- Blog
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Early Voting 2022
I’m always impressed how well run NYC voting sites are. We were in and out and less than ten minutes. Please vote, everyone!
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Twitter and Free Speech
From two really great recent pieces in Techdirt and The Verge, respectively: It’s kind of a rite of passage for any new social media network. They show up, insist that they’re the “platform for free speech” without quite understanding what that actually means, and then they quickly discover a whole bunch of fairly fundamental ideas,…
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NYPL is Here for You
What a delight to see an NYPL Bookmobile, which I didn’t know still existed. This one will be at East River Plaza (aka Manhattan Costco) every other Thursday while the 125 St branch library is under renovation. Thank you, New York Public Library – you’re one of the many great things about living in NYC.
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The U.S. and the Holocaust
I watched the new Ken Burns doc on PBS a few weeks back and I think it’s essential, powerful viewing. Like many other Americans, my knowledge of how the U.S. got involved in WWII had been shaped mainly by the standard, highly-simplified public school narratives that I grew up with. It was a version of…
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Sandy: Ten Years Later
Ten years ago, Superstorm Sandy battered the East Coast, causing death and destruction on an enormous scale. New York City was hit particularly hard, with images of flooded subways and devastated coastal neighborhoods broadcast around the world. As the MTA Press Office’s videographer and creator of the agency’s YouTube channel, I shot what I’m pretty…
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DMNK
Congrats to my better half for passing her motorcycle road test and getting the coveted “M” endorsement on her driver’s license. We’re now officially DMNKs (Dual Motorcyclists, No Kids).
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Copy Catting
While we were away on our summer mototrip, Helena spent ten weeks with my stepdad and his cat companion Monchichi. It’s the longest Helena has ever been apart from us and it’s been quite amusing to discover the new habits she picked up over the summer. My favorite of these new behaviors is the “dead…
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Democracy vs. Nihlism
Speaking of Timothy Snyder, his recent essay in Foreign Affairs is an excellent read — especially in light of Russia’s massive attack today on Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure. It’s a wake-up call that this war is not a regional conflict that America shouldn’t be involved in, but ground zero for the future of democracy. (Nuclear allusion…
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The Making of Modern Ukraine
Yale has been posting Timothy Snyder’s current semester class “The Making of Modern Ukraine” to their YouTube channel and I’ve been binge-watching it with nerdy excitement. The class is a deep — and unexpectedly entertaining — dive into the history of Ukraine, Russia, and Eastern Europe. It’s filled with thought-provoking ideas that really help illuminate…
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Having a Great Summer
This summer, Alex and I are doing something we’ve never done before: an open-ended, motorcycle trip across the USA. No deadlines, no restrictions, very little advance planning. Just wandering around this big beautiful country seeing the sights and reconnecting with friends and family. We’ve been on the road for several weeks now and will be…
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Sound Meets Fury
From “How a Phoenix record store owner set the audiophile world on fire” by Geoff Edgers, The Washington Post, August 5, 2022: “These people who claim they have golden ears and can hear the difference between analog and digital, well, it turns out you couldn’t.” I love music but I’ve never been an analog fetishist.…
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Be Your Own Kind of Beautiful
Seen at 116 St & 3 Av, East Harlem.
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Day 1 (Ten Years Ago)
Ten years ago today we started shooting A Picture of You, my first — and so far only — feature film. It’s sobering to realize that an entire decade has gone by since making the movie. The shoot was the most challenging and intense eighteen days I’ve ever experienced. I was a first-time feature director…
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MetroBud
Gotta admire the branding chutzpah here, especially in front of an MTA bus stop.
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Tale of the Tape
It’s no secret that I don’t miss tape formats, but being the sentimental guy I am it was still hard to throw out all these old tapes of my short films during a recent purge. These tapes were made for film festival screenings between 2005 and 2011 and they were not cheap to make. Back…
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Learning to Ride (Alex Edition)
I’m teaching Alex some of the basics of the bike before she takes the MSF class. Somehow, she already looks way cooler on the MT-03 than I ever have.
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Signs of Protest
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Taiwan Pork Chop House
I’m mostly vegan these days, but when I do a meat cheat I like to visit places and dishes that I enjoyed when I was more of a carnivore. I’ve loved Taiwan Pork Chop House since 2005, when it used be called Excellent Pork Chop House. It’s still excellent, cheap, and authentic.
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Spumoni Gardens
I don’t get to Bensonhurst often, but when I do there’s a 95% chance that a meal at L&B Spumoni Gardens is going to be part of the visit. You just can’t beat the affordable, tasty food and neighborhood feel of the place. I once had a very delicious and filling meal inside, but the…
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Revzilla Brooklyn
Although I’m still mourning Union Garage’s departure from Red Hook, I can now console myself at Revzilla Brooklyn, which opened this month on Hall St. Located on an industrial street near the Navy Yard, Revzilla Brooklyn looks to be about twice the size of their flagship store in Philadelphia, which also happens to be near…
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Midsommar in NYC
It’s a sad and scary day in America. But for a few hours in the city today, it was possible to escape to a celebration hosted by a country that boasts “Feminist Government” on its official tote bags.
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Old Bike Night at Rutt’s
Things I rarely do:1. Go out to New Jersey on a weekday2. Attend “biker nights”3. Eat hot dogs And yet this past Wednesday evening, I managed to drag two non-biker friends to meet me in Clifton, NJ, home of the legendary Rutt’s Hut. Our mission was to eat deep-fried hot dogs and check out Old…
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Bigness and Tech Monopolies
One of my favorite reads of the last few years has been Tim Wu’s The Curse of Bigness. Wu is a terrific storyteller and in just 154 pages he manages to tell an epic and highly entertaining story of the battle for nothing less than America’s economic and political soul. Wu tells his tale through…
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The Oasis
Lincoln Center claims that The Oasis is NYC’s largest outdoor dance floor. It’s spectacular even from across the street.
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Carry On
Tea & Sympathy, West Village institution and my personal fave for chicken & leek pie and rhubarb crumble, is hosting a Platinum Jubilee festival this weekend. It looked like a lot of fun and they’re even doing a special limited-time Jubilee Pudding.
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Cat Sitting: Monchichi
I rarely get a chance to cat sit because Helena hates sharing the household with other felines. Ever since I adopted her from the ASPCA nearly ten years ago. she’s had the luxury of being the sole cat, a status she takes full advantage of. However, that changed a few days ago when Monchichi joined…
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The Wire at 20
Over the last decade, I’ve watched The Wire three times in its entirety and I’m nowhere near done with it yet. The show is an incredibly compelling and authentic depiction of contemporary America and a tour de force of storytelling. I’ve always been too poor or too cheap to have an HBO subscription, so while…
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Clutch Moto
Clutch Moto is a friendly moto-themed cafe in Bayonne, NJ. I really like the chill, unpretentious vibe there and have visited twice while on solo moto trips to visit friends in the Garden State. It’s a business run by a biker but you don’t have to be a biker to enjoy it. IIRC, the young…
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Elizabeth Line
Congrats to Transport for London on yesterday’s launch of the Elizabeth Line! We left London before it opened, but scored a selfie and a little swag to commemorate the occasion nonetheless.
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Vyshyvanka Day 2022
More than ever, happy Vyshyvanka Day to all who celebrate.
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Cycling in Paris
For me, one of the few bright spots of the pandemic was how it forced many cities to rethink how they use one of their most precious resource: their streets. For far too long, far too many cities around the world have allowed private automobile traffic to occupy the top of the street-use hierarchy. It’s…
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Bourdain Bankside
On Coin Street, Bankside: a lovely tribute to the man.
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Cycling in London
My last visit to London was in 2003 and so much has changed since then that I can’t begin to capture it all here. It feels cleaner, newer, more diverse, and more vibrant in every dimension. For me, the biggest factor in this improvement has been the massive changes in street use and public transport…
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Bike Shed London
Bike Shed is a posh but unpretentious moto-themed venue in Shoreditch, nested under the railway arches of the London Overground. The Shed consists of a resturant, bar, lounge, gear shops, a barber, a tattoo stylist, and the nicest motorcycle parking I’ve ever seen. The London location has been open since 2015 and a much larger…
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Brompton Birthplace
Biking around London is extra fun on a Brompton. It’s not often that you get to enjoy a bike that was both designed for and built in the city you’re riding in. Although they’re no longer doing factory tours due to COVID, I biked the 14 miles from Bankside to the factory entrance in Greenford…
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LCY
A little bit of planespotting at London City Airport.
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Good Signs: LHR
Great wayfinding signage tells a simple and clear story about a space or a process. It builds confidence for the traveler by reducing their anxiety about the unfamiliar and unavoidable situation in which they find themselves. These signs at Heathrow Airport Terminal 2 are among the first that arriving international passengers see. They’re wonderfully clear…
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Eventyr Lounge
Airport lounges are a wonderful thing and I’m grateful that there’s now more ways than ever to get into them even if you’re a budget-minded traveller like me. Eventyr at Copenhagen Airport is one of my faves. Tucked in a nondescript corner of Terminal 1 just past the C-gate passport control, it offers panoramic views…
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Command-Uppåkra
Uppåkra is an Iron Age archeological site just south of Lund in the Skåne region of Sweden. It’s believed that this area was home to an important settlement under what was then the Kingdom of Denmark. Today, the area is a mix of small farms and residential areas. Central Lund and Lund University is an…
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Queens Night Market
The Queens Night Market is back for 2022! The public opening day is this Saturday, May 7. The missus and I went to the soft launch a few weekends back (it was her first time, my second) and we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. If you haven’t been, I recommend checking it out. Our faves: everything from…
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Behind the Scenes at Skywalker Sound
A wonderful video from Apple about what goes on at Skywalker Sound. It’d be a dream come true for me to ever be able to mix one of my films there. Happy Star Wars Day!
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Earth Day 2022
Earth Day reminder: public transit provides planetary protection!
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Yuri Kochiyama Way
Really cool Yuri Kochiyama-Malcolm X mural at 125 St & Old Broadway. Had no idea this existed!
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Pop-Up Kim’s
There’s a Kim’s Video with free rentals in the Alamo Downtown and it’s fantastic.
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Ukrainian Solidarity Lunch!
Alex says the borscht is as good as her grandmother’s, which is all you really need to know about Streecha.
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One Year with the Blackbird
A year ago today I was a scared but excited newbie riding my MT-03 off the dealership lot. Today I’m celebrating one year of motorcycling with 8,400 miles on that same bike. I had spent months researching bikes both new and used and fell into a bit of analysis paralysis trying to find the best…
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Ukrainian Solidarity Saturday
What’s happening in Ukraine is terrible and feels very very close to home. But as much as doomscrolling Twitter for every little update and checking the news obsessively feels like doing something, it’s most definitely not. My wife and I have already donated funds to aid organizations and individuals we know in Ukraine, so today…
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Chung Wah Beauty Salon
Sad farewell to Chung Wah Beauty Salon on Pell St, where I’ve gotten countless haircuts & which recently closed its doors for good. Lots of Chinatown businesses are still struggling – please support them!
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TransitCon 2022
Really excited to be part of TransitCon 2022 alongside my amazing boss Sarah Meyer. Hope you can join us on January 30! Update: you can now watch the keynote on YouTube.
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Infinite Weekend
Infinity Cat wishes you a relaxing weekend