A butterfly on Bryan. I have done a number of larger tattoos on him recently that I am sitting on for an article on the shop coming out in a tattoo publication in Spring.

Recently, my friend Craig and I noticed that the legendary NYC graffiti anomaly PRAY had scratched her moniker into every vertical rung of the front window lattices of the tattoo shop. I was surprised to see them in the area of the shop. In classic style, they were about waist height as they appeared throughout Manhattan and shelters throughout the boroughs.

This is one of the more legible scribes I had photographed.

And here is a article and photograph from the website of my friend Zephyr.

…P * R * A * Y…

“New York City is a land of lost souls. I remember before “political correctness” when we referred to some homeless woman as a ’shopping bag lady’. Such women (barely) survived in the shadows of our (suppsedly) cosmopolitan city. PRAY was one such individual. She is, in my opinion, the most prolific graffiti writer ever.

Over the course of 4 or 5 decades, PRAY has painstakingly scratched small, somewhat obscure inscriptions reading “Obey God“, “Go to church“, and often “PRAY” into glass, plastic, and metal surfaces throughout the city.

To simply call her “prolific” would be an insult to her productivity, an enormous understatement.  In New York City her scrathiti was everywhere.  In the 1970’s, at the height of her productivity, New York probably had more PRAY tags than residents.

Ironically, there is a strong chance you’ve never noticed her handiwork. That is because her messages are often subliminal.  They exist below the surface, literally and figuratively, but if you look in the right places  you will find them… And when you do you will realize  just how ubiquitous they are. PRAY’s trademark is commonly found scratched into the lower coin box section of public payphones. She often hit the vertical edge-runners of storefront roll down gates. The pillars of subway stations were also fair game to her.

I first became aware of her work in the early 1970’s. Her consistency was impressive, her volume mind-boggling.  I discovered that many of my peers were aware of PRAY too. (Of note is Craig Castleman’s 1982 book ‘Getting Up‘  in which the artist Bama speaks at length about PRAY)

In 1978 I had my first encounter with PRAY. I was hanging out on the counter of West 86th St.  with a few of my RTW homies. Across the avenue I saw an elderly woman slowly dip into a doorway on the east side of the avenue.  For reasons I cannot explain, I immediately knew that it was PRAY. I ran across the street and as I approached her I saw that she had a rolled up newspaper in her  left hand. She used it to cover the activity she was doing with her right hand.  Her right hand was busy and her hands were gnarled from years of etching her graffiti into hard surfaces.

The top joint of her right index finger was wrapped in tape and her scratching tool was simply a dry-wall screw, also wrapped in tape. Her hands were black from the silt of NYC. She was disheveled, greasy looking, and appeared to have been clearly living on the streets for a long time. She was an elderly woman but possibly younger than she appeared. She was the living definition of  ”a hard life”.

I came up behind her, I was awe-struck and I said “Oh wow! You’re PRAY?!”. Not a bright move. I startled her and she scurried away.

I looked where she had stood , and sure enough, she had left her imprint.  Since I had startled her she had only left her P-R and first stroke of her A.  I felt terrible. I had panicked the queen in “mid-etch” mode and caused her to leave her work unfinished.

In 1982 I was doing cel animation at an office in Times Square.  Times Square was really sleazy back then: an ongoing parade of hustlers, hookers, addicts, and eccentric characters.  It was great!

I saw PRAY in Times Square a few times during this period.  On a couple occasions I actually followed her for a while.  No one ever noticed or paid attention to her. She was dirty and forgotten: invisible. She moved at the pace of a sloth. She’d pick through garbage cans as she passed, but I never saw her actually take anything after them.  I would follow at a safe distance, not wanting to repeat my mistake from a few years earlier.  Sure enough, I’d get to see her do her thing. She moved slow but her scratchiti was very fast. PRAY is without question the all-time queen of graffiti. No one did as much. No one ever will.

Four years later, April 1986, I was sitting in Washington Square Park with a photographer friend. Lo and behold there was PRAY sitting directly across from us, perusing the newspaper.  My friend was able to snap a photo of her. At that moment, history was made when the mysterious figure of PRAY was captured on film.

Over the years, I’ve discussed PRAY with countless people. People who were both familiar with her work and those who were not.  I have written this out of my unique respect for this odd woman.  She seemed singularly fixated on scratching PRAY everywhere she went.  How or why she became so obsessed with this practice we will never know. Currently, no concrete facts about her personal life are known.

Among people familiar with her work, rumors abound. One common rumor was that she had a son with whom she collaborated.  My research has found nothing to support this.  It is also commonly assumed that a large group of people were responsible for these markings.  I reject this premise outright. Let’s give credit where it is due. PRAY worked alone. Of course we can assume PRAY produced some copy-cats, but I fully believe these obscure marking still found on the streets of New York City were done by one individual. PRAY. The queen of graffiti.

foto by Kamil Jufri

Here are a couple links about a really compelling and beautifully done story happening in Indonesia.  Corporations, Governments and conservationists all coming to loggerheads, colliding amongst International and Environmental Land and climate issues as well as ones of corporate social responsibility .  And the photos are kick-ass.  The story is part of a series that is leading up to the United Nations Climate Change Conference held next month in Copenhagen.

The Slide-Show: http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/11/30/world/20091130-CLIMATE_index.html

The Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/30/science/earth/30climate.html?pagewanted=1

Bonus Link:  amazing NYT photo slide show on a photographer shooting people from apartment windows.  Brilliant idea and execution though would of been better unposed.

Reacting to Mayor Bloomberg’s stated intention to unilaterally tie tenure to test scores, starting this year,

New Action called for a “united stand” and for extending “our hands to all to join us in this fight.”

About the mayor:  His goal is “to tie student test scores to teacher evaluation, to attack tenure, to close more schools and open more charters, to go after ATRs, and to unleash hundreds of Leadership Academy principals…”

About our leadership’s mistakes: “We will need to talk about the mistakes …  endorsement, governance, term limits, but another day. This is not the time for recriminations.”

Read the complete statement at http://newaction.wordpress.com.

Yep, it’s about that time. This week we are kicking December off proper with Dubwar resident Dave Q. I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am for Dave Q to play TURRBOTAX® after watching him Destroy the Dancefloor at Dubwar last week.

All of the info on the event, flyer, Facebook invite, etc, can be found HERE:

See you Thursday!

- Contakt –

Every year in NASCAR is different from past years in different ways. This season was no exception, as Jimmie Johnson made headlines and smashed records previously thought unbreakable in this day and age.

The year started with a wimper, as the Daytona 500 ended up being the Daytona 380, as the rains came to halt the race prematurely. Matt Kenseth left as the winner, his first Daytona victory, and as the teams headed west to California, Kenseth continued to impress, winning the first two races of the season. His success was short-lived, though, as he blew a motor early in Las Vegas and finished last. The remainder of the season saw Matt slowly drop in the points and just missed the Chase for the first time in his career.

The Busch brothers were on a roll early as well, winning the next three races (Kyle at Vegas and Bristol, and Kurt at Atlanta). Kurt Busch experienced a comeback season of sorts, winning two races and playing the role of contender in the Chase. His brother Kyle, on the other hand, saw a four-win season go to naught, as he, like Kenseth, narrowly missed the Chase.

Jeff Gordon led the points standing for a while early on, buoyed by a popular and long-overdue win in Texas, but a surging Tony Stewart grabbed the lead after Dover in the spring. Stewart, in charge of his own team at Stewart-Haas Racing, wasn’t expected to have any success with a team that has been known as a back-of-the-pack team. But, he has silenced the critics in a big way, winning four races (starting at Pocono in June) and qualifying for the Chase, along with his SHR teammate Ryan Newman. To give some perspective, Newman hasn’t made the Chase since 2005.

All the while, Jimmie Johnson played it cool, hanging around the top-five in points with three regular-season wins to his credit, including a second-straight Brickyard trophy. But by the time the Chase came along in September, Jimmie put on his Superman cape, and that 48 team came to life, winning four of the ten Chase races and easily grabbing a record fourth-consecutive championship. His average finish in the 10-race span was 6.8, but if you take out his surprising 38th-place finish at Texas (accident), his average finish is 3.3!  Now that is domination.

Mark Martin ended being Jimmies closest competition in the Chase, ending up second in points for a fifth time in his career, adding to those in 1990, ‘94, ‘98, and 2002. Even though he ended up one spot short, the season has been a success for Mark, who, at 50 years of age, ended up with five wins, second behind Johnsons seven. Who says old geezers can’t keep up?

Juan Pablo Montoya made a surprising run at Jimmie Johnson in the Chase. Although he failed to win this year (coming very close at Indianapolis), he posted top-fives in the first four Chase races to close within 100 points of Jimmie before faltering at Charlotte.

Joey Logano ended up the youngest winner in NASCAR history when he outlasted the rain at New Hampshire. (Photo: Drew Hallowell/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Don’t forget the finishes…and first-time winners. Joey Logano, who would ultimately win Rookie of the Year honors, started slow with a 43rd in the Daytona 500, but riding the wave of  a few ninth-place finishes, won at Loudon in late June, using strategy against the rain to become the youngest winner in the history of NASCAR, at 19 years and 35 days.

Some fans may say the victory wasn’t earned because he won it when he stayed out while the leaders pitted for fuel, which is very much the same way David Reutimann won at Charlotte, but I say it’s legit because they outsmarted the competition, even though they weren’t the fastest. Strategy is just as important to succeed as having a fast racecar.

My pick for most exciting/craziest/unexpected finish goes to Brad Keselowski’s win at Talladega in April. Brad, running in only his fifth career Cup race, led only the final lap as he pushed and shoved his way past Carl Edwards, who ended up careening into the fence in a spectacular wreck.

David Reutimann, or Rooty-Tooty as I like to call him, won his first race in a rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600 in May, and with that win, almost made the Chase, ultimately coming up short. Outgoing Roush driver Jamie McMurray had one more win left in him before leaving for Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing, taking the fall race at Talladega in another wild finish that saw both Ryan Newman and Mark Martin tumbling and flying upside down in the final laps. The victory was McMurrays first since July 2007 at Daytona.

Brian Vickers had a great run up to the Chase, racking up the top-tens and even winning at Michigan in August, which put him in the Chase for the first time in his career, but once the 10-race playoffs started, he fizzled, with no laps led, and no top-tens.

Drivers that experienced disappointing seasons include Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton, David Ragan, and Clint Bowyer, who all went winless in 2009. Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards (who won a series-high nine races in 2008) both failed to visit victory lane in 2009, but both made the Chase nevertheless.

With the drivers celebrating in Las Vegas for the first time (instead of the usual ceremony in New York City), 2009 is  over with, and we now wait anxiously for the next seasons engines to roar to life once again. Only 77 more days until the 2010 Daytona 500!

I just say that Hip Hop Rap artist Soulja Boy has a new release called The World is Yours.

He has his own channel on youtube and all you have to do is search for his name and you’ll find tons of videos made by him.

I was thinking the other day for the newest artists here on youtube.

I have an idea that you might like.

It involves fashion.

All you interns out there, who are starting out in the fashion industry in New York City, you might want to send a piece to some of these new STARS on youtube.

They can advertise you’re work for free and make sure you have a link set up to a website with you’re designs on it, to order.

It’s an idea, not sure how great it will work but hey!

It gives you mass coverage around the world.

It’s a known fact that most fans love to WEAR the same things that their favorite artists do, so it was an idea that I had while dreaming early this morning.

tongue in chic annual style awards 2009 nik erwan roseli idea girl consulting the idea girl says new fashion designers to look out for

ddds  fashion designer : nik erwan roseli . model : dee dee . stylist : vee . makeup hair : syed faizal . photographer : razif . fabric : bibah songket . aksesories  shoes : vee, rd idewani, shada clix yana idea girl consulting

ddds nik erwan roseli idea girl consulting the idea girl says new fashion designer

nadya in nik erwan roseli idea girl consulting the idea girl says

nik-erwan-roseli_std idea girl consulting word press the idea girl says look at this new fashion designer

nik erwan roseli . new fashion designer . no.19 jalan plumbum 7/101A 40000 shah alam selangor darul ehsan malaysia . 016 2500935 or 017 2431482 . nikerwanroseli@yahoo.com.my or nik.frenz@gmail.com . http://nikerwanroseli.blogspot.com

The Lincoln Square Business Improvement District kicks off the holiday season with a tree lighting by Lincoln Center, musical entertainment and tasty treats. 

What? Winter’s Eve at Lincoln Sqaure

Where? Broadway from the Time Warner Center @59th Street up to 68th Street

When? Monday, November 30th, 2009 — Tree lighting at 5:30p, Festivities throughout the evening

How to I get there? By subway 1, A, C, B, D to 59th Street/Columbus Circle or 1 to 66th Street. By bus: 104, 5, 7 or Crosstown 66.

What else should I know? A tree lighting will kick off festivities at 5:30p at 63rd St and Broadway in Dante Park.  There will be entertainment in stores throughout the neighborhood, food tastings ($1-$5) in canopies at the Time Warner Center and on Broadway between 63rd and 66th Street and discounts if you are in the mood to shop.

Russ & Daughters makes great pickles. Sour, with a corona of heat around the edge of each bite.

That’s a pickle.

Russ & Daughters is one of the remnants of the late 19th/early 20th centuries still living in the early 21st: they and Katz’s Deli (packed with tourists as I sidled by) are among the few outposts of the great Jewish neighborhood on the Lower East Side, each nailed into a corner on Houston.

They’re both north of the Williamsburg Bridge, and a few blocks beyond Delancey—does this make them a part of the East Village rather than the LES? I’m no umpire, here, but they’re tugged from behind by the LES; the other side of Houston heads toward a city far beyond the modesty of the LES.

Or former modesty. The Lower East Side is, as everywhere in Manhattan, bending under the influx of money and cool. Not completely—there are sites in the LES and even the East Village which are more rather than less dodgy, and few would argue that the F and JMZ lines are among the city’s best—but gentrification creeps on.

It’s Manhattan. The desire for the Next Great Deal will always out.

I shouldn’t romanticize either the East Village or the LES. I’ve been in some of those apartments, and they’re awful: tiny, dark, and likely to lack basic amenities (such as, say, a sink in the bathroom). The streets are close together, so lower level windows likely never see sun. And twenty-five years ago ‘Alphabet City’ was a warning against trespassing beyond First.

But they (and the Bowery—why not?) used to be places. Not always good places, but there was something more to them than just. . . well, money.

Money is dull. Don’t get me wrong—I could certainly use more of it—but in and of itself it all-too-often adds nothing but that which caters to it. It doesn’t have to be that way, but money makes it too easy to be lazy in one’s tastes. What can I get? What can I buy? What is everyone else getting and buying?

Lack of money is never dull. Poverty or fear thereof can certainly dull one’s sensibilities, especially in a city (or a country) where money is IT!, but sometimes, sometimes, the lack of money drives those so lacking to seek pleasures and meanings beyond that literal coin of the realm.

Again, I shouldn’t romanticize: So many of those who lived in and constituted the history of these neighborhoods scuffled and hustled and did whatever they could to escape those places. They wanted the money they saw flowing from the pockets of those living further uptown. And my own skepticism of community ought to force me to scrape away the sepia from what could be a violent and oppressive past.

But I miss what was there, what is gone. It’s in large measure the cheap nostalgia of the passer-by: the one who strolls through and marvels and doesn’t have to live in the dim and the dank.

But there was life beyond—within—the dim and the dank, a life unseen by the mere passer-by. The people who lived in these neighborhoods were visible in the streets, but there was something more which connected these people to the tenements and narrow streets and one another.

Perhaps it’s still there, or somewhere, in this city. Perhaps I need to open my eyes and see what’s here, now. There is always something more.

As I stared into the vast abyssal plain of my soul last night, contemplating exactly what’s wrong with me- and what motivation I might have for spending all my time hanging out in and photographing cemeteries lately- a sudden peal of cheerful music rose from the hidden backyards of these Matthews Model Flats here in moon kissed Astoria.

It drew me out, onto the fire escape. Then I came back in for my camera. Sorry for the shaky video, but this was so weird.

The whirring and buzzing sound in the second video is a guy on the next block working on his house.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:

Ms. Jen Lewis

The Book Bank Foundation

(917) 456-2997

Jennifer.Y.Lewis@gmail.com

info@thebbf.org

Ms. Sarah Rothblatt

Red Leaf Management & Promotions, LLC.

(407) 731-9611

redleafpromo@gmail.com

www.myspace.com/redleafpromo

“The Book Bank Foundation’s 6^th Annual Hero’s Awards, Recognizes Honorees for Dedication and Commitment of Educational Efforts and Bettering Communities”

New York, NY (December 6, 2009) – The Book Bank Foundation’s 6^th Annual Urban Hero‘s Awards, hosted by Book Bank founder and venerated philanthropist, Glenn Toby; to take place Sunday December 6^, 2009 from 6:00-9:00pm at Sangria Tapas, NYC. This year’s award nominees are family court attorney, Angela Hines and Dr. Elijah Carter, D.V.M., M.D., F.A.C.O.G.

“This year we have been forced to call all hands on deck, to fight the monster of ignorance, illiteracy, homelessness, and the spirit of lack. This year, I am proud to return to my first home where as a child I experienced a life of instability. I was Born in Brooklyn and raised in Queens. Now the Book Bank Foundation movement and I are here for a re-birth of the spirit of the lost, lonely, and forgotten. Our scale is small but our size is big. Our hearts and passion for helping is bigger than the disease of homelessness and illiteracy. This year we had to take a step back in order to push the movement forward. Shelter from the Streets will continue to bring resources, inspiration and light to the people.”- Glenn Toby, Founder of The Book Bank Foundation.

Angela Hines will be honored for her successes in ascending overwhelming life obstacles, she faced as a teen and young adult, committing herself to self-empowerment, and advancing to eventually become an impacting provision of essential services for the most needy and vulnerable; the children of New York City. Her noted social work continues to create awareness for children, providing a positive and influential role model for her family and her community. Angela is a mother of five and knows first hand of the injustices and inconsistencies among New Yorkers of different economic, social, and racial backgrounds. Growing up in a New York City Housing Project and fighting her way through the NYC public school system; Angela has seen the ample destructive opportunities that present themselves to adults and teens in those environments. She offers an inspirational story to many people by challenging the status quo and fighting to make life better for herself and her family.

Hines is a graduate of New York City College of Technology for both an Associate and Bachelor of Science in paralegal studies. In 2005 Hines graduated from CUNY Law School and shortly after, was admitted to the New York State Bar. She served as the chief administrator of CUNY’s citizenship and immigration project at New York City Technical College for five years. Presently Angela represents children on child protective court proceedings with Queens Family Court.

Dr. Elijah Carter, D.V.M., M.D., F.A.C.O.G. will be honored for his commitment to educating others on the importance of health and educational advancement; and dedication of his time and talents for creating awareness of the importance of preserving good health and educational progression and reform.

Dr. Carter is a board certified Veterinarian and a board certified Obstetrician Gynecologist practitioner in Phoenix, Arizona. He was inducted into the National Honor Medical Society after graduating from Meharry Medical College with honors. Carter completed his specialty training and served in the United States Army Medical Corps in Germany for four years before beginning private practice in north­ern California. During his twenty plus years of practice, Dr. Carter chaired a large OB-GYN department and served on various medical com­mittees and boards. He also served as an exam­iner for the state of California for medical com­petency. He is the inventor of the Carter Tubal Assistant for postpartum tubal ligations marketed by Cooper Surgical Company, 1996-Early 2008.

Dr. Carter is a passionate lecturer on the use of Bio-Identical hormones, supplements, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. He has been doing research on their use for many years. He communicates regularly with other practitioners and scientists around the country regarding research and use of natural hormones, supplements, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals.  He is committed to educating healthcare providers and the general public about the benefits of Natural/Bio-ldentical hormones and good nutrition.

Hero’s Award past honorees include Neurologist Dr. Carlisle St. Martin-Youth Advocate, Jamel Robinson, James Macklin-Director of The Bowery Mission New York City, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins, and others.

About Book Bank Foundation – BBF is a 501-3(c) non profit organization that works to serve homeless and impoverished families and children through educational empowerment, self-esteem building, motivational speaking, spiritual guidance and overall providence for those in need, for the betterment of the world and humanity.

About Red Leaf - Red Leaf Management & Promotions, LLC, is an entertainment/media, management, and promotions company in Orlando, Florida; specializing in public relations, upscale/VIP event planning, promotions, project management, and sponsorship consultations/acquisition services. For more information, email redleafpromo@gmail.com or call (407) 731-9611.

***

Because of the Thanksgiving holiday, my favorite blogs at nymag.com haven’t been posting stuff recently. They’re back tomorrow, but I can’t wait until then. I have no patience. I also have nothing else to do but wait and I hate waiting. Waiting makes me feel homicidal.

You know how everyone has a morning routine? Well, the first thing I do when I wake up is check my e-mail, delete all of the ones with pointless jobs that are oddly considered a match with my experience, then check Daily Intel, Vulture, and The Cut. This helps me go about my useless, hungover day. And now that I have nothing to read from New York’s blogs, I’ve been all screwed up in the head.