Brooklyn Science (Nihongo Style)

The past few weeks I was back in DC working at my company's headquarters. Over the Memorial Day weekend, I went up to NY to visit K. Sunday morning, we went to go check out the much talked about Brooklyn Flea.

What does one do at the Brooklyn flea? EAT! After waiting for just about an hour for Popusa's from Red Hook, we browsed the wares at the flea market. I gotta admit, I am a self-acknowledged geek. I bought a t-shrit--the print below. Can you guess what it is? It's taken from a Japanese science textbook for children:

If you guessed anthropomorphized water, you were right! To see more of Kari's work check out her etsy site.

sighting

Dob seen in brooklyn

(Taken by my HTC Touch)

More Cooking Games

First it was sushi go round, now its HK Cafe. I don't know what it is about cooking games, but they always seem to suck a good 15 minutes of my life away...

Scorching a Baked Alaska

When it comes to food, many chefs need to differentiate themselves from the competition. While we would all love taste to be the differentiating factor, gimmicks are a lot easier. We've all fallen victim to the flash bangs of the world. Whether it's the chef at Benihana or some of the gastro pubs, there are times when chefs go too far.

Chef Homaro Cantu's interpretation of a Baked Alaska is anything but subtle. It's way too heavy handed.....

Watch the video at chicago foodies.

Radiohead joins campaign against human trafficking and sweatshop labor

Radiohead joins MTV's EXIT (End Exploitation and Trafficking) campaign, producing a music video for All I Need. Pretty strong video.

You can read more about it here.

Clay Shirky on Web 2.0

Pretty interesting comments from Clay Shirky on the future of multimedia and the Internet-expanding beyond consumption to encompass production and interaction.

Emerging Artists showcased in Chicago

I went back to Atropolis yesterday to get another high-impact dosage of art. Yesterday, I spent most of my time checking out NEXT, the emerging artist show.

One of the must-see's at the NEXT show is Jonathan Schipper's installation "The Slow Inevitable Death of American Muscle." Over the course of four days, two American muscle cars slowly collide into each other. K remarked that halfway through the day, there was a thunderous explosion as the glass from the cars shattered under the stress. It definitely drew in a ton of people. I love the use of red, white, and blue colors.

Rory Donaldson's Sqelemental also made a lasting impression. From afar, the piece a mod-like quality.

But I realized as I zoomed into the center of the picture, what it represented. Rory's piece seemed took a casual scene put through a space and time warp. Here's the closeup:

You've still got 2 hours left before it closes down for the year!

Artopolis and Santa Mesa

Thursday was a pretty busy night. Too many openings and closings, and not enough time to make it all. Hundreds and thousands of people are in town this weekend for Artropolis. They say that in Texas, everything is SuperSized. If Texas gets the prize, Chicago runs a close second. Artropolis is not just one art show, it's four (correction, five) art shows in the same building.

The entire portfolio of shows is held in the Merchandise Mart which reminds me of some Romanian, ex-soviet building--utilitarian and heavy. One of the most amazing things about the show in relation to the MerchMart is that the show, in all its size and glory only occupies 3 floors.

Merchandise Mart

Casa Poporului (Bucharest, Romania)

Thursday night was preview night. After visiting my friend Loreen Hospodar who is showing for the Artist Project, I went to the 8th floor to check out Art Chicago in all its glory. People everywhere, it was an art extravaganza. After stopping by a few galleries, I found K's booth at the Secrist Gallery. I'm simply blown away at the proportion of art galleries represented. I even saw pieces that I recognized! For example, sketches of Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset's Prada Marfa. I felt cultured.

I couldn't stay long because I had a show to catch. It was closing night for the Asian American Showcase at the Gene Siskel theater. The festival closed with Santa Mesa, a touching story about a filipino-american kid who loses his mother and is taken in by his grandmother in the Philippines. Neither understanding the culture or the language, Hector struggles to overcome his loss and build new ties. I'd give it a [3 of 5]. Santa Mesa is currently playing the film fest circuit. Check to see where their screening schedule.

Typing to the finish line

Some of the earliest "video" games I ever played were educational games. Before Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? I had this game on my PC where letters would fall out of the sky and you would have to zap them out.

Loved it. I think that's why I can type as fast as 82 wpm. I thought that was fast until I saw the leaderboard on Typeracer.

It's a simply game, really. You compete with other users and try to type a line from a movie or book. Half carnival game, half educational, and half pop culture, its 150% fun.

I just want to note that I just spent about 30 minutes typing to try to up my average.

The Yeh Code - The Secret of Motivational Speakers

While in NY this past weekend, I had the privilege to catch-up with a friend of mine. We've both moved out of DC to new cities to start new chapters of our lives. Amidst this change, its reassuring to know that there are some constants in life. As I've gotten to know DY, I've noticed that he is a highly principled individual. It is not to say it's anything as formal as Ghost Dog's samurai code, but I've noticed that he seems to live by a few guiding tenets.

Call it his personal ten commandments or a code, he lives deliberately. Not only does he have these "rules" thought out, he makes key decisions in life to link back to it. I remember when I was a about eight or so, I told myself that I would never lie again. Ahhh, youth... Unlike me, he has the remarkable ability to follow his own principles.

Be on the lookout Tony Robbins, Stephen Covey, Zig Ziglar, Deepak Chopra, James Arthur Ray... The Yeh Code is coming and there's a new speaker in town.

Camping in Austin Day 1

I'm about a month behind on my travel blogging, so I apologize in advance. About a month ago, I flew down to Dallas to spend time catching with my college roommate BK. From Dallas we drove a couple hours to Austin. Coincidentally, SXSW was having its annual session.

In the end, we elected not to head into the city but stay in the outskirts. (Which I'm really glad we decided to do). Leaving Friday for Austin, camping nearby at Perdernales falls, and roughing it was definitely the way to go for two old friends catching up (yes, I do think I'm old... nights revolved around scotch and cigars).

Our first stop near Austin was Salt Lick. An old fashion bbq joint in the heart of Texas run by owner Hisako Roberts and her husband, the late Thurman Roberts. For 17.95 we treated ourselves to a hearty lunch/dinner. As usual, when faced with too much food, I gorged myself. As usual, I had trouble breathing after the meal.

After regaining my ability to take full breadths, we to the campsite to set things up. We had just enough time to set up shop and visit the falls before the sun left.

As darkness overtook our campsite we debated whether or not we should light a campfire (there was a burn ban). Being risk averse, I didn't want us to. Nothing like getting kicked out the first night. The most I was willing to do was to create a fake light fire with my camera and flashlight.

As we warmed ourselves up with single-malt scotch in the 40 degree weather, BK and I sat in the darkness and enjoyed the sea of stars that blanketed the sky.


You can see the rest of my pics here.