Archives: November 2003
Sun Nov 30, 2003
Art Show
Stanford's Cantor Center for Visual Arts is having a show of Hudson River School paintings through January 18. 11 to 5 Fridays to Sundays.
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Lewis and Clark websites
Rather than actually traveling, I can use this list of URLs from the Mercury News Travel section that allow me to travel the Lewis and Clark route without leaving the couch. More...
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Castle Crags.
I have been traveling near Redding on personal business for the last few years and hardly ever get a chance to sightsee in Northern California. Someday, I want to camp at Castle Crags. There must be some reason why so many people love it there.
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Volcano Legacy Scenic Byway
The Volcano Legacy Scenic Byway Lake Almanor to Susanville, Lassen Volcanic National Park, Road to Shasta (including Burney Falls and McCloud River falls), Mount Shasta, Weed to Tulelake, Lava Beds National Monument, Klamath Falls (including its museum), Crater Lake National Park.
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Sat Nov 29, 2003
Learn To Draw Like an 11th-Century Nun!
I love the Bayeux Tapestry and I really, really, wish I could draw that way and illustrate my own stories. Now, thanks to the Historic Tale Construction Kit even I can.
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Fri Nov 28, 2003
Who's For Dinner?
More evidence that supports my armchair anthropologist theory that all humans living today are descended from primates who killed and ate all the other proto-humans. That explains why we are so nice to each other. And why we invented religion.
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Ear Pierce Geography
Everything you didn't want to know about ear piercing taxonomy. I feel better knowing the ear piercing professionals have this all worked out.
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We're Here; We're Queer, We're Bathroom Decor
I just finished reading "Out in the Redwoods," a history of queers at UCSC. Lesbian history, and how how changed the world is for us, is on my mind today. So naturally, I searched through eBay on "lesbian" and found this: More...
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Rancho Cumulos
via an article in Sunset: Rancho Camulos . There are few places in Ventura County that seem worth spending vacation time in, yet I seem to go their quite often--family visits mostly. This is a working ranch and museum, in business for 150 years.
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I've Added a New Category
I read about places to see all the time but when it comes time to decide to actually go somewhere on vacation, I choose anything that seems easy. Since this blog is for me as much as for you, I'm going to start adding comments on the places I'd like to visit someday.
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Grand Unifying Theory of Politics and Economies
I have been reading the newsletter of POCLAD (Program on Corporations, Law, and Democracy) for several years now, but never went to its website. It's nice. The Fall 2003 newsletter (By What Authority) features an essay about the labor movement that is interesting. What I was proud of is that my union, UPTE, isn't like the corporate-type unions that the essay describes. Yes, it is part of CWA and it is part of the AFL-CIO, and but we are member-run, and while that means we have lots of arguments, it also means that we are a democracy. And it means that our website is out of date too. Volunteers welcome.
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Another Contest I'll Try to Win
Eyesore of the Month. I should be able to find something around here somewhere.
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Local Crime
The Sentinel today reported that crime statistics are available at santacruzpolice.com. That URL is owned by the city, but it wasn't in service this morning. The stats were at this site. More...
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For Self -Assurance Emergencies ONLY
A friend of mine keeps a tiara in her desk at work. A tiara and a paper party horn.
"I don't know if I'll ever use it, but I'm glad it's there."
More...
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Sun Nov 23, 2003
Cool Weekend Trips Around Here
Someday, I hope I remember this list of cool things to do in the bay area. The one about spending the night on Angel Island seems especially great.
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Maybe the Third Time I Watch It
Things to do while watching Return of the King.
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Sat Nov 22, 2003
Yet Another Way to Steal the 2000 Presidential Election
It appears that nothing was left to chance (ie the voters) in the 2000 election. Via the Register, which covered California Secretary of State Shelley's ruling that all electronic voting machines will have paper receipts (but not until after 2004), I learned of even more electronic fraud that night, where data and memory cards mysteriously appear and disappear. We already know that thousands of African-Americans were not allowed to vote that night, we already know that the ballot was confusing. And we know all to much about chads and the pounds per square inch it requires to punch out a ballot paper. That was all just smoke to keep us from looking at where the magician's hands were really fooling us. No wonder a "recount" of pregnant chads, etc. were found to not make any difference at all. The election was already fixed with the computer voting. Of course. Why leave it to chance? This is the way I'd do it.
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Other Santa Cruz Histories
While googling Santa Cruz History I came across the history of Santa Cruz on the Earth First site. More...
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Public Employee Unions Still Illegal In Occupied Iraq
One of the things I learned from my sisters and brothers who are involved in US Labor Against the War is that the US government overturned many of the oppressive laws imposed by the Evil Dictator, Saddam Hussein, but not all of them. In particular, trade unions of public-sector employees were, and still are, illegal in Iraq. Worse, in an Evil Dictatorship, most people work for the government because it owns everything of value, making all major industries public-sector. More...
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NIMBY? Well, Yes; NIMBY.
In snide Sentinel story by Dan White we read last week that the City Parks and Rec staff want to turn Mike Fox Park in to the permanent home for the skateboard park now at the entrance to the wharf. Isn't that just great. More...
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Fri Nov 21, 2003
Honored, and Aphroisms
Last night, my union honored me as "Trade Unionist of the Year" and I attended the annual dinner of our Monterey Bay Labor Council. There were many other winners, and it was a nice to get a little certificate and hear what amazing changes unions are making all around us. More...
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Lesbian Hub of Britain
Hebden Bridge, apparently. Hebden Bridge home page. Hebden Bridge history. Hebden Bridge photos. Hebden Bridge acupuncturists. Hebden Bridge Astronomy. Hebden Bridge Best and Worse.
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A Winter Afternoon
This is my first post via the wireless network that I'm working on deploying at UCSC. Right now, I'm sitting in the Kresge Cafe. A breeze just came up. Rio's Native American flag is billowing like flags do in the movies. The redwoods sway like the masts of ships. Duff rains down. A cheeseburger arrives. I am warm, fed, healthy, loved, rich, and spiritually peaceful. Ah, there's my wife--gonna go say Hi.
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Wed Nov 19, 2003
Black Facts
I spent a delightful hour reading Black Facts and learned all sorts of things I didn't know. (via J-Walk) blog again. I loved the words that Brazilians use to describe their skin color. I like "cashew."
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Tue Nov 18, 2003
Blatent and Casual Sexism
At UCSC, I rarely encounter the sexism of the language variety, but we all did today in an email from a colleague. He referred to a common backup strategy as "GFS" which means "grandfather, father, and son." Then he patronizingly taught us all that this means monthly, weekly, and daily backups. Up until today, I always thought of this backup strategy as "monthly, weekly, and daily." Where does patrilineal genealogy come in to it? Why not call it "Hecate, Demeter, and Persephone?"
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Sat Nov 15, 2003
Money Origami
via J-Walk Blog, a very fun site giving detailed instructions with photos for folding money into a shirt, eyeglasses, a bowtie, a pair of boots, and more. The shirt is especially cute and fun to make.
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Safeway Boycott Begins
California union members are being asked to stop shopping at Safeway or Vons until progress is made in the more than 30-day strike in SoCal. Meanwhile, on the internet, Vons/Safeway is touting internet foodshopping. (Which I will not be linking to, obviously.) I will link to the UFCW's website. Well worth reading. Basically, this strike is about holding the line in the effort by corporations to turn all jobs into McJobs. Making a reality of that joke-that-isn't-a-joke: "Yes, there are 50,000 new jobs in the country, and I have three of them."
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Wed Nov 12, 2003
Another Old Postcard
It was so fun to post that photograph of Riverside and Broadway, here's another historical image. More...
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Ron Ruby, 1932 - 2003
Here's my Ron Ruby story. I came to UCSC as a junior transfer, and had to take beginning physics, chemistry, and calculus all in my first quarter. Ron Ruby taught Physics 6A, the real physics class, not the one for biologists. More...
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Tue Nov 11, 2003
The Sidewalk Companion to Santa Cruz Architecture
I'm not reading this book. I read it years ago. I'm consulting it as I work on my "One Hundred Years of Lower Ocean" project. Lower Ocean is the name of my Santa Cruz neighborhood. I'm gathering information about the people who lived here in 1905 and I'm publishing a web page about it. But that's not why I mention this book. More...
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Sat Nov 08, 2003
Broadway and Riverside mid-1930s
While I'm at it, here's another old SC photo, this one of the end of my street: "68 Riverside" taken on some morning in 1936. More...
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Santa Cruz Main Beach 100 Years Ago
I use eBay to find old photos and postcards of Santa Cruz. Sometimes a photo comes along that I just can't afford. Here's one that I just love. More...
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A Peep at Early California
I heard about a little humorous essay called "A Peep at Washoe" by Ross Browne in a book called Sierra Crossingthat I read earlier this month, so I got it from the library. Ross Browne walked across the Sierras in the mid-1850s from around where Colfax is now to Virginia City or Washoe. It was hilarious, but it also contained some nasty surprises. More...
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Sun Nov 02, 2003
I Don't Care If It's Dorky: I Want a New Zealand Vacation
Using my financial calculators on dinky.com I could afford a vacation in Peter Jackson's New Zealand in just a few years. Just in time to take advantage of a post-release slump in 2006.....
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Predicting the Future
Dinkytown.com offers many financial calculators including the benefits of bringing your lunch to work.
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It's an Exfoliant AND a Dessert Beverage
While browsing my natural foods grocery store's magazine, "Taste for Life," I noticed an advertisement that seemed to indicate a skin care product made from coffee grounds. I thought I was mistaken, but bodycoffee is exactly what it sounds like. Yet another gift to the West from post-communist Russia.
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Sat Nov 01, 2003
Highlights of a Santa Cruz Halloween
Thunder and lightening before dawn, and a golden pink towering sunset, as last night's storm moves east.
Entering the catalyst, I overheard the bouncer say to Death, who as the stood in front of me. "Everyone needs an i.d. " I start to enter, approaching the other bouncer. "Does everyone need an i.d.? I didn't bring my wallet." "No, you're ok." As I walk past the ticket window, he says "No offense? " Nope.
More...
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