June 2008 Archives

As I was watering my front yard, a party of women who were, shall we say, old enough to know better and then some, approached and unlocked their car which was parked in front of our house. One of them stood in front of the tree smoking, then proceeded to carelessly dash out her cigarette without making sure all of the sparks were extinguished. I could see embers smoldering among the roots. I ran over to stomp them out.

So I curtly told them to be more careful. There was a lot of "Oh, that was my friend who did that." "What?" but not really an apology. As they drove away, one of them said, "Thank you for being ecologically conscious," and I replied, "Thank you for not burning down my home!"

Call me a curmudgeon, but a house caught on fire up the street from my childhood home when I was three or four and I've never forgotten it, not to mention all the warnings about fire danger at the moment. And it's bad enough making people smell your smoke when you're still enjoying your cigarette - the least you can do is make sure it's properly put out when you're done!

Did I really need to explain this to a woman old enough to be my mother?

A couple of years ago I mentioned the closing of Cody's Books on Telegraph Avenue. At the time, there was still the other location on Fourth Street in Berkeley. Not quite the same, but it was still a pleasant place to go buy books. It had parking nearby, and the Cody's aura still clung to it somehow.

Despite the parking, things did not go well for that store either. When I went shopping there over Christmas, I noticed that the selection somehow seemed diminished and spotty. So when the owners announced that they were shuttering this location and moving to a smaller space, I wasn't totally surprised.

But their choice of location — a storefront in downtown Berkeley with no dedicated parking, which had seen more of its fair share of failed businesses over the years, and which wasn't going to have a computer/technical books section, despite being near the U.C. Berkeley campus — seemed bizarre from the outset.

And sure enough, as of June 20, Cody's is no more.

Yesterday I drove to Border's Books in Emeryville to pick up a couple of design/computer books. There are basically no independent alternatives in the East Bay now for technical books. Stacey's Books is still in the city, but not convenient for me to get to most days. Border's is HUGE, but definitely lacks soul.

I don't think all independent bookstores are in danger, necessarily. There's a fabulous one, Spectator Books, just down the street from us. I do a lot of gift and impulse buying there. But the super-stores are now left to the chains, or online...

I copied and pasted the contents of my blog's main page into wordle.net and got this:

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While on the phone with a domain registrar (a month into the torturous process of transferring a website domain), this was their hold music...

I'm against unnecessary research on animals and like cruelty-free cosmetics, but recognize that sometimes research on animals is necessary. And even if you don't like it, this is really fucked up.

Officials have been trying to keep it quiet, but 24 UC Berkeley researchers and seven staffers have been harassed by animal rights activists in recent months, in some cases having their homes or cars vandalized.

"What they all have in common is that they all work in animal research," UC Berkeley spokesman Robert Sanders said of the targeted employees.

In several instances, the activists have shown up outside researchers' homes in the middle of the night with bullhorns and chanting, "Animal killers." Sometimes they have scrawled slogans on the sidewalk in chalk.

On more than one occasion, rocks have been thrown through the researchers' windows and their cars have been scratched up.

"Sometimes (the activists) go up to the door," Sanders said, "which can be very frightening to the family."

According to UC, there have been 20 reports of damage to researchers' homes in Berkeley, Oakland and El Cerrito since August, including seven broken house windows and three vandalized cars.

Thirteen researchers have been harassed on more than one occasion, authorities said. One researcher, who studies how cat brains work for epilepsy research, has reported seven incidents at his home.

No specific group has been identified as being behind the harassment. The actions appear to be coordinated through an animal rights Web site that includes photos of researchers, descriptions and photos of their experiments, plus their home addresses and phone numbers - along with the disclaimer, "Please keep communications with the individuals legal and nonthreatening."

However, it doesn't appear that activists are always following those instructions.

Honestly, guys, if you're going to do that sort of thing to anybody... why not start with Dick Cheney? (I kid! I kid!)

Smoke crack, much?

Hillary Clinton officially suspended her campaign and endorsed Barack Obama. Now that this thing is done and it's officially Obama vs. McCain (and boy do I feel sorry for McCain... well maybe not THAT sorry...) I'm reflecting a little more on Hillary's campaign and her supporters. For the last eight years, I've gotten used to the sensation that the country lives in two completely different realities: the "reality-based" community and the Bush-worshipping one. I got sick of funhouse conversations. I still simply cannot see the straight-talking principled leader that many Republicans seem to. With Hillary, there was a little of the same thing. It seemed so obvious to me that half the country really didn't like her, that she had some major liabilities (like her vote for the war that she took too long to repent, and Bill's erratic behavior), and that Obama just seemed like the better candidate for this time. The Clintons' moment has passed. But to Hillary supporters, she was so obviously the better choice, and Obama was kind of annoying. I still don't quite get it. But I do hear the feelings of loss from some women, that one of us had a shot at the White House and lost it. It's tempting to blame it on sexism. And there was plenty of sexism going around. On the other hand, maybe the problem is that she was the only woman running, and that it's still a rare event when a woman is a candidate for the highest office in the land (or any political office, sadly). Not every man who runs is going to be the right one for the job, so the chances that the one woman who runs is going to be are pretty slim. So I still really believe that Clinton's problem is that she just wasn't the right candidate at the right time. I believe Obama IS that candidate. But I do have to pay her respect for being a trailblazer, and I hope one day soon, a woman will be president. (But please G-d, not Condi Rice or Elizabeth Dole or anybody like that...)

Michael's cousin's pizza place gets a nice review in the Examiner.

Needless to say, we're very, very pleased in our household...

She's awesome. Such facial expressions, not to mention the delivery of the lyrics...

and for comparison purposes, here's a link to Carol Burnett singing the same song.

Pringles can inventor asks to be buried in one of his cans, gets his wish