Office aka Reach Exceeding Grasp

Photo and painting by Anthony Napoli

Facebook Pushback Continues

Facebook is People! in the NY Observer here

Jaron Lanier on the hidden costs of free technologies here

Williamsburg, Brooklyn's Best Emerging Artists Fest

Starts today, Wednesday May 23 @ Brooklyn Bowl - ELECTRONIC STAGE -10:00 Zambri; 9:00 Caged Animals;
8:00 AIMES
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Spike Hill - SONGWRITERS STAGE - 11:40 Grace Weber; 10:50 Robin Bacior ; 10:00 Stephie Coplan & the Pedestrians;
9:10 Merrily & The Poison Orchard; 8:20 Mal Blum; 7:30 The Sneaky Mister


Full schedule for the B.E.A.F. here

The Deli: Magazine of Emerging NYC Bands, current issue here

Cannes: Filmmakers Unchained

Attendees at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival were treated to tantalizing glimpses of footage (extended trailers) of upcoming films. Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master (possibly a fictionalized version of L Ron Hubbard), David O Russell's The Silver Linings Playbook and Quentin Tarantino's Django were three anticipated films that were given the teaser treatment.

Tarantino's Django has garnered plenty of interest, starring Christoph Walz, Jamie Foxx and Leonardo DiCaprio in an Old South, slave era drama. DITHOB previously offered a glimpse of portions of the script back when - script here and casting notes here

Also, a curious film, Antiviral, by Brandon Cronenberg fils of director David here

More details on Cannes 2012 here

Turkish Heritage Celebration at Brooklyn Borough Hall



Photos by Tony Napoli for Deep in the Heart of Brooklyn

Last night, at Brooklyn Borough Hall, Borough President Marty Markowitz and Turkish Consul General M. Levent Biligen hosted an evening of food and entertainment at Borough Hall's annual Turkish Cultural Celebration. Brooklyn has a wonderful, vibrant and growing Turkish American community. Entertainment was provided by the Mehter, Ottoman Military Band, the Ankara Greater Municipality Folk Dance Group and the New York Gypsy All-Stars. It was a lovely spring Thursday evening.  Passing through on the way home after a long day at work and workout at NYSC, I couldn't help but linger to witness the dramatic music and march of the Ottoman band, the wonderful costumes and friendly crowds. A couple of European tourists stopped me and asked "Does this type of event always happen in Brooklyn?" Happily, it does. Marty Markowitz does it again: Brooklyn's biggest booster -- and showman extraordinaire.

-Anthony Napoli

Within You Without You

The Human Disaster of Unemployment by Dean Baker and Kevin Hassett: "We all understand how the human costs can be so high. For many people, their very identity is their occupation. Few events rival the emotional strain of job loss."


"It seems clear that neither political party was prepared to deal with the crisis of long-term unemployment. In spite of the severity of the downturn, there was a general expectation that the economy would bounce back, as it had after previous downturns." Full article here 

NY Magazine: Has Facebook Peaked?

NY Magazine's profile of Mark Zuckerberg, from tech brat to CEO and Titan of Industry is great reading. And the sidebar on the future of Facebook, exploring the question of whether it has peaked or not, feels like must reading. While the energy and pop celebration prompted by the Accidental Billionaire and its companion piece, David Fincher's film The Social Network may have moved its Founder beyond the saturation point, Facebook as an entity is far from finished.

Full article here

R.I.P.: Maurice Sendak, 83, Author, "Where the Wild Things Are"

Above: "Let the Wild Rumpus Begin"

 

Mr. Sendak, noted and pioneering author and illustrator of modern childrens' literature, died yesterday at his home in Danbury, CT, of complications from a stroke.

On Sendak's classic, Where the Wild Things Are, published in 1963 here

On Mr. Sendak's life and work, including his 50 year life partnership with the late Dr. Eugene Glynn, a psychoanalyst, here

New York Times slide show on the author here

Tomorrow Never Knows: Say No More

The Beatles "Tomorrow Never Knows" from REVOLVER . Featured on last night's episode of Mad Men, it serves to re/introduce psychedelia to the 21st century mainstream.

John Lennon wrote the song in January 1966, with lyrics adapted from the book The Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead by Timothy Leary, Richard Alpert, and Ralph Metzner, which in turn was adapted from the Tibetan Book of the Dead. Although Peter Brown believed that Lennon's source for the lyric was the Tibetan Book of the Dead itself, which, he said, Lennon read whilst consuming LSD, George Harrison later stated that the idea for the lyrics came from Leary's, Alpert's and Metzner's book. and Paul McCartney confirmed this, stating that he and Lennon had visited the newly opened Indica bookshop — Lennon was looking for a copy of The Portable Nietzsche — and Lennon had found a copy of The Psychedelic Experience that contained the lines: "When in doubt, relax, turn off your mind, float downstream".

Origins of the title:

When The Beatles returned to London after their first visit to America in early 1964 they were interviewed by David Coleman of BBC Television. The interview included the following:

Interviewer: "Now, Ringo, I hear you were manhandled at the Embassy Ball. Is this right?"
Ringo: "Not really. Someone just cut a bit of my hair, you see."
Interviewer: "Let's have a look. You seem to have got plenty left."
Ringo: (turns head) "Can you see the difference? It's longer, this side."
Interviewer: "What happened exactly?"
Ringo: "I don't know. I was just talking, having an interview (exaggerated voice). Just like I am NOW!"
(John and Paul begin lifting locks of his hair, pretending to cut it)
Ringo: "I was talking away and I looked 'round, and there was about 400 people just smiling. So, you know — what can you say?"
John: "What can you say?"
Ringo: "Tomorrow never knows."
(John laughs)


On the recording and effects:
Lennon first played the song to Brian Epstein, George Martin and the other Beatles at Epstein's house at 24 Chapel Street, Belgravia


The 19-year-old Geoff Emerick was promoted to replace Norman Smith as engineer on the first session for the Revolver album. This started at 8 pm on 6 April 1966, in Studio Three at Abbey Road. Lennon told producer Martin that he wanted to sound like a hundred chanting Tibetan monks, which left Martin the difficult task of trying to find the effect by using the basic equipment they had. Lennon's suggestion was that he be suspended from a rope and—after being given a good push—he would sing as he spun around the microphone. This idea was rejected by Martin, but when asked by Lennon about it, he would only reply with, "We're looking into it." Emerick finally came up with the idea of wiring Lennon's vocal through a Leslie rotating speaker, thus obtaining the desired effect without the need of a rope. Emerick made a connector to break into the electronic circuitry of the cabinet and then re-recorded the vocal as it came out of the revolving speaker.

More here

Post Script from DITHOB: Mad Men must be raking in Big Coin from its own adverts given that last night's show featured the above Beatles' classic and last week, one from the Beach Boys. Coupled with Zoubi Zoubi Zou from earlier this season, which made  its way onto the 30 Rock live episode last week, along with Mad Man in Chief Jon Hamm (in blackface no less),  this show is clearly onto something, as the 21st century revisits the end of the Post-War/Post-Boom era, and the World Tries to find new moorings in a world without tethers that appears to be in free fall.

Sound of My Voice

Directed by Zal Batmanglij, with a cast including Christopher Denham, Nicole Vicius, Brit Marling, Avery Pohl,  and Richard Wharton, the film plays with science fictional elements, like "He" and "She" from the Heaven's Gate cult, by exploring the claims of a young woman that she is a time traveler from the future. A young couple explore, first with skepticism, then drawn in, as viewers wonder if she is really from another time or they have been lured into the web of a deep and disturbing cult and for what purpose? 


Now playing in NYC and other cities, the producers offer the first 12 minutes of the film as a preview.

"The Year of Dreaming Dangerously" and On the Politics of Lost Causes: Slavoj Zizek on the Occupy Movement -- Quo Vadis ?

Missed Slavoj Zizek at the NY Public Library speaking last week in advance of his new book, The Year of Dreaming Dangerously, published later this year by Verso Books. Happily, an article also appeared by SZ last week in The Guardian on the Occupy Movement. While Zizek is a popular philosopher, he is probably (I would hope) first to acknowledge that his own ruminations and conceptualizing are subject to argument and counter arguments. As I walked out on Court Street to sense the zeitgeist of the Professional and Working Classes while the Occupy Movement was brawling with NYPD and marching on the Williamsburg Bridge, in Times Square, Washington Square, and Lower Manhattan, as well as around the world, the zeitgeist, of course, was one of quiet rectitude. My daughter, who works in midtown reported the streets were filled with protestors and cops in heavy riot gear.  Just as the OWS movement seems to function in its own vacuum, so do the middle and professional working classes, glad to have and to hold onto our day jobs, we all function at unconscious cross purposes, OWS and the working folk, each seeking our own form of survival. Meanwhile, we stare into a mirror that we may mistake for the abyss.  That is why Zizek seems such an important social and political critic, mashing up psychoanalysis and political economy. If Zizek did not exist, on May Day, 2012, it would be necessary to invent him.

--Anthony Napoli, Deep in the Heart of Brooklyn

Zizek in The Guardian, an excerpt:

"One should avoid the temptation of the narcissism of the lost cause, of admiring the sublime beauty of uprisings doomed to fail. What new positive order should replace the old one the day after, when the sublime enthusiasm of the uprising is over? It is at this crucial point that we encounter the fatal weakness of the protests: they express an authentic rage which is not able to transform itself into a minimal positive program of socio-political change. They express a spirit of revolt without revolution.


"Reacting to the Paris protests of 1968, Lacan said:

"What you aspire to as revolutionaries is a new master. You will get one."

"It seems that Lacan's remark found its target (not only) in the indignados of Spain. Insofar as their protest remains at the level of a hysterical provocation of the master, without a positive program for the new order to replace the old one, it effectively functions as a call for a new master, albeit disavowed.

"We got the first glimpse of this new master in Greece and Italy, and Spain will probably follow. As if ironically answering the lack of expert programs of the protesters, the trend is now to replace politicians in the government with a "neutral" government of depoliticized technocrats (mostly bankers, as in Greece and Italy). Colorful "politicians" are out, grey experts are in. This trend is clearly moving towards a permanent emergency state and the suspension of political democracy."

Read the full article in The Guardian here

Slavoj Zizek's next book, The Year of Dreaming Dangerously here

Back to the Future: Church Avenue on Horseback

Photos by Tony Napoli

It was a blast from the past for these youngsters at the Church Avenue Street Fair yesterday, riding horses on City street.

R.I.P.: Pioneering Rock DJ Pete Fornatale

CBS News reported that Bronx native Pete Fornatale died Thursday at the age of 66 from complications following a stroke.

As a DJ on WNEW-FM, Fornatale’s format was to play and promote lesser known artists, along with album cuts beyond the hit singles.


Until his death, Fornatale still hosted the “Mixed Bag” show on Saturdays on WFUV-FM, public radio from Fordham University, his alma mater.

Full article here


DJ, author Pete Fornatale



Gary Sinise &Lt. Dan Band Concert to Benefit Wounded Warrior

Gary Sinise and his Lt. Dan Band, along with the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, are holding a special concert at Brooklyn College on Friday, April 27 to benefit U.S. Army Specialist Bryan Dilberian, who lost three of his limbs while fighting in Afghanistan in 2011. Actor Sinise, the band, and his foundation have been very active in supporting US troops overseas and disabled vets at home.


The benefit will support construction of a smart home for Mr. Dilberian, a Fort Hamilton High School graduate who has undergone a total of 21 surgeries since being injured, and who currently resides at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

The Tunnel to Towers foundation and the Gary Sinise Foundation are working to raise the money needed to build a home with “smart technology” while the wounded vet continues his recovery at Walter Reed.
These custom built homes, which can cost up to $250,000, are smart homes, with functions supported through an iPad, that permits the disabled resident to prepare meals from a wheelchair and are fully accessible and automated. The larrger bathroom, living space and elevator if needed will allow easy access to all areas and advanced features including motion sensitive lighting.

“I still don’t believe it,” Dilberian said of all the support he has received;  “I would like to thank the Tunnel to Towers Foundation and the Gary Sinise Foundation for all their work helping me start my life over again.”

Sinise's Lt. Dan Band (named after the character that he portrayed in Forrest Gump) is a big outfit that plays a wide range of tunes from Stevie Wonder and Jimi Hendrix classics to contemporary songs by Kelly Clarkson, Evanescence, Beyonce, Lonestar, the Zac Brown Band guaranteed to rock the house. More here

The concert will take place on Friday, April 27 at 7 p.m. at the Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts located at Brooklyn College. To purchase tickets, call 718-951-4500, through Friday this week, between 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. or visit BrooklynCenter.com

Urban Visions: Expanding Transit Infrastructure for an Ever Growing City

Last week, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer spoke at a forum and offered an interesting vision of an expanded, flexible transit system linking all five boroughs to effectively support future growth and development as New York in general and Brooklyn in particular continue to attract new residents.  And, of equal importance, he explored how to pay for it: through an infrastructure bank for mass transit that Stringer calls “New York City Transit Trust." Through a mix of directing mortgage recording tax funds for MTA capital products, and reinstitution of the commuter tax to support operational needs, Stringer projects that the "Transit Trust could provide capital for a range of projects, many of which can improve the lives of thousands of Brooklyn residents."

It's an interesting and ambitious concept that deserves further discussion. BP Stringer's full opinion piece on this matter appears below:

BUILDING A BETTER TRANSIT FUTURE IN BROOKLYN

by Scott Stringer, Manhattan Borough President

The future looked rosy 100 years ago, when New York undertook a revolutionary plan to build a vast network of subways and elevated trains. But it looks considerably different today, as we struggle to meet urgent transit needs.

Transit deserts dot the Brooklyn landscape, from Mill Basin and Marine Park—where an “express” bus takes over an hour to reach Midtown—to East Flatbush and Greenpoint, a burgeoning neighborhood that relies on the G train as its sole subway link. While our 100 year old system is designed for connectivity between Brooklyn and the Manhattan core and back, it does little to connect Brooklynites to other Brookynites. Want to get from Williamsburg to Bay Ridge? Better head into Manhattan and back out again. We can and must do better. Our system must reflect where people live and work today, not 100 years ago.

One million more people will be living in our City by 2025 and to put it bluntly: We are not ready. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority -- the central nervous system of our regional transportation network -- is a fiscal house of cards.

This crucially important agency is being held together with a combination of unprecedented borrowing, and fare hikes as far as the eye can see. That’s no way to run a railroad, much less the nation’s largest transit system.

What’s needed is a new, more stable stream of revenue for the MTA, one that stabilizes its operating budget but also allows us to expand the system to reflect where people live and work today, not 100 years ago.

Here’s my plan: an infrastructure bank for mass transit that I call the “New York City Transit Trust.”

Mayors across the country are recognizing that cities cannot rely solely on state and federal funding for infrastructure. In Chicago, Rahm Emanuel has launched the Chicago Infrastructure Trust to leverage private capital for needed projects.

The New York City Transit Trust will also leverage private dollars by tying our infrastructure bank to a dedicated revenue stream – the Mortgage Recording Tax -- that currently helps fund the MTA’s operating costs.

The Transit Trust could provide capital for a range of projects, many of which can improve the lives of thousands of Brooklyn residents. BRT will finally come to Brooklyn next year on Nostrand Avenue, promising to improve service for 300,000 people who live within ¼ mile of the route. The Trust could enable further expansions of BRT to Flatbush and Utica Avenues, the rebirth of light rail in the burgeoning neighborhoods of Red Hook and Carroll Gardens, the continued extension of the G train to Church Avenue, and the full rollout of countdown clocks along the borough’s lettered lines. In addition, the “X” line—a subway that can be built along existing rights of way between Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx—could improve interborough connections that would help over 70,000 Brooklynites who commute to Queens on a daily basis. Lastly, the Trust could benefit riders all over the City by paying for new subway cars and buses and improving safety and reliability by replacing track and upgrading outdated signals.

Of course, if we are going to redirect the Mortgage Recording Tax to the MTA’s capital needs, we have to replace it on the operations side with a new, reliable funding stream. I believe we should start by getting back what we lost when the commuter tax was repealed in 1999.

The commuter tax, which affects people who work in NYC but live outside the five boroughs, produced billions of dollars in revenue for New York City between 1966 and 1999. If we reinstated it at the same rate as when it was killed 14 years ago, we would raise $725 million a year to support the region’s transportation network.

It’s the right thing to do. Every day, close to a million commuters pour into New York City, using our roads, bridges and rails to get here and relying on our police, fire and sanitation services when they arrive.

All we need is leadership – leadership that recognizes that real investment in transit projects always pays huge dividends down the road, and that there are new, more creative ways to fund those projects.

That’s how you create a true, five-borough transportation network and prepare New York for the next century of growth.

--Scott Stringer