A Series of Tubes

I just watched The Story of Stuff which is mostly things I already knew but is edited and put together really well. I think that I’d be preaching to the choir with most of the people I showed it to. I’m sure that my legions of fans will spread the word to those that don’t think about consumerism and environmentalism. I currently don’t have much of an environmental impact mostly due to the fact that being a grad student tends to pay so little. The thing is that this blog is poised to bring in millions so it will be important for me to keep the tenants of the story of stuff in mind when it comes to using my imminent fortune.

On an unrelated note, I blogged earlier about my awesome idea for a christmas card. Unfortunately my chief artistic developer was pretty busy over winter break so my awesome Christmas card remained a brilliant idea instead of a brilliant card. I’ll probably try to use it next year instead of ruining the surprise by announcing my brilliant idea on the internet. My legions of fans will be held in suspense for a year. You will have to trust me that it will be well wort the wait.

Well I haven’t had a chance to talk to the tree sitters but things sure have changed. The encampment that was below the tree sitters has been cleared out and the parking lot that the tree sitters are above is now in full use. Over the break the University hired a tree cutting company to clean out the encampment. Someone then slashed the tires and vandalized the company that cleaned the site. The official response from the University has been an escalation of violence. There have been more pepper spraying. The University has hired a private security force to stand by the site of the tree sit. Previously the security personnel were stationed inside the physical sciences building.

So are the two sides talking? Well Blumenthal stated in an email that went out on the 8th that “Student Affairs staff have continued to visit the site on a regular basis to check on the health and welfare of any students there, and CSC police have continued to issue daily warnings about violations of law and campus regulations.” Having people stop by and talk to the protestors is good, having the police stop by and harass people won’t put the protesters in a negotiating mood. It is hard to take the University’s attempts at negotiation seriously when they send people to talk to the protesters and then just a little bit later they send in police to harrass, arrest, pepper spray, etc.

The same email from blumenthal states Read more

So the weather outside has been crazy. Lots of wind and rain. Southbound highway 17 was closed due to a mudslide that covered both southbound lanes. While I am in my comfy apartment, the tree sitters probably are not having such a great time. Hopefully their rigging is holding up and the wind and rain doesn’t jostle them.  There has to be a bit of a safety concern. I forgot to check in on them before I left for winter break so my update on how things are going will have to wait until I’m back on campus.

I’m about 90% sure that apple will be airing this ad across the country soon. You can see it here first of course:

On a side note I wasn’t the biggest fan of Mulholland drive, but this ad makes up for it.