i just participated in my first political caucus this evening. wow! it was pretty darn cool. let me explain- i am from a state that utilizes the primary system, so the notion of "grassroots" politics has always been just that, a notion. i'd participated in and with political groups in college and for a couple of years after college. they were movements, but not grassroots as they were lacking the sense of community necessary for something to be grassroots.
tonight, it was literally exciting to go into the room for my precinct and see it filled to the brim with my neighbors. sure, i only recognized a couple of folks, but the idea that people had turned off the television for one evening to come down to the school where the caucus was held, is beautiful. and, that so many of the people were young people was nice to see.
so, my candidate didn't win in my precinct. turns out it didn't matter, since he had all but conceded the race as the caucus was starting unbeknownst to all of us...the important thing is people were talking and laughing and meeting and shaking hands and discussing. we chose delegates and alternatives for various upcoming comventions. i just kept thinking the whole time- these people are going to vote in november.
Tuesday, March 02, 2004
Saturday, November 29, 2003
please, mr. president
when i was a child, my grandmother instilled one guiding principle in my brother and i, when you go someplace, leave it in a better condition than when you arrived. for us boys, this usually applied to camping, or to staying at her house for the weekend. as i've gotten older, i've tried to apply this to the rest of my life, with the side-effect that i expect others to do the same.
i certainly expect my elected officials to hold themselves to the standards which i and the rest of thier constituents hold themselves. i expect that if they don't hold themselves to at least the same standard as the public, that it is the people's duty to do something about it, whether it be simply reminding them, or kicking them out of office.
i do not agree with president bush's war in iraq. it seems ludicrous to wage war on a whole country just because of one man or a small group of men. i believe that mr. bush himself stated about the same when addressing the terrorist attacks on new york and washington d.c.
but, i can't go back in time and change what the u.s. has done. all i can ask is that we make it right. we destroyed iraq's infrastructure, we are obligated to rebuild it at least to the level it was at prior to the war in iraq, even prior to the gulf war. part of this infrastructure is the oil pipeline. part of rebuilding it, is putting control of it back in the hands of its rightful owners.
please, mr. president, do right by your people. do right by your country. do right by me and my grandmother.
i certainly expect my elected officials to hold themselves to the standards which i and the rest of thier constituents hold themselves. i expect that if they don't hold themselves to at least the same standard as the public, that it is the people's duty to do something about it, whether it be simply reminding them, or kicking them out of office.
i do not agree with president bush's war in iraq. it seems ludicrous to wage war on a whole country just because of one man or a small group of men. i believe that mr. bush himself stated about the same when addressing the terrorist attacks on new york and washington d.c.
but, i can't go back in time and change what the u.s. has done. all i can ask is that we make it right. we destroyed iraq's infrastructure, we are obligated to rebuild it at least to the level it was at prior to the war in iraq, even prior to the gulf war. part of this infrastructure is the oil pipeline. part of rebuilding it, is putting control of it back in the hands of its rightful owners.
please, mr. president, do right by your people. do right by your country. do right by me and my grandmother.
Tuesday, November 04, 2003
let it snow
I hate winter but love the first snow of the year.
Why do I love the first snow of the year? Fair enough question. I live in the Twin Cities. If you’re not from here, you probably don’t realize how large they are, and you probably don’t realize how dirty they are. I’ve never been to New York City, or to Philadelphia, or to Chicago, but I bet my reasoning is applicable to them as well. I hate how dirty the cities get, and most of it is litter. The first snow falls and the discarded cigarette pack ceases to be a cigarette pack and becomes a bump in the snow. It becomes a bump the same way a rock or a pile of leaves becomes a bump. For a brief while (sometimes a long while), I stop passing judgment on the garbage and just look at the beautiful white landscape.
I grew up and have spent most of my life living in the Pacific Northwest, within an hour or so of the Pacific Ocean. We don’t get a lot of snow. I think it would be fair to say that we don’t even get snow every winter, not counting appreciable accumulation. So, the first snow brings with it a kind of child-like euphoria, that’s reminiscent of Christmas coming.
Plus, it’s not that cold for the first snow. The temperature hovering right around freezing is absolutely balmy compared to the sub-zero temps I know are coming.
Why do I love the first snow of the year? Fair enough question. I live in the Twin Cities. If you’re not from here, you probably don’t realize how large they are, and you probably don’t realize how dirty they are. I’ve never been to New York City, or to Philadelphia, or to Chicago, but I bet my reasoning is applicable to them as well. I hate how dirty the cities get, and most of it is litter. The first snow falls and the discarded cigarette pack ceases to be a cigarette pack and becomes a bump in the snow. It becomes a bump the same way a rock or a pile of leaves becomes a bump. For a brief while (sometimes a long while), I stop passing judgment on the garbage and just look at the beautiful white landscape.
I grew up and have spent most of my life living in the Pacific Northwest, within an hour or so of the Pacific Ocean. We don’t get a lot of snow. I think it would be fair to say that we don’t even get snow every winter, not counting appreciable accumulation. So, the first snow brings with it a kind of child-like euphoria, that’s reminiscent of Christmas coming.
Plus, it’s not that cold for the first snow. The temperature hovering right around freezing is absolutely balmy compared to the sub-zero temps I know are coming.
Sunday, September 21, 2003
robots in disquise
i'm a big transformers fan. love the toys, and until recently had a huge collection, but couldn't bear to pack it all up and move it to a new place, again, so sold most of it off. i collected the comics up until #75 or so, and watched the cartoon religiously after school everyday (the original cartoon) when i was a kid.
time's passed and i've made it to my 30's but still look at sports cars and imagine how they'd look if they transformed into a giant robot and blasted the heck out of some evil jet plane. :D
along comes a new transformers cartoon, transformers: armada, and i along with countless other adult-children thought we'd give it a watch. i think to a person, we all hated it. but why?
i think it's part of the pokemonization of the u.s.
it seems like hasbro and others see all this money being made in japan, and instead of trying to do something that will be the next big thing, they just buy the rights to the japanese version and dub it in english.
i know the toys are originally japanese, but the cartoon from the 80's and the comic books were american, and they were awesome.
i'm not trying to dis anime, as i'm actually a pretty big fan. the thing about anime is that it's aimed at different age groups depending upon the content, but all of them share some qualities such as the 'superdeformed' or 'chibi' characters. this is a cultural phenomenon in japan and is hard to translate to english, or i imagine, any other language.
so, the new cartoon uses styles that are different from what we are all used to and different from what we _want_ to see. i think we would all love to see a cartoon done in comic book style.
this brings me to my other point. the japanese cartoon is aimed at a different demographic than the product in the u.s. in japan tf armada is aimed at young children who are just discovering there is something in the world besides pokemon, around 6 or 7 years old. the toys in the u.s. are aimed at kids, particularly boys, in the 10 to 12 years old age group. 4 to 5 years makes a huge deal in the level of sophistication one can use in telling a story.
time's passed and i've made it to my 30's but still look at sports cars and imagine how they'd look if they transformed into a giant robot and blasted the heck out of some evil jet plane. :D
along comes a new transformers cartoon, transformers: armada, and i along with countless other adult-children thought we'd give it a watch. i think to a person, we all hated it. but why?
i think it's part of the pokemonization of the u.s.
it seems like hasbro and others see all this money being made in japan, and instead of trying to do something that will be the next big thing, they just buy the rights to the japanese version and dub it in english.
i know the toys are originally japanese, but the cartoon from the 80's and the comic books were american, and they were awesome.
i'm not trying to dis anime, as i'm actually a pretty big fan. the thing about anime is that it's aimed at different age groups depending upon the content, but all of them share some qualities such as the 'superdeformed' or 'chibi' characters. this is a cultural phenomenon in japan and is hard to translate to english, or i imagine, any other language.
so, the new cartoon uses styles that are different from what we are all used to and different from what we _want_ to see. i think we would all love to see a cartoon done in comic book style.
this brings me to my other point. the japanese cartoon is aimed at a different demographic than the product in the u.s. in japan tf armada is aimed at young children who are just discovering there is something in the world besides pokemon, around 6 or 7 years old. the toys in the u.s. are aimed at kids, particularly boys, in the 10 to 12 years old age group. 4 to 5 years makes a huge deal in the level of sophistication one can use in telling a story.
Tuesday, September 16, 2003
food on airlines
(from my trip journal in may, 2003)
i'm just now on the third and final leg of my trip from the u.s. to italy, via iceland and england. i only left yesterday evening but i have gotten the oppurtunity to experience a lot of new things, not the least of which have been my in-flight meals.
the first meal was dinner on an iceland air flight from minniapolis to reykjavik. it was delicious. and, i'm just as surprised as anyone. it started with a small, fresh green salad- romaine, cabbage, carrots, tomato and radish. the main dish was a baked chicken breast in a tangy tomato sauce with large chunks of onion and green bell pepper, all next to a generous bed of rice that was instended to be mixed with the chicken and sauce. the dessert was a 'fun size' twix bar.
the next meal was breakfast. again, i was travelling iceland air, this time from reykjavik to london. this meal was started by a warm, multi-grain roll. the main dish was a cheese omelette with hashbrowns and green beans, all on a slice of ham. i expected this to be very greasy, but to my surprise it was quite edible. this was toppd off by a complimentary cup of fresh brazillian orange juice, and while the quallity may be in question, it certainly tasted fine.
my third meal was lunch. i've finally moved on from iceland air and am flying british airways. we had a choice of cheese or chicken sandwiches and i went with the chicken. it was served on a nice multi-grain whole wheat bread with romaine lettuce and stone ground mustard. maybe it's just an american thing, but i was surprised and happy to get a sandwich without mayonaisse. there were flavored tortilla chips, called 'poppadums'. they were black pepper flavored and would have been a little too spicey on thier own, but they came with an excellent dipping sauce. the dipping sauce was minty lemon flavored, and while i was willing to try it, but prepared to dislike it, i was once again pleasantly surprised. the dip was yoghurt based and strongly lemon flavored with just a hint of mint. the dessert for this meal was double chocolate pudding, but not the kind that bill cosby hawks, the kind that actually gets baked.
not a bad experience flying interanationally for the first time, even if i do pick out the least interesting part of the trip to write about first. but, you can imagine that if i enjoy the food this much, just how the rest of my trip must be going.
i'm just now on the third and final leg of my trip from the u.s. to italy, via iceland and england. i only left yesterday evening but i have gotten the oppurtunity to experience a lot of new things, not the least of which have been my in-flight meals.
the first meal was dinner on an iceland air flight from minniapolis to reykjavik. it was delicious. and, i'm just as surprised as anyone. it started with a small, fresh green salad- romaine, cabbage, carrots, tomato and radish. the main dish was a baked chicken breast in a tangy tomato sauce with large chunks of onion and green bell pepper, all next to a generous bed of rice that was instended to be mixed with the chicken and sauce. the dessert was a 'fun size' twix bar.
the next meal was breakfast. again, i was travelling iceland air, this time from reykjavik to london. this meal was started by a warm, multi-grain roll. the main dish was a cheese omelette with hashbrowns and green beans, all on a slice of ham. i expected this to be very greasy, but to my surprise it was quite edible. this was toppd off by a complimentary cup of fresh brazillian orange juice, and while the quallity may be in question, it certainly tasted fine.
my third meal was lunch. i've finally moved on from iceland air and am flying british airways. we had a choice of cheese or chicken sandwiches and i went with the chicken. it was served on a nice multi-grain whole wheat bread with romaine lettuce and stone ground mustard. maybe it's just an american thing, but i was surprised and happy to get a sandwich without mayonaisse. there were flavored tortilla chips, called 'poppadums'. they were black pepper flavored and would have been a little too spicey on thier own, but they came with an excellent dipping sauce. the dipping sauce was minty lemon flavored, and while i was willing to try it, but prepared to dislike it, i was once again pleasantly surprised. the dip was yoghurt based and strongly lemon flavored with just a hint of mint. the dessert for this meal was double chocolate pudding, but not the kind that bill cosby hawks, the kind that actually gets baked.
not a bad experience flying interanationally for the first time, even if i do pick out the least interesting part of the trip to write about first. but, you can imagine that if i enjoy the food this much, just how the rest of my trip must be going.
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