Ok, I got my 56-page iPhone bill from AT&T, which isn’t close to the 300-page bills some people got, but my thick receipt is concrete proof as to how often I use my beloved gadget.
But now AT&T has announced that they’re stopping their super-detailed billing procedure. I know that it kills trees and cripples mail carriers but I like the printed record of my calls…oh well, you win some, you lose some.
Categories: american · pop culture
Under the guise of my Second Life (SL) avatar, Ari Montreal, I went gallery hopping in SL for months. It was often hit or miss, but art was all around and there were some interesting things to see. My SL art experience culminated in an article about SL’s art scene for the Brooklyn Rail in April 2007.
But, after a few more months I stopped going, realizing that I didn’t have time for a three-dimensional cyber-life. Though I hope to revisit SL again…time will tell.
My new banner marks those months exploring SL’s art scene…..and it is my way of saying a special thank you to all the SL artists, critics and users that helped me find the treasures that lay within.
Categories: Second Life · art criticism · art news · photography · pop culture
I love my iPhone but this is my wish list..I know, I know, there is already a wish list being voted by the citizens of the web but this is mine:
Here is Jeffrey Zeldman’s list of what iPhone 2.0 will do…the list is VERY impressive but it still doesn’t help my battery life.
Categories: american · pop culture
As an Armenian Canadian, who is slowly becoming an American, the impact of the Vietnam war is difficult to understand. The only Vietnam War affiliated people I encountered in Toronto were draft dodgers, Vietnamese refugees, and parents who moved to Toronto with their young kids to ensure when they reached draft age they wouldn’t end up in southeast Asia.
Veken took time out of our Sunday schedule to show me the Vietnam Memorial in Holmdel, New Jersey, near his parent’s home–it reminded me of the power of memorials.
Unfortunately, most people in Holmdel (Veken found it one day roller blading near his parent’s home) probably don’t know about this serene monument. Along side the more conventional Vietnam memorial with the names of soldier’s engraved on its walls is a smaller monument to the war dogs that died serving in the US military (built only last year). Also on the grounds is an education center which was closed when we visited, I can only imagine the stories it tells.
What makes the site particularly poignant is the older cemetery at the heart of the complex. Dating from the early 19th C., the Crawford family cemetery suggests this little patch has a symbolic significance, one that Vietnam vets & Holmdel chose to acknowledge. For over two hundred years this rather hidden place has served as a place for mourning and memory, today it is great to see it continue in that role.
It is only unfortunate that the minimalistic sculpture of the memorials are impeded by the more conventional bronze sculptures that strain to “narrate” the monuments. If only the powers that be overcame the crutch of populism to find another more creative way to show the loss and soul-searching triggered by Vietnam, but like the soldiers (and canines) commemorated here, I guess they were only human and prone to mistakes.
Complete photos from my little tour here.
Categories: american · art criticism · art news · human rights · pop culture
Nowadays, it’s easy to forget that Sag Harbor was the working man’s Hamptons.
Categories: american · photography · pop culture
Most people who know me, know that I am helplessly a city boy. So, it is rare that I venture to quieter pastures unless dragged there by friends or family eager for my company in the countryside.
Fortunately, a good friend suggested a foray to the haven of Sag Harbor, NY, which has a notable and storied history (writers Herman Melville, John Steinbeck, James Fenimore Cooper, Truman Capote, Betty Friedan, E.L. Doctorow and others have all lived or live there, and legendary mail artist Ray Johnson drowned there after jumping from the Sag Harbor-North Haven bridge).
So, I admit it, while the thrill of visiting the store (Schiavoni’s Market) that inspired Steinbeck’s The Winter of Our Discontent drew me to Sag, as soon as I arrived I realized I was onto something quite beautiful. The poetically situated hamlet (can a place be poetically situated?) seemed a perfect retreat from New York City’s sweltering summers.
Little did I realize that I not only had a come across a delightful little town but the home I was invited to stay in was an oasis of Americana dripping with the quirky character that makes America’s storied past intriguing.
Camera in hand I instinctively snapped pictures of the beach front cottage just outside Sag Harbor, NY. Thankfully, a historian already documented the house and I read that the residence was established in the mid-fifties when two older buildings from Sag Harbor were relocated, combined and expanded by the mid-20th century owners.
The entrance signaled the entry into a magical abode. It is dominated with a tree mural that careens past the wall, up behind a metal bench…onto the ceiling…engulfing a metal light fixture forged with vine and bird forms. Primitive grass sprouts from the floor onto the walls and birds are drawn onto the sky-colored walls, eternally frozen mid-flight.
Folk art painted carpets lead up to the guest rooms. Every corner is filled with curiosities–tramp art, wooden ducks, quilts and framed silhouettes.
The couple who owns the home preserves, and I’m sure have contributed to, the integrity of this oasis of Americana. Unlike the other homes in the neighborhood, the estate doesn’t embrace the shore and seems to step back in a contemplative contrapposto.
Trees grow all around the perimeter and only a small stone paved pool punctures the green of the rolling lawn. The facade is serene and the tight spaces are not luxurious but rich in textures and warmth.
Spending a few days in this place was sheer joy, breathing in the illusion of a colonial home made me think about the beginnings of America. About a place that began as a provincial backwater and eventually flowered into the crossroads of the world.
Sag Harbor gave me a chance to think about that beautiful journey. I posted my images (with the owners’ permission) for the world to see, enjoy. Complete photo album.
For the text-inclined, here’s a brief literary history of Sag Harbor (courtesy Newsday)
Categories: american · art criticism · art news · photography · pop culture
I’m back from a short trip to the Hamptons & New Jersey (more posts to follow) and here is a look at how wisdom changes through the ages {thanks Debra D}.
Categories: pop culture
Ahhh…signs are so much fun:
Categories: pop culture
Some cities get no breaks…..like these unfortunate locales. {hat tip Z.A.}
Categories: pop culture
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