Category: Personal

Not meaning to be facetious or facile with this post, just to put this in front of the few eyes that may not otherwise see it. Genocide Watch has declared a Politicide Watch as these seasoned outsiders see many, many deaths on the horizon. The Economist recaps the absurd farce of an election through which the aging despot Robert Mugabe held on to power, the “coup by ballot box” as the magazine termed it. AIDS is raging through this nation, even as Mugabe decimates its on most other strata. And on a personal level, I refer you to praetor_lex’s Clueless Comments post.

Two webloggers, Chris and Max, have unveiled Burn, Baby Burn!, “the first round of the Weblogger CD Swap!”. Their idea is to sign people up, each of whom is to pick out a set of summer-themed songs, burn those songs onto five CDs, and then send those CDs to other participants. In return, each will get a CD from five other participants with those people’s favorite summer songs. Amusing, entertaining, and precisely the kind of violation to which record companies point when they ask for legislation such as the DMCA and SSSCA. And from my perspective they are quite right to complain about this kind of swapping, since the participants are unlikely to use these CDs as samplers and then go out and buy the licensed works. No mention by either of the initiators of this little shenanigan of any intellectual property issues. And another reason not to participate: I’d likely end with five CDs worth of dreck like this compilation from Max’s site. [via garret, who should be wary of shaving his legs for any reason!]

Photos from our first visit to Cantor Center at Stanford. Only a few but more will be posted after our next trip.

The latest digital animation extravaganza, Ice Age, is entertaining, funny, and surprisingly lightweight. Two complete misfits and a bad guy with a melted heart attempt to return a baby human boy to his father as winter falls, all the other animals are headed south before the ice age freezes them solid, and a pack of tigers plot to kill the boy. The animation is top-grade, as good as anything Pixar has done yet, there’s a great deal of originality (such as the ongoing antics of the Scrat and his acorn), and the voices are good, especially Dennis Leary and John Leguizamo. Still, in the end, I was left wanting something more. The scene where we learn about Manfred Mammoth’s parents’ death at the hands of humans was a good step in this direction but not enough. Recommended especially if you are going with kids.

Here are the perpetrators of my personal morning hades:

Not even 8 a.m. yet and right outside my bedroom window, not 30 feet away, some assholes with a cherrypicker and powersaws start going at it to trim a huge old tree. Or take it down totally, who knows. But damn, what a crappy way to wake up, talk about hurting your head!

[Note: this is another creative writing exercise. And yes, this is a rewrite of this post]

by Kim Chang

special to the New York Times

GROVELAND, CA, Tuesday, May 15, 2014–Henry Harris went three months without running water at his home this winter. He and his neighbors in a newly constructed set of townhomes in Burlingame, who had only moved in the previous August, had to rely on bi-weekly water trucks and rented storage tanks after a vigilante blew up their development’s connection to the city water main. The vigilante, a man named Wendell Krantz, was arrested a week after the incident; Krantz claimed that development where Harris lives is illegal and the homes are stealing water away from the legitimate residents of the city.

Burlingame is a mainly residential town a few miles south of San Francisco, home to a generally upscale populace, a mixture of various nationalities and no particularly ethnic neighborhoods. For several decades the population was fairly stable and remainded between 25 and 28 thousand from 1960-2000. The count soared to over 37,000 by the 2010 Census, however, as developers in the latter part of the decade took advantage of court and legislative decisions to build lucrative housing units such as the Green Hills development where Henry Harris now lives. The decisions that led to this boom were not made by locals, for the most part, and many long-time residents were angry and frustrated by what they saw as outsiders ramming changes through in search of the Almighty Buck.

Wendell Krantz didn’t pop out of nowhere with his water system bombing, though. He was well know to Burlingame City council, police, city workers, and other residents as one of the most vocal opponents of the new housing developments. Burlingame might have some under-utilized land, he would admit, but with San Francisco’ stranglehold on Hetch-Hetchy water there wasn’t enough to justify the permits. Krantz protested on every level after the first few thousand housing units were constructed in 2008 and 2009, he went to zoning board meetings, city council meetings, he organized residents to sue (delaying some construction for 18 months), and vowed too never give up. Finally reduced to writing letters to the editors of area newspapers and running a website detailing all to which he objected, in the last couple of years he was no longer taken seriously. Some, resigned to the new residents and the water restrictions that followed, began to see Krantz as a crank, an odd crackpot who refused to give up on a quest that all saw as over.

Krantz never gave up though, and finally turned to the only means left in his eyes: violent disobedience. He didn’t try to hide his involvement so when the police showed up at his door he went peacefully and detectives found instructions for the bomb in his den and leftover makings in a closet. The last thing Krantz did when he realized the police were at his doorstep was publish a manifesto on his website.

“When a man tries to live a simple life in this modern age,” Krantz wrote, “he has easy access to so much that one can imagine anything is possible. But that is an illusion, fed by the people with gold, who push our desires aside in their lust for more gold. When no matter where one drives in this fine city I have called home all my life and there is no stretch of green longer than a block, and few enough of those, housing (for I will not call them homes) jammed one against the next until the offices and stores begin, and finally we are told there is not enough water to go around, I say enough. Enough! I will not sit by idly watching the pretty but vacuous pictures. I have shown them my answer. Who else will follow?” Wendell Krantz killed himself in prison two days after his arrest.

Water wars are part and parcel of Western history

Burlingame is not the first city to be disrupted violently by struggles over the basic commodity of water. Early in the last century, real estate developers were making outrageous profits in developing Los Angeles until they were stymied by a lack of water. They found an answer, one that lay hundreds of miles north in California, at Mono Lake, and they paid off anyone who’s approval was needed or drove off with violence and threats those that stood in their way and would not take the bribes. The classic Jack Nicholson film Chinatown provides a barely fictionalized view of the struggle. Later in the century, the water fight pit state against state and several of the states against Mexico as arguments raged over who was entitled to how much of the Colorado River’s flow.

Burlingame and many other cities in the Bay Area are dependent on the city of San Francisco and its Public Utilities Commission for their water supply. San Francisco manages a fragile system, patched in the last decade but still vulnerable as it carries water more than 160 miles west from the Sierra Nevada through a complex system of tunnels and pipelines, many of which lack critical back-up capabilities. Over 15 years ago, for almost five years, the other municipalities fought San Francisco for control of the waterworks but were never able to overcome that city’s political clout; Willie Brown, mayor at the time and former Speaker of the California Assembly, was able to outmaneuver his opponents on what he saw as a crucial resource.

Krantz was not the first water protester to turn violent. There were several others who acted before him. Most notorious were the Silicon Valley Tea Party, a group of techno-terrorists who played havoc with the SFPUC’s computer systems for months in 2009 in response to the commission’s edict of rationing supplies to the South Bay. Much more serious damage would have been done by the group if one Party member hadn’t been traced through his personal website, leading to arrests and betrayals that brought the organization down.

Small towns want water too

The Hatfields versus McCoys type of feud went out of style with the dawn of the 20th century or so we all thought. Local conflict is making a comeback, colorful if you don’t live there, as we wend our way through the early part of the 21st. Last week, right here in Groveland the Acorn Block Association was hit with a denial of service attack that took down their security net and opened them up to a physical assualt in which their network server vault was firebombed.

Sheriff Winters has no suspects at this time, officially, and her investigation is ongoing. But with our reporting ears to the ground, though, we hear this may be the work of neighboring Chinese Camp Block Association. Certain elements of the CCBA are up in arms over Acorn plans to divert a stream that currently meanders downhill from Groveland to Chinese Camp and this week’s events were a pointed “Do not go there.” No representative from either group was willing to speak on the attacks although one member of the CCBA did shout at us as we were leaving “Just tell them over in Nut Street that a certain bit of water better keep coming downhill if they know what’s good for them.” Nut Street is the not so affectionate term used by the CCBA for the Acorn’s location.

Details of the denial of service attack are rather sparse although the Acorn security net was offline for about 15 minutes and the network server vault was firebombed less than two minutes into that time. Acorn techs were able to get their backup servers online at the end of that time but expect that replacing and restoring the original vault will take several more days to complete. “In the meanwhile,” said Acorn president Tim Byron, “are people are spending most of their off-work hours monitoring everything to prevent another attack before we’re ready.” He declined to speculate on the source of the attack.

Sheriff Winters is quite concerned about the situation. “This is quite an escalation of conflict, at least for our sleepy little county. I know neighborhood groups in the Bay Area have been fighting for a couple of years now and there have even been a few unintended deaths there, but this is 100 plus miles away and we just don’t expect folks to do things this way. I just hope it isn’t the start of something worse.”

Steven really lets it loose in his essay It ain’t my fault. “Africa is fucked…Asia is fucked…Europe is probably fucked, too. [South America]’s still fucked.” He goes on to explain that everyone blames him (that is, Americans) for things they either did or did not do, either recently or some distant time in the past. But is America truly worthy of the blame, or are others using us as a scapegoat, a convenient target? “I find myself despairing, sometimes. It gets to be too much for me. Sometimes I feel like screaming at the top of my lungs, Why don’t all you people solve your OWN fucking problems for a change?” Right on, Captain.

[Note: this is a creative writing exercise, hopefully the first of many.]

(UPI, Groveland, CA, 15 May 2014) The Hatfields versus McCoys type of feud went out of style with the 20th century or so we all thought. Local conflict is making a comeback, though, as we wend our way through the early part of the 21st. Last week, right here in Groveland the Acorn Block Association was hit with a denial of service attack that took down their security net and opened them up to a physical assualt in which their network server vault was firebombed.

Sheriff Winters has no suspects at this time, officially, and her investigation is ongoing. But with our reporting ears to the ground, though, we hear this may be the work of neighboring Chinese Camp Block Association. Certain elements of the CCBA are up in arms over Acorn plans to divert a stream that currently meanders downhill from Groveland to Chinese Camp and this week’s events were a pointed “Do not go there.” No representative from either group was willing to speak on the attacks although one member of the CCBA did shout at us as we were leaving “Just tell them over in Nut Street that a certain bit of water better keep coming downhill if they know what’s good for them.” Nut Street is the not so affectionate term used by the CCBA for the Acorn’s location.

Details of the denial of service attack are rather sparse although the Acorn security net was offline for about 15 minutes and the network server vault was firebombed less than two minutes into that time. Acorn techs were able to get their backup servers online at the end of that time but expect that replacing and restoring the original vault will take several more days to complete. “In the meanwhile,” said Acorn president Tim Byron, “are people are spending most of their off-work hours monitoring everything to prevent another attack before we’re ready.” He declined to speculate on the source of the attack.

Sheriff Winters is quite concerned about the situation. “This is quite an escalation of conflict, at least for our sleepy little county. I know neighborhood groups in the Bay Area have been fighting for a couple of years now and there have even been a few unintended deaths there, but this is 100 plus miles away and we just don’t expect folks to do things this way. I just hope it isn’t the start of something worse.”

Roger Moore plays Bond for the fourth time (out of seven) in 1979’s amiable, enjoyable Moonraker. 007 faces off against megalomaniac (aren’t they all?) aerospace industrialist Hugo Drax in a French estate transplanted into desert California, Venice, Rio de Janiero, and finally outer space. Drax aims to eradicate the vast masses of humanity, save for an elite, beautiful set of mostly white people he takes aboard his secret space station, who with their perfect children will repopulate an Earth ruled by a Drax dynasty. Moore is a suave, sophisticated hero, with luscious women falling into his arms in bare moments, though none really challenges him, not even the moderately attractive Lois Chiles as CIA agent/astronaut Dr. Holly Goodhead. Michael Lonsdale essays a strong, unconsciously arrogant Drax and Richard Kiel once again taunts Bond as Jaws (and yes, this is the movie in which Jaws falls in love with the petite, breastful Dolly).

More reasons why this is a good Bond: Lewis Gilbert directs for the third time, John Glen edits for the third time (and then steps up to direct the next five Bonds), and Christopher Wood does his second turn writing. Corinne Clery is luscious and too soon dead as Drax’s helicopter pilot. Q’s wrist nerve gun. Jaws turns good for his woman. Bond in Outer Space! Recommended

A little dinner party with Vivian and another couple, so a trip was made to the local German butcher and a fresh produce market. The following was served with a simple green salad and spaghetti and followed by a delicious baked New York Cheesecake topped with fresh strawberries placed atop a mix of chocolate and strawberry syrup. You will need a large skillet, a medium to large stock pot, and a large baking dish for the recipe:

Ingredients

• 4 veal cutlets, pounded thin
  

• 4 think slices of prosciotto
  

• 9 cloves of garlic, 4 crushed, 5 left whole
  

• 2 tbsp of cilantro
  

• 2 tbsp of oregano
  

• 32 oz of tomatos, chopped, seeded and peeled (canned is fine)
  

• 8 oz of tomato paste
  

• 8 oz fresh grated Romano cheese
  

• 4 oz fresh grated parmaggiano cheese
  

• 1 egg
  

• 8 oz of seasoned breadcrumbs
  

• 12 oz of fresh mushrooms, sliced
  

• 2 large onions, 1 yellow, 1 white, sliced thin
  

• salt, pepper, and olive oil

Preparation

• Lightly whip the egg in a bowl, then for each piece of veal, thoroughly dip in egg wash and coat with breadcrumbs
  

• Brown veal in a hot skillet with extra virgin olive oil, about three minutes on each side, until golden brown; set veal aside
  

• In a large pot, add some canola or good vegetable oil over a medium low heat
  

• Add onions, stir to coat with oil, add a little salt and pepper, stir periodically until onions are completely soft and have begun to carmelize, about 25 minutes
  

• Add garlic and stir
  

• Add tomato and tomato paste, stir in thoroughly
  

• Add cilantro and oregano, fold in, simmer for five minutes
  

• Add mushrooms, fold in, more salt and pepper, simmer for five minutes
  

• Change flame under pot to about the lowest setting, simmer for 30 minutes to reduce and thicken
  

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
  

• Cover bottom of baking dish with tomato gravy
  

• Lay veal cutlets over gravy
  

• Sprinkle remainder of fresh herbs over veal
  

• Cover each piece of veal with a piece of prosciutto
  

• Thoroughly cover each piece with cheese (mix the Romano and Parmaggiano together)
  

• Cover the veal with remainder of tomato gravy
  

• Bake for 15 minutes and serve

Ev fixed the calculator, which only counts text pposted, by month, so here is a listing of the amount of text I’ve published since the inception of the weblogs (not incuding this post):

Month	Post Length
3/2001
21393
4/2001
31567
5/2001
57145
6/2001
26116
7/2001
57078
8/2001
84289
9/2001
77201
10/2001
77870
11/2001
84060
12/2001
88155
1/2002
115912
2/2002
94357
3/2002
40291

My friend Annie in Budapest painted this lovely picture just for me. Isn’t it terrific?

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, Mark Wahlberg dreamed of being a Rock Star. He did have one hit, of course, but his music career never matched his brother’s. Now the shoe’s on the other foot as his acting career (Planet of the Apes, Perfect Storm) heats up and Donnie W. is stuck in supporting roles. But to the movie: Wahlberg plays Chris Cole, a heavy metal singer wannabe in a tribute band where he obsesses over every guitar lick and scream. The real singer in the real band comes to a parting of the ways with the group (a kind of English Van Halen, I suppose) and they reach out to Chris as his replacement. Does it work out? If you have to guess, you haven’t watched enough movies lately.

I blame director Stephen Herek mostly; Herek’s career has been all over the map as his previous directorial efforts range from 101 Dalmations to Mr. Holland’s Opus to the Eddie Murphy bomb Holy Man to Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure. But like a bad heavy metal record, the audio here was mixed down low and the guitars and drums up high, making sure we couldn’t really hear the inane dialog. Probably just as well. Jennifer Aniston plays the love interest who throws Wahlberg over after he gets too close to the rock star lifestyle for her comfort. Dominic West is not too bad in his first major role as the star guitar player who hires Wahlberg. I did really appreciate Timothy Spall as the band’s road manager as he really place the voice of cold hard reality for Wahlberg. Not recommended

Sent Vivian some flowers this week and here she is looking sweet and happy with them:

And doesn’t she look cute laying on her blankie?

To all the naysayers and wannabes, get down on your knees, listen to me: this weblog made it to a year today. The content may be nearly useless and frivolous but other than the times I was travelling, there are entries for nearly every day of that year. And for the one big trip I took, instead of weblog entries there are the Italy Journal and Book Reviews instead. Thanks to my friends and family for encouragement and input, my fellow webloggers for inspiration and sometimes material, and Evan Williams for Blogger (even if there are occasional outages), it’s been a fun year. Hundreds of posts, a few links to this site from others, over 10,000 visitors since I began monitoring this statistic at the end of last July. I’m not too much given to introspection but to answer the common question of why blog? Huge egoboo (I’m introspective enough to understand that) and a creative outlet.

The very first post was about two near and dear topics, the Sopranos and Rock and Roll and there were 11 posts in all that day. Given my limited understanding of link rot at the time, I’m quite pleased to note that only two of the links from that day are no longer directly reachable, one because I didn’t understand that Yahoo! News items aren’t saved for long and the other because the company folded. Since then there have been many posts about the books I read, films and TV watched, music listened to, travel undertaken, humor, politics and world affairs (unavoidable post-9/11), sports, science, and technology. Expect more of the same only better as you read I write on.

Typical of a lot of mediocre Hollywood movies: a couple of big name but done little lately stars, some guns and explosions, and a little bit of hottie. And a catch: the two male leads are unacknowledged illegitimate sons of Elvis Presley. 3000 Miles To Graceland never gets within 2500 miles of Graceland and never gets that close to quality. What it reminded me of was Ocean’s 11 (without the Rat pack hype): a bunch of actors some of whom are probably good friends, a Vegas casino robbery, and the bad things that happens when criminals seem to succeed. Kurt Russell has done Elvis before and Kevin Costner has done the bad guy thing before. Kevin Pollack goes nowhere as the Fed looking for them, Courtney Cox is the luscious sidedish, and Paul Anka plays a throwaway cameo as the Casino owner who sponsors an Elvis impersonator convention even though he hates Elvis.

Director Demian Lichtenstein made his feature debut with this after coming up through music videos and let’s just say his background shows, particularly in a couple of driving sequences early on that attempt to establish a certain mood as the guys make their way into Vegas and the Strip. I mean, puh-leeeze!, by 2000 when this was filmed, was there anyone in the entire world who needs to see another 60 seconds of moving down the Strip to show us all the hotels and neon lights? Lichtenstein and Richard Recco are co-credited for the script, with this being the latter’s first movie credit–his IMDB bio says only “Electrician; member of Local 3, Brooklyn, New York, USA.” The script throws clues and doesn’t follow up but it does give us an adorable kid. Another film that celebrates violent criminals, who needs it? Not Recommended!

Amusingly, Russell’s next film appears to be Training Day with him in the Denzel Washington role. And has Costner done a good movie since 1994?

Actually hurt it midday yesterday but the damn thing is still bothering me so no long stretches of sitting at the PC to surf and blog. This is a twice a year or so thing, no biggie, and already somewhat better than yesterday. Exercise, stretch, I know!

Say That Again? looks at the three competing points of view in the Arab world. If they, as a group, don’t choose the Egyptian/Saudi view and approach, there will be no peace for a long time to come!

This page will surely be daypopped and blogdexed and probably even /.’ed but so what. Big Blue Smoke – Truth is greater than fiction, but not as funny. This is a Sun Microsystems web site that pokes fun at IBM. Not only fake news stories but movie listings and a version of Tetris which is impossible to win. Nice to see a company using humor against a competitor and not fearing huge litigation.