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solarbirdA-Kon, a convention in Dallas, Texas, shows conventions how to do commercials for a convention that are, um... actually pretty good. This is the first I've seen that weren't really, well... lame. I am by no means a scholar of convention commercials, but most of the ones I've run across or heard ideas for have failed to impress. I mean, when the best ones are the convention equivalent of SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY, you know it's an art form in its infancy. These are definitely much better than that.
So today was really crazy with the busy, but then it calmed down and things were better. I'd decided to take a shift at the last minute collecting signatures for I-937 at Folklife, but then I took too long in the shower, so by the time I got done with the morning kitchen cleanup (birds plus the other general assorted mess that always happens - plus it's milk delivery day, so I had to throw out the leftovers and clean that up to make room) I was already rushing just to catch a bus that might get me down there somewhere close to on time. And once I finally got down there, it took stupidly long to find the table (I'd assumed it would be in the grounds; it wasn't, it was out by the street) so by the time I was collecting signatures, I was already almost an hour into the shift.
I got a problematic location, too; sidewalk near Memorial Stadium, where people cross from the parking lot, which sounds pretty good but actually kind of isn't as typically they've been waiting for a light to change before crossing, and once they're across they're in a mood to move, and they're doing it as a mass. So that was not so great. I also got my first hostile reaction - I'm pretty sure I would have gotten two except one person's got kind of pre-empted by somebody else, thankfully. I also had my first Very Strange Person interaction, with someone trying to convince me that the whole thing was fraud and he just needed to build his Forever-Running Motor and all these problems would be solved. I only got around 25 signatures in an hour and a half before it was time to break for lunch and meet up with people for taiko drumming...
...and then I was still late for the scheduled performance of the first group we'd wanted to see. But that worked out okay, as while they were on the web schedule, they weren't on the actual print schedule, and the print one was actually more up to date, which is why they should hire![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cow to fix their b0rken web-update processes. I mean honestly, newsprint more recent than .pdfs on the web? What the hell?
Sunday's miles: 2.1
Monday's miles: 6.4
Miles out of Hobbiton: 873.3
Miles out of Rivendell: 413.5
Miles to Lothlórien: 52.9
Anyway, eventually we got Unbelievably Good Fair Food and watched Seattle Kazi Daiko play; they're pretty good, definitely enthusiastic (tho' sometimes underconfident - they're a youth group), and handled being on too small a stage pretty well. Their performance was insanely packed, thanks partly to being in too small a venue - Folklife really needs to learn that taiko has a real following around here that will seek out performances, and having fewer performances doesn't mean fewer people show up at all of them - it means everybody comes to the one you've got.
I should probably drop them a note about that.
Anyway, after that, we wandered around and looked at interesting things - I got a new wallet, yay - and after a pretty good performance and food, I'd lost the constant-lateness edge and could get into the whole fair scene for wandering and playing around. Hates Water Me finally made a run at the International Fountain and bounced off it, which was great, and I saw a cool watch that I didn't buy but might have if we'd had more money to toss around.
I also saw another $100 violin. I don't get that. There was someone selling $100 violins at streetfair, too. ("Regular price $675" my shiny metal ass...) I mean, yeah, fine, student violin or something, but how can they be anything less than utter crap? I mean, it's one thing to learn on a cheaper instrument, it's another thing to try to learn on something that won't hold a tune for more than about three minutes. Is there some source of cheap Chinese violins out there, or what?
Cherry Blossoms (12 April)
Anyway, later, we came home, and Paul made teriyaki BBQ on the outdoor grill, and it was very tasty. So a good day for all forms of food.
So today was really crazy with the busy, but then it calmed down and things were better. I'd decided to take a shift at the last minute collecting signatures for I-937 at Folklife, but then I took too long in the shower, so by the time I got done with the morning kitchen cleanup (birds plus the other general assorted mess that always happens - plus it's milk delivery day, so I had to throw out the leftovers and clean that up to make room) I was already rushing just to catch a bus that might get me down there somewhere close to on time. And once I finally got down there, it took stupidly long to find the table (I'd assumed it would be in the grounds; it wasn't, it was out by the street) so by the time I was collecting signatures, I was already almost an hour into the shift.
I got a problematic location, too; sidewalk near Memorial Stadium, where people cross from the parking lot, which sounds pretty good but actually kind of isn't as typically they've been waiting for a light to change before crossing, and once they're across they're in a mood to move, and they're doing it as a mass. So that was not so great. I also got my first hostile reaction - I'm pretty sure I would have gotten two except one person's got kind of pre-empted by somebody else, thankfully. I also had my first Very Strange Person interaction, with someone trying to convince me that the whole thing was fraud and he just needed to build his Forever-Running Motor and all these problems would be solved. I only got around 25 signatures in an hour and a half before it was time to break for lunch and meet up with people for taiko drumming...
...and then I was still late for the scheduled performance of the first group we'd wanted to see. But that worked out okay, as while they were on the web schedule, they weren't on the actual print schedule, and the print one was actually more up to date, which is why they should hire
cow to fix their b0rken web-update processes. I mean honestly, newsprint more recent than .pdfs on the web? What the hell?Sunday's miles: 2.1
Monday's miles: 6.4
Miles out of Hobbiton: 873.3
Miles out of Rivendell: 413.5
Miles to Lothlórien: 52.9
Anyway, eventually we got Unbelievably Good Fair Food and watched Seattle Kazi Daiko play; they're pretty good, definitely enthusiastic (tho' sometimes underconfident - they're a youth group), and handled being on too small a stage pretty well. Their performance was insanely packed, thanks partly to being in too small a venue - Folklife really needs to learn that taiko has a real following around here that will seek out performances, and having fewer performances doesn't mean fewer people show up at all of them - it means everybody comes to the one you've got.
I should probably drop them a note about that.
Anyway, after that, we wandered around and looked at interesting things - I got a new wallet, yay - and after a pretty good performance and food, I'd lost the constant-lateness edge and could get into the whole fair scene for wandering and playing around. Hates Water Me finally made a run at the International Fountain and bounced off it, which was great, and I saw a cool watch that I didn't buy but might have if we'd had more money to toss around.
I also saw another $100 violin. I don't get that. There was someone selling $100 violins at streetfair, too. ("Regular price $675" my shiny metal ass...) I mean, yeah, fine, student violin or something, but how can they be anything less than utter crap? I mean, it's one thing to learn on a cheaper instrument, it's another thing to try to learn on something that won't hold a tune for more than about three minutes. Is there some source of cheap Chinese violins out there, or what?
Cherry Blossoms (12 April)
Anyway, later, we came home, and Paul made teriyaki BBQ on the outdoor grill, and it was very tasty. So a good day for all forms of food.
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no subject
Date: 2006-05-30 05:48 am (UTC)I really wish they'd write these things in plainer language.
I mean all I really was able to get out of reading this is that a lot of people are going to make a lot of money off of the electrical system's customers.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-30 06:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-30 06:45 am (UTC)But they don't have the best one up -- I saw it a couple of times last year, and I only vaguely remember. It was in an elevator, and had a couple of guys trying to impress a cute girl. Then an otaku walks on, and ends up leaving with the girl. And then some sort of voiceover or words on the screen about anime fans getting the girl. Er, it was a lot more entertaining than that makes it sound.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-30 03:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-30 03:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-30 03:51 pm (UTC)Well, since state initiatives up here are, in fact, bills of law, they have to be written as such. That's why there's always the Secretary-of-State-approved ballot summary. So I can see what you're saying on that, but you'd have to oppose all citizens initiatives up here. This is actually one of the more cleanly written examples I've seen, and I've read a lot of 'em.
I have one question though, what if fossil fuels are cheaper than the 'renewable' or 'solar' or 'wind' (or whatever) energy?
I don't believe that will be true in the long run. However, if my ideas about what is going to happen over the next several years turns out to be wildly wrong, then the legislature can toss it out in as little as two years from passage.
Basically, I see the transition away from oil to be a 20-plus-year project, and the atypical thing about this transition is that in all cases you're looking at a transition to lower-density fuels. Electricity is going to be one of the important ways through this, and our prospects for local nuclear are poor. Meanwhile, we're rich in renewables options (wind, hydrothermal, maybe even geothermal), so we should get the skills and experience in working with these technologies before it gets urgent. We should get the mistakes out of the way now, as it were.
Honestly, as far as I'm concerned, the skills/experience/knowledge build-up is pretty much the best reason to support this initiative.
Or, like recycling, is this really just a farce that wastes more energy and money and causes more pollution than not doing it?
I've heard you talk about this before, and I think your information on recycling is out of date and/or comes from a localised bad case. I mean, we have an unsubsidised private contract with a private company to pick up our recycling. It costs 1/4 the cost of garbage pickup at first, and then they pay us back for a percentage of the value of the recycled material. And they're making money, so they must be doing something right.
From my reading about it, it breaks down like this, at least up here: yard waste into compost is a profit centre; metals are a MASSIVE profit centre; paper comes out ahead (toilet paper and paper towels are almost all made of recycled paper, so if you're buying "green" recycled-paper TP that's twice as much money? That's pretty much just a scam); glass breaks even (ar ar ar breaks); type 1/type 2 plastic loses money, but then breaks even if alternative disposal costs are considered.
I'm sure things are different in different parts of the country, but that's a good reason why recycling isn't and shouldn't be a concern of the national government.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-30 05:59 pm (UTC)Second: If it's going to cost the rate payers more money, then it should go down to defeat, it's nothing more than a tax. I realize you are worried about where things are going to go, granted. But passing laws is not the answer. The market will deal with it a lot quicker and lot more efficently than any law ever will. The only law I would pass would be one allowing suppliers of alternate energy to be allowed to connect to the grid, even if it's some tiny little mom and pop outfit.
The perfect example of good intentions gone bad: Recycling!! With the exception of aluminum cans it is a complete farce and causes more pollution and waste than it solves. And for what? A hyped up problem that never existed and never will. You saw that article on natural gas I posted last month right? That's a far far far cheaper solution all around than any of this 'alternative energy' being currently bandied about. So is nuclear energy. How about an initative to build a couple of nukes in Washington? -That- would be far more productive, safer, cheaper, and cleaner.
Third: Your recycling is cheap because it's subsidzied by the government. If it wasn't, you'd be losing money on it. Recycled paper costs more than new, extracting metals from garbage (with the exception of aluminum) costs more than mining it. etc.
(Also, the 'Secretary of State approved translation'? If it's such a good thing, then that should be what goes on the law books. But it's not because it isn't what the law says or means, and the Secretary of State knows it.)