Hell's Half Acre

new read

I really have an affinity for graphic design.  Typography, iconography, semiotics, etc. Found a good book last night before I went to the Pain Arena (yes. . .I've gone back to my masochistic ways. Saving money to see Higgins again. Box box punch.) 

anyways, enough about Higgins. The book I picked up is a collection of essays on design, densley packed with writings on culture and history and their interaction with design. I only read a little last night but I'm looking forward to diving in.

Design Literacy check it.

talkin' 'bout my generation

How happy am I that I was able to come of age in the generation that brought you this:

no really. I am happy. Shit stuff like this has made me what I am today.

hey whitey, go cry to your president

The face of corporate america doesn't like being held accountable, apparently.

From the NYTimes online. . .

WASHINGTON, Oct. 28 — Frustrated with laws and regulations that have made companies and accounting firms more open to lawsuits from investors and the government, corporate America — with the encouragement of the Bush administration — is preparing to fight back.

Now that corruption cases like Enron and WorldCom are falling out of the news, two influential industry groups with close ties to administration officials are hoping to swing the regulatory pendulum in the opposite direction. The groups are drafting proposals to provide broad new protections to corporations and accounting firms from criminal cases brought by federal and state prosecutors as well as a stronger shield against civil lawsuits from investors. 

read more. . .

musix are so inspirational

ahhhhh the sweet sounds of the karaoke room. I could have lived in the karaoke room at Muse, what with the bar at one end and the plasma karaoke screens. sigh. the wireless microphones. excellent.

I was tone deaf a little last night. . .had a hard time hearing so my apologies.

In other musix, at Other Music, Icelandic composer JOHANN JOHANNSSON's release IBM 1401: A User's Manual, sounds weirdly promising. Orchestral and computery. Here's the O.M. blurb "His latest release is magnificent, featuring a 60-piece orchestra, electronics and reel-to-reel recordings of an IBM 1401 mainframe computer." Sounds weird but it's oddly ethereal. Sounds like something only a geek would heart.

AND then there's . . .

[V.A.] "New York Noise 3" (Soul Jazz)
RealAudio impLOG "Holland Tunnel Dive"
The most essential of the series, "New York Noise 3" leans toward the more electronic end of the spectrum. Features impLOG's classic "Holland Tunnel Dive," and Ike Yard, Dominatrix, Dark Day, Martin Rev, and more.

And last but not least

Ike Reiko "Kokotsu No Sekai " CD (Tiliqua)
RealAudio Ike Reiko Track Six
Limited quantity of '60s-'70s era sex pop, recorded by Japanese porn stars. File under guilty pleasure!

Shop til you drop

NYC dentists

This is the WORST!

I HAVE FUCKING DENTAL INSURANCE YET I CAN'T SEEM TO GET AN EMERGENCY DENTAL APPOINTMENT ANYWHERE IN THIS FUCKING CITY!

OMG. I have a tooth with a nerve that is calling a jihad on my mouth. It's been getting progressively more painful and has now turned into a dull ache which is threatening to take over the right side of my head. I called my dentist who I like. . .LIKED. . .until they checked out. NO ONE THERE IS ANSWERING THE PHONE. Not an answering machine, not a person, nothing.  So I try another dentist in the area who is in my plan.

"I'm sorry, we can't see you until you make the switch with your insurance and show up on our roster."

"When will that be?"

"Not until after December 1st."

*tooth throbbing* "huh?"

The next number I try is a contant busy signal.

The next number I try has some recording with 100 options so I pick the one for new patients and I get the recorded lady voice saying something about leaving a message."

*tooth still throbs*

If I go to the dental ER I will have to pay out of pocket and it will cost an arm and a leg.  WHAT IS THE FUCKING POINT OF PAYING FOR FUCKING HEALTH INSURANCE IF YOU CAN'T GET CARE WHEN YOU FUCKING NEED IT IS WHAT I FUCKING WANT TO KNOW.

FYI--THE FOLLOWING DENTAL CARE PROVIDERS IN MANHATTAN CAN KISS MY FUCKING ASS:

1.) Union Square Dental -- 10 west 15th -- What you get: no answer. are you guys still there? 4 calls no answer. At least 50 rings. Even the Aetna rep called you and you still didn't answer..

2.) Concerned Dental Care (not) 30 E. 40th St.  -- what you get: someone's answering machine who will get back to you at THEIR earliest convenience, at least that's what the recording said. I doubt my issue, which will require out of the ordinary paperwork, would move to the top of "their convenience" priority list.

3.) Dental Associates of NY - 241 W. 23rd.  -- What you get: They will take you for your emergency issue but you  will have to wait a month and a half.

4.) American Dental Centers- 241 W.30th St.  -- What you get: busy signal. why so busy? Only busy signals. Are your phones not working? Do you only have one line into your office? What's the deal?

sorry to rant and run but I've got to go to Duane Reade now and get some fucking ambesol and tylenol.

celebrating JC

reasons to like the JC

WFMU
Corrupt Politicians and City Officials
General sense of chaos and lawlessness
Wendy White lives there
Loews and its friends
Liberty Science Center
It has it's own nickname
Flip Wilson was born in JC and has a street named after him
It's the home of the carpet clutching muffler man
it's diverse. . .

In fact, not only is the JC okay in my book so is the rest of Jersey because . . .New Jersey Court Backs Full Rights for Gay Couples

hey Jersey, you're not so bad after all.

cringey beige moment

FB you are lucky to not have to go to beige. I just survived a cringeworthy beige moment. I was looking at non-work related videos on youtube (not porn.) I suddenly notice that many people in the open office floorplan (the worst) Have peeked their heads out of their cubes and are staring in my general direction. I have my headphones on so I'm not thinking  about it. Then I hear "what's going on over there?" "Is someone having a party outside?"

I had the headphones plugged into the wrong jack. Thankfully I sit next to an open window so I could pretend like I didn't hear anything.

Oh who's foolin' who? They all knew it was me screwing around. gnar.

new unforeseen developments

Before the Beck show, I took B to the local Vietnamese place for some Pho, the national dish of Krixfortlandia.  On the way there I noticed a newly renovated building with for sale signs.  It is right across from the St. Peter's college campus. I kind of dismissed it but then noticed all of the improvements the city is putting in down Bergen avenue. Fixing up sidewalks with brick paver inlays, old fashioned-y light posts, tree planting.

After the Beck show, I was pretty pumped about JC. Suddenly it didn't feel like such wart on the ass of Manhattan. I mean let's face it Jersey is to NY as Joe Pesci is to DeNiro. (Case in point, do you think DeNiro would be caught dead in "Gone Fishing?")  Again, I digress.

I was on a bunch of JC listservs, discovering that there were people like me, living in my hood. And they are looking for the same things I am looking for. . .something to do in JC. A good bookstore. A nice coffee shop that is not a Starbucks. It was kind of cool.

So then, I figured, hey, I wonder what's available on the housing market? I usually check this once a year, around this time. What do you know, the crazy gut renovated bldg has a one bedroom condo at a price I can afford.

Hopefully I will look at it today. It's kind of like the Conde Nast thing. . .you'll never know what it's all about unless you check it out.

---

Meanwhile I am wondering why I am so all over the place. Is it because my NYU routine is coming to an end? 

why the fuck not?

so would it be weird to apply to the Creative Writing MFA at Hunter? I mean, I know I'm rusty with all the dotted i's and crossed t's and maybe I'll need to take some other writing course first to get warmed up but you know. . .why not?

I like writing okay. Always have.

http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/creativewriting/

Beck in my hood

first off, I've never been to a concert that is a five minute walk away from my house. Better than that, the show fucking rocked the house. Beck is doing this crazy thing with puppets, and a dinner table, and furries and well anyway. . .I found some shit on Youtube to show rather than tell.  The Youtube footage isn't from the JC show but it will give an idea of what the expereince was like. For the encore, the puppets did a little movie in Journal Square, posing by the Jackie Robinson statue, eating at the white castle and generally hanging out in the JSQ. This was a fun, sold out show and I can only hope that Friend's of Loews can continue to bring acts into the fabulous Loews Theater. The acoustics were fantasitic, the venue is the perfect size. . .it was really a phenominal experience. And Beck sure as hell didn't suck.

Beck puppets trashing the Radiohead dressing room in dublin

Beck and his band playing the dinner table. Notice the puppets playing the table as well. This almost looks like it could've been filmed at the Loews except the Loews is a smaller venue.

Beck bears