I'm a lasagna boy!

This is the dawning of the year of the languages

The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages has hopefully designated this year
The Year of Languages. From what I see, hear, and read, American's ain't not too good with our own language (cheap shot): we read less, read material of "lesser quality", and rely more on our single language to communicate rather than learn the languages of others.

Adventures underground

I picked up a copy of Randy Kennedy's Subwayland; this book collects his excellent column from the New York Times, which came to an end last year.

Bollocks to your hybrid

Although hybrids are all cool, what with Hyperion offering its employees a cash incentive to purchase 'em, you still cannot drive a hybrid in the high-occupancy vehicle lane, which is good news in my book.
The HOV lanes should encourage congestion reduction and emission reduction, not only the latter. Why choose? Legislate in favour of both. And offering employees an incentive to get another car encourages more short-term thinking: provide shuttles for the employees, provide incentives to cycle or walk to work, give them bus passes, but don't encourage more consumption of new vehicles.

She is certain she has never smoked tobacco.

Tongue-twisters in 105 different languages (including an example in Gujarati), although not all in the correct alphabet. Some are just silly.
Bonus points: showing the correct character-set for each example; showing the region where the language is spoken; providing a phoenetic rendition of each. Despite being a .de site, this seems aimed at English-speakers.

Get the audience in action!

From Audience in Action (I can't help it: the name reminds me of a song):

Dear Castro Supporters,

We need people out in front of the Castro Theatre from January 1-5, at each showtime, to let the Castro owners know they've made a big mistake in firing Anita Monga and messing with a one-of-a-kind San Francisco treasure. Now is the time to show your support! It could make a big difference.

While in both private conversations and media interviews owner Ted Nasser has continued to claim that there will be no change in the kind of films the Castro shows, his actions have contradicted his words at every turn. A few examples of the Castro's new direction:

--In a recent San Francisco Bay Guardian interview (http://www.sfbg.com/39/12/x_script_doctor.html), LA-based booker Richard Blacklock, who was hired to replace veteran programmer Anita Monga, admitted that he works primarily with first-run theatres and that the Castro is the only repertory theatre he's booking for.

--The new Castro theatre website (http://www.castrotheatresf.com) shows other changes in the wind. While the Castro has always been available for rental for film festivals and special events, it's now being offered for weddings, bar mitzvahs, graduation ceremonies, plays, fashion shows, fund raisers, photo shoots, and more. Films are no longer of primary importance at what has been called by some "the finest cinema in the United States."

For these reasons and more we need to continue our fight to save the Castro Theatre. If we can hurt the owners in their pocketbook, maybe they'll see the error of their ways.

That's why we're asking everyone who cares about the fate of the Castro to spend a few hours from January 1st through 5th picketing. It's a great opportunity to continue educating the community about why a good programmer is necessary to preserve the cultural treasure that the Castro has been for the past 28 years; it's a chance to keep our cause visible and in the news; it's a time to get together with other film lovers who feel passionate about preserving the Castro.

Please reply to this email with your availability for any of the movie times below. Please include your phone number--we will only use it to remind you of your shift. To picket one screening will take less time than a feature film. You'll need to show up about 45 minutes before showtime, and be prepared to stay about half an hour after the show begins. Bring a friend, bring your passion--signs and fliers will be provided. However much or little you can do will make a difference.

Showtimes:
January 1st - 1:30, 4:15, 7, & 9:35
January 2d - 1, 4:15, & 7:30
January 3rd - 7:30
January 4th - 7:30
January 5th - 2, 4:30, 7, & 9:30

Can't picket? Don't worry there are other ways you can help! We need people to drop off fliers at theatres and video stores around the Bay Area and help spread the word. We're also looking for folks who can help make copies, or donate a few dollars to help pay for the sign materials and copies we've made. Drop us an email at rehireanita@yahoo.com and let us know what you can do.

Gary Meyer (of the The Balboa Theatre) has some thoughts on the matter; he and the Balboa have stepped in to take over some of the orphaned Castro series.

London to a brick, the web reveals all

At the espresso machine, Peter told me that having my work schedule would make him downright ropeable. Imagine my surprise when, having taken a look-see on Google for the definition, I found nowt. Eventually, the web revealed that "ropeable" means "angry, irritable". He also pointed me to this site of Australian slang, which reminded me of Ben Schott's "perilously close to useful (sic)" Schott's Original Miscellany.

Donate to the Red Cross

Amidst all this disaster, I was again cheered yesterday when I realised that my employer matches my charitable donations.

Flash fun

Thanks to the Deadly Dragon Sound System, I discovered the dub flash games at Infinite Wheel. Whee! And while we're talking of Flash and accents, how 'bout the blaspheming Scots in Chunk Ideas' Snowball?

These are the people that you meet Pt VIIa

Can you meet your neighbours online? And then in the 'hood qua hood?
I'll give an ice-cream cone to anyone who can tell me how Meet The Neighbors is better than -- or functionally different from -- putting up flyers in the lobby, on the corner telephone pool, or sitting on the stoop and hollering at people who walk past.

Meet The Neighbors is not just a website - it's a call to action!  We provide the tools for you to take some very simple steps, right where you live, to create a vibrant, real-life community with the people you share the same walls and roof with.  We help YOU take these steps - but you actually have to take them if this is going to work for you."

Hmmm. I'm not convinced: I entered in a full-on 9-digit zipcode, and the system thinks I'm in the Upper Haight. For the love of mike, I'm even wearing my genuine Lower Haight cap, which you can't get online. As far as hoods go, I'd definitely draw a line between the patchouli-drenched, street-urchin-laden Upper Haight, and the vapour-inhaled-ganja-drenched, schizophrenic-vagrant-laden Lower Haight. Oh yeah, and we gots the hair salons and the Toronado. Beat that, you Amoeba-hustling, Jerry-Garcia-mourning Ashbury tourists.

I think I prefer the L B Jeffries approach to getting to know one's neighbours.

Graffiti / Archaeology

The archive at Graffiti Archaeology contains one of the most beautiful pieces of SF graf I've ever seen, of three elephants. Seismic construction to the 101 (overhead) and Mission Bay project (adjacent) probably obliterated it, but for many years it was visible just before the first Caltrain tunnel after the SF terminus, strangely permanent in the evanescent world of graffiti. "The tunnels in Leeds are perfect for dirt graffiti. All you need is a sock and an idea," says Moose on his web site (I can't find his web site, so I've linked to Google search results for [Moose graffiti]). Ah, graffiti! beloved graf, trendy "street art" (this last site has a terrific gallery of Barcelona murals, stencils, and collage) .

Turning your orbit around

The sure-fire, crowd-pleasing, rolling-around-in-tourist-dollars E-Embarcadero line is on hold, due to a budget shortfall. If I read my legislation correctly, this damn thing should already be operational.
Although this streetcar service would provide a link between the ballpark and the Wharf, as well as a romantic ride down an aesthetically successful urban thoroughfare, MUNI won't take it on due to their $15 million budget shortfall -- despite the fact that they'd get maintenance of the rolling stock for free through the non-profit Market Street Railway.
MUNI has already proposed raising fares again, to $1.50; mix in an intrasigent Transport Workers Union, a clueless Board of Supervisors, and a constantly-changing service plan, and MUNI is on the route to disappointing San Francisco.

The E-Embcardero would have made use of $10 million from a state transportation measure to open a route that included Aquatic Park and the Fort Mason Tunnel.

What's in a name?

My name, for example, is an alias for the "Millionaire Marxist" Carlos the Jackal; the place-name of John's watering-hole: "And John also was baptizing in Aenon near to Salim, because there was much water there: and they came, and were baptized"; and, of course, it comes from the honourable Semitic root for peace, health.