a helluva town...

...the Bronx is up, but will I want to see the new Yankee stadium?

New York gets in your blood, I guess. It's not in the cards for me to live there at the moment, but who knows what the future will bring. It was fun to be back, if just for a few days. But a little surreal, as the city is very different from when I last called it home.

Besides 9/11, New York has become "family friendly," which actually translates to gigantic high-end mall. As we took a quick stroll down 5th this afternoon to check out some holiday store windows, I was appalled to see people lined up to get into the Abercrombie & Fitch store. C'mon people. It's just the Gap. Really. And last time I looked, they had one of these stores in a local mall. But this was the New York store...

Did I mention the other crowd of tourists taking photos of Trump Tower? Why? You got me. Because it was there, I guess.
This is my third New Yawk trip in a year. Wow. Anyway, I have to admit that Times Square still fascinates me. Where I work I am always hearing the fearful predictions of the death of print. I do think that newspapers are on the way out, and magazines probably not so far behind. But we'll still have the IKEA catalog, right? But I digress.

I do both print (primarily) and web graphics to earn my bread, but what this latest trip through Times Square taught me is that yes, digital techniques are changing printing, making paper products, posters, less necessary. I have to admit to being amazed that a digital subway kiosk sign was already proclaiming Twilight as the #1 movie. Quite a far cry from the old out-of-date posters advertising movies tnat bombed or concerts that happened long ago. A digital ad can be updated frequently. Bad news for printers with old-school presses, but good news for designers and others wishing to embrace new technologies.

New York is leading the way. D.C. has a small area in it's Chinatown with a large digital display. In another ten years or so we could all be living like Blade Runner. But what will New York look like then? What will our Obamaworld be?

This ain't no Mudd Club, no CBGB, I ain't got time for that now...

Contrary to popular opinion, there is life outside of the Big Apple. But man oh man, that city is still and will ever be, a part of me. I tried to stay away, I really did, but the pull was too great. And what did I find when I returned? Basically the same city, with a shiny digital veneer, but one I could still navigate, fiercely (both Project Runway's and the Webster's version of the word).

I was a lot younger when I first lived there. This was pre A-Rod Yankees, people. CBGB's was still open for business, and it had probably the most terrifying restroom I'd ever seen. Now NYC is kid-friendly to the extreme. Every store is a theme park, with large ferris wheels and costumed characters inside, waiting, and ready to give you an "experience."

Times Square both repels and fascinates me. What used to be a sleazy area to try to walk through as swiftly as possible on your way to somewhere else is now the ultimate tourist destination. The Blade Runner-ification of New York is simply amazing. Everywhere you look there is a digital screen, talking and pulsing at you. And as New York leads the way, I'm sure the rest of the country will follow suit. D.C. already has a mini-me version in its Chinatown Verizon Center.

I love technology. I'm no Luddite. But there is something about the talking cabs, talking subway posters, talking, talking, talking, everywhere that freaks me out. Do we really need all this stimulation? How about a little quiet space? There is actually some terrific architecture to look at too, some of the greatest art in its museums, a cool walk through Central Park...OK, excuse me while I check how long the line for the Iphone is...