Dope zoetrope

Subway art and piles of food.

Would you believe that I’m still fucking sick??? The tummy stuff has finally subsided but now it somehow transformed into something else (I’m not a doctor, I don’t fucking know). I’ve had a cough which turned into a sore throat and have completely lost my voice to the point that I’ve been communicating exclusively in chat form at work (why is that literally so embarassing?). Oh and I also can’t hear out of one ear? But my doctor thinks it’s allergies? I give up y’all.

Anyways, I managed to pop out here and there on the days that I thought I was better but my exploration meter (and energy levels) are still at an all time low so we are struggling here at BCLF. I owe you a return to normalcy though so let’s fucking gooooo.

I finished up a cat sitting gig in Clinton Hill this past week and found myself taking the Q from Dekalb into Manhattan quite a bit (it was the final week of the G Summer Shut Down). In the tunnel, right after exiting the Dekalb station, there’s a sort of hidden public artwork called Masstransiscope. It’s one of those blink and you’ll miss it kinda things and when I first saw it around 2008, I definitely thought I was just seeing things.

You see, 2008 was a different time. I didn’t have a smart phone, so I was actually looking out the subway windows while my iPod nano played my current playlist on shuffle. And like, there was the internet, but it wasn’t the same internet we have today; it was mostly myspace and livejournals and information was out there but it was hard to find. So when I zipped through a subway tunnel and saw weird squiggles out the side of my eye, I didn’t even know what to Google. In those days you kind of just found stuff and shrugged “huh that’s cool” and kept going. So I kept looking out the window over and over to make sense of what I was seeing and eventually years later I remembered this weird art thing and finally learned what it was: Masstransiscope.

Masstransiscope is a 300ft long art piece comprised of 228 hand-painted panels that basically creates a flip book effect. Artist Bill Brand first installed it way back in 1980, though it got dirty and vandalized over the years, so it was restored in 2008, just in time for little wide-eyed Eden’s move to Brooklyn for college. In the 1970s, Bill Brand reached out to the MTA because he wanted to create a mass-transit version of a zoetrope to turn the subway tracks into art. He would do this by constructing a long slitted light box alongside the unused subway track with a series of paintings inside so that, when a train passed, riders experienced the illusion that the painting was moving.

Magic 🪄

It should be no surprise to learn that Bill Brand is also a filmmaker, as the zoetrope was one of the earliest contraptions used to create “moving images.” Film nerds (or Rick and Morty fans with a keen eye) will recognize the famous sequence of photographs of the horse galloping taken by Edward Muybridge. Basically, if you combine a bunch of slightly different static images and add in some strobe light effects, your brain fills in the blanks and you get an animation! It’s called the “Phi Phenomenon” and it only works if you view each image for less than 1/10 of a second, thus why Masstransiscope can only be viewed through the little slits. If you saw the images for any longer your eyes would perceive each of them separately. Modern movies pretty much work in the same way; today’s cameras are just able to take way more photos at a much higher quality, so we don’t get that jilty old school movie effect (unless the filmmaker lives in Bushwick and does it on purpose 🙋). And that’s on film studies, bitch.

In another example of “what did people do pre-internet”: Muybridge didn’t take these photos to “invent” animation. He had a bet with a friend that at some point while running, there was a moment where all 4 of the horse’s feet were off the ground. His friend said no way. Muybridge took the photos and won the bet because apparently his friend was an idiot.

This public artwork is unique in a few ways. First, the fact that Bill was propositioning the MTA to allow him to create art in their crumbly ass system in the 1970s is frankly, whack. NYC and the subways were not a nice place then and for anyone to look at them and think “there should be art here” was honestly unheard of. The city was more worried about stabbings and shit. The MTA Arts & Design program wasn’t even created until 1985, so art in the subways was simply not a priority at the time.

“I think it was such a preposterous idea that no one bothered to say no,” Mr. Brand said of the work, which he christened with the back-to-the-future Latinate title “Masstransiscope.” “So they just kept having the next meeting and then we built it.”

I know we joke about the subways being bad now, but they actually were worse. I can smell this picture.

It’s also just very hard to find information about this piece. Other subway art has plaques nearby with artist info, the piece’s name, etc. Masstransiscope sort of just exists in the ether - once you pass by it’s gone. It really is special in the same way that movies were special before the wide availability of VHS tapes or DVDs. You saw a movie in the theater and then…it was gone. You would talk to your friends about it, recall different moments, and argue about whether there really was enough room for Jack on the door. You’d all have to get together and revisit it at the movie theater if you wanted answers and Masstransiscope is the same; you’ve gotta get on the Manhattan-bound BQ heading out of Dekalb if you want to get another glimpse. So even though it’s a big ass piece of art in a pretty public place, it still ends up feeling a bit secretive in a way that only folks who grew up pre-internet truly understand.

“Even though it’s a very public work of art, it ends up being very personal,” Bill said. “It’s like it’s everybody’s little secret.”

He added: “When my ego is low, I do like to find teenagers on the train and make them look at it.” You go, Bill 💅

If you want to see Masstransiscope, head to the Dekalb Ave station in Downtown Brooklyn and hop on a B or Q train heading towards Manhattan. You’ll want to look out the windows on the right side of the train just after you pull out of the station. If you’re lucky and you don’t get stuck in the dreaded Bermuda Triangle of Subway Traffic, you’ll zip outta the station and get to see a nice little treat. And we all deserve a nice little treat sometimes, don’t we?

*For folks who follow me on Substack or Instagram - I’ll post a video I took of the whole Masstransiscope after this comes out!

I feel like it’s been a while since I wrote about a Beef Fancy Dinner™! I’ve had my eye on Naks for a while now, partly because it set up shop in the same spot of my former favorite Filipino restaurant (RIP Jeepney) and partly because it’s from the same folks who run Dhamaka, Semma, and Masalawala & Sons (and those constantly receive rave reviews). It was time to have a Kamayan Birthday Dinner! A Kamayan meal is generally reserved for special occasions in Filipino households and what more special an occasion than my fucking birthday?

Birthday Kamayan dinner at Jeepney in 2018. Yes, we got an entire roast pig.

Kamayan meals are laid out in one fabulous pile on banana leaves and folks get to eat with their hands. Pre-colonization, it was traditional for Filipinos to eat with their hands and to this day I still find it incredibly impressive to watch Lorenzo absolutely demolish chicken wings while I struggle with my weak ass white people fingers. Kamayan meals exemplify an intimate method of dining that encourages an atmosphere of sharing and just generally not worrying about being super tidy or proper. Slurp those noodles, toss a piece of lechon back, enjoy yourself!

Naks’ Kamayan dinner costs a steep $135pp before tip and tax, so I had high hopes; the food better be delicious and plentiful. And for the most part, it was! However, I was a bit disappointed that the meal wasn’t served like a traditional Kamayan. Instead of finding the entire meal already laid out on the table when we were seated, the staff brought items over in courses. Sure, they plopped each course down on the table and we ate with our hands, but it felt different? Like it was weird to me that every few minutes someone was interrupting our meal but asking if we were done and ready for the next thing. That feels like it goes against the whole ethos of Kamayan and it really hurt the vibe!

Vibes aside, some of the food was really great while some items were just so so. The standout was probably the Pancit Batil Patong, which happens to be a specialty of the northern province Tuguegaro, where Lorenzo is from. The dish is comprised of thick egg noodles (similar to lo mein) along with chunks of wagyu ground beef and some sweetness from molasses. Our server plopped the noodles down on the table and mixed in an egg before we began digging in.

This picture makes it look like a tiny amount of noodles, but it was a lot of noodles

I was surprised that everyone really enjoyed the rainbow trout! Our server had it grilling on a cart behind us for about 10 minutes and then they placed the fish, grates and all, on the table. It was served with mustard leaves, achara (pickled papaya), and buro (a fermented sauce) and we were instructed to make little wraps. And of course the big ol’ platter of chicken and lechon was delicious. The chicken tasted like it had a banana ketchup glaze on it that was slightly sweet and tangy. The lechon was incredibly juicy with a crispy skin. It was honestly unfortunate that by the time that came out we were already quite full from the previous courses. If they had just served it like a normal Kamayan dinner we wouldn’t have had that issue!

Look at little Beefy - so focused

Everyone also agreed that the cassava cake dessert was fucking amazing. It was served in a little cast iron pot, cradled in banana leaves. The cake was hot AF and glistening with a condensed milk glaze. It was also topped with Eden cheese, which Lorenzo’s mom showed me from her fridge the first day I met her because apparently Eden is a well known Filipino cheese brand. I was so unbelievably full by this time that I couldn’t eat more than a bite of the delicious cake, but I did relieve it from it’s cast iron container and put it in a baggy to take home 😏

The other desserts included buko pandan (which I love but no one else really enjoyed) and a silly take on balut that was a little shot of hot chocolate and a mochi ball.

I would like to go back to Naks to try their regular menu, but I don’t think their version of Kamayan was for me. For someone who grew up white AF, I’ve managed to inherit Lorenzo’s parent’s fairly traditional views of Filipino food. I love when folks try something new or do a fusion, but I find that the traditional way tends to just be the best, at least with Filipino food. I want my food all at once in a pile on the table, dammit!

After dinner, I did receive an email from Naks with my own personal reservation link. I’m not sure if this means I’m now part of some secret society or if they’ll always have a table with my name on it, but I'm looking forward to giving them another shot with their regular menu. Hit me up if you wanna use that exclusive res link!

• You all know I’m a clay girlie so I was stoked to see that Clay Space BK was offering a Handbuilding Sampler on Sep 14! Handbuilding seems simple, but there are actually quite a few techniques that go into creating an actual dish vs an artsy blob. Tickets are $85 and if I wasn’t working at Vegandale that day I would so be there.

• I love all of the N/A events that @Thirdplacebaynyc hosts and on Sep 10 they’re having a Sober-Curious Singles Mixer at No More Cafe. The event is ENM and queer-friendly and tickets ($35) include a free (N/A) drink and a goodie bag stuffed with special gifts.

• Mid-Autumn Festival is around the corner and Land to Sea is hosting a Mid-Autumn Dinner Popup on Sep 17. They’ll be serving an a la carte menu that includes duck carnitas and a smoky lapsang souchong ice cream and of course - mooncakes! On Sep 14 Simply Noms is having their own Mid-Autumn celebration popup at Dreamers Coffee! You can pre-oder mooncakes via this form.

• Also coming up soon - the Jewish High Holidays! I fucking love this time of year, partly because challah, honey, and apples are encouraged to be eaten in abundance and yum. Also, the Tenement Museum has a special tour scheduled for Sep 22 - you can visit the Levine and Rogarshevsky apartments to find out how they celebrated the High Holidays and explore how tenement residents transformed their apartments and neighborhoods for the most important week of the Jewish year. Tickets are $55, which is a bit more than their usual $30ish price, but it is half off if you’re a museum member.

• There are a couple jazzy events happening this weekend! The Fort Greene Park Jazz Festival is free and open to the public this Saturday Sep 7. Jazz by the Water returns to Governors Island this Saturday and is also free! And the Queens Museum will have a Jazz Explorations Trio performing this Saturday - also free.

• Hamburger America is auctioning off *checks notes* a stool? To benefit The Museum of Food & Drink they’ve donated a unique item - Counter Stool “Zero”. The winning bidder will have unlimited access for one year to the counter at Hamburger America. There are NO RESTRICTIONS on when you can use your seat at the counter because it DOESN’T EXIST until YOU SHOW UP. The current bid as of writing is a not too crazy $2k and the auction ends Sep 9, so get your bid in now if you want that exclusive seat.

• Substack/Insta friend

  Julia @smarterinasec
  hooked me up with a facial last week at The Brightwood on UES and wow, what a nice freakin place! The staff there was so unbelievably nice; we traded favorite substacks and movie recs and Elly showed me all of the goop she sucked out of my face, which was both alarming and satisfying. That’s all, just a big thank you to Julia (lots of you have come over here from her newsletter recently!) and an upvote from me to head to The Brightwood if you’re looking for some excellent skin care ✨

Home sick with my little guy whose hand I’m only allowed to just barely touch and only when he’s sleeping and doesn’t actually know it.