Cultural de-evolution, illustrated

I have to plead ignorance on this one.

Up until about 30 minutes ago, I was entirely unaware that one of the most widely-seen photos of Paris Hilton, crying in the back of a police car, was taken by the same photographer who captured the iconic and influential image of 9-year-old Kim Phuc running, naked, from her napalmed village in Vietnam. The later photo was shot 35 years to the day after the earlier, by AP photographer Nick Ut.

Here's an insightful article by Philip Kennicott of the Washington Post, exploring the few commonalities and the vast gulf between the two images, in terms of time, culture... and the definition of pain.

Cool lodgings

If you're looking for a place to stay in Connecticut, and you love unique surroundings -- and you have a lot of discretionary income -- take a look at the Winvian Inn in Litchfield Hills.

The inn's web site is warm, beautiful and whimsical -- matching the look of inn itself -- and rightfully says "A place like this is difficult to describe."

The Winvian is made up of 18 cottages -- and I use that term loosely. They range from Stone, built of massive boulders, to Helicopter (literally), to Treehouse, which is, yes, a treehouse. A two-story one. I didn't see any "No girls allowed" signs, but there were license plates covering the fireplace. Fireplaces and snowshoes seem to be standard equipment.

If you think you're going to be roughing it, think again. The place is saturated with amenities and appointments.

The next time I have a couple thou to spend on a night's stay in the New York vicinity, I'll be staying there.

http://www.winvian.com/

Lemons and apples and pears, oh my...

Anyone who knows me knows I'm a curmudgeon bachelor. Although I have been known to enjoy watching cooking shows now and then, I don't cook. No, I mean really. Oh, I microwave frozen dinners, or do the occasional bacon and eggs breakfast or bare-bones salad, or make a nice sandwich (I am a man, after all). But no serious time over the stove, no ingredients, no seasonings, no heat-on-low-until-blah-blah-blah.

For years, I ate as much as a quarter to a third of my meals out... or, more accurately, as take-out. Fast food, Chinese take-out, whatever was on the way home, or whatever my mouth was drooling for at that moment. So I ingested my own personal Recommended Daily Allowance of fat, sodium, and other delicious things.

Occasionally, I'd buy more groceries than usual, especially when the freelance work was thin. It's tough buying for one, but cheaper and healthier than three of Jack's burgers a week.

But now I'm a little older [*koff*], and work has been so good over the last few months that I've spent just about every waking hour in front of my Mac, doing graphic design. And I moved from Beachwood Canyon to downtown, so the scenery isn't as conducive to walking. Even though I love the Disney Concert Hall, there are no trees to speak of, no deer, and no coyotes. Well, four-legged ones, at least.

The combination of 16/7 working hours and polluted urban trails has added about 15 pounds of pure joy to the world... largely in the vicinity of my belt.

All of this is to say... My blood pressure is up. It's not horrible, and my doctor says he thinks I can manage it with diet and exercise. I think he's right. After all, I'm clearly a brilliant diagnostician. Like... House. Without the cane. Or the pills. And less attitude. But still as funny.

The exercise I can handle; even though downtown's not Runyon Canyon, it'll do. Plus, I have this secret stash of Pilates DVDs. (If you tell anyone, I'll hunt you down and force you to do my taxes.)

As for the diet component... The trick for someone like me is to find a way to eat low-carb while not having to cook. And without driving one's self insane with palate boredom.

Now when I say "cook" I don't mean whipping out a frying pan. My broadened definition includes actually handling raw foods, and mixing them or chopping them or preparing them in any way beyond cutting a slit in the protective plastic wrap over the vegetable and nuking on HIGH for 7 minutes, letting stand in microwave for 1 to 2 minutes before serving.

But, today I went to the grocery store in hopes of changing my buying and eating habits. Today, I was going to do something bold and noble. Today... I was going to spend more than 2 minutes in the Produce section.

At the front door, I grabbed a cart, then headed straight for the green stuff.

As I stepped across a wooden parquet threshold, a chill ran down my spine... partly because of the refrigerated case on my right, but also because I realized I had no idea what to buy.

It was like entering some exotic rain forest, with a great variety of plant species, hunters stalking their prey, and even rain showers. (At this store, when the little water nozzles mist the veggies, the display case plays a recording of a couple of claps of thunder. Maybe to warn off anyone who doesn't want their hair to frizz.)

I was surrounded by small alien creatures, all huddled together, mocking me with their healthy nutrients, ready to leap off the shelf as I passed, just to make it look like I knocked them off.

One vegetable caught my eye. At least... I assumed it was a vegetable.

"What's that?" I thought. "It's sort of yellowish and round. And that? Kind of purple and bulbous. Hmmm... Maybe I could look at the price card to see what it is... Hopefully all those women will just think I'm comparing prices."

I wandered slowly around the islands of apples from Washington and bananas from South America, and onions from-- well, from out of some farmer's dirt. As I passed the cases of iceberg lettuce and broccoli, and through the pre-packaged greens, I tried to visualize myself buying them... then taking them home... then actually... MAKING something with them.

It was a close analogue to the Came-to-School-Not-Knowing-There's-a-Final-Exam-Today dream.

I was totally unprepared for this moment.

(Note that this is not quite as bad as the Walking-Down-the-Hall-Naked dream, but it's close.)

After long minutes of staring, glassy-eyed at the colorful, bewildering display before me, I grabbed four Rome apples, two nice, plump tomatoes, one large white onion, and two bags of precut, triple-washed American Mix lettuce-- and headed for the lunch meats.

Now, I did get several pouches of tuna (chunk light in water, of course -- I know at least that much), but I succumbed to a pint of ice cream, which I'll eat one spoonful at a time.

What's obvious now is that before my next trip to the store, I not only need to make a shopping list, I also need to complete an online cooking course.

Maybe just Salads 101.

I shall endeavor to report again once I have conquered the Forest of Fruits and Veggies.

Drunk driver, or just shooting?

The number of film productions shooting in and around downtown LA, where I live, has been thin of late. And now with the season and the writers strike, things will slow pretty much to a graveyard-like atmosphere.

But there are still one or two pictures doing their thing. There's a production that's taken over a parking lot for use as a basecamp, complete with expensive Fleetwood motor homes. Nice budget.

But there are some productions on the other end of the spectrum, too.

For example... I just walked in the door after another great walk in downtown LA. I started at 5pm, so most of the walk was lit by streetlights. Up 1st Street from my loft, through Little Tokyo with its young, fashionable Japanese tourists and noodles & sushi shops, past The Beehive (LA City Hall), up Bunker Hill, turning left onto Grand and past the iconic Disney Concert Hall by Frank Gehry.

It was a beautiful fall-ish evening. Perfect for a walk... Cool, a wind in the trees, people going to the symphony...

And a guy in a black SUV, backing up at a fair rate of speed, with his lights off. But Grand is divided, and he was coming up the left side of the street, as if he'd just gone the wrong way and was trying to find his vehicle's Undo command.

He stopped backing, and I noticed that he was talking on his cell phone.

Then he started backing up some more. Then, suddenly, he threw it into forward, turned on his headlights and tore off down the street on the wrong side.

"Good gawd, he's gonna to kill somebody," says I.

I got out my cell phone and started to dial 9-1-1... But then he stopped, facing the wrong way, in an open spot at the curb. And as I got closer to his position, I noticed a dozen or so people there on the sidewalk. Then, closer, over a slight rise, there were two cops with red-tipped flashlights stopping traffic.

Naturally, someone was shooting something.

The driver had backed up fast, nearly a block, with no one to direct him from behind, no PA's with walkies, no one from the production at all. And the camera position was totally invisible from that distance, on the unlit part of the block.

All you could see was a guy on a cell phone driving like he'd just emptied a pony keg single-cuppedly.

So I walked up to the little crew -- me being the shy type when it comes to idiots endangering public safety. All they had was a still camera, and a small video camera.

I mentioned that the situation didn't look very safe, and that I thought the guy was drunk and had almost called 9-1-1.

The small clot of twentysomethings looked at me as though I was wearing some sort of live reptilian swamp creature for a hat.

"But we have police here."

I said, "But there's no one down the block. You need a PA or a cop or someone down there. It's not very safe, and someone's going to call the police."

There was a pause.

"But we have police here."

These twentysomethings were smartly dressed...

But not smartly-brained.

So, when you're in LA and you see someone who appears to be driving hammered, or who appears to be hip or intelligent... don't jump to conclusions.

And watch out for backup lights.

The Tommy Boy Gambit

Today, a man walked into the Rochester, New Hampshire campaign office of Hillary Rodham Clinton, opened his jacket, and showed campaign workers what he said was a bomb.

CNN received a phone call from a distraught worker inside the office, and put him on the phone. The man, Leeland Eisenberg, told CNN he has mental problems, and could not get the help he needed. He demanded to speak with senator Clinton.

Eisenberg is well known to local police; he was said to be due in court this afternoon in a domestic violence case involving his wife, and he was known to have mental issues.

For 5 and a half hours, Eisenberg held police at bay, gradually releasing hostages. Finally, he surrendered to the SWAT team waiting for him outside, and I watched that arrest live. Or... semi-live, since CNN added a several-second delay, just in case something went horribly wrong.

Now, here's the thing...

Last night, the movie Tommy Boy was on cable. I'd never seen it, and heard it was funny, so I watched.

In the climax of the movie, Tommy (Chris Farley) straps on a "bomb" and walks into the corporate offices of the company his father founded, in an attempt to get control back from con artists. He demands to speak with the board of directors.

TV cameras are there, live, as he tells his story. When someone mentions the bomb, he says, "What, this? Nah, it's not a bomb. These are just road flares."

Tommy provides proof that the usurpers are cons, regains control of the company, preserves a factory town's jobs and economy, and gets the girl (Julie Warner. Yeah, I know. But it's a fantasy pic).

So, a clock, some tape and a few road flares turn Tommy Boy into a hero.

During the standoff today, Eisenberg's stepson reportedly told someone at a cafe in the area that last night, his father had asked him where he might get some road flares.

Now, I'm not necessarily saying that the movie is responsible for Leeland Eisenberg's actions. After all, the man clearly needs help.

I'm just really curious whether Leeland has cable...

ExpressionEngine - Mmmmm... Power...

[Before we start... No, there's nothing wrong with BlogSpot. Yes, it's been 5 months since I posted.]

So, a new scheme to take over the world came to mind. Now what I needed was a way to build a dynamically-served web site that allowed visitors to build a sort of directory, and to let others rate those listings.

Now, for a code monkey, this would be easy. But for a designer who does a little script-tinkering now and then, it was a bit daunting. Sure I could hire someone else to program the site, but I'm a stingy old curmudgeon. And besides, I've done a few simple Perl scripts and edited a PHP script or two.

So I asked in the FutureQuest community forums if anyone could recommend a good publishing package-- open source or otherwise. One user said she works with ExpressionEngine and loves it... So I downloaded and installed it.

I'm not as quick to pick up a new system as I once was, so it took me a bit of time to wrap my brain around the template-and-tag framework, but it started sinking in.

...And I realized that I might just have to consider making some of the sites I build for clients dynamic instead of static.

EE's what they promise: really flexible. With a couple of third-party modules and a little hacking, I've been building the site with -- so far, at least -- all of the features I'd planned.

I even managed to tackle my first Ajax to add some functionality. Although it isn't fancy, it's always a nice ego boost to teach yourself new tricks, especially when you're an old dog.

I consider this first build to be something between a proof-of-concept and a Version 1 release. If interest in the site takes off as I hope, I'm certain I'll get millions in first-round funding, hire Google-grade programmers, roll out version 1, attract millions of users, and after only 1 year, sell the site for Maserati-and-Malibu-Home money.

For now, though... it's not even in alpha shape.

But I hope to have an invite-only Beta version up within the next 30 days.

When it starts coagulating, I'll post here.

The Obama MySpace Drama

...or should I say "melodrama"?

In 2004, a guy named Joe Anthony created an unofficial fan page for Barack Obama, after hearing his keynote address at the Democratic National Convention. "I was just blown away," he's reported to have said.

Thus began Joe's role as a volunteer. For over two years, he posted biographical info, answered emails, and helped to build a MySpace "friends" network of more than 30,000. When Obama entered the race, this gave Obama the largest MySpace presence -- unofficial as it was. The network grew, and as of April 30, it had reached 160,000. Over time, Anthony and the Obama campaign had built an amiable relationship.

But because of the increased growth, Anthony started having a difficult time putting in the long hours necessary to keep the profile up.

At the same time, Obama campaign officials began to become concerned about maintaining the accuracy of the profile, and about centralized control in general... which is vital to a presidential campaign.

So, Anthony asked the campaign to bring him on board as a consultant, and to pay him for his work. The campaign, in turn, offered to reimburse him for his efforts to date, and asked him to come up with a figure. this payment would apparently be a one-time fee, after which the campaign would control the profile.

TechPresident.com reports that Anthony told them:

I considered the time I had put into it from January 1st of this year, not counting the previous two years. It was about $39,000. Plus I asked that if any fees were to be paid to MySpace by the campaign up to that point in time, those should be shared with me, up to $10,000.

The campaign turned down that number, and eventually decided to ask MySpace to hand over control of the profile to them, which they did.

Anthony says the campaign scheduled conference calls with him to discuss the matter, but "each after another would be postponed at the last minute. This went on for weeks."

"It got to the point where I didn't feel comfortable turning the profile over to the campaign unless they paid for it. This was largely symbolic."

Motivations

Symbolic of what, Joe? Symbolic of the fact that you've lost sight of the goal? Symbolic of the fact that you apparently have forgotten the definition of the term "volunteer"? Or just symbolic of your righteous indignation?

Don't get me wrong here... If all you say in your email to Micah at TechPresident is true, the campaign botched their handling of this matter, and their relationship with you. Seems like they screwed that up completely.

In the end, though, I have to ask "What were you thinking?"

First, when your hours as a volunteer became unmanageable, why didn't you simply ask the campaign to take over the profile, at no cost to them? That way, all those long hours would be over, and the man you believe should be the next president of the United States would be given a leg up.

Sure, I might have asked the campaign to bring me on as a consultant. But when the campaign asked you to name a figure for a buy-out... why did you?

Why didn't you let the campaign name their own figure? It would have allowed you to make some money, the campaign would have been able to afford it, and you could have maintained your reputation as a volunteer, or at least as a generous, accommodating supporter. It seems to me that -- as a volunteer and a believer in the cause -- this would have been the wise and right thing to do... if, you felt somehow compelled to charge for your previously-volunteer work.

But, you came up with a number. You say you worked 5 to 10 hours a day. Let's average that to 8. There are about 120 days in the first quarter of the year, so that makes 960 hours if you worked 7 days a week. For a total of $39,000, that's about $40.63 an hour. Okay, not bad. I have no idea what a campaign consultant normally makes, but that wouldn't seem to me to be an unreasonably high hourly rate.

Then there's the $10,000 in fees linked to those paid to MySpace. I'm just not getting how that's supposed to work, since you say that's based on fees that were paid to MySpace, not you... but yet, you wanted to share them. You wanted parity with MySpace? Why? Seems like an arbitrary fee to me. Why not just ask to be reimbursed for your own time?

In any event, when the campaign turned down your number, why didn't you make another, lower offer? Or maybe you did, and I'm missing it in all the reports and blogs and emails.

The thing is that at some point in this process, you crossed a line from being an inspired volunteer to being a person who expects to get paid for his work... and then complained when the campaign didn't agree to go along with this new status you felt somehow unilaterally entitled to.

So... when did that happen? When did you stop being a volunteer? When did you stop believing in Barack Obama, and start believing that getting paid was more important?

I would imagine that your response would be "because they bullied me", as you've said elsewhere.

But did they? How and when did they do that? Didn't they offer to pay you something? Just because you and the campaign couldn't agree on a number... does that constitute bullying?

Just because they decided to take control of the profile that you, in principle, wanted them to take control of in the first place... does that constitute bullying?

Campaign professionals?

Again, the flip side of the coin is that you folks with the Obama campaign seem to have handled this very badly indeed.

Chris Hughes at the campaign seems to have been the point man. For those of you who don't know, Chris is the co-founder of Facebook, and serves as the campaign's online organizer.

In Joe's email to Micah at TechPresident, he says:

I was accused of using this profile for commercial purposes. I was threatened that I would be responsible if the profile was deleted (they even followed up via email to be sure I knew it was my fault!) The conversation really was about them taking control of the profile. There was no counter offer, or anything to suggest that they had any intention of paying me anything at all.

Chris Hughes: Why didn't you make a counter-offer?

It sounds to me like you were thinking of a much lower range when you asked Joe to present a number for the fee... and when he came up with nearly $50,000, you.. well, you just wigged out.

You thought he was trying to gouge you.

Now, while the best way to deal with some people who try to gouge you is to strong-arm them, that isn't the case with a high-profile volunteer for your organization-- an organization with very lofty goals and which seems to value inclusion and volunteerism.

Chris, this isn't Silicon Valley, and Joe Anthony isn't some venture capitalist involved in a hostile takeover of your company.

Why did you cancel repeated phone conferences and not talk to Joe about this before asking MySpace to hand over control?

Your actions say a lot about your inability to handle delicate matters, Chris... and I certainly hope that no matter what role you play in the Obama campaign, that you mature very quickly... or that you be denied a role in an Obama administration.

In fact, I believe that Barack Obama should fire you immediately.

Belief is demonstrated through action

Yes, Joe, they wronged you. They screwed up.

But is the point of all your hard work to teach some campaign workers a lesson?

I was under the impression you were doing it to support the Obama campaign and all that it stands for.

You built a gift, Joe. You lovingly hand-crafted it. But when it took longer to build than you thought it would, you asked the recipient to pay you for it... or at least part of it.

Would you do this to a friend? Or to a loved one, say, on Christmas morning?

"Glad you like the toys, kids! But, hey, Daddy found out that they cost a little more than he thought they would. So each of you will need to get a job for the next month to pay me back for that overage."

Sound silly? Sure. But the principle is the same.

When the hours became unmanageable, the right thing to do -- as a volunteer and a true believer -- would be to go to the campaign and say, "I can't handle this any more... Please take it over." If they then offered to bring you on as a consultant, or offered you some amount of money... well, that would be the Icing on your Cake of True Belief.

Either you're a volunteer... or you're not. There's no such thing as a "consulteer".

In other words, it seems that the right thing to do as a real volunteer would be to offer the profile as a contribution to the campaign. That's the kind of thing volunteers do.

Instead, by asking to be paid, you set these events in motion. You took your eye off the ball. Perhaps you never intended to act or look like a profiteer, but a lot of people now see it that way.

Righteous indignation toward the recipient negates any intended altruism. As the old saying goes, never give a gift expecting to one day be repaid.

Mistakes were made:

- Joe Anthony should have offered the profile to the campaign, free of charge.

- Chris Hughes should never have asked Joe to come up with a number for a fee.

- Joe should never have come up with a fee, and should have asked Chris to name a number he felt comfortable with.

- Chris should not have wigged out over Joe's number, and should have simply negotiated with him, while maintaining cordial relations.

- No matter what Chris' counter-offer might have been, Joe should have taken it.

...That is, if things had ever gotten that far.

It all boils down to this: you both screwed up royally. You both acted badly. But, sorry to say, Joe... you started it.

Now, after Chris Hughes is fired from the Obama campaign, let's move on to the real issues, and elect Barack Obama President.

A new meaning for "Going green"

And now for something completely different...

Want more flora in your world? How about carrying around your own little oxygen generator?

La Bague Gazon is a ring in the form of a porcelain pot. The hook is that you add a tiny bit of compressed potting soil, some seeds, and water.

After 15 days, you'll have a microscopic lawn that you can wear on your finger.

Pot colors vary, and prices range from 70 to 120 Euros (about US$95 to US$163 today), with a soil-and-seeds kit running 5 Euros.

No mention on the site of whether use of Scott's Turf Builder and RoundUp weed killer is recommended. And the Fantastic Voyage-style maintenance crew and equipment are apparently not included.

Nano-croquet, anyone?

La Bague Gazon, from Ratinaud Creations, Limoges, France:

http://www.labaguegazon.com/homeGazonA.php

As if to prove the point...

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/20/nasa.gunfire/index.html

Beholding and becoming

What could I possibly say that hasn't already been said about the killings at Virginia Tech?

That the police and the administration screwed up? Now that we're being told about the bad lead the police were following, it's clear they were confused. I might have made the same decision... But I believe I would have at least sent out a message to the students. If they had, lives might have been saved.

Might.

That this act was senseless, was horrific, is a definite. Easy availability of handguns didn't help the situation. On the other hand, a determined killer will do his evil no matter what.

One thing that I do know is that in airing Cho's tape and photos, NBC screwed up.

Their rationale: We aired it because we thought it would provide insight into why he did it.

So... their contention is that for that "insight" to be passed on to the police, the FBI, even the public, the only possible thing to do was to air the tape?

This, of course, is absurd.

NBC claims they carefully weighed the pros and cons of airing the "manifesto."

They could have passed the package on to law enforcement to allow analysis. They could have given copies of the tape to psychologists and counselors, who might have learned more about what to look for in a troubled human being. They could have verbally summarized the content in a telecast, so that the public might have learned about what to look for in family and friends.

But instead, NBC aired the tape.

NBC News said, "We have covered this story — and our unique role in it — with extreme sensitivity, underscored by our devoted efforts to remember and honor the victims and heroes of this tragic incident. We are committed to nothing less."

This is, of course, a complete crock.

Airing the rantings of this sadly deranged young man was a way of honoring the victims?

On what planet?

NBC is "committed to nothing less" than the almighty ratings-driven dollar.

To paraphrase one Virginia Tech student, "They showed him pointing guns at the camera. There are a lot of people here who didn't need to see that."

All NBC has managed to do is to pander to the basest of human urges; by feeding the urge to see destruction, the execs at NBC have fed their urge to drive Hummers — apparently programmed into them by a complete lack of self-esteem, resulting from a crappier-than-average upbringing.

Listen up, network executives: By airing tapes like this, you not only re-traumatize the victims of this tragedy, you encourage others to duplicate the act by offering them the gift of a last-words bully pulpit that they never would have had in an otherwise-normal life. Emphasis on bully.

By airing the tape, NBC has contributed to the escalation of violence. They may not have shot anyone themselves, they may not have raised a hand or even spoken a violent word of their own.

But it's a certainty that by exposing more people to the mind of violence, by adding melodrama to a tragic situation, by painting Cho with a brush of romance -- yes, "romance"... the romance inherent in international media coverage, no matter the serious/analytical/public service frame they might try to place on it -- NBC has planted seeds in the backs of minds, or watered seeds that are already there.

From The Hollywood Reporter:

ABC News president David Westin decided before the second hour of "Good Morning America" to air only a brief clip of the video without audio, in part after seeing a "GMA" interview with forensic psychiatrist Michael Wellner, who appealed to NBC News and other networks to stop running the video.

"This a PR tape of him trying to turn himself into a Quentin Tarantino character," Wellner said. "This is precisely why this should not be released."

But air it they did. Until there was something of a backlash, and then they stopped, or cut back, along with other networks. And as the networks withdrew the tape, they explained how very wise and how very sensitive they were to do so.

In stock market parlance, they "timed the market." They'd already made their ratings profits. But the market started to tank, so they shorted their stock in that tape, and dumped it.

To say that NBC's behavior is cynical would be the understatement of the millennium.

Maybe we all need to be reminded from time to time...

We become that which we behold.

A needling question

I just downloaded Google Earth for the first time. It'd been ages (obviously) since I'd checked for a Mac version, and there it was. On my list of Cool Stuff™, this app ranks way the heck up there. Flying around the Grand Canyon was very... deep. I used the web to get an address for Angelo's, a little restaurant in Monongahela, PA where we used to get take-out pizza when I was a kid, and then flew by there. My childhood home, the Eiffel Tower, my downtown loft, lots of early Saturday morning sightseeing, all from the unshowered, bed-headed comfort of home.

So I stop by The London Eye, clicking on various photos linked through the app... And I see one for "Cleopatra's Needle" in Westminster. It's a misnomer, of course; the needle is an Egyptian obelisk, and doesn't have anything to do with Cleo.

I've seen this artifact, and its sibling in New York (There's another in Paris... The City of Lights is still on my To Do list). People who live in these cities get to see them pretty much whenever they like. Back when it was popular — and profitable — to raid Egypt for antiquities and scatter them around the world, many objects were carted off to their various destinations, although the obelisk in New York is said to have been a gift to the people of New York from Egypt in 1879.

An obelisk in Central Park

According to Egyptology News summary of a New York Sun article:

Egyptian obelisks have been swiped for centuries: They are rare and precious things. Only 22 remain in the world. Egypt still possesses five and Rome has 13. The Romans originally looted the obelisks, but the 16th-century Pope Sixtus V directed their present locations in the Eternal City. Istanbul, London, Paris, and New York each have one obelisk.

The obelisk behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in Central Park, is the only ancient Egyptian obelisk in the Americas.

So, my question is, how it is that "Cleopatra's Needles" are still weathering in all of these cities, and not back in Egypt, preserved like other objects? It's said that the environments they're in now are rapidly wearing away inscriptions that had survived for thousands of years previously.

Granted, many of the objects and structures in Egypt are now weathering badly, e.g. the Great Sphynx. But wouldn't the Egyptian desert, and the care of the Egyptian antiquities officials be a better place for these artifacts than surrounded by wet winter winds and exhaust fumes in Central Park?

Many other pieces of great art and antiquities have been returned to the countries from which there were looted over the millennia. It's become a celebrated process. And it's funny... I thought a quick Gargle for "Cleopatra's Needle" controversy return Egypt would yield lots of articles on pleas and negotiations and snubs regarding these ancient chunks of chiseled red granite. But... I didn't see any in the first page of results.

Finally, at the bottom of a second page was a link. to a page that mentioned a story at Bloomberg.com.

The New York Parks Department rejects claims by an Egyptian official that the city is neglecting the 3,700-year-old Cleopatra's Needle in Central Park and refuses to address his demand to give the obelisk back.

Zahi Hawass, head of Egypt's Supreme Council on Antiquities, wrote to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to protest the city's care of the 71-foot obelisk...

...Department spokesman Warner Johnston... calling the obelisk a Central Park treasure. ``It is a 3,700-year-old granite monument and our Arts & Antiquities division inspects it regularly.''

Perhaps... but what do they do about what they find? Are claims that the New York obelisk is wearing away... just an excuse to get the stone returned to Egypt? One face of the New York obelisk is now said to be severly damaged— after it had been preserved in the sands near Alexandria since it was toppled sometime after the reign of Augustus Caesar. The Wikipedia article (I know, I know) says "Three sides of the New York needle's inscriptions are well-preserved due to the long burial of the needle, although one side, exposed to the New York prevailing winds, has been almost totally weathered away."

So does the City of New York deny any weathering? Does anyone have documentation of the condition of the stone over time?

Sure, the New York obelisk is "a Central Park treasure." But if the weathering is happening, would The City rather see the obelisk flake and crumble away to dust rather than give it up?

Or would New Yorkers, Parisians and Londoners really mind if their versions of the needles were replaced with reproductions, and the originals were packed off to the Cairo Museum for cleaning and preservation?

I mean, there's nothing like having the real thing right there to look at or even touch... but what good is it if no one's going to have it in a few years?

Hey... I'm just asking.

Twitter: Without a privacy policy, am I a twit for signing up?

Since I am so very susceptible to the digital zeitgeist, I just signed up for Twitter.

My first question would be... Where's their privacy policy?

It never ceases to amaze me how many very popular companies and web sites ignore this vital bit of communication with their users/customers.

A smart surfer will always assume, for the sake of safety, that any company that has no posted privacy policy will sell your email address and other personal information into spammer slavery. So what does that say about Twitter?

Since there's nothing posted, they got a tagged email address from me. And I still haven't put in my IM or phone, since they don't say what they will do with that info.

Naturally, you can't always assume that a company will always abide by its posted policy. There have been several high-profile examples of companies selling info when they said they wouldn't. But these days, there's so much public and media pressure to get it right that companies at the front of the Internet community's collective mind -- like Twitter -- are usually more likely to do what they say with your info.

Now, if only Twitter would say what they do.

This is Customer Relations 101, kids. Get that policy posted!

links:
+ Twitter
+ Bob, Twittering

White House E-Mail Lost in Private Accounts

From a story by Michael Abramowitz and Dan Eggen in the Washington Post, Thursday, April 12, 2007:

White House E-Mail Lost in Private Accounts
Messages May Have Included Discussions About Firing of Eight Prosecutors

The White House acknowledged yesterday that e-mails dealing with official government business may have been lost because they were improperly sent through private accounts intended to be used for political activities. Democrats have been seeking such missives as part of an investigation into the firing of eight U.S. attorneys.

Administration officials said they could offer no estimate of how many e-mails were lost but indicated that some may involve messages from White House senior adviser Karl Rove, whose role in the firings has been under scrutiny by congressional Democrats.

. . .

[White House spokesman] Stanzel conceded that the White House had done a poor job of instructing staff members how to save politically oriented e-mail and said that it has developed new guidance for the more than 20 staffers who have official as well as political e-mail addresses. He also said that the White House is trying to recover the lost e-mails.

Once again, it appears that the Bush administration thinks the American people are as stupid as the administration is willing to seize and maintain power through whatever unethical, unconstitutional means they deem necessary.

Pearls before breakfast - A world-class musician in the subway

Pardon me whilst I gush.

There's an absolutely brilliant article in today's Washington Post, by Gene Weingarten and a crew of other reporters. It's about an experiment placing one of the world's greatest-ever violinists — Joshua Bell — in a Washington, D.C. subway station, and having him play intricate, difficult, passionate music on his Stradivarius.

What would happen? Would a crowd form? Would people throw money into his hat?

The results of this experiment are documented in this witty, attuned, playfully complex article.

It's an article that has a cast of characters as rich and varied as Les Miserables (Hugo's novel, not the musical).

And I think it's a must-read for every artist, musician and self-styled aesthetic. Then again, maybe it should be a must-read for anyone and everyone who hurries through their day; you never know what you might be missing... or ignoring along the way.

Once I started, I couldn't stop; I read the entire article before even glancing at the videos... Try doing the same, then watching each of the videos scattered down the page in succession.

As I clicked on the first clip, Bell's playing reverberating though L'Enphant Plaza literally gave me a chill. The very last video had me choked up. Yes, those of you who know me know I'm easy, but to see that connection between artist and audience — no matter what the numbers — renews my faith in the power of the arts... especially when the artist is so gifted, and the art so amazing.

The flip side of that coin, of course, is that it's disappointing to see that so few people paid any attention. But, as the article says, context matters.

If I were eligible to nominate an article for a Pulitzer, this one would be on my ballot.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html

US Attorneys replaced to control 2008 election?

There are a lot of people who believe that the last presidential election was rigged by Shrub and Company. Ohio gets mentioned a lot — generally in strained screams, or, depending on the company present, in hushed tones.

But although some of these folks may give off the kind of vibe that indicates they prefer the feel of aluminum foil wallpaper, I haven't been convinced they're on the wrong track.

And it's becoming painfully obvious that Alberto Gonzales — most likely with the blessing or even direction of the White House — orchestrated the firings of all those U.S. Attorneys for political reasons.

Then along comes this, from an article by Greg Gordon, Margaret Talev and Marisa Taylor of McClatchy Newspapers:

... Last April, while the Justice Department and the White House were planning the firings, Rove gave a speech in Washington to the Republican National Lawyers Association. He ticked off 11 states that he said could be pivotal in the 2008 elections. Bush has appointed new U.S. attorneys in nine of them since 2005: Florida, Colorado, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Arkansas, Michigan, Nevada and New Mexico. U.S. attorneys in the latter four were among those fired.

Rove thanked the audience for "all that you are doing in those hot spots around the country to ensure that the integrity of the ballot is protected." He added, "A lot in American politics is up for grabs."

The department's civil rights division, for example, supported a Georgia voter identification law that a court later said discriminated against poor, minority voters. It also declined to oppose an unusual Texas redistricting plan that helped expand the Republican majority in the House of Representatives. That plan was partially reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Frank DiMarino, a former federal prosecutor who served six U.S. attorneys in Florida and Georgia during an 18-year Justice Department career, said that too much emphasis on voter fraud investigations "smacks of trying to use prosecutorial power to investigate and potentially indict political enemies."

Several former voting rights lawyers, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of antagonizing the administration, said the division's political appointees reversed the recommendations of career lawyers in key cases and transferred or drove out most of the unit's veteran attorneys. ...

The full article: http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/16962753.htm

Karl Rove isn't just a lightning rod for the administration. He's an amateur scientist, constantly firing little rockets with wires on them into the clouds, trying his best to generate bolts of retribution aimed at anyone who would oppose the reign of the Neocons. Unfortunately, it's the Constitution of the United States that keeps getting singed.

If Alberto Gonzales needs to go, Rove needs to go just as badly.

And if Rove needs to go, why would we want to keep the president who trusts and encourages him — if not directly ordering him to rig these elections?

It's said that Bush is just a puppet of the Neocon operators within the administration. He's supposedly some kind of kidnap victim. If that's the case, I'd say the kidnap victim has full-blown Stockholm Syndrome.

Or is The Shrub so oblivious to reality that he can't see the massive machine that surrounds him?

To Wiki, or Not to Wiki...

I just came from Wikipedia. There's an article about me there that keeps gathering erroneous information. Like a wad of gaffer's tape that keeps picking up lint.

Ya see, I've never been to Malaysia. What's really interesting is that the entry was updated at some point to add "where he stayed from 2004-2005." So, either there's another erroneous source out there, or the same Wikipedian keeps going back to add bogus stuff.

So I thought I'd correct the errors.

Man... Talk about a rabbit hole.

I ended up spending a couple of hours editing and expanding my article, adding in stuff I've done since retiring as the voice of Barney the Dinosaur.

And then I ran across Wikipedia's guidelines on autobiography. Hmmm.

Well, I think I can be objective. I mean, I thought the concept of the Fair Witness in Robert Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land was a beautiful thing... that objectivity is an ideal to be striven toward with great vigor and the wearing of really impressive robes. Heck, I nearly said that once while being voir dired for jury duty.

So, I'm perfectly willing to admit... uh, I mean, report that some people have thought Barney was the most annoying thing ever to be created for television. And then I would say that most of those people are either teenage boys or childless adults. Which is true. In my experience.

But then I read the part about personal experience being a bad thing for an article.

So, maybe I'll just leave in the list-like paragraphs of my work experience, like the movies and TV shows I've done graphic design for.

But then I read that everything in an article has to be verifiable through a published source.

Hmmm... So I guess I need to get off my duff and update my IMDb entry to include all the shows I've worked on. So that would be a verifiable source.

But then I read that using primary sources is discouraged. And I guess I'd be my own primary source for the IMDb listing. Or not. I dunno.

So... After writing a lengthy bio and adding in my saxophone-playing, chemical-analyzing, Rosie the Riveter family, and being a diligent editor and using Wikipedia's markup tags to create links to other articles, and after trying to be as objective as a Fair Witness watching Valentine Michael Smith turn a box 90 degrees from everything else in the universe... I cut all of my new stuff and just deleted the Malaysia thing. And I removed the totally-wrong birth date and replaced it with the correct year. Oh, and I killed the line that said that I did the voice of Kuma for Tekken. I didn't.

But I did save the expanded article in a text file. For later. Just in case.

I mean, they said I'm a stub. And that I need to be expanded.

So I'll just keep that article in case I want to expand myself later. Because, as they say, you never know when the moment will be right.

My chaotic self-reproducing inflationary universe

Welcome.

I've started a few blogs, but work would suddenly explode and I'd abandon the bloggage after just a few posts. But then, eventually, work would cyclically shrink back down to the size of a pinhead... or I'd have something to get off my chest, or both, and I'd start to write again. Except the previous blog didn't seem to have the right focus. So I'd start a brand new one.

It's like theoretical cosmologist Andrei Linde's theory of a chaotic self-reproducing inflationary universe. Explosively rapid expansion, followed by gradual shrinkage. But even if this universe buys the farm, there's always another bubble in the multiverse that'll kick in.

So now, work shrinkage is apparently setting in after this bubble been explosively, expansively insane over the last few months -- and no, I don't mean "shrinkage" in a Seinfeld kinda way.

But that's for another post...

For now, suffice it to say that while I'm waiting for this verse-bubble to pop so I can hop on the next one, I'll be posting blog entries.

But the Vegas odds makers would be laughing their collective buttocks off if you put money on me to finish more than two posts.

C'mon. I dare ya. Lay yer money down.

And get ready for the next big bang.