I’m leaving shortly to attend a Twins game with a friend. The Twins are on a winning streak and they’re playing a division rival, the White Sox. Let’s hope the streak continues.
Aug 242005
Aug 232005
I’m back from Duluth and, damn, it’s cold up there! Don’t you guys ever get above 75 degrees? Maybe I’m spoiled because we’ve had such a tropical summer in the Twin Cities, but I nearly became a Crip-Sicle last night because the window in my hotel room was left open. It was like I had suddenly time traveled into mid-October.
Friend, I’d like to discuss something very important with you. Do you wonder what it’s all about? Do you ask yourself, “Why am I here?” I used to ask myself the same questions, until one solitary evening, while I was watching a rerun of Good Times, I was suddenly touched by His Noodliness, the Flying Spaghetti Monster (or FSM). I now understand that we are all beloved of the Flying Spaghetti Monster and that we are put here on this world to please His Noodliness. He especially digs it when people dress up like pirates. All the around the world, fellow Pastafarians are working to ensure that children are taught about FSM and how He created the Universe in what is known as the Great Meatball Shedding.
Would you like to know more about FSM? You could accompany me to one of our regular Tuesday afternoon services. You get a free eyepatch just for showing up.
Oh, you need more time to think about it. I understand. Let me leave you with these Pastafarian words of wisdom:
Arrrgh, matey!
Aug 222005
I’m off to Duluth to give a presentation at a conference. I’m staying overnight, so I’ll be back tomorrow afternoon. I leave you with some uber-cool pictures of the 2005 Harbin Snow and Ice World festival in China. Enjoy. Remember, only four months until winter in the Northern Hemisphere.
Aug 212005
Yesterday, I had a contractor here to discuss flooring options for my condo. He was really pushing me to go with laminate because he said it would best resist scuffling from my wheelchair. I’m sure laminate looks fine, but I’m more inclined to go with a more eco-friendly material like bamboo. When I mentioned bamboo, he kind of poo-poohed it and said that it wouldn’t hold up. But everything I’ve read indicates that bamboo is quite durable. If you have bamboo floors in your own home, I’d be interested in hearing your views on the matter.
Aug 202005
City Pages, the local weekly paper, has a profile of Johana Schwartz. Johana is a Stanford graduate with cerebral palsy who recently moved to Minnesota from California. She has a degree in Irish literature, which means she probably read Ulysses; a task that requires more endurance than I have. Johana has lots of nice things to say about Minnesota summers. I wonder if she’ll be as enthusiastic about our winters. I have to say the tone of the article did bother me a bit. The writer seems to spend a lot of time dwelling on Johana’s physical state and how dependent she is on others. But maybe that’s just me. Johana herself sounds like a fascinating person.
Thanks to everyone who gave me suggestions on a notebook computer. I’ll pass them on to my brother.
Aug 192005
The looming mechanics strike at Northwest Airlines, which is looking like a virtual certainty tonight, is dominating the news around here. Northwest is a major economic player in the Twin Cities and the vast majority of flights from here are on Northwest planes. I’m not sure how my own flight plans will be affected if there is a strike. Northwest is vowing to continue regular operations through a strike. But if lots of flights get canceled or delayed, that might force the federal government to intervene. I’m reluctant to make arrangements with another airline simply because Northwest has always been accommodating to my needs. Perhaps Northwest has always planned on using a strike to bust the union, which is unfortunate. The airline unions have spent decades ensuring good pay and benefits for their members, but 9/11 revealed the shaky underpinnings of the airline economies. And now the unions are forced to accept deep wage cuts, job losses, or both. No matter what the unions do, they lose. Organized labor is in such a fractured state already; an unsuccessful mechanics strike will only make matters worse.
Aug 182005
I thought this report on the FCC’s failure to promote the spread of broadband Internet access in the U.S. illustrates the current Administration’s lack of vision in terms of domestic policy. According to the report, the U.S. ranks 16th worldwide in the number of broadband subscribers per 100 inhabitants. It also points out that the FCC can exaggerate the number of broadband connections by defining “broadband” as anything 200kbps or faster. That’s barely four times faster than a dial-up connection. But yet many telephone companies are able to sell DSL connections at this speed and convince people that they’re buying “broadband” service. Meanwhile, the French can buy 15 Mps service for $38 a month. I’m paying almost $50 for a 4 Mbps connection.
We badly need a national broadband policy. But instead what we get are state laws banning municipal wifi networks and FCC rulings that weaken consumer choice. Yes, we’re a big country with lots of rural areas. But we don’t seem to have a problem giving everyone access to a bazillion TV channels. If Joe Sixpack in Nowhere, Kansas can get seven HBO channels, why the hell can’t he get a decent Internet connection?
Aug 172005
While I’m in Paris, I’d like to fall in love with a geeky French girl who thinks my American accent is kinda cute and who will take me into a solitary corner of Shakespeare & Company and kiss me with one warm hand behind the nape of my neck. See that it happens, will you?
Aug 162005
I’ve previously mentioned my involvement in efforts to launch a media corporation focusing on disability issues and featuring pieces produced by and starring people with disabilities. I’d like to direct you to the official website for PWdBC, the People With disabilities Broadcast Corporation. It launched a few weeks ago and you’ll find my name listed under the Board of Advisors. It’s a concept that is still in its formative stages, but you’ll find our business plan on the website as well as an open solicitation for resumes and programming ideas. Keep in mind that PWdBC doesn’t have any funding yet, but I think it’s safe to say that we’ve had a few nibbles of interest from assorted parties. Howard Renesland, the Visionary-In-Chief for PWdBC, has put in hundreds of hours into making this idea a reality and he deserves a lot of credit for keeping his eyes on the prize in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. We continue to believe that there’s a market for such a channel, not to mention a lot of untapped and underutilized talent. The Screen Actors Guild recently released a report stating that performers with disabilities are vastly underrepresented in mainstream media. While we certainly don’t want our channel to become the disability ghetto of the media spectrum, we do think it could be a showcase for all kinds of talent that isn’t getting any exposure in the current media conglomerates. And if we’re successful, it might give show the other networks how negligent they’ve been in ignoring this segment of the population.
I’ll keep you posted on the progress of PWdBC. And if there are certain types of programming you’d like to see on a disability-themed channel, send them to me and I’ll pass them on to Howard.
Aug 152005
My brother wants to buy a new notebook computer and he’s asking me for advice. He wants something that is light but nothing in a subcompact model. I’m not going to recommend any Apple models because of their impending switch to Intel processors. Otherwise, I would wholeheartedly endorse a Powerbook, so I don’t want any nasty comments from Apple partisans. I was thinking about the Dell D600 or the IBM Thinkpad, but this is only after a cursory glance at some hardware reviews. If you have a favorite model that you want to pitch, let me know.
I had originally reserved a van and driver for each day I’m in Paris, mostly because I wasn’t certain how much I would need it. But as I look more closely at where I’ll be staying, I realize I can walk to most of the big attractions. I’ll only use a van for a couple days to see Versailles and Sacre Coeur/Montmartre, thereby saving myself a considerable amount of money. I’m not too worried about Berlin. My brother has told me that most of the S-Bahn and U-Bahn is accessible. When the Allies were bombing the piss out of the city sixty years ago, they probably didn’t realize that all of the subsequent rebuilding would create a more accessible city.