By spocko, on February 12th, 2014%
I recently attended the 3rd Annual 90-Second Newbury film festival in San Francisco. My personal favorite was this musical rendition of Charlotte’s Web to the Spiderman theme.
The event was wonderful, the films were fun and the hosts funny, but my favorite part was looking over at a couple of kids who made one of the films proudly raising their hands when asked if they had read another one of the Newbury winners. The festival is a program of the KidLit Foundation, an Illinois literacy nonprofit. It was hosted by authors James Kennedy and recent Newbery winner Katherine Applegate.
The next stop on the film Festival tour is Tacoma and Portland Washington on March 1 and 2 where they will show another 2014 90-Second Newbury winner. The Olde Tobacco Shoppe. The plot? A five-year-old boy smokes some “magic tobacco,” has a bunch of hallucinations about sailing on a pirate ship and finding treasure. Hmmm, interesting choice out of Washington State.
. . . → Read More: Charlotte’s Web Characters As Singing Superheroes and Villains
By spocko, on February 11th, 2014% Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) on Sunday said Democrats are pushing poetry as an alternative to holding a job.
– By Megan R. Wilson The Hill, ‘Democrats pushing poetry over jobs?“
David Atkins, writing at Hullabloo, analyzes Gowdy’s response to the report by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on how people will respond to the Affordable Care Act in their work life.
Atkin’s piece is titled “Republicans do not understand what it means to be human” and it’s stellar. Here is an insightful paragraph.
It is not an inaccurate or extreme statement to declare that ideological Republicans do not understand what it means to be human. They view human beings as economic units to be plugged at their lowest possible price into a maximally efficient market that provides the greatest possible returns on investment to the wealthy few, with any resulting human resentment and misery dulled by humility before a pleasure-fearing angry God promising rewards to the obedient in the hereafter. It is a dark, meager, shriveled and cramped vision of humanity.
Read the whole piece it is excellent.
If you aren’t a good “economic unit” they think you should feel bad about it. And you certainly shouldn’t be enjoying it! . . . → Read More: Gowdy: “No poetry for you!” GOP’s Older Brother to Dem’s Prodigal Son.
By spocko, on January 26th, 2014% This figurine is based on Jeffrey Brown‘s Vader’s Little Princess book and is available for pre-order now.
Gentle Giant Ltd. says it will be ready in the second quarter of 2014. Could make a great gift for Father’s Day!
Leia, I am your father. Now let go of my leg.
Image via Gotham News. via The Mary Sue, Geekosystem, Dorkley, Technabob, Gotham News.
By spocko, on January 3rd, 2014%
By spocko, on December 11th, 2013% https://www.spockosbrain.com/wp-content/uploads/NO-Fast-Track-on-Trans-Pacific-Partnership-Job-Killer.mp4
I hope you enjoy my educational, parody video about the Trans Pacific Parternship Scheme.
For more information on the TPP
Urgent Fast Track Trade Deal Alert – Campaign for America’s Future
by Dave Johnson
And Defend the Constitution, say ‘no’ to fast-track authority for Obama
by Cathie Adams, state leader of the Texas Eagle Forum and Jo Ann Fleming, executive director of Grassroots America — We the People.
If the video above doesn’t play on your mobile device or doesn’t load fast enough, here is the YouTube Version.
If you want to sign a quick petition to stop Fast Track for the TPP, you can go here to Credo
For more info see these stories.
1″TPP Leak Confirms the Worst: US Negotiators Still Trying to Trade Away Internet Freedoms,” Electronic Frontier Foundation, Nov. 13, 2013. 2″Five key questions – and answers – about the leaked TPP text,” the Washington Post’s Monkey Cage blog, Nov. 15, 2013.
By spocko, on December 4th, 2013%
From young Frankenstein one of my favorite movies of all time. Watch the whole thing. Still funny after all these years.
By spocko, on December 3rd, 2013% This was not taken on Black Friday! It’s a composite photo from photographer Thierry Cohen illustrating what San Francisco would look like if all its light pollution was removed.
Post Apocalyptic San Francisco is still pretty, but São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro look even better.
He created these composites of 15 cities from around the world. From the site:
He photographs the world’s major cities, seeking out views that resonate for him and noting the precise time, angle, and latitude and longitude of his exposure. As the world rotates around its axis the stars that would have been visible above a particular city move to deserts, plains, and other places free of light pollution. By noting the precise latitude and angle of his cityscape, Cohen is able to track the earth’s rotation to places of atmospheric clarity like the Mojave, the Sahara, and the Atacama desert. There he sets up his camera to record what is lost to modern urban dwellers.
I remember walking in the city after the 1989 Earthquake, going over to the Haight to eat melting ice cream with my friend Carol. The sky was beautiful. There were a few lights, mostly . . . → Read More: Star Rise over San Francisco, Sans Light Pollution
By spocko, on December 3rd, 2013%
Roughly 2,000 people gathered outside the Wal-Mart’s doors in the predawn darkness.
Chanting ‘push the doors in,’ the crowd pressed against the glass as the clock ticked down to the 5 a.m. opening.
Sensing catastrophe, nervous employees formed a human chain inside the entrance to slow down the mass of shoppers.
It didn’t work.
The mob barreled in and overwhelmed workers.
…
When the madness ended, 34-year-old Jdimytai Damour was dead and four shoppers, including a woman eight months pregnant, were injured.
– NY Daily News November 2008
This happened at a Long Island Wal-Mart in 2008. The folks at Black Friday Death Count have listed one death this year. A teen driving home from a Black Friday sale in North Carolina. Yes, that could happen to anyone returning from an event that starts at zero dark thirty. But the injuries to an 11 year old girl who was trampled in a Wal-Mart in Ohio wouldn’t have happened were it not for the doorbuster frenzy created by stores like Wal-Mart.
There is a direct correlation to the Wal-Mart employee who was injured in Newport, Arkansas and the Black Friday sale. Wal-Mart spokesperson Diana Gee said the employee had no . . . → Read More: Doorbuster Deaths and Injuries on Black Friday. Tell Retailers, “It’s Time To Stop This Stunt.”
By spocko, on December 2nd, 2013% 
#DOORBUSTERDEATH Worker dies at Long Island Wal-Mart after being trampled in Black Friday stampede … tmi.me/1cKniM
By spocko, on November 25th, 2013% Suddenly, Charles held the piece of rubber up high above his head and shouted, “I found the secret! Now I know the secret!” He looked at the men around him, his eyes burning. He began to dance around the store. Don’t you see? This is the secret!” – William F. Keefe, Rubberman The Charles Goodyear story
When I was a child I loved reading about inventions and scientists. I devoured stories about them found in our Childcraft encyclopedia set. Last month at a library by the ocean I found a complete set someone had abandoned. I opened the box and was assaulted by the smell of mildew–not surprising for this part of San Francisco.
Paging through them I was amazed at how many I remembered. The details came rushing back with a glance at an illustration. Like the creation of the sewing machine needle, “Elias exclaimed, ‘The dream gave me the answer! The hole has to be at the top!’” You won’t be surprised to learn I loved the story of the vulcanization of rubber.
Now, as an adult I admire the skill of the storytellers to pull me in with the imagery and excitement of discovery . . . → Read More: Remember when Americans Made Real Products Instead of Financial Products? Makers vs. Fakers
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