Musings from the God of Cities

shaolin zoo, august '06. also posted here.

i'd love to say that my recent visit to atlantic city was inspired by that episode of "designing women" where suzanne sugarbaker loses all her money and goes to a.c. to make the dough she needs to like, pay her mortgage or something. alas, my reason for going was not that glamorous. i went because my frined patty vedder (who lives none-to-far from atlantic city) and i have been talking about going since forever, and we both essentially have the summer off right now. my somewhat mundane reasons for going don't mean i didn't have a heck of a time, though. see for yourselves:

we started off at trump's...


...awesomely tacky...


...casino!


we wound up hitting several casinos over the course of the day, and trump's had by far the most watered-down drinks. as patty noted, "well, that's why he's as rich as he is!" patty also noted how much the jokers on the poker machines looked like bill clinton


the minimal boozey-ness of the casino rum-and-cokes issue didn't affect patty as much as it did me, though. i'm cheap and broke anyway, and was more interested in free drinks than i was in gambling. patty, who is employed, and was driving that day, opted to gamble, and largely avoid the booze-ahol


also gambling were old people


like, so old they can't breathe on their own


i'm talkin' george burns-old


but atlatic city isn't just about the gambling! no, it's also about boardwalk nationalism,


saltwater taffy,


bootleg toys,


and crabs


being on the boardwalk in new jersey during a hot, hot summer day, i was hoping for some sexiness. even though there was some,




sexiness was pretty much the exception to the rule that day






even the beach-bar sluts weren't that hot


at least the drive home was pretty

seriously ladies, y'all need to figure out some better ways of getting over your trifflin' men.

if you don't know much about D.C. comics continuity in general, and the Justice Society of America's history, specifically, please feel free to ignore this. for everyone else, though...

have you seen alex ross's paiting of the new J.S.A.?


according to wikipedia, "Recent images released by DC (Aug. '06) confirm as members Hawkman (Carter Hall), Wildcat (Ted Grant), Flash (Jay Garrick), Green Lantern (Alan Scott), Jakeem Thunder, Power Girl, Stargirl, Hourman (Rick Tyler), Dr. Mid-Nite (Pieter Cross), Obsidian, Mr. Terrific (Michael Holt), Damage (in his new costume), and Maxine Hunkel, as well as (either new or old) versions of Sandman, Liberty Belle, Starman, and Commander Steel."

you've gotta play a tiny bit of "where's waldo?" to find obsidian, but when you do, try not to crap yourself with delight over ross's cleverness.

my love for the metropolitan museum of art only deepens as the years go by. one thing that makes me love it all the more is the art on the roof they have every summer. this year they're showing works by contemporary chinese-born artist cai guo-qiang. rather than blather on as i so often do, i'll just quote the descriptions from the exhibit's website

Contemporary Chinese-born artist Cai Guo-Qiang, known for his elaborate sculpture installations and gunpowder projects, was invited by the Metropolitan Museum to create this site-specific installation for the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden, overlooking Central Park with expansive views of the Manhattan skyline. Included are works that present the artist’s reactions to issues of present-day concern:

Clear Sky Black Cloud, an ephemeral sculpture that consists of an actual black cloud appearing above the Roof Garden at noon on Tuesday through Sunday of each week, bursting like an inkblot in the sky and then dissipating slowly in the air. This recurring work, made from miniature black-smoke shells, sets a new and symbolic clock for New York City for the duration of the exhibition.


The 15-foot-tall glass Transparent Monument, at the base of which lie replicas of dead birds. "Like a transparent sculpture or canvas," says Cai, "the glass encases the city and park, fusing them with the work as one, and bringing out the relationship between the city, or civilization, and park, or nature."









though the "dead birds" aren't actual dead birds, they seemd to be realistic enough to attract a fly (look on the right side of the bird.)

The installation also features Move Along, Nothing to See Here, a pair of lifesize replicas of crocodiles, cast in resin...




...and pierced with several thousand sharp objects confiscated at airport-security checkpoints...


...which loom over the Roof Garden space






i posted these pictures and others from the Cai Guo-Qiang exhibit, here on flickr. While you're there, you can see my pictures from the Met's "Anglomania" show, as well as some other pictures i took around the museum.

midtown manhattan, august 10th, 2006.

if you look up close, you can see that the poster on the left originally had a somewhat tasteful and demure reason for breaking up. what is up with new york ladies? are they crazy, or do new york men just make 'em that way?

i've decided to start selling off my comics. well, just the ones i'm not that into anymore. i'm doing this both to increase my income now that i'm unemployed and to increase the amount of space i can allow dw to cram his stuff into. that said, check out my very first ebay auction. its for a lot of "Formerly Known as the Justice League" and "JLA Classified" comics. i don't have any ratings on ebay (i used to in a different account, but then had to set up a new one because i couldn't remember my old pay pal account information that was tied to the ebay account, so yadda, yadda, yadda, i've got a new ebay account.)

anyone who wants to help my broke-as-a-joke ass out, and wants to read some pretty quality d.c. comics, please get to bidding.

update: I've posted more items for sale!