Tom Kelly’s Birthday
Tom Kelly celebrated his 50th birthday this afternoon. redozdachs and I stopped by briefly on a break from the computers. Here are some photos of the celebrants on hand as the party revved up. Happy 50th, Tom.
We Welcome Your Family to San Francisco — Now Find Your Kids
A friend just moved his family — including school-aged children — into San Francisco. This week on the first day of classes, when the time came to greet the two children coming home on the school bus after their initial SF school experience, things didn’t go quite right. The school bus came, but the kids weren’t on it. The bus driver claimed absolute ignorance of the boys, aged 6 and 11. The parents’ had been fighting the vision of predators waiting for children in the big city, but that nightmare suddenly moved into the front of their minds. One parent’s [...]
The Slippery Slope Toward Civility
A few years ago I was talking with a friend about a theater review he'd written for a local paper. We both had hated the performance, but his printed comments were, ah..., "nuanced". It took some reading between to discover that the production had problems. Breakfast guest Falstaff (G. Valmont Thomas) in his Captain Morgan PoseFull of righteous black-and-white perspective, I aggressively asked my friend why he didn't more clearly warn people off that dog. He told me that people who knew his writing would understand the meaning of the lukewarm comments. He said that he didn't need to offend the actors involved in [...]
The BAR Gets Religion
Today's edition of the Bay Area Reporter features a news story on my church's new Senior Minister, Rev. Gregory L. Stewart. They report on his comments on Unitarian Universalism and liberal religion, and they also detail his family's journey to San Francisco through Red State land. I am happy to see liberal spirituality mentioned at all, and it's very nice to have the positive comments. Read the Article
Time
We were very tired 11 years ago this moment, at 6:55 in the morning. The vet had just left with stern instructions to leave Syntax alone. Let her get some sleep and get some sleep ourselves. We had run through the VCR of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert about five times during the night, never really watching it. Instead, every time Syntax sighed, we'd lose track of the movie and watch to see if this was The Moment. We watched heads poke up in the middle of her stomach, looking for the way out. We went and checked our crash [...]
British Ban Carry-On Laptops?
The news is reporting that one of the new British airline rules is to disallow liquids and electronic devices such as laptop computers from plane cabins. Last I knew, the baggage claim checks specifically say that there is no liability for a number of things including all electronic devices. About 10 years ago I checked an old laptop, it was stolen, and I was told tough luck and pointed to the claim check wording. If laptops, phones, etc. are banned from carry-ons, will airlines step up to insuring checked electronics? If they won't, and banning electronics becomes widespread, this seems like [...]
Palavering Pundits
Today every political expert has an opinion about what Joe Lieberman’s fight to retain his Senate seat means. These are the same experts who less than six months ago thought that Lieberman was a safe shoe-in for re-election. Today they are undaunted and in heavy knowledge-dispensing mode.I remember the expert chatter when Tom Ammiano’s write-in campaign forced incumbent Mayor Willie Brown into a runoff for re-election. The cognoscenti were sure that it meant that San Francisco was even more wacko left than anyone had thought. The commentators went on and on and on about what that primary results meant for [...]
Caveat Emptor… Still
Intuit's Quicken 2007 products were released this week, on August 1st, I think. Rather than defend my upgrade compulsion, let me just admit that I decided I was going to be an early adapter for this year's Home & Business edition. My plan was to buy the CD version this afternoon. I would have except that retail stores are still happily selling full-price versions of Quicken 2006 products. Both Office Max and Office Depot had only last year's version available. I solved my problem by going to Intuit online and downloading the upgrade. (Here, if you're looking yourself.) I would have [...]
The Kiss
"Mr. Bush has such soft hands I can only image what his lips are like," cracked Steven Colbert after showing the President kiss Senator Joe Lieberman. Colbert's report on Lieberman's primary race caught my attention while I was surfing my newest time-sucking site, youtube.com . For Political junkies: the video
Spare the Analysis Day
Today is the 9th "Spare the Air Day" in the Bay Area. The Air Quality Management District declares this status when they predict that air pollutants will exceed Federal standards unless we take action -- such as reducing driving. The predictions apparently are based on the likelihood of high temperatures and stagnant air. The six Spare the Air Days this year triggered free public transit rides. Ridership of BART and other systems was reported up by tens of thousands of riders each free day. But, the money to subsidize public transportation has run out, and people are on their own in their transit [...]