Cuban Missile Crisis

I was watching a vid of DNI Blair yakking about the Cuban missile crisis today. He was in junior high at the time, is somewhat older than I am. He told the story in an interesting way (as if it were unfolding today), making sure to include the bit about Turkey, which many readers of the public press were clueless about at the time.

The DNI position was a consequence of 9-11, was first held by Negroponte, the bro of the OLPC guy. To make room for it, the DCI position had to be discontinued, meaning Porter Goss was the last one. Leon Panetta is D/CIA, reporting to the DNI as head of like one of like sixteen little agencies. We were reviewing this bureaucracy on Synergeo today, as Dick was bringing up those drones again, linking to this New Yorker blog about "cubicle warriors" (see message 56443).

Anyway, those thirteen days in October brought the USA and USSR into a perilous confrontation. Avoiding another nuclear conflagration is a number one priority of the intelligence community, by definition, as any species stupid enough to use nukes against itself, ala Hiroshima and Nagasaki, lacks sufficient intelligence to merit Planet Earth as a lasting home (would be my assessment at least).

Odds 'n Ends

Of course it's easy enough to read the date and time on the poster below (previous post) given the back-lit nature of illuminated text. But black on purple is well neigh unreadable once the posters are printed, so how might our team succeed in generating turn out? That's the perennial question when it comes to the live performance circuit. Then there's the politics of type font and size, the order in which bands get listed and so forth, in addition to strategically placing them around town.

Lindsey is deep in a meeting with James on the whole publicity process, while I, the chauffeur, hang out with the nursing women and young children at Urban Grind. I also stuffed the car with free boards, thinking of raised beds for the planned vegetable garden. There's already that pile of dirt in front of the house, which needed a ditch between itself and the sidewalk to keep rain water from backing up in front of the neighbors' house. I added that yesterday.

Here's a smart cookie American from Savannah, helping with business intelligence around the Gulfstream fleet, those famous torture taxis frequented by the spoiled rich, like Rush Limbaugh, Leon Panetta and Catherine Reynolds, that high flying student loan lady. She then discovers "peak oil" and the generic bankruptcy of the lawyer-capitalist system, which thinks only "legally-piggily" in the short term, and her deeper integrity (American heritage) kicks in. She trades away a promising career, packs her car with her musical instruments and cat, and aims it at Portland, Oregon, having scoped out our City of Roses on an earlier reconnaissance mission. Now that's a good story -- plus the songs are really quite interesting, as is their vocal delivery.

Wanderers 2009.10.27

This was a good session. Allen Taylor swung by. I entered late, having watched CBS, and Taylor hit me with Python vs. PHP questions. I paraphrased Michelle Rowley saying PHP was more of a pajama language, good for slumming in bathrobe and slippers.

Lindsey made an appearance mid stream, met Allen. They got heavy into SQL-speak, mixed with BI, went out on the porch to finish their business, both getting cell calls. She pushed on to find her David Bowie movie at Movie Madness.

We had a new neighbor come through, a dog runner by trade, didn't need any wine or coffee. He was very welcome among us, fed the discussion.

My main obsession, one of them, was my interest in soldering a specific capacitor to a circuit board in a broken DVD player, impressed with my discovery [philosophy link] via Google of a cultic inner circle able to address this problem by replacing a certain capacitor. Bill Shepard volunteered to bring a kit. I need to grab the capacitor itself.

Lindsey is a rock musician, so even if it's an effete dainty setting, this is gonna be rock 'n roll, so we'll need to pop the top on the piano forte, mic the place, use some amps. Yes, in the field traveling, you might not have Goa-style equipment, but if you're lucky enough to have access, don't squander the opportunity. I said at Whole Foods that I appreciated her attitude in this regard (and I do -- artists ply their art, me no exception).

After hours, Barry elaborated on printed circuit board technology, which I found interesting.

I still need to find some cough meds for Tara at Safeway. Thinking about Nirel too, their adventure. Left voicemail with TC. Tea sometime, watch a movie.

I accompanied mom to UPS store today. She's been offered an intern, which seems like a good idea. Her work level at 80, frequent flights to the "other coast", is somewhat Lance Armstrong or Roz Savage in my book of records. I'm a proud son in that regard.

Sir! No Sir! (movie review)

This excellent little documentary traces the emergence of an organized resistance to the Vietnam War within the USA's own military during the Johnson and Nixon administrations.

The rank and file GIs distributed numerous underground publications at the risk of court martial. Many refused orders and went to jail. Others came home to inform the public of the war crimes going on in Indochina, where success was measured in body counts as a result of indiscriminate killing. My Lai was no isolated incident.

The resistance extended to officers and the intelligence community and became yet more concerted when soldiers were tasked with policing duties against US civilians in Chicago and elsewhere. Nixon-Kissinger were forced into an air war against Cambodia and North Vietnam because ground troops were in wholesale rebellion.

The film also examines the folk tale, popularized by Rambo and other media, that returning soldiers were spat upon by anti-war activists and called baby-killers, especially by female hippies. This story was apparently spread to occlude the more troubling truth that the US armed forces were increasingly turning against the war.

Mom reports already seeing this in Whittier (California). Indeed, this is not a new movie, though I'm sure it's not shared in high schools, where corporate sani-speak rules.

If you're in the Fuller camp (school), you'll have FINCAP, LAWCAP and GRUNCH as tools for analysis. That's considered esoteric political philosophy though, all wired up with an esoteric geometry wherein we speak about "tetravolumes" and such -- not something you'll know about if depending on the "gulag professoriate" for your analytical toolset.

No Mites, Sytes or Kites, no global grid, no American Transcendentalism.

Why is public discussion about ratcheting up in Afghanistan instead of ratcheting down in Iraq? Because most pundits have the intelligence quotient of a jelly fish perhaps (or pick any spineless species)?

Wanderers 2009.10.21

About ten of us are sitting around the Pauling House table, yakking about Richard Feynman a lot. Steve Mastin knew him personally. We're also talking about bias versus prejudice, their various connotations. I'm not taking the lead in these discussions, am relatively quiet. Bias relates to "lawn bowling" in some contexts.

Earlier we discussed the hidden military draft in the form of "stop loss" where individuals are lured into military service then kept in servitude long past the time they expected to be set free. The USA has never found a way to really do without slavery, just keeps changing the terminology. Imprisoning so-called "illegals" and making them work for task masters is another way that it's done.

Michael Hagmeier has joined us today. Social networking software was another big topic (Buzz taking the lead -- as a former radio jock and repentant conservative, he has a lot to say about creating buzz). I invited folks to the upcoming Elevated Coffee and Muddy Waters events, will follow-up on the e-group.

From Synergeo today (hyperlink to BFI thread added):

Bridging the C.P. Snow chasm is the goal. Have people well versed in the humanities, like Hugh Kenner, also following scientific literature thanks to a heightened visual imagination, and upgraded philosophical language, with Synergetics one important influence among others.

Over-specialization is what Fuller thought was leading us closest to the brink (oblivion). The great pirates had done all this divide and conquer work (goes the myth [0]) but then couldn't keep a grip when science went into the invisible realm (99% of phenomena not directly apprehensible to the human senses). So the specialists inherited the store, while the generalists pretty much died out. We lost the comprehensivist viewpoints in large degree. We're paying a heavy price for that.

Kirby

[0] myth doesn't mean lie or falsehood. For further reading:
http://worldgame.blogspot.com/2009/10/wanderers-20091013.html

The tiny moderated diversity list in Python Nation is contemplating a parallel more open SIG (special interest group) that'd accommodate a more technical approach to the issues. We might get away from English as somehow the one official language. The age of Unicode (versus ASCII) is already well under way. Carl Trachte and I (among others) have been brainstorming a way ahead.

related links: [1][2]

Burn Out

:: burn out 2009 ::

These anarchist-libertarians or whatever species mix (some pirates) are pretty good at organizing. They're mostly here for each other, even though the general public (GP) is invited.

Thanks to minimal promotion, the event is more like a private party than a tourist attraction. The venue could clearly handle a bigger crowd. As the night wears on, perhaps more will join us [a lot more did].

One of the organizers came up to me saying my daughter had been asking for Kirby at the front gate, but I'm thinking that was probably Laura Cooper of The Good Bye Party, who was standing with Rick when I showed up at the admissions booth.

The sound system is excellent and I'm enjoying the music. Lindsey only gets 45 minutes today and is busy getting set up in the batters' box. She has a prime slot at 7:30 PM on the indoor stage (the various weird bizmos anchor the stages outside).

Lots of crazy costumes, kilts, wigs, clowning.

I'm sporting a low key Dymaxion Clown uniform myself: geek man purse (various company names, including Intel and Microsoft), a Python fleece over an Open Source Lab T-shirt, belt studded with peace symbols purchased at Red Light on Hawthorne yesterday for only $7 (my daughter rolled her eyes when she saw it -- might be a mid life crisis belt?), brown corduroy trousers, very ordinary shoes, wire frame glasses (not the "knows everything" frames -- not sure where those are).

People are being respectful and well behaved. I suppose outsiders imagine all kinds of salacious craziness when they think of "art colonies" but that's just human psychology. Squares project their fantasies on "loose people", not realizing that this lifestyle may also require a lot of self-discipline (way more than many normals would consider reasonable I'm sure).

Yes, I'm sounding like an apologist already, even though I just got here and have never been to Burning Man. I guess I'm just a sucker for people working together to pull off civilian festivals. There's no hate stoking. Quirkiness is not discouraged, on the contrary, we're free to be off beat.

In the Synergeo list, I've been arguing about the "dimension" concept again.

Some of my readers don't want to buy that "4D" could have more than one meaning. If some corpus has built up some inertia, some authority, they just want to leverage that without questioning it, hoping some of that mojo (aka gravitas) will "rub off" on their own presentations.

The fact remains that Fuller was pioneering his own way of thinking in Synergetics, as distinct from Minkowski's or Coxeter's, both of whom had a strong hand in their respective language games. Poker is not Crazy Eights however. Not everyone is playing the same card game, not even within mathematics.

People keep projecting these monolithic authorities where there just aren't any. That's why banks have such heavy columns I guess, such intimidating facades (learned from religions, especially the Roman ones): the weight of their architecture is meant to counterbalance the flimsiness of the thinking within.

Followup: Two YouTubes of Freedom Train @ Cascadia that evening [1][2]

Kick Off

I went into this event a skeptic for some reason, but Andrew Weil is just telling us what he knows, being as honest and direct as we'd expect from a medical doctor. I came away more of a fan.

Weil thinks we should disallow direct advertising of prescription pharmaceuticals to consumers. Very few countries allow that (New Zealand another sucker). He also worries about the lifestyle we're exporting, a killer by all accounts. If you want to stay healthy, learn to cook and get off those drugs maybe (it's complicated, but be aware how many stand to profit from your addictions).

Basically, he's all about prevention. The USA is bankrupting itself because people wait until they have a disease before thinking about health issues. They're lured into this by corporate media, which are all about cruelly destroying human lives whenever possible, provided this proves a money-making strategy.

He taught us a breathing exercise. Stress management, prevention, is the way to cut health care costs, not manic consumerism ala fast food nation.

I need to do device checks more often as I'm missing my digital camera and can't recall when it might have gone its separate way. I took the bus downtown...

After the lecture, we retreated to The Heathman for the traditional repast and more questions. Both were good. I wasn't clear I could go to this but Terry reminded me I'm on the board.

I invited Tag and we sat with Nirel and her good friend Flo, some other cool characters. We had good conversation and I left Tag to chauffeur Nirel to a dance club where Nirel was to meet her daughter.

I phoned the Market Street Pub about maybe finding a camera. No dice. Sorry fans, no Photostream for the time being. Followup: oh (slaps forehead), here it is. Lucky day again.

Wanderers 2009.10.13

Tonight's meeting is really well attended. We're double deep around the table on two sides. The topic: American myths. Our presenter: Roger Paget, political economist, and Asianist.

The notion of "myth" is frequently confused with the notion of "falsehood" i.e. to tell myths is to tell lies. Other namespaces honor myth-making a lot more, take a more sophisticated view.

Paget's thesis is the USA system is premised on participants staying involved in debates, conversations. To kill public debate is to kill the system. Not all systems are like that.

Keeping channels open is important.

Not teaching civics in school of course strips people of their ability to participate effectively -- not that civics was ever taught especially intelligently, hence our current slumdog idiocracy (editorializing here).

The Marshall Plan and the Vietnam War were both liberal notions lets remember. JFK made hawkish speeches that make Dick Cheney's seem leftish. Liberalism and LAWCAP have worked hand in hand.

The mega-myth of many USAers is a kind of manifest destiny (goes back to the Romans, characteristic of empires) -- not unlike the Israelis though of course on a grander scale (North America is much bigger).

However, to every myth there's at least one counter-myth, no less false or true necessarily. Paget focuses on antimonies, unities of opposites, what the Lakota call "heyokah" (he didn't use that word -- my spin).

There's a bridge to Jungian literature here, but we're mostly not invoking archetypes too directly, keeping the talk more political.

As the owner of Grunch.net (a domain name), I am of course familiar with mythological thinking. Karen Armstrong has been another teacher on this topic.

I was pleased to encounter Nirel across the table, glad she got to meet Lindsey. She's looking at India and Paris as her next great adventures, with her adult children in tow. Wow.

Dr. Tag is also here, asking good questions.

Measures of the quality of life have become rather warped by economics. Paget thinks of himself as a patriot, former special forces etc.

There's a lot of interesting pronoun use in this room, as usual. Humans deploy "our" and "we" in interesting ways, to manifest their allegiances --- thinking back to Sean's observations on his Wittgenstein list.

That's an identity building activity, the project of "ego", not just a political one.

Terry showed up at the conclusion of our meeting, hoping we'd buy season tickets. My sponsors haven't seen fit to budget for that, but it's not too late for some earmarks maybe.

Urban Grind

Our favorite doctor, with us through thick and thin, is thinking of dropping our insurance company. The whole practice is. There's this foolish myth that private insurance entitles you to any doctor you like, a freedom some public option would supposedly take away. But doctor practices drop insurance companies all the time, are under no obligation to slave away for unethical biz partners. Just shed 'em, is the order of the day, per free market principles. I'm told there will be a list on the website, of approved policy writers. We'll jump ship if we can. Don't wanna lose that doctor.

I've been comparing notes with the guy behind the counter here at Urban Grind, turns out we're both big Idiocracy fans. Seattle has two monster stadiums, compared to Portland's humble PGE Park. We don't pack our bleachers. That doesn't mean we're not watching on LCDs in neighborhood coffee shops. Even little league games make it live to the big screens in sports bars, in zip codes with closed circuits.

The PSF board approved the Diversity Statement 8-0-0. I've been yakking up a storm regarding our affirmative action plans around minors and college aged Pythonistas. Here's the full text of the motion:

RESOLVED that the PSF adopt the following diversity statement, and publish it with links to ancillary materials maintained by members of the diversity list:

The Python Software Foundation and the global Python community welcome and encourage participation by everyone. Our community is based on mutual respect, tolerance, and encouragement, and we are working to help each other live up to these principles. We want our community to be more diverse: whoever you are, and whatever your background, we welcome you.

In principle (feel free to draw one) there's a Venn diagram showing overlap with gender-based targets and quotas, also around Pycon / Baghdad, with having some keynotes in Arabic, maybe with simultaneous translation by some streaming protocol. The Blip TV archives might host the dub tracks or subtitle tracks as user-specified playback options.

Full Tilt

:: on piano forte ::

Yesterday was a whirlwind, starting with gutting the garage, then realizing we were down a mic stand (as in gone missing). Obviously I'd left it at Ladd's Inn, still green at this job (setting up takes a pro, and LW is one -- me too, but not as a rock star per se, more as a geek).

The hypothesis proved correct, so I was able to relax through an evening in Men's Club (Multnomah Athletic, nowadays co-ed), schmoozing with a fave Wanderer, continuing some meandering discussions (I yakked about some of the recent media campaigns launching through NGOs I'm connected with, brought stuff for show & tell from the garage gutting).

Vincente's is experimenting with having a bar scene, to kick up business in the 10 to midnight time frame perhaps. Neighbors are likely not the issue given the well insulated nature of the place. Having someone play their existing piano full volume, no artificial amplification, was part of this experiment. Lindsey was superb, we got the recording, along with pizza and beer from the management, plus got to schmooze with fans.

Bill Shepard showed up and we continued discussing John's Java applet, run out as JavaScript by Google's GWT.

I thought the evening was exciting (as well as nutritious), because I got to be more like a manager, not just the roadie / chauffeur. I announced later I now had a PhD in PizzaJointology (yeah, right). Walker is doing another pizza venue this evening, again without amplification or drum synth (R2), just a strong voice with edgy piano forte. It's A Beautiful Pizza on Belmont.

I'm happy to see all the introspective news reviews regarding the road ahead in the Drug Wars. Obama's netting himself a Nobel ain't such a bad thing either, let's just say we're "quietly pleased" (WILPF was in the NYT twice this morning thanks to press coverage of past recipients, AFSC another one, and Linus Pauling).

Some Nobel winners I've actually met, though not for peace: Harold Kroto (buckminsterfullerene, with two others); Robert Laughlin (stuff to do with electrons). I've also actually held the two Pauling Nobels (the other for chemistry) at OSU's special collection. Pretty cool.

Hey, good to see that Fuller Projection embedded in some library architecture, photo by Dick Fischbeck.

This morning I'm back in my corner office, with a running joke that I'm "still on Tokyo time" (explains the beer). I'm also sampling edamame, a soy snack served fresh in the pod. Keiko is not afraid to educate our zip code about healthy customs enjoyed by those in far distant mail delivery areas.

Capitalism: A Love Story (movie review)

Naturally industrious Americans yearn for a time when their leadership makes sense. That time is not yet, as voodoo economics remains the prevailing religion, a kind of neo-Victorianism which externalizes future shock, assumes its boilerplate class definitions (in the object oriented sense) have a right to world domination, no matter how crufty and ill conceived the original source code. We're stuck with a caste of failed engineers unwilling to upgrade its skills.

Michael keeps it light and poignant, his signature blend. His body of work is consistent and this one helps tie off loose ends by hearkening back to Flint, Michigan. A core irony: Flint, already devastated by non-planner types who helplessly respond to "market forces" (hyper-specialization has been devastating), has become a center for mailing out foreclosure notices to the rest of the nation, as nervous nellies in banking continue postponing a day of reckoning.

The judiciary branch is the most marginalized in this film. The Wall Street power grab through puppeting Congress blocks court supervision (no prying eyes).

That case of a judge who willfully commits teens to a penitentiary for minor infractions, in exchange for bribes, is like a nail in the coffin of that older way of behaving. A next generation, betrayed and exploited, has little incentive to prop up those dying credos.

If "the corporation" is really able to run amok in this way, with its creation in legal fiction attributable to a manipulated judiciary, then it's clear a Frankenstein type monster is on the loose, and until judges effectively deal with this reality, they're in no position to hear a next case (Wall Street concurs apparently).

I saw this with mom, Tag and Lindsey at that Lloyd Center cineplex. We had some coffee in said mall before the various taxis took off, bound to and from their several destinations.

My take is the word "capitalism" is somewhat up for grabs as to what it means. I favor "using one's own head" plus boost various cities as capitals of this and that e.g. I boost Portland as an open source capital. In those two senses, I'm a capitalist. I'm a socialist in using social networking software like Facebook and Twitter.

Narrowing the whole show to two competing Isms (capitalism versus socialism) is not my idea of a good idea though, seems more of a dumbing down. Of course there's fascism, communism, and just plain whining about stuff (more like Protestantism), so maybe I shouldn't complain.

As articulated elsewhere in this blog, I think it's the discipline of Economics itself that needs some real competition. I look for general systems theory on a resume, when thinking in terms of filling responsible leadership positions (and I vote).

Economists with stronger science and engineering credentials might fit the bill (in terms of having some credibility), but I sense most cookie cutter gamblers on Wall Street are unimaginatively depending on inherited reflexes and hand-me-down source code, are neo-Victorians in that sense.

Shooting Star

:: on piano forte ::

:: alternatives to violence ::

:: press play to start ::

:: bookstore venue ::

WQM Day One

:: WQM, day one, fall 2009 ::

Day One is the only day I'll be making this year, as Portland is hosting an activist extravaganza this weekend and I'm on MVP duty.

My part this year was to organize a community night at the Stark street facility, complete with musicians, videos, amplification and potluck (always potluck) with the lasagnas catered through Costco.

Joe Snyder got the ball rolling with a high energy skit involving our youngest attenders (single digit?) followed by me fumbling with the projector and Starling-1. Good Bye Party (Laura Cooper and Rick Flosi) kicked off the more adult-oriented musical portion (taking the brunt of audience skepticism -- this was a new kind of program for our sect), followed by Mendel Rivers and Marian Rhys with one of their racy little spoofs (of Bill Shakespeare's Macbeth in this case).

Mendel and Marian are the two responsible for injecting some levity around our library "bonnet lady" (various escapades). They're also both over sixty so "dignified by definition" as Marian once put it i.e. able to overcome any frowning traditionalists who might wanna pull rank and play the heavy ("to elder" as we say in our Society, used as a verb). Mendel has a long history as a combative lawyer, isn't about to take guff from anyone.

Lindsey Walker then seized the baton and took Quakers through a whirligig tour of some of her punk bar hits, using both upright piano and Yamaha with R2D2 (the drum machine). Her Bose Tower served with my Youtubes as well (Dance Party and 4D Studios compilation).

Lindsey started with Freedom Train, followed by Fear of Flying, then Icarus (which she introduced around the theme of mental illness), then It All Comes Down to You (with R2), ending with her Cheer Up Emo Kid. We recorded this portion, plus some of the earlier portions, for her growing archive.

Following intermission in the social hall downstairs, and after poetry and more kid songs, we turned the balance of the evening over to Michael Hagmeir and Leaha, with Anna Zanolli more in my role as roadie. They had a variety of interesting instruments: three kinds of guitar, didgeridoo, viola, not to mention two melodious voices. Lindsey and Anna got to talk, plus lots of other mingling occurred.

I was outside the building on my cell with TC part of the time, then later messing with AAA, requesting a tow truck, this time for one of our Quaker families in distress, trapped in Mazama parking lot. This situation resolved.

Pam Melick was very supportive, as was Annis Bleeke, meaning Quarterly at the camp will have its breakfast food, and Quakers last night felt well taken care of, even if many of them got sleepy or had back problems so couldn't stay all the way through. I'd learned how to adjust chair counts to butts in est (Centers Network (we were cultish about chairs)) so was able to apply those logistical skills and keep the venue warm and intimate. Those who stayed had much to chew on. I was glad to visit with Pan Tangible and Zoe again, finally got to meet Boyd plus get news of Miranda.

LW got lots of compliments, especially from Lisa Knox and Sonya Pinney. I could see her entertaining Quakers again down the road, or even some Friends venturing forth to It's A Beautiful Pizza next October 17 for example.

John Calvi was present, didn't yodel or otherwise try to manage the proceedings. This was his night off in a busy schedule, with Day Two more his element. I'm glad to have provided this gateway event. As I wrote to the Bridge City mailing list earlier yesterday afternoon:

I'm hoping to show off the Multnomah facility as a possible gathering place for future Quarterlies, including those of the overnight variety (stay with host families in Portland for two nights).

To this end, I'll be using a little bit of wifi with projector (yes, the meetinghouse has it), showing off all the multi-purpose floorspace (except no food or drink upstairs!).

Last year I served as theme czar, pulling a panel together to discuss The Future of Friends. I felt I was still continuing along this same trajectory a year later, in cahoots with my co-conspirators, by featuring a lot of under-40 talents, mixed in with us graysters (boomers are senior citizens by this time).

Our program was not ostensibly political even though I was organized in my weaving of themes. People who shared in the planning have a pretty good idea where I'm coming from, as an AFSC volunteer and even as a diversity expert (the PSF snake joined a tableau, with Fuller Projection and the Stuart Kaufman hat). PSF = Python Software Foundation.

"Starvation = Torture" is likewise a thread in our activist convergence today. I'm assisting WILPF but will perhaps make the Food Rebellion talk as well, thanks to Alice Perry for patching me in.

Club Scene

We were lucky to find parking right in front of The Red Cap downtown, a handsome establishment catering mostly to queer customers (a "gay bar"). The sound system and dance space were recently overhauled and proved more than adequate.

Lindsey was in her element, the paramilitary engineer in costume, delivering a strong performance. She wasn't there to hunt for girlfriends though. In this chapter she's all business, a professional revolutionary, kinda like me (just the driver, but I have some friends in high places... or something).

Although I'd emailed Dr. Tag about the gender bender nature of this fundraiser (she's a professor of gender studies), I didn't even wear my Python fleece (stayed more with the professor look), so any pretense to being a diversity expert from the PSF was mostly a head trip (I did get some compliments though, from a cute girl in black boots).

As the chauffeur, I'm not obligated to stay through gigs. LW is one autonomous individual and knows the bar scene way better than I do. That I stayed the whole time was more a result of just enjoying myself (coulda gone to Powell's nearby).

The laser light show had me thinking of the planetarium at OMSI and Joe Clinton's crusade to get every high school in America equipped with some kind of planetarium gizmo. That's probably more practical than my crusade: to build overnight facilities in the high desert and places and run geography-geometry students through a queue in large numbers (picture Detroit). Stellarium and Celestia are the two open source products I often mention at this juncture.

I had a good talk with James, a talented artist who stares mortality in the face, has seen gazillions of movies, likes to frequent happy hours like at Jake's (me too -- lets do that guy!). James used to be Claire, and Will before that. There's a documentary on the Will-to-Claire transition, one hour long, already on the art film circuit, made by an accomplished music video director breaking ground in this genre. I'm looking forward to seeing it (it's on my schedule).

James has been doing the Lindsey Walker posters, building up a signature portfolio before plying his skills in LA. He's an accomplished karaoke DJ, which is saying a lot as karaoke is a prime participatory sport accessible to the mainstream, a vehicle for self expression that keeps music pumping through our cultural arteries (without which, they'd likely harden and die).

Speaking of gay bars, Josh wrote to correct one of my blog posts and to announce he's about ready to pack his young family into a jet bound for Australia, to take on coding a lesbian dating service in Ruby. That sounds like a great adventure. Although I lived in the Philippines for a number of years, was an avid scuba diver for awhile, I never got further south than Bali in that hemisphere.