the problem about having a blog is that sometimes there is so much happening, you just don’t have the time to update and post.
so there has been a couple of really nice things lately, some of them quite life changing.
My trip to maryland for the gallery opening
Fabulous S had her first show, hosted in maryland. and I was delighted to be able to be there!
check out those absolutely rad paintings:
second, did you know if you live in washington dc, you pay taxes but are not allowed to vote since it it isn’t considered a state (and the put this on each license plate! oh, and the Washington DC flag looks VERY similar to the austrian one. which was kinda … strange).
Washington DC license plate
I also made a small hiking tour next to the Potomac river, was incredible. Saw a real praying mantis for the first time in my life. and it was HUGE! first I couldn’t see it at all, just a grasshopper that was twitching funny midair. and as my eye adjusted to the scene, the mantis suddenly appeared right in front of my eyes. pretty eery. and took its time eating the grasshopper alive.
its pretty hard to find in this picture:
Praying Mantis
but even harder to see it in the video:
the hiking trail was pretty extreme, for some of it I really had to be on all my fours. Probably the most dangerous thing I have ever done in the US without having to sign a weaver first!
Highly recommended!
New Job!
I started at my new job. my own department in a huge advertising agency! yeah! everyone is super friendly and nice.
Finally my own place! Searching for a flat in NY is … eery
I really really like my room mates, but your own space is just a hard to beat thoguth. I got approved today for my new place directly at St. Marks, hottest block in the east village. This will be fun! (and unfortunately expensive, too).
Finding a new place in NY is a nightmare. All the listings are only accessible to brokers, and they charge a 15% fee of the years rent. e.g. Studio for $2350, broker fee equals to $4230. and that basically for browsing on their computer for 5 minutes and turning a key. makes me wonder if I work in the wrong business sometimes.
of course you can try to find a no-fee flat, but those listings are … questionable. those were probably the worst and most expensive places of all the flats I have seen. Sometimes I felt like being in a movie, having a landlord in front of me, guy in his fifties, wearing an undershirt, chewing a toothpick and trying to press me into a ridiculously bad deal (that one was directly across the street from the hells angels headquarters).
“so you want something with more space, hmm … [chew chew] … I can give you the appartment on the fifth floor, [chew chew] has super high ceilings [chew chew], I have a contractor who can convert it to a duplex for you, of course you have to pay for the conversion [chew chew], but this will give you space. I cant show it to you right now, because I dont have the keys. [chew chew] so do you want it or not? [chew chew] … [chew chew]“
The “big space” he was referring to would have been equal to probably 300sqft (roughly 25m2), and that for $2500 a month! crazy! the sad thing is, people go for it. I saw a mother in one of his “flats”, planing to convert the tiny room into a two bedroom (were one room wouldn’t even fit a small bed and a dresser. do they want to sleep while standing??), so her daughter who obviously just went to college can share the rent with someone else.
Posted by markus, filed under whatever. Date: August 15, 2008, 1:44 am |No Comments »
Fabulous S dragged me to that barber shop in trendy Williamsburg Greenpoint. Dudes with tattoos, racing magazines and everything very 50ies. And the guy who is doing your haircut, rarely uses scissors, more like a electric razor, switching blades a gazillion times. And at the end I had … the most fabulous haircut ever. And no, I won’t tell where that place was …
Ohhh what a nice day! First a surprise presentation by the english Aardman Studios, which was of course terrific (they handed out plastilin kits to build your own character during the presentation). Below is a picture of me behind original figures of Wallace & Gromit, used in the movies (the big ones each worth 15k).
Then a concept a collegue and I worked on got very good feedback and will be probably launched in the intermediate future (not to mention the very exciting project I am working on right now).
And last not least the Justice concert at Madison Square Garden after work. You can’t see it on the pic/video, but behind me were about 900 people and on the seats above/behind my plattform about 5000). Luckily I had nice tickets and could get pretty close.
As we all know, You tube is quite amazing. I discovered by kinda accident this funny clip with Louis de Funès, my absolutely top favorite comedian of all time. Dubbed by a fan with new music and looking amazingly well synched. And as a bonus some other legendary scenes as well.
so there was the superbowl. and I thought, hey, lets watch some ads. until I figured that I actually have to watch the game to see the ads because they are so evenly distributed throughout the game.
which sucks.
therefore I watched some fabulous episodes of Ugly Betty instead, looking up the ads today at the Youtube channel. (or here) And of course there were the obvious sex sells ads, the funny Bud Light ads (on quite some high level, they will get silver or gold again at Cannes for sure) and two surprises.
the AMPed one really was quite funny and surprising (imagine the briefing and then look at the result), the FedEx spot had a really nice execution and that Budweiser one (kinda Rocky homage) really sucked (this is like the Jewbacca defense, which makes you think at the end, either this is brilliant or incredibly non inventive and stupid. I vote for the second one. to my surprise most people I spoke with think this was the best one. must be an american thing).
to my surprise there was just one ad that had a strong drive to web, GoDaddy, who did only show a sneak peak of the ad (of course a sexual context, oh well) and reveals the whole spot on the net.
bottom line: the ads show pretty well again that what you like is quite relative.
Posted by markus, filed under whatever. Date: February 4, 2008, 8:24 am |No Comments »
its going on on my office desk right now. incredible wonder of nature. unfortunately I don’t have a camera with me otherwise I would post some pics. and the best thing is, you can have the same experience. just order this and wait for 10 days …. oh behave!
Posted by markus, filed under whatever. Date: January 18, 2008, 1:43 pm |No Comments »
oh my god, I had the best Tae Kwon Do training today since I started. Today we practiced for the first time running jump kicks and I was FLYING. and hitting a target in midair. It was such a spectacular feeling, And then we did double front kicks on the bags (its like running up the bags in the air, like in matrix, but you are generating so much force that the bags are almost horizontal after the two kicks. what a fun). as much painful and annoying Tae Kwon Do can be, today everything (learned) came together and it was sooo much fun. highly recommended. start it people!
Posted by markus, filed under whatever. Date: January 17, 2008, 1:39 am |No Comments »
