Crazy clouds over Manhattan

Last Friday, while having some dinner at Mexican Radio (after missing a Michael Jackson tribute in Times Square), I and 8 million or so New Yorkers were treated to some amazing cloud formations and lighting as the sun set on a crazy week in general.

Luckily, I had my camera with me and was able to grab a few decent shots to remember just how weird everything looked. I’ve posted them on my Flickr account and Gothamist even posted one in their gallery about the mammatus clouds.

And additionally, you could download the Crazy Clouds Over Manhattan image as a desktop wallpaper over at MyBestDesktops.com.

I should remember to carry my camera with me as much as I can.

Update: In a roundabout way one of the photos I took of the clouds made its way onto CNN via a video report that featured  Gothamist which had a thumbnail of the shot. It’s tiny and only there for a second, but it’s there:

Sure it’s morbid and probably been over exposed through the years from folks like Warhol, but I’ve never seen this photo before and am bizarrely drawn into it’s story.

I should remember to be a bit more morbid and get back to taking photos.

Via The most beautiful suicide kottke.org

Ahh, found the original creator: Sander Plug.

Weighted Companion Cube, we love you… and we’re sorry we killed you.

I should remember to build or buy my own Weighted Companion Cube.

To play the game, you stand in front of the arcade box holding a gun like Time Crisis or House of the Dead, but instead of going through a story, you fight other cyborgs (though no real explanation is given) in more of a Tekken or Virtual Fighter (which everyone was playing in Japan) style… but with guns!!

Your opponent in the game stands across from you and you’re both supposed to use use cover to hide from bullets and then shoot back. This control is accomplished by left and right foot pedals. The whole thing was very awkward at the beginning, but quickly became bizarrely fun. I would imagine they could pretty easily port something like this to the Wii, especially since the graphics weren’t mind-blowing or anything.

I gotta remember to hit more arcades whenever I get the chance… and figure out why this game is named “Too Spicy!”

Found in a large silver building in Shibuya, this place is a mecca for all the sexiest Japanese teenagers.

The funniest thing about the whole place, though, has to be the fact that none of the shops have sizes!! Yes, all sexy Japanese women are 1 size. I don’t exactly know what that size is, but I can tell you it’s very small.

This is something I didn’t know, but now I doubt I can forget.

Anyway, the line experience was full of well meaning comradery… for the most part. (The initial delay and the fact that celebrities and other “dignitaries” were allowed in first before anyone else had almost everyone grumbling and occasionally shouting at police.) But walking through the Apollo, onto the stage, and looking at this very small, old, dead man in a purple suit with a quirky smile frozen on his face was truly, truly, bizarre.

I don’t think I’ll forget this freaky day.

(Update: I had forgotten until today that old song from the 90′s by Lords of Acid, “James Brown is Dead”)

The stories start out semi-normal, but their imaginativeness quickly spirals out of control into the fantastic. A woman in love with Robert DeNiro’s illegitimate son can turn into Madison Avenue shops by eating magical Oreo cookies, a guy creates a Japanese sex doll that turns on him after learning how to be a woman by surfing the internet, another woman is followed across thousands of miles by a bird whose wings have been cut off, a poor guy inflicted with a plant growing inside him takes an immortal being with him when he dies, a young Indian woman makes plants grow exponentially whenever she sleeps and more. (I’ve actually already forgotten some of the stories although not because of their lack of worth, but rather because of my lack of memory.)

Anyway, one of the early stories really stood out to me was about a guy who saved the people of the world from losing their memories by being a receptacle for everyone else’s memories (both good and bad) until he overflowed releasing the memories back out into the world. I wish I had a guy like that hanging onto my memories I so quickly forget until I need them….

Oh well, I should remember to read more books.

To make a long story short, absinthe doesn’t taste very good (though I will try it again), however Absinthe was a real treat. The show was kind of a mix of vaudeville, gymnastics, sultry singers, hoolahoopers and a half-naked guy in a bathtub all done on a tiny, tiny stage in the middle of a very cozy tentish structure.

This week is their last week in New York it would seem, however I should remember to swing back around to have a beer in their beer garden under the bridge before they pack up if only for the excellent view.