All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.
Check out these two pictures, one of Saddam Hussein at his trial, the other of Mel Gibson from a BBC article on his latest feature film, Apocalypto, which features Mayan-language dialogue. Apparently megalomania is hard on the looks. (Although, to be fair, which one looks crazier?)
Note: Comment Link Fixed
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! What are you thankful for this season? When I was in Korea, I asked some of my middle school students this question, and this is what they told me.
As for myself, I’m thankful for a lot this year, including this very partial list:
Have a great holiday!
Gothamist today reports that F Line Bagels, the small, clean, well-lit bagelry across the street from the large, filthy, decaying Smith and 9th Streets station on the F and G lines, has been forced by the MTA to stop displaying official subway memorabilia and pay $5,000 in licensing fees. Which just full-on sucks.
F Line opened in a depressed stretch that contains a parking lot for moving trucks, a dreadful superette and a snack stand that may or may not be a going concern. It’s the only non-foul establishment within a block of the station, and the MTA is investing more in screwing that up than in fixing up the disaster that is Smith and 9th. Go figure.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan is asking for $1.6 billion for renovations to the United Nations headquarters in Manhattan. According to the Daily News, this will involve building a temporary conference center (or centre, in UN-speak) on the North Lawn.
The current price tag is 55 percent higher than the original estimate because lawmakers in Albany are pissed off about the Oil-for-Food scandal, so they’ve been sitting on permit applications for a cheaper renovation. Considering that the United States provides 22 percent of the UN’s regular budget, Albany’s delaying tactics will ultimately cost the American taxpayers more money while doing nothing for New York City or State except spreading the word that we’re less hospitable than we could be.
Meanwhile, it seems like the rumored temporary relocation of the United Nations to Brooklyn is not a going concern.
But South Korea is.
I am endlessly amazed by the continuing afterlife of P.A.R.O.D.Y., a joke anti-Goth website I created back in the late 1990s.
I was horrified to learn from a reader today that one Marlene Gantt, in an article for the Moline (Illinois) Dispatch, quoted from the P.A.R.O.D.Y. website to support her arguments that Goth culture is a danger to today’s youth:
“The Goth culture is not isolated and it is certainly not harmless,” according to Benjamin Covelo [Palaverist’s alter ego], on the website of the Parent’s American Religious Organizations Defending Youth. “In fact it’s is [sic] fast becoming the dominant youth culture in America,” he said. “It is led by such so-called ‘artists’ as Marilyn Manson, Elton John and the Gothic television shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and South Park.” Goth is featured in “The Crow” horror movies. The [sic] P.A.R.O.D.Y. claims that Goth subculture includes Satanism, drugs, violence, homosexuality, and witchcraft.
On the same page, P.A.R.O.D.Y. also claims that Goth subculture includes heat exhaustion.
Does no one know what a parody is?
Topic: Around Town
My friend Lauren has complained for years that there’s no Uighur food in New York, but last night we proved her wrong, driving out to Brighton Beach for a taste of Central Asia. We ate at Cafe Kashkar, named after the Silk Road city of Kashgar in the Western Chinese province of Xinjiang.
Kashkar is a hole in the wall with fluorescent lights, formica tables, a backlit picture of a waterfall on the wall, and warm soda served in plastic cups. But don’t let that fool you: the food here is fantastic. We began our meal with samsa, delicious savory meat patties in a flaky crust. Then we made our way through our respective entrees — a dumpling stew, a noodle stew and some fried noodles — all of which involved lamb, and all of which were lovely and rich. The noodles are hand-made, with varying thicknesses and textures. Finally our lamb and chicken kebabs arrived, smoky and slow-cooked to perfection.
More details on Cafe Kashkar from the Village Voice.
Quiet American: Indra Chowk Hawkers | Minstrels | Sarangi Sales | Blown Cone
Michael Stearns: Varanasi Street
Pardes [Soundtrack]: I Love India (Part I)
Asha Bhosle: Jaane Kya Haal Ho Kai | Mera Naam Hai Shabnam
Traveling in the Indian subcontinent is an assault on all the senses, including hearing. Quiet American is the host of a website full of excellent field recordings of ambient sound from Nepal and other countries. The selections here capture the feeling of being in Kathmandu, including the experience of hearing Hindipop on hopelessly disastrous sound systems (Blown Speaker); also included is Nepal’s famous trekking song (Minstrels), followed by a bowdlerized rendition performed by one of Kathmandu’s ubiquitous folk-violin vendors (Sarangi Sales). From composer Michael Stearns comes some more ambient noise, this time from the most noise-polluted city I’ve ever been to (Varanasi Street).
To round out this little audio tour of the subcontinent, we have a few Bollywood classics: the epic I Love India (Part I), from the film Pardes, which was a big hit during my first visit, in 1997, and a couple of songs from Asha Bhosle, goddess of Bollywood. The voice behind a zillion Bollywood hits from the 1950s to the 21st century, Bhosle demonstrates her versatility on the lush, complex Jaane Kya Haal Ho Kai and the exuberantly sexy Mera Naam Hai Shabnam.
