Writing Prompt

The other day, K and I were near Counterpulse in SF. Parked in a side street off Mission between 9th and 10th, one that functions a bedroom and bathroom for some of the denizens of SOMA. On the sidewalk next to where we parked, lay a pink pair of underwear and black sweats. From the arrangement of the clothes, it looked as if they had been worn and taken off in haste. There was no bare bottomed individual in sight, so either she ( I am assuming she because the underwear is pink, but in SF you can never tell) ran away bare bottomed or put on another pair or pants. Not being in the market for used pink underwear and sweats I let sleeping dogs lie, or sitting pants lay or...

The next day we parked on that street again. The sweats were gone, but the panties still there.

Mom and...

Here are some photos and a videoclip of a performance installation K and I did on Monday the 21st of April, 2008. It took us over 14 hrs of set up time. Blowing up balloons took a lot longer than I had imagined. Especially when you only have one hand pump. I bought a second one to use in the last few hours before the piece ran. The location of the performance was the San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery @ 155 Grove Street. I was asked by the group Kunsole to do something there. One of the members of Kunsole, Roddy, created a sound piece he played during our performance. He places mikes in contact with the tape wall to pick up the sounds of the balloons, which were integrated into his score. The music was then piped out to the sidewalk.

Initially I purchased 2500 balloons online, but they arrived a day late, so I had to find enough balloons in town to do the piece. Turns out I had more than enough. The limiting factor was time. And because time was limited, we had to limit the space that we could fill with balloons. Further evidence of how time and space are inextricably linked. Next time, and I hope to do this or a version of it again, we will use an electric air pump.

Popping balloons is a very satisfying sensation!

Bush on Earth Day

Looks like Georgie and some cronies is shoveling more shit on Earth Day. What exactly is his environmental record?

Here's some info. And here. And here. And here.

The list goes on and on.

"What the Fuck" File # 14

You know it's good sex when...

you pull something.

The Damned Don't Cry

The clip above is from the noir film "The Damned Don't Cry" starring Joan Crawford. It's an okay flick, kept waiting for the titular line, but it never came. The clip above is from the end of the movie when the shit hits the fan. The bad guy kills the other bad guy. There's a great roll and flip over a staircase.

Who says parkour started in France?

Hold With the Open Hand

read it here

The Torch Relay is stupid

The torch is winding its way to Beijing. It was recently in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan.

"Instead of being paraded down Islamabad's leafy main boulevard from the presidential palace and other streets, it will now circulate around the Jinnah sports stadium in the capital, watched by 8000 handpicked guests."

How fucked up is that?

Hand picked guests!?!!?! I thought the point of the relay is to share the joy of the Olympics with everyone, not just a select few. Why have the torch relay if no one can see it?

Even worse was in New Dehli - "...the relay [was] virtually closed off from public view except for the estimated 15,000 policemen who will line the road leading from the presidential palace to India Gate."

Doesn't anyone think that is retarded? Again I ask - why have the torch rally if the public cannot see it? How can China not think something is wrong if so many people are wrecking havoc or at least trying to? And why are people trying so hard to keep the tradition of the torch relay alive?

I say drop the relay. Why keep a tradition started by Hitler alive?

Berkeley Animal Rights Activists or Bomb McDonalds

"University seeks restraining order against protesters who rally outside of homes of researchers"

Animal rights activists have gotten rather rowdy lately, harassing professors who use animals in their research. I can't say that I am for using animals in research, not sure if it always that effective. But I am pretty sure that the protests are just further alienating the public from their cause.

The two most effective protesters to date - Gandhi and M.L.K. - were both non violent.

Look at Palestine and Israel - continual violence and no progress. Didn't the change happen in Ireland once people stopped bombing each other.

And maybe some good comes from animal testing. I am sure some vaccines and medical procedures have been discovered/invented as a result of animal testing.

Where the animal rights activists should put their energy is in fast food. No good comes out of that and the animals are treated far worse in industrial food making than in labs. Attacking professors in labs in too removed from the everyman. If activists put smoke bombs in fast food "restaurants" driving people away from KFC etc, they would get more of a reaction. People would begin to fear going to buy fast food.

Animal testing, while is such for the animals does some good. Fast food does no one any good. It just creates trash and type 2 diabetes.

Mission Accomplished: anagrams

Should have made these when this photo first came out. Timing is everything. Some of these make sense, some don't.

Learned Phrases for Social Interaction

Yesterday, I was at a friend's house working in his garage on a bench. The bench is almost done. Won't turn out as well as I had hoped, but that is another post. The house next to my friend, A.'s house is for sale. As I was grinding the bench, a man approached. Couldn't hear him as grinding is very loud and I was wearing hear plugs. Turns out he was the real estate agent for the house next door. He wondered if I was the owner of the truck that was in the driveway. Truck belonged to the pool guy, who was fixing A.'s pool. As the agent and I bumbled through the conversation about the truck driveway etc, he mentions the earplugs I was wearing-
"Smart idea to wear those. I used to be in a rock band and should have worn something like than when I was playing"

As the pool guy approached the agent asks him to move his truck and compliments him on his sunglasses. That compliment stuck out to me. Seemed forced, a concerted effort - Oh, now is when I insert a compliment to make this exchange smooth
It was as if the agent had learned a method of exchange with strangers - Engage, add compliment, get what you need. As if he were following a script he learned in a seminar.

Seemed like a dorky guy who somehow ended up in a social line of work. I would guess he is better at the paper work side of his job than the people work side of his job. Hope the seminar was worth the money.

Bones

Yesterday as I was on the roller and applying Traumeel, trying to fix my right knee, I was watching Bones on hulu.com. The show is okay, realizing that the earlier episodes are better than the later seasons (why is that with every show? Do the original writers get hired away? Do they run out of ideas?) Anyways...I was watching episode 104 - The Man in the Bear, which take place in Eastern Washington State. At 27:50 in the show is a shot of the forest and in the distance is a mountain that looks very similar to Half Dome in Yosemite, which in California.

Halliburton

I was recently in Houston. A fellow dancer who participated in March 2 Marfa, Leslie Scates organized the trip. She is a native Houstonian brought K, M and me out there. We taught 2 classes at the University of Houston - a contact class to the Modern 2 class and an improvisation/comp class to the comp class. Also performed at the Barnevelder Theater - Of No Relation III. Good show. Great reception, well not just the food and booze (!!!), but people's response. Better response there than in the Bay Area. Not sure why.

The title of this post is Halliburton. Last Friday as we were driving to the theater for tech/rehearsal, we passed a factoryesque building. The sign said Halliburton. An American flag was on the pole. The day was grey and rainy, overcast and muggy. Looking at the flag in the rain, I had the question of whether or not it is kosher to fly the flag in the rain. After digging around in the internet, I have found out that it is. Well, as long as the flag is an "all weather flag", whatever that is.

So my whole point about Halliburton, a huge beneficiary of the war in Iraq, displaying an American flag improperly, being a symbol of how conservatives have used patriotism and the war for their real purpose - profit - is out the window unless the flag flying over that Halliburton factory in Houston is not an all weather flag.

From the sad state it was in, I would say it was not.

To be a Republican you need to believe:

1. Jesus loves you, and shares your hatred of homosexuals and Hillary Clinton.

2. Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armed him, a bad guy when Bush's Daddy made war on him, a good guy when Cheney did business with him, and a bad guy when Bush needed a "we can't find Bin Laden" diversion.

3. Trade with Cuba is wrong because the country is Communist, but trade with China and Vietnam is vital to a spirit of international harmony.

4. The United States should get out of the United Nations, and our highest national priority is
enforcing U.N. resolutions against Iraq.

5. A woman can't be trusted with decisions about her own body, but multinational drug corporations can make decisions affecting all mankind without regulation.

6. The best way to improve military morale is to praise the troops in speeches, while slashing
veterans' benefits and combat pay.

7. If condoms are kept out of schools, adolescents won't have sex.

8. A good way to fight terrorism is to belittle our longtime allies, then demand their cooperation and money.

9. Providing health care to all Iraqis is sound policy, but providing health care to all Americans
is socialism. HMO's and insurance companies have the best interests of the public at heart.

10. Global warming and tobacco's link to cancer are junk science, but creationism should be taught in schools.

11. A president lying about an extramarital affair is an impeachable offense, but a president lying to enlist support for a war in which thousands die is solid defense policy.

12. Government should limit itself to the powers named in the Constitution, which include banning gay marriages and censoring the Internet.

13. The public has a right to know about Hillary's cattle trades, but George Bush's driving record is none of our business.

14. Being a drug addict is a moral failing and a crime, unless you're a conservative radio host. Then it's an illness and you need our prayers for your recovery.

15. Supporting "Executive Privilege" for every Republican ever born, who will be born or who might be born (in perpetuity.)

16. What Bill Clinton did in the 1960's is of vital national interest, but what Bush did in the '80's is irrelevant.

17. Support for hunters who shoot their friends and blame them for wearing orange vests similar to those worn by the quail.