GREEN LITTLE

do i finally understand

2008-12-16T17:52:00.001-06:00

stock market derivatives?

"First of all, you have this book to sell. [He picks up a leather-bound book.] This is worth something, because of all the labor and so on you put in it. But then someone says, “I don’t have to sell the book itself! I have a mirror, and I can sell the mirror image of the book!” Okay. That’s a stock certificate. And then someone else says, “I have another mirror—I can sell a mirror image of that mirror.” Derivatives. That’s fine too, for a while. Then you have 10,000 mirrors, and the image is almost perfect. People start to believe that these mirrors are almost the real thing. But at some point, the image is interrupted. And all the rest will go."

gao xiqing

viewing room

2008-11-30T17:11:00.002-06:00

a beautiful room

tigers and pandas they don't play play

2008-11-23T08:43:00.004-06:00

we've been laughing all week about tigers viz kat williams video below. but today woke up and now there was news about a student trying to break into a zoo because he "wanted a hug" from a panda and got bit. HUGZ!? full story

IT'S YOUR BOYFRIEND

2008-11-21T14:44:00.002-06:00

blooming hill farms

2008-11-19T15:13:00.002-06:00

where there are trees to swing from, bunnies to play with, and organic greens to devour.

i like this

2008-11-18T12:23:00.001-06:00

MY NAME MEANS SABALI

2008-11-17T10:54:00.002-06:00

i'm freaking out. BAMBARA LET'S GO!

back from the campaign

2008-11-14T11:35:00.002-06:00

bunnies

2008-11-13T13:46:00.001-06:00

i just had to steal this photo from the selby

this seems like a good luck sign

2008-11-12T15:45:00.001-06:00

path to victory

2008-11-09T18:27:00.003-06:00

i'll never forget watching liu xiang's coach break into tears as he was discussing liu xiang's injury and walk out at the beijing olympics at a public press conference. liu xiang knew that the entire country was depending on him. i remember when liu xiang set the world record and this young spirited young man was appearing on TV, doing interviews, his rise also coincided with the rise of china in the world stage. the star crossed runner held the entire country in his heart and on his shoulders and after his inability to perform in the beijing olympics news sources say that he is suffering from psychological setbacks.

when i was studying in beijing we went to the old capital of xi'an. i remember visiting the mosque of xi'an, buying a woodblock print, racing around town all day with four of my friends on a scavenger hunt, then all of a sudden the streets were blockaded and we had to take a huge detour to make it back into our hotel. liu xiang was in town and apparently he was seen in the back of a car and was mobbed by so many fans that they had to clear the streets. 2006.

this is liu xiang in 2008.

new beginnings

2008-11-05T13:05:00.000-06:00

we did it, all of us, we did it.

MOC

2008-11-04T13:33:00.002-06:00

location: 154 ludlow, phone banking, last day of GOTV. johannes is in from germany, we called virginia. we took a picture for lily and fred. this is obama's day. everyone all over the world knows that this is obama's day.

the harder they come

2008-11-04T13:10:00.002-06:00

...I recommend the book Blessed Unrest to everyone. It was written by a small businessman, Smith & Hawken tools are very good tools, and Paul Hawken is an eco-nik and has spoken at a thousands places over the last 15 years and finally came out with the book Blessed Unrest. The two words were spoken by the great dancer Martha Graham to the young Agnes de Mille in 1926. She said all us artists are filled with a blessed unrest, trying to reach the infinite and of course never making it, but never giving up trying. The subtitle of Paul's book is How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw It Coming. What is this movement? It doesn't have a name. Most of the people in it don't even know that it's a movement. All they know is that there's something that needs to be done, usually in their home community. And so they try and do it.

Pitchfork Pete Seeger interview

Oh Ba Mah!

2008-11-03T09:38:00.002-06:00

IT'S ON.

gomes

2008-11-02T12:13:00.005-06:00

another inspiring day; inspiring act; inspiring person. watching gomes blast off the final half mile of the new york city marathon outrunning goumri was a crazy lesson in perseverance and game up. i'll always remember the yellow shirt and the long black gloves. so elegant.

merriweather post pavillion

2008-10-30T09:51:00.003-06:00

6 DAYS

2008-10-29T11:50:00.003-06:00

six days left to go and i'm going to jump back into blogging to a) take my mind off that which is pre election daze.

some books i bought in the past week:

2008-10-22T14:54:00.001-06:00

things that exist exist, and everything is on their side.

--donald judd 1964

a numbness in a numbness hollowed into a numbness

2008-10-22T13:49:00.002-06:00

i have been thinking a lot about the passing of my friend and colleague, who was a teacher, a writer, and someone i admired.

last night in queens i couldn't fall asleep--i was looking for a photo of my brother and i in the back of a station wagon, a photo that i write about often, something penetrating about that photo.

i couldn't find it anywhere. and in that late night search i remembered that john had lent me a david foster wallace book once, that i never returned. i found the book easily with a blank post it note marking an essay he wanted me to read.

tucked into the front cover were three pieces of white paper with various quotations on it. upon first sight i thought it may have been a draft of an english midterm that john was thinking of giving. but then i recognized a few words, a mrs. dalloway quotation, a cortázar character... they were my own words. when did i assemble all of these quotations? for surely they were typed out in the same sitting.

i wanted to send these to john of course but like other feelings these days an unfamiliar sense of regret, a muddled emotion perhaps my first time feeling like i had more to tell someone but now not being able to.

i've been able to identify some of these quotations (2003 / 2004)

a lost lady - willa cather

mrs. dalloway - virginia woolf

unknown

sylvia plath

pablo neruda - memoirs

elizabeth bishop

unknown

cortazar - axolotl

junot diaz - drown

leroi jones - a poem some people will have to understand

edgar allen poe

jumpha lahiri "hell-heaven"

didion - play it as it lays

BARACK ON!

2008-10-17T12:24:00.001-06:00

Lenny is hosting a fundraiser tonight for Barack Obama at Fresh Pressed LA.

Barack Obama x Shepard Fairey x Z-Trip x Fresh Pressed from Barack On! Obamathon on Vimeo.

tree of life

2008-10-08T21:10:00.002-06:00

QQ

2008-09-22T07:47:00.002-06:00

my mouth waters when i think about taiwan.

i guess other people love it too!!! including our new glossy friends.

epicenters

2008-09-22T06:40:00.002-06:00

many nights here four years strong -- now we know what all those "anthro" folks were really doing at jimmy's

oh skinny love

2008-09-10T13:04:00.000-06:00

harlesden

2008-09-09T11:55:00.000-06:00

i am free

2008-08-28T12:13:00.001-06:00

my brother sent this to me today

JAMAICA, JAMAICA!

2008-08-21T11:28:00.000-06:00

JAMAICA WINS BIGG IN BEIJING!!! HERE I COME!!!

i feel you

2008-08-20T14:41:00.001-06:00

we love each other

2008-08-15T14:51:00.001-06:00

hold fast to your dreams

2008-08-13T12:49:00.002-06:00

cape canaveral

2008-08-12T15:07:00.000-06:00

conor oberst in store at other music today!

we premiered!

2008-08-11T11:26:00.002-06:00

august means chinese food

2008-08-07T14:13:00.002-06:00

warwick

2008-07-10T14:44:00.005-06:00

we were in warwick for a couple of days, bocce playing, blackberry eating, frog soup hunting.

we danced with our friends

fell asleep on lazy bus rides

water curses

2008-06-26T11:22:00.004-06:00

my dream car

2008-06-23T15:07:00.001-06:00

back to the stacks

2008-06-23T14:20:00.005-06:00

This book is amazing so far. I'm getting ready to head out to island living in 2009 and this is exactly what I needed.

a month passes

2008-06-17T15:39:00.004-06:00

a month passes fast in new york.

i went to chicago, i packed up my stuff

i sat by the lake, i saw my friends.

there were thunderstorms and lightning storms in new york.

flatbush psychadelic

2008-04-28T07:43:00.004-06:00

where should i even start?

BLK JKS packed out HARD HARD HARD at Harriet's Alter Ego last night.
The listening session/acoustic beautiful/banged out rock punk psychedelic africalia sunday freedom day from beacon to BK.

We can't wait to see what Natalie puts together from the show!!!

man with a red shopping bag

2008-04-26T17:50:00.000-06:00

water curses

2008-04-21T21:09:00.001-06:00

making moves

2008-04-21T20:28:00.005-06:00

it's almost been a month since i've moved back to new york. right now i'm listening to lay it down by al green--so gorgeous.

morning pages will really have to be evening pages. i wake up early and i get home late, it's the same story for a lot of people i guess.

this week i've been thinking about blindness, not the saramago book, but the blind man who stands on the corner in the 5th avenue station of the 7 train after the quote on the wall by ovid. lenny told us that a blind man attended our screening in toronto this weekend--

we've been getting heavy into some projects this month. spending lots of time in the b, and avoiding the general madness of nyc. i lost my new sunglasses this weekend, but my camera was rescued from the taco truck in willyburg, so gives and takes.

are you ready?

2008-04-20T20:45:00.000-06:00

coney island wrap up

2008-04-20T12:27:00.000-06:00

the bike is back

BEACON GETS ELECTRIC

2008-03-31T15:39:00.001-06:00

www.electricwindowsbeacon.com

22 YEARS OF AMERICAN YOUTH: BEING TRUE

2008-03-30T20:14:00.003-06:00

aaron stunting hard before he climbed up a tree before i left my camera at the taco truck.

check out aaron rose and emma reeves' co curated photography show at JOURNAL NY in willyburg when you're hanging round town these days.

the usual baddies doing the do: terry richardson, jason nocito, ari marcopoulos, cheryl dunn, ed templeton, tobin yelland, and onwards!

the opening was stacked with heads in the area.

BEAUTIFUL LOSERS at AIGA NY

2008-03-26T20:04:00.001-06:00

okay so we brought our screening to the NYC home front area and we packed out bumble and bumble!

it was a small talk with a large crowd best believe.

thanks to sunny and jason from theme for showing their support

my birthday

2008-03-20T19:51:00.001-06:00

my brother came out to see me for my birthday. we had dinner at avec.

theme x beautiful losers x curumin

2008-03-14T17:42:00.004-06:00

samba japa let's go boyz! we're outta texas heading south to sao paolo!!! more please!

thanks to john, linyee, dickies, for throwing a dope showcase last night.

beer belly

2008-03-14T17:35:00.003-06:00

the lone star tall boys were essential for the long nights, long days.

money mark

2008-03-13T17:46:00.001-06:00

mark + olive at myrna's amazing dinner.

i got to hang with mark a bit during our trip. some highlights include going to the pawn shop, dinner at myrna's, and mark's theremin (!) performance with aaron rose!

the theremin created some crazy lighting looks like!

party directions

2008-03-13T17:39:00.003-06:00

right side (hi blk jks!)

left side (hi nate!)

lakeside

2008-03-12T17:23:00.003-06:00

we hung out by the lakeside to sneak away from the madness of sxsw one afternoon.

a beautiful spiderweb by the lake

stuck forever

2008-03-11T17:37:00.000-06:00

no-comply

2008-03-10T22:47:00.004-06:00

the solar powered pedi-cab move along DJ. yes yes austin!

justin and james at no-comply after the world premiere and before they hit the grill. the glasses were super stunners especially after ziggy threw them on.

thanks no-comply for an awesome low key throw down, it was so perfect after a super turnout morning.

Beautiful Losers World Premiere

2008-03-09T17:08:00.001-06:00

PACKED at the paramount!

Aaron letting the press know what's hood, Sarah holding it down!

this happened

2008-03-06T23:00:00.001-06:00

new bling part 2

2008-03-02T18:00:00.002-06:00

now you see etoo, now you don't. its the bling change up and ting. very limited. as in. untenable.

beacon FTW

2008-03-02T16:28:00.002-06:00

another brilliant day at the B this weekend

BATTLES

2008-02-27T15:38:00.004-06:00

i love battles. my kinna nyc steez.

i love this music video! dan flavin meets urban wasteways

PEOPLE WON'T BE PEOPLE WHEN THEY HEAR THIS SOUND
THAT'S BEEN GLOWING IN THE DARK AT THE EDGE OF TOWN
PEOPLE WONT BE PEOPLE, NO THE PEOPLE WON'T BE PEOPLE
WHEN THEY HEAR THIS SOUND
WON'T YOU SHOW ME WHAT BEGINS AT THE EDGE OF TOWN (ATLAS)

movie night

2008-02-26T16:01:00.002-06:00

we're watching jia zhangke's xiao wu tonight. hot movie poster too.

new york philharmonic in pyongyang

2008-02-25T15:36:00.003-06:00

this is seriously strange insane photo of the day. photo by chang w. lee via nytimes.

waking up with your eyes puffy

2008-02-25T09:24:00.003-06:00

has this ever happened to you when you had a dream in which you were crying and then you wake up with your eyes swollen though you didn't actually cry?

happened to me this morning. i had a weird dream where i was emotionally reverted back to my ten year old self, throwing a tantrum and panicking that nobody would listen to how i was feeling which made me even more weepy and angry.

i woke up thirsty to a cloudy chicago.

the river ganges

2008-02-24T22:39:00.005-06:00

this song is actually 11 minutes and 6 seconds. gorgeous. reminds me of the documentary about bismillah khan and the music of the ganges we watched a couple of years back.

my crew...

2008-02-24T21:34:00.002-06:00

the last week of february and the month of march will focus on chicago lifeways. i move out of chicago a day after i turn twenty two, and the day i graduate.

eyes

2008-02-24T21:29:00.003-06:00

a warm day

2008-02-24T21:19:00.003-06:00

today was warm enough to take a walk out to the point. jagged.

a good thing came out of last night

2008-02-23T11:50:00.002-06:00

ann-sofie back

2008-02-17T12:11:00.002-06:00

i love how this model is styled. ann-sofie back in tank magazine.

nam myoho renge kyo

2008-02-12T13:07:00.000-06:00

today was an insane day.
what made it more insane was that i walked to walgreens to try to get some cash out the ATM and a woman who was smoking a cigarette, approaches me, who was smoking a cigarette as well, and hands me a card that says: nam myoho renge kyo

nam myoho renge kyo

these are

2008-02-12T01:56:00.000-06:00

handmade forks from accra

i am on the second full draft of my thesis. unrelated, but similarly a beautiful thing. the forks more useful, and more beautiful though...

another faded night

2008-02-09T21:11:00.000-06:00

another faded night at danny's where the pictures get taken outside?
we love danny's tavern. wednesday night funk. last night the drummer from tortoise was DJing and he played the cody chesnutt song, gold is back in town, we can crown kings in adidas, you know the deal. and some mia from the mixtape dayz. i was pretty blasted from the 59 beers i had and ran up to the DJ corner with two peace signs thrown up

as i wrap up my four years in chicago, which were interspersed with interludes in spain, bolivia, china, and many many trips back to the nyc, i think danny's will stand out as one of the few spots that define chicago for me. hoorah for schlitz-o

yeasayers & mgmt

2008-02-09T21:03:00.000-06:00

yesterday night we headed to schubas tavern in belmont to see the boys mgmt. yeasayers put on a hopping set. the lead singer started bleeding from the hand at one point, then he made this sling with his scarf that he ditched after two seconds. i've never heard them before but they really did their thang. thanks for a good party night schlitz + leffe + allagash

check out mgmt's new videos

year of the rat

2008-02-07T12:31:00.000-06:00

happy new year everyone!!!

It's the Year of the Rat. Xinhua, the Chinese news agency, says that sign is associated with "a time of hard work and renewal in many ways" that marks "a good year to begin a new job, get married, launch a product or make a fresh start."

ghana

2008-02-03T17:17:00.001-06:00

wins the quarter finals today!

get your own

2008-02-03T17:14:00.001-06:00

we know how those chinese agro women can be

eight minute songs

2008-02-01T16:00:00.001-06:00

i love this song.

breathless

2008-01-29T09:06:00.000-06:00

cat power's cover of nick cave's breathless is all i've been listening to from the time i went to bed till now.

"little white clouds like gambling lamps"

apple remote is amazing for waking up and playing the song that you fell asleep too. lying on your side, one leg around the duvet.

eclectic.

2008-01-28T18:49:00.000-06:00

playlist, current

samba japa curumin
apple blossom the white stripes
loch raven animal collective
maps yeah yeah yeahs
still searchin' damian jr. gong
the second part the dears
how i made my millions radiohead
o último romantico caetano veloso
qaphela blk jks
this can't be life (explicit) beanie sigel, jay-z & scarface

a super sunday

2008-01-27T13:05:00.001-06:00

yesterday obama won in south carolina primaries with 295,091 (55.4%) compared to clinton with 141,128 (26.5%) [nytimes]

the photo in the nytimes today shows a group of supporters surrounding obama who is himself part of the crowd, reaching out from the right hand corner with his face turned towards the people, away from the camera.

it reminded me of one of my favorite photos, perhaps a beloved photo (andrew dosunmu) by many from the african game. the football match in the a-game is off camera and in its stead we have the smiling faces the many faces of cameroon, hands clapping, you can feel the energy of participation.

the photo from the times today has a similar focus. the crowd of people looking to shake obama's hand, take a photo, communicate an encouraging word.

it's the combination of hands, smiles, and faces looking towards something promising that unites these two photos together.

postscript:
an op-ed in the nytimes [who officially endorse clinton] from a fellow high school alumna:

weekend in january

2008-01-26T10:06:00.000-06:00

it snowed again last night. it was a long night that really didn't amount to much. some water set to boil then turned off. the shower which didn't get quite as hot as you'd like.

a cookbook turned to the section on potatoes and then nuts and then oils.

this morning: manha de carnaval, coffee, an egg, a glass of orange juice.

morning pages

2008-01-22T10:08:00.000-06:00

Trap Rock (shot II), 2006.
An-My Lê

when i used to write more, a friend put me onto morning pages, get up and write before you do anything else. i don't know if i can manage that. there's always the pressing morning email from a loved one afar, or i feel better after a glass of water, i like to spend time looking at myself in the mirror, to see if i've changed from when i went to bed. i have horrible nightmares that scare me back into sleep.

this morning i woke up to the bright light of my five windows. the light reflecting off the snow of the low rooftops of the condos across the street. i'm four stories above ground, four the unlucky floor to live on, i've had my cup of coffee and now i feel i can write.

i have scary dreams a lot. i don't know if they are profound, but they are really scary. most of the time i'm in the process of dying. but i've had so many dreams about dying, i remember many, the most interesting ones, and i have some written down somewhere, scribbled on scrap so i won't forget the details, the curve of a street, the interior of an elevator. or put away somewhere in the back of my brain, and hopefully they'll come of use sometime.

yesterday we watched sans soleil and then la jetee. what's to say about these films that reach into the far banks of memory, some already remembered memory, some problem that becomes an image, a rhyme, that's what i hope will become of these death dreams. i don't really believe that dreams or unconsciousness tells us so much except it functions like a burp in the dark. but what is this force that drives me towards images, the desire to see more faces, this search for beauty in the dark, in mos def's words.

wedding day

2008-01-22T00:54:00.001-06:00

my mom and dad on their wedding day, january 16th, 1982

undercover

2008-01-19T23:21:00.001-06:00

jun takahashi in taipei, my aunt lives next to undercover

hakka tea time

2008-01-19T18:07:00.000-06:00

in hukou after we visited the old streets we went to "lai cha," a traditional hakka method of making tea, grinding up seeds and nuts to give the farmers some energy during their breaks from working in the field.

the tea is really intense, after the hot water is poured in the tea is green and smells like a potent mixture of nuts.

the dessert is a kind of mochi like goo but so much better. it comes in a big lump and you split it up into little pieces with your chopsticks, the plate is covered in sugar and peanut powder.

the record wall at the teahouse! the record game just got crazier.

some places are colder than others

2008-01-19T15:21:00.001-06:00

a koala named pearl

2008-01-19T15:16:00.001-06:00

this came in from my cousin this morning from the taipei zoo

BEAUTIFUL LOSERS

2008-01-18T14:27:00.000-06:00

get excited 2008 for the win

lumen eclipse screening at Columbia College

2008-01-18T14:23:00.000-06:00

This evening we're ditching Hyde Park to go downtown to columbia college to see as part of the motion graphics festival the lumen eclipse screening:

6:30pm - 8:30pm

at Columbia College's Ferguson Hall

600 S Michigan Ave

The best of over two years of monthly video art gallery screenings on a public video art kiosk in Harvard Square Boston. This finely-crafted collection focuses on motion pictures created for online and offline contemporary art museums. For the first time experience the best of Lumen Eclipse.

Artists include: Miguel Arteta + Miranda July, Gaelle Denis, Monkmus + Kid Koala, Barnstormers, Trollback + David Byrne + Brian Eno, Nakd, and Jessica Yu

yes yes! barnstormers!

more on the flip...

super smile

2008-01-17T16:53:00.000-06:00

another interlude from yhchang and heavy industries

movies watched

2008-01-14T16:42:00.000-06:00

nov/december/january: persepolis, american gangster,
ratatouille, parts of darjeeling limited, 3:10 to yuma, the nanny diaries (all on planes. new york to taipei via narita is very. very. long.)

january: eastern promises (2x), the diving bell and the butterfly, and i'm working at doc this quarter helping project the wednesday almodovar series. this wednesday is habla con ella. one of my favorite flicks to watch, perhaps because of the caetano interlude. also we've verified javier bardem is not in talk to her. ahem.

also weird how eastern promises and american gangster have similar movie posters?

ELECTRIC FEEL

2008-01-11T17:55:00.000-06:00

my girl is in this amazing interactive music video, electric feel, by MGMT.

yes sirz!

message in the dark

2008-01-10T15:50:00.000-06:00

i'm collaborating with some friends far and near on a video project and the idea is MESSAGE IN THE DARK

there is no prompt just that friends have to reply with something that responds to the idea of a message in the dark.

this morning in the inbox:

faith in science
faith in music
it's romantic

faith in science
faith in reason
it's mechanic

el avion
vuela alto
a traves
del cielo

a link to a photographer, jens komossa, from germany
i'm loving the wall pictures like the one above

and this picture from bushwick:

more updates as more responses come in. thanks everyone for taking the time.

un dia a dia

2008-01-05T22:06:00.000-06:00

luc sante comes to dia beacon soon so get your metro north up

lovebird

2008-01-04T20:41:00.000-06:00

my uncle has a lovebird who flies around the house and lands on people's heads and arms.

beihai

2008-01-04T20:14:00.000-06:00

the coastline

fat tire

2008-01-02T23:30:00.000-06:00

fat tires on a mountainside.

a reunion

2008-01-02T15:41:00.000-06:00

my parents and their friends reunite after 11 years, 1 year, 30 years.

pet pig

2007-12-27T20:29:00.000-06:00

someone was walking their two pet pigs while we were walking with our greataunt.