Monday, September 29, 2008

Going for Greed

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Bailout Blunders #1

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Where do we go from here? House Speaker Nanci Pelosi reiterated the Democrats' commitment to place the needs of Main Street before those of Wall Street . However, the problem remains that "protecting" the middle class is rarely effective when done by by those who do not feel the social and economic pressures felt by the middle or lower-middle class.

Regretting that the lending crisis is our reality says little when no member of the House, much less the Senate, face foreclosure, face living on the streets. Even if members of the House and Senate face reelection, few face any real threat of unemployment. Even if they lose a seat in Washington, most maintain law practices or posses wealthy spouses capable of sustaining a $100,000 plus income with a single-earner household.

Perhaps Republicans and Democrats need a closer look at the ills facing many of Americans. Perhaps economic leaders need to learn a tougher lesson than they'll learn from briefly losing their CEO or CFO or COO positions. Perhaps members of the 26 companies currently under Federal investigation by the FBI for their role in the sub-prime lending fiasco, should have more than their, so called, golden parachutes cut. Let's see these business and political leaders stripped of their silver spoons, blue blood, legacy birth rights and speculative wealth. Let's see these folks stripped of their designer clothes, luxury vehicles, chartered planes, overstuffed stock portfolios and company (or taxpayer funded) credit cards. From there we may see a different turn when it comes to the way they relate to "ordinary" Americans.

$700 billion dollar bailout isn't in the cards, at least not today. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi blames Republicans for not passing the bill that she said would have given more oversight to the lending market, but let's not forget that politicians were the ones responsible for ensuring that the oversight was there far before this catastrophic collapse.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Who needs a bailout?

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This whole bailout fiasco is intense, especially being unemployed at the moment. The worse off the economy gets, the more my confidence fades. Watching projects get canceled as companies decide to reign in spending, my heart palpates and my hands become clammy.
How did this become someone's home? How did a doorway become the entirety of a home, not just the entrance? When did a sleeping bag become an everyday item, rather than an occasional companion in the woods?

How did she go from out of a job to out of work to out of the workforce entirely? How did she reach for a bottle or a pill instead of a friend or the phone? We believe it can't happen to us, but her story warns us of an alternate ending to the story.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

When Pigs Fly at Zeitgeist

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From Conduit we headed to Zeitgeist, a biker bar on the edge of the Mission. The scene began quietly. Sitting at sappy, food infused pine benches we made friends with the tourists and looked intently at the pierced and inked bikers.

We quickly learned why the pink pigs fly high at Zeitgeist -- and so does almost everyone else.

Party bowls galore. I wasn't aware that this place had such a permissive policy of getting stoned in public. Lines of coke, totally unacceptable, but weed? Party on dudes.

Not sure what the deal is with these pigs, but the picture taker took a risk. Also overheard were several bizarre conversations, including this bit:

"How could you have eleven children?" ... "Your grandfather couldn't keep it in his pants." Followed by disparaging comments about Arabs.


Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Dessert @ Conduit

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Dessert at Conduit, a new-ish San Francisco restaurant located at 280 Valencia, brings seasonal delights to mouth-watering heights. Delish!

Not really a foodie, I found myself absolutely at a loss for words as I sampled three deserts by pastry chef Majken Klare: Cake, Crêpe and Vacherin.

Such toned down names give the false impression that simplicity has to be bland. At Conduit it is anything but.
While the restaurant specializes in contemporary American Cuisine accented with French and Italian flourishes, the dessert menu takes traditional to an ethereal level.

The Crêpe, my favorite by far, was an elegant combination of Charantais Melon (Cucumis melo ), bacon and galia. The melon, a European Cantalope, holds a sweet, clean flavor with pleasing texture. Soft colors of the green rind and the mellow oraenge fruit appeal to the eye while the aroma tempts the palet.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Justice for Poets: Rightous Kill

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Did a good cop really kill those who somehow beat the system? Should we forgive him if he did? How do fourteen murders over thirty years go unnoticed? How do we manage to sustain any commitment to justice? These are some of the questions raised by Righteous Kill.

Righteous Kill, from the writer of Inside Man, is less a cop-suspense film than it is a tragic story of love and betrayal. The film is simultaneously engaging and disquieting. Headliners Robert De Niro and Al Pacino play the story’s leads: a pair of veteran NYPD cops (Turk and Rooster, respectively) on the trail of a vigilante serial killer.

We’ve seen a whole subgenre of movies that re-cast their moral compass in a manner that compels them take lives in order to protect themselves or others – Taxi Driver and more recently The One, come to mind. Almost all the comic flicks involve vigilante justice, Batman isn’t testifying in court or filling out a police report. In Righteous Kill, it seems, someone is also dissatisfied with the injustices of the justice system.

From the out set we’re lead to believe it’s an inside job. The film opens with a crackly, black and white TV displays Turk, on what looks like an interrogation video. He states calmly that he murdered 14 people during his 30 years on the NYPD.

If this is the story, than what’s the point? Nothing left to figure out. Unless it’s the righteousness of the murders, the justice he’s bringing with a tainted badge. This confession lapses back to the first vigilante act: Turk convinces his partner, Rooster, to plant a gun on a kiddy-killer, who’d been acquitted for raping and murdering his girlfriend’s 10 year-old daughter. Here, so it seems, is where justice becomes a personal matter, where the line blurs and the killing begins. Back to the confession tape Turk claims he served justice when the system couldn’t.

While this is a well done genre film, what makes it worth the fare is the brolove shared by the pair of cops whose partnership has spanned three decades. Their bond is vulnerable and touching.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

TEP allows 70,000 more riders, no budget increase

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A nine percent increase to the city's bus lines and rail routes will make room for 70,000 additional riders without increasing the MTA's budget. This is according to the findings of the Transit Effectiveness Project (TEP), which researched demographics and tracked rider ship to capture the most comprehensive picture of MTA's traffic in 25 years. Yet, not all San Francisco residents are pleased with the TEP's recommendations.

On Tuesday, September 16, the Municipal Transit Authority (SFMTA) Board held a special public hearing so those concerned by the changes the TEP calls for could state them on the record. Comments, however, were limited to one minute per speaker — down from the three-minute floor-time residents were expecting — due to the nearly 100 person long comment list at the start of the 3:30 hearing.

Recommended changes include: consolidating certain low-traffic routes (or route segments), increasing service on high-traffic routes, with additional increases during peak hours, while adding new routes and extending existing routes. The TEP's staff recommendations state that by shifting MTA resources to high-traffic routes it will reduce delays and increase reliability on all routes.

While objections to the TEP recommendations spanned a wide range of issues the most common among them were concern for how the changes would affect the elderly and the disabled. Cutting the 38 Ocean Beach line would force seniors traveling inbound (toward senior centers, doctor's appointments or downtown shopping) to take the 18 bus to 33rd St. and transfer to 38 Geary, arguably adding an additional 30 minutes to an already hour long commute.

"It's not broke, so don't fix it. I learned that in City Hall," said Veera Hail, referring to the route change proposed for the 38 Ocean Beach. "It's fine the way it is. Leave it alone."

The public comment required no action by the Board. Yet, TEP staff will incorporate Tuesday's community input session during their September 22 work session. The results of the work session will be presented to the SFMTA Board for approval on September 30. If approved at the SFMTA meeting, the TEP proposals will not take effect sooner then July 2009 at the earliest.


Monday, September 15, 2008

Pardon My Spanglish

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Last night I attended a reading by comedian Bill Santiago at Booksmith on Haight Street. His new book Pardon My Spanglish: One Man's Guide to Speaking the Habla (softcover, $14.95), is an irreverent take on a linguistic mashup.

Santiago's book chronicles his Spanglish obsession, from Spanglish on the phone to Spanglish online, he repeats recorded conversations from a variety of sources. He uses his family throughout the book to express the attachment of Spanish speakers to their mother language and how cross-cultural existence has given birth to a hybrid bi-lingual language. The stories are hilarious, but full enjoyment requires a decent understanding of Spanish, as several members of last night's audience can attest.

Santiago's delivery is spontaneous and his stream-of-consciousness, comedic commentary accompanies his literary selections. Listening to him read, feels sort of like Being John Malcovich: traveling into Santiago's mind as he researches and writes the book. Weird but entertaining and enlightening.

Bill Santiago is a nationally known comedian who has appeared on Conan O’Brien and Comedy Central. His latest show, The Funny of (Latin) Dance, will be premiering at the Brava Theater Center in San Francisco on September 20th.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

On the Waterfront

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San Francisco serves as a beacon for modern day gypsies. More often on warm days these folks spill out of the shelters onto the sidewalks and public beaches. Down near Fisher Man's Wharf, today was no exception.

Usually their face or contorted figure stands out only for a minute or two. I hold their faces in my head as I thank God that I have a consistent access to indoor plumbing and a well made bed. At the moment I can't shake the impression left by of a woman sprawled in on the beach today.

Her calloused blackened feet jutted out into the fine, warm sand. Her head rested between a cement wall and the ground. Her mouth hung open, still and hard as if she were frozen, mid-chant, in a Zen like Ommm. I felt the urge to close it, like the eyelids of the newly dead.

Her sun streaked hair, grubby and stringy, looked sticky and limp against her head. Her shorts were inappropriate for her age; they exposed her still shapely, tan, bare legs. Sleep softened her features and smoothed her wrinkles, this made it hard to tell her age. She could easily have been in her sixties, though she may have been much younger. I can't imagine her life had been easy or carefree, despite its nomadic turn.

She sleeps on this San Francisco beach and appears more relaxed and vulnerable than I've been in years.

Friday, September 12, 2008

Bad on the Phone

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Yesterday I participated in an interview for an online community coordinator position. The position is with a BigBox retailer looking to add some "community" to its online commerce. The interview lasted a little over half an hour and the whole thing felt like a psychic test, with my task being to read the interviewer's mind.

He asked me about a time when I faced an ethical quandary and how I handled the situation. He explained that the position required "sound judgment" when it came to editing content posted by users on the site. He meant quashing any naysayers or fun-pokers that rustled the feathers of the golden commercial goose--disrupting buying patterns or exposing shoddy service or lead painted tot-toys.

Sure he didn't want my thoughts on freedom of expression and transparency, I gave him a story about plagiarism and my desire to use the incident as a teachable moment and create a "win-win" situation for a floundering student. His response was so disinterested I wanted to end the conversation immediately or blurt out "what the hell buddy? Knock off the interview-speak and say what you mean." Why make the question so supercilious?

If he would've asked me straight out whether I would censor material deemed too negative/obscene/antagonistic by the BigBox boys, I would have said yes. Not that I think it's the best way to build a community or that "sound judgment" means silencing dissenting or questioning voices. I prefer a more Millian approach: draw out dissenters, engage them in dialog and force them to substantiate their position, then work on establishing steps to resolve their issues. Such participatory patterns create community, whether online or off.

Maybe my interview didn't go so well. But, since mind-reader appears nowhere on my resume, I'm not taking the floundering exchange as a blight on my core competencies.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Obama Christ Superstar: Trials & Tribulations

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Kaltura

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Obama Christ Superstar

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Kaltura

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Scam Alert: The Latitude Group

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The Latitude Group claims it represents array of big name clients, such as the Oakland As, Disney World and IMAX. If reselling bundled tickets counts as marketing representation, then I guess they do. But from my recent experience, I doubt their supposed clients would see it that way.

Casting itself as a partner with any powerhouse company appears incongruous. The Latitude Group resides in a dank, five-story 1980s office building plopped between the exhaust from the 580 Freeway and the back parking lot of a Kinkos/FedEx in Emeryville. The paper label taped on the building's directory announcing the firm's 500 Suite residence further points to the unlikelihood of many, if any, high profile clients. As does the elevator that doesn't reach the firm's 5th floor office, reception area overrun with awkwardly-overdressed, young professionals, the cheap wide screen tv playing I Am Legend and the unkempt and seemingly clueless secretarial pool chatting among themselves. Talk about false marketing.

The ploy is twofold: 1. that The Latitude Group is a marketing firm and 2. that the "management training program" actually involves a paid position. The only marketing going on here is in the company's self-billing where it proclaims its status as a reputable firm in ads that saturate bay area job boards. While the positions may not involve cold-calling per-se, they require endless cold-knocking. The "marketing" requires wearing professional attire to knock on doors -- the business-y disguise increases account executives' ability to wiggle into local businesses unobstructed -- and hawk a variety of "entertainment packages," unsolicited.

The marketing involved goes no further than devising the post-wiggle pitch. There's no direction or interaction with big league clients or media conglomerates, no campaigns developed on the client's behalf, no storyboards or PowerPoint presentations. The "training" program is commission based and you're not being paid for your time unless you're selling.

Let the job candidate beware!

Monday, September 8, 2008

Assignment #1a: Not so much

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I canceled on Mark. He brought up nudity and I'm not desperate enough for that. Plus he was vehemently against me brining a friend to ensure things didn't get sketchy. Total red flag, right? He said it was because he "has too much to lose" because he's rich and married and has kids. That may be true, but if it's nothing more than drawings, how is it a blackmail concern? I wish I could block his number. He texted several times since I said no, emailed and called. Gross. No thanks. I'll continue to apply for jobs that involve less exposure.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Assignment #1: A day on the Lake

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I may have made a mistake today. I agreed to meet Mark Weeks (who knows if that's his real name) in Livermore at the BART station. He says he'll pick me up there and we can go to his boat where he'll draw my picture and pay me $120 for my time. I'm not sure how he found me. I can't remember applying for any modeling jobs specifically, but I did sign up with Talent6 as a vain attempt to profit from my appearance (which isn't really an act of vanity, as much as it is an act of desperation).

I'm pretty sure I'll go and see what happens. He says I'll be home by four, but all I can think about is Law & Order episodes where women get murdered by creepy dudes posing as artists or rich and tossed into the East River. For me it's the Russian River, but that's bad enough. Why would anyone want to pay me to draw my picture. Oh well, against my better judgment I'm heading to Livermore tomorrow morning. If I die (e.g. never post again), please trace this number 925-200-3858. He claims to be one of the guys in this picture, but I have no conformation of this.