pRice Gouging...

Fancy rice cooker. Sans rice.

One single isle at the local Persian/Armenian/Kosher/Lebanese/Arab/South Asian produce market in the Valley was nearly empty yesterday. Rationing. Commodity Speculators. Bio-Fuel. Drought. Exports bans. Protectionism. Hoarding. Greed. Sushi rolls. Fried Rice. Risotto. Gumbo. Rice and beans. Not the rice and beans! What the hell am I supposed to do without rice?! I'm gonna start rollin' up on those "Your Name On a Grain Of Rice" artists--and be like...brace yourself sucka! Brace yourself! What? It's break yo'self! Break yo'self?! That doesn't make any sense. How can I break myself? I can totally brace myself. But Break?! Nevermind that...this is a serious issue--how hard is it to grow rice? Cultivate, farm, pick. Seems like a lot of work...we're all doomed! Maybe I can make some cash with "Blame Corn" or "No Corn for Oil" t-shirts...

Some links.

Rice Shortages @ Wiki
Rice Shortages News (Google)
Understadning Global Rice Crisis

Man goes on cross-country tour to spell check typos on signs

View video here. We could use this guy at the branch. I'm going on cross-country tour to teach people how to wash their hands...

Feliz Dia del César Chávez!

We got the day off! Yea! Read my post from last year on Sir Julio. Every year our White friends are shocked about the State holiday. Que!? I did my part and ate some grapes. Now if only the farm workers today had the day off...

Freedom Cookies?

Has it been over a month since I last posted?! As if anyone other than the list-makers care? We're all on some list...what's your score?

"Would you like to buy a box for the troops overseas?" F*@k!

Every year I buy Girl Scout cookies, this was the first time I've been put in such a frightening predicament. They were all staring, waiting for an answer--three bright-eyed girls and the older woman (there's always an older woman. Mom? Guide leader?). Almost as earth-shattering as hearing the words, "I'm pregnant" for a guy. Great dilemma--do I send a box of cookies to the Marines liberating Iraq? Why not to the children of Iraq I thought. Or to the homeless for that matter. But if I say no, I support the evil-doers. In the end my slightly above-average IQ flickered on and I got out of it by smiling and bumbling--Oh, I want to eat the cookies myself! Hehe. Lies. Lies. I gave the four boxes away to my nephews & bro-in-law. No intention of eating them myself. Them cookies is deadly. Remind me to send a box or two when the war ends. This was outside a Wal-Mart in glamorous Poway, CA. I can't think of any activity more American than shopping at Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart is as American as...well, crack cocaine. Pristine American business model that Wal-Mart has. Coincidentally I recall conservative writer and all-around funny man, Dinesh D'Souza responding to a college student's question--how do I know when I've become a real American? Dinesh quipped--When you vote Republican! Now that's just plain silly--it's when you enjoy shopping at Wal-Mart. Always. Wait..it's Buy Low. Live Better or something...

And who/what exactly are the Girl Scouts? And why cookies? Why not hummus or tamales or potstickers or medjool dates?! I would so buy medjool dates. But it's always the cookies. Every year. Mix it up a bit ladies. Come on now.

Are we back up?

For nearly two weeks, all 1300 L.A. Public Library computers have been on the fritz. Mums the word as to what caused the meltdown--which began a couple days before the New Year holiday. Heads haven't rolled yet as a result...some should I reckon. It's been a frustrating couple weeks. But it seems alls well again...kinda...I lost my files on the desktop on one of the staff computers. Luckily I keeps backup. I am smart. Now if I recall, the tech admin support for the Library Dept. was like 2 extra people for the '07-08 fiscal year...I just feel bad for some patrons, actually I don't. I feel much worse for library staff who have had to play catch-up for the past 10 days or so. Stupid computers. Stupid library computers. Stupid internet. Stupid servers. Stupid books. People should just watch more TV.

My favorite internet quotes.

"The Internet...it's doesn't make you stupid, It makes your stupidity accessible to others"

"They have the Internet on computers now?!" (Homer Simpson)

On Guilds and Beards

Someone tell me why I should support the Writers Guild strike? Why should anyone care who writes the material to the Colbert Report for instance? I say dump them all. There are countless aspiring writers in this town--scripts and screenplays in hand, praying to get even a toe in the door. And I'm sure many of them are good! And of all the workers in this country, in shit jobs/working conditions with lousy representation, we are supposed to empathize with the mainly rich White males of the WGA? Que? Come on, I saw Conan last nite, face filled with hair spinning his wedding ring for 40seconds on his desk. Now that's quality entertainment. But it does prove he can at least write his own material. Even Leno was decent (though today the WGA isn't laughing). And Letterman, who is also sporting a beard, looks more like a dirty old man then ever.

Panic on the streets of Pasadena

Courtesy Pasadena Weekly

OMG! They snuck it in! Those sneaky Chinese.

The scene--Gorgeous clear morning. New Years Day. Orange Grove Blvd and Del Mar Avenue. Pasadena, Ca.

All the floats for the (119th) Tournament of Roses Parade lined up before midnight (New Years Eve). By far the best place to view the floats up close. Tradition. For the 8am start of the parade, the floats (que over a mile long) meet up with the bands/cheerleaders/horsefolk, entering from the East from Del Mar Avenue. Me...on the corner of Orange Grove + Del Mar. On the streets...dozens of Falun Gong activists (placards, pamphlets, petitions in hand, along with some rather graphic depictions of torture) working the street ...various human rights advocates and anti-war protesters as well. A joyous affair indeed. We had heard about the controversy surrounding the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games float (at a cost of $400,000 or so), and that we were to turn our backs as the float rolled by. So...about 45 minutes into the parade, the rumblings began...the float (which was curiously missing from the lineup the nite before), was snuck in from Del Mar Blvd from the West accompanied by the fuzz. Sneaky sneaky. While some activists attempted to make their way toward the float, they weren't very successful. And while there was brief moments of tension, ultimately, it ended like a bad British drama. The irony of course, the Beijing 2008 float was one of the best of the day--winning the Theme Trophy (this year's parade theme was "Passport to the World's Celebrations"), complete with acrobats, dancers, some incredibly colorful costumes, and fireworks! Celebrate. Good times. Come on. What's not to like?

From yahoo:

The float is sanctioned by the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee but is sponsored by the Roundtable of Southern California Chinese-American Organizations and Pasadena-based label maker Avery Dennison Corp. It will feature the upcoming Olympics' five official mascots rotating on a base and decorated with a combination of flowers, including carnations and daisy petals.

Other activists at the Rose Parade included KUCINICH supporters with IMPEACH banners, Ron Paul supporters and even RON PAUL 2008 visible across the sky. But my favorite signs came from our Christian fundamentalist friends--their biggest one read, ASK ME WHY YOU DESERVE HELL! Sadly, I didn't get a chance to ask.

Another minor issue--public funding for the floats...no public funds were used for the various City of Los Angeles floats--seems our previous mayor took some heat for using public funds for such events in the past. Our current ubiquitous smiling mayor rode atop the Port of L.A. float along with 4 other floats designed as boats/ships. Now if we can just get him/city council to stop financing large developers with city subsidies, loans and tax rebates.

I wondered to myself...

2007 Rewind (Part Un)

My favorite Youtube video of the year. Salsa dancers, Reynaldo Ojeda and Claudia Lopez from Bogotá, Colombia.

Alma Salsera


Seriously, what are you doing with your life? Now do it on one leg.

Onto the 50 Most Loathsome People in America by some rather Beastly people...finally an end of year list I can agree with. Well, mostly, as I would have added a certain genocidal maniac to the list.

Biggest disappointment for the year. It was bound to happen sooner or later. My favorite 2008 Presidential candidate drops the ball big time a new campaign ad which panders to the worst reactionary elements on the Right (just days before the Iowa caucus). Et tu Dr. Paul? Por que? Now who the hell am I supposed to support? Guess I'll have to wait for the Green Party candidate...I'm sure we'll find sometime late in July 2008 at some budget motel conference room in Stockton.

My favorite local media moment(s) of the year. Captures the absolute vacuous nature of local television news. About ten seconds during a half-hour newscast is set aside for some local area soldier serving overseas to introduce him/herself and give the proverbial shout out to some back home. So, some Pvt. Guerrero introduces himself and sends his wishes to family (awww). The on-screen graphic below simply read "The Middle East". Wow. How hard would have been for the "professional journalists" at the network to find out where he was? I would have used "A Bad Place" myself.


Where could he have been?

My favorite book of 2007. Um..didn't read a new book in 2007.

My favorite record of 2007. Um...another shit year for new music...what the hell did I listen to all year? Favorite single--Bat For Lashes / What's a girl to do. Most overrated--JUSTICE--the sound of "new" French electro, I don't get it. After seeing JUSTICE live a few months back, I kept thinking, what on earth are these kids so excited about?! Chain smoking, giant crucifix proppin', French poseurs! Here...listen to the Chemical Bros. circa 1995. The Bros. have already worked it out.




My favorite films of the year. Given I only saw 4-5 new films on the big screen this year...Sean Penn's Into The Wild (based on Jon Krakauer's book) about Chris McCandless' journey across the country and his unfortunate death in Denali National Park, Alaska was memorable. Though the film did become a bit tedious toward the end...my 2nd favorite, Control by Anton Corbijn about the life/death of Ian Curtis of Joy Division. Visually stunning, moody, wordy and some very good acting. Cheers!

My favorite politician of 2007. Who else, Mahmoud Ahamdinejad. The man has his own blog for Intelligent Designer's sake.

Onto the bad Peter Parker. Spider-Man 3. Finally saw it on video a few weeks back (library loan of course). First appearance of Venom (Amazing Spider-Man 300 for those of you who still live with mother). In a shell filled with far too many nutty plot lines and characters --A dark alien substance crashes into earth. Attaches itself to Peter. The transformation begins as Peter goes dark--sort of. The substance completely attaches itself to Peter as he lay in bed, but only notices that his suit has is completely dark atop a high-rise building window. Spider-Man feels the awesome power of this new look. But I'm getting ahead of myself...after fighting/defeating his Goblin friend (Harry) for the 400th time, Yuppie Goblin bumps head and like many a soap opera gets amnesia and forgets everything--for the time being. Then a startling discovery, the real killer of the Big Kahuna, wasn't that one geezer but rather a burly bloke in fabulous striped green tee shirt named Flint Marko (who, not unlike Notorious B.I.G. was just trying to make some money to feed his daughter or something). Flint escapes prison and falls into some kind of advanced research corn/veggie testing silo and turns into an Arab--the Sandman rather. Before I forget, someone is crying in every single frame of the film. And as one reviewer quipped, I felt as though I need a hug after the film. Okay here we go...this is all from memory, so try to follow along. So Spidey fights Sandman--avenges Uncle Ben. Leaves him for dead. Gloats to Aunt May that Uncle Ben's killer is dead! She reckons he's a neo-conservative or something to that effect. Takes small sample of the dark substance to his professor friend. Peter wallows in the accolades and becomes one vain Spider dude. Kisses Gwen Stacy his lab partner at school (Amazing Spider-Man #31 for those who live in your sister's basements) at a grand public ceremony honoring him--much to the displeasure of Mary Jane. Relationship troubles. Mary Jane loses her acting/singing/theatre gig. Aunt May gives Peter her wedding ring. Peter sets up a delightful dinner (complete with phony French maitre d) at restaurant to propose. Mary Jane cries. Peter cries. Unable to reach Peter (as he is never there for her), find a empathetic ear in Harry the Yuppie Goblin, arrives at his home where they share an omelet and a kiss. Harry is a brilliant painter and chef apparently. Guilt filled Mary Jane rushes out of the place. Harry regains memory. Schemes to destroy Peter/Mary Jane's relationship. Succeeds. Peter cries. Mary Jane tells him that she's found someone else. Harry meets Peter at coffee shop to break the new that he's the other guy. Peter, like Luke Skywalker before him, exclaims, It's impossible! Harry grins then disappears like the bogey-man. Then that Gopher guy from some 70's Show arrives and schemes to land the staff photographer gig at the Daily Bugle. Succeeds only after producing a phony photo of Spider-Man escaping with a sack of cash. Peter exacts his revenge and exposes Eddie Brock as a kind of Chalabi fraudster he is. J.Jameson swiftly fires Eddie and is humiliated at his own hiring party. At this point Peter's journey to disillusionment is complete and allows the dark nature of to take over--his mannerisms/appearance is altered--for the bad. Really bad. Fights the Yuppie and literally blows him up and leaves him for deaf. Not deaf. Death! He pulls his hair down over his forehead (goes for the unkempt tough-guy look), buys a dark suit, then proceeds to disco dance down Broadway like an asshole. But the rank assholery doesn't end there, oh no...it gets worse--he gets the slightly retarded anorexic Russian immigrant girl to feed him freshly baked cookies while Dr. Connors relays the dangers of the dark substance. Now if that wasn't bad, get this. He takes Gwen Stacy out to this happening Jazz club (daddy-O), where there are all sorts of colored people mulling about. It's also where his ex-troll, Mary Jane is working for tips. He then proceeds to show off his piano playing prowess while Mary Jane sings (startled she was), then swing dances the doors off the place. Here is the major climax in the film, as the scene ends with Peter kicking everyone's ass in the place and knocking Mary Jane down to the floor. More crying. Geez, this review is as convoluted as the film itself. So Peter now realizes that his dark side has gotten the best of him...after choosing to don the dark suit--which is one of the underlying morals of the story--free will or something. In any case, he now has to fight the darkness, which he manages to do atop a cathedral. All the while Eddie Brock--now an unemployed drunken mess watches from below. The epic struggle (with himself) ends as the darkness is pulled off. The dark substance free falls and lands on Eddie who is then transformed into the monstrous Venom. The Sandman (left for dead so we thought), comes back with vengeance now. Rage filled Venom filled seeks out Sandman, forms a kind of alliance to squash the spider, kidnaps the troll and so the stage is set for the final battle. Mary Jane, bound and dangling oh-so-dangerously high above the city, inside a yellow taxi (trap set by the badies)...epic fight commences. Spider-Man is literally being pounded by the Arabs fists when lo! Behold! Another plot twist,Yuppie Goblin (scarred but not dead it turns out), appears to help save the day. Hooray! Spidey and Harry team up and you guessed it, win! So in the third installment of Spider-Man, everyone from the first two films it seems makes an appearance (dead or alive). A re-hashing of the Uncle Ben storyline, the Osborn storyline (Avenge me!), and even more with great power comes great responsibility morality. While not a complete mess, hearing Mary Jane sing (her own voice) two full songs damn near pushed me over all kinds of edges. sharp jagged ones. And Spidey's inner struggle storyline was about as genuine as the SDC...more on the SDC later.

Au revoir 2007!

Final Thought. Aren't we about due for a new UFO craze? Every decade or so it seems...2008 should be the year. Dennis Kucinich should start it. I like Dennis. His pockets are like treasure troves...a pocket constitution? What are we supposed to to with that?

More Patriotic Than A Filipino American!

From IH8Mud.com forums:

The Leatherman Monarch is available at the PDX airport area Costco, it says it is 145 lumen, and is a Cree LED, it is packaged so you can turn it on and view it's light output at the store. It is pretty bright, but can't tell much in the brightly lit store. My wife was with me, and after buying 2 flashlights (Rayovac and Task Force Crees) in the last couple weeks, she put the foot down on buying another. She thinks I'm crazy. But it would be nice to have a smaller form factor light like the 3@ AAA-cell Leatherman, with the same output as my 2@ C-cell, and 3@ C-cell Crees.

There comes a time in a man's life when serious introspection and self examination leads him to a kind of acceptance--a realization of what a famous White man referred to as, being a total dork. It's official. I submit. I've recently discovered that there are others out there--an entire community of enthusiasts (addicts) who share my unhealthy obsession with flashlights, lanterns, headlamps, and various manner of bright lights! L.E.D.'s are all the rage. I purchased the Leatherman Moncarh 500 last week. It's like really bright and stuff. I sleep with it. That makes somewhere around 30...but who is counting? Entire flashlight messages boards for/by lightheads. Some of the finest people around I reckon. We aren't collecting stamps for my God's sakes! Stamps are utterly useless! What kinda freak still collects stamps? At least we aren't wearing costumes (think Star Trek). Not in public anyway. No, flashlights come in handy. Just wait 'til the next disaster--natural or otherwise, we'll see who has the last laugh. Ha.

Concluding with Fellini (Live Blogging with Ray Bradbury)

Fellini to Ray Bradbury: "My twin! My twin"

Applause. Q&A? No. I'm out. Was hoping to be out quick-like...ended up cleaning up/arranging the tables/chairs/etc...such a wonderful guy I is.

Ray Bradbury. Good Man.

Wrapping Up (Live Blogging with Ray Bradbury)

Wrote 40 plays. Never made a dime on them Ray claims. 17min left on the laptop...strange, did i read it wrong?! Yep, I'm losing it. Ray's inspired me to change my name to Bugenhagen and become a poet. Either that or Richard Shiner. Richard Shiner's Guide To The Galaxy. So Studs Terkel is like 95 years old. I heard him on the radio a couple weeks back--now there's a man I'd like to meet. He was as sharp, witty and humble. Ray is I believe like 87 years old. Studs is an awesome name. It's 7:45pm. I've got 10min left on the laptop. I'll conclude when I get home--maybe.

Is That Cheese? (Live Blogging with Ray Bradbury)

Applause. Ray has begun speaking. Begins by praising the public library. "The library was my university...graduated from the library when I was 28." I can hear Ray but I cannot see him. Screenplays. Motion Pictures. Playwright. Gene Kelly. Hollywood. Musicals. Libraries. Hybrid. Double Day. Martian Chronicles. Short stories. Haven't I heard all this before?! These grapes are good though. I didn't touch the cheese.

In quotes (so far):

"Everything in life must be love."

"Everything he makes is so negative--you leave the film wanting to slit your wrists. To hell with him (Martin Scorsese).

"I loved (watching) Hunchback of Notre Dame--I became a Hunchback."

"Behold Herman Melville--but look quick, he's gonna be gone quick" (to John Houston after completing the screenplay for Moby Dick).

"I'm a playwright!"

Ray's been speaking for over 25 minutes now...i've got about 10 minutes left of battery life. Gonna hang for a little while longer...

The Scene (Live Blogging with Ray Bradbury)

I can see the backside of Ray's driver/handler/security (it appears), along with two rather large Public Safety Officers and about 30 or so people waiting to get Ray to sign their (or is it they're) books. There is talented transient playing the harmonica on our back steps on the side of the building. He's actually quite good. A gentlemen just handed Ray a piece of his own original artwork as a gift--Ray seemed pleased. I just noticed, Ray's eating his dinner as he meets/signs. Looks tasty. Once he gets up to give the lecture (which appears like it won't begin and time soon as 7pm is quickly approaching), I'm gonna grab some of his grapes and crackers. Bradbury books are selling like thinks that sell well or something. It's a cool crisp evening. I've got my fleece on. And I'm hungry. Why couldn't Gore Vidal be here?! "It's time to lecture isn't it?" Everyone is heading out into the main room now. I've got my eye on his plate...

Signing Time. (Live Blogging with Ray Bradbury)

"I'll go on at Seven, when I'm done with this! Too early to start lecturing. They're are people still coming!" I dont' know if Ray knows just how loud he is, as he is slightly hearing impaired. He was supposed to begin speaking at 6:30pm, it's now 6:38, Ray is still meeting/greeting/signing books. He seems to be in a good mood. I remember last time, it was obvious he was disappointed at the turnout. This time the Friends actually promoted the event!

Last time I did this, I reckon I was new to this whole blogging thing--was all a pretty novel idea to me...just having fun with it...so i'll try to be a bit more coherent this time! Hell, I can always edit later ;)

All Those People! (Live Blogging with Ray Bradbury)

"They're waiting for me. All those people!" Ray Bradbury just proclaimed. Has it really been over a year? Que lastima! Cup half empty. Am I really still a Bookstamper? I feel crummy. Been under the weather for a past few days...dunno why I'm still here. I've got some outstanding issues with the good people at Blogger (more on that later--why I haven't posted in some time). Doors are opening. Ray Bradbury is sitting in front of the circulation desk--in his wheelchair, behind a circular desk. Stacks of (his) books by his sides. They've just opened the door. Seems less lively than the last time. About a hundred people have just entered--finding seats. Lack of parking seems to be on everyone's mind. The Friends of The Library once again are the sponsors of the event. It's picture time with Ray. Laptop battery don't fail me now...watched the original Omen and Damien Omen II late last nite and was totally freaked out. I couldn't believe how freaked out I was. I've seen the film dozens of times...I'm thinking about changing my name to Bugenhagen. I'm gonna name my firstborn child Bugenhagen.