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Photos of the abandoned soundstage for The Wire.
So I found out yesterday that the soundstage for “The Wire” still existed. I wasted no time in visiting it and was there almost less than 24 hours. It’s one of my favorite TV shows ever and I had to see this before everyone ruined it. The building is also scheduled for demolition and they are going to build a super market on it.
(thx, hurty)
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Last Thursday, on New Year’s Day, 22-year-old Oscar Grant was fatally shot by an unidentified BART officer. It happened after grant and some buddies got into a scuffle while riding a train. We know this. What we don’t know yet is why. Was it an accident? Was it intentional? An answer to that is in the works thanks to a sharp bystander who captured what went down on her cell phone
Karina Vargas screened the footage on KTVU last night. The footage is a bit disturbing since you hear and, more or less, see Grant, who was unarmed, get shot. Although reports are conflicting, it appears Grant was in fact cuffed at the time he was shot; he was definitely pressed to the ground by the officer.
According to the Gate, “BART is looking into a number of issues, including whether the officer had meant to fire his Taser stun gun rather than his gun.” Bay Area Rapid Transit Police Chief Gary Gee has asked the public and media for patience as the investigations progresses. “This case is not even four days cold. We’re in the early stages of the investigation and we will do a very thorough job,” he warns.
Grant, by the way, was a meat cutter at Farmer Joe’s Marketplace and a new father who “loved to play basketball and video games and hang out with friends.” His family plans on filing a million claim against BART.
justinª
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As an appetizer before my annual best links of the year post (coming Monday, I hope), I put together a list of kottke.org posts from 2008 that I liked the most and that may be worth a look if you missed them the first time around.
In January, I liveblogged the Mythbusters episode about the airplane on the conveyor belt. I still get email telling me that the plane won’t take off.
Time merge media is a collection of video and photographic works which display multiple time periods at once.
A collection of single serving sites, single-page sites like Barack Obama Is My New Bicycle, Khaaan!, and Is Lost A Repeat?
A liveblog of the Oscars written without actually watching them.
A post about the end of The Wire.
In March, kottke.org turned 10 years old and I collected a bunch of the previous designs together.
One of my all-time favorite threads on kottke.org: saying words wrong on purpose.
My favorite graph which doubles as a picture of my son.
Stanley Kubrick, Pablo Ferro, and Arthur Lipsett.
A photo of Ollie attempting to walk in Turbine Hall in the Tate Modern.
A collection of early movie reviews, including one by Maxim Gorky from 1896.
Survival tips for the Middle Ages, another great thread about how a contemporary person might fend for themselves in 1000 AD.
Hypnerotomachia Poliphili is a book printed in 1499 but which looks quite contemporary.
The most beautiful suicide, a photo of Evelyn Hale taken by Robert Wiles a few minutes after she jumped from the Empire State Building
A pair of posts about the Metropolitan Life Tower: the tower’s past and future and an unusual death that occurred in the building shortly after it opened.
A collection of election maps from the 2008 US Presidential election.
And finally, the opening space scene in 2001: A Space Odyssey with chickens from The Muppet Show clucking the Blue Danube waltz.
justinª
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Whole wheat flour, as I discovered, absorbs more water than white flour because of the bran. So if you use the online recipes for white flour, the dough doesn’t rise properly. The yeast needs room in the dough to move around, so if the bran absorbs all the water, the yeast doesn’t propagate well. So the biggest difference between my recipe and the white bread ones is an increase in water. I also don’t let this dough rise as long as the white flour recipe as it yields a more fermented taste which I don’t think fits the sweetness of the whole wheat too well. I’ll include the recipe and the link for the method.
You’ll need a cast iron pot with a lid (Dutch oven). Mine measures 9″ wide by 3.5″ deep.
470 grams whole wheat flour, the one I like is quite fine but not as fine as pastry flour. The fineness of the flour will effect the amount of water needed.
585 grams water (about 2 2/3 cups) at about room temp.
1/4 tsp yeast
1/2 tsp salt
1 T honey or sweetener of choice. (I’ve used molasses successfully too). I dissolve this in the water.
Lots of flour for folding the dough.
Ground flax or cornmeal for dusting.
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and cover except the folding and dusting flours. The consistency of the dough should be like wet cement. You just stir it all up with a spoon. Stir it really well. Allow the dough to rise at room temperature for 7-12 hours. When the dough fills the bowl, spread a thick layer (about 1/4 inch) of flour on a clean surface. You’ll want to start your oven preheating to 450 F with the Dutch oven in the oven. Pour the dough out onto the flour. Sprinkle the dough with flour and spread it out into a circle about 12-14″ wide and about 1.5″ thick. Fold the dough in thirds like a business letter. You’ll now have dough that is long and skinny. Fold the long ends in toward the middle so that you have a square or round ball. Lift the ball into a bowl that is lined with a clean cloth napkin or dishtowel that has been heavily dusted with cornmeal or ground flax seed. The dough will be super super soft and wet and you’ll have to move it really fast or it will slip through your fingers. At this point you can either bake it right away or wait an hour. I think it’s better if you wait, but you don’t have to if you’re in a hurry. Lift the napkin out of the bowl and gently roll the dough into the pot. Put the lid back on and set the timer for 40 minutes. Take it out and let it cool. It needs to cool before bagging. The bread doesn’t cut too well when it’s hot, although who can resist a taste?! I refrigerate my loaf to slice it and then leave it out in a bag on the counter. It stays good for about 3-4 days. If I’m waiting longer than that I’ll refrigerate it until we’re ready to eat it or it will get a fermented taste.
The Dutch oven creates a humid atmosphere while baking that creates a superb crust and nice texture to the loaf. Happy baking!
justinª
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Stepping away from the dinning room table covered with conspicuous amounts of white fuzz (primaloft), I emerge a “gear elf” triumphant. To say that the bike yurt is by far the most difficult thing I have ever made is quite the understatement. The only thing I’ve made that took longer and more work were my children! But three weeks of late night sewing vigils has now paid off. The bike yurt is done.
justinª
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best stockin stufferz everz
wait. i gotz u a gift 2. iz me.
picture: dunno source, via our lolcat builder. lol caption: sikkinixx89
Need to send a last minute holiday card? Send a lol as a holiday eCard with Bunway Cards. You can send this lol or any lol that you make to your friends and family and it’s all free!
justinª
Linked from: Justin’s shared items in Google ReaderI have to write with more than the usual amusement regarding the postings I’ve seen on the recently-held “Oakland Blogger Get Together " because this blog you're reading is the only one that's updated daily, gets more traffic than the others, and doesn't ignore parts of Oakland, and has the only writer who actually worked in Oakland politics — me.
So, as they do, they formed their own meeting — an entire "White's only" gathering. That's sad. Perhaps I'll host my own gathering, but it will be of a different kind to be sute. First, racially mixed. Second, reflective of those who are at the cutting edge of New Media in Oakland, and that's beyond the small group of bloggers that got together.
As I said to Paul Cobb , there's a "White Blogger group" and true to form, these folks proved it. And its not as if they don't know who I am; they do and could have invited me. In fact, that's the problem: they recognize me in a room, but I've got no idea what those folks look like at all. I'm serious. That's what happens when you're on television and YouTube. But more to the point, the first time I realized this was during the primary election at Sean Sullivan's party. But I don't want to get off the track here.
The old Oakland way is not apparent with them. Of course, someone will say "We voted for Obama!" But that's not the point. Many of them are new to Oakland and thus don't reflect the true soul of the city. Diversity is not important to them — being around people who look and think like they do is.
Between the low number of African American bloggers, perhaps two and definitely this one, and the self-segregation practiced by the "Oakland White bloggers", it's a sad future for a great city.
justinª
Linked from: Justin’s shared items in Google Reader[ Friday, December 26; 1:00 pm; ] Annual Kwanzaa Celebration Friday December 26 Free Museum admission and performances! The African Roots of Jazz 11 a.m. & 1 p.m. Habari Gani? (traditional Kwanzaa greeting that means, What is the news?) Join us for this joyous African-American celebration of family and community. Experience the rich traditions of Kwanzaa featuring a celebration of African-American culture through hands-on activities, performances and food. “Kwanzaa” [...]
justinª
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Francis Chu is an urban cyclist in Singapore who designed a reusable anti pollution mask for cyclists. Filter masks are nothing new, but unlike some of the other more cumbersome replaceable filter designs, the TOTOBOBO mask folds flat and can be stowed in a pocket until it is needed. It basically offers the convenience of a disposable filter mask, with with interchangeable filters. The mask has been ergonomically designed and supposedly can fit the majority of faces from adults down to children of 5 years old.
As evidenced by some of the pictures shown here, the user can tell when the filters have done their job. Look at the color differences of filters that were used in different Asian cities. As Francis points out, “The filter will turn into a distinguish dirty gray to signal that it’s time to change the filters.”Francis offed me a mask to try out. I don’t live in a big urban area, so my first though was that I didn’t need such a product. Certainly there is no comparison between the air quality here in Greenville, SC and cities like Bangkok, Calcutta, or even Beijing. Yes the air here is probably pretty clean by those standards, but I might be surprised to find that the filter would still change color over the course of many rides in rush hour traffic. It might be worth a try.
If you are interested, read more about the TOTOBOBO mask here and here.
justinª
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October 1908. Fairmont, West Virginia. “These boys (and one other small one) and their father work in Monongah Glass Works. Father gets .75 a day, one boy .25 a day, four get 80 cents. Total .20 a day. Live in a tumble-down house. What is the trouble?” Photo and caption by Lewis Wickes Hine. View full size.
justinª
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In creating the 2007 budget, Oakland’s City Council made a critical decision that would place the most basic and necessary piece of bicycle infrastructure in serious jeopardy. In switching to higher-revenue, sidewalk-friendly “Pay and Display” parking kiosks, and so removing parking meters, Oakland would lose the vast majority of legal bicycle parking. Bike/ped activists recognized the threat and acted quickly to find a solution.
The Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee created a Bike Parking Subcommittee, which I chaired, and we identified and lobbied for budget measures to ameliorate the kiosks’ impacts on cycling. Oakland was already planning to fund a new CityRacks program, which would install bike racks over three years throughout the city’s commercial districts. Based on a successful policy I had seen in Portland, we convinced the City Council to waive the Minor Encroachment Fee for bike parking, allowing people to install custom-made racks in the sidewalk without paying 00. But those medium-term programs joining kiosks in the budget did not address the imminent removal of all meters.
Custom bike rack in Portland, OR.
With assistance from the bike/ped program staff, we evaluated options for solving the problem temporarily. For CityRacks, the city had already determined that two racks per linear commercial block (with more available by request and extra capacity in targeted areas like Old Oakland and Temescal) would satisfy demand. It turns out that retrofitting parking meters (replacing the head with a bar big enough to prevent a lock from being slipped over it) is actually more expensive than installing new racks, though of course faster. Fortunately, the Parking Department and the bike/ped program staff worked out an agreement to retain two parking meters per block, removing the mechanism and labeling it as bike parking. The deal was presented to and approved by the City Council’s Public Works Committee.
A city staffer and an intern spent the summer of 2007 clearly marking the meters to be retained with a big white X on the sidewalk (also, apparently a merchant or two figured out what they were doing and marked their own meters). I reviewed their downtown selections and agreed with them. Once the meter was removed in front of a downtown bar at which I used to DJ, the owners were going to put in a custom rack.
But, of course, the parking meter removal was not done properly at all. Everyone sees the headless poles all over Oakland’s streets. And every bicyclist sees that very few of them had their heads retained in order to function as bike parking. Before the Parking Dept made a half-hearted effort to fix the problem, the bike/ped program found that only 47% of the 576 meters to be retained were in fact left in usable condition. The figure has been raised to about 70% through a few random head replacements and the bike/ped staff grudgingly accepting some meters retained that were not marked (like the one in front of the bar that was planning to replace it with a custom rack). Despite the City Council’s direction, affirming a plan drafted by the Parking Department itself, bicyclists lost almost a third of their needed parking through sheer incompetence on the part of city workers.
Three bikes locked to one meter, downtown Oakland.
Unlike San Francisco, Oakland has an Environmental Impact Report supporting its bicycle master plan and no barrier to installing bike parking but the time it takes to fully implement the CityRacks program (two more years). When the economy recovers, and as bicycling becomes more popular and valued, businesses will begin to take advantage of the ability to install custom-made racks. But in the meantime, we could have adequate bike parking if a large, revenue-generating city agency could perform a basic task given to them. Unfortunately, in Oakland that is simply too much to expect.
justinª
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By ANNA BLOOM
Dec. 20–Snow on Mt. Diablo was one thing, but ice skating in Temescal… without ice?
The Temescal Telegraph Business Improvement District is making no small plans to attract holiday shoppers to their neck of North Oakland this weekend. Beyond the usual good cheer, Santa and Christmas carols, the district’s first annual Holiday Skate and Stroll will feature an ersatz ice rink at 49th and Telegraph. Saturday and Sunday, as many as 30 will be able to glide, spin and hockey stop on a temporary 48-by-39 foot hybrid-polymer rink for the price of a pair of skates – and without any time outs for the Zamboni machine.
“I’m interested to see how it turns out — it’s a plastic covering that acts like ice, but there won’t be any freezing,” said Gary Turchin, a spokesperson for the Children’s Hospital and Research Center, the sponsor of the rink.
Turchin said he will be helping on the corner. “We’re happy to be supporting the business district,” he said. “What’s good for them is what’s good for us.”
Planning for the festivities took place a week ago at Desa Arts, among the large-scale paintings of Buddhas, hand-made drums and an opium bed frame from Java. Turchin and four other members of the business district board checked off details: The Kitchenettes, a chorus of seven mothers from Redwood Heights, will sing Sunday. There’s a Saturday parade for people and pets. The yet-to-be-opened Tapas bar, B44, will be donating electricity. The East Bay Depot for Creative Use will be facilitating arts and crafts for kids.
“I talked to the Mixing Bowl about serving hot chocolate outside,” said Lisa Tana, owner of Desa Arts.
“Lane Splitter Pizza is totally into it and wants to giveaway candy canes,” said Sharon Delap, assistant to the business district’s executive director.
Delap surveyed the heavy three-ring binder, full of the event’s logistics, that was balanced on her knees. While some businesses readily promised to contribute, the 60 businesses she had contacted on the list on her lap had not yet responded or had shown little interest.
“We know the economy is really unstable right now, so we can tell them it’s important to participate,” suggested Julie Stevens, owner of Telegraph’s 17 Jewels Salon Spa.
The recession is something of a concern for the district — members of the business district say certain development plans have been put on hold for the time being — but the challenge of rallying merchants around an event reminded Darlene Rios Drapkin, executive director for the business district, of previous holiday event efforts when the market was healthy. “For the majority of merchants, it’s hard to get them involved — I hear them say, ‘What’s in it for me?’” she said. “This is their chance to be community-driven. What they need to understand is, meeting business owners in person, matters. Like when I meet you, Lisa, and I find out you went to Indonesia to find this,” Drapkin gestured to a chair, “that makes a difference.”
Drapkin was hired on as executive director after business owners between 40 and 66th streets, and portions of Shattuck and Claremont Avenue, voted to establish the business improvement district (often called BID) in 2004. Once a BID is formed, dues collected from the businesses for the district fund services the city of Oakland does not provide, such as certain physical improvements and listing vacancies in the area. In Temescal, the BID helps with the June Temescal Street Fair and a Halloween event, and this summer it helped host a six-week outdoor film series organized by the Temescal Street Collective.
The idea is that neighborhood shopping areas are treated like malls, Drapkin said, meaning commercial districts need to create their own identity — their own branding. In Temescal, the identity is “Hip Happenings,” a term used to describe the markets and various events like the Holiday Skate and Stroll.
“We want people to say, ‘Hey, this is a safe place to come into. People actually care about this place,’” she said. “It’s all part of building the commercial district to pull people here.”
The incorporation of Temescal’s business improvement district followed the examples of Rockridge’s district, founded in 2000; and a year later that of Fruitvale, where the annual Dia de Los Muertos festival now attracts nearly 100,000 people each year.
Lisa Tana and her business partner and husband, Made Moja, who is Balinese, came to North Oakland two and a half years after the Temescal Telegraph BID was formed to open their store, Desa Arts. “I was excited about Temescal because it’s up and coming and there are a lot of artists and interesting development plans for the neighborhood,” she recalled. “But it’s challenging.”
According to Tana, visitors to the area come looking for restaurants, not shopping. Crowds from the monthly Oakland stroll, Art Murmur, rarely end up in Temescal, she said, and she was additionally concerned that Oakland had an identity crisis, stemming from “a bad rap” when it came to crime.
If it is successful, Tana said, she sees the Holiday Skate and Stroll as a “pilot project” to build on in years to come. She hopes for a modest beginning, she said, that could become Temescal’s version of an annual Dia de Los Muertos.
“We’re pioneers,” Tana said. “We’re trying to stay and help the neighborhood grow. We want Temescal to be a destination.”
Temescal’s Holiday Skate and Stroll Schedule
This event is free and open to the public, with the exception of the skate rental fee of . For more information about the Temescal Telegraph Business District and their local events, visit temescaldistrict.org.
Saturday
1-5 p.m. - The ice rink will open to the public at 49th Street and Telegraph Avenue.
1-5 p.m. - Meet Santa at 49th Street and Telegraph Avenue.
1- 1:30 p.m. - The St. Elizabeth Elementary School Choir will sing at 49th Street and Telegraph Avenue.
2- 3:30 p.m. - Babes in the Woods, a Celtic singing group, will perform at 49th Street and Telegraph Avenue.
1 p.m. - An arts and crafts booth in front of the East Bay Depot for Creative reuse at 47th Street and Telegraph Avenue.
Sunday
10:30 a.m. - An arts and crafts booth in front of the East Bay Depot for Creative reuse at 47th Street and Telegraph Avenue.
12:30 p.m. - Parents and kids and pets are invited to be a part of the Holiday parade that begins at Claremont Avenue and Telegraph Avenue, with the brass band, The Toy Soldiers, and a mini electric trolley leading the way.
1-5 p.m. - The ice rink will open to the public at 49th Street and Telegraph Avenue.
1-5 p.m. - Meet Santa at 49th Street and Telegraph Avenue.
2-3:30 p.m. - The Kitchenettes, seven singing moms from Redwood Heights, will perform at 49th Street and Telegraph Avenue.
justinª
Linked from: Justin’s shared items in Google Reader
Vanity Fair has gotten ahold of a few menus to be served at the White House before George W. Bush leaves office. Here are a few of the dishes:
Gored hearts of Palm Beach, with hanging chard
Chateau Petreas, Iraqi Riserva (bold start with a long, nutty finish)
Utter tripe, with Crawford ranch dressing
Deep-fried Halliburton, in Saddam Hoisin Sauce
New Orleans flounder
And for dessert, coalition crumble.
(link)justinª
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There are more slaves in the world today than at any time in human history. Buying a slave in Haiti takes just a few minutes and is only a short plane ride away.
But the deal isn’t done. Benavil leans in close. “This is a rather delicate question. Is this someone you want as just a worker? Or also someone who will be a ‘partner’? You understand what I mean?”
You don’t blink at being asked if you want the child for sex. “I mean, is it possible to have someone that could be both?”
“Oui!” Benavil responds enthusiastically.
If you’re interested in taking your purchase back to the United States, Benavil tells you that he can “arrange” the proper papers to make it look as though you’ve adopted the child.
This article is adapted from E. Benjamin Skinner’s A Crime So Monstrous: Face-to-Face with Modern-Day Slavery.
Update: I believe I’ve linked to Free the Slaves before but it’s always worth another look.
Free the Slaves liberates slaves around the world, helps them rebuild their lives and researches real world solutions to eradicate slavery forever. We use world class research and compelling stories from the frontlines of slavery to convince the powerful and the powerless that we can end slavery.
(thx, jacob)
(link)justinª