left brain

Whaaaaattt ?

David Beckham Is Coming to America.

The 31-year-old English midfielder, weary of the politics and the lack of playing time in Spain with Real Madrid, today agreed to a five-year deal with the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer and will join the team when his contract with Real expires on June 30. According to reports in the British news media, the deal includes salary and commercial opportunities worth $250 million.

“I am proud to have played for two of the biggest clubs in football and I look forward to the new challenge of growing the world’s most popular game in a county that is as passionate about its sport as my own,” Beckham said in a statement.

Beckham joined Real Madrid in the summer of 2003 on a $50 million transfer from Manchester United, the only club he had played with up until that time. But since Beckham’s arrival in Madrid, that storied club has not won a major domestic or international title. And Fabio Capello, the new coach of Real Madrid, was not nearly as taken with Beckham, his entourage and the constant spotlight on the tow-headed player. Capello relegated Beckham to the bench for much of the season.

Wetting Myself in Anticipation

War for the '4th screen' - International Herald Tribune.

"Apple is about to touch off a nuclear war," said Paul Mercer, a software designer and president of Iventor, a designer of software for hand-helds based in Palo Alto, California. "The Nokias and the Motorolas will have to respond."  or functions from e-mail and instant messaging to mobile MySpace and ESPN, computer users are increasingly turning to the "fourth screen" — the one on their cellphones — which is evolving to adopt more characteristics of the three previous generations of screens: movie, television and computer.

That shift may well be underscored on Tuesday when Steven Jobs, the chief executive of Apple Computer, is expected to unveil an Apple phone representing his company's new mobile communications strategy — highlighted by a device that may include Jobs-inspired refinements like a sleek ceramic case and a transparent touch screen.  Industry executives and competitors say that Apple has developed the first of the next generation of devices that are closer to personal computers in pocket form, meaning that they will easily handle music, entertainment, productivity tasks and communications on cellular and other wireless networks.

I think there slogan of  "30 years was just the beginning" is FANTASTIC.  And I love this:

  Rumor: Jobs Invited His Friends To Tuesday's Keynote      

This is a blind item, but a very trusted (and extremely anonymous) source of mine in Silicon Valley told me recently that he has it on good faith that Apple CEO Steve Jobs has invited all of his best friends to his MacWorld SF Keynote on Tuesday. In Silicon Valley buzz code, that means he's got something really special to show. Can you say iMobile? I knew you could.

Oh Jesus

After reading this article, the life of selling coconuts on Ipanema beach in a square cut bathing suit seems a little more likely.  And I say Ipanema and selling coconuts because I would rather be killed by a band of drug dealers than being shipped off to Iraq to be killed in a pointless war. 

Agency to Test Military Draft Machinery - New York Times.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Selective Service System is planning a comprehensive test of the military draft machinery, which hasn't been run since 1998.

The agency is not gearing up for a draft, an agency official said Thursday. The test itself would not likely occur until 2009.

Meanwhile, the secretary for Veterans Affairs said that ''society would benefit'' if the U.S. were to bring back the draft and that it shouldn't have any loopholes for anyone who is called to serve. VA Secretary Jim Nicholson later issued a statement saying he does not support reinstituting a draft.

The Selective Service ''readiness exercise'' would test the system that randomly chooses draftees by birth date and the network of appeals boards that decide how to deal with conscientious objectors and others who want to delay reporting for duty, said Scott Campbell, Selective Service director for operations and chief information officer.

''We're kind of like a fire extinguisher. We sit on a shelf'' until needed, Campbell said. ''Everyone fears our machine for some reason. Our machine, unless the president and Congress get together and say, 'Turn the machine on' ... we're still on the shelf.''

Some... have too MUCH money.

Come as You Are? Hardly

A statuesque dancer wearing a full crystal chandelier balanced precariously on her head was followed into Gotham Hall, a former bank vault in Midtown, by 30 go-go dancers bearing exaggerated codpieces, four turbaned Ali Babas with droopy drawers, countless brocaded courtiers, two pastel French poodles, one monsignor trailed by a male porn star and then Mr. Jacobs, the designer, dressed as a pigeon (the cutting-edge fashion equivalent of a partridge).

As Mr. Jacobs has made an unusual tradition of framing the annual festivities in an increasingly complex theme of masquerades — employees are required to dress in costume, this year for a “Carnival in Venice” — the ordinarily outrageous has come to seem commonplace there. Masks, after all, were mandatory; pants were not.  Some employees spend months making their costumes, while others rent and some whip up a little something from the closet. Stephen Jones, the  English milliner, had gotten hold of an authentic ensemble from Fellini’s “Casanova,” at Angels, the London theatrical costume company founded in 1840. But it was stuck in customs at Kennedy International Airport.  “They said I could pick it up at 10:30 p.m.,” he said,
suggesting he was seriously considering a midparty wardrobe change. As it was, Mr. Jones, who is bald, had painted his head black and wore a black suit, shirt and gloves.

In a floor-length black Chanel coat and a Napoleonic hat pinned with spangled eagle brooches (also Chanel), André Leon Talley, the editor at large of Vogue, arrived early with an entourage that included the hip-hop entrepreneur Damon Dash; his wife, the designer Rachel Roy; two muscular young men dressed as gondoliers (one in a Jean Paul Gaultier nautical striped sweater), and two who were a tad less seaworthy — in black suits with frilly blouses, they could have been backup singers for a band called the Yves Saint Laurents. “The shoes are the most important thing,” said Mr. Talley, in ivory Manolo Blahniks, before noting that his group’s inspiration could be traced to the 1951 ball of Carlos de Beistegui, one of the most glamorous of all the Venetian masquerades, photographed by Cecil Beaton.

And it begins...

This is unofficial, however you can just imagine the level of ads to come.

Grafitti on 11 Spring Street Almost No More

11 Spring Street:

It was as if someone had told devotees of Picasso’s “Demoiselles d’Avignon” or Matisse’s “Dance” that the Museum of Modern Art had changed hands and would soon be shut down for residential redevelopment, with all the art inside to vanish as part of the deal.  In this case the art is not hanging inside the building but is splashed all over the walls outside, in spray paint, wheat paste, rubber, plastic, metal, cardboard and various other unidentifiable substances, a story-high gallery of graffiti and street art that seems to have grown almost organically (and mostly unimpeded by the authorities) over the last two decades.

Depending on your point of view, the hulking 19th-century brick building at 11 Spring Street in NoLIta, a former stable and carriage house, was either a stunning eyesore or one of the most famous canvases and lodestars in the world for urban artists. When those of the latter view heard recently that the building had been sold and would soon be gutted and converted into condominiums, they considered it the end of an era. Bearing their cameras, they began showing up at the building over the last few weeks in a kind of mournful procession.

But inside the building over those same weeks, an unlikely tribute to 11 Spring’s history — and a brief reprieve for its artwork — was also quietly taking shape.

After buying the building several months ago, the new owner-developers, Caroline Cummings and Bill Elias, wanted to find some way to bid an appropriate farewell to its past. They admired the artwork, they said, even if there was no way it could remain on a building where buyers would soon be dropping millions of dollars on new condos.

And coming soon !!   

There will be no creative energy, no gritty edginess, no pushing the envelope thoughts on any street, or any building anywhere in the world.  Thanks multi-million dollar condos !

Above is a photo of post-it Jesus Christ in Chile.

Wii Have A Problem...

I just found this hysterical.  Some of these photos are amazing.  haha.

Wii Have A Problem....

A tornado is capable of throwing a piece of straw half way through an oak tree. It would appear that this young man is equally capable of such feats of strength. Dave gave us a rundown of the details:

    "It did indeed end up stuck in the hole. Tyler is right handed but usually bowls putting a clockwise spin on the wiimote, this time he put a counterclockwise spin on it... lesson learned? Stick with what works in the first place! The great part is we pulled it out, laughed some more, replaced the batteries and backplate then continued to play (only in a milder manner this time around). We're trying to figure out how to make a comfortable/stronger strap right now."

The investigatory journalist in me has doubts about whether or not it actually stuck in the hole. I quietly wonder to myself if they just didn't shove it back in after the event. Why don't we give them this one on charity.

With the Wii remote being unharmed apparently, we can only assume that it is fairly indestructible. Much like a cell phone with crime deterrent. We should strap Wiimotes to the underside of the space shuttle to use as a re-entry shield. I'll call NASA, you guys mock up a power point presentation.

Yes I AM !

Lets hope so !  See Ya Hillary.  You now have no chance, sorry.  Though you have my vote if he decides against running.  hehe.  If you want to know why, follow the jump to the article I talked about here.

Wong Kar-wai in America

I just hope he isn't selling out to Hollywood.

Wong Kar-wai

On a SoHo film set last August, Jude Law and Norah Jones were getting intimate. Repeatedly intimate. To be precise, they had kissed upwards of 150 times in the past three days. The occasion for this outbreak of passion was “My Blueberry Nights,” the first English-language film by Wong Kar-wai, the maverick Hong Kong director turned avatar of cosmopolitan cool. This particular night was stifling as the crew spilled out of Palacinka, a small cafe on Grand Street that was the principal New York location, preparing for yet another take of the scene known as “the Kiss.”

It’s closing time, and Ms. Jones, the only remaining customer, is slumped on the counter, her eyes shut. A smudge of cream rests on her upper lip, the telltale sign of a dessert binge. Mr. Law, cleaning up behind the bar, gazes at her, slowly leans in and steals a lingering kiss. When he surfaces, the cream on her lip is gone.

The shot lasted less than a minute, but the number of permutations that Mr. Wong and his cinematographer, Darius Khondji, devised — 15 set-ups, by the count of the script supervisor — suggested it would play a central role in the finished film. The Kiss was being shot at different film speeds and from a multitude of angles: a wide shot, his point of view, hers, through windows, with objects in the foreground.
Mr. Wong, 48, is keen to describe “My Blueberry Nights,” a road movie shot in New York, Memphis, Las Vegas and Ely, Nev., with a cast that also includes Natalie Portman, Rachel Weisz and David Strathairn, as a new beginning. His last film, “2046,” was planned as science fiction but demonstrated the gravitational pull of the past as well, succumbing to the hothouse delirium of 1960s Hong Kong. A kaleidoscopic head rush, “2046” quoted so extensively from Mr. Wong’s earlier work that it felt like a midcareer retrospective unto

Sex and the City movie

SEX AND THE CITY - SEX AND THE CITY MOVIE BACK ON?

The feature film version of SEX AND THE CITY is back on track after negotiations with the series' four leading ladies made significant progress this week. Stars SARAH JESSICA PARKER, KRISTIN DAVIS, KIM CATTRALL and CYNTHIA NIXON were set to star in the big screen version of the hit show before the project collapsed. US OK! magazine reports exclusively that a studio source has confirmed that the long-postponed project is closer to becoming a reality after "substantial negotiations have opened with each of the stars' teams this week". According to the studio insider, "Obviously, there is still a lot to be worked out contractually, but it would be amazing to get this project off the ground. "There is no doubt that fans cannot wait to see them all reunited." Rumours have circulated since the show ended in 2004 that the project was unable to get off the ground because of behind-the-scenes drama between the actresses. KIM CATTRALL reportedly refused to appear in the feature film, which reportedly doomed the project. According to sources, enough time has passed and the stars are willing to put their differences aside and move forward with the highly anticipated project.