THIS POEM IS ABOUT HOW I WANT EVERYONE TO LOVE ME
Run, nylons, run!
Run to the board meeting.
Run to the park full of
Sparrows and stinky dogwood
Trees. We have been dying to
Talk all day. "Dying to talk" is
Overly familiar. Looking at--
What. What? You're not the
First person who's been
Dying to talk to me in a
Board room. A smoking room. A
Dried bannana peel stuck to
My ass in a suit.
Friday, June 17, 2005
Friday, June 03, 2005
Moving
I'm moving to San Diego. Or greater San Diego
East Coast vs. West Coast : Death Row vs. Bad Boy
Bling Blog on the East Coast vs. the West Coast, with a focus on linguistics.
Bling Blog again, this time with a focus on SF vs. NY
Bluism.comon blogs from the two coasts
John Schramm on Pizza on the East and West coasts
The Gawker ponders why East coast media doesn't take the West coast seriously.
DJ Hypertech vs. Angels of Death
Take the misterpoll test
Why "East coast bias" is outdated
East Coast / West Coast business terminology
Bigfoot hunters on the two coasts
Beer on the two coasts
Cowder on the two coasts
Who parties better?
Crowd composition
East Coast vs. West Coast : Death Row vs. Bad Boy
Bling Blog on the East Coast vs. the West Coast, with a focus on linguistics.
Bling Blog again, this time with a focus on SF vs. NY
Bluism.comon blogs from the two coasts
John Schramm on Pizza on the East and West coasts
The Gawker ponders why East coast media doesn't take the West coast seriously.
DJ Hypertech vs. Angels of Death
Take the misterpoll test
Why "East coast bias" is outdated
East Coast / West Coast business terminology
Bigfoot hunters on the two coasts
Beer on the two coasts
Cowder on the two coasts
Who parties better?
Crowd composition
I love animals
I love animals. Animal
stories make me cry.
This probably means
I think animals are
irrelevant.
stories make me cry.
This probably means
I think animals are
irrelevant.
Monday, May 23, 2005
Platypus breeds poetry in motion
Platypus breeds poetry in motion
by Kate Rose
13 may 05
MILLSOM is bending over backwards for a spot in the new platypusary at Healesville Sanctuary.While platypuses are often shy, the tumbling thumb-cruncher stole the limelight from gathered luminaries at the launch of the new building. Golden domes shaped like platypus eggs will shelter the new breeding program, starting in the next few months.
Keeper Adrian Mifsud has been flat out like a platypus swimming to get the enclosure ready for the arrival of Binari, a female platypus from Taronga Zoo in Sydney.
She will be bred with Barak, who was born at Healesville in 1998. Mr Mifsud said if the program was successful it would be the first time a second-generation captive platypus was born.
BHP Billiton is funding the new platypusary.
Mt Dandenong Primary School student Anjali Lobo celebrated the opening of the enclosure with a poem called Secrets of the platypus, which won her a meeting with Millsom.
Tuesday, May 03, 2005
Pleading men banging on windows
A portly man, either 32, 37, or 42, followed me from the ATM to the building where I work. He wimpered behind me, occasionally saying "please, oh please." He did not follow me inside the building, but stopped on the outside of the glass doors, pushing his nose against them and rubbing it around. He banged on the glass to get my attention, so I turned around and he screamed "HELLO! HELLO!"
"Hello," I said.
"Hello," I said.
Monday, April 25, 2005
Robot camel jockeys
Robot camel jockeys step into stirrups after boys barred (AFP)
Thu Apr 21, 1:49 PM ET
DOHA (AFP) - On its first run round a Qatari camel-racing course, the robot jockey has set a time seconds off the record set by a child jockey, whose use in the popular sport has been banned after international criticism.
"We're 20 seconds away from the best time using a human jockey over five kilometres (three miles)," said Alexander Colot, director of the Swiss firm K-team which has built the robot jockey for Qatar.
The robot challenged its only competitor, a child jockey, over the five-kilometre course on the Al-Shahaniya race track, near Doha, watched by spectators and media drawn to this unique event.
Gulf Arab monarchies are trying to bring order to the national sport in the face of protests over the trafficking of young children from developing countries, mostly in Asia, as jockeys.
In December, Qatar banned the use of children in camel races and said it was preparing to use robot jockeys from 2005.
Mounted on a racing camel, which has an average speed of 40 kilometres (25 miles) per hour, the remote-controlled robot jockey displays remarkably similar gestures to those of a human jockey, even whipping the camel to make it go faster.
After "about 30 attempts" since launching the idea in April 2004, "the product is now ready," said Colot.
Human rights groups raised the alarm over the exploitation of children by traffickers who pay impoverished parents a paltry sum or simply kidnap their victims.
The children, mostly from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, are then smuggled into the oil-rich Gulf states.
They are often starved by employers to keep them light and maximise their racing potential. Mounting camels three times their height, the children -- some as young as six -- face the risk of being thrown off and trampled.
Earlier this month, the United Arab Emirates successfully completed its first robot jockey exercise, with a ban on the use of jockeys aged under 16 and weighing less than 45 kilograms (100 pounds) also now in effect.
The UAE had in principle already banned the use of children under 15 since 1993, but abuses remain widespread and no one was ever prosecuted.
Property rights for the robot have been registered for Qatar.
"No one can manufacture (a robot) without the authorisation of Qatar," said Rashed Ali Ibrahim, a member of the Qatari committee charged with promoting robot jockeys.
According to Colot, "the Emirati model (resembles) a doll rather than a robot."
Doha is increasingly set on developing its own robot jockey, "notably with a movement of arms and battery-powered," said committee president Sheikh Abdullah bin Saud al-Thani, who announced a plan to create "a factory for robot jockeys" in the gas-rich Gulf state.
"We hope to introduce around 20 robot jockeys" in 2006 at Qatar's annual grand prix in 2006, he said.
While the Swiss manufacturer refuses to reveal the cost of the project, Sheikh Abdullah said that, "the first phase involved investments of some three million riyals (800,000 dollars)."
"This experiment can succeed and be generalised," said Fredj Fenniche, regional representative for the UN Human Rights Commission.
"Our way seeks to make Qatar a state of law and respect of human rights, and we won't tolerate going against this," said Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Faisal al-Thani, president of the organising committee for camel races in Qatar.
Thu Apr 21, 1:49 PM ET
DOHA (AFP) - On its first run round a Qatari camel-racing course, the robot jockey has set a time seconds off the record set by a child jockey, whose use in the popular sport has been banned after international criticism.
"We're 20 seconds away from the best time using a human jockey over five kilometres (three miles)," said Alexander Colot, director of the Swiss firm K-team which has built the robot jockey for Qatar.
The robot challenged its only competitor, a child jockey, over the five-kilometre course on the Al-Shahaniya race track, near Doha, watched by spectators and media drawn to this unique event.
Gulf Arab monarchies are trying to bring order to the national sport in the face of protests over the trafficking of young children from developing countries, mostly in Asia, as jockeys.
In December, Qatar banned the use of children in camel races and said it was preparing to use robot jockeys from 2005.
Mounted on a racing camel, which has an average speed of 40 kilometres (25 miles) per hour, the remote-controlled robot jockey displays remarkably similar gestures to those of a human jockey, even whipping the camel to make it go faster.
After "about 30 attempts" since launching the idea in April 2004, "the product is now ready," said Colot.
Human rights groups raised the alarm over the exploitation of children by traffickers who pay impoverished parents a paltry sum or simply kidnap their victims.
The children, mostly from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, are then smuggled into the oil-rich Gulf states.
They are often starved by employers to keep them light and maximise their racing potential. Mounting camels three times their height, the children -- some as young as six -- face the risk of being thrown off and trampled.
Earlier this month, the United Arab Emirates successfully completed its first robot jockey exercise, with a ban on the use of jockeys aged under 16 and weighing less than 45 kilograms (100 pounds) also now in effect.
The UAE had in principle already banned the use of children under 15 since 1993, but abuses remain widespread and no one was ever prosecuted.
Property rights for the robot have been registered for Qatar.
"No one can manufacture (a robot) without the authorisation of Qatar," said Rashed Ali Ibrahim, a member of the Qatari committee charged with promoting robot jockeys.
According to Colot, "the Emirati model (resembles) a doll rather than a robot."
Doha is increasingly set on developing its own robot jockey, "notably with a movement of arms and battery-powered," said committee president Sheikh Abdullah bin Saud al-Thani, who announced a plan to create "a factory for robot jockeys" in the gas-rich Gulf state.
"We hope to introduce around 20 robot jockeys" in 2006 at Qatar's annual grand prix in 2006, he said.
While the Swiss manufacturer refuses to reveal the cost of the project, Sheikh Abdullah said that, "the first phase involved investments of some three million riyals (800,000 dollars)."
"This experiment can succeed and be generalised," said Fredj Fenniche, regional representative for the UN Human Rights Commission.
"Our way seeks to make Qatar a state of law and respect of human rights, and we won't tolerate going against this," said Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Faisal al-Thani, president of the organising committee for camel races in Qatar.
Urdu society holds ninth monthly poetry session
GULF TIMES
Urdu society holds ninth monthly poetry session
Publish Date: Sunday, 24 April, 2005, at 12:03 AM Doha Time
QATAR’S India Urdu Society has held its ninth monthly mushaira (poetry session) in Doha. The mushaira, sponsored by Rashid Ali, was attended by a number of well-known personalities of Qatar. The Society is affiliated to Indian Cultural Centre (ICC) under the aegis of the Indian embassy.
The mushaira was presided over by Zafar Siddiqi, who teaches process engineering at Qatar Petroleum’s Training Centre. The chief guest was noted scholar, writer and poet Dr Khalilur Rahman Raaz, while Prof Ali Naqi, who teaches at Cornell Medical College, was the guest of honour.
The session started with the recitation of the Holy Qur’an by Qari Ghayathuddin. Jaleel Nizami, founder president of the society, presented a Na’at. Ateeq Anzar did the initial compering.
In his presidential address, Siddiqi complimented the organisers for their efforts to promote Urdu in Doha. He also offered his help and co-operation to the Society. Dr Raaz lauded the work being done by the Society in Doha, adding that the poetry session provides a great opportunity in learning new aspects about the language. Prof Naqi lauded the role played by the Society in popularising Urdu. He said: “Urdu is one of the world’s most popular languages and is spoken in many countries of the world.”
The poets who presented their works were Dr Raaz, Naseem Kazmi, Rasheed Niaz, Jaleel Nizami, Ateeq Anzar, A R Sadaf, A H Qabil, Dr Shams Madani, Asfandyar Ansari, Jatender Baja, Maqsood Khan and A Nabeel.
Noted singer Abul Khair sang a ghazal of Jigar Muradabadi. Maqsood Khan Maqsood compered the session. The Society presented gifts to all the participating poets. Jaleel Nizami proposed a vote of thanks on behalf of Rashid Ali. A feature of the mushaira was its integration of Urdu and Hindi poets and ghazals and nazms by Indian and Pakistani poets.
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
The Tortoise & the Hippo
Heidi Lynn Staples has this picture on her blog. I have this picture on my fridge.
Tortoise Mothers Hippo After Tsunami
by Thea Monday, Jan. 31, 2005 at 1:31 PM
A baby Hippo that survived the Tsunami waves on the Kenyan coast snuggles close a giant century old tortoise in an animal facility in Mombasa. The Kenyan government plans to send hundreds of exotic and endangered animals to Thailand in a wildlife swap that drew harsh criticism from conservationists and concern from tourism officials.
NAIROBI (AFP) - A baby-hippopotamus that survived the tsumani waves on the Kenyan coast has formed a strong bond with a giant male century-old tortoise, in an animal facility in the port city of Mombasa, officials said.
The hippopotamus, nicknamed Owen and weighing about 300 kilograms (650 pounds), was swept down Sabaki River into the Indian Ocean, then forced back to shore when tsumani waves struck the Kenyan coast on December 26, before wildlife rangers rescued him.
"It is incredible. A-less-than-a-year-old hippo has adopted a male tortoise, about a century old, and the tortoise seems to be very happy with being a 'mother'," ecologist Paula Kahumbu, who is in charge of Lafarge Park, told AFP.
"After it was swept and lost its mother, the hippo was traumatised. It had to look for something to be a surrogate mother. Fortunately, it landed on the tortoise and established a strong bond. They swim, eat and sleep together," the ecologist added.
"The hippo follows the tortoise exactly the way it follows its mother. If somebody approaches the tortoise, the hippo becomes aggressive, as if protecting its biological mother," Kahumbu added.
"The hippo is a young baby, he was left at a very tender age and by nature, hippos are social animals that like to stay with their mothers for four years," he explained.
© 2000–2005 San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center. Unless otherwise stated by the author, all content is free for non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and elsewhere. Opinions are those of the contributors and are not necessarily endorsed by the SF Bay Area IMC. Disclaimer Privacy Contact
OTHER HIPPO FACTS:
Hippos make a variety of grunts, growls, screams, and other sounds while they are underwater to communicate.
Hippopotamuses live in groups of fifteen or more. These groups are primarily females and their young headed up by a dominant male. In the water or resting ashore, hippos tolerate even closer contact than pigs, regularly using neighbors as head rests. Female hippos will take turns "babysitting" large groups of baby hippos. During a fight, male hippopotamuses ram each other with their mouths open using there heads as sledgehammers, which brings their canines into play, and using their lower jaw to throw water at each other.
Hippos can "gallop" up to 18 miles per hour.
Tortoise Mothers Hippo After Tsunami
by Thea Monday, Jan. 31, 2005 at 1:31 PM
A baby Hippo that survived the Tsunami waves on the Kenyan coast snuggles close a giant century old tortoise in an animal facility in Mombasa. The Kenyan government plans to send hundreds of exotic and endangered animals to Thailand in a wildlife swap that drew harsh criticism from conservationists and concern from tourism officials.
NAIROBI (AFP) - A baby-hippopotamus that survived the tsumani waves on the Kenyan coast has formed a strong bond with a giant male century-old tortoise, in an animal facility in the port city of Mombasa, officials said.
The hippopotamus, nicknamed Owen and weighing about 300 kilograms (650 pounds), was swept down Sabaki River into the Indian Ocean, then forced back to shore when tsumani waves struck the Kenyan coast on December 26, before wildlife rangers rescued him.
"It is incredible. A-less-than-a-year-old hippo has adopted a male tortoise, about a century old, and the tortoise seems to be very happy with being a 'mother'," ecologist Paula Kahumbu, who is in charge of Lafarge Park, told AFP.
"After it was swept and lost its mother, the hippo was traumatised. It had to look for something to be a surrogate mother. Fortunately, it landed on the tortoise and established a strong bond. They swim, eat and sleep together," the ecologist added.
"The hippo follows the tortoise exactly the way it follows its mother. If somebody approaches the tortoise, the hippo becomes aggressive, as if protecting its biological mother," Kahumbu added.
"The hippo is a young baby, he was left at a very tender age and by nature, hippos are social animals that like to stay with their mothers for four years," he explained.
© 2000–2005 San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center. Unless otherwise stated by the author, all content is free for non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and elsewhere. Opinions are those of the contributors and are not necessarily endorsed by the SF Bay Area IMC. Disclaimer Privacy Contact
OTHER HIPPO FACTS:
Hippos make a variety of grunts, growls, screams, and other sounds while they are underwater to communicate.
Hippopotamuses live in groups of fifteen or more. These groups are primarily females and their young headed up by a dominant male. In the water or resting ashore, hippos tolerate even closer contact than pigs, regularly using neighbors as head rests. Female hippos will take turns "babysitting" large groups of baby hippos. During a fight, male hippopotamuses ram each other with their mouths open using there heads as sledgehammers, which brings their canines into play, and using their lower jaw to throw water at each other.
Hippos can "gallop" up to 18 miles per hour.
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
For Laila Tamer-Morael
Would that you were not dead,
but that instead you'd faked
your death to live a life without
family pressure and the business
of art, or that you were living a
life of art in Brazil. Would that you
had never gone to Brazil, that the
Lebanese civil war had been less
bloody, that getting an EU passport
were easier, or harder, that
art was less about business, that
business had more art, that your
poems and paintings were not
hidden in the upstairs back
corner of your gallery in Paris
but towards the front, that you
had never gone back to Paris--
no, I can't imagine that Paris is
ever a bad idea, but would that
you had gone back to Paris, which
you did, but that you stayed long
enough for Mark and I (or maybe
just Mark) to come and tell
you that in years of students you
were maybe one of two or three
that actually gave a shit about
it enough to paint and write
and open a gallery, would that
rescue fantasies were not just
fantasies. No, would that they were
(and they are), that telling someone
who hates their self how little in
there self there is to hate despite
the fact that there is so much to
hate in the world could actually
stop hate. Laila, you're not even
the first of Mark's former students
to die in this way, and my high school
friends have been dying sad, cliched,
Christmas day head on collisions,
my niece or nephew miscarried at
six months, all my birds died last
year because they were born
in breeding factories. I suppose I'm
angry. Would that anger could
bring back the dead, or keep the
wrong dead from dying. It doesn't.
But if I were Edgar Allen Poe,
handsome, sad and melancholy in
a white cravat, I would write the
tale of your disappearance in Rio,
you ghostly reappearance in Paris,
or here in Washington, DC at one
of the more obscure memorials.
but that instead you'd faked
your death to live a life without
family pressure and the business
of art, or that you were living a
life of art in Brazil. Would that you
had never gone to Brazil, that the
Lebanese civil war had been less
bloody, that getting an EU passport
were easier, or harder, that
art was less about business, that
business had more art, that your
poems and paintings were not
hidden in the upstairs back
corner of your gallery in Paris
but towards the front, that you
had never gone back to Paris--
no, I can't imagine that Paris is
ever a bad idea, but would that
you had gone back to Paris, which
you did, but that you stayed long
enough for Mark and I (or maybe
just Mark) to come and tell
you that in years of students you
were maybe one of two or three
that actually gave a shit about
it enough to paint and write
and open a gallery, would that
rescue fantasies were not just
fantasies. No, would that they were
(and they are), that telling someone
who hates their self how little in
there self there is to hate despite
the fact that there is so much to
hate in the world could actually
stop hate. Laila, you're not even
the first of Mark's former students
to die in this way, and my high school
friends have been dying sad, cliched,
Christmas day head on collisions,
my niece or nephew miscarried at
six months, all my birds died last
year because they were born
in breeding factories. I suppose I'm
angry. Would that anger could
bring back the dead, or keep the
wrong dead from dying. It doesn't.
But if I were Edgar Allen Poe,
handsome, sad and melancholy in
a white cravat, I would write the
tale of your disappearance in Rio,
you ghostly reappearance in Paris,
or here in Washington, DC at one
of the more obscure memorials.
Thursday, December 30, 2004
Zombies and Florida
Recently mom was talking about a housing development in South Florida built on top of a cemetery. They didn't move any of the bodies and people kept digging up bones. Poltergeist! Even if it's not true, Florida is a good place for suburban horror and zombies.
Saturday, December 25, 2004
The Same Things
The same things: leaving makes
love easy--people, place.
Emails with European evangelical
Christians--don't finish your
thought. I think I hate you
one a week, once a month--
you say it twice a year:
"I hate you." "I'm through with you."
Say we're through with not
saying how much we hate.
For example: Burning houses.
Our expanding neighbourhood.
Our neighbourhood sons. Dr. Phil
says anger is "really only" a combination
of three things: fear, hurt, and
something I can't remember--
don't finish my thought.
No wonder we feel so awful.
love easy--people, place.
Emails with European evangelical
Christians--don't finish your
thought. I think I hate you
one a week, once a month--
you say it twice a year:
"I hate you." "I'm through with you."
Say we're through with not
saying how much we hate.
For example: Burning houses.
Our expanding neighbourhood.
Our neighbourhood sons. Dr. Phil
says anger is "really only" a combination
of three things: fear, hurt, and
something I can't remember--
don't finish my thought.
No wonder we feel so awful.
Sunday, October 03, 2004
Camel Racetrack, etc
A camel race track will be built in Sohar, Oman. Meanwhile, The PR of China is moving towards a flexible currency. Meanwhile, the first presidential debate took place last night. I watched so I could participate in liberal outrage and feel like I'm part of a community of like-minded peoples. The post-debate coverage is making me crazy. Instead of watching more news this evening, I'm going to continue reading writing by artists associated with Pop Art so I'm prepared to teach on Tuesday.
Claes Oldenburg says: "I am for an art that is political-erotical-mystical, that does something other than sit on its ass in a museum" ("I am for an Art," 1961).
And then Mr. Warhol, talking about life and TV in a way that is a bit dated but also rather relevant despite the fact that it sounds like a cliche: "Before I was shot, I always thought that I was more half-there than all-there--I always suspected that I was watching TV instead of living life" (Philosophy of Andy Warhol, 91).
Claes Oldenburg says: "I am for an art that is political-erotical-mystical, that does something other than sit on its ass in a museum" ("I am for an Art," 1961).
And then Mr. Warhol, talking about life and TV in a way that is a bit dated but also rather relevant despite the fact that it sounds like a cliche: "Before I was shot, I always thought that I was more half-there than all-there--I always suspected that I was watching TV instead of living life" (Philosophy of Andy Warhol, 91).
Thursday, September 30, 2004
Dancing, Strange Deaths
- Is it really true that "Aeschylus the Greek dramatist, died in 456 BC when a vulture, mistaking his bald head for a stone, dropped a tortoise on it?"
- It is really true that "Isadora Duncan wore scarves which trailed behind her, and this caused her death in a freak accident in Nice, France. She was killed when her scarf caught in the wheel of her friend Ivan Falchetto's Bugatti automobile. As the driver sped off, the long cloth wrapped around the vehicle's axle. Ms. Duncan was yanked violently from the car and dragged for several yards before the driver realized what had happened. She died almost instantly from a broken neck."
If anyone can clear up the issue of Aeschylus and the tortoise, I'd appreciate it. I can work on balance and wearing short scarves on my own.
Shark and Sharks
Sharks don't end up in shallow cold waters off the coast of Massachusetts unless "things" are going badly. In Florida, children and pets get eaten by aligators every so often. When said aligators have the contents of their stomachs' checked--which means I suppose that game wardens or plain ol' wardens come and kill 'em--they are often quite empty (apart from the child or pet).
Some recent alligator stories:
According to the article above, although there is no sure way to tell how much interaction with humans an alligator has had, "There are indicators. If an alligator approaches a human, then it most likely has lost its fear of humans." Moreover, "the vibrations of a lawn mower can attract alligators because it stimulates them, as can feeding them."
Also, you can read about a woman in Miami who found a dead and chopped-up aligator in her yard.
In Florida, the Fish and Wildlife service will not trap and kill an alligator unless it is deemed to be a "nuisance alligator"--an alligator that is not affraid of humans. This implies that most alligators are afraid of us, or at least will not approach us. Most of the gators I've seen just sit in the mud in the sun. But they were Singaporian gators.
I worry about sharks and alligators that are out of place.
Penis Blimp
Yesterday there was a small white blimp in the sky that looked like a small white penis. It was floating just above the tops of the buildings on Massachusets avenue, near Dupont Circle. So there was a small white penis-blimp floating against the grey-white clouds and I just stood on the corner and looked up at it. People looked at me looking up but no one else looked up. What was it doing there?
Someone else obviously noticed, because a news-google search for "Washington DC Blimp" yeilded the following results:
Army Blimp Paraded Over DC
Security Blimp Hovers over US Capitol
Apparantly floating blimps in the sky is a technique which "harks back to the 19th century, when military forces would track enemy movement from balloons above the battlefield" (see 2nd article).
Someone else obviously noticed, because a news-google search for "Washington DC Blimp" yeilded the following results:
Army Blimp Paraded Over DC
Security Blimp Hovers over US Capitol
Apparantly floating blimps in the sky is a technique which "harks back to the 19th century, when military forces would track enemy movement from balloons above the battlefield" (see 2nd article).
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
A test post
bpNichol wrote for Fraggle Rock in the 1980s!--or, as The bpNichol project notes, he "became a sucessful writer for the children's television show Fraggle Rock." This is exciting news for me as I read The Martyrology 1 & 2.
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