good design

My cousin sent me an Airside calendar last year for Christmas, and it's so awesome that I use it as a coffee table book. I was just checking out their website, and I just can't get over their design. One of my recent favorites is the site they created for Yakult. Only in London (so jealous of how ahead of us the UK is in terms of pro-environment, sustainable, healthy, etc. goods) would there be a probiotic drink next to the milk.

Anyway, as far as good design goes...I've always been somewhat thrifty when it comes to clothes, because, unlike my steelcase bookcase that I plan to use forever, clothes just don't last. And if they do, they go out of style. I have a Trina Turk outfit made from a vintage pattern that I thought would never go out of style, and this year I thought about wearing it as a Halloween costume...oops. But today I gave in to a silly consumeristic urge and bought myself a pair of very fancy shoes.

Every now and then, Nordstrom Rack puts out a few pair of "worn and refurbished" shoes, which, for all intensive purposes, might as well be brand new. Today, I happened upon a $475 pair of Moschino's for a mere $70. On my non-profit salary, $70 still seems like a lot, but after getting literally six compliments when I tried one on (okay, so some of the people weren't exactly complimenting them...I believe most of the compliments ended with, "what size are those?" and a fairly aggressive, "are you going to buy them?") I decided to take the plunge and buy them. After all, I do have 30 days to take them back. What do you think? Are they keepers?


***Update***
I took them back. :)

Yet another way the U.S. is falling behind

Al Gore demonstrated how our fuel efficiency lags behind China, and now the Communications Workers of America have taken up the cause of broadband access. Take the test--the results may surprise you.

Forget Borat!

So I haven't seen Borat yet, and frankly, I don't have much interest. But from what people tell me, it's all about Ali G encouraging people to say things that are racist, degrading and otherwise offensive--showing the "true colors" of Americans.

This documentary is certainly not as slick, but if you get your jollies from watching ignorant people say shocking things, check out Red State.




The clips on the movie's website are even better (or worse, I guess you could say) than the trailor above. Check out the nice lady from Jackson, Mississippi and the dude from Boise who thinks his state is covered in the Blood of Christ.

I just ordered a copy of the film...stay tuned for a thumbs up or down.

My favorite campaign website

On a lighter note...

While researching judges this afternoon, I came across Hayden Zacky's website, and I must say that he really out did himself.

Another candidate for Superior Court Judge, Deborah Sanchez, has the kind of website one might expect. But not Hayden...

Hayden's site may not have a Flickr photo gallery on the home page like our Governor, but he has something better: sound effects! (make sure you roll your mouse over the fancy menu bar.)

You're slick Mr. Zacky! Check it out.

Election Freakout

Ok, so the Dems are winning nationally, and that's great and all, but as of 10:25pm, Prop 90 is winning.

Proposition - 90 Eminent Domain - California 7736 of 25231 Precincts Reporting

	Name	Votes	Pct
	No	1,314,840	50.02
	Yes	1,313,614	49.98

That stinks. Stinks, stinks, stinks. I don't think people really understand how bad it will be if Prop 90 passes.

I know some Democrats are doing well, but if you look at the CA race, just as many seats are going to the GOP. Looks like McClintock will win by about 2.5%...but don't worry, the Green Party candidate got almost 3% of the vote! Okay, so it's not exactly the Green's fault, but what's wrong with California?

Allegations of Schwarzenegger's sexual assault are swept under the rug in the same breath that voters decide that people convicted of sex crimes should wear GPS tracking devices for the rest of their lives. (In defense of California voters apparent hypocrisy--the sex crimes proposition won't really be effective--it encourages sex offenders to live in close proximity with others of similar pathology, and wastes a ridiculous amount of money on tracking devices that don't prevent offenders from molesting the people they are most likely to take advantage of--family members.)

Proposition - 83 Sex Offenders - California 7911 of 25231 Precincts Reporting

	Name	Votes	Pct
	Yes	1,907,644	70.29
	No	806,146	29.71

Apparently, Californians also want young people to start smoking and don't want the auto industry to ever catch up with China's emissions standards.

Proposition - 86 Cigarette Tax - California 7844 of 25231 Precincts Reporting

Name Votes Pct No 1,479,988 53.84 Yes 1,268,938 46.16

---

Proposition - 87 Alternative Energy - California 7844 of 25231 Precincts Reporting

	Name	Votes	Pct
	No	1,557,334	56.98
	Yes	1,175,805	43.02

But seriously, the campaign finance prop? Isn't anyone else sick of all the crap we get in the mail before every election? I don't watch commercials anymore, thanks to my DVR, but I hear those are pretty darn annoying too. Why the heck wouldn't we want a cap on election spending?

Proposition - 89 Campaign Financing - California 7769 of 25231 Precincts Reporting

	Name	Votes	Pct
	No	1,990,751	73.91
	Yes	702,861	26.09

All in all, I'm disappointed. Again.

My Voter Guide

Californians - Here's how I'm voting in the upcoming election. No time to give detailed explanations about why on each one, but if you have any questions, feel free to ask me!

I'm voting Democrat for all elected officials.

Propositions:

Yes on 1A

No on 1B
1B will lead to more sprawl and pollution. More info from Urban Habitat

Yes on 1C
YES to more affordable housing near transit!

Yes on 1D
New school construction to relieve overcrowding

Yes on 1E
Disaster preparedness

NO on 83
Takes the justice system further in the wrong direction -- away from rehabilitation and towards GPS monitoring for life. Similar laws in other states have proved unsuccessful. Here's an editorial about it from the Sac Bee.

Yes on 84
Clean water and coastal protection.

No on 85
No on parental consent for abortion. Seriously, I don't think a no vote needs explaining on this one. No matter what your stance is on abortion, in my mind, this proposition just makes life more difficult for kids who already have bad parents.

Yes on 86
Raises the tobacco tax.

Yes on 87
Supports alternative energy.

No on 88
While most democrats are voting "No" on 88, there are some liberal groups like Working Assets and San Francisco Young Democrats that have endorsed it. I will most likely vote No, but I haven't done a lot of research on this proposition.

Yes on 89
Limits campaign contributions. Just take a look at who is against this prop at the bottom of this page: http://www.cleanmoneyelections.org/ and I think you'll have an idea of who this proposition will hurt.

No on 90
This is one of the most important initiatives on the ballot. If it passes, it will render environmental and community groups useless against harmful development. More at http://www.noprop90.com/

Bioneers Part 1

I went to the Bioneers conference for the first time this past weekend, and it did not disappoint. There about 20 things I want to write about, but I'll start with the issue that is the most pressing: Election Fraud.

I saw clips of the following documentaries and recommend that everyone try to see them.

Hacking Democracy, a film exploring the vulnerability of electronic voting systems and the growing evidence that recent elections have been manipulated. Premiering in November on HBO.

American Blackout, which chronicles the recurring patterns of disenfranchisement witnessed from 2000 to 2004 and exposes the contemporary tactics used to control our democratic process and silence political dissent.

Voting Rights (2006) a sobering look at one man's struggle to ensure that African Americans have their fair share of political power at the ballot box and beyond.

Or at the very least, watch this clip:



If you have a video camera, you might want to consider signing up for Video the Vote.

Halloween Dilema

It's just Halloween right? Carlos Mencia says it might as well be called "Dress Like A Whore Day."

I feel more pressure than ever this year to dress up in a "sexy" Halloween costume. In the past, I seem to have bypassed it fairly well--sure I've looked cute or attractive in some of my costumes, but so far I've avoided the French Maid ensemble. This year, it seems to be a bit more difficult for some reason. Since when were Little Miss Muffet and Alice slutty?!

I remember when I was in middle school, one of the white teachers at school dressed up as a Klansman for Halloween. I'm not sure he ever quite understood the magnitude of his error in judgement.

So maybe being a slutty nurse isn't as bad as the KKK, but it's still sending a message about women and their value in society that I wouldn't support on a day to day basis. I don't shout my praises of the Bush Administration on the 4th of July, so why is it that I, and many of my friends who normally stand against the sexual objectification of women, feel pressure to show up looking "hot" at the Halloween parties we attend?

Sofia Quintero spoke at the Bioneers conference yesterday and she said something along these lines: Women in our culture basically have two choices--to be invisible or be a target. If you walk out of the house dressed in normal clothes, you will be ignored. If you walk out in a tube top and mini skirt, you will get attention, but if you receive unwanted attention or advances, then you were asking for it.

I have a party to go to on Friday night and no costume yet. Any ideas on how I can be neither invisible nor a sellout to womankind?

Ford Anson Theater and Cheese Pastie

I feel like I’m always complaining about the music venues in LA. They’re too far away (Molly Malones), too expensive (Largo) too drafty (Spaceland) not enough seats (Hotel Café) too big for the ticket price (Greek Theater or Staples). Tuesday night, I finally found a place I can't wait to go back to.

Alex won tickets to see Ladytron at the Ford Amphiteater. It was awesome. It’s general admission, so there’s no sitting in those far away $30 seats, wondering if you should have spent $100 to actually see the band. It’s small enough that no seat is bad. They hand out plastic cups for the wine people "sneak" into the show. And the theater itself has that great old Hollywood feel. I just loved it. Ladytron’s songs all sound sort of the same, but they were fun, and I think anyone would be good at the Ford.

One more bonus, we took the park ‘n’ ride from the Universal metro station so we didn’t even have to pay for parking or deal with traffic. Doesn’t get any better than that.

Plus, Universal is near my favorite pub, Fox and Hounds. I had a yummy Cheese and Onion Pastie with salad and a Snakebite, and Alex had the super hot wings and a Boddingtons. Our favorite Tuesday and Saturday night musical entertainer, Bob Cowsill (of the Cowsills), was there, singing the Beatles, the Eagles and more. Couldn’t have been a more perfect night! (Well maybe if we both didn’t have to go to work the next morning.)