Michael J. Fox Lives On...

It's been ten days since his initial TV ad, yet he's still in the news. I guess Anderson Cooper is getting bored with Iraq and has decided that its time to hug Fox. If I hear another analogy to explain to us how adult stem cells differ from embryonic stem cells, I think I'm going to shoot a CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT.

The WholeFoods Agenda, part I

I've got to hand it to Men's Health on their recent article on Frankenfoods, genetically-modified-organisms, or whatever scary name you want to call them. Its about time that accurate reporting replaces fear and ignorance about this important issue.
I first read about organics and GM-foods in this great book I got from the library, Mendel in the Kitchen. I highly recommend it for its fairly simple language and its engaging, historical narrative of American agriculture. This book has me so convinced that biotech is the right thing, I have trouble believing that this book has been out for 2 years and the myth of that organics as better for us is still strong.
I'm going to repeat some of the points the book in my next post, so stay tuned.

I choose you, K.T. McFarland!

My brother, the gun-toting Republican, registers Democrat for the New York elections. He says that for next election, he plans on voting for the 2nd strongest Democratic candidate. He knows there’s no chance of Republicans winning New York; the logic is that if the weaker Democratic candidate wins the primary, he (1) hurts the Democrat’s overall chances in the general election and (2) gets the satisfaction of fucking with the Democrats.

But don’t worry about him turning New York red; the Green Party for the Legalization of Marijuana is going to hack and steal this election anyway. All the talk of the crackability of the new line of voting machines is very reminiscent of the Florida "hanging chad" fiasco.
The voting system should be a simple issue, should be designed meticulously, should work flawlessly, and should not generate all this attention. A large part of the problem is that each state has its own voting system. Since the elections are (once in 4 or so years) national, why isn’t the voting system? Design it right once. Why design the system 50 times over? (Especially since state governments, with their limited budgets have the tendency to contract out to the lowest bidder.) Democrats, Republicans, (yes even Independents) we all have a common interest in an accurate voting system, so lets push for a national standard.

What goes on at 10PM

I hate the news. A category 5 hurricane nears the coast, thousands could die, millions of dollars in property damage, and what’s happening in the newsroom? The anchors are salivating: "Please make landfall, please make landfall". They’re dying for a story, a story others pay for. But cut the sensationalism; that’s the side of the anchors’ personalities we never get to see.

The networks, in their struggle for viewers, have to set their news programs apart from the pack. If it were just about reporting news, what would draw you to CBS over NBC, FOX, CNN, UPN, etc? The anchor personality was invented. The "early days of television reporting" (before I watched the news), Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather, and any other older male personality were chosen as newscasters because they were faces you could trust to be honest. The late night news team was a crafted ethnic and gender balance to earn the trust of all races and sexes. But today, trust isn’t enough in an anchor, they also have to be good people. News must be a feel-good experience. Enter Anderson Cooper hugging people around the globe.
I watched Katie Couric for the first time last night in her interview with Michael J. Fox (at the gym). Before a commercial break, Katie had a little one-on-one with the viewers and "in the interests of full closure" revealed that her father has Parkinson's Disease and that she too has donated to Parkinson's foundations. Her brown-nosing of the American public (esp. anyone who has had disease in their family) really warmed my heart. "In the interests of full disclosure" used to be a measure to guarantee honest reporting. Now all it guarantees is that I am not missing anything by getting my news off the Internet.

(Full disclosure: I don’t watch the news, so I don’t really know what I’m talking about)

Update

Work is slow, so I've decided to contribute to society. Let the felons clean the highways; I've turned to blogging and joining SourceForge. I'll write more about the projects I'll be working on as soon as they take off. I am now what I always was, a hacker.

Modern Art without the modern pricing

I'm big into the culture, big into the art, the expression of ideas beyond words, but I'm not big on spending a lot of cash. With Modern Art galleries raising their prices higher than movie theatres, its good to know that some days, you can get a good deal.

Whitney, Fridays 6-9pm, voluntary donation.
Guggenheim, Fridays 5-8pm, voluntary.
MoMA, Fridays 4-8pm, free
New Museum of Contemporary Art, Thursdays 6-8pm, voluntary.
Dahesh Museum, First Thursday 6-9pm, voluntary.
Brooklyn Museum, First Saturday 11am-5pm, free. Jazz program too.
Studio Museum in Harlem, First Saturday, free.

Cheap date, free culture, it's all good.

On the path of the Highline

I probably shouldn't give this away on my first post but here goes...
Its been my month-long dream to trespass on the High Line, a 1.5-mile-long historic elevated rail structure on the West Side of Manhattan, from 34th (11th Av) southward into Chelsea. Abandoned for 30 years, its overgrown with plantlife. It even passes through buildings on their 2nd/3rd floors. Check it out at http://thehighline.org/.
Most of the ways up onto the Highline are heavily razor-wired or require access to an overlooking apartment (if you have one, please email me :-), but half the adventure is in the planning.

Two Discoveries on my first reconnaissance trip, neither Highline Related:
On the corner of Jane and West, someone has actually planted grass. That's right, a lawn in Manhattan. Big deal you say? Well ok, you're right. But this you should really see...
The Chelsea Market (website doesn't do it justice). Its decor is amazing: cross a post-industrial abandoned factory with modern sleek design and that's what you get. A supermarket, bakeries, Thai, Italian, two television networks and of course Wifi access, in a building that perfectly reflects the neighborhood -- the industrial meatpacking district reborn into trendy nightclubs. After a day of surveying the Highline I stumbled into Chelsea Market's 10th Av entrance. Wrought iron and stone gives the place an Indiana Jones feeling. Check out the 9th Av stairwell -- each floor is graffittied in a different style -- real beautiful stuff. Great place to go when its crowded on weekends or when the weather isn't at its sunniest.

Welcome

Welcome to Manhattan, home to over a million and a half people.
We all want to have fun, but most of us don't know what there is to do. As an unemployed quasi college grad, I feel the obligation to share with the world what I've found.
Stay tuned.

Thats me -- I don't really smoke, I just play a smoker on TV