The Cat Came Back

When I was younger, Cartoon Network had a show called "O, CANADA" that was mainly dedicated to running animated shorts from the National Film Board. It was only on once or twice a week at some hour way past my bedtime, so I'd sneak upstairs to watch it with the volume down whenever I could get the chance. I remember the half hour it was on always felt much too short. 

Anyway, the NFB recently put more than 70 animated shorts streaming online - the player can be slow but there is a lot of really high quality, cutting edge animation dating back more than half a century.

This short was my favorite on O CANADA and I always wanted to watch it again. That film, and many others, are here.

Update: Since the player is a little off - try Youtube. 

Obama's first interview as president

I think a lot of people were holding their breath regarding Obama's ME policy, but this is a pretty amazing first step.

Kheel-Komanoff Congestion Pricing

Newly updated plan to close the MTA's budget defecit as well as create a more cyclist/pedestrian friendly Manhattan. You can read Charles Komanoff's proposal here.

Free buses and reduced fares on the subway are definitely welcome, but I wonder how feasible this is politically. And while I realize that most congestion in the downtown areas are caused by trucks (and therefore deserving of higher tax rates), I wonder how much this will raise the cost of doing business in New York, especially for small business owners who might get hurt by higher delivery and shipping costs.

How much more appealing is this plan than the one recently proposed by Bloomberg (and subsequently rejected)? 

A new toll on car and truck trips into Manhattan's Central Business District (CBD), ranging from $2 to $10 for cars, depending on time of day and day of week. Trucks -- bigger and more polluting than cars -- will pay double.Revenues, after netting tolling costs: $1,230 million.

A surcharge on medallion taxi fares. To ensure that Manhattan residents, who drive across the CBD line relatively little but use taxis regularly, pay their fare share, we hike taxi fares by a third and allocate the proceeds to transit. Revenues: $440 million.

Smart transit fares. We eliminate subway fares at night and on weekends, reduce them except during the a.m. and p.m. peaks, and abolish bus fares altogether. Benefits include a 15-20 percent speedup of local bus service from eliminating queuing to pay fares, less rush-hour crowding as some subway trips time-shift out of the peak, and higher overall transit usage.Cost: $1,610 million.

A hike in non-Manhattan bridge tolls. While not primarily a traffic-reduction measure, a 20 percent rise in tolls on outlying New York City bridges will raise $170 million and pay for elimination of all fares on intracity express bus and commuter rail service.

Kustom Kar Kommandos

Kenneth Anger, 1965

[Coudal]

Breakdown (2001) by Michael Landy

Artist Michael Landy spent over three years systematically cataloging every object he owned, everyday items to precious keepsakes, more than seven thousand items total. He then categorized them into groups and spent two weeks destroying his possessions inside a shop window in London.