cc license image ” ” by flickr user Kansas City Distrcict

Coming to you live from Zone A in Brooklyn — The late edition of Footenotes.  I was surprised to learn that my building is literally across the street from the ominous evacuation zone.  That’s mostly because the only thing across the street from me is Greenpoint’s fabled treatment plant and the attendant cluster of metal scrappers.  Normally I delight in living in the midst of Ridley Scott-esque urban blight, it scratches some weird itch I got growing up in the south, but today’s no-man’s land is a little spooky.   For those of you riding out the storm in equally surreal settings I highly recommend You Are Listening To New York – real time NYPD police chatter played over ambient music.

So now that you’re all set up and looking for things to do while you ride out the storm, why not have a look at last week’s blogs!

Open Access week just wrapped up and each day the crew over at Open Access posted some great thoughts on the subject.  I was particularly inspired by the great map of MIT’s Open Access  downloads and seeing what an impact OA can make.  Just because the official Open Access week is wrapped up doesn’t mean we can’t still celebrate OA!

Robert Duncan checked in at Transformative Games to mention that the CUNY Games Network will be presenting at the 11th Annual CUNY IT Conference.  Know who else will be at the conference?  The CUNY Academic Commons team!  Come meet the crew and hear about what we have in store for the future of the Commons.

Tony Picciano found this eloquent letter from an Olympian taking Ann Coulter to task for referring to ‘retards.’  I appreciate Mr. Stephens’ restraint and generosity.  Since I’m not exactly bound by the same sense of decorum I’m happy to report that Coulter’s latest book is tanking and that she’s been shunned by her former publisher.  I have it on good authority that her New York social calender is getting awfully drafty.

And finally this week…  Perhaps it was the tempest afoot, or maybe the impending holiday, but for whatever dark stirrings it took Helldriver returned with Mephistopheles!  Er, wait, no that says Metamorphoses.  In any event, Helldriver was back on the Commons after what felt like forever with a marvelous post.  I’m always vaguely aware that I’m only using about 2% of what New York has to give.  I try to ignore that nagging feeling I always have that there’s a secret network of delicious occasions dotted around the city that I’ll never, ever know about.  Helldriver goes out of his way to prove that.

(Edit:  I want to apologize.  I wrote that little blurb about Helldriver before I finished reading his post.  You see, part of my job is writing this round-up and I love it but I wouldn’t feel right spending a morning really sinking into a post and calling it a work day.  In hindsight I feel a little foolish about what I wrote because it seems pithy.  When someone cares so much about craftsmanship, honesty and and tearing off a little piece of themselves for, among other things, our entertainment it deserves a little better.  In short; Helldriver has outdone himself here, it is well worth your time.)

Till next week…I hope!