Month: July 2005

So yeah, yesterday was a hoot. After staying up late watching The Last Unicorn, having a good time, and a bit of a phone chat with L., I managed to get some sleep, but was up super early (with the sun even). I loved re-watching TLU, even though my favorite Peter Beagle story is still “Lydia the Werewolf”. I got moving around 8ish, fixed ‘s compy, and read. Around 10 and change, came back from work, and breakfasting goods were set out for at the local shopping center (which is where the Klass/Ass picture came from). It astounds me how different the cost of living is up here. What would have been eassily 160$-170$ of groceries came out to just under 100$.

Breakfast consisted of bacon and eggs, bagels and cream cheese, oj, and chocolate milk (for them, not me). I made omolettes because had never had one before. Mushroom, havarti, onion, broccoli, chive and a wee bit of fresh rosemary. Alas, she did not like the fresh rosemary, but overall, I don’t think it was a horrible experience for her first time. Mine was damn good.

So then, we lazed around a bit. I played WoW for the longest stint since before I moved, and then we made a plan. We went to the Albright-Knox to see the Extreme Abstraction exhibit. Even though modern art is totally not my schtick (and I must say, the status of some of this stuff as “art” is questionable in my mind) there were some really neat installations in the exhibit. I saw more than one piece that reminded me of ‘s stuff. Make art woman, and you can totally get into major art shows!

After we wandered the exhibit for an hour or so, they kicked us out.

Because of issues with his car, is currently not driving. As such, we took a taxi to/from the museum. The cab driver we had yesterday was truly amazing. He was in his late 50’s, horribly bedecked in a blue velure jogging suit (complete with easy-access zipper), and plenty of gold bling. What was most unforunate about this gentleman (aside from his bulbous nose and bad breath) was the fact that he had body hair like a mountain goat, everywhere but on his head, which was horribly slicked back in a dorsal combover. I was riding shotgun, with and in the back. When we got into the cab, there was no music playing. Shortly after pulling out of the museum’s driveway, he flipped on the local oldies station (yesterday and today). He immidiately started rocking out to some Pink Floyd. This was followed by Queen’s “Fat Bottomed Girls” and Ozzie’s “Paranoia”. Each sucessive song, the music got louder and louder. He was singing along, and doing air guitar and percussion on the steering wheel. Several times throughout the relatively short trip, he gunned the engine in tune with the song, but certainly not with the traffic. Even worse was the fact that the guy couldn’t drive straight for all the girl scoping he was doing.

I was highly amused, in that morose New Yorker oddity kind of way. Apparently though, the back seat smelled of pee. By the time we got back, both and were revolted by the experience, which I found utterly hysterical (the experience, not their pee-induved revulsion).

I finally got a crack at the new Mario Kart for gamecube (which I will most likely be snagging a copy of when I get back home), and set to cooking in time to meet people at 8:30ish.

Dinner last night was truly an improv masterpiece. I had forgotten to procute spinach and ricotta yesterday for the stuffing I usually use. This meant I had to do some serious variation on my traditonal double pork. What I came up with was delicious! I also made tricolor rotinni with zuchinni, red/yellow peppers, a bit of tomato, and fresh parmesean and garlic. The true improv came with the stuffed mushrooms.

There are things one expects or takes for granted when one cooks all the time. Things like, oh, flour being part of the kitchen goods lying about. Wrong on that one. I discovered it is basically impossible to make a rue without flour. However, at the last minute, saved the day by procuring some across the street. Rue tragedies aside, I realized that I had NONE of the normal things I would usually use to stuff mushrooms (and these were some very nice port caps). Generally, at home, in such a connundrum, there would be something in the pantry that would have saved the day for me. Not so here. All my raid turned up was a very stale bag of corn chips.

Not to be undone by poorly stocked cubbards, I concocted something quite delicious. Swiss cheese rue with crushed corn chip flakes, and a light sprinling of fresh basil. These were baked a bit, then broiled for crispyness (after finding out the broiler was not, in fact, in the broiler tray, but rather at the top of the oven!). For all the heartache, and mystery meat surrounding their creation, they were damn tasty.

Which brings me to the meaning of the title of the post.

Symphony of Destruction.
Between the hours of 3pm yesterday, and ~ 1am today, I imbibed (in this order):

  • 5 “pint and a half” glasses of vodka tonic
  • 1/2 bottle of cabernet savignon with dinner (2001 Lake Erie, very tasty)
  • threee fingers of The Glenfiddich
  • 4 whiskey cokes (out at the bar)
  • pint.5 post-bar vodka tonic
  • one orange juice and tequila

What was I thinking? I can happily report, I am NOT hung over this morn, despite my reckless mixology last night. I met some nifty people through the course of the evening yesterday, but fuck all was I a spin-headed bastard when I finally passed crashed out.

I think the tequila was what did it. Damn mexican liquor.

So now I am up, it is Sunday. My conference starts tonight. I am not excited at all about it, particularly since it is pretty fucking far from where I am staying. It is going to be a pain in the ass to get back and forth, though I may have voodooed up some transportation last night. Today will tell the tale. I’m sitting here listening to music, over the drone of someone who started power sanding about an hour and a half ago. That is some balls right there, power sanding at 8am on a Sunday in a neighbrorhood this tightly packed. Oh, listen to that, they started running the circular saw now.

At least the view is nice:

Breakfast soon. Blueberry pancakes, sausage patties, and some fresh hash browns.

in buffalo. had a great dinner/evening with and . miss L., and shennanigans I would have otherwise been getting into. stressed over potential transportation woes, and my apartment situation. bought a bottle of scotch that was more expensive than the other three bottles of booze put together. let’s hear it for travel expenses and a good per-diem.

Last week, press aides at the White House made a furious round of phone calls: a number of major newspapers had printed that John Roberts was a member of the secretive far-right Federalist Society. Roberts denied “recalling” that he was a member, and so the White House demanded a correction. Retractions were printed. But just this morning The Washington Post released an internal directory proving Roberts served on the steering committee of the Washington Federalist Society chapter.1

This is not an isolated episode. The White House is banking on a strategy of hiding Roberts’ right-wing views and focusing on his non-confrontational personality.2 And so far, most newspapers and networks have bought in, spending a lot more time speculating about how easily Roberts will be confirmed than doing the investigative reporting that the country deserves.3 To get more of the real journalism this issue demands we’re going to have to ask for it.

Please take a minute to call or write the outlets where you have gotten your coverage of the Roberts nomination, and ask them to focus on the facts of Roberts’ record—not on the administration’s spin. You can find contact information for your news outlets here:

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=811

Roberts’ record as a right-wing partisan and corporate advocate poses many concerns about how his confirmation would threaten core rights. Here are some direct questions that we could use some better reporting on:

1) Corporate Power
How would his years advocating, lobbying and then ruling in favor of corporate power affect his defense of the public interest?

Here’s what we know:

As a corporate lawyer Roberts fought to gut the Americans with Disabilities Act, denying basic accommodation for workers injured over time as part of their job.4
He helped a major car manufacturer avoid a recall when their seatbelts were found to violate federal safety standards.5
Argued for the National Mining Association to overturn a ruling that restricted mountain top removal practices devastating to Appalachian communities.6
In his brief tenure as a judge, he argued for a very limited view of congressional authority to regulate corporate excess that could threaten broad swaths of environmental protections, workers rights, and anti-discrimination laws.7

2) Privacy
How would Roberts affect privacy rights currently protected by the constitution?

Here’s what we know:

Roberts argued to the Supreme Court that Roe v Wade should be “overruled”.8
He won a case blocking doctors in many cases from even discussing reproductive options with their patients.9
He has ruled in favor of sweeping powers for the commander-in-chief in this state of perpetual war—with frightening implications for our civil liberties.10
3) Partisanship
How would Robert’s partisan allegiance affect his judgment? (For example in cases like Bush v. Gore)

Here’s what we know:

He advised Jeb Bush during the Florida recount debacle.11
As a lawyer for the Reagan and Bush Sr. White House, he advocated for right wing ideology over free speech,12 religious liberty13 and voting rights for minorities.14
Roberts has been a life long partisan Republican, a claim the New York Times calls “indisputable,”15 and has donated thousands of dollars to exclusively Republican candidates.16

Roberts’ stealth candidacy for the Supreme Court is particularly dangerous because his personal qualities can be used to conceal a very hard line judicial philosophy. Here’s how commentator E.J. Dionne put it:

“Judge John G Roberts Jr.. could turn out to be Antonin Scalia with a Washington Establishment smile… And he is David Souter turned on his head—a stealth candidate whose winning personality disguises intense conservatism, not moderation. Roberts could move the court well to the right yet grin his way through the confirmation process….All of which means that the next two weeks will be crucial in determining how the Roberts confirmation battle goes.” 17

It’s also important to remember that facts of Roberts’ record that are already clear were more than sufficient to earn him immediate endorsements on the far-right—even from many of the same people who said Alberto Gonzales was far too liberal:

The violent anti-choice group Operation Rescue said, “We pray that Judge Roberts will be swiftly confirmed.”18
James Dobson of Focus on the Family called Roberts “unquestionably qualified”19

Pat Robertson said Roberts was “at the top” of his own list of candidates for the court vacancy.20

Tony Perkins of the ultra-conservative Family Research Council said “The President … promised to nominate someone along the lines of a Scalia or a Thomas and that is exactly what he has done.”21

The more facts that come out about Roberts’ record, the clearer the danger he poses to our rights and freedoms. It’s vital that the news media get back to the hard work of collecting and reporting on the facts of his record. We are facing the prospect of 30 or 40 years of Roberts on the Supreme Court, and we must apply the highest standard of scrutiny.

Together, we can help shift the coverage from the bottom up by contacting our news sources and simply asking them to focus on Roberts’ record.

You’ll find everything you need to contact local media below. It just takes a minute, but it could make a big difference. Please reach out today:

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=811

Thanks for everything you do,

– Ben, Micayla, Justin, Matt and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team
Monday, July 25, 2005

Sources:

1 The Washington Post, “Roberts Listed in Federalist Society ’97-98 Directory,” July 25th 2005http://www.moveon.org/r?r=812

2 The White House has already said it intends to deny Senate requests for information about Roberts work for the Reagan and Bush administration that would clarify his role in undermining the Voting Rights Act, among other key issues. See:
The Associated Press, “White House Won’t Show All Roberts Papers,” July 24th 2005
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/072405X.shtml

3 The day after Roberts was nominated the President’s spin appeared as news headlines across the country, like “Roberts is Well Liked”[3a] “Not a Battle”[3b] “Nominee Known for his Modesty.”[3c] That day over 40 separate articles mentioned his son’s televised antics during the nomination, while less than 10 cited what was probably the most significant opinion he wrote as a judge—one that seriously threatens vast swaths of environmental protections, workers rights, and civil rights.[3d]

[3a] Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service, “Roberts is well liked, but his judicial record isn’t clear,” July 20th, 2005
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=824

[3b] The Los Angeles Times, “A Fight, Maybe, but Not a Battle; Roberts should appeal to staunch conservatives yet be insulated from fierce opposition,” July 20th 2005
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=813

[3c] Ventura County Star, “Highly Regarded Nominee Known for his Modesty,” July 20th 2004
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=814

[3d] Lexis-Nexis search for articles posted on July 20th, 2005 with the terms “John Roberts and Viejo” and “John Roberts and Jack”.

4 The Associated Press, “Atty. Roberts Often Worked for Industry,” July 21st 2005
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=815

5 The Los Angeles Times, “A Resume Strong on Business,” July 22nd 2005
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=816

6 The New York Times, “As a Lawyer, Court Nominee Was Considered a Skillful Advocate for Corporate Clients,” July 21st 2005
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=825

7 New Orleans Times Picayune, “Hapless toad’ case fuels fears of Roberts’ foes,” July 22nd 2005
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=817

8 The Associated Press, “Roberts, on the issues,” July 24th 2005
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=818
Roberts actual argument can be found in: “Brief for the Respondent at 13, Rust v. Sullivan, 500 U.S. 173 (1991)

9 The New York Times, “In Pursuit of Conservative Stamp, President Nominates Roberts,” July 20th, 2005
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=819

10 Data from Federal Election Commission
http://newsmeat.com/judiciary_political_donations/John_G_Roberts.php

11 The Miami Herald, “Roberts Gave GOP Advice in 2000 Recount,” July 21st 2005
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=826

12 Roberts, serving as Deputy Solicitor General under President Bush Sr. argued to the Supreme Court for the unconstitutional criminalization of flag burning as political speech. See:
The Los Angeles Times, “Bush Leans Right in Court Pick,” July 20th 2005.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=820

13 Also as deputy solicitor general in the first Bush White House, Roberts drafted a key legal brief urging the Supreme Court to scrap decades of settled church-state law and uphold school-sponsored prayer at public school graduation ceremonies and other forms of government-endorsed religion. See: Americans United for Separation of Church and State, “Senate Should Reject Confirmation Of John G. Roberts To Supreme Court,”
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=821&id=

14 The Boston Globe, “Civil Rights Groups Cite Concerns Over Roberts,” July 22nd 2005
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=822

15 The Capital Times, “Bush Picks and Activist,” July 20th 2005
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=827

16 The Nation, “The Stakes in Roberts’ Nomination,” July 20th 2005
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=828

17 The Washington Post, “Beware the Charm of Judges”, July 21st 2005
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=823

18 The Los Angeles Times, “Supreme Court nominee’s wife an anti-abortion voice,” July 23rd 2005
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/3278758

19 Newsmax.com “Dobson: ‘Roberts Unquestionably Qualified,” July 20th 2005
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/7/20/201458.shtml

20 The Free Lance-Star, “Virginians rate Roberts’ record,” July 21st 2005http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2005/072005/07212005/116430

21 The New York Times, “The Strategy for a Successful Nomination: Disarm Opposition,” July 20th 2005

I was in the midst of reading “Forbidden Knowledge: From Prometheus to Pornography” by Roger Shattuck, but I loaned it away.  I’m now enmeshed in China Mieville’s second book, “The Scar” (thanks for the surprise present N.)  I am loving it.  I have to get Iron Council after I finish this one.

I am more than a bit stressed out about my apartment situation.  I’m going to B-lo on Friday, so I need to get it rented by Thursday, or I am going to end up paying a whole lot in August.  Not how I want to start the last month of summer; broke.  Send good rental karma this week please!

I had a fantastic weekend.  Running around chinatown with L., and , fun movies, pissy dvd players, and near misses with beached belugas.  Good mexican gourmet, some darts (which I still suck at, kudos ) and a great breakfast down at riverside park. I have decided before the summer is out, i will try a marshmallow flavored coolata from Dunkin Donuts.  Not that I think marshmallow flavored coffee will be particularly delish, but I am CURIOUS goddammit! Last night I made fried rainbow trout with carrot/crab stuffing, garlic smashed potatoes, and swiss chard with dill/carrot/lemongrass sauce and fresh green apples.  The chard was my Iron Chef challenge for the evening, and I think I met it pretty well. 

Not unlike a few other people on my friend’s list, I am having a hard time keeping the flames of hatred I always have glowing in the back of my mind well coked in light of the past few weeks.  Maybe a content paradigm shift will not be the worst thing ever to happen to this little ramble of a blog.

Where was I?  Oh, right, books, and how they relate back to reality.


Shattuck’s book has me re-evaluating my outlook on knowledge, in a way I am not completely comfortable with.

I have always worked under the assumption that all information is good.  Information allows people to make decisions.  It allows for intelligent decisions to be made.  Information is the heart’s blood of my world.  What am I really, except a glib encyclopedia of useless information?

Shattuck introduces the paradox of Pandora’s box into a modern context.   What if there are things we are just better off not knowing, as individuals, or a society?  One of my other favorite books, The Years of Rice and Salt, plays the scenario of nuclear arms and technology being developed by a benevolent society of enlightened folks, rather than a semi-despotic national government.  How would that change the world?  For that matter, what would have happened if nuclear power had been harnessed under a period of totalitarian global domination, rather than some fractional global political scape?  The likleyhood is nuclear power would have been more of a drive than nuclear weapons.  How would that have changed the world for the better?  I’d rather be speaking German and driving a car running a fuel cell or electric motor (because power would have been such a different issue) than worrying about peak oil every time I hear about OPEC’s antics.

Information, may, ultimately, set us free, but it damns us at the same time.  In our society particularly, information control is so regulated.  There are spin doctors spinning the dog waggers – how do you sift what is real and what is not?  How do you verify the veracity of your data, if not with your own eyes?  Information in our world does not set us free – it becomes another issue of dominance and control. 

I realize this is a reactionatory and paranoid outlook on government and corporate intervention in the discovery of information.  However, time and again, this has shown itself to be a problem.  I’d prefer nobody knowing a thing to a small select group knowing a thing, and being able to use that to exert control over/exploit the ignorant.  Information only sets us free when it is shared.

I guess, in theory, this is why I am against the idea of patents.  I understand the fundamentals and history of their evolution in modern law, but when I read about things like this recent move by Microsoft, it really churns my stomach,  Citing ownership of part of a language?  Where will the madness end?  Intellectual Property Rights is to corporate culture what most major religious tracts are to fundamentalist cults.

I’ve long proclaimed my lack of hope for the system, and advocated a “soft reset” as the only hope of a POSSIBILITY of things working out on the next iteration.  The cynical part of me believes even this to be folly.  The hope on one end of the scale is that by reducing knowledge, people will be forced to rely on each other more, and life life more in the now, rather than the pursuit of tomorrow’s gains.  The flip side is that technology will move along rapidly, so much so that it changes the fundamental pillars of our species.  At that point, we will have pushed past a horizon in our history as a communal biological life form, and will amalgamate into some new thing – not entirely human, though I am sure we will continue to call ourselves that for years to come.

Fossil fuels are a good example.  How many fewer people would have died, how much less impact would the environment have faced, how much less time would have been wasted if petroleum had not been the primary fuel of choice for combustion engines?  We sure as hell wouldn’t be in Iraq right now, but then again, we might not even be here at all, without plastics and international travel moving the way they did.  You can’t assume that parallel technological advancements would result in the same end products.

I’m in a hopeless muddle philosophically.  I blame the ozone layer.  That, or the fact that I have slept better in the past three weeks than I have in the last ten years, and that I have slept more in the past 72 hours than I have over any weekend at all in about the same amount of time.

It scares me a little – what will I become without my madness?  Stay tuned.

new for you to sink er fang..er..teeth into.

Published online: 21 July 2005 on nature.com
Quantum computers go for a spin
Philip Ball

A quantum computer would make a conventional supercomputer look like a Palm Pilot.

Two physicists have come up with an idea that could crack the as yet unsolved problem of how to build a quantum computer, a device that would make a conventional supercomputer look like a Palm Pilot.

Hans-Andreas Engel and Daniel Loss of the University of Basel in Switzerland have explained how to make a device called a spin-parity meter.

Such an invention would be analogous to the transistors in microchips: a kind of universal component for building quantum-computer circuitry, says theorist David DiVincenzo of IBM’s research labs in Yorktown Heights, New York. The imagined component could allow electronic quantum computers to be made from silicon, just as today’s microprocessor chips are.

“With a spin-parity meter in hand, quantum computing could be just around the corner,” says physicist José Carlos Egues of the University of São Paulo in Brazil.

But at the moment, Engel and Loss’s idea is just that: an idea. They have worked out how a spin-parity meter could be put together in principle, and their theoretical calculations show that it could function as a component of a quantum computer. But they haven’t made a real device.

In an electronic quantum computer, information would be encoded in the magnetic state or ‘spins’ of electrons: ‘up’ and ‘down’ spins would substitute for the ones and zeros of binary code in conventional computers.

Because of the wave nature of quantum particles, pairs of electrons can exist not only as discrete pairs of up and down spins but also as mixtures of such combinations, where each electron can be considered to have an up and down spin simultaneously.

This allows a quantum computer access to many more information-encoding states than a conventional computer, and so it can perform some calculations much more quickly and efficiently.

Last year DiVincenzo and his co-workers theorized about an electronic quantum computer that avoided some of the complications of previous proposals2. In their scheme, computing is performed not by feeding data into one end of a circuit and looking at how it emerges at the other end, but by looking at the pattern the data makes as it spreads out through a network of components, just as ripples spread from a pebble dropped in water.

To do this one would need to measure the ‘parity’ of electron pairs (whether their spins are aligned or opposite) without disturbing them. This is what Engel and Loss have now shown how to do.

Quantum jump
Engel and Loss describe a system in which a pair of electrons is placed in a tiny blob of semiconducting material such as silicon, called a quantum dot. There is a second, empty quantum dot nearby. By applying a magnetic field, it is possible to ‘tune’ the system such that the energy of neighbouring dots is the same if and only if they contain a pair of electrons with opposite spin. This energy equality allows those electrons with opposing spins to jump between quantum dots. Such jumps can be detected by a highly sensitive meter for measuring electrical charge, and the opposing spins of the electrons can therefore be inferred.

Their scheme, says DiVincenzo, is “a little bit of a mindbender” that could change they way others think about how to make quantum computers. “Experimentalists really pay attention to these people,” he says.

Egues says that the “breathtaking” experimental advances that have taken place recently in the relevant electronic technologies “definitely pave the way to an actual implementation” of the idea.

References
Engel H. A., Loss D., et al. Science, 309. 586 – 588 (2005).
Beenakker C. W. J., et al. Phys. Rev. Lett, 93. 020501 (2004). | Article | PubMed | ChemPort |

I am seriously tired today. Lots of galavanting this weekend combined with not enough sleep. Well, numerically, enough sleep, but not at the right times, in a row.

I kind of like that i have been so busy lately that i haven’t been spending as much time around lj. This means less frequency, more quality ( i hope). Have a good post brewing based on some of the reading i have been doing of late (and no, that doesn’t include Harry Potter). I have decided i am going to wait on that, given a recently re-introduced pastime to my repitoire of regular activities.

Friday night I went with L to The Bowery Ballroom to see a couple of bands. First, we went to Chinatown and got some soup dumplings, followed by gelatto in Little Italy. After that, got to the ballroom just in time to catch Pony da Look. I am not a scenester, or a hipster, or any other kinda “ster”. This band seriously sucked. They looked the part – four emo’d out outfits and bad hair. The drummer was the most talented of the lot which was not saying much. The lyrics and the sound were jarring like a dog and a cat tied in the same burlap sack. The lead vocalist looked like she had done a line from here to southern Colombia. I think she blinked three times through the entire set. The point at which I decided I needed something more to drink was when they did a number featuring the refrain “Blood and Gore!” which basically sounded like Gwar a cover, rendered by this silly blonde banshee screaming over her casio. Think Yoko Ono covering Cannibal Corpse. Yeah, I went there.


The BB seems to have lost some of its soul. Sometime between the days when I used to frequent it and now, they went from having cheap beer and overpriced cigarettes to no smoking and overpriced drinks. Now, I have managed to adjust New York, to your pasny no-smoking-where-you-are-doing-other-activities-just-as-likely-to-lead-to-your-death-or-likely-dismemberment-or-injury outlook of recent years, but fuck it it just didn’t make the ballroom feel wrong. Being able to stand towards the bar at the back, and see the stage up front with crystal clarity was just fucking wierd.

The next band was dressy bessy. These guys were actually pretty damn cool, but their set was about seven songs too long. Their sound was catchy, but their bag of tricks was waay too shallow to play longer than a half hour. I think they ended up playing for an hour and change. They had an odd little gig going, where they all wore white belts with this hologram belt buckle thing. again, the drummer led the way – he totally didn’t fit in with the look of the band, which was kinda ndie-rock/grunge. He was wearing a pink striped shirt, and looked like a prep kid. He was a good drummer, and a decent backup vocalist (drummers who do vocals always amaze me; I seem to recall L echoing the sentiment).

Seeing this show made me reflect on why I now have such a hard time with live music. I have become such a musical freak over the last four years. I do love artists and bands as they come up, but even Tom Waits, who is at the top of my musical pyramid, cannot be listened to for more than two or three songs in a row. I need variety – I need to go from rock to pop to r&b to some obscure German opera from the 19th century, back to deathmetal, then techno then some synth 80’s band that never released more than one albulm… My days of popping in a tape/record/cd and hitting play and not touching the musical equipment for an hour are clearly gone.

I am the byproduct of an overabundance of music. I know there is an art to album making. I can’t bear to be a part of it anymore. I just can’t listen to 13-15 songs by the same band, unless part of the band’s mission is to be as diverse in sound, instrumentation and composition as possible. As much as I loved the NIN show I went to recently, what made it so good was that it was a power hour – they mixed up their new songs (which sound v. diff from the old stuff) with the greatest of oldies. For bands that have no great oldies for me, I have a hard time not getting listless.

The last band, The Hidden Cameras was very interesting. As my photo showed, they were a VERY large band (by contemporary standards). Of course, not realizing it was them (the reason we were at the show to begin with) I made some sort of sarcastic comment to L about the band being another bunch of emo fucks (the stand-up bassist was in a BSA shirt, and the band, for the most part, was in retro-mid 70’s gear – no trucker hats though). I love the taste of my own foot.

As it turns out, they had some really clever lyrics.

I have to say, the biggest downers were the lead singer and this eye candy redhead they had bopping around on stage. The lead singer was a surprisingly powerful vocalist, but had all of the energy and appeal of a three week dead fish. I believe the phrase I used after the show was “a corpse who died with a buttplug inserted”. It just kills me when a good band is lead by a bad masthead. Kinda like a ship of bloodthirsty vikings with a care bare at the masthead.

The redhead was even more annoying. The band featured (as one of th many instruments) a xylophone, which she attacked with all the ferocity (and talent) of a four year old in her first music class. She could keep time, but anything more than three note combos were clearly above her skill level.

Once again, one of the drummers saved the day (the band had two). She and her friend the violinist had a great stage rapport, and about halfway through the set, she lit up a cigarette. You could almost feel the nervousness of the band at this act, and someone backstage flashed her some sort of warning, cuz she put it out after only a few drags. My spirits soared for a moment, then sagged, seeing a live-action depiction of the death of rock.

But, then, 10 minutes later, she basically told the management to fuck off. She lit up and smoked with abandon, even sharing with the bassist and one of the other guitarists. That little taste of “fuck the man” definitely gave me some respect where redhead, who at this point was trying to get everyone to do a “dance number” she thought up (consisting of the “hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil monkey movements, and the Y from YMCA) had destroyed much hope of it.

Overall, it was a great fucking night. I listened to good and bad music, saw a wide variety of bands I would never have otherwise come in contact with, and had a great night with L. I liked The Hidden Cameras, despite my intial misgivings,and they even played a decent encore set. I ended up crashing in Brooklyn, specifically, the ends of the earth.

Saturday, had lunch with and L at the comfort diner, whose tables I have enjoyed for many years. This was the first time I ever had a bad meal at one. Never ever get corned beef hash there. Their idea of “hash” is cubed corned beef, beets,potato, and sweet potato. It was like eating a plateful of meaty dice, with two poached eggs atop it.

After that we hung in a park, and wasted time talking, and having a great time. I tried one of the evil empire’s new green tea frappachino thingies, and was pleasantly surprised. I swear the fucking put cocaine in the whipped cream, it is the only explanation. Saturday night was ‘s b-day bash at the Hayden Planterium. They are running this thing called Sonicvision (which is currently priced 2/1 admission with the coupon at the link). I highly reccommend it, I had an awesome time there. While the musical selection was not mind-blowing, the cgi/immersives were! It was like being inside a Winamp visuilazation library. Had a great time at that, then hung out at a Pizzareia Unos (of all places) where the “Ultimate” LI iced teas are only 6$! Oh man, I will be going back for that.

After that, many were evacuating to the LES for a club. Dancing was not on the menu, so instead we retired to a chum’s place and watched the recently-released-on-dvd classic “Freaked!” I dunno which was scarier, the fact that I knew what the movie was after 15 seconds of description, or the fact that the thing I remembered about it was the giant rasta eyeballs with machine guns. Lots of fun either way. Retired shortly thereafter.

Unfortunately, my schedule was such that I screwed up, and had to postpone a job I had scheduled for yesterday morning until today after work. Minor pain, but worth it, since I got to make a kick ass breakfast (buttermilk pancakes, sausage, fresh peaches), and get out the door at a human hour to deal with the things that needed dealing with at the old apartment. Showing begins Tuesday – I need to re-blitz craigslit – I only got a couple nibbles last week. I spent almost all day there painting and sweeping and cleaning and stuff. I still need a ride from my bro to tote the last few things out of there – but the place is about 1000 times better than it was when I showed up yesterday.

So, yeah, busy week ahead. I will feel much better when my bank balance is secure, my old apartment off my shoulders, and next weekend lies ahead of me like a fresh sparkling beach at high tide.

had a lovely evening.
met up with for dinner. chinese food and good talking makes for happy bellies. even if the fucking fortunes were lame, and the goddamn pig woman outside of tasti-d needed to be made into sausages.

went down to ‘s place. retrieved xbox, and met his mom. she is going to make a stop by the museum tomorrow ~ noon thirtyish. she confirmed for me that not only are there goats in malta, but that some of them are named “whitey”. suggested that name the first kid he and have “whitey”. this suggestion was not received as well as i had hoped it would be.

got home, talked on the phone too long, then decided that the chinese food appetizers i had earlier were not cutting it. portabello, green beans, tuna, spinach alfredo, and a little cheddar rue (with onions, dill seed, and tarragon) later, and i am much satiated.

i am going to write a little, then go chill in the a/c.

i spent an hour and a half on the phone with my mother today arguing about philosophy. universal truths (indeed, the scope of universal), paradox, objective vs. subjective reality, social ethics (as they relate to theology, justice, and politics), and theoretical vs. applied reality and systems, quantum mechanics, parallel and multiple universes, and biological nervous system potential.

i tuckered her out, she don’t like it when i bite back. i did try out the idea for a short story i have been brewing for a while though in the midst of the conversation, and it worked like a peach. more on that when i finish editing it.

tonight, concert, then who knows what. tomorrow, midday lunch plans, then a party in the evening. sunday morning i probably am going to do my best to work, followed by old apartment renovation. was a peach today and swung by to drop off keys.

anyone have any genres or spots in mind for dinner tomorrow night (to those who suggested it a good idea)? think lower west side – i’m thinking chinatown or lil italy?

i think the last time i was at the bowery was to see danzing. i think this show will involve less blood.

i have been super busy for the past week, with all sorts of things.

i have a side-job tonight, so no loco for me. do have dinner plans before the job though. thanks for the hookup on the gig . i am going to see The Hidden Cameras/Dressy Bessy / Pony Da Look / Say Hi to Your Mom Friday night. Dinner plans beforehand would have to be after 6ish though – any takers?

what the hell are people up to this weekend? i am showing my apartment probably sunday afternoon. that reminds me, must get keys from .

new for those playing at home. new harry potter friday.gotta remember to swing by b&n to pick that up on the way out of the show.

i wanna write something big, sweeping, meaningful, and topical. instead, you guys are getting a crappy poem.

The frozen sticks don’t try to tease, they crack when stepped upon.
Booted feet are like twig chiropractors working overtime in the still night;
the snow that lies in frigid attendance drains the body,
while it warms the soul with the glow it adds to the hills
in the starlight.

Dark rocks stand in compromising positions as ice pretends to trickle
down granite monolith trunks. They fuck the sun in the daytime
and in return, she gives them warmth. They melt for her every day
only to be frozen the next night.

Hands begin to fail. They can’t feel the air, much less each other.
Ears gave out some time ago, nose feels like it might break off;
soon the toes will follow like black caterpillars.
Miles from home, many miles, but home is not my destination;
a warm spot and good company would do me fine.
Screw company, a warm spot would suffice.

The trees laugh with hysterics only frozen ears can perceive,
their cacophony rings in the stageshine moonlight.
If my hands were not blue I would let them know my feelings,
but I am afraid they might break like they were made of plaster.
The Venus de Milo was a great kick boxer once, before she fought
the trees and the cold
like me.

Crunching snow looks kind of warm from here, maybe if I just lay down…
But what is this?
A fire and people bundled up down the next hill!
Heaven for sure, too cold to be hell.
I approach the flames, and ring of faces
like devils dancing round the cauldron
I would have dove in but
the people
caught me.

Fuck the company, a warm spot suffices.
I don’t die alone.
Sorry wolves
no supper for you tonight.

this weekend was my second date with lisa. for the first time since college, i brushed my teeth with a glob of toothpaste on the end of a finger. you would think with all the useless crap in my bag, that a toothbrush would be one of them, but no.

saturday night was an art show in jersey city, not far from . i bought some art (which is gonna look fantastic over my desk, despite the protests i will doubtless get from my roomate justine), and had a fantastic time. we ended up at a bar in jersey city. i forgot what it was like to smoke in a bar! despite the fact that i didn’t, it was a liberating experience. lisa and i had a really good time, and we were hanging with a very interesting crew of people. i made some really good connections to have (two lawyers, and a housing official) and managed to skirt being drunk all night. this was due mostly to the fact that we went to a liquor store with the intention of bringing the party back to someone’s apt, but ended up going to that bar instead. the evening ended at around the clock, or so i thought. i got invited back to brooklyn.

now, i’ve done brooklyn in many shapes and forms. i’ve never been to greenpoint before. you have to take a bus to the subway. i felt like i was back in hs visiting in the ass end of queens. i’m no city snob – the area had some real charm to it – heavy polish and russian influences, and some really pretty houses. i managed to solve a 3-year mystery surrounding tattoo parlors and flags, but i am getting ahead of myself.

i went home with lisa. we didn’t get back to her place until 6ish. we didn’t start moving until midafternoon. we talked incessantly. supplies were procured, and dinner was had. i intended on disembarking the borough around 10ish (after family guy, which we both laughed at incessantly), but was convinced to have another brief conversation, which ended way late.

i spent the night last night too. i was late as hell getting in to work (actually, only an hour 20).

all last night, while i lay there awake, and unsure of how to get home, enjoying the company of another person, all i could think of was the scolding voice of . truly, i was the date that wouldn’t leave.

however, it was not a bad thing. she even wants to see me again!

holy hell i am digging getting to know her. she and i have lots in common, but enough disparate that we don’t bore one another. she is very intelligent, enough so to have caught me off guard a couple times. she has good taste in books and music. did i mention (as said so gracefully) that she is hot? no?

she is.

all this, and she seems to be interested in me. fuck seems, she has said she was. on the level. in more of a fling kinda way. i’m still waiting to wake up. I was pinched, to prove the veracity of the reality I was experiencing. my doubtful philosophical nature continues to doubt this as a strong test.

she did buy me a toothbrush though, for the next time I stay at her place.

man, i hope this shit is for real on both sides of the street. from this side, it is pretty fuckin sweet.

had lunch with and his girl, out of the blue. we had crepes. they were good.

i have been doing performance review and salary increases all week for my employees. we have a very limited float to work with. there is a 3.5% TOTAL allocation for the salary budget, to cover both promotions and wage increases. not-for-profits rarely have cost of living increases. basically, it is a merit-based increase system. 1% means you better get your shit together, or you won’t see another increase. 2% means you are doing ok, but definitely have some things to work on. 3% means you are doing your job very well, and have exceeded expectations here or there.

that was what i was given to work with for my people. i’ve given all 3’s and a 2 (i was budgeted all threes). i just had MY salary increase meeting, and the motherfuckers gave me 4%! i know on a bad mathematical level that the extra % was the 2 that i gave, but the reasons they gave me for giving me the 4% were all super-ego stroking. basically, it was the best verbal blow job i’ve ever gotten, and it was coming straight from the big boss, and my boss. I know 4% sounds like shit, but in not-for-profit world, this is like getting a christmas bonus (something else that never happens).

this has been a great frigging day, even though i am still way behind on work.

Looks like i just missed the boat on ‘s real estate opening. Anyone looking for a female roommate in the 5-700$ range, or know of a studio/1 bedroom in the 750$ and less range? Yes, I know all about bigapplerentals.com, craigslist.org, etc., etc. I am putting the word out here after covering those places.No LI, SI, or Weschester please.

My old apartment is now up for rent. 1500$ a month, 3 bedroom in East Harlem. More details here:
http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/abo/83761217.html

a couple people asked, so i guess i’ll give some details.

several months ago back on april 9th/10th, i had an interesting evening with and company. that night, and the next day left me bonding with a disparate group of people. crisis creates odd bonds. beyond the crisis though, there was the fact that every single person i spent significant time with in that sort period of time was super cool, and seemed to think the same about me.

i ran with that bunch a few times here and there in the months since, but i missed the last big whelm on the 4th when i missed ‘s b-day (which I am hoping to make up for on sunday night.

cut to wednesday, loco night. aside from the very off occurrence of meeting someone i don’t know who just moved into my building, i ran into D – whose place we crashed at the night of the birthday debacle. he was hanging out in the back of TFBPC chillin and playing darts. i hung out with him and his lady friend Lisa, who seemed to be pretty cool. i got caught up on some current events, and bought a pitcher of brooklyn lager (so they could stop drinking bud light ::shudder::).

anyhow, i was definitely interested in Lisa, but she is attractive, very witty, very intelligent – i figured she was well on the other side of someone else’s fence. about halfway through the night, she took a phone call. that call took place outside for the most part, but, on the way back inside, she was just finishing up, and ended the conversation with “o.k. talk to you later honey.”

to my simple hetero mind, this spelled boyfriend.

despite that, i continued to get to know Lisa and hung out with D – mostly because i knew how cool D was already, and anyone who was close to him was probably going to be cool too. it would seem my estimations were not far from the mark.

towards the end of the evening, before departing to ‘s place for schwarma and other activities, i made a joke to Lisa about how her boyfriend was “a lucky guy” for having someone with the understanding that she did (i believe we were talking about internet geekery at that point). she kinda snorted at me, and made with the “wtf” face – she didn’t have a boyfriend. when i asked about the phone call, she referred back to an earlier part of the conversation wherein she had explained that she had a good number of “fabulous” gay friends – herself being a former supporter/interloper in the velvet mafia.

aha, says i. why not?

so i asked her to dinner. the following night.

this is very much unlike me.

i was more than a little surprised when she said yes. we exchanged phone numbers and emails.

during the day yesterday, i sent a brief email indicating times, places, and tentative plans. there were one one or two quick bats back and forth to set the time firm, then i called and made some reservations.

we went to trio, which is one of my favorite places in the city. we had a round at the bar, then had a scrumptious and lengthy dinner, where we bounded all over creation in our conversations. music, books, family, food, history, anthropology, transgenderism, school, computers… i totally snagged the check when she went to the bathroom, despite protests.

then we walked around a bit looking for a scene change. like myself Lisa is a dive bar/pub kinda person, but the Yankees game was on, and most of the dives I knew in the area were awash with drunken Yankees fans. not normally a bad fate, but a little tacky for “getting to know each other” conversation.

we hung at the bar until the witching hour. i walked her to a cab to get her home, and i took the subway home.

overall, it was amazing on more than one level – Lisa is intelligent, engaging, very cute, and apparently interested in me in much the same way i am interested in her. i am totally trying not to set myself up after first date euphoria, but it is hard not to do that. we are supposed to whelm tomorrow to go to an art show doodad in JC on Sat eve.

Lisa is terribly cool – i hope i get a shot at this being more than a couple dates that fade away into the sunset. last night was the best date i ever had.

of course, my pessimistic self is wondering if perhaps i have set myself up for failure by pegging the first watermark so high.

time will tell i guess. she emailed me back today though, so i guess it wasn’t the wine talking!

it has been a while since i did one of these. for those who are new to the game, fill in the blanks.
i’ll post my answers as the right ones.

EDIT: scope the answers even if you don’t take the quiz, some of them are hysterical.

there are dates, and then there are dates. given the amount of time i have been out of the water, i consider this quite a victory. at least i am not a total sucka who has lost every social grace he once had – long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far away.

my heart is still in my throat from most of the evening.

son of the bitch.

i got called a reverse cock tease (whatever that means) – i also remembered routledge!

good weekend. lots of running around and good times. i managed to not get mugged in NJ, tho got lost there for the first time ever. have had a migraine since last night. this is going to be a doozie – if the photosensitivity holds off though, i’ll be able to function.

my brother is having some tough times right now, but is keeping everyone at arm’s length about things. i hope his situation works out ok.

i am leaving for fucking buffalo in three weeks, and i still don’t have a flight booked. my parents want me to go to their farm this weekend to drywall, but i have other obligations tied to prior medical commitments. at the moment, i just want to curl up into a ball somewhere and die – i think that is mostly the migraine though.

happy short week everyone.

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