Thursday, October 23, 2008
images from Madison, WI
the Madison farmers market. Here you can see the three black people in Wisconsin crowded around a table of Obama buttons. And cheese curds! People just walk around snackin on bags of cheese curds!Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Casa Octopus descends on Ohio for Obama in October
It's really shameful how much we neglect our dear sweet blog-o-spot.
Quickies at least:
Tonight, various tentacles and prostheticals are at the Alemany Farm fundraiser/dance party at the Rickshaw Stop in SF city. A party put on by our house friend, BeBrown, with his crew: Party Corps- www.partycorps.org
Sadly, I'm the lame one packing and laying low so I can travel well tomorrow.
Oh yeah! We're heading to Ohio this week. In total, we'll round out five casaoctopians (current and formal tentacles) in Ohio this month, and that's twice by Zeelicious Navina.
Change happens, from within and often. Let's see what we can do, more to come! Goooobama!
The Railvolution happens this coming week and our resident transportation advocate/movershaker/diva, ChristineMarie, is attending to get allz trans-oriented-development-car-alternative-go-bikes on that scene. I think we have visiting railvolutionaries crashing the Casa this week too, so should be fun to rap rail over dinner next week. www.railvolution.com
Other than that, the teachers are teaching, the designer is crafting and the writer is constructively criticizing.
More on OHIO and hopefully some picture posts soon!
Quickies at least:
Tonight, various tentacles and prostheticals are at the Alemany Farm fundraiser/dance party at the Rickshaw Stop in SF city. A party put on by our house friend, BeBrown, with his crew: Party Corps- www.partycorps.org
Sadly, I'm the lame one packing and laying low so I can travel well tomorrow.
Oh yeah! We're heading to Ohio this week. In total, we'll round out five casaoctopians (current and formal tentacles) in Ohio this month, and that's twice by Zeelicious Navina.
Change happens, from within and often. Let's see what we can do, more to come! Goooobama!
The Railvolution happens this coming week and our resident transportation advocate/movershaker/diva, ChristineMarie, is attending to get allz trans-oriented-development-car-alternative-go-bikes on that scene. I think we have visiting railvolutionaries crashing the Casa this week too, so should be fun to rap rail over dinner next week. www.railvolution.com
Other than that, the teachers are teaching, the designer is crafting and the writer is constructively criticizing.
More on OHIO and hopefully some picture posts soon!
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Day 1 outside the bubble
My journey to Madison, Wisconsin - October 1, 2008. 34 days to Election Day.
Snippets:
1) Going through security at SFO:
TSA guy staring at me. "I like your necklace". Me: "Thanks". Him: "I thought it was cereal around your neck on a string". Me: "Yeah, well with the economy these days you gotta be ready for anything". Him : "No kidding!" Female TSA worker: "Plus they don't feed you on the planes anymore so you might as well bring cereal on a string." (Note: the necklace is actually handcrafted beads from the (endangered) Orang Asli tribe in Sarawak)
2) In Salt Lake City:
African-American guy (one of the four I saw in 2.5 hours at the airport): "I like your button!!! ... but my friend doesn't."
Friend (White guy): "did you see my sticker? "
I look. Big Nobama! sticker on his suitcase... "I'm not cool with having my taxes raised," he says.
Me: "Um, your taxes will only go up if you make over $250K per year. And if you fall in that tax bracket, we need to hang out more and you can tell me about it over a drink. Where do you live?"
Friend: "California".
Me: "Okay then".
AA guy: "We're gonna be celebrating come Election Day".
Me: "Sure hope so. Talk to your friend here."
3) Salt Lake City: Older couple perusing books at bookstore.
Man to woman: "Where's that new book by that guy- hot, flat whatever?"
Me: "Hot Flat & Crowded by Thomas Friedman". I show him where it is.
Man: "Have you read it?"
Me: "I've read parts of it, it's good."
Woman: "We heard him on public radio this morning, he was fantastic"
Me: "Yeah, timely stuff. Did you see his NY Times piece on the Green Bailout?."
Woman: "Where can I get an Obama pin?"
I offer her a bumper sticker. "Where are you from?"
Woman: "Sun Valley Idaho, a little spot of blue amongst a sea of red."
Me: "well good luck, stay strong out there!" I tell them how to connect with the Obama campaign.
4) I stood outside aforementioned bookstore in Salt Lake City Airport for 41 minutes on a layover watching folks walk by & react to the book selection.
Prominently featured as you enter on the right is a five-tier bookshelf of conservative and Republican media. slightly less prominently featured on the left as you walk in (less prominent due to visual obstructions and the side that traffic flows from) was a five-tier bookshelf of Democrat and some progressive media.
This bookstore by the way also has an entire large shelf of books devoted to Mormon history, scripture, and faith, including the Life and Times of Joseph Smith, among many other selections.
Anyway, here's an analysis of what I saw at a glance - judging books by their covers.
The Dem-favoring books looked more campaign & candidate-driven than Repubs. BO's book featured prominently in the middle with his campaign colors and the Change O, and his two books right above. One title with Joe Biden. Colberts book is on bottom shelf. Best title: Fleeced. Worst title: Right is Wrong. (Arianna Huffington - love you Arianna, but not a reach-across-the-aisle title)
Neither here nor there: "Heads in the Sand"
Books on rightwing shelf were a little more subtle and push a broader and more hard-hitting message--> Man of the People. Worth the Fighting For. If Democrats had any Brains, they'd be Republicans. Hard Call: The Art of Great Decisions. The Case Against Barack Obama. Obama Nation. Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left (I had to pick this one up -- the jacket discusses Hitler's vegetarian and makes the case that since some lefties are vegetarians we may have another wave of bloodthirsty fascism on it's way...)
Winning title: Somebody's Got to Say It. Man, I can just feel this guy's reluctance in breaking me the bad news about how the left is destroying America and why government needs to be smaller.
And in those 41 minutes, the rightwing bookshelf had 5 visitors and the Dem bookshelf had 7. 3 people looked at both. Nobody bought a single book off either of these shelves.
Now it's almost midnight and to cap the day off, I'm in Madison WI where I just had the opportunity to watch Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West. The free DVD which arrived in swing state voters NY Times free of charge two Sundays ago. Just before children in a mosque in Dayton Ohio were gassed during Ramadan last Friday evening.
Are you kidding me? This movie is grotesque, anti-Muslim, sensationalist, outrageously timed, and misrepresents at least several situations, including the fall of the Saddam statue. Apparently it aired on Fox on 9/11. No surprise there. But I can't believe it showed up in the NY Times.
From the film's website, www.obsessionthemovie.com, here's a sampling of the FAQs:
QUESTION: Is there really a war going on?
Absolutely, as far the radicals are concerned. When we interviewed Daniel Pipes and Caroline Glick, they both said the same thing: It’s a world war. It’s hard for us to recognize, because it’s not like WWII, or other conflicts, with armies going head to head against one another; conquer this capital or capture this leader, and the whole country falls. A lot of what’s going on is much more insidious. And we’re not at all accustomed to the tactics. We’re not accustomed to an enemy that’s scattered everywhere, because you have all these other different organizations, and millions of like-minded sympathizers, around the globe, loosely unified in the same goal of bringing down the West, and establishing Islamic states. It’s in many of the mosques. It’s in many of the schools. So, yes, it is a global conflict. It is a war. It’s just not like any we’ve encountered before.
QUESTION: What has been the response from people, when they hear what you’re doing?
Most people's response is that they didn't realize what has really been going on. When we show them the footage, the figures, the quotes, they are very scared of the future.
QUESTION: What are you hoping people will walk away with, after they see this film?
We hope the film will inspire people to spend some time thinking about their beliefs, and commit to them, and fight for them.We’re also hoping people will speak out against what is happening. We hope people will start writing letters to congressmen, letters to editors. We hope people we start fighting ignorance and bias when they see it. They will lead marches and demonstrations, petitions and activism on college campuses. We hope moderate Muslims will continue creating watchdog groups for whatever enters their mosques and their schools, and ensuring that the values important to them are taught, if they see they are not.
QUESTION: Are you afraid of the response to the film? Death threats and the like?
We’re more afraid of what will happen if people don’t wake-up to what’s going on.
Me, I'm more afraid that you're not afraid of people being afraid.
Snippets:
1) Going through security at SFO:
TSA guy staring at me. "I like your necklace". Me: "Thanks". Him: "I thought it was cereal around your neck on a string". Me: "Yeah, well with the economy these days you gotta be ready for anything". Him : "No kidding!" Female TSA worker: "Plus they don't feed you on the planes anymore so you might as well bring cereal on a string." (Note: the necklace is actually handcrafted beads from the (endangered) Orang Asli tribe in Sarawak)
2) In Salt Lake City:
African-American guy (one of the four I saw in 2.5 hours at the airport): "I like your button!!! ... but my friend doesn't."
Friend (White guy): "did you see my sticker? "
I look. Big Nobama! sticker on his suitcase... "I'm not cool with having my taxes raised," he says.
Me: "Um, your taxes will only go up if you make over $250K per year. And if you fall in that tax bracket, we need to hang out more and you can tell me about it over a drink. Where do you live?"
Friend: "California".
Me: "Okay then".
AA guy: "We're gonna be celebrating come Election Day".
Me: "Sure hope so. Talk to your friend here."
3) Salt Lake City: Older couple perusing books at bookstore.
Man to woman: "Where's that new book by that guy- hot, flat whatever?"
Me: "Hot Flat & Crowded by Thomas Friedman". I show him where it is.
Man: "Have you read it?"
Me: "I've read parts of it, it's good."
Woman: "We heard him on public radio this morning, he was fantastic"
Me: "Yeah, timely stuff. Did you see his NY Times piece on the Green Bailout?."
Woman: "Where can I get an Obama pin?"
I offer her a bumper sticker. "Where are you from?"
Woman: "Sun Valley Idaho, a little spot of blue amongst a sea of red."
Me: "well good luck, stay strong out there!" I tell them how to connect with the Obama campaign.
4) I stood outside aforementioned bookstore in Salt Lake City Airport for 41 minutes on a layover watching folks walk by & react to the book selection.
Prominently featured as you enter on the right is a five-tier bookshelf of conservative and Republican media. slightly less prominently featured on the left as you walk in (less prominent due to visual obstructions and the side that traffic flows from) was a five-tier bookshelf of Democrat and some progressive media.
This bookstore by the way also has an entire large shelf of books devoted to Mormon history, scripture, and faith, including the Life and Times of Joseph Smith, among many other selections.
Anyway, here's an analysis of what I saw at a glance - judging books by their covers.
The Dem-favoring books looked more campaign & candidate-driven than Repubs. BO's book featured prominently in the middle with his campaign colors and the Change O, and his two books right above. One title with Joe Biden. Colberts book is on bottom shelf. Best title: Fleeced. Worst title: Right is Wrong. (Arianna Huffington - love you Arianna, but not a reach-across-the-aisle title)
Neither here nor there: "Heads in the Sand"
Books on rightwing shelf were a little more subtle and push a broader and more hard-hitting message--> Man of the People. Worth the Fighting For. If Democrats had any Brains, they'd be Republicans. Hard Call: The Art of Great Decisions. The Case Against Barack Obama. Obama Nation. Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left (I had to pick this one up -- the jacket discusses Hitler's vegetarian and makes the case that since some lefties are vegetarians we may have another wave of bloodthirsty fascism on it's way...)
Winning title: Somebody's Got to Say It. Man, I can just feel this guy's reluctance in breaking me the bad news about how the left is destroying America and why government needs to be smaller.
And in those 41 minutes, the rightwing bookshelf had 5 visitors and the Dem bookshelf had 7. 3 people looked at both. Nobody bought a single book off either of these shelves.
Now it's almost midnight and to cap the day off, I'm in Madison WI where I just had the opportunity to watch Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West. The free DVD which arrived in swing state voters NY Times free of charge two Sundays ago. Just before children in a mosque in Dayton Ohio were gassed during Ramadan last Friday evening.
Are you kidding me? This movie is grotesque, anti-Muslim, sensationalist, outrageously timed, and misrepresents at least several situations, including the fall of the Saddam statue. Apparently it aired on Fox on 9/11. No surprise there. But I can't believe it showed up in the NY Times.
From the film's website, www.obsessionthemovie.com, here's a sampling of the FAQs:
QUESTION: Is there really a war going on?
Absolutely, as far the radicals are concerned. When we interviewed Daniel Pipes and Caroline Glick, they both said the same thing: It’s a world war. It’s hard for us to recognize, because it’s not like WWII, or other conflicts, with armies going head to head against one another; conquer this capital or capture this leader, and the whole country falls. A lot of what’s going on is much more insidious. And we’re not at all accustomed to the tactics. We’re not accustomed to an enemy that’s scattered everywhere, because you have all these other different organizations, and millions of like-minded sympathizers, around the globe, loosely unified in the same goal of bringing down the West, and establishing Islamic states. It’s in many of the mosques. It’s in many of the schools. So, yes, it is a global conflict. It is a war. It’s just not like any we’ve encountered before.
QUESTION: What has been the response from people, when they hear what you’re doing?
Most people's response is that they didn't realize what has really been going on. When we show them the footage, the figures, the quotes, they are very scared of the future.
QUESTION: What are you hoping people will walk away with, after they see this film?
We hope the film will inspire people to spend some time thinking about their beliefs, and commit to them, and fight for them.We’re also hoping people will speak out against what is happening. We hope people will start writing letters to congressmen, letters to editors. We hope people we start fighting ignorance and bias when they see it. They will lead marches and demonstrations, petitions and activism on college campuses. We hope moderate Muslims will continue creating watchdog groups for whatever enters their mosques and their schools, and ensuring that the values important to them are taught, if they see they are not.
QUESTION: Are you afraid of the response to the film? Death threats and the like?
We’re more afraid of what will happen if people don’t wake-up to what’s going on.
Me, I'm more afraid that you're not afraid of people being afraid.
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