My friend Swifty pointed me to a sad story about the change in format of WBEZ, the last jazz radio station in Chicago, from music to news / talk. This is particularly poignent as Chicago is one of the great centers of jazz in America. Some loyal listeners have started an online petition to get…
“Do not colonize Philippines”?
Can anyone on the series of tubes of the internet explain to me what this sign means? If you are colonizing the Philippines, I’d like a piece of the action. Thanks. (Spotted on the R train a couple of weeks ago.)
“And the rockets red glare…”: Fireworks as America
I just got home from seeing the Macy’s fireworks display for the 4th of July. My roommate and I found the perfect vantage point near the end of the South Street Seaport. It was an awesome spectacle witnessed by thousands of New Yorkers crowded around the East River. Few things in this world make me…
Why I blog: thoughts on my birthday
Today I turned 37 years old. It’s a number that has almost no significance to me whatsoever. As chance would have it, my girl Cindy is away in Italy, my family is in Cali, and most of my friends are on holiday away from the city. Not that I mind: for me birthdays are a…
Crazy cat house update
As previously reported, I’ve got a few more furry housemates while my girlfriend is travelling this summer. Her cats Geisha and Vespa have been getting along famously with my own cat Mole Negro, as you can see. Mole even gave Vespa a kiss, which I thought was a bit forward of him.
Jonathan Coulton & the Ill Clan want to eat your brains
Last night was some geek goodness at the Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theater. The machinima-powered comedy team Ill Clan teamed up with the folk music star of the blogosphere Jonathan Coulton to perform live last night at UCB’s midtown theater space. Seeing Ill Clan perform their "Trash Talk" show live was pretty cool. The virtual characters…
Black Eyed Peas vs. evil corporate hip-hop dwarves
Episode two of the series "Instant Def" has just been posted. As I have blogged about previously, the hip-hop group the Black Eyed Peas have teamed up with the candy bar Snickers for a web-based action series in which they star as super-heroes who fight the corporate takeover of hip hop music. This episode opens…
UN budget crisis averted — diplomats’ kids will not go hungry
As I previously blogged, the UN was facing a severe budget crisis in July because the General Assembly’s budget committee was holding up re-authorizing funding for the second quarter of 2006 until various management reforms were instituted. This despite significant progress at the UN on a range of upgrades to their management structure and processes,…
My hometown of Pleasanton gets municipal wifi!
Just got a cool bit of news from my hometown of Pleasanton, California, a southeastern suburb of San Francisco. Insidebayarea.com is reporting that Pleasanton is setting up free public wifi nodes in the downtown area of the city. Initially the idea was explored to provide police officers internet access while patrolling downtown public areas. But…
“So what do you do?”: Finding my place in Second Life
I have been involved in a number of real and virtual communities, from my local Quaker church to the discussion board I administer for swing dance fanatics. After getting past the initial honeymoon phase of getting to know a community, figuring out how it is organized and who does what, you eventually come to the…