Necessity, as the saying goes, is the mother of invention, and once again technology now offers options that were unthinkable as recently as a decade ago. Mechatronics, the combination of mechanical, electronic and software engineering has produced an advanced hybrid system: the electronic cigarette, aka the e-cig. An international subculture has emerged around e-cigs, though patents are still pending worldwide for the products, are produced and distributed primarily from China. Sidestepping cigarettes by pursuing international loopholes through the Internet, most e-cigs are bought online, breeding wealth of online forums where users compare products and share tips on cleaning, tricks and troubleshooting.

E-cigs take the form of a metallic tiny rod, generally a little longer than a real cigarette. The mouthpiece contains a replaceable cartridge filled with a liquid, referred to as e-liquid, composed mainly of nicotine and propylene glycol. The nicotine gives the smoker the same high as a regular cigarette without the damage from tar and other harmful chemicals, and the propylene glycol allows the smoke exhaled to closely resemble real cigarette smoke. Inhaling through the device allows a sensor to detect the airflow. A microprocessor, or a single integrated circuit, activates an atomizer (a tiny vaporizer) which injects small drops of the nicotine liquid into the air and vaporizes the nicotine. Real smoking is better simulated thanks to a light-emitting diode (LED) that glows orange while the smoker inhales.

E-cigs use a rechargeable battery as a power source, and battery life varies between devices. The Kissbox Classic line from Janty offers an additional USB cable to charge the device directly from an electricity network or via a computer for constant power supply. Hon Like of Ruyan, the leading company, and others like Janty, Gamucci, Crown 7, and Njoy offer different flavor cartridges comparable to hookah tobacco flavors, and some offer nicotine-free cartridges.

E-cigarettes have been found after a series of toxicological tests to be less harmful than regular cigarettes, but by no means harmless. Smokers will remain vulnerable to the circulatory diseases associated with nicotine, though the lack of carcinogens and toxicants will reduce the chances of lung and heart disease.

There are also some issues of quality control. The most recent and most popular e-cig is the DSE-103 has been developed to combat common problems of finding nicotine liquid in the mouth, foul tastes, or unrealistic design. Some buyers purchase personal fridges for nicotine liquid to preserve freshness. Atomizers are complicated to clean, and require constant care, and some smokers still complain that they are not yet realistic enough. Some go as far as putting pipe tobacco in vaporizers, adjusting the heat to suit tobacco as opposed to nicotine liquid, which burns at a much higher temperature.

The cash roll for the companies lies in the cartridges and accessories, but the gadgets themselves still remain restrictively expensive. The Kissbox Classic starter kit can be between $70 – $100, the Njoy Starter Kit is $142.70, and the Ruyan starter kit starts at $170. Battery charger range from $12-$80 as they vary greatly in quality, and packs of five cartridges are on average about $75. How does this side-step anything? Does it save anyone enough money to justify switching from regular cigarettes? The answer depends largely on the individual smoker’s highest priorities. Some feel that the social acceptability of a healthier cigarette that can be smoked inside is worth the cost, and others enjoy the near steam-punk aspect of smoking a sleek, essentially computerized cigarette, catapulting them into a futuristic idea of chic – a romanticism that some argue is lost from regular cigarettes due to the health risks and social stigma.

The e-cig can be smoked inside, technically, as it is not a tobacco cigarette and the emitted smoke is harmless and odorless. However, its ambiguous status forces users to have to maneuver carefully. A handful of EU nations have stipulations about their legality, Austria deeming it a medical device, the UK allowing them inside and sold at a celebrity nightclub, Chinawhite, and the Netherlands allowing their use but forbidding advertising until the EU makes a legal stand. They have been accepted in the US, several e-cig smokers reporting that after explaining to their bosses and HR, they have enjoyed smoking at their desks at work. All e-cigs seem to be imported, but the US seems not to have taken a legal stand as yet.

There was also a letter printed on shiny paper, made to look as if it were written by a feather in ink and burned at the edges. "Dearest," it began, "You have been too long out in the cold, have you not! Longed to be, beside the fire of Eros, of the act, or the thought of it, the one that brought you out of that pristine darkness, the heat that shaped you, that picked you from the pocket of nothingness and made you flesh."

What?

Curious to find out more, I called the Madame, the organizer aof The Poetry Brothel, the group that had send the, uh, gift. A woman with a thick, dripping Eastern European accent picked up the phone, and said, "Hello, my little darling, how can I help you?" I couldn’t help but imagine a dark smoky room and thigh-high fishnets, stilettos, men in ass-less chaps fanning her with peacock feathers. It was early afternoon.

"The letter? It’s to you, darling," she explained simply, "A love letter to everyone who is in love with poetry."

The Madame, as she calls herself, is not hard to find in the photographs. She looks up at the camera which hovers over her head with a look both challenging and disinterested, long bright red hair streaming down either side of her. She wears long black gloves, gold bangles and a black dress. She’s smoking a cigarette through a long holder worthy of Audrey Hepburn.
Every month, The Madame presents a cast of poets of all genres who come to be her "whores." Bedecked in burlesque attire from all ages of brothel culture, they offer their services on stage and in private, giving over their intimacy in the form of their words. The guests of the party are the "customers."

"The customers choose their poets when they enter," said The Madame, recalling catalogues in high-end escort services, "They are each going to have a private poetry reading, and they can do what they will…with the poetry."

The poker chips, I found out, were worth a free drink and a free personal poetry reading in a private bedroom with one of the burlesque performers. The whole affair is a celebration of the surreal and magical and is riddled with literary debauchery.
The poets rotate and every evening The Madame presents "The New Girl," a new poet who must give a very special performance to titillate the crowd.

"I have been doing this since January in New York, but it feels like forever. We have a gypsy mentality. We began at the Living Theater on Clinton Street, then we moved to the East Village Mug Lounge, then, for three months we performed at the Jonathan Shore Gallery in Soho. Then I thought, why beat around the bush. It’s all happening in Brooklyn now. So we moved to Brooklyn," gushed The Madame. However, she may not be around for long. "Next summer we’re going to England for the festivals. Perhaps we’ll go to fucking Philadelphia."

We talked for a while, and she told me all about her "whores," the poets who offer themselves to her service. The last Poetry Brothel featured poet and novelist Tao Lin, whom The Madame was very enthusiastic about. "He is a very special young friend. I was quite surprised he wanted to be a whore in my house. I said, but you are so shy my darling, can you handle it? He has a new book out, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Interesting little book. He writes from the perspective of a hamster or an ugly fish."

As we continued to banter and I felt a strange draw, I quickly became strange comfortable as another of her surely endless supply of "little darlings." I finally asked about the box.

"I found the box in the street. I thought I would send you a combination of gifts. I told my little darlings, you throw whatever you want in this box. Music for the atmosphere, the little dice, the cards…You offer these people at the paper what you have to offer. They will do with it what they will."

Subway riders don’t need statistics to know that the transit system could use some help these days, but the situation started really looking grim when the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and New York City Transit released a report in late July saying that the 4 train, which supposedly makes express stops between Woodlawn and Crown Heights, suffered the poorest on-time performance record of all the lines, and will only get worse.
 
Performance problems have been blamed on budget cuts for car maintenance, fueling more talk about increased fare and privatization to cover an apparent $900 million budget gap.   Other problems, like on-board fainting spells, seemingly arbitrary train traffic and those people who insist on sitting next to you when there really isn’t room, well, those were not included in the report.
 
It really doesn’t look good for the transit system however, when a survey by riders advocacy group the Straphangers Campaign found the L train to be the city’s best.

There are a lot of nice things to say about the L: it’s great for watching people, it stays cold in the summer and, honestly, it’s the party line that all of the other trains are jealous of—does the 3 run from dinner on the West side to a totally crazy party in Bushwick? No way.

Despite its charms, though, the train is always under construction on weekends, makes long, scary pauses under the East River and can barely run fast enough to keep stations from overflowing during rush hour. And that’s before all those new condos in Williamsburg are teeming with commuters.

Somehow, though, the Grey line is New York’s finest? Fainters aside, it’s time for the MTA to really get it together before our rep as the country’s most efficient city is brutally tarnished.

As it turns out, "The Man" is not only cutting down on costs, but flat-out lying about it. The Magazine Publishers of America have created campaign with a "Please Recycle This Magazine" logo designed to be display prominently on magazines to encourage readers not to trash their subway reading material.

Portfolio’s media blogger Jeff Bercovici however, believes that big publishing companies are telling us to do as they say and not as they do in a post about the campaign.

"Or how about just making sure that that people who work in the magazine industry have a chance to recycle their own copies? At a certain major magazine publisher — because I work there, I won’t reveal its name other than to say it makes up the first two words in the name of my magazine — it’s an open secret that the ubiquitous blue recycling bins actually get emptied into the trash. I’m still waiting to hear back from a spokeswoman about just why it is this company, which is known for lavishing money on its top editors and executives in the form of clothing allowances and no-interest loans, and which always has a line of Town Cars idling outside its 43rd Street entrance, can’t seem to find a way to recycle the tons upon tons of paper it discards every year, as its two main competitors, Hearst and Time Inc., already do. And seeing as this company is a member of MPA, and thus a de facto sponsor of its ‘Please Recycle This Magazine’ campaign, it would seem just a tad hypocritical not to address this matter in short order."

Hmm…Perhaps the conspiracy wasn’t so far fetched after all.

The documentary uses a limited definition of singledom, zeroing in on the changing shape of marriage in particular as opposed to romantic relationships in general, but opens a universally compelling and pressing dialogue about how our relationships are changing. I spoke with Atkinson and Scandurra about their new film to figure out what they really think about single folk.

Why is the trend of increasing singledom in America so significant, and why should we pay attention to it now? 

Scandurra: There’s 100 million singles in the country right now, and that’s massive statistical jump. While we were in the midst of exploring the homeowner issue, the meter ticked over to the other side toward singles. Singles currently head the majority of households in the United States, and that’s never happened before.

Experts in the documentary share concerns that media and television have raised people’s expectations to unrealistic heights, leading many to chase after perfect relationships or partners. Given that there are so many singles urgently seeking partners, could we be giving the media too much credit?  

Atkinson: I think we’re bombarded with more perfect looking people than ever through Hollywood and the media, further perpetuated by reality TV shows, and it has an impact. TV and the Internet has opened up the whole world and created a lot of options, so expectations rise. People give up more easily when a relationship hits some rocks, and look for the next thing.

Scandurra: Online dating sites and the role of technology may have made meeting people easier, but maintaining relationships is harder, because you have too many options. Previous generations were limited to geographic locations and social groups, but now the options are endless. You could think, “Oh, I don’t like the way he cuts his hair, or the way he looks. I could probably find someone better.” We’ve created a disposable economy of people in the dating world. 

Some singles have described living in a couple’s world” and the subsequent alienation. Could the singles’ world be just as alienating to couples?

Atkinson: I think that these singles are referring to the fact that often, friends of single people will get married and just fall off the radar, involved marital life, children, schools and the like. I’ve been married for several years and Jane is single, so we’ve had a great mutual experience coming from different perspectives in many ways while exploring this phenomenon. 

Scandurra: I think that singles look to couples and think the grass is greener and vice versa, but it’s also very fluid. People get divorced more easily and remarry, going in and out of the mix. The stigma is still there claiming that people should be married, and shedding light on the reasons might help bust the stigma and there’s something wrong with you if you’re not married by a certain point.
 

One of the social scientists interviewed jokes about the growing power of women and the eventual transformation of men into pets. Do you think there’s any truth in that? 

Atkinson: (laughs) Do I think there’s any truth in it? I don’t know! It’s a joke, but it kind of makes everybody think, doesn’t it? That’s the point.

Single – the Documentary is available on DVD at www.indieflicks.com, or www.singlefilm.com.