fourth floor: ladies' lingerie, assorted mythological creatures, delusion.

there's this wonderful ad for the new school that used to run on the new york subway, depicting a group of people standing in an elevator, all staring upwards at the floor counter. in the corner of the ad, there was a simulated torn piece of paper, describing a class in socially conditioned behavior (such as watching the floor counter in an elevator) and what causes it (discomfort with one's fellow man and peer pressure, perhaps?). i've always found it brilliant. an avid floor watcher myself, i recognized the parallel in my life, and nothing makes me giggle like my own foibles (except, perhaps, the alias recaps over on TWOP).

and, of course, it makes me wonder--for so many of us, that action is natural, instinctive. but what if we stopped watching? what if we all stared at our feet or at the door? would the elevator pop off the grid of reality and take us to the secret floors? would it start to fly or sink to immesurable depths, like willy wonka's great glass elevator?

okay, perhaps only in my wildest alcohol-soaked flights of fancy, but it is worth a think. what would we find if we could will an elevator to step off the grid through the sheer power of our inattentiveness? what do you suppose we'd find?

also, show tonight with this guy at the open center, 83 spring st. be there or...well, just be there. i go on at 8.