BY peter, March 13th, 2008
Many of you may have read about Sudhir Venkatesh in Freakanomics - he was the young sociologist whose unique friendship with a Chicago gang leader gave him unprecedented (academic) access to the inner workings of the drug world and street life. He recently came out with a book called Gang Leader for a Day, which goes into greater detail about his experiences in the projects (pick up a copy - it’s good stuff).
We’ve known Sudhir for a while now, having helped him on Columbia’s Center for Urban Research & Policy (CURP) and Dislocation (his documentary on the Robert Taylor Housing Projects in Chicago) websites when we were students. When we learned of all the publicity he was receiving as a result of his new book and his appearance on New York Times for his blog entries on watching The Wire with real gang members, we suggested that perhaps it was the right time for him to have his own site. He jumped on the idea, and in short order, we were able to launch sudhirvenkatesh.org.
We’re calling this first release an “interim” version of the site because the vision we have for the site will include a whole lot more about Sudhir’s work. Stay tuned! And in the meantime, catch Sudhir tonight on the Colbert Report on Comedy Central!
BY peter, March 6th, 2008
We’re back from Korea, overcoming jetlag, and back to the thick of things.
First, some sad news. After seven months of at-work sipping, we’ve decided to shutter our Barrel to Bottles site. With more projects going on than we can handle at the moment, we thought it best to re-prioritize and make sure our clients were getting fair attention. The full archive will stay online, and we still hope to throw Barrel to Bottles themed events in the future. Thanks for all the support!
Also, a new website release: www.byshakti.com. We consulted Shakti on their website designs and worked on the development of the site. Please check it out!
BY peter, February 28th, 2008
We’ve been out here in Seoul, Korea for the past week working on a project for our long-time client Lex Kim English School. The time has gone by really quickly here - we’ll be back in the States in a couple of days.
Other than the first few days when each one of us caught the stomach flu in succession, things have gotten easier for us, including going to sleep at the right time and working through the afternoons without falling asleep. We’ve been indoors most of the time because of the cold weather and the work, but we’re looking forward to sightseeing more of Seoul this weekend. Some images from our trip:
No trip is complete without good eats. Visit our new concept research blog Happy Bibimbap for details on some of the meals we had on the trip.
We walked around a small historic village museum on the north side of Seoul.
We were given our own space to use as our temporary office in Lex Kim’s newly renovated headquarters. Right, a view of the new library from the entrance.
More photos of our trip can be found on Sei-Wook’s Flickr.
Unrelated: a pic of our office made it into Apartment Therapy (fourth pic)!
BY peter, February 5th, 2008
A friend of ours recently told us about percebes (goose barnacles), a type of shellfish that grows on rocks where water hits hard. They’re especially popular in Spain, where they’re steamed in stock or wine and served hot, much like mussels. They’re said to taste like crabs and even lobster although with a more snail-like texture. It’s a tricky process harvesting them, and in some instances, people have drowned going against the hard surf.
A percebes harvester.
A close-up of these mean-looking shellfish.
Why do we bring up percebes? Although we’ve yet to try them, we’re thinking they’d go super well with our February line-up of Barrel to Bottles: Albariño. These white wines from Galicia (that’s northwest Spain, by the Atlantic Ocean) are prized for their ability to pair with seafood, and nothing gets us excited like the thought of delicious (new) food and great wines. Check out all four bottles, and make it a point to pick up some fresh seafood this month!
An Albariño vineyard in Galicia.
BY peter, January 27th, 2008
We’re proud to present Issue #4 of Brink Magazine for January 2008. It’s packed with quality fiction, art, and poetry. Please check it out at www.brinklit.com!
