Loft Living In Lower Manhattan, Before Gentrification

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You may never have heard of James Wolcott, but the boy sure can write. Especially about New York in the CBGB days of the 1970s. It's a good analog to HBO's "Vinyl".

 "Loft living then wasn’t the luxury alternative that it later became with the rise of SoHo and gentrification with a vengeance in Tribeca and beyond, as lofts became synonymous with airy storage units of flooding sunlight, gleaming bowling-alley hardwood floors, and quirkily amusing, slayingly chic art pieces chosen and arranged just so as tribal taste trophies, a photo layout of a setup perfect to raise a super-race of test-tube babies. Loft living in the mid-seventies was still in its pioneer post-factory, rat-haven phase, the elevators lowering and lifting like a large, groaning apprehension (as if operated by Marley’s chain-hanging ghost from A Christmas Carol), the thick-piped plumbing still in its early Soviet phase, these industrial garrets too hot in summer, too cold in winter, but spacious enough to carry a bowling-alley echo.”

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Excerpt From: James Wolcott's “Lucking Out.” Doubleday, 2011-10-25. iBooks.

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Last Night's Democrat Debate

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I thought that this was a defining moment, in terms of personality and leadership style, during last night's debate (from The New York Times):

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 Asked whether she would fire the head of the Environmental Protection Agency for failing to remedy water problems in Flint, Mrs. Clinton gave a nearly 200-word response emphasizing the need for a full investigation to “determine who knew what, when.” Mr. Sanders’ 16-word response drew enormous applause: “President Sanders would fire anybody who knew about what was happening and did not act appropriately.”

The IKEA "KVETCH"

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If you've ever been to an IKEA on a Saturday afternoon, you know that if you stop moving forward at any time, you will be trampled. There is a certain "sheep to slaughter" vibe present there on weekends, given the narrow pathways, and all of the arrows that point forward.  

I tried to stop and read some of the quotes about specific items from the Swedish designers, but I concluded that taking photos to read later would be a better strategy. Unfortunately, I couldn't always identify the actual product being described. And I got lost a couple of times. 

And I swear that I spotted one product called "KVETCH", but with all of the odd Swedish names and the imperative to always keep moving forward, I may be mistaken. Nevertheless, the name seemed to work well today.