My Blog

Reminder tonight ( Tues) 8 pm volunteer meeting / work party for Loving Tom Fest

jacktrade — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 22:33:51 GMT

Reminder tonight ( Tues) 8 pm volunteer meeting / work party for Loving Tom Fest For those thart know and love Tom Kennedy we are having a work party and volunteer meeting tonight at 8 pm at American Steel building in W. Oakland Map here: http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=18th+and+kirkham,+oakland,+ca&ie=UTF8&split=0&gl=us&ei=HbDwSfHhJoaQtAP6kaT2Cg&z=16&iwloc=A Shout out to PK, Scout, Camron, Michelle Burke, Dan Das Mann, Barbara Fried, Saucy, Brettt, and many others to doing organizing and volunteering so much of their time already. If you can donate time or services and can't make it to the meeting email volunteersspeakersperformers@tomkennedyart.com All dets on the event , which is this Friday May 1 starting at 6 with a funeral procession from W. Oakland BART to American Steel , as well as the art car procession starting from Ocean beach in SF earlier in the day are at http://www.tomkennedyart.com Speakers start at 7 pm at American Steel and the event goes til 4 am . With a Black Sabbath breakfast and clean up party on Sat May 2 for those that crash or wanty tpo get up early and help. thanks! kevin

Shoooter and Tom dead , Help the living cause I'm treading water

jacktrade — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 00:14:57 GMT

Damn my pal shooter is dead too. Not a good week. Need help anytime in the next 2 weeks especially in Palo Alto call for dets 415 640 3569 if you have a few spare hours. Especially tonight and Saturday. Skip the party and do something more fun and good for your soul and khrama. 949 sycamore dr, palo alto ca 94303 thanks I'm starting to feel a bit fuckt. Helping out Tom's wiwo for 2 days this week was unavoidable. but the gun is drifting in my direction and I need some cover kevin

March 15th lets meet up to watch a movie I'm in at the Castro : Fruit Fly

jacktrade — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 13:22:54 GMT

March 15th lets meet up to watch a movie I'm in at the Castro : Fruit Fly This should be fun and I'm hoping to get a big crew of friends to hang out for. Its my first and only big screen moment ( so far) and I doubt if it lasts all that long, so lets make it an event! Pictured above is the bar dance and song routine I'll be best known for years to come ( I bet). As well as the only one I also bet. I've circled my self in yellow to make it easy to find me. I'm in a pretty silly sing and dance routine in the movie and if a bloopers roll happens I'm in that for sure. The blooper scene is even more fun, as I can be very obviously be seen saying " Oh Shit" as I realize a really obvious misstep and forget the words of the sing along in one dance number. All while in the front row. The director HP told me it is pretty hilarious. Which I agree. That particular dance number takes place in a bar. Maureen Keating and my pal Larry Edelstein are extras as well. You can see Larry ( and me) in the shot I used from the trailer. Note that I am in the back row of this take. Far left. Nearly cropped out. ;-) Fame is so fleeting. Still it was fun. Tickets info: $!5 plus 1.50 per ticket http://filmguide.festival.asianamericanmedia.org/tixSYS/2009/filmguide/title.php/detail/?AlphaRange=FF&ShowShorts=Y&ShowPast=Y& Movie trailer : http://www.hpmendoza.com/fruitflyfilm So the plan is meet up for the movie at 6 pm on Sunday the 15th, then drinks afterwards. I lean towards getting tickets early, but at $16.50 it is a little steep I'll readily admit. I'm thinking of doing a group buy. Let me know via email for a reservation by Saturday the 7th. Movie dets: Fruit Fly Centerpiece (USA | 2009 | 94 mins | VIDEO)javascript:document.managePost.submit() In English & Tagalog with English subtitles VIDEO World Premiere Directed By: H.P. Mendoza Exec. Producers: Center for Asian American Media Producer: Don Young Producer/Writer/Editor/Music: H. P. Mendoza Cinematographer: Richard Wong Cast: L.A. Renigen, Mike Curtis, Theresa Navarro, Aaron Zaragoza, E. S. Park If there's one thing this festival needs, it's a toe-tapping musical, or a tribute to San Francisco, or a young Filipina American seeking her true self, or a nice tune about versatile bottoms, or maybe a crooning love-duet between a man and his Macbook image, or especially a song filled with enough unprintable slang to burn the ears off of every Prop-8'er in the state. Fortunately, all of that, and a thousand things more, is what FRUIT FLY supplies, and for that we have resident boywonder H.P. Mendoza to thank. The composer and co-star of festival hit COLMA: THE MUSICAL (SFIAAFF '06) returns with a solo directorial debut that aims his poisoned pen and catchy Casio keyboards toward that never-dead city to Colma's north, San Francisco. Here we discover Bethesda (a radiant L.A. Renigen of COLMA fame), newly arrived from Maryland and Manila, eager to succeed in the performance art world and hoping to find her birth mother, who abandoned her as a child. ("Will that help with your show?," someone asks.) Her new flatmates, various artists united by their rootlessness (I won't be here long, is the whisper that lingers in these walls), soon whisk our young Dorothy over the rainbow and into San Francisco's alcoholic nights and hungover days, all filled with (of course) song and dance. Crawling through bars gay and straight, the still-disoriented Bethesda finds herself saddled with quite a few new identities (fag hag, homo honey, fruit fly, hack, slut, etc), but none that she actually wants; she's got plenty of places to go, but still nowhere to be for long. Funded by CAAM, FRUIT FLY represents a new generation of Asian American filmmaking; its deceptively casual mash-up and embrace of ethnic and sexual identity politics is nuanced enough to fuel a masters' thesis, but one doesn't need a degree to understand what's going on. It's also textbook guerrilla filmmaking, a loud-and-proud, indie-Asian/gay hijacking of THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG that turns the Mission, the Castro and more into an all-singing, all-dancing whirl of performance artists, thwarted lovers, sneering sideliners, punk lesbians, fag hags, leather bears and versatile bottoms, all ready to join you, ever so tunefully, in whatever journey you're on. In Person: H.P. Mendoza, Richard Wong, L.A. Renigen -- Jason Sanders

On the American Apparel controversy, I support Chicken John and bash a Chonicle columnist C.W. Nevius

jacktrade — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 20:40:24 GMT

I just dropped a note to C.W. Nevius after reading his recent shameful column in the Sf Chronicle that decried the denial of the permit for American Apparel. Sir, A few thoughts on your recent column on Sat Feb 7, 2009 “ Mission residents reject American Apparel” http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/02/06/MN6M15P43V.DTL&tsp=1 Why should I be surprised that you refuse to consider the economic consequences of a chain store in a cultural area defined, created, and maintained by local merchants and residents? 200 people is actually not insignificant for a public meeting, but you mock that and the local wishes of a community. Merchants and other local businesses could not possibly compete on possible rent vs. a chain store or a multinational business. A crucial fact, which you gloss and omit from your column. I'm certain you will see this note to you as proof you are succeeding in building controversy in your campaign against value and service to your readers. In that light, you succeed in dimming the light in the room while cluttering the air with misdirects and confusion, while a real fire has just been extinguished by those braver, and more involved, then the expected role for a columnist of the local paper. They are the ones that should be lauded for caring about their local environs and neighbors and not mocked. A basic concept, which for odd reason seems to elude you. I suppose you prefer to take the low road towards easy entertainment and controversy and prefer avoid illuminating your readers with the issues and background of a very rich full story and its implications, as well as negative possible impact on the local residents and stores. Research is hard I hear in these days of Google. And even then, the sheen on your shoes could lose their luster if you left 5th and Mission and interviewed a few residents on the street, 10 blocks down. I hear the fare on the 14 Mission is up to $1.50, possibly more then your editors or expense account would allow. Such as shame that such a situation exists. It is noted that you seem firmly against local control, involvement, grass roots decision-making, if not the basis of democracy. Mocking John Renaldi with his nickname "Chicken", a not so serious mayoral candidate and a Mission resident, really was a low blow and quite ugly. Are you really so shallow? Or just play that role as an lazy and easy gimme to the powers that advertise with full page spreads in the paper? Another thought occurs. Why do you defend an outsider firm that takes value and money from San Francisco and ships it to LA, and instead attack the locals? Perhaps you are prepping for another role or job as a national editor, or maybe laying the ground work for a national magazine such as National Review that attacks the local and defends the powerful big scale interests. Maybe Cheney has a think tank you are applying for. Is that how you desire to be thought of? A toady for those that destroy what makes San Francisco and the Bay Area unique and fantastic? It is no wonder the Chronicle is so often seen as fishwrap with the value-free and mocking columns such as yours the latest example. Long ago as a kid, in the days of the Pink section and Herb Caen, I was a morning carrier for the Chronicle and had pride in the paper. Those days of pride in my locally produced media outlet are few and far between. Once again with your latest column, I am reminded of what a shift in values and quality the paper now represents. Sincerely, Kevin Mathieu

Benefit and party this Sat for Paul the Plumber . Just Go!

jacktrade — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 22:29:20 GMT

Benefit and party this Sat for Paul the Plumber . Just Go! Its at 984 Folsom St, Second Floor ( Fulsom and 6h st ) in San Francisco This Sat night I hope many of you guys can go. Paul is a great pal and great artist with his fun filled dynamic kinetic creations that are play in its purest essence as you pedal away at them. Many made for Cyclecide ( many of the brilliant bicycle rides we all enjoy at Cyclecide shows and parties) . You can check out his work here at : http://www.paulsrides.com/ His rails project alone is simply brilliant combination of exploration and relection. http://www.paulsrides.com/blog/rails-project/ The Lilly Pad and Lillies at Burning Man were a fantastic addition and was to me a key work that year. Other years Paul created and brought the Star Wheel . Simply the most fun and insane ride on the playa. The Rockaway video is unbelievable http://pauldaplumber.blip.tv/file/749767/ Paul in essence is an artist that inspires me. And for no other reason ( even if I wasn't lucky enough to be a pal of his) I will be there . Paul has been mentioend in the New York Times and been an awardee of the SF dump 3 month artist in residency among other things. But he still needs our support in this tough time. Besides Big Daddy benefit I'm actually not a benefit ho or pusher, I'm only mention benefits of my real pals that have come through for me in the past and I truly think are worthy of everyones support. See ya Saturday -kevin Many of you have experienced Paul Cesewski's superlative pedal-powered rides at Burning Man, the Maker Faire, and Cyclecide shows, Tour de Fat, Jim Macey's easter shindig, etc. He has made the most fun, most elegant, most brilliant human powered rides ever. **My fave Paul piece = Star Wheel... ABSOLUTELY WORTH WATCHING this tiny one-minute edit: http://blip.tv/file/749409/ Paul has rheumatoid arthritis, a degenerative condition that has rendered his right hand pretty immobilized. In fact, he's become left-handed over the past few years. Now he's totally way-laid from a recent surgery and isn't going to be able to work for months. Bring on the party, bring on the community, bring on the love, bring on the $ help. WHAT: Cyclecide is throwing a benefit party for Paul to help with medical bills. WHEN: This Saturday January 31st starting at 7pm and going until 11pm. WHERE: 984 Folsom St, Second Floor — the MonkeyBrains office space. **Donate even if you can't come. You can send donations to cash@paulsrides.com via paypal.

Kevin Mathieu's 40th Birthdays party this Sat in SF ! Come celebrate and create your sash of vie

jacktrade — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 23:51:43 GMT

Just in case you missed the invite via tribe's system See ya all Sat! -thx kevin Kevin Mathieu's 40th Birthdays party this Sat in SF ! Come celebrate and create your sash of vie I'm having my 40th birthday ( and party) in just one day. Saturday January 24th 2009. The party is at 9th & Fulsom at the gallery with the neon Jellyfish 2 doors down north east side of Fulsom 1286 Fulsom st, San Francisco, CA. 8 pm til late! I'll have a few dj's, a bar ( plus BYOB if you can), and the party goes from 8 pm to late. I could use a hand on a few things plus bartending so if you can help do let me know 415 640 3569. If you can kick down a few bucks at the door to help defray the rental that would rock! If not ( I know too many pals are job free don't sweat the door fee ( its optional)t and don't stop yourself form arriving). I'll even get you a couple of drinks for sure until we run out. This is after all a party and celebration I want you there. And I really, really want to see you. This past 15 months I've been missing a lot of people as other obligations have obscured and blocked me from what I enjoy most. And that for me is seeing friends and spending time with them making new experiences and art. So this is to make up for being absent and to reconnect with all. The party is about who I've met, known, experienced life with, loved and cared for. As well as what I and you hope to experience in the next 40 years. So to honor that concept everyone gets a sash with badges to show their own experiences and to mark at least one of those events where we have intersected and a few things they hope to experience or accomplish. This is my attempt to have everyone sorta slow down for a sec and go aha, "How did I get here?", and "how do I get there? ". I hope you can bring a few ( or a lot of ) things to add to your own sash. Buttons, stickers, badges, patches, small pictures (duplicates or ones you are OK with gluing on to your sash), or nearly any other small momento you can think of. From keys of current or former apartments, rings from lovers, keys from old lovers flats, ticket stubs from the Paris metro or maybe SF muni, pieces of unburnt xmas trees, playa dust, to you name it. But this is not just a sash of what you have experienced. It is a sash of what you hope to do an experience in the next 40 years. So add a toy plane if you want to earn to fly someday, or maybe a bit of paint cause you want to paint your place someday, or a headline from an exotic newspaper cause you want to read it in its native language in its far away home ( which is a twofer learn a foreign language and travel) . I'll have half a dozen glue guns ( if you got one, do bring it) and lots of glue sticks. Plus pins, sharpies, paper, safety pins, bailing wire, twine, etc to attach whatever you bring. I'll even have needle and thread for those so motivated. I'll have pre-made sashes of various colors and sizes with blank badges already on them. And a lot of sharpies. The sharpies are so you can fill in the blanks. I'll have 10+ blank badges on each sash. Which you can ink in you name, a number, location, name, person, or whatever. Everyone gets a sash and i just hope everyone will wear one and fill theirs in a bit or a lot. You could even make up your own sash in advance. So the 10 plus badge categories are (and I'll update this at my blog at :) http://people.tribe.net/jacktrade/blog/190def1b-0d80-44f0-a9e7-fa085a09e873 None of them are strict all of them are silly and I hope you will add more categories and email them to me, or make it on the fly at the party. How many schools you enrolled in ( its not degrees, and even school of life gets you a mark) Personally I've been at 2 elementary schools, one jr high school, two high schools, 4 community colleges, and one university. That makes 10 to mark on the badge! But I could count driving school, seminars, school of life, ranger training, and many other things. How many places you have lived. Ok so the DMV has one count, and I know I will fail to properly count for myself all the places I have lived. So I figure any place you have stayed more then a month, but its up to you. What group or solo art projects you have contributed to by attending or hands on creating? To me even attending really does count, since showing up is half the work. Write the name of the project, or maybe a number. Make a ton of badges here. For this you would have a badge for Burning Man, bicycling at critical mass, or maybe brought a tree to a Xmas Tree burn or took a picture there, and so on. For me this could be a lot of badges since art has been pretty hard core to my life experience to date. Burning Man and Black Rock trips. How many times have you been out to that place that has taken up 14 of my years in one way or another. How many states you have been to. Or maybe even flown over. How many countries have you been to? How many loves have you had? Who raised you counts too! How many vehicles have you owned? Cars, bicycles, skateboard all count. I can't wait to see the count from some of my Cyclecide buddies. How much stuff is in your pocket? Money or items. Empty that pocket or purse and lets everyone know how many objects you are carrying with you. Camping and or road trips ? How many or name some of your favorite ones. Music. How many concerts and /or favorite ones. Songs you can sing >? Name a song you can sing most of the way through. Instruments you can play. This is not a professional qualification. Drums count as one. BTW whatever you do, don't don't bring drums to this party. Not that I can think of anyone that would. Exception will be made for any Extra Action performer. Whats your favorite art to make? Whats your favorite artist? How many business cards have you had? Self made or printed for you. More dets: So bring a bottle to celebrate with, or drink from the cheap bar. It is late notice I know. Horribly late notice and I'm super sorry about that. Many locations have not come through and frankly I've been swamped with care taking of my Dad lately and freelancing new clients. Taking care of myself last is typical of me. So heres the plan. Friday night I'm having craft party someplace in SF ( to be defined, if I can pull it off) from 5 to 9 PM to make the badges and sashes . It is still a little uncertain if I can pull this detail off. Will send out an email on it later today or ring me at 415 640 3569 Agape for all! -kevin mathieu kevin@infoflow.com 415.640.3569 twitter: jacktrade

The 10 plus Birthday badges / categories to think about for my 40th birthday party

jacktrade — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 22:08:17 GMT

The party is this Saturday the 24th Starst 8 goes late. he party is at 9th & Fulsom at the gallery with the neon Jellyfish 2 doors down north east side of Fulsom 1286 Fulsom, San Francisco, CA So the 10 plus badge categories are : None of them are strict all of them are silly and I hope you will add more categories and email them to me, or make it on the fly at the party. How many schools you enrolled in ( it is not degrees, and even school of life gets you a mark) Personally I've been at 2 elementary schools, one jr high school, two high schools, 4 community colleges, and one university. That makes 10 to mark on the badge! But I could count driving school, seminars, school of life, ranger training, and many other things. How many places you have lived. Ok so the DMV has one count, and I know I will fail to properly count for myself all the places I have lived. So I figure any place you have stayed more then a month, but its up to you. What group or solo art projects you have contributed to by attending or hands on creating? To me even attending really does count, since showing up is half the work. Write the name of the project, or maybe a number. Make a ton of badges here. For this you would have a badge for Burning Man, bicycling at critical mass, or maybe brought a tree to a Xmas Tree burn or took a picture there, and so on. For me this could be a lot of badges since art has been pretty hard core to my life experience to date. Burning Man and Black Rock trips. How many times have you been out to that place that has taken up 14 of my years in one way or another. How many states you have been to. Or maybe even flown over. How many countries have you been to? How many loves have you had? Who raised you counts too! How many vehicles have you owned? Cars, bicycles, skateboard all count. I can't wait to see the count from some of my Cyclecide buddies. How much stuff is in your pocket? Money or items. Empty that pocket or purse and lets everyone know how many objects you are carrying with you. Camping and or road trips ? How many or name some of your favorite ones. Music. How many concerts and /or favorite ones. Songs you can sing >? Name a song you can sing most of the way through. Instruments you can play. This is not a professional qualification. Drums count as one. BTW whatever you do, don't don't bring drums to this party. Not that I can think of anyone that would. Exception will be made for any Extra Action performer. Whats your favorite art to make? Whats your favorite artist? How many business cards have you had? Self made or printed for you.

Roxio Says f-off to customers - the stealth upgrade for toast 9 to 10

jacktrade — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 17:58:10 GMT

So if you want to get screwed by Roxio be sure to purchase their products via a 3rd party. Roxio, who makes a DVD / CD Rom burning software called Toast, has just told all their customers and their channel to fuck off. It took me 3 phone calls, 4 notes on their customer service site, and one stop at Macworld to discover that Roxio really wants to screw everyone who bought the product in the last 30 days. The bottom line? I can upgrade for the next 2 days for just "$29.95" from Toast 9 to Toast 10. Such a big generous window. If by some miracle I had perfect information on the 5th, I actually had a 5 day window starting on Jan 5th when the toast 10 was announced. Considering none of this info is on their website, or described directly when asked directly via their customer support system, it would be difficult to have perfect information. Worse, the customer service site answer originally directed me to a different group that did not know about this policy and tried to upgrade me at full price. This is a layered scam. The 2 day window is what inside sales guy Adam just told me today on Jan 8th. I have 30 days from the original purchase date Dec 9th. The new version of Toast came out on Jan 5th. The tech support people have told me that I have a 60 day window. I'm going to attempt to get this upgrade on CD and skip the shipping costs when I go to Macworld, or call worse case pay for it in Friday by phone. This is for an electronic copy, so I am paying $30 bucks to subsidize their ftp servers. Toast 9 weighs in at 361 megs. Not a tiny download. And at that size and cost, I want a CD. The physical media shipped to me cost an extra $7.45, I'll pay for it without a doubt. So basically I pay $38 for an upgrade for software that is less then 30 days old. Or if you don't know about this stealth option you can pay $80 or $130 for the upgrade. Officially, if you do not follow the convoluted refund policy and receipt requirements then it is really $100 or $150. Or maybe if you call in to inside sales direct ( if you qualify within the 30 day window) , the premium copy toast 10 pro upgrade is $99. Plus shipping. Which includes Blue-Ray burning, a photo application called Lightzone ( don't need I have photoshop), a slideshow application ( don't need I have flash), Sonicfire ( a sound track application Not sure about this one but I do have a sound application just not sure if it is as good) , and a noise reduction app ( called soundsoap which is of iffy value to me) Now I can get the blueray burning as a plug in for just $20. Which I think makes sense down the road when I get a blueray burner. So I really don't need the "pro" version today. I just got an email from Roxio this AM offering this promotion. As well as on email on Jan 5 promoting the upgrade. So I am in their system. They did not send em an email saying that I could upgrade for $29.99 for the next 4 days. Where as their direct customers can upgrade for free. When I made a purchasing decision about this product I could not find out about this policy in advance. Is this the wave of the future? At the end of this post is my customer service notes/ record from the Roxio site requesting more information about this stealth upgrade policy. You can't find info on it anywhere on their web site. This all started when I asked at Roxio's booth at Macworld if there was an upgrade path. At the booth they told me that their was 30 day upgrade policy, without qualification. I plan to try and get an upgrade at their booth on Friday. The funny thing is that when you call inside sales to order the upgrade, one of the it says logon to the roxio site for an immediate solution. Having now made 1 stop at Macworld, and four postings on the customer service support ticket system, and now three phone calls I have a full answer and solution. But this is bullshit. I recall at a time when one could go to the vendors booth at Macworld, they could / would look you up their customer records ( or would call their home base to confirm I was a recent customer) , and just give you a copy of the software if you were due it. In this day of wi-fi and iphones why is this more difficult not easier? Why didn't I get the right answer and solution on the 1st contact? -kevin +++++++ WebTicket ( from me sent wed eve jan 7) 1/7/2009 I have a copy of toast 9. I received it around Dec 9th and registered it. I was told at the MacWorld booth that I should have received a copy of toast 10 for free since I purchase version 9 within the 30 days of toast 10. Supposedly I should have received an email notifying me of this policy. As far as I know I have not. I just updated my registration information with my physical address ( something that was missing til today) . I do not see a way or option to get the version 10 via the website. How do I get my free copy? And do I have to pay for shipping for the upgrade or can I somehow pick it up at MacWorld from the booth? If I go back to MacWorld. Thanks! kevin@infoflow.com kevin ================ srizzo ( from Roxio) 1/8/2009 Thank you for Contacting Roxio Technical Support Please call 1-800-656-5443 to discuss the matter with the Customer Service Department http://www.roxio.com/enu/company/contact.html Regards, Roxio Technical Support http://support.roxio.com ========= WebTicket ( from me this am Jan 8 before I called the sales phone # as directed) 1/8/2009 This is some what of a useless and non specific answer. I am not satisfied with this answer or the quality of this answer. What is the point of using this system if it just tells me to call customer service? It did not answer any of my questions. -kevin =========== WebTicket ( from me Jan 8th ) 1/8/2009 I have called the phone # I have just been told about and was not able to be helped. I was told that the phone # is only for online orders. I was told that I need to call 877-769-4601 m-f I am going that now =========================== WebTicket ( from me after I spoke to the tech support guy phone call # 2) 1/8/2009 I am happy with the phone technical support I just received. But unhappy with the policy I was told about. As well as that I am now required to make a 3rd phone call to get this resolved. I am really surprised by the stealth upgrade policy that penalizes customers for purchasing the product from 3rd parties such as Amazon. Apparently if I bought Toast directly from Roxio then I can get a free upgrade. But if I bought Toast from a 3rd party I have to pay $29.99. And I only have a 60 day window. This stinks and is unfair. All customers should be treated the same. No matter where they purchased your product. Note as one example that Adobe does not note where one purchased a product from them. If it is within 30 days one gets the upgrade for free. Shipped to the customer in a box. Since there is no documentation on your website about this stealth upgrade, or any of the previous phone calls, or customer help notes, or via customer service I now need to make a 3rd phone call. And this is only possible since I asked at Macworld. If I had not then I would be screwed out of the cheaper upgrading option entirely. Now I need to call inside sales at 877 697 6946 to ask for the chance to purchase version 10 at $29.99 for a download version. =================== The reply from tech support after I spoke to them sploppert 1/8/2009 Thank you for contacting Roxio Technical Support If you purchased the software form Roxio within 30 days of the release of a new version you would be able to request a full refund and then purchase the new version. If purchased from a third party vender within 60 days of the release you can upgrade to the new version for $29.99. If the information provided does not resolve your issue simply update your webticket with a detailed explanation with the steps you have tried and any error messages you receive. Regards, Roxio Technical Support http://www.roxio.com/enu/support Thank you for your comments and we appreciate the feedback =============== Just spoke to insides sales. The inside sales person told me officially I only have a 2 day window to purchase upgrade. Today and the 9th. Though if I ask nicely next week I can likely still upgrade at the low cost. That is pretty irritating. As well as in conflict with notes / policy from tech support and info from my talking with your people at Macworld expo. I fell lucky ( not) that I have made a contact at Macworld booth, four posts on this customer service site, and 3 phone calls to get to the "right" answer. I've dropped emails to david pogue of nytimes and daniel terdimen of cnet to let them know about your stealth upgrade policy and confusing customer service. I do hope you guys can get your act together and are not so confused, unclear, as well as unfair with your customers that purchased the product via 3rd parties. Hiding the upgrade options on your website, and sending out emails imploring me to upgrade at full price, when you could just as easily send an email to all customers registered in the last 30 days that lower cost ( or better free) upgrades would be a much better experience and build my trust and loyalty. Being able to get a copy of Toast 10 for free at the macworld booth, if your lookup records confirmed I was a legit customer from the last 30 days would really been a good solution as well. Thanks with hope that Roxio reexamines it upgrade policy, and notification program for its 30 day customers. -kevin

Benefit at Kal Spellitches for Big Daddy this Friday. You Must Go! You never ever regret it. Unless you don't go.

jacktrade — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 15:43:53 GMT

Should be a great old time with a great set of friends for a pal of mine, Big Daddy, whose knee injury has been plaguing him for a year and just took a real turn for the worse due to a cycle accident. If you have never been to Kal Spellitichs' shop this is an unique opportunity to see his works and a chance to play with them, and see a show or two. http://www.seemen.org/ Kal's shows at his shop have been pretty rare as of late as Europeans seem to be mobbing his time, so he has a whole new set of robots, kinetic sculptures, and interactive bits ( likely slightly to mildly dangerous ) that I just can't wait to see and experience. Lets all hope he breaks out the spinning fire shower / cage again. Many of you may not know Big Daddy but he is one of those few that set the SF scene with his presence, help, and auditory skills. If you have ever been to the Power Tool Races, Cyclecide event, the Life Size Mousetrap, or a million other events you have been influenced by his skills. He's a great benefit to all around whenever you see him, so lets all try and help him manage the basics of life and its expenses while he is down with this gnarly knee injury. For those that don't know Big Daddy is a stalwart at events in creation and helping from DJ'ing great mixes at various events such as the Power Tool Races, to setup with the Life Size Mousetrap, to being one of the bedrocks of what Cyclecide is http://www.cyclecide.com/, as well as linchpin in the ever amusing Los Banos, and actually a highly respected old timer ( which does crack me up) with that DPW thing. Beyond all that, by trade Big Daddy is a fantastic skilled carpenter, so this knee injury really has got him stuck and challenged for work. He has been an incredible help and source of knowledge for me in the past year as I've struggled to remodel my Grandma's house, which I am incredibly, incredibly thankful for. So if for no other reason, if you don't even know Big Daddy, or have a clue what Kal's fantastic works are, go and support because I ask you to. I promise you will not be disapointed. Thanks! -kevin From: Jason Broemmel <slouchcycles@yahoo.com> Date: January 5, 2009 10:22:12 PM PST To: core@cyclecide.com Subject: Big Daddy Fundraiser With The Seemen & Guests Howdy Many of you know my good friend Big Daddy. He's a stalwart of Cyclecide, Old Skool BRC-DPW, DJ Deep Fry, & he played the Lord Humungus in that local movie nobody ever saw. What was that called..? Anyhoo, while BD could not be considered a stupid person by any stretch of the imagination he did a Very Stupid Thing in the form of buying a motorcycle. While said motorcycle failed in it's primary mission of killing it's pilot, it did manage to tear all 4 ligaments in BD's right knee. It will probably only get the motorcycle Bronze Star from it's Demonic Overlords. As you probably guessed he has no insurance to cover the upcoming Major Surgery & needs a little help from his friends. Below is the info for the event from Kal. Hope to see you there this Friday 1-9-9 8pm-midnight. 1043 Marin St. SFCA. Tell some friends but please don't forward to any gigantic lists cause it's not that big of a space. Also don't miss the Cyclecide segment on MakeTV Saturday January 10th: KQED ch 9 at 8:00 am and then rebroadcast on KQED WORLD (Digital 9.3 & Comcast Cable 190) Sat 2pm & 7:30pm. I am hosting a fund raiser for my good friend Big Daddy. He was hurt in a terrible motorcycle accident and cannot work and, can hardly walk with crutches. So, time to pull from our resources. I will be operating my machines and robots, they are all interactive and well, fun! Pauldaplumber will also have some of his interactive pedal-powered amusement devices there. We will have tamales and BB-Q for sale and a bar. A how to get rich seminar and performance or 2 by MOSES and SPY, RAT-TAT-TOE, tic-tac-toe with....rats and, well, some secret surprises! Hope to see you all there, it is for a good cause since our taxes don't seem to go to helping injured people. all the best, kal Directions: From the freeways Cesar Chavez (Army St.) exit from 101 or I-280 North or South, take Cesar Chavez East, go about a mile from 101, 2 blocks from 280, go through intersection of 3rd St., immediate right onto Illinois St., go one block, building is kitty corner, on your right. Look for the red light, ya can't miss it. FROM DOWNTOWN Or, South on 3rd. Left on Cesar Chavez, immediate right onto Illinois St., go one block, building is kitty corner, on your right. Look for the red light, ya can't miss it. FROM THE MISSION Or, East on 16th street from Portrero St./the mission, take a right on 3rd., go south a couple of miles, Left on Cesar Chavez, immediate right onto Illinois St., go one block, building is kitty corner, on your right. Or, go East on Cesar Chavez FROM THE MISSION, go through intersection of 3rd St., take immediate right onto Illinois St., go one block, building is kitty corner, on your right.

Xmas Tree Burn images are up

jacktrade — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 22:21:34 GMT

http://www.flickr.com/photos/41894173601@N01/sets/72157612113273991/ Danger Ranger's 20th annual Yule Christmas Tree Recycling program in San Francisco. With a merit badge for the 1st time to those that brought a tree. The event is often held on the 1st Saturday of the new year. Great for for all ages. And the my chant to all those entering the beach of " No Flashes ( as in camera) , No Flashlights" worked out well to keep the crowd on the DL from the park police til it was too late. Or at least it gave the Park Police a chance to ignore us 1/2 mile from where they were stationed. Despite a few hundred dragging trees in plain sight across the Great Highway ( at the stop light) . This motto also added a sense of underground to the event. And, as an unexpected and unplanned bonus, kept the sometimes incessant and jabbering photography to a minimum pre-tree burn. This policy forced people to work on talking to each other and sharing in a old school away while building excitement instead of concentrating on documenting and working with their digital gadgets. Thats my theory at least.

Rental in Palo Alto Midtown 3 BR, 2 bath $3500

jacktrade — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 01:10:24 GMT

Last Friday I had to move my Dad to an assisted living house so it looks like I'm likely to rental out his place to help pay for it. The week before was pretty emotional which started with a weekend at Kaiser with my Dad, where he was staying for observation. I've got a ton still to do as far as sorting out all his stuff and putting it into storage by jan 1 as well as painting the place. I really hope NIMBY gets its new space. But the first step of letting people know the house is available for rent has started. I just posted some images up on flickr, and a posting on craigslist. So I am hopeful that folk would pass on the word to various company work email lists ( google, Facebook, Stanford, whatever) that they think may make sense. Below is the full dets for the place. I'm also looking for feedback on the write up. I kinda don't think it can get the full asking price that my brother insist on listing as, but better to start high then low. Believe me I think its insane what places around here rent for. There aren't any images of the living room and dining rooom or 2 of the bedrooms up yet since I've not yet cleared those rooms. I might might stay in Palo Alto to make it easier to take my Dad to various doctor appointments with one squishian currently insterested in being a potential housemate. Plus the job market is much better here then Richmond. Though I would actually really dislike to live in what I call Shallow Alto. That would also save me from sorting and moving the very full garage. Sadly, my brother lives in Paris and is zilch help right now, besides " how soon will you get it done" & " you deserve to be homeless or move to Tucson to live with mom" type comments. Yep, flesh and blood families can be painful. BTW he thinks all my friends are losers, but hey he works at Microsoft and his wife use to market Fen-Phen a drug yanked for killing people. Me, I consider myself lucky that I can count as pals innovative indy business people and artists, internationally recognized artists, marketers, caretakers, professors, programmers, scientists, writers, editors, publishers, sculptors, photographers, and multi-millionaires among others that are just great to share time with. Somehow those market rewarded ( via money and/or fame) people don't count with him and his wife. Not that I've had any time to look for work yet, and I still have to finish the Richmond house, either as a base to live in or for rent. JoyJoy. But I will be looking and networking I suspect real hard Mid-January. My work focus will be IT, usability design. graphic design, PR, or project management focused in the live events field. But who knows ? I know that I'm pretty damn flexible for work options. It's all about Taking Care of Business right now and my Dad's needs are priority one. I've already put my life on hold for a year to get the Richmond house done for my Dad so another 2 months is just what has to be done. Palo Alto is only viable for me to live in if I can find a roomate to kick down $1100 for the master bedroom (with its own bathroom) with me and the other housemate to kick down a combo $1600. Course since my freelance work has been slow or a part time job as well as spare time this could quickly be a challenge. But I'm pretty lucky despite this hassle, there are many others that are suffering far more then me in this market. I appreciate the opportunity to let all the stress out. thanks! -kevin The ad: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/apa/947907342.html This renovated 3 bedroom, two bathroom house is located in Palo Alto's Midtown on a cul-de-sac. The house is in the school districts of Ohlone elementary, JLS Middle, and Palo Alto High School. The house was extended and renovated extensively just a few ago with an open kitchen with granite counter tops and all top appliances: Dacor range, Jenn Air oven, Whirlpool Fridge, Built in GE Microwave, Kitchen Aid dishwasher, Franke sink, and Grohe fixture. Larger and more images of the house can be seen on flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/41894173601@N01/sets/72157610814266572/ The kitchen is open to the dining room. The bedrooms sizes are: Master Bedroom ( 10x15), center bedroom (10x9 ) , front bedroom (13.5 x 11) The two bathrooms have also been updated and renovated with new cabinets, sinks, tile floors, and new fixtures. The master bathroom for the master bedroom has dual sinks in an extended vanity, a Grohe shower, a fan, and tile floor. The center bath has a tub, exhaust fan, and tile floor. And for your comfort the house has a new central blower furnace system. The living room has a fireplace and built in real wood Scandinavian ( not IKEA) shelves, drawers and cabinets for display items, books, TV, and stereo. The backyard abuts the Ohlone elementary school field. The house has a 2 car garage. Backyard has space for gardening, grass to BBQ or play on, an apple, lemon, and an orange tree ( of a different varietal then the front yard orange tree). The front has a driveway for 2 cars and has a lemon and an orange tree. Nearby shopping and amenities just 6 blocks away include: Safeway, Longs Drugs, dry cleaning, shoe shop, Starbucks, and ethnic food such a Mexican, Thai, and American. Other nice neighborhood features include the skate park and soccer fields at Greer Park, The Winter Club skate rink ( the only outdoor skate rink in N. Cal), a bike bridge to the Palo Alto Baylands, and the Japanese Cultural center. The house has easy access to 101 and 280 via Oregon Expressway and Page Mill. More picture, notably the bedrooms and living room coming soon

See me at Dorkbot next week! Field trip report on Parkfield roadtrip to see PIEQF sculpture

jacktrade — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 02:38:12 GMT

I'll be giving a quick review and report of DV Rogers new work at Dorkbot next week and attempting to raise some money for him. DV gave a a talk at a previous Dorkbot and is currently breaking the work down but really could use some funds. So I offered to give a quick talk and hopefully raise some cash for him. Donation info below. So come on down and check it out during opendork ( the session right after the 1st three speakers) http://www.dorkbot.org/dorkbotsf/ time: 7:30pm Tuesday 25 November 2008 place: Retox Lounge 628 20th St @ 3rd San Francisco CA 94107 Below is a link for the images I took on the trip as well a shout out to who attended. It was simply one of the best roadtrips I have ever taken. Ever. And I didn't even have a girlfriend to go with or meet one, it was that great. -kevin A bunch of us made it down to Parkfield to see DV Rogers work PIEQF. http://pieqf.allshookup.org/ DV specifically thanked SRL as a whole in his closing speech and mentioned Geo Homsy, David Gessel, and Mark Pauline specifically among others. He also thanked Flaming Lotus Girls and various FLG members. Course both groups have a lot of cross over in people and spirit. I have various images and videos now online so you can get the experience without the 190 mile drive from SF. Though it is hella better in person. The next display of the work is planned for LA in 2010. http://www.flickr.com/photos/41894173601@N01/sets/72157609387351730/ Many of us met DV at RoboDock or via other SRL events and have been really struck what a nice guy he is as well as great to work with. SRL http://www.srl.org Geo Homsy, David Gessel, Peter Luka, Babalou, Michael Shiloh, and likely others I've missed of SRL were core in helping make the piece happen and assemble, as were many Flaming Lotus Girls such as Judy, Lynn Bryant, Charlie and Pouneh, and others. Other SRL crew or alumni that made it down and witnessed and helped a bit by doing so included: Carolyn Anhalt, Hazmatt Snyder, Michael Werner, Liam McNamara, Johnathan Foote, and myself. Other FLG folk that made it down included: Yasmin Mawaz-Khan, Jessica Hobbs, Rebecaa Anders, Jim Mason, Stella Rubenstein, Kezia Z, Mike Prados, Josh, Mills, and I bet a few others I missed. FLG http://www.flaminglotus.com If you know of someone else of FLG or SRL that helped let me know and I'll add them to the credits for the page I made on Flickr. I'm certain as D.V. tears down the work in the next few weeks he would love to see a few more faces on tear down. So if you have the time zip on down, its a gorgeous location and the burgers at the cafe can't be beat. Or if you have a few spare bucks send them his way (he is stretched past shoestring right now) via paypal ( if you desire a 501 c tax writeoff) at eilish@thelab.org you can also contact call/ text DV at USA Cell +1 415-298-4624 or paypal him direct dvr@allshookup.org Email is DV's first preference, then text messaging If you would like to donate US Dollars and receive a 501(c)(3) Tax Exemption Invoice Paypal to eilish@thelab.org and note in the subject: For DV Roger Or if you don't care about the tax write off send money direct to DV via Paypal dvr@allshookup.org For those old school send a check for 501c tax benefits to: The LAB/the.art.re.grup please note on the check for DV Roger 2948 16th Street San Francisco, CA, 94103 http://thelab.org Contact: Eilish Cullen eilish@thelab.org More info on the project at: http://pieqf.allshookup.org/

Ready to Roadtrip to Parkfield on Sat to see the artwork PIEQF?

jacktrade — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 02:08:45 GMT

Yep, its a unique opportunity to hang out in central California where Cowboys and Earthquakes meet. Bout 190 miles south of SF. I'm planning on driving down to Parkfield ( about 190 miles from SF) on Sat AM and have space for one more pal. Its the last weekend to see the phenomenal work. The weather is expected to be in the 70's. So perfect times for camping. The location even has a restaurant close by so you don't have to be hardcore about your camping. I know DV ( the creator of the Parkfield Interventional EQ Fieldwork ) from the RoboDock event in Amsterdam, he is a totally one of us. There should be a bunch of Shipyard, SRL, and other folk for this entertaining event so fun shouldbe happening. So if if thinking of getting out of town this is the thing to do. Its the last weekend to check out this cool kinetic sculpture work. Ring for more dets or a ride at 415 640 3569 I might might just drive down tonight to see the quake table trigger in the AM. And maybe have a daytrip to San Simeon / Hearst Castle in the AM. Or the James Dean Memorial http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/2791 or while on the coast go to The Nitt Witt building http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/12262 -kevin Sounds of Seismic: Where Earthquakes and Cowboys Meet (California) 31 views since posting on Wed, November 12, 2008 - 2:55 PM Date & Time: Saturday, November 15, 2008 - Sunday, November 16, 2008 3:00 PM Location: Parkfield, CA More Info: pieqf.allshookup.org The closing and final weekend of the performance earthwork: Parkfield Interventional EQ Fieldwork (PIEQF). Sounds of Seismic celebrates 91 days of continuous machine connectivity with the seismic landscape of California. ==================== pieqf.allshookup.org ==================== Machine translations by Dr Geo Homsy (SRL & LHPO) mixed with assorted seismic audio snips, shake rock, pop and hop, cowboys and cowgirls and Mr Cash. Earthquake Quartet performance by USGS Seismologist Andy Michael and guests at 12pm (Noon) Sunday 16th November. quake.usgs.gov/~michael/ Free RV Parking and Camping in Parkfield. Where is Parkfield? pieqf.allshookup.org/ Here are directions from San Francisco (BTW it is easy to find!) Head down the 101 taking the San Miguel (190 miles from SF) exit on your right, which is the Mission St exit. Head into San Miguel which is about 2 miles from turn off, then take a left turn at corner store (Parkfield Sign). Head out of San Miguel about 1 mile turn left after bridge then veer left immediately onto Indian Valley Rd, travelling for about 2 miles. Then veer right on Vinyard Canyon Rd following signs to Parkfield. Up the hill down the other side come to intersection turning right (Signposted) . You are still on Vinyard Canyon Rd, travel for 5 miles then you come to left hand turn at Bridge. Over the bridge and the San Andreas Fault then you are in Parkfield. PIEQF is between the fire station and the cafe. There is No cellphone reception once you leave San Miguel unless you are on the Verizon network. For more info write to D.V.Rogers at dvr@allshookup.org

Pranking a Wachovia billboard via the Billboard Liberation Front

jacktrade — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 20:20:23 GMT

Too funny the Billboard Liberation Front pulled off a nice prank last night. Its at Caesar Chavez and Mission. It looks like a prank on the whole banking bailout . I thought it was pretty damn funny driving back from the Mission Fri night. The billboard shows dollar bills on fire with the text "Watch your little ones burn" with the words "way2fail" and "Wachovia, a division of the US Treasury" I just got confirmation if was done by the Billboard Liberation Front, check website for more dets: for images. http://www.billboardliberation.com/ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 8, 2008 San Francisco, CA FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Intersection of Mission St. and Cesear Chavez, NE corner San Francisco Dear Shareholders and Clients, The Billboard Liberation Front has partnered with Wachovia to release a daring advertising campaign that celebrates Wachovia’s new money management strategy. This campaign emphasizes the silver lining in the economic storm front now threatening to swamp our economy as well as our individual fiscal inner tubes. “The calamitous decline in the value of all investments and the impending total collapse of the dollar will render the true value of the average savings account or investment portfolio roughly equal to a bucket of warm piss," noted Thomas J. Wurtz, CFO of Wachovia. Dr. John Silvia, Managing Director and Chief Economist noted: “After that golden shower we got from Golden West, we decided to fight fire with fire and start bailing for our clients and stockholders, mixed metaphors notwithstanding.” This dramatic revaluation of your money has created the opportunity for our team at Wachovia to offer a unique service to our stockholders and clients. “With what promises to be the coldest winter in years now commencing, we’ve instructed our staff in all 21 States that we have offices in to start bundling greenbacks into tight rolls, perfect for small stoves and furnaces,” said Robert K. Steel CEO and President. “We believe this is the soundest application of our clients’ money.” “’We’re in the money…. we’re in the money…’ they sang in the 1920’s. Maybe we should be singing ‘Burn, Baby, Burn’ in light of the modern era of fiscal management,” - BLF CEO Jack Napier. Rico T. Spoons added, “The true value of this new campaign will be reflected in the “heat” it generates for Wachovia’s clients.” That’s right, you no longer have to worry about your money. As a matter of fact, don’t bother worrying at all. The BLF (www.billboardliberation.com) has been improving outdoor advertising since 1977. Prior campaigns have included work for Exxon, R.J. Reynolds, and Apple Computers. Wachovia Corporation (NYSE: WB), based in Charlotte, North Carolina, is a diversified financial services holding company provided via its operating subsidiaries a broad range of banking, asset management, wealth management, and corporate and investment banking products and services. The Department of the Treasury is a Cabinet department and the treasury of the United States government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue. The Department is administered by the Secretary of the Treasury. Rico T. Spoons Director of Offense

A little Anti-McCain video from Tom Kennedy , Pass it on !

jacktrade — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 01:39:58 GMT

The Strange McCain video and song, Art Car and political street theater by Tom Kennedy http://tr.im/rra or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BIv8eTVL28 Its a great song to sing along for everyone voting this year. I just got the video accessible with the accompanying story on the website for Tom Kennedy's web site, so please pass this on to all lists you are on. Thanks! This should really should be seen today or Tuesday before voting on Election day. The lyrics for the song are at the bottom of the email. Blare it from your ipod or car! http://www.tomkennedyart.com As some may know, Tom Kennedy and Haideen Anderson traveled cross country to the RNC and DNC with his missile equipped art car, the Dr. Strange McCain. Performing satirical political street theater with the Missile Dick chicks all over the place. Enjoy the new song and video and pass it this url on to anyone you know planning to vote for McCain. Or looking for a laugh. Its art, it's political, and its educational. The video tells a complete story of the presidential candidate Senator McCain in a pretty humorous way. You can read more and see other images, and even download the song for your ipod at http://www.tomkennedyart.com Tom is internationally recognized for his moving sculptures commonly referred to as art cars and work at the Houston Orange Art Car Parade, as well as at Burning Man and elsewhere. Tom has received commissions from such personalities as Ben Cohen ( of Ben & Jerry's ice cream) and you can see a video endorsing Tom and his work at -kevin Dr Strange McCain: lyics by Tom Kennedy Not even born in the USA He was born in the canal zone He left his wife, and went for the money And gave the Bud girl his b**e Back in the day, he was a card carrying member Of a gang called the Keating Five Like Bob Dole, he likes that Viagra It keeps his love alive He's the one they call Dr. Strange-McCain He's got a Chinese chip in his brain He was shot down in Viet Nam He's gonna drop the atom bomb Campaign finance restrictions ignore He will swift boat you my friend Johnny's got it wired, the law's for hire He's got it made in the end Got a hundred lobbyists, doin' business all day Collecting money for his campaign Giving booze to the press It's a big fucking mess Johnny-boy's a real McCain He's the one they call Dr. Strange-McCain He's got a Chinese chip in his brain He was shot down in Viet Nam He's gonna drop the Atom bomb Why he's still alive I don't understand (Dr. Strange-McCain) He's not what you'd call a young man (Dr. Strange-McCain) When he gives a speech it's pretty lame (Dr. Strange-McCain) He's the one they call Dr. Strange-McCain! He'll tell you he's the one lone maverick Of the hallowed Senate halls He let Bush ***k him in the butt And a while back he lost his balls He's in bed with all the lobbyists They write new laws for him He's a big flip-flopper Shot down like the big bopper His bad temper's wearing thin He's the one they call Dr. Strange-McCain He's got a Chinese chip in his brain He was shot down in Viet Nam He's gonna drop the Atom bomb Let him send us into World War Three (Dr. Strange-McCain) Sarah Palin is a little empty (Dr. Strange-McCain) No bid contracts for the war machine (Dr. Strange-McCain) He's the one they call Dr. Strange-McCain! Why he's still alive I don't understand (Dr. Strange-McCain) He's not what you'd call a young man (Dr. Strange-McCain) When he gives a speech it's pretty lame (Dr. Strange-McCain) He's the one they call Dr. Strange-McCain! Vote for me if you understand (Dr. Strange-McCain) Islam-o-fascism - is my biggest scam (Dr. Strange-McCain) A few smart bombs - will relieve their pain(Dr. Strange-McCain) I'm the one they call Dr. Strange-McCain! http://www.tomkennedyart.com

Dismal party tonight in W. Oakland

jacktrade — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 04:02:14 GMT

Dismal party in W. Oaktown tonight. Has Kickass lineup including 5 Cent Coffee. Wear your Halloween getup, cheap too just $5 Full dets here with links to bands etc: http://tr.im/qdv I'll be there as a Picnic. Watch out for my picnic basket hat when chatting. It seems to keep bumping folk. -kevin

I saw the politicos back down on cutting Oakland art funding

jacktrade — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 07:39:55 GMT

I went to the meeting tonight. Tho I'm basically a Richmond resident. I ran into Suki O Kane, Spyral, Michael of the Crucible, and Mark Brest Van Kempen. NIMBY stickers were at the sign in table so it was getting represented. Councilmember Desley Brooks (Eastmont-Seminary) is one to watch and she has our back. A really sharp / bright woman and a politician, she made points on possible income streams that would negate the need for cuts . The room and galleries were over flowing with people. Above the City Hall stairs by the entrance was packed with another 150 people. Downstairs in the simulcast room another 40 watched. The fire marshall cleared the aisles of the council meeting room at one point. Most folk lobbying for the art funding, a few fighting the cuts in the seniors, and a few for the animal shelter. Also hit. It was take down the disenfranchised night. Dogs and cats and the youth don't vote. Seniors are weak and not so organized. The publ'ic had a chance to speak and 180 spots were available at a minute a piece. Some gave their minutes to others that they felt better at representing. Crucible supporters kicked down 7 minutes for his speech. The Oakland Black Cowboy's Association did something similar. The finest moment was a demonstration of a Chinese string instrument by a teenager. Composed, poised, gorgeous. A complete direct action bit of art that choked me up and moved the room. The most powerful line from the public was from a Latina of an East Oakland art program" The kids are dying. Dying. Dying" . That raised a chorus of cheers amd shouts. There was even a real Oaktown Raider Football player. But he was lobbying for the animal shelter. Maybe art is too dangerous to be associated with. When his time went over the one minute the buzzer didn't blare, so I suppose being a Raider counts for something in the City. Kudos for him for participating in the process. Mark spoke ( or at least had a spot to speak) but somehow I didn't catch him. At one point the galleries above started emptying. I went up there and realized there were people just standing and watching the tube in front of the chambers and downstairs. Voters, citizens, artists, and activist that should be filling those seats. So I went out and put the word out. Seats should be filled. " if you want to make a difference go fill those seats" I told the crowd . People got up from their seats at the the downstairs spill over room and walked up three flights of stairs to get an in person look and grab a seat. Many of those empty seats then filled up. I wanted the council members to know there were more coming in and people were there watching them. I was so happy to see that happen. That, besides showing up, was my little nudge and help. Post event ( I wasn't up to more then 3 hours ) I stopped into a local bar, ran briefly into a pal, then drove over to 8th and Peralta to a new place for a slice. Dinner was skipped due to politics. I didn't find the place, but I did pass ACME ( the home of the Dept of Spontaneous Combustion) . Where the Tues night art demo / work party was going on ( I had totally forgotten it was a Tues) . So I stopped in and caught up with some pals. That was really nice. Not sure yet of the final vote. but the show of force and emails I really stopped the council members and made them reconsider and changed their plan to cut the 4 million from art funding. Not sure yet how much. But I know something happened in the past week that really screwed with their plans. That something was people , like you and me. . So good for all of you that stopped for a moment and sent a note. Heads up NIMBY fundraiser will be on Oct 31 st at ACME. So lock down you calendar and save $10 for this party. We all need to kick down and keep art and our spaces alive.

Kitchen primed for painting!

jacktrade — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 07:29:13 GMT

Looks like progress is visible. At midnight I finished priming the walls and ceiling above the cabinet area ( more then 2/3rds of the kitchen) . If fate smiles I might be able to start the cabinet install process on Wed. The drywall mud and tape workers has been a bizarre odyssey of sometimes here, sometimes not. Needless to say, after letting loose on him after he took mud building materials with him today I think he may be getting with the program. But I know I'm pretty sure I've made two bad hires in a row for mudders. I guess I've been much more careful and less burnt out on all other hires. A lesson learned. So happy to finally actually be painting. Now to drive down to shallow alto to take Dad to a Kaiser eye exam in the AM. Hopefully eye surgery is a possibility . Improving his vision would really magnify his quality of life ( and mine). Fingers crossed. Still so much to do on the house. Mudding might, might be done by Monday. Then it's time to go crazy with the painting. Hopefully will be able to do some priming in other rooms this weekend. The shot really shows I need to get another layer on the left. But not up to it tonight. -kevin

Need Tape and Mud pros for drywall gig

jacktrade — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 23:11:41 GMT

Any suggestions out there? kevin

Finally passed the rough plumbing test! Brunch and BBQ Oct 12th

jacktrade — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 18:17:53 GMT

This is has been such an ordeal. Basically learning how to to replumb the entire house has sucked in a major way. Rewiring the entire house took forever as well. Half the issue was what was to code and OK in 1957 isn't legit or allowed in 2008. So I could not just copy the old pattern . I've had the inspector over three times. Each time it has been a different little ( or not) detail to fix. The original issue was a new sewer line to the street. That set me back $2 K and a bunch of time. Then it was a leak in the untouched steel piping. Then it was a go around was the requirement for hard plastic plastic supports, not straps. News to me. A minor thing but another delay. You can't cover the pipes with drywall since they have to visually check for leaks. Supposedly. The funny thing is that he didn't really even have me run the water through the drain pipes or have me fill the system as a test on this most recent go. Whatever, I'll do this on my own later today ( after the silicone is really cured on a few rubber fittings) just as proof to myself. I've easily spent $150 on rubber caps and assorted plugs and rubber baloons for the test. I want them to go to use, and can't return them anywho. When I drained the system after my last pre-inspection self test I put down tar paper on the subfloor dirt. So if the piping leaked ( or when I drained the system), the floor would not be muddy. But then I realized that I should have put tar paper on the dirt long ago. Scrambling and crawling around on tar paper beats dusty dirt everyday. I am so done with crawling under the house for ethernet, copper and drain plumbing, and wiring. So done with that. Now I can put up the drywall, mud and drywall ( with Jerricho Reese's help), make then pass the shower pan test, paint the bathrooms, put in the toilets, then repaint the rest of the house, install the switches, outlets and lights, tile the shower and bath, add the shower and tub fittings, install the fan vent for the kitchen range, install cabinets for the kitchen, install sink, connect the final plumbing, install the new kitchen floor, install the countertops, install on window treatments, repaint garage door, trench the uphill exterior wall for drainage ( did not know this in advance either) , put in drain pipe around the house, add 3/4 rock for the drainage, bend the sheet metal for the new gutters, install new gutters. Throw a loadie brunch and BBQ here in Richmond just up the street from Contra Costa College and down the hill from the fabo ( not ) Hilltop shopping mall, OK so the Brunch and BBQ date plan is Sunday Oct 12th More dets later on. I got a few things to get started on. -kevin

Ze latest on the Richmond House

jacktrade — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 01:24:04 GMT

I've started keeping a parallel blog at infoflow.com. http://www.infoflow.com/blog You can contact me via kevin@infoflow.com Inspection day! The image did not load on tribe so check this out: http://www.infoflow.com/replaceplumbing.jpg Could not seal the plumbing outside the house last night so the plumbing inspection saw the Fail Whale. But I did get sign off of a sorts on the insulation for the rooms. So I can start drywalling and mudding those rooms. Which is the positive. More importantly the way I did the plumbing ( if it does not leak) is OK. So I do not have to change any of it. I was really really worried about the lack of clean-outs in the bathroom line at the end of the lines. But without enough elevation I was kinda screwed. I can't not even stress on how much of a stress this drain plumbing has been. So a stupid little piece of Big Daddy’s stapler is missing. So I can’t use it to tack on the plastic over the insulation. I spent 15 minutes trying to figure out the stupid thing, plus calling tech support before I discovered that it did not work cause I was missing a little piece of the stapler. Last night super sucked. I drove up from Palo Alto with my Dad in the hopes he would be able to help me watch the filling of the drain, waste, and vent plumbing with water. HIs vision is way too poor so that did not work. The traffic was totally screwed and it took 2 hours to drive up (normally a 45 minute deal) , and we were not able to pick up the insulation from Truitt-White in Berkeley. They close at 4:30 pm, we drove past that exit at 4:40 pm. So could not finish the insulation in time for the inspection on Friday afternoon. As it was the ceiling insulation is suppose to be R-30. The bundle I picked up is R-13. Less then half the value it is suppose to be. So I have to double up the stuff that I do have.I may have to buy yet more insulation. So the big challenge of this project. The plumbing. I got everything set, which took 45 minutes. This involved putting on the rubber caps, double checking all the straps for the pipping, putting on the thread tape for the clean outs, and so on. The garden hose had a sprayer on the end. I planned on filling the piping with the hose just hanging in one of the vent pipes. Holding on to a sprayer wide open for 2 hours as the system filled would not do. But the frackin sprayer would not loosen from the hose. So that had to be cut off. At the time the hose was on a nice rolling cart, all wound up on a spool. Naturally the short hose that ran from the cart to the source was crimped and was not pushing water to the hose around the cart. So I had to unwind the entire length of hose, unscrew it from the cart tap, then unscrew the shorties from the tap, and replace it with the full length hose. Another little irritation. Finally I start filling the system. I had forgotten to keep a close eye on the front of the house. Big frackin ooopsie. In front of the house are two pipes that connect down to the sewer line that goes to the street. The 1st one has a pop cap. Which is a plastic cap that is suppose to pop off in case the water gets backed up from the sewer line. Something that is very very unlikely since my house is on a hill. After the pop cap pipe is the clean out and reverse flow preventitive valve. This acts as the primary safety for water and nasty sewage backing from the street line. It think, think it may also stop rats or mice entering from the sewer line as well, but not certain. So the plan was put a big rubber cap on top of the 1st pipe ( on top of the plastic pop cap) , and put a inflatable plumber’s ballon on the 2nd to stop the water flow. Getting the rubber cap on really tight and secure on the 1st pipe was a challenge, since the concrete above it was in the way of tightening down worm screw on the rubber cap. The rubber cap has a metal band tightened by a worm screw. Beyond that I really was pushing it cause the plastic pop cap was in place via a big rubber fitting. I was under the impression the plastic pop cap was on correctly and tight. It wasn’t. So the entire plastic pop cap unit when pushed by the backed up water and my rubber cap came off. That water then drained into the subarea under the kitchen where I had dug out a trench for the new sewer pipe line fitting conecting to the kitchen sewer line . Filling it with water. I was soo pissed and frustrated. I called up Joe Farrrel to bitch and ask for help. Joe had installed the sewer line and I had told him I would be testing it. On the phone he had forgotten that fact. Even though both I and his foreman had told him. He has offered to help, we will see. I ended up draining the water under the house by loosing all the rubber fittings under the kitchen. Which was a very muddy job and at the point in the semi-dark. I had to scoop out 2 gallons on loose mud from the pit, and hand scoop the water into the sewer line. I pray that the rubber fittings will tighten back up not that they are covered in mud from the backed up water.

Soon renting the house in Richmond

jacktrade — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 11:18:22 GMT

So I've dropped out of life for the past 9 months learning how to remodel what was my Grandma's house in Richmond. I think I could do it next time in three months or less, maybe 2. I've been worried seeing that Lee Gilmore is having a tough time renting her house in Oakland. All this time I've had plans to rent the house out so my Dad has a revenue stream again for retirement. But discovered today that foreclosures in my area have gone up 301% in my zip code in the past year. The 7th highest in the greater bay area, and the highest in the near east bay. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?o=1&f=/c/a/2008/07/23/MNE511T63B.DTL So either its an opportunity to rent in the area, or it means I have 337 houses in my zip code that potentially are for rent. So who wants be my housemate just above Contra Costa college in the Richmond/ San Pablo area? Also known as College Terrace, or Hilltop. There is a great asian super market nearby, and I know all the best BBQ and taqueria places. Not that I'm really expecting any takers. I know I've seen a few houses that are abandoned and empty down the hill. In fact, a few houses in my zip go for $110 K. Some in the mid 400 K area. This house is in the $250 to $400 K area ( well use to be in that bracket). Of course, if my Dad had the money we would have hired a contractor, and had it done much much quicker. But at the start I thought well its just a rotted shower to replace .... Not realizing: A new electrical panel was required since remodeling the bathrooms meant two more panel slots for breakers. Two more slots then the original panel had. And "updating" the 1957 wheelchair height kitchen meant many more breaker slots required. Updating the panel directly lead to installing all new and additional wiring in the house and exterior. Termites had rotted out the subflooring in the kitchen and bathroom. So that needed replacement. Workers comp insurance would need to be paid in for about $800. Termites would have to be sprayed for about $1400. All the drywall in the bathooms would have to be replaced. Updating kitchen meant running gas line extensions by a plumber ( can't do it yourself in Richmond) for $1300 Cutting into the galvanized plumbing around the shower ( to replace the wood framing), meant that plumbing had to come up to code Which meant a new vent stack to the roof and changing nearly all of it to ABS. Gluing ABS together is easy. Hard is getting all the correct elbows, t's, clean outs, angles, measurements, vent heights, and much much more. I also discovered the copper supply piping, which had some galvanized sections was kinda rusting away/ becoming blocked. So the end sections required to be cut out and replaced. From the garage to the bathrooms. Luckily I discovered the Viega ProPress system and was able to replace all the fittings for $300 in tool rental, plus $500 in parts, straps, and tools. If I had two solid dedicated days, tool rental would have been $80. Todays' a $4,000 surprise came at the end of the electrical inspection. Super out of the blue. I had guessed the lateral sewer line was likely not in the best shape from the house to the street, but thought I might be able to deal with it another year Nope. Sewer districts require an inspection at minimum if your pipes to the sewer are 20 years or more old when remodeling (as of April this year). Mine are 51. Luckily the sewer district will kick down $2000 towards replacement. My neighbor just had lateral line redone two weeks ago. Which is part of why I dug under the foundation to assess the pipe. Post electrical inspection, I started asking about how the rough plumbing inspection / testing worked, and specifically described the sewer line cause I did not know how to test it for inspection. This after doing alot of research on this issue, but all my books and the web failed me. Here is why. When you replace the drain plumbing or change it, you need to test it with either pipes full of water ( all the way to the roof vent lines) , or a certain amount of air pressure. Which means you have to cap the pipes at all openings in the case of air or water . Including the drain line out. Most houses built in the last 20 years have a clean out / access point in the drain going to the street in front of the house so you can block the line for such testing. This house is too old and doesn't. And no where in all my plumbing books was this stated that an exterior cleanout is the modern practice. I didn't know about this "feature" and was stumped on how to test since I could not block the line forward of the kitchen sink. This is where the inspector gently let me know that I also required a sewer inspection / sign off from the sewer district as part of the remodel process. The district then told me today it is nearly guaranteed I will not pass a video inspection, when it happens in the next few days. This eve I found out that 4 of the neighbors on the street have had new lines put in due to collapsed pipes ( the original ones are clay ). How the hell did the romans get their pipes to last 2000 years? This is a project to do it for the minimum outlay, but still do it the right way. I'll admit I'm making the remodel good enough for me to be happy to move in. And we have saved enormous amount of money ( while also losing out on rental money). I've been really lucky to have Big Daddy as a steady worker and knowledge source on this project. Course besides light living expenses and a car repair my Dad isn't really paying me for 9 months of time and endless stress to get this done on minimal budget. Just a kitchen remodel estimate for cabinets installed is $18,000 I think I'll do the kitchen with Big Daddy's help for half with plumbing and electrical included. Everything (flooring, tiling, framing, fans, plumbing, electrical, gas) for around 20 k including some replacement appliances ( used). At the start I didn't have any knowledge of code, as in electrical, plumbing, structure, mechanical, etc. I do now and will advise anyone else on when you have a remodel, as well as what books to use. I now am getting closer to renting the place out. But uncertain if I will be able to in this neighborhood and market. Its actually a pretty safe area. We just passed the rough electrical inspection today. So its a big day. Next is insulation inspection. Then plumbing, carpentry, mechanical ( the vents and fans) then drywall, painting, then final inspections on it all. So a BBQ I hope in mid August to celebrate. I'm certain selling the house anytime soon ( which isn't expected) is not an option in this market. Worse case I'm moving my Dad up here and renting out his house in Palo Alto. Moving him and stuff will not be fun. That house only needs painting and yard work thank god. Medium case I'm moving here and getting housemates. Maybe burning man type co-ed's from Contra Costa College a block away ;-) Best case I finish, find great tenants, find solid great paying work and can afford to move back to SF

Buy a Raffle ticket for the Sunday Todd Blair Benefit!

jacktrade — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 23:36:58 GMT

I have a few of the raffle tickets for the Todd Blair Benefit on Sunday at Rhythmix. I hopeful to test and see if I can raise $300 from the 300 plus folk I know on tribe for Todd. It's easy to help and only costs a buck. Todd is a pal of mine from SRL that was badly hurt post show when attempting to safety the set and prevent it from falling on the public. ROBODOCK, the shows sponsor, isn't holding up to their end of the bargain for insurance so Todd really need money for surgery and therapy to recover from his traumatic brain injury. Which will tkae years. For those that don't know Todd he was professor at CCAC ( CCA), and has been fundamental in teaching so many mechanical and kinetic arts. If you can just kick down a dollar ( but really I know you can kick down $5) , or ten bucks to a super great cause that would be most appreciated. I've got a bunch of raffle tickets for sale. You do not have to be present to win. I'll even deliver your winig prize to you in the SF Bay Area. If you can do this paypal me at kevin@infoflow.com. I'll be posting your name and ticket # or set of ticket #' on this blog. plus emailing you direct the ticket info. The raffle has some pretty cool art and services available from neon from John Law, furniture from Jon S, and tons more. http://toddnow.org/ And do come on out on Sunday July 19th to the afternoon benefit. From 3 pm to 8 pm at Rhythmix in Alameda http://www.rhythmix.org. thanks! kevin

KQED 88.5 story today on the Crank Ensemble

jacktrade — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 20:24:53 GMT

KQED FM 88.5 will broadcast a story on the Crank Ensemble at 4:30, 6:30 and 11 pm today, and then be archived on the site - with pics! http://www.californiareport.org/ This is also broadcast up and down California in other media markets. Check ca report website for showtimes and frequencies. Yea! kevin

Warning: Catalytic Converter theft on trucks at Crucible / Fire Arts Fest, 2 new works to check out at fest

jacktrade — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 09:13:22 GMT

Ballistic Bob had his catalytic converter hacked off ( likely a 2 minute sawsaz job) tonight at the Fire Arts Fest. With all the noise of the event I'm sure no one heard anything. This also happened 2 weeks ago to Kent Cates and his truck, parked just down the street from the Crucible. A replacement one will cost him between $600 and $1500. Hopefully his insurance will cover. And ironically he was going to get his truck smogged on Thursday. So I would suggest if you go to park your truck, suv, or other high vehicle in either the secure paid parking, or far away elsewhere and take BART in. Or weld some plates around your cat. Bob's truck was just on the other side of the street from the event, not 60 feet from the performers entrance, where there was lots of foot traffic and you would think your vehicle is safe. Not that he knew about the other theft. Sadly the security folk walking the perimeter of the event are not a deterrent. Anyone that does go to the Crucible for classes or other events should keep this in mind as well. My pick of the event is Justin's new tracked jet propelled robot (not yet on display), and the cuckoo clock of Paul Cesewski. The clock only plays on the hour but is the silliest and funnest flame contraption I've ever seen. Really loved it. If you don't make it to this overly expensive event ( though there were lots of volunteer positions I'll admit) watch the video: http://www.flickr.com/photos/41894173601@N01/2655466038/ If you do go, try not to watch the video, in person it has so much more impact. And watching the video will spoil it. Other new works I liked ( but don't pick since I know you can't miss them) include an upside down Tesla coil, an elegant flame organ thats sounds really good, as well as a new pieces from The Dept of Spontaneous Combustion. Who just keep cranking nice new pieces out. -kevin