If you’re only in it for yourself, you’ll find that the system doesn’t work. Put pride and value in people, and let’s put them back to work making this country great again.

At the Occupy Olympia Protest

So, Occupy Olympia is in full force, and the protesters have setup a pretty good (if sparsely populated) test city after Day 2 of moving to Heritage Park on the Capitol Campus. They need to increase the amount of compelling activities, like speakers, or a band, or maybe some kind of forum event.

I liked this sign the best, as it seems to embody the mood of the movement. I fully support this sentiment, however, and am not mocking the humorous statement, I fully support it.

Will go back down tonight to see if they’ve livened things up yet, as last night was also pretty quiet.

Damien’s Installation – dec 2008, originally uploaded by theunabonger.

Me, Will Tobin and Jon Anderson

Spotted Friday morning near 5th and Franklin. There were two of them near the Capitol Theater, maybe they were eating breakfast at Darby’s

Past Thurston-Mason Shrine Club President – 1974 Don “Hack” Haskins

Seriously?? Abhorrent. #nuffsaid

Grabbing some Zucchini and Organic Potatoes, as well as some Pakora before finishing my banking.

Attend now Brothers, the 4th Degree

My New Vice, originally uploaded by theunabonger.

So I’ve started this new craving kick. I’m buying the cheapest vodka I can, and filtering it through a Brita Pitcher. I’m chasing the refrigerated Vodka with pickle juice. Sometimes I substitute pickle juice from jalapeños or pepperoncini for extra kick.

]]> http://condo.wordpress.com/2011/09/12/cheesy-tots/feed/ 0 condo http://condo.wordpress.com/2010/11/12/masonic-visitation-in-the-bahamas/ http://condo.wordpress.com/2010/11/12/masonic-visitation-in-the-bahamas/#comments Fri, 12 Nov 2010 18:09:53 +0000 Jacob Stewart http://condo.wordpress.com/?p=186 ]]> From the article “A Night to Remember” regarding the Installation of Ken Aranha to Master of Providence Lodge 928, Irish Constitution, in Nassau Bahamas, which I attended.

“Providence Lodge had a wonderful Installation night in April 2010. The new Master, W Bro Ken Aranha, was joined on his installation night by the Provincial Grand Master, the Provincial Deputy Grand Master, the Grand Secretary as well the Provincial Grand Inspector for the Lodge. Among his guests were several Brethren from Bermuda, a Brother from Washinton state in the USA and representatives form the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of the Bahamas.”

Me at the Festive Board

{Click to read more}

I like the new Netflix steaming iPhone app for the following reasons. Although I’ve had a slingbox for years, I didn’t want to try and go through the trouble to make it work with my Roku, as it has been handy at giving me access to my still functioning Replay-TV unit (serendipitous Andrew Wood connection un-intentional.)

The app is easy to use, and performs quite well on my old 3G running 3.1.3 iPhone OS. I think they might use a seperate group of servers for the iPhone (ipad) clients, because it is sometimes slow to respond when listing shows.

Quality is higher than expected, so commence the custom of watching movies and tv shows in the bathroom when engaged. (I told you that you didn’t want to know.)

Peace

Courtesy of the work of my fabulous stylist Eric Pollard at Olympia’s
Jamie Lee and Company.

Checking out the Halloween masks at JoAnne Fabrics (Formerly Ben Franklin) in West Olympia, I noticed that there were no John McCain masks, although they had both Hillary and GW Bush, in addition to Barack Obama…. How odd.

The Iterasi Gnomedex Magic Bus, in Four Video Acts

In the afternoon on day 1 of Gnomedex 8, Alex Williams had Chris Pirillo announce that the Iterasi “Magic Bus” was going to make a quick tour to an art gallery in North Seattle where KK had purchased a work of art from a friend of his that was on display, and he was going to pick it up. It turned into one of the best side-trips at Gnomedex, and was Legendary in it’s scope.

On the bus, we had bloggers (1,2,3), podcasters (1,2,3), photographers (1,2,3), writers (1,2,3), bon-vivants (1,2,3), hippies, and even a Cyborg Anthropologist!

KK took this advantage to take some pictures. *check these out*

So a really big thanks to Chris and Ponzi Pirillo, who run Lockergnome, which is the host of this spectacular, unsurpassingly enjoyable tech event!!!

See you *all* next year, and thanks for all the fish!!

If you were on the bus, and want a link above, leave a comment, I’ll add it! I enjoyed hanging out with each and every one of you!

In true “Apple Weirdo Fashion”, the store was crowded with all sorts of strange folks, from grandmothers trying to get their 3G iPhones activated, to the goth dude sprawled on the floor with MacBook plugged into an A/C outlet meant for a display unit. I sidled up to the “Genius Bar”, and saw my name listed as number three on the list of iPod/iPhone appointments on the rotating flat screen, which alternatively displayed iTunes and Mac OS tips as well as flashy logos.

Since the only problem with my phone is the flat connector on the bottom came wonky from the factory, and when plugged into the dock or A/V composite cable, there is no “Right” audio channel, I sat and took pictures and compared location finding accuracy with a guy who had his 3G iPhone replaced due to a broken glass screen; (he also had a wicked case of big toe rot which should have been covered out of courtesy instead of ‘on display’ in his Birkenstocks.)

After waiting patiently (well past my 11:45 appointment, they finally call my name. I naively think that this means that they will just need to verify (duplicate) the problem and I’ll be out the door with a sharply boxed replacement.

Well, the first part was true enough, I explained the problem, my assigned genius “Larry” (who did a fine job), took the phone behind the hidden post-modern steel door, and came back out a few minutes later.

He says, “yeah, I’ll authorize a replacement,” .. it seems you just bought the 16gb (first generation) iPhone in March (to replace one that took a dive into my toilet while I was watching the Snoopy Easter Special,) *”but I’m afraid I don’t have any in stock.”* hello?

Great, the guy at AT&T/Apple iCare (?) basically lied to me, and now I’ve got to make another 130 mile round-trip to pick it up, whenever it arrives. Whatever, it would have been too good to be true anyway, if they had just replaced it right?

So to add insult to Apple’s injurious indifference, I get a call at 5:00pm tonight. “hi, I’m calling from the apple store, and you replacement iPhone is ready to pickup!” Ugh!

Do I drive back up tonight (probably), or wait until tomorrow when I’m bound to be über busy.

I still wanna kick Steve Jobs in nuts! Any volunteers want to help me form “The Committee to Pie Steve Jobs” ?

Besides acting as treasurer for the Shrine Club Burger Wagon for Capitol Lakefair 2008, I also took over the books for my Condo association.

Next week, I’ll be Amazon EC2 boy, getting our Hosted Drupal and WordPress AMI’s ready for easy provisioning.

Productivity! FTW!

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]]> http://condo.wordpress.com/2008/06/07/tune-stranglers-at-olympia-farmers-market/feed/ 0 condo utterz-image reply-count http://condo.wordpress.com/2008/05/30/gaelica-performs-for-rocky-prairie-at-olympia-farmers-market/ http://condo.wordpress.com/2008/05/30/gaelica-performs-for-rocky-prairie-at-olympia-farmers-market/#comments Sat, 31 May 2008 06:37:29 +0000 Jacob Stewart http://condo.wordpress.com/?p=126 ]]>

Whilst stopping to pickup some smoked king salmon from Sea Blossom Seafoods I caught this diggity performance of Gaelica playing a song to benefit the Rocky Prairie south of Olympia.

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Chaired by State Democratic Party Chairman Dwight Pelz

Speaking for Brian Baird: Paul Berendt

Cheryl Crist, Speaking for herself.

I dissolved any ties I had (albeit loose ones) with the Washington State Republicans back in the late 1980s.  An Evangelical Christian faction had basically taken over the party, and I could not stomach seeing the likes of the people who were rising to become leadership in the Legislature.  I was revolted and turned off by them, in comparison to the Libertarian ideals which had drawn me, along with the cushy patronage jobs I kept secured by illegally campaigning for the state Republican Party.  The illegal campaigning was all been done with orders from my boss in the House Republican Caucus Communications office, Leslie MacMillan, and the blessings of the House R Caucus Executive, and “sin industry” lobbyist Vito Chiechi, under the direction of none other than Jennifer Dunn, who later became one of our U.S. Senators.  “Both sides do it, it’s okay, we’ll protect your jobs, just fill out these sick-day forms, and we’ll turn them in if the other side asks us why you’re missing” is what we were all told.  From this experience, I feel I learned a lot about how people cut corners to get ahead, and why they should never do that when it comes to politics and their responsibilities in the public arena.

Alas, I’m older now, (and much more principled, I think) and feel I have to do something now to change the direction in which our country is headed.  I was against the War in 2003, and I’m even more against it now.  In fact, I’m against using war, weapons, and violence as a means to solve any economic, social or political disagreement, and I vow never to participate in such foolishness, but instead to help those who may be hurt in our community by such actions. (To some, this is a subversive statement, go figure.)

So tomorrow I travel to Napavine, to cast my vote as Precinct Committee Officer for my district as the Democrats try to re-assert control over who runs on their party ticket following repeated findings by courts that the primary process in Washington is unconstitutional.  I will vote for Cheryl Crist.  I don’t do it with glee, as I like Brian Baird well enough, I’ve communicated with him, and given advice on Telecommunications issues that affect consumers, and overall he’s done a decent job.  However, he abdicated his responsibility as a Congressman under the constitution to declare war, and instead gave president Bush a blank check, and more war powers to the Presidency.  He still feels we need to stay in Iraq, and that is too troubling to me to not do something to remove him from office.

Tags: olympia, washington, baird, congress, democrats, caucus, nomination, crist, peace, anti-war, republicans

Stop watching Springer, put down the remote and read a goddamn book, you foolish foolish sheeple!

God help us if we elect that crazyman John McCain (“I’m Brian Fellows, you’re CrAZy”*) And I thought Bush was whack!

* Brian Fellows joke courtesy of Dingo, and of course, Tracy Morgan and SNL.

inconsiserate WA 685WHC

]]> http://condo.wordpress.com/2008/05/03/leadership-training-session/feed/ 0 condo http://condo.wordpress.com/2008/04/30/new-haircut/ http://condo.wordpress.com/2008/04/30/new-haircut/#comments Wed, 30 Apr 2008 22:42:18 +0000 Jacob Stewart http://condo.wordpress.com/2008/04/30/new-haircut/ ]]>

With pomade!! Because the pleasing odor is half the point!

Thanks OlyBlog!!

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]]> http://condo.wordpress.com/2008/04/30/new-haircut/feed/ 1 condo http://condo.wordpress.com/2008/04/21/so-wrong-on-so-many-levels/ http://condo.wordpress.com/2008/04/21/so-wrong-on-so-many-levels/#comments Tue, 22 Apr 2008 06:11:38 +0000 Jacob Stewart http://condo.wordpress.com/2008/04/21/so-wrong-on-so-many-levels/ ]]>

So wrong, on so many levels., originally uploaded by theunabonger.

I saw this on the store shelf at safeway and had to resist the urge to gag. Not that I’ve got anything against Clamato… A fine vegetable beverage which is integral to what I (an under-educated American) consider one  of two of Canada’s national drinks, the (bloody Caesar) a fine drink which is a near equivalent to a Bloody Mary.  The other being the “China White”, which is baileys & cream de cacao, layered and sprinkled with cinnamon.

But Budweiser and Clamato? I mean, gag me dude, seriously!!!

Dalai Lama in Seattle with Dave Matthews, originally uploaded by theunabonger.

]]> http://condo.wordpress.com/2008/04/12/dalai-lama-in-seattle-with-dave-matthews/feed/ 0 condo http://condo.wordpress.com/2008/04/10/k-record-dub-narcotic-studio/ http://condo.wordpress.com/2008/04/10/k-record-dub-narcotic-studio/#comments Thu, 10 Apr 2008 16:30:05 +0000 Jacob Stewart http://condo.wordpress.com/2008/04/10/k-record-dub-narcotic-studio/ ]]>

K Record & Dub Narcotic Studio, originally uploaded by theunabonger.

]]> http://condo.wordpress.com/2008/04/10/k-record-dub-narcotic-studio/feed/ 0 condo http://condo.wordpress.com/2008/04/07/moo-cards/ http://condo.wordpress.com/2008/04/07/moo-cards/#comments Tue, 08 Apr 2008 05:30:05 +0000 Jacob Stewart http://condo.wordpress.com/2008/04/07/moo-cards/ ]]>

Moo Cards, originally uploaded by theunabonger.

Ohh, my Moo Cards arrived, sweet.

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]]> http://condo.wordpress.com/2008/03/14/jakes-on-4th-hotdog-stand/feed/ 0 condo http://condo.wordpress.com/2008/03/14/im-late/ http://condo.wordpress.com/2008/03/14/im-late/#comments Fri, 14 Mar 2008 22:33:29 +0000 Jacob Stewart http://condo.wordpress.com/2008/03/14/im-late/ ]]>

I’m Late, originally uploaded by theunabonger.

]]> http://condo.wordpress.com/2008/03/14/im-late/feed/ 0 condo http://condo.wordpress.com/2008/02/09/why-im-supporting-barack-obama/ http://condo.wordpress.com/2008/02/09/why-im-supporting-barack-obama/#comments Sat, 09 Feb 2008 08:18:04 +0000 Jacob Stewart http://condo.wordpress.com/2008/02/09/why-im-supporting-barack-obama/ ]]> You can never be sure, you can never fully trust the people you hire to govern, or the people to be governed.  What do you do?  I’ve decided this year to believe.  To believe that our country can be healed.  I’ve decided to come off the fence, and declare my support for Barack Obama

Please click on the image above, to see a bit more about why I’ve chosen to believe, against reasonable hope, perhaps, that our country can be united, and people can start to believe in the precepts of tolerance, welcoming immigrants of all nations, faiths, and ethnicities, and strong funded public education. 

“The ‘we’ we’ve been waiting for to come and fix our problems is us!”  It’s time to take back control of this country, and put the scoundrels who have damaged our country into jail where they belong!

If you live in Washington, please attend your caucus today!

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Tags: barack, obama, barack obama, olympia, washington, caucus, democrat, election, president, presidential election

My Friday appointments and plans have all been pooched my schedule, (always bad timing) and now I set forth on a whole set of different priorities.

I’ve have done about 3 hours worth of research on Apache/PHP/Drupal tuning, and monitoring a server hosting a site on which I’m doing some “sys-adminy type” consulting, and performance tuning. Of course the problem with being a consultant, is you only get to bill for about 1/4 of your time, as you often have to do research to figure out what do to, and most of that is not billable.

I’ve brought a Belkin Wireless Access Point down to put in the restaurant (Cicada) to include them in the wildly popular Zhonka! Surfbreak program of free (no-marketing, no data-collection, no-logging, and no “give us your name and click here” website re-directs) WiFi Hotspots, our contribution to the “DIY, power to the people!” ideal I care so stongly about.

My AT&T 3G wireless card is serving me until the access point is in place. (Must eat first for strength!)

You can see my results (Olympia to California on AT&T’s 3G network, and back to Olympia via Intertubes), speeds not bad, but still pricey at $60 month ($80 without AT&T Mobile Phone on plan).

This of course reminds me that my iPhone has a pooched transmitter (or antenna connection problem), and that I received my over designed pre-paid FedEx mailer for service. They have a little white iPhone sized box with foam pad, and little pouch to put it in. Also included in the package was my Apple(TM) officially issued “paper-clip”, in a little parts baggy with a pictograph on how to remove the sim before sending. Wish me luck!!

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Tags: iphone, apple, at&t, 3g, speedtest, zhonka, drupal, apache, schlomo, theunabonger, cicada, olympia, washington

I immediately went over the Chumby site, and set it up to display flickr pictures, and a few RSS news (yes news news) feeds that I read regularly, most notably; OlyBlog.

I’m using SSH to get into it and try to start Free Radio Olympia via the command line with instructions I found at the Chumby Wiki.  This is cool, as it allows me to listen to my own streams, or MP3 playlists via NFS or HTTP, as well, while using the other Chumby based flash widgets, such as ones that let me  look at my friend’s flickr streams…

It’s refreshing to know that the Chumby execs and engineers trust their users enough to allow them to mess up their devices, and they encourage hacking and a free flow of ideas on new widgets and how to get the thing to do “more stuff.”

Now, I’m going to ask around and find out about getting the Splashcast Player to work on it, and I’ll be very happy indeed.
 

This in contrast to the iPhone, of course. . . . who’s hackability is well known (and demonized by Apple and AT&T as being “illegal”, and they will break your phone if they catch you doing it. . . .  Just makes you want to “kick Steve Jobs in the nuuuttttzzzz!”, sometimes, yes?

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Tags: chumby, retiredpirate, theunabonger, dingo, dingostewart, frolympia, free radio olympia, iPhone, splashcast, olyblog, flickr, flooding, steve jobs, john biehler

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Tags: olympia, washington, protest, november 17th 2007, police brutality, social justice, peace, police riot, rally, march, anti-war, impeachment, illegal war, george w. bush

T.J. Johnson Pre-Opening Remarks:

Robert Whitlock’s Testimony:

Drew Hendrick’s Testimony:

Gus Kroll’s Testimony:

Daisy Montague’s Testimony:

Noah – Testimony on Police Gay Bashing:

Unknown – Trauma – Plum Street Blockade Assault:

Unknown – Nuremburg – Assaulted by Police:

Unknown – Panel Testimony:

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Tags: olympia, washington, port, port of olympia, port protest, police brutality, fascism, rob whitlock, robert whitlock, drew hendricks, Gus Kroll, Daisy Montague, T.J. Johnson, TJ Johnson, Olympia City Council, Impeachment, illegal war, anti-war, non-violence, police violence, police riot

sign dingo dingostewart tongue

“God Bless Israeli Bulldozers!”, originally uploaded by Robert Whitlock.

This picture was taken by OlyBlog docent (and contributor) Rob Whitlock at the Port Militarization Resistance protest at the Port of Olympia, please click on the picture, read what Rob wrote, then go back and read this post I wrote 4 years ago to see where I stand on this issue.

Gus at Olympia Port Militarization Protest, originally uploaded by theunabonger.

Before the meeting, originally uploaded by theunabonger.

While checking out media feeds with Flock 1.0 RC3 I noticed a friend of mine’s flickr feed had been splooged on by Viagra Spammers. I assume he needs to change his-mail to flickr address, to stop the flow.

Also, another friend of mine sent me a myspace message (it turned out her account had been hijacked), with a “Free Macy’s Giftcard” message, which was a photo-ad-link to a survey site, where, assumedly, someone was getting ad referral money for the link.

This morning, (after heading out on the town to celebrate Halloween with Dingo in a costume contest at a notorious local gay bar), I got an SMS that said I’d won a free professional quality portable WAV/MP3 stereo recorder device. (An Edirol R-09 24 Bit Wave 24 Bit MP3 Recorder – see below) from Foneshow, as part of a promotion regarding their public beta announcement at Podcamp Boston. Since I had registered on their site the night before, I knew the drawing was for real, thanks to Bowl of Cheese for the tip about Foneshow through his twitter announcement!

This little device will come in handy with my work on the Clubside Breakfast Time Podcast, as well as enable me to expand the type and number of Podcasts I produce, including possibly reviving the good-intentioned, but completely neglected Olympia Legislative Watch.

These topics may seem unrelated, but as I thought about the universal connectedness of all things, I realized they weren’t. Buddhist (and other eastern philosophies) have always suggested that material goods can not bring happiness, and more often bring only suffering and pain. I’ve often found this to be true. . . . Prizes often come with booby traps (personal, no marketing slam against the nice folks at Foneshow, thanks again!), sometimes they spring long after the prize has come. . . .

Life comes with pitfalls, this is a truism that cannot be debated, nor proven scientifically. But no matter what, you have to climb up out of the hole and on toward the goal, so I try to keep the goal in site. Heinlein stated it best; “In the absence of clearly-defined goals, we become strangely loyal to daily trivia until ultimately we become enslaved by it.” . . . (this quote is attributed to Heinlein, who’s philosophy of humanism and “good-naturedness” in his bookschanged my life’s perspective early on.

So, I don’t know the answer to this question, other than “the universal law of Love” reigns as we enter the age of aquarius. Sorry if that’s cryptic and meaningless, but I question now, more than ever, my understanding of things around me.

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Tags: foneshowpodcamp podcampboston clubsidebreakfasttime clubsidebreakfast clubsidepodcast awdcast podcasthotel bowlofcheese heinlein dingo hopeinwa lawoflove love aquarius ageofaquarius flickr

A Great Olympia Breakfast, originally uploaded by theunabonger.

I had this breakfast at Cicada in downtown Olympia, which I highly recommend. They are a great NW / Cajun Fusion restaurant with four star food, a lounge, and a great inclusive Oly Vibe. A great place to get salmon for breakfast, which along with lunch, are served from opening until 2:00 pm.

Below (above?) is my breakfast from last week, a gastronomic delight. Filet of salmon with poached eggs, fried Yukon Gold potatoes and a wonderful sauce.

Chef Billy (and co-owner, along with Manager Lisa), and the staff are always ready to please!

]]> http://condo.wordpress.com/2007/08/10/gnomedex-2007-2/feed/ 0 condo http://condo.wordpress.com/2007/08/09/gnomedex-2007/ http://condo.wordpress.com/2007/08/09/gnomedex-2007/#comments Thu, 09 Aug 2007 18:44:54 +0000 Jacob Stewart http://condo.wordpress.com/2007/08/09/gnomedex-2007/ ]]>

GnomeDex 2007, originally uploaded by theunabonger.

if It’s gnomedex, i must need batteries.

July 4th, seen on highway 18, why do people drive these cars so similar to the WSP cruisers? Everybody was afraid to pass them, ugh.

Here is a picture of my wife Dingo posing with her Police Dress Rehearsal Tour shirt with one of evergreen’s campus officers in the beer garder, (ahem, er), Greener Oasis.

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Tags: evergreentesc dingo dingostewart supersaturday “June 16 2007″ beergarden

i’m driving to the other vancouver for Dingo’s IME at the behest (er, demand) of the Labor and Industry Department. A damn shame, as the doctor’s job is not to provide treatment, but to try and find a way to take away her meager time-loss benefits. . .

Moderate weather, good times, hanging at the Farmer’s Market with Dingo, and watching the Tune Stranglers! Ah good times. . .

Seen on my morning drive through West Olympia. Two Seventies vehicles for sale in the yard of this post WWII bungalo. The deep irony of the entire scene in front of of pulled me in and compelled of to take a photo and blog it.

Stonecap Syrah, originally uploaded by theunabonger.

at tugboat annie’s, seventeen dollars. Having blackened salmon caesar salad, yum!

missing don and shelly, but enjoying dinner.

sign donated by brown and balsley

Red Tag Day, originally uploaded by theunabonger.

There’s nothing like waking up to find the city has red tagged your door because you forgot to pay your utilities bill. Ugh, one more high priority item for my day. . .

I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.

Frank Herbert – “Dune” Page 19

Bumper Stickers for Jeebus, originally uploaded by theunabonger.

Bumper stickers for Jeebus and W. Seen at Tumwater Fred Meyer.

my friend and handy man Shane after installing my two air conditioners for the season.

One last test, originally uploaded by theunabonger.

i’m digging this phone to blog feature and wanted to try directly from my phone with the best camera.

I might be taking this too far. . But. . .
Originally uploaded by theunabonger

In the spirit of my ‘no bacon, no cheese, no fries in June’ pledge, I’ve even removed the pepperoni from my bloody mary (ahem, er – Caesar, eh?) at my friendly local Applebee’s where I’m having dinner with Dingo, Jonathan and Cael.

Cosmo

Dingo’s deck Garden, originally uploaded by theunabonger.

My wife Dingo planted mass foliage on our deck this year, including a catnip plant for the kitties. I need to go shopping and get a deck table, as the windstorms this winter caused ours to break due the fact that I stupidly put the umbrella back in Feb, after Dingo had removed it in December, doh!

Cosmo

Why I love Olympia. . . Part X
Originally uploaded by theunabonger

Because of Women in Black, the Olympia Movement for Peace and Justice, and other outspoken freedom loving, caring Citizens who oppose the war in Iraq and violence in general as a means to solve problems.

The Women in Black have been gathering on 4th avenue by Percival Landing every Friday night during ‘rush hour’ since the war began. I am honored to support them, their cause and the cause of peace throughout the world, and I salute them for reminding me why I live in the pacific northwest and not the bible belt.

Cosmo

During our trip to Vancouver, B.C., our friend Kris challenged himself (and me) to eat better during the month of June, in a continuing effort to become better people. here is the checklist he came up with, and we agreed upon.

I think that no bacon is going to be hard, but we agreed if bacon is in a healthy salad dressing, or the cheese is feta, blue or of the goat variety, it would probably be o.k.

I’m also going to get working out a bit more, including more walks (which I’ve been taking, much to the detriment of my professional tasks), and really abstain from the gift of that Barley Bree as much as possible too.

Wish me luck!

technorati tags:kk+, Kris Krug, Cosmo, Cosmo G Spacely, Cosmo Spacely, theunabonger, unabonger, Jacob Stewart, Special KK+ Challenge, healthy eating

Special KK+ Challenge
Originally uploaded by theunabonger

  

technorati tags:lockergnome, theunabonger, unabonger, poho3, Podcast Hotel 3, podcast Hotel, Swedish American Hall, Bruno Magli, italian shoes, Chris Pirillo, scales, Robert Scales, Rain City Studios, Rain City

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JPG Magazine: Photos: “Bridge Sky” by Jacob Stewart

It’s always good when a closeted artist gets some encouragement about their work. I was able to receive a few of those achievments in the last few weeks. As I was in San Francisco for Podcast Hotel 3 in April, I got an e-mail from a publisher (Hyperion) that wanted to publish one of my photos in a book about learning Latin. I only get attribution, not remuneration, but still, it makes you feel good people are looking, and want to include my small contributions to their Opus or artistic work of other sort. That same week, JPG Magazine had a gallery opening in San Francisco, so I was able to attend. One of my other photos was being displayed, in a montage (of sorts) [I'm sure DaveO will point out that I contrived a way to use the word "montage" on my blog, but I digress.]It’s not like I’ve never gotten any recognition, I’ve had pictures published in a national magazine for money, written a monthly article for my local newspaper, and been honored as an up-and-coming business leader, but still, somehow, being appreciated for what you create, rather than what you are, fills a different and somehow more fulfilling need.

So, if you want to help me in my quest toward self-actualization, please click on the photo above, and vote for it. If I get enough votes, and the editors of JPG Magazine like it enough, it’ll get published, and I’ll get a few bucks.

technorati tags:jpg magazine, jpgmag, San Francisco Arts Commission, vote, Daily Olympia, Hyperion, Carpe Diem, harry Mount, 40 under forty, montage

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I love developing old film.  I found a roll in my garage and took to the Walgreen’s and paid around $6 to get a CD-Rom with the pictures on it (no prints, please!).  I found this picture of my friend Scott, driving his Ford Cortina, probably at the parking lot at ASH (now Cooper’s Glen) apartments at Evergreen.  Ah, good times. . . . .

technorati tags:toad, ubertoad, ash, evergreen, tesc, cortina, 1985, Ford Cortina

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I couldn’t let this anniversary go without some kind of posting.

I saw an article in the newspaper about the new Rachel Corrie foundation, and thought I’d let people re-visit my post from March 16, 2003, the day Rachel Corrie died, (and three days before Shrub started the Iraq war.)

Although I’ve not been often proud of my country in the last four years, many members of my community have shown great courage and the will to bring justice that is giving me hope.  I stopped by the Security Building office where the Rachel Corrie foundation is headquarted, (as I do almost every day to get a cup of coffee at The Cupping room), and took the snaps above with my mobile phone cam.

technorati tags:Rachel Corrie Foundation, Rachel Corrie, olympia, washington, war, George W Bush, Iraq War, rafah, Olympia Movement for Justice and Peace, Olympia Rafah Sister City, moral justice

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The Barack Obama supporters will be having their first local meeting at Evergreen tomorrow (March 11th) at 4PM in the TESC Library building, Room 4300.

I’ll be there to see if the “history in the making” is “Gary Hart” history, or “John Kennedy” history.  I have to admit I’m intrigued by Obama, and think that someone with little beltway experience might be just what’s needed in our country right now.

Cosmo

technorati tags:barackobama, Barack Obama, evergreen, Thurston County, March 11, 2007, obama2008, event, poster

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Kids Chocolate cigarettes
Originally uploaded by teclo.

Kids chocolate cigarettes my arse! These are pure brown tar fructose, meant to hook kids on psychedelic mind-bending drugs or worse!!

Of course, it’s too late to rescue my friend, the Ubertoad, but I thought I would warn the public about this nefarious menace.

Cosmo

Just looking out for the kids, you know?

I am: Robert A. Heinlein Beginning with technological action stories and progressing to epics with religious overtones, this take-no-prisoners writer racked up some huge sales numbers.

Which science fiction writer are you?

My good bud, and fellow renaissance-man/entrepreneur and marketer extraordinaire Dave Olson gets the business press of the week, by feeding coal into the engine of the Cluetrain with an article in PR Web on his Practical Advice for Marketing Conversations White paper. (directly linked bypassing the form that gets you on the “marketing cold-call list.”)

Dave and I have had an unofficial contest running for years which measures which one of us can get the most press items published (either by us, about us, or including us), and he’s leaping out into a clear lead by a few good strides starting last year, with his exploits and successes of late.

Dave has recently had published two magazine articles and a guest blogging column in Heads Magazine. Some of Dave’s other new publishing ventures include a new colaborative Canucks Podcast, (to compliment his Canucks Outsider Podcast), a personal blog, a poetry blog, and of course, his world famous Choogle On with Uncleweed Podcast, which is breaking subscriber records each month!!! And, as I’m sure, more fame awaits Dave in the Great White North.

You can find the index to all Dave’s sites, and much much more at the grandiose clearing house that is Uncleweed.Net.

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This is in response to the Attorneys General of many states, including Rob McKenna of Washington State, putting out a hot-air puffery press release (read the actual letter here) on how ISPs could help catch paedophiles, which is true, if we snooped on traffic and violated the privacy of our customers. Surely, there is a better way to protect children than turning our country into a “Big Brother” police state, where ISPs and telephone companies keep records of activity and data forever, so that the “authorities” can sift through it long after it would have protected any children. Law enforcement needs to start doing it’s job, and stop hassling poor (and brown) people.

Anyway, I think these are some of my best quotes ever published in the print media, and am proud to been able to speak out against this kind of fishing expedition.

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I see this scooter everyday when turning from 5th Avenue to Water Street around the horrendous park construction that is happening (again) in Heritage Park.  I assume the scooter is the master of some drone working in the Heritage Bank Mortgage office, which is right next door, but they could just as easily work over at El Guanaco, the El Salvadoran restaurant in the Traditions Building on 5th.

There is an eclectic style of decoration, including the “hands” diversity sticker, (very popular in Oly), a “Red Star” (of communism?), an Apple Mac logo on the muffler, and sooper cool arboreal camo cowling.  C’est Chic!

Cosmo

technorati tags:olympia, olympia washington, washington, 5th avenue, Water St, Scooter, olystyle, redstar

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Cosmo

Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies by Cosmo G. Spacely Ingredients Amount peanut butter 1 cup sugar 1 cup egg 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, (180 C), mix ingredients thoroughly with fork, and spoon out cookie sized blobs on a cookie tin, preferably one lined with tin foil and pre-greased, then place them in the oven until they are done. (Usually between 13 and 18 minutes, depending on your taste, oven weirdness, etc. Make your own judgment, eh?)

Please don’t make the mistake of thinking since these cookies are gluten free, they’re somehow more healthy than other cookies. These cookies are heavy in fat, cholesterol, calories, and carbohydrates, all of which are bad for you one way or another. Make and eat at your own risk. Cosmo G. Spacely makes no representation of any kind regarding these cookies, not even that they are truly gluten free, (There’s no flour, do peanuts have gluten?) Cosmo does think that they are delicious, however. * Nutritional information is estimated, probably largely suspect, but included here anyway, as some kind of penance for putting these tempting cookies on the web in the first place.

Nutrition Facts* amount per serving (per serving, based on six servings total in recipe, you do the math) Calories 412 Protein 12g Total Fat 23g Sodium 212mg Cholesterol 35mg Carbohydrates 42g Fiber 2.5g

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Since I was wearing my new bowling shirt, she cut out the Sunset Bowl Midnight Karaoke ad for the lanes in Ballard, and brought it over to me.  It was all very dude like, dude.

Cosmo

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Of course, I agree with him completely, she is a hawtie.

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Photo Credit: Uncleweed

Robert is the accomplished, formidable and talented design and business Wiz behind Raincity Studios, one of the premier design firms working with such prestigious clients as the Ask A Ninja Podcast, (iTunes #1 Rated Podcast), and many other clients.

From the short time we got to hang out, I learned that Robert’s got an incredibly elightened attitude about life, and what’s truly important (people), and shares himself with his friends without hesitation.

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(Corey and Kris Krüg)
Photocredit: Uncleweed

Corey met us on her birthday, the last day of the Gnomedex, and we tried to make sure she had a memorable one. Corey works for IODA, which is a company that allows bloggers and podcasters to use “rights-cleared” music from independant record labels. After all, who wants to listen to more of the crap the Big 5 record labels are shoving down our throats?

Corey is a powerhouse of a marketing promoter, and has an incredibly amazing intellect, as well as being a *hawt* geek-chick. Of course, my wife Dingo and Corey really hit it off very well, so we’re both looking forward to the next geek-vent we both attend; or if we make down to the Bay Area.

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Photo Credit: Uncleweed

We met Mark last year at Gnomedex5 and had a lot of fun talking to him about the news business, and the (then) newly burgeoning technology of RSS/XML feeds. Mark is a great guy, and another of the many friends we made, along with his colleague from CNN, Dermot Waters, and enjoyed the company of, at Gnomedex.

technorati tags:uncleweed, daveolson, markchernesky, dermotwaters, gnomedex, gnomedex6

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Here’s a picture of the after-hours party, shorty before Travis shoved the microphone in my face without warning when I sat down on the chesterfield for a break. Travis is the one in the white shirt in the top of the photo.  He also runs the Seattle Podcasting Network Meetup Group, which I’ve been meaning to make it up to for a while.  Now I have a good reason to go soon, to buy him a beer, at the *very* least.

Photo Credit: ME

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Chris Heuer from Brain Jams

Not a great picture of Chris, (but one I took), although it was around 3:00 AM after we left the Broadband Mechanics after-hours party.  We seriously enjoyed hanging out with Chris, as he was the one who helped us find a nice comfortable room at the W for a reasonable price.  Chris is a lover of cats, and enjoyed hanging out with us in our hotel room and playing with our “wee kitten Oisin” during “in-between” times of the conference.  (In between conference and night functions, in between functions and parties, etc.)

Chris went out of his way to make my wife Dingo feel included, and they talked about cats, and who knows what else. . . . . . .  Cheers to our new friend Chris!

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Jacob was a first time attendee to Gnomedex, who, although originally from Tennessee, is now living and running his own blog/hosting business from Arkansas. Jacob and I not only share a first name, but also a birthday, which is a pleasing coincidence.

Jacob left his Laptop and Gnomedex Swagbag in my car after the after-hours party thrown by Marc Canter and Broadband Mechanics. Since I slept late the next day, (missing yet another Dave Winer appearance), he didn’t have his laptop for the first part of day two.

Jacob became a great friend, hung around with us, and we hope that we made his first trip to the NW (anywhere north for that matter) as fun for him as it was for us to hang out with him.

Photo Credit: Uncleweed
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Here’s a picture of Flockstar and “young padawan” Master Will Pate, with Megan Cole of Rain City Studios.

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First, We stopped off at the Fish Club lounge for an Pike Kilt Lifter Ale for Dave and a Scotch for Me, the 10 year old LaPhroaig, “Scotland’s Most Flavorful Whisky”.

CaptainAjax Uncleweed, KK+, and the Canadian crew breaks into a spontaneous version of “O Canada!” minutes after midnight, to celebrate Canada Day!!!

Dave and Jay after caffeine.

Our Wee Kitten Oisin chillaxin(TM) at the corner suite at the W.

Dave and our friends Mark Chernesky and Dermot Waters from CNN.

Our View from Gnomedex (Yes, that’s the back Dave Winer’s head on the left)

This is more important though.  A proclamation signed by Governor Gregiore honoring RSS!

And Gnomedex begins. . .  Unclweed is typing a massive missive, sure to be posted soon, Stay tuned for more.

I’m ready to help pimp out and demonstrate Castblaster, as the best available, live recording, Podcast creating tool available for non-techinical users.  I thank Castblaster Mike, and Combi-Tech for allowing me to be the unoffical Castblaster ambassador to the conference.

Here’s a picture of Adam Curry Demonstrating Castblaster on the day the first public beta was released (and the last day of last year’s Gnomedex), for me, Marc Canter, Uncleweed and a few other lucky souls.

I can’t wait to learn more about blogging, drupal, ajax, and learn how to use some of the great tools Google has been rolling out over the last year, like the new Google Calendar.

Cosmo

Personally, I'll still stick with a SPARKS, when available, or more preferablly, a nice roasted coffee, hot, cold, black, creamy, however.

Jacob Stewart, co-founder, Zhonka Broadband
Class of 2003

Stewart continues to run his high-tech small business in Olympia. He is most proud to be associated with several nonprofit leadership positions, most notably as chairman of the Olympia Masonic Building Association, which oversees several million dollars' worth of commercial property in Tumwater, including the Masonic Temple on North Street, for the benefit of local Masonic organizations and charities. He is vice president of the Washington Association of Internet Service Providers, working with the Washington Attorney General and the Legislature to protect consumers in the Internet and telecommunications field. In 2005, they helped to get two important bills passed to help prevent, identify and protect Washington Consumers from Internet fraud.

Left to Right: Dave Olson, Zhonka Broadband Minister of Marketing, Jacob Stewart, Zhonka Broadband Secretary-General, Kevin Miller, Zhonka Broadband Intern, (unknown), Hunter Goodman, WA Atty General's office.

It's becoming that time again in Washington State, when the Scotch Broom starts to flower, and many people incorrectly blame their allergies on the "Broom Bloom", (most likely it's the tremendous amount of Douglas Fir pollen that pervades the area that causes the allergies, and not the Broom.)

However, I have found a nice event, held along the east coast of Scotland, in Inverbervie, Aberdeenshire, about halfway between Aberdeen, and Arbroath (to the south), that celebrates the broom, and the coming of Spring with a Music and Arts festival.  I'd love to attend, and do plan to make it someday.  I also plan to take my beautiful wife to the truly romantic and scenic Isle of Mull, and stay at the Mish-Nish in Tobermory some day (hopefully in the next few years) for the folk and traditional music festival.

Three years ago this month, fellow Evergreen Student, and like myself, longtime Olympia Resident Rachel Corrie met her untimely and horrific death under the blade and tracks of a US Purchased Israeli military bulldozer, bulldozing homes, and disrupting the lives of Palestinians living in Gaza. 

Since that time, Israel has pulled out of Gaza, leaving the squabling Palestinian militant factions vying for power with their own internal Violent stuggle, and America is deeply involved in a quagmire, billed as a shadowy war on terrorism.  As a proud member of my high school class of 1984, we were required to read the book by George Orwell.  I wish our President would read, the news, books, scholastic articles, policy papers, and not make his decisions via faith and gut instinct.

See my recent Podcast (as Cosmo G Spacely) at the Clubside Breakfast Time Podcast, and look back in the archives of this blog to see what I wrote about this event the day it happened.