The Circus

Barack Obama should run the Mets.

Happiness is Good Street Food

The take-out food near me is not ideal. There's spots down on Cranston Street and Olneyville Square but they're too far for a quick pick up. But now! I found this taco truck right near me on Dexter Park on Parade and Willow. The food is pretty good, but more importantly it's run by this really nice, friendly family. There were two kids serving customers while their dad cooked in the back. The kids were real sweet and patiently explained what all the dishes were to me. They said they're usually out evenings around 5-9PM.






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Short Money

Giuliani Plans to Aid Hopefuls, for His Share

From the New York Times:

Mr. Giuliani’s aides have told the National Republican Congressional Committee and Congressional candidates that if he makes an appearance, he wants the candidates to help him get rid of his presidential campaign debt...“In a year when our candidates are struggling to raise money, this is just another burden,” said a leading Republican Party strategist, who was briefed about the mayor’s request. “This is not about helping the party. This is about helping Rudy Giuliani.”

Wow! What balls!

The fact that Mr. Giuliani — who had an estimated net worth of at least $30 million in 2006, according to financial disclosure forms filed last year — has loaned his campaign money gives the fund-raising a particular urgency. Candidates generally have unlimited time to pay off campaign debt. But if any portion of a personal loan to a campaign is unpaid by the end of an election cycle, the maximum amount that can be repaid with money raised after that is $250,000, according to Bob Biersack, a spokesman for the Federal Election Commission.

Guess that window is closing fast huh? Favorite part (emphasis mine):

Political analysts say that Mr. Giuliani’s once prolific fund-raising abilities have been hampered by several factors. Perhaps most significant is the fact that Mr. Giuliani neither holds a position in government nor is a candidate for public office. Both qualities are attractive to donors who are looking for access to government.

Beyond that, the reputation of Mr. Giuliani was hurt by the sudden collapse of his presidential campaign, as well as by the allegations of corruption that hung over Bernard B. Kerik, a former police commissioner in the Giuliani administration.

So I can make a donation so that a multi-millionaire not currently working in public life, who ran a deeply-flawed presidential campaign that imploded on itself before it even got started, can pay himself back some money he lent his own campaign? Sign me up!

It sounds almost as compelling as fighting genocide, disease and (shameless plug) youth arts programs in inner-city communities.

Look, I'm no political strategist but my (unsolicited) advice to Rudy would be:

• Just eat the debt! Pay it off with some consulting gigs and corporate speaking events. You're still America's Mayor, even if you won't be our president, you can make that money back pretty easily. Leaning on some emerging Republican candidates just looks bad.
  

• Focus on building goodwill in the Republican party, and more importantly, re-establishing your relevance and credibility as an important national figure. After the way your presidential campaign embarrassingly collapsed (remember when you were the front-runner and John McCain was dead in the water?). If I were you, I'd be fighting for the chance to help lower-rung Republicans get elected and proving that I've still got some sway with voters.

What Price an Executive Director?

I found a price tag tied to my chair at my desk, I assume the product of some rascal New Urban Arts student (when I find you I'm going to....).

ASIAN
$10.00

Can work as a "director"
don't expect much to get done.

P.S. Requires a lot of hair gel.

I think I just found the text I need for a potential match.com profile. Its just missing "tall" and "handsome."

NYC Triathlon Training Schedule

Last year, the night before I ran the NYC marathon, drunk in self-confidence and athletic hubris, I impulsively signed up for the NYC Triathlon thinking I had plenty of time to train for it (the marathon was November 2007 and the Triathlon is July 21, 2008). Well, the sucker is now less than two months away which got me thinking that I should probably start a training schedule a little more systematic than biking, swimming or running when I "feel like it." I found this training schedule courtesy beginner triathlete. It's designed for someone who's goal is to simply finish without dying which is what I'm about shooting for. It's a four-month schedule and I'm jumping in midway because I don't have four months. So here it is, I'll post workouts I complete at some attempt at accountability.

There Goes the Neighborhood

Explaining Willie Randolph's paranoia

When asked about the possibility of race's playing a role in camera shots that show him only in stoic form that makes him appear unemotional and uninvolved, Randolph responded, "It smells a little bit."

The media pounced on his words like they came out of Jeremiah Wright's mouth. The vilification of him, the gall of him. The last thing anyone wants to hear is race and racism injected into the state of affairs of a team with the highest payroll in the National League playing under-.500 baseball months after a season-ending collapse unseen in this generation.

So even the thought that the color of one's skin could play a role – or have any legitimate bearing – on how the performance and passion of a manager is perceived by the public and thus possibly have some weight on the manager's job security is incongruous.

But not inappropriate.

-Scoop Jackson

Interesting article by Scoop Jackson . It's easy to forget how many years I would read about Willie futilely interviewing for manager positions knowing he was the token minority candidate before he got his chance when Minaya hired him. It was like an annual offseason baseball tradition for us in NY.

And you can make the argument that Minaya may have never have gotten his shot (or at least waited much longer) at the Mets GM position if it wasn't for his stint on the then MLB-owned Expos>Nationals where Bud Selig (for all his creepy faults, he sure does seem to love colored folk not named Barry Bonds) made a very public effort to place people of color in leadership roles, manager (Frank Robinson) and general manager. But even the first GM offer that the Mets made Minaya was some ridiculous power-sharing role with Jim Duquette where Duquette would handle administrative functions and Minaya would handle baseball/talent duties, a power split I don't think any MLB team has or had. It was as if they thought having successfully run the show at an underfunded mess of a franchise that the Expos were hadn't prepared him to be a full GM (I think the Expos former owner gutted everything in the offices before he sold the team, taking computers, staff, scouting data with him to the Florida Marlins). Minaya got handed a real wreck. To his credit (and pretty ballsy of him) he turned down the Mets' first watered-down job offer and fought for full autonomy, he even said as a Latino GM, he didn't want to accept anything less than full authority because of the message it might send.

It was only three-some years ago, but it was pretty wild to think that a MLB team, especially one of the richest ones, was handing the reigns of their franchise to a black dude and a Dominican dude. And as much as last season sucked, lets go back a little further to the Steve Phillips/Art Howe era *shudder* and be grateful for what they've done.

Anyway, the point is that while it may be absurd to imply that SNY is being racist in its shot selection of Willie, it's not ludicrous to think both Minaya and Randolph are subject to some extra (un)conscious bias, especially after all the shit they've been through to get where they are now.

Good Ole' Fox News

Just How Much Cream is in That Twinkie?

A topic of conversation (and humor) among some students and staff at New Urban Arts (where I work) has been the "Stuff White People Like" blog. There are a number of interesting topics that the blog could be a jumping off point for me to babble about (white privilege, gentrification, identity politics, class etc. etc.), but I'll spare you all any extended thoughts.

As funny as the blog is, my biggest beef is that it refers to a pretty privileged class and doesn't really get into how complex whiteness is in this country and how it's constructed. Of course, I don't think that's the responsibility/intent of this particular blogger. It's pretty entertaining and has us talking about race and identity in our studio community, which is pretty cool in and of itself.

So for shits and giggles, I decided to rate my own "whiteness" using a 1-5 scale for each item. I'm assuming that each item is weighted equally and I did my best to interpret questions that didn't directly refer to me as a non-white person (I'm Korean) e.g. being the only white person in a room. Check it out here. I'll keep updating it as I learn more about myself and as more items get added.

Rest in Peace Israel "Cachao" Lopez

Long run in Flushing

Did this long run in Flushing today. I didn't come back up Booth Memorial Ave though, I just ran back through the Botanical Gardens coming back. Mileage should have been basically the same, I just got to bail on a hill! Very scenic. Some hills but nothing crazy:

New York, New York...

Ok, it wouldn't be fair for me to not rag some on my beloved NYC after (another) weekend back home:

1. Umbrellas. New Yorkers hold them just over the tops of their heads as low as possible and then don't look where they're going. I think I got my eyes taken out almost a dozen times on Main Street in Flushing. Well ok, maybe this is just an Asian thing...

2. It seems like in places other then New York City, you can actually lock and leave your bike for more than a few hours at a time and reasonably expect it to still be there when you return. I've gotten my fair share of jokes from New Urban Arts staff and students for a) checking on my locked bike from my work desk every couple of hours b) either releasing the front wheel and locking it to the rear wheel or c) simply taking the front wheel to my desk and sitting with it. Whatever, I'm still that fat Chinese (Korean) kid in Prospect Park. I tried to tell them that bike thieves were so good in NY that Kryptonite's "gurantee" was always valid everywhere except in Manhattan USA:

In the late 1980s, just as Kryptonite began to offer a newly designed mountain bike lock, anti-theft guarantee claims began to increase dramatically in Manhattan. This increase in theft forced Kryptonite to stop offering the guarantee in Manhattan and spurred the Zane’s to redesign their locks.

-Lemelson Center for the Study of Invenion and Innovation

I forgot that it was so bad that it was a huge promotion when they came out with a guranteed Manhattan u-lock in 1994.

Kryptonite introduced the New York Lock in 1994. This newly designed lock allowed Kryptonite to reestablish an anti-theft guarantee for $1,000 in Manhattan. The company recreated its earlier publicity event by successfully locking bicycles throughout New York City to prove the efficacy of its locks.

Problem was, it was way smaller than their standard lock so you couldn't do the double wheel lock with it making it not so useful.

3. I may bitch about RIPTA but you know what? RIPTA a) takes dollar bills and b) gives you change (even in if it's only in the form of a credit on a RIPTA card). Will NY buses ever catch up?

Life in the Ocean State (No Peter Griffin Sightings)

So far, I've been adjusting to life in Rhode Island a lot better than I thought I would, but there are still some things (cultural adjustments) I don't get. In no order:

• Why do drivers, when they have the right of way, wave me in front of them? It's nice, but I'm a New Yorker, as a pedestrian, I don't trust drivers. Just go, take the damn light! This practice gets even stranger on 2-way streets, a driver on one side will wave me to cross ignoring the oncoming traffic coming the other way. Thanks, but no thanks. Even worse, is the miscommunication that happens at night when you can't see if the driver is waving you to cross and can't tell if you're going to take the free pass. It's an accident waiting to happen.
  

• Bus stop signs. Would it kill you to write the actual bus line number that stops on the sign? It makes learning the bus system a lot more difficult.

• No one shovels their walks here. I've almost busted my ass so many times here walking around. I don't get it, I guess it's not enforced, in NY we always hopped to it to avoid a ticket. I walk on the streets here and it's all ice. How are there not more lawsuits over this?

• So far, not a big fan of the pizza dough up here (too thick, too mushy). I hear Sicilia's on Atwells is ok, but when I see a sign that says "NY Style pizza", I keep right on walking. Sorry Aneudy, even Saki's is probably not going to cut it.
  

• I still don't like the license plates. The serif font is too big and that wave looks really cheesy.

First Run in Rhody

Just did my first long run in Providence, about 8.5 miles. I found a great route on Mapmyrun.com. I needed a long run that took me all over and this was a nice route. Passed through the West End, Armory, Olneyville, Federal Hill, Smith Hilll (past the state Capitol), College Hill (Brown, RISD flashback!), downtown and back to my apt. Great way to get reacquainted with a good chunk of the city (except for all the damn hills!).

Google Check Out Test (DreamYard)

$

The Big Move

The New Crib (Cross Your Fingers!)
I spent last weekend looking for an apartment in Providence and I think I found one. Don't want to jinx it, but the Realtor said my application checked out and she would mail me the lease soon.

Here's the kitchen: Common area: Bedroom: The location is great, it's on Broadway, just under a mile from New Urban Arts. It's also near some great casual restaurants, within a few blocks of the place are Seven Star Bakery, Julians and Nicks, all of which are local hits. I'm also a healthy mile walk from Federal Hill if I need my meatball fix. Actually, I will want to get a "wimpy skippy" at Casertas. It's been awhile.

I'm not looking forward to getting a car which I'm probably going to have to do. I also forgot that Providence doesn't allow on-street overnight parking which leads to atrocious shit like this:


Almost no one has backyards in Providence because everyone has to pave them over to make them into parking lots like this sad example I saw in the South Side. You can see the grass fighting through the pavement even in this picture. Sad. Really sad.

J-O-B
Why does a city that strives to be much more cosmopolitan stubbornly have a law that makes it look so second-rate (especially late at night when you see all those empty streets)? My guess is tax revenue. Combine ongoing job loss, high unemployment and a city where you're losing a lot of property taxes because of higher education (Brown, RISD, Johnson and Wales, Providence College are probably some of the biggest property owners in the city) and they probably need every buck they can get. I'm seeing how much the foreclosure crisis is affecting property tax revenue in cash-rich New York City, I can't imagine how having so many non-profit property owners affects the taxes of a city like Providence that doesn't have as near as much industry as NYC (RI Hospital and Brown are the city's two biggest employers according to good old Wikepedia).

Driving around the different neighborhoods really hit home for me how economically depressed the city is. While it's been getting a lot of national press for being a "renaissance city" just looking around you can see the employment problem in the city (well, if you look in neighborhoods other than fancy downtown). Boarded-up houses and shuttered stores and people just hanging out during business hours. There are some serious challenges economically that the state and the city are going to have to deal with. RI has been losing manufacturing jobs at a really fast rate and apparently population too (net losses of population even after immigration is pretty scary when you think about it):

They said they watched as lifelong friends moved away in search of better conditions; census officials estimate that Michigan lost 30,500 people in the year starting July 2006, one of only two states (along with Rhode Island) to lose population in that time.

New York Times 1/13/08

It ends up being a self-perpetuating problem. The lack of jobs leads to an ongoing brain drain of the entrepreneurial talent most likely to start new innovative businesses locally. I asked one of the realtors about all the new development I was seeing downtown; a few luxury high-rise condominiums. His firm had actually sold about half of the new condos in one of the new buildings. I asked him if there was some kind of common profile of the condo buyers thinking that Providence might be attracting some other youngish professionals like myself and this might be a good for sign for its struggling economy. He told me that most of the buyers were Brown University parents who wanted a place for their kids to live off campus and/or a place for them to stay when they visit their children. Not exactly the kind of thing your city wants to stake its whole economic future on.

Art Saves! Or Something Like That...
What does this all mean for me as an outsider, a creative person, a community-oriented individual, an educator and now, the pending Executive Director of a small funky-after school arts studio that bring together artists and teenagers in this very city?

I'm not sure, but I'm excited to see what our community comes up with and facilitating that conversation. I'm not naive enough to believe to think that the arts alone, is some magic panacea that will solve deeply entrenched urban problems with global roots (in a class I took on arts and urban revitalization at Wagner, Professor Ruth Ann Stewart talked about arts cultural districts being most effective they were part of a holistic plan aiming various urban problems e.g. education, workforce development, public transportation, tax incentives etc.). But at the same time, my mantra is that the artist and art must be part of their community(ies). Shit, that's what my graduation speech was about. Job creation is hard. Better men and women have wrestled with this question than me. In the early nineties I remember reading one of George Bush's (the first) aide's anonymously ask a reporter "how DO you create a job?" It's not exactly a science, but I think you focus on creating conditions that make innovation most likely to occur and that's where unlocking creativity comes in. Any good career counselor will tell you not to choose an educational path based on what industries are hot because industries change fast.

I think that's where we come in, giving kids and artists the space and belief in themselves, to experiment, to fail and succeed, creates the kind of people with a far less limited sense of what's possible. If you ask me, that's what's really going to fuel development. Shirley Brice Heath (one of my heroes) writes some really great stuff about how community arts spaces instill entrepreneurial instincts in kids' language and sense of what they can achieve.

That's the beauty of this work, we can't predict what's going to happen, where or how the next big innovation will come from, but we can create conditions that make it more likely to happen.

Trade Imbalance

Saw this one ESPN:

Tis' the Season

My Mom, Dad and I checked out one house in Bayside (Queens) with infamous lighting. I'm at a loss for words:

Don't Stick a Fork In Me Yet

I noticed this ad has recently started showing up on my Facebook profile. I know my birthday is this June, but couldn't they wait?

Whatever, thirty is the new twenty.

Pudding Pies

I used to dream about these and I was devastated when they were discontinued.