Equality California Urges President Obama to Take Action on Federal Prop. 8 Case
Equality California filed an amicus brief supporting the federal challenge of Proposition 8
SAN FRANCISCO– Today, Equality California renewed its call for President Obama to take action on the federal court challenge of Proposition 8. Yesterday the deadline passed for third parties to file amicus briefs in the case weighing the constitutionality of Proposition 8, a state referendum that stripped same-sex couples of the freedom to marry.
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Elly Glass Film Fundraiser
Some friends and colleagues have invited me and you to support this wonderful documentary that tells of the post-War innovation we all benefit from of Holocaust survivor Henry Glass and his wife Elly Glass. This is your chance to help tell this story while Mrs. Glass is still able to share it. – Barry
The Story: In 1939, Eleanore (Elly) Glass, an Austrian woman, went to the Gestapo in an effort to free her Jewish husband from a concentration camp. What followed is an amazing story of courage that has never been fully told. The couple fled their native Vienna and emigrated to New York and later to Chicago. Here Henry P. Glass became the architect of one of the first solar houses in America and one of the world’s leading industrial designers.
The Film: In Post Production – Projected Completion Date: 2010.
The Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOaNg0tY0hk
The Website: http://www.EllyGlass.com/
Dear Friends:
We invite you to kick off the new year in style at The Elly Glass Project Donor Party.
This is a special event for all you who have been so generous to us in the past
and to those of you who would like to help us now.
Date: Saturday February 6, 2010
Place: 33 Jennings Court San Francisco CA 94124
Phone: 415-468-0772
Time: 7:00-10:00 pm
Sponsored by:
Frazier Winery
Mission Market Fish & Poultry
Evil Auntie’s Quick & Sexy Family Cooking
DBI Beverages
Simple Pleasures Coffee Roasting Co.
… and more sponsors to be announced soon.
Start off the evening surrounded by an Elly & Henry Glass multimedia installation while enjoying delicious appetizers and drinks. At 8:30 we will be screening preview clips from the film including ones that have never been seen before. Anne Karin Glass, Elly & Henry’s daughter, will be in attendance for q & a.
Quizzes, Prizes and more!
Elly, who will turn 95 in March, was hospitalized twice during 2009 and remains much weaker than when we met her 2 years ago. It is our dearest wish that she be present at the first screening of the finished film.
But we need your help to accomplish this goal. Please consider partying with us and become a donor for as little as $10.00. If you can’t make it to the party in person please consider making a donation anyway. Your name will appear on our Wall of Fame at http://www.ellyglass.com/contributors.html
To donate in advance go to: http://www.indiegogo.com/The-Elly-Glass-Project
It’s one stop shopping!
Or pay at the door: by credit card, cash or personal check.
All donations are tax deductible via San Francisco Film Society.
RSVP: leslie@cinematiks.com or by voice: 415-468-0772.
Doggy Arbitrage
California, it turns out, has too many Chihuahuas. New York City does not have enough. So animal welfare officials in San Francisco and Manhattan arranged for what a Virgin America press release dubbed a “Chihuahua airlift” — 15 homeless dogs from the Bay Area were flown to Kennedy by the airline so they could be adopted by New Yorkers. It has been no small feat. The A.S.P.C.A. estimated that it would spend $100 to $2,000 per dog for spaying and neutering, shots, food, housing, veterinary care and other costs. At least one dog will undergo orthopedic surgery.from: A.S.P.C.A. Airlifts Chihuahuas From Bay Area to New York – NYTimes.com.
This weekend, the Porterville Animal Shelter, now operating out of the old Lindsay Shelter, held an emergency adoption event because the shelter is fillign up too rapidly with dogs.
As one of the first volunteers when the Friends of the Shelter group organized last year, I was surprised to learn during prior adoption events that Porterville, and other Central Valley locations, are net exporters of dogs to urban areas.
There is definitely a flux and flow of different types of dogs across this state, and across the nation. Here, we are indeed drowning in Chihuahuas, Chi-mixes (like my first dog, Lola, pictured as we found her, a stray Jack Russel – Chihuahua mix), and pit-bulls.
Since the minute I observed it, whenever the shelter comes up in conversation with my gf (who also volunteers), the words “doggy arbitrage” are not far from my lips.
Gyroscopes – What they are and how they work + BONUS War Story
The year was 1963, President Kennedy had started the race to the moon, and tween boys and their Dads needed to learn all about the engineering involved to be good Americans. This book, found last weekend at the Porterville Friends of the Library monthly sale fills the role of a book a son and his Dad could have enjoyed together.
With diagrams and photographs illustrating the principles of gyroscopes and applications such as keeping a ship, plane, or rocket stable, this is a fine illustration of how science and engineering can be a fun-for-the-family experience. I bet a modern edition would still be a great introduction to science experiments anyone can do.
I look forward to reading this book by James C. Sparks to brush up on the physics, to learn some new applications, and to learn about the physics of some of the instruments on satellites I wrote ground control software for in the 1980s. Gyros keep the “birds” stable, and for the Hubble Space Telescope at least, have been factors in some daring astronautic repair work. I have a couple of old bicycles in the garage, and a few old vacuum cleaners too. Maybe I can rig up some cool gyroscopic something or other with the wheels and motors.
Fun for boys and girls, this book was discarded by the Porterville Library and now I bet there is not a replacement that the whole family can learn from.
Bonus: I just noticed that the inside cover has a faceplate pasted on it:
In Honor of Ensign Gary L. Thornton, United States Naval Reserve
Killed in action February 20, 1967, when his Phantom F4B was hit by Communist ground fire over North Vietnam.
This book is donated in the hope that it will interest and inspire others to dedicate their lives to the service of their country and to the preservation of the American way of life.
This turns out to be even more interesting, as I googled the name and found out that Ensign Thornton was not killed in action, but he was in fact captured and served 6 years as a POW, returning home in 1973.
I find this odd, because I thought the military was VERY reluctant to list someone as killed in action unless there was indisputable evidence such as a body. Absent a body, the classification missing-in-action seems appropriate, and was commonly applied as I recall from the tail end of that war.
That makes me think there is more of a story here that just the gyroscopes.
Where’s the Rest of Me? The Ronald Reagan Story
Another curious find at the Porterville Friends of the Library “Dusty Book” sale: This mass paperback autobiography (”as told to Richard G. Hubler”) . Published in 1965, probably at the beginning of his campaign to become Governor of California, this looks to be nothing short of propaganda and marketing.
Probably not meant to be read too closely – the writing actually appears pretty dense (as in packed on the page, come on, be nice!), I think this was supposed to introduce Reagan to the public as a whole and give his image some “heft” after being best known as an actor.
Apparently it worked. I haven’t read this yet, but I will definitely add it to the pile of fist hand documents related to the fundamental principles of our country. Now that we know “the rest of the story”, it will be interesting to see how much of it turned out to be foreshadowed in this book.
A few quotes from the back cover:
On Name Calling from the Political Left and Right:
I suggest to you there is no left or right, only an up or down. Up to the maximum of individual freedom consistent with law and order, or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism.
On Federal Welfare Spending:
If this present welfare spending was prorated equally among these (9.3 million) families, we could give each family more than $4,000 per year. Actually, direct aid to the poor averages less than $600 per family. There must be some administrative overhead somewhere.
On the Fear of Speaking Out:
If some among you fear taking a stand because you are afraid of reprisals from customers, clients, or even government, recognize that you are just feeding the crocodile, hoping he’ll eat you last.
Like the man and the results or not, those 3 lines are each marketing gold. I expect nothing less from every page of this book. Priced at 75 cents new in 1965, with slightly yellowed pages and a cover with minor damage, 25 cents made it mine.
Earl Weaver – Winning!
I thought I would share a few thoughts on the books I picked up at the once-a-month booksale here in Porterville this month. Oh now that we have been going for about 4 months, we look forward to the first-Saturday ritual. Many of the books are worthy of the dust they are covered with and becoming in the basement, but occasionally there is a real find, and you simply can’t beat the price. Pretty much nothing costs over 1 dollar, and most books are about 25 to 50 cents.
Many books are set up outside in the staging area each month, new arrivals, that are free! At that price, it is worth it to grab a copy of that paperback you remember from your youth, or that history book that was on your parent’s piano untouched as a kid. Whatever happened to the “Making of a President” series? Who knew it was a decades long series? The Friends have most if not all of the, and for 5 dollars the completist in you can have all of them!
This month, I found a book about Baltimore Orioles baseball, written at the peak of “The Oriole Way” by Hall of Fame Manager Earl Weaver. The Orioles had just Read the rest of this entry »
Hi Readers! Long time no see!
Welcome to 2010. I have a bunch of fun curiosities from Porterville to share with you over the next few months, starting tonight as I hang out in Starbucks. Found old photos and news stories, books from the once-a-month cellar sale by the Friends of Porterville Library, and more!
Enjoy and please share your comments or feedback, let me know what else you might like to see!
Tickets scalpers are making profit off Vampire Weekend concert at The Cellar Door in Visalia
Whenever a popular show is in town, music promoters say, someone always takes advantage by selling tickets for more than face value.
That’s what’s happening with Monday’s sold-out performance by indie band Vampire Weekend at The Cellar Door.The Visalia show is promoted by the local nonprofit Sound N Vision Foundation, whose goal is to bring top-notch musical groups to Visalia. Tickets are $20 — significantly less than they might have cost through a for-profit promoter.
But the tickets now are listed for as much as $150 each on Web sites such as Craigslist.org.
“There’s really no way to battle the scalpers,” said Aaron Gomes, president of Sound N Vision.
Tickets scalpers are making profit off Vampire Weekend concert at The Cellar Door in Visalia
Well, in an economic sense, this is what happens when a promoter “leaves money on the table”. Someone else will sniff the opportunity to pick it up.
I understand the motivation to keep prices low, but at the same time, there is nothing other than habit that keeps prices based uniformly, either over time, or acoss other variables, or even across shows. Locally, nearby Orange Blossom in Exeter understands this pricing dilemma.
I once worked with a similar club in another city that wrestled with similar issues. In time, they realized, and accepted, that for some shows, they could charge more, and no one would object.
I remember it took quite a leap of faith personally for the club owner to invest in expensive acts and then announce the shows would cost double or even triple the going rate. He was takng a real risk that few tickets would be sold and he was very anxious for many weeks, right up until show time. Then he was a changed man when the crowds showed up anyway.
In the end, theplace was packed, it turned out most of the regulars were able and willing to afford a higher price point, and there were plenty of new folks who would also.
Plus, scalping was reduced because the gap between what the few people who might pay more and the original price was smaller, and there were fewer willing buyers at that price point, many having bought the original tickets for the first time.
I just attended my first show at the Cellar door last week, it is a very nice venue. Very nice! I was impressed, and I have been to a lot of similar places. Based on the marketing I have seen from them, I was expecting a dive-y place. Which would have been fine by me, but maybe pricing policies need to account for the value of the venue to the audience too.
I am not sure why the promoter is organized as a non-profit, it strikes me as a signal of under-capitalization. Not uncommon in that business, but still.
The truth is, Mr. Gomes, non-profit or not, you should take the money that is on the table when it is there, and then this won’t happen. You need to learn to judge the demand for the tickets and price accordingly. Experiment – hold some tickets back until day of show, vary prices across shows and times, whatever it takes.
Especially for big shows like this, where capacity is going to be reached, supply and demand come into play. Find the price point where supply and demand are close, and everyone will be happy.
And if the bands are so egalitarian that they want lower ticket prices and bigger crowds, and they can deliver the crowds, then maybe the Cellar Door is too small a venue for them anyway.
And by the way, I was eager to see the show last week, and when I stopped in a few days early to buy tickets while I was in Visalia, you told me I didn’t need them because the show wouldn’t sell out. Which it didn’t and so I didn’t, but my remark to my girlfriend immediately was “What is wrong wit that guy? I am trying to hand him money for tickets, and he doesn’t know if I will find something else to do day of show and not come back. Why wouldn’t he rather have the money now than risk two people not coming back?”
This was one of your higher priced shows, so it makes me wonder – how much money are you losing by not being able or willing to take it when someone is literally trying it give it to you? How many of those folks decide to not come back day of show?
My advice to you is take the money. Take the money take the money. Don;t be afraid to have creative deals with the band or the venue for shows, to share and raise the revenue for each.
E.g. at the show I went to the band was selling TShirts for 2x the ticket price. That is steep. But they sold some, and that probably helped reduce their cost to you.
But maybe if you take a risk,you all come out ahead. Maybe you offer a tier of prices that includes a t-shirt – but only for the original buyer. Band will be happy, you will be happy, viewers will be happy, scalpers, well, they will be frustrated.
Think outside the box, and you will be fine!
