Friday, September 29, 2006

Tactical Analysis of Chavez speech to UN
Since I saw Chavez's UN speech while in Venezuela last Friday, I've been mulling over the tactics behind it. He catapulted Chomsky's Hegemony or Survival to number 1 on Amazon and its still at number 6. According to an article in the Mail and Guardian, it has led to two new printings of 25,000 each.

In Chavez, the Devil, Chomsky, and Us, Michael Albert tackles the intriguing tactical questions that Chavez's speech raisies for lefty types.

P.S. Given Hemony and Survival's fog index I cynically predict that if you wait a few weeks you should be able to pick up a copy when 90% of the people who just bought the book realise they will never read it. America, please prove me wrong!
posted by Unknown @ 2:22 PM 0 comments

what my haps are
Hey kids,

I know, it's been a while since I rapped at ya. I guess there have been too many nursing parties taking up my time. Life is good, though. Montreal continues to bring me new housemates, new challenges and always new adventures.

One exciting adventure will be the Universities Allied for Essential Medicines conference this weekend in Philadelphia. I am going! And will stay with my cousin Cory and her partner Nathaniel in their new Quaker house. Should be good times all around, and hopefully the conference will be a productive and, at least, learning, experience.

My brother is doing well, and just started Physiotherapy at McGill. We've run into each other a couple of times on campus. Always great and surreal! Whoever is around us at the time usually figures out the connection pretty quickly. He had a small bike accident a couple weeks ago, but was only bruised. My mother is on her honeymoon in Italy, rocking my aunt's Tuscan villa and the delicious food.

Well, I gotta go finish making some hummus-and-tomato-on-bagel sandwiches. You're right, Erini, homemade is the way to go! I recommend extra garlic and chunks of brie cheese, personally.
posted by sasha @ 6:27 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

So, helping me to come to terms with the fact that I'm never going to get to live in London, the CTA is trying to bring a little bit of London here. That's right, Chicago is getting its own circle line! Though probably only some far-away time in the future.

Also, I've got an extra Sufjan ticket for tomorrow at the Riviera. Lemme know ASAP if you want it.
posted by weiss @ 12:00 AM 0 comments

I'm like a little kid in a candy shop!
why didn't anyone tell me hummus and babaghanoush is so easy to make!
(now the real test.. I haven't tried my babaghanoush yet.. but it seems okay..)

any suggestions for possible flavors?
my mom is into pineapple with maybe mango...
..and I'm thinking something hot and spicy..
woo for cooking! (and random posts!)
posted by Erini CS @ 11:41 PM 0 comments

woot!

I just finished working on a music video for moby's new single, "new york, new york." it was a hella fun shoot and y'all should check out the video when it comes out. woooo!
posted by meg @ 3:32 PM 0 comments

Pearl Diver in Goshen
For those of you who still haven't seen Pearl Diver (like myself), it is finally being shown at Linway Plaza in Goshen!
posted by D-Bo @ 11:52 AM 0 comments

Birthday Tip
Thank Meg! Yes, yesterday was my birthday. And here is a birthday tip for all of you: do not eat for lunch rice that has been sitting in the fridge for three weeks. It will look okay and mostly smell okay, but you will spend the afternoon feeling sick and imagining what your coworkers' faces would look like if you vomited in the hallway.

No! Do not eat that rice!
posted by weiss @ 9:49 PM 0 comments

happy birrrday mr. weiss?
it's your birthday! or at least I think it is. whether it is or isn't have a happy __day!
posted by meg @ 5:01 PM 0 comments

Wedding Pictures and Honeymoon report
So I´m using the internet on my honeymoon, but hey, what´s the point in having adventures if you can´t blog about them?

Thanks for all the congratulations. There are pictures here if you´re interested. It was a great day. Thanks to all you shoupers who helped out (Erini was on video and Joel F on photos) and who attended. We couldn´t have asked for a more beautiful day. After a year and a half of low level stress and 6 weeks of high level stress, I didn´t think there was any way it could be worth it. But it was.

Now we´re in Venezuela enjoying an Andean honeymoon in Merida. Its a beautiful city surrounded by snow capped mountains, although you can only see the highest peaks if you get up early enough in the morning to beat the cloud cover.

Today we went up Merida's cable car, which is the highes and longest in the world. It was cloudy, but still stunningly beautiful. It tops out at 15,633 feet where we found it was snowing. And we were surrounded by lots of Venezuelan kids who were seeing snow for the first time. Wow were they excited...

Other highlights so far include the Heladería Coromoto, which joins the cable car in the Guiness World Book of Records for the most flavors ever. The flavors I sampled were mushrooms and wine (together), avocado (the first flavor he invented), granola, garlic and squid (with little chunks for authenticity). All of them tasted reasonably good except for the squid. And it was worth it to be able to say I´ve eaten squid ice cream.

If you´re interested on hearing more on the politics and such, I´m posting travelogues over at YAR.
posted by Unknown @ 7:34 PM 0 comments

Where my Mac-users at?
I've finally joined the ranks of Mac owners. Mine is shiny and silver. It doesn't have a name yet, but I've just been calling it "my precious." If any of you have any tips you've learned for keeping your Mac happy, please send them my way.

Chicago's a sweet deal, though the low-level corruption continues to surprise me. For example, riding on the ell, there are frequent reminders that gambling is not allowed. And I thought gambling on trains only occurred in 1930s "The Sting"-esque settings.

Also, I got a counterfeit bill as change yesterday from a coffee shop on at the edge of Loyola's campus. I've never seen one before, so I don't think to look at money before putting it in my wallet. I get to a different coffee shop, and go to pay for a better cup of coffee, and the clerk says "That's a wierd-looking five-dollar bill." Then he whips out a counterfeit pen (also not something I would have thought to have on hand when I was a clerk) and it shows on the bill.

I've only been here four days.

At this point I just find these instances, but I'm sure it gets malicious at points.

And I haven't even begun to get into local politics, yet. Still too stuck on D.C., where Adrian Fenty, who grew up two blocks away from me and is only 12 years older, just won the Democratic primary for mayor, and essentially the office. And he went to DC public schools, which really warms my heart. Go DCPS!

He swept every precinct in every ward. The first time a mayor has done so. And I trust D.C. voters that it was not just because he's hot. I mean, mostly.

posted by celestial @ 12:32 PM 0 comments

"mommy, this water burns!"
I thought I'd share this little poem from a tshirt at thinkgeek...

"Johnny was a chemist's son,
But Johnny is no more.
What Johnny thought was H20
was H2SO4."
posted by Erini CS @ 12:02 AM 0 comments

Meg a lo Maine-iac
I just got back to new york after wrapping one of the coolest shoots I've been on in a while. We were shooting on 35 with this cool old camera that had wooden baby legs, and this nifty little b-camera that was so cute you'd hardly think it was 35. the crew was absolutly amazing. my department was 5 strong and everybody was smart and had great attitudes and we all got along really well. but it wasn't just g&e, the whole crew was awesome. after we wrapped everynight, we would build a bonfire and all sit around and play guitars, harmonicas, shaking-egg-things, and we'd sing. once, the local Finnish band showed up and jammed with us. Monson, ME was gorgeous. not only were there cool things like moose and foxes and such, but the trees were huge, the sunsets were yellow and green, and there were giant slate quarries with lakes deeper than 400 ft!! We also had amazing food everyday. fresh baked muffins, coffee (w/ cow's milk), eggs, meats, and breads in the morning in the morning; made-to-order sandwiches and saladds for lunch and homemade soups and pastas, and casseroles in the evening. 3 women fed 30 people everyday! and it was always delicious. oh man, such good food. My littly piece of bragging: the DP gave me his gaffer's glass (girlish "wheeee") I now have my very own gaffer's glass!! I'm stoked.

Tomorrow, I start another feature, but this time I'm just besting... no gaffing, but it will be a nice break. so yep, that's what I'm up to. oooohhh, omg, how could I forget! I also got to operate helium baloons!! we had 2 8kw 10' helium baloons, but we only had one up at a time. what fun! ok, I need to sleep.
posted by meg @ 11:06 PM 0 comments

here we go
you've had your template entirely replaced. i used the wayback machine to find your css and markup from last year (the most recent copy they had). i've copied the css over, but as you can see it doesn't line up quite right with your current markup.

i have the old markup as well, but only in a post-processed form - so someone would have to go through and replace all the dynamic content with the appropriate blogger tags...

so i've done some of the work putting the markup back together piece by piece. can one of you take it from here?

dude - this goes beyond not valid. it's filled with anti-semantic code down to the random <font> tags.
posted by eric @ 2:54 PM 0 comments

Thanks, Eric. That would be great.

It's not so much the markup (although you can take out the comment feature) as the CSS that seems to be fugged (I think). I mean, don't kill yourself getting it to validate W3C or anything.
posted by sasha @ 12:27 PM

I'm just learning CSS.. so I guess I can't help much. I miss the bright colours.

Anyway.. Robin!: I went bowling but you had left already! Be sure to leave contact info with me before you head off. (my legal name) c s at goshen.
I did decently well tonight too... well, didn't break 100.. but still! about 5 strikes in two games.. which is good for me!
posted by Erini CS @ 12:26 AM 0 comments

web standards MF!
depending on how bad the markup is, i should be able to fix up the template fairly quickly. not - of course - the way it was (who could mimic that?) - but better than this.

i'll take a look at the code later in the day.

(this is why you should keep your markup clean and friendly - let that be a lesson to all of you)
posted by eric @ 10:45 AM 0 comments

Oh No!
The blog is so fugged. What with school starting, I could only get around to the CSS in maybe a week, and even then it would take a while. Congratulations, Tim Naf! Want to celebrate your nuptials by taking a crack at the Shoup template?
posted by sasha @ 12:27 AM

ack! oh NO!!
I have to pee
i messed up the blog!!!
i deleted your post sasha!!!

ack
sorry!
posted by kate @ 11:39 AM 0 comments

For those of you who, like me, have held a sort of inchoate distate for Stevie Nicks over the years, Puritan Blister finally explains why.
posted by weiss @ 8:45 PM 0 comments

I guess following Eric... I too would like to give a big w00t to Tim & Charletta.

Also, it was good seeing those of you who were there.
Oh, and the food at lunch was amazing. I haven't had a real meal since starting this term. (or at least something resembling a real meal that tasted that good. and the punch was amazing too)
k. sleep time.
Safe travels everyone!
posted by Erini CS @ 12:34 AM 0 comments

shout out
to mennonot, doing the wedding thing. way to be, bro.
posted by eric @ 7:25 PM 0 comments

You knwo you've had too much to drink when your pee semlls like gin!
posted by sasha @ 4:27 AM 0 comments

meg?
Play it safe kids, and don't open this at work.
posted by weiss @ 12:24 AM 0 comments

So my plot idea for today is: MacGyver is on a trans-Atlantic flight that is hijacked by terrorists. As the rest of the passengers look to him for jury-rigged salvation, MacGyver is unable to do anything but shrug in defeat because all possibly useful items have been banned from carry-on!
posted by weiss @ 9:39 PM 0 comments

gc gossip...
so.. CAC did their normal "Monday Night Live", but on Saturday night.. that was sort of same-old-same-old. Anyway.. afterwards they held a party out in the courtyard of the Music Center.. the party was so loud (mainly thanks to the dj--who was good).. that you could hear it at the mill race. no joke.
cops came too.
also no joke.

it seemed like a very un-GC party.. mostly horny underclassmen grinding. but still a decent time.
posted by Erini CS @ 9:05 PM 0 comments