Conversation w/ Barista @ People's Coffee:
Do you want a receipt?
yes, please. So, you the owner?
I'm the manager. The owner will be in tomorrow.
Any chance we could get some better bike parking out there?
Yeah, well, a rack wouldn't fit on the patio and the cars need access right around there...
Yeah, but I had to lock up on the railing, i don't wanna block foot traffic or anything...
There are racks across the parking lot behind the market
Hmmmm...that's still kinda far, why not take out one of the car parking spaces and put a bike rack there?
*stares at me blankly. shakes his head*
i take my coffee and go
Monday, October 26, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
Balloon boy b.s.
Over the weekend the headline reports on CNN radio where all about the balloon boy.
I think it's safe to say issues like global warming and peak oil and resource wars are never gonna be dealt with in a serious manner by the media. At least not the U.S. media - It's completely defined by triviality and commercial interests. What passes for mainstream "news" in the United States these days is basically a corporate-version of Pravda - well produced, entertaining, grade A bullshit.
Pity the rest of the country isn't watching any serious material like this:
Longer lines at New York food banks - Al Jazeera English
Food security in the US has been steadily worsening, with millions of Americans having to rely on charities and aid organisations for their next meal.
http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2009/10/20091016214442454900.html
I think it's safe to say issues like global warming and peak oil and resource wars are never gonna be dealt with in a serious manner by the media. At least not the U.S. media - It's completely defined by triviality and commercial interests. What passes for mainstream "news" in the United States these days is basically a corporate-version of Pravda - well produced, entertaining, grade A bullshit.
Pity the rest of the country isn't watching any serious material like this:
Longer lines at New York food banks - Al Jazeera English
Food security in the US has been steadily worsening, with millions of Americans having to rely on charities and aid organisations for their next meal.
http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2009/10/20091016214442454900.html
Monday, October 12, 2009
Transitions & Harbingers
Got a dehydrator over the weekend.
This means that all those extra the tomatoes we've been growing won't go into the worm bin.
I consider it another small step in the so-called "transition period" my generation is going through - getting ready for the post-peak oil world, global-warming disaster preparedness, simple living, self-reliance, DIY homesteading, yada yada.
To date, I've sold my car, acquired a bike trailer that's been used to haul many heavy things it shouldn't have, use two worm composting bins, learned to identify a ton of edible and medicinal wild plants and herbs, learned how to fix up a bike pretty well, acquired a rain water barrel, learned how to grow a decent garden, and the list goes on.
In retaliation, the capitalist system, vis a vis things like inflation, stagnant wages, and free trade agreements has pretty much stopped me from participating in things I used to enjoy like: sushi, record stores, concerts, eating out, movies, and buying the occasional t-shirt. Honestly though, I only really miss sushi.
I guess this is my way of saying for every little step forward, there's a lot of things, a former middle class rat like me leaves behind. I know I'm not alone in this predicament - All my friends who're still employed have had their hours cut back or furloughed - and at least half these folks are professionals.
Thankfully, there's a growing movement of people who seem to be cognizant enough to read the writing on the wall, check this out:
Reskilling Expo
Sat. Oct 17th
10-4pm
United Methodist Church in Santa Cruz
http://transitionsc.org/
Of course, my acquaintances at Transitions SC still aren't grappling w/ some of the bigger issues we're all going to have to address sooner or later. For instance - How does one reconcile working 40 hours a week and raising a sizeable edible garden? I know in my instance, the biggest issue is labor time - harvesting the greens, washing them, and then prepping them for eating.
What happens if you wanna kick it up a notch and start raising chickens too?
The other ugly thing to consider is the fact that if certain appliances (think refrigerators, microwaves) we've come to rely on become too energy intensive/expensive, what simpler options do we have? Can you still even purchase an ice box anymore? Can you even buy ice by the block?
There has to be a point where people working on transitioning into what will undoubtedly be a slower, more austere way of living will have to face the contradiction of coming home in office attire then quickly changing into gardening, or bicycle repairing clothes. Imagine this happening day after day, for years on end. I'd say it's a strain many of us are already feeling right now. Something's gotta give.
This means that all those extra the tomatoes we've been growing won't go into the worm bin.
I consider it another small step in the so-called "transition period" my generation is going through - getting ready for the post-peak oil world, global-warming disaster preparedness, simple living, self-reliance, DIY homesteading, yada yada.
To date, I've sold my car, acquired a bike trailer that's been used to haul many heavy things it shouldn't have, use two worm composting bins, learned to identify a ton of edible and medicinal wild plants and herbs, learned how to fix up a bike pretty well, acquired a rain water barrel, learned how to grow a decent garden, and the list goes on.
In retaliation, the capitalist system, vis a vis things like inflation, stagnant wages, and free trade agreements has pretty much stopped me from participating in things I used to enjoy like: sushi, record stores, concerts, eating out, movies, and buying the occasional t-shirt. Honestly though, I only really miss sushi.
I guess this is my way of saying for every little step forward, there's a lot of things, a former middle class rat like me leaves behind. I know I'm not alone in this predicament - All my friends who're still employed have had their hours cut back or furloughed - and at least half these folks are professionals.
Thankfully, there's a growing movement of people who seem to be cognizant enough to read the writing on the wall, check this out:
Reskilling Expo
Sat. Oct 17th
10-4pm
United Methodist Church in Santa Cruz
http://transitionsc.org/
Of course, my acquaintances at Transitions SC still aren't grappling w/ some of the bigger issues we're all going to have to address sooner or later. For instance - How does one reconcile working 40 hours a week and raising a sizeable edible garden? I know in my instance, the biggest issue is labor time - harvesting the greens, washing them, and then prepping them for eating.
What happens if you wanna kick it up a notch and start raising chickens too?
The other ugly thing to consider is the fact that if certain appliances (think refrigerators, microwaves) we've come to rely on become too energy intensive/expensive, what simpler options do we have? Can you still even purchase an ice box anymore? Can you even buy ice by the block?
There has to be a point where people working on transitioning into what will undoubtedly be a slower, more austere way of living will have to face the contradiction of coming home in office attire then quickly changing into gardening, or bicycle repairing clothes. Imagine this happening day after day, for years on end. I'd say it's a strain many of us are already feeling right now. Something's gotta give.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Fremont Autoplant Shuts Down
I really like the headline for this article:
"The end of the line for California automaking"
Toyota Motor Corp.'s decision to abandon its assembly line in Fremont marks the end of large-scale auto manufacturing in California, which over the years boasted a dozen or more plants building vehicles ranging from Studebakers to Camaro muscle cars.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-fi-toyota-plant28-2009aug28,0,1022235.story
There are so many interesting angles here - from the last autoplant in California closing, to the converting of the dead factories into even deader shopping malls (anyone from L.A. knows the City of Commerce's "Citadel Mall" is an eyesore Godzilla wouldn't bother pissing on). Then there's the last ditch attempts to bribe, i mean "give incentives" to keep toyota here by democractic and republican politicians alike.
Is it too early to say we're in the midst of an apocalyptic industrial collapse? Probably.
Those factories are just going to move elsewhere, where workers are less demanding of a better life, or according to the logic of capitalism, labor is cheaper and the cost of doing business is "more competitive."
*I grew up across the street from a dead autoparts factory. It's closing brought about all kinds of strife - crime, vandalism, litter. It also for a while opened up a space for my dad to show me how to ride a bike, and for my family to walk across an abandoned parking lot to visit other family members in the neighborhood.
*Back in the 1970s, my dad also worked briefly in a UAW represented autoplant before it closed down and relocated to the former slave territories known as the South. He described it as "back breaking, exhausting" work and he was glad to get out of it.
If you read the linked article, on the 2nd page, it quotes a manager of a bar located next to the closing plant, who says he "would lay off a single mother who worked an early morning shift that caters to the plant's overnight shift, and he could lose two more employees."
Wait, rewind for a second - a single mother gets laid off to keep a business running, and it's just another casualty of downsizing? Gotta love the premise of capitalism, it's a lot like living on a boat that constantly leaks so people have to be thrown overboard in order to keep afloat. This is how the system works in bad times as well as good. And the worst part is, most people accept this as moral and legitimate.
Check out the last quote from a soon to be laid off worker: "As for the future, I am going to do a lot of fishing and a lot of praying."
I'm afraid praying ain't gonna be enough this time homes. Time to form communes. Time to get organized. If we aren't in the midst of an industrial collapse, it may be around the corner.
"The end of the line for California automaking"
Toyota Motor Corp.'s decision to abandon its assembly line in Fremont marks the end of large-scale auto manufacturing in California, which over the years boasted a dozen or more plants building vehicles ranging from Studebakers to Camaro muscle cars.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-fi-toyota-plant28-2009aug28,0,1022235.story
There are so many interesting angles here - from the last autoplant in California closing, to the converting of the dead factories into even deader shopping malls (anyone from L.A. knows the City of Commerce's "Citadel Mall" is an eyesore Godzilla wouldn't bother pissing on). Then there's the last ditch attempts to bribe, i mean "give incentives" to keep toyota here by democractic and republican politicians alike.
Is it too early to say we're in the midst of an apocalyptic industrial collapse? Probably.
Those factories are just going to move elsewhere, where workers are less demanding of a better life, or according to the logic of capitalism, labor is cheaper and the cost of doing business is "more competitive."
*I grew up across the street from a dead autoparts factory. It's closing brought about all kinds of strife - crime, vandalism, litter. It also for a while opened up a space for my dad to show me how to ride a bike, and for my family to walk across an abandoned parking lot to visit other family members in the neighborhood.
*Back in the 1970s, my dad also worked briefly in a UAW represented autoplant before it closed down and relocated to the former slave territories known as the South. He described it as "back breaking, exhausting" work and he was glad to get out of it.
If you read the linked article, on the 2nd page, it quotes a manager of a bar located next to the closing plant, who says he "would lay off a single mother who worked an early morning shift that caters to the plant's overnight shift, and he could lose two more employees."
Wait, rewind for a second - a single mother gets laid off to keep a business running, and it's just another casualty of downsizing? Gotta love the premise of capitalism, it's a lot like living on a boat that constantly leaks so people have to be thrown overboard in order to keep afloat. This is how the system works in bad times as well as good. And the worst part is, most people accept this as moral and legitimate.
Check out the last quote from a soon to be laid off worker: "As for the future, I am going to do a lot of fishing and a lot of praying."
I'm afraid praying ain't gonna be enough this time homes. Time to form communes. Time to get organized. If we aren't in the midst of an industrial collapse, it may be around the corner.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
One car goes off the road
Monday, a friend tells me her family has downsized to one car - husband, wife, and child will now coordinate transportation to school, work, and play. Sharing basically. I told her that's sweet, and she should consider getting a rack for the car, so whomever's on bike can always meet whomever's in car for dinner, groceries, etc...
Same day I put in a call to the Monterey Bay Unified Air Pollution Control District - See, a friend owns a car that's in its death throws and I mentioned that years ago when I was selling my car, I'd considered participating in the DMV dying vehicle buy back program, where the state will offer you up to $1,000 to take your car off the road - forever.
Well, as it turns out, the Voluntary Accelerated Vehicle Retirement (VAVR) program, as executed by the California Environmental Protection Agency, has a certain level of restrictions - one of which is that if your old car does pass a smog check, the county in which the car is registered determines if the car can be "VAVRed." There are many counties that participate in the VAVR program - San Mateo, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, but Santa Cruz (as part of the tri-county area of Monterey and San Benito) does not.
Can anyone explain this to me?
http://www.mbuapcd.org/
http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/avrp/avrpeo.htm
Same day I put in a call to the Monterey Bay Unified Air Pollution Control District - See, a friend owns a car that's in its death throws and I mentioned that years ago when I was selling my car, I'd considered participating in the DMV dying vehicle buy back program, where the state will offer you up to $1,000 to take your car off the road - forever.
Well, as it turns out, the Voluntary Accelerated Vehicle Retirement (VAVR) program, as executed by the California Environmental Protection Agency, has a certain level of restrictions - one of which is that if your old car does pass a smog check, the county in which the car is registered determines if the car can be "VAVRed." There are many counties that participate in the VAVR program - San Mateo, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, but Santa Cruz (as part of the tri-county area of Monterey and San Benito) does not.
Can anyone explain this to me?
http://www.mbuapcd.org/
http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/avrp/avrpeo.htm
Friday, July 17, 2009
Hipster Bikes Go Mainstream
First Kafias, now this. Urban Outfitters, the ultimate purveyors of commodified irony and sincere insincerity are selling made to order bikes. Not just any kind of bike mind you. Hipster bikes. You know, the kind you (I) laughed at years ago when folks hacked out these tiny handle-bared, bare-bones, single-speeds - Just the kind of ride that's good for showing off one's skills in chopping, but that's about it.
In retrospect, I can give props to the folks I know who actually build these things for the sheer novelty and impracticality of it. Handle bars the length of a ruler? Hey, I'm no weekend warrior but even I know your handle bars should match the width of your shoulders - you just breathe better.
But this made to order crap - where the only skill you need to buy let's face it, a pre-chopped hog (to use Hells Angels slang), is an ability to match colors and a working credit card; well, it demeans the whole point of learning how to work on a bike and out sources a really cool skill to have.
Only a culture sucking corporate leech like Urban Outfitters could think to pull this off with a straight face. Just like Harley Davidson, and to a lesser degree, mall franchise Hot Topic, Urban Outfitters' business model is based on co-opting counter-culture symbols of rebellion and creativity, and mass producing it, thereby killing the original meaning, or to put it crudely, cutting its balls off. But whereas Harley Davidson had a few decades to perfect and sell the image of working class biker attitude to white collar men in the throws of a mid-life crisis, Urban Outfitters' turn around time is much faster.
Still, there are plenty of folks who'll undoubtedly say "well, at least they're getting people on bikes." Okay, sure. But isn't this just a scenester version of a weekend warrior ride? I mean, Urban Outfitters and Aristotle/Republic Bikes are essentially selling toy-like accessories. More lifestyle shit for a generation of lifestyle consumers. Whycome none of the pictures depict racks and baskets for carrying groceries? Or what about kids trailers? Oh yeah, right - cuz' Urban Outfitters doesn't cater to that demographic. The best thing I can say about these glorified hipster toys is that they're employing people within the United States to build bikes - that's good.
But to me, the over-arching danger here is simply that this will become another fad, and like the weekend warriors, who play dress up in spandex on the weekends, but see no problem with the very existence of 6 lane freeways, this week's "made to order" bike will be chucked into the garage and sold at a yard sale once the next fad hits.
http://bikes.urbanoutfitters.com/build.asp
vs.
https://www.adbusters.org/magazine/79/hipster.html
In retrospect, I can give props to the folks I know who actually build these things for the sheer novelty and impracticality of it. Handle bars the length of a ruler? Hey, I'm no weekend warrior but even I know your handle bars should match the width of your shoulders - you just breathe better.
But this made to order crap - where the only skill you need to buy let's face it, a pre-chopped hog (to use Hells Angels slang), is an ability to match colors and a working credit card; well, it demeans the whole point of learning how to work on a bike and out sources a really cool skill to have.
Only a culture sucking corporate leech like Urban Outfitters could think to pull this off with a straight face. Just like Harley Davidson, and to a lesser degree, mall franchise Hot Topic, Urban Outfitters' business model is based on co-opting counter-culture symbols of rebellion and creativity, and mass producing it, thereby killing the original meaning, or to put it crudely, cutting its balls off. But whereas Harley Davidson had a few decades to perfect and sell the image of working class biker attitude to white collar men in the throws of a mid-life crisis, Urban Outfitters' turn around time is much faster.
Still, there are plenty of folks who'll undoubtedly say "well, at least they're getting people on bikes." Okay, sure. But isn't this just a scenester version of a weekend warrior ride? I mean, Urban Outfitters and Aristotle/Republic Bikes are essentially selling toy-like accessories. More lifestyle shit for a generation of lifestyle consumers. Whycome none of the pictures depict racks and baskets for carrying groceries? Or what about kids trailers? Oh yeah, right - cuz' Urban Outfitters doesn't cater to that demographic. The best thing I can say about these glorified hipster toys is that they're employing people within the United States to build bikes - that's good.
But to me, the over-arching danger here is simply that this will become another fad, and like the weekend warriors, who play dress up in spandex on the weekends, but see no problem with the very existence of 6 lane freeways, this week's "made to order" bike will be chucked into the garage and sold at a yard sale once the next fad hits.
http://bikes.urbanoutfitters.com/build.asp
vs.
https://www.adbusters.org/magazine/79/hipster.html
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Empty town, empty racks
Rode without a helmet this morning. It happened by accident - one minute I was running to get under the closing garage door, the next I realized I'd left my helmet inside. Too much of a hassle to get the keys, go around the back, and risk waking everyone up, so I got on my bike and figured today is as a good day to die as any.
On the road, the streets are empty. Schools out. Fuck yeah. It's nice and quiet. I pass a dead skunk on the road. Poor little critter. Fucking murderous cars. I pass the morning drunks out by the train trestle, getting their Coors light on. I consider joining them, ya know, cuz, alcohol and weed are cheaper than the therapy that office jobs inevitably drive us to. But they're bros and hobos and a lot tougher than me and besides, I don't drink Coors.
Monday afternoon, at the bike rack by the bus stop on the corner of Mission and Bay I noticed two mountain bikes completely stripped down. Okay, well...their wheels and seats were gone but the handle bars and brake pads were still there. Around the area were multiple bike locks still clinging to the rack - no bikes though; and one lone front wheel - It wasn't even locked to anything. It was a sad sight and I thought, "yup, schools out." I thought, "bike vandals are like baby pigeons, you know they exist, but you never see them." I thought, "The cops will cut a lock to take away a striped frame, but what happens to the locks that have no frame or anything attached?" And then, I kept riding.
On the road, the streets are empty. Schools out. Fuck yeah. It's nice and quiet. I pass a dead skunk on the road. Poor little critter. Fucking murderous cars. I pass the morning drunks out by the train trestle, getting their Coors light on. I consider joining them, ya know, cuz, alcohol and weed are cheaper than the therapy that office jobs inevitably drive us to. But they're bros and hobos and a lot tougher than me and besides, I don't drink Coors.
Monday afternoon, at the bike rack by the bus stop on the corner of Mission and Bay I noticed two mountain bikes completely stripped down. Okay, well...their wheels and seats were gone but the handle bars and brake pads were still there. Around the area were multiple bike locks still clinging to the rack - no bikes though; and one lone front wheel - It wasn't even locked to anything. It was a sad sight and I thought, "yup, schools out." I thought, "bike vandals are like baby pigeons, you know they exist, but you never see them." I thought, "The cops will cut a lock to take away a striped frame, but what happens to the locks that have no frame or anything attached?" And then, I kept riding.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
