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Day 125 - Sharing Violation.jpg

Jul. 11th, 2009 | 05:31 pm

Day 125 - Sharing Violation.jpg

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Day 124 - Daddy's Girl

Jul. 11th, 2009 | 05:29 pm

Day 124 - Daddy's Girl

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Day 123 - New Toy

Jul. 8th, 2009 | 05:22 pm

Day 123 - New Toy

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Day 122 - Fan of Green

Jul. 8th, 2009 | 05:09 pm

Fan of Green.jpg

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Day 120 - Sticks, No Stones

Jul. 7th, 2009 | 07:03 am

Day 120 - Sticks, No Stones

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Who Moved My Cheese.... errr... Trash?

Jul. 6th, 2009 | 06:48 am

This morning I went out to deposit last-minute bags into the trash bin before the weekly pick up.  When I opened the black trash bin cover, I discovered the can was almost empty.  Just a few bags of dog stuff were inside.  The one white plastic bag full of un-recyclable crud that was in the bin last night when I rolled it to the curb was gone.

We recycle everything, so only mangled, plastic wrappy waste goes into the trash bag that goes into the black void.  I doubt that there was even a slip of paper with our names on it, since paper and bulk mail is eminently recyclable in the blue can.

I often wheel the blue bin to the street Monday mornings so that the trash pickers don't go through credit card offers and discarded papers that have our names and address on them. But, I am at a loss about why anyone would want the black-bin trash.

My best guess is that a neighbor put something odd in their trash and used our plastic bag to cover it.  I haven't search near-by cans to test my theory, though.

I'll just settle for accepting that sometimes living in the city is just so weird!



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Day 119 - Reds

Jul. 5th, 2009 | 06:55 am

Day 119 - Reds

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Day 118 - Latchkey Child

Jul. 4th, 2009 | 06:59 pm

Day 118 - Latchkey Child

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Day 117 - Uphill Both Ways

Jul. 3rd, 2009 | 05:23 pm

Day 117 - Uphill Both Ways

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Day 115 - Everything is a Chew Toy

Jul. 1st, 2009 | 05:13 pm

Day 115 - Everything is a Chew Toy

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Day 114 - Nobody's Doormat

Jun. 30th, 2009 | 05:09 pm

Day 114 - Nobody's Doormat

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Day 113 - Call of the Wild

Jun. 29th, 2009 | 05:05 pm

Day 113 - Call of the Wild

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Day 111 - Fresh Salad

Jun. 28th, 2009 | 08:33 am

Day 111 - Fresh Salad

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Not a Genuine Black Man

Jun. 28th, 2009 | 07:48 am

San Francisco
at Studio 250 at the Off-Market Theaters
965 Mission Street
800-838-3006
Brian Copeland in Not a Genuine Black ManNot a Genuine Black Man by Brian Copeland

Wow. Ouch.

I walked into Not a Genuine Black Man expecting a comedy monologue.  And, the show is very  funny.

But it is also painful.  Difficult. Icky.

Brian Copeland drives a two-hour roller-coaster solo performance full of fun, fear, and Issues.  He acts and mimics just fine, but the power of the performance is in the story.  It’s Brian’s story of growing up in 99.99% white San Leandro.  Purer than Ivory Snow, he notes, getting us to laugh. And, then he drops us hard with vignettes of frightened neighbors and his abusive father.

You find yourself snickering of the image of a big, grown white police officer patting down an 8-year-old boy for weapons... after the boy had run screaming to the cop for help against a gang of white kids who were going to beat him up.  Then you’re badly uncomfortable for giggling, for understanding what had just happened to 8-year-old Brian.

I’m no black man.  So, cops, landlords, and the kids at my new schools didn’t start off driven to hatred.  My family didn’t have to cope with eviction and a slew of frightened neighbors.  TV, schools, and the cultural narrative reinforced that the world belonged to me and my kind.

Yet, the story isn’t something safely remote, suitable for leisurely study in the National Geographic. Would it were.

Brian’s abusive father was Sylvester.  My abusive step father was Clarence.  My family, too, had breakups when Mother swore he was gone forever.  But, then he’d promise to reform, or she’d run out of money, and we would be a “family” again.  For two years after he died emaciated from lung cancer I’d wake up in a cold sweat dreaming that he was breaking in the front door. Again. Clarence and Sylvester were from different races, maybe.  But, mine was also from Alabama, so maybe not.

I grew up being very careful not to turn blue, to use Harvey Milk’s phrase.  For the most part I passed, and I escaped violence and credible threats.  But, television and politicians and the culture told me I was bad.  A degenerate.  Doomed to loneliness and unhappiness. I couldn’t even talk to Mother or friends about this disgrace. So, I was a high yellow faggot  with no fascination for musicals or fashion, and I passed for straight.

Not a Genuine Black Man is definitely about race.  But, it’s also about growing up, fear, dealing, not dealing, and living.

The show is a wicked, disturbing story and performance.  Worth seeing.  With at least one friend.

Happy Pride.

Ozdachs Rating:  Rating: 5 out of 5 Syntaxes


Tickets are available online at Brown Paper Tickets
More information and performance dates at www.briancopeland.com
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Day 110 - Yawn!

Jun. 27th, 2009 | 10:42 am

Day 110 - Yawn!

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Day 109 - Comfortable in the Yard

Jun. 26th, 2009 | 08:07 am

Day 109 - Comfortable in the Yard

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Day 108

Jun. 26th, 2009 | 08:04 am

Day 108

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Contrarian News Judgment

Jun. 25th, 2009 | 03:34 pm

Michael Jackson, Mug Shot, 2003Would it be wrong to suggest that Michael's death is not likely to be an event important in our lives? 

Iran is in insurrection. Obama is fighting seemingly everyone trying to get meaningful health care reform into a system plagued by nay-sayers. California is about to stop helping very poor people survive because its politicians won't compromise. And on and on and on.

Michael is/was a troubled man with great musical talent which he hasn't used since probably 50% of people alive on the planet were born.

Bread and circuses are nice. How about freedom, reform, and good public policy?

Too boring to cover, I guess.
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Free the MUNI Data

Jun. 25th, 2009 | 01:57 pm

Routesy LogoMy favorite iPhone application has been Routesy (see http://www.routesy.com/ ).  The app figured out where I was, and would tell me arrival times for the MUNI routes I choose. 

The information was presented in an incredibly useful and clear way.  The Routesy app was even featured in the iTunes store as a staff favorite.

Suddenly, Routesy stopped working.
 
Apparently NextBus Information Systems claims that they are entitled to a prohibitively expensive fee of $1 per download for the MUNI data supplied it by our public transportation system. The app developer, Steven Peterson, says he is continuing to try to get access to the MUNI data feed, but for the moment, MUNI data is not being shared.

What gives??!   Isn't MUNI data public?  If not,… wow!  It should be!

I've emailed Supervisor Bevan Dufty who is also on the MTA.  I've also called MUNI at 415.701.4500 -- I got voicemail and left them a message.

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Day 107 - Dental Hygiene

Jun. 24th, 2009 | 08:50 am

Day 107 - Dental Hygiene

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