outbound traffic

“Meet Andie Grace, aka ActionGrl, the latest in our series of Beautiful Pregnant Women. Her partner, a great man who answers to the name Thumper, took this shot on AG’s birthday in the deep, dusty Nevada desert. I’ve watched Andie, often from afar, as she’s glided through various life stages, tribes, trials, and transformations with more grace and beauty than sometimes even I can bear. Bassist. Filmmaker. Media maven. The girl you wished was living next door. Girl of Action. Mom to Be. Virgo. Her six-word memoir? “Wasn’t born a redhead; fixed that.” Catch her if you can.”
Sure Larry, whatever you say. And all I’m saying is: takes a special kind of smooth to mack on all them preggers ladies and get away with it, just another reason to pour props for Mr. Smith!

OK, now that the late unpleasantness with my colleagues has been sorted ( details are petty and unworthy of repetition; shit happens, nuf said), I can write about things that really matter to me, like architecture.

When the new federal building in San Francisco was unveiled, much was said about its look, and feel. The Thom Mayne design ( whom The Times called “the government’s favorite architect”, and who won the 2005 Pritzker) was lauded for its environmental efficiency.

But amidst all the hype and hoopla, I feel like the critics missed the essential nature of the thing. Witness John King in the San Francisco Chronicle last November:

For those of you who haven’t yet seen the Great Speckled Bird of Mission Street, it’s a wide slab of concrete that climbs 18 stories and then stops — except that panels of perforated steel snap over the top of the slab like an eccentric paper airplane before cascading down the side of the building that faces the south.

At ground level there’s an L-shaped plaza and a freestanding cafe with a roof that marks the finale of the cloak as it buckles up and rears back, a metallic wave frozen as it breaks.

Then in February he returned, lauding the design in fawning praise, which really said little of note or insight:

One problem is that the perforated sunscreen seems heavy; during much of the day it looks more like a dull blanket than a sleek veil.
Another miscalculation is the roof of the cafe, which is topped by a tangle of trusses and panels.
The idea was for the veil to leap across the plaza, and from above it looks fine. Up close? You’d think a giant robotic spider landed on the cafe and is about to pry it open.

which he closes by adding:

San Francisco’s character is rich and rooted. It also has been redefined from day one by immigrants and cultural trends. The city only grows stronger by exposure to fresh ideas — including buildings that make you look twice, and make you think hard.

More’s the pity then, John, that you didn’t take your own advice.

Nicolai Ouroussoff of The Times naturally did a better job–he’s got more material to work with to stay fresh–but even his longish story missed the mark.

The view of the building, and it’s message, can be summed up in one word: earthquake.

Physical, metaphorical, take your pick. The jagged slash down the face, with its heaving gapes, atop the buckled courtyard plaza–it fairly screams that the facade crumpled and slid down the side.

The angled struts on the right, kicked out like so many 2×4s propping up Marina teardowns, lean like a colt slipping on winter ice. Look at the man’s sketches from his Pritzker file, judge for yourself.

And yet the gleaming, soaring north face speaks to San Francisco’s unending role as a cauldron of reinvention and repurposing, a social fulcrum levered against itself, rising up from whatever wreckage it’s found itself in.

As in 06, and 89, the city shakes loose what has fallen, and builds on that foundation.

That’s what Mayne has done here: demonstrated in one building the fall, and resurrection, of one of the world’s greatest cities.

predicted, almost to the moment, makes the bitterness and disappointment not the least bit lighter or easier to bear.  what comes next, i can’t begin to imagine. but as it is, it clearly has come to an impasse. what a huge fucking letdown. what a colossol, massive let down. god damn it, my naivete about it–all of it–never ceases to amaze me. why won’t I just roll over and capitulate and get to work being a bitter cynic and save everyone so much time and energy?

The guns were loaded, horses tossing their heads in impatience, and the riders squeezed the saddle a little tighter. It was gonna be a tough ride through indian country…

Or not.

I entered Best Buy today with two broken cameras ( identical ), one receipt ( outdated ) and a firm conviction that my claims would be denied, and I’d be back in the parking lot in ten minutes, having yelled myself horse in frustration at outrage, braying “don’t shop here, their warranties are worthless” until the rent a cops threw me out.

Instead, they apologized, took them back, and posted them off for repair–I’ll have them back in two weeks.

One could say it was just being nice–AG is a big fan of that. Or it could be intention–I did say as I entered “i’m leaving with two new cameras.” Either way, it worked.

Now some random intel:

*Bayshore is HOT. Check it out. Esp. the Flora Garden center on Jarold, with an EMBEDDED Ritual Roasters. Pinch me. Going back tomorrow.

*the very back of American Rag is decently priced, well curated second hand schtuff. And the very back wall is virtually free deep discount. And across the street and up the block? A good art store, with moderately priced acetate for you budding Banksey’s out there.

*the stairmaster classic scored me fewer calories burned, and left me feeling more wrecked, than the newer models. Hmm, wonder if there’s a sort of caloric burn inflation going on in the fitness industry?

As evidence that, in spite of our pending replication, we remain vibrant members of the intelligentsia, I submit the following:

——– Original Message ——–
Subject: Fwd: Best American Nonrequired Reading
Date: Fri, 18 May 2007 09:52:16 -0400
From: Larry Smith
To: Andie Grace
Andie, I sent about 50 to Eggers and yours were all among the 25 he
took. So that’s two book for six words. Not bad.
Can you pass this note to Tom — I don’t seem to have his email.

10. Wasn’t born a redhead; fixed that.
- Andie Grace

12. Hugged some trees, then burned them.
- Tom Price

See below
>
> I don’t know if Dave Eggers has passed along the news yet, but he and The
> Best American Nonrequired Reading committee have selected some of their
> favorite Six-Word Memoirs for the 2007 “front section” of the book

This springs from Larry Smith’s “Six Word Memoir” project. Which I highly recommend. One, because Larry and his partner Piper are outstanding people, and anything to which either is attached gets the auto thumbs up. Two, because the form of using just six words to sum up your life is a taxing and ultimately rewarding one. Try doing it on your friends, first. Case in point: let’s do Molly Golightly, shall we? Hmm, how about “Writing stylish sass? All sewn up.” If you know Molly, I hope you’ll agree. (It took about 30 seconds, but we’re on deadline here..).

Now, an exceptionally sharp person might say “hey, didn’t you meet Larry in February? Wasn’t that the trip you two became pregnant on?.” The implication being that the slow descent into pampers land was already working its way on our brains, softening them to a banana formula goo.

To which I’ll reply, ahem. Say, what’s that over there?

so we’re shacking up, and now comes the fun part: integrating our various stuff into a composite that works.

this should be interesting; as I explained it to a friend earlier, she can’t come over for about a month–it will take that long to have resolved the creative differences in aesthetic that result when you marry swedish architect minimalism seasoned with world travel weaving festish with DIY craft queen who lived a little too close to the Goodwill for her own good.

ahem.

On the plus side, the kitchen is sorted, and since we have two decks, washer/dryer in unit, dishwasher, water purification thingy built in, and an entire floor just for _stuff_, I’ll not complain.

Though that Morphine/Chuthulu poster will be the death of me..

Easter Sunday.

Lombard Street.

Big Wheel Races.

Lots and lots of tourists.
I couldn’t find a proper one, and had to settle for the little magic mountain bus ( with dump truck sounds! ) I picked up for $10 at the Oakland Swap Meet about two hours before the “race.”

Last year this event had 20 racers, this year 200+; it has definitely tipped.


On this video link below I think I’m around 10 seconds in, passing on the right.

http://peter-singlespeed.blogspot.com/2007/04/san-francisco-craziness.html

Surprisingly little blood, considering the number of pileups.



After much nashing of teeth, many hours spent wandering through grotty dark lynolium-encrusted stairs and dark fettid halls, AG and I not surprisingly returned to the first place we’d found, a referral from Molly and Petrina, at the end of Kansas street at 20th. Potrero Hill. Lovely view. This is where the new life will begin. It’s a gorgeous space, not perfect, but a good platform to build on. We move at month’s end, if not sooner. This chapter is ended, please turn the page, and begin again. Embrace. Leap. Explore. Live. Without preconceived ideas of outcome. This is the opportunity, the challenge. There’s a voice to be found there, let’s see if I can’t find it.

It’s almost impossible to get the Beatles riff out of my head; “banned from the CKGR, you don’t know how lucky you are, boy…”

It’s true. I’ve been banned from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, and the rest of Botswana for that matter. The notification came not with a note, or middle of the night call. Rather, with the same shabby clumsiness that seems to attach itself to most things the Government of Botswana does with anything relating to the Bushmen. As the article said, just when things were finally dieing down on this issue, the Govt. had to go and issue a list of persons forbidden from entry without a visa ( though as Steph P. pointed out, it would be quite someting to see them make that stick in, say, Maun. ).

Here’s the story, and the link:

Govt slaps visa regulations on critics

KETO SEGWAI
STAFF WRITER

Just when Survival International (SI) and other human rights organisations are beginning to become irrelevant in the aftermath of the High Court decision on relocations from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR), the government has dramatically brought them back to centre-stage.

In the latest Government Gazette of March 23, 2007, the Minister of Labour and Home Affairs, Charles Tibone, has evoked a Visa Requirement clause from the Immigration Act to target 17 individuals from the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia and Canada. The targeted individuals who now need a visa to enter Botswana contrarily appear to comprise primarily  rights activists, academics and journalists.

The Government Gazette notice stipulates that:  “In accordance with regulation 5 (1) of the Immigration (Visa) Regulations, the Minister of Labour and Home Affairs hereby declares that the persons listed … are to obtain a visa to enter into Botswana”. Under normal circumstances, the nationals of the above-mentioned four countries are exempt from Botswana visa requirements.

Regulation 5 (1) specifies that “No visa shall be required by a national of a country visited in the first schedule, who is the holder of a valid passport issued by that country unless the Minister by notice published in the Government Gazette declares that such a person is required to obtain a visa.”  The UK, USA, Australia and Canada are included in the first schedule.

The 17 affected individuals are:  Steven Corry, Mirriam Ross, Fiona Watson, Jonathan Mazower, Janie Workman, Jonathan Reed, David White, John Walsh, Oliver Duff, Karin Goodwin, Carol Midgley, and Jonathan Simpson - all from the UK.  The listed Americans are: Rupert Isaacson, Eric Grossberg and Tom Price; while Ian Taylor is an Australian and Daniella Stor is Canadian.

At press time, Mmegi had been able to establish that four of the Britons - Corry, Ross, Watson and Mazower are all from Survival International (SI), government’s well-known nemesis in the CKGR saga.

Seven of the people in the list are journalists. They include Simpson, the respected world affairs editor with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC); Financial Times of London’s South African correspondent, Reed and its African editor, White; Price, a highly respected American freelance journalist who often contributes to major publications such as the Los Angeles Times. Other journalists are: Duff (Independent - UK), Goodwin (Sunday Times - Scotland), and Midgley (The Times - UK).

Taylor is an Australian academic who previously worked as a lecturer on African Affairs at the University of Botswana. He co-authored a critical paper entitled “Presidential Succession in Botswana: No model for Africa” with Professor Kenneth Good.  Speculation is rife that that paper, which Good was unable to present, led to his unceremonious deportation from Botswana.

American Isaacson is known to be with the Indigenous Land Rights Fund, while Grossberg is suspected to be associated with an organisation that deals with conflict-free diamond issues.  At the time of going to press, Mmegi had not yet established what Stor, Workman and Walsh do.

When contacted yesterday, Tibone dispelled the widely circulating perceptions that the evocation of visa requirements is directly connected with the involvement of the people with the CKGR issue.

“This is a routine thing.  It’s something we do from time to time, if there are people we need to know when they visit Botswana. Yes, we want to know when they visit Botswana so that we can give them any assistance they may need,” said Tibone. He maintained that the latest measures are meant to facilitate the stay of the 17 in Botswana.  He added that theoretically everybody who enters Botswana is given a visa - in the form of a stamp on the passport at his or her point of entry. He said the 17 people affected by the new dispensation cannot get their visa at the point of entry and must apply for it before coming to the country.

When contacted yesterday on the latest developments, Corry, the SI director, noted that the list is composed predominantly of individuals who have taken an interest at some point in time in the plight of the Basarwa from the CKGR.

This regulation could so easily be the start of a slippery slope leading to denying entry to foreigners who dare criticise the actions of the ruling class - even when the government has acted illegally and against people’s human rights, as in the case of the Basarwa evictions from the CKGR. Surely it can only further erode Botswana’s diminishing reputation. Survival’s actions were always in support of dispossessed citizens of Botswana. Will the government now try to stop international human rights organisations operating in Botswana, just like the apartheid South African government did? Is this what Botswana’s citizens really want,” he posed.–30–

It’s so wanna be tough guy, you know? I’ll give them credit–it’s their country, and they’re running it as they see fit. But for a nation who’s image is so important to them, to do something as cheap and petty as this, so old-school Africa; it’s the sort of move one would expect in say Zimbabwe, wouldn’t be worth a notice, the guy in the suit decrying the outsiders who’re besmirching our good name. But they’re sincere, they mean it. Or at least, the lower level ones do. The brus @ the top, however, having been well trained by Edelman, well, they’re a different bunch all together. Mogae’s one thing, but that VP and President in waiting Khama, the General, not very keen on democracy and contrary opinions, that one.

Regardless, it’s my first banning, hopefully not my last, and I’m in august company. And couldn’t be more pleased. And I have every intention of fronting up there soon to get my special permit:)