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July 2003

We’re Back

So Mark and I went to Greensboro and Charlotte and Atlanta, and we ate a lot, and we didn’t see anyone but family, and a couple of famous old bigots (and one civil rights pioneer) died, and sodomy was legalized just hours after we’d committed a felony in a Motel 6 in Charlotte, and we ate a lot more, and there were thunderstorms, and we brought back vinyl and liver pudding and Diet Cheerwine, and it was all pretty damned exhausting, but fun…

Details to follow, along with apologies to everyone I didn’t see…

CNN?

You know it’s going to be a strange day when your first piece of email in the morning starts with “you must be getting lots of hits after the CNN article”. If anyone has any idea what that’s all about, please let me know. I think it has something to do with Carolina Circle Mall in Greensboro, and I sort of hope it doesn’t have anything to do with this…

OK…

OK. That’s a relief. CNN actually linked to Deadmalls.com which in turn has a link to one of my pages. I was a little horrified at the thought of Mom seeing a news story on CNN about how I used to suck dick at Montgomery Ward when I was 16…

Covering Bland

Now I ask you: does the world REALLY need a Dave Matthews cover band?

Speaking, however, of cover bands, I’ve just come to know the wonders of Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. It is difficult not to love a band who can pull off pop-punk covers of both “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” and “The Rainbow Connection”…

And for those of you who aren’t in the know, “The Rainbow Connection” is Kermit the Frog’s classic theme from “The Muppet Movie” and not some stupid pride anthem…

Free Speech?

As much as I’d prefer not to give a certain radio talk show host (and, ummm, FORMER TV personality) any more publicity than he’s already received, I will point out that it’s very unappealing to watch a self-described “conservative” (who should, one assumes, know better) whine about how his First Amendment rights were violated and what a “victim” he’s become…

First, as I’ve said before, one’s right to free speech does not include the right to use anyone else’s facilities for this expression (despite a wrong-headed ruling by the California Supreme Court). Second, I was under the impression that taking responsibility for one’s own actions was rather high on most “conservative” checklists…

But, of course, this realization could only come from a logical, rational, and thoughtful analysis of the issues, which is not something for which this particular personality (nor most of his “nation”) is well known. After all, reasonable commentary generally doesn’t work well when shouted…

On a completely unrelated note, I really crave one of these (thanks to Jim in NC for the pointer)…

Stupid Heart

Sigh…

For those of you who are keeping tabs on my life, Friday’s cardioversion didn’t work and my heart remains arythmic. I was looking forward to the whole thing finally being over and done with after two years, but it apparently wasn’t meant to be. I’ll find out about the next step in a couple of weeks…

The whole thing made me a little bummed out and preoccupied all weekend, but Mark helped take my mind off it by taking me down to the city on Friday afternoon for a bit of DVD shopping and by taking me out to dinner on Saturday night. And I discovered my boss is right about at least one thing: Gaspare’s on Geary Boulevard does in fact have the best pizza in San Francisco…

The City

George Sessions Perry on San Francisco (1947):

It’s civilized and robust, and its shoulder wouldn’t fit a chip. When you point out something wrong with the place, its people relish that defect too — because it’s a valid part of San Francisco.

My, how things change. San Francisco has long since lost any sense of humor about itself; criticisms are often seen as evidence that the individual uttering them somehow doesn’t “deserve” to be here.

One thing, though, is now clear: San Francisco has not been the largest city in the Bay Area for more than a decade, and the Census Bureau has recognized the fact. And no amount of whining about how cosmpolitan, beautiful, or popular the place may be will change this one simple truth…

Fast Food

Could have written this myself:

His premise is simple: Food, especially fast food, is making people fat. Apparently against their will or ability to resist … It’s hell living in a rich country with too much to eat, isn’t it? Heaven presumably would be a hungry nation where food is scarce and otherwise tastes like tofu.

It gets even better:

Allow me to translate: By combining sugar, fat, and protein in certain ways, food vendors are trying to make their products taste so good that you’ll eat them. Scandalous.

I really liked this particular rant. Meant to link it last week, but I was a little preoccupied.

The Neighbors

Just what kind of people sit around listening to annoying techno at top volume in their homes and backyards all day? I could maybe understand DANCING to it in a club (OK, maybe not even that), but just LISTENING to it all afternoon? What sort of chemical catastrophe does it take to create such an individual? And why did he move in next to me?

And yes, as a matter of fact, I DO believe that all techno is inherently annoying, thanks, especially when I have to listen to it against my will. But I guess I shouldn’t complain about nonstop circuit clone music; it’s so liberating, after all…

Anyway, for the weekend:

  • Working on a new site for a brand new TV station in upstate New York.
  • Maybe a little road trip to get the hell out of the neighborhood, this being one of those three weekends a year when it’s more annoying than usual to live near Folsom Street.
  • Probably an awful lot of Next Generation, since we now have them all on DVD, following dinner with Sarah on Wednesday.