New York City - Blogs | iwitty-2703.tv

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Jun 26, 2009 | 1:18 PM PST
Tags: CEOs , compensation , highest paid , HighestPaid , New York , New York City , NewYork

Metro, the free daily paper, reported in its June 25 edition that a bunch of NYC people you may never have heard of are making more than most of us can dream of. No. 1 on the list of New York's highest-paid CEOs in 2008, according to Crain's New York Business, is Alliance Bernstein's Peter Kraus, pocketing $52.538 million; No. 2 is Gamco Investors's Mario Gabelli, pocketing $45.927 million; and No. 3 is Philip Morris's Louis Camilleri, pocketing $43.229 million.

I couldn't access the full list (you need a subscription to Crain's, or you can buy the report here), but the Metro article did note that there are only four women in the top 100: No. 26, Avon Products's Andrea Jung, $12.9 million; No. 37, PepsiCo's Indra Nooyi, $9.9 million; No. 72, Ann Taylor Stores's Kay Krill, $5.7 million, and No. 79, The New York Times Co.'s Janet Robinson, $5.3 million.

And I was happy to get a few thousand back on my taxes this year.

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KEVIN ROSE DIGGNATION LIVE DIGG INTERVIEW @ NYC + SXSW VIDEO DOWNLOAD IPHONE/IPOD/ZUNE EDITION

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Mar 17, 2009 | 1:27 PM PST
Tags: Kevin Rose , Alex Albrecht , Digg , Jay Adelson , Diggnation , New York City

Diggnation host Kevin Rose talks about the features of the popular website Digg. Shomari chats with the Digg founder as he tapes a live episode of the hit internet show Diggnation in New York City with his co-host Alex Albrecht. Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht are greeted like rockstars at their live events including their latest hosted at SXSW. Stay tuned to download more episodes in the Binside TV Diggnation series. Hosted by Shomari Harris. Producer/ Director/ Editor/ Cinematographer Shani Harris. Special Thanks to Kevin Rose, Alex Albrecht,Jay Adelson, Diggnation and Revision3.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD IPOD/IPHONE/PSP VIDEO EDITION

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD WINDOWS ZUNE VIDEO EDITION

During their usual Web shows, the hosts lounge on an overstuffed couch and discuss the highest-ranked stories on Digg, the social news Web site founded by Mr Rose. Most episodes, they drink beer, make small talk with the audience and playfully rib one another while discussing the news. Kevin Rose and his Diggnation co-host Alex Albrecht made a recent appearance on Jimmy Fallon's Late Night show. The pair greated fans at a live Diggnation taping of their show at SXSW. At SXSW Kevin Rose announced a twitter directory launch and new Copy + Paste functions on iPhone OS 3.0.

The scene unfolding on Saturday night in the backyard of Stubb’s, a barbeque restaurant in downtown Austin, can be described in one word: mania. More than 2,000 fanboys and girls piled into a scrubby yard, pumping their fists in the air, shouting and chanting as they waited for the guests of the evening to arrive on stage. The fervor and excitement — which one attendee described as Beatlemania for nerds — seemed worthy of a musician or Hollywood celebrity, but neither arrived. Instead, Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht, co-hosts of “Diggnation,” a weekly Web show, strolled out.

Saturday’s event, which featured Mr. Rose and Mr. Albrecht giving away pairs of silver Adidas sneakers, track jackets and Panasonic digital cameras before they settled down to chat about the most-Dugg stories of the day, was the best-received event of the weekend so far.

During their usual Web shows, the hosts lounge on an overstuffed couch and discuss the highest-ranked stories on Digg, the social news Web site founded by Mr Rose. Most episodes, they drink beer, make small talk with the audience and playfully rib one another while discussing the news. The topics du jour for Saturday were the financial analyst Jim Cramer’s stock market manipulations, a keyboard that simulates the music of the electro-DJ duo Daft Punk, and a paralyzed man who was able to walk again after being bitten by a brown recluse spider.

Jay Adelson, chief executive of Digg, said the appeal of the show lies in the accessibility of both Mr. Rose and Mr. Albrecht. It’s not uncommon for them to hang around after live tapings and chat with audience members, he said.

“There’s no distance between fans and artists,” said Mr. Adelson. “They’re a part of the same community.”

Drue Placette, 28, a technology consultant from the Austin area, said he’d been a fan of Mr. Rose since the late ’90s when he appeared on a tech-centric show called “The Screen Savers.” “It shows that any homebrewed guys with a laptop and the Internet can make it,” he said.

Last month, at ROFLCon in New York City, Jim Louderback, chief executive of Revision3, the San Francisco-based studio that produces Diggnation, said the company began hosting the live versions of the Web show a few years ago to help promote it and expand its audience. The live events were better than any marketing campaign for the shows, which draw roughly 200,000 views each, he said. “People love to attend and tell their friends. It’s a great word-of-mouth campaign.”

Bob Rose, Kevin’s father, flew into Austin from Las Vegas for the event. It was the first time Mr. Rose, 70, had ever seen a live edition of his son’s show, and he confessed to being a bit stunned by the wild response it was eliciting.

“It’s crazy,” Mr. Rose said shaking his head. “I never dreamed it was like this.”

“Someone told me its like he’s a pop star that doesn’t play music. I guess that’s true,” he said, gesturing to the cheering crowds in the audience. “But all of this is eons ahead of me.” [NY TIMES]

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DSQUARED2 HE WOOD SHE WOOD FRAGRANCE FASHION WEEK LAUNCH PARTY

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Sep 12, 2008 | 8:00 AM PST
Tags: Gossip Girl , LeToya Luckett , Blake Lively , New York City , Ugly Betty

Cassie and LeToya Luckett attend DSquared Fragrance Launch Party. Photo Credit : Shomari Harris Binside TV

Binside TV was at the DSquared2 He Wood She Wood Fragrance Launch party on Wednesday night. Cassie celebrated with designers Dean and Dan. She looked beautiful in a DSquared2 dress.

Zoe Saldana wore a DSquared2 pants suit which she said was great because it was both masculine and feminine.

Amanda Sutton spilled some secrets to Binside TV about the juicy season of Gossip Girl. We can't wait to see who hooks up with each other in the second season. Amanda told Binside TV she was excited about everything these days and especially loved her chic Malandrino jacket and Jill Stuart dress. Other celebs who we spotted at the party were Marc Jacobs, Rachel Zoe, Leven Rambin, LeToya Luckett, Ryan Leslie, KY XY actor Matt Dallas and late arrivals Stacy Dash and Tyson Beckford.

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BOW WOW AND ANGELA SIMMONS COUPLED UP AT BETSY JOHNSON & RUSSELL SIMMONS ARGYLECULTURE FASHION SHOWS

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Sep 10, 2008 | 6:20 AM PST
Tags: rihanna , Danity Kane , Aubrey O'Day , Bow Wow , New York City , Jesse McCartney , MTV

Bow Wow and Angela Simmons definitely looked like a couple at the Betsy Johnson and Russell Simmons Argyleculture fashion shows. Angela told us that Bow Wow was hanging our with her as a "friend" and he had never attended a fashion week so she brought him along. These two seem to be friends with benefits.

Bow Wow told us he really liked the new Russell Simmons Argyleculture collection and could see himself in some of the looks coming down the runway.

Bow Wow has accomplished alot in his career and just turned 21 years old. He addressed the retirement rumors and said that they are true because he's going to focus on doing the Hollywood thing like Will Smith. We are not knocking Bow Wow's game while he gets his hustle on in music and acting. We think Bow Wow and Angela Simmons look cute together and make a great couple.

The Argyleculture front row was packed with celebrities.

We spotted Sean Paul, Aubrey O'Day and D Woods from Danity Kane, Mel B and Petra Nemcova. We're taking in more fashion shows at the tents and are scheduled to attend tonight's debut DSquared Fragrance launch of the He Wood and She Wood, scents for both men and women. The Catenacci twins, Dean and Dan have a huge following of celebrities, including Christian Aguilera and Rihanna, who have both walked in DSquared2 runway shows.

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STAR JONES HAS A NEW MAN SPOTTED KISSING & DATING CHEF HERB WILSON

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Sep 6, 2008 | 5:59 AM PST
Tags: star jones , al reynolds , US Open , New York City , New York , Star , NYC

Star Jones seems on the mend after her messy divorce from pretty boy Al Reynolds. Star was caught smooching with her new boo at the U.S. Open Tennis Match. Star Jones' new man Executive Chef Herb Wilson is a great catch.

Life & Style can exclusively reveal the ID of Star's new man - Chef Herb Wilson - who was spotted locking lips with Star at the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York on Sept. 2.

So who's the guy? "Herb is a renowned executive chef at the Soho Grand and the Tribeca Grand hotels in NYC," a source tells Life & Style. "He's the antithesis of Al! He's successful, intelligent, and doesn't want to be in the public eye." And lucky for Star, Herb once described himself as the most eligible bachelor in New York restaurants. He's a catch!

The source adds that the couple have been long-term friends but just started dating.

"It's early but it's obviously they really like each other!"

Star's reps had no comment. source

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Star Jones Gets Spicy With Chef Herb Wilson

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The Grateful Dead

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May 8, 2008 | 12:13 AM PST
Tags: Radio City , Halloween , Music Hall , New York City , Grateful Dead , Franklin's Tower , jerry garcia , bob weir , phil lesh , the grateful dead , california , san rafeal , marin , san francisco , northern california , live music , jam , jam band , instrumental , folk

Grateful Dead perform Franklin's Tower live at Radio City Music Hall in New York City for the famed Halloween show

36,086 songs
2,137 concerts
298 cities
30 years
11 members
1 band

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Egads and little catfishies!

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Jan 28, 2008 | 10:55 AM PST
Tags: bob , drinking , partying , jazz , new york city , drama , crazy

I left the lake on Saturday. I figured I'd get back and get ready for the work week ahead. I'm going on third shift starting at 1:30am tomorrow morning. I don't really know how to sleep, ectetera.

So Saturday night I went out, telling myself that this will be the LAST time I can go out for a long time. I took the 9:30pm bus into NYC and headed up to a fave jazz club. I stayed until four am and met up with Lance and we hung out for a few hours having breakfast and then he came back to the flat to hang out with me.

I thought he might make a good roommate.

I was a little enebriated.

So it was Sunday morning and he was on the cell with his girlfriend and he says he'll cook dinner. And I decide to have a change of heart and have Denise and Bob over one last time. Bob left for Fla. this morning and I figured they could meet Lance and tell me if they thought he'd make a good roommate.

So they came down.

And Lance made some beef ribs and veggies and it was all good.

Then Bob says he's having trouble breathing. Denise and Bob and Lance all go to Bob's car to drive up to his house to get his inhaler or some such thing.

Then a few minutes later Lance says that they need to use MY car because Bob's won't start. So I go down and over and Bob is having kind of an episode..it might have been drama, who knows? So I get into his car and have no trouble turning the engine over. Bob couldn't drive and I don't think Lance remembered how to drive a stick shift.

And so Bob decides that he'll stay there with Lance whilst Denise and I motor up to Bob's house and get his inhaler and some medicine thingy. Then we motor back. Bob is still standing on the sidewalk with Lance holding him -exactly where we left them.

I tell Bob that I'll just take him home. I get him in the car with Denise and Bob. We drive up to Bob's house. But we're stuck up there. I don't have any cash, nor does Lance. Denise wants to leave and says she'll pay for the taxi to take us all back. She and I have just about had it with Bob and his episodes.

So she calls a taxi and we motor on down and drop her at her flat and then on to my flat.

Lance goes into the parlor and is watching some video. I go to bed.

At 4:30am I hear the buzzer for the door. I think it must be Lance, that he locked himself outside while going out for a smoke. I buzz the door. Bob comes up the stairs huffing and puffing.

He says that he has a cab running outside and that he doesn't have any cash.

I ask him what's this all about.

He says that he had 300. in his wallet and somebody cleaned him out.

I asked him who?

He said that he knew that it was Lance.

Okay, now I'm dumbfounded. Did Lance steal the cash from Robert?

So I send Bob into the living room and he wakes Lance up and confronts him about the money. He says that he needs that money to get to the airport at 5:30am and that he doesn't know what to do.

Lance emphatically denies taking Bob's money. He explains to Bob about how he was having serious health issues and how we had to take him back to his house and how were we going to get home? Why didn't he offer to pay for a taxi to take us back, him with all his millions.

Bob says he would've if we had asked. Fat chance.

So then Bob says he wants to see Lance's wallet. Lance puts up a bit of a fight saying he can't believe what is going on here. So he says he has to use the loo, and hands me his wallet as he goes in. I give it to Bob. There are a few dollars in there, but no 300. Lance is very insulted by all of this.

Bob leaves.

We all go back to bed for a few hours. I wake up around 10am and decide that Lance must go. So I wake him up and tell him I need some alone time and would he get it together. We decide he'll leave around 12pm. So I make coffee and we hang out and he has a bowl of Fruit Loops and I tell him that I don't think I want a roommate for awhile. And he sounds a bit upset. But I tell him that I think that with the new job I just need to be alone for awhile, given the hours and everything. Eventually it sinks in. And he seems okay with it, but says I have to stop changing my mind all the time, and he gives me a little of his victim spiel. And I tell him that we've all been down that road...nobody has it easy all of the time.

And so this morning I walk him to the bus to take him home. And we stay for awhile and talk about cars while waiting for the bus which is late. Then I tell him that I can go out on weekends but that during the week I really have to focus on the job.

He shakes my hand, gets on the bus, and at that, he's gone.

I go home and clean up the mess, dishes and the like from the party. I remove all evidence.

Big question? Who stole the cash? Was it Denise? Was it Lance? Or did Bob just misplace it given his mental capacity with seizures and all?

And do I need this drama in my life? I want quiet now.

So I'll try to get back into bed around 4pm and sleep for a good many hours before treking into the city for the job. I'm here now to get info on how to get to the office.

Bob and the ambulances and the like are what caused me to go out and blow off some steam. Saw Charles, he looked miserable.

And so ends this January.

Have a great day world, and thanks for reading!

-Richard

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A Day with the Aunt

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Jan 19, 2008 | 7:52 AM PST
Tags: new york city , Lillian , cheap

Hello all! I spent the entire day yesterday with Lillian and Robert.

Robert is leaving for Florida in nine days.

It was as usual a bit of an effort. I walked up to Roberts house (about 40 minute walk) and then he had a few telephone calls and then we went over to the 99S and took the bus in.

I had 5 pounds of chocolates my brother gave me that I decided to give to the old biddy since she loves the chocolate. I really haven't spoken to her since the New Year's Eve debacle, of which there is a photo of me, and the old bird and my mum.

We get off the bus at Port Authority bus terminal and Bob is a little disoriented. Then I get him on the 42nd street cross town bus. Then we get off of that and he's grabbing my arm, like a child. Then I get him onto the up town bus, and he starts asking, "Is this the bus that we are getting on?" So I know his sugar must be down.

Then we ride the bus all the way up to Lillian's apartment. By this time he's holding on to me like a child and I get him into the building and he's wobbling like a drunk guy. And then eventually I get him up to Lillian's apartment.

Now she seems more normal than ever.

She asks me "what's wrong with Bob?"

I told her his sugar must be down.

She runs out for cigarettes - something she hasn't done in years. So I know she's feeling more normal lately.

I sit Robert down and begin cooking some pasta. We brought some home made sauce he made and some asparagus (which Lillian likes chilled) and some mushrooms to put in the sauce.

Lillian comes back and she fixes a "horse's neck" which is one tot of brandy and the balance sugar free ginger ale. I have a vodka with ginger since there isn't any tonic and she says there isn't much brandy.

And then I fix Bob a plate of pasta. Lillian goes on and on about how pasta isn't good for diabetics. She's very pleased with the chocolates, but won't share them with me or Bob. And it's only five pounds.

After awhile Bob's sugar is back up and he's back to normal.

We stay with Lillian for a few hours as she retells her story of her glory getting the dog laws passed in New York City and about her book, "Faversham - Landmark Dog of Manhattan."

Then at around 9pm I take Bob to the Lexington Avenue bus. We ride it down and get off at 34th by accident. We get on the cross town which goes up to the PABT and we meet John Louis - the pianist for the late Frank Sinatra! We had a blast on the at ride. He said he had been living in Austria since 1960 and that he was 74 and that he hadn't ridden a bus in 40 years! He invited Bob and I to come see him at Lincoln center!

Only in New York City my friends, only in New York!

After this we get on the 99S back to Bayonne. Bob asks if I feel like going out to the local haunts, but I beg off, busy day today studying more software. And one of my friends is opening a new hot spot tonight that I want to go to.

So that's all the news for today.

Thanks for reading.

-me

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Punk

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Sep 19, 2007 | 11:50 AM PST
Tags: Hole , Punk Bands , Punk Band Videos , Gold Dust Woman , Courtney Love , Sex Pistols , The Clash , United Kingdom , Green Day , rebellion , the Ramones , garage rock , rock music , Australia , protopunk , Punk , anti-establishment , London , New York City , recordings

Punk is an anti-establishment rock music genre and movement that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed the perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock.

They created fast, hard-edged music, typically with short songs, stripped-down instrumentation, and often political, anti-government lyrics. Punk embraces a DIY (do it yourself) ethic, with many bands self-producing their recordings and distributing them through informal channels. By late 1976, bands such as the Ramones, in New York City, and the Sex Pistols and The Clash, in London, were recognized as the vanguard of a new musical movement.

The following year saw punk rock spreading around the world. Punk quickly, though briefly, became a major cultural phenomenon in the United Kingdom. For the most part, punk took root in local scenes that tended to reject association with the mainstream. An associated punk subculture emerged, expressing youthful rebellion and characterized by distinctive clothing styles and a variety of anti-authoritarian ideologies. By the beginning of the 1980s, even faster, more aggressive styles such as hardcore and Oi! had become the predominant mode of punk rock.

Musicians identifying with or inspired by punk also pursued a broad range of other variations, giving rise to post-punk and the alternative rock movement. By the turn of the century, new pop punk bands such as Green Day were bringing the genre widespread popularity decades after its inception.

how to style punk hairView more documents from luisgarciall. (tags: urban tribes)

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Trapped Like MF*ing Snakes on a MF*ing Plane!

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Jul 12, 2007 | 7:15 AM PST
Tags: snakes on a plane , sushi , blue ribbon , New York City

Hi all,

I had a Gilligan-esque type of journey out to NYC yesterday. The flight was only supposed to be 4 hours and 45 minutes, but turned into a 9 hour+ flight, complete with our very own stop in Pittsburgh! Though we didn't get to enjoy the sights or the fine dining cuisine of Pittsburgh, (because we were trapped like snakes on a plane) we did eventually reach our intended destination. As for fine cuisine, after checking into our hotel, we hopped in a car and went to SoHo for the most delicious and "buttery" sushi dinner experience at Blue Ribbon. Thanks and much love to Mary Anne for the rec!

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Talk It Out with Jodi Leib featuring Ladell McLin

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Jun 20, 2007 | 4:50 PM PST
Tags: Ladell McLin , Talk It Out with Jodi Leib , guitar , rhythm & blues , jazz , New York City , Tribeca , Jimi Hendrix

Ladell McLin

Going Beyond the 60s

Talk It Out with Jodi Leib
featuring Ladell McLin
August 30, 2005
Tribeca, NYC

Jodi: This is really exciting. I’m talking it out with rock star, mad guitarist, brilliant, genius, rhythm and blues/ electric guitarist Ladell McLin. This is Ladell McLin, talkin it out! How would you describe your guitar work?

Ladell: I would describe it as still not knowing what I’m doing, still learning. Just letting the music play itself.

Jodi: If you’re still learning, what does it mean to be an expert then?

Ladell: That’s what it means to be an expert – still learning. You never stop learning, and an expert then is – no set rules to the music. Letting the music breathe. It’s like making a baby. You come together and make love with the music. The music produces a child. The child is always going to have its own way of living life, the way it wants to and the way it was meant to come and live its life. That’s the same as the music that you create. It’s going to come out in its own way, it’s going to have its own identity.

Jodi: What do you think about the baby boom that’s going on in the world? It’s almost like there’s a revolution of baby boomers, what do you think?

Ladell: Well, a revolution - we need a revolution. We need a revolution to last about a hundred years to correct what’s gone on the last four years or five years. So it’s going to take a hundred years to clean that up. A revolution for the planet, this time, and humanity is really going to have to find a way to live one with the planet. And make everything equal. All humans are equal no matter what color – black, white, orange, even if a green person, a purple person come down from out of the sky, we’re going to have to treat them equally and not be afraid of them, because of who they are and what they are. You know? We all on the same thing. We’re all living on this planet as one. So, what’s gone on the past four years, there’s going to have to be a revolution. The revolution is not necessarily that we’re gonna win or lose, or anything like that. It’s just that we need a revolution.

Jodi: We need a change, is that what you’re saying?

Ladell: A revolution brings many changes. That’s why it takes so long, man. Revolution – I think we stopped our 60s revolution and everyone wanted to disco and start a party and shakin’ their booties, instead of shaking their fists. All the drugs and stuff started to get more high society class type drugs, and then the 80s came in. That was a small revolution that went on during the 80s, but, and then there was another revolution that went on with the 90s, but the 2000s came up and everybody really forgot about the revolution. Everybody got into the bling bling, and these big motor cars started coming – the same ones they use in the wars. Now they’re charging so much money in gas for us to use over here. People ought to look at that. Some innocent kid is dying over there for you to drive this and afford this to drive around, and that’s not right. Mother Earth is like saying, “hey, that’s not right!” And, she’s doing her thing, and she’s going to come up and slap us one day because we’ve been stupid. She’s gonna do that. She’s the mother of us. The universe is the father. Either one of them is going to come down and chastise us. But, I just think that we need to get out of the ways of living how we think we’re supposed to live. We just need really need love to live by, and love one another. Some people make too much money, they don’t know how to love no more.

Jodi: Why? What is it about money that confuses us?

Ladell: It’s the money. The money brings you like, “I have this and you don’t.” They don’t have anything, really. That money really doesn’t mean anything in the real world reality. You know? An animal is the only one that can’t spend money, right? On the planet, animals and insects? Look at them, they’re beautiful. They’re in harmony with the Earth. We have money and we fall out of harmony and with the universe.

Jodi: I believe that is so true, however money is a spiritual journey if we can get to that level of consciousness. So when we talk about all people are created equal, does that include terrorists?

Ladell: Terrorists. I think we all could be terrorists at times. The people with money are terrorists, right? The ones who buy these big cars that drive over here are just as terrorist as the ones over there. The people who are killing rainforests and polluting the planet. The ones who have these big houses and take up so much land; they’re the terrorists. They’re terrorizing our kids everyday by brainwashing them. So, they’re just as much a terrorist as the ones doing the bombing. It’s like, “Don’t talk about my back yard, look at your back yard, dude.” That’s what I get from it, you know?

Jodi: So, when we pollute the population with brainwashing and propaganda, is it the same as killing innocent civilians?

Ladell: Yeah, you’re killing the soul! Once you take away the soul, you don’t have anything. You just have people that are taking up space now. They’ve got to find their souls back and become a part of what’s going on.

Jodi: I hear you, man. Who’s your greatest influence in the world?

Ladell: Me.

Jodi: Alright. Which musician do you identify with the most?

Ladell: People probably want to say Hendrix. I identify with him, I know his music and I know what he was fighting for, but I identify a lot with the musicians of the day. The musicians that I get to meet, and the ones like a friend of mine Michael Paris. He’s a great musician. Another one – James Blood Ulmer, Vernon Reid. I kind of identify with them because I am in contact with them. I know them. I identify with politicians – the newly elected Illinois senator, Obama. He’s very identifiable. I identify with Hillary, and still the ex-president Clinton. They’ve got compassion for the human race. Even though all politicians fuck up, they never do anything right, but still these people have got compassion and they know what’s the real deal.

Jodi: How do you feel about saying that you are the next Jimi Hendrix, or Jimi Hendrix, Chapter 2? Or you are Jimi Hendrix. What does that mean to you?

Ladell: Oh, that’s hard to live up to. The guy did so much. Just so little time, you know? He had the hippie population. They was fightin’. They was fightin to die, for us to continue. If he wasn’t there, if King wasn’t there, Lennon and the Beatles, Marvin Gaye, if he wasn’t there, we wouldn’t have this. They died for us. They became Christ. If you want to identify me, I would love to be the Christ part of them. You know? They went to their Christ part, and that’s the highest that you can reach on the planet. It’s beautiful. I identify with stuff like, people breaking us out of these type of prison. Prince was a good example of that with his 80 recordings. He did a lot of great work for the population. That’s what musicians are for. We’re for the population. We’re not for the corporation. We’re for the population.

Jodi: I like that. That’s fabulous. That’s beautiful. We are for the population. I agree with that a hundred percent. What’s your goal? What do you see yourself doing in the next year? What is your vision?

Ladell: I want to rule the world, man.

Jodi: Madonna said that and look at her!

Ladell: Yeah, well. I really want to take it over. The world is given to me. I’m free to do whatever I want. Sometimes, I suffer myself with things. But, I decided to become a human when I came down here. I didn’t decide to become an animal or a tree or something like that or a rose. I decided to become a human, so I’m going to have to live out all of these emotions. I’m going to have to evolve as a human. My goal is really to just drop the hugest love bomb ever that the planet has ever seen ~! Yeah! Just to wipe out all that stuff, man. It’s like, the devil has walked away, man. It’s begun to get so stupid. He like, “I can’t do nuttin’ no more!” You know? It’s outta my hands. He’s like, “Man, dude, these dudes are so stupid. They do stupid stuff. It wasn’t me that made them do it now. They are on their own doing stupid stuff. They way beyond.” You know? So, I don’t know.

Jodi: Do you think you’ve seen God?

Ladell: I think I am God. I’m a part of God. I have the same elements as the universe and the Earth. I’m a part, so I get to see him in you too. I think you are too.

Jodi: Thank you.

Ladell: I get to see him in everybody. Anybody that has love is a part of God. And I get to see God in them. I’m not saying that as an ego thing – “I am God.” Like, no one is am God. We are God. God is a we.

Jodi: No hierarchy.

Ladell: Yeah. If you see nature, can feel the rain, everything. The only thing is man – we’re sitting in the middle of Tribeca right now, these buildings…you see man. You see God in just little specs now. Little small trees now. We walk down the street, we’re still small like insects and stuff. But we have all this concrete going on around us.

Jodi: Is there a spiritual revolution going on right? Is that what the revolution is today – a spiritual one?

Ladell: As quiet as it’s kept, it is a huge spiritual revolution going on. It needs someone to exercise its rights to come out, and I hope I get the opportunity to help with that.

Jodi: Most definitely. Anything else you want to share? Take me to the next level, Ladell.

Ladell: Well, we are at the next level. We are at the next level.

Jodi Leib's Talk It Out Interview with Ladell McLin was taped on August 30, 2005. Talk It Out (c) Jodi Leib, 2005. Reprint by Permission.

Please visit Ladell's My Space site at www.myspace.com/ladellmclin .

Special thanks to David Birch

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Are the Gates the Emperor’s New Clothes All Over Again?

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May 17, 2007 | 4:29 PM PST
Tags: Christo , Central Park , The Gates , New York City , Dada

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I don’t have a whole lot of time to whip up new content at the moment, as I’m in the middle of editing 200 articles for eHow.com. So until I’m able to catch my breath, I’m going to dig deep into the Alarcon Archives® for a while and recycle some of my old classics.

This one is from ’05. Anyone remember Christo’s recent installment in NYC’s Central Park? The Gates? Here’s my take on it. (You should’ve seen the hate mail this one generated—art snobs are so precious about their high-brow culture.)

Are the Gates the Emperor’s New Clothes All Over Again?
Originally published: February 28, 2005

No one’s going to remember this but sometime in late December 2004, I was asked by a publication I occasionally write for to make my predictions for 2005. Among the dozen or so predictions I made, I called Christo’s "Gates” in New York’s Central Park to be one of the big jizz-inducing events of the New Year.

Yeah, I know what you’re thinking, “Pussy—Alarcon plays it safe again.” But the fact is, I know what works with the yokels as well as the mainstream media, and Christo’s (and his wife Jeanne-Claude, although I think he has to tack her name onto his projects because she’s a ball buster) Gates has “Safe for the Entire Family” written all over it. The Gates is the kind of thing that: A) Gets on the front page of Republican newspapers; B) Is always covered in the first five minutes of your local news broadcast and C) Spouts forth from the duck-lipped mouths of 40-something soccer moms who like to discus things like The Gates because they think it keeps them tethered to “the arts.”

There’s no way The Gates was going to go unnoticed by the media, especially not in this climate where radio hosts are getting fired for saying words like “bitch” and “hell” and naked shoulder blades during Monday Night Football are cause for the extreme fundamentalists to run down Main Street, USA with their arms waving above their heads while they scream about the “final days.”

Was I right? What do you think? I currently live in Orange County, California and I can’t pick up a newspaper without reading about The Gates, and I’m not talking about an article in the Arts & Entertainment section of the paper—I’m talking front page—above the fold, with a big old color photo of New York tourists in knit caps and parkas. Oh, and I almost forgot those orange sheets (they insist on calling them saffron, but don’t let anyone fool you, they’re orange) whipping in the brisk Central Park wind.

But are The Gates art? Nope. I mean, sure, I can appreciate the idea of it being art and I even detect the slight—very slight—undertones of Dadaism. But when all is said and done, Christo’s Gates are really just a spectacle—not art—and spectacles are usually nothing more than novelties.

So let’s break the installation down—Art Appreciation 101-style. Yes, the bright orange cuts a bold and liberating swath through the grays of Harlem and the symmetry of the arches are interesting, but what’s more important here?

Tourism.

Billionaire Mayor Bloomberg is estimating that his city’s going to fleece the out-of-town rubes for just a bit over $80 million over the 16 days The Gates are going to be up. Not bad, especially since Christo claims he ponied up the entire $21 million it took to make this little ego-stroking monstrosity of his happen.

Wait, you don’t think Christo’s ego had anything to do with this? Get this: Christo took on a 26-year battle with New York City and the Central Park board members and every time he presented the powers that be with a proposal for The Gates, the Bulgarian was turned down. This was the same artist who in 1991, installed 20-foot-tall umbrellas on small mountains (1,340 blue ones in Japan and 1,760 yellow ones just south of Bakersfield, California) and thanks to his faulty engineering, witnessed one umbrella from each installation fall on top of and murder some poor schlub who probably got dragged there by their pretentious artsy-fartsy girlfriend anyway. And what did Christo do? Nothing, there was never a formal apology—after all, someone has to suffer for art.

So are The Gates Christo’s Moby Dick? A spectacle that took him a third of his life—26 fucking years—to realize? My guess is yes. This was an ego-driven project from the get-go. He couldn’t have done it for New York, as most chiseled New Yorkers have stated that the Christo’s little vanity project is nothing more than a nuisance to them.

One female jogger I saw on CNN who was interviewed about the installation said she was going to pray for snow for the next two weeks in hopes of keeping the mouth-breathers away from her running paths while a man interviewed for a recent LA Times piece (it’s fifth piece within the last month) said he stopped picking up his dog’s feces when he takes Fido with him on his morning constitutional, figuring the stinky landmines would keep the out-of-towners at bay.

One can only imagine what all the crowds are doing to the local rapist’s productivity.

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