After a visit to the Brooklyn Museum, we came upon a picture of leader of the American Revolution, George Washington. Notice anything slightly curious about his genital area? Something very sexy and surprising?

No Photoshop was used. No tricks of visual manipulation. I present to you: George Washington’s camel toe.

SHARE THIS

Hide Sites

You could say, I have a soft spot for Weiner. (HA!)

Anthony Weiner has that Rahm Emannuel thing going on (and seems to be following a similar career path). They even look similar. If you’re going into some form of white-collar battle, Anthony is, like Rahm, the guy you want playing for your team. He’s a smart dude who can articulate his view (or that of his party) intelligently and forcefully, but at the same time, he doesn’t seem to be afraid to lay down an old fashion verbal ass whoopin’ as he did recently (and awesomely) on the House Floor. Here, he vehemently attacks a Republican plot to block a bill that would fund healthcare for 9-11 emergency workers. He bitchslaps the Republican cabal down for hiding behind “procedural” matters. He even points to and chastizes some off-camera Republican for the necessary Red-sticking-it-to-Blue nonsense. He told that unnamed distinguished gentleman to sit his ass down.

Just awesome.

Cheers to you, Mr. Weiner.

UPDATE:

The Republican that Anthony was yelling at was fellow New York state representative and human New York Post cover, Peter King. Here they are yelling at each other on Fox News. Peter King disintegrates into a quivering bowl of cliche-sputtering old man jello.

And they even went on Sean Hannity’s Radio program to discuss the matter. And it seems to me that Sean Hannity is being somewhat biased. I don’t want to be unfair to Sean. But it’s almost like he has an agenda here.

SHARE THIS

Hide Sites

Anyways, I like finding a way to bring fun into my day job. So, here’s a little something an amazing piece of art I did while still on the clock (legitimately!). I would place it in the same vaulted territory of amazing post-modern theatre as my previous work “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air Goes on a Job Interview.” While that piece was described (accurately, by me) as a modern-day Big Chill, I would say my new work is on more of a My Dinner with Andre meets Night of the Hunter vibe. I present to you “Visit Smoke Magazine at Booth 2329″:

SHARE THIS

Hide Sites

Luckily, I had some downtime today!

(Plus, I’m really not all that mature!)

I present, my first amazing film. It had a small budget, but I think it has a lot of heart. The passion of the actors and filmmakers helped create something really special that will touch everyone a little inside.

I present The Big Chill of our generation, a little film I like to call The Prince of Bel Air Goes on an Interview:

UPDATE: I noticed a small little snippit of a scene was missing. I even tried re-creating the high-res movie and it is still missing. Anyone else ever that problem?

SHARE THIS

Hide Sites

Here is Complex’s cover. Here you can see they have T.I. covered with a bunch of wires or something. High-contrast black and white. Art.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the publishing spectrum, here is the King of the South looking damn smoove with cigar in hand. Yes, we adapted it from a movie still, but it works well. I think that we are able to stand on our own:

For the record, the Complex story is a Q+A. I, on the other hand, actually wrote a full-length feature about T.I. (and his love for cigars) based on a 20-minute phone conversation he was nice enough to do with me for my tiny little magazine. Not to toot my horn, but I think it’s pretty good.

(toot.)

I’ll put it up here when our issue is off the shelves.

I don’t want to sound bitter, but roughly one kazillion more people are going to read the Complex feature than will read mine. But they should really consider my story. I’m of the opinion that magazine Q+As are the written-word’s equivalent of Terminator  Salvation: there’s lots of things happening, it seems like something interesting should be going on. But in the end, there is no there there, and then we all die a little more inside as a result. And I’m not going to argue that interviewing isn’t an art. It is.  But, when I buy a magazine, I’m hoping for the opportunity to learn about the person on the cover—and I get that through a good writer’s descriptions of how they speak, small vignettes of how the subject reacts with their entourage, or observations of how their face looked at different points during the conversation. Little moments. Things that won’t come through in some summer intern’s transcription. I want something that will captivate and challenge me for the duration of my subway ride and/or extended shit.

Just saying, I enjoy a good feature piece.

SHARE THIS

Hide Sites

You haven’t been clicking on it.

I can tell.

But you really should! It’s a collection of a lot of features I’ve had published over the past few years, including the celebrity interviews I do for my dayjob. Anyway, I’ve spent the past few weeks transcribing them so they’re easier to read. They are now available in full on this site or as a Google Docs link of the full layout. I’ve even given you the option to go all old school and download a PDF to your computer. That way you can enjoy these works in some godforsaken place where you don’t have access to the internet. On camping trips. In a submarine on a spy mission. On the moon. In purgatory with all the unbaptized babies. Wherever top-notch feature writing is enjoyed.

Enjoy!

SHARE THIS

Hide Sites

Thanks for the tip, Facebook recommended pages.

SHARE THIS

Hide Sites

TechCrunch profiled a new micropayment start up which could have fascinating implications for blogging or, really, any kind of information sharing.

Flattr is a new Swedish service that is basically a lot like the Facebook “like” button that can be found on this very blog. But every time you like or “flattr” something, you give money to the owner of the post your are “flattring.” In order to be part of the service you start off with a small amount in an account (they’re starting with 2 euros per month). And then every time you Flattr something, that money is dived up amongst everyone you flattred that month. Each flattree wouldn’t get a lot, but if they have a post that is flattred often enough, they could get some real coin.

A fascinating concept that could really revolutionize the way information is processed, created, and shared.

I’ll be watching.

SHARE THIS

Hide Sites

Apparently there’s controversy abrewin’ in quintessential purple Ohio. Someone on the Republican gubernatorial candidate’s staff  mocked the Democratic Governor’s rural roots.

The actual quote is from Rep John Kasich’s spokesman saying that current Democratic Governor Strickland is a poor manager of Ohio’s cities because he was raised “in a chicken shack on Duck Run.” Shakespeare it’s not. But it is reflecting a truth that no one seems willing to talk to (aloud).

Elite cosmopolitan metropolitan book readers don’t understand the needs of “real” Americans. It’s a political cliche turned pundit-approved gospel. However, rural red state folk—who, by horrible design, have a far stronger voice in the Federal government than their population would dictate—are no better at understanding the needs of urban metropolitan America.

American cities are the engines that run our economy, nurture the young thinkers that propel our society, and act as cultural ambassadors to the world. Not to mention, they are the only parts of the country that are prepared for the new global economy. If you took away all the cities, America would be Romania. However it is considered elite and out of touch to reflect this truth. If you want to succeed in national politics, the path of least resistance is to sing the praises of small town America and assuage their fearful responses to maintaining an increasingly outdated way of life.

John Kasich will surely be forced to apologize for his spokesman’s remarks tomorrow. Which is a shame. He was speaking to a very real cultural battleground, and he dared wander a mere toe-length across clearly delineated lines of political correctness. Rural America and its steady diet of fear, corn subsidies, and romanticized nostalgia is not capable of (or even interested in) sustaining our cities or aiding their strides into a sustainable, connected future.

I wish our political discourse was allowed to reflect that.

SHARE THIS

Hide Sites

Here’s a video of my favorite emcee, P.O.S. hanging out at Pure (raw foodie joint in NYC). Video via the hipster foodies of immaculateinfatuation.com.

SHARE THIS

Hide Sites