Out on Fifth

Barclay

Today I was unlucky enough to end up at the Barclay School Supply store, in downtown Brooklyn. The place is a monument to educational incompetence. Amidst the dizzying array of commercial teaching aids, forlorn & rather bored teachers wander, gathering their materials. One woman, chatting on her cell phone, was discussing recent lessons with a New York City theme:
"Somebody did the Statue of Liberty, & the Empire State Building's been done too. Still, there's a lot of city landmines left, aren't there?"

Seventh & 27th

Whatever Happened to Neck Face?

I was very fond of the Gowanus Neck Face graffiti you could see from the F train a few years back. I still see tags scattered about from time to time, but they're nothing special & much smaller than his earlier work. This van appears on my block every so often, but I don't know who it belongs to. Could it be his?

   

Juana del Pipa

Here's the late, incomparable Juana del Pipa. I was trying to find out when she died, but couldn't come up with any details. She was one of the featured performers in the film Gypsy Caravan, that came out a couple of years ago. Del Pipa was part of a legendary flamenco dynasty, and also saw many of her family destroyed by drugs. What a voice.

Creepy Babies

The Knives Are Out

A savage review of The Pregnant Widow from John Crace! With a vicious illustration by Neal Fox ...