The state of Texas recently held an “e-vote” to choose a new license plate design. There were five designs in the running, and over 450,000 people cast their vote for the worst one. Just my opinion, but Design Observer agrees with me. This always seems to happen when design meets democracy. Letting the masses into…
Starbucks To Begin Sinister ‘Phase Two’ Of Operation read the headline from The Onion. That was 2001, and Starbucks was heading for world domination. Seven years later, domination is accomplished, but it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. The stock price has slumped badly, reflecting drops in both sales and general affection for the…
The fantasy known as Dubai, home of the world’s only 7-star hotel, is planning to burn another billion or so on what will be the world’s largest and tallest spanning arch bridge, The 6th Crossing: (rendering by FXFOWLE) Obscene displays of money are nothing new to Dubai, and why not? They might as well spend…
When I was a kid, my parents controlled my TV diet, and while I was hardly deprived, I was never at risk of becoming a glutton. After school each day, I was allowed to 30 minutes of TV time – enough for one show. Our TV set was a 17″ black and white with the…
It really bugs me… They say, ‘Oh, David Beckham – he’s not very clever.’ Yeah. They don’t say, ‘Stephen Hawking – shit at football.’ – Paul Calf
Doesn’t it seem a bit strange that the places in this country most likely to be attacked by terrorists – New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles – are also the least supportive of the war, and least likely to send sons and daughters into battle? Meanwhile, places with virtually no chance of being attacked, are…
Today, I took my car to the nearest Shell station to get it smog checked – a bi-yearly(?) ritual for drivers in California. The friendly folks at the Shell station took one look at my registration renewal paperwork from the California DMV, however, and said, “oh, you’re test only.” Me: “What does that mean?” Shell…
Did that get your attention? That’s the name of the movie I saw last night, as part of the San Francisco Independent Film Festival. It’s a documentary about the word, not a portrayal of the act, so don’t be offended. Or be offended. That’s the power of fuck I suppose. After indulging in Monday’s all-you-can-eat…
On Anca’s blog tonight, I came across this H.L. Mencken quote… Moral certainty is always a sign of cultural inferiority. The more uncivilized the man, the surer he is that he knows precisely what is right and what is wrong. All human progress, even in morals, has been the work of men who have doubted…
Monday was Tracy’s birthday, and we spent the morning wandering through the Yu Gardens and Market. It was in the Yu Gardens that we suddenly saw all the foreigners and tourists that had been conspicuously absent in our previous wanderings around the city. As the Lonely Planet book opined, the Yu Gardens presented sort of…