Hustler of Culture

coke is it. for two idiots.

everybody knows how much i love coca cola. i do. really. like tons. friends and family enable my nasty coke habit. those who never drink it, always stock it when i come to town. it's the first thing i drink in the morning and the last thing i drink before i go to bed. i know, eww gross. but it's true (don't worry, i haven't owned a cavity since i was under double digits in age).

so i'm checking out ebay pulse, this new ebay site that gives you a "a daily snapshot of The World's Online Marketplace". it's mad interesting. people are odd. it led me to this listing:

unpunkshored coke can with no coke in it: could be valuble

at the moment, someone is bidding a million dollars for this can of coke. both buyer and seller are missing a chromosome. but i hope the transaction goes through, so that the seller can go back to school. i love coke, but i guess...not as much as gfisher2002.

holiday jump.

jumping at the statue of liberty

all of you are going from one place to another, all over the world, right now. do me a favor and take a jump photograph wherever you are. when you've got a minute, send it to me. your photos will be on display at the fake funk project gallery. cheers.

miami - pictography (12/03/04 - 12/06/04)

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cam on lam and merci beaucoup.

I thank you for your voices: thank you: Your most sweet voices.

- William Shakespeare / Coriolanus. Act ii. Sc. 3.

Thank you for nothing.

- Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra / Don Quixote. Part i. Book. iii. Chap. viii.

Big ups and big love to all the people I play with.

- Hustler of Culture

mama don in manhattan.

the last few weeks have been a whirlwind of parties and gorging. there's an end in sight, but still not for another week. i've been too busy to mention that mama don was here earlier last week cooking up a frenzy in the kitchen, forcing our bellies to puff out an extra two inches more than normal. it was a wonderful way to kick off the winter hols. having mama don in town forced us to relax a bit and visit landmarks we ourselves hadn't, in the last three and a half years. we watched the sun set from the empire state building's observatory, gawked at ice skaters at rockefeller center, strolled through central park, ferried to the statue of liberty, pushed through times square, and lost and found our way through various neighborhoods. ironically, mama don couldn't find the proper ingredients needed for her nightly dinners in little italy. she was still able to make mouth watering home cooked meals nightly. mom's rock!

trekking through new york, we were constantly reminded of how much this place rocks. the next time we come back, it'll be like visiting an old friend. i'm looking forward to it.

double trouble.

many kind friends came out to APT to wish don milvio a happy 35th birthday and a bon voyage to team hp. familiar and friendly faces packed up the basement tight. i tried to instigate a serious dance off but nobody was having it unless i'd do my worm. and my worm (via suicide drop) just ain't ready yet. so boogie down we did to jams provided by lindsey and jamal. a million thanks and love to everybody that turned up. party snapshots. enjoy.

hollywood to the street.

conversations with rotella by jose parla

jose parla aka ease had a blow out opening last week at the chelsea art museum, titled, "Hollywood to the Street: From the Poster to Graffiti". new york's street elite was out in full force, supporting one of their own. it was awesome running into many friends we hadn't seen in awhile. i've posted some photos in case you don't live anywhere near new york city. locals, don't be a sucker. drag your ass to chelsea and check out jose's work while you can. the exhibit runs from november 13 2004, to january 29, 2005.

Interview: Jee Park

Jee Young Park, Hustler of Self Improvement, 33, San Francisco, CA

Jee does not have one habit or hobby that dictates who she is. She’s been changing and growing in front of me for so long, that depending on the year that you meet, I’d have to describe her accordingly. Jee’s personality is as varied as her interests. Constantly soul searching, she always finds time for self improvement. According to her friendster profile, pals call her, “deliciously dizzying”. I couldn’t agree more.

How many careers have you had?

Two careers -- high school math teacher and interaction designer. Does being a student count? If so, then three.

What is your current title?

My business cards say - "interaction designer, user experience and design group" [at Yahoo!]; I have been with Yahoo for almost three and a half years and most recently with the Mail and PIM team.

What project will you be working on next?

Hmm. I’m currently trying to saving enough money to take a year+ off to travel. I’d like to spend the time growing spiritually (mediating, walking, practicing yoga), artistically (playing my violin, throwing pots), and physically (surfing, maybe getting back into tennis and boxing).

Your house is burning down. What one possession (aside from human/animal life) would you grab on the way out?

This is tough. Initially, I thought, my surfboard. However, I can get another. Then I thought, my violin. Again, I can get another. When is my house burning down? Is it before the middle of 2005 when my passport expires? If so, I guess my passport, cuz I’d probably need it to get another and it's probably enough identification to get me replacement credit cards and the like, to keep my plans in motion.

When and how did we meet?

I think we met in the summer of 1992. I interviewed for a summer job at The Charles Realty [in Boston], where you were working. You hired me to be the office's receptionist. I did a lot of filing. We spent a lot of money going out together that summer. [Out of the two dozen applicants interviewed, I chose Jee because she pulled out a Keith Haring day planner.]

NYC - tim biskup at kid robot (11/19/04)

SF - frank kozik at kid robot (11/18/04)

moving over is moving up.

so i'm on all the moving sites on the internet planning one of the top three most stressful activities someone can do in their lifetime -- move house (bereavement, divorce, changing jobs, and buying a home depending on the source are listed as the other two painful activities). this will be my third time moving cross country. i'm trying to lock down details so that i can enjoy my last three weeks in new york city. part of the fun of moving to a new (old) city is learning facts like this:

The cost of living in Santa Monica, California is 28.6% lower than that of New York, New York. A salary of $100,000 in New York, New York has the same buying power that a salary of $71,429 has in Santa Monica, California.

Finance & Economies - New York, NY / Santa Monica, CA

Cost of Livinghigher value = higher cost of living (100 = national average) 413 / 295

Sales Tax Rate total sales tax 8% / 8%

State Income Taxes state income taxes based on $50,000 income, married, two kids $1,946 / $456

Local Income Taxes local income taxes based on $50,000 income, married, two kids $1,278 / $0

Job GrowthPercentage change in employment for 1998 0.028 / 0.018

Unemployment Rate% unemployed in 1998 7.6 / 4.2

Median Family Income median family income $34,360 / $51,085

Real Estate - New York, NY / Santa Monica, CA

Home Purchase Cost average cost of 2,000 sq ft home $1,096,000 / $872,000

Property Tax average annual property tax for 2,000 sq ft home $20,824 / $10,018

Electricity Costmonthly electricity cost for 2,000 sq ft home $111 / $117

greetings of the season.

tis the season. or at least it seems so since all the window displays in manhattan have stopped with the orange and black and have been filled with fake snow. if you're not crafty enough to make your own cards and the free "donation" cards haven't arrived yet, or your moma membership has run out and you can't buy their selection at 20% off, i suggest checking out these festive holiday greetings by sherise lee. each bundle comes with six cards and envelopes and have been tender lovingly hand letter-pressed. insert a signature et voila, a wonderful piece of art for the mantle. shoo, lazy butt...before it's 2005.

multiverse.

ryan mcginness at play

if you find yourself in the city of lights for winter hols, please check out ryan mcginness' new works, "multiverse," at agnes b.'s galerie du jour from december 11, 2004 to january 22, 2005. we were lucky to be invited to peek some of his new work and play some games. i won $3.00 playing the best ms. pac man of my life. as always, loads of fun and laughter.

UPDATE: the new york times write up of the evening.

play it again (and again) hustler.

i have a terrible affliction of play-againitis. if i'm really digging a song, i have to play it over and over again. but not like a couple of times. more like 64 times in a row. i can spend well over six hours in one day listening to just one song. marxy once lamented that he'd like to date a girl who never did this. and so i wonder, is this an affliction many people have? a few songs that have contributed to my disease in the last 30 days (disenchanted with music as of late, they're all oldies):

caetano veloso - cucurrucucu paloma
cibo matto - sugar water
dawn penn - you don't love me (no no no)
hope sandoval and the warm inventions - on the low
led zeppelin - thank you
patsy cline - crazy
radiohead - how to disappear completely
ray charles - georgia on my mind
stars - heart

if you want to listen to any of these songs, holler at me and i'll send you an mp3.

Interview: Jeff Staple

Jeffrey C. Ng aka jeffstaple, Hustler of Multitasking Design, 29, New York, NY

Jeff is one of the hardest working people I know. So it’s nice to hear him say the same about others. But I mean really, if I’m on instant messenger at 4:00 a.m., I’m killing time, whereas Jeff is actually working. He’s up early, he’s up late. Being humble and wanting to mentor is the kicker. Meet Mr. Staple.

How many careers have you had? What is your current title?

Currently, Founder/Creative Director of Staple Design. Past in reverse chronological order: Graphic Designer, Design Application Instructor, Laser Output Supervisor, In Line Skating Instructor, Sneaker Salesperson, Receptionist/Hair Salon, Busboy, Pizza Delivery Dude, Produce Rotator/Supermarket, Hair Sweeper/Hair Salon, and One Hour Photo Film Developer.

What project will you be working on next?

A book about hip-hop culture in Cuba. The next issue of Dime Magazine (#15). A catalog for And1. And Staple's Fall 2005 collection. All before Nov 12th, when I go to Japan.

Your house is burning down. What one possession (aside from human/animal life) would you grab on the way out?

My 15" Powerbook. Sad, but true.

When and how did we meet?

I believe we met in 1999 or so...when you were trying to get me to pay for 120-day-old advertising invoices for Tokion Magazine. (What? "pay" for ads? Ha ha ha ha ha). I became very familiar with the way you wrote the letters: P-A-S-T-D-U-E. [I used to break legs for Tokion.]

typepad upgrade is PITA not WYSIWYG.

hello.  am i the only typepad member having a hellish time with the new WYSIWYG editor?  i can't post like i used too.  it takes me 20 tries to get a post as simple as the last one to look the way it does (words and a few centered images).  it used to take me one try.  now, fonts get changed to bold, italic or plain without my doing so, while i re-edit entries after they've been uploaded.  even if all the fonts are size "normal" they don't show up that way.  most are normal, others show up bigger or smaller.  images don't pull up properly and/or can't be centered (even with manual editing of html) easily.  after i hit save for a post, it apparently saves all this other crap and it ends up screwing up my original blog entry.  i give up, not willing to fight with the program anymore (hence no more new posts but a bunch of drafts waiting to go live).  i write all my entries in word and then i cut/paste into my post boxes.  doing this is now a pain in the ass.  this entry, i'm writing directly into the post box, hoping no errors occur.  it was never a problem before.  now, it seems to be.

please email me or leave a comment if you have any solutions.  i've written a help ticket.  typepad's got great customer service and is usually very quick to answer...but i'm dying here and i'm wondering, am i a mongo or what?  because i can't get this shit straight.  thanks in advance.

UPDATE:  the ever so quick and helpful customer service responded with this solution for now:  You can change the format for the posting field back to the classic way of composing by following the instructions here:
http://help.typepad.com/tips/wysiwyg.html#htmlmode.  can't wait to use everything when it's working proper.

NYC - Dalek at Kidrobot (11/11/04)

Kidrobot is proud to present a signing of toys by New York City pop and graffiti artist:

DALEK

Join us for drinks and Dunnys on

Thursday, November 11th, 2004

6-8 pm

Kidrobot NYC
126 Prince St, SoHo
New York, NY 10012
212-966-6688

Also a special preview of Dalek’s upcoming releases including super-secret, not yet released 8 Inch Dunnys.

nystore@kidrobot.com

la - cultura clash (11/12/04)

la - MADEMOISELLE PRETTY DEPRESSING (11/12/04)

Opening Reception: Friday, November 12, 2004, 6-10 PM

7922 W. 3rd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90048

Sponsored in part by: Red Stripe Beer, Thunderbirds USA, Anthem Magazine and Busy-Being.com

Curated by Amber Abramson

four x four gallery proudly presents new work by French graffitti artist FAFI in her solo exhibition titled MADEMOISELLE PRETTY DEPRESSING.

Fafi began painting murals on the walls in her hometown of Toulouse, France over ten years ago. Inspired by her own image and those close to her Fafi uses stereotypes to create girls that are both strong and aware of their sexuality.

Her images of cute creatures and sexy Fafinettes have been muraled all over the world and exhibited at such galleries as: Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France, Prosper Gallery, New York, Ox-Op Gallery, Minneapolis, MN, Phatcat, Harajuku, Japan, Sixspace, Los Angeles, CA, and Musee National Jean Jaures, Castres, France to name a few. Her work has also been featured in magazines such as: Italian Vogue, German Elle, The Face (UK), Strength Magazine (US), Nylon (U.S.), Dish (Japan), Warp (Japan), Yen (Australia) Studio Voice (Japan), L'Express (France).

Her book "Girls Rock" book presented by Le Club Colette (France) was released in 2003 as well as her own clothing line.

FAFI on the subject of MADEMOISELLE PRETTY DEPRESSING
"It's a story of a girl, a Fafinette of course...She is first into sexy stuff and hitting on guys, but then when she realises that she is someone else, maybe someone more interesting and mysterious, she wants to travel, travel into time and in her mind. She gets to know new horizons and new characters. (introducing) Hmilo, her friend. He's a cute monster, he's got hairbrushes instead of teeth and he can brush her hair because she loves it."

For more information on FAFI please visit:
http://www.fafi.net/

four x four
www.fourxfourthestore.com

nyc - hollywood to the street: from the poster to graffiti (11/13/04 -01/29/05)