“I was not going to let this feeling that we have no chance keep me closed inside the banlieue,” Mr. Benamer recalled
Month: May 2013
my only gripe is there’s not enough scooter parking.
Written, directed and starring Vin, Multi-Facial is substantially auto-biographical, as the 18min short film serves as a meta-commentary on Diesel’s attempts to break into the biz. The title is a play on words; Multi-Facial=Multi-Racial, and the plot is comprised mainly of Diesel going to acting auditions and failing to be considered for gigs due to not meeting some form of type-casting criterion. Coming from an Italian/Black ethnic background Diesel finds himself at the distinct disadvantage of not being dark enough, or gangsta enough, or guido enough for whatever role he auditions for. Despite his impressive musculature, Diesel desires to be taken seriously, and tries to impress with his range and commitment to the craft. Ultimately, to his frustration, he finds that casting directors of commercials and music videos don’t rate such ambitions very highly.
NSA Declassifies Internal Training Document: “A Guide To Internet Research”
At over six hundred pages, this .PDF is not something I’d consider light reading, but it is incredibly interesting.
It draws analogies between the internet and Greek mythology, and at one point the sassy author takes aim at IE7 and Microsoft:
“Frankly, after five years, you would think Microsoft could do better than come up with a browser that basically mimics the best features of Firefox and its other (much smaller) competitors.”
Read the whole document here.
NYC First ‘Latin’ Mayor
If you’ve ever wondered what it is like to grow up as a third culture kid, this is the shit we have to deal with. It is very difficult to be accepted / seen as part of “our culture’s general population.” This frustrates me every damn day.
“Clearly, one’s ‘racial’ roots and one’s cultural heritage are very different,” Thomas J. Basile said. “Mayor Mitchel had Hispanic ancestry by virtue of a connection to Spain, but was certainly not Latino. Mitchel didn’t identify himself culturally during his public life with the broader Latino population globally or in the city. It’s not just about who someone’s great-grandfather was but much more about how you connect not only racially but also with the culture, people and lives of those who share that common heritage. It’s not just about where you’re from but how you live and perceive yourself in relation to others of that heritage.”
Recently, I’ve been thinking that I’m not Latino enough to check other people’s “diversity” checkboxes. Because I grew up in the midwest, I am seen as another privileged white guy. Yet, I am a college drop out and have struggled to be where I am. It is frustrating to live in the middle and not be accepted by either side…
There is a good chance I’ll never own a place in NYC. (via NYC Rental Market – Naked Apartments charts the key stats!)
Economists generally agree that one of the distinguishing factors between rich countries and poor ones is that it is much easier to start businesses in rich countries. In Ecuador, for example, it takes about 56 days and 13 separate procedures to get all the legal paperwork done to start a new business. In the United States, it’s an average of six days and six procedures. But if you want to open a mobile-food business in New York, it’s essentially like starting a business in Ecuador — and that’s if you can somehow arrange a permit.
Pretty illustrations aside, this logo is representative of New York in more ways than one: In its adherence to the grid it reflects that of the city (if you can count, you can find your way around here); in its bulkiness it’s allusive to the power of New York as a center of culture, arts, politics and sports; in its shoulder-to-shoulder tightness it is a painful reminder of how little space there is here, but how much we enjoy and thrive in our proximity to each other; and in its openness, where anything can be framed or drawn inside it, it evokes the ability that everyone here has to make their own story, in their own way.