Please write your representatives!

I can't believe our fucking pres. has the nerve, the NERVE to demand more money...
billions wasted

and while fat cats are constructing swimming pools with gov. money, the troops stuck over there don't even have the supplies they need...
is this how we support our troops?
or this Washington Post article
care to discuss?

Is it really going to change? Are the Dems going to grow balls and stand against BushCo??? I want to see some real action of the opposition, not just meaningless words. Write your congressperson and tell them to reject Bush's budget. He wants to cut SS by 60%... 60%?????
Think this is a great place to raise your kids? think again.

Anyone know Palms?

Here are the 2 Palms in our backyard. They are much taller than our 3 story house, so what does that make them... 50 feet tall? I wonder how old they are...














For years they grew on their own in a mostly neglected back yard, their only competition being nasturtium, oxalis and a huge clump of crocosmia.

Now look at this... my landlord abhors any empty space, and has filled the yard with all kinds of plants that have to be watered ample and regular. He has planted many plants right up to the trunk, with no regard to the crown of the tree.






























He is training passion flowers up the trunks.






























It's hard to see, but he's planted a Callistemon citrinus right there, literally 2 feet from the trunk of the palm. Don't these Callistemon's have very invasive roots?

Anyway, I'm very worried that he has signed a death warrent for these Palms. The competition for water alone-- if he ever does stop watering the yard every freakin' day, it could get bad fast. Damage to the root crown from his constant digging and fussing about, and being that they are so tall, and perhaps old... it just worries me.

Am I over reacting???

Studying the elements...

For soils class we have to know many of the elements, and memorize parts of the Periodic Table. As I'm wandering about the elemental symbols, I notice 3 at the bottom in a row- Uranium, Neptonium and Plutonium. Hmmm, very interesting that these were named in order after the last 3 planets of our solar system, don't you think? There must be a story here....

In the ancient world, 7 elements were known, and seven planets. These first elements were associated with the planets- Gold/Sun, Silver/Moon, Mars/Iron, Mercury/Mercury, Jupiter/Tin, Venus/Copper, Saturn/Lead.
















Turns out that Uranium, pictured above as Uranocircite crystal, was discovered from mined ore in Germany in the 1789. Martin Klaproth had already discovered another element, Tellurium, and with the first seven planets taken, he noticed no element was named after Earth. So he named the element with the Latin Tellus or "earth". When he discovered Uranium , at first he wanted to name this new element after himself, Klaprothium, but fortunately resisted the temptation and decided to name it after the next available planet, Uranus, which had been discovered just 8 years earlier by William Hershel. Hershel was a musician who was both the director of the orchestra in Bath, England and an accomplished astronomer. He named his planet after Urania, the muse of astronomy, according to some sources, or Uranus, the god of the sky. But whichever it was, it just so happens that both Uranus and Uranium were the last planet and element, respectively to be discovered for quite a few years.












Neptunium was made in 1940 at the Berkeley Laboratory (UC Berkeley) by the irradiation of Uranium with neutrons. Apparently between 1934 and 1938 many teams of scientists were trying the same experiment, and wherever it was successful, they gave the resulting substances names- Ausonium in Italy, after the ancient name for Italy, Bohemium for Bohemia in Germany and Sequanium in France, after the Latin name for the Seine. But all these "new" discoveries turned out to be false elements, in fact being only mostly Barium and Krypton. Finally Edwin M McMillan and Philip Abelsonmade the discovery in Berkeley, and named it after the next planet of the solar system. And as an aside, Neptune may be the Roman god of the sea, but the Greek god of the sea is Poseiden, and that's what the Greeks call it... Poseidonio!













Finally we come to Plutonium, first prepared in 1940-41 again at Berkeley Labs by bombarding Uranium with deutrons. Pluto, the planet, was discovered in 1930 and named after the Greek god of the underworld. About the naming, one of the original scientists, Glenn T. Seaborg said:
"In that first report we decided to name the element Plutonium, just like Urianium is named after Uranus... We should have named it "Plutium" but we liked Plutonium better. It just sounded better. And the symbol obviously should have been Pl, but we liked Pu better...." (heh heh)

Turns out that the report was held in secret until the end of WWII and finally published in 1948. This is when the names of both Neptunium and Plutonium were first revealed to the world.

So there ya go... maybe I'm the only person on earth who thinks this is facinating... lol... but somehow I don't think so...
source
source

Kites of DOTA

DOTA is the Black Rock City Department of Tethered Aviation, my freaky family from all over the world who gather each year at Burning Man to create art, chaos, hang out and, most importantly, fly kites. This is a tribute to the kites of DOTA over the years and the artists who make and fly them. (in no particular order at all)

Tim Elverston made this Cursor kite in 2005.











Mort and Ginny Linder created this steel kite sculpture in 2004 and it's become a camp icon.

















Mark Ricketts built our mylar Spirit Kites in 2004.

















Tristan models Ty Billings' tie-dyed kites.
















The Red Line Project kite was designed and built by Dean Jordan, sewn by members of DOTA in 2005. This 200 sq. foot kite with a tail approaching a quarter of a mile has been flown many times in many places since.












Our Ghost kites were designed by Dean Jordan, built and sewn by DOTA members and flown in 2005 and 2006.












The Man- designed and built by Chris Shultz in 2006.












The Morpho kite, designed and built by Tim Elverston and Ruth Whiting.












The Red Line is launched at Marina Green in San Francisco.












The Red Line high in the sky.

















Me flying the Man.

















Morphos at sunset.

















Ghost kites and the Man kite fly over Burning Man at night.

















Spinflight bus built by Mar Ricketts in 2003.















Katri flying Dean Jordan's Airform kite.

The Strange Glorious Story of La Contessa

(Photo: unknown)
My own favorite memory of La Contessa is seeing her at night... she truly appeared as a ghost ship floating across the night sky- the Flying Dutchman doomed to endlessly wander among the clouds... It was an amazing site...That was the year of the Floating World, by far the best year Burning Man has ever had for art and art cars. After the the man burned that year, we turned and walked outward to the perimeter to take a breather from the massive madness of the burn itself and it was like stepping out onto a sea at night... the ships, boats, and a myriad of lighted sea creatures helped create the most magical and surreal setting I've ever experienced in my 10 burns... I will always remember her fondly...
Well, I was doing some research to find out what ever happened to this storied vessel. Why was she banned from Burning Man? Why did she come back? Wasn't she burned down? Is so, what was that ship that was burned in the bay last Friday night? I found out others had done the job already, and much better than I could have. So here ya go....


Au revoir La Contessa
by Erik Davis
Feb. 3, 2007
(photo: Lane Hartwell)
On a recent Friday night, with a full moon glowering waxy from above, a feline and freaky crowd gathered on a toxic finger of San Francisco's bayside no-man's-land to bid symbolic adieu to one of the most powerful works of art that the Burning Man arts festival has ever seen: the great dame La Contessa. A massive Spanish galleon encased around a bus, with crow's nests and rigging and a scuttlebutt for all I know, La Contessa was, on the playa anyway, a manifest dream, a fully realized mobile archetype that featured such fetishistic and finely-grained detail that it became a vessel in more than a literal sense. Standing on the bow at night, the Dutchman sails flying above, a bardo-shaking brass band drowning out sense, and some unseen meth-head driving too fast or erratically for your own cowardly comfort, one did not need drugs to achieve the escape velocity of full imaginative transport. And on Dec 6 of last year, this great vessel of the wayward spirit, its forty feet parked on a ranch in Washoe County, Nevada, was torched to ruin by a local landowner who never hid his hatred of Burning Man, and whose legally dubious and almost certainly vengeful act is parsed, along with much else, in Steven T. Jones' solid SF Guardian cover story.
for the complete article
To see video shot of the burial at sea, click here
La Contessa at Burning Man at sunrise (photo: Scott London)La Contessa sails the playa (photo: D. Madison)
The ship burning, set on fire by arsonist (photo: Quinn)

Burning Man Worker's Rights

Here's something I ran across while researching another topic...
Shooter, as you may or may not know, has a huge reputation for stirring up shit and at times being a complete ass, but here I think he raises many valid concerns that I would like to see Burning Man address. I'd like to say also that am glad that the current lawsuit by John Law may cause BMorg to open it's books. If they truly have nothing to hide, then let's get on with it! As I am thinking about it now, I wonder where all the money comes from. If indeed it takes $222.00 per person to put the event on, and most people pay $250.00 or less for a ticket, then where does the money come to pay BMorg salaries, fund art, pay for the shiny new digs... I'm not trying to be anti-BMorg, but I guess I am. It's hard to ignore these questions, in as much as, as something innocent grows into a megalithic sort-of-corporate structure, it not only loses some of it's humanity, but it gains responsibilities towards workers and participants.
Anyway, here's Shooter's blog...

Labor Rights
I have, in the past, such as when I ran as the anti-WTO mayoral candidate in Seattle, dealt with certain labor issues. I am very interested in Nevada labor laws, and how the Black Rock City LLC treats the workers who make the burning man event. I've been inspired by the negative reaction I have gotten, usually from Larry Harvey's other workers that get paid decent wage. They get really pissy when I put forth the idea that the Department of Public Works and the Nevada Properties should be paid a fair wage. I would like to say that not all the workers have problems with what I bring up for discussion. But since I do not depend on Burning Man for my livelihood I have more freedom for discussion. And I am sorry for the trouble that this discussions may cause friends of mine that are currently employed by Larry Harvey.

I also worked for this company in a management position and have inside information on this corporation and how poorly they treat the workers and volunteers. I have very interesting paper work I saved from years ago, plus first hand experience with the six people that own the Burning Man company.

Well, my interest started from a suggestion that someone else gave me about unionizing the DPW. The DPW (department of public works), for those of you that don't know, are the people that build the Burning Man event. Since I worked for the burning man event, I am aware of two or three lawsuits that were settled with workers from wrongful death, injury on the job to being sexually harassed by one of the owners of the company. I am considering filing a lawsuit for things that happened when I was a full time year around worker--and I have the others that can make it a class action lawsuit.

I noticed that I have lost eight people on my friends list. I can't help to wonder if it is because I would do something so radical and dangerous as to suggest that the Burning Man company follow the laws of this country and treat it's workers like human beings. I've done some crazy shit and posted even crazier shit on tribe, but it seems that when I put forth the idea that Burning Man should use some of the 6 million + dollars it spends on the event to take care of the workers that build and clean up the event--if I just put forth that idea--you have to delete me from your friends list. OK. I must be doing something right.

And I don't drink the koolaid.

What I am actually advocating is that the workers be paid the wage they had in 2003 when I was a manager. The company, to cut corners, lowered the pay of the workers by almost half. With the decreasing value of the US dollar I find it strange that workers are getting their pay cut. Burning Man spents $20,000 at a time for art that they burn, and then they burn their workers by cheating them. Come on, I say. This year has the theme of Green. So let's put a little love towards the workers, too, and maybe cancel a few art projects. They can burn $20,000 at a time, but they cut workers pay by $30 a day. That doesn't work for me.

When I was foreman of the black rock station I did a survey of all the business in the area. The Black Rock Station is the Burning Man ranch that they stage the event from. Burning Man paid the least to the workers and offered them rather unsafe working conditions and food prep areas.

Yeah, so, sorry if I have funneled my trouble making skills into something called labor rights. Maybe I should just go back to asking people for $13.

Update on Mr. Hamm

Apparently the guy is doing really well and his recovery is progressing rapidly since getting the free flap. My friends say his wife is a truly amazing person. Good news!
original post

My other job

Now that my employer has joyously committed to taking one day off a month, I have the honor of being a voluteer assistant gardener at the San Francisco Botanical Garden at Strybing Arboretum.
In other words, I weed... ;)
But I love weeding. It's very meditative and I don't have to talk to anyone if I don't want to. And it's not as easy as you might think...
For example, here is the weed... it's called Ranunculus californicus... (not the one you might be growing in your garden at home)
















Then there's this pretty little bugger... Geranium robertianum...















And here is the valuable specimen, that is being choked out by the invasive species (and wild strawberry too) This is Geranium x oxonianum, these both are true Geraniums, not the ones we all call Geraniums, which are actually Pelargoniums...














And this is what I have to go through, finding the good guys and pulling out the bad ones....















Not so easy is it???


A gorgeous blue bamboo, Bambusa chungii. The part where I work is called the Asian Temperate Region...









'









This is called a Chysamthemum Tree, Edgeworthia chrysantha ...
This tree hasn't bloomed in 3 years, now it gorgeous and smells amazing! the leaves follow the blooms, just like the next tree...















Magnolia x soulangiana...














This is an area where I cleared out all the strawberry, ivy and weeds...














Last but not least, here's a pic from school... I can now operate this tractor! Woot!

This guy's in the right place...

This man, Mr. Hamm, who was attacked by a mountain lion, and subsequently almost died form the resulting infections, is in the right place for his continued treatment....
I used to work with Rudy Buntic, and all the Buncke Clinic surgeons at Davies Medical Center (now CPMC) and I know this man will get the very best care there is. They do some amazing stuff there... I helped out while they reattached tongues, scalps, fingers, arms, feet, ears, and a penis too... moved toes to the hand, fingers from one hand to the other, skin and muscles from one part of the body to another part in order to cover extensive wounds with vascularized tissue and save limbs, tissue or reconstruct missing breasts, noses, chins, and more.
I really miss those cases... I loved working 14 or 16 hours, all night, working under the microscope sewing together vessels and nerves... oh the days...
The three most common musculo-cutaneous and muscular free-flap donors sites are:
Latisimuss dorsi












Scapular












Serratus

















I'm assuming they would use the Latissimus (for a large area) or Serratus (for a smaller area) since with those you can move skin as well. It would depend on how big the defect is. The free tissue graft, or free flap, would then be attached to the best vein and artery left near the defect site, which might be difficult to find in an infected area such as this... so probably it went to an artery and vein in the neck.















Having good blood supplied tissue to cover these huge defects is key to fighting infection and ultimate survival.
Good luck to Mr. Hamm... he could not be in better hands!

For more info about microsurgery...here
About the Buncke Clinic... here

OMG! There's a picture of me (in the flowered hat) on the Buncke website! Yay!

Silver Linings

Well, I can with new awareness that the benefit of having an abolutely miserable fucking day at work makes it actually a JOY when later you are in soils class lsitting through 4 hours of anions, cations, covalence bonds and inverse logarithmic pH tables. Seriously! And the fun thing about being back in a class like this is that you realize just how much of that freshman college chemistry class really did sink into your brain. You just have to nudge it a lot to get it to come up to the surface again.

I'm yearning for a little bit of this...













Have a great day everyone!