Radin has something to say...

Matthew and Yukari's Birthday

Mr. Kankaanpaa put up a concrete cast middle finger toward his neighbor after he was revoked a building permit for his new house construction. He explained that there had been a previous feud and he was pissed off at Ms. Allen for taking him to court and exasperating his time and funds.

Herald Sun Article

Mr. Doug Aitken creates tension between the idea of film and video art, by projecting his vignettes on the new Taniguchi MoMa's exterior wall. Some have called this work archivideo. The exhibition is five (5) short pieces interconnected by actors (Donald Sutherland, Chan Marshall, etc.) droning through their everyday mudane lives. The actors represent everyday jobs and work that continues to be repetitve, although at the end they all progress toward similar moments of private reverie. Ultimately, the shorts all collaborate into geometric abstractions that reestablish that fact that the audience is watching video art.

NYTimes Article

MoMa

Whales & Orgies is an intimate portrayal of Dave Choe, a Los Angeles graffiti artist. The documentary exposes the artist's talent, philosophies, and excitement for graffiti art. Viewed as "destructive" and a "nuisance" by mainstream society, graffiti art and its significance are demonstrated and explained through Dave Choe's perspective from the underground.

iFilm

STUDENT DEBT PETITION

Average student debt levels have more than doubled in the last decade and more students and their families are finding themselves buried under the burden of debt. The good news is that incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has publicly committed to cutting student loan interest rates in half within the first 100 hours of the new Congress as it convenes in early January.

Tell your representative that you support action to reduce the burden of student debt.

Petition Now

Greenpoint residents and environmentalists have been saying for decades that there is some truly nasty stuff underground thanks to the huge Greenpoint oil spill. I have examined the intense fumes rising from Newton creek during a boat ride and also noticed oil gurgling from the contaminated creek. Thirty years after the spill was discovered, environmental studies are finding the locals aren't paranoid. Tests forced as part of Riverkeeper's lawsuit to speed a cleanup of the 17 million gallon spill (way more than the Exxon Valdez dumped) have found a toxic stew underground, including benzene, which is a carcinogen, and explosive methane gas. The "product plume" is still spreading underground, but the epicenter of the "potential hazard" is around Bridgewater Street and Norman Avenue (the orange color on the map above). The Department of Environmental Conservation asked for the tests, which were done for ExxonMobil, after Riverkeeper's own tests found vapors.

Bloomberg Article

The most devastating and embarrassing moment for an architect is when he allows himself to be held accountable by the law. Building unsafe architecture and putting individuals in danger is possibly the greatest ethical mistake an architect can make. This brings upon an interesting question, if an architect builds a structure that is not structurally sound and collapses, killing many people, does this call for the death sentence? Certain negligence and illegitimate construction is plausible for legal action and I believe architects should be sentenced to prison time for building structures they know are not safe.

Hidetsugu Aneha was accountable for this mistake as he faces 5 years in prison.

Reuters Article

While most people were out getting drunk and kicking trash cans over, some housing advocates in Paris slept in tents near Canal St. Martin. In December 2005, Doctors of the World began distributing nylon pup tents to the homeless individuals of Paris, and recently the movement has caught popularity in cities such as Toulouse and Lyon. Paris has roughly the same amount of homeless individuals as Los Angeles [86,000]. President Chirac has commented on the demonstration and has even proposed to fix the problems, but many activists are skeptical of his promises. When media attention is diverted, police forces come and break up the encampments. Hopefully, through the non-violent demonstrations Paris can set an example for housing the poor.

NYTimes Article

Happy New Years! I have pictures from the New Years weekend, which includes a bucalo, some west african music and no taking pictures in the deli.

Back in LI

One day out of the year I make amends with the parents and go to church, probably the worse day of the year

Happy Birthday Radin

Me and Bucalo

I believe this was the warning shot

And this one got us kicked out of the deli

An amazing pinot noir from Oregon, which I picked up when I visited Drew

Getting lost and ending up at Zebulon

Very nice strings

Band leader