08.01.2001: Upper West Side
Trash tornado.
Arbitrary fireworks.
“Hello, yes, I’d like the Little Brother Combo, please. No, hold the grandmother. How long will that take?”
The Coca-Cola Co. wants to eliminate tap water consumption. “Just Say No to H2O.” Found at Cockeyed. [Update: This entire site has been pulled down. Google archive: 1, 2.]
08.02.2001: NYC
Accidental self-portrait.
Who was it that said the new subway cars look like the inside of a refrigerator?
In what is clearly a stealth campaign tactic, the hypermodulated station announcements on the new trains are provided by perky Bloomberg Radio personnel.
At a party for Flaneur last night I met the creator of bkyn, a new online arts journal. The man could really drop names, which explains the interface.
I wrote a story for today’s Circuits section in the NYT: Phone Firms Seek More Time on 911 Locator. Someday, when you call 911 from your cell phone, the operator will be able to tell where you are. Someday.
A reader writes:
i just wanted to file a complaint that the air conditioning was not working in my new 2 train today. if it looks like a refrigerator, it should feel like one too.
08.03.2001: Manhattan
Shooting from the hip on lower Broadway.
Found in the traffic logs: Danger Inc. I’m still not sure what they do, but they’ve got a nice Flash intro. Reload for variations. The name and the site are so pre-meltdown somehow.
Some sharp photos lately at Quarlo.
08.06.2001: Pleasant Grove, N.C.
08.07.2001: Pleasant Grove, N.C.
Blessed are the signmakers.
The other side.
At a nursing home. Note casual yet stylish summer wardrobe. See also 3.15.
Free refills on sweet tea. See also WaffleHouseSongs.com.
08.08.2001: North Carolina
A hysterical reader writes:
From: …@webtv.net (Winter Dove)
Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2001 15:33:51 -0500 (CDT)
Subject: I READ YOUR ARTICLE!!!!LET ME SAY, I DIDN’T LIKE IT AT ALL!! FIRST OF ALL HOW IN THE WORLD DO YOU HAVE THE ODASITY TO IMPERSONATE A CELEBRITY OVER THE INTERNET!! HOW DARE YOU!! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE AND DAVID GALLAGHER IS AN ACTOR THAT ALOT OF CHILDREN LIKE AND HERE YOU ARE IMPERSONATING HIM THATS NOT RIGHT!!! ARE YOU A PERVERT OR SOMETHING?? THE LAW WILL TELL YOU THAT YOURE WRONG AND YOU KNOW THAT!! WHEN THE FANS ASK IF YOU ARE DAVID G WHICH YOURE PROBABLY NOT AND IF YOU WANT TO BE AN ACTOR THEN GO OUT AND BECOME IT THEN, ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY TO THEM IS THAT YOURE NOT THE STAR AND IF THEY WILL PLEASE NOT BOTHER YOU. THATS ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY!!! THATS IT!! ITS THAT SIMPLE!!! I THINK I SHOULD TAKE THIS TO THE POLICE AND PLACE A TRACKER ON YOU BECAUSE THATS NOT FAIR TO FANS WHO LIKE HIM AND ITS NOT FAIR TO DAVID LEE GALLAGHER!!! ILL TELL SOMEONE ABOUT THIS AND IF YOU TRY ANYTHING WITH ME ILL REPORT YOU TO THE NEWS STATIONS BECAUSE THEY ARE CRACKING DOWN ON THESE PEOPLE WHO ARE OLD MEN AND LURING CHILDREN AWAY AND KILLING THEM BY PRETENDING TO BE SOMEONE THEY ARE NOT!! YOU ARE SO WRONG, PLEASE STOP!!
I feel really bad now and promise to stop endangering slow-witted minors. It’s a scary world out there.
See also 3.3.
08.09.2001: Roper, N.C.
This town has not one…
…but two gas station churches. Fill up with the Holy Spirit. See also 6.28.
What you do when your friends in Pittsburgh can’t get their scanner to work: Pictures of pictures of [removed]. See also 1.26.
I have neglected to mention new babies in Singapore and Tokyo and a wedding in San Francisco. Congratulations to all.
I got a call from a volunteer with the campaign of a guy running for City Council. Within 30 seconds she offered to give me the candidate’s URL. Is it just me, or did he Photoshop his head into this photo?
Greetings to readers of The Morning News, a fine publication.
I have decided that I really must check out the High Line before they tear it down.
08.10.2001: Albemarle Sound, N.C.
Someone at the Scott Abbott Manufacturing Co., maker of the Metal Lesson Marker, visited this site. The anti-design made me suspicious at first, but apparently it’s a real company, not some cute McSweeneyesque project. It can be hard to tell the difference nowadays.
Mark Anderson will send you some of his books. You’re supposed to send them back when you’re done.
08.13.2001: NYC
Soho.
It’s hard to find good corrugated boxes in Soho nowadays.
East Village.
Midtown.
See also Fading Ad Campaign. And the Minneapolis Sign Project.
Excerpts from the privacy policy of BigMailBox.com:
WE’RE SERIOUS ABOUT YOUR PRIVACY!
…We may share, rent, or sell personally-identifying information you provide us to THIRD PARTIES.
I’m confused.
This is a blog of note.
08.14.2001: Brooklyn-Queens Expressway
From a fast taxi on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.
I think that’s Harvey Keitel.
Jetset, a nifty site about modern design, is featuring some of my photos of the TWA Terminal at JFK. An article in today’s Times talks about the controversy over plans to make changes to the terminal.
Belated thanks to Grant for organizing a little get-together in Williamsburg on Friday, where I talked to, among others, the mysterious Red, Cam, Anil (watch that spelling), Noah and a former Mormon whose name may have been Stacey is CAROLYN, dammit.
Andy is abandoning Ironminds.
08.15.2001: Prospect Park
Invisible kids with glowsticks at a reggae concert.
‘Lightning Field‘ is a new novel by Dana Spiotta. She’s probably another fan of Walter.
08.16.2001: Park Slope
Here’s another San Toy Laundry (or is it Sam Toy?), circa 1903, courtesy of the Haynes Family Photographs collection at the Montana State University Libraries. The Haynes family had a lot of nice photos and things.
Today’s Circuits section in the NYT includes a story I wrote: For the Errant Heart, a Chip That Packs a Wallop. It’s a ‘How It Works’ feature about ICDs, which sit inside your chest and give you a big zap if your heart is beating funny. Don’t forget to click under ‘Multimedia’ for slick graphics by Frank O’Connell. Chances are I will never again write a story that was inspired by Dick Cheney.
08.17.2001: NYC/London
Rockefeller Center.
Giant spiders invade Midtown…
…but passersby are strangely oblivious.
London, November.
The big mama spider looked much bigger inside.
Madison Square Park.
Meanwhile, it’s snowing in August.
Cell phone symphony. Via Mirapaul.
Visual music: insertsilence. Found at acute.org.
I don’t know what I’m going to do without Media Grok.
The TWA Terminal at JFK is suddenly hotter than Britney. Today some of my photos of the terminal are up at Preservation Online, the Web site for the magazine of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. It’s a great magazine, if you’re into that sort of thing.
08.20.2001: Long Island City, Queens
Shoppers flock to festive chair sale in vast empty parking lot surrounded by abandoned factories.
A short item I wrote for today’s NYT business section: Having Customers Say No to Tap Water. It’s about this article from Coca-Cola, which was ridiculed all over the Web a few weeks ago for its outrageous marketing-speak. Better late than never.
I got a nice note from Freestone Wilson of Tallahassee, Florida, whose site is called My Life After Near Death Experiences.
And Chad Wilcox of Wheeling, West Virginia, writes:
Shut down your site.
It sucks.
08.21.2001: Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn
Did you know you can rent cotton candy machines?
How to bust open a pinata.
How not to bust open a pinata.
Galinsky: “People enjoying buildings worldwide.”
These are the real deal. PersonalPayPhone.com pay telephones all come with a story behind them. Maybe your phone was from the corner of Main Street in “Small-town, USA” or from the hood in Harlem.
Or from the front of a Thrift Drug in a godforsaken strip mall.
(I still want one.)
08.22.2001: Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn
Sprawling track layout for steam-powered model trains, spanning two (eventually three) backyards. I posted some more photos for the, uh, engineers, but you can look at them too.
08.23.2001: NYC
Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn.
Don’t mess with the dead. Especially the rich dead.
East Village.
On the back of a truck near the Village Voice building.
East Village.
New trend in deli naming: adverbs!
Welcome, Guardian readers, to the place where I reveal all of my most intimate feelings, just like Bridget Jones, only with less weight consciousness.
(About that Harvey Keitel sighting: I thought the Brits knew something about dry humor.)
I wrote a ‘What’s Next’ column for the NYT’s Circuits section: Beaming Data Holds Promise, With Limits, for Networking. I have nothing clever to say about this story.
Speaking of which, does anyone have any amusing anecdotes related to the application of open-source development methods to non-open-source software?
08.24.2001: Brooklyn
Rooftop in Brooklyn, one in the morning.
Katajanokka Street, Helsinki (636K).
Clayton and 17th, San Francisco.
My little article on Coke and tap water prompted an interesting letter to the editor. See also a related op-ed piece. I’m now waiting for some politician to make an issue out of tap water availability.
08.25.2001: Subways
08.27.2001: Astoria, Queens
On Saturday I learned that Bill Werde inserts subliminal messages into his articles. Later at the Bohemian Hall & Beer Garden I learned that Catherine may seem like a tough rock chick, but she totally loses her nerve when playing Killer. (This Inger’s version of the game involved more drama, less alcohol.)
08.28.2001: Midtown
From the Metro Hotel’s roof garden, which has a beach-deck feel, an odd crowd and a good view.
Children’s lingerie isn’t the business it once was.
Mike C goes to the End of Brooklyn. I explored the same territory in the snow last year.
Fun PR gaffe of the day:
Date: Mon, 27 Aug 2001 13:56:41 -0400
Subject: Requested Information: GPS Technology that is Available Today
From: …@gilden.comDear Mr. Lightningfield,
08.29.2001: NYC
Astoria, Queens.
Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
This one is for Jessie, Cricket’s niece.
Man Ray: Cadeau.
08.30.2001: NYC
Lower East Side, Manhattan.
A classic.
Flatbush Ave., Brooklyn.
Too big to fit in the frame.
Midtown Manhattan.
…and Mork?
The newly renovated Watts Towers in L.A. are reopening next month.
