According to automotive research firm IHS Corporation, the last car with a cassette deck as standard equipment was the 2010 Lexus.
We saw that last cassette! It was under the Deegan overpass.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Friday, February 11, 2011
Summary judgment
New York City in the mid-1970’s was a revelation of exploding musical energy. CheapTrick signed with EPIC, The Ramones released their first full album and Sid Vicious and Johnny Rotten were forming the SexPistols to sign with EMI.
This pounding, petulant, cool-as-hell music (riding in on a pissy sneer) was also embodied by Elvis Costello on COLUMBIA. His New Wave punk soon took the airwaves in 1978 with “Pump It Up”, a party-till-you-puke anthem still central to party playlists 30 years later.
“Fall into submission,
hit-and-run transmission.
No use wishing now for any other sin.
Pump it up... until you can feel it.
Pump it up... when you don't really need it.”
In 2005 the RogueTraders sampled Costello’s famous riff and silhouette proving once again there really are no new ideas and the great ones recycle on forever. Listen to Pump It Up while you enjoy Costello’s spastic dancing, then check out the first 20 seconds or so of VooDoo Child:
I rest my case.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
love those skylines
Great news!
Shane Perez, photographer of urban decay and female nudity and a featured artist last October in our own ClockTowerSalon,
...has had the very good fortune to be picked up by Arianna Huffington...
...the very same week she sold her popular daily to AOL for the amazing sum of $315 million, perhaps the largest price ever paid for a daily blog.
(Can ClockTowerTenants be far behind?)
Originally a voice for the right side of the political aisle, she moved noticeably to the left side during the Bush years. Now with a much larger audience as a member of the AOL family, HUFFPO is apparently moving…...uh, to the backside.
Congratulations, Shane.
I just love photos of the Woolworth Building.
C’mon guys. Get serious.
The ClockTowerTenants server relays its data through an anonymizing node in Tasmania for security purposes. It’s Summer there at the moment.
My buds in Taz who handle the administration experienced an unexplained power outage yesterday and we missed a post. We're sorry.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
the internet is a series of tubes
The spare parts are along Bruckner,
just east of St. Ann’s Avenue.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Reweaving historical thread$
In 1989, the City of New York enacted its first comprehensive recycling law, commonly known as Local Law 19. The stone and steel from the old Willis Avenue Bridge is being recycled as part of this initiative.
Today, we spend more than $300 million each year to dispose of our garbage outside of the City, but according to a study by the New York City Independent Budget Office, it costs more for the city to collect and dispose of each ton of recycling than each ton of garbage. (CBS Interactive)
Specialized glass, metal and plastic recycling costs New York $240 per ton, almost double what it costs to just throw it away. (ABC News)
Still, in the spirit of doing the right thing 3,200 cubic yards of granite salvaged from the demolished Willis Avenue Bridge is being reused in the PIER One salt marsh, part of the EmpireFultonFerry project in Brooklyn.
Matthew Urbanski, lead designer for the landscape architecture firm Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, created the master plan and had this to say about the recycling:
MU: “...we also used the old stone from the Willis Avenue Bridge, which the DOT is renovating We got a call one day from someone at the department asking if we wanted the stone block from the columns, and I said "Sure!" Then they asked what we were going to do with it, and I said, "I have no idea..." [laughs]….
“The Willis stones were huge monolithic blocks. So we used them throughout the park to create... terraces that look out over the constructed salt marsh. They create hulking, rough retaining walls and terraces, and then they become a material motif throughout the park.”
Interviewer: “The stone is beautiful. You can still see the iron stains and discolorations from its earlier life.”
MU: Yes. But one point to emphasize is that it's extremely hard to use recycled material. The material is cheaper to buy, but the effort required to repurpose it is significant. On our end, the work to get the stone, take stock of it, measure it and then mesh our design intent with the dimensions and quantities of the existing material — this was demanding. So was the labor of the masons — cutting the stone and grinding it down.”
“I can't say that the recycled material was a cheaper solution; but it is beautiful, and it is environmentally responsible to reuse what exists. And it reweaves some of the historical threads of the city, in a subtle way.”
Brooklyn Pier photos courtesy of thedesignobserver.com
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Spread your wings (and cry)
It’s SuperBowl weekend and all across America chicken wings are heading for the oven. Mine, too. They’re easy, spicy and delicious.
The WesternBeef had a weekend special on wings that are inexpensive, quite large and very meaty. Roast them hot at 400 degrees for about an hour or so with salt and pepper, then baste them with their drippings for 10 or 15 minutes more until they are golden and crispy, like this.
While they roast we’ll make a sauce.
Here’s the standard line-up.
Melt a stick of butter very slowly….
...then get the hot stuff going.
The Chipotle is from the supermarket. Add two tablespoons of that to start. Habenero works just as well.
The powdered red chile is from Little India at 28th and Lex. Add NO MORE than one scant teaspoon, you can always add more later. Don’t get it into your eyes or on any mucous membrane while it’s still raw. Seriously. You should need training and a licence just to handle this stuff.
Now add 5 tbs white vinegar, a teaspoon of garlic salt, three tablespoons of Worcestershire, a couple tablespoons of soy sauce and then two more tablespoons of a good steak sauce. A bit of tabasco is nice if you have it, too. Mix it all around on very low heat.
Gently warm the sauce and taste it. Delicately. YO. Spicy enough for ya? (My eyes are tearing up) Adjust as you see fit. Has an hour-fifteen passed? Are the wings done?
Great.
Add the wings to the sauce and spoon it over and over to coat.
Now don’t forget to deglaze the baking sheet with a little water for your container in the freezer. Get every bit of that roasted chicken flavor for your next batch of stock.
Okay, I’m digging in.
WOW. (sniff) Hot.
Whoooof damn. (cough) I’m getting a beer. Want one?
Got a hold on youuuuuuu
“I know you're getting twisted"
"And you can't calm down"
"Oh-oh, it's magic”
"They saw Jesus approaching the boat,
walking on the water;
and they were terrified." John 6:19
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