Art in the Streets

Here's some photos I took of street art from around the city over the past few weeks:

That was from this truck:




This next one I've been watching grow over the past few months, starting w/just the red painted over the bricks, then successive taggings, a shiny gold portrait, and most recently, a tape skyline appeared:


Art as its own organic growth.

This last one might better classified as window art:



10 Points to anyone who knows where any of these were taken (hint: all between 15th and Houston).

Obama Beats McCain in Google Searches

I was curious what Google had to say about the two presidential candidates. Here's a comparison of their search frequency over the past 30 days:




See for yourself. Anyone think this is a predictor of future election results? Maybe I'll check out Obama v. Hillary in the months leading up to his party win...

A Governors Island Photographer

I found this here:

Sweet Ride

Here's a great bike I see occasionally parked on 5th Ave. Every time I see it, it makes me want to go for a ride:

Today Near Union Square

Here's a shot I took today on 14th Street:


Poor guy, couldn't even afford pants, or an upper body. Great socks though...

United States of Cement

This is a portrait of America, both depressing and beautiful, by Ben Fry. The map is composed of only streets, without any other markings. Geographical features are evident from the absence of roads, where there's water or mountains, while development is evident in the darker areas where there are more roads. It's worth a trip to the site for a closer look.

When Grand Central Was Younger - New York Times

Click here to view an interesting article and slide show about "When Grand Central Was Younger" in the New York Times

Something New and a New York-Centric World Map

I'm trying something new. This is a program I found through LifeHacker that lets you share websites and add your own comments to them. The comments appear in yellow.

Here's what I wanted to share:

Click here to view an annotation of radicalcartography

If you don't want to click through, here's what you'd find:



It's like a modern extension of Saul Steinberg's New Yorker cover:

Bike Ride to the Battery

On Friday I took my usual bike ride down to Battery Park and back. I almost rode north instead, but the sun glinting on the Hudson was too much to pass up.

You can track my progress HERE

I usually just follow the path along the river, but on this ride I followed a curving hill (mountain) at 125th up to Grant's Tomb. It was steep, but worth it for the long glide down to 96th, where I again met up with the path.

This detour was not the highlight of the trip, though, as that wouldn't come until I almost turned back for home. Just as I reached the parking lot near the Staten Island Ferry Terminal, I almost collided with a wild turkey! Here's a photo:




I had heard about him from Curbed, but never expected to see the guy. He looked disheveled, but in good spirits. He found some peanuts to snack on, as he's doing in the above photo. I wonder how he got into the city...

New York in the Spring

Hi, HERE's a fitting article about spring in New York City from the Times.

The best line:

As befits New York, spring is theater. In other places where troupes of the fit and the comely can also be found, like Miami, Los Angeles and Hawaii, the curtain rarely rises because it hardly ever falls. There, it is always butterfly weather. But in New York, the curtain has drama because the cocoon is never far away.

Remember "Back in Action"?

Woah, I remember this thing. It's been months, since July I think...I have lots to say, but I'm not going to say it. Instead, watch this:

Manhatta

What do you have to say about it?

Back in Action

It’s been five months, but I’ve returned. That means I’ve been away for longer than the blog has been active…which means I’m probably just writing to myself, as the few people who knew about YU Blog?! have likely stopped checking for updates by now. I can’t even validate the claim of “A Yeshiva University Student Blog-Bringing Wisdom to the Web”, as I’ve graduated, and I’m thus no longer a Yeshiva University student.

Then again, half of this blog’s active life took place after I stopped taking classes at YU. And I still work at YU, which gives me some claim to write the YU Blog?! Maybe now the question mark and exclamation mark make more sense. When people hear I write a YU blog, they’ll respond with, “You write the YU Blog?!”

Most of those who read this will know why I’ve been gone for so long. For those of you who don’t, check back after a few posts. A lot’s happened in since March and I’m still getting my feet under me. Once YU Blog?! is up and fully running, I’ll tell you all the harrowing tale.

For now I’ll say I’ve moved to the other side of the Heights, where I’ve found a piece of real New York City living. I’ve enjoyed the city ever since I moved here, but never as much as I have for the past few months. Across the street from the A train, respectable bars with live music on the weekends, organic grocery stores and gourmet wine shops all within walking distance. I never minded living on the YU side, until I moved out and realized what I was missing.

I’ve also made another great discovery-my bike. I lived with that thing under my dorm room bed for the first two years of college. I would make it out a few times a year, but I never utilized it as a valid means of transportation. Now it takes me 20 minutes to get to Central Park. It takes less than an hour to get to Battery Park. The island has shrunk significantly.

I’ll write more about my bike some other time, there’s just too much to say to fit in this post. For now, I just wanted everybody (nobody?) to know I’m still here.

Let me know if any of you are still out there.

The Noble Coffee that Was

I’ve been debating whether or not to tell this story, but I’ve decided its something I must share.

After a struggle trying to decide what to have for dinner the other night, I settled on frozen steak from the kosher store on Amsterdam.  As I ate this perfect meal of beef and potatoes, I got a call from the team.  They wanted to go to the Village.

As it neared time for the shuttle, I stopped by the library for warmth.  I noticed the random café there was open, so I went to buy a coffee.  The lady told me regular coffee cost a dollar, whereas flavored cost $1.10.  From behind the cashier, she could not see the two urns, so I asked her how she knew what people were buying.  She said she only knew what they told her…

After pouring myself a regular cup and filing it with two packs of sugar and some whole milk (instead of the skim, which was also available), I moved the perilously full cup to the register.  My phone rang at the same time I reached for my wallet, so I used each hand to remove them both from my pockets.  Somehow, in the chaos, the coffee cup exploded.

  Light brown coffee spilled over the counter, into the napkin dispenser, under the register.  A small coffee lake formed at my feet.   All in a matter of seconds.

As I rushed to help the lady clean up the mess, I worried about missing the shuttle.  Subways alone are boring.  We worked together to contain the flood and I sheepishly asked her for a free refill, to which she agreed.  

My new cup in hand, I boarded the shuttle and sat down to enjoy my hard earned drink.  As I took my first sip, I smelled the milk and realized I had eaten meat not 45 minutes before.  I suddenly knew why the first cup committed suicide.  It was to save me from eating milk after meat.  

I didn’t want to sit with a full cup of coffee the whole way down to Stern, so I stood up and asked the full shuttle if anyone wanted some coffee.  A girl in the back asked if it was caffeinated, which I thought was kind of a dumb question.  “Very,” I said, and turned around to offer the drink to the driver.  He looked at me as if I was offering him a bribe or something, so I changed my offer to, “Would you at least throw it out.”

He did, and my ride down was uneventful.  The events to follow have their own tale to tell.  But when I think back on that night, I can’t help but to reflect on that poor cup that gave its life to better my own.  

An End and a Beginning

I’d like to take a step aside (maybe forever) from my German recollections and tell everyone about two things that have come to my attention.  The first is the end of an era –Dougie’s on 72 street has closed.  I would have thought YU orders alone could have kept the place open, but it seems hungry YUers were not enough.  

Not to worry though, the chain still has a presence in Manhattan.  There is a Dougie’s Express at 74 W. 47th Street.  I never went there often, but every once in a while I crave their pastrami burger.  It’s good to know I can still get one in the city.

I would also like to share with everyone a book my friend Elan Mosbacher just published.  Here is the official blurb:


Sticking to Israel: Israeli Society Through Bumper Stickers is a coffee table book with photographs of hundreds of political bumper stickers, graffiti, and posters, complemented by translations and related pictures. The book shares many opinions that the media rarely addresses including conflicting, politically incorrect, and humorous political and religious assertions. The book portrays Zionistic, anti-Zionistic, right wing, left wing, political party, politician specific, army, religious, Nachman, Chabad, and miscellaneous themes of bumper stickers, graffiti, and posters from around the country.  Arabic and Chinese bumper stickers from Israel are also included in the book.


And here are some rave reviews:

"Sticking to Israel presents to an English-speaking audience a unique look at Israeli political culture on the ground. The book is an invaluable source of material for understanding the quotidian experience of Israelis -- how politics comes to them on the street, and how they go about expressing their views in the visual marketplace of everyday life. And besides, the images collected here are a fun reminder of the vibrancy  -- and outspokenness -- of Israeli democracy."
Dr. Eric Zakim,
Asst. Professor
of Hebrew Language and Culture
At the University of Maryland.


"Sticking to Israel is an unvarnished look at life on the ground in Israel today and, while its wisdom may derive only from bumper stickers, it's helpful especially to Americans who have a hard time taking the pulse of Israel."
                              -Stephen J. Dubner,
New York Times Journalist and
Co-Author of Freakonomics

Finally, here is an article about the book.  I’m sure Elan would be interested to hear what everyone thinks about his project.  Feel free to comment about it.

Germany III: Sachsenhousen

Since Blogger only seems to like one photo per post, I've decided to sum up my German recollections in one photo or less (per recollection).

This shot sums up our trip to the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp more than any other photograph. Noah, whom I called Noaher, took a longer path than the rest of the group as we walked through this part of the camp. He appears isolated between two white voids, the first is the snow and above him is the sky.

The setting and his contemplative posture reflects how I felt that day. The terror that occurred at Sachsenhousen made me feel isolated. At the same time, I felt compelled to think hard about what it meant to be there.

I thought about how many people did not approve of a YU trip to Germany. Many people wouldn't even buy a German car…As I walked through the camp, I came to the realization that the best way to stick it to the Nazi's is to go to Germany and live as a Jew.

At first, I thought it would be hard to travel by train on German soil because of what our ancestors had to endure on German trains. But when the group davened on the train, out loud and in the open, I felt a kind of awe. Here was a group of young, Jewish students, praying out in the open in Germany. What would a Holocaust victim have said?

These thoughts reached a crescendo the day after our visit to the concentration camp. We went on a Thursday, so the next night was Shabbat. We went from the depths of tragedy to the joy of all that it means to be a Jew in just a few short hours. We openly prayed, sang and danced on the same ground where our grand and great grandparents feared for their lives.

This juxtaposition, of tragic history and hopeful present (of snowshoeing and remembering) epitomized my experience in Germany. We traveled to learn about the country's terrible past, but with an eye to its future. This made the moment in between, the present, all the more meaningful.

 

Alps VI

The shot of the day (one of many). Just to clarify, this photo and those below were meant for the post "Germany?! II: The Alps. For some reason, they wouldn't show up. Blogger must only like one photo per post. Sorry for the confusion, enjoy!

Alps V

The snow hole.

 

Alps IV

Our mountain guy

 

Alps III

Here is the snow/ice chips photo. 

Alps II

" Here is the second picture. It was meant to go before the caption, "Dahlia putting on her snowshoe, but is it necessary?".