i am boycotting boycotts

a dramatic endgame. of cause it would be a media darling! beijing olympic games boycott. dunkin donuts boycott. and sometimes it happens quietly in your own back yard. i have no problem with this as a fundamental and deep rooted strategy to directly target facilitating change in how an enterprise conduct themselves. nor do i have a problem with it as a short-term pr stunt in the name of using a visible platform to bring awareness to an issue. i do however take exception to long-term boycotting an indirectly related, more voulnerable entity who lacks the power to change the course of outside decision makers’ m.o.

so until we eliminate all poorly thought out or ill informed boycott pressures, i will be withholding a donation to my local fire department because highway 30 is not a 4-lane all across the state of iowa.

advanced manufacturing of man power

:) i like this poster on so many levels.

evil in the name of good

good-evil

open letter to my pragmatic idealists friends:

thank you for your hard work to increase awareness for the social injustices of the world. but to the handful who has yet to evolve beyond advocating social responsibility at the cost of blanket villainization because articualting a well rounded interdisciplinary approach dilutes the point, please course correct. this is not acceptable.

so naomi klein, athol fugard et.al. brand champions, i believe each one of you have capacity to not perpetuate a destructive cycle of prejudices in the name of…well combating prejudices.

the dark knight done right

IMAX. see this movie on an imax.

note to self: when you build that magical fantasy castle hidden inside the tama-land bohemian hills, the master bedroom needs to be a mini imax dome :D

rebuilding iowa after the floods

in response to the summer’s iowa flooding, the governor recently announced the formation of the rebuild iowa task force (RIO). this week they extended an invitation to serve on the housing development portion.
i accepted, of cause. the meeting was good. i was very impressed with the well spoken organizational leaders on the task force, as well as the diversity and expertise of the testimonials. a preliminary set of 1. immediate, 2. transitionally and 3. long-term solutions have been put together. looking at the draft’s solutions from the ground up i still see opportunity for tactical improvement. specifically i am not confident that policy structures for rural and small town community problem solving are in place yet. nor that there is an understanding of the fundamental 1993 barriers that could have minimized the impact on towns like chelsea 15 years later.
solution? i believe we have 40 days to come up with solutions for these…

nkosi sikelel’ iAfrica

new big plan.
cashing in my remaining vacation days to visit my people in south africa.
end of the year seems to be the responsible time slot.
no tickets yet, but we are looking at dec 17ish. the cape town-area first and then up to the pretoria-area.
also introducing my best friend to africa is an incredible bonus.

accepting illusions

a cali friend’s description of the ‘quake this week really got to me:

“i’ve been through numerous quakes and this one was actually one of the most unsettling. usually they hit hard at first but are over in 5 seconds, but this one just went on and on. It was ultimately only 30 seconds in all but trust me when i tell you that it feels like much longer when the building is swaying under your feet.”

do you remember the emotions that rushed through your body when you learned that earthquakes, lava and bombs existed? T’s description brought it all back. i think i was 5 or 6. a bomb exploded in a shopping center in my hometown. people started talking about it, comparing the jolt to an earthquake capable of shaking a glass off a shelf. i think that was the moment i realized how vulnerable humans are in this world. thank goodness that with time we learn to not dwell on it.

heat stroke

i have this fantasy…

oh, don’t get exited. it is arguably the most boring fantasy ever .
the report from hell. (absolutely factual, but to be grossly misinterpreted at face value.) e.g.

1. “doubled county population.” small print: for 2 days while hosting RAGBRAI 2008 :P
2. “annual 2008 county grants $ approved exceeded $ approved 2000 – 2006.” small print: county declared a presidential disaster area due to iowa floods of 2008 :’(

don’t worry i have not lost my mind. its just working a little overtime this summer.

iowa memes

help! i just opened an email which quoted $39234923479237 to produce a short 2-4 min tourism video for october’s iowa tourism conference. time to crack open the planks on the back of the barn and check what memes the good people of iowa have uploaded to the web. here are some of the best i have found so far:
1) I-80 song i love sweet iowa corn too! but, we need this one in either a) iowa lincoln highway format, or b) an iowa river edition
2) where in iowa is jeff? cute! too bad he has not been to any of the 52 cities that are a part of iowa connection tourism
3) 515 adorable! perfect for tourism IN OCTOBER!!!

“tarnation” as citizen journalism

hey, we should all do this at one point in our lives: create a non-judgmental “tarnation documentary” on what shaped your being. notes to self:
a) record while immersed in the formative experience. raw is good. but careful about forcing an editing perspective unless you reached the other side of the tunnel
b) don’t use EVERY special effect trick. 97% will do just fine if you have detached dreamlike sequences
c) err on the short side when in doubt on pacing.
thank you for this off the wall recommendation, Chester Copperpot. to me it highlighted valuing [basically good] people for what they are. too often it is easy to hold others to a perceived social expectation.