Don't skip yoga

So I think I figured out part of why I wasn't sleeping so well this week.

I've been having bad dreams and generally feeling low over the past 4-5 days. I was looking for reasons for this downturn and coming up empty. I had resolved to just roll with it and not worry so much about having to feel GREAT all the time.

Then I went to yoga last night and remembered why I've been going so much. I always feel centered, together, and happy for at least a couple hours afterwards, no matter how bad I feel going in.

I'd skipped a couple of days over the long weekend and this week. It added up to a whole week of not going.

Today is friday, sunny, and I am back to my usual self.

Its not ALL going to hell in a handbasket

A nice SFGate editorial from Mark Morford about glimmers of hope in this country.

There is the wild and crazily cute fetish-object success of the Mini Cooper and the minor sensation that is the eco-friendly GOP-smackin' Toyota Prius and the imminent arrival of the insanely funkytiny DaimlerChrysler Smart car in the U.S., maybe, someday soon, let's hope.

There is the surprising population recovery of the gorgeous and once-endangered California condor and record migration numbers of humpback whales this year and the joyous rise of flagrant lesbian tongue kissing on prime-time television especially among young kickass vampire-slaying Wiccan females.

There are, apparently, still plenty of things to give you hope amidst the warmongering and the chaos and the staggering feeling that BushCo and its cronies are simply hell-bent on squeezing this nation into a vicious little spit wad of fear and ennui, all via record budget deficits and staggering unemployment and gutted schools and gutted Medicare and a truly nauseating anti-environment pro-industry agenda and civil rights like an afterthought.

There is, for example, the enduring success of small independent radio and KPFA and KCRW and KALW, shows like "This American Life" and "Visionary Activism" and Joe Frank and "Morning Becomes Eclectic."

Each and every one flying straight in the ugly GOP-drunk face of the monolithic Clear Channel corporate radio monopoly and let's not even mention the appalling upcoming FCC vote next week that will essentially annihilate any last remaining vestiges of variety and choice in major media by allowing corporations to own multiple media outlets within the same market (read: more consolidation, more bloated monopolies), because it's just too damn depressing and we're trying like hell to focus on the positive. (By the way, you can protest the odious vote here)

Because dammit there are, apparently, actual glimmers of sanity and beauty and spirit and they do, apparently, abound, and shimmer, and glow, and survive, and even flourish, though they seem increasingly difficult to locate under the thick suffocating blanket of BushCo nouveau fascism, the general warmongering ethos, a culture of paranoia and fear and CNN parroting Fox News parroting White House spin parroting Hermann Goering at the Nuremberg trials.

But then you turn around and notice that Michael Moore's "Bowling for Columbine" won the Oscar and that "Stupid White Men" has been on the N.Y. Times best-seller list for nearly a year, well into an unprecedented 58th printing, the top-selling nonfiction book of 2002, despite how its publisher reputedly resisted publishing it at all and how its status as massive seller blatantly defies the gross "America loves Bush" PR misrepresentation and you just look and nod quietly and go, well, damn straight.

And then you notice even the best-selling page turners like Dan Brown's religion-slammin' "Da Vinci Code" or maybe Gore Vidal's mandatory "Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace" or Eric Schlosser's jarring "Fast Food Nation," which delineates just how many reconstituted chemically blasted diseased cows go into your average toxic Big Mac.

And you realize all these books are being read by millions and passed along to millions more and digested by at least some and you think, well, maybe bitter resigned heavy-drinking fatalism isn't really what I need, just yet.

And there's more. Just look. There's the new and tiny and yet when you think about it rather momentous organic/whole-foods section at Safeway and Albertsons.

There is significant progress in organic-food labeling laws and the wondrous advent of door-to-door delivery of fresh local small-farm organic produce to counter noxious big agribiz -- neither of which, admittedly, does much to assuage the excruciating news that we have, via industrial fishing and pollution and general abuse, decimated every single one of the world's biggest and most economically important species of fish by a whopping and rather tragic 90 percent. But hey, at least it's something.

There is dog rescue. There are yoga studios opening right now in North Dakota and rural Idaho. There are joints like the luscious and straightforward and no-BS Scarleteen teen-sex advice and info site to counter the odious deeply insulting GOP-funded "abstinence only" school programs.

"Six Feet Under." Organic tortilla chips served as a snack on Alaska Airlines. Goodly Bible-gropin' Texans reputedly buying more product from Divine Interventions than any other state. Streaming downtempo on SomaFM. "Spirited Away" on DVD. Bill Moyers back on television.

And on it goes. These are the things you must cling to to thwart the onslaught, to counter the ever-dire forecasts and the flagrant snorting corporate malfeasance and the just-passed $350 billion tax cut that will further bankrupt public schools and gouge Medicare and stab at the heart of Social Security and give a huge extra chunk of gilded cash to the long-suffering uber-rich.

And this is what you must do. Find those things that give you a jolt of encouragement and a sly gleam of bliss and a tiny lick of reassurance that all is not lost even though it probably is but what the hell, do it anyway, see what happens, see if you don't feel just a tiny bit better.

Make your own list. And add to it daily and then work to become a part of the list yourself and then watch as you become a part of someone else's list and they begin to look to you and your divine sly gleam to help them thwart the rampant BushCo idiocy and the incessant madness of the world.

Because no one will notice these things for you. Because noticing them only increases their power and range and potential for revolution. Because you have to stand up and do your own noticing. Because it's socially responsible.

Because who wouldn't love a world with better cars and more illuminating books and gorgeous art-drenched movies and pure untainted foods and more anti-GOP awareness and more radiant bodies and widespread interstate dildo purchases and lesbian Wiccans tongue kissing on TV? Exactly. Focus on the positive, I always say. Or, at least, I really, really should. Hey, it sure beats the alternative.

Morning Glory Chai

So for the pleasure of my readers who are not in Seattle, let me introduce my favourite morning drink. Since I can't really drink coffee because I am so sensitive to caffeine, I have adopted the practice of having a Chai on slow mornings.

Indian Chai is traditionally cheap tea with cardamom seeds, black pepper, sugar, and milk. Americans have taken their liberties with the recipe, and most preparations you can buy are quite sweet. My favourite, Morning Glory Chai, is much spicer than most, and provides a gentle lift from the black tea.

Plus, its made by a real nice lady in Ballard who has a wood burning hot tub in her backyard! Also, my old housemate David Tuthill, the blacksmith, forged up a badass stirring spoon for her. You can get it at most of the best coffeehouses in Seattle, including of course my neighborhood hangout, Victrola.

The New Brutal Future

Auto-aiming machine guns, controlled via satellite, wireless network, or sensors.
The RACM, or Remote Area Control Mine. Also called the Telepresent Rapid Aiming Platform (TRAP)

Principle Advantages of RACM:

• Each Precision Directed Mine controls 1 sq. km.
  
• Full command oversight. Reacts in real time to
  changing ROE’s, Optimum tactical (intelligent use)
  
• No local indicators area is covered by RACM
  
• A path can not be cleared through RACM. Note:
  the whole area within 1 km to each side would have
  to be cleared
  
• Near zero collateral damage
  
• Controls ground without physical access
  

Neko Case Rocks

Okay, like every other hetero male in the state of Washington, I've developed a huge crush on Neko Case After seeing her at the Sasquach Festival, its confirmed. She's a great singer, and a righteous babe. Apparently someone at Playboy Magazine thinks so, since I see that she has been voted the Sexiest Babe in Indie Rock. Playboy and "Indie" Rock seem like a contradiction, but we'll set that aside.

Also, seeing the Flaming Lips live is a great time. I highly recommend it.

Sasquatch! Music Festival

I am seeing this this weekend.

Two Fine Summertime Drinks

via Metafilter comments:

The Gin & Tonic and the Caipirinha:

Cocktail: gin & tonic, on a hot summer day

Don't tell me, oh Jove in heaven, that it is today that I will dispute wise languagehat's choice of words, but at least let me plant a seed of doubt in his capacious brain:

A gin and tonic, or any spirit mixed with a commercial soft drink, might be a highball, but it's certainly not a cocktail. Same with the Cuba Libre - rum and coke. This acceptance is allowed because the original highball was rye and seltzer and, later, rye and ginger ale.

If a gin and tonic is a cocktail, then so is a vodka and Orangina "screwdriver" (absolutely delicious though it is) or a Jack and coke. No, it cannot be so.

But, speaking as a purist, a real highball must contain at least some fresh juice - Gin Fizz, for instance - to be allowed to carry the cocktail name.

Interestingly, it could be argued that even the Old-Fashioned, in its simplest form of rye, sugar and lemon zest (before the addition of bitters) isn't a cocktail either.

Which is not to say a gin and tonic doesn't beat everything - except perhaps a julep - on a hot day. Here's my own version (it was 39 centigrade here in Lisbon today):

1. From a freshly plucked, very firm and greenish lemon, slice off a length of peel, taking care not to bring any of the white pithy stuff. Throw into a large glass.
2. Add a little gin. With a sharp knife, puncture the peel so as to release the zest and oils.
3. Add ice up to half way, throw in a slice of lemon, then fill up to the top with ice.
4. Pour gin onto ice, trying to make it take the most complicated route possible through the ice and the lemon slice. Nothing less than 1/4 gin.
5. Pour on the Schweppes tonic water (warm, so it retains its bubbles) very carefully, avoiding obstructions. Every crash is a bubble lost.
6. When the drink is ready, don't stir it. The tonic water does the necessary mixing. Just put your finger in one of the top ice cubes and turn 180º.
7. Finally, twist a long length of lemon peel over the surface of the drink. Get your face close to the glass to observe the tiny droplets of lemon oil.
8. Americans prefer lime with their gin and tonics. But lime is, for the true connoisseur, too sweet. Well, the perfect gin and tonic has two slices - one of lemon, one of lime, together as in the Brazilian flag - and, before the twist, squeeze just a little lime juice into the drink.

This will cure scurvy, the blues, hangovers, probably the clap too, you name it.

Caipirinhas are so delicious you have to be careful not to have too many. They also produce the foulest-smelling breath imaginable.

There are two versions - the Carioca caipirinha, hailing from Rio de Janeiro which, typically, requires no effort and the Baiana caipirinha, from Salvador da Bahia, which does.

As you get wonderful limes in the US and the UK (but not wonderful lemons - these have to be freshly plucked, unwaxed, unfrozen, etc) I'd say caipirinhas were bound to catch on.

This is my last recipe, I promise!

Carioca Caipirinha

1. Roll a lime under the palm of your hand, really leaning into it. You want to separate the juice from the bitter pith. Lop of the top and bottom, discard. Now cut half the lime into eight pieces or, if you're really Carioca, into four.
2. Put into an old-fashioned glass. This is the only one that will do. Add at least a tablespoon of fine sugar. The Brazilians use very fine, but the coarser grain will do.
3. With a wooden pestle (the end of a broomstick is ideal if you haven't the real thing) muddle the limes with the sugar, until it's all mushy. Don't puncture the skin or it'll be bitter.
4. Top up with ice cubes, the smaller the better. Fill with cachaça. If you don't have cachaça, Colombian aguardiente is fine. Don't use rum - if you don't have cachaça, vodka is the best spirit, making it a "caipiroshka". With tequila, it's a "caipirila".
5. Mix it round with a spoon and...drink.

Baiana Caipirinha

This is the best, the real thing, but requires a little more work.

1. Cut a whole lime into about sixteen pieces, discarding the ends.
2. Add the sugar and muddle, same as above.
3. Pack the old-fashioned glass with pulverized ice (at least cracked: wrap ice cubes in clean tea towel and bash like all hell).
4. Pour cachaça (or vodka) until the glass is full.
5. Now find something that will allow you to shake it. It should fit over the old-fashioned glass perfectly and form a seal. I use (as does the Academia da Cachaça in Rio, where they allowed me to work for a few days) a sawed-off plastic flowerpot!
6. Shake the living daylights out of it.
7. Serve immediately while the sugar, the lime bits and everything are in a cloudy, icy suspension.

A final note regarding cachaças: the cheapest are sweetest but by no means the worst for caipirinhas. There are thousands of cachaças and the best should be drunk like old tequilas. So cheapest is best: Tatú, Pitu, Velho Barreiro, 51. The more expensive cachaças make lousy caipirinhas.

It's with these last "Baiana" caipirinhas you have to watch it, They're that delectable. The secret is to drink them slowly - they're great even when they're no longer ice cold - and accompanied by alcohol-soaking food. The ideal is, of course, the feijoada - the Brazilian black bean stew.

One every half-hour allows you to have six or seven, easy.
The temptation to suck one down, though, is irresistible. Avoid it like the plague, though. The right cachaça for caipirinha is low-grade cane sugar spirit, heavily reinforced with sugar.

It's funny that the caipirinha should have been brought up, by the way, because it is yet another ice-cold ex-hot toddy!

Patience

As summertime grows nearer, I find myself being impatient with myself about life. I've had some big changes in the first part of this year. As things smooth out in the second quarter of 2003, I find myself eager to keep up the pace of change. My life is Pretty Good right now, and I am not complaining. But I am the kind of person who wants something to look forward to, even if its just something small. For the past 2-3 weeks I have been asking myself, What's Next? How can I continue to engineer Big Positive Change for myself?

Of course I gnow the answer. Take it slow, be in the present moment, and life is great.

25 Best Electronica Albums

Slant Magazine asked 300 music journalists, DJs and record label-folk to tell us what they thought were the most important electronic albums of the 20th Century. View the article with comments.

Further proof the Government is losing the War on Drugs

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Police kicked down the wrong door at a New York apartment house on Friday and a woman with a heart condition died on the way to the hospital.

A bungled tip about a drug dealer's cache led police to kick down the door and toss a stun grenade into the apartment of a woman with a heart condition; she died of a heart attack within an hour, police said.

The Story....

World Supply of Pringles in Jeopardy

The recent megatornado that trashed Jackson, Tennessee, severely damaged the Pringle's Potato Chips plant there, the only one serving the North American market. Procter & Gamble will not yet say when the plant will reopen, but mentions that there is a six-week supply on hand.

Now, I am not a particular fan of these crisps, but their containers are well-known sources for making home-made antennas.

The Story In Detail

Bear Alignment

What is the deal with these bear signs? I see them everywhere, but they are usually rusty and in small towns. They don't seem to be a chain.

Update Rob says that Bear is a maker of alignment tools, which kindof makes sense. If a shop has the special kit they can hang the sign. Thanks internet!

Further research indicates that Bear Automotive Tool Equipment disappeared in 1993 with a corporate merger. Their parent company has an unusually crappy website.

Back in Business

After perhaps as much as THREE WEEKS absence due to laziness and server upheavals, s00k.com is back in full effect. More insightful updates are forthcoming as they occur to me, but for now let us celebrate the return of this self-indulgent forum. Check out the archives from march and april for classic posts.