Profile of Brown University's semiotics program: "How an obscure Brown concentration trained graduates to crack the codes of American culture -- and infiltrated the mainstream."

Rumor has it that the success of HBO's Deadwood has led to a greenlight for an even more obscene and depraved series about another patch of land utterly beyond the reach of the law -- Gitmo.

Every year at about this time I find my self at a loss trying to remember all the great outdoor-seating restaurants I had "re/discovered" the year before.
Care to partake in some list making - restaurants with outdoor seating/gardens?

Sunday May 16th at 8:00 PM, Channel 13 airs Pale Male, the movie about the famous Fifth Avenue Red-tailed Hawk.

On the subject of whether Nick Berg was a you-know-what for the you-know-what or the you-know-what, here's an interesting tidbit:

Meanwhile, the family said Berg had been questioned by the FBI more than a year ago about a contact he had with a terrorism suspect in 1999, while he was a student at the University of Oklahoma in Norman.

A senior law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the terror suspect appears to have been acquainted with Zacarias Moussaoui, an al-Qaida adherent now in federal custody and awaiting trial on conspiracy charges stemming from the Sept. 11 attacks.

The official said an e-mail address traced to Berg had been used by the unidentified individual with purported terror connections, but a 2002 investigation showed Berg had never met the individual and had not given the e-mail address to that person.

Michael Berg told reporters Thursday that his son was cleared of any wrongdoing. He said Nicholas Berg met the suspect while riding the bus to classes, and had allowed the suspect to use his computer.

Maybe working und3rc0ver in the US at that time?

Very bad news in Najaf:

Four holes, about 12 inches (30 centimeters) by eight, are visible on the [Imam Ali] shrine's dome, AP cited one of reporters as saying. They appeared to have been caused by machinegun fire, it said.

I would not be surprised if Bush had never heard of this shrine.

From MUG:
"On Saturday, from 2-3:45pm, Glowlab's One Block Radius takes a single city block and anatomizes it, using all kinds of approaches that demonstrate that this future site of the New Museum of Contemporary Art can be seen as a microcosm of NYC. It takes place at 95 Rivington, the block in question runs from Bowery to Chrystie and Stanton to Rivington. Not sure we've done this justice: it's a very cool project."

On One Block Radius:
One Block Radius, a project of Brooklyn artists Christina Ray and Dave Mandl [known collaboratively as Glowlab], is an extensive psychogeographic survey of the block where New York's New Museum of Contemporary Art will build a new facility in late 2004. Engaging a variety of tools and media such as blogs, video documentation, maps, field recordings & interviews, Glowlab creates a multi-layered portrait of the block as it has never been seen before [and will never be seen again]. This website is an interactive archive for the project, which will continue to grow over time as we build a dense data-map of the block.
the new New Museum design.
(I think it looks a little like Zaha Hadid's new museum in Cincinnati?).

The Rites of Spring (click on rites of spring procession) pageant creates and presents 8 hours of performance, dance, music, art, and poetry throughout the network of Lower East Side gardens. The spectacular day-long pilgrimmage features giant puppets, mobile sculptures, ceremonial art objects, costumed garden characters, and Brazilian, African, and Dominican bands, weaving throughout the neighborhood to visit the network of gardens. The diverse cultural traditions and history of the neighborhood gardens are honored with collaborative presentations by the gardeners and artists at each garden site.

Throughout the day a mythic drama is enacted, in which Gaia(who represetns the gardens) is born, married, kidnapped, and then saved at the end of the day. The closing ceremony at the Green Oasis Garden celebrates the victory of the community and the preservation of the gardens with music, poetry and the release of 50 live butterflies for the protection of the gardens.

Wrought iron VW.

Mousepad couch.

"but I was wrong" "I'm a little slow" "...I assumed"

When Bishop Chartres announces the Lord's Prayer, everyone in the church starts typing it, some in traditional form, some modern, some in French some in Latin. Although it feels slightly daft, suddenly any notion that this is a game is gone. These people are praying together, and that is as real as if they were standing in the same room. That they are in a dozen different towns and countries seems a trifling matter.

Democratic challenger John Kerry said on Wednesday his first choice as defense secretary would be Republican Sen. John McCain.

Setting aside my personal opinions of these two men, which obviously don't mean much, I think this is a brilliant move by Kerry (in terms of winning the election.)

Manhattan Waiter: a blog from "the men and women who serve... and sometimes spit in our food."

Beautiful aerial photo of a single cab driving through a snowed in Brooklyn. More aerial NYC shots here. (via kottke)

"No dates, no numbers, no money. This is a nonprofit organization."
It's funny, I saw this man yesterday and was wondering what was going on. Yet another question answered...

Good reminiscence by Tony Hendra, via cursor.org, about the rise and fall of the National Lampoon.

"nonsense nyc is a discriminating resource for independent art, weird
events, strange happenings, unique parties, and senseless culture in new
york city."
nonsense nyc.

Infinity.

I thought you low-fi animated gif-ers might find this amusing: an overlay to pixelate your television.

prison

Japanese costume catalogue
via mister pants

Maybe it's time to consider a new and exciting career "under minimal supervision."