Tuesday, March 30, 2004

2/3rds over... disturbing link redux.

It's kinda been a hellish week - and you know what they say - sharing it makes it go away faster.... but yeah NSFW... just in case you ever thought about getting freaky with someone on a webcam. Your video stream may be captured and then where would your future political career be?

Monday, March 29, 2004

Disturbing link of the week...

A quicktime movie that promotes safe sex. It's less disturbing than stereotypical - the instilling fear advertisement technique.

Sunday, March 28, 2004

WWYHD? Pop-quiz.

So, here's a pop quiz - what would you have done? The other night at the gym I've since decided not to join. I was enjoying a nice relaxing post (arm not seizing) workout steam. There were several guys already in the steamroom - a twinky red head, a built latino guy, a tall black guy and a solid asian guy (not me). It seemed kinda cruisy - but I just closed my eyes and leaned back. When I felt a foot brush against mine what did I open my eyes to see?
A) A person walking past me getting out of the steamroom
B) Nothing, it was just my imagination
C) A guy trying to cruise me
D) A foursome going on with the latino guy noddin to me to get in the action.
The answer had something to do with my decision not to join the gym - or at least a resolve to douse myself with bleach after a visit to any "public" steam room.

So here's the WWYHD portion of the quiz. If it so happened that you encountered scenario D, would you have:
A) Gotten up and out of the steam room - ick! germs!
B) Shut your eyes and try to ignore the slurping sounds - find that unpreturbable zen place within, ommmmm.
C) Sit back, smile, and enjoy the show - heck, people pay good money to see this stuff!
D) Hell! join in with everyone else in worshipping the horse hung latino's well defined body - clandestine public sex is not just right but a responsibility.

Saturday, March 27, 2004

All day film festival...

It's been a crazy couple of days - met with a filmmaker, hung out with a past advisor of mine and her partner, attended an all day symposium, crashed a book release party as well as a couple of receptions. Who knew the life of a grad student could be jammed pack with activities that don't involve reading?

Wednesday, March 24, 2004

I so don't have sex-dar...

I totally bombed this test... how good is your sexdar? I only managed 5 out of 16... it told me to go and rent some porn... (via H2OcolourBoy)

Rejection is in the air...

My graduate program is hosting an open house this week for incoming students - last year too many of us showed up after getting accepted - so this year the program was only able to accept six students. Lots of applicants were rejected. I myself also received bad news over email today. I got rejected for a fellowship I had applied for last fall. It's a big bummer because it would have been 3 additional years of funding and I really worked hard on the application. But it's better to know now - and at least I got an email instead of just no information forthcoming - I find it much more respectful than when you just never hear back. C'est la vie. So I went and got myself a consolation prize of an external harddrive.... Why? A good friend of mine on law school dropped her laptop a couple of days ago and her hard drive went bust. She lost over 400 pages of typed notes from the semester as well as two twenty page papers that she had written over the last week (she had no hard copies or recent external backups when this happened). Rejections I can handle, there are an infinite number of worse things that could happen I suppose.

F*cking in West Virginia...

Ain't no loving like west virginia lovin'It's all relative in West Virginia
Though I have been know to wear this shirt, I tend to not wear logo or message shirts. These two shirts were brought to my attention through different channels, but they both play on a (presumably) urban audience's reaction to the rural (south). The texts of the shirts are: There's no lovin' like West Virginia lovin' and It's all relative in West Virginia. Of course the former is less inflammatory than the latter, but I never quite understood the concept of the store bought vintage tee (a la Abercrombie and Fitch). Created and commodified irony just isn't as ironic as discovered irony to me I guess. This warrented an article in the NYTimes, whereas an earlier set of controversial shirts didn't get coverage in the NYTimes (despite getting national coverage in other venues). The Governer Bob Wise of West Virginia has gotten into the fray calling for A&F to stop selling the shirts saying that the shirt depicts "an unfounded, negative stereotype of West Virginia." [ed. links added 3/24/04]

Tuesday, March 23, 2004

Nothing to fear but fear itself...

I found Lost in Translation through distant early morning. You type in a phrase and it translates it multiple times and "babelizes" it.... so "Nothing to fear but fear itself" becomes "Here in anything it scared for scared nevertheless."


Original English Text:
There in nothing to fear but fear itself
Translated to French:
Là dans rien à craindre mais se craindre
Translated back to English:
There in nothing to fear but fear themselves
Translated to German:
Dort in nichts, zu fürchten aber sich zu fürchten
Translated back to English:
There in nothing to be afraid to be afraid however
Translated to Italian:
Là in niente essere impaurito essere impaurito tuttavia
Translated back to English:
Here in nothing to be frightened to be frightened however
Translated to Portuguese:
Aqui em nada frightened para frightened entretanto
Translated back to English:
Here in nothing frightened for frightened however
Translated to Spanish:
Aquí en nada asustó para asustado sin embargo
Translated back to English:
Here in anything it scared for scared nevertheless


When it includes Chinese, Japanese and Korean... the sentence becomes "What to being the slight ones scared the interior if they were scared, nevertheless, of a form, that it eliminates of this place."


Original English Text:
There in nothing to fear but fear itself
Translated to Japanese:
そこにそれ自身を恐れることをしかし恐れることを何もで
Translated back to English:
What with fearing but fearing that itself there
Translated to Chinese:
什么以恐惧但恐惧那本身那里
Translated back to English:
Any by fear but frightened that itself there
Translated to Korean:
무엇이든 공포 그러나 두려워하게 하는 고 자체에
의하여 거기서

Translated back to English:
That what is fear it does to fear but, by a form from that place
Translated to French:
Que ce qui est crainte qu'il fait pour craindre mais, par une forme à
partir de cet endroit

Translated back to English:
That what is feared that it makes to fear but, by a form starting from this place
Translated to German:
Daß was gefürchtet wird, das es sich fürchten läßt aber, durch eine Form, die von diesem Platz abfährt
Translated back to English:
That which is afraid, it to be afraid leaves itself however, by a form, which drives off from this place
Translated to Italian:
Quello che è impaurito, esso da essere fogli impauriti in se tuttavia, da una forma, che elimina da questo posto
Translated back to English:
What it from to be sheets frightened in if is frightened, however, from a shape, that eliminates from this place
Translated to Portuguese:
O que a ser folhas frightened dentro se frightened, entretanto, de uma forma, que elimine deste lugar
Translated back to English:
What to be leves frightened inside if frightened, however, of one form, that eliminates of this place
Translated to Spanish:
Qué a ser los leves asustaron el interior si estuvieron asustados, sin embargo, de una forma, que elimina de este lugar
Translated back to English:
What to being the slight ones scared the interior if they were scared, nevertheless, of a form, that it eliminates of this place

Monday, March 22, 2004

Beer vs. Gin

Ahhh Beer Street and Gin Lane a 1751 exercise in bianaristic thought. These prints were created in an attempt to change lower class "habits." Apparently if you partake of gin - you'll be diseased, emaciated, force your barber into suicide and let your baby fall to its death. On that note, doesn't this sound totally appealing right now? This book was written by a man who really likes the drink - the dust cover notes the author "began to learn the lore of the premeir American Cocktail as a teenage Martini drinker in the 1950s. He has been employed as a professor of classics at several university."

Ouch! Piercings.


Disturbing link of the week
... Not safe for work (wmv file and gallery too). The star of the video works for "small health oriented non-profit that deals with head lice and pesticidal treatment issues".... also check out his(?) Quiznos videos 1 and 2... so I guess that is three four [ed. just added the gallery link] disturbing links to start the week off with. This is in honor of all the crazy whacky videos floating around the bloggosphere.

Sunday, March 21, 2004

ATM out of control - oh wait - they are just filming...


Going to brunch at Kate's Joint this morning I walked past a film crew in the throes of filming a scene where an ATM all of a sudden spits out cash and various waves of people rush to pick up the cash. I waited around after I first saw the scene until they did another take... here's a quick sequence of the scene.... the director is yelling "GO!.....GO!......GO!.......GO!................ CUT!" in the background.

Saturday, March 20, 2004

Xtreme Martial Arts Action Team


Hmmm... to think, instead of going to dim sum last night, I could have been practicing this on a friday night (vid file, 6.5mb, via xf).

The Whitney Biennale - random rants

The Whitney is always crowded when I go - I need to make sure not to go on Fridays anymore - maybe that will help with the feelings of clusterphobia. Too many women in furs and hipster kids from williamsburg! Anyhow. I need to head back to see some more of the video and film installations, but on the whole I was a bit disappointed by the Whitney Biennale. Though one of the themes of the biennale was that of nostalgia an interesting topic to explore artistically and processually. Curator Debra Sanger writes: "Many of the artists in this biennial and beyond take full advantage of nostalgia's possibilities, putting it to use as a means to their own critical ends... the most visible specters from the past are from the political, social, and cultural histories of the 1960s and 1970s." However, the pieces that I remember seeing tended to unproblematically re-appropriate images and ideals from that era under the theme of selective misremembering. I didn't get the sense from the pieces of the ideological basis and impetus for selective misremembering and nostalgia that Renato Rosaldo outlines in his essay "Imperialist Nostalgia" in Culture and Truth: The Remaking of Social Analysis. But rant aside - it is intriguing to me the turn towards the unfinished in almost a folk art sort of a way that many of the pieces exhibited. It seems that materiality and the evidence of the process of artmaking is starting to be something that artists are playing with again. Seems that people are starting to get tired of sleek clean digitally enhanced lines in there works so prevalent in contemporary work for the past couple of years.... There was a series of "self-portraits" done by this artist whose name I can't recall... but they were of men in different life stages... and none of theme were technically images of the artists own body. I liked this series, though I think it was part of the permanent collection and not part of the Biennale.

Friday, March 19, 2004

Look at all that red in my neighborhood

From the bloggosphere... this site presents (with pictures with maps) a list of all those who contribute to the presidential campaign. Some desperate non-profit development officer is going to go through the data base and to snag the mailing address for these contributors - I just know it. They also have a list of which candidate gets what type of contributions.

An aside, I had no idea that there were so many registered parties in the United States.... just the ones with socialist in their names include: Democratic Socialists of America, Freedom Socialist Party, Libertarian National Socialist Green Party (sounds scary - they are nazis - no really, they are nazis), Socialist Action, Socialist Equality Party, Socialist Labor Party of America, Socialist Party USA. Whew, and I'll just throw in these two for weirdness sake - the Multicapitalist Party and the Southern Independence Party...

Thursday, March 18, 2004

A generous offer... but one I must decline at this time...

Via a certain someone

Who writes: I came across a blog called Procrastinatory Musings yesterday. Not only is it thoroughly entertaining, but the guy who runs it is Asian American, queer and absolutely gorgeous. I wonder if he'd like a naked erotic massage.

I am quite taken by the compliment (thanks!). But I wonder how he would have referred to me if he got the chance to massage me.... seeing as "The Grad Student" moniker has already been taken up by one of his buddies - would I become "Grad Student #2" - take 'em two at a time and write about it in the morning?

New York Spring Break

Chilled flurries of snow
A return to winter's grasp
Heaters hiss and ping

Still pretty free

12.5 %

My weblog owns 12.5 % of me.
Does your weblog own you? (via Overeasy)

A dubious honor...

Go to google, type in "procrastinatory" and click "I'm feeling lucky" and see where you end up!

Wednesday, March 17, 2004

Spring Break. or Why my zionist barber thinks I am a junkie!

Spring break calls to mind images of sun, the beach, parties and tanned college aged bodies. Oh wait, that's just an MTV vision of reality. What really happens during during spring break? First, since you're a grad student who probably spends more time blogging than writing papers that are due, you get "extensions" which hang over your head during your "break" making you feel like that every day of the extension means that your paper should be that much better. Second, you get a week pass to the gym across the street. Thinking that perhaps some exercise might be good to relieve the tension, you work out only to have your arms cramp up upon your return home. So now your walking around with your arm all bent unable to fully extend, stressed out on too little sleep. Third, you go to the barber shop - hey - personal grooming never made one feel worse right? Well, your barber notices that you can't straighten out your left arm and sees what appears to be a track mark on your arm (the area is just a bit red from me trying to massage the pain away). Wearing a yarmulke, and regaling me with stories about how he is planning to go to Israel for vacation he ends the haircut by looking me in the eye and asking "Are you doing ok? You aren't getting in any trouble are you?" while gesturing to my (seized) left arm. I half expected him to give me drug rehab literature with my change. Fourth, wake up the next day and realize that your right arm is seizing too, which makes typing kinda painful. Lastly, plans to go (north!? what was I thinking?) to Boston for the day are finalized with non-refundable tickets. So despite the BLIZZARD yesterday and below freezing temperatures, I will be spending most of the day today walking around Boston. Wheeee!

A friend of mine from school who went to Mt. Holyoke, told me about how she used to see women sunning themselves in bikinis on campus once it got kinda warm, even if the snow hadn't fully melted away.... this to me is spring break - mind over matter - fantasy over reality.

Monday, March 15, 2004

My song, my links....

Redux as today I got linked by two more bloggers! Him and him.

We're on the A-list, we're on the A-list;
We've got a lot of what it takes to get along!
We're on the A-list, feels like we've been kissed,
Blogrolling linking let's begin, bring on the throng.
We always see the readers browsing archives today.
And when we blog our posting we can look linked bloggers right in the eye...

Blow in Spanish...

A pretty hilarious flash movie, not as great as the Mario prestory epic, but still funny. It's hosted as part of a larger site that houses film, vignettes, and commercials involving squirrels. (via H2OcolourBoy)

Sunday, March 14, 2004

A lot of questions to get this answer...



Take the What Sex Position Are You? test by Ley Ley

Veggie Tales

Heather Hendershot's most recent research has been on the parallel world of Christian media production that exists in the United States. One such media object that has made the crossover into the maistream (due in part to their merchandising contract with the evil empire) is Veggie Tales. I saw a clip of the "silly songs" video - and it's quite catchy. The direct-to-video Veggie Tales cartoons tend to present a message of chastity, forebearance, obediance, frugality, and non-violence (with occasional reference to the bible). I wasn't quite sure how to interpret this song... any suggestions?

His Cheeseburger

He said to her "I'd like a Cheeseburger,
And I might like a milkshake as well"
She said to him "I can't give you either"
And he said "Isn't this Burger Bell"

She said "Yes it is but we're closed now,
But we open tomorrow at ten"
He said "I am extremely hungry,
But I guess I can wait until then!"

   'Cause you're his cheeseburger
   His yummy cheeseburger
   He'll wait for yu-oo yeah
   He'll wait for yu-oo oh

   You are his cheeseburger
   His tasty cheeseburger
   He'll wait for yu-oo
   Oh he will wait for you...

He stayed in the drive-thru till sunrise
He may have dozed off once or twice
When he spotted a billboard for Denny's
Bacon and Eggs for half price

How could he resist such an offer,
He really needed something to munch!
Cheeseburger please do not get angry,
He'll eat and be back here for lunch

   'Cause you're his cheeseburger
   His precious cheeseburger
   Be back for yu-oo, he'll
   Be back for yu-oo

   Won't be so long cheeseburger
   Oh lovely cheeseburger
   Be back for yu-oo
   Oh he'll be back for you

'Cause he loves you cheeseburger with all his heart
And there ain't nothin' gonna tear you two apart
And if the World suddenly ran out of cheese
He would get down on his hands and knees
To see if someone accidentally dropped some cheese in the dirt
And he would wash it off for you
Wash it off for you
Clean that dirty cheese off just for YOU

You are his cheeseburrrgerrr!

(listen to the song here, I dare ya.)

Friday, March 12, 2004

What kind of candy heart are you?

Kiss Me
Your Candy Heart Is "Kiss Me"
You're a romantic at heart - which is quite sweet
You fall quickly and often for many people you meet.
While you're romantic, you've been know to crawl up with a dirty book
Warning to all: You're not as innocent as you may look.
What Naughty Candy Heart Are You?
More Great Quizzes from Quiz Diva

Thursday, March 11, 2004

Hmmmm... retraction...

I did notice in the article that there was a contradiction in how it described the death of Brad Pulaski as both due to blunt trauma and getting "stabbed" with an ipod 40-80 times. How does one stab with an ipod? That'll teach me to post quickly on such quirky topics. I still think that they did a great job of creating the site though. Adding of the contextual ads, brilliant. (via MacworldUK)

Wednesday, March 10, 2004

Don't delete my music..... or else....



A story about someone getting bludgeoned to death with an ipod in Memphis. But, when I went to read about this slightly macabre story, I noticed the context specific advertisement under "Related News" - it was an advertisement for the Ipod mini. (via LYD-mini)


[ed. see retraction above. oops!]

I'm on the a-list....

We're on the A-list, we're on the A-list;
We've got a lot of what it takes to get along!
We're on the A-list, feels like we've been kissed,
Blogrolling linking let's begin, bring on the throng.
We always see the readers browsing archives today.
And when we blog our posting we can look linked bloggers right in the eye

We're on the A-list, come on, let's get pissed,
Let's use it, abuse it, send it rolling along!

Oh, yes we're on the A-list, you bet we're on the A-list,
We've got a lot of what it takes to get along!
Let's go we're on the A-list, Look bright it's like we've been kissed,
Blogrolling linking let's begin, bring on the throng.
We always see the readers browsing archives today.
And when we blog our posting we can look linked bloggers right in the eye

We're on the A-list, come on, let's get pissed,
Let's use it, abuse it, send it rolling along!

(sung to We're in the money)

This song is brought to you becaused I've been linked to on a blog that I read! Hey hey.

A Pretzel of Sorts...

Disturbing Link of the Week, needless to say, NSFW. (via pblography)

Monday, March 08, 2004

Fat Activist Marilyn Wann...

On the idea that fat people have no self-control: "If we were out of control, every time someone made some nasty comment about weight, we'd just sit on them until they apologized. If we got really good and out of control, we'd boycott the diet industry and show them who's boss. We'd run amok with chainsaws, whacking out the armrests in movie theaters and commercial airliners. We'd stage sit-ins at New York fashion shows, in state legislatures, on beaches... Fat people out of control? I can't wait!"

Sunday, March 07, 2004

Something about fruits today...



I thought there was just one, but now there is a pear! But seriously, I stumbled across these the pair of fruit statues on two different walks that I took today. Dunno whats up with the fruit decor - but it's kinda nifty.

Come up with a good joke/tagline


A tomato walks into a bar...

Sunday Brunch...

Here's review of Kate's Joint, where I will be heading shortly. "All in all, Kate’s Joint is a very welcome addition to the New York City vegetarian restaurant scene. In fact, the highest compliment I can give it is to say that it’s a neighborhood restaurant worth leaving your neighborhood for." I'd have to agree, as I live nearly 100 blocks away on Manhattan and I've started brunching there every Sunday with friends. At this site, you can also check out Kate's and other NYC restaurant menus.

Saturday, March 06, 2004

Syndication...

I'm exploring syndication - heheh - me, a syndicated blogger. That's a hoot.

Processing through....

Salon article about Skin on Skin a porno film produced by this UC Davis Professor, who is also interviewed here. This undergrad response to the film and its maker in the UCD student paper not super well written, but was what tipped me off to the film in the first place. An initial gut reaction - Hamamoto is made to sound vitriolic and really kinda stupid, yet I am sympathetic to the project that he sees himself engaging in.... well, off to the "Media Images of LGBT APIs" session of the Queer Asian Pacific Legacy Conference.

New York Spring

Rain on sooty streets
Plastic admist budding trees
Cut flowers are sold

Thursday, March 04, 2004

Shoes, shoes, shoes @ shoemania.com

So I'm not married to a corrupt dictator backed by the United States... Nor did I return to a country that I was exiled from and become an elected representative... Nor am I known as the "Steel Butterfly"... But I am one small step closer to her, with my impulse buy of these today.

Hmmm... referral logs...

So - someone linked to me on a discussion board - via a Prolix discussion board hosted at dangpow.com. What is it a linked to!? I'm kinda curious. Feel free to cut and paste into my comments, or email me.

Queer Asian Pacific Legacy - 2004

Coming this weekend to NYU. A three day "regional Queer pan-Asian Pacific American conference to network, organize, agitate, educate, and build capacity." Apparently, they got so many pre-registrations that they've closed off registration and have put a bunch of people on waiting lists. If I manage to be super productive, I'll write my two papers and sneak into these sessions.... [ed. Forgot to include the link to the actual conference.]

Aren't We Queer (Enough)? LGBT Writing and Art in Asian America
This workshop will explore LGBT Asian Americans in the arts. How does sexuality play into the creation and reception of writing, visual art, and theater? What are the new trends? Is anyone really paying attention? Where can artists go to find supportive, safe spaces for creation? Activism through performance art and spoken word, in particular, is a powerful way to break the silences in our communities around LGBT issues.
Presenters:
Quang Bao, Executive Director, Asian American Writers' Workshop, New York, NY
Soman Chainani, Filmmaker and Out Magazine Contributing Writer
Hima B., Independent Filmmaker, Himaphiliac Productions
Sabrina Margarita Alcantara-Tan, Editor, Bamboo Girl
Marian Thambynayagam, Mango Tribe

Academia and the Community
With the continuing changes in queer studies and the growing number of queer Asian American scholars in various academic disciplines, the often conjured dividing line between academy and community continues to remain thin. Join a panel of scholars and students to discuss strategies for making both queer studies and queer lives work closer together. Topics include living theory/ies, ethical approaches to communities, pedagogy, formation of NYC-based queer A/P/A intellectual networks, and anything else that you may bring to the discussion.
Presenters:
Christine Balance, Performance Studies, NYU
Stephanie Hsu, English, NYU
Sonia Katyal, Law, Fordham University
Sel Wahng, Performance Studies, NYU
Albert Ting, Law/International Affairs, American University

Media Images of LGBT APAs
Part of creating a harmonious union between the LGBT community and the APA community is being accurately portrayed in both mediums. Unfortunately LGBT media tends to ignore the APA commuity in a similar manner to how Asian language and Asian American press manage to ignore the LGBT community. By monitoring both mediums, the LGBT APA community will be able to create positive images of our community as part of their community.
Presenters:
Clay Ming Kwong Dollarhide, People of Color Fellow, GLAAD
Soman Chainani, Filmmaker and Out Magazine Contributing Writer
Diana Ming Yin, Editor, www.exoticizemyfist, an independent online magazine for queer APA women and allies.

Wednesday, March 03, 2004

Heheheh


Which Evil Villain Bad Habit are you?

Tuesday, March 02, 2004

Epitome of pathetic...

Sometimes I'm messy. Sometimes clothes, laundry bags and socks accumulate in front of my closet. This morning, in the attempt to clean and hang articles of clothing up in my closet, I slipped on some of said clothes and fell, hard. For 30 minutes, I had to hold this against my right Gluteus Maximus in hopes that it doesn't swell up during my 8 hours of classes today.

Lot and His Daughters, Genesis 19:31-36

Genesis 19
31 One day the older daughter said to the younger, "Our father is old, and there is no man around here to lie with us, as is the custom all over the earth. 32 Let's get our father to drink wine and then lie with him and preserve our family line through our father."
33 That night they got their father to drink wine, and the older daughter went in and lay with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.
34 The next day the older daughter said to the younger, "Last night I lay with my father. Let's get him to drink wine again tonight, and you go in and lie with him so we can preserve our family line through our father." 35 So they got their father to drink wine that night also, and the younger daughter went and lay with him. Again he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.
36 So both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their father.

Ick. Bible quote G. Ick.

BIBLICAL ADMONITIONS ON MARRIAGE:
A. Marriage shall consist of a union
between one man and one or more
women (Gen 29:17-28; Sam 3:2-5)
B. Marriage shall not impede a man's
right to take concubines in addition
to his wife or wives. (II Sam 5:13;
I Kings 11:3; Chron 11:21)
C. Marriage shall be considered valid
only if the wife is a virgin. If she
is not a virgin, she shall be executed
(Deut 22:13-21)
D. Marriage between a believer and a
nonbeliever shall be forbidden (Gen 24:3;
Num 25:1-9; Ezra 9:12; Neh 10:30).
E. Since marriage is for life, divorce shall
be prohibited by law (Deut 22:19).
F. Should a married man die without
children, his brother shall take the
widow as one of his wives. If he refuses,
or deliberately does not give her children,
he shall pay a fine of one shoe, and/or be
otherwise punished in a manner determined
by law (Gen 38:6-10; Deut 25:5-10).
G. If there be no acceptable men to marry in a
marriageable woman's town, she shall get her
father drunk and have sex with him (Gen 19:31-36).

Oh the tragedy....



A Flash animation movie that would have f*cked me up if I had seen it as a kid prior to playing the game.... It is a bit slow at times, but aren't most tragedies drawn out excruciatingly long events? Part 1 Link, Part 2 Link, Part 3. (via MeFi)

Monday, March 01, 2004

Vividly orange food....

Carrots, cheetos, oranges, tic tacs, and jello!

Occasional Special Feature: Good Karma Happy Vibe Deed

So, somewhere, someone invented the garbage chute. Roosevelt Island has an entire pneumatic tube Automated Vacuum Collection System, "Here on Roosevelt Island, we take pride in our garbage. Taking out the trash, for us, is not so mundane a task: We know that when it is released from our hands, it travels the high-tech route known as the Automatic Vacuum Collection (AVAC) System. A computer brings the trash receptacles in each building to life every hour, opening up a valve that releases trash into one of two underground pipes. (There are two main pipes, one each along this island's east and west sides, that alternate operation every 30 minutes.) ... The trash is whisked away through these pipes at 55 mph to the AVAC complex across the street, built in 1975, designed by Kallmann & McKinnell (Motorgate's architects)."

So, my building has a lower tech (super operated) garbage chute. It bangs, it clangs and it apparently according to some grouch shouldn't be used after 11pm (Exhibit 1). Makes sense, but why so antagonistic? So, instead of being annoyed at this red sign directly outside my door so that I would have to see it EVERY TIME I exited the building, I covered it up with my own sign (Exhibit 2). Now isn't that just nicer?