Pella windows and graffiti?
Bad spelling corrected? (Not that the Bad Barista has a leg to stand on when it comes to such things…at least someone corrected it.) And one word is much easier to put in the right order than a full sentence.)
Poor penmanship?
You be the judge.

chrisco3.jpg

Extra Bonus points if you can provide the latitude and longitude of this munificence of plywood.

34 replies on “What’s wrong with this picture?”

  1. Prey tell, Deirdre (Staff Dyslexic/ADD writer & Affirmative Action hire)
    That VaCancY sign wouldn’t be Crisco Court? Would it

  5. The accusation of poor penmanship still holds, though. The quality of the graffiti matches the quality of the canvas.

  6. mu-nif-i-cent
    ohhhhhh! Looked in up in my Funk & Wagnalls!
    throwing big words around Deirdre(Staff Dyslexic/ADD writer & Affirmative Action hire) The New Sheriff in town.
    Could be the U Montclair Train station that burned down.

  7. ack ack I got it!
    It’s right next to the 1 square foot Drug Free Zone over on Pine Street

  9. definitely a circle A.
    so now we know that Deirdre (Staff Dyslexic/ADD writer & Affirmative Action hire) — in addition to being ignorant of the rules of spelling, grammar, and syntax — doesn’t even know the alphabet!

  10. I may be reading too much into it, but the second “a” in Vacancy seems to have a circle around it. When I was a teen (not too long ago, but long enough) that was the symbol of anarchists.
    A political statement, perhaps?

  11. I may be reading too much into it, but the second “a” in Vacancy seems to have a circle around it. When I was a teen (not too long ago, but long enough) that was the symbol of anarchists.
    A political statement, perhaps?

  12. As a matter of fact Deirdre (Staff Dyslexic/ADD writer & Affirmative Action hire)
    The A for Anarchy in a circle, usually in red and spray-painted on the background, is one of the most successful images among political symbols. It was created during the 20th century and is therefore a much more modern symbol than the classical black flag of anarchism. Its origin is not known, but there is evidence that the symbol was used by some anarchists during the Spanish Civil War and later by the Belgium organization AOA (Alliance Ouvriere Anarchiste).
    The Circle A is said to represent Proudhon’s maxim that “Anarchy is Order.” The “A” is for anarchy and the circle is either a symbol of order or represents the “O.” But the Circle A is also said to be a symbol of unity and determination, forwarding the anarchist ideals and the inevitable rebellion against the rulers. Anarchists are devoted to the re-establishment of freedom for everyone and the importance of the cause cannot be affected by outer restraints. The circle is therefore, to some extent, a shield against the oppressive society surrounding the sovereign anarchist.
    The Circle A also lends support to the idea of international anarchist solidarity, where the circle encompassing the “A” for anarchy could be interpreted as a representation of the world. Anarchists are committed to the abolishment of all rule, coercive hierarchy and oppression √¢‚Ǩ‚Äú no matter where it exists. The unavoidable anarchist rebellion takes no prisoners and thus no tyrant is safe when the rebellion has begun.
    No matter the origin and the true meaning of the symbol, the Circle A is a very powerful symbol of anarchism world-wide. It is very often seen spray-painted on walls and under bridges or on the background of a black flag of anarchism.
    Che’

  15. Let’s not give the artist (in this case) too much credit. It would seem that a true anarchist wouldn’t have that much trouble with folks building at Christopher Court. The ideals of anarchism seem a bit misplaced here.
    And … what does “successful” mean in terms of this symbol? The hammer and sickle — now THAT was successful.

  17. Crank – you’ve never heard of that A-in-a-circle Anarchy symbol? It’s been ubiquitous in NYC since the early eighties. And I’ve seen it in Boston, Sydney, Cleveland, Toronto, and all kindsa other places. It’s a punk political poseur thing. Your unfamiliarity with it says more about your frame of reference than about whether the symbol is ‘successful’ or not.

  18. Why does the anonymous poster calls DD-M an affirmative action hire? I just googled her image and she appears to be a white lady.
    It seems racist for you to assume that a poor grasp of capitalization, punctuation and self-copy-editing mean that she’s an affirmative action hire.

  19. Continuing along the syntax thread: Graffito is the singular of graffiti – which would apply to the single word Vacancy above. Hence, Pella windows and graffito?

  20. Sleepysleek
    DDM posted this yesterday
    That would be E before I. Isn’t it clear I’m the Staff Dyslexic/ADD writer. It was an Affirmative Action hire. In future I will drink my coffee PRIOR to posting.
    Posted by: Deirdre | July 29, 2006 12:22 PM
    She seems to have taken it w/ all the tongue in cheek it was meant to be.
    With the respect back to you!
    before YOU call anyone a racist READ! Get your facts straight

  21. Got it – I didn’t see the thread where she posted that. My apologies for misreading your post. No racism, just a reference to a weak joke from a weak writer.

  22. The “A” with a circle is a symbol of political anarchy and ancharists.
    Modern Anarchism is derrived from left-wing socialist movements and radical “earth-first” type environmental groups. The symbol in America is most often used by leftist eco-terrorists. Often developments or other “capitialist infrastructure” will be marked with the symbol prior to arson.
    here is some general info:
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarchism

  23. My brain shuts down in this heat, I was not very precise there.
    I did see that symbol painted all over NYC during the 20 yrs we lived there. Its frequency seemed to increase the closer you came to the NYC/East Village area. However, at the time (1980s), I never found anyone who actually knew what it meant. (These were the pre-Internet years, of course.) We all concluded that it was some kind of art/punk thing.
    I have a dim memory that there was a Village Voice piece on the graffiti that connected it with some sort of anti-landlord group or movement, but I may be confusing things.
    There was also a local newscast on somebody who had been torturing & slaughtering cats in a basement in the East Village where the walls were painted with that symbol. The newscasters, of course, were quick to speculate about Satanism.
    Anyway, this is the first I’ve heard that the symbol referred to Anarchy. And yes, that may say something about my past frames of reference.

  24. Oy. “most often used by leftist eco-terrorists.” You are such a goober. 99% of the time that symbol goes up on a wall, it’s cuz some kid with hippie-ish affectations thinks that putting it up makes him/her are rebel.
    you really, really need to get laid, ROC.

  25. We also, naturally, thought it might be the logo of an East Village band that somebody was trying to promote. We even wondered whether there might be a band called the AssOles, now that I think on it.

  26. sleepysleek,
    u really oughta adjust your medication. your intellect isn’t up to matching wits with ROC.

  28. Up in the Berkshires, a new bridge was taking forever to build, and the construction trailer was defaced: FINIHS THIS.

  29. My intellect has better things to do. And my ability to edit my own text goes to sleep when it gets humid. (Maybe that’s Dierdre’s problem too.) I meant to say “a rebel”, not “are rebel.”

  30. Please … let’s not assume that the person who painted this has any clear sense of the meaning behind the symbol … or of what anarchism even is. Emma Goldman is spinning in here grave!

  31. Now that the floodgates of memory have been breached, I remember trying to talk people into forming a band that would be called either the AssOles or Alpha/Omega, depending on the musical bent. The idea was to make the circle A our logo & take advantage of all the free publicity that was already out there.
    Then the slaughtered cat story came along & I dropped the idea like a hot spud. I didn’t want to have any associations, however tenuous, with whomever that future serial killer was.
    Thanks for the memories!

  33. C’mon people. You guys haven’t been out of the city that long!!! That symbol has been used by punk kids for decades and has been co-opted by today’s Hot Topic mall punk movement. “Don’t give the artist too much credit?” I give that poseur NO credit. “Punk” kids today (and yesterday for that matter) scrawl that symbol with very little regard for what it actually means. They realize it’s an anti-establishment, anti-government symbol, but they don’t realize what it’s FOR… which is actually nothing. For more on the anarchy symbol and its uses in punk culture, rent “The Decline of Western Civilization,” burn a copy of “Never Mind the Bollocks” or, for laughs, check out “SLCPunk.”
    By the way, nice little cameo by Baristanet in the New Yorker this week. Granted, Lemaan equates it to a church bulliten, but given the level of discourse on this particular topic, I can’t say he’s wrong. “Citizen Journalism” indeed. C’mon Debbie, I wanted a litte “Anarchy in Montclair” or “Anarchy in Crisco” sticker on this story.
    As for the little bit of misinformation about eco-terrorists, it ain’t the anarchy sign they use. If Crisco had “ELF” sprayed on charred remnants of what were once house frames, you could blame Eco-Terrorists. This looks like bored kids who couldn’t score beers.

  34. C’mon people. You guys haven’t been out of the city that long!!! That symbol has been used by punk kids for decades and has been co-opted by today’s Hot Topic mall punk movement. “Don’t give the artist too much credit?” I give that poseur NO credit. “Punk” kids today (and yesterday for that matter) scrawl that symbol with very little regard for what it actually means. They realize it’s an anti-establishment, anti-government symbol, but they don’t realize what it’s FOR… which is actually nothing. For more on the anarchy symbol and its uses in punk culture, rent “The Decline of Western Civilization,” burn a copy of “Never Mind the Bollocks” or, for laughs, check out “SLCPunk.”
    By the way, nice little cameo by Baristanet in the New Yorker this week. Granted, Lemaan equates it to a church bulliten, but given the level of discourse on this particular topic, I can’t say he’s wrong. “Citizen Journalism” indeed. C’mon Debbie, I wanted a litte “Anarchy in Montclair” or “Anarchy in Crisco” sticker on this story.
    As for the little bit of misinformation about eco-terrorists, it ain’t the anarchy sign they use. If Crisco had “ELF” sprayed on charred remnants of what were once house frames, you could blame Eco-Terrorists. This looks like bored kids who couldn’t score beers.

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