Stu News and Photos

I'm a big fan of agitprop - was introduced to it in college when I studied 20th century theater and was tutored on the work of Bertolt Brecht, absolutely fell in love with the artform and the message behind the medium. This week I was shown the following film, a magnificent agitprop work that focuses on the network news coverage of the Gulf War. - It's about eighteen minutes, so go get a drink and some popcorn and enjoy:

I'm a writer, part-time, and I value the crafting of my work, of my words. As I value my craft, I find myself attracted to the culture of make, of makers, of people who make. Makers are knitters, are engineers, are mechanics, are model rocket launchers. They're chefs, they're programmers, they're sculptors, they're writers. They are the people who add structure and form to your day, who present you with the new machine that does the new thing that totally makes your life better.

Which leads me to this pointer: Paul Graham (coder/author/10.6 million page views in 2008) wrote an essay that clicked for me - it's about scheduling your day to increase productivity. I dig the concept, it's how I schedule Sunday's for my Monday column.

Been a relatively easy summer. This first half has been filled with less-than-minor events: laundry, my weekly column, groceries (less time at Ralph's, more time on Alice), reading (The Big Con, The Dharma Bums, Torso, Pygmy, Powers), watching tv shows (The Wrong Door, Party Down, Food Party)... There have been a few minor events: fixed the dryer, continued producing a poetry project for a friend, took a pregnant friend to a pediatrician interview... The rest of my time is my priority: spending time with Noelle, Nich, und Leslie. We've been playing World Of Warcraft, watching/playing Pokemon, going to bookstores, trying new foods, playing Sorry, playing ping-pong, playing lacrosse, designing room decor...

I am now heading out with Noelle to The Cotton Shop to look at fabric. Life is what you make it.

This is so very sweet - I cried at the end.

Have you been following this story about images of Jupiter suggesting to scientists that the planet was hit with an asteroid or comet or some such? One of the latest headlines, via The Los Angeles Times: 'Incredible' new scar is spreading on Jupiter - As I'm reading that headline, I'm imagining every science fiction story that begins this way.

And yet another essay on parenting published by GNMParents - This one is about parenting strategies geared towards lessening your kids' resistance to perceived authority. It's yummy! - Here's the first 'graph, in case you need the teaser:

When my kids were in the early stages of elementary school, they were immersed in the D.A.R.E program (Drug Abuse Resistance Education). At first this seemed a good idea, something I supported heartily. But after a while I became hip to the D.A.R.E. tagline, “Just Say No.” … It just didn’t sit well with me.

The kids went to Laughlin, Nevada with their dad and some their cousins and aunts and uncles - they're going to jetski on the river and generally relax and enjoy the sun.

As the children were away from home, Leslie and I spent a quiet weekend avoiding missing them. Most of the weekend was uneventful, but there were a few noteworthy moments: Saturday evening we hung out with friends of ours, a couple who are very pregnant. We ate at Pasta Pomodoro in downtown Manhattan Beach, then walked around with them for a bit, until the female part of the couple got tired. It was great to see them and to see how well she's doing. Less than a month to go and she's really in great emotional shape (me, I'd be a massive nervous wreck) -- Sunday, Les and I went to Venice Beach and spent time looking at all the art and shopped at all the shops that the kids find prohibitively boring. I got a new earring, bringing my gauge up to a four. Leslie got a Tibetan tea pot and some rocks. We both saw a lot of art (mostly paintings) and spent a little time allowing ourselves to get chatted up by the fringe advocates on the strand (like the anti-circumcision folks and the guy who tried to sell us on a tree from Israel that he swore cured diabetes). Ended up walking maybe two to three miles. Very relaxing and wonderful to spend time with the sunshine of Leslie's smile.

When I was a disc jockey in college, this piece was one I would play quite often. It's Jean Michelle Jarre, and it's part of a larger suite which interprets, in part, the 25th anniversary of the Johnson Space Flight Center in Houston, Texas. This suite was written to be performed in concert, during the flight of a space shuttle, and this particular piece was written with the intent that during the concert, the sax part of this section of the suite was to have been performed by an astronaut on the shuttle, live, via a special link-up. Unfortunately, that saxophonist was Ron McNair and the space shuttle was The Challenger, which exploded soon after launch. The piece was eventually recorded, with Kirk Whalum on saxophone. I remember living in the wake of the Challenger disaster and being hypnotized by this section of music, entranced by what could have been and crushed by what was.

Weird Al has a new album out, and rather than play a track from that, I thought I'd post a fave rave from the past - This is 1994's "I Lost On Jeopardy," one of his hits from the first half of Weird Al's career:

Yes, this really is David Sedaris:

I was very moved by Michael Moore's "Sicko." I've had a variety of minor medical issues over the past ten years and, in pursuing health care, found the situation almost intolerable. Especially unbearable were the doctors who wouldn't give me more than ten minutes, who would push me into accepting their diagnosis, even when I knew they were wrong, even when I presented them with published papers that contraindicated their recommendations for treatment. "Sicko" points out these large holes in our health care system, while pointing out that other countries, such as Canada, England, and France, have better systems. However, when I point this out to others, most folks respond with boilerplate defenses, deriding Michael Moore's documentary style, suggesting that he is out-and-out lying.

Along comes Wendell Potter, the ex-VP of PR for Cigna, who says that Michael Moore got it right. Below is a link to the interview he did with Bill Moyers. Important stuff:

Wendell Potter on Bill Moyers

I'm a devotee of the composer Ennio Morricone. I find his work to be lyrical, fanciful, whimsical, and, at the same time, adventurous and bold. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly is a wonderful piece of music that, when listened to in its entirety, goes beyond the stereotype of "the whistle" and lays out a musical setting of great depth.

Having said that, here's a magnificent version of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly performed by The Ukulele Orchestra Of Great Britain:

Every week I write a parenting essay, some weeks I remember to mention on my blog -- This week's essay is about reading and my control issues -- here's the opening graph

Summer. Slothful Summer. Season of gentle breezes and daydreams and the lull of the creeping heat. My children finish their classes and claim what is rightfully earned: a few weeks of nothing, pure, unadulterated, un-adult-altered nothing. As Walt Whitman wrote, “I lean and loafe at my ease.”

Politics is a strong and slow boring of hard boards. It takes both passion and perspective. Certainly all historical experience confirms the truth - that man would not have attained the possible unless time and again he had reached out for the impossible. But to do that a man must be a leader, and not only a leader but a hero as well, in a very sober sense of the word. And even those who are neither leaders nor heroes must arm themselves with that steadfastness of heart which can brave even the crumbling of all hopes. This is necessary right now, or else men will not be able to attain even that which is possible today."

— Max Weber