New York City
It is a long story and maybe I'll go into it a bit more here someday, but a chain of events somehow led to me creating a film with my old art school buddy and current art-star Dave Choe for the Scion car company. Short story even shorter: we got paid to made a really fun film called "23 Short Films" which was entirely our own creation. The only influence Scion had (besides the funding) was that the project had to be television friendly: no curses, no nudity, all music cleared. It was a lot of fun working on the project and I hope to continue with the series of shorts in the future.
The film was made as part of the Scion Easy 10 Film Series (with 9 other films being part), and the entire thing was set to premier in New York City this summer. Although Dave was the primary name on the project (Scion contacted him and he incorporated me), they were generous to allow me to attend the premier event and get collaboration billing. Dave has done plenty of "business travel" all around the world (we know how his trip to Japan went), and I don't know if it was because he couldn't make it or what, but about a week before the premier event I was told I'm going to New York for two nights and being put up in a hotel on Scion's dollar. I could get used to this...
The flight was full of kids. I was stuck in the middle of a family of eight with brats in every age group. Luckily there was tv in every seatback and VH1 was airing "Classic Records" with the likes of Maiden's Number of the Beast and Priest's British Steel. The flight was direct, and free, so I'm not complaining.
The lobby of the Hotel on Rivington in the Lower East Side. It's all modern and Clockwork Orange-like. The bar features beer for $7 a bottle.
My room, with king-sized Tempur-pedic and a great view of a brick wall across the alleyway. Again, this is a $300 a night room so I'm all good.
First things first, I hit up Katz's Deli up the road. The above meal (Hot Turkey on Rye, Sour Pickles, and a pint of Katz's Ale) cost over $20! Still, it was a damn good sandwich.
At the deli they give you a this ticket on your way in and you pay on the way out. The guys who actually make the sandwiches just write on the blank back of the ticket. The whole thing seems a bit contrived to me.
I then proceeded to get lost. It seemed like every way I would go would take me further into Chinatown. It was a super-hot day so the night was excellent. Narangkar couldn't come on this trip and it was a bit lonely being in the big city by myself.
The next day I got up and headed straight to Doughnut Plant. They make a only couple of custom flavors every day. I got me some white peach, sweet basil, tres leches, and chocolate blackout. And a cup of coffee. So good. I really wish there was spot this good in Oakland.
Near to Doughnut Plant is Pickle Guys. They got all my pickle needs covered from spicy to semi-sour to dill to horseradish. The pickled celery was awesome.
This was my only day free in the city so I headed to the Natural History Museum. On the way I stopped at Printed Matter bookstore in the Chelsea district. My experience at the store was pretty frustrating, lots of employees and no one to help. I did get an awesome book they publish by Kim Beck (check the review here). The neighborhood is beautiful with lots of stoops and trees.
It was one of those 95 degrees and humid days so it was nice to get into the Natural History Museum. I headed straight up to the dinosaurs. I don't care how old you are, the fact that these giant monsters ruled this planet back in the day is awesome. I'm never not fascinated by dinosaurs.
Even better than the dinos are all the fossils of extinct mammals. Did you know the sloths once stood about 8-feet tall and lived in caves? No shit. Imagine running into one of these dudes. They are like super-bears. There were also mega-antler creatures, mammoths, and deer the size of rabbits. Crazy.
Most of the museum is filled with taxidermy animals and birds either mounted on the walls or in dioramas. While the Dinosaur area is packed with people, the rest of the museum is pretty empty.
I just really liked this illustration of the Gibbon skeleton.
There is also a lot of relics from non-European cultures. The Aztec, Olmec, and Mayan stuff always aesthetically fascinates me. This calendar here is huge.
The last area I was sure to visit was the meteor and mineral rooms. The mineral and gem room is like a giant carpeted playground with tons of ramps and ledges and low light. It is really comfortable to just sit around in because all the display cases just glow.
Got to respect graffiti like this.
The film was made as part of the Scion Easy 10 Film Series (with 9 other films being part), and the entire thing was set to premier in New York City this summer. Although Dave was the primary name on the project (Scion contacted him and he incorporated me), they were generous to allow me to attend the premier event and get collaboration billing. Dave has done plenty of "business travel" all around the world (we know how his trip to Japan went), and I don't know if it was because he couldn't make it or what, but about a week before the premier event I was told I'm going to New York for two nights and being put up in a hotel on Scion's dollar. I could get used to this...
The flight was full of kids. I was stuck in the middle of a family of eight with brats in every age group. Luckily there was tv in every seatback and VH1 was airing "Classic Records" with the likes of Maiden's Number of the Beast and Priest's British Steel. The flight was direct, and free, so I'm not complaining.
The lobby of the Hotel on Rivington in the Lower East Side. It's all modern and Clockwork Orange-like. The bar features beer for $7 a bottle.
My room, with king-sized Tempur-pedic and a great view of a brick wall across the alleyway. Again, this is a $300 a night room so I'm all good.
First things first, I hit up Katz's Deli up the road. The above meal (Hot Turkey on Rye, Sour Pickles, and a pint of Katz's Ale) cost over $20! Still, it was a damn good sandwich.
At the deli they give you a this ticket on your way in and you pay on the way out. The guys who actually make the sandwiches just write on the blank back of the ticket. The whole thing seems a bit contrived to me.
I then proceeded to get lost. It seemed like every way I would go would take me further into Chinatown. It was a super-hot day so the night was excellent. Narangkar couldn't come on this trip and it was a bit lonely being in the big city by myself.
The next day I got up and headed straight to Doughnut Plant. They make a only couple of custom flavors every day. I got me some white peach, sweet basil, tres leches, and chocolate blackout. And a cup of coffee. So good. I really wish there was spot this good in Oakland.
Near to Doughnut Plant is Pickle Guys. They got all my pickle needs covered from spicy to semi-sour to dill to horseradish. The pickled celery was awesome.
This was my only day free in the city so I headed to the Natural History Museum. On the way I stopped at Printed Matter bookstore in the Chelsea district. My experience at the store was pretty frustrating, lots of employees and no one to help. I did get an awesome book they publish by Kim Beck (check the review here). The neighborhood is beautiful with lots of stoops and trees.
It was one of those 95 degrees and humid days so it was nice to get into the Natural History Museum. I headed straight up to the dinosaurs. I don't care how old you are, the fact that these giant monsters ruled this planet back in the day is awesome. I'm never not fascinated by dinosaurs.
Even better than the dinos are all the fossils of extinct mammals. Did you know the sloths once stood about 8-feet tall and lived in caves? No shit. Imagine running into one of these dudes. They are like super-bears. There were also mega-antler creatures, mammoths, and deer the size of rabbits. Crazy.
Most of the museum is filled with taxidermy animals and birds either mounted on the walls or in dioramas. While the Dinosaur area is packed with people, the rest of the museum is pretty empty.
I just really liked this illustration of the Gibbon skeleton.
There is also a lot of relics from non-European cultures. The Aztec, Olmec, and Mayan stuff always aesthetically fascinates me. This calendar here is huge.
The last area I was sure to visit was the meteor and mineral rooms. The mineral and gem room is like a giant carpeted playground with tons of ramps and ledges and low light. It is really comfortable to just sit around in because all the display cases just glow.
Got to respect graffiti like this.
The actual Scion event was crazy. There were two screening rooms and a big party room with a really great DJ (DJ Eleven from Oakland!) and an open bar. Brian and Alice Caraway, my neighbors, were in the Brooklyn so they came out for the party. I didn't bring my camera to the event (for once I wouldn't be the guy at the event taking pictures of myself), but they had photographers there so should be some photos online somewhere eventually.
The next morning, after doughnuts, I flew home. I got a bunch of DVDs of the project if you want to check it out. There is a preview on youtube here. There may be more info on Easy 10 here. There is an LA premier coming in late September to let me know if you wanna get on the guest list. Thanks to Jason at Malbon Bros. Farms, Scion folks, and, of course, Dave Choe, for giving me the opportunity to get to NYC for a few days. Go Mets.
The next morning, after doughnuts, I flew home. I got a bunch of DVDs of the project if you want to check it out. There is a preview on youtube here. There may be more info on Easy 10 here. There is an LA premier coming in late September to let me know if you wanna get on the guest list. Thanks to Jason at Malbon Bros. Farms, Scion folks, and, of course, Dave Choe, for giving me the opportunity to get to NYC for a few days. Go Mets.
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