bla bla bla

perfect blue

2010-03-07T12:47:00.001-05:00

perfect blue
Originally uploaded by nyniknaz

writers are smart

2009-02-18T22:23:00.003-05:00

okay, here's the deal. i'm a bit tipsy now... on (of all things) chocolate stout beer mostly from young's double chocolate stout (reaaaaly smooth and drinkable). i went out tonight to a reading in a certain Park Slope book store (unnameable books, if you're wondering) and i was instantly struck with the serious old skool scene that was unfolding before me. first of all, we were in the basement of the anarcho-socialist bookstore (don't shoot me for that very vague and unintelligent description)--and when i say basement, i mean basement... falling crooked wooden stairs and rope light lighting the place. well, it was housing the contemporary queer literary scene. i was impressed that i found myself there. not sure how yet, but who cares, right?

anyway... then it got me thinking about how with it the literary scene is and how blatantly blind and dumb the art scene is (now i'm really going to get shot)... and a bit of snobbery washed over me that i was there instead of an art opening... or art show... or my own art studio... or anything at all art related. these people look inside and then outside and their success is destinctly linked to the OUTSIDE world. in the art scene it is not linked to that at all. in fact, the less the outside world gets your art, the smarter you are assumed to be. you've 'one upped' them.

tell that to the beat poets.

anyway...

that got me thinking of my awkwardness... and how i don't empower my own eccentricities... when for fuck's sake, the whole world nearly trips over itself for anyone else's craziness... as long as they're famous.

yep.

okay. enough said.

tomorrow i'll talk about my angst over something else.

yah.

good night.

okay.

a comment on civil liberties

2009-01-08T08:16:00.005-05:00

I'm writing this short post before I head to work. It is a response to a New York Times article covering the riot that has broken out from the shooting of Oscar Grant by Oakland transit police.

The article doesn't mention a thing about the inhumanity suffered that night. It barely mentions that the cop, Johannes Mehserle shot Oscar Grant in the back when he was lying face down -- sorry, while cops were pulling him to the ground face down after he was asking cops to calm down because everyone was complying. Click on the title of this post and watch the video--everyone was complying with cops. Oscar Grant just may have been murdered because he talked directly to the officers, perhaps tried to bring some logic to the situation, perhaps he was telling the cops the truth and the cops were agitated and needed a reason not to let the people they were detaining go. Perhaps Oscar Grant was doing what anyone faced with an aggressive, armed person would do--try to calm them down.

Then they restrain him, shoot him in the back at point blank and then handcuff him.

And so the last line of the New York Times article goes as such:

"Federal law enforcement were also reported to be looking into whether Mr. Grant’s civil rights were violated in his killing."

Excuse me while I throw up.

What's left of his civil rights?? His right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness? He was killed. For nothing. For being black. For being a young black man in the face of a young white male cop.

Hear Ye Hear Ye! Mark Your Calendars! A Cure For AIDS Has Been Reported!

2008-11-14T13:06:00.003-05:00

In case you didn't weed through nytimes.com today and navigate all the way down to the almost obscure second bullet in the Health section...

Or in case you didn't read the Wall Street Journal article about it last week: a doctor in Germany has successfully cured a patient of AIDS.

What it takes to make the front page is a complete baffle to me.

soo... i got to thinking... that economic philosophy that i dreamt up to dictate US economic policies... looks like it had some flaws... hmm.

2008-10-23T23:30:00.003-04:00

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME MR ALAN GREENSPAN?!?!! you have stolen. you have led wall street to steal. you have BLINDLY led investment capitalists to STEAL STEAL STEAL. you fucking moron. any liberal leaning (i think the new word for the just barely left of center is socialist) nobody coulda toldja you were leading this ship into an iceberg... but i'm sure it gotcha tuns of favers... (i hear the new american vernacular is wasilla-speak.)

the guardian decided to (rightfully if you ask me) put this article as it's headline. the nytimes thought it was important enough to make the front page... but something about joe biden was headline.

this should be smeared on every american newspaper.

'oops, i made a slight mistake... i didn't factor in that a completely unregulated economy can create deeply greedy situations'. did you not read lord of the flies? did you not have a glimmer of doubt that money creates greed? or did someone skip you through high school straight to your NYU phD... or did you just skip the phD and get the piece of paper?

no wonder you got along with ayn rand. toxic ideologies.

we are witnessing the fall of capitalism. may we all dance with joy. wave fists in the air. sing hallelujah. and pray we can put food in our mouths tomorrow.

so my question is this...

2008-10-11T08:48:00.009-04:00

so... under our new patriot act(s), if one gets caught saying s/he wants to 'kill' the president... that person is suspect, no holds barred. so, let's say that person says it and his/her phone just happens to be tapped... or email read... or... say they wrote it in a blog.

now suppose someone yells it at a political rally about someone who is looking likely to become president. does that count as being suspect? anti-american? un-patriotic?

and since when has chanting 'off with his head' at a mccain/palin campaign become okay (same link... click above)? are we really going to take our fear to the level of the french revolution that executed some 20000 odd people by guillotine? oh, right. the republicans' pillar of power usurpation, i'm sure, was also inspired by the Sartre-ism 'by any means necessary'. wasn't that what cointelpro was during the 60s? and today's patriot act? by any means necessary.

thank you malcom x for bringing jean paul sartre to the american people. you meant to empower the african american community--but the white folks stole the idiology and used it for the fiercest battle cry imaginable.

race.

you can't say in anti-george bush rallies 'off with his head' lest some cia agent is standing next to you. he's an old, rich white dude! besides, you'd look like a lunatic--like some witch from 1692 salem.

but the conservatives can say it. sure, they can say anything. kill iraqi monsters. kill afghani war lords, kill japanies, kill russians, kill chinese, kill them all! wipe them off the map.

john mccain is dividing our nation and pushing the average conservative into a frightening realm. i guess conservatives have no ethics.

it's conservative white dudes who rule our wall-street class (that class that has raped our economy and taken every penny from our mouths). it's conservative white dudes who rule our business class--whatever is not offshore these days. and it's by in large conservative white dudes who've run this country from the very beginning. in fact, you look it up! our god damn country "land of the free, home of the brave" is the most racist, conservative, undiplomatic, anti-intellectual country in the west today. and lest we forget, every square foot of our so loved and coveted country is soaked with the blood of the indigenous.

thank you capitalism.

i have to puke now. i'm ashamed of you, my fellow americans who chant 'off with his head' about obama or ANYONE. absolutely ashamed.

what a day

2008-10-11T00:47:00.002-04:00

today, october 10, 2008--what a day. i'm not sure how it will go down in history. i know i went to work this morning. biked there and back (total 25 miles--yah). that's monumental, isn't it? left early and came home... because no one was there and monday is a holiday--so i essentially had a longer weekend than most. that's cool, right?

well, and then there's the event up in alaska where they ruled officially that sarah palin did abuse her powers to fire her ex-brother-in-law. hmm... is that how they do it up in 'main street wasilla'?

oh, yah... and the stocks ended down *again*. today ended the worst week of both the down jones and the S&P 500--EVER. this year is the 3rd worst year since 1929. depression? hmm? i can't believe we're living through this.

and the guardian reports, if the vote was today, thankfully obama would win w/ a landslide. sorry, mccain. you're so no good for this country. and all the war talk is *SO* 2004. and... what the hell were you thinking w/ sarah palin?!?!?! i mean, conservative/liberal aside--you've managed to set us back as women some 35/40 odd years. fine she can shoot a gun. fine she can skin a moose. but she has no idea how washington is run--and it seems like her maverick-self needs to kick her own ass in anchorage. sorry, sister, your full of shit.

but the real news that i'm reading right now... at 12:51 in the morning on the next day is that Connecticut ruled gay marriage legal!

holy shit...

too bad my girlfriend and i don't believe in marriage. it would be fun to hop over there and get married--ya know--just cause.

*phew* what a day.

i'm exhausted...

a song for sarah palin...

2008-10-07T15:23:00.001-04:00

why i use a credit union

2008-09-30T09:50:00.004-04:00

i made this decision five years ago, and my conscience rests easy knowing the tiny bit of money i've managed to roll around in my accounts hasn't gone to those bankrupt businesses that we somehow call banks.

listen--why would you trust your hard earned money on a business that makes absolutely no return to you? banks invest on wall st. wall st's only purpose is to make lots of money out of as little as possible--even out of nothing. these little wall st pawns are designed to return profits for their shareholders at all costs. and making lots out of as little as possible creates an incredibly inflated economy. based on little--or sometimes even nothing. at all costs means turning illogical, illegal methods lucrative, legal and opaque. money is power in this country. and the powers have dictated that this highly risky business is okay. these banks have been operating in a 'free market' (remember that word from high school economics) unregulated for decades.

and don't be fooled by the federal reserve bank. it is nothing more than a consortium of private banks. nothing federal in that. when the secretary of treasury and the chairman the fed get together and come up with a bail-out package, just know it is nothing more than the top american economic lawmaker and the strongest american businessman trying to finagle a way to have the businesses fall with as little loss as possible, with the least risk to their executives as possible, with the absolute most opacity within their powers.

at all costs.

we the people are nothing more than pawns in this game and have been for a very long time.

oh yah... and in conclusion, that is why i use credit unions and not banks.

;)

i forgot... to blog...

2008-08-26T07:01:00.002-04:00

ha! oops. i forgot to blog.

click on the title to go to my other blog. that other one is more interesting.

ps. did anyone else nearly fall asleep watching day 1 of the dnc?

how to solve the nyc waste problem... with an online game, of course!

2008-06-22T20:44:00.002-04:00

apparently i sent 1.9 tons of nyc garbage across 300,000 miles. not sure if that's good or bad. it cost a fortune too...

I played The Gotham Gazette Garbage Game and sent 1,897,871 tons of refuse across 311,649 miles.

play it and see how you score here:

www.gothamgazette.com/games/garbage.php

it's really very interesting.

earwigs, homework and george bush

2008-06-20T22:46:00.002-04:00

watch this all the way through or not... but listen to his blunder-less, clear and quick responses. this was posted to youtube 2 years ago.

my theory: he *had* to do his homework b/c he doesn't after all control irish news media... and he was too embarrassed to use his earwig (film set vernacular for earpiece).

hmmm...?

the strike!

2008-06-13T07:58:00.002-04:00

you probably won't be able to link to this for too long--but what is happening today (june 13, 2008) are strikes all over britain over the poor wages Shell fuel tankers get paid. in response, other truck drivers will be driving on the M6 at 40mph to protest the high price of fuel. and there are protests in the phillipines over the high price of fuel. what this means for the people of britain is no fuel is being delivered to Shell stations. so they will run out of gas today.

hallelujah. somebody's doing something.

so what i am wondering is when will we get up and protest/strike over the ridiculous price of fuel--over ridiculously poor wages--over the unnecessarily recessed economy? over the widening gap between the rich and the poor. over the unnecessarily widening gap between CEOs and their white collar workers. how come in the US the only union strikers that get any attention are television writers? has 60 years of television made us so sedated that we can't be bothered?

have we really built our united states on the 'each for their own' mentality? 300 million egoists. that can't be good!

but anyway...

hm

2008-06-06T02:46:00.002-04:00

okay. so i'm back. and it'll take me some time to gather myself together again. although it already feels like i am picking up where i left off. four years of other experiences. of other towns--well, and cananda. two years in canada.

okay--it's late and i'm a bit peeved. i can't sleep and i keep thinking about these stupid nyc social rules that apply nowhere but in dense urban centers and in very specific circles. so do i care? not really. so why am i up? because my buttons have been getting pushed in this cold calloused town by a few people that i did not expect. it's always the unexpected that keeps me up at night.

that and sheer boredom.

and maybe because the bed is too small.

and my girl was grouchy and disappointed in me right before bed.

and i haven't spent a full night sleeping this week.

hm

innovation

2008-05-27T21:16:00.001-04:00

evolution is in the hands of those who think beyond what is already in front of them.

Upright Piano for iPhone

2008-05-23T08:28:00.002-04:00

'nough said...

welcome home, niknaz tavakolian

2008-05-22T22:00:00.002-04:00

so... what i've discovered in these last few years has been this:
1) don't be afraid of elbow grease. even if it looks like no one acknowledges the hard work.
2) determination is maybe more important than elbow grease.
3) anything is possible. anything.

3a) don't be afraid of your emotions--even if they seem 'weak'.
3b) never let them get away with it if you think it's not fair.

4) fuck 'em. if you have 1, 2 & 3... you're set.

perhaps i'll expand on each point soon.

super tuesday post

2008-03-04T08:13:00.004-05:00

okay... here's another post.

i just read the nytimes morning article outlining what to look for in today's super tuesday. here's the jist of what the journalist had to say:
hillary is banking on the women to come out and vote in ohio
obama is banking on the african americans to come out and vote... everywhere

so this is what gender and race mean?

right...

so now it's a test of will... who will win?

will it be women or african americans?!

i'm hangin' on my seat, america...

who will win this super tuesday?

who will take the democratic nomination?

who will face the republicans?

*
will it be the women?
*
or will it be the african americans?
*

*

clearly the journalist, john harwood, is a white dude. doesn't sound like he can fathom a woman or african american (woman?) with any sort of complex thinking patterns. much less one that choose their delegates based on... oh... i dunno... debates or issues?

no. just white dudes think like that.

right.

the word 'holocaust'

2008-02-29T08:11:00.002-05:00

i haven't written in a while. i guess i've been too wrapped up in my masters program to bother to peek out into the world enough. i mean--don't get me wrong. i've peeked out--i've seen--i've been outraged, saddened, angered, etc.

but this really got me.

today on the front page of the guardian is a headline "Israeli Minister Warns of Palestinian "Holocaust"". and this is straight from the guardian:

"The more Qassam [rocket] fire intensifies and the rockets reach a longer range, they will bring upon themselves a bigger shoah because we will use all our might to defend ourselves," Matan Vilnai, Israel's deputy defence minister, told Army Radio.

'shoah' is the hebrew word usually reserved for the Nazi extermination of the Jews.

these are serious claims.

surely the Labor Party in Israel will adjust this man's wording (i doubt it--Matan Vilnai has been a fellow at Harvard and Johns Hopkins... in case you were wondering... he 'aint just some fanatic) surely the people of Israel (who are wholly SPLIT on the issue) will stand up and say 'no Matan, we will fight back against militants--but we will not incite a holocaust on the Palestinian people'.

surely the whole world won't turn it's head as israel is allowed to voice whatever horrors it wants publicly. or is that what hitler was able to do?

israel has some of the worlds most technologically advanced military systems in the world. surely Matan meant he would bring on more force against the militants and bring an end to those people (which in and of itself is fucked up--but hey, i'm a radical... don't listen to me). surely he didn't mean he would wipe out the palestinian race.

surely he didn't...

when the government of israel sees the whole of the palestinian people as militants, then statements like this are free to slipping out. when the government of israel wants to convince the people of israel to see the whole of the palestinian people as militants then statements like this are free to slip out.

yes, matan vilnai--you are correct--you are only repeating history.

but don't let me tell it to you... let hitler:

From "The Speeches of Adolph Hitler, April 1922 - August 1939," Norman H. Baynes (editor), London, 1942, volume 1, page 741, text taken from the authorized English translation published in pamphlet form, Berlin, in February 1939. Quoted in "Auschwitz and the Allies," by Martin Gilbert, Holt Rinehart and Winston, New York, 1981, page 13:

"...and we say that the war will not end as the Jews imagine it will, namely with the uprooting of the Aryans, but the result of this war will be the complete annihilation of the Jews.

hmmm... the uprooting of the aryans... complete annihilation...

this is a sad day. we are witnesses to the absurdity of history, of humanity. we are witnesses to the lack of evolution and the lack of thought and diplomacy.

flat people

2007-10-21T21:01:00.000-04:00

soooo..... i'm doing this funny thing lately. one of em's teacher friends in minneapolis has this thing he's doing w/ his 5th grade class. they draw a flat version of themselves... and crayon it in... then send it in the mail to someone somewhere (like me in another country...). and we who receive this flat person take photos of it in different places and following our day to day lives.

click on the link above and enjoy!

-me

who is john galt?

2007-08-23T08:55:00.000-04:00

no no, john galt is not a fictitous character in an ayn rand novel... it is not the phrase everyone sighs and speaks in the despairs of a disrupted, depression-era capitalism. no no! what are you thinking people! john galt is the mysterious company with little record or client base since it's beginnings in 1983 that was hired to demolish the deutshe building that was damaged in 9/11. the building that caught fire last week and 2 firemen died.

hmmmmmmmmmm.......

will atlas shurg or will his back break.

i'm sad to say, we have yet to find out. so far atlas is sucking his thumb in front of america's top model while bush (us), harper (canada) and calderon (mexico) begin talks for a "Security and Prosperity Partnership". ie: an american union.

what to do if...

2007-05-31T13:19:00.000-04:00

let' say you're out in the woods and spot a bear....

here's what the ontario parks people have to say about it.

note to self: if the bear makes contact, fight back with everything you have.

wise words to live by.

brrrr!

2007-05-29T10:08:00.000-04:00

hey, isn't it almost june?!

i know this comment is gonna bite me in the ass: it's too c.o.l.d. for june. it's hot everywhere else... why not toronto?

i know, i know. you're thinking 'careful what you wish for'. one day i'll wake up and it'll be 101f (38c) and i'll be dreaming of the quiet cool days of may.

whatever. and then what's up w/ toronto? there's something about this town that i can't quite put a finger on. but it has to do w/ the fact that everytime i tell people where i moved from (mpls and ny before) they say 'so why toronto?' no pride here? or they love their city but can't understand why anyone would leave ny? i dunno.

how i closeted myself today

2007-05-11T16:16:00.000-04:00

so, after all these years... 14 years out. 6 years in a relationship. nothing ever to hide from anyone about it. and sometimes even an activist about it------------after all of that when the sprint representative wondered if my 'boyfriend' was the one in canada that would be calling me all the time------all i could utter was 'something like that.'

SOMETHING LIKE THAT??????

what is wrong with me?!

what other whitty things could i have come up with?

'oh, i'm the boyfriend.'

'my wife is using our phone in the states and i'm still in canada.'

'EW! i don't do boys.'

*sigh*

brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

2007-04-14T10:42:00.001-04:00

toronto has the same weather highs and lows as anchorage this week.

that aint right.

Danger Hollow Sidewalks

2007-02-08T07:48:00.001-05:00

Danger Hollow Promises
Originally uploaded by LarimdaME.

if you are ever not sure whether to heed these signs or not, just read this NYTimes article.

and good luck.

2 days in front of the montor

2007-02-03T16:50:00.000-05:00

and this is all it looks like???? 2 days straight! doesn't look like much. but i had to pick up a little javascript and unix along the way.

*sigh*

grad school.

who made mad cash last year?

2007-02-01T20:40:00.000-05:00

exxon mobil duh!

anyone paying attention?

no?

oh well.

the makin' of the public man

2007-01-28T10:03:00.000-05:00

who really is barak obama? well, this NYT article won't help you figure it out. in fact, i bet the author, jodi kantor, got an extra rolex for her 12 yr old kid just for padding this article so nicely.

look at it, read it! finally the democrats are organizing wisely. or at least obama is organizing. it's the perfect article for phase 1 1/2 of a presidential nominee. it sets the stage for barak obama's inner *qualities*. nothing about his stances on key issues. actually--nothing at all on any issues. isn't that a great article? it goes on to say that obama ran for won presidentcy of the prestigious harvard law review (hint: draw parallel to president of united states--prestigious or not). the politics that year were incredibly divided (hint: draw parallel to the division in the united states) and the two sides bickered and faught (hint: draw parallel, etc, etc...) BUT during his presidency, he was able to create peace between the two sides (hint: hopefully you've been able to draw the other parallels to now draw this one).

hey man, you have to create the character of barak obama... and let's face it--w/ hillary, the world won't be able to get past the fact her husband had his dick sucked by another woman AND THEY'RE STILL TOGETHER! it ain't happenin' for hillary. all we got is barak and dennis kucinich.

blah blah blah

2007-01-27T11:16:00.000-05:00

well, really nothing to write about--except that there is nothing to write about. today in the shower i tried on being a punk rocker again... it was going well... i played air guitar super well--i was impressed with myself, really. it was probably from listening to 30 second clips of the bad brains on the itunes store. i didn't come up with any impressive lyrics, oh well. and my mic was a chick design from an ikea shower curtain... not very punk or diy.

but neither am i at 31. 31.

no tongue in cheek here

2007-01-09T07:31:00.000-05:00

do you smell a coup?

brittish papers are calling it "us gunships bomb somalia". a ny times article delicately calls it "us airstrike aims at qaeda cell in somalia".

what's next? iran??

(no tongue in cheek here)

It's Over

2007-01-05T08:50:00.000-05:00

vacation is over. ho hum. here are the highlights of the end...
northstar rollergirls
yummy brunch @ butter new years day
meeting friends at the seward
spending new years w/ the family
eating luce w/ the girls
finding out nothing is open new years day--so i had to change my own oil in the parkinglot of checkers on lake st

relaxing it was
fun it was

and what more could you ask for?

VACATION DAYS 8 & 9

2006-12-29T23:52:00.000-05:00

ahyayya...

no photos. i'm in the time warp. everything has slowed down a few mphs (or for those in the metric universe... kphs). i've been eating... mock duck sandwiches... veggie burritoes... bad sushi... and some fucking good home cooked organic food.

seeing family. some friends. our house. funny it all is. you get here and time stops... or there is a time suck. a lack of direction it seems like. the exact antithesis of nyc. that's where we are: mpls.

anyway... only three more days of vacation. better make it last!

VACATION DAY 7

2006-12-27T21:51:00.000-05:00

theme of the day?????

ooohh, i have to pee... and i need more coffee... and another bag of chips.

let's see, first there was new jersey... foggy and rainy... then pa... 6 hours of pa. in fog and rain. just when you can't take pa anymore you get ohio. ohio has rest stops (which is REAL nice). so does indiana... until you get near gary/hammond. then you just want to GO. record time going through chicago. not a lick of traffic. and that was illinois. too bad right outside of chicago, i fucked up and ended up in milwaukee instead of madison... so that took me an xtra hour.

the two state troopers in wisconsin were very nice. one stopped me @ 1:30am. i got a warning ticket... why did i get stopped twice?

because i had a headlight and a brakelight out.

moral of the story? don't speed through wisconsin. in 20 hrs of driving, they're the only cops who've eaten *before* their shifts.

have a nice day.

VACATION DAY 5 & 6

2006-12-25T22:55:00.000-05:00

theme: roll me the fuck out of here!

well, anyway... i ate a lot. isn't that to be expected? the food was all damn good.

it's official, anyway. the pace has returned to too-painful-for-niknaz. oh well. everything is slowly falling back into place: who are you? what are you doing? you're getting that degree to work in hollywood (um, no that was the last one--and actually most everyone i know in hollywood skipped out on the degrees)?

what's that? you had a niknaz siting? you must have been driving along i95 in baltimore--cause that's where i was today.

oh, can i tell you how much it drains everything out of me to be in the burbs?? that coupled w/ my dad constantly asking me if i want him to take time off to drive to mpls with me.

are you kidding??

um...

hm....

wait...

uh....

no.

maybe it's some sort of foreshadow. i know, it's creepy to talk about, but what if it is. what if he knows something will happen to me tomorrow on the road. i mean, it is a crazy 2 day drive. anyway... it started to make me nervous. why is he suddenly scared for my life?

funny, right?

anyway--i'm ready to head back to mpls. you hear that em? where are you, huh? you've abandoned me in the last two days. i wonder why. you're busy i guess. busy is good. i'm not in new york anymore so you don't think you have to call. that or it's been christmas... anyway, i'll be home soon.

well, that's it for me. my back is still hurtin'. my voice still sounds like i'm going through puberty. and the suburbs still suck.

VACATION: DAY4

2006-12-24T17:19:00.000-05:00

theme of the day:

ouch.

okay, so it wasn't the theme of the *entire* day, just the last few hours of it and well into the night and early the next morning (which would be day 5).

but before the ouch, it was a fantastic team after team of good stuff.

day4 team 1 was just a pile of good stuff--tons of inspiration and tons of good food! no battling the hipsters--we stayed home. we talked art, we talked film, we talked knitting. what more can you ask for in life??

team 2 is the only voice so far telling me to stay where i am and finish what i started. hmm. it really is making me think. really is making me consider everything.

oops... more to come in a moment... must... r... u.........n..........

VACATION: DAY3

2006-12-23T08:54:00.000-05:00

theme of the day:

gray. rain. bike.

got to see more people. good conversations. more confusing, though. team 1 is trying to leave (for ithaca! good choice, couldn't agree more w/ the town). team 2 says canada sounds great, why do i want to leave. good point team 2. why do i want to leave?

team 3. i ended the night w/ team 3 and a guest from out of town. guest reminded me of all the political lines involved everywhere... all the navigation... she's in academia--and making new media (she likes the term time-based to describe what we do... hmm, i'll have to sit on that one for a while). it really is the best place to keep doing work. i like the idea. i think it's a great idea.

and a good life. fuck, it got her in nyc for 6 months paid for by a grant.

anyway... lots to think about. made me feel better about my life. it's funny how you have to step away to get perspective on it all.

oh yahhhh.... went to the brooklyn museum of art. saw the annie liebovitz and ron mueck. really liked the ron mueck. especially the tiny baby hanging on the wall. whew. then walked into the liebovitz... and the death of susan sontag. and the masacres of rhwanda and sarajevo. side by side w/ jonny depp, colin powel, demi moore, etc... america at it's core.

biked my old route from prospect heights to williamsburg. except this time i did it on a single speed. the rain didn't bother me until i biked back to prospect heights, had dinner @ franny's, and had to put the soggy fleece back on. yuck. that was sucky.

but i survived!

and now it's time to move on to day 4...

VACATION-DAY2

2006-12-22T10:07:00.000-05:00

day 2, thursday december 21, 2006 sackett and hicks.

am is coudy. strange. i kind of wake up depressed and ugh and then go out get a coffee. blog. email. telephone. work.

so i needed to get some stuff--i needed dvds (go figure, i didn't bring enough), envelopes, fedex stuff. so i headed out and walked from sackett and hicks to atlantic center.

changes.

brooklyn industries on atlantic above smith. !! these people have TONS of money--who wouldn't want to sell to them.

galleries on atlantic. *art* galleries. i guess wherever the antiques are hot--the art is bound to be as well.

thought of the day: i wonder what it's bound to be when we come back. cause it 'aint the slope anymore. twas good to see all the cats out in the slope.

i'm going back to clinton hill. if i can afford it...

speaking of... on the way to the mercury--what happened to the les? do those people *live* there? then who lives in midtown?

changes.

i guess someone was saying that about *me* once...

Good Example of Bad Photo Editing

2006-12-12T08:13:00.000-05:00

this is the best example of really bad photo editing i've ever seen. it is so creepy i can't look at it. jeffrey archer, the piexelated image of a murder victim, the baboon and barak o'bama in a row. i almost didn't want to post it it's so creepy to me.

google and the war on terror

2006-12-11T11:51:00.000-05:00

just click on the photo and read it. it's from today's washington post.

how about that for some intelligence. i feel safe and secure. how 'bout you? ever want a job in the state dept? now you know at what level you'll be expected to perform.

colombo--where in tarnations hell are you? oh--outsourced.

reading the news online really sucks

2006-12-10T09:26:00.000-05:00

you know what i'm talking about. you have the rss feeds going too. c'mon. so you click on the article of the pig farmer that pleads not guilty in the largest serial murder case in bc canada--and then right next to the article--from the corner of your eye--what seeps into your brain--is an add for an oil company w/ some nicely dressed woman wanting to shake hands w/ the person just beyond you in never never 0101 land. how fucked up, right? i mean this guy was killing prostitutes and citgo wants me to give them my money.

i'll go back to print anyday.

i think i'm losing my mind

2006-12-03T23:04:00.000-05:00

just in case anyone actually stumbles on this blog--cause no one's reading it. i know. i know who's out there.

i am truly losing my mind.

activation. yep.

you can tell when a synapse triggers another. i can tell. sometimes it narrows my thought patterns. when i start going crazy, when i get angry... i can feel these things go on in my head. my breath tastes different (cmon, you can taste your breath).

my ability to communicate is lost. lost. lost.

yer own moorish factual reality

2006-10-21T09:30:00.000-04:00

i am just absolutely appalled. disgusted. if you click on the title of this blog, it should take you the the philadelphia museum of art's page about the eduard charlemont painting, the moorish chief . if you read on, you'll note, this title is a fictitios title. it is a title adopted who knows when and by who knows who.

why should i care? because i love this painting. i've been going to the pma since i was in diapers. i've seen this painting a thousand times. and ever time, it takes my breath away.

charlemont titled this piece the guardian of the seraglio . as that title, this painting has a very different meaning. he is not a chief!?!?!!! he is a guard!! guarding what???? a harem, people--A HAREM. in those times, the guard of a harem probably didn't have his genetalia anymore--conflict of interest, right? and they had very high ranking in the ottoman palace.

but chief, they were not. clans--tribes. no! "warlords" as our current societly likes to think of sultans he was certainly not. this was painted during the ottoman empire... maybe charlemont used the alhambra as a political gesture. maybe he used it as an exotic background. maybe he never traveled beyond europe & the us. who knows.

but when the phila collector got a hold of it in 1892--he didn't much like his collection including any reference to a harem--or a castrated guard. so he changed it from a seraglio guard to the alhambra guard .

and now... all hints of history are wiped from it.

it is now only the moorish chief. and so goes down muslim history. wiped away. stolen. taken. re-interpreted for the caucasian audience.

like most things will arc towards in the future.

dignity is in the hands of those who want to maintian their own.

fact is within the confines of interpretation and language. usualy the language of those who have done the interpreting.

and thus we go from the facts of the painting to an interpretation of what the painting *should* allude to. not at all fact--but yet FACT to all who have viewed this paining since it was in the phila museum of art--probably after the collapse of the ottoman empire and post ww1.

Flickr

2006-10-16T08:23:00.000-04:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

blurring the lines of reality

2006-10-07T10:54:00.000-04:00

10 years ago if you were to say "i have a bluetooth device" it would have meant something like: i have a device that creates blue teeth, or i have a device that documents blue teeth...

today, the reference is, of course, a wireless communication technology--using words that seems wholy irrelevent. BLUETOOTH!! people!!

where does the reality begin--where does technology take over?

new cultures, new city

2006-10-04T13:44:00.000-04:00

navigating cultures is quite a tedius task. i'm a pretty outspoken person. maybe that's why i agreed w/ nyc so much. you can be narcissistic and empathetic in one breathe. it's actually an unacknowledged acknowledgement. really.

then i had to navigate through minneapolis. minnesotans are known to be reserved, yet very nice. "minnesota nice" or as some call it, "minnesota ice".

what i missed most when i lived in minneapolis was the making friends through being somewhere. the networking. in new york, you might as well advertise your number--it's in so many people's hands. there is such a 6 degrees in ny---with 8 million people it's an amazing thing when you realize you know someone who knows someone who knows someone. i love it.

i do think minneapolis has 1) the most FANTASTIC indie rock radio station. and a cutting edge museum. the art world? ah, it's a bit insular for my taste.

but anyway.... i digress.

navigation. so now i'm in toronto.

it's a different country, man. very similar issues, very similar politics... but a whole new country. and LOTS to navigate through.

not sure... lacking grounding. same but not same. similar... but quite different.

brooklyn: if you can hear me--and i know you can, because i still feel you talking to me when i walk through the streets. brooklyn: save a little place (in ft greene preferribly) for me... i'll be coming home soon.

critical (of) theory

2006-09-30T10:07:00.000-04:00

Language As Technology: Transgressing Man To Cyborg

the "net" has not been given it's proper bow in the information age. the basis for the internet began many, many years prior to the advent of the ARPANET, even prior to the university of pennsylvania's ENIAC . it began when we homo sapiens (or rather our genetic forebears) began to communicate--using language.

the origin of language is a huge debate and suffice it to say, i ain't gonna touch that.

but whatever the debate, as far as i've been able to understand, we all agree that modern use of language comes from somewhere... and has roots. the migration/displacement by foot or later technologies such as the chariot (although there is argument against this migration) has influenced the languages we speak today--we see it in the roots--proto-celtic, proto-indo-european, sino-tibetan etc, etc, etc. whichever way the influence of language, one thing agreed is that language and its semantics travelled and influenced another to another based on migration or imperialism or war/savage/brutality--whichever the process, it travelled. leaving behind legacies--creating a web, shall we say.

okay, let's put that aside for a second.

the song: griot, two-spiritis, and other groups that carried oral traditions.
the epic: homer and the illiad
the poem: ferdowsi and the shahnameh

these were the social studies text books back in the day. this is how our ancestors preserved their history through poetry, through song... through religion.

communication.

somewhere in our evolutionary language-d history we've created quite an elaborate system of communication. especially when you compare it to our mammalian siblings. homo sapiens communicate on such an intricate level that some scientists argue is genetically written-in fact our dna structure from our borebears who could maybe just communicate and not as intricately is one strand different.

technology:

ORIGIN early 17th cent.: from Greek tekhnologia ‘systematic treatment,’ from tekhnē ‘art, craft’ + -logia (see -logy ).

systematic treatment. if one of the branches of homo sapiens from our mamal siblings or pre-historic ancestors is this ability to communicate on such a complex and interwoven level... then can we not call language a technology?

it was innovative in it's day, after all.

okay, maybe i can sway you on that argument--but a cyborg? c'mon...

check it out:

the internet began as a way for the different groups, organizations and universities working on defence items to communicate... to transfer information... and most important, to share their knowledge (history--ie from x i derived y) of their project. soon enough "the web" was no longer in the hands of the government, but rather private, commercial companies such as Prodigy, AOL, Earthlink--providing the spider bot to crawl through and retrieve information from one place/computer/server to another.

so... the transfer of information on the www goes from one computer hub to another to another creating a web as we refer to it. this web is global.

one day a friend of mine was playing virtual pool (billiards... not the other pool...) in vancouver. she got to "chatting" with the person she was playing. that person was in iran.

how far have we really come from our forebears' break from grunts and pointed fingers to writing a blog?

because really, the internet is founded upon the principals already established about transferring information. from one person/computer to another person/computer. there are hubs. networked and ready to host you and your net. it's the same concept--

except--

the audible voice--is really only code. it's a code that follows a period. .qt .wmv .html

within one generation the avenues of commication have radically changed towards the digital--towards cell phones, texting, email (forget email anymore... don't you chat??) vlogging, blogging... pdas, ipods, mp4, mp3, mpeg4... v i d e o g a m e s. we live our lives in code.

take for example a story from my old roommate. she'd as some point started a relationship w/ someone in santiago, chile--and while that person had a cell phone to call from--at times they would communicate via the webcam and email available in a particular street/area in santiago. try doing that one geration ago--try even conceiving of that idea a generation ago.

no, we don't all have access to this new "technology" in communication. and those who don't are still in the majority. but we are all a affected by it.

big brother...

eh?

2006-09-12T08:31:00.000-04:00

something's not right here.

a lot's not right here?

first there's the pink.... then there's the socks... and jesus, the bike grease! i mean, c'mon grrl...

then it's the fact that i'm in an mfa program when i have no intentions of entering the art world (at least not THAT art world although i do like the work).

hmm... but maybe for THIS ... but then again, you don't need a degree to do this.

i still have time to leave... go back to nyc. any suggestions out there?

mr jobs... please read

2006-09-09T14:02:00.000-04:00

okay, i've been a faithful mac user for YEARS. years. many years. color classic ii was my first mac... i'm stuck on the g4 waiting for steve jobs to log off corporate.disney and get back on the innovation trail. i waited on the ipod until the 3rd gen. and i'm still lovin' it. don't want a nano... don't want a video ipod... those don't bang like the ipod, imac or ibook once did. if the rumormills are true, the think tank at apple is finally off the pot (referencing an old industry joke: at motorola, there are mandatory drug tests, at ibm there are random drug tests, at apple there is cumpulsory drug use) creating technology--not just some teenage tinkering toy.

my 2001 g4 (466mhz) was HOT when i got it. boasting a 133mhz bus motherboard--the thing was rip roarin to go. and for $1600 it better have been. i bet my dad was cursing my name then (it was a gift from him... he's always been a pc man). i've since upgraded it -- and modernized it. and i felt good about starting to think about a g5...

until they switched to intel.

and now i read intel's technology and news.

and steve jobs is behind.

dell, toshiba and samsung have already introduced laptops with an intel core duo 2 chip.

where's the macbook pro?

which is why i'm considering dropping $3500 for a toshiba over a mac.

mr jobs, wherever you are--i hope you are reading this. i want a new mac. and you don't have what i want.

the sev is gone!!

2006-08-30T14:16:00.000-04:00

no warnings... no clearing inventory... here today, gone tomorrow. no joke. what you're seeing was up 'till this morning the 7-11 downstairs (the sev as we used to call em in college). this is the same sev i referenced in the flickr 'moving to to' set. it's upsetting. where else could i get an emergency juice real late? or an ice cream cone? i swear it seems nominal--but it's what united a community. there is where you could see and say hi to the local skaters, bikers, oldies, 1st gens, yuppies, you name it.

hmph.

i just hope some harveys type doesn't go in there instead.

out of my mind!

2006-08-28T08:50:00.000-04:00

i'm truly going crazy. WE are truly going crazy. every day it's the same thing... should we spend too much and get the place in the great neighborhood (that doesn't neccesarily have much space) or spend $200 less and get a cozy funky place in a far-away yet progressive albeit predominantly white neighborhood. what to do.

boy have we seen apartments... and people... and people's apartments... basements... top floors... we saw this one place where we could have gotten a month free... two bd. almost no windows that point to the sky... but the firescape! wow.... a perfect view of lake ontario.

should we have taken it? i don't know. it's not ny anymore. and i need the inside space to feel even a touch inspiring. and the outside space to be a touch larger...

every day i waver... should we go for too little? or too much? here or there. it's quite the debacle.

so if you haven't heard from me, that's why.

check-it!

2006-08-21T17:48:00.000-04:00

this is some funny shit, man.

Let's Dance! on Transbuddha

arc d'...

2006-08-17T09:22:00.000-04:00

something happens when a city is right on a lake. i wonder if chicago is like this.... you can just walk up and be somewhere else completely.

this... however, is right on the waterside--the city is going to block off one lane of traffic and make it a cycle path and in commemoration they have erected the arc d' bicycle.

to suburbia... or not to suburbia

2006-08-13T02:39:00.000-04:00

what a funny place this is, this hill of cherries... peculiar. unusual.

uh.... maybe i've turned the tables. sorry. i'm the odd man out.

look at it. can you smell the chemlawn (i'm sure there's a trademark somewhere...)? these people own hedgers, various trimmers, mowers, etc. even though they all more or less hire someone else to do it. more or less.

le'chayim.

easy come easy go

2006-08-10T10:30:00.000-04:00

it is (luckily) so easy to bike this city... so far. which is a good thing considering public transportation is even more expensive than nyc. we biked across town to the east side to meet with the other niknaz... i still can't quite believe i am in canada. i guess it's a step closer to being overseas... even though it's only been a little over a week, can i still be considered an expat?

please??

CANADA, AY?... ER... OY... ER... OI... AH, EM... HERRRMM...

2006-08-09T18:26:00.000-04:00

things are a little different and a little the same and mostly the same. you buy things with money called dollars (or loonies as it were if it's cheap). there are these yellow string lights w/ X's in them in the middle of some streets---that's something you'd never see in the US. oh, yah, and if you open your car door w/o looking and hit a cyclist, you get a $110 fine and 2 demerit points.

civilization.

rip

2006-04-29T09:35:00.000-04:00

village voice 10/26/55 - 4/13/06

the voice has finally lost the battle from the wounds inflicted on 1/30/06 from a merger w/ new times.

small print

2006-04-29T09:31:00.000-04:00

as per the nytimes.com, here are the large print headlines:
U.N. Agency Says Iran Falls Short on Nuclear Data
Bush Enters Anthem Fight on Language
Trading Frenzy Adding to Rise in Price of Oil

here are the small print headlines (incase you didn't feel like scrolling down today)
U.N. Agency Cuts Food Rations for Sudan Victims
Mexico Passes Law Making Possession of Some Drugs Legal
Death Toll for Americans in Iraq Is Highest in 5 Months

Britain Paving the Way??

2006-03-04T10:02:00.000-05:00

Could it be? According The Gaurdian today--and much to my delight and the delight of the columnist--McDonalds is closing 25 branches in the UK due to falling sales.

Ha!

I wonder if they have different ingredients regulations that the US... 'cause these kids here are *addicted* to the stuff.

a note on freedom of speech

2006-02-03T09:47:00.000-05:00

you know it's a sad day when we defend bigotry and hatred under the guise of freedom speech and democracy. period. we don't condone it in the countries we are trying to "democratise" and we don't condone it in the very culture we are making fun of in these bouts of "freedom of speech". it is an effort to de-humanize a culture we have been de-humanizing for a long time. it is history that after the de-humanization -- our dominant cultures throughout humanity persue a cleansing/slavery process. it is NOT freedom of speech if a white newspaper runs a number of cartoons making fun of the native population.... making fun of the asian population... making fun of the african american population... making fun of the jewish population... but i guess in today's society it is considered freedom of speech to make fun of the muslim population.

speech is a tool to influence. the media is not free. the media is not free. again--the media is not free. if freedom of speech was truly free--and we lived in a democracy, the ground you walk on and the air you breeth would feel and smell different.

God Speaks

2005-09-23T13:10:00.000-04:00

some have said that Katrina was an act of god on a sinful city. some even have said that it was an act of god 'cause he was mad there was going to be some big gay even there... and then some would say...

god spoke, and some listened, and some moved to action--or at least tried to--but not enough jumped to action so now god is speaking again through Rita slated to hit the great state of Texas--just to make is VERY clear who god is mad at, just to make it VERY clear who has sinned and who is not following the teachings of jesus--in bathing and feeding and clothing the poor.

god is speaking, george w. but maybe haliburton is speaking louder...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/04/AR2005090401193_pf.html

beginnings of iran photos

2005-07-31T11:57:00.000-04:00

i don't think i can begin to describe what it was like for me to go to iran. but i will try... little by little i will try. i did a ton of sightseeing while i was in iran. it was exciting and exhausting at the same time. our trip to shiraz went like this: we arrived back to tehran from our two day bus tour of hamadan around 10pm and had to wake up around 3am to catch our 5am flight to shiraz. allthough it seemed inconvenient at the time--i'm very glad we got there so early. shiraz is known for it's hot sun afternoons. in fact, businesses often close in the afternoon and re-open later--a siesta of sorts. it's just too hot. one of the many cousins i got aquanted with, babak, was our shiraz/persepolis tourguide. he really rocked it, too. i was lucky and glad that he was as excited by all of the history and importance in that area. takhteh jamshid. persepolis. the palace of the 200 yr persian empire. it took a few eras of kings to build this thing 2500 years ago. alexander the great came and set it on fire. such is the way, huh?

song of the day

2005-07-29T14:19:00.000-04:00

palace music
work hard/play hard

:(

2005-05-01T10:10:00.000-04:00

it's snowing in may.

Radio

2005-04-16T12:50:00.000-04:00

Anyone else listening to NPR yesterday when they said GWB makes 850,000 and pays $22000 in taxes for his ranch? Folks, that's 3% of his salary. You know what your average is for middle class citizens? close to 30%.

***I'm wrong! I misunderstood! GWB made clost to $800,000 and paid $22,000 in property taxes on his ranch (which he claimed when it came time to do income taxes)... he also paid around $200,000 in income taxes--on target with the average. I stand corrected and thanks to annonymous poster that posted a comment.***

Noroozetan Pirouz!

2005-03-20T09:33:00.000-05:00

6:33AM my time.

http://iranscope.ghandchi.com/Anthology/Norouz/saltahvil.htm

The Apple And The Tree

2005-03-15T09:06:00.000-05:00

divide and conquer. useful technique.

to be clear, i don't know a damn thing about northern ireland really. but i thought this history page on the sinn fein website is insightful. i think that historically, the ideology of conquering has been refined to the point of almost perfection. it's easy--almost textbook. get in power with scare tactics, and kill off your loudest enemies and keep the people down by dividing them and pitting them against each other. (not neccesarily in that order.)

what's to gain? cigars, yachts, golf games, and most important: whatever you want.

it's fine until the little people become a mob--whatever political party you are a part of--we're all the same. the pie is still the pie and the pieces are NOT getting smaller.

as i sit in my orange pantry turned office...dreaming of other worlds... other times... other people... other lives.

cockroaches

2005-02-28T23:51:00.000-05:00

i haven't seen a single one in the last 7 months!

what a revolution.

Big Brother

2005-02-11T13:37:00.000-05:00

Good bye human rights. Lynne Stewart has been sentanced unanimously by the jury to all 5 counts of conspiring to aid terrorists and lying to the government.

She says in her interview Friday, Feb 11, 2005 with Amy Goodman on www.democracynow.org

"it just appeared that all that opposition that we saw just caved in, and in thinking about it, it just reminded me of, from my earlier studies politically, which talked about how in a democracy people sometimes are willing to just cave in to Big Brother, and in a time of fear, which this certainly is, to say I will believe whatever the government says, because that's the safest way to be. The women -- three of the women on the jury wept during the entire rendition of the verdict. Why were they weeping if they thought they had done justice? You only can say that somehow they knew they hadn't but felt that they had to bring in this verdict which was asked of them by the government lawyers."

It's not so bad

2005-02-11T12:56:00.000-05:00

Thankfully I do manage to leave the house.

what's the probability...

2005-01-27T11:30:00.000-05:00

of getting a flat tire on your way to work (bicycle folks) AND changing your home phone number on the same day and not having enough change in your pocket to catch a bus?

one would hope not very high...

on my way...

2005-01-27T09:40:00.000-05:00

to somewhere probably the shower the bank and then... i guess work sometimes that place doesn't feel like work which is a good thing i think something most people want and there's always a give and take and ebb and flow i make compromises and watch life unfold we all do, no?

as quoted by king britt in his itunes 'celebrity playlist'

2005-01-20T20:33:00.000-05:00

"Feet-Like Fins" (Track 9): "This band, fronted by Elizabeth Frasier, has got to be the sexiest band in the world. Singing in God-knows-what language, she creates a dreamlike world for all lovers to fall into. Aided by Guthrie and the liquid guitar textures, Cocteau's are number one for sonic fantasy."

i have to say, i have always wondered what she was saying and why she had the choice of heaven or las vegas.

barbara boxer for prez

2005-01-20T19:43:00.000-05:00

someone cares

now what?

2005-01-20T19:31:00.000-05:00

it's thursday, now what? it's cold and it snowed... now what? i put plastic on the windows. maybe heat won't be so bad this month.

www.airamericaradio.com

the rule of democracy

2004-12-04T10:22:00.000-05:00

ah, just imagine hundreds of thousands of protesters on a city street in the bitter cold contesting an election because of fraud... because of rigged polls... the people--in the streets--because they know that who was elected is not who they voted for. Even though it was a "close" election with 49% to the victor and 46% to the opposition. The people didn't just shrug their shoulders and spit in the direction of the part of the country that voted for this "49%" victor. They took to the streets and said "look, world--this election was rigged!". The opposing candidate didn't concede. No, he told his people to go to the streets and protest--not violently--that democracy is at stake. and that's just what the people did--for days. until the supreme court listened and ruled polls invalid.

sounds like a clip from my dreams, right? from your dreams, right?

well, it's kiev, kids. the people of the ukraine care more about democracy than the people of the united states. ain't no kerry-esque oh, well concession in yanukovich.

so now what? i dunno, you tell me.

Ilford Delta 3200

2004-11-30T10:06:00.000-05:00

Wow! I shot this stuff, rating it at 400 or 800 (I don't quite remember). Incredible. The emultion is like a piece of art in itself. The grain is noticible and beautiful---grain without the mush. I just might start shooting black and white again. I use the delta 100 in my 6x6 camera. So I can go big. Hey, speaking of 6x6 cameras, anyone know where I can a leaf-shutter lens repaired in the mid-west. I guess I could ship it back to where it got repaired last time. Whatever I do, I should do it before the year is up! Tax time. Time to play that old game again. Are you going to pay, or are you going to get paid? For my last year as a freelancer, I'd better get paid a nice percent. With all the back problems and all. Knowing this administration, if you don't make a certain figure--which I definitely don't this year--you'll have to give money directly to viacom or clear channel or at&t or something---or diebold in a thank you note.

ah...

For brief moments I have thoughts of going into serious debt and buying a couple of those new soon to come out sony hd cams and a couple of g5's and building a production company. But then I remember I'm in the midwest, and people around here run like the plague is about to hit them from aggressive east coasters like myself. We're too efficient or something. I don't know. I know, this is rude to say. It's how I feel. Maybe I need to go back to New York and get some therapy. Ha! Just kidding!

Anyway, I just saw (finally) Pieces of April. I have to say, the Katie Holmes part was a disuader--and for good reason. Women today are just socialized to be uncomplex. And it shows in her acting. Compared to Patty Clarkson---there just is no comparison. Good for her. I'm glad she's nominated--she is awesome. She always has been. And two thumbs up to Tammi Reiker with the PD 150. Now I wish I'd seen it at the theatre. You just don't get the same idea of how it looks on DVD--esp. with our little tv.

http://www.dvformat.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=25232

And that's it for me.

Boo GWB.

PS did you know medical marijuana is in the supreme court? good luck... let the games begin.

the persuaders

2004-11-15T23:02:00.000-05:00

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/persuaders/

very interesting---i was reminded that the iconic bohemian rebel himself scored a victoria secrets add. yes, our very own free-wheelin' bob dylan. 'and the times, they are a changin' the psycologist come market analyst came up with a system--saying that there is a gut reaction in humans that sways them towards products--not any logic. He gets paid hundreds of millions to come up with the core of the gut reactions so that car companies can sell more cars, etc. it's utterly disgusting. he convinced suv companies to make their suv's bigger and with tinted windows--because buying an suv was about power. and it worked! politicians are using these tactics. hey, did you know as an american you are catagorized in one of 70 catagories? acxiom has a data base file on each and every consuming american. yep... that would be you right there. and they spit you out in one of 70 catagories. using companies like this one, politicians were able to know what issues you are most likely to vote on BEFORE they knocked on your door this election or sent you that brochure. it's sick, isn't it? feels like a violation of privacy, doesn't it? is it? i mean, it's for our own consuming good, right?

www.acxiom.com

eesh.

no way

2004-11-13T20:41:00.000-05:00

way. well, florida and ohio as well as iowa and maybe new mexico---we should all be outraged. we should be rioting in the streets. our democracy has turned into something insane! at least with kings, you know who you're getting now and who you're getting when he dies!

okay, picture this:

http://boe.cuyahogacounty.us/BOE/results/currentresults1.htm#top

Bay Village - 13,710 registered voters / 18,663 ballots cast

it's right there---i dare ya---go to the website. lazy? okay, here's some more.

Beachwood - 9,943 registered voters / 13,939 ballots cast
Bedford - 9,942 registered voters / 14,465 ballots cast
Bedford Heights - 8,142 registered voters / 13,512 ballots cast
Brooklyn - 8,016 registered voters / 12,303 ballots cast
Brooklyn Heights - 1,144 registered voters / 1,869 ballots cast
Chagrin Falls Village - 3,557 registered voters / 4,860 ballots cast
Cuyahoga Heights - 570 registered voters / 1,382 ballots cast
Fairview Park - 13,342 registered voters / 18,472 ballots cast
Highland Hills Village - 760 registered voters / 8,822 ballots cast
Independence - 5,735 registered voters / 6,226 ballots cast
Mayfield Village - 2,764 registered voters / 3,145 ballots cast
Middleburg Heights - 12,173 registered voters / 14,854 ballots cast
Moreland Hills Village - 2,990 registered voters / 4,616 ballots cast
North Olmstead - 25,794 registered voters / 25,887 ballots cast
Olmstead Falls - 6,538 registered voters / 7,328 ballots cast
Pepper Pike - 5,131 registered voters / 6,479 ballots cast
Rocky River - 16,600 registered voters / 20,070 ballots cast
Solon (WD6) - 2,292 registered voters / 4,300 ballots cast
South Euclid - 16,902 registered voters / 16,917 ballots cast
Strongsville (WD3) - 7,806 registered voters / 12,108 ballots cast
University Heights - 10,072 registered voters / 11,982 ballots cast
Valley View Village - 1,787 registered voters / 3,409 ballots cast
Warrensville Heights - 10,562 registered voters / 15,039 ballots cast
Woodmere Village - 558 registered voters / 8,854 ballots cast

Bedford (CSD) - 22,777 registered voters / 27,856 ballots cast
Independence (LSD) - 5,735 registered voters / 6,226 ballots cast
Orange (CSD) - 11,640 registered voters / 22,931 ballots cast
Warrensville (CSD) - 12,218 registered voters / 15,822 ballots cast

The Republicans are so BUSTED.

wanna know why there is no news coverage on it???

THERE'S A LOCK-DOWN WITH THE CORPORATE-RUN "FREE" PRESS!

Run to the phone and contact your congressperson and senator.

NOW!!

WATCH YOUR BACK

2004-11-04T21:05:00.000-05:00

there's no rest for us dirty liberals. "socialists" as ah-nold would say. listen people, this election was yet again stolen. you know--i was going to leave links for all you to click to, but i think it's time you did your own work. do a google search for 'diebold ohio' and click on the first site. this is no secret. this guy is not acting in secrecy and mostly---if we wanted to know we could have read the red alerts in march in mother jones (second site). now what? did you really think they wouldn't stoop so low? i mean, really.

do you think anything dubya does is fair and square? i dare you to look deeper. double dare ya.

watch your back, kids. big brother has arrived. take advantage of the net while you get a chance---they'll be watching our every move soon. they already have the mandate to do so. get rid of your cell phones, activists. go back to the pay phones. they're watching you. they've eliminated every major obstacle in their big business, racists exploitations. hewey p newton is flipping in his grave tonight.

Who's Ready To Take Back Our Country?

2004-10-29T23:23:00.000-04:00

From the religious wackos in power now... hey, did anyone know the FDA has an "office of counter-terrorism and pediatric drug development"? Yep, all in one office. Did you also know that our tax money pays for a religious wing nut to be on an FDA Reproductive Health Drug Advisory Committee? He actually perscribes the bible to women who have really bad cramps. How come when this bozo flies, his plane doesn't crash? Speaking of plane crashes, anyone ever wonder why FBI's got to the scene of Wellston's crash 1 hour faster than it should take someone driving from where they drove from? And why numerous people reported a loud noise through their cell phones in that area the exact moment the plane crashed---the same kind of noise that a millitary device used against aircrafts would make? Hmmm... I just thought it was funny enough that his plane went down the day before the first anti war march on Washington. That was enough for me to think they did it.

Who's ready to take back our country---make some hard decisions---get the fuck out of the middle east---get our heads back in our own country hangin' on a shoestring and turn this economy around! Okay, I'm sounding too much like one of those Democrats--When this monstrosity is over and done with---provided I survived the armed resistance--I'm going to sit and figure out where I am in all of this politicking.

PATRIOTS EVERYWHERE!

2004-10-28T22:08:00.000-04:00

Life is crazy in the swing states. There is talk that the Republi-nuts are going to question the validity of many voters at the poles in this state causing backlog and frustrating voters so they abandon the polls... and of course the democrats have managed to get at least one volunteer lawyer per voting poll in the state... and door knockers and drivers (I'm doing that) to get people out to vote. Apparently this race is close. I still think Kerry will win by a landslide. Bush is such a schmuck---who'd vote for a moron that boasts that his english isn't as good as yours. And I thought Yale and Harvard were hard schools... hm.

Very important information the right does not want you to know. I thought this site was very interesting---also it was written by my buddy and neighbor. Check it out and pass it on.

Begin forwarded message:

Introducing --

A web site with information especially important to undecided voters
and traditional conservatives:

What do these men have in common?

John Eisenhower, son of President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Lee Iacocca, former chairman, Chrysler Corporation.
William Milliken, Republican Governor of Michigan, 1969 - 1983.
Elmer Andersen, Republican Governor of Minnesota, 1961 - 1963.
Marlow Cook, Republican Senator from Kentucky, 1968 - 1975.
Pete McCloskey, Republican congressman from California 1967-1982.
Bob Barr, Republican Congressman from Georgia, 1995 - 2003.
Doug Bereuter, Republican from Nebraska, 25-years on the House Foreign Relations Committee.
Gen. Joseph Hoar, U.S. Marine Corps, retired; former head of U.S. Central Command.
Gen. Thomas White, U.S. Army, retired, Secretary of the Army from 2001 - 2003.
Gen. Wm. Odom, U.S. Army, retired; Director of the National Security Agency under Ronald Reagan

FIND OUT !!!

See what these Republicans, traditional conservatives, and career military officers
have to say about President Bush and the Bush administration.

Go to www.PatrioticDefectors.com .

[ Please keep this email going to everyone who can use the information in this web site! ]

I MADE IT TO THE TOP!!!

2004-10-24T20:47:00.000-04:00

of google, anyway. now if you do a search for 'niknaz' my website is the first thing to come up!! wooohoooo.... that coupled with getting a job finally has soared me through the roof. i was driving out to the suburbs to do some shopping (rei and savers--sal army type place) and i acutally felt calm and happy. i start my job tomorrow at the local art school here---which means i have unlimited access to their color darkroom--which means i have finally aligned all of my needs with the things that are making them met. okay, so i don't have a 40" processor---the art school has a 30" one... and i'm not showing now anyway---and when i do get a show that it's important to show 40" or larger, i fly back to new york or san francisco. it's all good.

now if only the election would come and go and be done with then life will almost go back to a normal state. i can get on with doing things i wanted to do to begin with---like jam out with tom next door. i havn't playd guitar in forever. since i left highschool. i was too shy. now it's just fun.

oh... and on and on and on....

peace out, kids.

2004-10-16T09:31:00.000-04:00

you know, i've been meaning to write for a while but keep putting it off. two weeks ago we took a trip to the other side of wisconsin so i could pick up a color enlarger i bought on ebay. it was a tedious task, but what i noticed and made the drive worth my while was all the kerry/edwards signs. for every bush/cheney, there was a kerry/edwards---and this is in the middle of the state--mostly farms and farmers. this election really is the rich vs the poor... well, nothing is really that--it's rich folk vs more rich folk, but the intelligent poor can see beyond the fear tactic the bush regime is using -- and since the poor way outnumber the rich--voila.

another funny note... there i was working on a movie in the farmlands of western minneosta and there was one site that had bush/cheney AND kerry/edwards signs. was funny. it was some grainery. there must be some heated debates there, no?

ah, yes, you heard me right. i was regrettibly working in the film business. this time i sorta had an okay time. i mean, i could do it to make money if it's like that. people here are way nicer and not so pretentious. i don't know--that's not completely accurate... because some people are grossly pretentious, but as is the way around here, it's not completely overt. they still treat you nicely. it's all okay.

but i took some really fun photos out there...

let's make this one count!

2004-09-30T11:10:00.000-04:00

I got this quote in an email from a NY friend of mine and it seems to be the sentiment all around:

"how can we live with ourselves if we can't look back and know that we did all we could to try to turn this country around?"

My very political anarchist neighbor expressed the same thing. It really spoke to me and was the force that swung me into motion.

Bush won't win with people like us who have this sentiment. We are the Bush and Cheney and Powell's worst enemy.

I can't even vote! Hey... could you imagine how much this country would lean to the left if immigrants and refugees were given the right to vote. I'm talking about the immigrants that have gotten their permanent residence here or have permanent asylum in this country. People like myself and my family. We could welcome back social services and look at the WTO with a real critical eye.

STOP BELIEVING WHAT THEY TELLL YOU!! Minnesota is NOT a swing state. I don't know why they call this state a swing state. It is one of the most traditionally liberal and independent state in this region. It has voted democratic for decades. Gore won this state in 2000 by a sliver because there was a large vote going to Nader. That is not what will happen this time. The NYTimes is wrong and the corporate TV is wrong. They just want to create a dramatic and ratings evoking election. Kerry is clearly ahead.

of human nature

2004-09-28T16:43:00.000-04:00

what is it of human nature that creates intolerance, unfairness, looting, murder... why? is it in our nature? how come i don't feel it---i mean, not really. i don't want to kill anyone---take over the world---or other such antics. theoretically anarchy is about respect. but if there was true anarchy, i think the supressed nature of humans would come out and there would be mass violence---don't you think? i mean... there would need to be a transition between this world and that one. no? i mean, just look at the cheneys and the bushes of the world. they aren't under any laws or rules. they live in a form of anarchy and they lie, steal, cheat, and murder like crazy.... just think if EVERYONE didn't have to follow the rules...

watching tv is baaaadddd

2004-09-24T10:24:00.000-04:00

I've decided that I'm not so jaded about this election because I never bother to watch corporate television. I'm tellin' ya, if you don't turn on the tv, it's nice and peacefull. Everyone around has dump bush stickers on their cars or on their windows or on their lawns... everyone I talk to is about getting this guy out of office---it's a nice living. Then I turn on the tv and it's disgusting!

Congressman to watch out for: Republican Steve King, Iowa Congressman 5th District.
http://www.house.gov/steveking/
This guy is saying very scary things. He's saying that the US is a supreme power and that because the US is a supreme power he doesn't believe in diversification. in fact, he's taken measures and written bills to take "unbiased, diversified and unsexist" teaching out of curricula in Iowa. Because the US 'race' is a supreme race. Sound facist to you? Sounds facist to me. I watched this guys speak on cspan yesterday. What came out of his mouth was unbelievable to me. I guess the neo-nazi's are funding like crazy in Iowa. Interesting how HIS plane never crashes.

Moral of the story: watch enough cspan to get outraged---and then shut off the tv!

peace out.

amy goodman as secretary of state

2004-09-22T14:03:00.000-04:00

hmm... ramsey clark for pres, carolyn cheeks kilpatrick for vp.

whatdya say?

i need a job.

mmm, isn't this green yummy...

2004-09-14T23:40:00.000-04:00

I really need to figure out this cpu to office chair relationship... it's just not working. I keep banging my Mac with the rolly legs of the chair. hmph.

It's raining here in MPLS and life is rolling along. no job yet. it's kind of bringing me down. but tons of other stuff going on. I give it to this city--there is stuff going on. I'm keeping busy. I started a color photo class at the art school today. Actually, I registered for it today and started today. It's the only place in the mid-west to have easy access to a darkroom facility where I can print large. I need to focus my work. I'm thinking I'm going to call this body of work "The Solitude of Urban and Rural". What do you think? Does it fit with what you see on my site? Scroll through my site... do it again. I can pick out a few photos that don't fit. I think I'll be constantly changing the site... adding, taking away... so check back often!!!

Hey, anyone out there have a Leica M3 they want to loan me for a week to shoot tests? I'll trade ya for an equal value camera---still or motion.

The one downer to this bloging interface versus the old one is that I wouldn't be able to link to other sites as easy as a click like I used to.

Oh well.

Peace.

Brand New Blog

2004-09-13T11:57:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm trying out this new blogging interface. The last one sucked. If you want to read old posts, here's the link!

http://home.earthlink.net/~niknaz/blog/iblog/index/html

Ahhh... what a morning. It's kind of refreshing for me to do all of this discovery. That's why I loved New York so much. There was endless discovery. Even an area you once knew a few years later is brand new. New York is always changing. It's a pulse---a current. I'm finding some resources in Mpls finally. Photography organizations at the community level---darkroom rentals---maybe even a job. I guess it takes a while to get things moving. Maybe it did when I first moved to NY. I don't really remember. I do remember being poor and renting rooms from people I didn't know---waiting for work. But I thought that was indicative of freelance. I had no idea that is a part of life.

ahhh....

Well, I will keep today's post short. Let me know if you like this blog better than the last.

As always--peace!