- Blog
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Happy New Year 2022
Happy New Year! May your 2022 be filled with wonderful adventures, ideally involving public transit. If those adventures can involve your cat, that’s even better. Because cats enjoy and deserve adventures too.
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49 St/6 Av
Hard working guys of the hot dog stand.
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Baby Got Boosted
Another super shout-out to NYC Health + Hospitals for making it so easy to get free vax, boosters, at-home test kits…and swag bags (!!). I’m continually amazed at the services they provide for NYC.
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John Oliver on Taiwan
My Mom’s side of the family is from Taiwan and my father’s side is from China and Vietnam. The Taiwan-China issue is complicated, to say the least, but as far as I’m concerned John Oliver totally nailed it in a deep and also hilariously entertaining way.
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Four Corners of New York State
For my birthday month, I knew I wanted to take a long ride somewhere. That somewhere turned out to be Buffalo, a city I’ve always been curious about but have only passed through on the Lake Shore Limited. From Manhattan, I travelled 860 miles round trip over three-and-a-half days. Buffalo and its people (and its…
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Hang in there baby, Monday’s coming
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Take the Bike to the Plane
Airport rail access is great, but airport bike access is even more fun. Surprised not surprised that Copenhagen has a sweet bike ramp at CPH, an easy ~35 minute bike ride from the city center.
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København Flæxin
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Cykelservicestations of Malmö
The amazing cykelservicestation: air, water, map, temperature, and inspirational pro-bike messaging. If only we had these in NYC…
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Federal Court strikes down Kansas Ag-Gag Law
When I first heard about “ag-gag” laws a few years ago, I could scarcely believe they were real. These laws are so obviously an infringement on First Amendment rights in support of a politically powerful industry that it was hard to believe anyone could support them as being in the public interest. But of course…
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Ezra Klein on Afghanistan
Terrific piece by Ezra Klein in yesterday’s Times: My heart breaks for the suffering we will leave behind in Afghanistan. But we do not know how to fix Afghanistan. We failed in that effort so completely that we ended up strengthening the Taliban. We should do all we can to bring American citizens and allies…
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EWR from the Air
I love looking back at the airport I’ve just left from. The new Terminal A is looking pretty good.
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Flying with a Brompton
I’ve flown with folding bikes before but I had no idea how much easier it would be with a Brompton. In less than five minutes at the airport, I can get the bike into an $5 Ikea Dimpla bag, including the time it takes to put padding on the delicate bits. After I arrive, it…
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ABBA in 4K
For me, the sleeper cinema event of 2021 is definitely ABBA quietly uploading remastered 4K versions of their classic videos to YouTube. Not all of their videos have been redone, but the ones that have look fantastic. I have no idea how they were made — or why — but I have a feeling we’ll…
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Saturday Ride
I was lucky to get out for a nice ride today before Hurricane Henri drenched the city. The route was my usual: up the left side of the Hudson, down the right side. The northernmost destination is rarely defined in advance; I just go as far north as I have time and energy for. To…
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Talking Cats
Long-time cat owners know that cats are always talking to us, mostly non-verbally. The question is: are we listening? This is a great read about how understanding a cat means putting your own ideas about communication and intention aside: The Eliza I brought home was not the same cat. Even after the pain medication wore…
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Wrenching
I’m a big believer — and occasional practitioner — in facing down the things that scare you. In my experience, shining a light on your fears often reveals that the monster stalking you is rather harmless, if it even exists at all. Conversely, avoiding what scares you is a sure way to make that thing…
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Lucky to be a New Yorker (July 2021 Edition)
I spent part of the afternoon at Penn Station Mask Force distributing free masks to MTA riders alongside a few of my colleagues. Today marks a year since the program began and this was my fourth or fifth time participating. Since July 2020, over 750,000 free surgical and reusable masks have been distributed in rail…
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I Ride with Bernie
Medicare for All needs to happen because health care is a human right. But for pure fun, a world where Motorcycles for All is a reality would be pretty good too.
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A Place Where the Cows are in Charge
As a supporter and twice-visitor to Farm Sanctuary in Watkins Glen, NY, I was really happy to read about Hof Butenland in Germany. If more people knew about the horrors and scale of modern animal agriculture, they’d rightly stop eating meat. Of course, that’s the main reason why the industry would rather you not know…
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Ukrainian Mountaintop
Having married into a Ukrainian family, I’m always interested in the diaspora wherever I encounter it. I definitely did not expect to encounter it on a random motorcycle ride to Hunter, NY. But when I saw the street sign for “Ukraine Road” while speeding down Route 23A, I knew I had to stop for a…
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Kati Kariko, mRNA, and the Vaccine
From Kati Kariko Helped Shield the World From the Coronavirus in today’s New York Times: “There’s a tendency when scientists are looking at data to try to validate their own idea,” Dr. Langer said. “The best scientists try to prove themselves wrong. Kate’s genius was a willingness to accept failure and keep trying, and her…
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Moto Shopping
I wouldn’t have guessed six months ago that shopping for a motorcycle would be harder — and more stressful — than learning how to ride. Finding the right bike became an education in itself on multiple levels. I don’t know what I don’t know but here’s my credit card anyway? It’s hard to shop for…
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I got the shots
Working in public transit means that my 65,000 co-workers and I have had access to the vaccine before many other New Yorkers. (We qualify under category 1B in the state plan.) It’s quite a wonderful perk for office types like me but absolutely essential for the frontline employees who have been working throughout the pandemic.…
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Hate Has No Place
In response to the terrible wave of anti-Asian hate crimes around the country & in New York, the MTA relaunched its Hate Has No Place digital campaign on over 6,400 subway and bus screens on Tuesday, March 16. Sadly but rather appropriately this coincided with the horrific anti-Asian attacks in Atlanta. The original campaign launched…
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APOYFILM dot Com
Spent the afternoon cleaning up the website for A Picture of You, my first — and so far only — feature film. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine when writing the script in 2011 that ten years later I’d still be futzing with the website. But that’s indie film for ya. The site’s…
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Heating Pad Cat
On a chilly winter’s day, there’s nothing better according to Helena.
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Learning to Ride
So far, learning to ride has been the easiest and most fun part of the motorcycle experience. I have neither a bike nor a license, so the only real option for riding legally is motorcycle school. Fortunately, there’s several options in NYC for learning how to ride. Motorcycle Safety School has classes in all five…
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‘So many failures…it’s astonishing’
Werner Herzog watching skateboarding videos is the highlight of my day.
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A Motorcycle Diary
I can’t say exactly when I got the idea to get a motorcycle, but the notion has been with me nearly my entire life. I’m pretty sure 2021 is the year that I’ll finally get one. I’ll be sharing the journey here as it happens. Life is better on Two Wheels My interest in motorcycles…
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Good Riddance
The walking nightmare of the past four years is over, but the country and its inhabitants will be sorting out the mess for years — maybe decades — to come. I’ve never been prouder to be an American, but never more worried too. There’s so much damage to repair and so much time to make…
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Second and Seventh
Stumbled across this really interesting construction site in the East Village. Looks like the corner site was a low-rise tenement-style building but I’m curious as to what happened with the church. My guess (hope) is that they’re keeping the church’s facade to incorporate into whatever is coming next, probably some luxury housing.
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MLK Day
I’ve been reading Stride Towards Freedom and thinking a lot about the moral power and strategic savvy of non-violent social movements. Intellectually, it’s fairly easy to understand why non-violence is the correct way. But to read how Dr. King and countless others actually used it to resist violent oppression is profoundly inspiring. Through his actions,…
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What to eat when you’re sick
My lofty 2021 goal of posting here everyday died after just eleven days into the new year, when I was hit hard by a stomach virus on Sunday. I’m recovering now, but the experience got me thinking about all the advice about eating one gets from friends, family, and professionals when they hear you’re sick.…
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The Case for Working with Your Hands
In 2009, Matthew B. Crawford released his book Shop Class as Soul Craft. Twelve years later, I still haven’t read the book, but have returned to this adapted essay many times and have recommended it to several friends and colleagues. There’s so much wisdom and interesting ideas and the writing is beautiful. High-school shop-class programs…
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On the Ferry
We now take a break from our political coverage to shop for motorcycles on Staten Island, getting there via bicycle and the Staten Island Ferry. It was cold out (low 30s, windy) but I needed to clear my head and burn some calories. After around fifteen minutes of cycling I warmed up and it was…
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The most dangerous time
In TENET, one of the characters notes that the most dangerous time in human history was just after the fall of the Soviet Union, when the former republics were in disarray and the fate of their nuclear stockpiles unknown. In 2021, a lame duck narcissist sociopath president with control of America’s nuclear arsenal insists that…
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The 55 Year Old Democracy
I don’t believe President Trump actually has any core motivations beyond his own financial enrichment, but he’s been extremely good at convincing millions of Americans that he shares their worldview. He knows how to push people’s buttons — and get paid for it. That button, of course, is racial supremacy. Adam Serwer breaks it down…
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The Attempted Coup
This ITV News report from inside the storming of the Capitol is terrifying and shocking. Even though we were warned that right-wing violence was coming, it still feels unreal to see it unfold in the halls of Congress. What a terrible day for the country. There are some very good signs that things are going…
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Guacamole
I only learned how make guacamole in the last year or so and boy do I wish I’d learned earlier. It’s so simple to make a basic version that’s delicious. I eat some every week. I had never tried making it before because it always seemed expensive at restaurants and at grocery stores. I assumed…
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Monday is Cat Week: Karate Kat
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Headhouses
(72 St-Broadway Subway Station, Manhattan)
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Moynihan Train Hall
The new Moynihan Train Hall at Penn Station opened to the public yesterday. It’s a project that was decades in the making. I’ve been following the saga of the Farley Building redevelopment ever since I was an urban planning grad student in the late 90s and it’s a real thrill to finally see it in…
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Happy New Year 2021
Farewell 2020, Hello 2021! Alex, Helena, and I wish you all a healthy and happy year ahead.
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Merry Motor Xmas 2020
From sunny Florida, me and the missus wish you all a very Merry Christmas and holiday season. (Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Orlando, FL)
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Back to the Blog (Part 2)
Happy Birthday, Blog Sixteen years ago today, I started a Blogger called Bklyn Bulging. It was a primarily a moblog with photos and text composed and uploaded from my Treo 600.1 Not surprisingly, the first post featured my cat. It felt like magic to instantly share images and thoughts from wherever I was at the…
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‘An incredibly couture boutique storytelling venture’
A new David Fincher movie is always cause for celebration, not least because it means he’s going to be doing press for it. Because in my mind, Fincher’s second greatest talent is giving terrifically insightful, blunt, funny interviews about moviemaking, like this one from Vulture: In that regard, there are two lines I want to…
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World of Wong Kar Wai
This online Film at Lincoln Center retrospective looks incredible: Contemporary cinema’s supreme rhapsodist of romantic longing, Wong Kar Wai makes mesmerizing mood pieces that swirl around themes of time, dislocation, and the yearning for human connection. WKW was a huge influence on me when I started making short films in 2005, and it’s always been…
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Clooney on Acting
The current GQ has a great interview with George Clooney. The whole piece is wonderful, but I particularly love how he nails the importance of specificity in acting: He starts describing the stages of acting, all of which he went through. “The first thing you see is everybody overacts,” he says. “You’re trying to cry.…
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All the Stars
Just lovely. (All the Stars in the Sky Have the Same Face by Lawrence Weiner, Jewish Museum)