I think I've sworn them off... seriously... I'm tired of this cities cultural what nots and I've done very little of it last week. I've been bumming around, reading and sitting in coffee houses having good conversations. There's been a bit of work since Timur, one of our local assistants broke his leg in a scooter accident. This group has been mellow and amazingly enough the cops have been very mellow. The locals have told me that there's been a crack down of sorts on the police. I haven't had a sideways glance from the cops yet. When we did go to Datcha/Fidel's that one night with the nazis dwarf and his amazonian companion, I didn't see but one or two cop cars rolling by the joint, and there was the one parked near the hotel with the two cops that looked to be more asleep than on duty. It's strange I tell you, maybe after that McDonald's was bombed the cops finally realized that there's more to be done in protecting the public good than shaking down tourists for money... then again that's probably just wishful thinking.
So tonight the French group AIR is playing in an outdoor park called Stereoleto. The decision is between this and a group called Pepsi, Russian group, which I've been told is quite good. The other uncertainty is that tonight is "The last bell". Nevsky prospect will be closed this evenning for the mass "march" of cadets and high school graduates up and down the street. There will be lots of broken glass, lots of singing, lots of pubescent hormones ragining, fireworks, red sails and other nutiness ALL NIGHT LONG. Kind of one of those magical nights really... I just wish there was a high up perch from which I could photograph this stupidity rather than from the thick of the crowd. No matter where we go, we will ultimately run into this bunch of crazed young lunatics.
We did a boat ride the other night, it was the night before the solstice. Parker mixed up the dates of the actual solstice, bbut technically we were on the water when the solstice happened, or started, something like that, it was a Solstice boat ride god damn it. One of the whitest nights i can remember, really marvelous. New touches have been added to the Peter Paul fortress, they've put lights along the walls that transition in rainbow colors... PRIDE? Not likely... but it's nice to think that this city might some day develop an open mind. The fountains in the middle of Nevsky were booming and booming, it was great.... just great... lots of beer, cuban cigars and more beer...
Oh I did have my grudge match with Igor, it was a Tie, no winners no losers. The bastard was cheating like a bastard! I mean really cheating, he was twisting that wrist, I think he knows that I'm the superior male and will destroy him this year... we're going to go at it once more I'm sure, most upsetting his less than noble/honorable approach to our annual grudge match.
Mmonday I'm heading to Nevsky's Monastary and maybe the Nicholevsky church on Fontanka to see if they rebuilt it. Tomorrow is a farewell dinner for Jenya who will be taking the morning train back to Moscow. I'm off to have breakfast wiith the Gusev sisters at Zoom. At the moment all my compatriots and cohorts are having a board meeting at The Office and my cell phone hasn't once rang, so this is a good thing... maybe I'll go sneak around the city. I've already been to the camera shop, no cheap wide angle lenses... *sigh* I've been completely anti shopping, even the idea of goingg and buying liters of vodka seems like too much effort... I've just been sitting a bit... strangne times I tell you friends, strange times indeed....
Shislivo..
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Status Report Spock
Not too shabby, not too great. That massive blister that always seems to find me has found me and taken root on the right side of my foot. I've started my diet of mole skin and oxygen which helps the sucker harden and then fall off as quickly as humanly possible. My throat however is wrecked. I've been smoking so much I'm loosing my voice. I know, just what you wanted to hear, right mom? Well that's the sad fact of what's happening... I'm trying to slow down a bit, but well, it's Russia... it's healthier to breathe smoke than it is the air!!
Speaking of Air, did I mention they're playing on Saturday in the park known as Stereo Letto? There's a possible trip to see them, other plans include a group called Pepsicola that I've never heard off but have been told are quite good, so we'll see. Found out that Aerosmith is coming later in the month, but I won't be here to enjoy them. Oh well. Tonight or tomorrow night there's going to be a huge concert in the plaza outside the Hermitage, BONY M is doing a 30th anniversary concert. I saw the stage that was being built as I was walking around yesterday....
I've been to a couple readings... quick run down of things in that dept:
Fannny Howe: pretty great reading, I mean she's a very well known poet and as Jeff said in his intro, had this reading taken place in NYC there would've been a charge for tickets at the door. Fanny's work is one of quiet, it bespeaks an understated silence. The new work that she read from had an element of the pastoral which I don't normally like but I found extremely refreshing as I sat in the Mayakovsky surrounded by the enormous buildings of the anti-pastoral. I kind of wanted to talk to her abobut Tis of Thee, an earlier work, but she seems very shy and when I shook her hand and gave her greetings from the bay area, she somewhat shrank away in a reclusive state of writerly shyness.
Gary Shteyngert on the other hand is a madman, he's like Phillip Roth on steroids. His work isn't quietly humorous, it's loud and in your face nuttiness.
George Elliot Clarke: what can I say about this one, I wasn't crazy about his work. He read too long, the material just wasn't interesting, and he keeps winning awards, is he the sole Black voice in Canada? I can only take so much rhyme and rhythm and verbal dance that meanders to a message that isn't at all new, or interesting, or even merritous. part of the work smacks of showmanship and the whole event was more spectacle than reading. I've never been told "to thank you I want to read 3 more poems" smells of a kind of narcissism to me. The occasional bits of humor in what he read were refreshing, but it didn't make up for a constant and seemingly unmeasured verbal assault. This kind of linguistic orouborous gets very old very quickly.
more later....
Speaking of Air, did I mention they're playing on Saturday in the park known as Stereo Letto? There's a possible trip to see them, other plans include a group called Pepsicola that I've never heard off but have been told are quite good, so we'll see. Found out that Aerosmith is coming later in the month, but I won't be here to enjoy them. Oh well. Tonight or tomorrow night there's going to be a huge concert in the plaza outside the Hermitage, BONY M is doing a 30th anniversary concert. I saw the stage that was being built as I was walking around yesterday....
I've been to a couple readings... quick run down of things in that dept:
Fannny Howe: pretty great reading, I mean she's a very well known poet and as Jeff said in his intro, had this reading taken place in NYC there would've been a charge for tickets at the door. Fanny's work is one of quiet, it bespeaks an understated silence. The new work that she read from had an element of the pastoral which I don't normally like but I found extremely refreshing as I sat in the Mayakovsky surrounded by the enormous buildings of the anti-pastoral. I kind of wanted to talk to her abobut Tis of Thee, an earlier work, but she seems very shy and when I shook her hand and gave her greetings from the bay area, she somewhat shrank away in a reclusive state of writerly shyness.
Gary Shteyngert on the other hand is a madman, he's like Phillip Roth on steroids. His work isn't quietly humorous, it's loud and in your face nuttiness.
George Elliot Clarke: what can I say about this one, I wasn't crazy about his work. He read too long, the material just wasn't interesting, and he keeps winning awards, is he the sole Black voice in Canada? I can only take so much rhyme and rhythm and verbal dance that meanders to a message that isn't at all new, or interesting, or even merritous. part of the work smacks of showmanship and the whole event was more spectacle than reading. I've never been told "to thank you I want to read 3 more poems" smells of a kind of narcissism to me. The occasional bits of humor in what he read were refreshing, but it didn't make up for a constant and seemingly unmeasured verbal assault. This kind of linguistic orouborous gets very old very quickly.
more later....
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
The neo-nazis midget and the amazonian hooker
I don't think I mentioned this in my previous post, but there was the incident of the neo-nazis midget pimp and the amazonian hooker... so before I left for St. Pete's I began to correspond with a guy named Jenya who was a friend of Jenya's (Mariya's sister) that she met online. This Jenya was her male doppleganger as he too was born in St. Petersburg and was returning there for the first time in 15 years. She suggested he contact me for some Visa troubles so I could give him some advice on places and ways to deal with the Consulate. Anyway, the three of us all met up one night, this was the night of the bar fight described in the previous post... and after the bar fight ended the night at the office pub early we few, we happy few and too awake and slightly intoxicated few, who don't sleep a wink in this town, decided it was time to go dance. Now that I look back on it, it was just us Russians, the participants went to bed and we quietly slithered to that corner of the city where we tell them never to go. instead of the usual, Datcha, we went to Fidel's. Fidel's is the new bar openned just a year ago by the former half owner of Datcha, to compete with that bar. Normally it's a mellow place, from previous experience, but tonight the people there were in rare rare form.
As we made our way through the crowd and to the back dance floor we came upon a sight stranger than anything I could remember. There was a very short bald headed guy, hard to make out his sleaves of tats but they looked to be of the I've been around the block variety. He maybe came up to my shoulder and wasn't what I would call a handsome lad at all. He sat at the counter along the wall with his back to it. Leaning into him and making out with him was a 6'3" Amazon wearing a g-string and a PVC jacket. Her legs were painted with strange animal designs and other sundry patterns. He barely made her shoulder. They stood around the dance floor as he would get off on how people stared at her. I couldn't decide if he was pimping her out or just insane, but in either case, it was, um... well, bizarre. The night ended well enough and we all got the dancing shtick out of our system and then went back to our respective hotels to retire... but I'm telling you dear and gentle readers, this town is getting really strange!
The boat ride was awesome, happily, it stopped raining just as we stepped out of the hotel to make our way for the Moyka 43 landing. the sad part was that I didn't take my camera because it was raining cats and dogs... this is a strange and funny place...
pozhe...
As we made our way through the crowd and to the back dance floor we came upon a sight stranger than anything I could remember. There was a very short bald headed guy, hard to make out his sleaves of tats but they looked to be of the I've been around the block variety. He maybe came up to my shoulder and wasn't what I would call a handsome lad at all. He sat at the counter along the wall with his back to it. Leaning into him and making out with him was a 6'3" Amazon wearing a g-string and a PVC jacket. Her legs were painted with strange animal designs and other sundry patterns. He barely made her shoulder. They stood around the dance floor as he would get off on how people stared at her. I couldn't decide if he was pimping her out or just insane, but in either case, it was, um... well, bizarre. The night ended well enough and we all got the dancing shtick out of our system and then went back to our respective hotels to retire... but I'm telling you dear and gentle readers, this town is getting really strange!
The boat ride was awesome, happily, it stopped raining just as we stepped out of the hotel to make our way for the Moyka 43 landing. the sad part was that I didn't take my camera because it was raining cats and dogs... this is a strange and funny place...
pozhe...
Monday, June 18, 2007
Broken Locks, Bar Fights and Hijacking Internet... this is Russia!
Well, this won't be terribly long, not that anyone wants to listen to my drunken ramblings anyway? Wait? Did I say drunken? No, not quite yet, but it's in the mail for sure. Tonight is our first boat ride and as I've said in the past, it's one of my absolute favorite things to do in this city. I'm not sure if Igor will be on the boat, he already felt my biceps to see if I was lifting waits during the year in hopes of toppling the mighty Russian, little does he know of my climbing endeavors. Then again, he's younger and quicker, bastards... "starast ne radast" as the saying goes in Russia.
So I'm not going to sit here and type out quite everything that has transpired since my less than glorious arrival to St. Petersburg through Munich after missing my connection in London. Let's just say it was a bloody long trip, however, this was the easiest time ever dealing with passport control, and cutest I might add. She just stamped my migration form and passport and sent me on my way, done. The trouble began then. Did I say trouble?
My luggage arrived almost 3 days after I did. I did laundry in the shower while I washed the grime from a full day of travel then hung my quick drying REI shirt to demoisten in the breaze of white nights. We've had a good day here, maybe two, there was some wind and today it's been raining most of the day. The weather is supposed to be wet on and off all week. This means two things: 1) less opportunity for pictures and an absolute necessity for the banya 2) when there is an opportunity, with the way that the wind blows these arctic storms around, there should be some really dramatic cloud scapes for some nice HDR stuff... wooo hooo...
Sergei, remember him? My young driver with the fantastic stories, the Mario Andretski of ST. Pete's is off to do some kind of military training. He actually told Katia he wanted to go on a tour around St. Pete's with me again, I would've happily paid him double this time and spent a couple more hours driving around with him. He's a totally sweet kid, he'll be back on the weekend, I might hit him up this coming weekend or maybe the weekend before I leave for a little bit of his time... hopefully the weather will cooperate.
So let me see, in summation, it's been rough, a couple 5 am kind of nights filled with friends I've missed terribly over the year, some really good conversations, catching up with Olmstead who I haven't seen since my 1st year here as a student, late nights/early mornings in the beer garden, a bottle of whiskey while waiting for lock smiths to break into my room as the lock in my door at the hostel stopped working. I tell you, it was ironic that just after I get my suitcase, change, spend less than 12 hours with the joy of clean clothing and stuff, I get locked out the minute that Boobar arrives and I'm taking him to our den of iniquity that we've inhabited for the past 2 years. JD is staying here in the mini hotel with me, it's really great to have a friend here from the bay area, just a nice touch from home. Poor guy isn't able to withdraw cash from his ATM his credit union says no dice in Russia, so he's been taking out a marker from the bank of len.
Yes, so last night there was a bar fight, not clear on the details, someone spilled a beer and one of our folks got punched. First time in the history of SLS, 9 years strong that it happened. An open fight in a bar can happen in any country, I suppose this might color your opinion of the locals, but let's face it, I don't care if you're from tibet or from timbuktu, drunk is drunk is drunk. It was resolved quickly and we ushered our guy to the hotel and I was able to rustle up a bag of ice to replace the ice cream msandwhiches that were applied to his very bloody nose which left a clear trail for me to follow through the inn to his room on the 4th floor. Poor sod...
Alright, the combination of Indonesian food, vodka and beer made me sleepy and I lay down for a spell but I just stared at the ceiling thinking if I fall asleep I will completely miss the boat and or feel like crap from when I wake up to catch the boat... so with that, I'm waiting for the camera battery to charge and then I'm off to the store for bottles and bottles of beer for the boat to go with the cuban cigars that Tom is bringing... STOGIES!
Shislivo vsem... more very soon now that I've hijacked another working internet connection that's fast enough to post pictures on... go check em out.
So I'm not going to sit here and type out quite everything that has transpired since my less than glorious arrival to St. Petersburg through Munich after missing my connection in London. Let's just say it was a bloody long trip, however, this was the easiest time ever dealing with passport control, and cutest I might add. She just stamped my migration form and passport and sent me on my way, done. The trouble began then. Did I say trouble?
My luggage arrived almost 3 days after I did. I did laundry in the shower while I washed the grime from a full day of travel then hung my quick drying REI shirt to demoisten in the breaze of white nights. We've had a good day here, maybe two, there was some wind and today it's been raining most of the day. The weather is supposed to be wet on and off all week. This means two things: 1) less opportunity for pictures and an absolute necessity for the banya 2) when there is an opportunity, with the way that the wind blows these arctic storms around, there should be some really dramatic cloud scapes for some nice HDR stuff... wooo hooo...
Sergei, remember him? My young driver with the fantastic stories, the Mario Andretski of ST. Pete's is off to do some kind of military training. He actually told Katia he wanted to go on a tour around St. Pete's with me again, I would've happily paid him double this time and spent a couple more hours driving around with him. He's a totally sweet kid, he'll be back on the weekend, I might hit him up this coming weekend or maybe the weekend before I leave for a little bit of his time... hopefully the weather will cooperate.
So let me see, in summation, it's been rough, a couple 5 am kind of nights filled with friends I've missed terribly over the year, some really good conversations, catching up with Olmstead who I haven't seen since my 1st year here as a student, late nights/early mornings in the beer garden, a bottle of whiskey while waiting for lock smiths to break into my room as the lock in my door at the hostel stopped working. I tell you, it was ironic that just after I get my suitcase, change, spend less than 12 hours with the joy of clean clothing and stuff, I get locked out the minute that Boobar arrives and I'm taking him to our den of iniquity that we've inhabited for the past 2 years. JD is staying here in the mini hotel with me, it's really great to have a friend here from the bay area, just a nice touch from home. Poor guy isn't able to withdraw cash from his ATM his credit union says no dice in Russia, so he's been taking out a marker from the bank of len.
Yes, so last night there was a bar fight, not clear on the details, someone spilled a beer and one of our folks got punched. First time in the history of SLS, 9 years strong that it happened. An open fight in a bar can happen in any country, I suppose this might color your opinion of the locals, but let's face it, I don't care if you're from tibet or from timbuktu, drunk is drunk is drunk. It was resolved quickly and we ushered our guy to the hotel and I was able to rustle up a bag of ice to replace the ice cream msandwhiches that were applied to his very bloody nose which left a clear trail for me to follow through the inn to his room on the 4th floor. Poor sod...
Alright, the combination of Indonesian food, vodka and beer made me sleepy and I lay down for a spell but I just stared at the ceiling thinking if I fall asleep I will completely miss the boat and or feel like crap from when I wake up to catch the boat... so with that, I'm waiting for the camera battery to charge and then I'm off to the store for bottles and bottles of beer for the boat to go with the cuban cigars that Tom is bringing... STOGIES!
Shislivo vsem... more very soon now that I've hijacked another working internet connection that's fast enough to post pictures on... go check em out.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
It started like a three hour cruise...
I'm not quite in St. Petersburg, I'm most of the way there, but not quite there. It all went awry in New York. The flight to London was delayed by 2 hours. I knew then that I'd miss my connection in Heathrow to St. Petersburg but I had no clue that it would add a fourth flight for me to get to Russia. I'm now in my 4th airport in less than a day drinking a half liter of Weissbier (have you guessed where I am?) viva la Munich Deutschland. The lounge here is quite lovely and the music and natural light that fills this seemingly endlass expanse of glass and polished steel is quite lovely. Had I more energy I'd definately photograph it but breaking out the camera gear is more effort than I have energy for. I've been nodding off in strange places, but we don't have long to go now, not long at all, just another 3 bloody hours! I've no clue if my luggage will be getting off the plane with me in St. Petersburg, I really hope it does, I could use a fresh change of clothing and oh how lovely does a bar of soap sound? I'm due to arrive in St. Petersburg at 12:40 in the morning, so it should still be light out, *snicker snicker*. My rusty German has come in handy here, I remebered how to say, entschuldigung, wie spate ist es? Which got me the time, and a few other words and decoded bits of conversation. This is one of two accomplishments thus far. I'm bumed, I should be just finishing dinner at Suliko and sucking down shots of vodka or maybe just a few beers under the arms of Katuzov near Kazanskay Cabor, but alas, I'm in Munich. To be perfectly honest I'm half tempted to just go through customms and explore. The weather is brilliant here, warm and lovely and I could use a hotel bed. I've a feeling I'm going to be sleeping on the couch in the office tonight as we won't be able to assume ownership of the mini hotel until Friday night or Saturday morning. No rest for the wicked I guess. Zach and Beth, if you're reading this, your vodaphone sim card saved me! When I arrived in London I quickly switched out sims to my megaphone and found there was no signal, big surprise, then I swtiched to Vodaphone and saw mega bars. There was exactly 1 penny on the card so I topped it off at the Vodaphone counter in Heathrow and began to scrible numbers out of my phone on my palm with appropriate country dialing codes of folks in St. Pete's. I managed to get a hold of Katia: 
who took down my flight number and said she'd make sure someone would meet me. I saved her or whoever was going to be waiting for my non arriving ass at the airport a trip to Pulkova, there'll be plenty of that over the next few days. Right, so that's where things stand now... The master plan is still in full effect, meat on a stick and white nights, it just had to wait nearly six hours and a few stops... bloody hell... I've been the geriatric crusader since I landed in NYC. I've been helping old people get their luggage off of moving belts and just before I deplaned in Munich I had to help an elderly woman undo her seat buckle. She was very sweet, telling me about going to Bavaria where she lives. She said she doesn't like cities, the air is cleaner where she is and it suits her pace of life. I think I would very much like to see where she lives, like right now, I'm sure there's excellent beer and a soft feather bed that smells of light starch and cedar if not birch. Then again, I'm only 3 hour flight from a really hot sauna and all the birch that my tuchus can tolerate. Other strange folks encountered on my sojourn thus far, I sat next to a girl over the Atlantic who was coming home to the UK after traveling for 4 1/2 months through Japan, Australia, Fiji and New York. She said she was bummed as she would have to find a job, but only for a few months as she was going back to the university. I was jealous. Then there was the south african Indian chap I had a smoke with in London who had been to SF and talked about our sourdough bread bowels filled with clam chowder. Sounds like he got a good dose of fisherman's wharf. Then there were the two German chaps that I met here in Munich who were also heading for this massive Terminal 2 to catch a connection to Munster. We found the gate to the bus stop and we were the ONLY people there, it was very strange, they said they had never seen it so abandoned. We all laughed when the bus driver finally opened a door and called for us to come out. I tell you I feel lost on the road without a watch. I know I'm in Germany where all the clocks run perfectly but my cell phone is kaput here and I'm timeless... I've been popping into Duty free shops in 3 countries looking for a resonably priced time piece, but alas, nothing that I like under 1300 quid. There were a couple nice cell phones in the UK that caught my eye, but that's as far as I went with that. Kris if you're reading this, Observatory Mansions is quite good, I'm totally digging it, it reads a bit like a Jean-Pierre Jeunet film plays, odd and slightly uncomfortable. The illustrations remind me of Edward Gorey, connection? The author's name is Edward Carey... who knows... or maybe like the Ralph Steadman illustrations in Fear & Loathing, just less ink splatters. Ah the beer is helping, a lot, beer, helping perpetuate the human race since the garden of eden and all that begetting and begatting. Oh one more odd duck that I rubbed elbows with: when I got off the plane in Heathrow I had to find the "connections" desk to figure out my future. A Russian woman was behind me and she kept inching up. Everytime I leaned against the snaking rail that guided the line she crept up to be nearly equal with me. I waited for her to try and pull a NASCAR like drafting move on me, at which point I would've unloaded as I was in no mood to be trifled with or surrender my position in line. I swung my backpack to which is strapped my tripod in her general direction a couple times like a stegasaurus warning her that there be spikes in this hump, and she finally got he message. This Soviet pushiness would not be tolerated, well I'm heading for a right fill of that Soviet rudeness, it's in my future, can't say I'm sad about it, but it one always needs a small does of it to remind one that this isn't Kansas anymore. The music in this airport is quite good... I'm digging it... Right, time to hit the WC and then find a squat by the gate. I'll bbe in touch soon... take care and auf wiedersehen.
who took down my flight number and said she'd make sure someone would meet me. I saved her or whoever was going to be waiting for my non arriving ass at the airport a trip to Pulkova, there'll be plenty of that over the next few days. Right, so that's where things stand now... The master plan is still in full effect, meat on a stick and white nights, it just had to wait nearly six hours and a few stops... bloody hell... I've been the geriatric crusader since I landed in NYC. I've been helping old people get their luggage off of moving belts and just before I deplaned in Munich I had to help an elderly woman undo her seat buckle. She was very sweet, telling me about going to Bavaria where she lives. She said she doesn't like cities, the air is cleaner where she is and it suits her pace of life. I think I would very much like to see where she lives, like right now, I'm sure there's excellent beer and a soft feather bed that smells of light starch and cedar if not birch. Then again, I'm only 3 hour flight from a really hot sauna and all the birch that my tuchus can tolerate. Other strange folks encountered on my sojourn thus far, I sat next to a girl over the Atlantic who was coming home to the UK after traveling for 4 1/2 months through Japan, Australia, Fiji and New York. She said she was bummed as she would have to find a job, but only for a few months as she was going back to the university. I was jealous. Then there was the south african Indian chap I had a smoke with in London who had been to SF and talked about our sourdough bread bowels filled with clam chowder. Sounds like he got a good dose of fisherman's wharf. Then there were the two German chaps that I met here in Munich who were also heading for this massive Terminal 2 to catch a connection to Munster. We found the gate to the bus stop and we were the ONLY people there, it was very strange, they said they had never seen it so abandoned. We all laughed when the bus driver finally opened a door and called for us to come out. I tell you I feel lost on the road without a watch. I know I'm in Germany where all the clocks run perfectly but my cell phone is kaput here and I'm timeless... I've been popping into Duty free shops in 3 countries looking for a resonably priced time piece, but alas, nothing that I like under 1300 quid. There were a couple nice cell phones in the UK that caught my eye, but that's as far as I went with that. Kris if you're reading this, Observatory Mansions is quite good, I'm totally digging it, it reads a bit like a Jean-Pierre Jeunet film plays, odd and slightly uncomfortable. The illustrations remind me of Edward Gorey, connection? The author's name is Edward Carey... who knows... or maybe like the Ralph Steadman illustrations in Fear & Loathing, just less ink splatters. Ah the beer is helping, a lot, beer, helping perpetuate the human race since the garden of eden and all that begetting and begatting. Oh one more odd duck that I rubbed elbows with: when I got off the plane in Heathrow I had to find the "connections" desk to figure out my future. A Russian woman was behind me and she kept inching up. Everytime I leaned against the snaking rail that guided the line she crept up to be nearly equal with me. I waited for her to try and pull a NASCAR like drafting move on me, at which point I would've unloaded as I was in no mood to be trifled with or surrender my position in line. I swung my backpack to which is strapped my tripod in her general direction a couple times like a stegasaurus warning her that there be spikes in this hump, and she finally got he message. This Soviet pushiness would not be tolerated, well I'm heading for a right fill of that Soviet rudeness, it's in my future, can't say I'm sad about it, but it one always needs a small does of it to remind one that this isn't Kansas anymore. The music in this airport is quite good... I'm digging it... Right, time to hit the WC and then find a squat by the gate. I'll bbe in touch soon... take care and auf wiedersehen.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Monday, June 11, 2007
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Man vs. Leopard
By ARON HELLER, Associated Press Writer Tue May 29, 6:03 PM ET
JERUSALEM - A man clad only in underwear and a T-shirt wrestled a wild leopard to the floor and pinned it for 20 minutes after the cat leapt through a window of his home and hopped into bed with his sleeping family.
"This kind of thing doesn't happen every day," said 49-year-old Arthur Du Mosch, a nature guide. "I don't know why I did it. I wasn't thinking, I just acted."
Raviv Shapira, who heads the southern district of the
Israel Nature and Parks Protection Authority, said a half dozen leopards have been spotted recently near Du Mosch's small community of Kibbutz Sde Boker in the Negev desert in southern Israel, although they rarely threaten humans.
Shapira said it was probably food that lured the big cat. Leopards living near humans are usually too old to hunt in the wild and resort to chasing down domestic dogs and cats for food, he added.
Du Mosch's pet cat was in the bed with him at the time, along with his young daughter who had been frightened by a mosquito in her own room.
Shapira said the leopard was very weak when park rangers arrived at Du Mosch's home after the surprise late-night visit. He said nature officials would likely release it back into the wild.
Du Mosch said he probably would not have been able to control the big cat were it in better health. As a nature guide, he said, he was familiar with animals and did his best to hold down the leopard without harming it. He said he took it all in stride, "but the kids were excited."
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Monday, May 21, 2007
Sunday, May 20, 2007
The Wreck of the King Phillip
My pictures of the wreck... finally made it out to the beach at a very low tide... sadly not enough of the sand has been washed away to reveal the aft and full outline of the hull, only the bow pokes out of the sand. You can almost see it heaving, trying to clear cement like substrate of the beach so it too can go to neverland... (read: not michael jackson's cassa)...
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Googling One's Self
In a moment of boredom and curiosity I decdied to Google Myself and stumbled across this old article I had written for ComFusion magazine (RIP). Something about it still seems salient today... now that Comfusion is no more, I thought I'd repost it here...
The Definite Article
It’s been ages since I sat down and really poured my thoughts out onto paper, or the digital equivalent thereof. I ran across something today that sparked a train of thought -- or, if you will, this rant.
My company, which will remain unnamed, is involved in the “news clipping” business. We sell select news clips to PR companies/ departments/ agencies and other advertising-oriented institutions. We have a database of closed-captioned text from newscasts, both local and nationally syndicated, from better than 80 markets around the country covering all the major networks in those markets. Our database is searchable by keyword, like Google. For kicks, I did a search today on the word “Iraq” and came up with 1,657 hits within our notes since midnight. I then decided to run the word “war,” which came up 1,796 times. To set a baseline, I chose a simple word, “the,” and that word came up 2,365 times.
Now you don't have to understand the Boolean logic behind the search engine or how it handles multiples and so forth and so on. What you have to recognize is that the words “war” and “Iraq” are as almost as likely to be used as the word “the” and are thus equally as invaluable. Where would we be without, excuse the pun, definitives?
As this very basic statistical analysis shows, the words “war” and “Iraq” are used nearly as frequently as the definite article -- for every four "the"s, we find three "war"s. For every definitive, or mention of something in “the” real world, our real world has become synonymous with the notion of war, of Iraq, a place very few of us have ever visited, and only see now ablaze.
So why is it so important that we understand the preponderance of the word “war” in our vernacular? Let’s contemplate for a moment the manner in which we realize the world around us. We see it, but when we interpret that world and attempt to describe it, we use language. Language is our way of recreating our local reality and disseminating it to others. Given that there's a finite amount of words, a finite amount of meanings, a finite amount of possible sentences -- ways of stating the beauties, horrors, joys and frustrations of this world, and our mortal coils -- I find it somewhat terrifying that a great part of our daily life is predicated on war in a place called Iraq. Despite both distance and time from the actual conflict, the word “war” and the reality of it enters into the language of local realities worldwide, creating a meta-reality that defines the event as a definite mainstay of our local reality and our language.
As responsible adults, we choose not to teach our children foul language. We scoff when an adult forgets his or her tongue and blurts out “shit” or “fuck” or “goddamn.” “Don't curse around the baby!” is a standard and acceptable response when protecting a child’s innocent ears. This practice is a common way to socialize our children and hope that they pick up the tools with which to accurately and civilly communicate their local realities. We know that many of the problems in this life stem from difficulties in communication. It can be said that our president suffers from a difficulty in communicating through the channels established to ensure a stable and civil world order. However, what happens when the definite articles before us, and surrounding us, and internalized by our children, constantly point towards the words “war” and “Iraq”?
War and the implements of war are not the only technological innovations being featured on the battlefield today. Information, intelligence, and visual and audio media are more potent than ever before. It’s possible, at any moment and through any medium, to join into the chatterbox of war footage, dialogue, live news, images, and stories, either by going online, turning on the television, tuning in the radio, or reading the newspaper. It’s even possible to set up a service on your WAP phone or PDA to receive up-to-the-minute updates on how the war is progressing in Iraq.
If we wish to consider the importance of language and how it shapes our reality, we have only to turn to the Old Testament and read the first few lines of Genesis: “And God said let there be light and there was light.” In a metaphysical sense, to speak is to invoke something; we all join in a God-like act of creation through our speech. That which is spoken and invoked takes root like a seed in the mind. It’s scary to think that creation casts such a shadow. This is a form of socialization and enculturation -- the vestiges of war constitute our daily bread that the new generation is being force-fed. The circus side-show of media coverage and verbiage that is spilling out from our “media-access-boxes-du-jour” (TV, radio, web, print) bears with it a frightening trend that will incorporate the word “war” like a self-fulfilling prophecy into, I dare say, our future.
Let’s turn back to the Good Book for a moment ...
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
-- John 1:1
Let’s play a game of substitution, replacing “Word” with “War”:
In the beginning was the War, and the War was with God, and the War was God.
This time, let’s replace “God” with “War”:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with War, and the Word was War.
If we bear God in our words and our hearts -- be it the God of the Old Testament, that fiery angel, or the more forgiving God of the New Testament, or Allah, or Adonai, or Jehovah, or Yahweh, or the many unnamed and unspoken faces of divine transcendence that pepper the annals of human knowledge -- whatever the face or the name, the Word is sacred and held as such in the heart. Language has a certain sanctity, as the vehicle through which we attempt to explain the ineffable by way of metaphors and similes. Our abstract notions of divinity are compartmentalized by a finite language. Our new tongue is filled with war; it is filled with both image and metaphor for war, leaving little space for the sacred or divine.
The words are not a single manifestation. The word “war” is a three-letter word dating back to the 12th Century, of Middle English origin with an etymological root in the north Franco-Germanic werre(1). The word, in essence, is benign as a word. However, the word is not alone: it’s a multidimensional representation complete with image and sound. These images are hand picked vis-Ã -vis the news media and the instructions given to them by the government. The instructions are simple: Don’t show anything that would hurt morale here at home. Show the war like an action movie-the more green night vision pictures the better. Make the sensationalism as sterile as possible so that “war” is sterile and the grim realities are kept a distant thought until it’s time to build a memorial or celebrate a new holiday. Show the war in good taste.
I was chatting recently with my friend in Spain. He said to me, “You’re missing out!”, referring to what he saw on the news in Madrid. Al Jazeera is broadcast in Europe uncensored and unedited. It’s amazing to think that the land of Free Speech, founded on the freedom to express differences of opinion, is exercising good taste by carefully censoring the minority voice, the unpopular sentiment. Perhaps the only amazing thing about this realization is that it’s nothing new. Free speech is a relative term here.(2)
If you say it, it may come; if you utter it, it may happen; if you fill your language with it, it will fill your reality with itself. Perhaps this more agnostic stance on the abstract notion of words better explains the importance of choosing your words carefully. As we use our many subtongues to speak the languages of international politics, religion, law, philosophy, love, hate, and so many emotions, let’s not forget that everything boils down to a simple fact: we create our world one brick at a time, one word at a time, and so too can it be just as easily undone through careless words.
**FOOTNOTES**
1.) Merriam Webster Dictionary Online:
Main Entry: war
Pronunciation: 'wor
Function: noun
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English werre, from Old North French, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German werra, strife; akin to Old High German werran, to confuse
Date: 12th century
1 a(1) : a state of usually open and declared armed hostile conflict between states or nations (2) : a period of such armed conflict (3) b : the art or science of warfare c : (1) obsolete : weapons and equipment for war (2) archaic : soldiers armed and equipped for war
2 a : a state of hostility, conflict, or antagonism b : a struggle or competition between opposing forces or for a particular end: a class war, a war against disease c : see Variance, Odds
2.) From the files of Dave Ross, KCBS Radio Transcript -- March 24, 2003 HOW MUCH TRUTH?
“Central Command sent the correspondents here a frosty e-mail asking that this footage not be aired, and the networks themselves have sent out memos: do not show anything in poor taste.
Interesting concept, covering a war in good taste ...
It's certainly not a consideration for the Iraqi military leadership who were like kids at Christmas:
IRAQI INFORMATION MINISTER Muhammad Saeed al Sharif: ‘They are suffering from shock ... and awe.’
In the end, CNN showed one still photo of a dead marine. No face, no wounds visible, just a corpse in a uniform.
Very tasteful.”
The Definite Article
It’s been ages since I sat down and really poured my thoughts out onto paper, or the digital equivalent thereof. I ran across something today that sparked a train of thought -- or, if you will, this rant.
My company, which will remain unnamed, is involved in the “news clipping” business. We sell select news clips to PR companies/ departments/ agencies and other advertising-oriented institutions. We have a database of closed-captioned text from newscasts, both local and nationally syndicated, from better than 80 markets around the country covering all the major networks in those markets. Our database is searchable by keyword, like Google. For kicks, I did a search today on the word “Iraq” and came up with 1,657 hits within our notes since midnight. I then decided to run the word “war,” which came up 1,796 times. To set a baseline, I chose a simple word, “the,” and that word came up 2,365 times.
Now you don't have to understand the Boolean logic behind the search engine or how it handles multiples and so forth and so on. What you have to recognize is that the words “war” and “Iraq” are as almost as likely to be used as the word “the” and are thus equally as invaluable. Where would we be without, excuse the pun, definitives?
As this very basic statistical analysis shows, the words “war” and “Iraq” are used nearly as frequently as the definite article -- for every four "the"s, we find three "war"s. For every definitive, or mention of something in “the” real world, our real world has become synonymous with the notion of war, of Iraq, a place very few of us have ever visited, and only see now ablaze.
So why is it so important that we understand the preponderance of the word “war” in our vernacular? Let’s contemplate for a moment the manner in which we realize the world around us. We see it, but when we interpret that world and attempt to describe it, we use language. Language is our way of recreating our local reality and disseminating it to others. Given that there's a finite amount of words, a finite amount of meanings, a finite amount of possible sentences -- ways of stating the beauties, horrors, joys and frustrations of this world, and our mortal coils -- I find it somewhat terrifying that a great part of our daily life is predicated on war in a place called Iraq. Despite both distance and time from the actual conflict, the word “war” and the reality of it enters into the language of local realities worldwide, creating a meta-reality that defines the event as a definite mainstay of our local reality and our language.
As responsible adults, we choose not to teach our children foul language. We scoff when an adult forgets his or her tongue and blurts out “shit” or “fuck” or “goddamn.” “Don't curse around the baby!” is a standard and acceptable response when protecting a child’s innocent ears. This practice is a common way to socialize our children and hope that they pick up the tools with which to accurately and civilly communicate their local realities. We know that many of the problems in this life stem from difficulties in communication. It can be said that our president suffers from a difficulty in communicating through the channels established to ensure a stable and civil world order. However, what happens when the definite articles before us, and surrounding us, and internalized by our children, constantly point towards the words “war” and “Iraq”?
War and the implements of war are not the only technological innovations being featured on the battlefield today. Information, intelligence, and visual and audio media are more potent than ever before. It’s possible, at any moment and through any medium, to join into the chatterbox of war footage, dialogue, live news, images, and stories, either by going online, turning on the television, tuning in the radio, or reading the newspaper. It’s even possible to set up a service on your WAP phone or PDA to receive up-to-the-minute updates on how the war is progressing in Iraq.
If we wish to consider the importance of language and how it shapes our reality, we have only to turn to the Old Testament and read the first few lines of Genesis: “And God said let there be light and there was light.” In a metaphysical sense, to speak is to invoke something; we all join in a God-like act of creation through our speech. That which is spoken and invoked takes root like a seed in the mind. It’s scary to think that creation casts such a shadow. This is a form of socialization and enculturation -- the vestiges of war constitute our daily bread that the new generation is being force-fed. The circus side-show of media coverage and verbiage that is spilling out from our “media-access-boxes-du-jour” (TV, radio, web, print) bears with it a frightening trend that will incorporate the word “war” like a self-fulfilling prophecy into, I dare say, our future.
Let’s turn back to the Good Book for a moment ...
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
-- John 1:1
Let’s play a game of substitution, replacing “Word” with “War”:
In the beginning was the War, and the War was with God, and the War was God.
This time, let’s replace “God” with “War”:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with War, and the Word was War.
If we bear God in our words and our hearts -- be it the God of the Old Testament, that fiery angel, or the more forgiving God of the New Testament, or Allah, or Adonai, or Jehovah, or Yahweh, or the many unnamed and unspoken faces of divine transcendence that pepper the annals of human knowledge -- whatever the face or the name, the Word is sacred and held as such in the heart. Language has a certain sanctity, as the vehicle through which we attempt to explain the ineffable by way of metaphors and similes. Our abstract notions of divinity are compartmentalized by a finite language. Our new tongue is filled with war; it is filled with both image and metaphor for war, leaving little space for the sacred or divine.
The words are not a single manifestation. The word “war” is a three-letter word dating back to the 12th Century, of Middle English origin with an etymological root in the north Franco-Germanic werre(1). The word, in essence, is benign as a word. However, the word is not alone: it’s a multidimensional representation complete with image and sound. These images are hand picked vis-Ã -vis the news media and the instructions given to them by the government. The instructions are simple: Don’t show anything that would hurt morale here at home. Show the war like an action movie-the more green night vision pictures the better. Make the sensationalism as sterile as possible so that “war” is sterile and the grim realities are kept a distant thought until it’s time to build a memorial or celebrate a new holiday. Show the war in good taste.
I was chatting recently with my friend in Spain. He said to me, “You’re missing out!”, referring to what he saw on the news in Madrid. Al Jazeera is broadcast in Europe uncensored and unedited. It’s amazing to think that the land of Free Speech, founded on the freedom to express differences of opinion, is exercising good taste by carefully censoring the minority voice, the unpopular sentiment. Perhaps the only amazing thing about this realization is that it’s nothing new. Free speech is a relative term here.(2)
If you say it, it may come; if you utter it, it may happen; if you fill your language with it, it will fill your reality with itself. Perhaps this more agnostic stance on the abstract notion of words better explains the importance of choosing your words carefully. As we use our many subtongues to speak the languages of international politics, religion, law, philosophy, love, hate, and so many emotions, let’s not forget that everything boils down to a simple fact: we create our world one brick at a time, one word at a time, and so too can it be just as easily undone through careless words.
**FOOTNOTES**
1.) Merriam Webster Dictionary Online:
Main Entry: war
Pronunciation: 'wor
Function: noun
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English werre, from Old North French, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German werra, strife; akin to Old High German werran, to confuse
Date: 12th century
1 a(1) : a state of usually open and declared armed hostile conflict between states or nations (2) : a period of such armed conflict (3) b : the art or science of warfare c : (1) obsolete : weapons and equipment for war (2) archaic : soldiers armed and equipped for war
2 a : a state of hostility, conflict, or antagonism b : a struggle or competition between opposing forces or for a particular end: a class war, a war against disease c : see Variance, Odds
2.) From the files of Dave Ross, KCBS Radio Transcript -- March 24, 2003 HOW MUCH TRUTH?
“Central Command sent the correspondents here a frosty e-mail asking that this footage not be aired, and the networks themselves have sent out memos: do not show anything in poor taste.
Interesting concept, covering a war in good taste ...
It's certainly not a consideration for the Iraqi military leadership who were like kids at Christmas:
IRAQI INFORMATION MINISTER Muhammad Saeed al Sharif: ‘They are suffering from shock ... and awe.’
In the end, CNN showed one still photo of a dead marine. No face, no wounds visible, just a corpse in a uniform.
Very tasteful.”
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
From my working life
News Release
Tuesday 15 May 2007, 9:30 GMT
Tuesday 15 May 2007 Date
Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group
E-Marketers, Senders, ISPs Fight Spam With New MAAWG Sender Best Practices Endorsed by Industry
SAN FRANCISCO, May 15 /PRNewswire/ --
In a major milestone toward industry agreement on how senders can distinguish their legitimate volume email from unsolicited spam, the Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group (MAAWG) has issued the MAAWG Sender Best Communications Practices (BCP) with collaborative input from both volume senders and Internet Service Providers. The new best practices recommend sender email technologies and subscription methods to improve deliverability rates for newsletters and permission-based email marketing.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070124/CLW180LOGO )
Developed by MAAWG, the best practices involved the industry's largest ISPs, network operators and vendors approving recommendations that were also endorsed by sender firms and other trade associations. Immediate support for the MAAWG Sender BCP has come from CAUCE (Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email) and the Email Sender & Provider Coalition (ESPC), according to Dennis Dayman, MAAWG senders subcommittee co-chair and StrongMail Systems, Inc. director of deliverability.
"Both senders and ISPs are allies fighting the same battle, but in the past there has been a language gap between them," Dayman said. "The senders were asking, 'what should we do to work more closely with the network operators?' so MAAWG tackled the issue on a global basis. In these best practices, we have outlined very specific steps that senders can take to reduce the accidental tagging of legitimate email as spam while still protecting consumers from the eighty percent of email traffic that is abusive."
A Different Technical Approach; Supplemental Information for Marketers
The MAAWG Sender Best Communications Practices also includes a supplemental Executive Summary for marketers who often manage volume email projects, which was edited by Len Shneyder of MAAWG member company Pivotal Veracity. The summary explains some of the technical recommendations to improve email deliverability and provides a questionnaire marketers can use to determine if their Email Sender Providers are operating within industry best practices.
The complete BCP addresses five topics of concern to both marketers and operations professionals:
-- Obtaining email consent
-- Recommended unsubscribe options
-- Sender accountability and reputation
-- List maintenance
-- Resolving messaging disruption issues
The recommendations are based on reputation management techniques that help identify the sender as the genuine source of the email. This approach differs from the content filters already used by many ISPs to tag messages containing suspicious words or phrases as spam. For example, the MAAWG Sender BCP recommends that service providers managing email for multiple companies, online marketing agencies and other vendors that send large volumes of emails for multiple clients use a separate IP address for each company so that ISPs can determine that a message has come from a verifiable entity. The best practices also include methods for managing subscriptions and improving consumer relationships.
Collaborative Industry Efforts
The document is gathering momentum. In the United States, CAUCE Chair Scott Hazen Mueller said, "This is a remarkable first step. Coordination between the sending and receiving communities is critical toward mitigating the scourge of spam on the Internet."
The CAUCE Chair in Canada, Neil Schwartzman, recognized the importance of the MAAWG best practices as, "a logical evolution" of the BCP document submitted to the Canadian Minister of Industry by the Federal Task Force on Spam that was developed in part by CAUCE Canada.
The Email Sender & Provider Coalition also provided input into the document and supports the best practices. "Both senders and receivers have a stake in preserving email as a channel for legitimate communication and commerce, and only by working together can any real change take place," said Trevor Hughes, ESPC executive director. "The MAAWG Sender Best Communications Practices reflect this shared commitment. The ESPC is pleased to have participated in its development and we look forward to working with MAAWG and its members to instigate further positive change in the future."
The complete Sender Best Communications Practices document is available at the organization's Web site, www.MAAWG.org.
Tuesday 15 May 2007, 9:30 GMT
Tuesday 15 May 2007 Date
Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group
E-Marketers, Senders, ISPs Fight Spam With New MAAWG Sender Best Practices Endorsed by Industry
SAN FRANCISCO, May 15 /PRNewswire/ --
In a major milestone toward industry agreement on how senders can distinguish their legitimate volume email from unsolicited spam, the Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group (MAAWG) has issued the MAAWG Sender Best Communications Practices (BCP) with collaborative input from both volume senders and Internet Service Providers. The new best practices recommend sender email technologies and subscription methods to improve deliverability rates for newsletters and permission-based email marketing.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070124/CLW180LOGO )
Developed by MAAWG, the best practices involved the industry's largest ISPs, network operators and vendors approving recommendations that were also endorsed by sender firms and other trade associations. Immediate support for the MAAWG Sender BCP has come from CAUCE (Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email) and the Email Sender & Provider Coalition (ESPC), according to Dennis Dayman, MAAWG senders subcommittee co-chair and StrongMail Systems, Inc. director of deliverability.
"Both senders and ISPs are allies fighting the same battle, but in the past there has been a language gap between them," Dayman said. "The senders were asking, 'what should we do to work more closely with the network operators?' so MAAWG tackled the issue on a global basis. In these best practices, we have outlined very specific steps that senders can take to reduce the accidental tagging of legitimate email as spam while still protecting consumers from the eighty percent of email traffic that is abusive."
A Different Technical Approach; Supplemental Information for Marketers
The MAAWG Sender Best Communications Practices also includes a supplemental Executive Summary for marketers who often manage volume email projects, which was edited by Len Shneyder of MAAWG member company Pivotal Veracity. The summary explains some of the technical recommendations to improve email deliverability and provides a questionnaire marketers can use to determine if their Email Sender Providers are operating within industry best practices.
The complete BCP addresses five topics of concern to both marketers and operations professionals:
-- Obtaining email consent
-- Recommended unsubscribe options
-- Sender accountability and reputation
-- List maintenance
-- Resolving messaging disruption issues
The recommendations are based on reputation management techniques that help identify the sender as the genuine source of the email. This approach differs from the content filters already used by many ISPs to tag messages containing suspicious words or phrases as spam. For example, the MAAWG Sender BCP recommends that service providers managing email for multiple companies, online marketing agencies and other vendors that send large volumes of emails for multiple clients use a separate IP address for each company so that ISPs can determine that a message has come from a verifiable entity. The best practices also include methods for managing subscriptions and improving consumer relationships.
Collaborative Industry Efforts
The document is gathering momentum. In the United States, CAUCE Chair Scott Hazen Mueller said, "This is a remarkable first step. Coordination between the sending and receiving communities is critical toward mitigating the scourge of spam on the Internet."
The CAUCE Chair in Canada, Neil Schwartzman, recognized the importance of the MAAWG best practices as, "a logical evolution" of the BCP document submitted to the Canadian Minister of Industry by the Federal Task Force on Spam that was developed in part by CAUCE Canada.
The Email Sender & Provider Coalition also provided input into the document and supports the best practices. "Both senders and receivers have a stake in preserving email as a channel for legitimate communication and commerce, and only by working together can any real change take place," said Trevor Hughes, ESPC executive director. "The MAAWG Sender Best Communications Practices reflect this shared commitment. The ESPC is pleased to have participated in its development and we look forward to working with MAAWG and its members to instigate further positive change in the future."
The complete Sender Best Communications Practices document is available at the organization's Web site, www.MAAWG.org.
Noise from the void
I think I like updating my blog with Jeno's posts from myspace because the damn flyers are amazing! Well I'll be here, finishing up my final project for my playwriting class and kicking Jeno's almighty grooves... come join me, you know the score... 9pm pst (21:00 GMT -7)...
Saturday, May 12, 2007
129 Year Old Ship on Ocean Beach
I'm going!!! Tonight!!!
The bones of a 129-year old shipwreck that surfaced on San Francisco's Ocean Beach this week appear and disappear every 20 years or so, like Brigadoon, the mythical Scots village that appears out of the spring mist.
The wreck is of the clipper ship King Philip, which appeared out of the sand Monday. The King Philip was wrecked at high tide in January 1878 and shows itself on very low tides every so often. The last time the ship showed up was after storms in 1985.
The King Philip's latest appearance has drawn hundreds of people, who come and stare at the old ship's timbers, which are awash where the foamy surf meets the shore at the foot of Noriega Street.
"It's wonderful,'' said Stephen Haller, a National Park Service historian who is one of the authors of a book on shipwrecks of the Golden Gate region. "People can see history right under their feet.''
A small piece of wood no bigger than Haller's foot was all that poked though the sand at the stern of the ship. The bow, 174 feet north, was much more impressive. Its pointed prow rose several feet out of the wet sand, exposing vertical ribs, a double row of sealing planks on the interior of the hull and wooden pegs called trunnels holding exterior sheathing planks.
Ocean Beach is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, so the wreck is federal property, like Alcatraz, or Half Dome in Yosemite. "I would hope the public treats the ship with respect,'' Haller said.
So far people have treated the relic with curiosity and awe.
Mila Zinkova and George Kaskanlian live nearby. They'd taken sea trips to Antarctica and the Galapagos Islands. And here was history on their doorstep. "It's just amazing,'' said Zinkova. "I put a picture of it on a Wikipedia site for Ocean Beach history.''
Like most artifacts from the past, the King Philip comes with a story.
The vessel was built as a full-rigged, three-masted clipper ship -- one of those long, lean ships that historian Samuel Eliot Morison called "the noblest of all sailing vessels.''
American clippers were built to sail from the East Coast to San Francisco around Cape Horn at the tip of South America. They carried high-value cargo and were built for speed, as the 19th century defined it. The fastest of the clippers, the famous Flying Cloud, made the trip from New York to San Francisco, 14,500 miles, in 89 days, eight hours, a record that stood for 135 years until a yacht broke it in 1989.
The King Philip -- named for the Indian chief who was involved in King Philip's war in 1675 -- was not as fast as the fastest clipper. It was launched in 1856, in Alna, Maine, and was advertised as "a strictly first-class clipper ship with quick dispatch.''
However the King Philip was advertised, it seemed to have been a hard-luck ship. There were at least two mutinies -- one in Honolulu in 1869 and one off Annapolis, Md., five years later. In both cases, the mutinous sailors set the ship on fire, seriously damaging it twice.
"They worked the ship hard in those days,'' said James Delgado, a maritime historian, "and they worked the crews hard, too."
After its glory days as a clipper, the King Philip went into the lumber trade, working for Pope and Talbot, a San Francisco lumber merchant.
The King Philip was old for a wooden ship, and the best cargo went to newer iron and steel sailing ships, and steamers. The King Philip carried grain and even guano, a fine name for bird droppings used as fertilizer.
On Jan. 25, 1878, the King Philip left San Francisco without cargo -- in ballast, sailors call it. It was customary in those days for steam tugs to tow sailing ships out of the Golden Gate.
There were two other sailing ships in the area, and one of them -- the collier Western Shore, had a serious accident in which the captain was killed. The tug went off to help the other ship, and the King Philip dropped anchor. The seas were heavy, the ship rolled, and the anchor did not hold.
The King Philip ran up on Ocean Beach at high tide and was stranded there, high and dry. No one was killed but the ship was a total loss. The next day, the wreck was sold at auction to a San Francisco businessman named John Molloy for $1,050.
He salvaged the metal fastenings, cut down the masts and sails, and blew up the hulk with black powder.
Storms and human activity -- like building the Great Highway or the San Francisco sewer outfall, changed the beach.
Now the King Philip has appeared again. Haller says the low tides from now until the weekend, will make the ship visible most afternoons for at least a while.
"I thought it was really romantic,'' said Darla Bernard, of San Francisco, who stopped by with her dog, Kodi, to see the ship. "Until I learned that the Philip used to haul manure.'
STOLEN from the blogs of John & James Sakkis:
Here's the tide chart for the next few days. Since the moon is near the New Moon phase, it's pull is waning. In two weeks the tide will get lower and the wreck will become more visible.
2007-05-10 12:31 PM PDT -0.07 feet Low Tide
2007-05-10 7:59 PM PDT 4.78 feet High Tide
2007-05-10 8:08 PM PDT Sunset
2007-05-11 1:30 AM PDT 2.30 feet Low Tide
2007-05-11 6:03 AM PDT Sunrise
2007-05-11 7:04 AM PDT 4.45 feet High Tide
2007-05-11 1:24 PM PDT 0.19 feet Low Tide
2007-05-11 8:09 PM PDT Sunset
2007-05-11 8:33 PM PDT 5.18 feet High Tide
2007-05-12 2:29 AM PDT 1.47 feet Low Tide
2007-05-12 6:02 AM PDT Sunrise
2007-05-12 8:24 AM PDT 4.39 feet High Tide
2007-05-12 2:15 PM PDT 0.54 feet Low Tide
2007-05-12 8:10 PM PDT Sunset
2007-05-12 9:08 PM PDT 5.61 feet High Tide
2007-05-13 3:21 AM PDT 0.55 feet Low Tide
2007-05-13 6:01 AM PDT Sunrise
2007-05-13 9:40 AM PDT 4.44 feet High Tide
2007-05-13 3:03 PM PDT 0.94 feet Low Tide
2007-05-13 8:11 PM PDT Sunset
2007-05-13 9:43 PM PDT 6.04 feet High Tide
2007-05-14 4:11 AM PDT -0.34 feet Low Tide
2007-05-14 6:00 AM PDT Sunrise
2007-05-14 10:49 AM PDT 4.54 feet High Tide
2007-05-14 3:50 PM PDT 1.39 feet Low Tide
The bones of a 129-year old shipwreck that surfaced on San Francisco's Ocean Beach this week appear and disappear every 20 years or so, like Brigadoon, the mythical Scots village that appears out of the spring mist.
The wreck is of the clipper ship King Philip, which appeared out of the sand Monday. The King Philip was wrecked at high tide in January 1878 and shows itself on very low tides every so often. The last time the ship showed up was after storms in 1985.
The King Philip's latest appearance has drawn hundreds of people, who come and stare at the old ship's timbers, which are awash where the foamy surf meets the shore at the foot of Noriega Street.
"It's wonderful,'' said Stephen Haller, a National Park Service historian who is one of the authors of a book on shipwrecks of the Golden Gate region. "People can see history right under their feet.''
A small piece of wood no bigger than Haller's foot was all that poked though the sand at the stern of the ship. The bow, 174 feet north, was much more impressive. Its pointed prow rose several feet out of the wet sand, exposing vertical ribs, a double row of sealing planks on the interior of the hull and wooden pegs called trunnels holding exterior sheathing planks.
Ocean Beach is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, so the wreck is federal property, like Alcatraz, or Half Dome in Yosemite. "I would hope the public treats the ship with respect,'' Haller said.
So far people have treated the relic with curiosity and awe.
Mila Zinkova and George Kaskanlian live nearby. They'd taken sea trips to Antarctica and the Galapagos Islands. And here was history on their doorstep. "It's just amazing,'' said Zinkova. "I put a picture of it on a Wikipedia site for Ocean Beach history.''
Like most artifacts from the past, the King Philip comes with a story.
The vessel was built as a full-rigged, three-masted clipper ship -- one of those long, lean ships that historian Samuel Eliot Morison called "the noblest of all sailing vessels.''
American clippers were built to sail from the East Coast to San Francisco around Cape Horn at the tip of South America. They carried high-value cargo and were built for speed, as the 19th century defined it. The fastest of the clippers, the famous Flying Cloud, made the trip from New York to San Francisco, 14,500 miles, in 89 days, eight hours, a record that stood for 135 years until a yacht broke it in 1989.
The King Philip -- named for the Indian chief who was involved in King Philip's war in 1675 -- was not as fast as the fastest clipper. It was launched in 1856, in Alna, Maine, and was advertised as "a strictly first-class clipper ship with quick dispatch.''
However the King Philip was advertised, it seemed to have been a hard-luck ship. There were at least two mutinies -- one in Honolulu in 1869 and one off Annapolis, Md., five years later. In both cases, the mutinous sailors set the ship on fire, seriously damaging it twice.
"They worked the ship hard in those days,'' said James Delgado, a maritime historian, "and they worked the crews hard, too."
After its glory days as a clipper, the King Philip went into the lumber trade, working for Pope and Talbot, a San Francisco lumber merchant.
The King Philip was old for a wooden ship, and the best cargo went to newer iron and steel sailing ships, and steamers. The King Philip carried grain and even guano, a fine name for bird droppings used as fertilizer.
On Jan. 25, 1878, the King Philip left San Francisco without cargo -- in ballast, sailors call it. It was customary in those days for steam tugs to tow sailing ships out of the Golden Gate.
There were two other sailing ships in the area, and one of them -- the collier Western Shore, had a serious accident in which the captain was killed. The tug went off to help the other ship, and the King Philip dropped anchor. The seas were heavy, the ship rolled, and the anchor did not hold.
The King Philip ran up on Ocean Beach at high tide and was stranded there, high and dry. No one was killed but the ship was a total loss. The next day, the wreck was sold at auction to a San Francisco businessman named John Molloy for $1,050.
He salvaged the metal fastenings, cut down the masts and sails, and blew up the hulk with black powder.
Storms and human activity -- like building the Great Highway or the San Francisco sewer outfall, changed the beach.
Now the King Philip has appeared again. Haller says the low tides from now until the weekend, will make the ship visible most afternoons for at least a while.
"I thought it was really romantic,'' said Darla Bernard, of San Francisco, who stopped by with her dog, Kodi, to see the ship. "Until I learned that the Philip used to haul manure.'
STOLEN from the blogs of John & James Sakkis:
Here's the tide chart for the next few days. Since the moon is near the New Moon phase, it's pull is waning. In two weeks the tide will get lower and the wreck will become more visible.
2007-05-10 12:31 PM PDT -0.07 feet Low Tide
2007-05-10 7:59 PM PDT 4.78 feet High Tide
2007-05-10 8:08 PM PDT Sunset
2007-05-11 1:30 AM PDT 2.30 feet Low Tide
2007-05-11 6:03 AM PDT Sunrise
2007-05-11 7:04 AM PDT 4.45 feet High Tide
2007-05-11 1:24 PM PDT 0.19 feet Low Tide
2007-05-11 8:09 PM PDT Sunset
2007-05-11 8:33 PM PDT 5.18 feet High Tide
2007-05-12 2:29 AM PDT 1.47 feet Low Tide
2007-05-12 6:02 AM PDT Sunrise
2007-05-12 8:24 AM PDT 4.39 feet High Tide
2007-05-12 2:15 PM PDT 0.54 feet Low Tide
2007-05-12 8:10 PM PDT Sunset
2007-05-12 9:08 PM PDT 5.61 feet High Tide
2007-05-13 3:21 AM PDT 0.55 feet Low Tide
2007-05-13 6:01 AM PDT Sunrise
2007-05-13 9:40 AM PDT 4.44 feet High Tide
2007-05-13 3:03 PM PDT 0.94 feet Low Tide
2007-05-13 8:11 PM PDT Sunset
2007-05-13 9:43 PM PDT 6.04 feet High Tide
2007-05-14 4:11 AM PDT -0.34 feet Low Tide
2007-05-14 6:00 AM PDT Sunrise
2007-05-14 10:49 AM PDT 4.54 feet High Tide
2007-05-14 3:50 PM PDT 1.39 feet Low Tide
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Noise from the void
Tune into Noise From The Void, Jeno's weekly Radio Show on www.90hz.org from 9pm PST till around midnight, for a cosmic smattering of acid house, interstellar rock and whatever else the shaman dishes up...
From my working life...
Authentication And Online Trust Summit
, Monday, April 30, 2007
I THOUGHT THIS UPDATE FROM Pivotal Veracity from the Authentication and Online Trust Summit (AOTS) was quite valuable to share with the MediaPost audience. As background, Microsoft started AOTS in 2004 to foster adoption of Sender ID and promote email authentication through the industry. I will warn you, if you are a novice to deliverability and authentication, you will be completely lost in this article, so I recommend you read a few things before you dive into this. Authentication: http://www.deliverability.com/resources/emailAuthentication.php DKIM: http://www.dkim.org.
Thanks to Len Shneyder, director of partner relations & industry communications at Pivotal Veracity, for writing this very timely update.
AOL & AIM. Not much new to report except that they plan to incorporate Sender Policy Framework (SPF) and DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) into the reputation model in the coming months. By late summer they hope to be actively using both as a means of authentication and reputation checking for connecting IPs as an added data point to help them determine the final disposition of email. As is always the case, they advocate being responsible with your sending patterns and trying to limit your email to "active" customers who have purchase patterns or some form of response-based relationship.
Comcast. Ninety-one percent of all inbound email to Comcast, the largest broadband provider in the United States, is flagged as spam. Comcast monitors the quantity of hard bounces, specifically unknown users, sent to their domains. They use this as a measure of list quality and maintenance. By the end of the year, Comcast announced, they will adopt DKIM as an extension of their reputation check, in addition to launching a feedback loop.
MSFT, Hotmail, Windows Live Mail. Hotmail receives 4.5 billion emails a day, of which 90 % is flagged as spam. Statistics show that 35% of all spam today is "image spam," or messages comprised solely of one or multiple images. Microsoft advised mailers to use the hard fail flag in their SPF/SenderID records (-all), in addition to covering every sub domain with its own SPF/SenderID record. If you are lost at this point, contact your ESP or one of the delivery auditing companies and they can help you understand how to set this up. It is important to note that IPs sending a low volume of email at infrequent intervals will most likely be flagged as "suspect" by this filter as they have similar characteristics to spammers. Because of this, new IPs with no mailing history will have a harder time getting their email to even the junk mail folder. Microsoft is relying heavily on an IP's mailing history as one aspect of reputation in order to determine where email should be placed. Further insights from Microsoft personnel included information on mailing volumes: It's better to email smaller volumes more often rather than larger volumes at infrequent intervals. Consistent mailings of 5-10K emails per day have been documented as performing well.
Implications. ISPs use a variety of filters, including third-party filters, blacklists, whitelists, reputation metrics, volume filters, and content filters. There are many reasons your message may not make it to the recipient's inbox. Reputation metrics consist of one or all three of the following, depending on the ISP: spam complaints (the number of recipients complaining you are spamming them); unknown user bounce rates (bad addresses), and spam traps (emails you send to email addresses harvested from the Web or purchased). Managing feedback loops (spam complaints), good bounce management (removing bad addresses), and carefully governing your email acquisition methods will remain crucial to sustaining a good delivery reputation with the ISPs.
Authentication will become increasingly important as well. If you are not already authenticating with a combination of SPF, SenderID, and DKIM now is the time to get started. Whereas Microsoft adopted SenderID, many others adopted a combination of SPF + DKIM or SenderID + DKIM. Yahoo is even requiring DKIM in order to sign up for their feedback loop (spam complaint reporting).
I've published an extended version of this article with comments and links to some valuable sources and partners that you may find useful, on my blog.
| | David Baker is vice president of e-mail solutions at Avenue A/Razorfish. Visit his blog at http://whitenoiseinc.com |
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