Saturday, October 11, 2003
Smile, You're on the Internet
Here's a New York Times story on phone cameras and privacy issues worth reading. It mentions Buzznet. Here's the nut:
In recent weeks the devices have been banned from some federal buildings, Hollywood movie screenings, health club locker rooms and corporate offices. But the more potent threat posed by the phonecams, privacy experts say, may not be in the settings where people are already protective of their privacy but in those where they have never thought to care.
OpenHouseNewYork
The husband and I took advantage of OpenHouseNewYork today and toured the Grand Lodge of the Masons of New York. A couple hundred people were there. Not bad, considering I'm guessing it wasn't one of the most popular sites on the schedule.
Masons give little talks on different floors on the building and they surprisingly gave contradictory answers to frequent questions - like how many lodges there are in New York and when the building was constructed. (Sure you're not a secret society - wink wink.)
The building's pretty cool and as it turns out, every famous person who ever lived was actually a Mason.
As it turns out, the Mason tours are offered throughout the year -- Monday through Fridays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. so no need to cram it in this weekend. Tomorrow I'm going to try to at least get to the top of the arch at Grand Army Plaza for Day 2 of OpenHouseNewYork.
(No pictures from me this weekend. My Treo is supposed to arrive Monday.)
Friday, October 10, 2003
A Horn Honks in Brooklyn
Kevin at Forgotten NY e-mails me with some sage advice after my Park Slope vs. West Village list:
"A horn has not officially honked in Brooklyn unless it is held down a minimum of three seconds."
Ah, there is a solution.
www.honku.org
My Treo 600 Still 'Awaiting Shipping'
Handspring's shipping info page now says there is a wait for the Treo 600: "Due to high order volume, please allow up to 1 week for your order to ship." It's pretty far down the shipping page, ((if you reach it turing the ordering process,) so I'm not sure if that advisory was there on Wednesday night when I ordered. However, I wish I'd seen it before I agreed to pay $14.50 for "overnight." It also lists a few Treo 600 accessories coming soon: a portable keyboard; a USB docking cradle, a Treo double charge and Treo external battery, stereo headphones and car kits.
Thursday, October 09, 2003
Stickin' it to The Man
In School of Rock spirit, here's three ways to stick it to The Man today:
1. Read music critic Kate Sullivan's explanation of why music critics suck.
2. Check out CDBaby.com, a profitable company which only sells independently released music. Among its founding principles: Never sell out to corporate America. They'll soon carry the new Ken Layne & the Corvids offering.
3. Consult the Magnetbox RIAA Radar, which lists the top-selling CDs on Amazon that are not part of the Record Industry Association of America. (via Electrolite)
Wednesday, October 08, 2003
Tech Upgrades
Amy's New York Notebook now has fancy RSS/XML/whatever capability. Huge kudos to Choire at Gawker for the help!
In other upgrade news at Langfield Manor, I just spent more than half an hour on the phone with Sprint trying to order the new Treo 600. I was all squared away, and then the supervisor called me back to say they're no longer in stock and that I should go to a Sprint store to buy one - though they're not yet in the stores. They did however, still give me a $100 credit to my account for upgrading my service plan to Vision (for pictures) with the assumption I'm buying the new phone. (via Jeff Jarvis, Gizmodo and TreoCentral.)
UPDATE: Around midnight last night (very late Wednesday) I ordered a Treo 600 via Handspring's Web site. It's now about 18 hours later, and my order says "awaiting shipping" so I assume that means I'll have it Friday or Saturday since I paid extra for FedEx.
Remember the Lords of Bakersfield?
My hometown paper made a big splash in January when it ran a big package on the "Lords of Bakersfield" after deputy District Attorney Stephen Tauzer was murdered. Turns out that ex-cop Chris Hillis plead guilty to the crime this week, saying he went into a rage when Tauzer admitted to having a sexual relationship with Hillis' son.
The story is in the Bakersfield Californian. Here's the post I did for LA Examiner in January about the Lords of Bakersfield and here's the Californian's Lords package. Also a bit about the paper's publisher getting the E&P publisher of the year award after the stories came out.
Man Against Nature
Last night I read an LA Times story about a "self-taught bear expert" who was killed (along with his friend) in Alaska by bears - apparently after wildlife officials had warned him he shouldn't get so close to them.
You can now count on dozens of news outlets grouping this together with the Siegfried & Roy attack and the Harlem "Garden of Eden" guy as a lesson about how man shouldn't try to control beast.
Recall Coverage
Rough & Tumble has the roundup of all the coverage and links to the SFGate.com results page. Also, don't miss the recall map.
Paying the Man
Jeff Jarvis (who has had some success getting The Week to sell subscriptions by advertising on his blog links to an interesting post from Matt Haughey who explains how to blog for profit.
Mostly it has to do with advertising. And although many people are inclined to find ads annoying, I've been trying to support the sites I like by clicking through their ads about once a week. I discriminate a lot. If an ad hides text from me, has too much distracting action or is so busy it slows a page from loading, I won't click. But I think it's important to support the advertisers who are supporting a new medium.
Of course I'm biased on this since I have Blogads, an Amazon tipjar (new!) and Amazon Associates grub touted over in my right-hand column. So click not just my ads, but the ads on the sites you like - especially if they're giving you content for free.
However, here's an opposite thought. Last night my husband and I went to see School of Rock - which really, you all have to go see. When I bought the tickets ($10 each) I was handed a stack of advertisements - for eBay, PopSecret popcorn and Herbal Essences Highlights. Showtime was 6:35. We sat through a full 15 minutes of ads after that. It included a few movie previews, but about six or seven commercials for things such as Coke, Estee Lauder and some other random stuff. Made me think Loewe's could have had an empty movie theater but still made money selling ads. It just felt weird having to sit through the commercials after paying $10 to get in.
Will I be Voted Out of Park Slope?
Would you believe I got only one nasty e-mail from a Park Sloper in response to my post comparing my current neighborhood with my old West Village digs? Apparently I'm a snob, lack humility, and am "utterly pretentious and inexperienced." The unnamed letter writer touts some subway lines more than a 20 minute walk from me (4,5,N,R,F), and points out (correctly) that the monthly shift at the co-op is only a 3-hour shift. Also:
local celebrities
some of the musicians you haven't bumped into:
M'Shell Ndegeocello, Amel Larrieux of Groove Theory, Cecil Taylor, and the late Betty Carter
or some of the actors you haven't met out here:
Paul Calderon, Christopher Meloni, Lance Reddick, Chris Rock, Lawrence Fishburne, & Rosie Perez
*Two of these actors are members of the Food Co-op
And apparently there are no cockroaches in the letter-writer's neighborhood on 6th Avenue. Can that be true? Is there really a bug-free dwelling in all of New York?
How's About I Call You?
Dave Barry inconveniences the telemarketers by encouraging his readers to call the callers. (via Bloggity-Blog-Blog-Blog)
Tuesday, October 07, 2003
West Village vs. Park Slope
The Municipal Art Society is charging $45 for tonight's Manhattan vs. Brooklyn debate. But given the economy the way it is, who can afford that? So here's my low-rent version comparing my current Park Slope apartment with my former West Village walk-up.
Celebrity Sightings
West Village -- Gwyneth, Monica, Lou Reed, Moby, Sandra Bernhard, Michael Moore and Kristin Davis of Sex and the City.
Park Slope -- Kathryn Erbe of Law & Order Criminal Intent, a guy driving a yellow Hummer who looks like Ron Jeremy.
View from the Windows
West Village -- Empire State Building, Met Life building, New Jersey, giant cruise ships on the Hudson, Village rooftops including Donna Karan's roof garden across the street.
Park Slope -- Brownstones and the sight of parallel parkers whose methods include intentionally hitting the car in front, then back, then front, then back. ...
Mother Nature Nearby
West Village -- Hudson River
Park Slope -- Prospect Park, Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Things Likely Left in Apartment Lobby or Halls
West Village -- Used condoms, needles, cigar butts, menus.
Park Slope -- Baby strollers, menus.
Sidewalk etiquette
West Village -- We're-all-in-this-together attitude. Never walk more than two abreast so as to not force others off the curb.
Park Slope -- No-one-exists-but-me-and-the-five-people-I'm-walking-with attitude. Occasionally there might be only two of you on a block, but the other person stays about a foot-and-a-half from your heels.
Critter Watch
West Village -- Giant dinosaur-like Waterbugs drop by every few weeks to amuse the cat. Some are five-inches long, causing an otherwise mature woman to run from the kitchen and climb the furniture.
Park Slope -- Hundreds of extremely tiny cockroaches attack the kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and even the hallways. Cat dismisses them as too small to care. Everything must have its own Rubbermade container.
Transportation
West Village -- Taxis always available, 1/9 subway. Get anywhere in Manhattan in about 15 minutes.
Park Slope -- Get to Manhattan destinations in about 45 minutes. Taxi drivers mad when they have to take you to Brooklyn, speed back to Manhattan without picking up another fare. Car service wait can be over an hour on weekends. Both subways (Q and 2/3) lines out of service most weekends and after midnight.
Buying Fresh Produce
West Village -- Overpriced offerings at Gourmet Garage or pick through moldy offerings at D'Agostino.
Park Slope -- Saturday farmers market at Grand Army Plaza or join Park Slope Food Co-Op for beautiful and cheap organic goods likely grown within 500 miles of Brooklyn. However, co-op requires each member to work once a month and tolerate a handful of former-hippies who are anxious to tell you how to live your life despite the fact their car is double-parked in front of the fire station next door.
Drivers and Horn Abuse
West Village -- Typical New York
Park Slope -- What the hell? A month after we moved in, two separate cars slammed into the building across the street. School buses tear up and down the streets like they're running from the cops. Everyone "blocks the box." Horn-honking is aggressive and competitive. A horn has not officially honked in Brooklyn unless it is held down a minimum of three seconds. Extra points if you can get at least three other drivers to join your chorus. Best used when drivers ahead completely unable to move because other drivers have blocked the box and can't move either due to a red light more than a block away. Repeat at every intersection.
Laundry
West Village -- Drop off/pick up at Charles Street laundry where the West Village "mayor" will fill you in on every bit of gossip about the neighborhood and answer all your downtown questions.
Park Slope -- $2.50 per load in the basement.
What Residents Say
West Village -- "I hear Park Slope's supposed to be nice, but I've never been."
Park Slope -- "I'm so glad I left Manhattan."
WSJ on 'Groping Allegations'
The Wall Street Journal carries a story today about the LA Times and how the Arnold groping stories are damaging its reputation. The tone of the story is that the LA Times had a very bad reputation in the 1990s, then it hired a new editor who recruited a lot of New York Times people, but now the LAT has gone and blown it with the Arnold coverage.
The lede by the way, refers to the "'groping' allegations" although it acknowledges deep in the story that the candidate has admitted at least some of the incidents. So when do they stop becoming "allegations," WSJ? And why is "groping" in quotes?
My point, which I made a few days ago, is not whether Californians should vote for this guy - but that most media outlets are choosing to gloss over just how crude some of his remarks were.
Variety Blogs
L.A. Observed points out that Variety now has two blogs and they're looking to start more. One of the blogs is authored by my friend Jim Hames, who I worked with at the LA Daily News several years ago. His "Outside the Box" column consists of some funny banter about the weird promotional items people mail to Variety.
Jim, by the way, has one of my favorite wedding stories. He and his wife Chris wanted to say their "I do's" at the UCLA Sculpture Garden. Unfortunately, UCLA doesn't allow weddings there. Undaunted, Jim and Chris sent their guests to the sculpture garden with instructions to look at art until precisely the right time when they would all suddenly gather at the appointed spot - along with the stealthy minister - and take part in a short ceremony and disperse. An early Flashwed?
Monday, October 06, 2003
Touring Secret New York - for Free
Manhattan Users Guide flags the upcoming OpenHouseNewYork which will allow all us in the unwashed masses to get into places normally off limits. Among the places you can tour this weekend are the insides of the Washington Square Arch, City Hall/Tweed Courthouse, Gracie Mansion, the roof of the Grand Army Plaza arch, the Grand Hall of Masons and the grounds of the Roosevelt Island Smallpox Hospital.
Update: Looks like London does the same thing on an annual basis, according to my friend Jonathan Oatis who used the occasion last month to tour BBC headquarters, the Australian Embassy and the Banqueting Hall in Whitehall. Jolly good show.
Bring in the Clowns
Public Radio International's morning Marketplace report - which I like to think of as the business report for people who don't understand business and don't want to - today did a feature about the California recall "circus" by interviewing only people who work as clowns.
With a List that Long ...
My 7-year-old stepson stayed with us over the weekend and yesterday we got to talking about the California recall election after Gray Davis appeared on TV. I handed him a copy of the sample ballot - which my good friend Kerri mailed to me a few weeks ago. He looked at the huge list of names on the ballot and his first question was: "Is there anyone we know?"
Alligators in the Sewers, Tigers in Harlem
A 400-pound Bengal-Siberian tiger was found living in a fifth-floor Harlem apartment. Gothamist has a roundup of the reports.
Sunday, October 05, 2003
Arnold and Degrees of Harassment
If you haven't read the LA Times' Thursday story about the Arnold "groping" incidents, you should. The summaries you've been reading don't do it justice. I only read the story because Matt Welch quoted one of the most raunchy lines from the story. So raunchy, that most papers won't print it.
But the thing that's important here - and a lot of men don't understand this - is that there's a difference between a little groping that can be misconstrued as "playful" and actually saying something really dirty to a woman you barely know. And he did it not just to women he barely knew, but women who were often working at the time so they were supposed to shrug it off.
I'm pretty certain the female Arnold supporters wouldn't be saying "he can grope me" if they read the full Times story.
For me, these are the lines that really cross the line:
"Have you ever had a man slide his tongue in your [anus]?"
'I want you to go in the bathroom, stick your finger in your [vagina], and bring it out to me.' "
In the comments section over on Matt's posts, Henry Copeland writes: "What started out sounding like it could be a long-shot hit job strung together from anonymous sources and a couple of wackos ended up giving you the feeling you really knew Arnold... and didn't like him."
The L.A. Times has said they weren't fed the story by the Davis camp, but what I'd like to see is for them to explain, as soon as possible, how they developed the story and why the timing is the way it is. I suspect the women in the story aren't unlike Anita Hill -- in that they didn't feel pressured to tell their stories publicly until the offender was likely to fill a high office. Here's another: Maj. Gen. Larry G. Smith was up for the Army's deputy inspector general job - giving him full oversight into investigations of sexual harassment. That's when Lt. Gen. Claudia Kennedy, the Army's highest ranking female, said he kissed her against her will in her office several years earlier. He decided to retire.
So my guess is that these women had these troubling Arnold incidents and told their friends, who told other friends over the years. As Arnold shoots up the polls, more people start talking about those old stories and instead of being an incident or two, it starts to feel like a pattern. So the Times tells all its reporters to start asking their friends if they've heard these things - still not sure if it will turn into a story. But they get six women to go on the record - with pretty consistent stories and each has friends to support the women were offended by it at the time and talked about it.
This also reminds me of the Demi Moore movie "Disclosure" where she sexually harasses Michael Douglas and he complains to his unsympathetic wife after he admits to getting sexually involved with his boss. The wife says something like, women are sexually harassed all the time, but we ignore it. And he's so surprised. Women do put up with a lot and ignore a lot. And it's a whole lot of trouble to file charges over something that is merely humiliating, rather than a full-blown rape or something that actually caused you to lose your job. So I find it perfectly reasonable that these women are only speaking now, after the latest polls show there's a good chance this guy might become governor of a state with the fifth-largest economy in the world.
I don't usually rant about politics in this blog - but I'm making an exception here because I think this is a problem of journalism. The Times did a good story, but they're letting it be undercut by not fully explaining how they developed the story. Normally, they shouldn't have to do it, but it's important now, before the Tuesday election. Also, I think it's a failure of other media outlets to summarize the LA Times story as he "touched them sexually against their will or otherwise humiliated them." I suggest reporters should use terms such as graphic, lewd, raunchy, raw or obscene to give readers a better sense of the degree of what was said if they are too uncomfortable running the full quotes.
More women come forward with similar stories in today's LA Times.
Boswell and the Fresno Bee
My dad just sent me a link to a huge Boswell package the Fresno Bee did. The whole package is still online - with a 1999 copyright. It's called "King of Kings" - as a reference to Kings County. The new Boswell book by the LA Times guys is called "King of California."
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