Noted

From Page Six today:

New York's homeless could be kept warm this winter in expensive furs owned by Ruth Madoff -- if PETA has its way. The anti-fur campaigners have written to US Marshal Roland Ubaldo asking for the Madoff skins to be donated to the homeless. More than 100 Madoff items will be sold off today at the Sheraton New York to reimburse the Ponzi scammer's thousands of vic tims. PETA's Dan Mathews said in a letter to Ubaldo, "By donating them to the homeless, you'd be able to highlight the difference between need and greed."

Noted

No one needs any more signs that the economy is in miserable shape. Nonetheless, one particular sign caught our attention. It was taped to the front window of a no-name clothing outlet store in Greenwich Village, on Bleecker Street just east of Seventh Avenue South. A clothing store in Greenwich Village advertised 20 percent off for customers whose names 'made the Madoff’s List.' Few have taken advantage of it. 'Madoff’s Victims Sale,' it said. 'Take an extra 20 percent off if your name made the Madoff’s list." (The New York Times)

Meanwhile, back on Earth, the greatest article about transhumanism that you'll read today

From today's Wall Street Journal:

Arakawa and Madeline Gins's quest to make human beings immortal is at risk of dying.

That's because the couple lost their life savings with Bernard Madoff, the mastermind of a multibillion-dollar fraud.

Of all the dreams that were crushed by Mr. Madoff's crime, perhaps none was more unusual than this duo's of achieving everlasting life through architecture. Mr. Arakawa (he uses only his last name) and Ms. Gins design structures they say can enable inhabitants to "counteract the usual human destiny of having to die."

The income from their investments with Mr. Madoff helped fund their research and experimental work. Now, Mr. Arakawa, 72 years old, and Ms. Gins, 67, are strapped for cash. They closed their Manhattan office and laid off five employees.

The pair's work, based loosely on a movement known as "transhumanism," is premised on the idea that people degenerate and die in part because they live in spaces that are too comfortable. The artists' solution: construct abodes that leave people disoriented, challenged and feeling anything but comfortable.

Hmm...disoriented, challenged and feeling anything but comfortable? Sounds like my first studio apartment.

And be sure to check out the reader comments to this article on WSJ.com...like this one:

You would think someone aiming for immortality would have learned to take better care of their cash. Immortals need a sound, conservative investment strategy. Let's face it: we don't want the world filled with destitute 200 year-olds living in the streets.

Noted

The Post's "the recession can be fun" story also noted the following about EV Grieve favorite Donohue's Steak House:

This Upper East Side dining room, a one-time neighborhood joint for Bernie Madoff, hasn't changed its mood since it opened in the '50s.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The timeless appeal of Donohue's Steak House