Waiting for the Next Golden Age

Today I was meeting with some friends about the next party we want to throw. We are looking for the next big thing, asking ourselves what the future of the LA party scene will look like. Nobody knows what it will be. We keep thinking about it and coming up with no sure answers. Then Zak hit it. 

"Everyone is ready for the next thing to happen. The world has been so fucked up lately, and it is clearly going to end. But until it does, they are all holding their breath until it changes."

That's it.  We're exhausted and want the next age to start now. 

I can only speak for myself here, but I have seen the world getting darker and more horrible at every turn for the entirety of my adult life.  This is happening every day, wars on drugs, terror and nations, political corruption, people around the world hating Americans, out of control police power, a fear mongering shill media, environmental catastrophe just on the horizon, and on, and on. 

This is simultaneous with my immediate community growing at this exponential rate.  Every day, the amazing people in my world expand in number and quality.  We grow in leaps and bounds. Every time I leave my home, the people I interact with are brighter and brighter.  People have hope, they dream ready for a new world and a quantum leap forward. They are causing these leaps forward in their own lives.  It's inspiring really. I see this emerging culture that I get to be a part of, and on a personal level we are winning!

I had this thought the other day, it was a fleeting one, but I chose to hold onto it.  Why can't we enter a New Golden Age (or a Second Renaissance)?  Obama getting the nomination has me all psyched about what is possible. Imagine a world where we work things out in world with some integrity! I can see this whole possible reality full of scientific breakthrough, political honor, artistic exploration, ruthless acts of love and peace, freedom for everyone, environmental healing and a new economic system that could generate abundance for all. What will be our generation's moon landing?  Is it possible that we will move out of what history will call the second dark ages? Can our age transform the failures of the past into a beautiful  future of light?  

I say it's so crazy, it just might work. 

After I started picturing this new world, I found this in my RSS feed. Man, that Cory Doctorow is reading my parallel universe generator. 

http://www.fugue.com/pics/goodnews.html

via boingboing at http://www.boingboing.net/2008/06/08/google-news-from-a-b.html

So here is my request: Read this front page, and imagine it coming to pass. Visualize a possible reality where these stories could become true and real. Share your audacious ideas of what amazing things can alter the world to your benign will. See it. It's coming. 

We are the ones we have been waiting for. 

The Grip Workout

 I picked up this month's copy of Men's Health the other day. It had this article in it, The Sandbag Workout. Basicly they suggest getting this 50 lbs. sandbag from Home Depot, put it up on your shoulders, at your chest, walk around, lift it while bending over, etc.  Okay, they just described what I do at work, exactly about 100 times a day with 35 pound sandbags (we call em ball busters). 

I shared this with Scotty yesterday, while working in the fake gym for Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling. We decided to add a few excercises. 

The Push It: Take some stuff, mostly metal, and put it in a wheeled cart. Load it with as much stuff as the wheels can carry. Now Push it around, up hills, through narrow doorways, onto narrow lift gates. This works both your legs and lower back. It's great for the butt! (you should see the heavy carts we push around!)

The Sail. First we build some dexterity. Tie shoelaces to a pole that is suspended at full arm extension and casue full tension in the laces. Do this about 50 times. Speed is a factor.  (we tie big 8x8, 12x12 and 20x20 pieces of cloth and diffusion to large metal frames quite a bit.)

The Flag Move: Take a rigid 4'x4' foot flat piece of anything. Metal frames, foamcore, are preferable. and stretch your arms while carrying them. The key is to carry as many as you possibly can.  (we have these stacks of 4x frames, big metal empty pieces of aluminum most times with some form of gel on them, and floppies, 4 foot metal frames with black duvetine tight against it, with a extra 4 foot section that "flops" down to make a 8'x 4' black light stopper.)

The Ladder Dance: Take a fiberglass ladder, starting at 6' and moving up to 12' and move the ladder on your shoulder through crowded areas, calling out for people to be careful and watch the ends. You will build balance and strength as you use every muscle group in the body to keep the ladder safe. 

I love my job. 

Okay, now totally wreck the workout by eating the catering. Yesterday, they had Roscoes Chicken and Waffles

Self as Corporation

I have been thinking about dong this for a while, incorporating. A few Key Grip friends of mine have done this, and it appeals to me.  It s a way to control you financial destiny in this country, and to afford yourself certain rights afforded companies and not individuals.  According to Scotty of Big Show Industries We The People in Burbank can make incorporation happen lickety-split!  This is an interesting experiment, I invite you to play. Creating yourself as corporation is a handy way to craft a killer fictionsuit.

So what does The Spaceman Company produce you may ask?  Good question. The Spaceman Company is an ontological entertainment and marketing company. We produce a wide variety projects and act as a vendor to major studios and event production companies. Creating intellectual properties and unique original ideas is a specialty of this venture. We also do personal consultation on a wide variety of subjects relevant to everyday life. In some ways, the main product of The Spaceman Company is space.  We create space for people to be who they really are. We create space for people to love themselves unconditionally. We build and illuminate space for one's truest self to emerge. 

Notice that as soon as I become a corporation, I become a "we?"

The thing about becoming a corporation is that you suddenly become somewhat more than an individual. You have a company to run! There are financial and business plans to develop, and stick to. Marketing of your company (you) becomes necessary. Suddenly, talking about yourself with gushing praise makes a little more sense. Would you buy you?  There is also production; are you being productive today?  If my product is space, am I providing the right kind of space that will encourage brand loyalty to The Spaceman Company?  Strategic partnerships become necessary.  A network of other like minded companies, striving for profitability and cooperation become real business choices. The office is really just a laptop, and whatever chair I am sitting in. 

It is really, at this point just a mental shift. But, I think I want to follow this rabbit hole as far as it goes.  

The Spaceman Company loves you. 

Vote Today

10 days in the forest has me be out of it. I didn't realize it was the day to vote until today, this morning.  knew that elections were on the horizon, and that political parties have been calling my cell phone (the "do not call" list also, conveniently puts your number on political party "call whenever they feel like it" list.) I didn't even realize that this election is about eminent domain, which is one of the great bugaboos of recent years. I am voting today for sure. 

My good friend Jay Beeber put out this. I liked it simple and to the point.  Thanks Jay!

It’s likely that most of you are confused by the two ballot issues regarding eminent domain, Props 98 & 99 that will appear on the ballot today as you go to the polls.  Here’s a bit of non-partisan clarification.

 

First, a quick explanation of eminent domain and why these ballot initiatives are being put forward.  Eminent domain is a process under which the government can (and does) seize private property for public use - to build a road, a school or a courthouse.  Under eminent domain, the government buys your property (whether you wish to sell or not), paying you what they determine to be fair market value.  But the government can also seize your land and transfer it to private developers so they can build more expensive homes and offices, big box stores, car dealer ships etc. that will pay more in property taxes than the buildings they're replacing.  For example, in one case a town wished to exercise eminent domain over a residential neighborhood, so that an upscale condominium development could be built on that land. To advance that goal, they defined any home within the neighborhood as "blighted" if it did not have three bedrooms, two bathrooms, an attached two car garage, and central air conditioning.  This abuse of the eminent domain process has prompted a backlash in many states leading to legislation and ballot initiatives to restrict under what conditions the government can seize private property.

 

Prop 98 – This proposition is being put forward by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, the same group that brought us Proposition 13, the landmark 1978 tax revolt initiative that restricted property tax increases in California.  The proposition does two major things: 

 

First, it restricts the use of eminent domain by restricting the government from seizing any private property unless it is used for a real “public” purpose such as a road, park, school, etc.

 

Second, the proposition phases out rent control, but contrary to the scare tactics used in some of the opposition advertising, rent control continues to remain in effect as long as a tenant remains in an apartment (or mobile home) that is currently under rent control.  However, once that unit is vacated, rent control on that unit will end and the landlord may charge rent at market value.   Currently if you vacate your apartment, the landlord may increase the rent to market value for the next tenant, but then is restricted to increases controlled by the local municipality under rent control (usually no more than 3 – 4 % per year).  Understand that not all municipalities in California have rent control (approximately 12 California cities and 110 mobile home communities) and in LA, rent control only exists for multiple dwellings built before October 1, 1978.  It is estimated that only about 10% of the population in California lives under rent control.

Summary of key provisions in the initiative:

• Private property may not be taken by eminent domain for private use under any circumstances (e.g. to build a shopping center, auto mall or industrial park).

• Property may be taken by eminent domain only for public use (e.g.. freeway construction, parks, or schools).

• Property may not be taken by government and used for the same purposes (e.g. residential housing cannot be used for government housing).

• Family farms and open space are protected from seizures by government for the purpose of selling the natural resources.

• If a public agency takes property under false pretenses, or abandons its plans, the property must be offered for sale to the original owner at the original price and the property tax would be assessed at the value of the property when it was originally condemned.

• If farmers or business owners are evicted by eminent domain, they would be entitled to compensation for temporary business losses, relocation expenses, business reestablishment costs and other reasonable expenses.

• Government may not set the price at which property owners sell or lease their property. However, tenants who live in rent-regulated communities will continue to receive the benefit of those regulations as long as they live in their residences.

Prop 99 – This proposition was put forward in an attempt to thwart the passage of Prop 98.  It gives some new protections against government abuse of eminent domain, but is much weaker than Prop 98 and only applies to owner occupied residential property.  Plus it has numerous other loopholes that weaken protection for even these types of properties.  For example, a private home could still be taken and given to a developer as long as the development includes some government facility, no matter how small, like a small library annex or community police office.  It does not protect any private commercial property (like mom & pop stores), apartments, farmland, churches, etc.  It does not require the government to return land that it seizes even if the land is not used for the purpose for which it was seized.  It does not phase out rent control.  It is mostly endorsed by government entities and developers who have a vested interest in seeing the weakest eminent domain reforms passed.  Be aware that if both 98 and 99 pass, only the proposition with the highest vote count will become law, so if you vote for both, then we will likely get 99 and not 98.

 

The bottom line is that which proposition you vote for (if any) will depend on whether you feel it’s fair to phase out rent control after some one vacates their apartment and whether this is a good trade-off in order to get some very strong eminent domain protection for property owners.

 

Although I will probably vote for Prop 98, I’m not advocating a position because I understand that many people believe that rent control is a good thing.  (I personally object to rent control on principle because I don’t believe anyone has the right to dictate how much a private property owner may charge for rent on their personal property and I believe that it causes higher rents for those that aren’t fortunate enough to be living in a rent controlled building.)

 

Here’s a link for further research:

 

http://www.ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=California_Proposition_98_versus_California_Proposition_99_%282008%29

 

Go vote!  Make your voice heard!

Back to Life

(image from the UK cover)

It took me a little longer to get back into the swing of life after getting back from the forest (and i certainly did not work as hard as some!). I have spent the last few days trying to get back into life in the big city, and it has definitely been challenging.  

I liked having my little canvas cabin in the woods, I liked having my meals catered, I liked the simplicity of working all day, going to sleep and doing it all over again.  Now, it has all gone back to normal and dealing with the mundanity of life bores me to unconsciousness.  Traffic makes me want to doze off almost immediately.  Where the hell do all these people come from? 

Here's what I have been up to. Don't judge me. 

1. I have been reading Little Brother by Cory Doctorow.  When I was visiting San Fransisco, I walked by a window advertising a signing by Cory. I am a huge fan. He is one of the editors of Boing Boing and one of the brightest minds in science fiction. But alas, the signing was going to be while I was at LIB. The sweet people at the shop offered to send it to me when he came. 

Because Cory is the super-coolest writer ever, amd he believes obscurity is a bigger problem than piracy, you can also download the book for free at  http://craphound.com/littlebrother/download/ 

"To Spaceman, Live Free" the inscription read when I got home. The book is incredible. It is a young adult novel, his first foray into that realm. It is basically a novelized manual for how to beat homeland security at their own game for young people. I would say that young adults like us should read it too.  I am seriously considering doing an online companion site for Little Brother, a resource for the tech and countermeasures taught in the book. 

2. My dad had a birthday the other day. I can't believe that my dad is 60. He doesn't look it, at all. It is always this great check on ourselves to note how long the years really can be.  I deeply love my dad. He's such a good guy. 

3.  I stayed away from the sugar and the alcohol at LIB and am recommitting to hitting the gym 3 time a week at minimum again.  My body image has been shifting in the last few weeks, and I am liking what I am seeing. It is true, I am one sexy mothafucka. 

I am also recommitting to getting content on this blog every godsdamn day. I miss blogging, I am back.  

4. I registered a theme camp this year: Voodoo Bistro. Camping and Voodoo.  Limited capacity. No slackers and no big art. We shall see if the BORG approves it. http://img174.imageshack.us/my.php?image=layout1bs1.jpg

5. Wolfie, ever the pusher, has been hounding me for weeks to start in his little World of Warcraft cult. "Come over," he says, "we'll have a few laughs, kill a few monsters and take their stuff" he says. This week, I caved and played.  I am so scared, because it is so much fun. 

There is deep social meaning in this.  It is an incredibly well designed game. I can't help but think that these will be the new secure chat rooms. 

6. My flip video camera rules. I got some great footage out at LIB. I want to cut some of it together, but am daunted by the quicktime-imovie thing. It is just so many steps.  A video monkey who can help me on this ill win my eternal gratitude and a nice dinner or lunch. Please help me. 

7.  Oh yes, I saw Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull the other night.  I was impressed. I thought there were some really cool references to some stuff that I am really into like multidimensional thinking, area 51, and forbidden archeology. AND it is a genre action film, thought best of as a pulp novel brought to life. Go into it expecting unbelievable two fisted tales, and you will get what you paid for.