Archives: July 2005
Wed Jul 27, 2005
Camping at Florence Lake
I had such a great time camping up at Florence Lake that I haven't even wanted to use my computer at home because it means I'm not camping anymore. But here are my photos, anyway. More...
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Shopper's Corner Mural Update!
Finally, progress on the mural at Shopper's Corner. And I haven't been by in a week so soonn I may post even more photos. More...
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Thu Jul 21, 2005
a little vacation
Sorry for not posting much. I have a backlog of things to share, but tonight I'm leaving for a little camping trip at Florence Lake. See you Monday.
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Tue Jul 19, 2005
A Lovely Sestina
Dr. Charles wrote a wonderful poem, in the form of a sestina, about a birth. A sestina is a form of poetry where the same seven words are used over and over in a particular order; they rhyme with sign and symbol rather than sound.
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Wed Jul 13, 2005
Holy Scripture
For months now the pharse "ordinariness of sacred things" bounces around in my head, probably because it is the topic of an essay I never finished writing. Scholastic has posted a video regarding a very sacred thing, the first signed copy of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. " More...
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Sun Jul 10, 2005
The Cliffs are Falling
Santa Cruz Evening News
February 13, 1932
City Has Serious Problem
One of the serious situations confronting Santa Cruz city administration is the continuous erosion of its waterfront.
More...
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Free Land: Free Love; Tales of a Wilderness Commune
I picked up "Free Land: Free Love; Tales of a Wilderness Commune" at Bookshop Santa Cruz because it was in the local history section. A few of the authors live in Santa Cruz, and the tale of Black Bear runs through the lives of probably more of my neighbors than I know. Like all anthologies, the collection of stories, interviews, poetry, journal entries, and newspaper clippings some are better than otehrs, but it is mostly wonderful. More...
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Sat Jul 09, 2005
UCSC's "Women's Studies" is no more.
I called a friend who works at the Women's Studies department at UCSC the other day and she answered , "Women's... I mean Feminist Studies, may I help you?" What? She said that since the graduate program will be called Feminist Studies the faculty decided to name the entire department "Feminist Studies." You know what this means, don't you? That people who don't believe that there is a difference between men and women have taken over one of the strongest and oldest organizations of women in history. More...
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WarDriving: Felony in Florida
This will probably go nowhere because it is so stupid, but perhaps not. A man was charged with a felony for sitting in his car and using the unsecured wireless home network he happened to find. The geeks have discussed the legality of wardriving since the beginning, but now the cops, courts, and press is starting to pay attention to it. The solution is to put an effing password on your wireless network.
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Tracy Grammar's New CD
I heard a song on Grassy Hill Radio the other day that I had never heard before, but it had a quality I could not ignore. I checked to see the artist: written by Dave Carter, sung by Tracy Grammar. Of course. Dave died a few years ago, and "Flower of Avalon," from his partner Tracy, is the last of his songs finally recorded. While poking around her fan sites looking for news, I found this touching story of how recently her fans raised the money to buy her a new fiddle. Her old fiddle, named "The Wounded Healer," had worned out.
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Report from Vietnam
My sister is visiting South East Asia. This is her journal from Vietnam. More...
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Mon Jul 04, 2005
Miss Forbes, Citizen of Seabright
Miss Forbes wrote a memoir in the 1930s of her life in Seabright, a settlement a few miles from Santa Cruz that attracted single women and people interested in reading, adventure, and beachcombing, from what I can tell. Seabright was not incorporated into the city of Santa Cruz until shortly before WWI, and before the women--who formed a majority of the citizens--were allowed to vote for or against incorportation. I'll post more story from her life, but for today here is a newspaper story about her published near the end of her life. More...
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Santa Cruz: City of All Faiths
This summer I hope to make great progress in my "history of the neighborhood" project, and sometimes I find interesting newspaper stories that don't fit my project, so you get to read them here. For instance, Santa Cruz has always been a place where non-traditional people gathered and flourished.
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Sun Jul 03, 2005
Tequila's Ancestors
Until recently, I didn't favor tequila, but because of a social situation that provides good tequila and great company, I've come to enjoy its effects and taste. Like with most everything I discover an affinity for, I had to research it, and found this nice article by Fire Erowid.
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Sat Jul 02, 2005
Bushism is Fascism
Yes, we all know that Republican party has been taken over by fascists. But here're all the historical correlations in one place, even down to the leader's southern accent. From Paranoiamagazine.com.
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Penn and Teller on the Patriot Act
I hadn't heard of the site Crooks&Liars until last week when someone sent me the link to a 16-minute video of Penn and Teller's show "Bullshit" devoted to the Patriot Act. Humor, politics, a little cheesy sex: three ingredients for effective political communication.
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Gnosticism Unveiled
Another area of esoterica that has long interested me is Gnosticism. Although it was born at the same time as christianity, it has, over and over again, been persecuted yet resurrects itself again and again. I forget how I found it, but here is a fascinating article in "Paranoia" the conspiracy-magazine. It is an interview with Dr. Stephan Hoeller , the Bishop of Ecclesia Gnostica, the first Gnostic Church in America. The conversation touches on Freemasonry, Theosophy, Shakespeare, ritual magicians, Philip K. Dick and Harlan Ellison,
the unity of fundamentalist religions, and the demonization of altered consciousness
More...
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No, We're Married; We're Canadian.
Canada and Spain have legalized gay marriage. I liked what Mark Morford said about it, naturally. More...
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Fri Jul 01, 2005
New Sappho Poem
via Cronaca, a poem by Sappho has been pieced together.
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They Ate Their Vitamins
This month (July) Harpers contains one of those long essays they call a Folio, and usually I find them unreadable or at least uninteresting, but this month it is about racism in paleoarcheology, and it is also really witty. "Mighty White of You: Racial Preferences color America's oldest skulls andn bones, by Jack Hitt," is isn't available on line, so I just urge you to go buy it if you don't subscribe. I'll leave you with this little paragraph, on the origin of skin color. More...
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