Newish Paintings

Personal Bank

Where to put the dwindling bits of money that you still have? Why, personal bank has locations all over!

Bush's Crisis Speeches Eerily Similar

Who Is This 'Rosh Hashanah' Person Anyway?

via Defamer, an internal email from DreamWorks:

Concert

I've made a big point about being in a "work cocoon" this week and next -- making no plans and not being particularly responsive to communication -- as I've got this long research paper due on Oct. 6 for the International Newspaper Marketing Association. It's supposed to be about 70 pages long, and I've currently got about three, but the materials are all there and the interviews are transcribed. It's just a matter of making my fingers fight their tendonitis and do what they need to.

Nonetheless, I couldn't quite bring myself to cancel on the My Bloody Valentine concert I'd been waiting for since May, and so last night I hit Roseland with Calvin for my final night of freedom until this damn paper is written.

Today my ears were still ringing a bit, as it was by far the loudest concert I've ever been to. Earplugs, which we brought, were pretty much compulsory. For about twenty minutes at the end there was this wall of rumbling white noise that made it feel as though I were standing next to a rocketship taking off, with the vibrations from the sound rattling my internal organs and buzzing the hair on my arms. Afterwards, Calvin called it "a total assault on all senses," while some guy behind us said he felt like he'd been "anally raped by a large machine for the past two hours."

For all that, I really enjoyed it -- having such sensory overload had a sort of calmness to it as well. After a while, my thoughts drifted pleasantly away, not unlike what it's like to be at a baseball game or staring out the window on a long drive. And now, to work again.

Kalles!

My New Home (Is Above a Toxic Former Preschool)

Via the Brooklyn Eagle from last year, I've learned that the first floor of the building that I am moving into used to house a sketchy preschool known for its noxious fumes and exposed wires. But my living room has such a nice bay window...

(Oh, and did I mention it's a block from the new Trader Joe's?)

Another Great Ad

Is Your Boss a Psychopath?

While I myself don't really have a "boss" per se, I do find myself frequently talking about management styles and strategies with my many friends who have bosses. Seems to be a relative truism that most bosses are a little "crazy." Turns out, that might not be far off.

This article in the Fast Company shows that the kind of personalities who would seek positions of authority may actually be psychopaths.

On the broad continuum between the ethical everyman and the predatory killer, there's plenty of room for people who are ruthless but not violent. This is where you're likely to find such people as Ebbers, Fastow, ImClone CEO Sam Waksal, and hotelier Leona Helmsley.

Home Sweet Rental

I've listed my apartment with a broker for November 1st, and am hoping all goes well as I venture back into Brooklyn in a month. They're having open houses every Sunday, so if you know anyone (*not affected by the current financial meltdown)...