I was thrilled to participate in this roundtable on the media reportage vis a vis Iran’s election on GritTV, featuring the fabulous independent filmmaker and educator Simin Farkondeh (who everyone should interview, btw), John MacArthur of Harper’s, and Robert Huesca, a professor of communications at Trinity University.
I’ve got more thoughts on the subject (if ya couldn’t tell by the look on my face at different points in the clip) that I hope to round up later this morningI wrote up here…
This is normally one of those things that I’d just twitter about and leave at that, but the whole scenario ended up being too fascinatingly hilarious to just let lie. Cyn and I went to the best live show tonight– we saw The National at Summerstage. I mean, it was just unbelievable. One of those shows that instantaneously makes you high because it’s Just So Good.
Afterwards, we were both starving and thinking of heading down to Schiller’s for a burger and cocktail (her: tuna, me: glorious beef). The train was going to take about a jillion years at that hour, so we figured we’d take our chances and see if we could get a cab. It wasn’t easy going: thousands of people pouring out of the east side of Central Park, all scavaging for the same four wheels.
I took to walking down the middle of 72nd Street. (alright, I’m exaggerating. I was walking in the middle of one of the lanes.) It was more than competitive out there– people were really throwing themselves into it, and I figured I had to step it up. As we rounded the corner towards Park Ave, a lovely lit-up free cab sat waiting. I scooted, nay, I dashed, for the cab.
From behind me, I heard a war cry. An actual war-sounding cry. I’m sure this was meant to intimidate, and not… well, inspire, but I escalated and cried back, running faster for the cab and diving to the door handle without even looking to see who or what my competition was.
When I did turn around, surprisingly enough, the young man capitulated immediately and said, “No no, go ahead.” Cyn was squealing with mad delight at the entire scene. I hadn’t come off my adrenaline yet and didn’t know what was so funny. I kindly asked the young man if he’d like a ride downtown. He backed away slowly, smiling, “No no, really, there’s four of us.”
In the cab, it still took me a minute to realize the scene that played out. Cab. Desperation. Dash. War cry. Louder war cry, FTW. It was a glorious moment of New Yorker-ness.
I could go on and on about the month that I spent in Berlin, especially the week that I was traveling around with my mom — we had an absolute blast! Instead, tho, I’ll direct you over to my Flickr collection of trip photos, conveniently sectioned off for your browsing pleasure. Enjoy!
Hey y’all! I’m here at Personal Democracy Forum I’ve got a Nokia N95 (thanks, Micah!) and I’m gonna be running around all day talking to folks for GRITtv. Watch live!
It’s been a wild ride since I got back from Berlin, happily so– I’ve been knee deep in local activism (Union Square: Not For Sale), attending and speaking at conferences (Media Reform), seeing friends what seems like every night of the week (I love my tribe!) and working on those comics, as ever. I’m going to be posting my Berlin pics later today, but in the meantime, here’s some visual highlights from the last month:
Due to some technical complications and a short-circuited brain unit, I just found out that Brad Will was the journalist who was shot dead at the protests in Oaxaca, Mexico on Friday.
Brad taught me about white balance on my camera, how to walk slowly enough to not mess up your picture, and to always point the mic at what you’re shooting. He was earnest and spirited — a wide smile and a big heart. He believed, and dedicated his life to showing others the truth.
In an obvious move marking a new low point in an already declining career, poet and sometimes-musician John S. Hall has released a new book with Soft Skull Press, entitled “Daily Negations,” and will be making two, no doubt poorly-attended, New York appearances.
