the magic lantern

Spoungebob!

2012-01-30T20:47:00.002-05:00

The Chinese Nephew is, of course, incredibly well-mannered from a Chinese standpoint, although he does periodically stare at me (I'm the first non-Chinese he has ever spoken to at length). However, like a lot of Chinese folks fresh from the inland China, he has little or no awareness that there's actually a culture outside of China that is not in some way derivative of Chinese of culture (not too much of surprise when you consider a country where 95% of the population shares your culture and is related to you). For example, about a week ago he asked me if 'Constantinople' was a good name for himself, and I replied that that'd be like me naming myself Beijing or Shanghai: It'd be a cultural nonsequitur.

But given the constant peppering of good-natured questions, and given the huge array of completely inappropriate assumptions, it occurred to me and the boy that we could, probably, convince the nephew that Spongebob Squarepants would be a great name. I mean, really: We could probably pull this off for a while, until he saw who Spongebob was (and even then, he might not immediately change his name).

Habibi

2012-01-29T19:44:00.000-05:00

Habibi. This is a great work. It's important on a number of levels, and it kind of throws you for a loop. Yes, it's a graphic novel, but children really shouldn't be reading this thing. It's definitely R-rated, but it's not trying to be adult per se: The story that Craig Thompson's trying to tell brings the characters and, therefore, the reader through some very adult territory. It's drawn well, too: It reminds me of no less than Eisner.

But above all of this, Habibi pumps huge volumes of material out of the Islamic world. No, it's by no means a religious book per se, but it draws on the Quran, middle eastern poetry and mythology, and Islamic number mysticism, and it does so in a way that supports the characters quest(s) throughout their lives. Of course, what they undergo is a lot of the time incredibly harsh, but this is the nature of some great stories, and they interact with their cultural and faith traditions to find a way through. By the end, you are not only dazzled by their story, but by the incredible richness off middle eastern culture. It's the kind of book that really opens doors and that I suspect, in some of the ultra-conservative regimes, a reminder of how much has been jettisoned in the quest for cultural and moral 'purity'. (For instance, is the full unabridged 1001 Nights permitted in Saudi Arabia? What about those crazy and wonderful poems of Rumi and Hafiz? What about some of the Spanish Sufi esoterica? I doubt it, but a google search will hopefully let me know I'm wrong.)

Lego Mindstorms

2012-01-28T12:08:00.001-05:00

These are the tables where the teams put their robots onto the tables to navigate the various possible tasks, from which they choose.

Twin boys.

Part of our team.

Although you may not have heard of it, the Lego First Robotics league is in numerous countries now, after about 10 years of existence. Children learn to build and program Mindstorms robots, and you really can't help but think that this will end up being very important in the future.

Keith Jarrett is white?

2012-01-27T21:23:00.000-05:00

If you are not from the US, you would probably find it almost impossible to comprehend any discussion about Keith Jarrett's race. Until reading a Wikipedia article about him the other day, I had always assumed Keith Jarrett is black.

Of course, the actual color of Keith Jarrett's skin is basically white, but in the US that means nothing. Barack Obama is, of course, black, despite the fact that his mother is white. That alone reflects a racist legacy in even the way Americans (both white and black) determine race. But that's apparently not relevant here.

Aside from his skin color, Keith Jarrett looks black: He's got an Afro and a fairly distinct nose. But this is immaterial compared to how Keith plays: Keith plays black.

Huh?

If you've grown up with Jazz, you tend to think of white players (even great white players) as operating largely within the genre and not doing tons to push the boundaries outward. It's a comfortable relationship with your world and it can give rise to some beautiful work by great players. Think: Dave Brubeck, Chet Baker, Paul Motion and so on.

But the best black Jazz players always pushed against the defined boundaries of their time: Pops, Dizzy, Bird, Trane, Miles, Wayne...they all were masters inside their genre but also bucked against its' limits and thereby expanded them.

Keith Jarrett is very clearly in this latter category: Not only does he kind of look African American, he evinces that clear trait of the greats insofar as his best work is impossible to qualify or categorize. It is fully aware of the developments within the genre and also pulls in ideas and approaches that were previously considered outside. In this sense, if you grew up exposed to the Jazz tradition, it becomes very natural to think of Keith Jarrett as black (and aside from the innovation piece, he clearly can play in a way that sounds black).

I was therefore both amused and not particularly surprised to read that: a) Keith Jarrett claims to be completely white and b) no less than Ornette Coleman expressed doubt at Keith's declaration of whiteness. Hilarious! And perfectly understandable.

Indeed, despite reading that Keith Jarrett is technically white (at least according to Keith), I won't really be able to change my conception of him as black, or at least partially so.

Keith Jarrett at Carnegie, 1/26/12

2012-01-26T20:43:00.001-05:00

Last night, coming home from work, I was looking up at the crescent moon in the dark sky, along with two planets (likely Mars and Jupiter). And then I noticed a streak that was too quick to be an airplane: It was nearly overhead, lasted perhaps 2 seconds, and then broke into pieces. Looking around the busy street,I could see that no one else noticed the very bright meteor I had seen.

Within two hours I was inside a very full Carnegie Hall, waiting for Keith Jarrett to come on and play one of his famous solo concerts. He started off with an abstract and sombre piece, and I was wondering how the evening was going to unfold.

After that, he took off and I can't really describe the musical heights he climbed. It would be easier t0 talk about his chops and all the amazing musical stunts he pulled off, all improvised. But the more important thing was that many of these pieces were truly MUSIC, evoking a range of colors and emotions that very few pianists (classical or Jazz) evoke.

Many of the piece were short: Less than 10 minutes, certainly. Some were beautiful and rambling explorations, others arrived in very clear musical forms and structures, the likes of which lesser players would practice long hours to try to play.

Between songs Jarrett would sometimes talk, often in nonlinear ways that required conceptual jumps no less challenging than his music. He spoke about how he pulled out some very old clothes (ie, those he was wearing) that he regretted, he mentioned that he didn't really understand why he reacted so strongly to coughs and flashes, etc... (though pointed out that the coughs never seemed to occur during loud runs), he stopped one piece mid-play because he "didn't want to play that and the piece is over". To screams and uproarious applause, he came out and played 4 encores, though each time it was clear he wasn't really sure that he was going to play until coming out, bowing, and thinking about it (prior to one of the encores he made a sort of indecisive swimming motion indicating the process of deciding). After one exquisite piece he stood up nodding and said, "Yes, but now what? That's the problem."

He also pointed out that some critics preferred the Koln concerts' longer forms and indeed, I recently read a review of Rio, which is a new CD of shorter improvised pieces which basically stated exactly this. Of course, coming from a Jazzer family, I know enough about Jazz to recognize that these shorter forms embrace far more of the standing 'arsenal' of Jazz forms than the longer forms did. It's not merely a matter of ending the longer forms sooner; it's a matter of tying the improvisations to a time span that in effect forces consideration of things like meter and form and resolution. It's a level of artistry that exceeds much of what even I have experienced, growing up in Carnegie or the Met Opera. It was moving and beautiful and MUSIC and a shock to experience in real life.

Sunnyside

2012-01-25T12:57:00.001-05:00

Let others...

2012-01-25T12:37:00.001-05:00

The sundial says, "Let others tell of storms and showers, I'll only speak your sunny hours.". Note also, the gnomon there is a little dragon, on the recently begun year of the dragon.

Forks

2012-01-24T21:23:00.000-05:00

OK. they're very nice people. But THEY ARE ALREADY DRIVING ME CRAZY. The politeness is KILLING me.
This evening we were teaching them how to use a fork and a knife and, when we told the nephew to use his fork he said to me, "I think...many people stab their tongues with this."
I pointed out that, west of China, from Russia through to England and into Canada. the US, Mexico and all of South America, we use forks and I've never heard of an auto-stabbing accident involving forks.
"But...I think those are wooden forks..." he says.

Maurizio Cattelan one last time

2012-01-21T21:58:00.001-05:00

As the Guggenheim was open until 1:00AM last night to support a Maurizio Cattelan program (which included as speakers Courtney Love and Pierre Huyghe, amongst many others), I took the opportunity to take my visiting Chinese relatives (who come from Central China and have never before traveled to a foreign country) to surmount Wright's helix and view the show, the last day of which is today (Sunday). Never ermind the fact that they've never been exposed to contemporary art, they've never even really encountered modern art before, so their reactions were quite amusing.

Reading on Cattelan he really emerges as a hilarious character. Most if not many of these objects come from some art-prank that Cattelan unleashed on the world, often to cries of local anguish and rage or sometimes just plain mirth. He seems to be veritably built to rebel and provoke, and somehow I really dig that.

As for the Chinese relatives, they peppered me with countless questions. There were in fact so many questions that had I seen Cattelan standing there I would have dumped them on him to answer their questions.

Super Spies from Outer Space Mini-Movie!

2012-01-20T18:10:00.000-05:00

Here it is: Our phenomenal new mini-movie featuring music from our new CD Super Spies from Outer Space. Embiggen-it because it's HD and can fill your whole screen nicely. Play it loud and you can hear a nice sampling of some of the tunes and great playing therein.

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Oh yeah, you can poke around, buy some tracks or the entire CD here. We actually think there are very few weak tracks and a whole handful of songs you want to hear again and again, so the CD is a good bet. On the other hand, if you want to dip your toe in the water, start with Barbacoa, Feynman in Vegas (which I wrote the lyrics to), or Evil Mysterions (with blistering horns) or My Girlfriend (which I wrote the lyrics to and do the lead vocal for).

MLK Day

2012-01-16T22:04:00.002-05:00

I remember when he died, though I often get Martin Luther King's funeral on TV confused with Bobby Kennedy's. It was also right around that time that I learned the word "nigger", which a bad boy in the neighborhood taught me to shout at the black lady while we were crouched behind the bushes. I didn't know what it meant, but I knew it was bad because the lady hung her head low after I said it, "again", louder. When my parents heard me shout it later from underneath the tent I had made out of sheets and chairs, they were shocked and told me to come out and tell them where I had learned that word. They still didn't tell me what it meant.

Thinking back upon those times and all of the newsclips they play on TV, I was wondering why there were so few white voices of equivalent passion, eloquence, and righteousness. The easy answer was that it was because white people were in general the beneficiaries of the system as it stood at the time. But something tells me this is insufficient explanation for why there was no white Martin or Malcolm.

Perhaps the real answer was precisely because Martin Luther King spoke out of a power that originated from somewhere far deeper than mere guns, money, and politics. He was in fact "speaking truth to power" and in this expression (and others throughout the ages like it) was humanity's highest calling and deepest aspiration for ourselves as a species. Only someone without any temporal power could have spoken the words of Martin Luther King Jr, because only someone who was so right yet so opposed by the powers that be could have tapped into this deepest current of our highest calling as a species.

Maurizio Cattelan at the Guggenheim

2012-01-15T11:15:00.001-05:00

Man, this was far out and very amusing. At the Guggenheim for a few more weeks is the retrospective 'show' of Maurizio Cattelan. None of the pieces are in the traditional Guggenheim galleries, however, but all suspended from the ceiling in the center. If you've ever seen this:

then you're already familiar with Cattelan's work. And this pope-hit-by-a-meteor piece was suspended with the others, sometimes with smaller little echo-versions.

But this was far more than a retrospective in that Cattelan insisted it be hung as he hung it. Furthermore, he has apparently, with this show, announced his retirement from the art world. So in a sense, this is not as much of a retrospective as it is his final piece, called All. Indeed, it functions as a piece, because as you ascend there are plenty of images that come into view that were not visible from below, or images that you thought you understood but, from above, show elements that were hidden. There's also a sort of artistic narrative of sorts that unfolds as you ascend, with references to other figures and images in the art world as well as other images within the piece. There's a lot that's shocking but, after you get over the shock, there's plenty of humor so it's really quite an experience. If you can, go, because it kicks ass and will be closing relatively soon.

2012-01-15T11:10:00.000-05:00

Hard to see it clearly, but it's a screeching Guernica-like bird stacked on top of a cat stacked on top of a dog stacked on top of a donkey, all screeching with rage.

JFK

2012-01-15T11:07:00.001-05:00

I think this was JKF in a coffin, suspended in front of a giant disc composed of tiny versions of Cattelan's face.

Dogs

2012-01-15T11:06:00.001-05:00

Elephant

2012-01-15T11:05:00.001-05:00

The hilarious and creepy thing here is the Elephant's eyes: You can see the whites so the animal is clearly in a state of pure rage. It's creepy and funny when you first notice that.

Drummer boy

2012-01-15T11:01:00.001-05:00

Yeah, that's a little drummer boy sitting on that donkey cart. He does play that drum, about every half an hour or so.

2012-01-15T10:59:00.001-05:00

It's a lotta stuff hanging there.

Two little guys

2012-01-15T10:54:00.001-05:00

Another disorienting thing about all of this is that many of the objects are much larger than their real-life counterparts, and many (like these two guys in bed) are much smaller.

Picasso

2012-01-15T10:52:00.001-05:00

2012-01-15T10:43:00.001-05:00

2012-01-15T10:42:00.001-05:00

Guggenheim

2012-01-15T10:39:00.001-05:00

It's cold this morning here in NYC: About 17 Fahrenheit, with a solid wind. Sure, there are plenty of much colder places in North America, but few of them will also hit 103 in the summer. But the skies are a spectacular deep blue so it makes it worth the biting cold.

Victorian Proto-Steampunk

2012-01-14T10:27:00.000-05:00

My old friend Richard Behrens has created a new genre of which he is probably one of the few with skills to operate within: I'll call it Victorian Proto-Steampunk for lack of a better name. Ostensibly, it's a book of detective stories about Lizzie Borden prior to her, uh, famous incident, in which she solves a vareity of cases in the industrial town of Fall River. But the first thing you notice about this book is that it's written as if it were from that time: It uses a variety of references, sentence structures and even (ostensibly) moral values that were contemporary to the time. Moreover, there are finely detailed line drawings the type of which was common in books in the late 19th and early 20th century. In other words, you could almost believe that the book was written in that Victorian era.

But then, with each successive story, Richard sneaks in more and more astonishing tropes and ideas that cause the book to kick at the limits of its supposed era. For instance, a professor is certain that he is going to be murdered by an alternate version of himself traveling on what is in effect a different epicycle of time that happens to be running backward. There are also spiritual mediums, retro-future gadgets and industrial settings and all of a sudden you find yourself in a very strange version of the Victorian era that only Richard Behrens could have dreamt up and pulled off quite successfully. Because the initial stories are relatively tame it's only about midway that you realize you are in effect lost in some old Victorian funhouse (if such existed) that, though initially slightly worrying, you find yourself enjoying getting lost in quite a bit.

The stories are rapidly gaining a lot of fans in the odd world of the Lizzie Borden historical society circles, but without a doubt their popularity will burst out of there like Lizzie Borden barging out of the door of her famous house on one fateful morning.

Fight to the Death

2012-01-11T21:19:00.002-05:00

It was a fight to the death, and he fought it.
Yes, he lost, and of course the inevitable questions around,
"Well if he lost then what else is there worth talking about?"

A post mortem was in order, though of course he didn't have it in him.
So instead he thought long and hard about what he'd do in the future.
And what he found was the he really didn't know.
But he did know that, somehow, he'd wing it and it would be alright.

Or not. Anything from here on out was gravy.

2012-01-10T22:01:00.001-05:00

2012-01-10T19:15:00.001-05:00

Blood Worms

2012-01-10T17:01:00.001-05:00

Flat Iron

2012-01-10T16:39:00.001-05:00

The Art Museum

2012-01-08T18:53:00.001-05:00

Quit screwin' around: This is The Art Museum, a vast and all-encompassing book from Phaidon that shows you the history of art from paleolithic times to the present. It's got many hundreds of photos of the world's art, eastern and western, pre- and, uh, during-historic-times. It's huge, impressive, and exhaustive, and you'll need a small room and altar to house the damn thing. But it's a great bargain. Like the Miles Davis Columbia box, it's crammed-packed full of wondrous stuff that will take you years to work through. I think I got it on Amazon for like $100. Oh, and the title "The Art Museum" refers not to the museums in which the individual works appear, but the book itself. It's really great, and if you only have $100 to spend on books this year, I recommend this.

The Story of the Word

2012-01-07T22:23:00.000-05:00

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.
Because the Word was and is a story, this means that God is a story.
The story of God is one of God becoming God: He might not have been there at first, but eventually He will be, which is why He calls Himself (in the ephemeral burning bush in Exodus), I Will Be What I Will Be (which is the Tetragrammaton, or Yod He Vau He).
In other words, God himself is a process, and it is the story of this process itself which is the Word of God.
Any story, told well enough, eventually makes its own truth and into this truth (ie, in the real world) it steps and begins to walk around.
Thus God steps out of the pure telling and into the real world through the universe, which itself is the very telling of the story of God.

Hippopotamus

2012-01-06T22:17:00.004-05:00

Say it and visualize one: Hippopotamus.

You are now either laughing or smiling, correct?

Do this every day.

Gig season

2012-01-05T19:45:00.000-05:00

And all of a sudden, there's a ton of great folks playing in the New York area over the next month or so, so many that I will struggle to see them.

Starting this weekend, Rudresh Mahanthappa will be playing in the village, at Cornelia Street Cafe (solo) and with Jack Dejohnette. Mahanthappa is a real pioneer in bringing some South Indian flavors and approaches to frontier jazz sax-ing...

After that, of course, it's Keith Jarrett at Carnegie, which I already have tickets for, on Wed Jan 25th.

At the end of Jan and 1st of Feb, Joe Henry will be bringing the band with which he recorded his latest album here to NYC, and crazily superb guitarist Marc Ribot will be both opening for and playing with Joe Henry and his posse.

Finally, just a few hours ago Bjork announced a series of early February performances of Biophilia, here in Queens at the New York Hall of Science (the grounds of which I blogged from for the Maker Fair). There is no doubt that this will be a truly singular experience. My only regret is that I discovered Bjork so late in life.

These are among just some of the reasons that we New Yorkers choose to live here: All great artists must eventually come through.

Iran

2012-01-03T20:15:00.004-05:00

Dammit.
Do you believe that Iran's government is most likely very oppressive and that it almost certainly utilized torture in its' prisons against the 2009 protestors?

So do I.

But this likely fact has no bearing on the current situation, vis-a-vis Iran's threat to fight any blockade of the Straight of Hormuz.

The fact is, the US, the UK and other western powers have been bullying Iran for decades now, after having overthrown the democractically elected Mohammed Mossadesh in 1953 or thereabouts, in favor of the non-Soviet-leaning and ultra oppressive Shah of Iran.

As a younger man back in college, to the extent I paid attention, I thought that the Iranian hostage crisis was at best a sort of Iranian mass religious hysteria, what with their capture of our diplomats and all. Little did I know that actual CIA operatives (employees of the same agency that had overthrown Mossadegh) were amongst those that were working in the embassy (though they escaped getting captured). So it's no wonder they're paranoid and pissed off at our constant meddling and interference.

And in this case, Iran is pretty close to 100% in the right: Consider that they've been surrounded by 2 nations occupied by a proven and sworn enemy of Iran (ie, the US, in Iraq and Afghanistan), and are very close to a 3rd nuclear nation (Israel) that is a sworn allay of said imperial power.

What would you do, if you were in charge of Iran? You would be obliged, of course, to either develop actual nuclear weapons or else establish a nuclear power infrastructure for your nation that could be swiftly upgraded to weapons-capable, if necessary. After the UN's veritable silence over Saddam Hussein's invasion in the 1980s (that killed 2 million Iranians), you wouldn't trust the UN either, and you'd definitely describe it as an institution that largely served its' Imperial masters.

So when the bullying US decided to cut off your economic lifeline, you too would declare that you've had enough and are willing to fight over the issue, in the straight of Hormuz (which bounds your country but not that of the US which is many thousands of miles away). You'd find the hypocrisy and (in particular) the self-deceit of Americans laughable and disgusting. You might also reach out to God and ask him for help against all the oppression, all of the lies.

And you know what? You might even do this even if you hated the current administration in Iran. You'd recognize that, for all their abuses, at least they are your people, at least they care about the interests of your country, even if their methods have previously been horrible.

Go, Iran, go. You are a large and ancient nation and one day you will take your rightful place on the world stage. I just hope it is soon.

An interesting year

2011-12-31T19:18:00.000-05:00

Yes, indeedy. It was indeed an interesting year. 2012 is also looking like it will be interesting: Follow it here on The Magic Lantern!
Or not. Somehow, though, I think it'll actually be interesting for me personally and for many of my friends, so let's see. Me, I'm ready for practically anything. I think I'm actually in a place mentally where I could accept whatever the future has been pregnant with.
No, like most other previous years I won't bother ushering in the new year. After spending time with friends yesterday evening I'm fairly tired already so will go to bed early. And also, for something like 30 years now, I won't make a resolution as, about 30 years ago, I resolved never to make another resolution as no one seemed to actually carry them out, so I was determine to make one that would last. I will, however, poke around on cable for something interesting (my brothers who were here until a few days ago have a special knack for finding fun junk on television, but I do not have the same level of talent).
Some have said that 2012 will be the year that sees some of the change presaged by Occupy Wall Street come forward and into being, and that made be...my feeling is that even those resistant to change on some level know that it's needed, but they are scared of and don't trust the process. Maybe they will at least find a way to get out of the way of change. A whole new middle east will make the world interesting too, and for the better. Clearly, it's a year that wants change, and we humans need only to do what the future is asking of us, to in effect be midwifes to whatever is coming down.

Head Shop

2011-12-28T22:12:00.001-05:00

No, it wasn't me who needed anything in this head shop. But it was the first time I'd been in one for decades.

2011-12-28T22:10:00.001-05:00

2011-12-28T22:02:00.001-05:00

WC Taxidermi

2011-12-27T13:42:00.001-05:00

Yeah, those are little taxidermed dioramas there, over the auxilliary bar by the bathroom.

Freeman

2011-12-27T12:21:00.001-05:00

Freeman's is a nice and hipter-approved little joint down this alley around the corner from the New Museum. The food is solid and the service is cheerful, if slow.

Future Cop

2011-12-27T12:20:00.001-05:00

On an sticker and graffitti-covered wall, this. I guess it's supposed to be a sobering reminder of how childhood dreams and exuberance can get transformed into a fairly miserable reality.

Shepard Fairey

2011-12-27T12:18:00.001-05:00

Yeah, Shepard Fairey's stuff is sometimes so slick that it looks more like graphic design or even an advertisement. But he does deliver on beauty pretty often, so I really enjoy seeing his work around.

You are upside down

2011-12-27T12:00:00.001-05:00

These were the world-inverting goggles that were part of the Carston Holler exhibit down at the New Museum on Bowery. Navigation with these on and the upside-down-iating optics was not fun for your stomach, but it was interesting. Supposedly, years ago a researcher once created such a device for himself and after a few weeks his vision right-sided up again. Apparently, the software in the brain learned to correct for the 'wrong' image coming through the eyes. After that, when he took off the world-inverting goggles, it took like a week for his vision to right-side-up again.

Hey...here's a Wiki, apparently, describing the exhibit. If you're in New York definitely go to the New Museum and check this out before it departs in another week or two.

Slide and tank

2011-12-27T11:36:00.001-05:00

Back there is the saltwater tank that you can choose to float in for a while. On the left there is the slide that cuts through the floor from up above.

Mid-slide

2011-12-27T11:33:00.001-05:00

This blur is someone sliding by from above. Actually, you go quite fast and your brain has a hard time integrating what you're seeing as you go by.

Bird Cage Mobile

2011-12-27T11:29:00.001-05:00

Yeah, that's a big mobile made out of birdcages with live birds in the cages.

View from below

2011-12-27T11:26:00.001-05:00

That's the view from sitting in one of the seats of the Mirror Carousel. I'm aiming the crappy camera phone from below.

Mirror Carousel

2011-12-27T11:25:00.001-05:00

Into the art

2011-12-27T11:19:00.001-05:00

Yeah, you have to wear a helmet and put your feet into that slippy sack so that you go down quickly.

Between floors there was also this giant box full of white pills, which I looked at momentarily until I noticed a sign: "One pill per person, please." There was a water cooler there, and the attendant indicated that your were indeed supposed to swallow the art-pill. I told the gal that I needed a cup of water in order to "wash down the art".

Hipsterville Robots

2011-12-26T16:50:00.001-05:00

Hipster or Real?

2011-12-26T16:44:00.001-05:00

Yeah, that's the dome of a big Russian Orthodox church over there, on the edge of Hispterville, aka Williamsburg. Even on this Monday day-after-Christmas, the streets were bustling with hipster activity.

As we walked down the street and passed stores, we tried to assess whether the store was pre-, post- or in-process hipster. For instance, that Souvlaki place: Dates from the pre-hipster era, right? Well, maybe but the decorations on the walls as well as the gal working there were clearly hipsterish. That guy with a beard and overalls: Is that "hipster", or real? Hard to tell.

Motivational Santa Redux

2011-12-24T11:14:00.003-05:00

Yeah, I posted this before, about 4 years ago, but it just doens't get old.

In HD, too, so em-bigger it.

Orchestre National d'Barbes

2011-12-23T16:19:00.001-05:00

This post on Dangerous Minds reminded me of these cats, the Parisian Orchestre National d'Barbes:

Don't hit the side of your head with the palm-heel of your hand: That is a reggae sound that comes floating in on the red North African dust. Their live album remains one of my longer-term go-to records.

Oh here's another one to kick your ass. Give it a minute, and you can hear that almost ruthless quality a la Rilke (and the Najma Ray) that great music sometimes exhibits:

asdfsfd

Damn. One more, OK? Here's one of their songs that most kicks my ass. Dig that gritty, gravelly Arabic. And the grand finale's cool too.

Will Smith as Everyman

2011-12-22T20:47:00.001-05:00

Other countries can keep their purity. We USA-ians are a race of mongrels, and it is in fact this genetic diversity that is at the core of our creativity. It's a key reason why we punch way above our weight (and historic age) in terms of the musical and other arts.

Men in Black is on cable right now: Entertaining, no doubt. But what is particularly fascinating is this document of Will Smith as uber-cool Everyman. That's kinda new: In other popular Hollywood films, there are black characters in order to pull in black ticket sales. As I've mentioned before, it's the Lando Callrissian effect: A pasted on black character that is obviously peripheral to the main plot and characters.

But Will Smith is different: He's very clearly the star of the show that is also able to stand-in for white viewers. Of course, what else is a Hollywood movie star but someone that audience members can connect to and live vicariously through? But in Will Smith's case he is black, and that's fascinating. In other words, Will Smith is obviously black and yet the largely white audience sees enough of themselves in him to relate to him and the movie situations he finds himself in. In other words, though music and sports and various other channels (such as the Presidency), white men (and, probably, women) are coming to acknowledge their own African-American heritage which, granted may not in some cases be genetic, but is certainly cultural.

You see? Things do move forward. They do on average seem to get better, and this is one example of a good thing.

I See Black People

2011-12-20T21:02:00.000-05:00

And thank God. The E train back from work these days is crammed full of black folks, and it actually brings me a level of comfort. This is my home soil, my native context. In London on the tubes I always felt out of place: The tubes in London basically serve Central London and a few middle rings. It's filled with what are basically well-to-do white folks and I never felt at home. In New York I've always lived in either black neighborhoods or else neighborhoods that were near black neighborhoods so that the trains were always filled with a solid number of black folks. And with black folks there are rules of a sort: You need to be fairly respectful and polite because they will confront you if they think for a minute that they're being pushed around. And that's what I'm used to, and when I get on or off the subway and say, "Excuse me", all of that context is there. They understand that I'm not looking to fuck with anybody and that I don't want to be fucked with.

In London that was never understood: I remember sitting into a seat on the Jubilee line and some younger white slicko slipped right around and underneath me: I almost sat in his lap. I looked at the dude incredulous, but cancelled the idea of physically throwing him out of the seat: The gesture would not have been understood and, somehow, it didn't seem right as I was a guest in that country, albeit a long-term one. I guess what particularly shocked me was that it didn't seem to occur to him that I might throw him out of the seat or otherwise initiate a physical confrontation. Clearly, I wasn't in New York.

As a child I attended school downtown so that, even in 3rd grade, I was on the subways, taking the AA train home to 163rd Street. I remember once in 4th or 5th grade sitting by the door on the way home from school and, sometimes, as the doors were closing, I'd stick out my hand and hold it open a few seconds. There was a middle-aged black man who told me not to do that anymore, and I mouthed off to him and said something like, "No!". At 155th street he got up to leave but as he did so he grabbed my hair and pulled it and told me I shouldn't be mouthing off to him. I started crying and one of the ladies on the train strongly admonished him. But today, as I walked home from the E train station, it occurred to me how I would feel as a black man at that time, correctly telling some little white kid not to mess with the doors and then having that little white kid mouth off with disrespect. It occurred to me that I would do the exact same thing and that he was basically in the right.

Roa

2011-12-18T15:09:00.001-05:00

Click on this photo and read the fine print

2011-12-18T14:43:00.001-05:00

Christmas shopping

2011-12-18T12:57:00.001-05:00

Some STUFF for the Holidays

2011-12-17T08:58:00.001-05:00

Hey, I'm as big a fan of stuff as the next guy, so long as it's the right stuff and in manageable quantities. Indeed, the right piece of stuff delivered to the right person at the right time can become quite the glowing luminous artifact. In fact, in this internetted age, there are pieces of stuff out there that can generate luminosity at prices far lower than you might think, and that make the high priced goods seem like stand-ins for thoughtfulness and ersatz instances of luminousness. For instance, check this out:

The Roof at the Bottom of the World is written by a geo-explorer who has spent large amounts of time over the last 4 decades exploring the vast mountain range that cuts through the antarctic. Me, I never get tired of hearing about the antarctic: Unlike the North Pole, the antarctic is a continent, with land, and it is vast. So vast, in fact, that there are plenty of places left down there that no human has ever seen, and in this book there are maps and photos and stories relating to the history of exploration of the trans-antarctic mountains. Stump even points out several mountains in his photos that no human has yet set foot on. And I think I copped one of these wonderful books off of Amazon for about $20!

Meanwhile...even though New York hasn't produced a heck of a lot music-wise like it use to (spitting out a couple new forms of music each decade for a while there), it's transforming itself into this hard-to-describe hive of micro-industry., producing high-quality goods for narrowcast markets. One example is Outlier:

Outlier is this band of hipsters in Williamsburg that make clothing that is nominally useful for cycling: They use unusually treated advanced cottons and other materials to create breathable and fashionable pieces. The clothes are made in NYC and the quality is excellent.

Another band of hipsters if Feit, which use aging artisans and a mix of old school and new school materials and techniques to create subscription shoes:

Most of their stuff isn't cheap, say around a coupla' hundred bucks. But this is primo shit here, handmade and of superb materials. Their business model is interesting too: For each new shoe they pre-buy the materials and then determine how many they'll be able to make. They then count down so you can order any make or model so long as there's still material left. After that, you're SOL.

There's plenty of other stuff out there but these are what floated into my conscious mind as I sit here drinking my coffee. Surely, these are examples of stuff that will not rapidly become mere CUs (or Clutter Units) in your living space, but go-to items on a regular basis, until you throw them out.

Oh yeah, I forgot that Carhartt opened a store in Soho recently. This is the 'Carhartt Works in Progress' store, which is a branch of the European Carhartt, with somewhat fancier versions of their usual workman-oriented stuff. One can't help but think that Europeans wanted a sort of rough-hewn frontiersy look that emanates from the vast spaces of the US and Canada:

At least, the US Carhartt stuff is cheap and durable, and Hispter du Jour these days. I'll be getting some of this stuff for my nephew, who discovered both girls and clothes in the last few years. Whether he'll have the hispter antenna is unknown, but we'll see.

Brooklyn Night Bazaar

2011-12-13T18:29:00.000-05:00

Check this out. Over the next couple of days there'll be this giant-yet-hipster-approved nighttime event out on Kent Avenue in Williamsburg. Doors open at 5:00PM and it goes until 1:00AM. Plenty of local vendors of crafts, food, and music. It's called the Brooklyn Night Bazaar and it should be a lot of fun.

OWS I miss you

2011-12-12T21:29:00.002-05:00

Yeah, I know you aren't gone. And I know that, towards the end there, the whole living in Liberty Park thing was becoming a real drag.

But I miss you, OWS. I miss the drums. I miss the energy. I miss the hope.

Yes, the hope.

Strange, but you'd think that, given all the problems this country has always had, given all the crimes that have been committed in our name, given all the failed potential, you'd think we wouldn't be able to summon up the energy to Occupy. But we did. And maybe the US never lived up to the dream of what we thought it should be (and maybe that's because what everyone thought it should be was different and we only thought it was the same thing). But, despite this fact (or because of it), even the most negative among us secretly harbored a wish that the US would live up to its' potential and become all that we hoped for it. But you, you actually dared believe it enough to sleep out in the cold rain and on the hard ground. You actually believed (and still believe) that things could somehow get from where they are now to where we thought they could be.

And I miss that: I miss knowing that the whole crew was assembled somewhere. I miss knowing that I could go down there at any time and become one of them. I miss all of the highest hopes expressed in real, physical form. I miss that. I miss you. Please come back.

And oh, here's how: We have the resources to sleep elsewhere and have the buses come and scoop us up in the morning for a daily and perpetual occupation. We have the resources to not have to worry about sleeping in single digits or below-zero temps this winter, and yet be in the park all day. We have the resources to manage the whole living issue elsewhere and then come to the park during the day, every day.

So come back, OK?

A strange feeling in the city

2011-12-11T15:22:00.000-05:00

Odd...as I walk in the streets and take the trains, there's a weird feeling about out there. I first felt it about 40 minutes prior to the photo below, when I was getting on the 7 train platform. It's basically a sort of absence-of-frenetic or something, a strange quiet that you rarely encounter in New York, except sometimes in the late summer when a lot of people have left the city.

But today, down on 6th avenue in the village, I felt it again. Looking around as I got out of the subway, there it was again. And you could notice considerably reduced activity and a very, unusually quiet feel to things. Perhaps it's because we're still two weeks off from Chirstmas, so the shopping panic has set in yet. But feeling that same feeling on Friday, it felt to me like more. Almost like...the calm before the storm? No, that's not it. There's no sense per se that 'something is coming'. It's more like the future is open and whatever it decides to be when it comes, well, sobeit.

2011-12-09T13:38:00.001-05:00

Nexus

2011-12-07T21:33:00.000-05:00

Not quite a crossroads. Sometimes you just feel that something is happening...that something is inside you, but you can also feel that those changes will also bring about reflective changes in the outer world as well. That is clearly happening now, inside myself, and it will be interesting some months from now to read these words and see what happened.

Arguably unrelated, in the background we've been polishing our planned video (not the video in the ruins described below, but the one we did with the indie Director Doug Morse whom I became friends with in China all those year ago). The video, unlike other music videos, tells a story that is clearly within the world of the SuperSpies and uses the music from the forthcoming album as the soundtrack. Like the absolutely phenomenal record itself, there are all sorts of strange "accidents" that occurred that somehow aligned perfectly. Of course, much of this was by design and guile (on the part of Doug but also in what we brought to the project). But when the video is released along with the CD, well, it'll be fun to see what happens. I leaked the video to my brothers and we've of course shared it amongst ourselves, but somehow, in the last 24 hours or so, it has accumulated almost 500 views, despite being secret. We haven't been able to figure out who's been looking at it, though.

The CDs, however, did finally arrive and Kol gave me a stack of 10, and I've started to give out a few to friends and family. It's funny to experience putting out an actual first album now, in my middle age, and though I have zero plans/intention/desire for any sort of musical career, I am enjoying living through this small story with my friends as it unfolds. It would be fun too if the record saw some success, and we actually believe it may. But the great thing is, it doesn't really matter much if it doesn't, because we had fun making it and are having fun doing our best to prepare it to be heard. And who knows? Maybe it will.

UMOUR in the woods

2011-12-04T15:40:00.002-05:00

Yes, one more time in the woods up in the mid-Hudson valley. Hikers were baffled to see us in suits eating a meal with red wine up in the woods by the ruins. And perhaps crazier than doing this was the effort necessary to lug all of that stuff up there.

Kol and Bill on the way back down

2011-12-04T15:32:00.002-05:00

Kol and Kane lugging the stuff back down

2011-12-04T15:24:00.002-05:00

Some of the hikers taking photos

2011-12-04T14:43:00.002-05:00

They'd ask, and sometimes we'd tell them, but sometimes not. "We're hikers, mam" says Kane.

The table in the woods by the ruins

2011-12-04T14:13:00.002-05:00

The meal on the table in the woods by the ruins

2011-12-04T14:12:00.002-05:00

Kane sweeping

2011-12-04T13:40:00.002-05:00

The Question

2011-12-03T09:19:00.001-05:00

You and whatever it is you are right now: That is the question.

The future is the answer.

Professor Longhair

2011-12-01T19:55:00.001-05:00

If you're unfamiliar with Professor Longhair of New Orleans, well you're in for much more than a treat. Professor Longhair was a veritable genius, one of those ultra musical people that produced endless torrents of music that was clearly an unstoppable byproduct of his soul.
In New Orleans Professor Longhair had a local legendary status, and you can kind of see that in the above video with all of The Meters looking at him as he did what he did. Professor Longhair is one of those shamanic musical black folks, one of the few that make you consider whether the trials and tribulations of being black in America might actually be worthwhile if only you could also inherit whatever it was that let Fess do what he did.
To date, I don't think a reputable and high-quality collection of Professor Longhair has come out, but hopefully that will be rectified. Smithsonian should of course attempt such a project, as 'Fess was a national treasure, still relatively little known.

On the bike this morning...

2011-11-30T20:22:00.000-05:00

On the bike this morning before work...
As I entered the Forest Park drive there was a middle aged Chinese man hoovering around the entrance gate with white iPod-ish wires coming out of his ears and tucked into his coat. At very nearly the top of his lungs, as I passed him and entered the park, he was passionately singing the words, "Why must I be teenager in love?" Yeah, Truman Capote's line ("That's MOOSE on wall! And USE YOUR GODDAM PRONOUNS!") came floating into my mind, but I was more baffled and amazed that this man was just so into this small piece of American popular music. What did it mean to him? Was he longing to be a teenager? Or was he grooving off of the idea of a culture with relatively trivial problems compared to what he must have seen growing up, so that a "teenager in love" was a normal problem to have?

On the shore...

2011-11-27T16:33:00.002-05:00

...of the mighty Hudson River. Loudmouth Bill says he comes to this beach regularly during the summer, and swims and cooks without hassle or, often, without seeing another human soul.

Back in the 70s when I was growing up in Washington Heights, you'd on rare occasion see guys swimming in the Hudson but we'd shake our heads: You'd also see poo or, worse yet, the infamous Hudson River Whitefish (aka, condoms) floating around. But now, after decades of conservation, the Hudson is swimmable by even the more stringent Federal standards, so that shark, dolphin, and even sea lions are seen as far north as Harlem or even sometimes the Bronx.

Mid-Hudson

2011-11-27T16:27:00.002-05:00

Actually, the Hudson River is remarkably beautiful in this mid-valley portion, and remarkably wide. It's wider here than any part of the Yangtze River I ever saw on my three days sailing down it.

2011-11-27T16:14:00.001-05:00

Some kind of Swiss Mountain Vehicle that Bill was yammering on about. I've never seen one before, but they apparently make the Hummers look like some wannabee urban excursion vehicle.

2011-11-27T14:02:00.001-05:00

Agent Kol

2011-11-27T12:20:00.002-05:00

Loudmouth Bill

2011-11-27T12:16:00.002-05:00

During our video shoot at the Cornish Estates, in Cold Spring New York.

2011-11-27T12:04:00.001-05:00

2011-11-27T11:58:00.002-05:00

This was apparently a big mansion earlier in the 20th Century, that had burned down in the 1950s and then subsequently abandoned. But it was interesting trying to imagine the place back in its true-blue mansion days.

2011-11-27T11:57:00.001-05:00

2011-11-27T11:55:00.001-05:00

Bill, Kol Kane...

2011-11-27T11:42:00.002-05:00

...on their way up to the Cornish Estate, where we did some filming of what we likely be our second video associated with the very-nearly-available record, Super Spies from Outer Space.

Thank you...?

2011-11-26T16:47:00.001-05:00

You there: Yeah, you. The celebrity. The one with your hand up in front of your face trying to block the camera flashes in your eyes. Yeah, you. The one that is popular, yes, but you actually do work that occasionally brings you satisfaction. And yeah, you've got lots of dough and make love to a partner that you find really attractive. The one that's living a life far in expectation of what you had dreamt for yourself as a child. You: The one living the life of Riley. I have one thing to say to you.

Thank you.

At least, there's a few of us humans on this planet living a really great life. At least, there's somebody down here living near their full potential. At least, there's a few of us living in the midst of this world with its very real problems who not only have a great life, but know they have a great life and are basically thankful for it. At least, there's a few people with the capacity for happiness and that have a full measure of it. It's better than there being no one here who really had a great time. At least someone did, and it might as well be you.

Thanks.

Aether Airstream

2011-11-25T16:44:00.002-05:00

Yes, this is an Airstream parked on the corner of Prince and Mulberry. It's a popup store for new, high-tech outdoor clothing maker Aether. No, this isn't a splog, but I am both fascinated by and happy with the new breed of young US clothing makers. I spoke at length with "Matty" who said they have all of 13 full time employees right now. I bought one of their coats for winter, and a hat, but unfortunately could not coax my son out of the car to try on something.

More expensive? Yes, but you get tremendous performance and help provide real people with a real lifestyle making something cool. These guys were from LA and they confirmed that the weather here (on this freakishly warm day) was already colder than LA ever gets. I pointed out that their clothing will come in handy when it's another 50 or 60 degrees colder than this out in a month or two.

Tribecca, 4:27

2011-11-25T16:27:00.002-05:00

Actually, took the boy down to scrounge electronic components in the backstores and corners of Canal Street, where electronics used to be purchasable in quantity. We did find one older Cantonese man selling capacitors, ICs, resistors and kits all the way in the back of 269 Canal, but this was only after searching for quite a while and getting a tip from one of the other stores. So, apparently, this old guy was the last of a dying breed. It almost made me want to open an Arduino/Maker-oriented store, with all the Arduino stuff and 3D printers, along with workshops and classes on making and electronics.

2011-11-25T16:26:00.001-05:00

Cultural Ephemera, or not

2011-11-23T09:10:00.001-05:00

Given the power of the internet these days, probably everyone with computer access is already aware of the pepper spray meme, but here's one I found cute:

Meanwhile, this Dilbert cartoon had me literally crying with laughter:

Finally, here's something that may eventually become non-ephemera, and years from now you'll be able to tell your grandkids that you heard it here, on The Magic Lantern, first:

It seems a proposal has been floated to convert a forgotten, underground trolley station into the "Low Line" (as I'm sure it will be called), with trees and walkways and so on, that would be open and temperate 365 days a year.

Inadvertent Entertainment

2011-11-22T21:54:00.000-05:00

Always keep an eye out for it--inadvertent entertainment--it's often the best kind of entertainment available from your traditional entertainment channels.

FOR INSTANCE, actors with animals or babies. Remember, the animal (such as a cat or dog) isn't acting: That actor holding a cat is holding a real, live cat and if you look carefully you will see the actor trying his/her damnedest to manage that cat and get it to cooperate with the scene. Sometimes, you can see a camera quickly cut away from an actor that is rapidly losing control of the cat or other animal.

Likewise with babies: That baby doesn't give a fat fuck if you're filming a scene or trying to pull down a paycheck. If that baby's hungry or overly tired, that baby's going to cry. Period.

Monkeys are, of course, a veritable jackpot of inadvertent entertainment as, if you look carefully, you'll notice the actor trying desperately to hide the fact that he's freaked out about holding an animal that could easily tear his head off and that, should that occur, can not be threatened, coerced or otherwise bribed to just play along.

Tinariwen

2011-11-19T20:59:00.009-05:00

I hate rock audiences. Actually, I've always hated them, but they've gotten worse recently. Behind me two guys were talking through many of the Tinriwen songs, and there were tons of iPhones that flashed all over the place. Me, I refuse to photograph a performance that's underway.

Despite this I kept searching for the heart of the music and then clinging on for dear life. Yes, assholes abounded, and then also sometimes my imagination would try to lead me ever so slightly offcenter, but now I am old enough not to listen to the peripheral voices, to the wild imaginings ("Hey! It'd be cool to hang out with these cats!), but just try to find the nameless heart of the music.

And, eventually, I found it.

At the center, or near it, was the bass: Yes, the player was rather technically proficient, but I kept getting this weird feeling about the sound he was making: It felt like all of the other electric bass players, no matter how wonderfully dank and dirty funk, they were trying desperately to find the place from which this desert bass sound was playing.

In the end they played Clar Achel, one of my favorites of theirs, and it really kicked the crap outta the place.

Let it never be said that Muslims can't rock.

2011-11-19T19:49:00.001-05:00

2011-11-19T18:25:00.001-05:00

Lee Scratch Perry

2011-11-19T09:43:00.001-05:00

VISIONS OF VISIONARIES WITH LEE "SCRATCH" PERRY from MADE Blog on Vimeo.

Funny, but in general I'm used to hearing musical types speak this way, though not nearly so extreme. Like Sun Rah, Lee Perry speaks in metaphor, as if his entie life is basically just a subset of the part of his brain that makes music.
Hilarious, and he really picks up steam as he goes through the interview.
Was this ganja-influenced? Somehow, I think he has no need of ganja anymore...

Oh yeah, and tonight: Tinariwen at Webster Hall. You know I love this band from the fact that it's standing room only, and I hate standing.

Diorama

2011-11-17T17:39:00.002-05:00

Kebab King

2011-11-17T15:50:00.002-05:00

asd

Kebab King in Jackson Heights may look like a dump, and it is, but it also has Pakistani kebabs that Pakistanis throughout the tristate area are aware of and even travel into NYC for, to stock up on and keep in freezers. They are nothing like kebabs you've ever had elsewhere, and they have a true tandoori oven on the premises.

And yes, that's a turkey shape on those posters: A full halal turkey for Thanksgiving is $79.95.

Occupy QUEENS

2011-11-17T15:25:00.002-05:00

Not a huge gathering: Maybe 150 people or so.

Occupy Queens

2011-11-17T15:11:00.002-05:00

Unfortunately, they tried translating into Spanish via the people's mic, but with the Roosevelt Avenue elevated subway up above, it just didn't work.

Occupy Wall Street: The Diaspora

2011-11-15T20:00:00.000-05:00

Well, no need necessarily for an Occupy Wall Street Diaspora. Seems to me it's possible to just wheel up some touring buses right around Liberty Park and have folks sleep inside them at night, and then come back out each morning. Hell, that might be better than trying to make it through winter outside in New York City, not far from the Hudson. (How, for instance, would the NYC law regarding sub-15F temperatures be handled? Would the cops have forcibly removed those sleeping outside in those dangerous temperatures?)

Of course, one might argue that countering the police force is looking like a more and more attractive option, but I am, if nothing else, a sort of realist: It just isn't possible right now for the OWS protesters to fight the power of the police. (Not, of course, at the present level of people, but when you start getting into the 6 figure range it's a different story.)

Thursday will be interesting, and I am very tempted to take off work and join. I suspect that Bloomberg's move last night will look so bad out in the rest of the world that there will be repercussions both here in the US as well as overseas. So the next move may be more of a wait-and-see how the rest of the world responds.

And has ben noted elsewhere, Bloomberg just became the focal point of world ire: The billionare Mayor evicting the OWS protestors like they were mere rodents. Disgusting. But now he'll become the symbol of precisely what's wrong in the world: A billionare able to command the police to do whatever he wants.