Riches and Privilege

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Thu, 16 May 2013 10:17:11 -0400

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Tue, 07 May 2013 18:25:19 -0400

thehamptonswaitress: This is my reaction to nearly all of my...

Sat, 04 May 2013 15:04:52 -0400

thehamptonswaitress:

This is my reaction to nearly all of my tables nearly all of the time.

predefense: ♡♢♤

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 10:08:52 -0400

predefense:

♡♢♤

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Thu, 11 Apr 2013 23:16:05 -0400

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Thu, 11 Apr 2013 23:11:22 -0400

woodysblues: Gary Snyder resting in a café near Daitoku-ji...

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 21:18:13 -0400

woodysblues:

Gary Snyder resting in a café near Daitoku-ji temple, where he studied zen. Kyoto, Japan, 1963. Photo by Allen Ginsberg.

I thought, “What a strange thing is man… like in the Bible it says, Who knoweth the spirit of man that looketh upward? This poor kid ten years younger than I am is making me look like a fool forgetting all the ideals and joys I knew before, in my recent years of drinking and disappointment, what does he care if he hasn’t got any money: he doesn’t need any money, all he needs is his rucksack with those little plastic bags of dried food and a good pair of shoes and off he goes and enjoys the privileges of a millionaire in surroundings like this. And what gouty millionaire could get up this rock anyhow? It took us all day to climb.”
And I promised myself that I would begin a new life.
“All over the West, and the mountains in the East, and the desert, I’ll tramp with a rucksack and make it the pure way.”

(Jack Kerouac on Gary Snyder, The Dharma Bums)

hellanne: 363 (by Alyssa Jiosa)

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 15:13:43 -0400

hellanne:

363 (by Alyssa Jiosa)

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Wed, 10 Apr 2013 15:11:09 -0400

humansofnewyork: “Put me on the internet! Even on The Google!”

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 15:06:30 -0400

humansofnewyork:

“Put me on the internet! Even on The Google!”

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Wed, 10 Apr 2013 15:03:22 -0400

storyboard: Table Manners: Turning Restaurant Stationery into...

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 22:02:23 -0400

Artist Jay Batlle, at home. (photo: Graeme Mitchell)

storyboard:

Table Manners: Turning Restaurant Stationery into Art

When New York-based artist Jay Batlle dines out, he’s still on the clock. Of course, he’s at the restaurant to feast and imbibe and commune with friends. Upon the meal’s consummation, however, he poses a question he’s been regularly asking restaurant staffers for the past decade. They oblige, and a blank sheet of the venue’s stationary is carefully placed in his hands. He’ll return home, and on it, in watercolor and pen and wine and coffee grounds, he’ll express his thoughts — on the evening, the atmosphere, the idea of decadence and societal consumption and what fine dining has become.

Batlle (pronounced “Battle”) chronicles this gastronomic collection, The Stationery Series, on his tumblr, Restaurant Restaurant. He eventually plans to turn it into a three-volume book, but he’s not stopping anytime soon. Here, we talk to the artist about New York cuisine, Balthazar, and pouring wine down the drain.

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This guy is bull shit. The restaurant stationary he repeatedly does art on is probably just the one that is closest to his house and where he brings first dates or some shit. Plus who pours thousands of dollars of wine down the drain. Doesn’t he now girls in Oswego are dying of thirst. Paint that using coffee and squid ink.

hellogiggles: Angelica Huston in 1979

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 21:43:34 -0400

hellogiggles:

Angelica Huston in 1979

photojojo: Andy Prokh’s day job is being an economist, but in...

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 21:42:25 -0400

photojojo:

Andy Prokh’s day job is being an economist, but in his free time, he shoots these wonderful portraits of his daughter Catherine and their British shorthaired cat, Lilu.

A Dad’s Photos of His Daughter & the Family Cat

via leslieseuffert

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Fri, 15 Mar 2013 13:53:52 -0400

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Fri, 15 Mar 2013 13:51:21 -0400

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Thu, 21 Feb 2013 00:40:47 -0500

staeller: omg how cute is this ajsdnfkj

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 01:48:35 -0500

staeller:

omg how cute is this ajsdnfkj

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Fri, 01 Feb 2013 03:36:42 -0500

americanguide: ATOMIC SPACES, ATOMIC PLACES Today, if you drive...

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 15:21:03 -0500

Photo: Tammy Mercure.

Photo: Tammy Mercure.

Photo: Tammy Mercure.

Photo: Tammy Mercure.

Photo: Tammy Mercure.

Photo: Tammy Mercure.

Photo: Tammy Mercure.

Photo: Tammy Mercure.

americanguide:

ATOMIC SPACES, ATOMIC PLACES

Today, if you drive through Oak Ridge, Tennessee, you can see some things that seem out of place. Old guard towers frame the city’s corners, certain exit roads are restricted access, and a large contemporary billboard reads “Y-12’s trash can be an enemy’s treasure!” with a stock photo woman haphazardly throwing wadded up paper over her shoulder.

Oak Ridge was formed by the government in 1942 as part of the Manhattan Project—made famous for the production of the atomic bomb. Surrounded by mountains and dubbed the Secret City, the rural area was kept hush-hush by residents. At its peak, 75,000 men and women lived in the city and few had any idea of what exactly was being produced.

For the most part, the workers were quarantined. A unique side effect was an abundance of leisure activities: from one of the nation’s largest outdoor swimming pools (still in operation) to swinging dance halls.

Photographer Ed Wescott, 91 years old and living in Oak Ridge, made one of the most intriguing photographic archives in US history. (A good number of his images can be seen here: http://photosofedwestcott.tumblr.com/.) Wescott documented the construction of the city and the people working and living there. His images are lyrical examples of American life—men jumping on trampolines and women at the hair salon—and in retrospect, they all have an underlying gravity.

The Y-12 National Security Complex and several other government facilities are still operating today. With proper photo identification, some paperwork, and $5, you can tour the old graphite reactors as well as several plants, and see the Y-12 museum.

After hearing about the important things made there, like precision parts for space travel, a fellow traveller on my tour inquired about the facility’s current projects. The museum guide replied that she was not privileged to know their status and promptly moved us to the next video.

The city keeps its history alive with the American Museum of Science and Energy, train excursions, tours, and the Secret City Festival. Held annually in June, the event boasts the largest and one of the only WWII reenactments in the South (many of the people I spoke with also participate in much more common Civil War reenactments.)

For further reading, I recommend Atomic Spaces: Living on the Manhattan Project by Peter Bacon Hales (on the non-fiction side) and Jefferson Bass’s Bones of Betrayal (for a fiction book). Jefferson Bass is actually two authors, one of whom is Dr. Bill Bass, creator of Tennessee’s own Body Farm (yet another fascinating Tennessee treasure).

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Tammy Mercure is a State Guide to Tennessee. She was recently named one of the “100 under 100: The New Superstars of Southern Art” by Oxford American magazine.

Follow on Tumblr at tammymercure or on her website, TammyMercure.com. Support her work at TCB Press.