: moonshine :

This is Bob. Based on the photo, you might never guess that he wrote a book called Illicit Distilling. He also has a website called Home Distilling is Possible. At last, someone is reviving the lost art of moonshine!

This is Elmer. He welds the stills. They say you can make your own still, but unless you have a welding shop in your garage, it's probably easier to buy one from these guys.

And Tanya is responsible for the company's web design.
Apparently she quit in the mid nineties.
Then again, cutting-edge design just isn't the reason you'd go to the site now is it?

: Public Art :
antidepressants for cloudy days

: art parties = double happiness :

This guy writes children's books.
At least that's what he said. I'll probably never know if he was telling the truth or not, but it doesn't even matter because it's such an awesome thing to say you do.

Jason writes poems. And has his own blog where you can read his insights on life and see more photos of the screenprinting party where I snapped this : increase-deacrease

yeah, he knows what it means.

: Palestinian Scarves :

(Washington Square Park)

There has been debate about meanings surrounding the keffiyeh since it became a noticeable trend around 2005. Many see the scarf as a sign of solidarity with the Palestinians as they continue to struggle against occupation by Israel. But as the scarf becomes increasingly available, others wear it without realizing it's more than a fashion statement. The contest over meaning is doubly complicated because the scarf has reportedly been appropriated by anti-semitic groups in some parts of Europe. However, most who wear the scarf (consciously) denounce such associations, saying that the scarf is about support, not hate.

(Lower East Side)

This young man said he was just wearing the keffiyeh as a scarf, and he hadn't previously known of its association with Palestine. So is the scarf loosing its meaning or are people making a political statement without knowing it?

Really, any time we make a choice about clothing it is on some level political. Sometimes we make choices based on production, like avoiding fur or buying clothing we know wasn't made in a sweatshop. But simple aesthetic choices are also political -- most of us make fashion choices that conform either to mainstream standards or to the standards of a specific subculture (punk, ghetto, indie, etc.) or the more general counterculture.

Clearly the scarf carries an appeal for counterculture at large, and in that sense anyone who wears it understands a fraction of its meaning. Rather than resent the popularity of the scarf and those who wear it, people "in the know" should find a way to use the ubiquitous patterned cloth to raise awareness of what it represents, and the U.S.' involvement in the continued oppression of the Palestinian people.

beauty bar

Remember playing Telephone at your 9th birthday party?
This guy's got words going in one ear and out the other. And way better hair than you had back then. The mohawk and its progeny have been spotted throughout the city, evidence of a rising dance-punk sensibility. Perhaps it's been stewing as faux-hawks and rat-tails for a few years already.

Spawn of the hawk has not become faddish (yet?), but there are definitely too many of them walking around to be attributed to the anachronistic punksouls. This is a kind of subtle, hawk-mullet. Rad.

And on a different note: big hearts to the tie-scarf with a windmill on it.

Another Day in Paradise

{{{deep thoughts in Greenpoint}}}

Today I did my taxes and went to the dentist, where they told me that I have a molar which will eventually need a root canal. The nerve is still alive and kickin' (we did a little torture test to prove it), so probably no digging around below the gum-line this year. But the dentist let me harbor no illusions: the tooth is a crumbling mess and is pretty much planning its own funeral. It's just a matter of time until that nerve either dies or gets "put down." Either way: root canal.

It's a little like someone telling you that eventually you're going to die -- you already knew it, but it still shocks you when they shift the prospect into the near future. If I'd ever spent much time thinking about root canals, I suppose I'd have come to the conclusion that it's pretty much inevitable: sometime during the course of my life I'll probably have to spend a few hours in the dentist's chair having the roots drilled out of my jaw. But geez, these teeth are supposed to last me another 50 years at least. Don't start taking them away now!

Which brings me to the photo of the woman at the top of this post.
She gets it: Greenpoint, March, Dentist, Taxes. Only this picture of her seasoned soul, well-acquainted with life's unpleasant surprises, could make me feel better right now.

Welcome to Amerika :
land of the free woman

How these girls got Scary-Terry(Richardson)'s cock and balls into their mouths without throwing up is a mystery. First of all, he's gross and ugly and second, he has no class. Really, these girls could do way better than TR. Although they do look a little drugged up, don't they?

Then again, maybe it's just the way their eyes are straining to look in the direction of the camera. It's creepy. You can just imagine someone directing their every move: "Okay ladies, now that you're sucking his dick, look towards the camera and give the peace symbol. . . perfect. . ." Clearly, these girls are just doing as they're told. Makes you wonder why women even have brains -- I guess so we can follow directions better.


This generation of women was the first to grow up thinking that they could achieve anything. Work in any profession, be equals with men -- or just give head and hand jobs like a good old fashioned prostitute. And while TR gets rich & famous, what are these youth with promising futures getting?
Herpes, probably.

Why would a young, hot woman do this? Clearly she relies on men (and whoever else she imagines will be looking at these photos) to establish her worth.
That's sad. Like almost all women in this country, she's been brainwashed to believe that she is not beautiful or important unless she is represented in the mass media machine. And apparently she thinks making herself sexually submissive is the only way to get there.

TR probably convinces girls to do this sort of thing partly by saying these images are subversive -- as in, they're radical because they wouldn't be accepted by the mainstream media and they'll cause a big controversy. But in this society, giving a man head is never the best way to undermine authority. No one's saying there's no place for it -- in a mutually pleasurable (or profitable) exchange, there certainly is. But allowing a man to profit off the image of your pretty mouth around his cock is never going to be subversive. Ladies: time to start thinking for yourselves.

bklyn po-mo sophisticate

after decades of neglect and estrangement, the iconic
seventies hues Olive and Burnt Orange are reunited at last.

bushwick
. . . i mean "east williamsburg"
{{{ hipsters creeping rightward on the map }}}