Karen Black is coming to New York to SING!

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1488655367/bctid1646218592

Thomas Beattie had a baby girl.


http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/07/04/obit.helms/?iref=mpstoryview

Jesse Helms died.

StraightWhiteMan, a brilliant artist, sits at his laptop excercising his time-honed skill as a programmer and innovator in Max/msp/jitter in the programming of a new work by TW.

Mr. SWM: " Yeah, identity based work -- you get no sympathy from me there. All political work is narcissistic and redundant. I mean, if you have something political to tell me, let's have a conversation. Don't make me -- ugh, I couldn't care less...!"

Minutes went by.

TW: "...all...?" (thoughfully remembers that he needs SWM to finish the programming of 'Block Of Ice +1/60", a digital performance installation about hydrology, labour, and privilege.)

SWM: "Yeah. I mean, you have to remember, I came up in the 80's....when EEEEEEEEEVVVVVVVrything and eeeeeeeeverybody's work was identity politics. ...."

I can't remember what he said at that point, somehow I think it was something about how the only work funded or supported was "identity politics", and as a composer of electroacoustic noise, I guess it meant he felt left out and resented it. I think he also implied something along the lines of 'thank g-d that's over' kind of thing....

It was an interesting excercise in holding my tongue. He had been kind of snippy earlier, and getting the work done was a higher priority than pointing out how perfectly he had just articulated the subject position of a straight, white, male identity.

SWM: "Nothing personal, I mean....."

TW: "Oh, I know it's not personal. If it were, I wouldn't ask."

Some more minutes passed.

TW: "So.....do you have any critique of this piece? Some constructive criticism in order that this piece could be less narcissistic and redundant?"

He stammered, didn't look at me, continued programming the piece, and mumbled something about how he didn't exactly 'get it' and so couldn't comment -- and it was time to go.

I've allowed myself to become very isolated, both geographically and physically, from people I want to call my friends. Because of all the changes in my life I no longer work or live in downtown Toronto and I don't really spend a lot of my free time there either. Because of that, I feel like I've let a lot of my friendships slide... maybe too far. I guess I'm the only one to blame for that so I shouldn't feel bad about it, and I guess I'm the only one who can fix it.

I love spending time alone with Pete and I get to do that a lot, but I miss going out in groups and having great conversations with my friends. I haven't been to the local bar or a group dinner in ages and as much as I say that I'm okay with that, I don't think I am. I'm a social person by nature and I feel like the longer I stay away from certain places or people, the more disconnected and isolated I am making myself. I'd like to go out and re-connect with people and be a part of the community again. I miss that so much! There's been enough time that my presence (either alone or with Pete) won't anger anyone who might've heard untruths (or truths) about me. I think that most people who might've been upset with me have had time to gain a little bit of perspective.

I think about how I changed my life and how proud and happy I was back in January for making the hard decisions that I put off making for so long. I love my job and I love who I get to be with now, but I never thought that in making the transition to better myself so many of my friends would fall by the wayside. Whether they left me or whether I left them is hard to say in certain cases, but I just want to go out and see them all again.

Yeah, you can say I'm having a shitty day... and that would be an understatement.

We just got back from our sound check at Stephensdom where our concert will be held tonight at 8:30. It is an amazing gothic structure, the largest church in Vienna. Now I've got about 25 minutes to gobble a sandwich, drink a diet coke and get tux'ed up before the bus arrives to carry us over to the cathedral. The acoustics are marvelous, quite surprising actually. It is quite humbling to realize that we are singing Haydn's Creation in the same church where he was a choir boy.

It seems that we will be getting our CDs of the concert in Budapest tonight. As I will not have to do anything when we get back, I'll rip it down to MP3's and post it around midnight CET (6p EDT).

Gotta jet!

Jesse Helms is dead.

Happy Fourth!

This is very very tempting:

The Samsung Instinct, which has many of the same features as the Apple iPhone, differs from the iPhone in one major way: Its monthly price plan, which will dramatically undercut the iPhone plan announced last week by Rogers Wireless.

A subscriber can buy the Instinct for as low as $149.95 and then pay less than $40 a month for a modest voice plan accompanied by an unlimited data plan on Bell's high-speed data network.

Bell undercuts iPhone plans with unlimited Instinct

This sort of thing only makes sense with an unlimited data plan.

With cupcakes! Carefully arranged, in case you hadn't noticed, in the shape of our maple leaf flag. Proving too that not only is Nanookville ever so patriotic, but that we know a hot trend when we see one. (Although usually the trend has long passed by the time we folks hop on board. We are just discovering Rubik's Cube here right now, after all.)

Still, last I heard, cupcakes were the new black. In my day, they were just cupcakes.

Much ado at the ruralrob residence now that those pesky pride festivities are out of the way. I no longer have to count drag queens to go to sleep. Today I hang my show at the wretched Campbellford library location, ready for Tuesday's opening. Which incidentally promises to be so gala that I actually might change my socks for it. And the new house is looking fabu too. Having slapped the drywall up fast, they are now sloshing paint on the walls as we speak. Meanwhile I am positively enraptured by So You Think You Can Dance I slobber over it twice a week, in a manner akin to Dudley over his morning bowl of wheaties.

So as you can see, this post has absolutely no point. Except for one BIG one. And that's to wish all my LJ friends south of the border - poor things - a very happy Fourth of July.

Now go celebrate. With cupcakes. Or not.

i saw a tiny two-line mention in the local subway paper (it's awful) that Israel will be doing a prisoner exchange with the palestinians. does anyone know if that means that those two soliders who've been captured for a couple years will be released? i was kinda hoping they're not dead. but i couldn't find anything more on it. thanks!

• 14:57 Off to have a late lunch with Chuck (bc_bigguy) as he is in the city this afternoon. Can you guess where I am taking him? hehe
• 15:54 Yum we are at Nando's. Got Panne Rizo first.

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Addendum:

I had a fun time going to Nando's with Chuck and talking with him in person for the first time. He's as nice in person as he is online, if not nicer. After I dropped him off at Skytrain and came home, Ben (altf4ljdrama) arrived from Seattle shortly thereafter. He's up here for his long weekend. David chopped up two whole chickens and slathered them with peri-peri spice and olive oil and put them on the grill for dinner. They turned out very well.

This being the beginning of the month, I did a scan of the OTA digital TV channels available. The total number hadn't changed (36 distinct stations), but the line-up did.

Fly Music was a music television channel broadcast in Spain. It broadcasted a range of music videos and profiles of artists, mainly American and British. The channel was available through terrestrial digital television (TDT) and other services.

Due to its low audience share, the channel was shutdown on 30 June 2008, and replaced by Disney Channel.

Two music channels remain 40 Latino and 105TV.

There is little time to post - I have to get out the bloody door to join LJ, Daren, Chris and the kids at the Sebastopol Fireworks.

At 1:20 this afternoon, LJ and I walked into the county clerk's office and got a marraige license. I am now officially "Party A".

I was amazed; I actually got misty just signing the papers for the damned license.

So, that done, we must get married within the next 90 days or we'll need to get another one. Not that we'll need to, with the date, time and place set. Sunday July 20th, 2008, 1 pm, in the gazebo out behind our house.

(With Col. Mustard and the Candlestick)(NOT)

Tonight nytemarewulf and I went to a place in Peoria not too far away called "Sushi Popo" -- now this may be amusing to some as neither Carl nor I like sushi at all. Sorry sushi-lovers, but hey, it means there's more for you!!

We picked Sushi Popo because I was hoping for some Japanese dishes OUTSIDE of sushi, and I knew they also did different Chinese fare. I told Carl that we'd look at the menu posted outside and that if he didn't see anything he liked, we'd go elsewhere, but I KNEW I wanted to eat here just for ONE ITEM -- the black pepper beef.

I haven't had black pepper beef in YEARS -- it was at least a year or so before I moved to Peoria. Basically it's tender cuts of beef in a savoury sauce that contains a TON of crushed black pepper. Most people use only a little bit of pepper, but for me I LOVE the tingle in my mouth as I eat a mouthful of pepper, and this black pepper beef was just EXCELLENT. I had this dopey happy contented grin on my face as I just ate slowly and savoured each peppery bite. Oh yes, I'm having this again -- I was quite pleased -- quite a bit more than Carl with his twice-cooked pork, which he expected to burn his mouth and, alas, did not. Oh well, it was still good!!

I accepted of his Offer, and after that he asked me to walk in the Park, and he would shew me the Curiosities of that Place, to which I consented; we walked there till dark, and then sitting down upon a Bench the Prisoner began to kiss me, and put his Hands in my Breeches, saying, he could tell whether I had been playing the Rogue with the Girls in the Country; after this he prevailed with me to go home with him to the Guy Earl of Warwick in Milk-street , where he was a Lodger; when he was in Bed he began to kiss me again; and in Such Sort as is Scarce decent to express, and threw himself upon my Body in a Beastly Manner.

Hot stories from the Old Bailey

It's fun to do a search on sodomy. :)

From The New York Times

Employers Cut Workers for a Sixth Month

by MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM
Published: July 4, 2008

About 62,000 jobs disappeared in June, the government reported Friday, the sixth consecutive month that payrolls have declined, as businesses rushed to lay off workers amid the worst economic climate in a generation.

Deepening Cycle of Job Loss Seen Lasting Into ’09

And as job losses mount, even those still on payrolls have felt the pain: employers are cutting hours for their full-time employees and shrinking salaries, just as workers face record-high prices for gasoline and food.

The unemployment rate stayed steady in June at 5.5 percent, the highest level in four years. The elevated figure dispelled speculation among some economists that last month’s half-percentage point jump, the biggest monthly spike in 22 years, was a statistical anomaly.

Indeed, employers have been steadily shedding jobs for the last three months. Businesses cut 52,000 more workers in May and April than the government first thought, the Labor Department said, casting aside initial estimates that suggested some deceleration.

In the last 12 months, the economy had seen a net gain of only 15,000 jobs, the lowest net increase since November 2003.

In the last 50 years, the economy has entered a recession every time jobs have dropped for six consecutive months.

And most Americans who are still employed earned less money in June than they did a year ago. Wages, which have been steadily shrinking in recent months, took a sharp hit last month, growing at the slowest pace since September 2005.

Among rank-and-file workers, who make up the majority of the nation’s work force, weekly paychecks have grown 2.8 percent in the last 12 months. That was down from 3.2 percent in May and well below the rate of inflation.

Average hourly earnings grew 3.4 percent, the slowest pace since the start of 2006.

The drop in payrolls was in line with many economists’ forecasts, and stocks on Wall Street were trading higher on some relief that the June numbers were not worse.

The presumptive presidential candidates quickly weighed in on the numbers, with each calling for changes that fell along ideological lines.

“At a time when our small businesses need support from Washington, we cannot raise taxes, increase regulation and isolate ourselves from foreign markets,” Senator John McCain, the Republican candidate, said in a statement. He called for tax relief, job creation, and investment in innovation.

Senator Barack Obama, the Democratic candidate, attributed the downturn to “the failed economic policies of the past eight years” and said his opponent “has fully embraced the Bush economic agenda.”

“I’m calling on Congress and the president to enact real, immediate relief with energy rebates for working families this summer, a fund to help families avoid foreclosure, extended benefits for the long-term jobless, and assistance to states that have been hard-hit by the economic downturn,” Mr. Obama said.

June’s job losses affected a range of industries, including banks, construction companies, manufacturing firms and car dealerships. Janitors and administrative workers were the hardest hit, with about 70,000 workers losing their jobs last month alone. Temp agencies lost 30,000 jobs.

Among the few businesses still hiring were restaurants, government agencies and health care companies. Mining companies also added workers last month.

“The weak bargaining power of most workers means they are subject to pressures from three sides: declining jobs and hours, slower hourly wage growth, and faster price growth,” Jared Bernstein, of the Economic Policy Institute, wrote in a note. “This punishing combination is lowering their living standards.”

Jan Hatzius, chief domestic economist at Goldman Sachs, said the weak report suggests that government efforts to revive the economy have fallen short.

“It is a sign that the fiscal stimulus, the tax rebates, are not having much of an impact on the broader economy,” Mr. Hatzius said.

And there is little relief on the horizon. The softening job market has prompted millions of families to reduce their spending, further hurting businesses and the economy as a whole. Soaring prices for food and gasoline are overwhelming modest wage gains for most workers, leaving households with even less money to spend.

“The labor market is clearly deteriorating, and it’s highly likely to keep deteriorating,” Andrew Tilton, an economist at Goldman Sachs, said earlier this week. “It’s clear that the housing downturn and credit crunch are still very much under way. Clearly, there are more jobs to be lost in housing, finance and construction — hundreds of thousands of more jobs to be lost collectively.”

The national unemployment rate climbed a full percentage point over the last year. That does not include people who are jobless and have given up looking for work, or people who have been bumped to part-time jobs from full time. Add in those people and the so-called underemployment rate rises to 9.9 percent. “The number of these underutilized workers is up over one million over the past year,” Mr. Bernstein wrote.

A separate report on Thursday revealed unexpected weakness in the services sector. An activity index devised by the Institute of Supply Management dropped to 48.2 in June from 51.7 in May, on a scale where readings under 50 show contraction. Businesses were pressured by significantly higher prices and a drop-off in customer demand. Employment levels fell as well.

Peter S. Goodman and Louis Uchitelle contributed reporting.

I just had to check my email at work, had to do it, couldn't ignore it for a couple of more days, so I deserved what I found. An emergency scream from my co workers. It seems that my system is suspected of being compromised somehow and the whole things needs to be rebuilt! Of course, I am the one that should be doing this and here I am in Austria. The powers that be now believe that they have a handle on the problem, but the system will still have to be rebuilt. They are comfortable, however, in postponing it until I return on Monday. We have had so many problems with the upgrade to SuSE 10.1 that they are considering contracting with SGI to be on site during the upgrade. It may or may not be necessary, but I'll feel a a lot better if they are!

So here it is at 2:30 a.m., I've been online with one of my co workers and exchanging emails with another. I'm dead tired but can't get myself to sleep so I'm downstairs in the hotel lobby doing a live journal post and the lack of dinner (my choice, I know) is starting to gnaw at my stomach. It is too late to try and find anything to eat and even if I could it would kill me at this hour.

I should be able to relax now and go to bed. I think I'll give it a try because I have to be up no later than 6 tomorrow morning.,