K-blog

Simplify

2010-05-21T20:12:00.001-04:00

As the line between personal and professional gets increasingly blurred, I've decided it's stupid to have two blogs. Please head over to http://karhoff.wordpress.com to read the latest. Thanks!

Supermodel's 'Survivor's Guilt' Pushes Her to Make Film on Mothers' Health

2010-04-28T00:16:00.002-04:00

Trailer: No Woman, No Cry

Supermodel Christy Turlington Burns has made her directorial debut with the film "No Woman, No Cry," which premiered at New York's Tribeca Film Festival on Saturday.

Turlington Burns was inspired to make the film after the birth of her first child, in which she experienced hemorrhaging. "I had ... survivor's guilt," Turlington Burns, who is an advocate for maternal health for humanitarian group CARE, told Reuters. "I was fortunate, but think of all the women around the world who aren't."

According to the World Health Organization, the main causes of deaths related to childbirth are hemorrhage, infection, high blood pressure, unsafe abortion, and obstructed labor.

Improving maternal health is one of the UN's Millennium Development Goals. To show that the goals are achievable, experts have pointed to Bangladesh, one of the countries featured in the film.

In Bangladesh, abortion mortality fell by three quarters over the past three decades. A massive decrease in maternal deaths occurred because women now have access to safe abortion services and emergency obstetric care, a study by Carine Ronsmans from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine showed.

"No Woman, No Cry" also features the stories of a Maasai tribe in Tanzania, a post-abortion care ward in Guatemala, and a prenatal clinic in the United States.

Check out other solutions for improving maternal health or to participate in the global call to solutions, please visit Healthy Mothers, Strong World: The Next Generation of Ideas for Maternal Health. www.changemakers.com/maternalhealth

INTERVIEW: 'Sex in the South' Author Suzi Parker on Rejection, Persistence, and Bill Clinton

2010-04-11T23:26:00.000-04:00

As a perpetual-wannabe freelance writer desperately in need of career advice, I happened upon this piece on Suzi Parker. I thought, "I want to know more"... so I cold-emailed her, and lo and behold, she wrote back! Gracious AND informative. I present to you, the text of the interview:

KH: First of all, the boring and obvious one: How did you get your start in freelancing?

SP: It was in 1997 and I wanted to cover politics. Bill Clinton was in the White House and I lived in Little Rock, Ark. – his hometown. I had always wanted to freelance so I took the plunge I had a couple of invaluable contacts at a few magazines and I used those to land a gig in The Economist writing about Clinton’s presidential library site. From then, I just pushed hard to get assignments wherever I could. I always made sure to think outside the box to national and international outlets and not just the weekly newspapers in my own backyard. I also didn’t pigeon hole myself with just politics. I wrote about any topic that sold including football for a college football magazine. And I don’t even like football.

KH: What were some of the hurdles you faced while finding clients?

SP: Mostly just rejection on story ideas or editors not emailing back ever after I sent an initial query. I think that is just rude. How long does it take to fire off and email that says “Thanks, but no thanks.”

Sometimes you may think you have the best idea in the world for a story – and it may be a great story – but an editor somewhere just doesn’t see it. Don’t take it personally. I was once rejected seven times on seven different ideas for The New York Times Magazine in the same day. The eighth pitch sold.

KH: How did you make contacts at big-name publications like The Economist and The

Christian Science Monitor?

SP: With The Economist, I had a friend who had written for them. He knew they were looking for a correspondent in the mid-South, especially Arkansas. I emailed an editor there with the Clinton library pitch and it sold. I was lucky in that regard. With The Christian Science Monitor, I blindly emailed an editor and explained my qualifications especially the fact that I was based in Clinton’s home town. I can’t remember what my first story was for them but once I landed it, I just never quit pitching.

KH: What was your schedule like as a full-time freelancer writing a book on the side? How'd you keep it all going?

SP: It’s hard to write a book when you write all day for a living. It’s especially hard if you cover politics as the influx of information and political tips never stops. The phone rings all day, the email pours in. When I wrote “Sex in the South: Unbuckling the Bible Belt,” I balanced all the research trips and writing with covering the Wesley Clark presidential campaign. It was pretty tough. For the second book, “1000 Best Bartender’s Recipes,” I wrote it on the heels of covering the 2004 election and the opening of the Clinton Library. I pretty well hibernated for two weeks and worked day and night to meet that book’s deadline.

I did take some time off from many news stories and magazine pieces when I was in the depths of my novel. It's just too hard sometimes to switch from creative fiction to hard news in the same day. Now I’m in the editing phase of the novel as well as covering the 2010 mid-term elections and honestly, it’s pretty hard to balance both. It’s like a circus clown juggling balls without the cool costume.

KH: What are you working on now?

SP: I’m covering the 2010 mid-term elections, covering breaking news stories, editing my novel, and working on the next issue of SuZine, my quarterly zine (well, it’s suppose to be quarterly but I don’t always meet the self-imposed deadline.) And catching sleep when I can. I also teach writing workshops when time allows.

KH: What do you wish you'd known when you were just starting? What would you have done differently?

SP: I don’t think I would have done much differently. I had read volumes on freelancing and felt ready to give it a shot. I created concrete goals and tried to reach them. For instance, I wanted to be in The New York Times Magazine so I kept pitching until I got the assignment. Freelancing is a huge risk and gamble. You’ve got to have perseverance and be able to take rejection often on a daily basis.

There were a few times I wrote for publications and didn’t get paid. That’s never cool. So always ask about payment and always read the fine print in any contract.

THANKS SUZI!

(WJC painting photo credit: cliff1066)

Hostage rescue, bombs, and presidential race

2010-03-29T15:22:00.000-04:00

Colombia news roundup, via Plan Colombia and Beyond:

If all goes according to plan, Brazilian helicopters will pick up two soldiers who have been held by the FARC for years. The guerrillas are releasing Josué Daniel Calvo Marín on Sunday and Pablo Emilio Moncayo. Moncayo, whose father has become famous in Colombia for his campaign to free him, has been a FARC hostage since late 1997. He was 18 when the guerrillas took him after a battle in Patascoy, Putumayo; he is 30 now.

The head of Colombia’s armed forces, Gen. Freddy Padilla, told reporters that according to “high-quality intelligence,” the FARC are planning a campaign of high-profile attacks between now and the May 30 presidential election. This week saw several FARC attacks in southwestern Colombia: Cauca, Huila, a car bombing in downtown Buenaventura believed to be the work of the FARC, and a package bomb unwittingly delivered by a 12-year-old boy in Nariño.

Meanwhile violence attributed to “emerging” paramilitary groups escalated in the northwestern department of Córdoba. Seven people, among them three teenagers, were massacred in a bar in Puerto Libertador. Radio journalist Clodomiro Castillo, a critic of politicians tied to paramilitary groups, was gunned down on the front porch of his house in Montería.

The two pro-Uribe candidates lead the polling for the May 30 elections.
- Gallup March 20-22: Juan Manuel Santos 34.2%; Noemí Sanín 23.3%; Antanas Mockus 10.4%; Gustavo Petro 6.4%; Germán Vargas Lleras 6.2%; Sergio Fajardo 6.1%; Rafael Pardo 5.1%
- Datexco March 20-23: Juan Manuel Santos 34.1%; Noemí Sanín 21.7%; Antanas Mockus 8.9%; Gustavo Petro 7.1%; Germán Vargas Lleras 6.6%; Rafael Pardo 5.5%; Sergio Fajardo 4.4%
- Both polls were taken before the first televised presidential debate, which took place the evening of March 23.

"I thought white people were all stiff"

2010-03-27T00:52:00.001-04:00

My high school in Florida was a public arts magnet school. Students "majored" in different departments -- visual arts, music, communications, etc. One day on the Tri-Rail train home from school, a dancer told me she could tell I wasn't a dance major just by looking at me.

I mean, she was right -- I was a clarinet-playing band geek -- but still, ouch.

Today, after a class in Afro-contemporary dance, a girl from the class happened to sit next to me on the bus. Halfway through the class, this girl had wanted to leave because she couldn't follow the steps, but the teacher and students convinced her to stay. I said, "But you followed them perfectly!"

"Well, I watched you and the girl next to you," she said. "You guys did everything right."

She added, "You know, I thought white people were all stiff, but you move really well!"

So there you go, bitchy high school dancer. There you go.

And score one against racial stereotypes!

(FYI, if anyone in Bogota wants to come to classes, check out Adradanza.)

Invisible Sounds: Documentary on Afro-Colombian music

2010-03-23T13:58:00.000-04:00

Just came across this film "Los Sonidos Invisibles (The Invisible Sounds)" by Ana María Arango. It's about the music of Colombia's Choco region. Super interesting...

http://www.antropologiavisual.net/2008/los-sonidos-invisibles/

(Photo Credit: Quiltro Elemento)

Tomorrow: Pasto Culture in the Botanical Gardens

2010-03-19T18:45:00.001-04:00

My friend Emmerson sent me information on this cool event tomorrow, the first "District Meeting of Pasto Culture."

According to the poster the event will feature traditional Cuaspud dance, a show of gastronomy, and an exhibit of the work of invited artisans.

Emmerson says it goes from 4pm "till you drop." I will be there... come check it out!

Maté coca

2010-03-19T17:43:00.001-04:00

Maté coca
Originally uploaded by Karen Hoffmann

Found some coca tea in a natural-foods store in Bogota yesterday. It comes in tea bags, not fresh leaves like this cup in Peru, but it takes me back...

Opening tomorrow: Indigenous beauty ideals at Biblioteca Luis Angel Arango

2010-03-18T13:28:00.000-04:00

Two shows open at La BLAA tomorrow, March 19:

Amerindian Bodies: Art and culture of body modification, curated by archaeologist María Alicia Uribe, explores the rich cultural, social and symbolic body modifications among pre-Hispanic societies of Colombia and the Colombian indigenous population today. Their modifications to skin, muscles, bones, hair, teeth and nails, far from being redundant, have been vital in building the social identity of individuals. The exhibition is thus a tour of the ideals of beauty, religious rituals, economic activities, mythology and cure of disease among various indigenous societies.

Habeas Corpus. Have [a] body [to explain] is a joint curatorial project of art history professor Jaime Borja and artist José Alejandro Restrepo. Assuming the body as a cultural experience and a container of history, the curators set up a dialogue between the fascination with the body of baroque and contemporary cultures. The exhibition is a work of baroque counterpoint between Nueva Granada, contemporary expressions of corporeality and scientific illustrations, which reveals the struggle of Western culture to accept the corporeality beyond dualism with the soul.

Alex Chilton

2010-03-18T10:46:00.001-04:00

Alex Chilton
Originally uploaded by Karen Hoffmann

R.I.P.

URGENT: Fight hate in Pennsylvania

2010-03-15T13:16:00.002-04:00

Castro, SF
Originally uploaded by Karen Hoffmann

Via Keystone Progress:

The PA State Senate's Judiciary Committee is voting on Tuesday to take away your rights! Anti-LGBT legislators plan to vote to put a ban on same sex marriage in the PA Constitution. If they succeed, it could take a generation before we LGBT people can have a chance to marry in Pennsylvania.

We can't let this happen! Click here to send an email to all members of the Judiciary Committee NOW!

Anti-LGBT Senator John Eichelberger, who last year made headlines for saying that he is "allowing them (LGBT couples) to exist," is the leader of this effort to put discrimination into the PA Constitution. If he wins, it will send a message throughout PA and across the nation that bigotry is acceptable and legal.

Take action now! Email the Judiciary Committee this simple message: "Vote NO on SB 707. Don't put bigotry in the PA Constitution."

Then send this to everyone you know RIGHT NOW! We need thousands of emails TODAY to stop this bill.

For Equality,

Michael Morrill
for the Keystone Progress Team

How is the internet like building a boat?

2010-03-15T12:24:00.000-04:00

Photo: Alan Vernon

Olivia Scheck at 3quarksdaily looks at the answers to the 2010 Edge question: "How is the internet changing the way you think?"

She thinks science historian George Dyson may have put it best in his reply. He compares modern web surfers to indigenous North Pacific boat builders.

“In the North Pacific ocean,” Dyson explains, “there were two approaches to boatbuilding” – the approach used by the Aleuts, who pieced their boats together using fragments of beach-combed wood, and the approach used by the Tlingit, who carved each vessel out of a single, dugout tree.
The two methods yielded similar results, Dyson tells us, each group employing the minimum allotment of available resources. However, they did so by opposite means.
“The flood of information unleashed by the Internet has produced a similar cultural split,” Dyson argues. “We used to be kayak builders, collecting all available fragments of information to assemble the framework that kept us afloat. Now, we have to learn to become dugout-canoe builders, discarding unnecessary information to reveal the shape of knowledge hidden within.”

Eleccion 2010

2010-03-14T19:28:00.001-04:00

Eleccion 2010
Originally uploaded by Karen Hoffmann

Voters in the Chapinero neighborhood of Bogota. Today Colombians voted in congressional elections. The music is from a band that was playing nearby.

This blog has moved

2010-03-12T00:04:00.001-05:00

This blog is now located at http://blog.karen-hoffmann.com/.
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"Che" photo turns 50 today

2010-03-05T11:51:00.000-05:00

Feliz Cumple...

Albert Korda's iconic image of Che Guevara is 50 years old today.

"Narc-deco": the art of Victor Escobar

2010-03-04T14:15:00.002-05:00

"Paisacres"

It's undeniable that violence carries with it a certain amount of cachet, glam... bling.

The work of Medellin artist Victor Escobar was recently on display in an exhibit called "Traquira" at Valenzuela Klenner Galería, Bogota.

In the accompanying artist's statement, Escobar quotes Slavoj Zizek:

The appearance implies that there is something behind it which appears through it; it conceals a truth and by the same gesture gives a foreboding thereof; it simultaneously hides and reveals the essence behind its curtain. But what is hidden behind the phenomenal appearance? Precisely the fact that there is nothing to hide. What is concealed is that the very act of concealing conceals nothing.

Court votes no on Uribe reelection

2010-03-02T00:13:00.002-05:00

Court votes no on Uribe reelection
Originally uploaded by Karen Hoffmann

On Friday, Colombia's Constitutional Court voted no on a referendum that would have allowed current president Alvaro Uribe to run for a third term.

Everyone I've talked to thinks this is great. But I guess I don't know many Uribistas...

Susan Sontag "On Photography"

2010-02-11T12:43:00.000-05:00

(I think I walked past this bookstore in SF this summer. Photo Credit: Temporary Transfer)

Thinking about this:

"A way of certifying experience, taking photographs is also a way of refusing it--by limiting experience to a search for the photogenic, by converting experience into an image, a souvenir. Travel becomes a strategy for accumulating photographs. The very activity of taking pictures is soothing, and assuages general feelings of disorientation that are likely to be exacerbated by travel. Most tourists feel compelled to put the camera between themselves and whatever is remarkable that they encounter. Unsure of other responses, they take a picture. This gives shape to experience: stop, take a photograph, and move on. ....

"Photography has become one of the principal devices for experiencing something, for giving an appearance of participation. … While the others are passive, clearly alarmed spectators, having a camera has transformed one person into something active, a voyeur: only he has mastered the situation. … Taking photographs has set up a chronic voyeuristic relation to the world which levels the meaning of all events. ...

"Photographing is essentially an act of non-intervention."

Peru relief effort: My work on A Developing Story

2010-02-10T21:30:00.002-05:00

Weavers in Patacancha

It's been almost a year and I still haven't written anything about my experience taking pictures for the NGO Awamaki in Peru. But with recent catastrophic flooding in one of the areas I was staying, I submitted this post to the photojournalism blog A Developing Story.

In the Peruvian village of Patacancha, people live the same way as they have before the Inca, with only satellite TV and Protestant religion showing the passage of time. They speak Quechua, a language that for each statement you make requires you to qualify how you know it (either “I know for a fact,” “I heard,” or “most likely”). The traditional alcoholic beverage is chicha, a beverage made from corn fermented with spit. (Dogfish Head is taking note.) The women spend much of their time weaving intricate fabrics, while the men often supplement their farming as porters on the Inca Trail.

To help keep this way of life, the women formed a weaving cooperative. A group called Awamaki assists the women in fair-trade marketing and has helped them build a weaving center in which natural dyes are grown. Awamaki also places volunteers in schools, preschools, and health clinics in nearby towns.

Last week, the area was hit with severe rains and flooding. In the nearby town of Ollantaytambo, where Awamaki is headquartered, houses, fields, and roads were all gravely damaged. Awamaki is organizing a relief effort to help families rebuild their homes, providing them with construction materials and technical assistance for safer constructions. They are also working to ensure that families have sufficient food and that displaced children have the school supplies they will need for the upcoming school year, which begins in several weeks.

Please visit Awamaki to learn about their work and the relief effort in Ollantaytambo.

And once I get my hands on my notebooks from Peru -- they're across the Caribbean at the moment -- I will write more about that experience. (In the meantime, there are photos on my Flickr!)

How to rebuild? Haiti looks to Colombia

2010-02-08T20:06:00.000-05:00

Photo Credit: paul bridgewater - www.londonmusicphotographer.com

In 1999, an earthquake hit the town of Armenia, Colombia, killing 1,200 people and leveling two-thirds of the buildings. Tens of thousands were left homeless.

The resulting reconstruction effort won a United Nations prize. Today, Haiti's interior minister visited Armenia to see what lessons could be learned for his country.

(via Reuters)

GlobalPost: Wayuu mine salt the traditional way

2010-02-07T17:43:00.000-05:00

Photo Credit: Mon4ch0

On Colombia's Caribbean coast, the indigenous Wayuu people mine salt in the same way they have for centuries. It's causing some conflict with the government, which wants more industrial mining operations. Check out Nadja Drost's story with a great accompanying slideshow.

Indigenous killed, wounded by Colombian military and FARC

2010-02-06T15:12:00.000-05:00

Photo Credit: rojo en los ojos

Via WW4 Report:

The Colombian Air Force denied Jan. 31 that its planes had bombed the indigenous Embera Katío community of Alto Guayabal in the Urabá region early that morning, leaving four wounded. But the following day, the army's Seventh Division issued a statement taking responsibility for the air-strike, saying they took place in operations against the FARC rebels. Calling the casualties "lamentable," the statement said two of the injured were evacuated to Medellín. The Indigenous Organization of Antioquia (OIA) said one of the casualties was an infant. Indigenous leader William Carupia accused the army of "indiscriminately bombing the communities." (El Tiempo, Bogotá, Feb. 2; El Colombiano, Medellín, RNV, Venezuela, AFP, Feb. 1) Last year the FARC was accused of assassinating Embera residents in the region.

On Feb. 1, one civilian was killed and three injured at the Nasa community of Los Robles, Cauca department, when a gun battle broke out between the military and FARC guerrillas. The four indigenous woodcutters were traveling on a mountain road when soldiers used their truck to hide from FARC gunfire. The guerillas then attacked the truck "indiscriminately with mortar bombs," local indigenous authorities said. The dead man was identified as Ramon Iterera, 41.

Said the Association of Northern Cauca Indigenous Governors (ACIN): "In these conflicts human rights are not respected, no armed person should hide amongst civilians, in order not to put them at risk. In this case both the army and the guerrillas are culpable for the lamentable occurrence." (Colombia Reports, Jan. 28; EFE, Jan. 27)

Paramilitaries 2.0

2010-02-04T20:24:00.014-05:00

"The situation in Colombia is quite sinister. There is an appearance of normalcy ... It appears to be a situation where the rule of law has replaced the rule of these armed militias. But if you look under the surface, you find that there are all these strange tentacles and networks and links between shadowy groups. They know exactly how to issue a threat or to execute a threat and keep the population in line that way." -Stephen Ferry, photographer

From yesterday's Human Rights Watch report:

If you wish to embed this feature on your website, please click here and follow the instructions.

Preliminarios

2010-01-25T02:08:00.001-05:00

My dad is a poet

2009-12-24T20:51:00.003-05:00

That's your glass of wine,
This is mine.
This is the dip
And this is the chip.

-Pete, 12/24/09

XO-bama (clean cars edition)

2009-01-26T18:39:00.002-05:00

Just one of the many ways Obama is already walking the walk...

The President directed his EPA to immediately review the Bush Administration's denial of the right of California and other states to set global warming pollution standards for new cars. He also directed the Department of Transportation to set higher national fuel efficiency standards.

What will that mean in the real world? If Obama's EPA, as expected, approves the California program, new cars sold in that state and at least 13 others will have to reduce their global warming pollution by 30 percent between 2009 and 2016. And the Department of Transportation will require more efficient new cars to be on the road starting in 2010, and set a course for the average new car to achieve maximum feasible fuel efficiency by 2020.

Simply put, President Obama is not just stepping up to the threat of climate chaos. His call for a fleet of cleaner cars will help reduce our dangerous dependence on oil and push automakers to make the cars that the world wants and needs in the 21st century.

(via NRDC)

Pgh environmental news roundup

2008-11-11T14:03:00.002-05:00

Unhappy hunting: Game disappearing with its habitat.

Hunters get metaphysical: "The question I get a lot is, if a rabbit is out there but a hunter doesn't have access to it, does it really exist? I think, for a lot of people, the answer is no," DuBrock said.

Drilling for natural gas sucks... water

Erie Fish and Boat commissioner Sam Concilla: "We're never going to be able to bring back the resource once they're done with it. Never."

Drought watch: We need WVa water!

If northern West Virginia doesn't get some steady rain soon, Western Pennsylvania could end up in a drought emergency for the first time since 2002, state and federal officials said Friday.

this is nice.

2008-10-08T16:22:00.001-04:00

Releasing a study showing that the city of Pittsburgh's street trees create $2.4 million in value each year, Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said today that his administration will plant 100 trees in neighborhood business districts and another 37 Downtown this fall.

More: Pittsburgh to make push to plant more street trees

But, chemistry's not all bad: Green chem conference this weekend

2008-09-16T17:31:00.001-04:00

Landmark Green Chemistry conference comes to Pittsburgh

The promise of green chemistry will be the focus of a conference that will draw both national and local experts to Pittsburgh this month.

“Green Chemistry, Solutions for a Healthy Economy” features a slate of outstanding speakers who will share insights on the economics, regulatory and public awareness issues including: Dr. Paul Anastas, the founder of the principles of green chemistry; Dr. Terry Collins of Carnegie Mellon University, head of The Institute for Green Science, a research, education and development center and Dr. Bruce Lanphear, the principle investigator of a study on the relationship of prenatal and early childhood exposures to environmental toxins and their relationship to behavioral problems, learning problems and asthma in children.

“It’s important to put a spotlight on the fact that in Pittsburgh we not only have a concentration of experienced people in green chemistry, but we also have people from universities and companies who are on the cutting edge who can cross fertilize and enrich one another,” explains Patricia DeMarco, executive director of the Rachel Carson Homestead. “We’re bringing this all together to illustrate that Pittsburgh is in a leadership position on this front.”

The conference will be held on Sept. 20th from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at Duquesne University. The price is $25 for adults, $10 for college students, high school students free. For more information and to register, click here.

Image courtesy The Rachel Carson Homestead

(Via Pop City)

BPA: From bad to worse

2008-09-16T15:42:00.003-04:00

The first major study of health effects in people from a chemical used in plastic baby bottles, food cans and a host of other products links it with possible risks for heart disease and diabetes. (AP)

And here, for your enjoyment (coff), an excerpt of my undergrad paper on BPA. This stuff ain't good for you.

During the past thirty years, certain chemicals have been found to disrupt the endocrine systems of wildlife, lab animals, and humans. Bisphenol A (BPA) is an organic compound, first synthesized in 1905, that is made from two moles of phenol and acetone (hence its name). In 1936, Dodds and Lawson fed BPA to ovariectomized rats and found that it could act as a weak estrogen. But its principal use was created in 1953, when researchers found that they could combine BPA and the poison gas phosgene to form a hard, clear polycarbonate plastic. Bisphenol A-based polycarbonate, commonly referred to as just "polycarbonate," has a variety of uses. Most important for the purposes of its biological effects are the uses in which BPA can be ingested. BPA is used the lining of cans, in tooth sealants and in "white filling" composites, and it has been found to leach into saliva (Brotons et al., 1995; Olea et al., 1996). The chemical's old reputation as an estrogen re-emerged seven years ago, when scientists at Stanford University reported that their experiments had been tainted by BPA leaching from plastic flasks they were using. The cells reacted even though the amounts were too small to be detected by the maker's safety testing procedures (Krishnan et al., 1993).
...
The levels of BPA exposure determined safe by the FDA have been shown in many experiments to be unsafe for consumption. More studies will be needed to validate these effects. But most importantly, more basic research is needed on how BPA mimics estrogen and binds to its receptor; how that binding triggers estrogenic effects; and what those effects mean in terms of organ (including brain) development. In the meantime, it seems that women of childbearing age should avoid, as much as possible, exposure to polycarbonate plastics.

das irony

2008-07-24T14:51:00.002-04:00

From CNN's report "Obama uses Berlin symbolism to reunite old allies":

Shortly before the address began, Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, chided Obama and said he'd rather give a speech in Germany as president than as a presidential candidate.
"So we're going to be campaigning across the heartland of America and talking about the issues that are challenging America today," McCain said outside a German restaurant in Columbus, Ohio. [emphasis added]

I don't want to vote for a guy who campaigns outside German restaurants. Why not a good old TGI Fridays? Applebee's? They don't have those in Columbus?

Yeah FPL!

2008-07-10T10:12:00.001-04:00

Florida Power & Light Company Selects SunPower to Build Largest Solar Photovoltaic Power Plant in United States

Image: "Big Sunrise at Big Cypress" by Bill Swindaman

Lately (if you were wondering)

2008-06-25T20:34:00.003-04:00

I've been taking pictures of weddings with Ryan Sigesmund, writing scripts for Pittsburgh Genius, working on the Pittsburgh-Aguascalientes Sister City project, getting together with other local science writers, and showing photos at Art Cubed. Oh, and I went to Mexico.

Enough about me... here's something to ponder:

Here lies, extinguished in his prime, / a victim of modernity: / but
yesterday he hadn't time--- / and now he has eternity. -Piet Hein, poet and
scientist (1905-1996)

Eco-rant

2008-04-21T21:23:00.003-04:00

I'm sorry, but this is bullshit. "Economists do not judge whether a parking lot is morally superior to a forest. For environmentalists, however, tastes are morally important--some are good, some are evil."

Do economists exist in such a rarefied environment that they're breathing something other than air? Forests provide clear, empirical benefits that parking lots do not.

If we would only put a price on the oxygen they create, not to mention the carbon they absorb, we might get rid of asinine false dichotomies like "the religion of environmentalism" vs "the science of economics."

A blue shell

2008-04-21T18:45:00.001-04:00

A blue shell--what color is
sapphire? asked the artist.
The poet walks with his feet.

Your life, in a minute

2008-03-18T00:52:00.003-04:00

A roadside flower seller, a prep school student, and a male escort. These are among the people profiled by Miami Herald reporter Poh Si Teng in an absorbing project called 60 Seconds, which aims to give a glimpse of individual stories in minute-long video segments.

Teng writes on the site, "Living in Miami makes me sad sometimes. I have never seen a place where the ostentatiously rich and the dirt poor neighborhoods are so close in proximity."

The project began as a way to raise awareness of that economic disparity. But now, says Teng, "it's grown into something more universal. ... This project has made me more positive about our collective future."

Puny primate quite a find for Carnegie paleontologist

2008-03-05T22:55:00.002-05:00

David Templeton in the Post-Gazette:

It's smaller than a mouse, but this little character left behind the oldest primate fossils ever discovered in North America and Europe.

Its discovery in Mississippi represents a career triumph for Chris Beard, a paleontologist at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Oakland.

The arboreal "Teilhardina magnoliana" apparently was living in Mississippi in what was then the Gulf Coast 55.8 million years ago when a major episode of global warming was under way.

More here.

The Library of Congress is on flickr?!

2008-02-29T19:40:00.001-05:00

Woman aircraft worker, Vega Aircraft Corporation, Burbank, Calif. Shown checking electrical assemblies (LOC)
Originally uploaded by The Library of Congress

Check it out. They have some amazing photos posted.

One of my photos was included in an Etsy 'treasury'!

2008-02-26T23:43:00.006-05:00

Thank you to Luna (faroutbabe) for choosing me to be in your treasury (collection of favorites) on Etsy! I am honored. The other work is beautiful.

The collection will be displayed till 3 pm Friday, February 29. Check it out and if you like what you see, buy something :)

Pitt husband-and-wife team discovers cancer-linked virus

2008-01-18T09:34:00.000-05:00

A husband-and-wife team at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute have discovered a virus strongly linked to Merkel cell carcinoma, an aggressive skin cancer that used to be very rare but has become increasingly common in the past two decades, particularly among those with compromised immune systems.

Yuan Chang and Patrick Moore reported their findings in this week's Science.

Interestingly, Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCV) is the second cancer-associated virus discovered by the pair. In 1993, they found the virus that causes the most common cancer in Africa, Kaposi's sarcoma.

Chang and Moore spent nearly a decade developing a new technology that was instrumental in discovering the virus. "Digital transcriptome subtraction" is so called because it subtracts genetic sequences known to be human from the genome of the tumor under study, leaving only genetic transcripts that might have come from a foreign organism.

Using the technique in Merkel cell tumors, they found one sequence that was similar to, but distinct from, known viruses. They went on to show that this sequence belonged to a new polyomavirus that was present in almost all the Merkel cell tumors they tested, but few other tissues.

Their discovery could lead to a blood test or vaccine, similar to the recently developed vaccines against human papillomavirus (HPV) to prevent cervical cancer.

Researchers had suspected the existence of MCV, which is genetically similar to an African green monkey virus. Up to a quarter of adults--one billion people--could be infected with the human relative of this monkey virus. However, just as with HPV, most people with the virus will not develop the associated cancer.

More: NYT, Reuters

As order slides, Palestinian women face honor killings

2007-11-21T12:43:00.001-05:00

Rights activists say such murders have increased as a result of the worsened security situation, and press for a new law.

From the Christian Science Monitor:

Jafra counts 21 such murders in the West Bank so far this year. There have been 25 honor killings in Gaza since the beginning of the year, says Maryam Abu Daqqa, the head of the Union of Women's Committees.

"During these hard times Gaza is going through, it is difficult for women's organizations to do anything more than condemn," she says. "And with a lack of clear judiciary oversight, with the confusion created by Hamas and Fatah, people are taking the law into their own hands and directing their anger against the weak link: women."

Other women here complain that religious leaders should be more vocal about Islam's view on the matter.

"We haven't heard anyone from any group go to the mosque and condemn it. If you ask people on the street, you'll find they support it, and that the families are happy when they've cleansed the family honor," says another women's activist who asked not to be named. "I cannot go to the street and condemn this based on women's rights. They'll say whoever is defending her is just like her."

Full article

Pittsburgh workers face racial intimidation, death threats

2007-10-18T17:08:00.000-04:00

Disturbing local news from Rustbelt Radio, based at WRCT 88.3 FM:

Last week rustbelt radio reported on the racist threat made against a Port Authority worker in the form of a black Barbie doll with a racist comment written on it.
Since then two more incidents of racial intimidation have occurred at Pittsburgh businesses. On October 3rd a black female supervisor at Verizon found an inter-office envelope on her desk. Inside it had a black baby doll with a noose around its neck. The doll also had the words “nigger” and the woman's name written on the belly.
...
NAACP Pittsburgh Branch President M. Gayle Moss issued a statement on the three incidents, saying, "Although these three incidents seem isolated in their respective work environments, what they collectively represent is endemic to the culture in this region and this city recently voted the 'Most Livable City in America'—which in my opinion was both fallacious and shortsighted."

KDKA's story is here.

Interview with Gogol Bordello singer

2007-10-17T15:05:00.000-04:00

My friend Greg has an interview with Eugene Hutz, the singer of Gogol Bordello, up at BMore Live. Here's my personal favorite quote (on the recent explosion of "gypsy" bands):

"They think they can grow a moustache, play accordion, call me and say 'hey we play gypsy too, we should play together.' I say 'Well what the f&*# does that have to do with me?' I feel no affinity to these people."

(Image: ktpupp)

Why do wives run?

2007-10-17T12:00:00.001-04:00

Widow of politician Tsongas wins House spot

Are women more likely to run once they’ve been married to someone who has done it successfully? Maybe because they see it isn’t so hard after all?

A la Hillary?

Thoughts?

Local anthropologist/feminist activist passes away

2007-09-18T12:23:00.000-04:00

When I interned at the Post-Gazette in college, one of my assignments was an obituary of an Oakmont doctor, T.J. Ferguson. I was really nervous about the assignment because it's a tall order to sum up someone's life, especially who you've never met.

But it turned out to be one of my favorite assignments. By the end, I was wishing I HAD met Dr. Ferguson.

That's how I feel about this woman, whose obit ran in the PG today: Carol McAllister.

She was a professor at Pitt, which is how I first noticed the item at all. But wow -- it sounds like she did some truly amazing things:

director of the University of Pittsburgh Women's Studies Program and was active with the Thomas Merton Center, the Women's Resource Center for Greater Pittsburgh and the Social Justice Action Team of the First United Methodist Church, Pittsburgh
work with Early Head Start, a component of Head Start which helps low-income mothers and families prepare sooner for the health and education of their children.
gave the children in these communities disposable cameras and told them to chronicle their lives. Her work and their photos were published in the American Journal of Public Health in 2005.
organized a conference with speakers from Rwanda, Israel and Canada that focused on the roles that women can play in conflict resolution and rebuilding war-torn communities.

I am so sorry for her family's loss, a loss for the community and world as well. And, I find her story truly inspiring. I would be proud to do half as much in my own life.

i am not making this up

2007-08-13T12:40:00.001-04:00

insult to intelligence
Originally uploaded by talulahgosh

CCAC offers courses titled "Angels in Waiting," "Reality of Ghosts."

"Just Open...Trust...and Allow."

because...

"After all, ghosts are people too."

In case you were wondering, "Where can chipmunks be found?"

2007-08-06T14:01:00.001-04:00

According to the Trib: "Chipmunks can be found in many a place."

P.S. Do Western Pennsylvanians really call chipmunks "grinnies," or is this reporter just making shit up?

How walkable is your neighborhood? WalkScore.com

2007-07-27T15:24:00.000-04:00

(Image: caseywest)

When people here find out I'm originally from South Florida, their next question generally involves some combination of the words "why," "the hell???" and "Pittsburgh."

The short answer is that I came for school and it stuck. The longer answer is that the city impressed me so much when I came to visit (despite the snow, in April) -- the ethnic food, the symphony, the architecture, and the friendliness. That last one in particular seemed to have a lot to do with people actually using public transportation and walking, and therefore interacting face-to-face.

You just don't see that in Fort Lauderdale or the rest of the Miami-West Palm Beach strip, where even the smallest of errands means getting in your car and gearing up for the road ragers out there. (I actually love to drive -- but not all the time.)

All of which is a roundabout way of pointing you to Walk Score, a fascinating tool that calculates your neighborhood's "walkability" based on your home's proximity to restaurants, shops, and the like.

One odd thing: My house here -- in Squirrel Hill, one of the city's most walkable neighborhoods -- got a score of 65, while the house I grew up in, in Pompano Beach, FL, scored a 52. This does not really reflect the vast disparity between them. Walk Score might want to better take into account the difference between, say, highways and residential streets with sidewalks in coming up with their scores.

(Via mental_floss)

Run For Your Life

2007-07-27T11:25:00.001-04:00

Run For Your Life
Originally uploaded by sgm1410

At the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix

(brag alert!)

2007-07-19T13:18:00.000-04:00

My photo of the trees outside the Carnegie Library is featured in the Pittsburgh Flickr group as photo of the week.

Now I have to choose next week's photo - this is gonna be tough!

the future of news?

2007-07-10T15:34:00.000-04:00

sit and watch this for awhile:

http://labs.digg.com/bigspy/

and since digg is experimenting, i will too -- with the format of this blog.

Amanda: wow
can i read the articles or not? it won't let me
me: yea you have to click them twice - once to get to the digg page, then to get to the article
they should change that

i found two articles to read in the first 30 seconds or so -9 Essential Ideas to Find Time for Freelance Work and Robert Scoble Asks, "Is Facebook the New Press Release?"

but obviously there are less practical (boring) things to read too:

Amanda: "Robbers stab man in penis"

sorry, no link for that last one!

~~EDIT: this version shows popular stories - i think it may be better (though you'd miss truly 'breaking' news): http://labs.digg.com/bigspy/?popular~~

nevermind. too repetitive...

Not violent. Not violent at all...

2007-06-29T09:38:00.000-04:00

I'm having some anger management issues of my own after reading this PG story on yesterday's hearing on the promotion of Pittsburgh police officers with histories of domestic violence.

Police officials have said that Sgt. Hlavac's domestic problems have been verbal, not violent.
A police report on a Jan. 3 incident states that Sgt. Raymond Hutton was called to the East Liberty apartment shared by Sgt. Hlavac and Lauren Maughan at 1:40 a.m.
Ms. Maughan told Sgt. Hutton that Sgt. Hlavac pulled her hair, hauled her from a bed and grabbed her wrist, according to the report.
Sgt. Hlavac told Sgt. Hutton that he grabbed her wrist in self-defense when she hit him while holding a cell phone, and did not grab her hair, just her pillow.
She was uninjured, but her left wrist and the back of her neck were red.

Obviously if someone grabs your pillow, your neck is going to be red. I mean, duh.

Sue of the Pittsburgh Women's Blogging Society performed a true service to the citizens of Pittsburgh, liveblogging the hearing.

stiff competition.

2007-06-08T11:30:00.000-04:00

From the Planned Parenthood Western Pennsylvania Action Fund:

2007 is Pittsburgh’s year of glass. But at Planned Parenthood Western Pennsylvania Action Fund, it’s the year of glass undies.

A pair of glass panties made by glass artist Donna Powers will be a featured art item in the not-for-profit’s annual fundraiser. The event, titled “Panty Palooza: Declare the Unmentionable” will feature artists, crafters and fashion designers displaying their version of politicized panties from 6 to 9 p.m. at the New Hazlett Theater on Thursday, June 14. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door.

In addition to glass panties, art collectors can find renditions of panties such as “Communist Panty” by local artist Kathy Newman, as well as the requisite bounty of panties covered in slogans such as “Good sex…. Great Parent?” and “I’m the Decider” for the oft-cited comment by President Bush.

The judge for this year’s competition will be Tom Sokolowski, Executive Director of the Andy Warhol museum. Attendees will also be able to vote on a “People’s Choice” award and can bid on their favorite art items to take home. Those who don’t win the glass panties can take home items from the luxury silent auction.

Planned Parenthood Western Pennsylvania Action Fund is no stranger to edgy design projects that incorporate the spunky, and sometimes biting, work of emerging artists. The inaugural “Stiff Competition: Where Safe Sex Meets Pop Art” in 1999 raised eyebrows and inspired giggles with its condom package design contest. Over the years, this design contest has received national attention with its irreverent winners including a Rosie the Riveter, “We can do it, if you use it” condom and stadium-inspired themes for the sports-crazed Pittsburgh.
But the overall goal of these annual events is to raise awareness and support of safe and available reproductive health care and education.

Proceeds from the evening will support activities of PPWPAF including grassroots organizing and education, and lobbying efforts on behalf of reproductive health care and education. Established in 1992, PPWPAF engages in educational and electoral activity including issues related to education, grassroots organizing, public opinion research, lobbying, and independent expenditure campaigns.

For more information about Panty Palooza, go to www.stiffcompetition.org or contact Erika Fricke (412-434-8957, ext 119).

'Throwing acid on the uncovered faces of women ... There is no harm in it.'

2007-05-22T13:24:00.000-04:00

From 3quarksdaily, a truly chilling report from a physics professor at Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad, Pakistan. Pictures courtesy of Ishaque Choudhry.

What next after Karachi's carnage?

by Pervez Hoodbhoy

Since Jan 21, 2007, baton wielding burqa-clad students of the Jamia Hafsa, the women's Islamic university located next to Lal Masjid, have forcibly occupied a government building, the Children's Library. In one of their many forays outside the seminary, this burqa brigade swooped upon a house, which they claimed was a brothel, and kidnapped 3 women and a baby.

Students of Jamia Hafsa (Women’s University) in Islamabad demonstrate for Shariah law

Victory for the Burqa Brigade

The male students of Islamabad's many madrassas are even more active. They terrorize video shop owners, who they accuse of spreading pornography and vice. Newspapers have carried pictures of grand bonfires made with seized cassettes and CDs. Most video stores in Islamabad have now closed down. Their owners duly repented after a fresh campaign by militants on May 4 bombed a dozen music and video stores, barber shops and a girls school in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

Enjoying video burnings in Islamabad

The Lal Masjid head cleric, a former student of my university in Islamabad, added the following chilling message for our women students in the same broadcast:

The government should abolish co-education. Quaid-e-Azam University has become a brothel. Its female professors and students roam in objectionable dresses. I think I will have to send my daughters of Jamia Hafsa to these immoral women. They will have to hide themselves in hijab otherwise they will be punished according to Islam. Our female students have not issued the threat of throwing acid on the uncovered faces of women. However, such a threat could be used for creating the fear of Islam among sinful women. There is no harm in it. There are far more horrible punishments in the hereafter for such women.

If the truth be told, QAU resembles a city of walking double-holed tents rather than the brothel of a sick mullah's imagination. The last few bare-faced women are finding it more difficult by the day to resist. But then, that is precisely the aim of the Islamists. On May 7, a female teacher in the QAU history department was physically assaulted in her office by a bearded, Taliban-looking man who screamed that he had instructions from Allah. President Musharraf - who is the chancellor of QAU and often chooses to be involved in rather petty university administrative affairs - has made no comment on the recent developments.

What next? As Islamabad heads the way of Pakistan's tribal towns, the next targets will be girls schools, internet cafes, bookshops and western clothing stores, followed by shops selling toilet paper, tampons, underwear, mannequins, and other un-Islamic goods.

In a sense, the inevitable is coming to pass. Until a few years ago, Islamabad was a quiet, orderly, modern city different from all others in Pakistan. Still earlier it was largely the abode of Pakistan's hyper-elite and foreign diplomats. But the rapid transformation of its demography brought with it hundreds of mosques with multi-barrelled audio-cannons mounted on minarets, as well as scores of madrassas illegally constructed in what used to be public parks and green areas. Now, tens of thousands of their students with little prayer caps dutifully chant the Quran all day. In the evenings they roam in packs through the city's streets and bazaars, gaping at store windows and lustfully ogling bare-faced women.

ArtWalk this Thursday

2007-05-21T16:04:00.000-04:00

Image: Kelly Lane Design

ArtWalk Fashion Show to Highlight Pittsburgh Designers, Artists

Hosted by WTAE's Sally Wiggin, Dress for Success benefit takes place May 24 at Warhol

PITTSBURGH--At a gallery crawl, artwork isn't all that's on display: From students in paint-splattered jeans and T-shirts, to leather-clad rock 'n' roll scenesters, to wealthy patrons swathed in furs, the audience themselves provide endless observational fodder.

Inspired by these elements of voyeurism and exhibitionism, three local artists and designers created the concept for ArtWalk, a fashion and art showcase to benefit Dress for Success Pittsburgh taking place 6-9 p.m. Thursday, May 24, at the Andy Warhol Museum (117 Sandusky St., North Side).

ArtWalk was conceived by designer Anne Rainbow Savage and artists Susan Englert and Julia Brooke Hustwit. The trio partnered with the Pittsburgh branch of Dress for Success, an international not-for-profit organization that seeks to advance low-income women's economic and social development and to encourage self-sufficiency through career development and employment retention.

Hosted by WTAE's Sally Wiggin, ArtWalk will feature professional and amateur models, including Dress for Success clients, wearing fashions by Pittsburgh's hottest designers and boutiques. Admission includes two free drink tickets, catering by Big Burrito, a silent auction, and access to all four floors of the museum.

Ten prominent Pittsburgh-based artists were invited to design picture frames for the Warhol's entrance gallery, placed to choreograph the models' movement along the path of the runway. The artists include architects, a fine furniture craftsman, a painter, and multimedia 3D visual designers, each transposing themes from their work to a new medium: translucent corrugated plastic.

Each artist's frame will be displayed on a stylish stand of stainless steel fabricated by master metalsmith Jerry Gardner of Gerald's Forge in Lawrenceville. The artists will donate their work to the Dress for Success Silent Auction at the event's finale.

Participating artists include:

- Lucia M. Aguirre
- Edgar Um Bucholtz
- Thommy Conroy
- Susan Englert
- Jennifer Ferris
- Garth Jones
- Jan Loney & Larkin Werner
- Joana Ricou
- Paul Rosenblatt, Bill Szustak & Bryan Grasso / SPRINGBOARD
- SO-AD (David Burns)

Participating designers include:

- Arretta Carmel
- Cdesign (Coleen Rush)
- Kelly Lane
- Lucid (Emilee Kohan)
- Savage Darling

Participating boutiques include:

- Allure (4730 Liberty Ave., Bloomfield, 412-687-6390)
- Eyetique (2242 Murray Ave., Squirrel Hill, 412-422-5300)
- Hip'tique (5817 Ellsworth Ave., Shadyside, 412-361-5817)
- JUPE Boutique (306 E. Carson St., South Side, 412-432-7933)
- Karma Fashion (2737 E. Carson St., South Side, 412-481-2466)
- Pavement Shoes (3629 Butler St., Lawrenceville, 412-621-6400)
- Sugar Boutique (3703 Butler St., Lawrenceville, 412-681-5100)
- Torque Denim (1931 E. Carson St., South Side, 412-381-TORQ)

ArtWalk is presented by Young Executives for Success (Y.E.S!) and sponsored by Kerastase Paris, Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, the Andy Warhol Museum, Big Burrito Catering, Clear Channel, 96.1 KISS FM, Cyganovich Contracting, Beijo Bags, Grand Bahia, and the SouthSide Works.

Tickets are $65 in advance, $75 day of show ($45 for Y.E.S! members). Advance tickets are available at participating boutiques, by contacting Y.E.S! at 412-361-1757 or yespittsburgh@yahoo.com, or online at www.dressforsuccess.org/pittsburgh.

Pakistan's 'virtue vigilantes'

2007-05-09T10:17:00.000-04:00

(Image: Stringer Photo)

As a follow-up to my last post on women in Iraq: OutlookIndia has a story on a similar climate developing in Pakistan.

Just the other day Tahera Abdullah was driving down the spiffy Margalla Road in Islamabad, the windows rolled down to enjoy the evening breeze. A development worker, her silvery hair could tell anyone she's 50 plus. Tahera stopped at the traffic signal; an eight-year-old boy accosted her: didn't she know Islam required her to cover her head? Tahera immediately rolled up the window. "How do you argue with an eight-year-old?" she asks. But the encounter with Pakistan's religious extremism, at once frightening and puerile, has prompted Tahera to choose sweating inside the car over letting in the breeze. "We women are feeling more threatened today," she says.

Sherry [Rehman, leader of the Pakistan People's Party] ... has experienced the destructive passion of the country's religiosity. Two months ago, she was in a truck leading a PPP procession. An assailant stabbed her in the neck with a sharp object, to express his anger against women in politics. "The person who attacked me hasn't been apprehended yet," she said. "We are in a state of anarchy today. It's a dangerous retreat of the state. There's simply no check on the vice and virtue vigilantes."

Women in Iraq: The first victims of 'freedom'

2007-05-04T14:57:00.000-04:00

Yanar Mohammed, architect, sculptor, and founder of the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq, is interviewed in Guernica Magazine.

"When I was a student, I was dressed like a modern girl and I wore long shorts. That is part of the past. There is fear in the streets. You cannot go out in the streets. You are looked at as if you come from another age. If there are any militias on your street, they will tell you to go back home and dress decently. They could beat you up or punish you worse than that. Some of us who have grown up in Baghdad are used to wearing what we please and walking where we please. ...

"At its worst, the women look like black objects: black gloves and black stockings—no flesh can show. I have never before in my life seen young women dressed like that. In 1993, when I left Iraq, I had never seen the black gloves. Now you go to Baghdad and with the high level of poverty you see women begging on the sides of the street; even the beggars wear black. ...

"The Star Academy winner [Iraqi singer who won on the Lebanese "American Idol"-style show] is a young woman who is in an open dress and is lovely. She is a symbol of the Iraqi life we used to have. That's what people voted for. If these Islamists grow stronger and more powerful, she will not be able to look like that or sing like that. This is the answer to the U.S. administration when it tells us that this is the elected representative government of Iraq. These Islamist parties are not only U.S.-backed but also backed by the Iranian government and ruling parties. They do not represent the people of Iraq. The U.S. said they’d bring democracy but they waited to see who is stronger— the rule of the jungle—and gave power to the strongest, best funded and best armed. But, then again, maybe the U.S. was hoping to have an Islamist modernist government, similar to the Saudis. They were thinking of something like that, but the genie came out of the bottle, and it will not go back any more. ...

"At this point, the women of Iraq do not even dream to have even a small part of the reality we used to have before. We have been put under the most notorious Islamic authority in Iraq. Our monies and resources have been taken away from us. If there was the possibility of a resourceful society, we have lost that also."

If we took a Holiday...

2007-04-12T11:51:00.000-04:00

City Paper has a story on the closing of a venerable Pittsburgh institution: Holiday Bar.

CMU is buying the city's oldest gay bar as part of its expansion into Oakland. "Last call" is April 29.

My favorite quote:

"I think I'd like to be remembered as Pittsburgh's gay Cheers bar," [Holiday co-owner Chuck] Honse says. "People would go, 'What are you doing on my stool?' You don't get that in big dance bars, and you never will."

Pittsburgh Dish had the scoop. And the last time I was there I saw a Trib PM reporter and photographer, so keep an eye out for that story.

EDIT: Trib PM story is here.

tomorrow is BE A BIG HIPPIE DAY

2007-03-23T13:38:00.000-04:00

(Click image for larger version)

not only do you have yr Anti-War march ("aunty war" as I say it, confusing people who prefer the more clinical "ann-tie") -

tomorrow is also, apparently, Shutdown Day. so before you leave for the march, please unplug your computadora and do not reboot for the rest of the day. scary!!

peace and love,
karen

UPDATE (4/1/07): i DID manage not to turn on my computer all day! also, you can see my photos from the march here. they are already garnering some impassioned comments.

Study: Alcohol, Tobacco Worse Than Drugs

2007-03-23T12:56:00.000-04:00

Dangerous drugs, artfully arranged

Sorry ravers, this study is sure to have absolutely zero impact on U.S. drug policy. God forbid we base our policies on FACTS, right?

AP story:

New "landmark" research finds that alcohol and tobacco are more dangerous than some illegal drugs like marijuana or Ecstasy and should be classified as such in legal systems, according to a new British study. ...

Heroin and cocaine were ranked most dangerous, followed by barbiturates and street methadone. Alcohol was the fifth-most harmful drug and tobacco the ninth most harmful. Cannabis came in 11th, and near the bottom of the list was Ecstasy.

Gonzales: 'Pride and Deception'

2007-03-19T23:59:00.000-04:00

Another translation from WatchingAmerica.com. Colombian newspaper El Tiempo calls for the Latino leadership in Congress to 'join the outcry' for Alberto Gonzales' resignation.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez: a 'Terrible Betrayal'

"In a community so desperate for good role models, the ascent of Gonzales represented a double triumph: Not only would he be the first Latino Attorney General, but he would also be the first Latino to occupy one of the four positions of greatest influence in the presidential cabinet.

"Two years on ... Gonzales hasn't lifted a finger in defense of the Hispanic community.

"His record shows a noticeable tendency to erode minority voting rights."

"The latest scandal in which Gonzales has been involved is the dismissal of eight federal prosecutors, in what appears to be a political purge of government officials who failed to adhere to the political agenda of the Republican Party."

In what the paper calls the "most aberrant" case, U.S. Attorney Carol Lam was dismissed for allegedly neglecting cases of illegal immigration in San Diego in "her eagerness to prosecute real criminals."

Lam

Some days, her only goal was to take a shower.

2007-02-25T15:20:00.000-05:00

I have an article on postpartum depression in the Winter 2007 issue of UPMC Health Journal. It's not available online, but you can read a scanned version here.

Excerpt:

As the door closed behind Janice's mother, who was heading home after helping to take care of Janice's first baby, Ethan, Janice had only one thought: What do I do now? The walls of the Staten Island apartment where she lived with her husband, Tom, seemed to close in. Although Tom did as much as he could, his job as a national park ranger meant he was often gone. Ethan had colic, and cried for what seemed like an eternity.

Janice felt all alone. She didn't know her neighbors very well. Tom was the extroverted one; she thought of herself as a shrinking violet. When she married him, she didn't know she'd be moving across the country and back again for his job--three times in less than a decade. ... The small-town Ohio girl was intimated by New York, which she found too urban, too expensive, too gray. ...

this weekend's events...

2007-02-22T14:55:00.000-05:00

(Image: Black Tie Revue)

Tonight
9:30 pm
- The Cassettes w/ The Subjects & Black Tie Revue

EVENT TYPE: Music:Rock:Indie

The Cassettes: retro-minded indie from Washington DC
The Subjects: indie rock out of Brooklyn, NY
Black Tie Revue: Local favorites

WHEN: Thu Feb 22: 9:30PM

WHERE: brillobox
NEIGHBORHOOD: Lawrenceville
AGES: 21+

Saturday
6 pm
- AFRICAN DANCE, STORYTELLING AND SONG

In honor of Black History Month, the UPMC Office of Diversity is sponsoring a free public presentation, “Amandla! A Celebration of African Arts."

The final performance will be held at 6 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 24 in the Scaife Hall Auditorium, located at 3550 Terrace St., Oakland.

Masankho Banda, a performing artist and internationally recognized peace builder, will perform with a multicultural, intergenerational troupe of dancers, storytellers, drummers and singers at the event. Banda uses African dance, drumming, storytelling, song and the seven principles of Kwanzaa to inform audience members about the continent of Africa, the Caribbean diaspora, and the African experience in North America.

The American Cancer Society will host an African art show and sale at the event, featuring authentic African wood and stone carvings, among other items. In addition, Imagination Books will be on hand with merchandise related to black history and African culture.

All of the presentations are free and open to the public and no registration is necessary. For more information, please call the Office of Diversity at (412) 432-7284.

9 pm
- Global Beats presents...Carnival from Rio to Beijing!

EVENT TYPE: Music:World

A party so big we put the whole world in it!
Join us as we celebrate two extravagant events: Brazilian Mardi-Gras and the Chinese New Year.

Wear your mask or whatever floats your dragon boats!

Saturday, the 24th. You can find more information at www.arrepiabrasil.org.

At the AVA Lounge, 126 S. Highland Ave, East Liberty
Saturday, February 24th, starting at 9 PM
$5 cover

WHEN: Sat Feb 24: 10PM
IT'LL COST YOU: $5
AGES: 21+

10 pm
- Lohio CD release party

General Miggs, Skeletonbreath, lohio & Ennui more info
event type Music:Rock:Indie

General Miggs: indie rock from Brooklyn, NY
Skeletonbreath: progressive metal/indie from New York City
lohio: Local Favorites celebrating their CD Release!
Ennui: Melodic shoegazers from Pittsburgh

[side note: i am really excited to see ennui. i've wanted to ever since i heard their song on the 20/20 proof pittsburgh music comp.]

when
Sat Feb 24: 9:30PM

where
brillobox

neighborhood
Lawrenceville

ages
21+

--
for EVEN MORE EVENTS, check out thisishappening.com.

Another music sharing thing

2007-02-21T14:26:00.000-05:00

I have just found lala.com, which is mind-boggling. You can get CDs for $1.75. How it works is: You put up a list of CDs you're willing to trade, and a list of discs you want. After that it's pretty much quid pro quo. They send you prepaid mailers, so you don't even have to go to the post office (much like Netflix). As you trade more CDs, you get more of the ones on your "Want" list sent to you.

Here's my page.

It makes me wish I still had all those CDs I got rid of back when I thought I was leaving Pittsburgh (ha!)

Interracial Marriages in Decline

2007-02-12T14:13:00.000-05:00

This surprised me:

Inter-racial and inter-ethnic marriages are declining at unprecedented rates, according to a new study by Zhenchao Qian, a professor of sociology at Ohio State University, reports the Chinese-language World Journal. Qian conducted the study with Daniel Lichter, a professor at Cornell University and published the study in the February 2007 issue of the American Sociological Review.

Zhen said that immigration is an important factor in the decline of inter-racial marriages as native born Asian Americans and Hispanics marry their foreign-born counterparts. Among Asian immigrant men, inter-racial marriage declined from 26 percent in 1990 to 21 percent in 2000; among Asian immigrant women the percentage went from 41 percent in 1990 to 33 percent in 2000. The study showed that the percentage of interracial marriage in native-born Asian men have also declined from 50.2 percent in 1990 to 45.8 percent in 2000.

The only increase in inter-racial marriage was between American-born Asian women and non-Asian men, which increased from 58 percent to 60 percent. The study also showed that although inter-racial marriages of African Americans increased significantly in the 1990s, it is still fewer than other racial groups. The study suggests that people with higher education levels are more likely to marry outside of their race.

'The luck of the ugly'

2007-02-06T20:15:00.000-05:00

I have a new translation posted at WatchingAmerica.com of a column in El Tiempo, a Colombian newspaper. The U.S. show "Ugly Betty," originally a Colombian telenovela, just won several Golden Globe awards, but some Colombians aren't too happy about it. In the American version, Betty is the daughter of a Mexican immigrant.

The newspaper El Espectador mentions that this new version of "Betty la Fea" will go a long way toward transcending United States immigration policies: to portray the conditions of immigrants in a soap opera followed by tens of millions of U.S. citizens would assure a change in mentality and relax the legal difficulties and daily treatment of "ugly Betties" that hold secondary positions in the great corporations in New York, Miami and San Francisco.

What emerges in this soap opera is, however, the irreconcilable differences between the Mexican immigrants and American tycoons. It's impossible that such mockery could lead to understanding.

And yet... the show is phenomenally popular worldwide. According to Wikipedia, the series has been adapted from Israel to India.

oh, my love, my darling...

2007-02-02T11:33:00.000-05:00

the trunk reduction deluxe - from "the ballad of puchy delgado."

unchained.mp3

I could have listened to so much less bad music

2007-01-16T14:47:00.000-05:00

Computer programs that know what music I like to listen to kind of freak me out. I hate that I'm so predictable.

Be that as it may, I am really enjoying last.fm.

what were your favorite albums of the past year?

2007-01-04T23:07:00.000-05:00

PURGe (pittsburgh union of record geeks electronic) wants to know. e-mail your top 5, 10, or 20 if you're so inclined to purgegeeks@gmail.com

The life

2006-12-18T11:09:00.000-05:00

"El fotógrafo y su ayudante" by Miguel Ángel Lechuga Álvaro (one of my flickr contacts). I want this to be my life.

No, Superman is not the mayor of Pittsburgh

2006-12-06T16:34:00.000-05:00

Apparently, if you search Google Images for Luke Ravenstahl, this blog is the number one result.

Not that there are any actual pictures of Luke on this blog. Au contraire. There is, however, a photo of Dean Cain as Luke, courtesy of 2 Political Junkies, which I linked to back in August.

So, I thought I'd include the real Luke Ravenstahl, so as not to be spreading misinformation n'at. Heeeere's Lukey, ready for action:

Come to think of it, he does look an awful lot like Superman in this pose.

And, so as not to be tagged as politically motivated, here is his likely rival for the mayor's office in the next election -- City Councilman Bill Peduto:

(By the way, Peduto's celebrity lookalike was Zach Braff.)

Tree stand

2006-11-30T22:17:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving, South Boston, Virginia

Music videos from movies

2006-10-19T22:15:00.000-04:00

Just a couple of my favorite YouTube mashups -- music videos made up of movie clips. The songs and films are unrelated, but go together so well. Genius!

Fall Out Boy "Dance Dance" + The Breakfast Club

Shakira "Ojos Asi" + Devdas

Scheherazade at the PSO

2006-09-30T15:39:00.000-04:00

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra is performing Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's "Scheherazade" and other works (see below). 2 p.m. Sunday at Heinz Hall. I went last night. Awesome, beautiful, moving.

Yan Pascal Tortelier - conductor
Leila Josefowicz - violin

Kodaly: Suite from Háry János
Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 1

Mothwing

2006-09-24T11:29:00.000-04:00

Small World "microphoto" competition announces winners.

Abovet: Ninth Place
Charles B. Krebs
Charles Krebs Photography
Issaquah, Washington, USA
Wing scales of a Urania ripheus (Sunset Moth) (6.25x)
Reflected light

Overheard in Westmoreland

2006-09-12T16:49:00.000-04:00

Customer: Hello, Phyllis, how are you today?
Worker: I'm not Phyllis, I'm Kay.
Customer: Your name tag says Phyllis.
Worker: No, it doesn't. It says Kay, see? P-H-Y... oops!... wrong name tag.

Westmoreland Mall
Greensburg, Pennsylvania

(from Overheard in the Office)

Notes from Basque Country II

2006-09-04T17:08:00.000-04:00

(Continued..)

Later that night, Iggy Pop and the Stooges. Mike Watt is on bass. Iggy is out of control, getting almost naked onstage and inviting fans up to jump around with him. The security guard looks like he’s going to kill himself.

Next day, Gang of Four plays and they’re also extremely entertaining. Here the singer plays a microwave with a baseball bat. And it didn’t sound too bad. Scott McCaughey is in the audience rocking out with some redhead.

Then, Big Star, who are really good too.

At some point we cancel our credit cards and then we feel safer. We have a nice day wandering Vitoria, not lost at all for once. Our bags are at the train station in lockers. We have more pintxos for lunch and hang out in the park reading newspapers.

The Nomads play, My Morning Jacket rocks (I feel. Lou thinks they’re pretentious).

Pearl Jam plays to an enormous crowd. I’m like, whatever, cuz we’ve seen them before (opening for the Rolling Stones) and most of the excitement at hearing those 7^th grade favorites of mine was pretty much used up then. Although it is fun to see all these Vascos sing along and rock out. Eddie Vedder, who is hugely drunk, scores major points with the audience by reading a statement in Spanish about his appreciation.

During their somethingth encore I am getting antsy to get to the train station because I’m worried we might not be able to get to our lockers for some reason. Turns out it was closed, BUT! There was a side door. Then the door to the locker room is closed and it’s dark inside. But phew! It’s open. We retrieve our bags.

We call a taxi, it comes, we sleep, it drops us off at Bilbao airport. But wait. There are some other poor souls sitting outside the airport too. Could it be – it’s closed! Who closes an airport? It’s about 4 a.m. and freezing. I put on another sweater and Lou’s socks. He puts on the Azkena jacket (“Rock: The Power of Guitars”) I’d bought a few days ago and we cover ourselves with the strawberry towel. All our purchases are coming in handy.

At 5 the aireportua opens. Ahh it’s warm. We check in, at Iberia for some reason. Have a croissant. We fly to Paris. Another croissant on the plane. Oh God, we’re tired. No coffee, staying away from coffee so we can sleep on the plane home. Flight to Houston is delayed – why? We wait and wait. On the plane movies are watched and so many meals served we think they’re trying to kill us. We still eat them, of course. Last night, Sunday, Houston. Fly to Pittsburgh, pick up bags drive home and bam! Out.

Notes from Basque Country

2006-09-04T15:54:00.000-04:00

I'm back from Spain. My house feels too big. Terrible news about Mayor O’Connor. Pittsburgh is not the same without him.

Saturday morning (a week ago) we flew from Pittsburgh to Atlanta and had lunch with some family and friends... Then we flew to Düsseldorf, then to Paris. In Paris we took the metro into the city, saw the Eiffel Tower, and had lunch (again) at a café.

Then we flew to Bilbao. At this point I was so tired I was having visions. In Bilbao we got our bags which had made it (!) and took the bus to the city. Despite having a map we were somewhat lost but many Basques helped us. They were walking around wearing blue neck scarves—it was the last night of their Big Week, Aste Nagusia. We finally made it to our hotel, the Husa Jardines de Albia, where we fell asleep to the sound of fireworks.

The next day—Monday—we walked around Bilbao, had sandwiches for lunch, walked some more by the river, saw the Guggenheim Museum and the Puppy and had some beer in a café next door listening to Bob Dylan and then some jazz musicians.

We sat in the Plaza Moyua where kids were playing with inflatable balls and kicking them toward people. An old man hit it back with his cane.

And we had dinner at a restaurant. I had bacalao (salted cod) with some sort of green and red sauces and Lou had solomillo de buey (rump roast?). We drank txacoli, local wine.

The next day, Tuesday, we had breakfast in a sidewalk café, took the metro to the bus station, took the bus to San Sebastian (Donostia in Basque). A few Americans on the bus, last we’d see until plane back.

In San Sebastian, crowded, more than I remembered. Lovely though. We stayed at the Hostal La Concha right near the beach. We had pintxos (Basque for tapas) and beer. Muchos. First canas and then as we got drunker, suritos (little beers). Wandering…

Next day more wandering. First though, the beach. Water was clear. Beautiful warm sunny day. Fantastic time.

Dinnertime, paella. Huge! Should have taken a picture. The crawfish did freak me out though. I made Lou peel them. Then ice cream, tiramisu and chocolate orange.

Next morning, dammit time to leave San Sebastian. Took the bus to Vitoria-Gasteiz where the Azkena Rock Festival, the pretext for this trip, was taking place. Took the taxi to our hotel, Pension La Zuyana, on the outskirts of Vitoria, the only one we could find beforehand that wasn’t sold out. Comes time to whip out wallet, oops, not there. Where could it be? Frantic. Must be on taxi. Call taxi company. Girl at bar checking us in is sympathetic, helpful, talking too fast. I tell her slow down, but still can’t understand her. She says “policia” and says we can go up to our room but must pay cash later or she’ll be in trouble with her boss. Where’s the ATM? Oh, walk this way then that and there’s a shopping center. After calming down some we trudge to El Boulevard – a mall! Didn’t know they had these in Spain. Pay for room, eat, take taxi to the Mendizabala, where the festival is held.

The Young Fresh Fellows! Lou’s favorite band and he’s never seen them live before. He has worn his YFF shirt for this occasion. The band shows their appreciation. Then they play one of the funnest shows I’ve ever seen.

More coming soon...

Jerry Falwell speaks... but why is anyone listening?

2006-08-24T11:20:00.000-04:00

Just saw this AP story, Rev. Falwell Decries Stem Cell Research. Why the AP feels the need to give this crazy man an outlet is a mystery to me. This is the same guy who said feminists, gays and lesbians, and the ACLU were responsible for 9/11:

I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians...the A.C.L.U., People for the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America, I point the finger in their face and say, "You helped this happen."
—Falwell on The 700 Club about the 9/11 terrorist attacks

Pittsburgh: 'Amazing Adventure Town'

2006-08-22T15:35:00.000-04:00

The September 2006 issue of National Geographic Adventure Magazine includes Pittsburgh in its list of 30 "best adventure towns to live and play in," ranking it at the top of the "urban adventurer list ahead of Las Vegas; Portland, Maine; Portland, Oregon; Spokane, Washington; and Washington, DC in that category.

The editors of National Geographic Adventure praised Pittsburgh for its beauty, cultural amenities, career opportunities, and recreational experiences, from the regions great hiking and biking trails to white water rafting on the Youghiogheny. As a contender in the urban adventurer category, they also liked Pittsburgh for its neighborhoods, calling the Strip District "Pittsburgh's answer to SoHo," low housing prices, and its large number of high-tech companies.

(via the Pittsburgh entry on About.com)

Evolution, shmevolution

2006-08-15T14:26:00.000-04:00

We're Americans! We didn't evolve from ANIMALS!

From Science (via the NYT, via 3quarksdaily)

Cost of birth control skyrockets

2006-08-03T12:54:00.000-04:00

Is this happening in Pittsburgh, too?

Via Poynter Institute column Al's Morning Meeting, this article in the Charleston (W.V.) Gazette:

Clinics in West Virginia and across the country providing free birth control to low-income men and women face a possible drought of contraceptive pills and patches after the top supplier drastically raised prices [last] month.

Prices for birth control products from Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical Inc. to public health services leapt from a few pennies to more than $20 in some cases, meaning programs such as West Virginia Family Planning cannot buy the company's products anymore. ...

A 30-day supply of one type of pill that once cost a penny now costs $21.01, [West Virginia family planning program director Denise] Smith said. The Ortho Evra patch ran at $12.15, but now comes in at $22.46. About 4,800 low-income West Virginians got the patch last year, Smith said. ...

The national picture looks just as bleak from the perspective of perpetually under-funded public health-care agencies, said Marilyn Keefe, vice president for public policy at National Family Planning Reproductive Health Association, a family planning center advocacy group in Washington, D.C.

"This price increase comes at a terrible time in the life of the public health care system," she said. "It's a hope that the company will rethink its decision and reverse those price increases. ..."

The company followed federal Medicaid pricing formulas that change every financial quarter, the last being July 1, [Ortho-McNeil spokeswoman Julie] Keenan said. ...
Switching birth control pills is not like changing your favorite soda or taking a different route to work. Each pill releases different levels and types of hormones with different effects, Maddox said.

Casey: Too pure for Savage money

2006-08-02T11:14:00.000-04:00

Melissa Meinzer reports in this week's Pittsburgh City Paper that Bob Casey has turned down a donation from Savage Love's Dan Savage.

Larry Smar, spokesperson for the Casey campaign, says that controversial and vulgar content in the column and on Savage's anti-Santorum Web site, www.spreadingsantorum.com, led to the decision to return the contribution.

Casey's $10 million behind Santorum in fundraising. He'll take money from more than 200 of the same corporate PACs as Santorum does, but not from Dan Savage? The man continues to amaze.

Savage's response was to send the money to Philadelphians Against Santorum. He says, "I’m going to have to swallow hard and support Bob Casey whether he wants me to or not." Then he ends with this gem:

But if I wanna keep sending money to mainstream politicians it looks like I’m going to have to form a political action committee (PAC) to fudge the source of the funds. Bob Casey may not take check from me, but maybe he’ll take one from my Fudge PAC.

Josh Hartnett as Bob O'Connor? Somehow, it works

2006-08-01T11:35:00.000-04:00

This cracks me up. Maria of 2 Political Junkies used the celebrity lookalike software on myheritage.com to cast the film of the Thursday Morning Massacre in the mayor's office. I especially like Zach Braff as Bill Peduto and Missy Elliott as Tonya Payne.

Update: A thoughtful analysis of the purge from the Angry Drunk Bureaucrat.

Thursday Morning Massacre: The Movie
Starring:

Josh Hartnett as
Mayor Bob O'Connor
And:

Meatloaf as Dennis Regan	John Cage as George Specter	Harold Ramis as Scott Kunka
Julia Roberts as B.J. Leber	Patricia Arquette as Susan Malie	Albert Finney as Paul Leger

With:

Jean-Paul Belmondo as Jim Ferlo	Dick Skrinjar as himself	Colin Farrell as Yarone Zober
Sharon Stone as Marlene Cassidy	Adam Carolla as Father Terry O'Connor	David Letterman as John Delano
Tom Hanks as Doug Shields	David Hasselhoff as Jim Motznik	Dean Cain as Luke Ravenstahl

And:

Zach Braff as Bill Peduto	Missy Elliott as Tonya Payne	Beyonce Knowles as Twanda Carlisle
Jim Carrey as Len Bodak	Gael Garcia Bernal as Dan Deasy	Brad Pitt as Jeff Koch

Nooooo! Not BOOBIES!!

2006-07-28T11:05:00.000-04:00

Jocelyn Noveck of the AP has a great story on women and their reaction to this seemingly innocuous and wholesome magazine cover featuring a nursing infant.

A quarter of responses to the cover were negative, calling the photo - a baby and part of a woman's breast, in profile - inappropriate.
One mother who didn't like the cover explains she was concerned about her 13-year-old son seeing it. "I shredded it," said Gayle Ash, of Belton, Texas, in a telephone interview. "A breast is a breast - it's a sexual thing. He didn't need to see that."

It's the same reason that Ash, 41, who nursed all three of her children, is cautious about breast-feeding in public - a subject of enormous debate among women, which has even spawned a new term: "lactivists," meaning those who advocate for a woman's right to nurse wherever she needs to.

"I'm totally supportive of it - I just don't like the flashing," she says. "I don't want my son or husband to accidentally see a breast they didn't want to see."

She seems a little too concerned with "protecting" the men in her family from the sight of breasts (I'm sure they're grateful). In fact, I would have liked to have seen more (any) men quoted in the story.

I fail to understand how the sight of a nursing baby could construed as "gross," but no fewer than three women in the story apparently think so. Can anyone explain this to me? Do these women just hate their bodies or what?

World's biggest camera takes world's biggest picture

2006-07-21T10:09:00.000-04:00

Via PDN Online:

Photographers in southern California have created the world's largest photograph using an airplane hangar as a giant camera obscura.

The core group working on the photo included Burchfield, Mark Chamberlain, Rob Johnson, Jacques Garnier, Douglas McCulloh and Clayton Spada. Together, they are working on The Legacy Project, a years-long photographic effort to document the Marine Corps Air Station El Toro in southern California. The abandoned air station is the future site of a large municipal park called the Orange County Great Park.

The image is pretty murky, but apparently you can make out some of the features of the runway... They'll get in Guinness for this one for sure.

Hang in there, Bob

2006-07-12T23:44:00.000-04:00

We're all pulling for you...

Feed Your Head

2006-07-12T12:53:00.000-04:00

My lack of productivity lately can be summed up in three evil little words: "Sub with Bloglines."

If you don’t use the Bloglines RSS aggregator software, you have no idea what I’m talking about. And I almost don’t want to tell you, lest you be sucked in as well.

Bloglines is one program of many for reading blogs or news sites that have syndicated feeds. So every time anyone posts something to their blog, it shows up.

And the Sub with Bloglines button, pasted into the toolbar of your Web browser, lets you subscribe to a site with a feed whenever you see anything remotely interesting.

This is bad because it causes you to keep blithely adding feeds. And given enough feeds, you could literally sit there all damn day and just read what everybody’s writing in real time.

I mean come on – they’re so tempting! From a letter to Cary Tennis on Salon.com: “A grad student in China has taken possession of my soul. I know it sounds crazy, but should I leave my wife?” How could you NOT keep reading? Then of course you have to read the reader responses in addition to Cary’s... (OK, maybe YOU don’t. I obviously have issues.)

Subscribing to so many feeds allows you to monitor what everybody’s saying all the time – which is actually quite dangerous. It means you, yourself, never have to really think about what you are doing or thinking.

Well, time to get back to work… as long as I can keep from hitting “Refresh”…

Manufacturing controversy

2006-07-03T10:38:00.000-04:00

What is with this headline and subhead from the Detroit Free Press? This is how they frame their story on the approval of a vaccine for human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes cervical cancer:

Should girls get shots for virus at 9? Some worry vaccination may encourage early sexual activity

Though the article itself is more balanced, it does give the impression that a lot of parents feel like Angie Smith, who says, "Me personally, I would not take my child. For some parents, if you take your child to get that vaccine, it's like saying sex is OK." How's that again?

Fortunately, the accompanying poll shows that the vast majority of parents (at least, those who take online polls) agree with Gwen Scales: "I don't see how administering a vaccination for chicken pox would make my daughter want to expose herself to chicken pox." (Right on Gwen!) In answer to the question "Would you allow your daughter to get vaccine [sic] that protects against a virus that causes most cases of cervical cancer?", 87% of respondents said yes.

So much for political idealism... time to ROCK OUT!

2006-05-25T17:13:00.000-04:00

These are from a Black Tie Revue show about a month ago (took me awhile to get 'em scanned). BTR is my favorite Pittsburgh band (especially since the Breakup Society... broke up). Their songs are incredibly catchy and they are really fun to watch...

(More photos here.) But you really have to see them live to get the whole experience. Better do it soon, because they just got signed to Bomp/Alive Records and they're gonna blow up!

Upcoming Shows

Jun 17 2006

9:00P

Happy Dog

Cleveland , OH

Jun 18 2006

9:00P

Brillobox w/ Nikki Corvette!!!

Pittsburgh, PA

Jul 1 2006

10:00P

Gooski's

Pittsburgh, PA

THIS IS IT!

2006-05-16T11:19:00.000-04:00

Don't forget to VOTE today!

Chuck Pennacchio for U.S. Senate

Valerie McDonald Roberts for PA Lt. Governor

Don't know your district/polling place? Call the Allegheny County Elections Division at (412) 350-4500.

VOTE VOTE VOTE!!!

Picnic for Pennacchio Sunday

2006-05-04T12:52:00.000-04:00

Picnic for Chuck Pennacchio Sunday with live music, food, good friends. Bring everyone you know to meet the next Senator from Pennsylvania.

Mike Stout will be performing. There will be a 50/50 raffle -- 50 cents of every dollar goes to Chuck's campaign. The lucky winner walks home with half the loot. And don't forget the free food!!

RIVERVIEW PARK - VALLEY REFUGE SHELTER - SUNDAY, MAY 7th
2 - 6 PM

From downtown Pittsburgh,
Cross over 6th street bridge
Work your way around the commons
Left on North Ave
Right on Brighton Rd
Go about 2 miles
Pass Oliver HS
Bear right at the second light
Valley Refuge shelter is about 1/4 mile on right

VOTE MAY 16 - CHUCK PENNACCHIO FOR SENATE!

Tonight: Help Chuck and Valerie on the Sa'Side

2006-05-03T09:23:00.000-04:00

Join Democracy for Pittsburgh for a visibility event for their endorsed statewide candidates Chuck Pennacchio and Valerie McDonald Roberts. Hold signs and pass out literature along E. Carson St. from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 3.

Meet in front of Mario's South Side Saloon, 1514 E. Carson St.

Debate tomorrow @ 7 p.m.!

2006-04-07T11:38:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow (Saturday) at 7 p.m., all three Democrats vying for Rick Santorum's Senate seat are finally going to debate--their only debate in our half of the state--at Slippery Rock University (less than an hour outside of Pittsburgh)! This is the only chance people in Western PA will have to see Chuck Pennacchio, Bob Casey Jr., and Alan Sandals together.

The debate will air live on PCN, and you can watch it online at http://www.pcntv.com. PCN also will rebroadcast it on Sunday at 3 p.m.

Event Schedule & Details:
7 to 9 p.m.
Slippery Rock University
McKay Education Building Auditorium (Corner of School Dr. and E. Maltby Ave.)
Slippery Rock, PA 16057

Driving directions from Pittsburgh

So true

2006-02-17T16:39:00.000-05:00

In today's Philadelphia Daily News...

(via Albert of DragonBallYee)

I digress

2006-02-15T23:01:00.000-05:00

I think I'll write about something other than Chuck Pennacchio for once. (P.S. Sign my petition!)

Last night I went to a Spanish language Meetup at Tango Cafe in Squirrel Hill. It was a good time, though I got a heaping helping of humble pie (pastel humilde?) when I could barely get a word out en espanol. It's been too damn long.

The written word is a lot easier to manipulate (mira).

Somehow, three out of the four people at the table had been to Salamanca...

Come to the next one, si quieres practicar!

A valentine to social liberals

2006-02-14T10:20:00.000-05:00

Help elect a progressive Democrat to the U.S. Senate on May 16. Chuck Pennacchio needs your help to get his name on the Democratic primary ballot. Please go to the Pennacchio petition page to locate a petition person near you. Note: If you're in Allegheny County, I have a petition you can sign. E-mail me.

ZOGBY POLL: Chuck beats Santorum and Casey

2006-01-27T15:55:00.000-05:00

Just got this from Chuck Pennacchio's campaign:

At long last, someone asked the question we've all been waiting for. When Pennsylvanians are given a choice between Rick Santorum and Chuck Pennacchio, Chuck wins. And he wins bigger than any other Democrat in the race.

A new Zogby poll shows that Chuck wins the highest percentage of votes against Rick Santorum of any potential Democratic challenger when likely voters learn where the candidates stand on key issues. Chuck led Santorum by 45.4 percent to 43.5 percent among likely Pennsylvania voters compared to Casey's lead of 40.1 to 38.3. These numbers also shows that when Chuck goes head to head against Santorum, more respondents were inclined to vote.

The poll is consistent with a December Quinnipiac poll that showed Casey's support plunging when voters learned of his opposition to legal abortion. A recent poll by Strategic Vision shows an even further slide. The Zogby poll confirms that when Pennsylvanians learn about Bob Casey's positions on the issues, his support slides. When they learn more about Chuck's positions, his support soars.

The poll was commissioned by OpEdNews.com, an online news and opinion journal. An analysis of the survey findings on the OpEdNews.com website breaks down the response of several demographic groups when they learn about Casey’s positions. For example, Casey's support among 18-24 year olds drops from 63 percent to 40 percent; with Protestants, it drops from 47 percent to 30 percent; with liberals, from 95 percent to 68 percent; with moderates, from 64 percent to 53 percent. Casey makes tiny gains among conservatives, rising from four to five percent.

The Zogby survey of 850 likely Pennsylvania voters was conducted on January 26-27. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.

Pennacchio to debate Casey!

2005-12-13T16:11:00.000-05:00

This is great news (courtesy of Dave at the Pennacchio Yahoo group)! I can't wait to see Chuck demolish Junior. To quote Rob Kall, "Pennacchio is an extraordinary speaker who makes Casey look like roadkill."

From the Inky:

Casey, who agreed yesterday to debate his Democratic primary opponents in the coming months, raised $50,000 Friday at the Harvard Club for his Senate race - and ended up in a room next to where Santorum attended a reception hosted by Louis Appell, a prominent York County businessman and GOP fund-raiser.

Help Artur

2005-12-07T15:38:00.000-05:00

I don't want to come off like Sally Struthers.. but this Pittsburgh boy (and his family) could really use some help. Artur Santos is 3 years old and has Maple Syrup Urine Disease, a metabolic disorder that, if untreated, can lead to mental retardation and death in early childhood. His family is from Brazil, and sold everything they had to make it to Pittsburgh for surgery at Children's Hospital.

Their doctors have said they need to stay here for further treatment. They are living at Ronald McDonald House and getting by on donations while they apply for work visas. They also have another son, age 5. If you visit http://www.helpartur.com, you can make a donation via PayPal. Or visit the Pittsburgh Brazilian community Web site, Arrepia, Brasil! for more ways to help the Santos family.