Insurmountable Opportunities

Northwest Branch Creek. Willow has learned to like LOVE the water. Leaping and dashing.

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Big dog. Teeny bed.

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Seeming to cement the notion that the claims that punk rock was the only modern western music that was not co-opted from Black America is a bunch of hooey, allow me to introduce you to Death:

• http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/arts/music/15rubi.html?_r=1
• http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=444198764

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The word “tot” doesn’t give me the heebie-jeebies all by itself (not like, say, “linoleum,” or “panties”), but it seems like CNN has developed quite a fetish for the use of the word. I suppose it’s to save headline space and help make their lists of links look nicer by preventing lines from wrapping, but it just seems out of place in nearly every case. Used less frequently, and to slightly less consternation on my part is the word “kin.”

Neither of these words seem appropriate to the types of stories they are used to promote. They seem to convey a sense of informality, or even condescension, that is rarely appropriate to the content of the story.

Here are some examples that make my stomach turn in the way it used to every day working for a television station:

• Tot who died on Disney ride had bad heart
• Missing tot’s trail goes cold after three months
• Tot had heart sticker on mouth
• Tot mom meant to kill!

• Twister kills two mothers protecting kin
• Buffett: Tax my kin, please (not surprisingly, Buffet did not actually say “kin”)
• Kidnapped soldier’s kin: Stop the killing

And a whole shitload more from google.

Comments Off Bitching, News, Personal cnn, headlines, News, tot

That nonsense with the Facebook-Wordpress integration was a total bust, so here’s a neat little Firefox add-on called ScribeFire that purports to post to my blog.? Wonder it this shiny new marvel of Internet wisdom will actually work.

1 comment Personal wordpress

P went to Liberty with my mom to visit my Grandmother Marty at the end of the summer. She took our camera with her and took a bunch of really cool pictures. I love seeing how P sees the world and what she things of as worthy of recording. Everything from door handles on a rental car to the shadows on Marty’s courtyard. This is not one of her pictures, rather it was taken by my mom.

From P’s Pictures in Liberty

Comments Off Kids, Personal marty, Phenon, photographs

…you will now learn from Harvey Sid Fisher.

Comments Off Music, Personal, Video capricorn, Music, weird

I was visiting my friend John’s MySpace page a minute ago and saw that he has posted a trailer for a documentary about one of my favorite bands from Seattle, Silkworm. Halfway through the trailer they start talking about Michael’s death. I hadn’t even known he had died.

It was a little more than two years ago when, apparently, his car was hit by a woman speeding and trying to kill herself. Michael was a great drummer with – as I recall – an amazingly sweet personality and no pretension. That was rare in the 90s rock world of Seattle.

I remember standing to the side of the stage at the Off Ramp watching him play. Coincidentally – after posting just an hour or so ago about smiling rock musicians – I remember him smiling shyly as he played. Man, he really hit the drums hard.

I’m sorry he’s gone and my thoughts go out to his family and the rest of Silkworm. Cheers, Michael.

Comments Off Friends, Music, Personal, Video death, documentary, Friends, Music, silkworm

A List Apart is conducting their first survey of web professionals. It only took a few mintutes and I’ll be really interested to see the results. Oh, and there are prizes!

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There was a man who called himself Stupid. I saw him every time I went to the 5th Street Public Market when I was a kid growing up in Eugene, Oregon. He always sat at the (mostly) same table, drinking coffee, and working on his books – collections of wisdom. I’ve often wished I still had one of his books. Stupid would have hated what became of the market.

My friend Chris was once at the market with his friend and child. The kid asked him why his name was Stupid. His reply was “I used to know a big fat guy and everyone called him Tiny.”

A Stupid biography and a Stupid book

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R smashed into a wall. These eleven stitches (three on the inside) bring his grand total to fifteen, and his number of visits to the ER to four. While that is an average of less than one visit per year, it must be noted that three of those visits have come in the last 18 months. And all but one of them a head injury.

“Action-Boy” strikes again!

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I’ve been incredibly busy lately and have been mostly blogging (along with several of my brilliant co-workers) on the Beaconfirewire. I’ll continue to sporadically update intensely boring personal news and such here. But the dry spells will likely continue.

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Here it is! My first good mash-up. I’ve been playing around with Acid Pro for a while now and put together a few different kinda-almost mashups. This one is the first that’s really come out well. I’ve been trying to figure out what it is about mashups that turns me on. I guess part of it is that I’m a musician, temporarily without other musicians to play with. But then there’s the appeal of mashups themselves. More on that later. For now, enjoy Jay-z vs. AC/DC – The Girl’s Got Dirt.”

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I was in a band in the 80s (no, not that ’80s; the 1908s…like as in the decade?). As it turns out, the band was kind of cool. And now you can all hear it.

• Pelican (mp3)
• Roseland (mp3)
• Dreamtigers (mp3)
• Chrysalis (mp3)
• TheWayTheRiverRuns (mp3)
• Icon (mp3)
• Both (mp3)
• Departure (mp3)

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J and I camped out all night Friday with a bunch of people organized by FamilyPride.org to get tickets for the White House egg roll. It was a lovely night and only rained a few minutes Saturday morning. Next year, we’ll be better prepared with tent and sleeping bags and bring the kids.

The egg roll itself was pretty fun. There were lots of performers on different stages, and the kids had a great time. As you see from the photo, young R and old J participated in the roll. P would have none of it and I hung out with her to cheer her little brother on.

The event was marred only by some really horrible protesters outside the gate telling our kids that they would get sick being out on such a rainy day without god protecting them. I’m pretty sure that P felt all confidence that the Goddess had her back all the way, and R doesn’t listen to anything anyone else says anyway.

We overheard some White House staff grumbling as we passed that this was a family event and that…well, whatever they said it was stupid. What would you expect from this White House?

Here are some links to coverage:
CBSNews.com story
CBSNews.com slideshow
CNN.com story
365Gay.com story
SF Chronicle story

Comments Off Kids, Personal, Politics, Queer Family, Julie, Phenon, Politics, Queer, Rowan