Archive for June, 2011

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Good cop, bad cop.

Wednesday, June 29th, 2011

Good cop:

Between 1977 and 1987, six women in Northern California were killed and dumped. The cases became known as the “I-5 Strangler” killings; Roger Kibbe was convicted of one of the murders in 1987, and pled guilty to additional murders in 2008.

Unfortunately, the body of one of his victims, Lou Ellen Burleigh, was never found, even though Kibbe attempted to lead law enforcement to where he had left the body.

Earlier this year, Napa County Deputy Sheriff Michael Bartlett decided to search for the body on his own time. It took him about a month, but he eventually found a place that matched up with Kibbe’s description, and a bone.

DNA tests confirmed the bone was Burleigh’s.

At least now her people know. Well done, Officer Bartlett.

Bad cop: Houston police officer Mike Hamby.

Actually, make that “former Houston police officer”. Mr. Hamby was “relieved of duty” June 17th.

What gets you fired from HPD? In this case, former officer Hamby was accused of throwing a tear gas canister into another team’s tent during a barbecue cookoff at the Livestock Show and Rodeo earlier this year.

The powerful chemical irritant wafted over two military veterans — both of them multiple amputees — who were brought to the rodeo event in wheelchairs and were waiting for a ride home.

Former officer Hamby can appeal his firing.

Posted in California Über Alles, Clippings, Cops, Law | Comments Closed

Today’s bulletin from the Department of WTF?! (#4 in a series)

Tuesday, June 28th, 2011

Mark Davis is a writer in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Mark Davis wrote a book about a writer who gets discouraged over his rejections.

So he finds an uber-successful agent, kidnaps her daughter, and gives her 90 days to get his latest novel in print.

That’s not a bad sounding plot. But Mark Davis decided to take things one step further.

…Davis staged and filmed a kidnapping (“I checked with a lawyer first to make sure I wouldn’t get in trouble”) to post on the website, then sent an e-mail to a wide variety of agents. It began: “By the time you receive this, I will have already kidnapped your child.”

“The first phone call I received the next day was at 7:30 in the morning, from an agent,” Davis recalled. “She was yelling at me, saying, ‘Are you crazy?’”

Yeah, I’m going to say the answer to that question is, “Hell, yes!” Either that, or Mr. Davis put on the Bad Idea Jeans that morning. I’m boggled at the fact that a lawyer apparently told him this was legal, or even a good idea.

Apparently, this strategy actually worked, for definitions of  “worked” that include “finding a publisher” (Poinsettia Publications, according to the article; the book is available in their online store) but there’s no mention that Mr. Davis has actually secured an agent. Frankly, if I were a literary agent who’d read about this stunt, or received one of those letters, my first reactions would involve a restraining order against Mr. Davis and press-checking my .45.

(Hattip on this: I picked up the story by way of Marko Kloos on the Twitter.)

Posted in Books, Clippings, IANAL, Law | Comments Closed

Obit roundup: June 28, 2011.

Tuesday, June 28th, 2011

Some of these are new, some of these I missed, some of these I’ve been intending to blog but haven’t gotten to it.

Randall Dale Adams, wrongfully convicted of the murder of a Dallas police officer, and subject of the Errol Morris documentary “The Thin Blue Line“. Mr. Adams apparently passed away in October of last year, but his death didn’t make the news until last Friday.

Margaret Tyzack, noted British actress (“The Forsyte Saga”, “I, Claudius”). (Hattip: Lawrence.)

Martin Harry Greenberg, noted SF and mystery anthologist. I can’t begin to count the number of Greenberg anthologies I’ve read; his death is a huge loss to both communities. The Rap Sheet also has a nice tribute to Mr. Greenberg.

Posted in Books, Clippings, Obits | Comments Closed

I am a mean person.

Monday, June 27th, 2011

This is a well established fact.

The latest evidence for my being mean and evil? The fact that I take a great deal of delight in the detail that the Dodgers number one creditor in their bankruptcy filing is…Manny Ramirez, who is owed $21 million by the Dodgers.

For those who don’t follow baseball, Manny no longer plays the game; he retired from Tampa Bay five games into this season after failing a drug test, and hasn’t played for the Dodgers since last year. Tampa Bay doesn’t owe him any money because he failed the drug test. The Dodgers traded Manny to Chicago late in the 2010 season; Chicago doesn’t owe him any money, as far as I know, since he completed his contract. But the Dodgers somehow wound up owing him $21 million?

Other creditors include Kaz Ishii, who is owed $3.3 million, and who hasn’t played for the Dodgers since 2004, and Marquis Grissom, who is owed $2.7 million and who hasn’t played for the Dodgers since 2002.

I think I have a decent understanding of the idea of deferred salary, but come on! You owe all this money to whodats who haven’t played in years? This is your Dodgers management, ladies and Germans.

Lawrence had a good suggestion when we were discussing this at work: someone should buy the Dodgers and move them to a baseball deprived area of the country. Someplace that would be receptive to baseball. Someplace like…Brooklyn.

Edited to add 6/28: There’s a good take on this over at the American McCarver blog. Speaking of that blog, it looks like it might be kind of promising; I’m familiar with the works of people like Jason Snell, Philip Michaels, and (of course) John Gruber from other contexts, and I enjoy reading their stuff. However, American McCarver is pretty baseball-obsessed at the moment, and my feelings on baseball are well known. I’d like to see how the site develops after the season ends.

Posted in Clippings, Schadenfreude, Sports | 1 Comment »

Yet another food note.

Monday, June 27th, 2011

This weekend was an off one for the Saturday Dining Conspiracy (and, yes, I know I’m behind on the website, but I’m hoping to get caught up soon).

A bunch of folks went to Machu Picchu in Pflugerville, and I heard good reports from them.

I, on the other hand, drove down to San Antonio with my sainted mother and spent a long hard day book shopping at the various Half-Price Books locations. Oh, the agony.

Anyway, while we were there, we had a very good meal at Mr. Cod. This is a place that appears to have aspirations of becoming a chain, but currently only has one location. The restaurant is tucked back in a strip center, and the decor isn’t much to look at. We’re talking your basic English fish and chips place here.

But the fish is good. Really, really good. My mother said she thought it was as good as Tino’s Seafood: I think I’d have to give Tino’s a slight edge, but that still makes Mr. Cod’s fish the second best fried fish I’ve ever had.

Enthusiastically recommended if you’re in the San Antonio area.

Posted in Endorsements, Food | 1 Comment »

Noted for the record.

Friday, June 24th, 2011

James “Whitey” Bulger had “an AK-47 assault rifle” and a “sawed-off shotgun” in his Santa Monica apartment, according to the FBI.

I wonder which of these “AK-47 assault rifles” Whitey had.

I also wonder how “sawed-off” that shotgun was.

Posted in California Über Alles, Clippings, Guns, Law | Comments Closed

Just one more thing…

Friday, June 24th, 2011

Obit watch: Peter Falk. (LAT obit.)

I loved “Columbo” when I was a kid. At least, when my parents would let me stay up and watch it.

Posted in Clippings, Obits, TV | Comments Closed

Prose from Dover.

Friday, June 24th, 2011

Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution linked to this “Dover Sole Price Guide 2011“, which, in turn, led us to “The Price Hike“, Ryan Sutton’s website tracking price changes at restaurants. We’re still wading through “The Price Hike”, but it looks interesting (although pretty NYC-centric).

We are particularly fond of this entry, “Ten Rules For Better Pricing“, especially #5:

Include Prices on Online Food Menus: I have no idea how much dinner at L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon in Midtown will cost because there are no online prices on the Four Seasons website, on the Robuchon website, on Opentable.com or on Menupages.com. That takes chutzpah for a venue where tasting menus for two with pairings will cost over $700 after tax and tip.

Mr. Sutton also has a companion site, “The Bad Deal“; quoting that site’s first entry,

We save you money by highlighting BAD DEALS on Groupon, Gilt, Living Social, Savored and elsewhere.

There’s not much there at the moment, and we suspect “The Bad Deal” may have the same NYC specific orientation, but we still plan to keep an eye on both of Mr. Sutton’s sites.

Posted in Food | Comments Closed

Obit watch: June 23, 2011.

Thursday, June 23rd, 2011

Bruce Dinkins, Director of Bands at Bowie High School.

This is somewhat personal, as I have a nephew in the Bowie high school band. I’ll probably be posting some more on this in the future.

Edited to add 6/24: Expanded AAS obit here.

BowieBand.org has details on the funeral service.

Posted in Clippings, Music, Obits | Comments Closed

After action report: Orlando, FL.

Thursday, June 23rd, 2011

As I alluded to previously, but did not make explicit, I spent much of the past week out of town. Specifically, I was in lovely Orlando, Florida, where the natives experience a curious phenomena involving water falling from the sky. They even have a word for it: “rain”.

(Actually, things have improved slightly in Austin since I returned, but we’re still in a drought, and they’re not going to bring back the fireworks this 4th. Oh, well.)

I was in Orlando for the annual convention of the Smith and Wesson Collector’s Association. I’d love to be able to talk more about some of the nifty stuff I saw there, but the S&WCA doesn’t really like having this stuff discussed on open Internet forums. (I think they see open discussion of what goes on at the conventions, as well as other member-only information, as being a disincentive to people joining. In other words, if you want to know all the inside S&W history like production numbers or shipping dates, or what goes on at the conventions, join the club.)

(And you really should, if you have a serious interest in S&W collecting. The S&WCA is a good organization that deserves your support.)

So if I can’t talk about the convention in detail, what can I talk about? Well, I can talk about what worked and what didn’t. I have to say that this was about as perfect a trip as I’ve had in a long time. With the exception of things being slightly tight getting to the gate in Austin for the flight out, and leaving some medication at home, everything went smooth as silk. (Well, okay, the flights on “Latvian People’s Airlines, Your Cattle-car In the Sky”, were packed to the gills with families flying to Disney. But I knew the job was dangerous when I took it.)

My travel configuration hasn’t changed much since my last two trips. The only significant addition is that I now have a smart phone. And, in spite of my issues with Android (which will probably be the subject of a longer post in the future), I have to say; a smart phone for travel is nearly worth its weight in gold. Being able to find things (like a restaurant, or a Wells Fargo ATM) wasn’t the only advantage; the Orlando Airport Marriott was charging $14 a day for wireless Internet access. Easy Tether Pro literally paid for itself the first day I was there, and every day after that was like money in the bank. I heartily endorse this product and/or service, and, yes, you can get EasyTether in the Amazon Android app store.

Speaking of finding restaurants, food in Orlando was mostly just okay. The association has a cocktail party on Thursday night, and the hotel food there was pretty good (conch fritters, yum), but the Saturday banquet dinner was just not to my taste. I had a couple of fast food lunches with friends at Chipolte and Wendy’s, which were pretty much what you’d expect at each.

The best meals I had were at:

  • Sonny’s Real Pit Bar-B-Q, which is a chain, but a regional one, serving mostly pork based barbecue at very reasonable prices.
  • The Bonefish Grill near the hotel. Bonefish is also a chain, and a pretty large one; the holding company also owns Fleming’s, Outback, Carrabba’s, and Roy’s. That aside, I thought my fish (the imperial longfish) was a solid choice, even if it wasn’t local. (My close friend who was unofficially hosting the meal got slightly indignant when he found out the shrimp was from China. His indignation, however, was exceeded by that of a fellow diner who was offended by the 18% gratuity added to our checks.)
  • Big Fin Seafood, the directions to which Google Maps on Android gets wrong wrong wrongity-wrong. Not that I’m bitter or anything. The blue crab crusted grouper was very good (and local!) and I enjoyed my meal very much. But (with a slice of key lime pie, soup, and a half-dozen oysters, plus tax and tip) the meal came to as much as a dinner at Fleming’s or Ruth’s Chris. It was good, but I’m not sure it was quite that good.

I have some photos I took on the grounds of the National UDT/SEAL Museum (another product and/or service I heartily endorse, and which deserves your support) and will probably be posting those to Flicker once I’ve had a chance to import and clean them up some.

I didn’t do as much reading on the trip as I usually do, but I did finish Chinaman’s Chance, the first of the Ross Thomas novels about Artie Wu (pretender to the throne of China), his partner Quincy Durant, and Otherguy Overby. As far as I know, the Wu/Durant books are the only series Thomas wrote (edited to add 6/27: I realized over the weekend that I had forgotten the Padillo/McCorkle novels, which started with The Cold War Swap); I don’t like Chinaman’s Chance as much as I like some of his non-series books, such as The Fools in Town Are on Our Side and The Fourth Durango, but it is a perfectly fine read for an airplane or a beach.

I’m working my way through The Modern Day Gunslinger: The Ultimate Handgun Training Manual (a book I was previously unaware of, and which I found at the UDT/SEAL Museum). I don’t think I’m going to review that, as I don’t feel like I have the level of expertise to be able to do an intelligent review. However, I am considering commissioning a review for the site; if I pull the trigger (so to speak) on that, I’ll let you know. I will say that, so far, I haven’t found anything that contradicts what I’ve read elsewhere, my experience, or the training I’ve had from experts.

Posted in Android, Books, Endorsements, Food, Guns, Travel | Comments Closed

Legal update, and other random notes, for June 23, 2011.

Thursday, June 23rd, 2011

After 16 years, James “Whitey” Bulger has been arrested in California. Boston Globe coverage. If you go to the front page, the Globe has a quite extensive package, including some of their previous Bulger coverage. Boston Herald coverage. Ditto on the Herald having an extensive package, including commentary by Howie Carr. LAT coverage, but don’t bother. It doesn’t add much.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the story, Bulger was the leading crime boss in Boston for many years; he built his empire largely through a corrupt relationship with the local FBI office, which covered for his criminal activities because he served as an informant for them. (Bulger’s work as an informant generally involved either providing misleading information, or using the FBI to eliminate his competition and other folks he wanted to get out of his way.)

There are two excellent books on the Bulger case: The Brothers Bulger: How They Terrorized and Corrupted Boston for a Quarter Century by Howie Carr concentrates on the relationship between Whitey and his brother Billy, a prominent Massachusetts politician. Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob by Dick Lehr and Gerard O’Neill, won an Edgar for “best fact crime” and is pretty compelling, but a bit dated now. If you’re going to read only one book, I highly recommend Carr’s.

One of the first cases I mentioned here at WCD was the Sedona sweat lodge incident. I am mildly pleased to report that James Ray has been convicted of three counts of negligent homicide. Unfortunately, he was not convicted of the more serious manslaughter charges he was facing, but he could still get 30 years on the negligent homicide charges.

Due to being busy and on the road, I’ve been somewhat neglecting “Spider Man: Turn Off the Dark”. From what I hear, the revised version (which is now open, and getting “official” reviews) is actually a vast improvement over the original. (The NYT review is linked from the article I’m about to link; I’m not posting the link here because I’ve used up my free articles for the month on this one.) Anyway, Patrick Healy and Kevin Flynn have an interesting article in today’s NYT on where, exactly, that $75 million went.

Even the producers acknowledge that with such high expenses, at the show’s current earning level “Spider-Man” would need to run more than seven years to recoup what investors have poured in.

At this point, “Spider Man” is bringing in $1.2 million to $1.3 million a week, per the NYT. However, the show’s operating costs are…somewhere between $1 million and $1.2 million per week. And the show owes roughly $100,000 a week on the construction loan they took out to renovate the theater. (I’m not clear if that’s included in operating costs, or is a separate line item.)

Edited to add: By way of Jimbo:

“Globe reporters are already in the sky to L.A.,” Globe features staffer Billy Baker tweeted after the FBI announced the arrest of Whitey Bulger. “Newsroom is going on all cylinders. Historic morning to be a journalist in Boston.”

Meanwhile, you have to dig down to the Bulger page on the “America’s Most Wanted” web site to find any mention of the capture. This seems odd, given the number of times John Walsh ran stories about Bulger, but perhaps they’re holding off until they determine if an “AMW” tip was behind the capture.

Edited to add 2: The LAT coverage on their “LA Now” blog is a vast improvement over the initial LAT story I linked, and is being constantly updated. Kudos to the “LA Now” blog team.

Posted in California Über Alles, Clippings, Law, Theatre | Comments Closed

The Mighty Quin(tana).

Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011

Former APD officer Leonardo Quintana has been acquitted of one of the domestic assault charges filed against him.

There are apparently three other charges (misdemeanor assault, criminal mischief and criminal trespass) still pending, related to an incident in 2009. (The charge Mr. Quintana was acquitted on relates to a 2008 incident.)

You may remember former officer Quintana from such hits as this, this, this, this, this, this, this, and this. I may be missing a few.

At this point, I’m tempted to give former officer Quintana his own (sub)category on WCD.

Posted in Clippings, Cops, Law | Comments Closed

Random notes: June 21, 2011.

Tuesday, June 21st, 2011

I go out of town for a few days. I come back, and l’affair Ward is still ongoing.

Today’s update: the head of the police union is “troubled” by the dismissal of the DWI charges. And well he should be; as I noted in the previous post, there’s three possible explanations, and two of those make the cops look bad. I haven’t watched the video yet, and I’m not sure doing so would do any good. I don’t have the level of expertise needed to judge if Mr. Ward passed or failed the sobriety tests. But in any case, the union’s right on this one. The county DA owes the citizens a full and complete explanation of why the charges were dismissed, and if wrongdoing or incompetence on the part of the APD were part of the equation, Chief Acevedo needs to address those issues.

In other news from the Statesman, their editorial board would like for us to know that guns are making their way across the border illegally. The editorial is devoted to lobbying for a plan to have Texas DPS set up checkpoints to stop “illegal weapons trafficking”. There are plenty of interesting questions that this editorial ignores:

  • “The weapon used to kill U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jaime Jorge Zapata in February made its way south to Mexico from Dallas. Though the gun was legally purchased, it was smuggled into Mexico, where legal possession of firearms is restricted.” I’m trying to dig up more information on Officer Zapata’s killing, but what I’ve found so far is that he was killed by the Zeta cartel. So is the Statesman stating that US citizens who are Zeta cartel members are legally buying weapons in Dallas? Or are they having other people buy weapons for them in Dallas? That would be an illegal “straw man” purchase. And if Officer Zapata was shot with an actual “AK-47”, as I’ve seen in some reports, it is highly improbable that was purchased in Dallas.
  • Why do we need to use scarce Texas DPS resources to set up random checkpoints for weapons near the border? Why aren’t the existing checkpoints at the border working?
  • It is curious that the Statesman manages to write an entire editorial about illegal traffic of guns to Mexico without mentioning “Operation Gunwalker“.
  • “”According to CNN … over 70 percent of the 29,284 firearms recovered from crime scenes in Mexico in 2009 and 2010 were traced to the United States.” As we’ve discussed previously, is that 70% of the total firearms, or 70% of the total firearms submitted for tracing? If you dig deeper into these reports, a large percentage of firearms recovered aren’t submitted for tracing in the first place, because they can’t be traced, because they don’t have identifying markings, because they’re coming from South America or other countries.

I’ve just started listening to this week’s Vicious Circle podcast. (Warning: Vicious Circle is frequently not safe for work. Or basic human decency.) My great and good friend Weer’d Beard, among other folks, has some excellent points. What makes more sense? Cartel members are coming across the border to Houston, Dallas, and other Texas cities, paying $600 each across the counter for truckloads of WASR-10s and other semi-automatic AK-47 clones? And then they’re smuggling those clones back across the border, where they’re converted to full-auto and supplied to the cartels? Or the cartels are using weapons diverted from the Mexican army, and the reason those weapons trace back to the US is that we sold them to the Mexican army in the first place?

As Weer’d notes, it doesn’t take a lot to get folks to defect from the Mexican army; hell, the cartels are putting up “help wanted” signs, promising potential defectors that they won’t have to eat ramen. And somehow Mexico believes that the US is responsible for their lawless society?

I haven’t heard anyone ask the key question, especially in light of “Operation Gunwalker”: why does the BATFE continue to exist? Seriously, why do we need this agency? The tax collection functions can be handled by the Treasury Department, as purely administrative issues. The law enforcement portion of BATFE’s mandate could easily be taken over by the FBI, and BATFE’s budget freed up for something more productive; perhaps providing free ukulele picks to the poor, to steal a memorable line from Roger Ebert.

Edited to add 6/22: Well, this is interesting as all get out. Dave Hardy over at “Arms and the Law” has a link to the PDF of a letter sent by Senator Grassley to acting BATFE director Melson. Nut graph:

The most noteworthy portion of the information is that nearly 78% of firearms traced in 2009 and 66% of firearms traced in 2010 were assigned to a catchall category “No Final Sale Dealer” which means the firearms did not trace back to a United States FFL.

Also interesting:

Data indicates that the top source dealer for illegal firearms traced in Mexico for 2009 was “Direccion General De Industria Milita” or the Directorate General of Military Industry in Mexico. They provided 120 firearms that were later traced back, likely after a crime. Why does this entity have a U.S. Federal Firearms License? Are sales to this and other foreign entities with U.S. FFL’s included in the numbers the ATF provided as being a gun from a “U.S. Source”. If so, why?

Posted in Clippings, Cops, Guns, Law | Comments Closed

Back on the chain gang.

Tuesday, June 21st, 2011

I’m home, but still trying to get caught up. Expect blogging to be catch as catch can for the next day or two.

Posted in Admin | Comments Closed

Deadly night, Shade.

Sunday, June 19th, 2011

The election results are in…and Kathie Tovo beat Randi Shade, 56%-44%.

Thus endeth our long local nightmare. Now to see the results of the results.

Posted in Austin, Clippings, Politics | Comments Closed

Noted.

Saturday, June 18th, 2011

Governor Perry signed SB321, “Relating to an employee’s transportation and storage of certain firearms or ammunition while on certain property owned or controlled by the employee’s employer” (aka the “guns in parking lots” bill) into law yesterday.

(At least, we think that was yesterday. While we are still having the most fun it is legally possible to have with one’s clothes on, we’ve also managed to lose track of time.)

We are amused by how little press coverage this has received. Once the bill passed both houses, we do not recall seeing it mentioned even once; we don’t even remember seeing newspaper coverage of the passage. Consider this article from the Statesman which discusses Perry’s vetos, but makes little mention of the bills he actually signed.

Curious.

(Also, the Shade-Tovo runoff election is today. We’ll try to get you a final update tomorrow morning.)

Posted in Clippings, Guns, Politics | 4 Comments »

“—We Also Walk Dogs”

Friday, June 17th, 2011

Still busy. Still having fun, thanks. But I did want to mention this WP story about Brighter Days, an anarchist dog walking cooperative.

Yes, you read that correctly. Brighter Days is apparently not the only anarchist dog walking cooperative in the DC area (as the result of a bitter split between the founders), but the WP implies that it is the most successful ($250,000 gross last year: there’s no net figure given, but the collective is apparently able to offer health insurance and paid vacation).

It’s harder still for Seager, because he wears black most of the time.

“I need more white shirts,” Seager says. “I just so despise the concept of fashion.” Worrying about clothing is, at best, “one of the least-interesting human pursuits” and, at worst, “embarrassingly pathetic,” Seager says.

Hidden Agenda, call your office, please.

(Probably unnecessary subject line hattip.)

Posted in Clippings | Comments Closed

On the road again…

Thursday, June 16th, 2011

Yesterday was a travel day: I’m in an undisclosed location, doing stuff I can’t talk about right now. Blogging is uncertain; it depends on schedules and what-not.

However, I did want to note the following:

Posted in Admin, Clippings, Cops, Food, Law | Comments Closed

Astros watch.

Tuesday, June 14th, 2011

Pitching coach Brad Arnsberg out, Doug Brocail in.

The Astros are 15th in the 16-team National League with a 4.69 ERA and lead the league in blown saves, having coughed up 13 in 23 chances.

I haven’t been doing the regular updates I did last year (I was planning to do a bottom feeders roundup at the All-Star break) but if current trends continue, the Astros are on track to lose 100 games this year.

Posted in Clippings, Firings, Sports | Comments Closed

Hiliarty ensues.

Tuesday, June 14th, 2011

Remember the “Gay Girl in Damascus” story we linked on Sunday?

If you clicked through to the WP link, you may have noticed, but not thought much about, the mention of Paula Brooks, editor of “Lez Get Real”, a lesbian news Web site based in Washington.

In several interviews, the editor — who spoke on condition that she be identified only by her pseudonym, Paula Brooks — said she encouraged Amina to write more, first on Lez Get Real and later on a new blog, titled “A Gay Girl in Damascus.”

You probably see the punchline coming at this point, but we have to carry on.

“Paula Brooks” is actually a 58-year-old male construction worker from Ohio.

We’re kind of wondering if the WP is going to make outing lesbian bloggers who aren’t lesbians (or female) a trend, or if this was just, as “Paula Brooks” puts it, “a major sock-puppet hoax crash into a major sock-puppet hoax”. We kind of hope for the former, as it provides more entertainment than the WP‘s gun coverage.

Posted in Clippings, Guns, Media | 2 Comments »

Art, damn it, art! watch. (#23 in a series)

Tuesday, June 14th, 2011

Ben Wilson is an artist in England.

His medium is acrylic enamel…and used chewing gum stuck to the sidewalk.

He developed a technique in which he softens the gum with a blowtorch, sprays it with lacquer and then applies three coats of acrylic enamel. He uses tiny brushes, quick-drying his work with a lighter as he goes along, and then seals it with clear lacquer. Each painting takes between a few hours and a few days, and can last several years if the conditions are right.

I’m not mocking Mr. Wilson: the few examples of his work shown with the article are rather pleasing to me, particularly the Millennium Bridge one.

Posted in Art, Clippings | Comments Closed

We’re going down the rabbit hole here, people.

Monday, June 13th, 2011

Jeff Ward hosts a popular talk show in the afternoons on one of our AM radio stations. I was a pretty regular listener to Mr. Ward’s show for a while (until the AM radio in my car stopped working).

Jeff Ward was also arrested Thursday night and charged with DWI.

Mr. Ward allegedly failed a field sobriety test. It’s not clear if he had blood drawn or was given a breath test, like the 37 people who were arrested on Friday or Saturday night during “no refusal” weekend.

But here’s what makes the story blog worthy, in my opinion. Today, the Travis County DA announced he’s dropping the charges against Jeff Ward.

“Based on their internal review, APD expressed concerns about significant weaknesses in the arrest, specifically whether probable cause existed to file a DWI charge,” Escamilla said in a statement today. “After our review of the evidence, including the officer’s in-car video, we confirmed to APD that there was not sufficient evidence to support a DWI charge. Therefore, the Travis County attorneys office will take no further action.”

Either the APD falsely arrested an innocent citizen, they arrested a citizen who was guilty but botched the arrest so badly that the DA didn’t feel like the case was prosecutable, or they dropped a DWI charge against a prominent local citizen for political reasons. There’s no way to spin this so it looks good.

Edited to add 6/14: Second day coverage in the Statesman.

Interesting points:

  • He failed a field sobriety test, but refused to take a Breathalyzer. The no-refusal weekend started Friday according to previous Statesman coverage.
  • He called Police Chief Acevedo at least twice; once during the arrest, and once from jail.
  • Mr. Ward says he had the standard “two beers” (police will tell you that everyone ever arrested for drunk driving had “two beers”) over a four hour period, and was originally stopped for doing 10 MPH over the speed limit.

Posted in Clippings, Cops, Law | 2 Comments »

Shade-Tovo watch: June 13, 2011.

Monday, June 13th, 2011

Here’s a mildly interesting set of facts.

Austin’s cab companies have donated $17,500 to three City Council candidates, including $4,550 to Randi Shade for her runoff election (and a total of $10,350 to Shade overall, which the Statesman implies came from cab companies).

Kathie Tovo has received $6,500 total, and $4,500 for the runoff election, “mostly” from cab drivers for one company.

I was not aware of this, but there’s apparently a movement by the drivers for “legacy permits”: that is, after five years of experience, drivers could get taxi permits directly, rather than the permits being issued to cab companies. Tovo says she supports this, and Shade has expressed opposition.

“That was an important thing because the cost the drivers pay to the companies make it hard for them to earn a living wage,” Tovo said. “And Randi Shade did not make that commitment.”

Neither candidate, nor (as far as I know) any of the previous candidates in the race, have come out in favor of abolishing the permit/franchise system and letting anyone who wants to pick up passengers for money.

Posted in Austin, Clippings, Politics | Comments Closed

On the Internet, nobody knows if you’re a…

Sunday, June 12th, 2011

…40 year old man from Georgia posing as a lesbian in Syria.

...Scott Palter, a boardgame creator from Minnesota, corresponded regularly with Amina on Yahoo message groups. In a telephone interview, he said he asked her several years ago for a mailing address to send her Christmas cards. He said she gave him the address of a house in Stone Mountain, Ga. A search of local real estate records shows that MacMaster has owned the house since 2000 and lived in it until he left for school in Scotland in September 2010.

Dude, that’s just sloppy work.

Posted in Clippings, Stupid | 1 Comment »

Coffin’s got the dead guy on the inside.

Friday, June 10th, 2011

There’s just really not a whole lot going on. You good folks are probably as bored and fed up with Shade and Tovo as I am, and most of you probably don’t care that much about fireworks or plumbing.

The NYT does, however, have a short piece on a recent altercation at a chamber music concert in San Francisco.

The musician John Eichenseer, aka JHNO, was performing a piece for viola and electronics, called “Untitled”, when one of the audience members became disruptive. Eventually, JHNO “threw down his instrument and stormed off the stage”, cracking his viola in the process.

It turns out the audience member who disrupted the performance is also a viola player, Bernard M. Zaslav:

…at intermission, Mr. Zaslav remarked that the piece was “a desecration of the viola,” a quotation that was also captured on a video recording.

Later in the article, Mr. Zaslav is quoted as blaming his reaction on literal physical pain the performance caused him, and it is noted that he apologized to JHNO and the concert organizer.

Bonus: Joan Jeanrenaud, formerly of the Kronos Quartet, was there and is quoted relatively extensively.

(Subject line hattip: the old joke about the cello (4th one down) and one of the greatest book titles ever. Yes, I am aware of the differences between the viola and cello, believe it or not, but I wanted to give a shout-out to Keith Snyder, even if I had to stretch a bit.)

Posted in Books, Clippings, Music | Comments Closed

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