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Archives for July 2015

July 28, 2015 By Phillip Retuta

Detroit.

2015-07-20-12.34.31

If I can sum up one word about my 3-day trip, it’d be “depressing”…

Detroit, sad to say, is the shell of a once great city: with its automotive and Motown history inciting the lore as one of America’s most industrious metropolises, I expected the economic collapse of Detroit t0 be nothing more than overextended truths that the likes of the media and Michael Moore would talk about. However, experiencing it first hand, I couldn’t help but feel depressed when I saw the city outskirts littered with empty lots, burnt down or dilapidated houses, or unoccupied buildings. Even when we were downtown in the middle of the day — amidst the new buildings and supposedly booming tech industries — the nearly empty streets felt like Detroit can never recover from its downfall. It’s never going to be what it was, and as someone so glamoured by the “American Dream” of success and overcoming adversity and making it big, Detroit was a slap in the face: reality is harsh.

Now despite the stark, economic and social aspects of Detroit, I did find the city to be beautiful. The graffiti and art around the city were inspiring (I’ll post about the Heidelberg Projects later), and I wish that I was able to meet some of the street artists who created them (Monica said all the creatives “are hiding for some reason”). The old architecture that wasn’t abandoned or torn down in lieu of new developments were breathtaking, especially since it’s refreshing to see the art deco style in its original form as opposed to the ultra-modern, glass-concrete clusterfucks of new New York. Even the burnt down houses and crumbling facades had a haunting charm, that the natural elements can easily reclaim the land once exasperated by man. Guys, if there’s one thing that the overall aesthetic of Detroit taught me, it’s that humans suck and time is fleeting.

Here are some photos:

Two Stories:

2015-07-20-19.36.58 2015-07-20-21.23.34

I: We ate the David Whitney House, a supposedly haunted mansion that serves a pretty awesome Beef Wellington. Anyway, some of the paranormal accounts within the mansion include table servings moving around and the elevator operating on its own, despite mechanics finding no technical fault with the elevator. So Gino, Brett, Monica and myself were on the completely empty second floor, which also serves as a dining hall. I made a remark about searching for ghosts right by the elevator bank, when suddenly the elevator doors open — with no one inside. Secondly, in one of the empty dining rooms, despite all the table settings set and in pristine condition, I turn around and a napkin unfolded itself. Also, on the second floor there appears to be an empty office with a frosted window and windowed door. Mind you, it’s completely dark and nothing was obscuring the windows. I dared Monica to peer inside and look for the ghost of David Whitney, and a minute later when we looked back at the empty office, a stack of napkins were vertically leaning against the windows.

II: I brought Nico with me to Detroit. Our hotel had a somewhat strict pet policy where dogs cannot be over 30 pounds (she’s 60 pounds) or be left unattended in the room. After leaving Nico alone in the room, my friends and I had dinner and gambled inside the hotel (I won $75 in computerized roulette, by the way). When we returned two hours later, we discovered that our card keys to our room would not work. We went down to the lobby and talked to a manager, and he said that Nico escaped six times and wandered the hallway, freaking out other people on the floor. I can imagine, with my dog’s stupid, curious grin and happy-go-lucky wag of her tail, Nico greeted every living individual that she came across — how the fuck would people get scared of Nico is beyond me. Nonetheless, in my head, the whole situation of Nico causally walking along the hallways reminded me of Slimer in Ghostbusters:

1107118-slimer

Filed Under: Art, Travel

July 9, 2015 By Phillip Retuta

Apple Watch Review.

appleWatch

…or “I’m Now One Of Those Tech-Assholes Who Own An Apple Watch.”

Ever since my favorite Nooka watch broke, I was in the market to buy a pretty cool, design-forward watch. I was about to buy another Zub Zot Nooka watch, just because I loved the design, and it’s an alternative way to read time (ie: LCD dots for hours and a bar that fills up as each minute passes). However, just as the irreplaceable band snapped in half, the new Apple Watch was released. I figured I had some money to spoil myself, and I bought one.

Now despite all the Mac products I own, I consider myself far from an Apple fanboy: I’m not going to wait in line for hours or days when the new iPhone comes out, and to be honest the energy and chaos of any packed Apple Store gives me a mild panic attack. Still, I appreciate the design aesthetic of nearly all Apple products, and as someone whose career and hobbies fall within the creative and technological sphere, I have no choice but to rely on Macs.

So during my lunch break, I bought the 38mm Apple Watch Sport with a black band — primarily because it was affordable, it resembled closely to my old Nooka, and the smaller face size looked more like a regular watch than a typical, standard Apple Watch (it’s more conspicuous and doesn’t shout, “HEY, MUG ME!”).

After wearing it for a few weeks, here’s my quick review…

Pros:

  • It’s a very expensive organizer for $300+, but it’s nonetheless a great organizer. I’ve synced up my personal and work calendars, and it’s nice to get alerts on a smaller device that’s constantly on me than in my phone alone.
  • The interface is beautiful, and despite the menu icons being so small for my fat, stubby fingers, the touch sensitivity is pretty accurate.
  • Speaking of accuracy, the voice dictation is spot on. When sending a message on my watch by speaking into it, it’s almost exact. It even records swears.
  • The battery life of my phone lasts a lot longer, despite having my Bluetooth on. I think it’s because I’m not constantly checking my phone for the time, emails, or messages. During the course of the day, before the watch, my iPhone would drain out completely by 5pm if on a full charge. With the watch, however, my phone is at about 50% if I left it uncharged.
  • You can mute any sounds on your watch by covering it with your palm.
  • Instead of looking at your phone during meetings, I can check messages just on my watch and no one is any wiser.
  • The ability to send drawings and your heartbeat to other Apple Watch users is cool, despite the fact I only know one other person who has it.

Cons:

  • No one else has an Apple Watch, so that last “pro” point is moot.
  • One of the main reasons I wanted the watch is to control Spotify from my wrist during my subway commute, rather than pulling out my phone all the time (I tend to carry a coffee in one hand and my phone in the other). Unfortunately, because of Apple Music and Spotify’s apparent feud, Spotify has yet to create an Apple Watch-specific app and I don’t see them doing it in the near future. Of course, when I asked the sales reps at the Apple Store if I can control Spotify through the watch’s native player, they said yes. Liars.
  • Also, as many of you were aware when the new iOS was released a few months back, the iTunes library on the Apple Watch comes pre-loaded with U2’s “Age of Innocence” — despite the fact I deleted that goddamn album when I updated awhile ago.
  • Although the mirrored, camera feature of “what your iPhone’s sees, the Apple Watch sees” is pretty cool, it does not support video. Still, I like how I can capture photos on my phone using my watch.
  • You can’t view webpages, but I’m sure that will change.
  • The watch faces are pretty limited at this point. I would have loved to customize it with my personal photos, but I don’t think that feature is available yet. Mickey Mouse dancing is kinda sweet, though.

All in all, I’m pretty satisfied with the Apple Watch, but it’s up to you if you think you’re going to buy it. That’s my two cents if it’s worth anything, which is probably less than two actual cents.

Filed Under: Design, Fashion, Technology

July 5, 2015 By Phillip Retuta

Portland.

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Portland is a pretty cool city, and as much as my friends and native PDX residents Aaron and Chris would hate me to say this, but Portlandia is a fairly accurate parody. Let me preface that when I was waiting to board my plane to Portland, there was literally a guy juggling bowling pins in the middle of the crowded gate, and when I was eating some food adjacent to the gate, I was standing next to a 6.5-foot man wearing a bicycle helmet with his jumpsuit’s color scheme matching that of a hippy clown.

Caricatures aside, I loved Portland. I met up with my old grad school classmate/fellow New Yorker Brett Burton, and stayed with my old undergrad classmate Aaron Colter. I hiked up Mount Tabor, had some of the best food cart food ever to be digested in my gullet, and I went to a strip club that far surpasses any strip club here in Brooklyn (they fucking serve barbecue in Portland’s clubs). What really amazed me is that Portland has no sales tax whatsoever, and I almost spit out my cold brew coffee once Aaron told me this. As a result of this revelation, I managed to buy some random stuff at their thrift stores, some Polaroid film and accessories, and a ton of cigarettes — all with complete reckless abandon.

Overall, when (and really, it’s a matter of “when”) I move out of New York, I’ll definitely move to the West Coast, and I do have my eyes towards Portland (Los Angeles and San Francisco, I’m also looking at you). It’s another one of those cities I wanted to visit before I die, and after experiencing it for a very long weekend, it’s everything I could ask for to live a life free of stress, pretentiousness, or near-bankruptcy.

And now for the photos:

Filed Under: Travel

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Born 1983. Art Director, UX/UI and Digital Designer. Illustrator. Dog Owner. Coffee Enthusiast. Pizza Lover.

I love over-thinking the simplest of things and making stuff at every waking moment: comics, food, videos, photos... you name it. This blog is a record of my work, my exploits, and my philosophical, political, and psychological ideologies. So enjoy reading my dumb ideas and inane rants that I'd otherwise be ashamed to verbally speak out in public.

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