Guns Off The Street leads to Old News Renewed

Today a article I wrote on the murder of a Brooklyn Rollerblader several months ago was featured on popular skating blog I Roll NY. Much thanks goes out to Craig for sharing my work but more importantly for sharing the story of those the victim (Brian "Cozmik" Scott Jr.) left behind.

A young Immigrant From Elmhurst Queens - Metrognome

Elmhurst, Queens is a quaint neighborhood just south of La Guardia Airport. Known for little more than the famous McDowell's (converted from a Wendy's) for the 80s movie "Coming to America" and the near by Queens Center Mall; its a minute blip on the often overlooked borough of Queens. Htat Lin Htut 18, a recent immigrant from Burma calls it home after migrating to the U.S. 4 years ago. He lives alone with his father an employee of the Staten Island Ferry, a single parent following a fatal accident in which his wife was struck by a speeding vehicle while crossing the street.

Htut is one Asian amongst many in a neighborhood 0f 104,000 with whites in the minority at 34% according to a NYC.gov poll in 2008. The majority often shifts between Asians and Hispanics currently 39% Asian and 43% Hispanic; the census fluctuates yearly and doesn't consider illegal immigrants. Elmhurst is a example of racial integration at work as well as the conflicts in culture that arise in it's wake.

Jump Trump Rump Bump Indie animation at its best

Although when it come to the latest generations of urban dwellers jazz has fallen off the radar in terms of musical supremacy. This small animation short Jump Trump Rump Bump makes the genre lively, cute, and fun with its experimental animation, and unique art style that is sure to bring a warm, fuzzy feeling to even the shadiest of hearts, and uses jazz in a new way although along with blues it has been a cornerstone of music almost a century. Here at Bleu Magazine we are breaking the mold of what's expected from a urban magazine, and like to direct our content towards a demographic that is often overlooked, and so kindred spirits like artists/animators Hevi Won Jeong, and Justin Murphy who both collaborated together to complete this masterpiece are quite a pleasant sight to behold.

Click more for the video

Time for You to get a (insert here) to the Nth degree

Cyanide and happiness have single handedly mastered and therefore ended the time for you to get a watch joke. Observe. . .

Vuvuzela Guy: Bring Smiles to Grumpy New Yorkers one cheer at a time

Today's Friday Saturday, and as New Yorkers go home to their humble (read: or not so humble) abodes to be reminded why they slave 9 to 5 (to eat and pay for broadband to download porn most likely) Vuvuzela guy will be their to meet them on Monday. Remember its free.

Space Invaders Have Finally Come!!

This is a old music video from electronica/dance group Royksopp. Often overlooked this creative group comes out of its den every so often to poke its head into the mainstream. Its not their music that has me going on a long and tedious tangent however but rather the creative direction of their music videos which never cease to keep me glued to my monitor from beginning to end.

Middle-aged citizens band together to make roof Green - Kindergarteners grab crayons and markers in confusion - Metrognome

P.S. 41 a small grammar school in a quiet corner of Greenwich Village is taking center stage in a green idea that has floated around for over a decade. In six to eight weeks construction of the Greenroof Enviromental Literacy Labratory (GELL), atop P.S. 41's roof will begin. When complete it will serve as an rooftop garden classroom that will teach the schools K-5 students Biology chemistry, nutrition and aesthetics.

Fiddler in the Square - Metrognome

20 years ago passing a man on the streets of NYC with a full flowing beard carrying a fiddle, would be treated with sideways eyes, and thoughts of homelessness or a backwards town in New Jersey. In the current age of the hipster however the beard has made a come back, and street performers like Aaron Jonah-Lewis and Sam Guthridge in some ways well-timed relics of cool.

Crazy Kojima fans puzzle tourists by lining up around the block

Fans waited up to 20 hours to meet the Creator of Metal Gear Solid himself, Hideo Kojima. I spent the day at the event covering it for Kotaku for this post. Take a Gander of Video and photos from the event below.

Hideo Kojima Signing Line from Aulistar Mark on Vimeo.

All there for this man

The New School: A Den for Hipsters?

The image below pulled off the Look at this fucking hipster blog makes the suggestion, or rather affirms the suspicion that The New School is a breeding ground for hipsters. I attest to this assumption as a current New School (Eugene Lang College) student.

I will admit a vast majority of parsons students can be attributed the quality of being a hipster (Read:*queeny). Within the ranks of Lang, the School of Jazz, Drama, Milano etc. however are upstanding citizens who in fact fill out census forms, work for a living, and fight the urge to drink cheap bear and grow ironic mustaches.

*We don't however have a inkling of school spirit which explains this t-shirt being mitigated to snow man fodder.

Stay in your lane!!! : Tourist lanes come to NYC sidwalks

Finally the guys over at improv everywhere come up with a solution to the hoards of tourists looking up in awe as normal people are trying to get to work!!!

The Metrognome Collection

Where have I been for the last five months? Writing for my intermediate journalism class producing both genius and regrettable articles for no pay besides academic knowledge (Read: the $36,000 I payed them*). Though readers of little ole Binary Shade are slim to none I'm still willing to take the time to at least tinker with my NYC based stories and share the good ones.

Good Music - But why a Commercial

The billboard top 100 list is a system record companies and retailers use to determine how successful, an album is, how well it will/has sold and why. The result of this system has led to major record labels like all industries taking few risks when it comes to signing producing and marketing a new act.

This however leads to a majority of the public (their market) listening to bland music with little to no innovation, creativity and at times talent. Occasionally however foreign and independent musicians peek through the fabric of American commercialism in the form of small 30 second commercial blips, often using music that may have been released years ago. Often they have the watcher going "hmmmm I wonder what song that was" and those who have known about it for years have mixed feelings of disgust, happiness, and pride.

In 2008 an extreme form of this appeared in the Pineapple Express trailer that featured M.I.A's Paper Planes single. A song that was released years prior, but never the less sparked a resurgence of her career as mainstream hip-hop acts like Jay-Z and Kanye West suddenly began to pay attention.

Recently a wave of Electrasol commercials used Gotan Projects single Epoca. Though like many before them it might just blow over without the public's notice, but was it really necessary to sell the rights to use the song for such a tacky commercial despite the hopeful but most likely negligible publicity. Only history can decide.

Back from College Hiatus

College can be tough which is why I've been a ghost for clearly over a month. Good news is that I'm back to actively thinking about whatever might suit my fancy.