After watching the news last night I was left with a minor realization concerning Cali's energy problems. The old notion of placing value in land where there is water somewhere on the property (either underground or running through it) comes to mind. Otherwise your indebted to someone with the water you need (Chinatown). Now it's each state which must have a sufficent domestic energy supply or have to purchase it from out of state. They pointed out Florida and lower New York state (amoung others) as hot spots of energy deficit. They went further to point out that it isn't even a peak use time of year and that we may be "in for it" this summer.

Funny Caifornia breaks down right at the time of the inauguration. Funny that W's Texas boys have shitloads of energy (to sell). And funny Alaska has shitloads of untapped oil and that all we need is enough *fear* to scare it up out of the ground.

1/30/01 : As promised, a NYT link (from today).
Ted Nugent Sued Over Dinner And A Show Jan 23, 2001, 10:15 am PT

A Lincoln, Neb. couple is suing Ted Nugent in Lancaster County, Neb. Court for allegedly dropping the ball on an Internet auction in which they paid $1,535 for dinner with the rocker and front-row seats to one of his concerts, according to the Associated Press.

Ron and Krishelle Bennett won an eBay Internet auction which allegedly gave them unrestricted backstage passes and front-row seats to Nugent's Aug. 25, 2000 concert at Sandstone Amphitheater in Bonner Springs, Kan., as well as a sit-down dinner with the singer-guitarist. ,br>
In the lawsuit, filed Monday (Jan. 22), the couple has alleged that they only received limited access backstage passes, seats that were 30 rows back from the front row, and that Nugent did not join them for dinner but rather only spoke briefly with the couple before the show.

"This guy was my hero," said Ron Bennett, as quoted by the Associated Press. "I was thrilled to see him, and he basically destroyed my entire belief in rock and roll."

The Bennetts are suing for fraud and breach of contract, seeking an unspecified amount in damages.
Take me to the river.
a maze ing
Could mike w pls e.mail me with a little info about barges / my brothers interested / cant find your e.address - sorry and thanks -b
I'm having a hell of a time getting around the net today, so no link, But. In todays NYT Dining out section za article by Amanda Hesser "So you think your kitchen is small?" on vest pocket restaurants featuring Caviar Russe, Prune, Tasting Room and 71 Clinton FF. lotza pics (including Wylie) and tips (learn to use a whisp, they use less counter space than a mixer) for your own small kitchenz. Also a wine article called "The Rinse Cycle".

Ok, fuckit, a link.

They caught some of those friends of Steve who escaped from jail in Texas. Aparently it was again video footage from that great service to mankind, AMERICAS MOST WANTED that gave them away. An eye whitness last night on the news who had spotted them in a RV park said : "One guy had dyed his hair blond and wore dark sunglasses another had dyed his hair red from here (pointing to just above his own left ear) up. They looked like perfectly regular people. You'd never have guessed it was them."

So, in order to fit in in America and stay stealthy, dye your hair a funny color !
Grand Sichuan Int'l Midtown has been open for some months now @ 745 9th Ave--they just added another page of new dishes--now it has two different menu's from its sister at 24th/9th Ave--BYOB & cripy fried eel rules!!
Lupa is still one of new yorks finest--the pasta with pecorino and black pepper is so f'in yummy and the tuna belly course still stay's on my mind days later--two bottles of wine and 4 dishes cost $108 with the tax!!
just returned from my second meal at "A Salt and Battery" 112 Greenwich Ave (owned by Tea & Sympathy)--so far so great--fresh fish with a wonderful batter--have still to try the chips, mushy peas, baked beans, and deep fried beets--dont think i am ready yet for the deep fried mars bar...
Since there seems to be a lot of religious fervor in the air I want to mention that I'm doing the good Samaritan thing, not exactly, and have called a guy ('s wife actually) and told him, (or her actually) that "I found what appears to be the contents of your glovebox," behind a house I'm renovating on Rocheblave (yep, still at it), and she was so happy, although I could not initially figure out why because I assumed the paperwork I had collected meant the car had been stolen, but no, just the contents of the glovebox. The guy (and his wife?) live not far from here, I'll expose them and say they live in the 3300 block of Esplanade, which is around the corner but a completely different world, nice, in it's more affluent way, and that just makes me reflect fervently, which is my nature, on how that's one of the things here that makes the magic that people talk about (or is it just me that talks about it?), I mean the demographic striation of this place, which is scary (or that should be "fascinating"), if you pause to think about it, and what else am I going to do. Anyway, I am online with a single phone line and am realizing only now what my hesitation meant when the wife asked me could her husband call me on his way home from work at this number and I said, "yes" but not very convincingly. I knew I might be busy, what with the development of a new lethal religious product, and the delivery of this crap, which I must consider of utmost importance--cuz look at me go on about it.
Wrestling with an angle.
Independent film maker Michael Almeryeda has just finished shooting a film in New Orleans called "Happy Here and Now," which may or may not be in theatres by the end of the year. He's another one of many who came here and got seduced by something he can't really describe so he's making a movie to try and exorcize the demon that is his awareness of that something special which is the pulsating undercurrent of life in New Orleans. With a mere million dollar budget he has a cast which includes Clarence Williams III (Linc from the old Mod Squad), Liane Balaban (up and comer), Ally Sheedy, and David Arquette.

Purportedly this will be a film wherein the "details, personalities, and images are more important than the plot itself."

In the words of Almeryeda--"There's a fair bit of declaration of place. New Orleans is definetly a character in the movie. It's a cliche that this is a magical place, but it is. The local atmosphere seems charged. I hope to capture something unrelated to the familiar postcard images we see in the movies--the voodoo, the vampires, the cemetaries, the French Quarter. I hope to capture New Orleans in a way I've never seen it on screen before--a style of living, a pleasure of life, the spirit and the people."

I applaud your effort Mr. Ameryeda, a worthy cause indeed, and I have a jealousy for your method which has you here and gone in a year's period with a story or product which may or may not ring true while I think I'm going to spend most of my life here, with the same result.

Look for this one. (Bill, the flick also includes John Sinclair, the poet with the great voice but whose work does not overwhelm me, but that you mentioned to me once because you heard about his history which includes a prison term for a small amount of marijuana, and Ernie K-Doe, and, last but certainly not least, your boy, Quintron.
hooray for dollywood
asciimation
Theater of Light is at the Soto Velez Cultural Center (that's the old school at Suffolk and Delancy).
Here's a review, and an interview with Rudi Stern.
Earthquake?
I think I actually felt this. I was getting ready for work this morning, at exactly the indicated time, and I registered (heard? felt? hard to say) a jolt. I thought it was something hitting the roof, having been thrown from the building next door. That does happen, but the timing was odd, and it felt different somehow. Now I know why.
can you profess to want to abolish private property and at the same time lay claim to a trademark of a name without it being paradoxical? even if you offer that name for use so long as it is not defamed in the process? i need answers people!!
Forgotten New York looks interesting in a Luc-Sante / Ken-Burns-New-York sort of way.
Seals, Seashores, Sunset
a Montauk postcard
D.I.Y. origami CD cases. (via memepool)
Return of the Hobbit habit. ...and LOTR, fellowship

Ninnyhammer this, it's a slobberknocker !? all roads leading to Todd
just picked up a 1/4 cord of wood and some smaller kindling and the sun is out and getting warmer!! last night was the full moon--see you soon--Montauk
ABC is debuting the latest "reality" series tonight: The Mole. Personally, I'm waiting for the celebrity version.