5 Days in NYC

Thank you to my friends for showing me a great time NYC earlier this week…  I had a great time enjoying the following activities:

 

I saw Dirty Projectors beside the Hudson River in Brooklyn with a crowd of beautiful people / the Williamsburg population.

Williamsburg waterfront | Dirty Projectors

 

I broke New York’s Open Container Law in McCarren Park, Brooklyn until after dark and then was taken to a Manhattan hotel roof bar by an off-duty homosexual bartender for free drinks with a great view of the NY night skyline.

 

I crashed on David Rosenzweig’s couch on the corner of Driggs and Metropolitan in Williamsburg in his illegally-occupied windowless warehouse apartment, but a photo studio to make up for it.  He showed me his neighborhood in all its’ Hipstery goodness (been living under a rock? hipsterrunoff, hipster olympics); a barrage of tattoos (ironic or otherwise), fixed gear bicycles, interesting graffiti, ‘fashion’, coffee shops, bookstores, thrift shops, and creative industries.

 

Williamsburg | Random hipster photo

 

I rode my 1970’s road bike up Manhattan on a beautiful sunny day to Central Park and the Metropolitan Museum of Art where I saw Francis Bacon’s retrospective.  I also learned that the safest way to ride bikes in traffic in NYC is to go fast along with the traffic.

My bike at the MET | Francis Bacon paintings

 

I also chilled in Union Sq., slept at an undisclosed recording studio on sound-proofing pads, avoided bedbugs, rode a mountain bike at sunrise through Prospect Park, climbed a statue, and modeled in a magazine photo shoot (kind of).

American Nostalgia

‘Been watching some movies lately that have stirred up some American nostalgia in my blood.

"The highways are crowded with people who drive as if their sole purpose in getting behind the wheel is to avenge every wrong done them by man, beast or fate. The only thing that keeps them in line is their fear of death, jail and lawsuits."
— Hunter S. Thompson (Hell's Angels)

Obama interviewed by Arab TV

President Obama's interview with Al-Arabiya Arab TV Network full text

"...what I've come to understand is that regardless of your faith -- and America is a country of Muslims, Jews, Christians, non-believers -- regardless of your faith, people all have certain common hopes and common dreams."

I got the same feeling in Indonesia and Turkey. The petty differences which divide the world are much smaller than the common ground, basic needs and desires we share.

Change we can believe in.
Change we are believing in!

Beautiful Folding Bicycle

Bicycling has its limitations, even in the Netherlands. From Wageningen, it is 9km to Ede, where one can hop on the frequent intercity trains, but to carry a full sized bike, it is an additional 6 Euros charge. However, folding bicycles are free. Also, folding bikes are allowed on subways, trams, and buses while normal bicycles are not.

The problem is that folding bicycles typically have tiny little tires and silly geometry. Until now. Check out the IF Mode from Pacific Bicycles. I would like to take one and transform it into a fixed gear.


I like the full sized tires which 'swivel' together in the folded mode. It appears that when folded, the user can happily roll it along with them instead of carrying it, which is another advantage over some other folding bicycles.

My President

Looks like a pretty chill college dude.

Time's Obama: The College Years, long lost film from a photo student named Lisa Jack. Presidents 20 years from now will have it much worse; undoubtedly nothing is ever deleted from Facebook's servers.

Is it too late?

Is it too late to ask at least 2 of the 3 big automakers to make some bicycles? Or if not bikes, perhaps some railroad cars? There are already more automobiles in America than people. Even if they can produce 'green' cars, won't it be 'greener' not to throw away what we already have until its lifespan is over? My Suburu should still be running for years.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is the special time in the United States when we take the time to be with our families and give thanks for all of our blessings. Ironically, the following day is the largest shopping event of the year, "Black Friday" or "Greedsgiving©" and even "Excessfest©". This year it is totally out-of-control...

Just before 5 this morning, a WalMart employee was trampled to death as the glass sliding doors were broken down by 2000 anxious WalMart deal-seekers [NYT] who had been waiting outside the store for opening time.

Later in the day, two men killed eachother in Toys'R'Us with handguns during an argument [AP].

Like my sister says, online shopping looks more appealing than ever. Check out eBay or Amazon or ReCellular for used stuff.

(© Silly names copywrited 2009 Blueriders)

Put an end to urban sprawl

AP photo, California, 2008

Riding Bicyles is fun! But drawing bicycles is hard!

www.zippythepinhead.com

Obama's Urban Policy

Here at Blue Riders we are VERY excited about Obama's Urban Policy that the administration has been very transparent about. Here are some highlights:

STRENGTHEN LIVABILITY OF CITIES

• Build More Livable and Sustainable Communities: Our communities will better serve all of their residents if we are able to leave our cars, to walk, bicycle and access other transportation alternatives. As president, Barack Obama will re-evaluate the transportation funding process to ensure that smart growth considerations are taken into account.
• Control Superfund Sites and Data: As president, Obama will restore the strength of the Superfund program by requiring polluters to pay for the cleanup of contaminated sites they created.
• Use Innovative Measures to Dramatically Improve Efficiency of Buildings: Buildings account for nearly 40 percent of carbon emissions in the United States today and carbon emissions from buildings are expected to grow faster than emissions from other major parts of our economy. It is expected that 15 million new buildings will be constructed between today and 2015. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will work with cities so that we make our new and existing buildings more efficient consumers of electricity.
• Foster Healthy Communities: How a community is designed – including the layout of its roads, buildings and parks – has a huge impact on the health of its residents. For instance, nearly one-third of Americans live in neighborhoods without sidewalks and less than half of our country's children have a playground within walking distance of their homes. Barack Obama introduced the Healthy Places Act to help local governments assess the health impact of new policies and projects, like highways or shopping centers.

Other exciting parts...

• Support Regional Innovation Clusters: Thriving innovation clusters across the country like the North Carolina Research Triangle Park and Nashville's thriving entertainment cluster prove that local stakeholders can successfully come together and help reshape their local economies. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will create a federal program to support "innovation clusters" - regional centers of innovation and next-generation industries. This innovation clusters program will provide $200 million in planning and matching grants for regional business, government and university leaders to collaborate on leveraging a region’s existing assets - from transportation infrastructure to universities - to enhance long-term regional growth.
• Convert our Manufacturing Centers into Clean Technology Leaders: America boasts the highest-skilled manufacturing workforce in the world and advanced manufacturing facilities that have powered economic growth in America for decades. Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe that America is at a competitive advantage when it comes to building the high-demand technologies of the future, and they will help nurture America's success in clean technology manufacturing by establishing a federal investment program to help manufacturing centers modernize.
• Increase the Supply of Affordable Housing throughout Metropolitan Regions: Communities prosper when all families have access to affordable housing. Barack Obama and Joe Biden supported efforts to create an Affordable Housing Trust Fund to create thousands of new units of affordable housing every year. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will also restore cuts to public housing operating subsidies, and ensure that all Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) programs are restored to their original purpose.

Urban Sprawl and Public Health. AKA, Suburbia Kills

In the past, the city would kill you with crowded situations, small spaces, poor ventilation, pathogens, and pollution. Suburbia was a place to “get away from it all”, be with nature, and take time at a more leisurely pace than in the city. However, do to poor planning and unforeseen consequences, suburbia might actually be killing its inhabitants.

A very accessible read, “Urban Sprawl and Public Health: Designing, Planning, and Building for Healthy Communities” by Howard Frumkin, Lawrence Frank, and Richard Jackson, 2004, addresses this problem directly by outlining the ways in which sprawl (suburbia) negatively affects public health.

Physical Activity
The US has the fewest percentage of trips in developed areas taken by walking and bicycling which leads to a decline in public health. (1) Higher density neighborhoods are associated with more walking and bicycling. (2) Mixed land use, such as shops and jobs near housing, contributes to healthy commuting while mono-culture single family homes does not. (3) Enjoyable scenery, eradicated by endless development, is a lost reason for walking and bicycling.

Injuries and Death from Traffic
“Strategies which reduce the need for car travel or substitute car travel with safer forms of transport would substantially reduce population death rates.” –I. Roberts, 1993

Water Quantity and Quality
Sprawl interferes with recharging of groundwater. While sprawling residential and commercial lots may each have a smaller proportion of impervious surface than lots in dense cities, the total impervious area across a community is increased with lower density. Leaking septic tanks, fertilizers for lawns, and a larger road network’s oil, gasoline and antifreeze drips collectively contaminate the water.

Mental Health
“Most Americans live in suburban habitats that are isolating, disaggregated, and neurologically punishing…This pervasive situational loneliness, of being stuck alone in your car, alone in your work cubicle, alone in your apartment, alone at the supermarket, alone at the video rental shop – that’s how American daily life has come to be organized…” –James Howard Kustler, 2003
Sprawl not only reduces the opportunity of regular exercise, an important anti-depressant, it also limits opportunities of interpersonal contact, which aggravates social isolation.

Social Capital
Social networks, trust, & reciprocity are undermined by the isolated nature of suburban homes and car transportation. Leapfrog development, strip malls, and low density are blamed.

Absentee Balloting We Can Believe In

Election 2008: Another way to speculate the winner besides voting polls

Intrade Prediction Markets is another potentially valid method of judging the November election's outcome. Whereas polls evaluate how many voters will go republican or democrat on a given day, the prediction market is a place to trade stock on the election's speculated outcome. The key difference between polling and speculation market is this: today there is only 1% difference in the polls but an 8% difference in favor of Obama to win the election in the speculation market.

The Intrade website clarifies exactly what is being traded:

When the election is over and the result is official, if Obama is elected that contract will close at 100. If on the other hand he fails to win the general election, the contract - Will Obama be elected President - will close at 0.

However, until the election is over that contract will fluctuate in value between 0 and 100 just like a stock, reacting to the news of the day and buying & selling by you the trader.

Who determines the prices?

You do - along with thousands of traders around the world. Just like the price of Microsoft stock is determined by the buying & selling activities of thousands of traders in the financial markets, the price of our contracts are determined by traders, like you, who are confident enough to back up their opinion by risking real money.

Thousands of individuals' money on the line is more trustworthy and interesting to me than a CNN poll. The news agencies have incentive to represent the race to be as tight as possible. This sells adspace and keeps the public interested (and hopefully voting as well). However, the wisdom of monetary crowdsourcing tells us that Obama has been favored to win since early '08, and even has enjoyed a 35% lead over McCain in July.

Recently, the McCain-winning stock has gained considerable value. Is it time to sell Obama-winning stock, or just ride out the storm?

Another question; if the race is really tight like it was in 2000, which state will mysteriously fail to have a full vote count in favor of the Republicans?

Old Men Turn to Younger Women for Excitement

McCain picks Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska for his running mate, and turns 72 years old today.

When elected governor, Miss Wasilla / Sarah, the former Alaskan beauty queen, was crowned America's Hottest Governor or GILF (Governor I'd Like to...). McCain is following a proud tradition of old rich white men turning to hot young women (Sarah is only 44) in their twilight years for a bit of excitement. If only Anna Nicole Smith were still with us she would also have made a fine running mate (we miss you).

Is he trying to win over Hillary's supporters, mostly pro-choice voters, with another woman, who happens to be pro-life? Personally, I can't wait to see Joe Biden crush Sarah Palin in the vice-presidential debates; I hope feeling don't get hurt. I think the best case scenario would be for McCain to lose the election and allow Sarah Governess-of-the-Hotness to go back and finish the rest of her term in Alaska. [thekokon.com for the obviously photoshopped Vogue cover]



That being said, the Obama-Biden ticket has problems of its very own...

NBC's Olympic Coverage

Gymnastics, Women's Bikini Volleyball, Michael Phelps, Baseball, Boxing, and Basketball are essentially all that are shown over NBC's network during these Olympic games. Fortunately, the NBC Olympic website delivers streaming video of every live event and offers recordings of past events in their entirety. The quality of the online streaming videos is very acceptable and the program's ease of use is extraordinary.

Photo: International Herald Tribune

Using NBC's terrific website, I watched the Men's Individual Saber gold medal match over morning coffee. China's Zhong demolished France's Lopez by delivering eight unanswered hits to win 15-9. During the walloping he received, the Frenchman took his helmet off between each point and gave smoldering glances to his coach and the camera as if he were about to 'turn it on'.

Also on the NBC's website, whitewater kayaking, judo, and other interesting sports not in the mainstream spotlight. I am eagerly awaiting some BMX action! Now how about some Russian Trampoline action... Karavayeva's heartbreak sounds good. Ouch, that had to hurt.

Circumnavigation!

CIRCUMNAVIGATION DISCO PARTY!

After over eight months of traveling, I have stepped foot back home in Andover, MA, U.S.A. completing an around the world trip that took me through Asia and Europe.

Everyday on the journey I was amazed by the kindness and generosity of the human spirit. I never felt in danger and nothing was ever stolen from me. Fears like pickpocketing, kidnapping, corrupt officials, robbery, rape, &c &c &c never materialized and perhaps are only figments of the spectacular media and overblown personal accounts. I dare say that most people in this world treat each other with respect and honesty, even if only on the surface of things.

I also now believe that a traveler can survive
in almost any society without speaking a word of the local language using only body language and signs (money always helps, too). Pointing and grunting is enough to feed and house a feral wanderer.

While on the road, I realized what I like & dislike about my home, sterile America. Having a government that answers to its people is indispensable. Power easily corrupts and the poor always feel the pinch. However, in developing nations there are great personal liberties, to a degree anyway. Communist and junta governments typically don't regulate social matters like if you drink on the street, drive without a license, work underage, start a business, or where your dog poops. In America, laws, laws, and more laws govern so much of our day. Some of these laws are beneficial, but when driving a motorcycle in Vietnam its easy to think about all the actions the American bureaucracy doesn't allow. Why is it that I cannot buy Novacaine in an American drugstore?

In America, life takes place in plastic cul-de-sac bunkers, door-to-door driving in personal bubbles, all very much sealed away from the world. In Asia, life is pushed out onto the road for all to see. Main street is the marketplace, housing, bus stop, sewer, and playground. It is hard to feel alone when dodging shoulders and rice carts. My dream community would be a hybrid of the two worlds. American capital (and plumbing) combined with dense population and localized markets.

Bottom line: the world is different than America, America is not the world. Stay tuned for more deep thoughts.