Out On The Stoop

Bobby Caldwell on the Finally Friday Freakout

2008-07-25T19:21:00.001-07:00

Oh, my was it a long four day week for me. Three days of non-stop yammering, moving, thinking, listing and a cushy bed to plop in. I loved the bed at the Westin St. Francis. If you are going to have a torrid heart breaking affair then a clean cushy bed is the place to start it up in style.

I came home with the BlogHer virus aka a community shared summer cold. I recommend liquids, aspirin and before bedtime a slug of wine for the aches. Which is where I’m headed after the end of the week ramble.

Up until I search for a video I have never known what Bobby Caldwell looked like. I did not care. No one who loves “What You Won’t Do” cares what the man looks like. Twenty five years ago it was an issue. This looks like one of those promotional only (before MTV) videos but check it out.

Bobby Caldwell's What You Won't Do"

Black radio stations did play white performers on soul music stations. Some of the Righteous Brothers tunes slipped in, Van Morrison certainly was spun on turntables with Blue Money, Domino and that other little tune he sang from time to time. There were others. Most of the time the race of the performer was not mentioned. The assumption was that it was an African American performer.

What this meant for the early Blue-eyed soul performers was that their photos generally was not on the album cover and when folks went to the show is when an awakening happened. If the performer was solid and could perform in real-time there was no problem. They were musically adopted.

I knew that Bobby Caldwell was white. Most folks did after the record hit the charts. I don’t thinks black people had had a problem once they were hooked on the song. It was the promoters, the A/R people and those with money at stake that were racially twitchy.

I also want to point out that Bobby is not a one song wonder. There are 14 albums but how does he get played on contemporary radio stations? Hip Hop and Rap stations won’t play him. Oldies stations will only play that one song and so called Contemporary Adult formats will not innovate and allow new music for older audiences to be presented.

Yes, I’ve croaked about this before. But radio will not listen and newspapers are learning a little bit but not fast enough and forget about what we currently call television.

I’m going to hug my mp3 player and go nappy time. Enjoy.

Schmutzie - BlogHer 2008 Keynote Speakers

2008-07-23T20:58:00.000-07:00

This is Schmutzie from Schmutzie's Milk Money or Not, Here I Come. She had a journey to get to the keynote stage in San Francisco.

You can read about it at her post on leaving a small town to come to to the convention.

This is the Windows Video version.

This is the traditional QuickTime version.

This is an Audio mp3 recording.

She did a great job. There are all kinds of journeys. Some voluntary and sometimes you have to be dragged kicking and screaming to go down certain roads.

It really is how you handle the trip. Take a lesson from Schmutzie.

Doug French - BlogHer 2008 Community Keynote Speakers

2008-07-22T20:29:00.000-07:00

Doug's blog is Laid Off Dad and this is a slice of his life trying to inspire his son. Inspiration is a tricky thing and it might take a bit of time for his son to really understand.

I sat in the audience with envy. I don't have that kind of "dad" parenting experience in my life.

This is the Windows Video version.

This is the traditional QuickTime version.
This is the M4V/iPod Video version.
This is an Audio mp3 version.

I can sit back and wondered "Is that what a good father does each and every day?" The good and the bad and the ability to see the humor in it all.

Antonia - BlogHer08 Community Keynote Speaker

2008-07-21T20:58:00.001-07:00

This is Antonia reading her winning selection presented at BlogHer 2008. Antonia is from London and has a twinkly sense of humor.

This is the Windows Media video version.

This is the traditional QuickTime video version.

This is the iPod/M4V video version.
This is an audio MP3 file.

By this I mean she is the classiest dame I have witness delivering a fart poem. For more information on Antonia visit http://yetanotherbloomingblog.blogspot.com

So it begins again. This vlogging thing. I make no promises. Videos may or may not appear do to time constrains, brain chemistry or the winds of change.

Yes, It Was A Big Fat Deal and It Was Wonderful

2008-07-21T08:31:00.000-07:00

I'm walking around the St. Francis Hotel. The sessions I wanted to sample were filled to capacity. People were sitting on the floor, along the walls and what-not. Seriously, there were a lot of people interested in content creation, moniteriziation, optimizations and issues of a capital producing nature.

Other sessions I will confess I did not attended because it had the prefix-Mommyblogger before it. I'm not a mom. I don't have kids. I am not hating on the Mommybloggers at all it was just that I fell isolated from a part of the blogging community. A rant for another time.

Anyway, I'm stumbling through the halls and I see the sign about BFD. I don't know what BFD stand for and I have a firm policy of checking out things I do not understand.

I turn the corner and there are a couple of big legged girls sitting around laughing. Always a good sign. There was some skinny folks too.

The talk ranged from acceptance, to sex positive erotic videos for women, to fashion to to art and sushi and that I when I lost track because after initially turning down a drink I said to myself "What the heck, I ain't driving" and slung a Mimosa down my throat.

It got fuzzy after that point. But in a good way. I was comfortable. I felt connected for a brief moment in time. So thanks ladies. For those of you who might be interested in fat/body acceptance issues groove on over to:

King Creole & The Coconuts on the Finally Friday Freakout

2008-07-16T18:56:00.000-07:00

This early edition of the Finally Friday Freakout is devoted to the men folk left alone for two or three days because of BlogHer08.

This is especially the guy in the elevator at BlogHer07. He had the kids and was following after the mother unit. I heard him say it. "Next year she is coming alone. I'll stay home with the kids." That man was tired, tuckered and his birth Bam Bam and Pebbles wanted to go home.

Yes my friend this year you get the house to yourself. You get to wake up, scratch yourself, eat want you want and go where you please without reporting back to home base if you should pick up something before coming home.

Unless of course you have kids but you get the gist of my thought. So, as you are having that third slice of heartburn inducing pizza (I'm thinking extra cheese and extra pepperoni) and the fourth beer with the fellas, my first selection is from King Creole and the Coconuts My Male Curiosity.

Any resemblance to Cab Calloway is well, between him and Cab's sprit.

Now some of you are saying that I'm not being fair. That you are happy to allow your good woman this mini vacation and the kids are not a problem. Nor the dog or the plumbing nor the work you brought home that you have to have finished before 9:00 a.m. Monday morning.

The fact that your mother and mother-in-law have told you point blank that you can't bring your children over this weekend is beside the point. You are taking care of business.

You sir are an Endicott. We like Endicott. We adore Endicott. But we know you think you are the other fella in the video. To each his own but your secret is safe with me.

When Cultures Collide - Reach That Peak

2008-07-16T05:25:00.000-07:00

There is a common culture that all Americans share. Pop culture is one aspect of that experience. What happens when three or more collide?

Pop culture and entertainment fractures in many forms including hip hop, pop music, homogenized entertainment news, movies, advertising and other media used for creative endeavors. They borrow from each other. That's ok. That is necessary. You need that kind of exchange for a variety of reasons.

I watched this commercial and I am split in two; I am like Rayna Kapec in the Original Star Trek series episode "Requiem for Methuselah."

I like that it is an attempt to have humor with science information.
I don't like that it uses a pseudo hip-hop overlay to do so.
I like seeing men move, dance and have fun. Always have, always will.
I don't like hearing a seemingly black man's voice coming out of a white man's mouth, it is kinda creepy.
I like that was an attempt at fun as well as selling a product that is incredibly hard to define for non-science folks.
I don't like that it is ok to use elements of black culture to sell products but that the actual producers and consumers of that product are continually disrespected. (Not the commercial's fault, I'm not saying that is what they are doing.)

I repeat, I'm not hating on the commercial. Boing, boing, ping and round I go.

It just strikes me funny because most of the time the unspoken message is "Why can't you people of color just Anglo-Up." Why do you have to be so different? Assimilation is good."

For the record, white folks can use elements of black culture for parody and satire. For your consideration, Weird Al Yankovick's White and Nerdy.

Just be very, very careful. When in doubt leap over to "Should I Use Blackface in My Blog" and examine carefully the .jpg for your cues. I wish the New Yorker had done that but enough folks are commenting about that cover.

I should find an anthropologist to date or something. We could be in bed and as we snuggle he could explain the ways of human cross cultural pollination and how it affects societies as a whole. As usual, I have questions, many of which have no answers.

Punctuation, Linguistics and Brain Fuzz

2008-07-15T19:08:00.000-07:00

It is hard to write today. My mind is everywhere but where I sit. So I am going to take a chance and make some loose connections with language, linguistics and emoticons.

I read a post today written by Chandra on Punctuation Promiscuity Now I'm not too bad with the exclamation points but the comma thing? Yes, I confess.

But in my defense I want to say English is a living language and languages need a bit of chaos to help the new words come into being. I should do better about excessive punctuation. After all, I was educated by School House Rock!

So after singing a few choruses of Interjections and Conjunction Junction I got to thinking about how something I learned umpteen years ago still can be recalled from memory via language. How does language and the brain interact?

Dr. Ginger Campbell is the host of Brain Science Podcast. Dr. Campbell has a post on evolutionary linguistics as well as recording an interview with Professor Alice Gaby. Professor Gaby is a linguist at the University of California at Berkeley. She is speaking what linguistics is and how it relates to cognition. You can listen to the podcast on the site or download the mp3 into your media player.

In Los Angeles you have to be linguistically flexible; or you should be anyway. I think it helped as a kid that I was into Science Fiction and had a thing for Dr. Who (I started with the classic Tom Baker episodes).

Love that man's voice. I might be a closet Anglophile. Anyway, it took a while to understand what the heck they were talking about. After reading Separated by A Common Language I'm patting myself on the back on how many British English terms I do understand.

Take one American woman living in the UK who just happens to be a linguist and you have your own personal tour guide on American and British English. It sure would have helped with Red Dwarf.

A Way With Words is a NPR program on the English language. Which, by the looks of things, is expanding. Folks are now asking if you put an emoticon at the end of the sentence on paper how do you punctuate it?

There is an answer but I have to dig up my one volume encyclopedia to understand part of the rational. Psst, the secret word is Logotype. Well I'm taking a temporary vow of silence because I got a lot of yakking to do this weekend.

The article also appeared on Blogher.com where I am a Contributing Editor.

Carly Simon on the Finally Friday Freakout

2008-07-11T20:55:00.001-07:00

Isty Bitsy Spider. Also know as Eensy Weensy Spider. We learn that song fairly early and most of us like it, except for those folks who are really afraid of spiders. It is a folk song of failure and success and failure and maybe it is a life lesson that few of us really get a good grip on.

Something so small and determined to make the journey. There is the road, the choice. Complications appear and the road is blocked. Have patience, find a new road and the journey begins again. Carly is singing about love but maybe it is not about the romantical stuff.

Maybe it is the love of life, of passions deferred by obligations. Maybe it is the dream that you have had on the back burner but there was always something. You don't need me to tell you this but time is ticking.

Get on with it. Or watch a couple of episodes of "Dead Like Me." That'll fix you up.

This is from 1987 a live performance from Martha's Vineyard.

The Power of Serendipity - Learning About Nanotechnology

2008-07-10T20:58:00.000-07:00

There is a three foot pile of papers, books, bookmarks and information goodness buried on my bed. (Hey, I found a wrapped cookie!) A clear sign it is time for a little serendipity. I plunge into the center and pull out...a Nanotechnology catalog. Oh my.

At first glance yeah, it is a little intimidating. Handbook of Theoretical and Computational Nanotechnology. Bottom-up Nanofabrication and Doped Nanomaterials and Nanodevices. I'm reading the summaries and although the English language is being used I am having a hard time understanding any part of the text. When in doubt, find a science or scientist blogger.

We start our journey visiting Karen Venti, who is a science medical writer who gives an explanation about the term:

The basic definition of nanotechnology is anything related to the building of materials on a nanometer scale-a scale smaller than one millionth of a meter.

Nanotechnology is a highly interdisciplinary field encompassing elements of colloidal science, physics, chemistry and biology.

Tara C. Parket at Aetiology has a Nanotechnology Primer that will start the process of illumination.

Nanotechnology is a field defined solely by its size. By definition, it involves the manufacture and manipulation of materials at the atomic or molecular level--materials which are typically less than 100 nanometers in diameter. (For comparison, a human hair is roughly 50,000 nm thick, and a piece of paper 100,000 nm thick).

Ok, so I'm getting that a variety of science disciplines are working on materials and devices that can operate on a really small scale. One of the places I checked out was Nano Werk. It goes into a more detail about what is the current state of the technology and practical applications.

But I'm a visual kinda of gal so it helps if I can see what folks are talking about.This is a video clip from First Science TV is about how NASA imagines a potential use of nanotechnology, with an explanation of the relationship between our natural cells as machines and how the nanodevices can help the body.

Ok, it is getting better. So know that I have an understanding of what nanotechnology. My next questions is "What In It For Me?" Because being a science fiction fan I know this could be a good thing or a very, very bad thing.

Now there are potentially wonderfully things that could be a benefit such as nano-surgical applications, pollution control, soil analysis or as Rhiannon Buck suggest "bones could be made stronger, muscles more powerful and hearing improved so that we could hear a vast range of frequencies."

Hmm. Jaime Sommers or the Borg? Nope, I need more information. Over at the Women's Bioethics Blog there are a number of posts about the ethical concerns we need to be aware of if humans plan on making use of this technology. One of the concerns will be what will constitutes a human being?

Now learning a new term does not automatically make you cool. So here are some places you can check out to start building an understanding of some of the concepts and implications of this new nano-frontier.

Marcy Darnovsky at the Center for Genetics and Society Biopolitical Times blog gives a brief review of the book Body Shopping and poses interesting questions about the intersections of business, science and medicine.

Gregor Wolbring has a lot of articles and links to information concerning this topic. He also has a blog on Nanotechnology, Biology, Information and Cognition and other stuff. Cruise through his post, some are high tech but others are accessible.

Finally, you should visit the Nanotechnology Project - in addition to having a Nanotechnology 101 section it looks at the potential effect on food, safety and the environment. Anyplace that has an article called the Twinkie Guide to Nanotechnology that includes videos is alright by me.

Where did that cookie go?

This post also appeared on BlogHer.com

SPJ Citizen Journalism Academy - Publishing Truth

2008-07-06T11:00:00.000-07:00

One of the SPJ-CJA sessions of the day concerned media law. I will be honest and say I am very interested in this topic; you got the Associated Press nonsense, you have Viacom lusting after user information and lord knows what will jump up next week.

This is the Windows Media Video Version

This is the QuickTime Video Version

This is the iPod Video Version

What of the content creators? What rights do we have? This is a brief video clip of Professor Gary C. Williams talking about our rights to print/published factual information.

There is one exception. If the information involves matters of national security then no, that is not an automatic gimme.

I will add more reference links but for now if you need more information about the law, bloggers and the nature of your rights please visit the Electronic Freedom Foundation's page Legal Guide for Bloggers

Added July 6, 2008

The Knight Citizen News Network has a legal information module to help bloggers/vloggers understand legal risk.

It is heating up folks, protect yourself.

Reflections on Citizen Journalism Academy

2008-07-06T09:27:00.000-07:00

I am a writer. I am a blogger. I take photos and videos when I can. If it should happen that one day I am the only person around with a camera and record a news event then yeah, technically, I would become a journalist.

For the record, I do not consider myself to be a journalist. I wanted to be one when I was a kid. I was discourage from pursuing that as a career path. Or maybe I was distracted by something else.

There are intersections that bloggers, journalists and writers share common ground. I know I made a bunch of journalists heaved up a bunch of vile but there you go. Don't hate the player, hate the game.

I could write full sentences about how some sections of the journalism industry abdicated their duties for years and that is why they are the in the fix they are in at the moment.

How some so-called journalists dive into blogs, YouTube and Flickr to harvest content and pretend they generated the stories without any sort of attribution or compensation.

Some journalists blame bloggers/vloggers for the decline in their industry. Some blame that pesky Internet. Others think that all bloggers are just sputtering our inner most thoughts or ripping off their content.

We have to find ways of communicating and getting along. So I took the opportunity to attend the Society of Professional Journalism's Citizen Journalism Academy. I wasn't sure it was going to just another hate-fest on bloggers.

It was an introduction to some of the concepts that folks ought to be aware of if they want to protect themselves and their writing. Minus the fact I got really lost in a part of Los Angeles where you do not want to get lost (I'm talking major skeezy neighborhood) it was a good day.

The topics included ethics, freedom of information, a media law primer, reporting and writing basics and sharing hardware and software tools to make it easier to do the job. Overall, they did a good job with the time constraints.

Bessie Smith On The Finally Friday Freakout

2008-07-04T09:42:00.001-07:00

Over at BlogHer I read a piece by LaniaD about a Indian man who killed his daughter in-law because she was African American woman.

There are many layers to the story that are stunning. The man hired to do the actual killing said that he should have killed the baby in her arms as well. My personal kicker? The biological father turning the child over to the maternal grandparents and choosing to have no further contact with his daughter. He later married an Indian woman and (my feeling is that) the child would have never been accepted by the family.

I think I'll stay single for a little while longer.

Love, what is it good for? And do we really know what love is? In some cultures family honor and traditions trump any individual expressions of wants and needs. Would you kill for your faith? Your beliefs? Would you take from those that trust and depend on you for your own survival?

Don't be too quick to answer.

For some folks common sense has nothing to do with being connected to another human being. Let Bessie Smith school you on being struck by desperation which is not the same thing as love but you catch the drift soon enough.

This from the 1929 cinematic short St. Louis Blues. For more information about Bessie visit National Public Radio's profile on Bessie with commentary by writers and biographer who help to put a context to her music.

On the shunpike of the old Internet Joan Hemsworth wrote a report for her Women History class in 1998 and there is another good biography at the Xroads.

Declarations of Independence

2008-07-03T21:00:00.000-07:00

I stopped at the table of the American Civil Liberties Union table at the American Library Association annual convention in Anaheim, CA. I was given a copy a small blue book of the Constitution of the United States of America.

I stop by the Cato Institute table where I am given a small red book on the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. I didn’t get squat from the Hoover Institute because I got the impression I shouldn’t approach the table let alone be allowed see what freebies they wanted to pass on to library type folks.

I’m thinking the Universe is trying to tell me something. I was in the bookstore today buying my computer magazines when I see the Constitution of the United States selling for $2.95 plus tax. I can take a hint. There are days when I'm not so sure that the Constitution has anything to do with the country I live in but there are days when I do feel a connection with the more positive aspects of the document.

But I like the Amendments better ;-)

I know that the Iroquois Nations had their own constitution known as the Great Law of Peace. Some folks say there was a bit of “appropriation.” I’ll leave that for you to decide but items 5, 9, 10 and 11 do seem to have a familiar ring to them; even though they were composed around 1090AD.

In this video, Leondra King is explaining what the Constitution means to her:

So what if women did have a say in declaring independence? And is there more than one kind of declarations of independence? Historically there was a women centered Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions that was created in Seneca Falls New York in 1848. Here is an sample:

Resolved, That woman is man's equal—was intended to be so by the Creator, and the highest good of the race demands that she should be recognized as such.
Resolved, That the women of this country ought to be enlightened in regard to the laws under which they -live, that they may no longer publish their degradation, by declaring themselves satisfied with their present position, nor their ignorance, by asserting that they have all the rights they want.
Resolved, That inasmuch as man, while claiming for himself intellectual superiority, does accord to woman moral superiority, it is pre-eminently his duty to encourage her to speak, and teach, as she has an opportunity, in all religious assemblies.

Sound familiar? I can’t think of a day on BlogHer when someone at some time invokes a variation of these sentiments.

There are all sorts of declarations that are being defined and redefined. Patricia at Washington Ding wants to have her own independence from the United States Congress for failing to act on impeachment, failure to protection of citizens in harms way and not living up to the stated goals of the original document.

Over at Be the Muse there is the question of what do you gain and give up in pursuit of your art? For Tiffany at At Home in the Asylum her declaration means dealing with emotions and stepping away from the cookies for her health and well being. New blogger Christina at Declaration of Inspiration wants to inspire you to go forward from a Christian spiritual perspective.

May you always honor your own personal whispers of declarations.

This post also appeared at BlogHer.com

Getting Permission - Reference Books by Nolo

2008-07-02T04:29:00.000-07:00

Here is another example when citizen journalism, library issues and blogging collide. At the ALA conference Nolo Press had a table of books. It was love at first sight. I wanted to buy those books. I couldn't, they were just sample copies. Drat!

One of books was Getting Permission by Attorney Richard Stim. On the Nolo web site it has a brief overview page of the concept of Fair Use . If you wanted more info about the book they just happen to have a link at the bottom of the page. The pulp version has a CD that contains copies of forms and permission sheets you can use to request permission from copyright holders.

If you don't need the forms you can save yourself some cash and buy the e-book version for $20.

Nolo Press also has a book on The Public Domain where you can get the straight scoop on what is and isn't in the Public Domain and how to find out if a work has slipped out of copyright status.

If you want to hear attorney Stephen Fishman talk about the book and Public Domain issues you can stream or download the mp3 file. The e-book version of the books is $21.99

Ok, still unpacking both physically and mentally. More to come.

CJA, ALA and Metro - What A Weekend

2008-06-30T04:57:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I attended the Society of Processional Journalism's Citizen Journalism Academy and the American Library Association's convention in Anaheim, CA.

I have got stuff. Videos, photos and 15 pounds of paper. So over the next couple of weeks (yes, weeks!) I will be sharing and reflecting what I learned, didn't learn and how Metro aka MTA can affect where you can go and can't in Los Angeles and Orange County.

Yes, mass transit has an effect on personal enlightenment and professional development.

Well, that will take a bit of time to upload on account I have to return to the Salt Mine. Because I am my own generous sponsor. Thanks to SPJ, ALA, OCLC and the many kind folks that I have met this weekend and I promise I'll crank it out as fast as I can.

Oh, my Fourth of July weekend coming up.

The Intruders on The Finally Friday Freakout

2008-06-27T21:19:00.000-07:00

Time pass in streams and sometimes I get confused between what has pasted and what is about to be. One of the local TV stations runs Get Smart and there is a new movie based on the TV show.

I use to pay 12 cents to read The Incredible Hulk and now I can pay $12.95 to see it on the big screen. Everything old is new again. Now I know some of you think that other group made this song famous but these were the folks that they "vocally honored."

These are The Intruders. I'm guessing by the style of clothes and the conk in the hair this might have been recorded around 1967-1968. SpindleRecords at YouTube explained that it was on a promotional reel distributed by a night club to local TV station.

So long before MTV there were promotional videos floating around. It may be possible that a lot of musical history is sitting in a video library waiting to be rediscovered.

So here we go, Big Sonny, Little Sony, Phil and Bird - The Intruders. Props and blessings.

Dear Ralphs, Kroger or The Prince of Supermarket Land

2008-06-27T13:41:00.001-07:00

I have a Ralphs card. I have had a Ralphs card for years, back when it was actually Ralphs. I didn't want to have a card. It was a matter of paying more for groceries if I didn't use the card. I gave my name and phone number and became a "Club Member."

Note that I didn't say I gave my address. I did not want to give it away and this was long before the Internet and the current wave of Identity Theft. I'm one of those people that does not believe in sharing every freaking detail about my life.

Now did I miss out on coupons, third party junk mail and other assorted goodies. You betcha. It was my choice to do so. Flash forward. I'm in the store today. There is a new card in town.

I am told that that I can use my old card only until July 31st. 2008. So after paying for my groceries; well you know how much I paid cuz the card rats me out on each and every purchase. You know I am frugal except when I am not.

You know I'll pick up marked down meat in a hot minute, lean toward reduced to clear food and I will buy the high tone stuff when and if I want it and not before. You know how often I shop, when I shop and you can tell suppliers that I tend to by X but have tried Z.

Fair enough, choices and trade-offs. Now I'm at the sign-up table. I'm deciding if I want the pink label card or the yellow or green. I'm going with yellow on account I have a dark lined bag. I fill it out. Name, phone and email. I hand it back to the young man.

I'm told that I have to put my address.

I say no, I don't.

The young man says that in order to get the rebate check at the end of the quarter I have to put my address.

I say no, I don't. I just wanted to use the card in order to shop at the store. Then he says I can't have the card and takes back the application. I tell him to give me my application back, If I'm not participating there is no need for him to have my info.

He gives it back. I am livid. Here is why. I'm not hating on the concept of shopper or loyalty cards. It is voluntary on both sides. I don't have to use the card to shop in the store. I know that. I can choose to pay higher prices and remain anonymous.

I can also choose not to step foot in any Ralphs ever again. I don't have to shop at Ralphs. I got Von's, Trader Joe's, Jon's, a bunch of ethnic markets, Costco, and dare I say it, the beloved 99 Cents Only Store.

So if I have that many shopping options why am I going to debate with someone who doesn't know the answer to the questions "Why do I have to give my address if I do not want to receive mail from Ralphs or anyone?"

Privacy trumps cheapness. Now when I get this mad I want answers so when I get home I hop on Ralphs web site and get the phone number for Card Customer Service HQ. 13 minutes later I speak with someone in corporate office. I ask her the question. She was very nice but said the same thing as the young man in the store.

"So to be clear, I cannot use my old Ralphs card starting in August, is that correct?" She said that I could but that I only would be getting the club member savings.

"That is not what they are telling folks in the store, they are confiscating the old cards and you have to fill out the application for new ones."

CCSHQ said "No, that is not correct. You can still use the old card but all the prior deals like the Wine Club, the Senior Card and the Pet Card will be null in void. They won't exist." She could see where there is a misunderstanding because the folks at the store want me to get my $5.00 check after spending $500 in a quarterly period. If they can't send me my rebate check what is the point of me having a new card?

But no, I didn't have to have a new card or give up the old one.

I got an idea for you. How about you lowering prices across the board and dump the cards? That would save both of us a lot of time and headaches? Oh, yeah. That tracking thing.

Here is my burn point. If you have my information in the first place why not just transfer me electronically to the new card and mail me the new card? Oh, yeah. You can't cuz you don't have my address. Strike that.

If you want to give me a new card let me pick it up at the store w/o giving you my address. If you want to give me a new shiny slicked up card that is fine, but why don't you make the change on your end?

I have my doubts if anyone knows the real deals here. If what the CCSHQ said is true then when I go to https://www.ralphsrewards.com I have to enter my address in order to add my information. I'm kinda hip to fields marked in black as mandatory information.

Look Ralphs/Kroger, I'm sick and tired of being electronically sliced, diced, resold and re-purposed. Because whatever discount you give me in the store is more than compensated for in terms of valuable data of shopper preferences, staffing needs and ancillary data that you collect, share and sell. It is compensated for when you have a legal action.

Let me use my old card and there will be no further trouble from me. But if some whipper snapper tries to take my old card they can have it.

I won't be needing it anymore. Think I'm kidding? Remember the California Supermarket Strike?

Petula Clark on The Finally Friday Freakout

2008-06-20T17:34:00.000-07:00

Downtown is one of those songs that stay with a person. I was for anything that would take me away to something new and undiscovered. The dancers in tux slay me.

Yes some folks are voluntarily heading downtown to the Music Center. Tonight they are having a Motown Sing Along at the Music Center. The event is free and I think those of us that can't carry a tune in a re-enforced bucket should make sure to represent the A-tonally challenged.

Do you know what it is like to be a short person and having to sing from the back row?

I have concerns. The first thing is I mangle song lyrics. I know they are wrong but I get caught up. So are they gonna do that projection thing that they do at the opera?

The second thing is that there is a specific notice on the website that no recording of any kind is permitted. That just blows chunks, you know what I mean? I understand that everything should not be recorded but come on, non-famous people singing is a wonderful thing. Especially if you can't harmonize to save your life.

This is just wrong. The other questionable quibble is that they are going to have a choirmaster to guide us in singing? That is how I ended up in the back row in the first place! If they stick me in the balcony without my consent there will be trouble.

Then again we who are begged not to warble in the shower could stage a music inspired uprising and take My Girl to a whole new level.

Songs I Hope Are On The List:

Stop The Love You Save May Be Your Own
Poppa Was A Rolling Stone
Take Me In Your Arms and Rock Me A Little While
Heatwave
Standing In the Shadows Of Love
Twenty-Five Miles
Function At The Junction
This Old Heart of Mine

Well I can get there but not so sure I can get back home without another story to tell.
If I go I'll give a full skivvy. Let the mayhem begin. If I was you, I'd bring earplugs. The Skullcandy kind, not the cheap stuff.

.

Lizz Wright on The Finally Friday Freakout

2008-06-13T17:09:00.000-07:00

Too long of a day. I just wiped out two post with one finger. You live and you learn. Or not.
So here is the thing. I don't remember what I typed. I wiped out the original copy. It went something like Lizz Wright can sing to the heaven's and come back around again.

I also said something about how she is not played on many commercial radio station except for the so called smooth jazz stations. And not enough if you ask me. I am now taking the log out of my eye because I only hear those station when I am in a restaurant or elevator.

Anyway, this is her rendition of the Neil Young classic "Old Man".

Solidarity With Karen Salazar - Knowledge Equals Power

2008-06-12T19:22:00.000-07:00

Last night I was helping a friend with her computer. She asked me to help her find a story about a teacher fired for being too Afro-centric. My fingers went flying and there it was on the Los Angeles Times web site. The writer of the story is Howard Blume and the title of the story is School rallies around teacher fired deemed too Afro-centric.

Los Angeles Unified School District teacher, Karen Salazar, was fired because she taught her students about the words of Langston Hughes and Malcolm-X in her classroom. She tossed in a little Tupac for some flavor. The story appeared on June 12th and is only accessible for seven days before it goes behind the wall of forgettable "It is a shame but what can we do?"

Well, that what would have happened in the past. This is future-time. If you can't see the video please boogie on over to Fire In Watts Other related videos "Protest Jordan High School, We Want Ms. Salazar Back!" "Save Ms. Salazar, Now"

If you can't teach a poet in a high school class I don't want to go to your school. If you cannot teach this poet, this man of letters, then there is something wrong in the LAUSD system that no amount of money can fix.

I, Too, Sing America by Langston Hughes

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.

Tomorrow,
I'll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody'll dare
Say to me,
"Eat in the kitchen,"
Then.

Besides,
They'll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed--

I, too, am America.

Poets.org has a good biographical page on Langston. The Library of Congress has a site called America's Story from America's Library and there is a section on Mr. Hughes. Masterpiece Theater/The American Collection has a bunch of links to help you learn more about Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance.

I am especially riled up about this because I use to sit on the second floor of my local library reading "Jesse B. Semple" stories. I found an audio authorized collection of Jesse B. Semple stories at Town Hall. Mr. Ossie Davis is your guide.

There is a surface meaning and the true meaning. Don't let Jesse fool you. You might want to smack him upside the head but hear the whole piece out and you will gather what Langston is trying to tell you and the world. I would suggest that you use the Quicktime to listen to the .au format. You should be ok if you have Real Player.

Next is a video mash-up of Lansgton Hughes poem "The Weary Blues" and a look at some of our ancestors making with the syncopation.

Somebody explain to me why 21st century kids cannot be exposed to their literary history? Don't we want our students to know that the things that they are feeling have a voice and a connection beyond their immediate world?

Oh, yes. I forgot. Teach to the test. My bad.

Now as far as that other gentleman mentioned, there isn't much more that I can add. I would say that I'd want high school students to understand the context of the video of this roundtable discussion. I'd want them to know that Martin and Malcolm occupied the same space and time. I'd want them to come up with a third option.

And I'd want them to know that seeing the impossible is what forward thinking people do. Now more than ever. Solidarity to Karen Salazar and her students on their new journeys.

Oak Town 357 on The Finally Friday Freakout

2008-06-06T18:37:00.001-07:00

The first time I saw Oaktown 357 I said "What in the world?" It was Juicy Got Em Crazy and I counted at least 8 costume changes, guys in the background dancing and B Angie B. I felt old. I didn't care for the lyrics, I still don't but those girls had energy.

If you want to see Juicy don't let me stop you. This is another video that I like better.

It is from the 90s and the ladies are putting out the challenge to hit the dance floor and not necessarily the sack. I wish my feet could take that pounding. There are days I want to dance but there never seems to be time or space to do so. It seems that people are only allowed to dance on TV in contests.

And if they are not spot on they get hacked into pieces. I don't watch those shows.

There doesn't seem to be any public way to dance a long week into the vapors. Some days I want to remember that this body is for living and not just for warehousing future dreams. So I dance in private and my feet do the best they can.

So here ya go. If you don't like rap or hip-hop music turn down the volume and just watch them dance. Don't be surprised if something starts twitching.

Immune Attack and The Dream of Engaged Learning

2008-06-04T18:44:00.000-07:00

There is a new software program created by the Federation of American Scientists called Immune Attack. It is designed to supplement the education that happens in the classroom. The program is free for anyone to use but it was specifically designed complement or add value to the classroom experience.

For those school districts that have current 2008 school books, computers and an engaged qualified staff this is a win, win situation. Those kids will do well. But I feel sad. Don't get me wrong. The program is well designed and a lot of thought went into making this an effective teaching support program.

It is just that, well. I think it is an invisible reminder of the digital divide. There are students here in the Los Angeles area that do not have any text books or they have outdated text books in their classes. Yes, high school classes. Even middle school classes don't have the proper books or equipment to run this program. The computer lab might be jammed into a library with two out of ten machines working. The governor has said he will make major deep cuts into education to balance the budget.

No child left behind. No child moving forward either. And student are bored out of their skulls. Wait, you should see this video:

I have limited faith that education happens in school districts no matter the education, economic or social backgrounds of the folks running the system. Not in school systems anyway. Oh, you should know that this is an ingrained highly personal bias of mine. I can grump about this into the midnight hour.

So lets turn my negative into a positive. If I could dream up the perfect system what would it look like? Well, I'd start by recognizing that this is the 21st century. We can take bits that worked in the prior century but here is what I would do:

I'd make sure that there were proper assessment to the child's ability to learn before he or she would step foot in class. Yes, My school would know about the allergies, the HDD, Dyslexia, behavior problems and gifted kids and my school we'd build a curriculum around that child's needs, not crowbar the kid around our limited vision of what we think the child needs to learn. Radical, huh?

Bonnie Bracey Sutton over at the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education (SITE) blog has a full detailed post on what it would take to engage media soaked students. Here is an excerpt:

Engage: Project-Based Learning Students go beyond the textbook to study complex topics based on real-world issues, such as the water quality in their communities or the history of their town, analyzing information from multiple sources, including the Internet and interviews with experts.
Project-based classwork is more demanding than traditional book based instruction, where students may just memorize facts from a single source.
Instead students utilize original documents and data, mastering principles covered in traditional courses but learning them in more meaningful ways. Projects can last weeks; multiple projects can cover entire courses. Student work is presented to audiences beyond the teacher, including parents and community groups.

Yes, you still teach vocabulary and math but you connect those skills with a purpose or a definable outcome. Some of the time in the classroom and part of the time in the field or community. And speaking of vocabulary I'd have my staff, administrators and those that sign the check recite Angela Maiers 26 Keys to Student Engagement

Joy: Children are learning machines and have untold hours of play and joy... until... they are "educated" - educated to behave otherwise. If we want a better class of thinkers and innovators -- people with explosive curiosity and creativity, we need to bring FUN back into our classrooms. We need giggles and laughter, enthusiasm and excitement. School can become a place remembered for the love of learning, if for no other reason than it feels joyous!

I'd start building awareness to career options starting around the fourth or fifth grade. I'd show videos like this one from Cisco Systems so that there would be a generation of boys and girls that knew this career was possible:

Academic or vocational it wouldn't matter. Plumber, Chef, Boxer I'd let my students know about any option that they could dream or think to create for themselves.

Well, the good news is that I'm not the only one dreaming of a better, enriched school experience. I don't think it is impossible. There is a place for traditional studies in a enlightened school. But what if we could get it right this time? What if we realized it isn't just throwing money at school administrators but recognizing that a viable school experience would make the community profitable? Secure.

If you do it right you'd have to drag the kids home. So these are just some ideas. What do you see in your dream school?

Other Resources:

Kim Cofino at Always Learning has a great post about having students create podcast tutorials to help younger students read.

The Active Learning Blog Carnival has a tremendous amount of links on books, ideas for motivation, and what other folks are doing to make their dream schools happen.

This article was also posted at BlogHer

Joan Blondell on The Finally Friday Freakout

2008-05-30T18:22:00.000-07:00

This is story. A story of a soldiers who lost themselves after coming back from war. The name of the song is Remember My Forgotten Man. This is a song about a woman who lost her man to that war and wants him to come home. The fellas that did come home had all kinds of trouble re-integrating back into society. Some had PTSD, some serious depression and others didn't have access to healthcare, jobs or a home.

I could be referring to some of the news stories about today's returning veterans but this scene looks at World War 1 returning veterans trying to survive during the depression.

This is the final classic scene of Gold Diggers of 1933. It was made during the depression, (the 1929 depression before this one and 9/11). And yes, it was a "fun" movie about folks wanting to put on a Broadway show during hard times. But there was a message in this music.

No one was expecting this ending. You don't have to see the whole movie to get a sense of how powerful the imagery and the presentation makes you take a step back and go, "Whoa, what was that?" Soldiers that fought in World War 1 were promised certain things that they did not receive coming home. More things change the more they stay the same.

Joan Blondell is the blond who had a long and wonderful career in show business. She had stories to tell. So sit back and get a sense of how music, storytelling, dance and great cinematography work together.

Bug Girls and Persistence of Vision

2008-05-28T19:01:00.000-07:00

Virginia DeBolt wrote a post on BlogHer The New York Times placing a technology story about women in engineering and science in the fashion section. More recently there was an article by Elaine McArdle, that I read online via The Boston Globe, that offered the premise that women are not interested in science and technology jobs.

My understanding of the the article's bottom line is that women scientists prefer human connections and don't care for the isolation or the inorganic world that most male scientists tend to work. Sound familiar? It does to me. Exchange the words science or engineering for computers, blogging, automobiles, sports and you hear the same old song.

What has that got to do with the photo below of Isabella Rossellini? Isabella was working on an project for the Sundance Channel. What she was really doing was experimenting on producing video for mobile and portable devices. The topic Isabella selected was how certain insects have sex. If you are interested there is an interview of Isabella on the Wall Street Journal Digital Network on YouTube.

At my last count there were 89,000 links in Google on this project. Do you want to hazard a guess as to how many of those links make any reference to Entomologists? Or Entomologists who blog? Or Entomologists who blog who are women?

Not as many, I guess. I did not count each of the 89,000 links because it got depressing how easy it is to get attention by using the letters "p" "o" "r" and the letter "n" in conjunction with any person, place or thing. When it comes to sex we can see it, there is a relationship to the topic and you don't have to expend a lot of effort to try to convince people, usually male, that women are participants and stakeholders.

There is not the same kind of persistence of vision when it comes to women and science. There is an imbalance in between the truth and the perception. So, here is a small drop in the bucket to those women (and some men folk) who on a regular basis blog about bugs, insects, and other beings of the multi-legged persuasion.

BugGirl is a good place to start you authentic journey into insects and the humans that have active relationships with them. I would say that her blog is a recognition that humans do not live independently from insects. You learn things like how people run scams with insects. She also has links to real bug movies like Return of the 17-year Circadas.

InsectaPodcast is an entomological podcast created by Anna Fiedler and Jake McCarthy at Michigan State University. This is the place to come to if you want to know about contemporary bees and their issues living in a managed environment. If you had affection for Marvel Comics The Wasp you'd might like to hear Dr. Elizabeth Tibbles explain how in the battle of supremacy why it is good to be the queen:

Anna How do they determine which queen is the dominant queen?

Elizabeth So they determine dominance status by having intense battles where they grapple w/ each other, so they’ll stand up on their hind legs and it kind of looks like they’re boxing, and then sometimes they roll around and try to sting each other to death, and the winner is the dominant. But after dominance is established, they become very non-aggressive towards each other, so they don’t keep fighting for their whole life. It’s established, and then the winner stays the winner.

You don't have to have an mp3 player to enjoy the goodness, text transcripts are available.

Finally, Kelley over at Bugs for Thugs is an Entomologist who photographs insects, birds and other small squishy things. Kelley also has a recurring feature that invites folks to post questions such as "Are bugs getting smaller?" or "How do you control household pests?" I like her non-toxic answer for permanent non-living relocation for her specific situation.

Science She-Ro of The Day: Today is Rachel Carson's birthday. She was a biologist and a writer who most famous work, Silent Spring, detailed in the 1960s the wide use of poisons and pesticides without any consideration to their effect on the environment and human beings. Rachel asked humans to become aware of what we are collectively doing on the planet. She inspired or instigated much of the modern environmental movement.

Well, one down and 88,999 more posts to go before the balance is restored. Something got's you buggy? Put it in the comments.

This post also appear on BlogHer.