Where I ask for money

OK, here's the deal. As most of you know, I am a teacher. As most of you also know, I am a teacher in Los Angeles. As I'm guessing most of you know, LAUSD is going broke. Therefore, I have turned to an alternate source trying to get some resources for my classroom.

There is a website called "Donors Choose" where teachers can submit needs for school supplies and let donors from wherever donate towards the cause. Its a safe way to help out schools because you know exactly where your money is going.

Editor's note: I was given a matching grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for this request. If you give now, they will match your donation.

In any case, I am looking to get a class set of Thomas Friedman's book "Hot, Flat, and Crowded" to use for my Economics class. Not only is it a really good book, but it also gives outstanding examples of Economic concepts such as incentives, tradeoffs, costs/benefits, markets, demand & supply, etc. AND it talks a lot about globalization and the environment. If you follow this link, you can donate to the cause. Right now I only have $100 of the $978 I need to cover the cost of the books, shipping, etc. Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated. If I don't get all of the money by July 16th then you can give your money to someone else. (I know, its a kind of crappy system, but maybe I can get another smaller request up to donate towards).

Don't be afraid to e-mail me if you have a question. Thanks.

Green beer and gangrene

OK, so I'm not going to write about gangrene, but it fits the day better and you'll find that its not far off the actual topic.

First, Happy St. Patrick's Day. I will be enjoying a pint or two of Murphy's at home tonight waiting for my wife to come home from her final. And, yes, I prefer Murphy's to Guinness. I know that sounds blasphemous, but whatever.

Here's the green White House fountain:



Second, I read a really interesting article today about universal health care. The key quote is "No one should face financial ruin because of a mishap with a fork and an avocado" and it makes great sense to me.

addendum to previous post

Three things I wanted to add. First,

Best New (to me) restaurant experience: Fatty's. Its a vegetarian restaurant in Eagle Rock. We both had really good filling dinners that were reasonably priced along with the most ridiculous chocolate cake ever called the "fudgie." They also have a really cool and wallet friendly wine-list. Half-glasses, half bottles, full bottles, lots of organic and biodynamic wines. Highly recommended.

Overrated movie. The Reader. Intriguing story, good acting. However, it didn't leave me with that "wow" feeling that I expect from on Oscar movie. Slumdog did that. Kate Winslett was good, but not great in my view. Maybe the Oscar was more of a "you've been so good in so many films that you deserve this" type of thing. I'm not saying that she was bad, but just not mind-blowing. She did, however, spend a large part of the movie naked.

Craziest shit I ever saw: The guys in this video. I am afraid of some very lame things. They jump off of cliffs and fly around in wingsuits. I suck.


wingsuit base jumping from Ali on Vimeo.

Best/Worst of February

Worst over-exaggerating right-wing website: Drudge Report. There is sometimes worth new items on this site, but for the most part Matt Drudge or his staff post items that are way overblown or completely false. As I write, the headline is "Is it Something He Said?" underneath a chart showing the declining value of the Dow Jones average. (Ed. Note: after writing this I found another reference to Drudge's trend here) It couldn't possibly have anything to do with the general policy of de-regulation under the last administration. It must be a speech that outlines the plan of recovery that surveys have shown are generally approved by the public. Also featured are articles about how Joe Biden forgot the name of the recovery website and how Keith Olbermann said "Oh God" just before Jindal's response to Obama's speech. Check the video on that to see what you really think.

Worst GOP response to a presidential address: Bobby Jindal. It felt like Sesame Street. I hope his policies are better than his speaking ability or this guy's presidential hopes are not looking good.

Worst? Best? surprise package: My Something Store Purchase. So I got a wire stripper/cutter. Its actually pretty useful and way better than a pouch made of zippers, which seems to be the most common gift.

Best TV Show new to me. Flight of the Choncords. I briefly checked it out early in its run, but maybe caught a bad two minutes. I freakin' love this show - specifically the songs.

Worst Movie News: Ghostbusters 3. I'm going with no on this one.

Best Podcast of the Month: BBC's 5 Live Football Daily. Daily soccer news quick and to the point. Really enjoyable.

Best Podcast change: Sections of TotN. NPR's Talk of the Nation Podcast is now broken up into sections, one for each topic. It lets you decide which ones you want to hear. Brilliant.

Worst radio show to disappear: Tom Leykis. I sort of liked his show back when it was on AM. Once it was on FM it turned into the same thing everyday: Tom talking about how to get laid and callers bragging about getting laid. Lame. Good riddance.

Worst news: Radio is dying. Indie 103.1 is gone. 97.1 Talk is now Disney-pop. What's next. Not satellite. Their subscriptions are also down. And I'm not paying for radio.

Best Sports Tournament: UEFA Champions League. You take the top teams from all of the European leagues and have them compete against each other. Sure, there are pitfalls, but it never fails to produce excitement. Usually it comes down to mostly English, Spanish, and Italian teams, but Germany and even Portugal sneak in once in a while. My Mighty Reds Liverpool FC beat superstar central Real Madrid yesterday with a goal by Israeli international Yossi Benayoun in the 82nd minute.

Best news for me, Worst news for him: Landon Donovan's stay at Bayern Munich in Germany doesn't seem to be working out. He wasn't even on the bench yesterday for their 5-0 thrashing of Sporting Lisbon. Sucks for him, awesome for the Galaxy.

Worst Lose-Lose situation: David Beckham. He wants to stay in Italy. I want him to stay in Italy. It looks increasingly unlikely that it will happen. Nothing like having $250 million worth of a player who would rather be somewhere else. Fact is he contributed little to the Galaxy outside of shirt and ticket sales.

Something

So there is an internet store called the Something Store. You send them $10 and they send you something. What you get is new and may be worth a dollar or a lot more than $10. You just don't know.

Well, I had about $12 sitting in my PayPal account and no idea what else I would do with it, so I ordered "something" and I am excited about what I might get. However, I am likely to be disappointed. The one thing I dread is a pouch covered in zippers that seems to be the most common gift.

Keep your fingers crossed.

Real American Art

Best/Worst of January

I just want to talk about some of the things I liked and disliked in January.

Best Food. We went to dinner at Red, White and Bluezz in Pasadena. It was super good. Had venison with a sour cherry reduction sauce. Really good wine list. Pricey, but recommended.

Best new President. Barack Obama. Yeah, I sound like a dork saying it again and he had very little competition in this category, but I am pretty amped about the possibilities.

Worst website that I check out almost every day. Drudge Report. I just can't get over how ridiculous this guy is. If you go there right now I am willing to guess that at least one headline is completely blown out of proportion. And he loves pointing out when its really cold in places despite our claims of global warming, which only points out that he doesn't know the difference between weather and climate.

Worst state. California. Money is withheld from my paycheck so I can pay taxes at the end of the year. California spent it and will be sending me in IOU. Will they pay penalties and interest like I would have to if I didn't pay? Not likely. At least we have the highest paid state legislature in the country.

Best new (to me) bar. The York. White people are sometimes scared to enter Highland Park. Yeah, I said it. Well, it is not only home to possibly the best Taco Truck in Los Angeles, but also hosts The York. Good beer. Good food. Attractive and very nice bartenders. Best jukebox selections in history. And most important - not a scene.

Worst weather. Southern California. I know the East coasters will get all pissy about this, but I have a bit of a problem with 80+ in January. OK, its not that big of a problem and I know this is why my house cost so much, but still. A little cold would be nice.

Best book. I read 2.5 books in January and they were actually all good. Pasadena's One City One Story book this year is Luis Alberto Urrea's The Hummingbird's Daughter. Interesting story, really well written. Also read The Watchmen. Too much naked blue guy, but excited about the movie. Still working on Thomas Friedman's Hot, Flat and Crowded. I've been marking interesting or great ideas with little post-it flags. I have around 40 things marked so far. Great read.

Best Tax Software. Dude, I love Turbo Tax. It makes my life sooooooo easy. Got the whole thing done in like an hour.

Best TV. If you haven't gone flatscreen HD yet you really need to. The picture is so much better and it just takes up less space. Don't feel the pressure to go all out and get the monster 60"+ model, you don't need it to appreciate the clarity. I went with the 32" Toshiba and its perfect. Everyone said that no matter what I bought I would wish I had got one a little bigger, but I'm just not feeling that. (However, if you have the $$$, by all means get a big-ass TV)

Best Christmas gift. This counts for January because I started using it in January. Amanda got me a new Klean Kanteen stainless steel water bottle. Its awesome. Holds 40 ounces and doesn't get all musty and gross like the nalgene bottle. Stop wasting plastic and get one.

Ed. Note: I edited a part of this post after publishing it since there was some offense taken at one remark. That's why it looks different. I apologize if offense was taken, none was intended.

Super Bowl gluttony

For those of you looking for the perfect Super Bowl snack, I offer these two options courtesy of an e-mail that my dad sent me.

First, the Snack Stadium. Nearly 25,000 calories of food that should not go together. Bacon, twinkies, and guacamole? Questionable.



Second, I present to you the bacon explosion. Its a very simple recipe that only involves bacon, Italian sausage, BBQ sauce, and seasoning - which I guess gives you a clue to its pure meatiness. You really need to go to the link to see all of the pictures to really appreciate this one.

my love for America continually diminishes

I thought that after the Wal-Mart shopping death, the frequent occurrences of fights at Chuck E. Cheese, and the PlayMobil Airport Security Check toy I had reached an all-time low in my respect for my fellow Americans. Well, I was wrong. On Kevin and Bean the other morning they talked to the guy who originally came up with the idea for UFC Ultimate Fighting. After selling his idea for practically nothing before it became a billion-dollar industry, he needed to come up with something new. X-Arm. Basically, its arm-wrestling, but you can kick and punch each other. You win by accumulating pins or by knocking the other guy out. Its just as bad as it sounds.

A new toy for a new generation

I have a couple of cousins who used to collect Playmobil toys back in the day. You know what I am talking about - the little plastic characters with C-shaped hands and interchangeable hairpieces? (Basically the upper-end version of lego I think). Well, those two have grown up now and will lose out on the opportunity to own this:



The Playmobil Security Checkpoint. This alone is not terribly funny and I know that. Click on the link and read the reviews and you'll see why I posted this.

Something I came across

I was reading a soccer message board this morning and people were posting pics of their first cars (its a Galaxy message board and we're in the off-season so we talk about other random stuff. So, here is a picture of something very close to my first car - a '77 Dodge Van.



The only differences between the van in these pictures and the van that my brother and I shared are that our van had a ladder on the back and large windows on the side. Ours was the same devastatingly awesome red-orange paint, had the same wood paneling on the inside of the doors, same brown/yellow shag carpet, and you could set up a bed in the back.

We had a lot of fun in that van. We had it off the ground a few times, got pulled over by the Border Patrol once, dragged 10+ people to Del Taco at lunch during high school, slept in it many times, took it camping, amongst other things.

Last post of the year

2008 has come and gone and we still don't have flying cars. However, 2009 looks promising. Not for flying cars, but at least for some positive change: New president, World Cup Qualifying matches, Liverpool leading the EPL, lower gas prices, large hadron collider, etc.

I also need to make some positive changes. Less weight, less TV, more reading, more vegetables, more cleaning (the same promises I make every year), but I feel a renewed sense of motivation to meet my goals. A new house will force me off the couch to make repairs and improvements. Although I just bought a new TV, I am growing weary of reality TV and most sitcoms blow. In the moving process I also realized just how many unread books I have. Got to get on that.

My predictions for 2009:
1. The U.S. will easily qualify for World Cup 2010 - in the process beating Mexico in Mexico City for the first time.
2. 20% less Jeff.
3. economic recovery starting around October
4. Gas prices back up to at least $2.75
5. the fall of one major authoritarian government (Russia, Iran, Venezuela, or some other oil-based authoritarian rule). Yes, I know that calling these leaders authoritarian is a stretch, but its the best we got.
6. Famous/celebrity deaths: O.J., Hugh Hefner, Amy Winehouse, Ernest Borgnine, Ted Stevens
7. A record number of species go extinct, including one major (tiger, polar bear, Asian elephant)
8. One of the country's major newspapers will shut down (L.A. Times, Washington Post, etc.)

I know that some of these are pretty general, but I'm not pulling some Nostradamus bullshit and being all cryptic so I can claim that my prediction came true no matter what happens. Plus, some of my predictions are more like things that I fear are coming true.

In any case, enjoy the new year. Do something good this year.

Americans are assholes

I have hated Wal-Mart for a very long time. Although the number one issue fueling this hatred has always been their treatment of employees, the annoying people who shop there come in a close second.

They may have switched places yesterday.

In case you haven't read this yet, a man was killed yesterday at a Wal-Mart in the Long Island area. No, he wasn't robbed and killed in the parking lot, or crushed by a collapsing roof panel, but he was trampled to death by the people rushing in at 5am to do their Christmas shopping. Apparently they could not wait long enough for him to get the doors open and broke through the partially open doors. According to the story, they also trampled other Wal-Mart employees trying to help the dying man. Along with the death, one pregnant woman was trampled, causing her to miscarry.

What for? A cheap TV? A discount XBox? A $9 Hulk DVD? Well, if this video has anything to say about it, people have clearly let their material possessions become more important than the people around them.

Who is to blame for this? Certainly Wal-Mart at some level. They, along with every other store hype the super deals on Black Friday, only to offer a few products at that price. This definitely contributes to the frenzy. The news gets a little piece as well, as they add to the hype of Black Friday shopping. And I guess you have to blame the 2000 idiots lined up at Wal-Mart at 5am.

How do we stop it? Maybe we can't. I guarantee Wal-Mart will get sued a few times for this. The first article says that police are looking to identify the people that trampled the man and 4 other injured customers. Maybe $100 million from Wal-Mart and a couple of 20-year sentences will get people to think a little differently.

Although I highly doubt it. That's why we are assholes.

The numbers of moving

8 incompetent Sears employees that I dealt with.
2 things that the plumber broke while trying to fix something else
4 times paying more than the original estimate
1 new home that I love
1 mortgage that is way more than rent
0 more months throwing money away to rent
12 gallons of paint
2 wax rings for the toilet (one that was the wrong size)
3 times laughing silently when I said the word "caulk"
6 hours letting other people move our stuff for us
29 days of anticipation from closing escrow to moving in
55 things I will do differently next time that I buy
8 people who we will ever be thankful to for helping us paint
4000 dollars worth of new wood flooring
1 patio that will be awesome in the spring
923 times being called "boss" by someone in the service industry
1 father-in-law who bravely climbed onto a jerry-rigged scaffold to paint one foot of wall
10 hours spent trying to take up tile (worst job ever - worse than jizz-mopper)
17 trips to various hardware stores (Home Depot, Ace, Lowe's, OSH)
97 cents in change found in the couch cushions
1 previous owner who clearly took no pride in ownership (which helped our price)
2 great views
countless hours of labor
zero regrets

A couple of things

Two things I want to mention:

First, if you are an opponent to the recently passed California Proposition 8 then I suggest that you tune in tonight to the Fox"News" program Hannity and Colmes. The rector of my church, Ed Bacon, will be on tonight to talk about Prop 8.

Second, I want to congratulate a good friend of mine, Jose Navarro, on being named one of five California State Teachers of the Year. He deserves that award more than anyone I know. He works tirelessly for our students and I've certainly learned a lot from him. It also highlights the impossibility of my job. Every 11th grade student he has moves on to my class in the 12th grade. I have to follow after the state teacher of the year. No pressure there.

Ben Affleck does a pretty good Keith Olbermann:

Wow!

In December 2006 I was traveling to an economics conference in Wichita, Kansas. During my travels, I read Barack Obama's Audacity of Hope. Having read it, I found myself completely sold on ideas that seemed fair, just, and just plain common sense. It was then that I knew that I could support his run for the presidency.

Words can't describe how proud I am to be American today. I can't wait for inauguration day.

"And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world, our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand."

My pride in California, however, has taken a huge hit. Let's hope the numbers on Prop 8 change in the next few hours.

funny cartoons

During this last year I have had the pleasure of working with a really fun art teacher at my school. Although she is now a high school art teacher, she was formerly an animator for the Simpsons amongst other well-known cartoons. Her husband continues to direct episodes of Family Guy.

In any case, she turned me on to this really cool animator named Don Hertzfeldt. Below is the first Hertzfeldt cartoon that she showed me. Its simple but awesome.

Notes on the Race #7

I was talking with my wife last weekend about why I like Obama's tax plan a lot better than McCain's. In my explanation, I mentioned how often people in the upper tax brackets forget that, although maybe their hard work got them the success that they well deserve, that they need the people below them to fuel that success. In last night's debate, the two candidates got bogged down forever talking about Joe the plumber (who, by the way, is not a licensed plumber). Joe and McCain insisted that Obama's tax plan was going to punish average guys like Joe for being successful. In the actual conversation that Obama had with Joe the (not) Plumber, he said this:

"For folks like me who have worked hard, but frankly also been lucky, I don't mind paying just a little bit more than the waitress that I just met over there who's -- things are slow and she can barely make the rent.

My attitude is that if the economy's good for folks from the bottom up, it's gonna be good for everybody. If you've got a plumbing business, you're going to be better off if you've got a whole bunch of customers who can afford to hire you, and right now everybody's so pinched that business is bad for everybody, and I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody."

What a novel fucking idea. Look out for the other guy - not just yourself. In the current "What's in it for me" era, we often forget that there are other people around who need help. PEOPLE. HUMANS. Some need help because they never got it from their parents or family. Why not help them a bit? Some got their by making a few mistakes. Why not give them a second chance? That seems like a big teaching of Christianity. What might come of this help for the other guy? Maybe, just maybe, you'll benefit in turn.

As McCain continues to push for privatization of everything and rails against any kind of government help, let's remember that there are some who don't have the knowledge or experience to handle their own retirement. Let's remember that the government saved our economy in the 1930s (and 2008), which is not a bad thing. Maybe we should look into solving our problems together instead of always going it on our own.

Notes on the Race #6

OK, so it has been a while since I said that I would write more after the debates. Here's my less-than-five-sentence review of the VP debates and the TownHall debate with Obama and McCain: Sarah Palin would be a good debater if she knew what she was talking about. Joe Biden did a good job not looking like a sexist while still showing that he knows way more than her. The TownHall debate, my friends, was boring. I hope Wednesday is better.

On to other matters.

1. A bipartisan legislative panel found that Sarah Palin indeed abused her power as governor when she fired the Alaska Public Safety Commissioner. If you haven't read about it before, she pressured the commissioner to fire a trooper that was her former brother-in-law. She not only violated ethics rules, but she also lied about violating ethics rules.

2. The poll numbers really don't look good for McCain. (Note: I still think that national poll numbers don't really show what will happen on election night.) The numbers that I prefer deal with electoral predictions. Those numbers look worse.

3. How does the saying go? You reap what you sew. McCain is finding out what happens when you fan the flames of fear and hate.

Here are some videos of McCain supporters in line to get into one of his rallies:





And one from a rally where the supporter scolds McCain:




Yesterday McCain finally had to deal with the monster he created:



I give McCain some credit for finally telling his own supporters that they are wrong, but this was only after a week of pushing these ideas on them. Once you decide to turn to fear over issues, you have a problem in your campaign. When the Secret Service has to investigate death threats directed towards your opponent coming from your supporters at one of your rallies - you have a really big problem.

4. Finally, in the scariest story of the day, sharks are reproducing asexually. I was sure that the big animal takeover would be led by monkeys, but my fears may have been misdirected. However, an even bigger fear would be a monkey-shark alliance.