PHO'N WITH PUNS
by pam ashlund
Writing about meta phenomena is perilously close to recursion. Okay, here I go: I was reading an article about blogs the other day (oy, I make myself laugh). The point of the article was basically that blogs are becoming increasingly specialized to target audiences in order to achieve readership. From there, they went on to list some “foodie” websites—among them a site devoted to my favorite Vietnamese chicken soup: Pho. The problem with Pho, is that it is pronounced “Fuh” and the LA Times probably didn’t notice the bad pun when the recommended readers visit the website: Pho-King (ouch)!
I don’t think a Wikipedia definition of recursion is helpful because you have to dig for the part that relates to my usage. I’ll just quote this little bit: “A more humorous illustration goes: "In order to understand recursion, one must first understand recursion." Or perhaps more accurate is the following due to Andrew Plotkin: "If you already know what recursion is, just remember the answer. Otherwise, find someone who is standing closer to Douglas Hofstadter than you are; then ask him or her what recursion is."
I can’t even say “meta” without mentioning Douglas Hofstader’s 1979 Pulitzer Prize winning book: Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid. The whole idea of the self-referential idea (it's everywhere) completely re-shaped my thinking.
Friday, August 18, 2006
Saturday, August 12, 2006
AN ANTI-SEMITIC GARDEN?
It all began because of garbage. By the late 1980’s South Central LA had too much trash. In response to this plethora of rubbish, the City planned to build an incineration plant, but they needed land. Enter the law of eminent domain. In one large swoop, the City “acquired” the property of nine local landowners. Since they were paid a fair market price and the land was not exactly desirable, there were not many complaints.
Maybe it was being overrun with trash, maybe it was not having enough land, and maybe it was much, much, more, but a few years later, in 1992, LA suffered ravaging riots, affecting mainly (but not exclusively) the citizens of South Central LA.
When the smoke cleared Los Angeles had lost 547 buildings and incurred over $3 billion dollars of damage. Of the 547 damaged buildings, 428 (78 percent) were located in South Los Angeles, and 106 (19 percent) were located in Central Los Angeles.[1]
By this time, the City had abandoned their plans of building the trash incinerator and decided, in the wake of the recent riots, to make a gesture symbolic of rebirth, and create a garden on the site originally reserved for the incinerator.
Corpsmembers from a local nonprofit joined community farmers in creating what was to become the largest urban garden in the nation.
Greek Chorus: Watch Out! The Seeds of Change have been Planted!
As we all know, treat the symptoms and not the cause and it is only a matter of time before the problem will recur.
Ten years passed and an uneasy partnership developed as inner city latinos and blacks forged 360 garden plots on the 14 acres of City property. It is hard to say when it all began to go wrong, but over the years, some of the farmers collecting funds to pay the water bills, started to dip their hands in that same water… Farmers were charged a monthly fee for their gardens of $100-$200. Then a water fee of $50. Then other little surcharges, essentially paying on their way in and on their way out with the fruit and vegetables. A cloud grew over the garden. It appeared that those charging the fees were now men living nowhere near the city limits and that their pockets were lined with the labor of the gardeners in the ghetto.
Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.[2]
Then…it happened--the ten years that the City had to use the land for the incinerator, ran out! The law required that the City return the land (again for a fair price). And eventually the land was returned to the original owners, who paid approximately $5 million for the pleasure.
Can you feel the pressure rising? The farmers did, the money changers in the suburbs did, the City did, and…the land developers did. The garden had to go. The land was now just WAY too valuable. Imagine how quickly the now powerful garden organizers mobilized. Just as quickly, 1) actress Darryl Hannah scurried up a tree; 2) gardeners chained themselves to fences; 3) websites popped up, etc. etc.
"How could they throw “us” off “OUR” land?", the farmers cried. Proving that Angelinos never lose their sense of humor, a local blogger writing under the pseudonym “Che”, sums it up well:
What part of "it's NOT your land" didn't they understand?Aqui estamos? No, baby. You WERE there. Don't let the door hit you in the ass.[3]
Did things have to get ugly? Of course they did. But that, gentle reader, was just the beginning. In April, 2006, Ernesto Cienfuegos, writing for La Voz de Atzlan, published an article[4] alleging (get this): a giant Jewish conspiracy! Here are some of my favorite selections from said article:
"Los Angeles has a powerful "Jewish Mafia" that is in cahoots with the Los Angeles Police Department and many local elected politicians."
"... attempting to defend their ... farm...from Jewish land developer Ralph Horowitz."
"Through "back room deals" and collusion with certain Jewish LA City Council members, Ralph Horowitz was given ownership of the land..."
"Jewish LA Council member Dennis Zine is now terrorizing the farmers. "
Council member Dennis Zine is a former member of the corrupt LAPD and still has deep connections to the controversial police department.
"(Zine) has the full support of Police Chief Bill Bratton who came to LA from Jewish New York." "Chief Bratton is married to a prominent Jewish attorney"
Bratton has visited "...Israel is to receive "training" by Israeli military and police authorities on how to deal with "the Mexicans and the Blacks in case they riot".
"Zionist Israel has a lot of practice in this department as exemplified by its clamp-down of the Palestinian people."
In the meantime, vast (apparently non-jewish) organizers scurried to raise millions of green dollar bills to “Save” the garden. Miraculous…they did, coming up with the $5 million dollar price tag of the land. Having done so, they presented their offer to the developer, Mr. Horowitz. And what did Ralph say? You guessed it, take your anti-semitic dollars and shove it (or words to that effect).
And so it was that on June 13th, the police stormed in, heads were bashed, Darryl Hannah went back to Hollywood, and the gardeners were shown the curb.
Not with a whimper, but with a bang.
Technorati Tags: Garden, South Central LA, Urban Garden, Zionist, Israeli, Antisemitism
-------------------------------------------------
[1] DANIEL FLAMING AND MARK DRAYSE, ECONOMIC ROUNDTABLE, 2002
[2] The Bard
[3] http://www.lavoice.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1903
[4] http://www.aztlan.net/jewish_mafia_terrorize_campesinos.htm
Maybe it was being overrun with trash, maybe it was not having enough land, and maybe it was much, much, more, but a few years later, in 1992, LA suffered ravaging riots, affecting mainly (but not exclusively) the citizens of South Central LA.
When the smoke cleared Los Angeles had lost 547 buildings and incurred over $3 billion dollars of damage. Of the 547 damaged buildings, 428 (78 percent) were located in South Los Angeles, and 106 (19 percent) were located in Central Los Angeles.[1]
By this time, the City had abandoned their plans of building the trash incinerator and decided, in the wake of the recent riots, to make a gesture symbolic of rebirth, and create a garden on the site originally reserved for the incinerator.
Corpsmembers from a local nonprofit joined community farmers in creating what was to become the largest urban garden in the nation.
Greek Chorus: Watch Out! The Seeds of Change have been Planted!
As we all know, treat the symptoms and not the cause and it is only a matter of time before the problem will recur.
Ten years passed and an uneasy partnership developed as inner city latinos and blacks forged 360 garden plots on the 14 acres of City property. It is hard to say when it all began to go wrong, but over the years, some of the farmers collecting funds to pay the water bills, started to dip their hands in that same water… Farmers were charged a monthly fee for their gardens of $100-$200. Then a water fee of $50. Then other little surcharges, essentially paying on their way in and on their way out with the fruit and vegetables. A cloud grew over the garden. It appeared that those charging the fees were now men living nowhere near the city limits and that their pockets were lined with the labor of the gardeners in the ghetto.
Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.[2]
Then…it happened--the ten years that the City had to use the land for the incinerator, ran out! The law required that the City return the land (again for a fair price). And eventually the land was returned to the original owners, who paid approximately $5 million for the pleasure.
Can you feel the pressure rising? The farmers did, the money changers in the suburbs did, the City did, and…the land developers did. The garden had to go. The land was now just WAY too valuable. Imagine how quickly the now powerful garden organizers mobilized. Just as quickly, 1) actress Darryl Hannah scurried up a tree; 2) gardeners chained themselves to fences; 3) websites popped up, etc. etc.
"How could they throw “us” off “OUR” land?", the farmers cried. Proving that Angelinos never lose their sense of humor, a local blogger writing under the pseudonym “Che”, sums it up well:
What part of "it's NOT your land" didn't they understand?Aqui estamos? No, baby. You WERE there. Don't let the door hit you in the ass.[3]
Did things have to get ugly? Of course they did. But that, gentle reader, was just the beginning. In April, 2006, Ernesto Cienfuegos, writing for La Voz de Atzlan, published an article[4] alleging (get this): a giant Jewish conspiracy! Here are some of my favorite selections from said article:
"Los Angeles has a powerful "Jewish Mafia" that is in cahoots with the Los Angeles Police Department and many local elected politicians."
"... attempting to defend their ... farm...from Jewish land developer Ralph Horowitz."
"Through "back room deals" and collusion with certain Jewish LA City Council members, Ralph Horowitz was given ownership of the land..."
"Jewish LA Council member Dennis Zine is now terrorizing the farmers. "
Council member Dennis Zine is a former member of the corrupt LAPD and still has deep connections to the controversial police department.
"(Zine) has the full support of Police Chief Bill Bratton who came to LA from Jewish New York." "Chief Bratton is married to a prominent Jewish attorney"
Bratton has visited "...Israel is to receive "training" by Israeli military and police authorities on how to deal with "the Mexicans and the Blacks in case they riot".
"Zionist Israel has a lot of practice in this department as exemplified by its clamp-down of the Palestinian people."
In the meantime, vast (apparently non-jewish) organizers scurried to raise millions of green dollar bills to “Save” the garden. Miraculous…they did, coming up with the $5 million dollar price tag of the land. Having done so, they presented their offer to the developer, Mr. Horowitz. And what did Ralph say? You guessed it, take your anti-semitic dollars and shove it (or words to that effect).
And so it was that on June 13th, the police stormed in, heads were bashed, Darryl Hannah went back to Hollywood, and the gardeners were shown the curb.
Not with a whimper, but with a bang.
Technorati Tags: Garden, South Central LA, Urban Garden, Zionist, Israeli, Antisemitism
-------------------------------------------------
[1] DANIEL FLAMING AND MARK DRAYSE, ECONOMIC ROUNDTABLE, 2002
[2] The Bard
[3] http://www.lavoice.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1903
[4] http://www.aztlan.net/jewish_mafia_terrorize_campesinos.htm
IDEA CANNIBALISM
Today I am pondering idea-cannibalism on the web. Is there really nothing new left to write about?
I read about the site Boing Boing: A Directory of Wonderful Things on my brother-in-law's blog SixtyPercent. On Boing-Boing I read about the Sony Brevia Ad. On the Sony Site I downloaded the ad. Later that week I read a blog called Lornamatic where she said she just couldn't stop watching the video. I, also, could not stop watching those damn balls.
Then I realized I had fallen in love with the song and had to find out who it was (Jose Gonzalez) and then craving more, I watched the "making of" video and found out that the song Heartbeats was a cover of a song by the same name by The Knife, and so of course, I had to download that song (I like it). By now, my head was bouncing, but there's more!
The following week I heard a story on NPR about advertising challenges in a high-tech world and specifically...about the end of the 30-second spot. What to do, what to do? The author suggested that marketing folks were going to have to get creative to find a new way, for example, they said, look to the success of the Sony Brevia Ad. In that case they could even count the downloads, and they didn't have to PAY for the 30-second spot!
Technorati Tags: 30-second spot, Idea Cannibalism, The Knife, Heartbeats, Advertising
I read about the site Boing Boing: A Directory of Wonderful Things on my brother-in-law's blog SixtyPercent. On Boing-Boing I read about the Sony Brevia Ad. On the Sony Site I downloaded the ad. Later that week I read a blog called Lornamatic where she said she just couldn't stop watching the video. I, also, could not stop watching those damn balls.
Then I realized I had fallen in love with the song and had to find out who it was (Jose Gonzalez) and then craving more, I watched the "making of" video and found out that the song Heartbeats was a cover of a song by the same name by The Knife, and so of course, I had to download that song (I like it). By now, my head was bouncing, but there's more!The following week I heard a story on NPR about advertising challenges in a high-tech world and specifically...about the end of the 30-second spot. What to do, what to do? The author suggested that marketing folks were going to have to get creative to find a new way, for example, they said, look to the success of the Sony Brevia Ad. In that case they could even count the downloads, and they didn't have to PAY for the 30-second spot!
Technorati Tags: 30-second spot, Idea Cannibalism, The Knife, Heartbeats, Advertising
SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION: A TALE OF HIPPIES, HEROIN, AND PUMPKIN PATCHES
If you saw one of my favorite movies of all time, The Royal Tenenbaums, my life won’t seem strange at all. The names have not been changed to protect anybody. The following are facts: Jim meets Michael in Chicago (Michael is 10 years old at the time) Jim dates Michaels sister for a while until she leaves him for an Argentinean Oboe Player Jim introduces Pam to Michael Pam dates Michael for a while (Michael is 16) Michael takes Pam to see a documentary about his “hero” William Bouroughs the Heroin addict Jim moves to California In a totally unrelated event, Pam moves to California (ok maybe everything isn’t a fact) Jim and Pam move into a Yellow School bus and spend a year never being able to stand up without hitting their heads. They actually pay rent for this bus. Jim Meets Adam, the Pagan Bard They realize they both know Michael (who is 19 by this time) Michael has taken up Heroin by this point (see above) Adam introduces Jim to Ann Jim introduces Pam to Adam and Ann Adam is a pagan musician and Ann is a database programmer Jim and Pam meet many strange characters at Adams house, including “Bhante the Monk” and 
“Genesis the rock star”. Adam is the editor for Bhante’s newsletter. Genesis (a neighbor) at Adams house is a local eccentric (he has grey dreadlocks and is wearing torn pink fish net stockings). At the time Jim is a cab driver and Pam is an accountant and find the company immensely entertaining. Michael goes to jail, after a forced but true confession, for three bank robberies (26 separate counts are filed against him) Adam is shot in the back in orange county His death remains an unsolved (but not entirely surprising) murder. Pam is neither jailed (not counting civil disobedience) nor murdered (so far so good) Ann moves to Australia and stays there happily running her programmi
ng company Pam writes a blog item about William Bouroughs and in researching him finds out that near the end of his life he collaborated with many artists (musicians, performance artists, etc.) one of which was the band “Throbbing Gristle” of which Genesis was the lead singer. Jim lives a happy life with his wife and kids across from a Pumpkin Patch.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)