Ted Rabinowitz's Blog, page 46
September 1, 2012
Write, write, write...
"He knew that the sort of exuberant badness which so often achieves perfect popularity cannot be faked ..."
Gore Vidal had it sussed. Writing is actually not that tough, if you're freed from the fear that it will be bad. It's the desire to write well that makes writing so hard.
Gore Vidal had it sussed. Writing is actually not that tough, if you're freed from the fear that it will be bad. It's the desire to write well that makes writing so hard.
Who knows about the past?
When we think of Medieval Art, we think of stuff like this:
Well, I do, anyway. Or I used to.
But if you go to the Cloisters, you'll see that maybe the real geniuses were the sculptors. Check it out after the jump.
August 28, 2012
Why I Love the Middle Ages
Went to the Cloisters today. Check it out.
So beautiful. More to come.
So beautiful. More to come.
August 23, 2012
K.W. Jeter Is Following Me on Twitter.
Shouldn't you?
@excalibur61
Seriously - I'm in a fanboy daze. If it weren't for KWJ, we wouldn't have the Court of the Air, Perdido Street Station, Girl Genius, Lovelace and Babbage...
He is one of the progenitors of steampunk. Hell, he COINED THE TERM "STEAMPUNK." How many writers can honestly say they midwifed a whole new genre?
The man wrote two of the earliest steampunk fantasias: Morlock Nights and Infernal Devices (the latter of which was the earliest example of "clockpunk.")
Shout out to you, KWJ.
@excalibur61
Seriously - I'm in a fanboy daze. If it weren't for KWJ, we wouldn't have the Court of the Air, Perdido Street Station, Girl Genius, Lovelace and Babbage...He is one of the progenitors of steampunk. Hell, he COINED THE TERM "STEAMPUNK." How many writers can honestly say they midwifed a whole new genre?
The man wrote two of the earliest steampunk fantasias: Morlock Nights and Infernal Devices (the latter of which was the earliest example of "clockpunk.")
Shout out to you, KWJ.
August 21, 2012
Classic F/SF Ideas: Franchise Government
A social system in which governmental functions like security, defense, and conflict resolution are maintained by private organizations, not public bodies; or a society in which the government no longer has a "monopoly of legitimate violence" - especially if some or all of those functions have been assumed by corporations. Derived from anarchist political theory, it is also a defining concept of cyberpunk and other forms of dystopian science fiction.
"The Ungoverned," Vernor Vinge
Snowcrash, Neal Stephenson
"The Ungoverned," Vernor Vinge
Snowcrash, Neal Stephenson
Sorry-
Sorry I left that last post up so long.
Now for something completely different.
Now for something completely different.
August 17, 2012
Rich Kids of Instagram
Well, the good news is that money doesn't make you beautiful.
Boy Reporter pt. III: The city is an ocean with its life underground.
Until this hotel gig, I had forgotten just how much of what we do in NYC is underground. We are mole people.
Not just the subways, although that's a gimme. But how many buildings connect to the subways, how many barber shops, pizza joints, newsstands, shoe shines, gourmet delis and fitness spas are under people's feet. And not just dirty Penn Station shops either. Most of the hotels in the Shmancy class (and all of the hotels in the next bracket, the Fancy-Shmancy) have their spas, orchid shops, and bespoke hair stylists down there.
Would it be possible to walk underground from Washington Heights to Wall Street without using the subway?
Not just the subways, although that's a gimme. But how many buildings connect to the subways, how many barber shops, pizza joints, newsstands, shoe shines, gourmet delis and fitness spas are under people's feet. And not just dirty Penn Station shops either. Most of the hotels in the Shmancy class (and all of the hotels in the next bracket, the Fancy-Shmancy) have their spas, orchid shops, and bespoke hair stylists down there.
Would it be possible to walk underground from Washington Heights to Wall Street without using the subway?
August 16, 2012
Boy Reporter, pt. II
So, after tramping around for more than a week so far to different hotels, seeing the amenities, etc. etc. here's an observation:
Visitors who come to New York for the first time will judge it on three things: the streets, the subway, and the hotel they stay at. I used to have serious cognitive dissonance when I heard people talk about New York as this inherently fashionable and stylish place, because I saw Times Square, and guys hacking through the garment district, secretaries in pants suits on their lunch break in Bryant Park, and none of it seemed that stylish to me. Fashion and style were restricted to very wealthy, somewhat inbred folks who descended on my neighborhood during Fashion Week and then disappeared again.
But now, having seen some of these hotels - I get it. There's one down by Gramercy Park where each room is different, the air has a trademarked smell - excuse me, scent - and original Warhols and Hirsts dangle from the walls. There's another that's an entire city block wide and has ballrooms that would have fit in perfectly on the Titanic. There's another boutique hotel with a lobby that's the kind of casual it takes millions to perfect, with soundproofed windows and door so as soon as you enter, the East Side just vanishes. People judge New York by the lobbies of the hotels they stay at.
Visitors who come to New York for the first time will judge it on three things: the streets, the subway, and the hotel they stay at. I used to have serious cognitive dissonance when I heard people talk about New York as this inherently fashionable and stylish place, because I saw Times Square, and guys hacking through the garment district, secretaries in pants suits on their lunch break in Bryant Park, and none of it seemed that stylish to me. Fashion and style were restricted to very wealthy, somewhat inbred folks who descended on my neighborhood during Fashion Week and then disappeared again.
But now, having seen some of these hotels - I get it. There's one down by Gramercy Park where each room is different, the air has a trademarked smell - excuse me, scent - and original Warhols and Hirsts dangle from the walls. There's another that's an entire city block wide and has ballrooms that would have fit in perfectly on the Titanic. There's another boutique hotel with a lobby that's the kind of casual it takes millions to perfect, with soundproofed windows and door so as soon as you enter, the East Side just vanishes. People judge New York by the lobbies of the hotels they stay at.
August 15, 2012
Ted Mendelssohn, Boy Reporter
That's me, checking out a roomI just got an interesting assignment for a NYC tourism website. I'm visiting hotels, checking out the rooms and amenities, and writing them up...and I've already come to some conclusions.
