Analytical Brilliance In The City

Elliot Spitzer is my new favorite writer. He's profound and brilliant. This piece on Slate http://www.slate.com/id/2207157 is an astoundingly astute, well written analytical piece. I also love the NYSE pic used .

Merry Christmas

Hope your Christmas is all about the merriness and then some. I love the way Barnes N Noble's Flag colors coordinate nicely with the Empire State Building all decked out in festive colors.

The navy blue and white street sign ties in well with the blue an white starry eyed section of the U.S.A flag.

In life its all about the color coordinating/ contrasting and connection coordination.

Tis the Season for Transit Tinsel and Tree Charms

The New York Transit Museum at Grand Central has their in-store christmas tree and ceiling all decked out in subliminally sparkly & inherently colorful subway transit tree charms and coordinating ceiling ornaments.

Lots of enlightening tinsel and related relic replicas like glitterized tokens sparkling with color and subliminal cheer.

All glittered up and glowing for the holidays. Its my favorite ornament theme on a tree so far.

Their holiday train show is definitely worth the trip from anywhere .

I hope the tree and ceiling ornaments are purchase-able after New Year's.

Its never too early to start collecting traditions.

And I've always had a special space deep in my heart for christmas lights and functional glitter.

But it is getting harder to weather the cold, without needing the warmth, not sure why.

Also, the museum has added a new shot glass to their collection. The clear glass one with the dashing commuter graphic.

Whats in a Bar Association

Walking past the Association of the Bar of the City of New York yesterday, (the NYC Bar where no one knows my name), a message on a flag caught my attention. The words flapped non-flippantly in the wind, reminding random passerbys in no particular order, to remember the really important objectives in life.
The trick though is to qualify for the fortuitous answers flagging you down, qualify in all 50 states that is. Otherwise the answers will continue flagging you down in the wind, in some states or cities.
Its also important to keep in mind that there are many different definitions for qualify, tis the season for the savvy forum shopper.
So I believe that these are the kind of associations one should work hard qualifying for and associate with.

Spending Time The Time Warner Cable Kind of Way

"Newer York" good phraseology me thinks. Any relation to the "New Yorker" just wonderin out loud here at this late hour in "likelihood of confusion" mode.
So how well do you spend your time and money ?
Time and Money are two of the most complicated concepts around today in 2008.
"Showing up" comes in as a strong third runner up in the most complicated concept category.

A Hallmark Holiday Message in the Window

How adorable are the little snow people. Especially the little helpful one at the fir tree with the red rubber rain boots.

Autumn in December

Running to work one morning I found this Autumn masterpiece on Madison Ave.

I heart Duane Reade's Logo color Re-do

Duane Reade has got this sleek silver/grey n white new logo color combo.
And just the other day the Duane Reade I was purchasing my midday necessities in had a cute Australian guy handing out bottles of the new "Balance Water" replete with flower essences. What a floral/hydro concept. The rest of the day was that much smarter, on a mind level.
Did I ever mention I love Duane Reade especially when their stores are all decked out in holiday glitter decor and sparkles for purchase.

Divine Intervention,Counter Responses and Candy Canes

I love the warmth cheer and holiday decor at Penn station this year.
Also, every now and then I understand, again, that there must be a G-d running the world.
Today for instance I had one minute and thirty seconds to purchase a train ticket and run super quickly towards the correct track, which would take me to a different junction with 3 full minutes to spare for the second half of my train ride.Unfortunately for me instead of a train ticket out came a refund receipt! Replete with machine malfunction apologies and instructions to take it right on over to the nearest customer service rep. I huffily puff my way over to the counter lady who starts finding forms to fill out, I subtly sigh out loud about the train and transfer I need to catch. to which she responds with a request for picture ID. Ok I get it, i'm always just a minute and a moment too late.
I emotionally prepare myself for the hour long wait for the next train, and then it dawned upon me that G-d totally wanted me to spend more time photographing the scenery, instead of catching trains on time. Just look at the pretty candy canes and glitter around this time of year. Life is short, no need to waste minutes running hard to catch the train. Always make time to miss the train and stop and photograph the scenery.
My best Autumn pictures this year were taken in between missed trains and waiting around for the next one.
Hope ure month's been merry so far and may many more merriment moments be waiting right around the corner and mere milli-moments away.
Amen! cubed.

Window Shopping For Tradition

Lord & Taylor has quite the heart-throb picturesque tradition in a window scenes and scenic views to choose from.

Window Shopping For Belief

Macy's has quite the holiday message in a window this year.

Happy Thanksgiving

May you always have stuff to be thankful for, and then some.

A Message From Macys

What a concept .

Imbibing In The Big Apple

"Thanking" everyone that needs to be thanked, has never been so much fun . And there are all these cute drinking establishments, right around most city corners, with equally cute names for your convenience.

Drink your way towards a thankful and appreciative existence, cuz well life is short and riddled with all kinds of random coincidence ,luck and responsibility.

And as i'm sure you know, be nice, no, not naughty to everyone on the downward spiral cuz you're gonna be bumping into those same everyones on the upward good luck spiral and spin. Life is ironic and random like that.

Label Liability Gone Loony

Catching up on my WSJ reading this past weekend , I came across this piece on Wyeth v. Levine. It's almost Wednesday and I still dont understand the underlying premise and logic used in Levine's lawyer's arguments. The deeper I read into the factual logisitics of the case, the less sense it reads in terms of liability, the angles of the arguments and the party being sued.
I haven't come across any logical reason on as to why Wyeth is responsible for an IV push that was administered incorrectly. Wouldnt this be the responsibility of the individual administering the IV push. And not the drug being administered. For Cornell's case recap, see here .
For WSJ's argument recap see here
For The FDA Law blog recap see here

What does the FDA approved label featuring warnings against IV push administration that include this - "INADVERTENT INTRA-ARTERIAL INJECTION CAN RESULT IN GANGRENE OF THE AFFECTED EXTREMITY"
have to do with an IV push gone arterial in error?
Are the risks associated with IV push, medication specific.
Is Phenergan the only medication that runs the risk of accidently being injected into an artery instead of a vein when administered via an IV push ?
Why would or should the FDA bar everyone from using the IV push ? Different methods have different risk levels, the existence of risk does not render it bar worthy. Life in and of itself is a risk.
My heart goes out to Levine for all the trauma shes been through, it must be devasting and heartbreaking to have gone through what she did, but I believe that unfortunately her lawyers are suing the wrong party.
Shouldnt they be suing the migraine clinic that gave her phenergan in the artery.
I like phamaceutical companies and think they get way more than their fair share of suings by disgruntled end users or lawyers that are clearly not thinking straight, many of whom are just as liable for misuse, misconstrues etc....
When suing for liability its always important to sue the proper party, cuz otherwise its not fair.

Skating, Skittering and Skidding in the City

Why worry about running , skidding and slipping on thin ice or fickle tracks, when you can skitter and skate on solid and sound ice in Bryant Park ?

Winter is short and right around the corner.

Running is tiring and overrated.

So skating through life on cold sound ice and snowflakes just makes so much more sense on a logical level.

I hope the snowflakes stay sparkly.

Dizzy n Dazed Daisies in November

I can't believe it's November 1 already.

Also, spent daisies in clay pots are quite the seasonal mood dampener.

Life Is Short

And It doesnt go any quicker without the lickable liquor and vats of vividly flavored vodka.
In fact it's way duller. Not that there is anything especially thrilling about halacha.
But as we learn from the biblical Noah in this weeks Torah reading, planting vinyards can sometimes get a little problematic in the long run imbibingly speaking.

Roses, Raw Logic and Tequila Trucks

As I was standing on the concrete steps of a church on Madison Ave trying to photograph these awesome english roses blooming all prettily behind the signage , divine providence placed this tequila truck straight into the scenic in the city photograph.

And as I stood there in slow motion contemplating the roses against the tequila backdrop, I suddenly understood the logical conclusion to the following age old adage ;

If "candy is dandy" and "liquor is quicker", then Tequila must be "simply perfect". And the proof was right there, plainly in sight on the tequila truck.

If only life's other logical conclusions were that simple or even vaguely logically construable stuff would be so much easier to analyze and understand.

Dilution in the City

Quite the warm hearted Times Square message on a billboard, but Betty, where did you get your trademark dilution education and inspiration from ?

The back of last season's Gucci's New York loving handbag ?

Clearly, NY is no UGLY BETTY, but do the dilution concerns go straight down the drain if you do some textual changes ?

Is Brighter always Better

An exceedingly bright and dear friend recently reiterated that there comes a time when individuals have to learn/learnt that they "just gotta defer". I'm guessing he probably would approve of an oh so classy pair of Neon red Ray-Ban sunlight dimmers for the extra useless distracting brightness.

Personal Trademark Trampler/Copyrighted Virtual Personhood Killer

Cybergame emotions and intense relationships involving copyrighted virtual replicas of real life personalities/ copied characters marrying each other can get a little out of hand and deliberately deleted sometimes.
Personal trademark murderer and copyrighted virtual personhood killer, who would've thunk.....
Consider the arrested jilted lover in Japan who "deleted" her "cyber husband's" MapleStory digital persona, the reason being quoted as " I was suddenly divorced - without a word of warning. That made me so angry".
Interesting how detrimental "anger" can become when playing games with divorce.
Playing games in general is an utter waste of emotions of energy.
So is this virtual representative of someone's personality and self considered a virtual trademark representing the real life individual?
Or a copyrighted creative digital personhood rendering of the real life individual.
How do you register these virtual replicas of real life personhoods so that you got yourself well protected from mis use,bitter reactions/ interaction or personal intellectual property deletion/damage ?
If you register your real life self with both the trademark and copyright offices does this cover any virtual replications of personality/actions/writings and self in digital format created by the same registered owner.
This all encompassing kind of registration comes in handy when being used to often too !

Trademark Intercourse

Quite the confusing trademark relationship.
Are colorful clovers luckier than traditional green ones.
If you're at this pub watching channel four and drinking Irish beer will you automatically get lucky beyond your most colorful lucky dreams ?
Or is the color being used exclusively to emphasize the symbolic nature of lucky clover.

What Color is Your Chandelier

Life logistics travelers , like those elegant, well lit, heavily traveled passageways and or semi-dark annexes/corridors of Grand Central station in various stages of renovation and decoration, have been using chandeliers to enlighten/lead, brighten the way for years. The smarter way to understand the hows and why of life, travel and the law can be confusing for well traveled travelers and or travelers that have taken other less efficent cumbersome ways of travel and subsequently lost some of their innate sense of inner locomotive and logistical direction.

The brightest and most brilliant chandelier in the industry, can be found logistically illuminating, elucidating, enlightening and entertaining audiences in the most astute, innovative and erudite of fashions here.

Whats in A Copyright ?

I'm having a little trouble understanding the inherent logic employed in Professor Lawrence Lessig's "In defense of Piracy" writeup in the WSJ concerning "fair use" and "terribly recorded" original copyrighted songs /amateur music videos on YouTube .
I agree that there are many absurd and frivolous copyright claims in court nowadays . And he does list some interesting change suggestions for Copyright Law. But on the other hand, I've found it fascinating how facts and intentions can be conveniently redirected and neatly filed under the all encompassing protective guise of copyright claim invoking.So the copyright claim misuse swings all six ways when it comes to misconstruing the original intent.

In this particular article though , It’s not clear how capturing “priceless moments” of a kid dancing along to a "terribly recorded " copyrighted song , and making it available to the public on YouTube, for whatever reason, can ever be considered fair use?
I would think that "badly recorded" would by default be considered poor use, cannot be used this way or utter mis use.

The four factors for deciding if a fair use defense exists are as follows:

1) "The purpose and character of the accused use."
2) " The nature of the copyrighted work"
3) "The importance of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole".
4) "The effect of the accused use on the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work."

What does fair use have to do with anything? The fact that there is no commercial gain in this particular instance does not prove in any way that there is no harm on the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work(s) in question.
The copyrighted work being the "terribly recorded" song, no not a creative remix , the original song less the orginal optimum listening sounds , in less than optimum listening conditions, in fact “the quality of the recording was terrible” was duly noted, and in a domestic childcare setting. This clearly may or may not affect the opinions/purchase decisions of first time listeners/fans looking for Prince’s songs on YouTube or any kind of search engine that includes YouTube links.

So It’s not exactly a textbook case of “transformative use”, as in a transformed piece of work featuring new views, understandings and or insights.
It’s the exact same original work (song), only terribly recorded, and made available to millions of viewers to watch and listen to in a somewhat harsher, fuzzier, barely, audible and less than favorable light. Let’s not forget the marketing and branding music videos that songs are creatively ensconced in. Did Prince originally record his song with dancing babies in a house ? I don’t think “transformative use” is the correct claim here. Other than ruining the song, a badly recorded amateur music video does not transform the work in this way.
And let’s not forget this fun fact lawyers and men of all ages :
“The Supreme Court has said that a “transformative work” is one that “adds something new, with a further purpose or different character, altering the first with new expression, meaning or message”. (Citation upon request).

And I don’t think it qualifies as a derivative work either. According to Mister J Thomas Mcarthy, “in order to be a derivative work, the new work must be more than merely “inspired by” a prior work".

A terrible recording of a song in a house is definitely not more than "merely inspired", I would think thats way less than inspired.

I believe it should be the registered copyright holder's choice, on as to whether or not he allows copyrighted songs he originally created ,to be subsequently made available on YouTube as poorly recorded amateur music videos by others .

October Morning in the City

Every morning I fall in love with NYC all over again and even harder.
There is so much to be ecstatic about in NYC, taking in the scenes/scenery on the way to wherever you're goin, like work, can make you happier than doing ecstacy.
Bryant Park's flower gardens are still blooming like an ordinary midsummer morning.
If you're looking for a sunny space to catch a quickie early morning or mid-day lunch tan, Bryant Park is the grassy knoll you want to be spacing out on. Dont forget to take in the thriving floral masterpiece of a park sidewalk garden. The garden designers did a really impressive job this year.
Lots of roses, the butterfly bush, phlox, and many other colorful plants,and still blooming merrily.
If you're feeling especially down you can also take a quick spin around under the twinkling lights, on the Merry Go Round. Dont worry, be merry, its all good, and Goethe the statue will be watchin over you.

Also, dont forget to check out the ethereal waterfall exhibit before the weekend is over.
Its the last weekend for viewing. See here for specifics and viewing options.
Thank you Mayor Bloomberg for everything you've done/are doing for NYC.
It really is the best city on earth.