. This man has global reach!

NY voting machine (left – which I used) and Ohio (right)

Frenchie supporters, waving American flags, wearing Obama buttons, taped signs to back. Could you ever imagine this type of support for Bush, or McCain? or… anybody?

Bhutanese monks take a break at the Dechen Phodrang monastery to watch the election.

California is such a car-centric culture: drive-thru voting. Another reason I couldn’t live there. I was too enthused with the people-interaction of NY voting, which for me took place at a primary school in Woodside. So many people in the mess hall-turned-polling station, celebrating their right to vote and their hope for change.

Obama, Japan reacts to Obama’s victory.

(photos care of Time photo essays)

FUCK YEAH!

Okay, a few more words: We did it. We won. The longest presidential campaigns in US history, and I gotta say this time we got it right. After the electoral coup of 2000, and the flop of 2004, thankfully the Dems, no doubt enlivened by social media and technological advancement, employed all the correct and creative mediums to not only capture an overwhelming majority electoral vote, but in doing so smash record voter turnout numbers. Meanwhile the Republicans stuck to some petty Karl Rove maneuvers and it backlashed, it backlashed big. Compounded by McCain’s trophy of a VP candidate, and the Republican party will be in civil strife for some time, as it attempts to re-define it’s image and Conservatives disagree with each other and realize the fear-mongering politics of post-9/11 no longer work to capture general elections.

People who know me know I’ve been campaigning for Obama since before he announced his presidential bid. And while I can concur that his track record is nothing to be marveled, he is a signifier. A signifier of hope and the now-very imminent possibility of change. Not only in the presidential sense, but in the local sense. Obama will make it possible for other minorities to advance at the political level. His campaign also showed how an honest deployment of social media – a degree of transparency – can catapult the right person at the right time. I don’t believe this movement (for lack of a better word) would have been possible in 2004. But now, it was not only possible but necessary and desired. Desired, as shown by the 250,000 people who gathered in Chicago to hear Obama’s victory speech. Desired, as shown by the hordes of people in NYC who flooded into the streets, honking, waving signs, shouting, Yes We Can. I can’t say I could have ever imagined the American people so energized and politicized by the possibility of change and progress.

As I embark on a path of homelessness and unemployment, I can actually say I feel quite good. I’m looking forward to digging in, and fighting for what I believe in. Wow.

Unbelievable. Truly. I grew up not far from where this photo was taken, and can’t say I ever saw this many people piled into the downtown St. Louis area. Bob Dole’s visit during 1996 for his failed presidential bid drew both supporters AND protesters, and still numbered less than half of what the Wall Street Journal writes is an estimated 100,000 people. Given the city has less than 400,000 residents, and the metro area less than 3mil, and that St. Louis carries a lot of weight in Missouri’s electoral votes, let’s hope this is a sign that things really can, and will, change. To put it in another perspective, I seriously doubt that if McCain and Palin both were to campaign in St. Louis they could draw anything like this at an outdoor rally. Heck they might even draw more criticism from non-pro-America Americans than they would supporters. Wankers.

(My only criticism is the WSJ article is incorrect in labeling Missouri a “typically red state”. Missouri voted blue 14 times versus voting red 12 times in the previous centry; it voted blue as recently as ‘92 and ‘96 – and for the last 10 general elections has voted with the eventual winner, one of the few states to consistently maintain such credentials.)

from the 2nd Manhattan Cask Ale Festival! their website is straight outta 1998, sans doctype and all! I love it! And I love ale even more!

image care of Honky275, a random Flickr user I encountered who takes some really wonderful food images!

Google you’re so smart!

I don’t think the organization or juxtaposition of any of these images or tidbits of text make any sense, but then again life itself is a pretty uncohesive experience. why one day was I standing above a model of the city I live in thinking about a bike trip I took two months back, then finding myself documenting instances of green-n-yellow all over the city? who knows.

either way, have at it.

Socrates Sculpture Movie Park:

I really really recommend watching a movie in the park. Socrates Sculpture Park has a pretty fab summer schedule.

Watched the Korean film “The Host” with my matey Martina. Great movie. The park experience was the real delight though: we sat quite close to the front. The film progressed through dusk into nightfall, and after the credits we stood up and turned around to a park-at-capacity! Easily over 1,000 people! Which made the walk home (about 30 mins) a delight, surrounded by fellow Queens residents.

Matthew Barneyparty:

Matthew Barney threw some noise-core shindig in his Long Island City studio. Great space, and the evening included some spontaneous performances including this one of some tranny getting holed up in a portapotty while some guy in a suit siphoned the stall with such strength that it tipped over (I and everybody else in the crowd quickly ran away at that point!).

afterwards the DSNY workers uprighted the stall,

Alarms Loud:

alarm of storage building going off in background. a crane-truck passes by. some guy walking on the street. no other activity. big buildings in the background. desolate surroundings otherwise. this is Queens!

this is Queens (random photos):

warehouses, kids on bikes, stretch limo, man w/o shirt leaning on stretch.

south end of Flushing-Meadows Corona Park

in Flushing

Flushing Mall, asian-style marketplace

in Corona I think.

in Flushing, 7 train in middleground with Shea Stadium in far background (see below).

zoom in of picture above.

Green-N-Yellow around town:

Panoramic models:

A recent trip to the Queens Museum had me walking above their New York City Panorama. I’ve been to see the Panorama over a dozen times now, but this time I had a new familiarity with some areas of Queens that I hadn’t before, notably this area of Neponsit, Bell Harbor and Rockaway Park that I biked to the last week of May (over two months back). The thoughts of that bike trip were still fresh in my head (see houses below).

(the houses below are from the area above in the model)

(from my bike trip Flickr set)

Hopefully it’ll all make sense eventually. Here we go!

Ziggurat Dismantled

Finally took it all apart. My first piece of architecture, it weathered the elements for nearly three months. Next time I will build it 10x as big! Watch its birth here.

this is Queens

clicks to larger image. Condos on the right; debris all around; Citibank tower in the background. this is Queens these days.

this is also Queens:

warehouses on one block with joined two-story homes on the next. new bike lanes and wide roads, front yards with statuettes and pine trees, old school antennas, power lines that still criss-cross the streets, what’s not to love about this place?

Workhat:

my work productivity increased exponentially with the construction and implementation of this head-top device. I no longer needed a keyboard or even the confines of speech, as I could simply “beam” my thoughts to humans and machines alike.

Baseball

the new Yankee Stadium looks gorgeous, it really does. can’t wait to see the interior.

Boy that was a good day! And to think they intentionally walked two others to get to Miles. suckers!

A swing n a miss!

Euro2008

Even though Croatia lost, I still flew their flag outside my window. They really were the most-exciting team to watch up until their defeat, and have one of the best color schemes and patterns around. Next time hopefully De Silva will be healthy.

Mermaid Day Parade

Finally got a Saturday off and got to watch the Mermaid Day Parade. To be honest it was a bit of a flop. The coordination was a bit haphazard, I guess that’s to be expected but there were times where the space between performers was nearly the length of the boardwalk, making the parade feel disjointed and lonely. Still, there were highlights of good costumes and color:

Rode the Wonder Wheel with Angie. Swinging style!

Just imagine, soon this will all be condominiums!! I CANT WAIT… barf!

My buddies came by for a visit:

So glad we have a new neighborhood dog walker!

I love how the smallest pooch won’t have nothing to do with a leash. Kinda reminds me of myself in those regards.

And beyond

There’s more. Plenty more. Trying to organize it all. Have started packing up in preparation for eventually getting kicked out by the MTA and having to move house. Which has thrown my art production into a complete tailspin of late. Plus after Amelia’s passing I got a sore throat from internalizing all of my grief, that lasted over a week, and made me realize how susceptible my own body was to external pressures and how we can make ourselves sick, quite literally.

Amber is coming to town soon. That’s exciting.

I need to go for a walk.

Okay so here we go:

Brooklyn Museum and the Flickr Commons

some pretty exciting things going on over at the Brooklyn Museum, including their consigning to the Flickr Commons, which is less about taking photography in the museum and more about sharing their image archives (as well as images taken documenting recent events, openings, etc.). That’s great, just great. Good for them! Brooklyn Museum Flickr sets

Firestats, for WordPress

Firestats is a great, simple, web statistics system that can be easily integrated with WordPress (which runs this site). It’s smooth, consise and pretty darned comprehensive:

fresh install – 0 statistics

Firestats automatically refreshes! 5 minutes after install, already 5 visitors. That’s cool! (Further down the page you get referrers, countries, search terms, the lot… I hate having to open another tab for my webhost to view urchin stats – Firestats is easily accessible from within the WordPress dashboard!)

Firestats – hello to my Ukrainian and Chinese blogcomradesurfers! all 11.11% of you! Canada… eh.

PicLens for Firefox 3

Following on from the success of over 8 million downloads of Firefox 3 on its launch day, new extensions and add-ons are emerging at an alarming rate, and most of them are pretty top-notch! Furthermore, at least on my system, memory hogging doesn’t seem to be as much of a burden anymore, even with 20+ add-ons running! One of my new-found favorites is PicLens:

PicLens google image search for “nick normal” – an image I’ve never seen before, but I recognize it to be by Lance Wakeling of artmini acclaim! to the right of his image, me and Ashley at the Steinway Street stop in Queens (photo by Josh Picker); below that an image from Peekskill NY, at bookworm or whatever that fantastic bookstore is called, from a trip taken by Kerry, Sarah, Jamil and myself; above the photo of me and Ashley an image of me taken by Cassie Thornton!

Huh? same google image search for “nick normal”. I definitely don’t recognize this photo, but wish I was there! That hexagonal game board with topographic layers! brilliant! (and that orc is soooooo dead! unles… he has… mithril!)

PicLens is quick to browse Flickr too. not sure if it browses titles, tags, or description, but it’s pretty fast! That’s sweet!

So yeah, get PicLens!

and lastly…

Note to self:

FIX YOUR FUCKING BLOG CODE!

i’m on it!

love ya Dude!

(and thanks to the future post function of WordPress, even if I forget to call, I’ll have published this post as proof that I was thinking about you! ahhhhh open source technology used to express one’s affection!)

(and thanks Henry for your original drawing!)

big trucks

from 2008 Feb 24 in the NYTimes, this graphic shows the vehicle power needed to move (and to protect, I assume) American troops in the world’s contemporary battlefields. My favorite is the Force Protection Buffalo Category III MRAP, a 20+ tonne vehicle that can carry 6 individuals the distance of St. Louis to Chicago for what would cost at consumer-rates $400-a-tank (not to mention the money needed to get the diesel to the battlefield!)

[via NYTimes - unknown article (or I'm too lazy to search)]

treehug the aristocracy

HRH Prince Charles is the owner of an amazing 37-acre garden known as Highgrove Garden. I’m not too keen on the British royal family, especially their acquisition of land and wealth – and they have a LOT of it – but this place looks pretty spectacular. Too bad I can’t take my non-existing girlfriend there for a stroll.

[via treehugger - A Visit to Highgrove Garden]

you gotta love him!

Martin Creed’s work #701. Creed’s numbering sequence makes for archiving art a really simple task! No flamboyant or wordy titles, and everything simply falls in order, this one, then that one, and so forth.

bike pr0n

[via moyercycles Flickr]

something I’m terrible at

is making business cards. there are some really good ones out there, and I just never follow through with producing them. Are they, the secret ticket to success?

[via fubiz.net]

continuing from my paper-art-is-all-the-craze (see DIY Architecture), click here for some PDF-downloadable Japanese paperbots. You’ll have to figure out the assembly yourself – I only understand the visual language: I click the icon, get the respective robot page, eventually find the PDF, download, cutout, robotparty!

this bot, with the six-shooter extendo-arm reminds me a bit of the gun-slinger from Westworld:

(which is supposed to have a remake in 2009 – me, I hate remakes, I can’t stand the push to make re-hits out of already spectacular older hits, trying to capitalize on current expanded markets. the original Westworld was Awesome – no need to call remake)

Have Fun Crafting!

Shanghai has a model of its city that may very well rival that of the Panorama of New York City at the Queens Museum.

Panoramas and city-models are amazing things, in that they attempt to capture the spread and density of a city in a moment. But how do you capture a city whose construction projects are so voluminous that it is rumored to have possession of one-fifth of the world’s building cranes!? How do you capture a city that is constantly being destroyed, rebuilt, constructed, condensed, expanded, designed, populated?

from Shanghai Megacities pof104art02_11776241_en (PDF 550k)

from Jello Biafra and the Politics of Punk at The Morning News

Katamari and Shadow of the Colossus:

I can’t honestly say who would win. All those colossi could be formidable.

[from pixeljoint]

ghost cars of the world

way cooler than my cars of Budapest, check out these Ghost Cars of the World.

PRESS IT ALREADY!:

some image resting on the nytimes server – not sure where from, what article, but i like it.

DIY Pet Architecture

paper work, paper cutting, printed art to play with, etc., it’s been in discussion a lot lately, on many peoples’ tongues. not sure where it’s going, but this is called DIY Pet Architecture, and is a current craze in Japan.

[via SuperColossal]

and speaks his mind, citing the situation in Iraq thanks to last year’s troop deployment as a society resembling “something approaching normal”. Full story here.

life, wrapped up. hopefully more coming soon.

most content wins

discussions with some people about primaries, caucuses and (especially) exit polls reveal that some people form their ideologies based on suspicions or heresay, rather than experience or hope. One person told me that because their aging aunt (I forget where from) voted for Clinton recently in a primary, that all “old people” (a demographic I didn’t know existed) invariably lean towards Clinton – this was a counter-argument to my thesis that ‘the most content wins‘, where I am arguing that whoever develops the most online content (which spills over into the real world, of course) will win the Democratic nomination, and eventually the Presidency. They suggest that older people do not engage the internet, but rather television (not even newspapers), and so will not be swayed by content developed online; and that young voters do not account for a large voter base needed to gain victories. This, of course, was before Barack swept – and I mean fucking SWEPT – Clinton, winning the last eight competitions! And in doing so provided evidence to disprove their theory: Obama wins among older voters in Maryland, Virginia. Their thesis is also racially biased: their aunt is Caucasian, and so they believe all older voters from all races are in the same boat as them. Meanwhile exit poll data in Georgia and Missouri showed African-Americans over 40 casting landslide victories – over 80% – in favor of Obama. Other states may be of smaller margins, but no where did Clinton win such landslide numbers among white voters.

But my initial argument was that content developed online will be responsible for building momentum and eventually a win. It isn’t as if voters simply sit around twiddling their thumbs waiting for their day to vote and then simply shuffle off to the polling station and drop a slip into a box. The democratic process is about debate, discussion, and emotion. I’ve seen people at polling stations (or online in blog comments) arguing over policies, laws enacted, and reforms – while admitting they’re not sure who to vote for, it’s all about feeling!

and young people are responsible for galvanizing other voter demographics, by spearheading meetings, marches, rallies, sign-making parties, events, etc., assisted by technologies, which eventually encourages “old people” and others to vote for whoever they then believe in, and a lot of people are saying, Yes We Can.

web 2.0 concerns

another argument reflecting on elements of web 2.0 life, was I had someone recently suggest that I should email them images, images which are already freely available on my Flickr account. Additionally, as I am not a Press Secretary, I couldn’t possibly know exactly which images they are interested in. One point of Flickr is that it is remote and accessible by all browsers, there is no password, so people are freely able to search my content and find what they want. Of course I appreciate to know when people are using my images, but I haven’t turned down a request to date.

Two weeks ago, this person told me that their time was too valuable to “troll through” all of my images, and that rather I should spend my time to send them what they want. Again, I couldn’t possibly know what they want, and by no means am I going to send even a single 5 megabyte jpeg through email, let alone gigabytes worth of images, some from events that took place over 12 months ago!

Then this past week they requested that I point them in the direction of a specific photo they want, for their own purposes. Their time is too valuable, but mine is at their dispense?

I guess the point here is I’m interested in how web 2.0 philosophies expose bureaucratic tendencies: I am by no means obligated to process even 1 jpeg for the benefit of a non-profit which I volunteer for; the person who cuts a monthly check nearly equivalent to my rent is obligated. I have already done the work – free of charge – by taking the photo, uploading it, tagging it, bunching them into sets and collections, etc. What more could they ask for, really!?

jobby job

then recently I had my stable job of two and half years presented on a platter and told to think about it. the argument here is that I am currently employed part-time (a year ago I was full-time) and my employer “found out” (for lack of a better term) that I work odd freelance jobs on the side to gain some extra income. By no means are my freelance jobs stable, or enough to subsist on. I was told that the terms of our agreement should have provided me with enough to “survive on”. To survive. Yes, to pay rent, transport and food, nothing more. I may not work the other 4 days a week, but pick up jobs which net me some extra money to buy supplies, materials, a pair of socks, carry a cellphone, things above and beyond survival which I believe I need “to survive” in this hyper-consumerist society.

It appalled me to think that someone thinks because we agreed to work together, part-time on my clock, that that means I can’t find financial assistance elsewhere. As if they have that right, legally or ethically!

year of the rat

all of the above makes sense, of course. it’s Year of the Rat. changes are ahead. I saw a spokesman for the Chinese government talking on CNN (I think) about how the rat signifies buildings falling down & crop failure, but that it would also be a glorious year with Beijing hosting the 2008 summer games! That kind of weirded me out.

Two weeks back I quickly mentioned that I found it difficult to imagine heaps of e-waste being worked into contemporary art. Then just last week, inhabitat reported on the “Beauty From E-Waste” photography of Chris Jordan. So it seems you can create beautiful contemporary art from e-waste. But this isn’t exactly what I was talking about, and feel the need to defend this a little further.

I pointed to Kurt Schwiters as a prime example of an artist who recycled the world around him. From detritus found in urban areas to objects scavenged from walks on beaches, once you breach the levees of his popular work you find out just how prolific he was in producing thousands upon thousands of smaller works constituted from included-found objects and materials. Chris Jordan’s work on the other hand is one of the seductions of photography: a beautiful image yes, but ultimately only concerned with the composition and array of objects and colors, and less worried about that object’s transition in the world or its ultimate fate, as I’m sure he discards the objects used to create his own work once he is done photographing them.

Of course on that note I admit what I’m asking for is probably impossible, as by no means do I expect any artist to have the capacity to work 426,000 discarded cell phones a day (in the US alone) into their artwork. However maybe China has the right idea.

One reason I find this topic so pressing is because I am constantly struggling with my own work, regarding the sheer volume of materials and objects in the world, and more importantly for me when I let go of a material into an artwork, and how I collect and supply my practice; or what do I choose to include and exclude. I’m a pack-rat yes but I know that ultimately I have to let it all go, install it or construct it into something.

Hillary Clinton’s campaign trail haven’t updated their Flickr account for nearly 10 days now. what this tells me is they’re on vacation.

I don’t watch news television (too media-controlled), I don’t listen to news radio about the current election campaigns (too sound-bitey), and I merely glance at articles in the New York Times about them (they look nice though). I consume most of my content via the nets. Clinton and Obama (the two major contenders are all that matters now really) are both in my feed aggregator. I get their Flickr feeds and watch their YouTube videos.

but like I say, Clinton hasn’t updated her Flickr in nearly 10 days.

so I’m going to make a prediction here: the contender with the most content WINS. simple.

no political insight, no analysis, no “deep” dialogue here folks. the MOST content WINS.

here are the current stats:

Hillary Clinton
YouTube videos: 223
Flickr photos: 3,081
facebook supporters: 82,139
myspace friends: 169,914

Barack Obama
YouTube videos: 523
Flickr photos: 14,032
facebook supporters: 285,634
myspace friends: 238,459

per my analysis my decision is obvious. but this is only a prediction!

(I will commend Clinton’s website designers though. they make the links to her external media very big, colorful and obvious, albeit at the bottom. Obama’s links are on the sidebar, way down, small and greyed out, not so easy to find. See for yourself: Clinton v Obama)

Related websites:
Clinton’s Flickr
Obama’s Flickr

what I’m talking about: today I sent off my Canon G7 to be serviced, under warranty. The lens mechanism needs a good cleaning, as some dust found its way into the housing unit and occasionally distorts images with specks and spots; actually the dust is most-noticeable in movies taken with the camera, for some reason. the CCD, the device that renders the world digitally, seems to be able to compensate somewhat for still images, but for movies the dust becomes more-than-apparent.

so I’ll be without a camera for at least a week, if not 10 days. that means my Flickr account will be abandoned for the time being. still, I’ll have plenty to look at! Since my memory card last week passed the barrier by which the digital filing system can no longer count any higher, and it resets to 1. that’s right, I’ve taken over 10,000 photos with my G7, in under 7 months. That’s as many photos in the last 7 months as in the three years before that! Don’t ask me how that’s even possible, but the numbers aren’t too far-fetched: 10,000 images in 7 months would require 48 images/day. and there were some days where I was easily shooting over 100 images/day (such as here or here or here) and other days where even with only 3 or 4 images a day, I was shooting spaces worth mentioning (here or here or here). Point is, shit adds up. 10,000 photos. simple.

My barrier-mark photos were nothing special either:

img_9998 – 9999 actually was the same image, but not as sharp.

img_0001 – nearly the same as 9998, but with flash obviously.

ordinary photos. nothing special, but I like the ordinary. photos that record and track my time and space.

In the meantime, though, while I wait for my G7 to return, I have my previous 10,000+ (actually my archives number over 25,000) shots to peruse. so I thought I’d continue with my ‘a year ago today‘ format and present you with an intersection in Queens, 365 days past: