I found this book at the Hell's Kitchen flea market a few years ago.
This scenery reminds me of the end of Sequim Bay, where there are (or were, when I was a kid) a bunch of old fish shacks and abandoned wooden boats lined up on the beach. It was one of my favorite places in the world. Now if there had only been a boat-shaped outhouse there....
Somewhere in Idaho (this looks like the McCabe & Mrs. Miller set...yes, I am obsessed).
Somewhere in Wisconsin.
Somewhere in Texas.
Somewhere in Tennessee.
This dude seems pretty excited about going to the bathroom.
The T blog is currently featuring a short profile of David Selig—eco-innovator, die-hard surfer, Red Hook resident, owner of the restaurants Rice and ñ, special man-friend of my former boss-lady Cecilia Dean, and one of the more interesting and laid-back dudes I've met in New York. Above, from a previous article in the Times, David is shown filtering used cooking oil for use as fuel in the Rice delivery van.
He just opened a solar-powered taco stand on the beach at Rockaway...looks like our weekend plans are taking shape.
. We're moving. There, I said it. Employers have been told and all stops have been pulled out. Our lease is up September 14th and we're headed west, to Seattle. There was a chance we were going to stay here because I was very honored to be considered for the art director position at Vogue. I had two interviews but it didn't ultimately pan out. We were planning to move anyway, so it's no big deal, it was just one of those things where if you're asked to interview for a job like that, you have to do it, and if I had gotten it we would have stayed a bit longer. Since I didn't, we're on the move. We already bought a place: a condo in a 1967 building on Capitol Hill, at the corner of Melrose and Harrison. We got it through Redfin last October and have been renting it out since then.
One whole wall is windows, and the view is pretty sweet. (And no, jerky, those are not our decorations.)
It sits above the freeway but the glass is very thick, so it's not loud.
There's a little stairway/park right next to it. Littlejeans and Inez will be able to look at pigeons down below and think their violent, murderous thoughts.
We'll miss Ali, Muhammad, et al in our corner stores here in Brooklyn. Honestly, our new one in Seattle (above) is a better store overall, but they could learn to make a fricking sandwich.
We are dangerously close to Top Pot Doughnuts.This place is good too (Artemis). It's just down the street.
There are some little galleries and studios in the neighborhood (some of which were there when we lived at Summit & Thomas, before we left for New York in 1999).
I took all those photos last fall when I went out there to sign the closing documents. I picked up the keys on my birthday, October 31st. It's rented out through the end of the year, so we're going to stay with my mom for the first few months, in Madison Valley.
So there it is—I've been beating around the bush, but now it's official. Not surprisingly, this blog will be obsessed with the transition from Brooklyn to Seattle in the next several months, in between the regular flow of gritty and pretty. I expect it will be quite an adventure.
For whatever reason I have not been sleeping well lately—this is the second night in a row I've gotten up at 4. And it's not like I'm going to bed early. Anyway, in addition to finishing up the next issue of Wax Poetics (no.30, The Rock Issue, with a double cover of Bad Brains and Elvis, sadly without the foil stamp and metallic inks I wanted—rock issue...metal—but a great issue nonetheless), I also changed the format of the blog so it only shows the last ten days' worth of posts. There have been some complaints about the time it takes to load, so this should be better for everyone, hopefully. Yawn.
I also just picked up Broken Social Scene Presents Brendan CanningSomething for All of Us..., the best record of the bunch, but not the best album cover. Here's a video instead:
If it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press, and I guess it's also as good a time as any to post a few war-related things I've had in the hopper for a minute.
1. Tonight HBO will air the third episode of David Simon and Ed Burns' mini-series Generation Kill. Simon and Burns created The Wire, and bring the same deeply nuanced and darkly humorous approach to this portrayal of an embedded reporter's observations during the initial invasion of Iraq. Through its unbiased, Wire-like gray area approach, the series reminds us that the troops themselves, despite whatever political affiliations they personally hold, are there to do a job, and it's interesting to see what that involves on a day to day basis. It seems to me it would be impossible to watch the show and think that the war has been anything but a total waste of life, effort, time and money.
2. Generation Kill is also a well-designed package—from the seemingly endless, haunting radio chatter that hangs over the end credits, to the logo, which makes uniquely smart use of this distressed typeface, evoking destruction, death metal, targeting, sand, maybe even a bit of religious/crusade overtone—and if you really read into it, does the middle cross look a little like an iconic image from Abu Ghraib? I don't know, that might be a little overreaching, who knows.
3. The other night, discussing McCain's outlook on the war, Keith Olbermann used the phrase "Iraq as old guy's second chance in Vietnam." For whatever reason, it reminded me of Hearts and Minds, one of the best films I've ever seen and the winner of 1974's Academy Award for best documentary. I saw the director, Peter Davis, speak at the Brooklyn Academy of Music when Hearts and Minds got its DVD release, and he was talking about how the production company had a policy of giving each film they did a one-million dollar budget. That was sufficient enough to produce the company's feature films, including Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, and The Last Picture Show—but it was a truly outlandish, smokable amount of money for a documentary. Davis took it and went to Vietnam and around the world shooting footage and interviews totaling more than 300 hours. What was distilled into the final cut is absolutely mind-blowing, riveting, eyes-glued-to-the-screen, forget-where-you-are greatness. It is also heartbreaking, and it is required viewing as a compare and contrast exercise with our current conflict—and the conflict the Bush administration is currently manufacturing with Iran.
Some of the most poignant moments to me are the interviews with Daniel Ellsberg. They prompted me to read his memoir a few years ago, Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers, which I cannot recommend highly enough, both as a history of the events of that era, and as a window into the thinking of a true patriot and a courageous and brilliant thinker. Ellsberg started working in the Pentagon as an adviser to Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara on the exact day the Tonkin Gulf Incident occurred—and seven years later his views had changed significantly enough that he leaked the Pentagon Papers to The New York Times, which arguably precipitated the end of the war. There are few people better equipped to analyze that period of time in our history.
Premier Issues is a website dedicated to showing the first issues of a wide range of magazines. There's a lot missing but it's still an interesting survey and worth a quick look. It's also a reminder of how many magazines start out, get a ton of attention, and then disappear. List was an amazing idea, for example—the entire magazine was made up of lists, and images to go with them. It was beautifully designed and I was excited about it ... and unless I'm mistaken there was only one issue ever. Here are some spreads:
This is SE Racing's OM Flyer model. The OM stands for "Old Man," which was the nickname of Scot Breithaupt, the founder of SE Racing way back in the day. I'd rather have an old one, but if I could get it in black and chrome I would immediately sell my mountain bike and get the re-issue. It looks small but it's a 26" cruiser, which I need because my original Torker 2 is way too small.
This next installment in my NW/NY interview series is with renaissance woman Sarah Honda. I first met Sarah in Seattle in the early '90s, when she was an editor at The Flavor magazine, and I started working there. Sarah and I spent many late nights in the office, editing and organizing to the sounds of Mobb Deep and Raekwon. Her roommate at the University of Washington was this girl named Emily. Sarah introduced Emily and me at RKCNDY one night, and to make a long story short, we ended up getting married a couple years later.
Sarah moved to New York and worked at the legendary Payday Records before taking a job at Empire Management, handling the day to day careers of DJ Premier and Gang Starr, among others. We used to hang out and go to brunch a lot, and walk around the city—actually, she walks so fast, it's more like trotting around the city. It was really fun and a good way to see the sights. The way I see it, Sarah has been an ever-present force during two of the goldenest of golden eras of my life.
Three years ago, Sarah moved back to her hometown of Honolulu and started a fashion magazine called Smart. (They have a blog now too...you can tell which posts are Sarah's because they have titles like "Protect Ya Neck-lace.") Sarah also produces the film festival there, has a radio show, promotes a bunch of club nights, and lives the fast life in fast cars.
This week she was in New York for her annual pilgrimage and I forced her to sit down and answer my questions. Emily and Sarah at Wildwood Barbecue
How's your NYC trip been? The trip has been amazing – I’ve seen everyone and done everything that I wanted to. Highlights: Takashi Murakami exhibit in BK. Grand Groove at APT with Chairman Mao. Hanging out with Andrea and Trevor Duncan Mao in Harlem. Seeing the Royal Tenenbaums house in Hamilton Heights. Going to Headqcourterz Studio and hanging out with Premier, Gordon, Phat Gary and Show. Derek Jeter/Brand Jordan party at Marquee. NERD show/Paper party at Santos Party House. Wo Hop with Max and Matt. Cheap Malaysian food at Sanur with Pei. The Wackness. Dark Knight. WXOU with Chen, Joey, Hua and Betty. Santogold, Diplo, A-Trak and the dancers at Summerstage. Pre-Fab homes, Dali and George Lois at MoMA. ego trip dinner at Lombardi’s. BBQ with Strath and Em. Momofuku with Darcie. Gelato (twice!) with Jeff Staple. Half hero and daily grain special at Olives, Ernie & Bert Ante Up video. Spice Market with Roya. K-Town grocery shopping with Jones. Beatminerz, Alchemist, Tony Touch, Dart, Crazy Legs, Eclipse, Lord Sear and more at APT (again). DJ Lindsey at The Hump.... And I didn’t even mention any shopping.
When we had dinner you mentioned that you feel settled into your life in Hawaii now. What was the hardest part about adjusting after living in New York for ten years? I miss how fast people walk. Of course there is more to miss in New York, like sample sales, live music, amazing public transportation, museums, great restaurants and all my friends. And New York is where my dreams came true. But on the real, people in Hawaii walk super slow.
Emily and Sarah blazing up Diamond Head past slow Hawaiians last summer
What do you like about living in Honolulu? Surfing, shave ice and flip-flops 365 days a year!
What about Leonard's?! And Leonard's.
What are you into lately? Acai bowls
Alexandre Herchcovitch
Mexican loteria cards
Bliss Lau body jewelry Boston Red Sox Babies Chie Mihara shoes Not getting haircuts
What are your plans/power movements? What's next for Sarah K. Honda? On-air radio personality. A girl can have another dream!
How come you never wear your Bone t-shirt any more?
You know what? I do wear my Bone t-shirt. Don’t doubt me kid!
Anything else you want to say? Special shout out to Dan. Another thing I miss: the digs.
I didn't plan on writing about the New Yorker cover that won't go away, but I came across some analysis from Pentagram's Paula Scher, guest-blogging at Design Observer, and thought I would link to it. Here's an excerpt, bold parts mine:
The problem with the Obama joke is not that it’s dangerous and tasteless. The problem is that it isn’t dangerous or tasteless enough. There’s nothing wrong with a joke, it’s how its executed. It’s just not that shocking, and it isn’t funny. It’s simply bad art direction. The cover is an illustration when it should have been a photograph. It’s a cartoonish illustration at that, not even a realistic painting. It's not what you said, it’s how you said it.
To be effective, this kind of political outrageousness has to appear to be absolutely real. You have to look at it and think, "Oh my God, I can’t believe it! Did they actually do that?" It has to be so tasteless that it becomes good. Lois achieved that with his cover for Esquire of Lieutenant Calley, then accused of leading the Mai Lai massacre in Vietnam, posing with a bunch of smiling Vietnamese children—an actual real photograph. In this portrait, Calley was a villain or an innocent, depending on your point of view. When it appeared on the newsstands, the cover was so shocking, so appalling, so unbelievable in its mere existence, you didn’t stop to think about whether or not it was offensive or tasteless. Other Lois covers such as his cover of Muhammad Ali or President Nixon work similarly.
Speaking of Esquire, the cover of its 75th-year anniversary issue will feature some new tekmology that animates the words "The 21st Century Begins Now." Having spent some time admiring and working for Visionaire, I'm all for pushing the boundaries of printing and publishing—with ink choices, varnish treatments, paper and other materials, die-cuts, 3D, foil stamps, lenticular, various bind-ins, on and on, forever. Here it sounds like they're basically slapping a web-like gadget on a printed magazine, with almost no thought other than that it will catch attention. It won't do the good things that the web does (or that the Kindle or iPhone or Texas Instruments calculator watch do, for that matter) – and I haven't seen it, but I'd be willing to wager it won't do the good things that a great magazine cover does. It will fail for similar reasons as the Obama cover above: it is neither here nor there; it's attention-getting without being particularly smart. And again, I haven't seen it yet, this is just a prediction – but I'll eat a paper-only issue of Esquire if I'm wrong. Or at the very least I'll re-subscribe for $8.
For more info, read an article about Esquire's anniversary issue in the Times business section.
While we're talking about magazines, there was a good profile in the Times the other day on Condé Nast chairman Si Newhouse.
P.S. – Addendum for nerds – I always thought it was kind of weird how George Lois cropped Muhammad Ali's feet. It brings him forward toward the reader, but to me they are so cropped that they draw attention. Maybe that was the point: to draw attention to the cover line, The Passion of Muhammad Ali. It does fit very nicely in the crook of his ankle, and balanced in its distance from the bottom and right side.
Pacific Standard issue no.1 covers: top, Abby Brothers by Michael Donovan; bottom, Alexis Schuster by Charlie Schuck. Select image above for more information.
I found this book at the Hell's Kitchen flea market a few years ago.
This scenery reminds me of the end of Sequim Bay, where there are (or were, when I was a kid) a bunch of old fish shacks and abandoned wooden boats lined up on the beach. It was one of my favorite places in the world. Now if there had only been a boat-shaped outhouse there....
Somewhere in Idaho (this looks like the McCabe & Mrs. Miller set...yes, I am obsessed).
Somewhere in Wisconsin.
Somewhere in Texas.
Somewhere in Tennessee.
This dude seems pretty excited about going to the bathroom.
