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7/19/2012 New Wanderlust: Sea Bright, NJ//Where Not to Spend Your Summer

Hello New Yorkers and fellow exiles! I've been revising some thoughts I put down this spring about going back to my high school job, and decided that giving it to you might make me leave it alone for once and for all. Longer than usual, but I think you'll like it (it's about you, after all. Sort of, anyway. It might mostly be about me. But I'll leave that open to debate).

Read me ramble under the cut:

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7/15/2012 ONLY IN NEW YORK: ROCKAWAY EDITION



 

1. ROCKAWAY TACOS
2. THE MOSAIC WHALE
3. BOARDWALK

A WANDERLUST SIDE NOTE:
Rockaway Beach is a truly unique experience. It is, first of all, very strange to me that you can access it for only $2.25 by subway. It feels somewhat surreal, like that children's television show where a bunch of terrible children are launched into space on a rogue school bus.

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7/15/2012 ONLY IN NEW YORK




1. RICKSHAW DUMPLINGS, MANHATTAN SKYLINE
2. S. AMERICAN CULTURE PARADE
3. ASSORTED SWEETS, CHINATOWN, BAY RIDGE

7/14/2012 WORD TO THE WISE: ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND

I am sorry to say that I have recently been relatively disappointed in film. It started when I went to see Magic Mike in theaters-- a film which does not possess even the smallest fetal skeleton of plot or character development. And continued with a slow night spent in my dorm room watching a bizarre Netflix biopic.

So, relatively resigned to bad movies in general, back on my Netflix account, I began Michel Gondry's Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. My first thought was "well, if it's got nothing else, it's got the beautiful Kate Winslet." At the time it felt like a superficial throw-away, but, in retrospect, I realize that a lovely, talented actress is nothing at which to scoff.

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6/15/2012 TIPOFF: THIS AIN'T CALIFORNIA

            Common adjectives for a documentary might be “interesting,” “informative,” or “stimulating,” but it's not so often that a nonfiction narrative is "explosive." The directors often seem to conform to established filmic patterns rather than using their full creative capacity to really explore their subject. This Ain’t California is an exception to the rule.
            The story, ultimately, is one that has been told before, being at its core a narrative on oppression in East Germany. The way it is related, however, is completely original. Director Martin Persiel explores the small but steadfast clan of skateboarding devotees in the GDR in the 1980s. Their movement, as described by one of the characters, is “the desire for freedom turned lifestyle,” and it’s a bizarre but extreme power this misplaced trend exudes. The film’s story is grounded in the narrative of a small skating troupe, beginning with footage the skaters filmed themselves through their childhood and adolescence. These clips are then complemented with interviews with surviving members conducted by Persiel in the present. The style allows the audience both to experience the raw highs and thrills of surfing a concrete city and then to reflect upon these emotions within their context.
            One might think that so many sources of footage would result in a jumpy or unclear narrative, but instead the patchwork quality, exaggerated to the ultimate effect, only works to the film’s advantage. Not only do the clips come from different time periods, but the forms varies from newsreel, to animation, to stills, to Super 8 footage. This makeshift visual style is the perfect form to fit the story’s function—skateboarding was a departure from convention, and the footage consequently reflects the experimentation of the period.
            The film is clever, and insightful, and beautiful all at once. Not to mention explosive.


5/22/2012 ONLY IN NEW YORK



1. MURAL DOWNTOWN
2. CRACKED CEILING: EDGAR'S CAFE- W. 92ND
3. LOUIS VUITTON PUMPKINS- CHELSEA

5/10/2012 Good night and good luck

Unbelievably, tomorrow I'm actually moving home for quite a while, and I'm not sure what to do. I'll sacrifice pithy alliteration this week to simply say: New York, I miss you already. I don't know when I'll be back again for the long haul, but I won't let it go too long. In the meantime, I'll be living it up on the Jersey shore and trying not to think too much. HAGS. Never change.

1. Salina- The Avett Brothers
2. The Fastest Way Back Home- Frank Turner
3. For the Summer- Ray LaMontagne
4. Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then)- Decemberists
5. How'm I Gonna Get Back Home- He's My Brother She's My Sister

(Lot of repeat offenders this time round. Next time expect innovation.)

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