Moondance

This chart is from NASA's site (which also notes that "Although total eclipses of the Moon are of limited scientific value, they are remarkably beautiful events which do not require expensive equipment.") The next total lunar eclipse won't happen til 2010! Let's hope for clear skies.

Big Fat Super Tuesday

This heart-shaped purple map -- which presents Brooklyn's donations to Clinton in pink and Obama in blue -- comes from The Brooklyn Paper. Interesting, no? Between the primaries and the ticker-tape parade, tomorrow is going to be a big day in the city. So study up on what things will look like inside the voting booth and underground on the subway, get a good night's sleep, and remember the wise mayor (I wonder who he'll be cheering for?)'s advice: "Don’t throw anything heavy out the window.”

A Real Shithole?

Something I had not considered about the city's new public toilets: Their rate of 25 cents for 15 minutes comes to $24/day and $720/month. Which is a total steal in this town! Especially for quarters The New York Times values at "more than $100,000" and calls "very spacious" (that's right, "one cannot touch the side walls with arms outstretched")! Still not convinced?

There are two architectural flourishes, both on the roof: a small pyramid of glass, like a little model of the Louvre, and an anachronistic metal stovepipe, reminiscent of a cozy shanty or an old outhouse with a crescent moon carved into the door.

A cozy little Louvre-shanty! This amusing video completely moves in on the idea (happily neglecting the fine print 15 minute time limit for restroom habitation). It's like From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler all growed up and adapted for YouTube!

Heath Ledger's Death

Yesterday I didn't really feel like writing about Heath Ledger, who was found dead a few blocks from my apartment in the early evening. But here's a quick dispatch: Yes, there was a mob of reporters and fans and rubber-neckers in the vicinty (“because of the way our generation is" one girl told the New York Times, "we sort of feel we’re a part of each other’s lives”). Yes, all the Heath Ledger movies were checked out of Cinema Nolita last night (or so I overheard). Yes, it's tragic.

Lawless Leftovers

I found this cool photo of edibles confiscated from JFK (click to enlarge) on Wired via Gridskipper.  The photo is from Taryn Simon's book An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar.  Caption:

The foodstuffs in this image were seized over a 48-hour period from passengers arriving from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York, from abroad.  Among the pictured items are African yams, uncooked meats, fresh eggs, okra and a South Asian lime infected with a citrus canker.

"This room is one of my favorite shots.  I spent hours arranging the contraband to get it to look like a still life," Simon said.

On that note, I'm going to go clean the fridge. 

City Lights

Someday I may tire of New Yorkisms, but that day hasn't arrived yet.   From E. B. White: 

New York blends the gift of privacy with the excitement of participation; and better than most dense communities it succeeds in insulating the individual (if he wants it, and almost everybody wants or needs it) against all enormous and violent and wonderful events that are taking place every minute.  Since I have been sitting in this miasmic air shaft, a good many rather splashy events have occurred in town ... I am not defending New York in this regard.  Many of its settlers are probably here merely to escape, not face reality.  But whatever it means, it is a rather rare gift ...