According to AdAge, there are 19 special flavors of Kit Kat bars available only in Japan that you just can’t get anywhere else, like strawberry-cheesecake, blueberry, cherry blossom and green tea (no big deal you say).
Have you ever tried yubari melon, yuzu, grape or wasabi-flavored white chocolate? No, how about sweet potato, miso, baked corn, green beans, red potatoes or kinako (a toasted soybean flour mostly used to coat mochi)? My mouth is watering already.
The number one flavor- surprise, it’s soy sauce (who would have thought that). For the whole story, go to adage.com.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Six feet under…
...Atlantic Avenue is where the ladder takes you, after first descending
through a standard sized manhole, to a dirt floored passage, carved through more dirt and small stones.
Duck under the low concrete intrusion, mind the water and the mud, then walk maybe 70 feet, as you notice the curved brick ceiling low enough to touch.
You then come to a solid looking wall, with a very narrow sliver of a passage chiseled through it. Once you squeeze thorough a couple of feet of concrete,
you suddenly find yourself overlooking a long, seemingly endless empty tunnel, with homemade wooden steps leading you down to the bottom.
As you descend the steps, a seated man warns you to watch your step. You soon reach another dirt floor, only this one is fairly solid- damp of course, as the 60 degree tunnel maintains a pretty high humidity- and as you gaze around you notice the Manhattan schist blocks that form the tunnel walls, which are then topped with a gently curving brick arch that rises almost 20 feet over your head.
The man you passed is of course no other than Bob Diamond, who in 1980 discovered the long abandoned tunnel, after he was repeated told by everyone that it did not exist. But it does exist, and Atlantic Avenue bustles blissfully 30-40 feet above you, except you can’t hear any of that, as there is only the one opening to the street, and it is far, far behind you as you walk over the uneven dirt floor, noticing where each railroad tie used to be a century and a half ago.
Written about by Walt Whitman and H.P. Lovecraft, and rumored to be the hiding place of German spies, bootleggers, lost treasure, pirates, vampires and the final resting place of a murdered foreman, this tunnel has to be one of the most visited, and most legendary, yet least know pieces of New York City’s transportation, or for that matter, any kind of our city’s history.
Here and there your flashlight picks out things: graffiti from Mr. Lynch who put electricity in the tunnel during one of its’ many investigations for supposed criminal activity, a huge pile of curved brick sections
where the above ground airshaft was torn down and dumped into the
hole before being sealed on the surface, the occasional rotten piece of wood, or rusted metal object, patches of white paint still remaining on the ceiling which was painted that way to reflect light, and the fact that despite being built in 1844, and abandoned in 1861, the tunnel is in pretty solid shape.
After walking the equivalent of several city blocks, the light from the string of occasional bare light bulbs ends, and you are left with only
whatever flashlight you have brought with you for illumination. You need to carefully avoid many large pieces of stone as you reach the far end of the tunnel- at least that is where another wall sits, blocking whatever may lie beyond it in the last section of the tunnel- perhaps just dirt and New York City infrastructure, or perhaps, as it is rumored, missing pages from John Wilkes Booths’ diary, or even an overturned 1831 vintage steam locomotive.
Some large sewer pipes and pieces of conduit pierce the back corner of the crumbling wall, reminding us that even though the tunnel has sat abandoned and mostly forgotten for over 150 years, there does exist a bustling metropolis overhead, one that like an old tree, occasionally extends its’ roots down into the deep dark earth.
Will we soon discover what lies beyond that wall? Will another fascinating chapter in the story of this subterranean structure be written? Stay tuned.
through a standard sized manhole, to a dirt floored passage, carved through more dirt and small stones.
Duck under the low concrete intrusion, mind the water and the mud, then walk maybe 70 feet, as you notice the curved brick ceiling low enough to touch.You then come to a solid looking wall, with a very narrow sliver of a passage chiseled through it. Once you squeeze thorough a couple of feet of concrete,
you suddenly find yourself overlooking a long, seemingly endless empty tunnel, with homemade wooden steps leading you down to the bottom.
As you descend the steps, a seated man warns you to watch your step. You soon reach another dirt floor, only this one is fairly solid- damp of course, as the 60 degree tunnel maintains a pretty high humidity- and as you gaze around you notice the Manhattan schist blocks that form the tunnel walls, which are then topped with a gently curving brick arch that rises almost 20 feet over your head.
The man you passed is of course no other than Bob Diamond, who in 1980 discovered the long abandoned tunnel, after he was repeated told by everyone that it did not exist. But it does exist, and Atlantic Avenue bustles blissfully 30-40 feet above you, except you can’t hear any of that, as there is only the one opening to the street, and it is far, far behind you as you walk over the uneven dirt floor, noticing where each railroad tie used to be a century and a half ago.
Written about by Walt Whitman and H.P. Lovecraft, and rumored to be the hiding place of German spies, bootleggers, lost treasure, pirates, vampires and the final resting place of a murdered foreman, this tunnel has to be one of the most visited, and most legendary, yet least know pieces of New York City’s transportation, or for that matter, any kind of our city’s history.Here and there your flashlight picks out things: graffiti from Mr. Lynch who put electricity in the tunnel during one of its’ many investigations for supposed criminal activity, a huge pile of curved brick sections
where the above ground airshaft was torn down and dumped into the
hole before being sealed on the surface, the occasional rotten piece of wood, or rusted metal object, patches of white paint still remaining on the ceiling which was painted that way to reflect light, and the fact that despite being built in 1844, and abandoned in 1861, the tunnel is in pretty solid shape.After walking the equivalent of several city blocks, the light from the string of occasional bare light bulbs ends, and you are left with only
whatever flashlight you have brought with you for illumination. You need to carefully avoid many large pieces of stone as you reach the far end of the tunnel- at least that is where another wall sits, blocking whatever may lie beyond it in the last section of the tunnel- perhaps just dirt and New York City infrastructure, or perhaps, as it is rumored, missing pages from John Wilkes Booths’ diary, or even an overturned 1831 vintage steam locomotive.
Some large sewer pipes and pieces of conduit pierce the back corner of the crumbling wall, reminding us that even though the tunnel has sat abandoned and mostly forgotten for over 150 years, there does exist a bustling metropolis overhead, one that like an old tree, occasionally extends its’ roots down into the deep dark earth.Will we soon discover what lies beyond that wall? Will another fascinating chapter in the story of this subterranean structure be written? Stay tuned.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Snow storm #3...or 4?
Who remembers by now? A few snapshots before the next one hits. All this will seem quaint in August….
Friday, February 5, 2010
Gawd, I love New York
Where else can you go to a museum, then upon exiting, a few doors down pass a mission, complete with two people asking for money- “I only need 80 cents…can you spare a dollar chief”, then past a dozen shuttered restaurant supply places, then cross a street and come upon
a gallery opening, walk right in, get a strong vodka & cranberry for free- tip the bartender of course- view some art, take in a scene, find yourself looking into a barbershop (is it a haircut if no one is there to watch it?), talk to a producer of childrens' television, exit, slightly buzzed, then pass a dozen lighting places- all dark of course, notice several windows
made up of fish tanks, or rows upon rows of smoked chickens, of red
pieces of roast pork, mystery meats all hanging from hooks, buy a
dinner’s worth of incredible seafood noodle soup with a curry broth for $7, pass a prison, then another mission, then cross one of the most famous streets in the world, look up & see a Gothic skyscraper, see a Dan Flavin neon sculpture, pass a $25 million home, then nearly step on a rat the size of a cat, see the Ghostbusters firehouse, then the building where JFK Jr. used to live, pass Harvey Keitel, then a cement mixer next to a Mercedes next to a backhoe, then see two lovers sharing a kiss where a homeless guy used to live, then finally climb my steps, slightly frozen, to reflect upon life in NY, my journey, and of course, enjoy my dinner, while watching The Office.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Show me the show
To mark the closing of the X Initiative gallery in Chelsea, they opened the doors for 24 hours and invited anybody- which of course includes yours truly- to exhibit pretty much anything you could drag over there.I made a print of an image from my nightlife series, and placed in an "appropriate" location.
All around were installations of paintings, drawings, photography, sculptures, videos, sound recordings, conceptual pieces, interactive pieces, happenings, and the occasional small child or dog. These were hung, taped, nailed, screwed, glued, wired, push pinned, constructed, placed, poured, painted, drawn, silk screened, printed, and otherwise attached or put all around two floors of the gigantic X Initiative building….
I only wish there were more galleries/shows like this where there were no rules, no curation, no limits, no arbiters of good or bad taste, just every kind of “art”- and lots of it!
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Snow job
The good news, I got a last minute call to do a job before the end of the year. The bad news, it was literally on New Year’s Eve day (if that is it’s official name), and I had to try to drive out of the city in the blizzard. As I have a Volvo, and spent 4 winters upstate, I was not worried, but 
apparently I should have been. Trying to get out of Manhattan via the Williamsburg Bridge was not happening, so after an hour on Delancy, I took some empty back streets to the Brooklyn Bridge, which was open.
Once I got out of the city, the roads were passable, and I was able to make I to my shoot on Long Island only slightly late. I can’t show the images until after they have run, but look at the March 2010 issue of Consumer Reports to see what I did.
apparently I should have been. Trying to get out of Manhattan via the Williamsburg Bridge was not happening, so after an hour on Delancy, I took some empty back streets to the Brooklyn Bridge, which was open.
Once I got out of the city, the roads were passable, and I was able to make I to my shoot on Long Island only slightly late. I can’t show the images until after they have run, but look at the March 2010 issue of Consumer Reports to see what I did.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
California Dreamin'
Just got back from a week out in San Francisco. While I was out there, I had a bunch of appointments at some ad agencies- I met with: Debbie Mobley at Venables, Bell & Partners, Suzee Barrabee at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, Jen Hall at Anderson DDB, Kelly Steblay at BBDO West, Kevin Stokes at Kane and Finkel Healthcare, as well as some folks at some top notch design firms: Robin Raj, Steve Fong, Kristin and the gang at Citizen Group and Jon Schleuning, Gloria Hiek, An Luc and Rob Duncan over at Studio Hinrichs. Thank you to everyone for sharing your time with me.Ate some great lunches at Henry’s Hunan, referred by my buddy, super DP Andy Lilien. He recommended Marty's Special- a dish made with chicken, bamboo shoots, onions carrots, bell peppers, house made smoked ham, all mixed with a hot red peppers- smoky, salty, delicious, but not for the faint of heart. Another signature dish is Diana's Special Meat Pie, described as “Deep-fried flour cakes filled with meat sauce, Parmesan cheese, vegetables, onions and condiments (with or without hot sauce)”- like China meets Mexico in SF. Not sure why good Hunan is so hard to find here in NY, where Szechwan seems to have taken hold as the premier spicy Chinese cuisine.
I also spent some time wandering through SF’s Chinatown, taking 
pictures, and had a sort of déjà vu moment when I realized I had walked the same area shooting some pictures almost 20 years earlier. What was interesting to me, upon reflection, was not just how much things had or hadn’t changed, but how much I had changed. Instead of looking at the scene, and shooting it from a distance, I now go right into the scene, and shot using a wider lens, making myself a part of the action. The other thing is back then it was a manual focus Nikon F3, shooting Kodachrome 64, and of course I couldn’t see what I had shot for days until I sent the film out to Fair Lawn NJ.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
