Eagle & Bear (Muscogee Creek Nation, Okmulgee, Oklahoma)

I'm spending the week in the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. My focus has been making a video for Tribal Access to Justice Innovation about the Muscogee (Creek) Reintegration Program, which is doing wonderful work helping ex-prisoners transition from incarceration to lives in the community.

The U.S. government forcibly removed the Muscogee Nation (as part of the horrific Trail of Tears) from their ancestral lands (what today is Alabama, Georgia, Florida and South Carolina). The Muscogee (who were called Creek by the European invaders) built their Council House in 1878 in Okmulgee, Oklahoma where it still stands today.

Getting a Lift with Electro-Data (Los Angeles)

It wasn't just the old-timey fonts that caught my attention (although that was part of it) but the name of the company, Oliver and Williams, which I'd never heard of. These days, Otis is the only company that comes to my mind when I think of elevators. It's delightful to think that there might have been a time when multiple companies competed for business. When I Google the name, I find a YouTube video that claims Oliver and Williams elevators are "EXTREMELY RARE," and an elevator wiki (!) that doesn't even mention it. Nice to see that the Electro-Data Elevator Systems lives on at the Beverly Laurel Hotel in Los Angeles.

The Wonder of Neon (the Loop, Chicago)

They don't make old timey neon signs like this any more, do they? I think neon is magical. Not only is it beautiful but the idea that it's made from gas--and an element among an elite group that has earned the moniker "noble"--makes it extra thrilling. I suppose it's only fitting that this old-time sign promote the wares of a business that itself has changed dramatically. Nothing underscores the obsolescence of cameras more than the fact that I took this photo with my phone. 

Don't Judge Crazy by the Size of a Sign (No. 2 Train, Manhattan)

I saw this guy going up the stairs on the uptown side of the subway platform. "I bet that crazy guy is coming to this side to catch those of us going downtown," I told my son. And sure enough, the guy jumped on our train just before the doors closed. Normally, I'd try not to catch the eye of someone lugging around a huge sign with tiny print but his subtitle--"TAKE A CELL PHONE PICTURE OF THIS SIGN AND YOU MAKE IT GO VIRAL"--was so endearing in both its innocence (as if merely snapping a photo could make something go viral) and its desire to make a difference that I felt compelled to obey its first command.

As for what the sign says, I thought Michael Bloomberg was a fantastic mayor who appointed great people and implemented many wonderful programs, but I don't think it's unreasonable to think that somehow--most likely indirectly and without nefarious intentions--his stewardship of the city and the changes he instigated here did increase the value of his holdings. More importantly, it's indisputable that if anyone wants to stop "wannabe dictators from buying our demoncracy" it's Bernie Sanders.

So maybe this dude isn't as crazy as I first thought. Although I don't want to catch his eye.

Anti-Trump Rally (Columbus Circle, Manhattan)

An anti-Trump rally started at Columbus Circle, within spitting distance of Trump International Hotel & Tower this afternoon and eventually made its way to Trump Tower. The homemade signs were my favorites. The protesters later clashed with police; it wasn't the only Trump protest in the U.S. today.

An Election that Can Only Get Weirder (Hells Kitchen, Manhattan)

If the election wasn't weird enough, Vietnamese Americans for Ron Paul? #election #election2016 #bumperstickers #ronpaul

Crime & Punishment (Charleston and Folly Beach, SC)

No Smoking ... or whatever (Garment District, Manhattan)

Not that long ago, the idea of outdoor "no smoking" zones seemed silly. But when many cities (including New York) banned indoor smoking, smokers began clustering at building entrances, generating tobacco clouds and butt piles. In other words, the indoor bans only moved the problem of second-hand smoke outside. The solution outside many buildings has been to post no smoking signs, like the one above. And while it seems to have forced many smokers to find another perch, or least get a little more exercise before enjoying a puff, the signs clearly don't always work.

You Either Think This Poster is Gross or Brilliant (Reykjavik, Iceland)

 

The first thing they tell you when buying a pass to enter the Laugardalslaug swimming pool in Reykjavik is that you must take a shower "without your bathing suit" before entering the pool. And if the verbal message isn't enough, the sign about greets you before entering the locker room.

Personally, I loved the explicit emphasis on cleanliness. I'm not a clean freak (in my opinion) but I find it strange that in America (and many other places, like Scotland, where we'd just visited before Iceland) people consider a quick rinse while wearing their bathing suit adequate preparation before entering a pool. C'mon people! We all know how dirty humans can get--especially in the areas highlighted in the above poster. I think the above sign should be mandatory at poolsides everywhere.

Does Illness Look Different Depending on Your Language? (Upper East Side, Manhattan)

I found these signs at Lenox Hill Hospital a bit of a mystery. Why is the iconography in the Spanish translation different? Do Spanish-speakers wear old-fashioned ice bag on their heads when they have a fever? Are they more likely to have bags under their eyes? Does their vomit not come from the middle of their mouths but from below? And do they experience a different kind of misery when they get rashes (a squiggly-line kind of misery rather than a frown?) Their airplanes, which apparently tend to be white rather than English-speakers' black planes, seems to travel in straighter lines too.

The sign offered its warning in many other languages. You can see from the image on the left that most people travel in black planes and don't wear old-fashioned ice bags on their heads except for Creole speakers.

Is a Car Still a Car if it Doesn't Have a Gas Tank? (Brooklyn, NY)

Great deal... except for the part about needing a gas tank, gas line and brake work. Oh yeah, and it looks like sh*t.

Window in Progress (Garment District, Manhattan)

Burro's Tail (Hudson, N.Y.)

Jackpot is Now a Fluorescent Light (Amsterdam Avenue, Manhattan)

R is Not for Red Hook (Red Hook, Brooklyn)

While working on a video in Red Hook, Brooklyn, today we walked by this iconic sign. One might think at first glance that the "R" stands for Red Hook, but the floating period suggests otherwise. The actual story, according to the blog Lost City is this: "This used to belong to paper goods manufacturer named E.J. Trum. When John Turano & Sons Furniture took over the address in 1978, they tried to tear down the Trum letters. All but the stubborn "R," and a period, were removed. There they remain."

Store for Rent (Broadway, Upper West Side)

Payphones are Still Useful for Communication (Even if No One Dials) (104th Street & Amsterdam Avenue)

Payphones are still part of the street flora in New York City although I never see anyone using them--at least not to make phone calls. They get more use these days as public bulletin boards, attracting flyers, graffiti, and stickers (and stickers with graffiti), like the one below.

The notion of "payphone" will one day pass into history, and with it the memory of a way of life when people weren't connected to the world and everyone they knew via a touch screen in their pockets. 

These days I hate to carry change, and try to avoid it by always using a credit card, but in the 1980s and 1990s, pay phones made carrying coins a necessity. Once when I needed to make a call and didn't have the 20 cents, I asked a passing couple if they could give me change for a dollar. Seeing that I needed to make a call, they handed me a quarter and said, "Keep it." I was amazed and tried to press the dollar on them, but they refused it with a laugh. 

Twenty cents may seem insignificant but the act of giving wasn't. I thanked them profusely, but I've realized since that it wasn't just a quarter they gave me. They also gave me a conviction that people have the capacity to be kind and generous, and you might never know in advance when or how someone will come to your aid. The fact that I remember that brief interaction from 25 years ago speaks to the lasting impression it made.

'We Invented Social Security & We're Proud of It' (Madison, Wisconsin)

More often than not Social Security and other safety-net programs get a bad rap. Politicians and reporters call them "entitlements"--which sounds derogatory to me--and popular wisdom says they'll need to be curtailed or they'll eventually break the federal budget. But there's no hint of doom and gloom on Bascom Hill, where this sign proudly proclaims University of Wisconsin Professor Edwin Witte's role in the development of Social Security. And this bold declaration is within sight of the Capitol Building, where Scott Walker, enemy of labor unions and public education, is trying to leverage his governorship into a presidential candidacy. Fortunately, Social Security has lasted longer than the careers of many nay-saying politicians and hopefully will continue to help government secure "the well-being of its citizens" for many years to come.

Biggest Fears & Dreams (Madison, Wisconsin)

A series of handwritten signs on Bascom Hill on the University of Wisconsin campus offers refreshingly candid insights into the minds of their unidentified authors. 

Gold Medal Flour (Minneapolis)

The view during intermission from the Guthrie Theater's cantilevered bridge.