Wow... Mark Morford of the SF Bay Guardian pulls no punches. This is a pretty bleak article and if I didn't have a beautiful happy son, I'd swallow this whole. It's still an interesting article, though opinionated. Read it HERE
Burners are good people for the most part. The burners who've been volunteering on the Gulf Coast and in Pearlington have taken the Ethos of Burning Man and brought it out into the world. It's a beautiful thing. They are entirely funded by donations and by their own cash. Many people have opened their wallets to help support what they're doing. You can do this by sending money via Paypal, via check/money order, or you can buy some schwag HERE. Also, there are other things they need that you can donate if you have them.
I've been so inspired by these folks that I'm going to be heading down to Pearlington in the next week or so (hopefully) to add my $.02 of help. I will attempt to blog my experiences there when I get home so stay tuned. If you're interested in getting your hands dirty with some pretty awesome people and making a real difference, check out Burners Without Borders. If you can't get away, toss them some cash, they need it.
THIS map shows where they are right now.
I've always been a fan of Kurt Vonnegut Jr,; just like fine wine, the man just gets better with age. My grandpa Skip forwarded this article on to me.. though I'm a member of CommonDreams.org, I'd missed it. It's excerpted from A Man Without A Country: A Memoir Of Life In George W Bush’s America. BTW, in case anyone ever looks at the link, please notice I DIDN'T use amazon's link of the book. "WHY" you ask?
If ever there was a time to impeach the entire Bush administration, it's now. That and an instant repeal of the Patriot Act. What a crock of SHIT!
I found this link though another blogger member, killtown.
Check him out at killtown.blogspot.com .
Click on the article title or HERE
My son cracks me up. Yesterday at the park he was running up the play structure and DIVING down the tube slide headfirst at full speed. His dismounts got progressively weirder: on his last couple of trys he would pull himself out until his head was on the ground and then throw his arms out to the side. It looked like a circus act, and it was hilarious. His other new trick is running down the grassy hill and throwing himself down with the intent of making it look like he tripped. I've dubbed him "stunt clown" at this point, borrowing the name from the clothing manufacturer.
Oh yeah.. one more reason I didn't like Alito. If the link stops working for a direct link, look up the Jan 20, 2006 Issue for the details.
Back in November 2005, Bushgreenwatch.org published this report. In a nutshell, the EPA wanted to cut it's reporting of toxic emissions by manufacturing facilities to once every 2 years. Hmm... seems like yet another giveaway to corporate special interests. I don't know about you, but this REALLY puts my hackles up.
In the January issue of bushgreenwatch.com they talk about how the opposition to this proposal was surging.. YEAH! Read the article HERE. The comment period is over at this point, and I'm hoping the EPA took the hint. Keep an eye on this folks: increased toxicity could be coming to an area near you, and your warning may come 2 years... too late!
Every man on horseback is an arrogant man, however gentle he may be on foot. The man in the automobile is one thousand times as dangerous. I tell you, it will engender absolute selfishness in mankind if the driving of automobiles becomes common. It will breed violence on a scale never seen before. It will mark the end of the family as we know it, the three or four generations living happily in one home. It will destroy the sense of neighborhood and the true sense of Nation. It will create giantized cankers of cities, false opulence of suburbs, ruinized countryside, and unhealthy conglomerations of specialized farming and manufacturing. It will make every man a tyrant. —R.A. Lafferty
Todd Says:
August 1st, 2005 at 8:30 am
Thanks Paul. I just found this:
Science fiction author R. A. Lafferty wrote a seminal short story back in the late 1960s called “Interurban Queen.” It describes an alternative world in which certain wealthy American investors chose to put their resources into light rail instead of the automobile back at the turn of the previous century. It’s enough to make you cry for what could have been. If you can’t find it under the author’s name, try looking for it in an anthology called Orbit 8, edited by Damon Knight.
—http://blogs.salon.com/0001811/
I’ll edit the post to correct the attribution date.
The assault on the environment by the Bush Administration continues unabated on all fronts. The National Park Conservation Association (NPCA) has been opposing the rewrite of the nation park management policies that Paul Hoffman (deputy assistant secretary of the Interior) spearheaded. The rewrite has the potential to open a panoply of new abuses of the already beleaguered national parks. Oy vey.
Hoffman was appointed by Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton, who was in turn nominated by the Bush administration. Hoffman also used to work for Dick Cheney.. you see where this is leading don't you? The funny part is that the DOI website claims that Hoffman is a "conservationist". I know how some of these good ol' boys out of Montana and Wyoming operate. Their idea of "conservation" is making sure there's enough fuel in their snowmobile to make it to the "pit stop" aka place to drink booze and pee. Now mind you, I'm not against drinking, peeing or even hunting (as long as it's not apex predator hunting or trophy hunting). But drinking and riding any kind of motorized vehicle is just plain stupid. Just because trees don't make erratic lane changes doesn't make it safe to operate a snowmobile with 40oz of Schlitz pumping through your veins. But I digress.
If the rewrite is successful, folks like the NPCA and the NRDC (National Resouce Defense Council) are going to have an even harder time protecting our National Parks and wild lands from abuse. Should the rights of the few outweigh the rights of the many? Is this case, my answer is yes. The argument that "hey, you're a rock climber and you use national parks: what if they wanted to restrict you from climbing?" doesn't fly. Although there have been closures for climbers in some national parks, it has mostly been due to either protecting nesting raptors or because of a government giveaway to corporate special interests! Climbers in general tend to be thoughtful, methodical people as the act of climbing is a deliberate and methodical process. We also realize the beauty of the places we visit: what else would we want to get up so high to see? So if there's a good reason for me not to be climbing in an area, I would gladly yell at any idiots who ignored the closure. Hell, I'd even be tempted to cut their ropes if it meant protecting raptors, though I probably wouldn't. I'm digressing again, but suffice to say that I take the Burning Man ethos of "Leave No Trace" very very seriously, ESPECIALLY when I'm in an environmentally pristine or sensitive place.
Somehow I ended up defending myself here... Cheese & Rice, this was supposed to be a COUNTER-ATTACK on the National Park Management Policy rewrite! Ok, Back on target folks...
If you have a minute, visit the NPCA SITE, check out the text of the rewrite and decide for yourself.
I don't think Alito is going to be good for us. I tend to agree with MoveOn.org that:
Alito would support President Bush's drive for unchecked executive power, which poses a grave threat to our basic rights.
Alito has fought for full immunity for administration officials who illegally spy on Americans, and Bush stands accused of just that crime.
Alito believes in a theory of the super-powerful "unitary executive" that would justify Bush's attempts to indefinitely detain American citizens without trial or charges.
Alito even opposed Morrison v. Olson which gave Congress the power to appoint a special counsel, that the president cannot just fire at will, to investigate presidential scandals.
These changes would not only threaten our rights in the short term under Bush, they would put our freedoms in jeopordy for decades to come.
Subject: No Alito!
Inre: Jesse H. Holland's "Alito Confirmation Seems All but Assured". The confirmation of Samuel Alito would be the killing stroke for personal freedoms in America. Judge Alito's stand on Morrison vs. Olson is the best example of this: the man isn't looking out for the interests of American citizens. At the risk of sounding melodramatic, future "letters to the editor" like this one could get you locked in a cell deep in the "Ministry of Love", never to be seen again. To the Dems: please attempt the filibuster, it may be our only hope.
9/11/2001 is a day that will live in infamy. Evidently there were some people who died that day and didn't realize it until just recently.
CHECK IT OUT
If you were exposed to the air in NYC that day, I seriously suggest you keep and eye on your lungs and respiratory health.
My dear friend Liz posted a blog entry about the recent supreme court decision to block the Bu(ll)sh(it) Administration's attempt to punish doctors who help terminally ill patients in Oregon die. There's not much here except the article, but I was happy to read it anyway. BTW, Liz is a law student at UCLA Law. Pretty soon I'll be able to say that I have a lawyer for a friend... whoa, scary.
ARTICLE or click on the title
Whoever's idea this was... well, I'm sure they're rethinking it now. Maybe not. Maybe trying to silence this guy was the important part... what's ON those video tapes anyways? Will we ever see it? Not likely...
Click on the title or HERE to read the article... don't worry, it's short but not sweet...
I got this from my friend Chris's site, also known as WeBeGeeky
There's a permanent link in the friends section as well.
Well, I have always called it Whole Paycheck because of the elevated cost of shoppin there, but I do shop there a lot, and I do like the fact that they carry a lot of healthy organic food. This ARTICLE makes me happy, and I hope other big corps will follow suit... not all that likely, but hopefully, this will help increase the pressure. Thanks to WeBeGeeky once again for finding this morsel.
Well, I made no attempt on NYE to make any kind of resolutions. Since I got the Xtracycle working (yes, I know, this is like the 4th blog entry about my xtracycle, but it's one of the most awesome things I've ever found!), I've figured out my resolutions for 2006.
I will reduce my trips by car 50% this year (over last year) by riding my bike and in doing this, I will lose all the weight I gained back in 2005. All of you who know me are obliged at reading this to check up on me once in a while and see how I'm doing with my resolutions. I'm more than happy to return the favor, and if you're game, come take a ride as a passenger on my bike.. I might even pull you up my steep ass hill!
BTW, the photo comes from the Xtracycle website... just so no one thinks I'm pirating... I tried to just link to it, but something's wrong with the html, and I'm too lazy to fix it, so I just uploaded a copy of it instead...
Here's the deal. I bought a FreeRadical and accessories from the folks at Xtracycle about a month ago. I received the boxes of parts several weeks ago, but have been lagging in my assembly of it. I ended up getting a rigid frame bike so I could have a dedicated bike to run it on (my only other ride is a full suspension cross country bike which isn't compatible with the FreeRadical). I bought a Marin Novato (appropriate isn't it?) The main holdup was that it has been 8 or more years since I strung new cable on one of my bikes. 8+ years of gap makes for big gaps in the brain as well. Needless to say, I needed some help. I tried to enlist the aid of my younger brother Kevin , but getting time out of him is... difficult. He's a busy busy boy. So, I gave in to defeat and went to the shop where my brother used to work, Mike's Bikes in San Rafael. They hooked me up, and for 35 bucks, it was worth it to just have it done with. Josh the service manager routed my cable housings and did the initial hook up and adjustment of the front and rear derailleur's and brakes. I was just glad to have it done.
Kevin did end up coming by the following day and helping me... the rear brake lever was very slow returning to it's normal position after braking and it turns out Josh put a little too much grease on the cable. Oh well.. problem fixed.
My main point in writing this was to point out how much FUN the xtracycle has made riding for me again. I want to ride all the time... I really DO want to sell my car (although biking your toddler around in the rain is NOT too healthy when they're nursing a cold!), though I won't be. I think I'll be using it a lot less. The folks at Xtracycle really have come up with a better solution for bicycle living. This contraption really can replace a car. Speaking of which.. it's time to go pick up my son on the bike.
A final thought: check out Alastair Humphreys Round the World By Bike trip... truly inspiring and humbling. I've been reading through his travel logs, and though my duties as the father of a young child take ultimate precedent, I think when Kai gets a little older, he and I will need to do some travel by bike to different parts of the world. If his current preference for riding on the back of the bike is any indication of his future enthusiasm for the sport, he'll be raring to go.
Ok, if you've ever wondered about drugs... this is your place. They offer unbiased medical info on a huge variety of legal and illegal drugs. Knowledge is power, so POWER UP!
Erowid OR click on post title.
Wow. I just found out that one of my favorite artists died. I never met him, but I spent a lot of time appreciating his art. This man was a genius, and the world is a much darker place without him. Frostbyte, I'm sorry I never met you in person. Peace be with you, wherever you are. You are an inspiration to many, and you will never be forgotten.
I found out about this from Tall Tom, Fearless organizer of the Temple of Dreams Guardian Angels. The link to the original article in the Boston Globe can be accessed HERE or by clicking on the title of this post.
I've been feeling sick, and I was just completely fragged to the point of shutdown when we got home this evening, so I took a nap. I woke up after having had this very vivid dream.
I was at Burning Man (but it wasn't really Burning Man). Up on this nearby hill was a ring of trees. The hillside itself was mostly treeless, but there was a ring of trees at the crown of the hill, and a few sparse trees at the peak. As I walked through the trees to the top of the hill, I realized there was a band playing Rush, and I somehow deduced that it was a cover band that I'd heard of. In the dream, I knew their name and it was the title of one of RUSH's albums or songs, but now I can't remember what it was. Their name was one word... arrrgh, I still can't remember what it was. Anyways, they were pretty good, though they were a 6 or 7 piece band (HA!). There were playing playing mostly late 70's, early 80's Rush tunes... pretty tight, with a few creative liberties thrown in here and there. They even kind of looked like Geddy Neil and Alex during the late 70's. They were set up on the top of the hill on a low wooden riser with several tree trunks coming up through it. All around were long low wooden benches. There were quite a few people sitting around watching them, though no one was really all that enthusiastic except for me. I listened for a while, but was feeling strangely self conscious and restless. So I wandered away a bit. I found this long line of people, dressed in very late 60's, early 70's attire waiting to slither and scramble down what basically amounted to a dry waterfall. They were trying to descend in some sort of unison with the beat that the band was playing. I was baffled by why they were doing this, though I wanted to try climbing UP, as it looked like an interesting problem.
Now mind you, this whole time, throughout the music and the observation of the waterfall descenders, I was constantly thinking of my friend Merritt, and wishing he could be there to experience this with me. I knew that he would really appreciate it. Realization dawned on me that I had come to Burning Man alone (although this whole experience bears absolutely NO resemblance to any experience I've ever had at Burning Man, nor did the geography bear any resemblance to that of the black rock desert). I somehow knew that Merritt was also attending Burning Man, but I didn't know where he was camped, and I knew that he didn't know that this Rush cover band was playing on a nearby hillside. It was all very distressing for some reason.
Then I woke up.
I lay in bed for a while thinking about my dream, somewhat puzzled by my reactions to being alone at a musical performance, and also at Burning Man. I came to wonder if my appreciation of live music was dependant on the presence of friendly company. Am I so much of herd animal that I need validation of things I enjoy from friendly faces?
This may seem tangential, but bear with me. I recently attended a Nuclear Rabbit show at the Phoenix Theater in Petaluma. It had been YEARS since I'd seen a show at the Phoenix. The sound at the Phoenix is usually.. mediocre. The people mixing the sound are usually rather amateurish and untrained it seems, but this isn't surprising given the venue. Every show I've ever seen there has been an all ages show, which usually means you see a lot of young kids. They range from about 10 on upwards, but mostly concentrated around 14-16 yrs old. In truth, I felt like an old man, especially during the first two acts who's artists were both considerably younger than me. The guys from Nuclear Rabbit are all around my age, though the demographic of my age group was sorely underrepresented. Never mind... the point is, I felt a bit out of place, although I did end up taking to a guy named Rick (I think that was his name) for a while outside the venue. He was about 46 and had taken his nephew who was 16 or 17 to the show. He'd never heard of Nuclear Rabbit, but being a musician and a pretty open minded guy, he was there. We chatted about music and work and ended up standing together for part of the show, commenting on sound, guitar technique, interesting people in the audience and what-not. It was nice. I doubt I'll ever see or talk to him again, but I'd walk up and say "hi" if I recognized him somewhere. In case you were wondering, Rabbit was pretty good, though Gene and Greg were pretty "chatty". The Broccoli Tacos were suprisingly good, their guitarist being their most impressive asset and appearing to be able to directly channel Randy Rhodes into his guitar.
My point in all of this is: I believe we are creatures of the herd. We need to share our joy in order for it to fully blossom. Also: For all of our philisophical posturing on the importance of the individual, our baser emotions and hormones often create a longing to belong. To fit in. To be accepted by a tribe. These urges and subconscious (and sometimes unconscious) desires are sometimes brought to light in dreams. Sometimes our dreams... don't mean a damn thing, the equivalent of mental vomit. A spew of random images and thoughts that may appear to have meaning, but don't hold up under scrutiny. Does my dream have meaning, or is it regurgitated mental stew? I'm still not sure. At least now I can go back to bed and stop thinking about this crap.
Dear lord flying spaghetti monster no! Finally, someone has come with an appropriate response to the push for Intelligent Design to be taught in science class.
Ha ha Intelligent Design, TAKE THAT!
A Matter of Scale by Keith Farnishwww.flickr.com
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