Saturday, December 27, 2003
An Ounce of Prevention
Am I the only one with about zero sympathy for the cattle producers of the United States and Canada right now? I'm absolutely shocked neither country requires the cattle ranchers to track where all their cows and all their feed come from. Didn't they pay attention to England and the other countries dealing this in the past two decades? Twice the Brits have had to slaughter something like every friggin cow on the island because of bovine cooties. It's not like this is uncharted territory. The NYT today (whose stories I thought were hugely lacking) mentioned that New Zealand and a few other unnamed countries require the ranchers to tag and track each cow. But that's it. Economy wrecking to follow. Possibly rightly so.
Friday, December 26, 2003
Orange-Plus
Unfortunately there may be a good reason we're at the high alert level again. Apparently Osama is planning a "back-breaking attack" by February and may include a series of strikes on the United States and other countries.
'Wonderful' Links
Just some quick links for you today:
Bedford Falls = Encino, Calif.
A fire yesterday killed the basement-apartment resident of 14 Gay Street, the place prominently featured in "Wonderful Town," currently in revival on Broadway. Coincidentally, the New York Times Real Estate section last weekend did a two-part story on the victim, his landlord and the history of the place. I read the whole package last weekend; it's one of those fact-is-better-than-fiction tales that worth a read.
Wednesday, December 24, 2003
Planes, Planes and Cows
Heck if this isn't shaping up to the be news-iest Christmas Eve in a long time. All those Paris-LAX flights canceled, the mad cow madness only beginning and now some sort of security breach at La Guardia's Delta terminal so everyone is getting re-screened. You'd think we should be getting a freak NorEaster right about now, huh?
The story I find most intriguing this afternoon is this UPI story about how the US Dept. of Agriculture has ignored since July the news agency's Freedom of Information Act request to see all documents relating to its inspection of 20,000 cows in the United States in 2002 and 2003. Interesting timing.
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad Cow
I predict that loads of New Year's Resolution lists will include "become a vegetarian" or at least "stop eating beef - forever" as a direct result of the mad cow in Washington state. Just watch.
Tuesday, December 23, 2003
The Desire Outlives the Performance
Was it Shakespeare who said "you snooze, you lose"?
Just called to see if I could get tickets for "Henry the IV" and found out it's entirely sold out until the end of the run.
Monday, December 22, 2003
Paso Hit
Wow, unfortunately Paso Robles got hit pretty hard by the quake. I lived there when I was 3 years old and housing tracts were going up all over the place. I just had a look at the Yahoo slideshow and was pretty floored the town got hit so hard.
And yes, it's bad California Spanish so the town's name is pronounced Paso Ro-bulls.
Earlier today I was e-mailing with a friend in California about how all the wineries around there may end up with thousands of crushed bottles and she said it would make wine prices go up. Little did we know the damage was severe enough to result in two deaths.
My Blogfather
Check out my dad's blog (really) and his post about John Hanson, America's first president. Dad's also anxious for people to leave him comments so have at it folks.
An Ode to the USGS
How can you not love the USGS? I'm watching the news conference on CNN right now and am reminded of how many times I've watched these earthquake press conferences during my life. Always they are brilliant. Forever patient with the same dumb questions over and over again. They explain the science tremendously well -- the guy today is using references ranging from Charles Darwin to Jell-O -- and they are above all reassuring. Total pros. I remember Lucy Jones - who is quoted in some quake stories today - was the main media contact during one swarm of quakes when I was high school I think. I remember one pre-dawn quake she did the entire press conference with her sleeping toddler clutching at her as she reeled off all the latest earthquake stats with her routine professionalism and a smile.
I always figured these quake geologist were not-so-secretly giddy every time there was a big event because it meant new cool data and an opportunity to educate people about what they do.
Hello Gawkers
Welcome gawkers who have come to read me bagging on Daily Candy. I was gone for a few hours and come back to find a preponderance of visitors from servers with flashy names such as timeinc, nytimes, weiderpub and randomhouse. You'd think they'd be busy finishing up their online shopping on the company dime this afternoon.
I should point out to you gawkers that the e-mail I got from Daily Candy explaining their subtle advertorial policy is from February. I have no idea if they've changed their policy since then, though frankly, I don't care. If they were that fuzzy earlier this year about how to mark a product as paid advertising, they shouldn't be running around a few months later bragging about their integrity, even if it's just to the New York Post.
If you still need more, read what Time Out NY had to say about Daily Candy in April.
Calif. Quake
Would you believe LATimes.com already has a wire story up on the quake? However, you can only see the headline unless you're a registered member. Cheap. (Same thing with the Ventura County Star.) You can at least read the news from the Tribune in San Luis Obispo, though it's only an AP story now.
Just got off the phone with my dad in Bakersfield - who is divided from the epicenter by a mountain range - and he said the water in the swimming pool started sloshing out, but not until five minutes after the temblor. It usually starts while the shaking's still going on. The quake itself didn't feel very strong there, he said. Odd.
Man, I miss KNX right now.
A Dodger Fan Undecided on Nets
I haven't posted a thing yet about this whole stadium proposal for Brooklyn because I haven't made up my mind about it. But I finally realized I'm not likely to make up my mind anytime soon. So here's where I am now.
We live maybe a mile away from the site - though it's not like "a mile" in other cities. It's two full subway stops away and a completely different mindset from surrounding neighborhoods. That intersection of Flatbush and Atlantic is a zoo -- both above ground and below in the subways. Driving, walking or transferring trains is a total mess and has been I suspect for many years before I ever moved out to Brooklyn. Buildings torn down, ugly ones going up, massive construction equipment haphazardly blocking lanes of an already chaotic, sprawling intersection, random re-routing of trains with no warning to passengers. I read a few weeks ago that the subway and LIRR renovation for that station isn't going to be complete for 10 years -- and that's if the new basketball stadium isn't built.
I don't usually come down on the NIMBY side of the fence, but I've got to admit that my very first reaction to the proposal was: THERE? You must be kidding. It's already a mad house.
But I'm willing to consider that the stadium could bring positive change. Plus, I grew up as an LA Dodgers fan, so I appreciate the location's historic yearning for a sports complex there. Watching.
Born at the Right Time
There's a good story in the New Yorker this week about the death of poet Federico Garcia Lorca during the Spanish Civil War from 1936 to 1939. The writer sets out with volunteers who are locating and exhuming some of the mass graves of the 30,000 victims never found. A volunteer with the Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory is asked why he devotes so much time to the cause. His answer has been playing through my head this weekend:
It's a bit difficult to explain. My ideas are exactly the same, I think, as those of most of the people buried here, and I always thought that if I had the ill fortune of having been born then, I would have ended up buried in a ditch.
Sunday, December 21, 2003
Netflix vs. Tivo
So here's a question for my financial-minded friends and Tivo-addict friends. How in the world can Netflix be a $50 stock?
We've happily been using Netflix since August and have been recommending it to friends. However, it was pointed out to me by some smart friend (and my apologies, I can't recall who it was) that DVD renting will go away as soon as everyone gets comfortable with movies on demand.
Time Warner is already making it hard not to get on board with all the new technology. They even have their new Tivo-like product that's only an extra $6 a month over digital, so the only hurdle is actually showing up to the cable company and swapping your cable box (or they'll deliver for $30.)
So basically everyone is going to have a TV/DVR type thing within what, five years, right? And as soon as they get comfortable watching things on demand, there's no need for Netflix, right?
So who's bidding this stock up to $50? It's only good if some major company is foolish enough to buy them out and then realize two years later that they have to write off the loss. Am I missing something? Is there a long-term plan?
It's a Bakersfield Thing
If you've spent any time driving the 99 in the Central Valley, check out the graphic atop Bryan Bell's blog.
Tony the Shipbuilder
Tony Pierce re-launches lick magazine (sex drugs rock) with these words:
this year im not going to wait for my ship to come in. thats for suckas.
this year im gonna make my own ship.
Words to live by, Tony.
Not Your Daddy's Business Card
Tired of explaining to strangers - and your friends - exactly what your blog is? Hugh MacLeod jumps onto the table and offers up the very savvy Blog Cards. I'm ordering some as soon as I can come up with a pithy phrase to fill up the other nine lines after I've said www.amylangfield.com.
Holiday Threat
Hmmm, so watching Tom Ridge this afternoon raising the terrorism threat level, I was thinking ABC looks smart right now. On Friday, ABC and ABC alone, I think, said there was a new risk of a female suicide bomber in NYC. Since they were alone on it all day, I figured they may have exaggerated a report that only had limited credibility. But then when Ridge's press conference started Sunday afternoon I started thinking how convenient that the news came today - pretty much at the conclusion of the last massive ka-ching ka-ching holiday spending weekend of the year. Could have made a big difference to retailers had Ridge announced Friday instead of today that we are now at risk for an attack that could "rival or exceed" Sept. 11.
I'm not saying they intentionally held off on the news, but if you believe the administration made the EPA lie to NYC residents about the air quality at Ground Zero immediately after the attacks, it's not so hard to believe that today's announcement was intended for Friday.
Enough about the timing. I know most people don't like thinking about Go Bags and such, but it is a good thing to make sure you have enough batteries on hand as well as about $50 in small bills in case your ATMs take a holiday. You can pretend you're just preparing for a power outage instead.
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