Faces of Addiction, Hunts Point, Bronx

At London's Daily Mail, "The faces of poverty, despair and addiction inside 'New York's Red Light District' captured by an ex-Wall Street banker."

Photos by Chris Arnade, on Flickr.

Christmas Shopping

I was out with my wife this afternoon, Christmas shopping, but not for a new Cadillac ATS.

The company's been doing major promotions at the Irvine Spectrum, and pictured are a silver and red 2013 ATS. Folks might remember how Cadillac was running a major ad campaign during the Olympics, seen here. And the Los Angeles Times had a very favorable review back in October, which I've been meaning to post, "Car review: Cadillac makes a right turn with 2013 ATS":

This single, lonely aspect of the ATS is all that matters to trunkfuls of self-proclaimed automotive cognoscenti gathering in car clubs and Internet chat rooms across the country. Their amusement will overflow at the latest challenger to BMW's decades-long hold on the sports-sedan scepter.

Not so fast. Despite its flaws, the thrill of the ATS' drive is an impressive feat, and the car itself is a massive step in the right direction. Which is good, because frankly, it has to be.

This is Cadillac's first post-bankruptcy baby, a look at what General Motors' luxury division can do when it starts with a clean sheet of paper to design a car with global ambitions. It may come with an American accent, but it needs to speak to buyers in China and Europe as well. Much of Cadillac's image and future hinges on how well the ATS, which starts at $34,885, resonates at home and abroad.

So it's a good thing that this car's two strongest suits, its handling and its design, translate into every language.

More at the link.

And for the record, my wife and I had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory, shopped at the Apple Store, and bought some See's candy.

I'll have more Christmas blogging later. My grading's all done, although I have a few more presents to buy. Then I can enjoy the holiday and chill well into January.

Half-Mast

I was down in Huntington Beach yesterday, taking my Honda Odyssey to the dealer for an oil-change. The Ford dealership on Beach Boulevard had a big, beautiful flag flying at half-mast in honor of the victims of Newtown.

Shopping Daiso

My son needed to pick up a case for his pencils last week, at Daiso Irvine. It's a Japanese "dollar store" except everything's priced at $1.50 or less.

The O.C. Weekly reports, "Daiso Is Dollar Shopping, Japan-Style."

Facebook Censors Photo of Woman in Bathtub With Elbows Showing

This is an amazing story, at Theories of the Deep Understanding of Things, "This was probably the craziest situation we ever had to face one post created this unstoppable swirl..."

And at London's Daily Mail, "Given the elbow: Facebook remove risqué picture of blonde woman reclining in bathtub (whatever did they think it was?)," and Huffington Post, "Facebook Reinstates Image Of Woman In Bathtub – After Apparently Mistaking Elbows For Nipples (PHOTO)."

Shark Shooter

Check out this utterly fascinating profile of nature photographer Michael Muller, at Red Bull's "Red Bulletin."

And check the photos at Muller's home page. Just outstanding work.