Author: jjosh (Page 42 of 52)

For some reason lately it’s been a tough commute to and from work. For a long time I was working on a mix, so every ride would be spent listening to that mix, noting level changes, or mashup revisions, but now that’s done. I’m downloading This American Life every week, so that takes care of one day’s subway ride. But I haven’t found any music that’s exciting me (Fleet Foxes not really doing it…maybe that new Flying Lotus?), and I’m tired of reading Entertainment Weekly to make the time go by.

So I joined audible.com to get a free download of an audio book (must remember to cancel! must not get caught up in monthly payments!)…but what book should I download? What genre? How to search? Bestsellers led me nowhere. Reading about Neal Stephenson in the latest Wired made me think maybe I should try out some sci-fi…and why not go with an acknowledged master…search Isaac Asimov. I read all the Foundation books years ago and loved them. Read a bunch of the Robots book and was into those too. The first book that came up in the search was Robots of Dawn, maybe the third book in his Robots series.

In high school I had to give a book report at one point as a speech in front of the class. As usual I had waited until the last minute and had not, in fact, read a book. I picked Robots of Dawn from my dad’s bookshelf and wrote up a completely fake book report based on the cover picture and the title. I don’t remember much about giving the report…I think I can remember my English teacher asking me questions about the book afterwards, and maybe I blew it while answering. Did she know? I feel like she did.

Anyway, I’ve downloaded it and am listening to it on the commute now. The cool thing about a book on tape is that you can be "reading" while doing the dishes or making dinner or having a bath without worrying about getting the book wet. The uncool thing is that if you fall asleep while "reading" it’s tough to get to back to your "page".

This month’s banner is partly thanks to Greenpeace, who have a bunch of these giant eyeball masks lying around their office. Ostensibly so they can follow politicians around at conferences and imply that they are being watched, I think it’s also because they are giant Residents fanboys.

The other part of the thanks must go to Joe Tyler, fearless camera-man and all-around great guy. While it was my idea to put on the eye and film it, it’s was Joe’s divine inspiration to set the scene in the bathroom. Genius. It was going to be the last shot of the day, and as the day wore on, and we got more and more tired from shooting, I started thinking to myself that I would just let the whole thing go…Joe was doing us a favor, shooting at reduced rate and all…so as we got the end, I said, "O.k., just a couple of b-roll shots and we’re done," to which Joe replied "And don’t forget about that whole eyeball thing in the bathroom!"

Whatta guy.

I was on the subway, sitting down, listening to music on my headphones. I’ve got this new thing I’m doing where I wear my sunglasses on the subway, you know? I hate the feeling of them up on top of my head, and I think people who wear them like that look like idiots. I won’t hang them in the v-neck of my shirt, and I won’t wear them backwards on the back on my neck. The people who wear their sunglasses while on the subway always look kind of cool, so I decided to do it too.

It feels great, and since a portion of my commute goes topside, I feel justified. And, let’s admit it, it is a bit pretentious. But still. Who cares. This is New York.

So I’m sitting down, and across from me are a couple of kids, a girl who’s maybe 13 and a young boy of about 9 or 10. And they’re some kind of orthodox Jews, though I can’t be sure which kind. The girl’s wearing her hair up, and a black dress with some kind of white trim around it, and the boy has on a yarmulka and black slacks and a black shirt. He’s also wearing these weird small loafers, made for 10 year-old feet, and they look uncomfortable. He’s sitting on the subway, his feet dangling above the floor, and he’s got a plastic bag sitting on his lap that I assume is his lunch. Through the white plastic I can make out shapes and colors that suggest some kind of apple, a box drink, some bright rectangles, maybe candy bars.

The boy and his sister are talking to each other, but I can’t hear them because I’ve got my music going. But I watch their lips, and I’m pretty sure they aren’t speaking English. Hebrew maybe? Probably. The boy looks full of vim and life, taking the world in with big curious eyes. The girl looks tired and bored, and like she wishes she was somewhere else. Probably away from her brother. Maybe in different clothes. I’m projecting here.

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