East Village, New York, 9/11/08

See the above photo, taken tonight, and my This Is New York City photoset on Flickr.

Thoughts on 9/11? Not many. Osama Bin Laden's uncaught. Afghanistan's getting worse while we pour money into Iraq. The war's spreading to Pakistan. We may still be adolescent enough as a nation to elect John McCain President, who's less inclined to diplomacy, more to military might as a solution. (We live in a Bizarro world where the word "diplomacy" is often spoken with contempt, as is the word "liberal.") We're obsessed with the superficial and the facile - witness the praise heaped upon a scarcely qualified VP candidate - and it's greasing the way to our downfall. But, hey, there's a new iPod coming out and it's even thinner than the old one with more storage. Good times.

Apologies for the bitter tone. I think, like many, I just feel shocked (shocked) at how easily so many others are suckered in by the (not even admirable or appealing) surface of things. Sarah Palin's introductory speech to her fellow-countrymen was laced with venom and condescension; nonetheless, she won the instant, unqualified admiration of millions.

Still, take a breath, I tell myself. Take a break from the political blogs. There is still beauty in the world. 

Related:

• Watch this absorbing video lecture on "Will China and India Dominate the 21st Century Global Economy?" Answer: an unreserved "Yes."
• Wigsalon is taking advantage of the instant craze for, yes, Sarah Palin wigs.

Murakami on Memory

"You know what I think?" she says. "That people’s memories are maybe the fuel they burn to stay alive. Whether those memories have any actual importance or not, it doesn’t matter as far as the maintenance of life is concerned. They’re all just fuel. Advertising fillers in the newspaper, philosophy books, dirty pictures in a magazine, a bundle of then-thousand-yet bills: when you feed ‘em to the fire, they’re all just paper. The fire isn’t thinking, ‘Oh, this is Kant,’ or ‘Oh, this is the Yomiuri evening edition,’ or ‘Nice tits,’ while it burns. To the fire, they’re nothing but scraps of paper. It’s the exact same thing. Important memories, not-so-important memories, totally useless memories: there’s no distinction-they’re all just fuel." ...

"You know, I think if I didn't have that fuel, if I didn't have those memory drawers inside me, I would've snapped a long time ago. I would've curled up in a ditch somewhere and died. It's because I can pull the memories out of the drawers when I have to- the important ones and the useless ones- that I can go on living this nightmare of a life. I might think I can't take it anymore, that I can't go on anymore, but one way or another I get past that."

- from After Dark by Haruki Murakami

Dubstep Diatribe

Reproducing as best I can, these scathing lyrics delivered by Tippa Irie on "Angry" from The Bug's London Zoo:

Now, New Orleans in America
Why they never helping to Katrina
America is a big super power
They shoulda been there in the hour
But they left people them just to suffer
And to shower in the gutter

Certainly one of the year's most compelling listens so far. Try "Murder We" and "Poison Dart," as well.

Fan-created video for "Angry" on YouTube
Official video for "Poison Dart"
Album on Amazon.com

Department of Shameless Self Promotion

Me and my friend and co-worker, Rachel Lovinger are quoted in a New York Times story today on the new "esplanade" on Broadway, which streams past AA|RF's office building at 1440. From the tail-end of the article:

Robert Stribley, 39, an information architect at an Internet design firm with an office on Broadway, said that he found the experience of sitting on the esplanade surreal.

“You look around and expect a truck to veer off and plow into you at any moment,” he said. “It’s not Bryant Park. You’ve got exhaust coming at you. But it’s kind of cool.”

A co-worker, Rachel Lovinger, 37, suggested a way to eliminate the risk: turn all of Broadway from Times Square to Herald Square into a pedestrian park, with no cars or trucks at all.

“If the entire thing were a pedestrian walkway it would be great,” she said.

It should be duly noted that I did not say anything of any particular portent or significance.

And in Gothamist, as well.

Quote

Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage.

- Anaïs Nin

The Cuban Five

Prominently placed at the boarding gate for international flights at the Havana airport, the above poster depicts the Cuban 5. Imprisoned in the United States for the past decade, the Cuban 5 appear on posters, billboards and murals all around Havana. The poster says they were put on trial in heavily conservative-Cuban Miami, Florida and then unjustly imprisoned. It's said they were prosecuted for stopping terrorism. As the Wikipedia article explains below, there's more to the story. Nonetheless, sentences were dropped for three of the men. Additionally, the United States has been criticized by human right advocates for not allowing the wives of two of the men visas to visit their spouses in jail.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_Five
www.freethefive.org

Cuba & Jamaica

I've added a plethora of photos from my vacation in Jamaica and Cuba to Flickr.

Cuba - Though I had hoped to spend the better part of 2 weeks in Cuba, I spent just 3 days in Havana after American Airlines mislaid my backpack, thereby significantly delaying the rest of my trip. On returning to the United States, I declared my trip to Cuba on my customs form and passed through without incident.

Jamaica - I hadn't planned on exploring Jamaica much, but ended up staying in Kingston for several days with an additional side-trip to Ocho Rios, which took me through the mountains and across the center off the island.

I rather hurriedly uploaded these photos, but hope to go back and add details and description.

Additionally, here's a post I wrote back in May, 07, which provides background on my decision to travel to Cuba. I could write a more detailed piece and may yet, including advice on how to travel there and back. I'd encourage anyone to do it as an appropriate and peaceful act of civil disobedience. If more American citizens traveled there openly and declared their trip on their customs forms, I think the government would be forced to remove the restrictions.

Here's some helpful, detailed advice on traveling to Cuba

Sign a petition requesting Congress pass legislation allowing travel to Cuba

Cuban Travel Restrictions

Havana, Cuba

A quick roundup of some Cuba-related news:

Last month a U.S. Senate committee actually voted to undo travel restrictions to Cuba the Bush administration had created, restrictions which currently prevent Cuban-Americans from visiting their own homeland more than once every three years.

Elsewhere, however, in Florida, the legislature is attempting to punish travel agencies, which enable travel to Cuba, even by Cubans. Under the new law, travel agents would be required to pay a $250,000 bond and share the names of clients in order to continue their business with Cuba. The legality of the new law is currently under review.

Ironically, as we're banning Americans from traveling to Cuba, we're also still imprisoning people without charge on Cuban soil at Guantanamo Bay - and sending athletes, reporters, camera crews and scads of tourists to China for the Olympic games.

Tilt-Shift

As this Flickr group demonstrates, tilt-shift photography makes real photos look like fake miniatures of the real thing. Here's a tutorial using a train station as an example. Hard to believe those toy-like trains are real, right? And back on Flickr, this scene from Vinales, Cuba looks like a diorama with a toy car.

Documenting Reality

The International Documentary Association (IDA) has named 25 Best Documentaries, only 13 of which I've seen. So plenty more viewing pleasure to be had. Hoops Dreams is number 1. Is it really that good? Three Michael Moore docs made the list. But only two by Errol Morris. And only one by Werner Herzog? Definitely something wrong there.

Right now, I'm finally watching Wim Wenders' lovely Buena Vista Social Club, which clocks in at number 20 on the IDA list, beating Woodstock, another music-themed entry.

In other documentary news, Gary Hustwit, the director of Helvetica, is working on his next documentary, Objectified, which will be about industrial design. If it's half as good as Helvetica, I'll be in line early for a ticket.

Civil Disobedience

I think that we should be men first, and subjects afterward. ...

Unjust laws exist; shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once? Men generally, under such a government as this, think that they ought to wait until they have persuaded the majority to alter them. They think that, if they should resist, the remedy would be worse than the evil. But it is the fault of the government itself that the remedy is worse than the evil. It makes it worse. Why is it not more apt to anticipate and provide for reform?

- Thoreau, "Civil Disobedience"

Read Henry David Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience" online.

A search on Flickr for "civil disobedience" surfaces some remarkable photos, including several depicting the above action in Izbet Tabib, where Israelis and Palestinians joined to remove part of the wall between the two states.

Fashion Forward: The New WWD.com

I'm proud to announce the launch of the new WWD.com in Beta. Women's Wear Daily is the fashion industry paper sometimes referred to as "the fashion bible." It's been published in one form or another for almost 100 years.

Updates to the Web site include image search, improved slideshow functionality, the ability to clip and save images and articles, as well as an improved navigational structure for browsing and discovering great fashion journalism.

My role in this effort was as senior content strategist, and I had the pleasure of working with many of my fine colleagues from Avenue A | Razorfish, as well as the talented staff at Women's Wear Daily.

A Conversation with Jim Power, Mosaic Man

"R.I.P. NYC," says the script on tombstone drawn in chalk on the sidewalk outside the Gap on Broadway. "Died of no funding." In larger lettering beneath that "Mosaic Man's Trail" and then "EMPOWERJIMPOWER.com."

Residents of the East Village probably know Jim Power by that more colorful attribution "Mosaic Man." He's responsible for the trail of some 80 mosaic-covered lamp poles covering New York's Lower East Side, East Village, and Greenwich Village. He started decorating them over 20 years and today he's repairing one, which pays homage to police and firemen who served on 9/11. He says he found a photo in a book about the East Village, which is helping him reconstruct some of the details of this particular mosaic. I mentioned to him that he could probably find many photos of his work on Flickr. Yes, he confirmed, he has many photos online.

Mr. Power hopes to raise funds, which would allow him to continue restoring his work across this large swathe of Manhattan. His work is mentioned in guidebooks, but has never been officially recognized by the city.

Related:

• Web site: empowerjimpower.com
• Complete photoessay on Flickr
• A version of this story also appears on CNN's iReport.com

Propaganda Indeed

The WSJ's Christina S.N. Lewis writes about Shepard Fairey and others' iconic depictions of Obama in "Picturing Obama" and especially how Fairey's have skyrocketed in value since they were initially distributed. Originally hailing from Charleston, NC, Fairey is best known as the creator of the Obey graffiti campaign, as well as his propaganda style.

Time magazine photoessay featuring Fairey's art, as well as other prominent street artists.

Sara Rahbar

New York artist Sara Rahbar incorporates the American flag into her work in ways that would send Rush Limbaugh, et al, into fits of apoplexy.

In a week when the intent of a plainly satirical New Yorker cover flew over the heads of many people, you realize how volatile and necessary the work of an artist like Rahbar's is: to shock perhaps, but in doing so also to pinpoint the truly important against the backdrop of the merely symbolic.

There's an American flag burning in the background of that Obama cover, too: of course, many people couldn't get past the mere depiction of this piece of tri-colored fabric to approach the point being made. I imagine some of these same outraged people were puzzled by the reactions of some in the Muslim community to depictions of Mohammad.



Artwork from Ehsan Jami's controversial documentary "The Life of Muhammad."

Also: "Satire takes a beating when the truth is so ridiculous," Detroit Free Press