I'm a lasagna boy!

Three pieces by Walter De Maria

The Equal Area Series, The Broken Kilometer, and The Earth Room.

In which there's no crime here at all

(01-26) 21:17 PST San Francisco -- A pedestrian was struck and killed in a crosswalk at the intersection of Sunset Blvd. and Santiago St. in San Francisco tonight.

The woman was walking westbound across Sunset when a man driving a Toyota Corolla south on Sunset struck her at about 6:15 p.m. The woman was taken to San Francisco General Hospital where she died. Her name was withheld, pending notification of her family.

The driver had no stoplight or stop sign and stopped after hitting the pedestrian, and police said the incident was just a tragic accident.

"It doesn't look like he was speeding or under the influence or anything like that," said Sgt. Renee Pagano. "There's no crime here at all."

21950. (a) The driver of a vehicle shall yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within any marked crosswalk or within any unmarked crosswalk at an intersection, except as otherwise provided in this chapter. (b) The provisions of this section shall not relieve a pedestrian from the duty of using due care for his or her safety. No pedestrian shall suddenly leave a curb or other place of safety and walk or run into the path of a vehicle which is so close as to constitute an immediate hazard. No pedestrian shall unnecessarily stop or delay traffic while in a marked or unmarked crosswalk. (c) The provisions of subdivision (b) shall not relieve a driver of a vehicle from the duty of exercising due care for the safety of any pedestrian within any marked crosswalk or within any unmarked crosswalk at an intersection.

One could ask WalkSF whether there's no crime in failing to stop at a marked intersection, striking a pedestrian, and killing that person, but at this point any reasonable person would realise the exercise is rhetorical. The intersection of Sunset and Santiago has clearly-marked crosswalks, with lights to illuminate.

In which we embark on a nautical adventure

I sailed around the world in these photographs.

Facebook, phones, and genius

How to use a mobile telephone* vs. How not to use the cellular telephone.
* well, Facebook. But the 'phone figures into the analogy.

The first describes use of Facebook as inevitable; the second describes the use of a mobile telephone as the act of an enslaved man.

What's the social utility to Facebook—why should you join? Like with e-mail and cell phones, there are many, and as you begin to use it, you'll notice more and different situations in which it proves helpful. In general, Facebook is a lubricant of social connections. With so many people on it, it's now the best, fastest place online to find and connect with a specific person—think of it as a worldwide directory, or a Wikipedia of people. As a result, people now expect to find you on Facebook—whether they're contacting you for a job or scouting you out for a genius grant.

Ken Vandermark is not on Facebook. QED.

(but he is on twitter)

Borges y yo

I like hourglasses, maps, eighteenth-century typography, the roots of words, the taste of coffee, and the prose of Stevenson.

Labyrinths is also available online, in English, in a search-able edition. The story Borges and I begins on page 298:

Labrynth, Collection of Short Stories Louis Borges

In which we have a new bicycle

Jimmy Carter, Barack Obama is your new bicycle.

On listening to Albert Ayler while walking down West 22nd St

At Ninth Avenue, my iPhone crashed; I did not realise it, as I was enraptured by the Albert Ayler improvisational piece playing at the moment. I did notice the crash, as the on-screen photograph (above) still showed; and because the Ayler composition was looping, imperceptibly, in just the right way. The blurting saxophone suited the piece, but after a half-minute I figured out that the phone was playing whatever had been in its buffer at the time of the crash, repeatedly. Such beauty in decay: as the phone crashed, it continued playing; as the mouse died, it enlivened a block of pavement with colour.

In which we have an impeachy idea

This photograph has made me laugh aloud, roll on the floor laughing, and blow milk out my nose.

Now imagine saying Blagojevich with a nasal, Jerry Lewis voice, and be sure you are not drinking milk when you think this. Thanks, Aram, for pointing out this photograph and bringing untold chuckles into this apartment.

Fixed-wheel foolin'

In which I know it's over, but still I cling

See my photographs of Coney Island; the one above comes from curbed.com.

In which I commodify my dissent

At the corner of Lafayette and Great Jones St., I saw this billboard:

and two thoughts occurred to me in the chill morning air: "Bad Brains!!!"; and "Wait: haven't I seen their logo somewhere else recently?"

Yes: shilling for our President-elect. Despite these generally positive associations (comfortable skater shoes, progressive American politics), I figured that the Bad Brains publicity machine has been working in overdrive lately, and suddenly I missed The Baffler. That magazine put on paper the words in my mind, and then some, and all quite witty.

In which this has more than seven layers

The Great British Sandwich:

Currently taller than a phonebox, shorter than a Routemaster, this promises to become the world's tallest sandwich. I added a layer.

In which the picture is worth a word

The Photographic Dictionary project entry for growth, nervous, queue.

compare garbage and trash.

Favourite songs from 2008

courtesy the youtube.

bruit

An abnormal sound heard in auscultation, or an unusual cardiac sound, or, better yet, as a verb: to spread news; a rumour; a din.

In which the confetti is the beginning of the party

I like street-cleaning equipment, and photos of ditto.