Thursday, January 24, 2008
change of plans - kucinich won't be an option
dennis kucinich announced that he's dropping out of the race.
*sigh*
back to compromising and feeling like my options are teh lame.
although...i really hate to admit it...but if he's gonna drop out, i'm kind of glad he's doing it *before* the california primary.
*sigh*
back to compromising and feeling like my options are teh lame.
although...i really hate to admit it...but if he's gonna drop out, i'm kind of glad he's doing it *before* the california primary.
Friday, January 18, 2008
thank you note
dear mission,
i've loved you since i met you. you're the best neighborhood i could ever imagine. i love all aspects of you--each diverse avenue of awesome. thank you for your little secret bits of incredible. thanks for being so cozy,and for being so crazy. thank you for housing so many of my friendlies, for providing space for such great local businesses, and for displaying yourself as a canvas for casual and devoted artists.
you're pretty much the greatest.
love, orange
.
(photo by hd.)
Thursday, January 10, 2008
what could you make with just one piece of paper?
i can't find a good description of the details of this situation, but apparently the hirshhorn museum in dC sponsored a contest, requesting submissions of a single piece of paper.
hello
apparently, 'hello' is a newish word. and it's got me all pondery about what people have said to greet each other throughout the history of the english language. would be neat to plot out different greetings, showing when each came into usage and how long it lasted in common usage...
from a word blog:
The earliest known appearance of the word HELLO in print is in a letter written by Thomas Edison dated August 15, 1877. In the letter, addressed to T. B. A. David, president of Central District and Printing Telegraph Company in Pittsburgh, Edison suggested that the word should be used to answer the telephone. HELLO is an alteration of the much older word HOLLO.
from a word blog:
The earliest known appearance of the word HELLO in print is in a letter written by Thomas Edison dated August 15, 1877. In the letter, addressed to T. B. A. David, president of Central District and Printing Telegraph Company in Pittsburgh, Edison suggested that the word should be used to answer the telephone. HELLO is an alteration of the much older word HOLLO.
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
electric apricot
at amy's suggestion, i went to see electric apricot last night. if you've ever been part of the jamband scene or dealt with the hippie music scene in any way, i recommend the film. les claypool et al. did an excellent job of caricaturing all that is delightfully inane about the creation and proliferation of hippie music.
i was expecting the film to be a spoof of phish or the dead and their respective followers, and i was prepared to be amused but not quite get it, since the phish and dead scenes weren't really things i actively participated in more than attending a show or two. instead, the film looked at a small-time norcal jam band composed of earnest middle-aged men--playing the circuits in marin county, going into the studio to make their first album, and aspiring to the opening slot on a crap stage at a major west coast festival. so...having spent a few years on staff at a smallish norcal festival, in a smallish norcal town known for its devotion to local hippie sound, well... yeah, i totally got it ;P
anyone from davis reading this thing? anyone who's been to high sierra music festival? go find the the movie and watch it. HILARIOUS.
(in my reading after viewing, i was particularly tickled to find that the 'band' played real shows, unannounced, around norcal in order to get footage for the film. oh, the inexpressible delight of getting to a show of your fave jam band a bit earlier than you normally would've, and being rewarded by the discovery that les claypool's joke band is the opener...)
pS. props to producer and actor jason mchugh for wearing his 2004 disorient shirt for a good 1/3 of his screentime! and i wish you the best of luck in pulling mr claypool out to the playa one of these years :)
i was expecting the film to be a spoof of phish or the dead and their respective followers, and i was prepared to be amused but not quite get it, since the phish and dead scenes weren't really things i actively participated in more than attending a show or two. instead, the film looked at a small-time norcal jam band composed of earnest middle-aged men--playing the circuits in marin county, going into the studio to make their first album, and aspiring to the opening slot on a crap stage at a major west coast festival. so...having spent a few years on staff at a smallish norcal festival, in a smallish norcal town known for its devotion to local hippie sound, well... yeah, i totally got it ;P
anyone from davis reading this thing? anyone who's been to high sierra music festival? go find the the movie and watch it. HILARIOUS.
(in my reading after viewing, i was particularly tickled to find that the 'band' played real shows, unannounced, around norcal in order to get footage for the film. oh, the inexpressible delight of getting to a show of your fave jam band a bit earlier than you normally would've, and being rewarded by the discovery that les claypool's joke band is the opener...)
pS. props to producer and actor jason mchugh for wearing his 2004 disorient shirt for a good 1/3 of his screentime! and i wish you the best of luck in pulling mr claypool out to the playa one of these years :)
another example of carbon offsets being bs
the green wombat, which i wouldn't exactly describe as anti-corporate, posted an uncharacteristically scathing set of words today regarding the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in las vegas. CES is claiming that the carbon dioxide created by conference attendees will be entirely neutralized through carbon offsets.
The cost of the CES carbon tax: $108,000. No, there's not a zero or three missing from that number. For the price of a Tesla Roadster and change, CES is cleansing the collective environmental sins of 140,000 people. Without wading into the controversial arena of carbon offsets or questioning the good intentions of CES' organizers, that number begs an obvious question: If neutralizing a looming global catastrophe comes so cheap, wouldn't have Bill and Melinda Gates just have written a check by now?
CES is using CarbonFund.org for the offsets.
more research to do; more words to post...
The cost of the CES carbon tax: $108,000. No, there's not a zero or three missing from that number. For the price of a Tesla Roadster and change, CES is cleansing the collective environmental sins of 140,000 people. Without wading into the controversial arena of carbon offsets or questioning the good intentions of CES' organizers, that number begs an obvious question: If neutralizing a looming global catastrophe comes so cheap, wouldn't have Bill and Melinda Gates just have written a check by now?
CES is using CarbonFund.org for the offsets.
more research to do; more words to post...
Friday, January 04, 2008
...and a pox on the alleged single-axis continuum of political thought!
this link takes you to one of the two most memorable things i learned in college:
http://idealog.org/ideaflash.asp?page=run
the actual graphic that is the point of this text is called 'Ideologies: A Two-Dimensional Framework'. the graphic shows four regions of political thought--liberal, populist, conservative, and libertarian--based on a person's beliefs in the relative importance of freedom, order, and equality.
all the recent discussion about ron paul had kept this framework in the forefront of my brain lately, and i've had a few conversations about it. i find it useful.
feel free to offer critique, but this isn't meant to be a suggestion for a universally applicable model of political thought--just a simple graphic for thinking about libertarianism in relation to 'liberals' and 'conservatives'. also, i think the self-placement exercise in the first link is neat :)
http://idealog.org/ideaflash.asp?page=run
the actual graphic that is the point of this text is called 'Ideologies: A Two-Dimensional Framework'. the graphic shows four regions of political thought--liberal, populist, conservative, and libertarian--based on a person's beliefs in the relative importance of freedom, order, and equality.
all the recent discussion about ron paul had kept this framework in the forefront of my brain lately, and i've had a few conversations about it. i find it useful.
feel free to offer critique, but this isn't meant to be a suggestion for a universally applicable model of political thought--just a simple graphic for thinking about libertarianism in relation to 'liberals' and 'conservatives'. also, i think the self-placement exercise in the first link is neat :)
[ed. note: graphic! inserted! and here's a link to a website that talks about the graphic a little without making you take a quiz.]
Thursday, January 03, 2008
green cab
if you're in sF, you've probably heard of Green Cab by now. it's a newish small cab company in san francisco that uses hybrids. i initially heard of it because friend vera drives a cab for them. i encourage everyone to try green cab when they need a cab and can afford to wait 10-20 minutes.
here's what vera said when i asked about service:
Green Cab is the same price as other cab, and we are pretty reliable. That being said, there are still only four cabs, and on Friday or Saturday nights it won't be easy to get one. But during the day, it should be okay, anywhere between 5 and 20 minutes. Just call them and see what they say - they will tell you right away if a Green Cab is available or not.
green(er) slopes for the ski season
ski area citizens' coalition grades resorts according to a variety of factors, including use of clean energy, use of biodiesel instead of diesel, impacts on roadless areas, and logging practices.
the site grades slopes all over the u.s. below is the scorecard for california. note that kirkwood is the only resort on the list to get an F. try a couple of these links if you're at all interested--the report card has a ton of explanatory text plus a breakdown of the different categories and criteria.
(A) Alpine Meadows Ski Area - 73.8%
(A) Squaw Valley USA - 70.7%
(B) Mountain High Resort - 69.8%
(B) Boreal Mountain Resort - 69.3%
(B) Mt. Shasta Board & Ski Park - 66.7%
(B) Bear Mountain Resort - 66.2%
(B) Mammoth Mountain Ski Area - 66.2%
(B) Sierra-at-Tahoe Ski Resort - 65.8%
(B) Homewood Mountain Resort - 65.3%
(C) Snow Valley Mountain Resort - 64.9%
(C) Snow Summit Mountain Resort - 64.6%
(C) Sierra Summit Mountain Resort - 63.1%
(C) Sugar Bowl Ski Resort - 60.5%
(C) Dodge Ridge - 50.7%
(C) Heavenly Mountain Resort - 50.2%
(D) Northstar-at-Tahoe - 49.0%
(D) Bear Valley Mountain Resort - 47.1%
(F) Kirkwood Mountain Resort - 37.8%
the site grades slopes all over the u.s. below is the scorecard for california. note that kirkwood is the only resort on the list to get an F. try a couple of these links if you're at all interested--the report card has a ton of explanatory text plus a breakdown of the different categories and criteria.
(A) Alpine Meadows Ski Area - 73.8%
(A) Squaw Valley USA - 70.7%
(B) Mountain High Resort - 69.8%
(B) Boreal Mountain Resort - 69.3%
(B) Mt. Shasta Board & Ski Park - 66.7%
(B) Bear Mountain Resort - 66.2%
(B) Mammoth Mountain Ski Area - 66.2%
(B) Sierra-at-Tahoe Ski Resort - 65.8%
(B) Homewood Mountain Resort - 65.3%
(C) Snow Valley Mountain Resort - 64.9%
(C) Snow Summit Mountain Resort - 64.6%
(C) Sierra Summit Mountain Resort - 63.1%
(C) Sugar Bowl Ski Resort - 60.5%
(C) Dodge Ridge - 50.7%
(C) Heavenly Mountain Resort - 50.2%
(D) Northstar-at-Tahoe - 49.0%
(D) Bear Valley Mountain Resort - 47.1%
(F) Kirkwood Mountain Resort - 37.8%
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
old holiday; new title?
i'm a one who celebrates my new year--complete with introspection and resolutions--in september on the playa. ergo, telling my burner friends 'happy new year!' in january totally bugs the crap out of me. seriously, one should only be allowed to wish people a happy new year ONCE PER YEAR. pick whenever you want, but you only get ONE temporal opportunity each YEAR. (it's possible i tend to be kind of a pill at chinese new year celebrations.)
but-- i really enjoy the traditions that are associated with the default world's calendar new year. i enjoy spending an evening with my closest friends, celebrating, expressing affection, and ruminating on personal development. so i want to keep celebrating, but i wish we could call it something else.
so far all i've got is Get Fucked Up With Your Friends and Tell Them You Love Them Day. but that doesn't really flow, and may be slightly offensive. i'll keep working on it.
in the meantime:
-Happy New Year! if you pick this week of the year to accept such wishes.
-i had a totally RAD Get Fucked Up With Your Friends and Tell Them You Love Them eve and day.
-i love my friends, and hope that they all also had totally rad times on december 31st and january 1st :)
but-- i really enjoy the traditions that are associated with the default world's calendar new year. i enjoy spending an evening with my closest friends, celebrating, expressing affection, and ruminating on personal development. so i want to keep celebrating, but i wish we could call it something else.
so far all i've got is Get Fucked Up With Your Friends and Tell Them You Love Them Day. but that doesn't really flow, and may be slightly offensive. i'll keep working on it.
in the meantime:
-Happy New Year! if you pick this week of the year to accept such wishes.
-i had a totally RAD Get Fucked Up With Your Friends and Tell Them You Love Them eve and day.
-i love my friends, and hope that they all also had totally rad times on december 31st and january 1st :)
parable of the sower
i recently finished reading 'parable of the sower' by octavia butler. i was impressed--it was a great dystopian portrait of california, and the story was engaging. got a little preachy and contrived at the end, but not enough to quite be irritating.
this was my first experience with octavia butler. anyone have suggestions for other works of hers? i know i need to read 'kindred'--any others that are outstanding?
this was my first experience with octavia butler. anyone have suggestions for other works of hers? i know i need to read 'kindred'--any others that are outstanding?
