Well, it's another sweaty Friday here in New York with a heat advisory extending well into Saturday. Keep cool out there, campers. In the interim, here are a few items that caught my eye.
First up, I should point out that I discovered the above photo on Flickr. The photographer responsible is an individual who goes by the handle The Machine Stops, and he really has an amazing eye. Click here to see some of his striking photographs. I selected the above shot as it looks strangely current, but actually dates back a fair bit. Snapped in 1992, this is the southeast corner of West 11th Street & 6th Avenue. Then it was a Blimpie's. Today? It's posh bistro, French Roast. Click here to see more of my favorite pictures by other people on Flickr.
Biggest news of the day for music-geeks like myself is that Vampire Weekend are being sued by the woman who graces the cover of their most recent album, Contra. She's evidently claiming that she never actually gave her permission to use the 1983-snapped photo. I'm not entirely sure what she's so upset about, though, honestly. For a start, it's not exactly an unflattering shot. Secondly, it's not like Vampire Weekend are a pack of slovenly, sheep-raping degenerates. They're a gaggle of squeakily clean-cut college grads. It's not like Cannibal Corpse or Napalm Death are using her likeness. Personally speaking, I think it'd be damn cool to be immortalized on an album cover like that. But, I suppose, there's money to be made.
In other music news, apparently David Bowie needs more of your money and is planning on attaining it by suckering you in with this Super Deluxe Limited Edition package of his most cocainiest-ever effort, Station to Station. I enjoy that he's emphatically calling it a Super Deluxe Limited Edition, which sounds a bit like Double Secret Probation. Must……fight…..urge…to…purchase!!!
Elsewhere, it seems my neighborhood is finally rising from its knees to confront NYU's expansion plans deity-bestowed divine right to annex virtually all of lower Manhattan with … an "angry letter." I was hoping for something more along the lines of a molotov cocktail, personally.
Also in my `hood, apparently newjack eatery, Rabbit in the Moon (the one with fake ivy stapled to the façade) is developing a reputation for turning away potential patrons. Am I alone in finding their haughtiness pretty rich for an establishment that graces a dead-end strip more renowned for cheap-o shoe outlets, Judas Priest t-shirts and bong emporiums? Get over yourselves.
Uptown, apparently there's a cool new playground in Hell's Kitchen that may even be worth checking out.
Back downtown, Glen Friedman remembers the intensity of the blackout of 1977.
Lastly, my friend Jel posted this on Facebook earlier in the week, and it really took the wind out of my sails. While it may look to some like David Cronenberg-ish carnage-porn, this brutally harrowing public service message (scored cloyingly by Evanescence) is possibly the most effective argument for responsible driving I've ever seen. BE WARNED, it pulls exceptionally few punches. It will make you want to hug your loved ones and never let go.
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