Saturday, December 13, 2008
Genius Marketing #40: Wes and Brad and yellow and a phone.
Ain't this cute? The Japanese can pay these people the right amounts of money. Luckily, these guys (these guises) got some wit up their faux-Hulot sleeves. And Robert Yeoman. --RWK [via cinetrix]
What Community? #69: Thousands of feet.
Finally caught up with this BLDGBLOG post, and, well, it's everything to me right now. (Or, almost. That shower felt pretty good, too.) The gist: there's this dude, right, I mean there's always a dude, and he's living at the top of this big motherfucker cuz it takes too long to go home on the ground every day. Since I'm dumb, I bought that story right away. But Geoff Manaugh is smart. So I'm'a quote him here:
Whether or not this is even true – after all, I never think truth is the point in stories like this – 1) the idea of appropriating a construction crane as a new form of domestic space – a kind of parasitic sub-structure attached to the very thing it's helped to construct (perhaps raising the question: what is the ontology of construction cranes?) – is totally awesome; 2) further, the idea that crane operators are subject to these sorts of urban rumors and speculations brings me back to the idea that there might be a burgeoning comparative literature of mega-construction sites taking shape today, with this particular case representing a strong subgenre: mythic construction worker stories, John Henry-esque figures who single-handedly assemble whole floors of Dubai skyscrapers at midnight, with a cigarette in one hand and a hammer in the other (or so the myths go), as a kind of oral history of the global construction trade; and, finally, 3) there should be some kind of TV show – or a book, or a magazine interview series – similar to Dirty Jobs in which you go around visiting people who live in absurd places – like construction cranes atop the Burj Dubai, or extremely distant lighthouses, or remote drawbridge operation rooms on the south Chinese coast, or the janitorial supply chambers of inner London high-rises – in order to capture what could be called the new infrastructural domesticity: people who go to sleep at night, and brush their teeth, and shave, and change clothes, and shower, inside jungle radar towers for the French foreign legion, or up above the train tracks of Grand Central Station because their shift starts at 3am and they have to stay close to the job.--RWK
How do they decorate these spaces, or personalize them, or make them into recognizable homes? It's like a willful misreading of Heidegger as applied to the question of building, dwelling inside, and thinking about modern infrastructure.
I'm reminded of a line from Paul Beaty's new novel, Slumberland. Early in the book he writes, and my jaw dropped: "Sometimes just making yourself at home is revolutionary."
What Community? #68: Broken cradle.
Look at this flickr set for more of the aftermath of the recent riots in Athens following the 12-6-08 shooting of a 15-year old boy. A lot of the graffiti is unknowable for people like who don't read Greek but this dude has translated a lot of the stuff he's taken pictures of around that burnt and beautiful town. Real Greek thugs: stay strong. Remember Jules: "Pigs sleep and root in shit. That's a filthy animal." --RWK
What Community? #67: Fresh and clean and BIG; Big is BIG, yall.
Cornell West is feelin himself as much as he's feelin Big Boi. But, still, this is pretty cool. I see all kinds of history rapped up in these goats. --RWK
Quick Lit Shit #5: On Film [First Edition]
Dope. His analysis is so thoughtful and clear, so well organized, that I got jealous. Then I got over myself, and my fears, and realized this book is the shit. Even if I don't quite care for the _Alien_ series as a whole. In fact, I may re-watch the whole series just to spite myself. We could all do better to slow down and pay better attention, even if things keep speeding up. --RWK
Genius Marketing #39: How many platforms can we conflate?
He's got it down to a science, sonnz! Like everything in his life. Even those post-game kisses for the girls are a calculation. It's bizarre. But now that he's become -- what? -- a man (what?), he's affable. His will to power is subsumed in the fun of his celebrity. And this kind of marketing is really just genius. "Oh, we get the unadulterated look?" HEEEHCK no. It's like Romany Malko says, "You think all'a this--you think any of this is a accident?" Every angle has been played here. He even gets to plug another sport for Nike footwear. I guess there was some kind of webcast about the shoe. But my iNets have been down for a minute. Whatevs. This is hilarious, smart, sexy. I want those shoes! --RWK
Encounter #122: NIKES! have never been this free.
I don't think I've ever been this free. Is this free? Who's breaking? Breaking what? Superstars don't feel hurt, don't get AIDS, don't die. What gives? Also, gimme sum of these for free, please. --RWK
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Considerable linear extent in space #4: Look at that pass.
Skeets says "LeBron James wins '09 Slam Dunk contest." I say, Jesus, look at that pass. The play after the amazing left-side drive. --RWK
Sunday, December 7, 2008
What Community? #66: For your milk!
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So Milk is all about building a community. And it's admirable. But my freeNIKES! side is still afraid of community in a way, which kinda shines through in our talk, so I thought I'd share it here, too, for the two people other than Cuy and me who read this goofy blog. Thanks. --RWK
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