18 September 05
Not Supposed To Happen
I pay scant attention to college football, but yesterday the UC Davis Aggies managed to beat Stanford in the closing seconds 20-17. This was a long-anticipated matchup. Several years ago, the UCD student body voted to move the student athletics programs from NCAA Division II to Division I, joining the big leagues as it were. I wasn’t very excited by this move, expecting a decade or so of mediocrity to follow, but the choice wasn’t up to me. Anyway, Stanford is the first major Division I foe the football team has faced, and they’re my alma mater Berkeley’s great rival as well. I just became a little bit more of a believer in the Aggie football team!
17 September 05
On Class Warfare
These are words that most Americans don’t want to hear. If they’re Republicans, they don’t want to hear them because they’re doing very well out of class warfare, thank you; if they’re Democrats, they are too, though some of them might feel a teeny bit guilty about it. The kinds of people who talk about it or even think about it are regarded as crackpots, holdovers from the sixties, or outright pinko commie bastards.
We were musing this morning on why Marxist rhetoric gets people so uncomfortable here, when the rhetoric of fundamentalist crackpot capitalists is hardly noticed. I think George Lakoff would argue that it’s because the Republicans have done a good job with their framing, but I think there’s more to it than that.
The stark images of destitute African Americans made homeless in the wake of the hurricane in New Orleans are a clue.
It’s tied to race, but it’s not just race. It’s tied to class, but it’s not just class.
We went to see the San Francisco Mime Troupe in Davis today. These people, at least, are not afraid to take on class warfare, or American imperialism, or the evils of globalization.
Refreshing.
16 September 05
Friday Catblogging
Leaving the closet doors open can prove risky.
15 September 05
Doodling Away
A recent thread on the Cyberscribes list explored how some people found it difficult to doodle, or to know what to doodle. Clearly, I’m not one of them, at least during Audubon Board meetings…
For some real fun, take a look at what Danny Gregory’s mother’s been doing…
Postscript, 9-16-05: the link to “mother” above no longer works. See Hazel Kazan’s site to view her leafages.
15 September 05
Fanciful Travels
If you are looking for an unusual vacation, you might wish to visit the nation of Breda in the South Pacific, or perhaps the island-continent of Bergonia in the mid-Atlantic, the latter noted for its stable anarcho-syndicalist socialist democracy, a subtropical to temperate climate, and three species of endemic wild cats.
13 September 05
Stinking Bishop
A British cheesemaker is terrified that the next Wallace and Gromit film will lead to demand for this cheese, which is what happened with Wendsleydale in an earlier film.
Stinking Bishop is made from milk of Gloucester cows and its rind is seasoned with perry, cider made from pears. It is said to smell like “old socks” which may temper the demand, I think…
13 September 05
Nineteen More Games
We listened to the Giants game this evening which marked the return of Barry Bonds to the lineup after being out all season. He sparked a two-run rally in the second inning with a near-home run that was changed to a ground rule double because of fan interference. (Will the people in the first row of the bleachers ever learn?) The Giants bats seemed to wake up immediately thereafter—we’re left to wonder what sort of season the Giants would have had if Bonds hadn’t been out seven-eighths of the season.
The season is winding down to an exciting finish. The Indians, A’s, and Yankees are all battling for the AL wild card spot, while the Red Sox have a 3 1/2 game lead over the Yankees in the AL East. In the National League, Florida and Houston are contending for the wild card, with Philadelphia just behind. The Marlins and Astros played today—the Marlins won behind the pitching and batting (he hit a home run) of their ace Dontrelle Willis.
11 September 05
Baseball with the Doc
I’ve had a wonderful long weekend hanging out with Doc Rock, who was visiting from points south. After an intense two weeks getting a 500-page report off my desk, it was fun to have time with a friend. We visited my mother in Bodega Bay, where it was sunny and gorgeous (it’s usually foggy and drippy).
This morning we headed south to San Francisco and the Doc’s first visit to SBC Park. We had seats just behind home plate way high in the nosebleeds—we could see the Berkeley campanile from our spot—and watched a very, very good game which unfortunately went to the Cubs, but you can’t begrudge them, it was riveting baseball, a true pitchers’ duel.
One of my least favorite things about this ball park, surely the most beautiful in the country, is that most people who are there have only the vaguest interest in the game. They spend time yakking about their work, or getting up and down like yoyos for this drink or that food. It makes scoring a little difficult and I was finally obliged to ask the woman in front who seemed to have brought her entire family reunion to the game—there were 30 cousins there—whether she might like to consider sitting down so I could see the game.
Yoyos.
11 September 05
Envelope and Letter Folding
For those who haven’t completely abandoned letter writing, this is an intriguing site.
8 September 05
Out With The Laundry
This morning I got out of the shower, went to my closet in the bedroom, and noticed something odd about the laundry hamper. Charlie was dozing quite contentedly there, and I don’t know how long he stayed—I had to run to work!