David Sykes

Photography by David Sykes.

Berlin

I've been thinking a lot about traveling lately and one place I really want to see is Berlin. I love the language, despite it's abruptness and funny sounding words..


(image courtesy of inesbexiga via Flickr)







(images via The Sartorialist)

Pretty pictures

A talented friend of mine, Jenny Norris, took these pretty pictures. They make me want to travel by train to somewhere mysterious and new. Check out more of her photography here.

Elephant Hotel

(Image courtesy of Brooklyn Based)


Each time I venture out to Coney Island in South Brooklyn, I try and appreciate its famous past in the various rundown elements that still exist there today. Sometimes this is hard to do, seeing the place for the first time a century after its heyday. There's always been a mysterious curiosity that accompanied the ideas of what Coney Island was once like. Apparently pretty racy, seeing as the Coney Island Elephant existed. A 122 foot high hotel and brothel in the shape of an elephant was built by James V. Lafferty in 1885. The 31 roomed building which became linked with prostitution was eventually burnt down in a fire 11 years later.

Bored to Death

I'll be moving into a new Brooklyn apartment in a week (yay!) and have been debating on whether or not to order HBO. This preview has solidified my decision as a firm yes. All of my favorites in one show..can't wait.

Uniqlo calendar

I stumbled across this super cool Uniqlo calendar today. Miniature flowing images of different Japanese cities are featured along with the weather and some music. Click on the landscape and a mosaic of clothing items appear in a color-coded mosaic of tiles.

Brooklyn Flea

(photo courtesy of Brownstoner)

I've spent the last eight months living in Manhattan and one of the things I miss about my old neighborhood is wandering into the Fort Green Flea Market on summer Saturdays. Since I'll be moving back to Brooklyn in about two weeks, I'm very excited to be able to frequent the market again. I don't know if I've ever even bought anything there, I just love looking around and checking out all the little shops and food stands. I take that back, I bought some corn on the cob with cheese and some tamarind juice once and it was excellent.

The Guerilla Drive-In

I was just thinking about how I wanted to start going to free outdoor movie screenings this summer when I came across this post on Good Magazine's website. Some smart people in Pennsylvania are taking this idea one step further and showing films in different locations - like Repo Man in a junkyard, Caddyshack on a golf course and Ghostbusters in a haunted fort! You have to follow a series of odd instructions on the website to get a secret access code to find out where the locations are, but hey, it could be worth it. It involves some mysterious thing called a MacGuffin, hmm. The Guerilla Drive-In website could use some work, but it seems like a better way to enjoy a movie than elbowing through the crowds at Bryant Park.

The Uniform Project

I came across a posting today about a designer here in New York who vows to wear the same dress for a year straight, in the name of sustainable fashion. I recognized this girl right away from riding the elevator with her in the building where I used to work. I always thought she looked super cool and chic, so no wonder she can pull something like this off! Her name is Sheena Matheiken and you can check out all of the details of her project at The Uniform Project. She began with seven identical dresses designed to be worn in a variety of ways and everyday plans to reinvent her look by adding different accessories and layers. There is a real point to this project as well - she'll be collecting donations to be made to the Akansha Foundation, a non-profit organization that helps educate children living in India, which is also where Sheena grew up. Seems like a pretty rad idea, but would require more planning and creativity than I ever have energy for each morning..

Free Food

(image via The New York Times)

The New York Times Frugal Traveler blog did a write up of all the restaurants and bars around the city that offer free food. Seeing as I enjoy pinching pennies time and again, I was kind of excited. I mean, most people I know are already fully aware of the free pizza you get at select dive bars in Brooklyn when you purchase a beer. It's mostly just a huge piece of crust with a little bit of cheese, but who cares, it's free! Read the article to discover grub (other than pizza) that you can munch on with any kind of happy hour drink. I'm keeping a list..

TapIt

I was sitting on the steps in Union Square just now eating lunch, when a girl with fringe cut bangs came over with a survey asking me to fill it out. I thought, oh god, not another help the children, help the lesbians, help the homeless people spiel. Although all very worthy causes, they usually talk your ear off and then ask for money, which I wasn't in the mood for. The survey introduced a service called TapIt, and after reading what they offered, could not believe it didn't exist yet. TapIt is a water bottle refilling network which allows New Yorkers access to free water on the go. Establishments sign up to become "partners" with TapIt and offer free water bottle refilling stations. There's an application that you can look up on your phone when you're on the street and the locations where TapIt is offered pop up! I love the idea. My only downfall in buying bottled water is the convenience and it seems it could be completely resolved with this.