The Williamsburg Nerd

I was listening to my Pet Sounds box set of the outtakes, and at one point Brian Wilson makes a reference to the 1959 album "How to Speak Hip", so of course I had to google it up right away. I quickly discovered that someone has turned the album into a website:

How to Speak Hip

Hey man get on the horn call some freaky people and dig the scene!

It's funny I know this building is a bit of a street art landmark, but I think I'm seeing more high end street art now in the Bowery/Soho area than in the last few years:

Last Hurrah for Street Art, as Canvas Goes Condo

"It was as if someone had told devotees of Picasso’s “Demoiselles d’Avignon” or Matisse’s “Dance” that the Museum of Modern Art had changed hands and would soon be shut down for residential redevelopment, with all the art inside to vanish as part of the deal.

In this case the art is not hanging inside the building but is splashed all over the walls outside, in spray paint, wheat paste, rubber, plastic, metal, cardboard and various other unidentifiable substances, a story-high gallery of graffiti and street art that seems to have grown almost organically (and mostly unimpeded by the authorities) over the last two decades.

Depending on your point of view, the hulking 19th-century brick building at 11 Spring Street in NoLIta, a former stable and carriage house, was either a stunning eyesore or one of the most famous canvases and lodestars in the world for urban artists. When those of the latter view heard recently that the building had been sold and would soon be gutted and converted into condominiums, they considered it the end of an era. Bearing their cameras, they began showing up at the building over the last few weeks in a kind of mournful procession."

This is pretty disturbing, I always feel safe by that diner because their's a police station right under in the subway station (I guess that assumption is incorrect):

Off-Duty Police Officer Stabbed At Brooklyn Diner

"An off-duty police officer was stabbed at a Brooklyn diner early this morning. The officer was with family members at the Kellog's Diner on Metropolitan Avenue in Williamsburg around 4:30 a.m. when he got into an argument with a group at another table that turned violent.

"It was just a verbal argument or whatever all because the guy bumped another guy. The off-duty cop told him, 'hey listen, I'm on the job,' and then he got stabbed. That was it," said a witness.

The officer was stabbed once in the chest. He was taken to Woodhull Hospital, where he is listed in serious condition. Police are looking for several suspects who took off in a Black Infiniti. "

This is a French music video from Vitalic, it has a pretty catchy electro beat (that and silly costumes will always get you a blog entry):

Here's some background info on Vitalic from Wikipedia:

"Vitalic is the main project of Pascal Arbez, born 1976. According to a joke made in an interview, Arbez is Ukrainian and emigrated from Ukraine to East Germany when the Berlin Wall fell, accompanied by his dog, "Mini Robot". Pascal was actually born in France and is of Italian descent."

This website lets you watch real-time streaming videos and still images of Brooklyn whenever you want:

Advanced Traveler Information System

"A total of 18 cameras are available at key traffic points around the Brooklyn accessible from both the map and the list below. 2 cameras provide both streaming video or still images, 16 cameras provide only still images."

Collage made from photos from Treo Cell Phone camera taken on December 26, 2006. Click on the image to see it full size.