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Needless to say, lots of things at Burning Man are dangerous. You're in the desert in the middle of the summer and you are responsible for every single provision that could keep you a live. A lot of people build things, but there is no safety inspection, no city codes, nothing really but the occasional health inspector making sure that you're not poisoning the whole city. There isn't necessarily going to be a warning sign that something is dangerous. There may not be safety harnesses or railings on unstable structures. Art cars may not have seat belts. Every now and then, someone gets killed by some sort of accident. The most common way that I know of is by getting run over by an art car. This will never ever happen to me as I tend to be covered in illumination at night. I like the night lights. I like to boogie. And so there's an attitude among burners that we assume the risk of what we do. The shorthand for this is "Read Your Ticket."
 So in 2005, some dumbass ran into the flames after the man had fallen. This is not to say he was the only dumbass that did this. Lots of dumbasses run into the flames after the man has fallen. But this particular dumbass tripped, fell, and burned himself severely. I think he was trying to leave a picture of a friend who had recently died in the flames. (I prefer to leave that sort of thing in the temple well before any torch is put to it, but to each his own....) It was pretty sad, as he lost use of one of his arms. But he sued. And the case went all the way to the California Court of Appeals in San Francisco. Fortunately, the court recognized the absurdity of the claim. The complaint alleged that Black Rock1 was either the lessee or possessor of land upon which the Burning Man festival was held in 2005, or that it ―possessed, managed, maintained, operated, supervised, coordinated, and controlled the event, which included the burning of a 60-foot wood sculpture in the figure of a man during the penultimate night of the festival. It was further alleged that immediately following the toppling of the burning sculpture, festival attendees were ―authorized and invited to approach the flames to deposit tokens, mementos and other combustible objects into the fire so attendees can participate more fully and completely in the Burning Man experience. As to the single cause of action alleging negligence, the complaint averred that Black Rock negligently allowed attendees to approach the burning remnants of the Burning Man sculpture without provision for safe ingress and egress ―routes and corridors for those attendees who were ―moved by the event to directly participate in the burning ritual. The guy is basically saying that somehow the people putting together Burning Man should have prevented people from being dumbasses. In a city of dumbasses. This was not this particular dumbass's first rodeo. Beninati attended the festival in the years 2002, 2003, and 2005. He is college educated and worked full time as a general manager for a company that rehabilitated real property for resale. He chose to attend the festival to get away from his ―workaholic‖ life, and to come together with a community of people with interests in art, alternative healing, and spirituality. And so, with the knowledge of such important facts like "fire hot" and "there's no one to stop you from doing something really stupid." He approached the burning Man. He testified at his deposition that he did not need to be told ―fire was dangerous and caused burns. Ever since his first visit to Burning Man, Beninati knew that being in close proximity to the event‘s huge bonfire posed a risk of receiving a burn. He also understood that he could fall or be pushed into the fire by other participants at the festival. In each of the prior years Beninati attended, he watched the Burning Man fire burn for three or four hours. Nevertheless, Beninati did not think it was dangerous to walk seven to ten feet into the fire to burn his friend‘s photograph, although he knew doing so ―was not ‗absolutely safe, because there [was] a fire present.‘
As the fire died down somewhat, a number of people approached and threw things into it. Beninati then saw someone walk toward the burning embers and he decided to follow the person‘s path, walking about seven steps toward the smoldering fire. No one asked or beckoned him to approach the fire. No one affiliated with Black Rock told him it was safe to walk into the fire. Beninati was sober, and thought it was safe when he walked into an area of low flames as he saw others do.
Beninati stopped at a spot where there was fire on either side of him. He threw his friend‘s photograph on the fire and watched it burn. He then took a few more steps forward. His right foot "caught on something or [he] tripped on something," which may have been a cable or something solid. He tripped and fell into the fire twice, badly burning both of his hands. When he exited the fire area, people poured water on him. Paramedics, who were present at the festival around the clock, transported him to obtain medical treatment. The court went into analysis of California's assumption-of-the-risk doctrine. While Beninati was not a firefighter, he deliberately, and with awareness of specific risks inherent in the activity, nonetheless chose to engage in an activity similar to that engaged in by a firefighter as part of the firefighter‘s professional duties. The risk of injury to those who voluntarily decide to partake in the commemorative ritual at Burning Man is self-evident. As in previous years, the festival participants had set ablaze a 60-foot combustible sculpture of a man which, because of its gigantic size, was built on an equally large platform made of combustible material and was held upright by wire cables. Once much of the material had burned, and the conflagration had subsided but was still actively burning, Beninati and others walked into the fire. At that point, the risk of stumbling on buried fire debris, including the cables which necessarily had collapsed along with the sculpture, was an obvious and inherent one. Thus, the risk of falling and being burned by the flames or hot ash was inherent, obvious, and necessary to the event, and Beninati assumed such risk.
. . .
Beninati misunderstands what is meant by ―obvious‖ when discussing the inherent risk. As used in the context of primary assumption of risk, an obvious risk is one within the contemplation of the activity, whether or not it is actually observed. For example, the court in Connelly noted that a risk to skiers includes hazards concealed by the snow surface itself. (Connelly v. Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, supra, 39 Cal.App.4th at p. 12.) Likewise here, an obvious risk inherent in the activity undertaken by Beninati was that the flames and ash hid the location of fire embers and Burning Man debris, including the cables which had held up the sculpture. By continuing to walk into the fire, Beninati assumed the risk that he might trip and fall into the fire because he could not see the ground surface. This risk itself is one that is inherent in the burning of the effigy and the Burning Man commemorative ritual.
Beninati‘s alternative argument that Black Rock increased the risk of harm fails for lack of factual support. In his trial and appellate briefs, Beninati is critical of the lack of supervision of the festival site and the use of wire cables to stabilize the Burning Man sculpture.3 However, the record on summary judgment is utterly devoid of any evidence that the use of cables in this fashion was an avoidable risk, or that Black Rock did anything that increased the inherent risk of harm to Beninati normally associated with entering an area surrounded by fire.
. . .
For all of these reasons we conclude that the doctrine of primary assumption of risk applies to the activity engaged in by Beninati at the Burning Man Festival, and accordingly, Black Rock owed him no duty of care to prevent the injuries he incurred as a result. Dubmass. Read your ticket. Tags: burning man, law
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Though we had no alcohol with us, the Michael Bay drinking game proved to be extremely useful when Graham and I went to see Transformers 2 last night. People kept on telling us that the reviews were terrible and the movie was awful, but we had a great time just making fun of the Michael Bayness of it all. At any rate, we had a great time. I spent the weekend on my butt, watching all of season five of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I forgot how much Dawn annoyed the crap out of me. And Riley. And Glory. And Willow. But it's not a terrible season. I'll forge into Season 6 next, with the full knowledge that things go downhill. Graham and I are leaving for New York on Friday. Some dear friends of ours are getting married, and Graham is DJing. He's been putting his music together for the wedding over the last week or so, and I've had a blast listening to all of his stuff. It's going to be a terribly fun wedding--the bride is Hindu and the groom is Jewish, we've been calling it the Hinjew wedding--because a good hunk of our friends will be there and everyone is looking forward to a good time. We'll be watching the fireworks in New York from the top of a high building during the rehersal dinner, and the wedding on Sunday will be at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. Graham and I are staying at a friend's apartment in the 60s on the West Side, and we have a little bit of time to explore New York over the weekend, though I have a Mendhi party to go to on Saturday, and he has to set up the dj stuff a little bit before the wedding on Sunday. And it will be cool! Literally. A full week of 100+ degree weather is taxing. One of the things I noticed in my Buffy marathon was that those Sunnydale folk sure do like the sweaters. The thought of wearing a sweater outside is fairly abhorrent to me right now. They're not even supposed to get to 80 this weekend in New York. Heaven... Tags: movies, television, weather, wedding
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I *heart* the Onion. King Of Pop Dead At 12June 26, 2009 | Issue 45•26
LOS ANGELES—Michael Jackson, a talented child performer known for his love of amusement park rides and his hobby of collecting exotic animals for his Neverland Ranch, died from sudden cardiac arrest Thursday at the age of 12. The prepubescent singer, who enjoyed playing dress-up and often referred to himself as "the King of Pop," was celebrated for his naïve exuberance and his generosity toward other children. "This is a terrible loss for music and for all of us," brother Jermaine Jackson said. "He had so much potential to blossom into a gracious and mature human being. As it is, the world will never know the genius Michael Jackson might have become had he grown up." The singer leaves behind a large body of hits, 25,000 unopened toys, and nearly $400 million of debt. Tags: funny
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Today, the internet is full of commentary on the life and death of Michael Jackson. Most of what I've seen so far stops around 1994ish or so, before things started getting so weird that the word "freak" was used more often than not. I read a comment in a discussion about the cautionary tale that was his life: "There is no such thing as being as famous as Michael Jackson." I can't think of anyone, with the possible exception of Elvis, before or since, who was. At any rate, I don't have much to add to the discussion, other than reposting the 25th Anniversary of Motown celebration. I remember seeing this live. My parents especially tuned in for it. Another description was "supernatural talent". I tend to agree on that. It seems to me that the life and death of Michael Jackson (and the South Park Episode "Britney's New Look" reflects this perfectly) is a reflection of American culture. We tend to destroy our celebrity young and then feast on their flesh. ETA: I read another blog post that had an interesting perspective.Growing up a Buffalo Bills fan, one of my boyhood idols was OJ Simpson. Talk about jarring. Even as a adult, I had a hard time comprehending that one. But that feeling of sad resignation sinks in and eventually overwhelms the distant pleasure of the childhood memories. I’ve learned, though, to separate the person from their gifts. Jackson was a one-of-a-kind performer. I may have stopped listening to his music many years ago. I’m sure I called him a freak. But I still appreciate what he was as an artist. OJ Simpson remains one of the best running backs I’ve ever seen. Tags: pop culture
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As ya'll know, a few weeks ago, the Wilco album--Wilco(The Album)--was released on the web. I heard it then the first time, and fell in love, marking my calendar for Tuesday June 30, when it goes on sale. I was particularly struck by a song called "I'll Fight". I probably played the song over fifteen times when I first heard it. I did the same thing to "Jesus, etc." when I first heard YHF. I searched high and low for lyrics, but since the album wasn't even officially out yet, there were none to be found online yet. At any rate, NPR reviewed the album today, and I took another listen. (Scroll down to "I'll Fight", though please listen to the whole album THEN BUY IT if you like it.) And I did another search for the lyrics, and I wanted to share them. It's one of the most amazing war songs I've ever heard. I'll go, I'll go, I'll go, I'll go for you
I'll fight, I'll fight, I'll fight, I'll fight for you
I'll kill, I'll kill, I'll kill, I'll kill for you
I will, I will, I will
I'll go,I'll go, I'll go, I'll go for you
I'll fight, I'll fight, I'll fight, I'll fight for you
I'll die, I'll die, I'll die, I'll die for you
I will, I will, I will
And if I die
I'll die
I'll die alone on some
Forgotten hill
Abandoned by the mill
All my blood will
Spring and spill
I'll thrash the air and then be still
You'll wait
With the star from a dream
And know that I am gone
You'll feel it in your heart
But not for very long
You'll rise each day as planed
Your will is your command
And stand each Sunday
A hymnal steady in your hand
You'll sing to yourself
The rising-falling melody
That you could never read
Without the choirs' lead
Still alone, and lost in deep
And your soul will not be free
I will go , I will go, I will go
And in wars waters
I will wade
And I will know
If I remorse or regret
The fairness of our trade
For you to live
I took your place
A deal was made
And I was paid
And the goal as I was told
Was a place where my body could be laid
And we will steal your life
And die old
In better homes surrounded
By your peers
Without suffering or fear
Grandchildren far and near
And none will shed a tear
For the love no longer here
I'll go, I'll go, I'll go, I'll go for you
I will
I'll fight, I'll fight,I'll fight, I'll fight for you
I will, I will, I will
I'll kill, I'll kill, I'll kill, I'll kill for you
I will
I'll die, I'll die, I'll die, I'll die for you
I will, I will, I will
And if I die
I'll die
I'll die alone like Jesus
On a cross
My faith cannot by tossed
And my life will not be lost
If my love comes across Tags: music, things that make 'stina happy
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Not to belabor the point, but it's hot. Absurdly hot. The type of hot that you read about in some distant land and are glad that you don't live in those sorts of places. The type of hot it's not supposed to get to until late July and August. It's been over 95 degrees every day since June 9. We hit 100 on Tuesday, 104 yesterday. Today we're supposed to hit 102. Generally, in June, we don't get above 92ish. There was a tiny rain shower on Monday at my house. Reportedly lasted 30 minutes, but other than that, it hasn't rained since May 24. Despite those awesome rains in April, we're about seven inches below normal; four inches below normal for the month of June. There's a 20 percent chance of rain today, but I don't think anyone is holding out hope that it's going to make that much of a difference. The grass in our front yard is on life support. We're watering like there's no tomorrow on all the beds and pots, though of course we've lost some plants. My air conditioning seems to be running non-stop, and it will need to be replaced sooner rather than later. I'm just hoping that it can make it through the summer. I shudder to think of what the electrical bills will be this month. Those of us who live in this swamp accept that we're going to be miserable for part of the year, but I don't think any of us expected it to be this early. At the ranch, we're selling cows, not just calves. We know one guy who has sold his whole herd and is now selling equipment, because he can't afford to keep up feeding in a drought and a recession. I'm just glad that I generally work inside all day. My contractor friends are in the middle of building one of the shipping container houses, and we ran into one of them last week. He'd been roofing, and progress was S-L-O-W because they'd have to take breaks every twenty minutes because of the heat. Graham went out on his scooter yesterday, and he said even going relatively fast was no relief from the heat. It was just hot air blowing on him. I realize, of course, that there's not much one can do about the weather but bitch. And so I bitch. Tags: weather
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I'm a great fan of a lot of shows on the Discovery Channel. Mike Rowe on Dirty Jobs just makes me happy. I enjoy watching the shennanagins on Myth Busters. Man vs. Wild makes me appreciate my television. And Graham and I almost signed up for The Alaska Experiment last year because we liked the first season so much. (We're not as impressed with the second season.) But my favorite Discovery Channel show is Deadliest Catch. I've only been watching it for a few years now, but I've grown attached to some of the people on the ships. Edgar and Jake on The Northwestern, Crosby and Lenny and Monte on The Wizard, Josh and Freddie on the Cornelia Marie. And everyone on The Time Bandit, especially the Hillstrands. So it was with much joy that last week, Graham and I discovered the Time Bandit website. (There's also a Northwestern site, a Cornelia Marie site, and the Wizard.) On the website, in addition to a lot more information about the ship and the personalities on it. And there's a store where you can buy Time Bandit teeshirts and baseball caps and backpacks. The captians of the Time Bandit know that they've got a good thing going, and they're not about to let this opportunity pass them buy. Hell, it's likely that I'll make a purchase at the Time Bandit store one day, as Graham tends to wear black tee shirts with skulls on them already. Until maybe a year or so ago, I didn't know a thing about Jon & Kate + 8. The only reason they landed on my radar was that I've been an LA Ink afficionado since that show started (and I'll talk about those reality stars in a second), and LA Ink is on TLC. It was hard to miss commercials for J&K+8. I asked Graham about the premise of the show, and he'd seen a few of the early episodes and gave me a rough breakdown of the premise and the people in it. His basic run down was that the dad was beaten down by the mom, but that was understandable given the circumstances of eight kids(!) and someone needing to take control of the chaos. He said he liked it better when the kids were younger, because they were cuter. He figured there wasn't going to be more than a few more years that the parents could get out of this, so they were doing as much as they could now. I wholeheartedly agreed that if I found myself with eight children under the age of three, I too would be looking for any and every way to get financial help too, upto and including prostitution. At any rate, until very recently, it was just another show on TLC. There are hundreds of these sorts of shows out there these days: Food Network, Travel Channel, TLC, NatGeo, etc. Some of the reality "stars" are one-offs, like the hundreds of people who have been on Dirty Jobs; some are on for years, like the captains and crew on Deadliest Catch. With the possible exception of Kat Von D, none of them really seem to break out into massive stars that have a huge media following. My best guess is that when you go on one of these shows, how much attention you get from the world is dependent on your own marketing on the show and off, unless something dramatic happens that makes people seek out more information about you. By all accounts, the Gosslins were pretty small potatoes outside their community. They were never really bothered by the paparazzi, and though they did a lot of self-promotion, they were the fourth rated show on TLC. Not exactly tiny, but certainly not the A list. My understanding is that a LOT of their television audience were kids, who liked watching other kids on TV. I suspect that it's no coincidence that the increased scrutiny on the Gosslins started around the same time that Nadia Suleman had her babies. The public gave the media permission to intrude on the life of a person giving birth to a high number of multiples, and the media started to look for others. A family who had already allowed some intrusion into their lives seemed like fair enough game, and enough people were tut-tuting about exploiting the children for financial gain to make the parents evil in the eye of the public. I saw my first and only episode of Jon & Kate + 8 on Monday. It was pretty sad to see, and I really felt for those kids. In particular, I was struck-not by the sit down interviews with the parents--but by the small kids playing and pretending to be interviewed on TV. Those little ones have never really known any other sort of life, so having the cameras on them all the time isn't unusual for them. But they're sextuplets. There's no such thing, as "normal life" for kids in their situation. At any rate, I'm not quite sure what I think. I do know that I was manipulated into caring about two people that I could have given a rat's ass about six months ago. I do know that I don't really have an opinion on which side I should take. I do know that I don't know if cutting off the show is the best thing for the kids, given a) finances for single parents of 8 in the midst of a legal battle aren't all that great, and b) that they seem to like it and don't really know any other sort of life. I also know this: I'm seriously, seriously thinking about getting a tattoo from Hannah Aitchison or Kim Saigh from LA Ink. I know that both of them do unbelievable color work, and their styles seem to match what I want for my next tattoo. There are probably dozens of tattoo artists out there that would also work, and maybe I'll hunt high and low and find one closer to home (there was a guest artist at Scorpion studios back in January when I got my tattoo touched up whose portfolio I really liked). But I've seen Hannah and Kim tattoo literally dozens of people, and I've really liked what I've seen. It may be that the only way I can get the tattoo is to go on the show, thereby exposing myself to criticism and scrutiny and my own little brand of self-promotion. I'd actually prefer to do it off camera, as I'm not particularly interested in having my right thigh filmed for three plus hours, but if that's the only way I can access those busy women's time, then so be it. Tags: media, television
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So Graham and I were watching Transformers last night--the first one--and started coming up with rules for the Michael Bay Drinking Game. You know, things like: - Take a sip when the action is in slo-mo. I realize a sip is pretty small potatoes, but you'll get pretty hammered on this rule alone, trust me.
- Take three sips when the direction of the plot makes no sense whatsoever. (Take the Allspark into the city. Huh? What? Are you guys insane?; A team of roughnecks are the only ones qualified to be sent to space to blow shit up?; Your best friend's girlfriend?; Invade Cuba?, Nicholas Cage is an attractive hero?)
- Take a gulp and then toast when a heroic figure needlessly sacrifices himself for The Greater Good. (The entire city of Houston in Independence Day, start chugging after the "I will not give that order" exchange in The Rock.)
- Down your beer when something blows up and the fireball exceeds ten feet in diameter. (The Bad Boys franchise will probably get you through a case of beer on this one.)
- Take a shot when someone delivers an inspiring speech summing up the awesomeness of themselves, their team, and what just happened. (The "this is our Independence Day" speech in Indepdendence Day. Whatever it was that Optimus Prime was pratting on about at the end of Transformers.)
- Take a shot, yell U-S-A!, and touch yourself (you know that Michael Bay does) when the military is fetishized. (You'll probably have to seek medical attention after Pearl Harbor.)
Any others? Note: I have not seen The Island. And yes, despite my decade plus long bitching about Michael Bay, I'll likely see Transformers 2 sometime in the next week. I blame Star Trek. Had I not seen the trailer on the IMAX screen, I'd have no interest. But lordy, that man can direct action. ETA since seeing the movie: - I realize that Independence Day is not a Michael Bay film.
- The dowing of a beer at fire balls will kill you in Transformers 2.
- There's also a sip necessary gratuitous, yet still PG, shots of a woman in a short dress, bending over, etc.
- There's another speech that you can drink to that Graham and I call the "metaphor for life" speech, where the characters are talking about one thing, but really they mean something more profound about life itself. ("Dad, you have to let me go!!")
- Take a gulp and yell "I feel the need, the need for speed" (as an homage to Bay's forefather, Jerry Bruckheimer) when you see or hear an outdated pop culture reference.
- Take a sip at every rotation of a 360o camera shot.
Tags: movies, pop culture
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You will cry reading this story. NOTE: There are possible Up SPOILERS in the quoted material below, but I'm not cutting them away. Read at peril. HUNTINGTON BEACH – Colby Curtin, a 10-year-old with a rare form of cancer, was staying alive for one thing – a movie.
From the minute Colby saw the previews to the Disney-Pixar movie Up, she was desperate to see it. Colby had been diagnosed with vascular cancer about three years ago, said her mother, Lisa Curtin, and at the beginning of this month it became apparent that she would die soon and was too ill to be moved to a theater to see the film.
After a family friend made frantic calls to Pixar to help grant Colby her dying wish, Pixar came to the rescue.
The company flew an employee with a DVD of Up, which is only in theaters, to the Curtins’ Huntington Beach home on June 10 for a private viewing of the movie.
The animated movie begins with scenes showing the evolution of a relationship between a husband and wife. After losing his wife in old age, the now grumpy man deals with his loss by attaching thousands of balloons to his house, flying into the sky, and going on an adventure with a little boy.
Colby died about seven hours after seeing the film.
With her daughter’s vigil planned for Friday, Lisa Curtin reflected about how grateful she is that Pixar – and "Up" – were a part of her only child’s last day.
“When I watched it, I had really no idea about the content of the theme of the movie,” said Curtin, 46. “I just know that word ‘Up’ and all of the balloons and I swear to you, for me it meant that (Colby) was going to go up. Up to heaven.”
Pixar officials declined to comment on the story or name the employees involved. The rest of the article talks about this little girl and the quest to get her to see the movie before she died. “Do you think you can hang on?” Colby’s mother said. “I’m ready (to die), but I’m going to wait for the movie,” the girl replied. This is the part that just kills me. Among the Up memorabilia the employee gave Colby was an “adventure book” – a scrap book the main character’s wife used to chronicle her journeys.
"I’ll have to fill those adventures in for her,” Lisa Curtin said. Yay Pixar!! Tags: movies, things that make 'stina happy
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Picking up on a post from a few months ago, Ian Ayers at the Freakonomics blog has an interesting proposition. I’m toiling away this summer writing a book about commitment contracts. And out of the blue, I received an email from an aspiring economist (who is planning to apply to PhD programs this fall), named Matt Johnson, who has an interesting new wrinkle. Matt writes:
I am a carnivorous being. I love all kinds of meat. However, in recent years I have become very sympathetic to the vegetarian cause. The environmental, ethical, and even economic issues with the world’s meat consumption are too compelling to ignore. My roommate was a vegetarian for a year last year, and during that time I found myself eating substantially less meat just from being around him. Having grown up believing that I had to have meat at least once a day to sustain myself, I now cook up delicious meat-free meals several days a week. But I still love a good cheeseburger.
Here is the idea. I figure there are many people out there who, like me a year or two ago, are sympathetic to the veggie cause but are just so used to eating meat that it is ingrained in their daily routine. But if you put several of these like-minded people together, perhaps something could come of it. This is where the commitment contract concept comes in.
The idea that occurred to me was: What if a group of people collectively signed a contract that said one of them would be vegetarian everyday of the year? More specifically, say a group of 7 people signed a contract saying that each of them would go meatless on an assigned day each week. Thus, within the group each member could eat meat 6 days a week, but there would be one vegetarian at all times. The group could be 7 good friends, or it could be 7 individuals matched by the “commitment store.” And of course 7 is an arbitrary number - more ambitious folks could form a team of 2 or 3.
The effect may seem marginal, but I have seen tons of sources which say that just a bit less meat consumption could have immense environmental benefits. Here is one: According to Environmental Defense, if every American skipped one meal of chicken per week and substituted vegetarian foods instead, the carbon dioxide savings would be the same as taking more than half a million cars off of U.S. roads.
. . .
I like Matt’s idea very much. I’ve heard of car-sharing and even pet-sharing, but I’d never thought of the idea of vegetarianism sharing. In fact, I like Matt’s idea so much that my spouse, Jennifer Brown and I have created stickK.com contracts where we commit to “not knowingly eat meat on Wednesdays for the next 52 weeks.” I’ve backed up the commitment by putting $150 at stake each week. Plus, I’m offering a bounty. I am committing to pay a $100 to anyone who first catches me eating meat on any Wednesday. So if I fail on any particular Wednesday, I am out a total of $250 ($100 to the person who catches me and another $150 to a charity). It gives new meaning to the phrase, carrots and stickKs. If ya'll recall the earlier post, Mark Bittman suggested eliminating animal products in the early part of the day, leaving dinner time for a more carnivorous life. This is a slightly different approach in that a single day is proposed as the non-meat-consumption day. The proposal isn't quite vegan either. As far as I can tell, dairy products are still in. Ian Ayers interest is the economic one. He's studying contractual obligations for social or personal goods rather than regular goods and services. There's some evidence that contracting to pay, say $5 to the Republican National Committee every time you charge something on the Visa card you're trying to pay down, helps you stick to that particular goal. But I think that both approaches are interesting and worthy of pursuit. One of the more successful eating habits (that I've since fallen out of) was one where I allowed myself to not worry about what I was eating on specific days of the week. Knowing that I could knock off a whole chocolate cake on Sundays without internal reprecussion or guilt helped me to avoid eating refined sugars for the rest of the week. And I never really did go crazy on Sundays, even though I had "permission" to. At any rate, since January, I haven't really pursued the conscious limitation of animal products, and I do think that it's probably a good idea. Maybe I'll declare Thursdays to be the Salad Days (ha ha, I kill me). It's certainly help me get through shares at the Central City Co-Op. Tags: food
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Lots of stuff in my head, none of it worthy of its own post, so it gets dumped in one. I'm supposed to get a new computer today for work. My old computer got wind of this a few months ago and has been a total shit ever since. Slow as hell and often just stops wanting to play. It will not be a sorrowful parting. We had our first Burning Man organizational meeting yesterday. Five of us showed up, but we're hoping that this will be the Year of Minimal Effort. There are logistical issues, as there always will be, but we're hoping to tone down the big group projects a LOT this year. Group usually means about a dozen of the 40 or so camping with us. Those dozen are usually burned out by the time we get there. We'll see if this actually turns out to be the case. Graham and I aren't even sure if we're going this year. We're inclined to, but it may turn out to be a money/work thing. It's hot here in Houston. That isn't surprising, I guess, but it's hotter than usual. Most years, it doesn't start hitting 95 until July. We've already had a week in the high 90s. I can't imagine working outside in this weather. There's no rain in the forecast, and everyone's watering a ton. I remember when I was a kid it used to rain every afternoon in the summer time for about half an hour. Nothing like that now. My pooches are adorable. Celosa is going to be six months old next saturday, and Crianza will be six years old a month later. They still play quite a bit, though it's mellowed out a little bit. Celosa is very much going to be the alpha dog in our family. Graham and I have a thoroughly unplanned weekend ahead of us. Nothing on the schedule except my gym's summer party. We don't have to go anywhere, we don't have to pack for anything, and we can spend time at the house. It's been months since we've been able to do that. Tags: 'stina
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And so I have returned from the family reunion. 'Twas fun to meet Graham's relatives, and I think that he has a better sense of his family than he did before. Some of his distant cousins are pretty cool, and their kids are adorable. We didn't really do much in Vegas outside of the family obligations. We did go see Up and I sniffled my way through the beginning and the end. It's clear that the Pixar people understand dogs. And I really enjoyed the digital 3D experience. Nothing really popped out, but the movie had a subtle extra layer of depth. I think I liked Wall-E a little better, but it was quite good. We also proved to each other that we are not world class bowlers. After the festivities ended on Saturday evening, we went back to the hotel to play a few games. I will note for the record that I was wearing a low cut sundress, which may have negatively impacted my score. Graham thought that my technique was, um, interesting. We had a hell of a lot of fun, though. We actually didn't spend much time in Vegas proper, outside a visit to Planet Hollywood to watch Tony and Tina's Wedding on Friday night. One of Graham's cousins is in the play, and I found it a bit eerie how much he looked like Graham. Graham's Nevada-based family lives in Henderson, so we stuck mainly there. We were hoping to get bumped on the way home, as we were on an earlier flight and didn't have much to do when we got home, but the sold out plane issue resolved itself before we had the opportunity to express our willingness to take $200 in vouchers from Continental. Tags: travel, vacation
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