July 2006
All entries and daily links from July 2006.
Gays and Galactica
Monday, July 31, 2006 at 10:07am 0 comments
Battlestar Galactica's Ron Moore does a lot of Q&A in his posts to the official blog for the series. In his latest post, Moore talks about gays, or the lack thereof, in the series...
[Question:] ...so far that there are no gay characters on Battlestar Galactica. I'm just wondering if it's the case that homosexuality doesn't exist in the world of Battlestar, or it does exist, there are gay characters, and it just hasn't been discussed because it isn't relevant toward the plot[?] ...
[Answer:] ... I think homosexuality definitely exists in the world of Galactica, ... It's something that gets talked about internally periodically, but so far there hasn't been a good story or character arc or scene that's seemed like a good way to establish the fact without really hanging a big neon sign out that says, "See, we're doing a gay theme now!" ...
My first reaction was, jokingly, Galactica has primarily focussed on the military, maybe the 12 Colonies have their own "don't ask, don't tell" policy? I've never expected to see gay characters in Galactica, we've seen little enough of the civilian population without going even deeper into a minority group. Unless perhaps one of the surviving ships in the fleet was the 12 Colonies version of an Atlantis Cruise.
I'm a bit surprised the writing team has considered it more than once.
I think a problem for any show trying to introduce a gay theme or character is that it's hard to do with just one character. For homosexuality to be relevant to the story, you would really need a love interest. Galactica's love triangles and relationships are so complicated already, plus the sci-fi element, even a well done gay plotline would probably be too much for most people to follow.
You Can't Market Your Way Out of a Paper Bag
Thursday, July 27, 2006 at 8:07pm 0 comments
Through
I managed to sit through the hole thing without falling asleep, and realized it could have been an ad for just about any new technology or software. It's so generic the "future of entertainment" looks like it could equally be a new intel chip or a redesign of the MSN home page.
I think this is pretty typical for technology companies, who don't seem to realize as other than the techies, most people aren't going to get all warm and fuzzy over just having the fastest processor or latest version of their operating system. They get warm and fuzzy over what it buys them. Better communications with friends and family, higher resolution internet porn, or whatever.
I'm tired of seeing an ethnically diverse group of different age brackets looking excitedly into their screen. We've been seeing these sort of technology ads for a decade now. Get back to me when you're ready to show me what they're looking at.
Riding Off Into The Sunset
Wednesday, July 26, 2006 at 5:07pm 2 comments
Would it sound wrong to say I'd injured my feet so I went cycling?
Yesterday afternoon, I was feeling guilty for wanting to skip yoga. I hadn't done any real exercise in a week, so I felt I needed to do something. I'm still recovering from a sports injury to my foot and the pressure yoga would have placed on it was not tempting.
I've developed tendonitis in my left foot from cycling (at least I feel athletic because I can call it a sports injury) but I've set it off again three times just walking for a long time. Each time it takes a few weeks for the pain to entirely go away during which it can be painful just on a short walk to the Muni Metro station.
So after debating if I should or shouldn't go to yoga, I decided to go on a bike ride of all things. My roommate Walter came home and started changing into cycling gear, I asked where he was riding to, then asked if he'd mind company.
"What about your foot?" he asked. Special inserts for my cycling shoes molded to my feet have made riding much more comfortable than walking. I'm waiting now on another set for my regular shoes.
So as the sun was setting we headed across the Golden Gate Bridge to the Marin Headlands. We rounded a corner on the hill just in time to see the bright orange bridge bathed against the blue of the bay and San Francisco covered in fog behind.
It was one of those breathtaking moments which are why San Franciscan's love their city so much. That was the moment Walter had to make a joke "Why do you hate San Francisco so much Jamison?"
We road down to Rodeo Beach just as the sun was hitting the horizon and back just as it got dark. 22 miles in all and well worth it.
Mission Accomplished
Sunday, July 23, 2006 at 10:07am 0 comments
Remember when the President declared an end to major combat operations in Iraq?
Vilified
Saturday, July 22, 2006 at 10:07am 2 comments
I'm normally against graffiti, but on the metro ride home yesterday there was a sticker which made me laugh, and which I sort of hope was put on more than just the one car.
Please refrain from vilifying Muni
If you aren't familiar with Muni, the San Francisco Municipal Railway, they don't have a great reputation. Service is slow, trains and busses are often overcrowded or arrive in bunches of three after a long delay. It can take quite a long time to get anywhere because it seems like the bus is stopping on every single block. Sometimes the busses actually are stopping on every single block.
And that's Muni on a good day.
Then there are the bad days. The days when a line comes to a halt after an accident, or someone gets hit by a bus. Then there are the days like last wednesday when the entire metro system was shut down because of a bomb threat called in just after surface busses and trolley's had to be stopped because a woman ran in front of a bus and was hit. Even when it's not Muni's fault (and there is a lot to fault Muni for as it is) they usually end up getting blamed.
Thankfully it was a nice day and it was only a 45 minute walk home.
Los Angeles Express
Thursday, July 20, 2006 at 8:07am 9 comments
I've been hearing friends, fed up with long drives or the hassle of flying, suggest what we really need between SF and LA is a bullet train.
Few people seem to know just such a train has been in the works for the last decade. California High Speed Rail would make a trip to LA a 3:30 hour train ride for about $40. And yes, that sounds like it's going to take three times as long as flying, but factor in check in, getting through security, a wait in the terminal and then baggage claim and they turn out to be about the same.
The bullet trains would also arrive downtown, not a 20-30 minute drive from downtown San Francisco, at a new Transbay Terminal. Getting home from AIDS/LifeCycle last month meant a flight to Oakland Airport, the shuttle bus from the airport to the BART station, then a BART ride to San Francisco, then a transfer from BART to Muni at Embarcadero. With the bullet train, I'd arrive at the Transbay Terminal and just have to walk a block long tunnel to Muni to get home.
The bond measure to create California High Speed Rail has gotten bumped off the ballot a few times, but with gas now over $3 gallon the idea is getting more attention. Editorials in the LA Times, SF Examiner and this one in the Chronicle have been pointing out there simply is no room left to exand airports or widen freeways as California's population continues to increase.
Bullet trains have a well proven trackrecord in Japan, Europe (where Eurostar offers a 3:30 trip from London to Disneyland Paris as a weekend getaway) and even Mexico is building one. We have the ridership to make it feasable, even proffitable, and I'd like an easier way to make weekend trips to LA.
Brushes
Wednesday, July 19, 2006 at 8:07am 1 comments
My roommate's mother is a painter. Most the art hanging in our home is her work. Over the weekend, setting up for a pool party, I got see her studio. I don't know that I'd ever been in a painter's studio before this.
That's Not Seattle
Monday, July 17, 2006 at 8:07am 6 comments
I don't know if I've ever had a Jones Soda, but I've allways liked that in contrast to the colorful sodas, their labels use black and white photographs.
Getting ready for a pool party, my roommate and I went food and drink shopping saturday evening. I noticed something out of place when I walked by a sampler box of Jones Soda.
The photo is of Powell Street Station, a subway station here in San Francisco, I use nearly every day. Of all the photos to choose for a Seattle sampler, I'm surprised they didn't pick one a favorite Seatle landmark.
Flashback
Friday, July 14, 2006 at 4:07pm 0 comments
The human brain makes strange connections sometimes.
The other day, sitting in a trolley rolling down Market Street on my way to work, I had my iPod on shuffle and it started playing one of those songs you have such a strong connection to, you feel almost pulled back in time to feel that moment again.
It was our last night in camp on the AIDS/LifeCycle this year. The nightly announcements ended with a video from one of the event event sponsors, Subaru. I think it was supposed to be congratulating us, but I couldn't make out the voice over. I recognized the background music instantly, "Untitled 4" by Sigur Rós.
Even before it became connected to the AIDS/LifeCycle I considered it one of the most beautiful songs I'd ever heard. I remember my hair standing on end then.
A little food poisoning and a lot of depression left me feeling very disconnected from the community of the event. As the vocals began I started looking around the crowd.
I wanted desperately to feel some sense of connection and scanning the crowd I saw someone mouthing along with the vocals.
Yu silo
Yu silo
Yu silo no fi lo
Meaningless words given meaning. I felt less alone.
The 2016 Olympic Games
Tuesday, July 11, 2006 at 3:07pm 3 comments
San Francisco is one of the cities looking to host the 2016 Olympic Games and a Chronicle story today has some of the details which include a new stadium and building the Olympic Village in the former Hunter's Point Naval shipyard.
There's a poll along with the story asking if SF should be making a serious bid and I'm disappointed the majority voted "No, it's a huge waste of money". I don't think this should just be about money, because there's prestige that comes with hosting the olympics. For two weeks the entire world would focus on San Francisco.
Yes it will cost a lot of money, but the infrastructure built won't just disappear overnight. The Olympic Village will become housing, the press center would be housing in a new SF State complex already being considered and maybe we'd even see some Muni improvements along the way.
Aren't we supposed to be the city that knows how? This is an opportunity to make some major and lasting improvements (detoxing Hunters Point for starters) to our city and add to San Francisco's amazing history. I know Ydnar would like to see a velodrome too.
Driving on the Sidewalk
Friday, July 7, 2006 at 7:07am 1 comments
Yesterday morning the Muni Metro subway was creeping along so slowly I left the train a station early to walk the rest of the way.
A few blocks later a bike passed me close and quick on Market Street. It had a sign hanging off of it, "One Less Car"
Somehow I doubt he used to drive his car on the sidewalk.
Mac OS Wishlist
Monday, July 3, 2006 at 11:07am 1 comments
Next month, Apple will give developers their first public preview of the next major upgrade for Mac OS X, called Leopard. As ussual, there are rumors flying around about big new features like collaboration, video conferencing and it might even let you make free phone calls over the internet.
It's all just rumors for now, but big glossy features aren't what I really want to see out of Leopard. In past releases, Apple revamped some of the functions we use so often we don't even notice them such as printing and now we can take any document we've created in any application and turn it into a PDF or send it as a fax.
Many other everyday tasks could use this kind of attention.
Fonts
When Font Book was added in Panther it had fonts grouped by theme and allowed you to organize them into your own categories, but it began an ended with Font Book. No application has seems to have any idea I created groups of "headings" or "body type" and just shows me the big, long, alphabetically sorted, list of every font on your computer that we've had since the dawn of time. Can't we do better than this?
Open/Save as... dialog boxes
These don't look much different than in classic. It's cramped, you click on a file name instead of a folder by mistake and suddenly mac os is asking if you want to save over it. The only real advancement it's made in the last decade is adding the Finders shortcut sidebar, yet if I could change them my save to shortcuts would be much different than my finder shortcuts.
Spotlight
I'm constantly disapointed with it's slow response in searches, which leads to new results sliding into place in a list I was trying to scan. More than once I'd just found the document I was looking for, when it slid off the list and I had to click the "more..." link. I've also been very bothered by the choice to show only the top 5 matches in categories that don't always make sense, such as my illustrator documents not showing up in images because they are saved in PDF, or why I can't put documents ahead of images in the results. Actually my real issue there is that in the Spotlight system preference you can arrange the order the results get shown in, but it only effects the spotlight menu in the upper right, not the search results in a finder window.
I have quite a few more, but these are three areas, unglamorous as they might be, I'd like to see get some attention.
