afish

Still Here...

Mon, 12 Jul 2004 21:57:28 GMT

Well I'll be damned, this Radio weblog still works! I took a break because I've been experimenting with my typepad blog.

Bridge this Partisan Divide - Iraq Victory Gardens

Tue, 23 Mar 2004 00:37:59 GMT

Coffee Notes: Bipartisan Victory Gardens for Iraq

Republicans for Kerry?. Ok, maybe not, but at least Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) doesn't think it fitting to slander John Kerry with misdirection and misinformation. Update 3/22: Another Republican, Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Nebraska), has now come to Kerry's defense,saying that the Bush Administration is misleading the American public (again) in their characterizations of John Kerry. Full story here.... [East Bay Kerry]

A Republican veep would be good.

Joe Biden on Hardball: Biden Endorses a Fusion Ticket

Tom Brokaw's How the Home Front can Help

Tom Friedman's The Home Team

Truthout's Editorial?

Bookcrossing: Books for Iraq.

New Yorker Road Map?

Mon, 22 Mar 2004 22:54:20 GMT

Good, another recommendation:

Remembering the Wayward Pressman. The New Yorker marks the centennial birthday of the late A.J. Liebling, a writer whom I regard as the funniest American journalist of all time.

[Workbench]

I will add that to the list. A few weeks back I read and liked John Robb's recommendation: Contract Sport (at least I think it was John Robb who recommended it...).

I am new to The New Yorker; my parents gave all of us a subscription at Christmas. This past weekend I asked my dad what he liked in this issue. I tried to express my hurdles with this magazine -- it has a different rhythm than any other magazine I get, and can't quite get a way to approach it week to week (IOW not front to back). My question, which he heard as "what should I read in this issue," was actually "how should I read this thing"?

Dad reads it this way: Start with The Talk of the Town. Next read the movie reviews (or maybe he meant the featured movie review. This week would be Anthony Lane's review of "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"). Then he moves onto authors he likes. From the March 22 issue, he marked: Kathy Gannon: Letter from Afghanistan, Andy Borowitz (Shouts & Murmurs), Jeffrey Toobin: Annals of Law, Alice Munro (Fiction), and Adam Gopnik: A Critic at Large, and Anthony Lane's review. The only N.Y. writer I know is the guy with the glasses who lost some cash in the dotcom boom then wrote a book about it (what was his name? He reviews movies, I saw him on Charlie Rose...).

So here's an Andy Rooney-like nitpicking observation: how many titles does each article have in this damn thing? Dad marked Kathy Gannon's article, so do I refer to it as "Letter from Afghanistan"? Maybe that is that the name of her column, and this installment is titled "Road Rage," is that it? Is "Letter From" a section (kind of like the chron has Datebook) where Ms Gannon happens to be this week's author???

Anyone know of a Dummies book titled something like: "'The New Yorker' & Other Literary Rags - A Guide for White Trash Readers"?

Howard Dean in San Francisco

Sat, 20 Mar 2004 06:59:30 GMT

I met my mom at the Palace hotel at 5:30pm. Luckily, she'd arrived at 5:00, a full hour early but just in time to secure the remaining two seats in the last row. Standing room only.

"This is my daughter," my mom pointed to me, "this is my mother," we waved to her East Bay friends and my San Francisco friends from accross the room.

The Governor was late, some got antsy. Others spontaneously broke into song: the Star Spangled Banner and "Shout for Dean - Cheney/Bush Disease" by the Auditorials.

Someone tossed a Bushocchio doll into the air and the crowd volleyed it back and forth in camraderie. "Paging Dr. Dean...paging Dr. Howard Dean.." someone said as the clock ticked on...where was he?

Finally he showed and all was forgiven -- the crowd gave him standing o after standing o. "With receptions like this, maybe it's not too late to get back in the race" he said laughing. It was the Governor at his best, lighting the room on fire with passion and joy.

For more, see Howard Vicini's writeup at Bay Area for Dean and Jay Lasnick's photos at DeanPhotos.com.

How Cool is Phil?

Tue, 16 Mar 2004 07:56:47 GMT

How cool is Phil?

One more reason I love Dean. Did you see him stand up for the Democratic party and Kerry on Face The Nation? Governor Dean was a happy warrior, refuting Dr. Rice's spin. I can't wait to hear his Wednesday announcement. The transcript...... [East Bay Kerry]

Ronn Owens on Hardball

Sat, 13 Mar 2004 00:15:30 GMT

Ronn just appeared on Hardball. Chris started by asking "is San Francisco as bad -- oops I mean as left as people think it is?" to which Ronn replied absolutely not, San Francisco is part of the larger bay area which may lean a wee bit left if it leans at all. Then they moved onto gay marriage, political centrists, the FCC and the negative campaign ads.

The best question was "why do people call into talk-radio shows?" Some people call because they have something to add, Ronn said. But many people call in "because of something called 'ego', Chris, a word neither you nor I are familiar with". The line got an approving laugh from Matthews.

All in all a good segment. Chris also plugged Ronn's new book. I think Ronn's next book should be "Liberals are from Mars, Conservatives are from Venus," a guide for talking to the other side. I wonder which side would buy more copies?

Salon on Stern

Fri, 12 Mar 2004 23:22:51 GMT

Good article in today's Salon on Stern's wedge strategy. It's not the indecency hysteria that caused Clear Channel to pull Stern's show from six markets, he claims, but rather his anti-Bush remarks. Is he sincere or strategically using this political claim as a wedge to keep himself on the air?

"He's got one of the biggest audiences in all of radio, and perhaps the most loyal," says Michael Harrison, publisher of Talkers magazine, the nonpartisan monthly that covers radio's news/talk industry. "And that's why he's so dangerous for the White House."...

..."Our research shows many, many people in the 30- to 40-year-old range who were Bush supporters are rethinking that position and turning away from Bush because of what Howard Stern has been saying," says Harrison....

...There are early signs that Bush supporters are indeed nervous about Stern's crusade. This week Limbaugh wrote a newspaper Op-Ed column dismissing Stern's claims against Bush as coming from "the left-wing fringe." (Stern returned fire, labeling Limbaugh a Bush "lackey.")...

..."There's no question," says Harrison, "Stern is the sleeping giant of liberal radio."...

"Delay" AND "Indictment"

Fri, 12 Mar 2004 22:58:26 GMT

Too good to be true?

Tom DeLay's funny-money trail

The GOP strongman's political machine has stopped at nothing to extend its power. Now it's facing indictments for violating Texas campaign finance laws.

By Lou Dubose

Back Online?

Fri, 12 Mar 2004 21:10:57 GMT

test...

Wow me weblog seems to be working again.

Stop the Endorsements! Stop the Endorsements!

Fri, 16 Jan 2004 04:04:50 GMT

I hate to say this, but I think many voters are unconsciously starting to resent these early endorsements. Unlike me, they have not been following the race since the first debate last January.

Some family members and a few friends think Dean didn't earn his front-runner status. They think he cruised in on the coattails of the cronies within the party who made it easy for him with early endorsements (like I said, they just started watching the race).

They also think the media has made it easy for Dean: "the media selected their candidates a few months ago. And overwhelmingly, they selected Howard Dean" said moderate San Francisco talk show host Pete Wilson a few minutes ago.

Maybe you guys should hold back the next few endorsements for a few days. I would like people to come to their own conclusions, and they will, that Dean is the best candidate.

--just my $.02!!

PS(Caller to Pete Wilson's show just said "I'm a Clark supporter, but the more I listen to him, the more I like Dean".)

Humpday

Fri, 02 Jan 2004 01:10:04 GMT

Man, every New Year's Eve should land on a Wednesday. This is great, everybody is on vacation today and tomorrow. Good thing we cancelled the trip to Tahoe, highway 80 is closed in Sacramento. Off to bowling and beer with the friends!

Happy New Year!

Wed, 31 Dec 2003 20:45:41 GMT

It is only 1:31 PM, and I am in great shape: I already know where I'm going tonight AND what I'm wearing. This must be a record! Most probably due to Kim, who found out about the party and just bought three tickets, using Executive order and bypassing the indecision-by-committee syndrome ("I don't know what do you want to do?"). Now the only tasks left are: go tanning, work out, and get a manicure/pedicure.

This is also a good time for some belated salutations:

Happy Birthday Dad (Dec 28th)!
Happy Birthday Me (Dec 29th)!
Happy New Year!
Happy Birthday Mom (Jan 6th)!

Home Improvement

Mon, 29 Dec 2003 05:09:31 GMT

2004 I resolve to make more mistakes. I had this potrack when I moved in six months ago. Yet I avoided hanging it for varied (stupid) reasons.

1. For one, it was not the perfect potrack. Since this kitchen is so small, I needed a bigger, rectangular-shaped potrack. With the perfect rack, pots could hang from the bottom aannd pans could be stacked on top.

2. Another excuse: if I hung the existing, inadequate potrack then replaced it with the shiny, perfect potrack, the holes from the first potrack would be exposed.

When I moved out of my old place, my mother, who "helped" me pack, asked me not to mess up the new place by hanging art on the walls then changing my mind and moving it, leaving ugly, exposed holes of indecision in its path. It was this line of thinking that left the perfectly adequate potrack taking up space on my shelf, and pots and pans cluttering up my stovetop. It was this kind of thinking that kept me out of the kitchen.

Hanging the potrack was liberating: it not only cleared the stovetop, it framed the stove area. It is an inviting little space. And this project was inspired by an article about Software Entreprenuers: Make more mistakes. In the home, I resolve to leave more holes, experiment, move things around. At work, I resolve to make more mistakes, try things that may not work, make more messes and have some fun.

Generic Post

Sat, 27 Dec 2003 06:53:31 GMT

This is a generic post. It has no topic. Its purpose is to make the last post (the post before this one) less recent than this post. In short, its purpose is to recuscitate this weblog.

Reasons why posting have been so sparse (thinking out loud here): 1) after hitting the "Post" button in Radio, it takes a friggin looong time to form-submit and refresh. 2) computer is now up in the attic, which is cold, dark, and full of clutter (and never got mail-to-weblog working). 3) don't know what to post, or don't know why the weblog must be kept alive.

Seeing them written on the screen, I see that reasons 1 and 2 are the strongest, 3 does not matter. The practice of writing is just that, writing even when you don't know what to write.

Seeing it through Safari User's Eyes

Thu, 27 Nov 2003 19:13:08 GMT

This comes just in time since I've been told that the stylish buttons I was so excited about do not appear particularly stylish in a Safari browser.

Safari Screen Capture. View your site through the eye of a Mac browser. Safari 1.1, to be more specific. It's very handy for... [Weblog Wannabe]

Dean Grassroots Summit Recap

Thu, 27 Nov 2003 10:10:09 GMT

"Power is never given; it must be taken" so went the message from Dean campaigner and seasoned campaign veteran Mike Ford. Speaking from his years of experience ("Joe Trippi was my project" Ford said of his friend and former protege), Ford told us to take matters into our own hands. Don't wait, don't ask. Well, ask if you want to but don't wait before acting. He threw in a couple of funny stories about Dr. Dean's frugality before he left us at 5:00 to get on a plane.

The First Unitarian Church was already hubbing at 2:00 PM, an hour before the summit was to begin. Over 75 people had volunteered to come early to set up chairs and check people in. Lots of familiar faces from San Francisco Dean events, and many new faces from the Deaniacs of the East Bay, Sacramento, Davis, Napa down to Grass Valley.

I saw craigslist Craig Newmark, who has been sprinkling political observations in his blog as of late. He also told me to spread this help wanted word: craigslist is looking for a customer service manager. When he walked away David Schmidt, an editor for the EPA and author of the SF Dean newsletter asked me "did he post the job on craigslist?" Good question.

I met redhead Mariva Aviram, a writer, editor, and Dean activist. Political humor has been her focus most recently, but not too long ago she authored XML for Dummies. Later when we were in regional groups a tall young guy told us about Deanspace, a make-your-own-Dean-website tool which he coauthored. "You wrote deanspace -- which one are you?" somebody asked, his name was Josh. "Outlandish Josh?" asked Richard Hoefer, creator of Dean Media Team. I had no idea what outlandish meant in this context until I checked out Deanspace and clicked over to outlandish josh's blog.

The prize for the community-coming-together moment happened around 8:00 PM, near the end of the 5-hour event. In our regional group of about 25, John Showalter stood to introduce himself; he moved here from Brooklyn only months ago. He's now living in the Bernal Heights neighborhood of San Francisco. At this point Alex Laskey, about five seats away from John felt it was time to introduce himself. You see, Alex moved here from Brooklyn only months ago too. Alex moved to the SF neighborhood of....you guessed it, Bernal Heights. When I left they were still talking, discovering more similarities.

Pretty Buttons

Thu, 27 Nov 2003 09:32:03 GMT

Stylish Buttons. In this article, author Michael Matti uses CSS to create colorful, stylish alternatives to the common buttons found in standard web forms. 1126 [WebReference News]

Hmm...they are not showing up all stylish when I put them here. Will have to read the article (nuts).

Effective XML

Wed, 26 Nov 2003 01:13:07 GMT

Looks like a good one:

Effective XML: 50 Specific Ways to Improve Your XML

After an introduction in which he very clearly defines terms (element versus tag, document versus file etc), Harold dives straight in to deliver a set of best practices and guidelines to using XML in a manner that is both standards compliant and robust. However, the book has a very practical bias, and standards-purity is not seen as an end in itself.
- techbookreport.com

You had me at the introduction.

Cheney sides with Dean

Sun, 23 Nov 2003 18:14:59 GMT

From Meet the Press this morning: on the matter of same-sex unions, Cheney apparently aggrees with Howard Dean: a) the legality should be decided at the state level and b) there should be no constitutional ammendment. The quote:

"Whether or not there ought to be some kind of official sanction...of the [same-sex] relationship or if these relationships should be treated the same way a conventional marriage is, that’s a tougher problem. That’s not a slam dunk. I think the fact of the matter, of course, is that the matter is regulated by the states. I think different states are likely to come to different conclusions and that’s appropriate. I don’t think there should necessarily be a federal policy in this area.”

Arnold Could be OK

Fri, 10 Oct 2003 00:04:42 GMT

I didn't vote for him, but he won. His acceptance speech was good, but performance matters, yeah yeah. I wanted to vote for him, but the harrassment stories made it impossible. Also, electing him was essentially a hail-mary pass, only time will tell us if he receives it. What's wrong with a hail-mary election to shake things up? I just remember this conversation in 2000:

"oh well, he won. He'll just be a do-nothing president, what's the worst that could happen? It's not like he's going to start a WAR or something"!

Also, if the republican party starts to follow the California model and moves away from this scary model, then we'll have two Democratic parties. And you know what Harry Truman would say about Democrats vs. Democrats. Only time will tell.

LiveTopics and K-Collector

Wed, 01 Oct 2003 07:19:28 GMT

I want k-collector and liveTopics to get married. Mathemagenic wants this too:

At the end my main point is simple: I believe k-collector has more chances to be used if it offers more to endusers. Personally I'd like to have an opportunity to switch between "all weblogs" and "my own weblog" views :)
[Mathemagenic] via [Marc's Voice]

Right! k-collector indexes the group the way liveTopics indexed the individual. Now that I'm part of the group, I am lost within the boundaries of my own weblog (k-collector and liveTopics cannot be installed together, to join k-collector you have to abandon liveTopics, sniff sniff). Wouldn't it be great if they were joined together as one?

I imagine this: tagging a post with topics "km, "San Francisco", "writing". Of those keywords, designate some as shared and others solo. The post would appear in the k-collector pool under the shared topic "km", but not the solos "San Francisco", "writing". All topics would index the posts for greater structure and access within the home domain.