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.

I Heart Esquire's Choice For Influential Men

Particularly, the part where Esquire includes Noah Feldman as one of the 75 most influential people of the 21's century. Read all about this smart choice here.

Lipstick in the City/ Kisses on a Necklace/ in the Loft

My favorite building name in NYC, at this time, is the The Lipstick Building.

The Lipstick Building is the perfect architectural branding story, complete with the powerful trademark potential and East River views.

The name always reminds me of my favorite song title , Country music singer George Ducas's "Lipstick Promises". I hardly remember the song or any of the actual lyric content but I love the word combo"Lipstick Promises" descriptive word combinations dont come any more perfect than "Lipstick Promises".

On a brighter/brasher unrelated note, If you're writing your life script using one of those earnest brightly colored lipstick fonts, what better way to reward the attempt towards bright and brash consistency with the complementary indoor/outdoor Kiss resin love seat. Your loft will feel that much more bold, intimate and inviting .I've been saving up for this resin beauty for a while now. It was love at first sight and sit. Happy, like sitting, standing or running is really just a state of being mostly.
Deep down though, I've always had this empty feeling right near my heart. The place where only a certain sapphire studded pendant can really touch the surface.

I've been saving that material space on the outer surface of my heart for a certain Kiss necklace I've fallen head over heels in love with.

I just know once I've saved up enough dollars, this jewelry purchase will just make me feel all warm and sparkly inside.

It's a hearthrob of a pendant, the coveted Kiss necklace , all prettily decked out in sparkling pink sapphires.

In life its all about depth, love and uhm purchases that make you happy !

And for the rest of the days, until then there is Absolute / Smirnoff.

The Art of Perpetual Procrastination

I thought this WSJ article "How to Put Off Work -- Constructively" by Cari Tuna, on philosophy professor John Perry's "structured procrastination" - was an interesting read.

What Time Is It When You Photograph Time Instead of Spending Time ?

Many different times in different contexts and eras standing still in digital time format.

Looking At Art Angles With The Architectural Perspective

Ok the title is a little verbose but perspective does count, I always forget this. So does context and all given angles . That shiny sparkly metallic building in the background (second pic) has always been a favorite, it looks so different from ninth ave and some side street ! I wonder if it has a matching metallic like name.

Update: I added the another pretty metallic building pic (the pink metallic one).

Think Glitter

I fell in love with this collection of colorful material in the window. For a second my life felt colorful and sparkly, If i had been more aware I may have almost reached a star or two . But then I continued walking towards my destination. Not that there is anything right about my destination, or wrong.

On a more irritating note, I attract the most irritating of situations . Yesterday sitting all tired on the commute home trying to nurse a brain sprain and in no mood for flirty smiley men, cheerful or chatty or catty women on cell phones, sitting down next to me and was thankful when a serious looking individual sat down next to me. but I just knew this was no ordinary commute home. For starters my mp3 earplugs only had one working earpiece, I cant listen to music in one ear only. And then the mother with the baby came on. Lucky for me there was one available seat right behind me. I'm not exaggerating when I say the baby managed to shriek the entire 45 minute commute , right behind me of course. At first I tried empathizing with the baby after ten minutes it was no longerworking . In between shrieks, the mother needed to borrow my blackberry to phone someone and managed to use a few minutes that I no longer had left.
And then the baby went right back to shrieking right behind me the rest of the long commute home.
Babies should not commute during morning or evening rush hour.
Also, tourists should be given a walking speed minimum during morning and evening rush hour. At one point I worked in the heart of the tourist walking district, its impossible to hurry them up they move along sometimes barely moving at all.
Every once in a while I wish I was a tourist though.

Random Sentences/Sentiments

In no particular order :

1) The Gallery Annex of the New York Transit Museum has these fascinating new exhibits. I loved the collections of glasses on a shelf exhibit.
All of the exhibits are really fascinating.

2)I love it when I unexpectedly start off the workday with a cupful of beer, courtesy of the Heineken beer booth in Pershing Square, handing out samples of beer just for being you!
Thank you Heineken, my morning was so much smoother and brighter.

3) One thing that never ceases to amaze me, are those classy looking Mister Religion promoters on the corners and sides of sidewalks, particularly , the ones in the classy business executive outfits and heavy suitcases filled with all kinds of marketing material.
How on earth did they get to believe so faithfully in the message they are sincerely/ cordially and consistently handing out to the crowds that are passing by?
How is it that, they are so sure of the message on a paper, that they are willing to stand outside in the heat of the sunny days in a suit /tie and heavy suitcase beckoning/inviting/imploring strangers to make the same religious conclusions and choices they did.
Do they ever get tired of certain religious stances /positions and posturing and switch perspectives or points.
Do they change their marketing material or just re-interpret the text to suit the new stances and perspectives they are promoting.
4) Also, sometimes I wonder a little about the religious legal system I grew up on and how it works, from a logical and logistical point of view.

Poseik-less

So my reliable halachic religion poseik XGH just stopped blogging and he took down all his posts with him. It's soooo depressing.
So now I dont have any reliable halachic poseik.
And how am I supposed to learn the real facts of spiritual life now ?

DistractOdox and the Step-Ladder of Distraction

DistractOdox = Dazzling Distractions and Dusty Disssmissals for the Disenchanted

Dispelling contradictions, analytic inconsistencies, questions and notions one sincere dusty dismissal and warm-hearted, dazzling distraction at a time.

Just keep on climbing that well trodded step ladder of distraction !

Oh and dont forget about those color treated gemstones and jumbo plastic pearls of pseudo wisdom.

You can't climb up home without them.

You might trip on the hardcore truth or something.

Petunias In the City

When running along trying to keep up with the arguing, winning, responsibilities, deadlines and commitments , never forget to stop and photograph the petunias.

Why else would they have been planted so prettily like that on the city path your running along on?

And before you know it, they will all be withered and spent and winter will be kicking up a storm.

Petunia spottings always make me happy, they remind me of the gardens I grew up on as a kid.

Material Matters that Matter

You can take the girl out of the fashion district,

but she will always come back to play and photograph

& get high n happy on glitter n sparkle, on the long route home.

It's always good to remember where you came from,

And where you came from before that and before that too. Where you think you're going, where you are right now , why you are going there and not elsewhere and what other direction routes sound even smarter for the long run.

Most important of all is the running , it's when you stop running that you understand how tired you are. But walking slowly, carefully and considerately ,should never be an option.

It will just get annoying after a while .

How to Judge a Book by it's Cover

Wandering around in a Barnes & Noble yesterday, in a particularly frivolous and muggy mood, I actually purchased a piece of fiction based exclusively on the fact that I fell in love with the cover and title.

The Long Walk Home by Will North.
Trailing petunias in a basket, the red door , the lantern how can you not love the concept ?
Fiction is not something I willfully purchase and or waste time reading, I'm more of a non-fiction only kind of girl.
But I started reading the first chapter and Will North is actually a good writer. He even managed to fit narcissus and daffodils into the first chapter. Though I was a little confused as I thought daffodils were of the narcissus family.
But nevertheless, I'm proud to say I overcame societal pressure and judging a book by it's cover has never felt sooo goooood.
So I cleared away some shotglasses and gave her prime real estate for now on a shelf in my wooden lighthouse and everyone lived happily ever after.

Update: Will North really is a thoroughly profound writer. I love the way he describes deep concepts and gardens.

The book includes some really deep profound passages on depth, fidelity, love and truth.

On The Rocks

I cant believe August is right around the corner.

Where did all the summer minutes go ?