GlitchNYC.com

Another 15 Seconds

Well, We're on the cover of Newsday's Real Estate section today.

Josh sent me a link to a writer looking for people in Long Island City who had fixed up their own apartment, which fit our description perfectly. I thought "What the heck" and contacted the writer, and next thing we know, Sara and I are doing phone interviews, photo shoots, and our faces are plastered across the front of the section in full color.

See a Slide show of the photos by Jori Klein [archived here]

Read the article by Susan Kreimer

10:22 am | permalink | /life | 3 writebacks |

Wedding Photos are Up

Our Wedding Photos are finally posted! We just wanted to make sure it was OK with the photographer before we put them up.

Anyone who attended the wedding, feel free to make comments on the pictures, and/or tell stories about your experience at the wedding.

You can enter your comments in the box just below each picture.

9:39 am | permalink | /life | 1 writebacks |

Jersey's Saving Throw

Zach Braff has redeemed New Jersey for me.

Garden State is a moody, poignant homage to the inherent beauty of all of life's various landscapes, physical and emotional. Even New Jersey's.

Critics have been laying praise on the movie for months, and it continues to play in mainstream theaters, so I won't go into everything that made the movie amazing for me, but I will say that if you haven't seen it yet, you need to see it on the big screen. It's not for everyone, but if it resonates with you, it will impact you in a big way.

The soundtrack is also so perfectly paired with a movie's varying moods and the feelings it evokes. I would probably never listen to most of the songs on the album on my own, but as I listen to the soundtrack now on the way home, I can't help but be drawn back into the world of the movie.

2:42 pm | permalink | /technology/film | 2 writebacks |

Degrassi Askew

Kevin Smith + Jason Mewes are making an extended appearance on Degrassi! This is big enough, strange enough news to make it onto my blog already, especially considering we've seen every episode of Degrassi:TNG since we got The-N with our first digital cable package.

What's really mind-bending for me is that this news has made it all the way up to BoingBoing! I thought we were the only ones that even knew about the show!

"It's like When Worlds Collide, y'know? I'm a big fan of things like when Spider-Man and Daredevil meet. I go ape-(bleep) and bust a nut," said director Kevin Smith (Clerks, Chasing Amy), who is finally getting his chance to take part in the cult series he idolizes [See, we're not crazy!] by starring in a three-episode arc on Degrassi: The Next Generation.

In a hilarious and profane press conference here yesterday with past and present Degrassi cast, creator Linda Schuyler and her creative team, Smith confirmed that he and pal Jason Mewes (aka "Jay" from Clerks and Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back) will start filming their parts next week through mid-November.

The episodes, which will air early next year, have Kevin Smith playing himself directing the next Jay and Silent Bob movie, "Jay And Silent Bob Go Canadian, Eh?" In the fictional film, the slacker duo come to Toronto because they need to get a high school diploma and no school in America will take them.

Read the article where Kevin talks about his long standing crush on Caitlin Ryan dating back to the first Degrassi (Caitlin has become a recurring character in the Adult cast of TNG)

Stolen from BoingBoing who got it from Amanda

1:34 pm | permalink | /technology/tv | 0 writebacks |

Honeycup Mustard

Back in college, I went pseudo-vegetarian/raw-foodist for a year while on Weight Watchers, and near the end of my college education, I was eating nothing but salads. This was aided in large part by the amazing spicy honey mustard that they had up in the "Hawks Nest."

After leaving school, I found that I couldn't put my hands on that mustard, or anything like it, anywhere.

For most people, this probably wouldn't have been that big of a deal, but for me, this had been the thing that had made salads edible. Most other dressings are either nasty tasting or ridiculously bad for you, defeating the whole purpose of eating a salad in the first place.

Finally this year I stumbled upon that same amazing mustard - at Cosi.

Of course, you can't buy it from them by the gallon or even by the bottle, so I talked to the manager and got the name of their supplier.

After a few phone calls, I'd tracked down a distributor and ordered myself a case of Honeycup Spicy Mustard.

It's not healthy to be this excited about a condiment. I bring and buy baby carrots to work all the time just be a vessel for the stuff, and I've had to ration it heavily to avoid going through the whole case in a month.

The only problem is that they only sell it in cases of six jars for $30 or GIANT 9lb buckets for $60. I'm seriously considering getting the bucket next time.

11:09 am | permalink | /life | 0 writebacks |

Who Watches the Watchmen

***Okay - before I begin... How the heck did I get this book? I honestly don't remember ordering it, and I don't see it on my accounts anywhere. I threw away the packing thinking "huh, must have bought this," but really I have no recollection of doing so. Was it a gift? I may never know.***

I've just finished reading the Graphic Novel, "Watchmen" by Alan Moore.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the genre, a graphic novel is essentially a really long comic book, Most times, the novel is actually compiled of many traditional comic books sewn together with additional material and/or art.

Now, I'm not a particularly great fan of comics. I read a few as a teenager and I have a sort of knowledge by proxy from having some friends who are much more into them, but I was never a comic book geek. A computer geek, sure, a sci-fi geek, yup, but not a comic book geek. There were a few reasons behind this, some of them financial, but more stemming from the fact that I simply don't enjoy the storylines of most modern comics once the initial premise is used up.

I was a great fan of the "XMen (minus the uncanny)" which was introduced when I was about 13. They took a comic that was at that time nearing it's 300th issue, and restarted it from the beginning, building upon the existing mythology. For me, that was the pinnacle of comics. The process of discovery, the allegorical context for each story, the first 30 or so comics went together like a well written epic, and indeed those books have spawned two movies, and animated TV series, and the rebirth of the superhero genre.

With all of this in mind, I opened Watchmen with some hesitation. It was a comic from before the reissue of XMen, and it was drawn with the characteristic 80's style, which itself was sort of a busy, dark version of the 50's "superman" style. Each panel is crammed with stuff to look at, and it can initially be overwhelming. I was regretting my purchase(?) already before reading a word.

Secondly, this book was thick. I didn't even really want to carry it around in my bag every day as I read it.

With all of these things going against it, Watchmen was one of the best books - let alone being the best graphic novel - that I have ever read.

Watchmen is a cleverly crafted tale, told from numerous points of view, and simultaneously portraying the storylines of several of the "Has-been" masked adventurers that make up it's main cast.

Being that Watchmen itself was written over 20 years ago now, and that it deals with an alternate history from 1950 to 1983 anyway, the world in which it is set can feel very alien. For me, this actually lent to the story, as if it was set in present time (as it was when written) it may have been harder for me to suspend disbelief.

The winding plot looks at the morality of superheroes, and the humanity behind those who would put on ridiculous costumes to fight crime. The one true "superhero" of the story is trying to decide if he even cares what happens to earth while the rest of the cast, simply people who used to dress up and try to fight crime, wrestle with their own demons.

All in all, it's a very good read. Let me know if you want to borrow it, but I'm warning you, if the shipping is out of state, it might be a lot of money! This book is huge.

4:19 pm | permalink | /life | 1 writebacks |

Firefox Ad Support Miracle

Less than one day ago SpreadFireFox.com made the appeal I featured below. Their ambitious goal was to reach 2500 donations (each of $30 or more) in 10 days.

As of 10PM EST tonight, they're 3 people away from their goal. With 9 days left, we might be able to run the ads in the 10 most widely distributed papers in the US. The support is amazing. It makes you wonder how many other projects have armies of people waiting and wanting to help in any way they can, even if they can't program.

10:27 pm | permalink | /technology/opensource | 0 writebacks |

We're Taking Out A Full Page Ad!

The Open Source community is banding together around 1.0 the release of the first true mainstream desktop application to come from our combined efforts. I've watched Firefox grow from a fledgling project based off of the monolithic Mozilla Browser into the premier web browser for security, speed, standards compliance, and ease of use.

Even technophobes who try Firefox out are quickly won over by the tabbed browsing and pop-up and spyware protection. It really is a world class user application, and it's about to become the #1 browser in the world.

To help it along, we're taking out a full page ad in the New York Times. I say "we" because I've already made my pledge. Join me, and contribute to the biggest event in open source software uptake since apache won the server wars.

10:10 am | permalink | /technology/opensource | 0 writebacks |

The Deer List

Remember that "funny" shirt from back in the 90's, the "Road Kill Grill?" Well, it seems like it's coming true.

A friend of ours from down in Ohio just passed on a story about the "Deer List," which is basically a queue for people who are looking to pick up roadkill. When your name comes up, you've got 24-48 hours to go out and clean up the mess.

As ridiculous as this sounds, it turns out that there actually might be some merit to the idea. Deer (and other wild animal) populations have exploded in recent years due to hunting restrictions, and their encounters with humans, both in vehicles and not, have been increasing as suburban sprawl turns ever more of their habitat into backyards, parking lots, and strip malls.

The Deer list is actually an attempt by law enforcement to distribute the work, and the spoils (har har), to willing contractors, much like snow-plowers. You put your name on the list, and when it comes up, you go out, clean up the mess, and bring it to the landfill. In exchange, the local authorities pay you a monetary fee.

The idea is being picked up by more and more townships, and in many it's accompanied by the idea of a "Car kill tag," where if a driver hits a deer and wants it, the officer that responds can declare the roadkill fair game and let the unlucky driver take it home. For some, the compensation in meat lessens the blow of having to knock out their bumper. The roads are really becoming "kill it and grill it" territory.

9:17 pm | permalink | /life | 0 writebacks |

You Can't Go a Day In New York Without Bumping Into Someone You Know!

So here I am, sitting in Chipotle eating my Burrito Bowl, when I see a big bouncer guy come and kind of "clear the street." He's got a few production assistants, but generally, it's a very low-key event. They don't make everyone move, just basically securing the area.

I'm kind of used to this. Between the movie/TV show shoots which seemed to always be going on at Wagner to living in NYC where a camera crew comes through Times Square about once an hour, it's usually no big deal.

Next thing I know, three guys in colorful shirts just kind of appear on the scene. I don't know if they just got out of a car or came up out of the subway or what, but it was surreal. The photographer was a few feet ahead of them taking pictures, and they walked right by the window I was looking out. And to think I almost sat facing the wall!

I think I knew who they were from the moment I saw them, but it was tough to convince myself that I was really sitting there with a pane of glass separating me from the Beastie Boys. I kept thinking that maybe it was a spoof - I mean, where was the mob of people, the adoring fans? Had they really managed a guerrilla photo shoot on 34th street without attracting any attention but my own?

Long before I'd made up my mind if it was really them, I'd had my camera out and was snapping pics. I mean, what the hell, it's digital. If it's not them, I'll have a good laugh about it later!

After I finished my lunch, I went out side and did a discreet walk-by. I was going to snap a few better pics, but I decided I didn't want to intrude, as they seemed to be getting away with the covert shoot and having a pretty good time. Two of them were standing with their arms up at 45 degree angles, palm to palm, and the other one was beneath holding his hands like a gun. Very funny stuff, and I wish I'd been quicker on my camera, but I have a feeling you'll be able to see that picture on an album cover or promo shot soon anyway.

That, and the security guy was about 3 times my size. Never the less, I had to go back the way I came to get back to work, so I walked right by them again, and looked right at them. Definitely them. It's funny how they can seem so young and full of life yet look so old at the same time!

Check out the rest of the (limited, crappy) pictures I snapped from inside Chipotle BeastieBoys.com

12:25 pm | permalink | /life/nyc | 0 writebacks |

Distributed Comedy

Okay, so some of this humor is only relevant if you've spent time on IRC on in other Internet chat rooms, but bash.org has bits of conversations which people copy from the chatter and post. The snippets then get modded up and down based on how funny they are. The best rise to the top and you can check them out here. Not all are work safe, but they're all pretty funny.

Much of the humor is topical and witty, with setups and punchlines that require a "gullible party" to walk into the joke. Somehow I have a feeling that lots of writers and comedians are looking to bash.org for inspiration.

#9322

<tag> Ouroboros: lets play Pong
<Ouroboros> Ok.
<tag> |    .
<Ouroboros> .    |
<tag> |  .
<Ouroboros>    . |
<tag> | .
<Ouroboros>      | .
<Ouroboros> Whoops

#5259

<reuben> somebody keeps jiggling the doorknob on my front door, then running away
<reuben> i don't know if i should call the police, or hook up some electricity to the doorknob
<cristobal> why don't you put ice on the stairs
<cristobal> and heat up the door knob
<cristobal> and swing paint buckets down from your two story foyer
<cristobal> then a few years later, fade from the public eye.....

12:33 pm | permalink | /technology/web | 0 writebacks |

Often Imitated, Never Dupli-dupli-dupli-duplicated...

Finally! Disney is releasing the DVD that I've been waiting for since they came out with DVDs. Aladdin is at last coming to DVD on October 5th, and it's about time.

This was THE breakout film for Disney in my opinion. Hot on the heels of The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, both of which were successful children's movies, came this pithy, endlessly funny film. It stuck close to the Disney formula but broke it in several very important ways.

Granted, I've been waiting for it on DVD for so long I don't even know if I'll like it anymore, but here's what I remember:

• This was the movie that made me love Robin Williams. He's brilliant, and they let him Ad-lib tons of dialog which made it a MUCH better movie. Eddie Murphy has tried to duplicate this phenomenon many times since (see Mulan and Shrek) with limited success.
• The story is engaging and not completely watered down.
• This movie had the best music of the second "Animated Musical" Renaissance. The songs rarely felt forced and worked well with the story, and aside from the obligatory "A Whole New World" ballad, many of the songs are up-tempo and funny.

When I was about 14, I had this movie on the same bootleg VHS as The Addams family and I fell asleep watching one or the other pretty much every night. I also, for no good reason at all, typed out the entire script on my computer (this was before the Internet was around for stuff like that).

Well, I'm embarrassed to tell this story for some reason, possibly for fear that people will find out that somewhere deep within me is a repressed Musial theatre dork, but I'd be remiss if I didn't relay it when talking about this movie.

Sometime around middle school I tried to put together a "Musical Youth Entertainment Group" of kids who went around performing in various venues. It was kind of a half-baked idea (mostly because we had no idea where we would actually do said performing) but it was something for me and my friend Brian to do. We were going to sing songs from Disney + other kids movies and distill the animated features down into stage productions.

I remember clearly working on the script for the stage version of "The Lion King" and Brian telling me it would never work. (Yeah, tell Julie Taymor that!)

We made flyers, got kids together and held rehearsals, and to think back on it, it was one of the first tastes of leadership that I ever had.

Of course, we all had the attention spans of gnats, so the idea came and went in a summer. We "grew up," and Brian started doing real High School musicals the next year. He'd gotten a role in Joseph as one of the "Chorus Kids," and watching it back on video, we were both hooked. It was like being part of a singing Hollywood, right in our own High School.

M.Y.E.G. became a memory, but a few things stuck with me.

The lessons I'd learned leading (and ultimately, failing to lead) that little group have served me endlessly as an RA, a newspaper editor, team leader, and in my job.

The memories of being 14 and all but uninhibited, belting out "Friend like me" over a crappy "You Sing..." Karaoke tape with my dad in the basement will be there forever. Sometimes the memories are bittersweet, as 10 years later, I look back and know that I may never be that completely uninhibited again... But hey, we're going to have kids of our own someday. I hope my dad hung on to a copy of that tape - somehow, I have a feeling he did.

6:05 pm | permalink | /technology/film | 0 writebacks |