Sunday, July 30, 2006
...also known as the feathered rat, or the gutterbird.
a few days ago i went to the metropolitan museum to check out some of the new exhibits they've got going on there right now. (more on those in the next few days.) while there, i kept my eyes peeled for the fellas, as i often do. upon walking out of the museum, i saw this guy, and snapped this sneaky picture
of this dude eating a pretzel, which was attracting pigeons and sparrows.
right after i took the picture, one of the pigeons flew up into the guy's hand
to get a piece of pretzel.
the dude obliged the pigeon
and acted all cool about it in front of his friend, like he does this so much he's bored of feeding pigeons out of his hand.
the friend wasn't having it, though, and was all, "eew, i hate bugs!"
of this dude eating a pretzel, which was attracting pigeons and sparrows.
right after i took the picture, one of the pigeons flew up into the guy's hand
to get a piece of pretzel.
the dude obliged the pigeon
and acted all cool about it in front of his friend, like he does this so much he's bored of feeding pigeons out of his hand.
the friend wasn't having it, though, and was all, "eew, i hate bugs!"
Thursday, July 27, 2006
comic book cheers and jeers
cheers to this sequence from this week's x-men 189 (not to be confused with x-men: the 198):
jeers to the goddamned "masked marvel" nonsense they keep sticking in the back of marvel comics lately:
jeers to the goddamned "masked marvel" nonsense they keep sticking in the back of marvel comics lately:
Labels: comixxx
Thursday, July 20, 2006
a glass act
having nothing but time on my hands now that i'm unemployed (though i've managed to pick up some freelance work recently--- through no fault of my own, i assure you) i decided to go check out glass artist (and total babe) dale chihuly's temporary "gardens and glass" installation at the new york botanical gardens. here's what i saw...
...girls admiring the pink glass sculpture outside of the enid a. haupt conservatory
...a big-ass blue and yellow tower. the pond its in was dyed so that it would better reflect the tower
the effect is pretty striking, as you can see in this picture where it's difficult to see where the tower ends and the reflection begins
...this flower from chihuly's ikebana series
...floating glass forms
...alongside bird-inspired "herons"
..."cattails"
...this glass garden, called rose garden fiori
...these ferns
...and these bowls from chihuly's macchia (which is eyetalian for "stain") series
apparently they were made when chihuly walked into his studio one day, determined to make pieces with all different colors of glass he had at his disposal.
chihuly's art is big, bright and loud, which is usually totally up my alley, but as my date for the day, anna,
pointed out, none of his stuff was necessarily anything most folks would want in their home. we came to the conclusion that glass art can easily look tacky, especially after a lifetime of seeing it almost exclusively in the form of tchochkes in your grandmother's suburban mom's home. i don't mean to diss, obviously it takes incredible skill to create the kinds of intricate, delicate things that chihuly, but sometimes it comes off as a bit... too much. but don't take my word for it. check out what ken johnson of the new york times said about it:
"On paper, inviting Mr. Chihuly to distribute his large-scale glass sculptures about the formal gardens and reflecting pools at the Botanical Garden sounds like a logical idea...
The problem is that Mr. Chihuly's works are similar enough to natural specimens that you tend to compare them unfavorably to the real thing. In each of the Haupt Conservatory's outdoor reflecting pools, for example, he has floated color-coordinated fleets of pod and onion-shaped bulbs and a rowboat heaped with more glass objects. The theatrical effect is initially impressive, but then you find your gaze slipping off the sculptures to fix on the different kinds of lily pads floating on the water, or to follow the darting goldfish below the surface. The glass pieces are pretty, but they are too quickly known and understood. They cannot compete with the infinite subtlety and inexhaustible strangeness of nature.
Mr. Chihuly's sculptures may seem to fare better in isolation, as in a big, explosive cluster of yellow tendril shapes called 'The Sun' elevated on a pole so that it hovers above a round pool near the Botanical Garden's main entrance. A tower of raw, lavender-colored solid glass chunks rising in front of the Haupt Conservatory also stands out...
With the bigger sculptures, however, a problem with Mr. Chihuly's art comes to the fore. It has an immodest, showboating character. In its technical virtuosity and material extravagance, it seems to be crying out: "Look at me! Look at me!" But then when you look closely, there is little more than a sloppy and repetitive decorative opulence to hold your attention."
but i digress...
of course, this being the botanical gardens, there were also (go figure) tons of plants and flowers
and of course, no post of mine would be complete without some sexiness. this fellow was checking out a display on legumes or something, which made me think he was kind a cute plant nerd
as cute as the plant nerd was, though, he'll never be as hot! hot! hot! as the lady i saw at the chicken spot i ate at after my trip to the botanical garden
the fine print says "woman of the moment" btw.
as with my other posts of late, there are more pictures from this adventure posted up on my flickr page. get ta steppin'!
...girls admiring the pink glass sculpture outside of the enid a. haupt conservatory
...a big-ass blue and yellow tower. the pond its in was dyed so that it would better reflect the tower
the effect is pretty striking, as you can see in this picture where it's difficult to see where the tower ends and the reflection begins
...this flower from chihuly's ikebana series
...floating glass forms
...alongside bird-inspired "herons"
..."cattails"
...this glass garden, called rose garden fiori
...these ferns
...and these bowls from chihuly's macchia (which is eyetalian for "stain") series
apparently they were made when chihuly walked into his studio one day, determined to make pieces with all different colors of glass he had at his disposal.
chihuly's art is big, bright and loud, which is usually totally up my alley, but as my date for the day, anna,
pointed out, none of his stuff was necessarily anything most folks would want in their home. we came to the conclusion that glass art can easily look tacky, especially after a lifetime of seeing it almost exclusively in the form of tchochkes in your grandmother's suburban mom's home. i don't mean to diss, obviously it takes incredible skill to create the kinds of intricate, delicate things that chihuly, but sometimes it comes off as a bit... too much. but don't take my word for it. check out what ken johnson of the new york times said about it:
"On paper, inviting Mr. Chihuly to distribute his large-scale glass sculptures about the formal gardens and reflecting pools at the Botanical Garden sounds like a logical idea...
The problem is that Mr. Chihuly's works are similar enough to natural specimens that you tend to compare them unfavorably to the real thing. In each of the Haupt Conservatory's outdoor reflecting pools, for example, he has floated color-coordinated fleets of pod and onion-shaped bulbs and a rowboat heaped with more glass objects. The theatrical effect is initially impressive, but then you find your gaze slipping off the sculptures to fix on the different kinds of lily pads floating on the water, or to follow the darting goldfish below the surface. The glass pieces are pretty, but they are too quickly known and understood. They cannot compete with the infinite subtlety and inexhaustible strangeness of nature.
Mr. Chihuly's sculptures may seem to fare better in isolation, as in a big, explosive cluster of yellow tendril shapes called 'The Sun' elevated on a pole so that it hovers above a round pool near the Botanical Garden's main entrance. A tower of raw, lavender-colored solid glass chunks rising in front of the Haupt Conservatory also stands out...
With the bigger sculptures, however, a problem with Mr. Chihuly's art comes to the fore. It has an immodest, showboating character. In its technical virtuosity and material extravagance, it seems to be crying out: "Look at me! Look at me!" But then when you look closely, there is little more than a sloppy and repetitive decorative opulence to hold your attention."
but i digress...
of course, this being the botanical gardens, there were also (go figure) tons of plants and flowers
and of course, no post of mine would be complete without some sexiness. this fellow was checking out a display on legumes or something, which made me think he was kind a cute plant nerd
as cute as the plant nerd was, though, he'll never be as hot! hot! hot! as the lady i saw at the chicken spot i ate at after my trip to the botanical garden
the fine print says "woman of the moment" btw.
as with my other posts of late, there are more pictures from this adventure posted up on my flickr page. get ta steppin'!
Monday, July 17, 2006
e-i-e-i-ho.
the manpanion and i went and visited his sister out in nueva jersey this weekend. Being big fans of farmer's markets, the m.p. and i held out breath and turned blue until big sis took us to stults farm, the local pick-you-own farm
where their rules and regs are as plentiful as their fruits and vegetables.
big sis took her young, impressionable son with us, so i had to bite my tongue to prevent myself from constantly referring to stults farm as "sluts farm" and making jokes about it being a sex farm for sex hookers. because of this, i had to entertain myself in a more family-friendly way. namely, taking pictures:
bittermelon (though, i'm not entirely convinced it's not supposed to be "bitter melon")
zucchini blossom. i used to eat my own weight in these every summer back in "de old cantree".
who knew eggplant flowers are so pretty?
the apricots had just been sprayed with pesticide, and weren't yet ready to be picked.
technically, the blackberries weren't meant to be picked either, but that didn't stop the m.p., who got a basketfull, and a bit of a scolding from the farmlady.
i myself preferred the raspberries, but to each their own, right?
being that we were in new jersey, i was hoping for some hotness, but had to make due with this guy, who was just ok cute.
as always, there's more hilarity and vegetation in the flickr set i made with these pictures and more from my trip to the farm.
where their rules and regs are as plentiful as their fruits and vegetables.
big sis took her young, impressionable son with us, so i had to bite my tongue to prevent myself from constantly referring to stults farm as "sluts farm" and making jokes about it being a sex farm for sex hookers. because of this, i had to entertain myself in a more family-friendly way. namely, taking pictures:
bittermelon (though, i'm not entirely convinced it's not supposed to be "bitter melon")
zucchini blossom. i used to eat my own weight in these every summer back in "de old cantree".
who knew eggplant flowers are so pretty?
the apricots had just been sprayed with pesticide, and weren't yet ready to be picked.
technically, the blackberries weren't meant to be picked either, but that didn't stop the m.p., who got a basketfull, and a bit of a scolding from the farmlady.
i myself preferred the raspberries, but to each their own, right?
being that we were in new jersey, i was hoping for some hotness, but had to make due with this guy, who was just ok cute.
as always, there's more hilarity and vegetation in the flickr set i made with these pictures and more from my trip to the farm.
Sunday, July 09, 2006
it's all fun and games until somebody poops.
dogs running around like crazy make me pretty much pee in my pants. this weekend i hung out with a friend-of-a-friend's 4-month old puppy Rizzo, who is 75% pitt bull, 24% mastiff, and 100% totes adorbs. In the video, Rizzo runs around for no reason, and then, also for no reason, decides it's a good time to poop. (if you're offended by feces, i suggest turning off the video about 45 seconds into it.
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
who watches the watchers? i do!
carl schurz park isn't the best place from which to see the 4th of july fireworks here in new york city, but it's two blocks from my house, and offers a pretty decent, if somewhat far-away, view of the macy's-sponsored pyrotechnics. the 'works were too far for me to get any decent pictures, so i opted instead to take pictures of the crowd that had gathered to see the show. enjoy!
Monday, July 03, 2006
horsey is the new banksy
my good buddy ryry is in town from chicago, and has never seen new york's museum of natural history, so we decided to go check it out. one of the exhibits we saw was the hall of biodiversity, which is a pretty big display with several hundred animals in it, all arranged according to what species they're in (fish with fish, birds with birds, etc.) i've seen this display dozens of times over the years, so i just sort of gloss over the details, but eagle-eyed ryry noticed something weird with the display. specifically, there's a toy horse where there should be a turtle. it seems like someone either stole a turtle and replaced it with a horse, or just saw an open space in the display and decided a horse would look rather sharp there. either way, i think it's kinda shitty that someone messed with a display at such an awesome and important museum. that's why i looked up the guy who is in charge of that section of the display and wrote them the following letter:
Dr. C., (i don't want to put his full name up and put him on blast in case he's not the right guy to contact)
I’m not sure you’re if you’re the right person to contact about this, but when I looked on the AMNH website’s biodiversity section (http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/hall_tour/spectrum/flash/) under “turtles” your name came up. The reason I’m writing is because I think the biodiversity “Spectrum of Life” display at the museum has been tampered with. Specifically, the turtles section of the display contains a toy horse where it seems a turtle should be. I am by no stretch of the imagination a zoologist, but I’m pretty sure that horses and turtles aren’t very closely related. I’m attaching a picture so you can see what I’m talking about. If you're not the person to whom I should be adressing this problem, would you mind pointing me in the direction of the correct person?
Thanks for your time,
-mr
update: the scientician i'd emailed got back to me.
Mr. R: You are indeed correct. Thanks very mcuh for telling me this. Seems that ome visitor was a merry prankster. Best wishes,
Dr. Science-Man.
i would have wanted this dude to give me some kind of reward for my finding (a free museum membership, a t-shirt that says "geology rocks", etc.) but i suppose the satisfaction of helping out the museum will have to be my reward.
...frankly, i'd be happier with a shirt.
Dr. C., (i don't want to put his full name up and put him on blast in case he's not the right guy to contact)
I’m not sure you’re if you’re the right person to contact about this, but when I looked on the AMNH website’s biodiversity section (http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/hall_tour/spectrum/flash/) under “turtles” your name came up. The reason I’m writing is because I think the biodiversity “Spectrum of Life” display at the museum has been tampered with. Specifically, the turtles section of the display contains a toy horse where it seems a turtle should be. I am by no stretch of the imagination a zoologist, but I’m pretty sure that horses and turtles aren’t very closely related. I’m attaching a picture so you can see what I’m talking about. If you're not the person to whom I should be adressing this problem, would you mind pointing me in the direction of the correct person?
Thanks for your time,
-mr
update: the scientician i'd emailed got back to me.
Mr. R: You are indeed correct. Thanks very mcuh for telling me this. Seems that ome visitor was a merry prankster. Best wishes,
Dr. Science-Man.
i would have wanted this dude to give me some kind of reward for my finding (a free museum membership, a t-shirt that says "geology rocks", etc.) but i suppose the satisfaction of helping out the museum will have to be my reward.
...frankly, i'd be happier with a shirt.
Sunday, July 02, 2006
hot! hot! hot!
i went to the first of the 2006 p.s.1 summer warm-ups yesterday and found the whole affair muy caliente. not only was the weather nice and toasty-oasty warm , but the hipster kids there were also more than a little bit hot. here's a small sampling, for you boy watchers and girl watchers:
for more hot hot heat, check out the rest of my photos from the p.s.1 warm up here.
for more hot hot heat, check out the rest of my photos from the p.s.1 warm up here.
