Art Predator Drinks Up 1st Wine Bloggers Conference
I’m drinking an iced coffee on a warm sunny day in Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, from the lobby of the Flamingo Hotel, host of the First Wine Bloggers Conference and watching cases of wine roll by which they are opening rapidy as they set up for the next tasting of Sonoma wines.
Wine bloggers wander around a bit dazed; the women all seem to be drinking coffee as we all gear up for more wine! I seem to be the only person publicly bloggging; maybe people are in their rooms writing but I doubt it. Last night when Gary Vaynerchuk gave the keynote, he asked how many people in the room have a blog and most of them raised their hands–probably 150 of the 180 people in the room. But when he asked how often people post, only 10 of us post 5 or more times a week. (And yes, I was one of the 10!)
Since I drove in last night (in the new wonderful soon to be written up car!), I have tasted 10 or so Zinfandels from the Dry Creek Valley, tasted a half dozen wines from New Zealand, walked through the organic and biodynamic winery Quivera with the winemaker Steve Cantor, enjoyed an incredible lunch of local foods and venison navy bean soup and Quivera wines, and followed by two breakout sessions. My head swims with wine and wine words.
Adventures and details to follow soon–after I taste some more Sonoma County wines! After that, we have dinner tonight at Sebastiani with keynote speaker Alice Feiring author The Battle for Wine and Love or How I Saved the World from Parkerization which I recently devoured and can’t recommend highly enough!
Am having a fantabulous time–wish you were here!
P.S. Since they ran out of nametags, I get to wear my Lettre Sauvage letterpress beautiful card around my neck!!
A Little Levity via Burning Wo/Man Dancing
So enough heavy drama and politico egolala. How about a music video featuring my favorite Burner–the Man himself? Or is it Burning Mom herself dancing on the playa and in the streets of the City?? And bonus, here’s a link to more Burning Man 2008 photos!
Vodpod videos no longer available.
This info came from the Burning Man enewsletter Jack Rabbit Speaks: Email questions@burningman.com any time with questions. Email post requests to jackrabbitspeaks@burningman.com with the words “POST REQUEST” in your subject line. For questions: questions@burningman.com Old rabbits: http://www.burningman.com/blackrockcity_yearround/jrs/ To get ON this ride:
SUBSCRIBE: bman-announce-subscribe@burningman.com
Not a Joke. Not Funny. Not Waving but Drowning
Yesterday I received the following narrative in an email from my father, a retired plumber, who was forwarding it from his wife (my stepmother), a retired chief financial officer from a city, who was forwarding it from my godmother, a retired special ed school teacher.
Today on my way to lunch I passed a homeless guy with a sign that read “Vote Obama, I need the money.” I laughed.
Once in the restaurant my server had on a “Obama 08” tie, again I laughed as he had given away his political preference–just imagine the coincidence.
When the bill came I decided not to tip the server and explained to him that I was exploring the Obama redistribution of wealth concept. He stood there in disbelief while I told him that I was going to redistribute his tip to someone who I deemed more in need–the homeless guy outside. The server angrily stormed from my sight.
I went outside, gave the homeless guy $10 and told him to thank the server inside as I ‘ve decided he could use the money more. The homeless guy was grateful.
At the end of my rather unscientific redistribution experiment I realized the homeless guy was grateful for the money he did not earn, but the waiter was pretty angry that I gave away the money he did earn even though the actual recipient needed money more. I guess redistribution of wealth is an easier thing to swallow in concept than in practical application.
I assumed of course that my godmother had written this story, that she was the “I”– the narrator. I was dismayed, to say the least. My heart pounded; how could someone I respected do something so obviously despicable? How could I continue to have in my life someone who would make a choice like this? How could my stepmother applaud her act with a comment like “Your awesome!”
This morning I did a Google search on the first line of the story. I found 445 matches for the exact wording, most of the postings from the past few days. It can be found on a variety of sites and message boards, some listed below, generating both laudatory comments like my stepmother’s “your awesome” and many people who have found this an excuse to just not tip their servers at all to people who are questioning this action and line of reasoning.
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MSNBC – Politics – Vote Obama, I need the money
Oct 22, 2008 … 10/22/08 02:39 AM. Today on my way to lunch I passed a homeless guy with a sign that read. ” Vote Obama, I need the money.” I laughed. … boards.msn.com/MSNBCboards/thread.aspx?threadid=822013 – 22 hours ago – Similar pages -
Redistributing The Wealth – Catholic Answers Forums
Today on my way to lunch I passed a homeless guy with a sign that read “Vote Obama, I need the money.” I laughed. Once in the restaurant my server had on a … forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?p=4322834 – 68k – Cached – Similar pages -
JBlog Central – The Jewish Blog Network | Sharing The Wealth….
Oct 21, 2008 … Today on my way to lunch I passed a homeless guy with a sign the read “Vote Obama, I need the money.” I laughed. Once in the restaurant my … http://www.israelforum.com/blog_article.php?aid=1757260 – 21 hours ago – Similar pages
And during the time it took me to create this post, more turned up, and this one will add to the cacophony in the echo chamber of modern politics. This story has gone viral in more ways than one. Is this the world we want to live in?
I am reminded of Stevie Smith’s poem, “Not waving but Drowning”
Nobody heard him, the dead man,
But still he lay moaning:
I was much further out than you thought
And not waving but drowning.
Poor chap, he always loved larking
And now he’s dead
It must have been too cold for him his heart gave way,
They said.
Oh, no no no, it was too cold always
(Still the dead one lay moaning)
I was much too far out all my life
And not waving but drowning.
For a picture of the poet Stevie Smith and to hear her read the poem, go here.
And please vote for candidates who recognize that many of us aren’t waving, but drowning.
(This is also a response to the readwritepoem prompt on echolalia).
My Election Nightmare
Last night I had a really really bad dream, a nightmare actually. Not a nightmare where I could change the channel on, or a night terror like I’m used to, but it was certainly as upsetting as a night terror.
Even though my nightmare wasn’t real, it seemed so–so real in fact that I was able to import a news video from my dream to my blog. Here it is–take a deep breath and remember, it’s just a bad dream.
Vodpod videos no longer available.
On The Fence? Time to Buy!
Right now is the best time to buy a new or used car from a dealer. Lots are crammed with cars and dealerships are empty of buyers. Associated Press says 700 dealerships may close this year (see video below). Credit is tight, and consumers are cautious. Even buyers with excellent credit scores around 720 who in the past would have no trouble getting fully financed are having to come up with substantial down payments of 10-20%, according to two of the dealers we talked to.
If you have some cash and a decent score, dealers gotta move cars; if you’re in the right place at the right time, that car is going to move from the lot to your garage for some of the best prices people have seen.
According to research I’ve been doing over the months, the end of the month near the end of the year is the best time to buy. That would be now in a typical year. But we do not live in typical times. People are fearful of what might happen in the economy next, and afraid to let go of what little cash they may have.
For dealerships to stay in business, and not be one of those 700 which don’t, they have sales quotas and goals to make as well as interest payments to make on all those sparking chariots hanging around on their lots.
This is one case where the economic crisis can benefit you. Information like this got us off the fence and making the rounds of the dealerships the past few weeks. And we made a great deal!
In posts to follow, I’ll take you to the following dealerships: GM, Saturn, Toyota, Honda, Subaru, Land Rover, and on-line, and discuss some of the finagling and financing which went on.
Vodpod videos no longer available.
Art Predator Gets A New Ride
Which car gives the most versatility, the nicest amenities, the best gas mileage, the smoothest ride for the best price with the lowest interest rate??
Which car will take us to the mountains to ski, rock climb, and backpack, let a tired driver sleep if need be, throw a bike in the back, have enough room for passengers and let in the moon, the stars and the sun for at least 20 mpg?
New or used? What’s more green–a hybrid or?
Contenders include Subaru Forrester and Outback, Toyota RAV4 and Highlander, Saturn Vue, Honda CRX, Range Rover, Ford Escape–you name it, we saw it, probably drove it, and worked the numbers. We’ve had our eye out there for a new SUV kinda car for awhile. But with the economy tanking as fast as our current drive, it was time to whip out the checkbook and sign on for a payment plan.
Yes, Art Predator stepped away from the blog for a few days to find a new ride.
We shopped the shop, test drove the cars, tossed and turned a night or two, dealt the deal–and came up with a winner–we hope! In the next few days, I’ll tell all–including tricks you can use to get the best deal on the planet! (okay, maybe I’m exagerating a little…you will know a lot more about small suvs and some of the tricks the dealers tried to use on us!)
My friend Randall asked me to go with him to see a house in downtown on California Street that he was thinking about buying.
The house was said to be haunted by a woman. Read more…
We didn’t get to go to Burning Man in 2008, and we missed the LA and SF Decompression parties too (SF was last weekend and LA the weekend before). Fortunately, 50,000 other people went to Burning Man 2008 and most of them took photos.
To see some Burning Man 2008 photos, try: http://www.scottlondon.com/photo/burningman2008/
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Got your interest up? If you’re thinking about going next year, it is not too early to start planning how you will participate and getting your camp organized! The 2009 theme is inspired by Darwin–“Evolution: A Tangled Bank:”
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 Updated October 17, 2008 |
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2009 Art Theme: “Evolution”
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Register to Vote, Don’t Vote Video, & Poll
If you live in California and want to vote in the presidential election next month, your voter registration form must be received or at least postmarked by Monday October 20–that means get it in the mail by Sat.Oct 18! Why wait? You can download a form and get more information about voter registration in other states, etc below.
And why let Gallup have all the fun? Here’s a poll about whether you’re registered to vote thanks to the new Poll Daddy feature at Word Press. Please say why you voted the way you did or add details in the comments below.
The following info from MomsRising has the details: Read more…
Reading at VC Today
AP reads at Burning Man
I used to give readings, attend readings, and host readings much more in the days before I had a child, a house, and a blog to consume my time. I enjoy giving readings and so with pleasure I said yes to Kelly Peinado’s invitation to read some of my work and discuss poetry craft and process with her college “Intro to Poetry” class today.
Preparing for a reading is a big job. I have several hundred poems to consider, so making selections can be challenging. I decided to organize my reading around the idea of my four major writing projects which I am most interested in right now: Shishilop (my loop to the beach and the river in the present and going back in time), 3:15 Experiment Poems, 50 States, and the ArtLife Poems which include several “classics” from over the years.
I had 50 minutes to work with so the next question was which poems and how many? And which to read when? I read through a lot of my poems, aloud and in my head, and thought about what themes and ideas I wanted to link together, in order to organize them. I decided to open with a Shishilop poem which gives thanks to Grandmother Spider for her help in weaving my stories together, then 50 States of California, followed by “Ashes” as a nod to the immediacy of the loal fires, then a few ArtLife poems, 3:15 poems, and closing with a Shishilop poem then a State of Optimism. I selected, prepared and practiced (by reading aloud over and again until smooth) 12 poems, plus two by Paul Squires (“If I was” and “Prayer: Soldier Knelt by a Rushing Stream”.
Hosts like to have a bio for introductions, so I sent the bio I had put together for Guerilla Reads which is full of links. I have been writing so much on-line I forgot that those links don’t translate to much when read from the page! Instead of letting people click on a link if they want more information, I forgot it has to be all spelled out, and links aren’t always clear when they’re not highlighted.
This is the intro Kelly read (which can be found on the “about art predator” page:
From 1996-2004, Alley published three dozen poetry and art broadsides in ARTLIFE Limited Editions; several of these works are published also at http://www.art-life.com/. Alley has participated in the 3:15 experiment since 2001, and in 2007, she facilitated the Experiment . Many of her 3:15 Experiment poems can be found at http://315experiment.com/.
In August 2008, Alley began creating videos which combine spoken word, sound, and image. Her video poem “Shishilop Project” was accepted by GuerrillaReads for its September issue. Alley’s primary blog is the Art Predator: https://artpredator.wordpress.com; she also participates in the collaborative experimental poetry site, The Orchid Room, and she has several other blogs as well on various topics in different states of development. Her youtube channel is http://www.youtube.com/user/theartpredator.
The eclectic Art Predator site includes many of Alley’s ArtLife broadsides, 3:15 poems, an on-going collection of her own spoken word videos with music and images, as well as adventures in wine, travel, and song.
To warm up the group of about 20 students, to break the ice, and to buy me some time while I set up, I asked some questions about what poetry they liked, and who some of their favorite poets were. Since the format was in a classroom, it was very comfortable to interact and ask the students questions in the beginning as well as throughout the reading.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to read Paul’s poems, and I cut one of the poems I had prepared to read. I read these poems in this order:
1) Shishilop Project: Third Day of Kindergarten & Chumash Folkways
2) 50 States: 1 Kelp (post 5/19/08)
3) ARTLIFE: Ashes (post 10/13/08; pub ARTLIFE 10/99)
4) ARTLIFE: granite lover (post 3/24/08; pub ARTLIFE 10/96) (cut this one)
5) ARTLFE: I Want To Be That Man (post 6/8/08, pub ARTLIFE 9/97)
6) ARTLIFE: These Brothers They (post 5/26/08, pub ARTLIFE 7/99)
7) ARTLIFE: I was thinking about getting a dog (post 9/10/08, pub ARTLIFE 2003)
8) 3:15/AL: Transformation (post ; pub AL 2003)
9) 3:15/bs: redhead at my breast–3:15 Exp (post 5/12/08, pub between sleeps 2006)
10) 3:15/AL/bs: Taxes 3:15 Exp 2002 (post 4/14/08; ARTLIFE 4/03; between sleeps 2006)
11) Shishilop Project: Surfer’s Point 9/3/08 (post 9/8/08)
12) 50 States: The State of Optimism (post 9/1/08)
And if you’re thinking about getting a blog, WORDPRESS is the way to let your words fly!
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