Here’s an excerpt from a recent post from Douglas Rushkoff’s blog. The post is called Sock Mobs — and I was very interested in what he has to say. And please — no nasty comments.

The Internet can be a nasty place – particularly online discussions and
the comments sections of blogs. But is the recent increase in online
hostilities really an indication of some groundswell of American rage,
or are there just a few bad eggs determined to make it look that way?

here’s a relatively new phenomenon occurring online these days – an
illusion of populist group hostilitiy I’ve come to call "Sock Mobs,"
after the "sock puppets" people use to feign multiple identities in
online conversations. It works like this:

An anonymous poster
picks a fight with his presumed enemy. Whether or not that enemy
responds, a number of other posters appear to chime in – agreeing to
whatever the accusation might be. "This guy is a commie." "This doctor
is a quack." "This guy wants Israel to be abolished." "This professor
is corrupting college students." The accusation comes along with
twisted supporting evidence. Every once in a while, an underinformed
but real person agrees with the accusations; after all, it appears from
the posts that this enemy of all things good and proper really might be
a threat. All this makes it look like there’s a lot of upset people.

Doug has 10, count em 10 books out. Wow he’s prolific. They include Cyberia,
                Media Virus, Playing the Future, Nothing Sacred: The Truth about
                Judaism, and Coercion, winner of the Marshall Mcluhan Award
                for best media book. Rushkoff also wrote the acclaimed novels
                Ecstasy Club and Exit
                Strategy and graphic novel, Club
                Zero-G. He has just finished a book for HarperBusiness,
                applying renaissance principles to today’s complex economic landscape,
                Get Back in the Box: Innovation from the Inside Out. He’s now writing a monthly comic book for Vertigo called Testament.
               

Barbara Rushkoff seems to have removed her post about her husband’s Christmas Eve mugging from  A Girl Grows in Brooklyn on Babble.

You can’t blame her. I’m guessing she was disgusted by the firestorm it set off. It’s obvious that the recent hoopla about Doug’s Christmas mugging post has caused both Barbara and Doug to rethink personal blogging.  

When I mentioned the mugging story on my  blog, there were a bunch of  needlessly nasty comments.

Still, I find this all very interesting. Doug’s site is, afterall, a promotional site for the brand of author Douglas Rushkoff. That’s pretty much what a blog is. Still, he has every right to feel violated.

Nothwithstanding, he did become a minor sensation overnight.

He was probably already famous enought. He has written ten really interesting sounding books (see my post I Agree with Douglas Rushkoff for a list of his books). But still. Not a bad marketing strategy. Maybe I should get mugged, write about it. Then I’d get an agent (did I just write that?).

Some say all publicity is good publicity. But people are nasty – especially in the anonymous sphere of blogging comments, where it seems to be all about personal attacks. Blog comments can truly be the dark side of blogging. The flip side of the free expression that blogging represents.

I totally agree with Doug on that point and I understand why this unwanted attention has made his family feel vulnerable to the anonymous personal jabs that
constitute unmoderated discussion these days. Here’s an excerpt from a recent post:

I’ll be closing out this blog and moving over to an open source something-or-other in the next weeks.

I’ll
also use this occasion to change the content, here. Although I’ve
usually made it a rule not to post anything personal here, I let that
slip recently, sharing my thoughts and feelings after being mugged on
my front stoop. I see that this was mistake, as it ends up making this
space more about me than about whatever it is I have to contribute. And
it also makes my family vulnerable to the anonymous personal jabs that
constitute unmoderated discussion these days.

There are enough
personal narrative blogs out there to fill an Internet, so I’m not
worried about hurting the supply. Meanwhile, sharing personal
information just gives more fodder to those who tend to turn all
discussions into personal attacks. I remember a while ago, my
suggestion that putting ads on a blog makes the blogger vulnerable to
market forces ended up leading to long tirades about the fact that I
take money for writing books. And while that’s quite a non-starter (my
books are certainly vulnerable to market forces), my using this space
for anything personal leaves the discussions open to such digressions.

See you on the other side.
 
 

Does anyone have ideas for this reader whose daughter is organizing an event to raise money for homeless teens. Please send ideas to Susan.knightly@verizon.net or you can post as a comment.

We wonder if you could tell us the leading charitable organization for
homeless teens in Brooklyn . Our violinist daughter is organizing a
benefit concert of highly talented performing teens and is researching
the best places to donate funds to help homeless teens. We are a Park
Slope family and our daughter is 13! She has contributed to CHIPS for
many years and is narrowing this fund raiser to target homeless teens.
Please send ideas to: Susan.knightly@verizon.net

One suggestion I have is the New York Writers Coalition, (NYWC):

NYWC is one of the
largest community writing organizations in the country. NYWC creates
opportunities to be heard, through the art of writing, for formerly
voiceless members of society. Each year, we provide hundreds of free,
unique and powerful creative writing workshops throughout New York City for at-risk youth, adult residents of supportive housing, the formerly incarcerated, seniors and others. 

.

Gowanus Lounge has a progress report on construction work at the Park Slope Armory. He’s also got pictures. He’s got a photo, too. Go to GL for more story.

Work is going forward on the Park Slope Armory, and the facility seems to be on target to reopen as an athletic, recreational and education center in September. Local City Council Member Bill de Blasio estimates that the project’s cost will be $20 million
"when the smoke clears." (The original cost was said to be $16 million,
but Mr. DeBlasio used the $20M figure, so we’re not clear what wasn’t
included in the original estimate or what has changed.) The Armory is
located on Eighth Avenue between 14th and 15th streets. The renovated
facility will include track and field, basketball, volleyball, tennis,
gymnastics, badminton, boxing, fencing, judo, table tennis, tae kwon
do, handball, weightlifting, wrestling and aerobics. The renovated
facility also retains a women’s shelter. An RFP is going out soon to
select an entity to run the facility and everyone’s still trying to
find a balance between individual community users and use by schools
and youth leagues. The big redo is a partnership between Take the
Field, a nonprofit, and the Departments of Education (DOE) and Homeless
Services (DHS). The result should be a spectacular community facility
in the massive 110,000 square foot space.

President Bush is set to announce his decision to send more troops to Iraq in a speech this week. This inter-faith service at Old First Church in honor of Martin Luther King comes at a perfect time. Come see leaders of many faiths put aside their differences and come together against the war.  It’s very inspiring.

Martin Luther King Holiday Observance: Citizen MLK
"Remembering Dr. King with Heart and Mind"

Jeremiads by this generation of clergy & leaders on inequitable and unjust policy abroad AND at home

Sunday, January 14th 4 PM sharp
Old First Reformed Church 729 Carroll St. @ 7th Ave., Park Slope

For more info: contact Brown Memorial Baptist Church at (718) 638-6121

or Old First Reformed Church at (718) 638-8300

Observe the MLK Holiday with our Pastors, Rabbis, Imams and leaders as they reflect on Dr. King, clergyman, countryman and war critic.

There will also be a discussion of the best way to practice democracy as a person of God. Stand together as one human family and tell our elected officials: Stop Recruiting Our Kids for Iraq.

Join us in a call to action concerning peace, justice and the re-distribution of our tax dollars for our local needs.

Featuring: Citizen MLK Juniors An Interfaith Youth Presentation.

Participating congregations:  Memorial Baptist Church, First Unitarian Congregational Society in Brooklyn, Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church, Congregation Beth Elohim, Old First Reformed Church, Concord Baptist Church of Christ, Council of People’s Organizations, Islamic Mission of America,“ Dawood Mosque, First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn Heights and others

Areyou a font fanatic? Do you like Bodoni, Helvetica, Times Roman or maybe you’re more the Geneva type of person (excuse the pun)?  Then this exhibition and event is for you. Hey, all you graphic designers out there—

Explore the hidden meaning of typography at the
“Letter as Image, Image as Letter" exhibition at the
Society of Illustrators. Tonight, artists like Gerard
Huerta, who created the lettering for AC/DC, and Michael
Doret, who designed the Knicks logo, will discuss their
work. You’ll never listen to “Back in Black” the same way
again.

Exhibition, through Jan. 27, Society of
Illustrators, 128 East 63rd Street, (212) 838-2560.
Talk, 7:30 p.m., Cooper
Union, Wollman Auditorium, 51 Astor Place, East Village, (212) 353-4195; free.

Alan Arkin, one of the many great things about Little Miss Sunshine, is a Brooklyn Boy.

AP: You were born in New York. It’s hard to imagine your voice coming from anywhere but Brooklyn.

ARKIN: Hey! (in a Brooklyn accent) We moved to L.A. when I was about 11, but it never rubbed off. I never felt comfortable there. I understand it [in New York] more. There’s anger in both places, but it feels much more lethal in L.A. than it does here.

AP: What do you like about living in Santa Fe, N.M.?

ARKIN: It’s a small town. I go to restaurants there and I know everybody in the restaurant. I know all the artists who are waiting on us.

AP: Community or camaraderie with actors is also important to you. It’s something you stress in the acting workshops you teach.

ARKIN: The supportive aspect of it frees you to do better work than you ordinarily would. A lot of people I’ve known in film protect their own turf, but I don’t think it really does the work any good.

AP: How is that camaraderie between a cast built on a set?

ARKIN: Smaller, less comfortable trailers and a significant rehearsal period. We had that on “Little Miss Sunshine.” I can remember vividly the movies that had it and I feel like it shows. You often have little more than a cursory ‘Hello, how are you’ relationship with the people you’re having intimate scenes with — which is nuts. You can’t do it. It’s phony.

You probably know all about Barbes, the go-to place to hear slavic soul and all varieties of western and eastern European music often with accordians and horns.

Now there’s the Jewish Music Cafe at 401 9th Street – right across the street from Barbes. Of all places. They’re both between 6th and 7th Avenue. But it makes so much sense now with Barbes, Colson Bakery and now this.

Klezmer, Israeli Trance, Hasidic Rap, Avante Garde Jazz – it’s all there with Hebrew beer, cheesecake, and Kosher cappuchino. 12 bucks gets you in.

This Thursday, programmer Elie Massias presents two bands that new music legend, John Zorn raves about. 8:30 p.m. Shows most Saturdays at 8:30. Check it out.

Flight 001 is a fantastic store where you can buy all manner of travel accessories: suitcases, maps, airplane comfort items, passport cases, guidebooks, etc. The shop started on Greenwhich Avenue in the West Village and recently opened a shop on Smith Street. Haven’t been yet but hear that it’s bigger than the original shop. Can’t wait to see. Here’s a New York Times interview with someone associated with the shop They also have stores in LA, San Francisco and Chicago and online.

What’s the right way to pronounce the store’s name?
Flight One, which was the first commercial trip around the world—a Pan Am flight in the fifties and sixties. Our stores are set up to be retro-modern, like right out of old Pan Am footage. This new Brooklyn store is a little bigger.

How have the recent flight regulations affected what’s in demand?
Our three-ounce clear-bottle sets in a clear bag are a huge hit, as are Search Alert locks. It’s a government-approved combination lock to which all airports have a universal key, so they can open the lock without snipping it. There’s a display that changes color from green to red if they’ve opened your lock.

What kind of luggage do you own?
Mine is Rimowa, a German company that I love. They’re the guys that started the original money-and-drug-laundering aluminum suitcases. Now they’re made out of a super-lightweight plastic composite that doesn’t bend, which is good because airport luggage-handlers are like gorillas.

Best travel guide?
The new Wallpaper guides have good destinations and comprehensive info, and they look nice.

What do you do for in-flight anxiety?
I take a Valium and do a shot at the bar. Klonopin works really well, too. I’ve made the mistake of taking it too early, passing out, and drooling all over myself while everyone else was boarding. So, twenty minutes before boarding is a good time to take it.

Everyone’s talking about a gassy odor in Manhattan.

Con Edison, the fire department and multiple city agencies are investigating the source of a natural gas odor throughout Manhattan this morning.

Hundreds of reports of the smell have been flooding the 911 system since around 9 a.m

And what about those dead birds in downtown Austin, Texas?

Quite a line-up for Eat, Drink, and Be Literary at the BAMCafe. I wouldn’t miss the Cynthia Ozick one for the WORLD!!!  Better get my tickets now. Anyone want to come?

Francine Prose ("A Changed Man," "Blue Angel") on Jan. 11;

Michael Cunningham ("The Hours," "A Home At the End of the World") on Feb. 15;

Jonathan Franzen ("The Corrections") on March 8;

CYNTHIA OZICK ("Heir to the Glimmering World") on April 5;

Zadie Smith ("White Teeth") on April 18;

Sandra Cisneros ("The House on Mango Street") on May 3;

Gary Shteyngart ("Absurdistan") on May 17.

THIS FROM NY 1:

"She’s the first baby born, so everything in the future should go smoothly for her," said Yan Zhu Liu through a translator.

But since Liu’s daughter Yuki Lin was born at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Day in Lower Manhattan things haven’t exactly been smooth sailing; a roller coaster is more like it. Yuki Lin was declared the first baby of the year and the winner of a Babies R’ Us sweepstakes, a $25,000 savings bond intended to help pay for a college education.

But when the company got wind that the baby’s mom may be an illegal immigrant, the prize went to a Georgia newborn instead.

"This is particularly troublesome given the history of Asian-Americans in the United States, where we have been seen as invisible or treated as perpetual foreigners or second class citizens," said Liz OuYank of the Organization of Chinese Americans. "And here, clearly, she was born in the United States, is a U.S. citizen and the award should be based on simply that."

It turns out where the baby is born isn’t the only factor in determining who wins the prize. According to the official rules, the mother must be a legal U.S. resident. That news didn’t sit well with people NY1 spoke with.

"I don’t think that’s right, because it’s just about whether the kid was the first born in the United States," said one New Yorker.

Several Chinese organizations put a call out for Babies ‘R’ Us to return the award to the 6 and a half pound girl, and everyone NY1 spoke with seemed to agree.

In the end, it looks Babies R Us heard the community’s call.

On Saturday, the company released a statement saying "We deeply regret that this sweepstakes became a point of controversy. As a result, we have decided to award all three babies in the grand prize pool a $25,000 savings bond."

That means Yuki Lin, the Georgia baby and one born in Bay Shore, New York all win.

"I think it’s a great idea that they are giving the bond to the baby’s mother even though she isn’t a U.S. resident," said a New Yorker.

When NY1 visited the baby and her parents Monday, through a translator Yuki Lin’s father said, "the baby will bring us much more luck this year."

It looks like that luck is already in effect.

– Cindi Avila

They caught my eye in the far right corner of the jewelry display  case in  Diana Kane’s new store on Seventh Avenue near Berkeley Place.

I was shopping for a friend’s 50th birthday present and wanted to get her something very special. There were a lovely pair of coral earrings designed by Diana Kane herself that I was mulling over.

Still, my eye kept wandering over to to three gold and silver items that were about the size of a cigar. In fact, I wondered if they were for holding stogies. For a moment I thought they might be tampon holders. Then I figured out what they were.

"Are those…?" I asked the saleswoman.

"Yes…"

"Vibrators, right?" I said.

"They come in gold, platinum, and steel."

"Wow." I said.

"They’re very quiet, very discreet," she said. 

"How much are they?" I asked. 

"$195-$395 dollars. I can’t wait to sell one to someone," she said. "They’re waterproof, too."

"They’d make a great Valentine’s Day gift," I said.

"You know, you’re right," she said.

I thought of the bright pink and blue plastic vibrators they sell at the Pink Pussycat on Fifth Avenue. These are so, so much…classier.  I found more information about them on Diana Kane’s website: You can buy it on-line. Or go ahead, just buy it at the store…

One ticket to the Danya Kurtz (Danyakurtz.com) show at Union Hall goes to this fellow whose reason for wanting the ticket: He will attempt to drown his sorrows in music. How can I refuse?

To the winner, and you know who you are, do you want a ticket for the January 9th or January 10th show? Also did you want your name used on the blog. I thought probably not. But maybe you do…

Sorry you’re going through such a tough time but I think your taste in music is great. Do you know the song: “Heart Like a Wheel?”

“Some say the heart is just like a wheel when you bend it you can’t mend it and my love for you is like a sinking ship and my heart is on that ship out in mid-ocean.” That’s by Kate McGarrigle, who I’m sure you like, too.

Here’s his email:

I appreciate your ticket offer, and am writing you to enter the giveaway.

Why should you give the tickets to me? Well, here is my  best reason: My wife and I are separated, which has broken my heart (never used that phrase before, but now I know what it means, how it feels, so it seems apt), and music is something (among many other things) that we have in common – Emmylou Harris, Bob Dylan, Odetta, The Decemberists, Nanci Griffith, Bach, Johnny Cash, Paolo Conte, John Prine, Nick Drake, to name but a few of our favorites – so music is one of the few solaces I have at the moment. I am still deeply in love with her, and would give anything to overcome and heal the hurts and resentments and stupid actions and behaviors that created the gulf separating us, but until, and if, I ever am fortunate enough to have that opportunity, I will attempt to drown my sorrow in music.