Photos: Madoff Leaves for Court, Expected to Plead Guilty

Manhattan, N.Y., March 12, 2009: Bernard Madoff (hidden in the back seat) leaves his Upper East Side home at 133 E. 64 St. shortly before 7 a.m. He is expected to plead guilty in court later in the day.

Manhattan, N.Y., March 12, 2009: A helicopter escort right above Madoff's Upper East Side home will follow his vehicle all the way to court.

Lounging in the Armory Show

New York, N.Y., March 7th, 2009: Visitors to The Armory Show 2009 view art work by Galerie Thomas. Spread over four days from March 5th to 8th, the show on Piers 92 and 94 features a Modernist component for the first time.

Last weekend I headed to the Armory Show 2009, an annual art fair where expensive works are put in a huge gallery and sold off if prospective buyers are found. Rather than shooting the art, I noticed lookers and buyers easily got tired from all the walking, so here’s a short photo essay on the various methods they took to unwound themselves.

‘Tis A Sad Year

As of March 4th, here are the figures for confirmed attendees for the 2009 Columbia Journalism School Career Expo on March 28th.

Magazines: 11
Newspapers: 5
Wire Services: 6
Alternative Weeklies: 1
Online Media: 10
Television: 15
Radio: 2

Those numbers are useless without comparison. See below for the same list for 2008 and come shed some sympathy.

Magazines: 34
Newspapers: 21
Wire Services: 5
Alternative Weeklies: 3
Online Media: 13
Television: 32
Radio: 6

Look at the colors and they tell the whole story — red means a decline, green means up. For reasons that are obviously more complicated than the economic crisis, there will one more wire service coming to the this year’s expo compared to last year. Every other area of journalism is seeing cuts as high as 50%. You’re right, there are still three weeks before the actual event, but I wouldn’t be crossing my fingers at these numbers increasing significantly.

Brave New Page

Plastic Logic reader, out in early 2010

I don’t like to predict the future much (because I’m a short-sighted realist), but you’re looking at an exciting new prospect for publishing. The Plastic Logic Reader, slated for release in early 2010, is less than 7mm thick, letter-sized, and can read newspapers, books, magazines and the common computer formats such as Word, Excel, and PDFs.

That’s not all. It boasts a new durable plastic screen that resembles pulp, is touch-sensitive, and can connect wireless-ly to cellular and internet networks. How do I know so much? Because it’s one half of the bloody boxing ring in a fight with Amazon‘s Kindle, and is a topic I’m writing about in a feature article for a school magazine.

Costs of the Art

Photography is keeping me involved in journalism school, and almost keeping me dissolved in the real world. Amidst all the researching, interviewing and writing I do for class assignments, photography is the one activity that I derive the most pleasure from. But it also sweeps the bank clean, because this tech-heavy venture cost as much to sustain a basic living expenses.

New York Comic Con

New York, N.Y., Feb. 7, 2009: Christopher Burrill, 22, a comics and Star Wars fan, poses beside a Sandtrooper at the entrance of the New York Comic Con.

Time to Salvage the Franchise

It’s only February, but blockbuster fever has set in. I was just at New York Comic Con, part out of interest, and part out of work. You’ll get to see photos in a later post, but but towards the end of my 4-hour wade through the thousands of people, I found myself staring at a 42-inch plasma screen. It was showing the trailer for this May’s Terminator Salvation.

Cheers for a Better Year

Held on Feb 1, 2009, thousands of tourists and locals gathered in Manhattan's Chinatown to celebrate the 10th annual Lunar New Year parade, popping streamers along the way.

Dreams for the Underdogs

Source: Kevin Terrell/Getty Images

What an amazing day for sports. Although technically Rafael Nadal‘s five-set victory (7-5, 3-6, 7-6, 3-6, 6-2) over Roger Federer in the Australian Open final was yesterday, I didn’t know who won until this morning. No need to hide here: my heart was racing for Nadal, a true-bred Spanish matador who just doesn’t quit. He punches through and penetrates even the most skilled of enemies, in this case Federer.

Sure, Federer is a great player, very similar to ‘pistol’ Pete Sampras whom I had supported. But for some reason I don’t fancy Federer. He’s not obnoxious enough to warrant a hate squad, yet I think my dislike stems from the way he makes it look too easy to win. When players like Nadal sweat and bleed to conquer, Federer dispatches challenges so quickly it’s almost — like they say — a ‘Federer’ express.

That’s why I support Nadal, because he’s the undying kind. The kind that doesn’t quit even though he may not be the brightest talent nor the biggest mouth.

Security or Surveillance

It's not paranoia if they're really after you

Slightly more than 10 years ago, a moderately-received Will Smith movie came to cinema screens. “Enemy of the State” was set in the real world — our world — about whether the government should cross the lines of civil rights and ethics when it comes to national security.

After you’ve watched the movie, it’s clear that its creators leaned towards being the ‘good guys.’ After all, Will Smith’s character survives in the end. But perhaps no one, not even the conservatives or the civil rights activists could predict that three years after the movie aired, national security (or the lack of it) came into intense question with the events of 9/11.