I hate burritos

said no Juan ever.

Californian Mexican food is insanely good so while we were there, we headed out for burritos.

The Mission District in San Francisco is a bit seedy; not really dangerous, but not exactly Madison in the east 60’s, either.

But the burritos are there. 

Under the palms.

The holy grail of Mexican, El Farolito’s Taqueria.

Crowded, noisy and not the least bit swank, 

I had perhaps my most memorable burrito, ever.

It was about the same size as my head. Spoon for scale.

Beans and rice and carnitas pork, with a delicious homemade salsa and real-deal guacamolé.

I never dreamed I’d finish it. And then I did. 

Wolfed it down.

So delicious. So cheap.

And washed down with cane sugar, 

Mexican Coke, too.

If only their bagels were this good.

http://clocktowertenants.com/2015/04/schmear-campaign.html

summer patient. me? not so much.

Today is the first day of Spring, snow be damned. 

Back in September we posted about the 

Randall’s Island “Connector.” 

It’s a foot and bicycle bridge being constructed under the Amtrak railroad trestle.

You can read about that here:

http://clocktowertenants.com/2014/09/the-promised-land.html

So why mention all this on the Vernal Equinox?

Because 1) Summer is coming!, 2) Bike paths are being planned to the connector. 3) the connector is a great short cut to Randall’s Island and 4) Randall’s Island is MADE for SUMMER!

nydailyNews

Back in 1885 it was still separate from Ward’s Island to the north, separated by a water passage known as “Little Hell’s Gate.”

In 1915 the train trestle was being built.

And by the 1960’s Little Hell’s Gate was filled in and today the combined island is home to our Labor Day EDM festival, the Electric Zoo.

http://clocktowertenants.com/2014/08/where-wild-things-are-gonna-be.html

But the rest of the time? Ballfields!

A batting cage!

A driving range and...

Miniature golf!  YES.

There’s a grill restaurant and a cocktail lounge there, too.

Or just stop at the Bronx Brewery for a cold one on your way home.

Just 6 blocks north of the connector if when it opens!

snow joke

billyhunt

jokeroo.com

they can’t feel you

pennlive.com

By now you’ve heard that Kappa Rho Delta at Penn State created a secret FaceBook page displaying unconscious, naked women in their frat house.

Now they are facing criminal charges.

pennlive.com

1. College guys have always had cameras but didn’t tend to act on this kind of unethical trespass. 

Apparently, now they do.

2. Even if long ago some jerk took a naked photo without permission, he wasn’t stupid enough to post it on a public pin-up board with clues leading back to him. 

Apparently, now he is.

3.  Regular users of social media will read this story and shrug. Young people just expect this. 

So there is noticeable impairment to emotional compassion since the advent of social media.

1973flickr

Students didn't think this way. 

Now they do.

brush with the law

4Burners is a New York City tagging crew.

Section 120 of the Copyright Act preserves my right to take public photos of a copyrighted building designed by someone else.

The Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990 codifies certain moral rights allowing graffiti artists to copyright their work despite being painted on the side of someone else’s copyrighted building.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_Artists_Rights_Act

Especially when that work is signed.

My photographing is where it starts getting tricky.

My photo of a graffiti artist’s tag is a pictorial representation of work by both the graffiti artist and also the architect of the building.

But I hold the copyright on the photo I took. Got it?

So can I sell copies of my photo since I hold copyright on my work?

Yes. And no.

If I just take a basic shot of the graffiti and try to sell it, under VARA that might be considered “a modification detrimental to the artist’s honor or reputation” and my commercial use could be denied.

But if I head out to Hunt’s Point before sunrise and set up reflectors and a tripod and wait out the lighting until just the right moment, and catch a bit of the surrounding industrial environment in the frame...

...a court might deem that use

“sufficiently transformative”

...and grant me license because I made artistic judgments 

of my own.

Under that use, neither the architect nor the muralist could bring a claim because my photo is considered an original work of authorship, in and of itself. 

artlawreport.com