Hang In There Obama!

Here's today's mandala, courtesy of FiveThirtyEight.com.

I know that Obama has his grandmother to tend to this week. I can't imagine the pressures of public life. Today is Shemini Atzeret, and though I am not religious, I will be saying the Prayer for Rain.

Well he was only 5'3"...

Well he was only 5'3"
But girls could not resist his stare
Pablo Picasso never got called an asshole
Not in New York

The opening sequence of Manhattan set to Richman instead of Gershwin.

Defending Zissou

I am eagerly awaiting The Darjeeling Express, by Wes Anderson. Hotel Chevalier is definitely worth seeing--13 economical, poetic minutes. (Go to iTunes for the free download.) Chevalier reminded me of Love at Twenty/Antoine and Collette (now at Film Forum) in some ways.

But nearly every writeup of Darjeeling makes a point of slamming The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, one of the finest films ever made. Ah well, the film exists, it is a great meditation on life, death, age, fatherhood, sonhood and lighting fast rescue missions. It hardly needs another blogger to defend it, it stands on its own.

Park(ing) Day!

Yes! Check this out at Streetsblog.
"Man, the dope is that there's still hope".

The official Transportation Alternatives press release:

Turning Parking Spots into Parks

20 NYC Parking Spots to get a Green Makeover

September 21st is National PARK(ing) Day, when thousands around the country will reclaim parking spaces in their neighborhoods and convert them into lively parks and public spaces. For one day, Transportation Alternatives (T.A.), The Trust for Public Land (TPL) and more than a dozen community groups around New York City will convert 20 on-street parking spaces into "vest pocket" parks, bicycle parking, extended sidewalks and open air cafés to show the potential of city streets to do more than just store private cars.

"Less than half of NYC households even own cars, and yet we give over so much road space to parking them," says Paul Steely White, Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives. "What if one parking space on every block was converted into a greener public space that everyone could use? That’s the message behind Park(ing) Day."

"Every bit of green makes a difference," said Rose Harvey, Vice President of The Trust for Public Land, the organization putting on National Park(ing) Day. "In New York City, we have more than eight million residents dependent on our parks and open spaces. We need every community garden, every playground, every park that we can get."