9/11

click it. thanks to eric for the link. and for being my brother.

2666 [books]

you can't believe the rain we're having. lightning like the sun shorting out and our soi (lane) a shin-deep canal of guttural [sic] backwash for days. what better reason for two people to stay in and share the three volume edition of roberto bolano's 2666? excerpt and links below.

It was raining in the quadrangle, and the quadrangular sky looked like the grimace of a robot or a god made in our own likeness. The oblique drops of rain slid down the blades of grass in the park, but it would have made no difference if they had slid up. Then the oblique (drops) turned round (drops), swallowed up by the earth underpinning the grass, and the grass and the earth seemed to talk, no, not talk, argue, their incomprehensible words like crystallized spiderwebs or the briefest crystallized vomitings, a barely audible rustling, as if instead of drinking tea that afternoon, Norton had drunk a steaming cup of peyote.

But the truth is that she had only had tea to drink and she felt overwhelmed, as if a voice were repeating a terrible prayer in her ear, the words of which blurred as she walked away from the college, and the rain wetted her gray skirt and bony knees and pretty ankles and little else, because before Liz Norton went running through the park, she hadn’t forgotten to pick up her umbrella.

nytimes review of 2666 // first chapter
nytimes review of the latest bolano novel to be translated // +pics

waltz with bashir [film // animation]

maybe you've seen this because it came out last year. half way around the world it's hard to keep up. if you need persuading, it was nominated for best foreign film. click here if the streaming video above doesn't work. i need to learn more about beirut.

dumpling week 2009 [food // taiwan]

in an effort to commemorate and, in some sense, memorialize my time in taiwan coming to an end, i decided to stage dumpling week 2009 both as a sendoff to myself and as a gastronomic homage to my favorite taiwanese food: the dumpling. the festivities (meals, to the layperson) took place between the end of july and the first few days of august 2009 in various cities and locations in taiwan, and included dumplings of varied fillings and preparations. despite that i was negligent in photographing most of my meals, i have to consider this years dumpling week a resounding success, and i look forward to future fests. full report after the jump.

saturday, july 25
as a kickoff to the week, i ate a meal of boiled pork and cabbage dumplings (shway jiao), dredged sweet potato leaves, and spicy cucumber salad with mauriah at a restaurant with pictures of the beatles on the walls. this move could be considered risky, since this is my favorite dumpling shop and i've chosen to eat here first. i'm thinking high-risk, high-reward. as usual, the dumplings were perfectly cooked and delectable; bonus points for sweet potato leaves (hua yeh tsai), also a favorite.

sunday, july 26
off day due to previously arranged thai dinner with friends.

monday, july 27
boiled pork dumplings and dry tofu at 88. 88 is an excellent cold-weather eatery for spicy soups and can be counted on for consistently good dumplings, but i think their dumplings would be better with a thinner noodle.

tuesday, july 28
pork and chive dumplings in spicy beef broth (neo-roh tang jiao) and spicy cucumber salad at hope noodle, a small local chain. dumplings in soup is a top 5 rainy day comfort food. ignoring that fact, i stepped into a location of hope noodle that i've never been to before on a sweltering july evening. with a sweat-pocked brow, i slurped this classic and it was well worth it. great remedy for evening grumpiness between tutoring appointments.

wednesday, july 29
hump day double-up! my first dumplings of the day were boiled vegetarian dumplings at a family-owned vegetarian shop, name unknown, with mauriah. these guys were joined on the table by various steamed vegetables and some fried noodles. i actually love these dumplings for their inconsistencies. sometimes they blast you with fresh ginger, but today they were earthy. bonus points for being pocketbook friendly.

second dumpling pitstop: previously unknown shop, with mauriah. i ate one bamboo steamer tray of steamed pork soup dumplings (xiao long bao) and drank water, mauriah had a taiwan beer. this style of dumpling - with a bit of soup inside the noodle - is traditionally eaten with fresh ginger soaked in rice wine vinegar, and the shop-owner's spread was spot-on. these slightly oily, hardier dumplings were a surprise treat on a long late night walk.

thursday, july 30
boiled pork dumplings and tofu at a nondescript place near my former night job. always good, but rarely cooked perfectly, these were true to form; nostalgia helped buoy this unremarkable meal.

friday, july 31
denied! a favorite spot which makes very rare pan-fried pork dumplings would not sell them to me to go. *note: said dumplings would have joined us for a burner between the uni/7-11 lions and the la new bears in which the reigning champion lions held off a late bears rally for a 6-4 win.

saturday, august 1
pork soup dumplings at my favorite breakfast shop. i rarely eat breakfast, but this was my farewell meal, eaten on the hsinchu train platform with spicy soy sauce. a-mazing. i almost had to choke out the cleaning lady when she tried to "clean up" my unfinished dumplings.

sunday, august 2
in hualien, having just spent a great day at taroko gorge, we made a short pilgrimage to a dumpling shop we noticed the night before with a ridiculously long line. after some mumbo-jumbo from this impatient guy behind us, a former co-worker randomly came out of the crowd. after catching up, i was able to order a few steamed, especially bready pork dumplings [bao-dz']. believe the hype. these bao-dz' (pictured above) were so delicious that after eating i spilled my lemonade in rejoice. mauriah and some old taiwanese guy laughed about it at length. i wasn't even mad.

thus closed dumpling week. it was epic. i think i gained weight. i haven't eaten that much meat in one stretch since i was a regular for tailgating at miller park. i hope for more chances of this unnecessarily idiotic nature in the future.

sentencelessness + bangkok

the lights are back on at sentencelessness, and homebase has moved to bangkok. above are photos mauriah and i took while adrift [more here]. there are new things, and it might take some shaking to get the dust off 'em, but i'll work on it. for now, what's important is that this is happening again. and mauriah takes a boat to work, which is its own thing.

friderday 8 [bikes]

It's been 3 months....the next FRiDERDAY will be held July 11th.
This FRiDERDAY marks our one year anniversary since it all started.
This will be the first time that Nabiis is throwing an alleycat.
Because of safety reasons, FRiDERDAY will start in the afternoon.
We will be riding around Neihu District.
Nabiis suggests that all participants ride around Neihu District before the alleycat.
Get a feel of the area and remember some of the street names.
Riders that are familiar with the area will come out on top

This FRiDERDAY, G-Shock will be sponsoring the event for the first time.
World G-SHOCK.com presented Nabiis with an opportunity to custom make their own watch.
We are giving away two of these watches for our top finishers.
Representing Taiwan, Nabiis will write a blog for World.G-SHOCK.com.
Long time supporter of FRiDERDAY, Vans will also be sponsoring this event.
CyclePal, known for their urban cycling style, will also be sponsoring.
Cog Magazine's Yohei Morita, will be flying in from Japan to cover the next FRiDERDAY.

Happy birthday FRiDERDAY!

INFO

Time : 7/11 PM2:30
Meet Up : CyclePal at Neihu District
Competition : Alley Cat and Trick Battle
Note to all riders: don't forget to wear your helmet, bring your Health Insurance card, messenger bag & light

i may or may not be wearing a cape right now. hint: i am.

unspoken friday tradition: hunch overtired in front of the computer and laugh too hard. this week i'm revisiting that old guilty pleasure www.textsfromlastnight.com.

bin lan hustle evidence [photography // bikes]

it happened. if it weren't for a looming typhoon the turnout may have been better, but a good time was had by all nonetheless. i have extra t-shirts, mail me (johnmurn at gmail.com) if you would like to buy one (or ten). check out all the photo sets: jeff // ken // mauriah // fhai

my bike [bikes]

this, friends, is bike porn. i might be out of the office for a while.

russian punks [photography]

brandon bird [art]

the photographic dictionary [photography]

the photographic dictionary is dedicated to defining words through the literal, figurative and personal meanings found in each photograph.

*repost* bin lan hustle [bikes] *repost*

yes, i'm whoring out my race. yes, i'm too busy to actually post other content. click the picture.

nytimes blogs [BABL]

this is really obvious, but if you're still reading after seeing the title and graphics, then perhaps not. this post exists because i've had a bunch of conversations recently where i've been shocked/judgmental/half-offended guy regarding the blogs at nytimes.com ["you don't (insert verb of knowledge or participation here) (insert cultural niche/cool signifier here)?"]. what i'm saying is, you may be wasting your time reading this blog right now. i do far too much unrewarding trolling and wandering on the internet and when the times blogs flash back into my consciousness i'm always absorbed. for instance, right now you can win free old books, get belated tips on how to survive pitching to one of the greatest hitters ever, and find out how to extend your vacation from a week to months. of course there are also loads of things on politics, health, tech, business, whatever, whatever. [sidebar: is it humorous that the graphic for lens got out of focus when i stretched it to fit?]

blind prom // sarah wilson [photography]

I remember last year overhearing a conversation a couple was having as they were reuniting before prom. She grabbed his hand and ran his fingers along the sequins of her dress, to the curls in her hair, and to the strand of pearls around her neck. His response was an exuberant, “Wow, you look so beautiful!” I know that she felt beautiful.

john hall wheelock [writing]

Aphrodite

Dark-eyed, out of the snow-cold sea you came,
The young blood under the cheek like dawn-light showing,
Stray tendrils of dark hair in the sea-wind blowing,
Comely and grave, out of the sea you came.

Slim covered thigh and slender stockinged foot
In swift strides over the burnished shingle swinging,
Sweet silence of your smile, soft sea-weed clinging,
Here and there, to the wet bathing-suit.

O fierce and shy, your glance so piercing-true
Shot fire to the struck heart that was as tinder—
The fire of your still loveliness, the tender
High fortitude of the spirit shining through.

And the world was young. O love and song and fame
Were part of youth’s still ever believed-in story,
And hope crowned all, when in dear and in queenly glory,
Out of the snow-cold sea to me you came.

democracy for the cartoons [BABL]

democracy for the cartoons is where artist drew christie stashes his amazing linocuts and sketches. christie takes an interest in the intricacies of certain histories, and, accordingly, most of the linographs come with a somewhat ambiguous historical blurb. makes for fun goose chases.

jack kerouac + fantasy baseball [books // baseball]

when i was 8, the very nice volunteer librarians at the dodgeville public library had to break the devastating news that my months-long relationship with one particular hank aaron biography (title long since forgotten) was coming to a forced end - i could no longer continue to renew the book repetitively. this was jarring. i did the only thing a burgeoning 8-year-old baseball fanatic could do: i went home and threw myself into becoming annoyingly well-versed in the minutiae of every single one of the 792 cards in topps' 1988 set.

when i was 18 i read on the road. every small roadtrip with friends became more vibrant, mischievous and hairbrained; my college choices were affected; i broke up with my long time girlfriend for two whole days. i read the thing three times consecutively and i've read it a half dozen times since.

i knew that kerouac liked baseball, but i had no idea. apparently old jack was a regular fanatic on the down-low, and there's a new book about the fantasy baseball world he created over varying stretches of his youth and adulthood. read the times article linked below; reminds me a whole lot of the universal baseball association, inc.

LINK: Another Side of Kerouac: The Dharma Bum as Sports Nut (nyt)

eric and jeremy murn [family]

if these guys look angry, it's only because when one brother is hung over and the other isn't and you have to answer to somebody else's goddamn plan and wear a tie and be there on time and you can't find parking and... well, you can probably see that much. anyways, these two bottlerockets graduated from wisconsin this past weekend. and the less angry looking one (on the right) just landed an internship at the daily show. look out new york city/world. congrats boys, i love you and miss you.

this is home. i miss it. jeremy's in my spot, though.

garry trinh's giant bonsais [photography]

DOWNLOAD: the sads - you turned me into morrissey [mp3]

pedal ID [bikes]

the big thinkers over at pedalmafia have come up with one more amazing way to waste a whole afternoon - pedal ID. a simple drag and drop template program, pedal ID let's you "build" your dream ride. above is a mock-up of my forthcoming whip(!).

david meskhi [photography]

honesty and curiosity are rarely employed in such naturally seamless juxtaposition - in any medium of storytelling - as in david meskhi's photographs. accordingly, i am taken aback by the bio on meskhi's page. can't help but feel a bit goaded by the dichotomy his words create between his impression of his own work and the individual perception of anyone who might see it - at times he borders on being brashly arrogant - he delineates and pontificates almost as if he is discarding the need for the viewer to experience and react to his own emotions and process them. and yet, at other times, meskhi says perfectly rational, not-really-revolutionary, nice things in broken english, like:

i want to make other people co-participants in these emotions through pictures. for me, if that happens, photo is a success and if photo is a success, then process of taking pictures is a process of seeking and finding oneself.

alexander lobanov [art]

the self-portraiture of russian outsider artist alexander lobanov is singular in its ornamentation and its weaponry, or, perhaps, its weaponry as ornamentation. lobanov's repetition, attention to quirky detail, and use of color are immediately evocative of the likes of henry darger and adolf wolfli. like darger and wolfli, lobanov spent a considerable portion of his life institutionalized, and, as with the others, his artistic output was prolific. deaf and mute from a very young age, lobanov was reputed for violent outbursts in his youth and it is believed that a form of art therapy may have helped him find a certain level of peace. much of lobanov's work shows the heavy influence of russian propaganda during his lifetime, and he often presents himself as the pundits of the time. little seems known of lobanov, though a short documentary was made about him. anybody seen it?

debauchery, my old friend [hijinks]

this chat transcript was sent to me in an email at 11:15 AM yesterday from one of the participants. hope you can appreciate the drunk-centricities (bazaar crew, etc.).

10:44 AM (A): om gosh lover
om gosh
where do i begin???
10:45 AM i'm sooooooo drunk right now
l slept for an hour
was really late to work
partied like a fucking rock star last night
with a bazaar crew
10:46 AM or townie pool players
hooked up with this random hottie from west virginia that lives in williamsburg
(B): weird!
oh man
me: drank from like 9 to 9am
10:47 AM saw the sun come up on a billyburg roof top
smoked a bit more than cigarettes
made friends with a guy that did 5 years in sing sing
that
wants to cook for me
haha
10:48 AM om gosh you would have LOVED it
(B): um what??
(A): dude is jamaican
has like a million dollars stored in bags around the city
has recovered most of it
like a fuckin pirate's burried treasure!!!!! no kidding
10:49 AM like the count of monte cristo!
10:50 AM has a scar on his jaw from where he was stabbed with a tooth brush in his first gang fight in prison
that went through his jaw
(B): oh god
okay
you're insane
10:51 AM (A): and cut out one of his back molars
then in his second gang fight he had his chest slashed
nice scar
10:52 AM and then his third and final fight his left lung was pierced
after that they respected him and left him alone ;)
he has his only clothing line
and used to provide drugs for like
every fucking music group you can think of that was popular in the 90's
10:53 AM (B): color me badd?
(A): his gf waited for him to get out of
hahaha
(B): please say new kids on the block
(A): prison and it's insane
haha
i didn't ask him that
dude was waaaaaaay too legit for my own good
10:54 AM (B): so how did you meet these people?
10:55 AM (A): um...
went to moonshine
the WV hottie was sitting at the bar alone
hit it off with her
it'
was her bff's bday
so she invited me to tag along
10:56 AM ended up going to like...4 or 5 dif bars
good convo
etc
we ened up making out in a bed with the bday girl passed out next to us!!!!
haha
effing classic
10:57 AM she's a singer and a nanny and had to be up by 8 and at nanny stuff by 9
we woke up at 930
and were like FUCK!
staying at some strange apt in the burg
roof top was insane
great view of midtown
with like 20 peeps
10:58 AM and weed
and smokes
and a dog running around
and my god i wish you could have seen some of the outfits on these people
(B): did you smoke crack right now? you're going a mile a minute?
!
(A): valuer jump suits with ed harvey hats and sun glasses
um
i don't think so???
10:59 AM (B): awesome
(A): just adrenaline and an americano :0
and no sleep
ok
i'm done now
haha
(B): no
tell me more
I don't mind
11:00 AM (A): i'm just hoping no one comes close enough to me to realize i'
m
effing wasted as all hell
like
holy shit
wasted
like i was drinking two hours ago
wasted
11:01 AM (B): that's insane!
(A): i feel like i should go throw up in the bathroom
sooo ghetto
11:02 AM so i'm supposed to see the chick again tonight
her bro plays in a band that is main stage at joes pub tonight
11:03 AM and apparently she's got an agent and is a really good singer
backup or something
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
that makes it even more perfect, right?
soo deceiving
i mean
looks like a cross between
11:09 AM kelly rippa
11:10 AM (B): and who?
11:12 AM (A): and evangelline lilly from lost
11:13 AM (B): oh hot
(A): right?