Hip Urban Bliss

According to the brochure we're about to become hip blissful urbanites. Upon closing the deal on a two bedroom in a TIC near Alamo Square we will acquire our new status as "HUB'S" or "BHU"s", its like the new yuppie. I, as one of the prototypes of this new demographic, will be able to define its style, look and attitude. I feel tremendous responsibility to shape a suitable mold from which the all the following BHU's are to be cast. Seeing as how achieving this title will have a long term constraining effect on our spending habits, I'm thinking everything I happen to own right now will have to do as far as early BHU fashion goes... one old suit, lots of dirty jeans, mismatching socks, some sweaters and sweatshirts and a few pairs of serviceable sneakers. (I should also include a pair of good new jeans that took me several months and about five returns to get right, which meant turning the project over to Sarah in the end.)
As for my idea of BHU attitude: Cautious lack of pessimism bordering on optimism with an ever vigilant weather eye on the western sky. Healthy paranoia balanced by measured apathy. Maybe the ideal should strive for being one or two notches short of every criteria for diagnosable disorders in the latest version of the DSM. If the book says 30 days a year for so and so disorder, the BHU will do it 28 times a year.

Not what I needed to hear...

Just when I was starting to feel good about things, the bulletin of atomic scientists advanced their DOOMSDAY CLOCK two minutes, its now "five to midnight".

Good News

When I watched this video a flicker of optimism briefly flashed across my psyche. I have allowed myself to be inspired by this guy before, not because he is a great speaker, but because I can't find bullshit in every sentence he utters. He may be full of crap but the fact that I can't tell fills me with hope. Elders tell stories of another young politician who people like me were enthusiastic about. I wonder how that worked out.
I guess what could go wrong matters less than what might go right. As I'm getting ready to invest in society like I never have before, Obamas' announcement is encouraging. I will not yet have to resort to building an ark. Also, the next time some right wing nut case yells that Hillary is the devil, I will be able to relate in some small way.

seconds

If nothing else gets you this is how many seconds you may have to live. As of a few minutes ago I had 1,273,893,759 seconds left. I think I'll have a party when I hit an even billion, maybe by then I'll have a few friends to invite. Maybe losing my morbid obsessions would help on that front.
I dedicate this post to my late laptop and the past two years of files that I lost today. Yeah, some of the important stuff was backed up but I still lost loads of good pictures, music and who knows what else. Spent $40 on, and the last six hours with, a recovery disc that yielded a frustrating random mix of pictures that only served to hint at some sort of interesting life before this dark day.

Great shirt.
Just incase the image is too small to see it, this guy is peeking out of his bomb shelter. I really like the idea of bomb shelters.

He who smelled it....

There was a stink in the city today.
"It did not originate in Jersey," Maria Pignataro, a press secretary for the Jersey City mayor's office, told CNN as emergency officials tried to pinpoint the source of the smell. Yeah right! Jersey's main export is stink and big haired people. If all of Manhattan smells bad it need only look upwind (west)for the culprit.

Cheap and dry sailing

This sail simulator is kinda fun. If it were developed into a full video game I might be tempted to purchase my first Nintendo thingy.

One more thing to look for on surveys.

I don't think we'll see "the rat collector" on the cover of any sailing magazines any time soon. Too bad; I would be interested in reading the kind of publication willing to feature such a man. This guy was charged with animal cruelty for keeping dozens of rats confined in a small space... the cabin of his 29' sailboat. Maybe this was a new provisioning strategy, or perhaps he was developing a method of harnessing their power for propulsion. If only "Demented Sailing" magazine existed we could get to the bottom of it.
If, in the eyes of the law, a 29' sailboat is too small for some rats to live aboard, I wonder what the minimum size is for a human.

"Whadda they want for their lousy 35 cents..."

To appreciate "The Taking of Pelham 123" is to understand:
1- What a real New Yorker is.
2- True diversity and why its a fascinating, wonderful mess.
3- Comparing other cities to the one true Gotham is ridiculous.
4- The early seventies produced greatness.
5- A bad attitude is often the best attitude.


I wish to spread the good word: Careful and repeated watching of "The Taking of Pelham 123" can awaken us all. We are asleep in a swamp of highly processed, calculating, artless and over marketed schlock that is passing as entertainment/art. Not surprising considering the bland and insulated lives of most Americans; how can one relate to anything but the simplest emotions and most familiar stereotypes when an isolating little automobile is the only transportation they know? To know urban life is to love watching it played out in an improbable scenario, an only in New York type of situation. Its hard to find a film that so gracefully glorifies reality as does this 1974 masterpiece. Maybe Midnight Cowboy.
The most obvious heist from this movie is Terrentinos' use of color coded names, as in "Mr. Blue"... its an often cited fact but not so interesting. More noteworthy is the Mayors office scene in "Ghostbusters", watch and see. Just make sure its the '74 version, not the worthless 90's remake. Matthau and Shaw are credited but the beautiful aggravation of NYC stars.