May 2008

We have often heard the term Cult of Personality in this primary election, but mostly in reference to Obama supporters.  But when I think of who has the cult and who does not, to me, more and more it’s Hillary and her supporters.

In recent states where Clinton has won, the exit polls have been showing that if Obama is the nominee, a majority of Hillary supporters will vote for McCain or not vote.  However, if Hillary is the nominee, Obama supporters would likely vote for her rather than McCain.

It’s a given that the relative policy positions of Obama and Hillary as Democrats are much closer to each other than to the Republican, John McCain.

So, why would Hillary supporters say they would vote for McCain rather than Obama?  Is this as some Democrats have said, a temporary phenomenon where Hillary supporters are expressing their frustration and a last gasp attempt to woo superdelegates to their cause?  Or has this primary caused a fracture to form in the Democratic party?

We won’t really know until we see how hard Hillary works to help Obama win the election if he’s the nominee.  If its a tepid effort, it will be interpreted as that she’s hoping for a loss and another chance to run in 2012.  It seems like many of her supporters are already wishing for that exact thing to occur.

From NYTimes.com: Landmark Hotel Among Sites Seen as in Peril

When it opened in 1956, the Statler Hilton Hotel in Dallas was a marvel of modern architecture, its size a tribute to imagination and a booming economy. Now it stands empty, another white elephant on the American landscape.

On Tuesday, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a private nonprofit organization, will announce that the Statler Hilton and 10 other sites have made its 2008 list of the country’s most endangered historic places.

I saw this hotel the last time I was in Dallas and I wondered what the building was.  The building sits like the remains of a building swept by apocalyptic disease.

Here are some pretty amazing photos of this building.

From the Cincinnati Enquirer: Bill would ban ‘Bodies’ imports

Republican Rep. Todd Akin of Missouri has introduced a bill to prohibit the importation of plastinated human remains. He’s concerned that some of the Chinese people in the exhibit didn’t give permission for their bodies to be on display.

This news is several weeks old, but it’s good that it’s been reported by the Cincinnati Enquirer.  Generally, you only hear about Bodies the Exhibition through the nonstop advertising from the Musem Center.

It opened Feb. 1 for a seven-month run and already has sold 150,000 tickets priced at $11 to $23. Akin’s bill does not single out any particular Bodies exhibit or company that performs plastination. It wouldn’t affect any current shows.

Museum spokesman Rodger Pille declined to comment on the legislation,
but said in a statement that the Museum Center “stands by the strong
educational value of this exhibition.”

The Museum Center has a responsibility to the public to put on shows that are ethical.  They bear the burden of proof, but instead they’re turning a blind eye to this because of the profits this show can bring.  They say it’s all about education, but what this really is selling out for proffits.

“Education” has been used throughout the years to justify many wrongs.  You can justify Nazi experiments or Tuskegee if you leave out ethical issues and just focus on education.

From CNN.com: Hello Kitty named Japan tourism ambassador

Hello Kitty, Japan’s ubiquitous ambassador of cute, has built up an impressive resume over the years. Global marketing phenom. Fashion diva. Pop culture icon.

Now the moonfaced feline can add “government envoy” to the list.

Why is Hello Kitty settling for tourism ambassador?  We should hire her to finish out George W. Bush’s term.  She’d probably do a better job getting the Saudis to pump more oil, bring peace to the Middle East, and finding Osama bin Laden.

Reaction from Hello Kitty Hell.

From Cincinnati Enquirer: Amazing Wu still speaking up

Peter Bronson wrote a very nice piece in the Cincinnati Enquier about Harry Wu’s visit to Cincinnati to speak about the Bodies the Exhibition.

Saw this on macrumors.com: Apple in Mobile Music Negotiations… for WWDC?

Apple reportedly wants to expand its Ringtone library and introduce the sale of “Answer Tones”. Answer Tones are customized sounds played to callers instead of the traditional ringing sound.

I think Answer Tones are a bad idea.  The ringtone is part of the phone user interface indicating the action of calling.  When you call someone, you expect to hear a phone ringing, knowing a call is in progress. 

If I hear a song, or a joke, or a voice, I’d assume that the answering machine just picked up really quickly.  I’d never use them and it annoys me that others may choose to do so.

Sound is an important part of feedback on a user interface.  For example, I use my iPhone as my alarm clock.  I use separate sounds for my ringtone and for my alarm clock.  When my alarm rings, I want to know that it’s the alarm clock and not someone calling me on the iPhone.

Here are two songs from the live performance of the music of Battlestar Galactica by composer Bear McCreary and the BSG Orchestra.  This took place last month at the Roxy in LA.

The first video is Roslin and Adama, one of my favorite melodies from BSG.

The second is Fight Night featuring Taiko drums, a pretty cool Chinese membrane flute and a rocking violin solo.  I’ve played the violin most of my life, but I don’t feel like I truly play the violin after watching the solo.

Around 2:25PM (Today, Saturday May 17, 2008) on Reading Road near McGregor I saw car engulfed in flames.  I heard the sirens and traffic pulled over to let the fire truck through.  I took this picture as I waiting for traffic to move.  The flame was pretty intense, but the firefighters moved pretty deliberately, slowly pulling out the hose to put out the fire.  I kept picturing the car suddenly exploding, but as seen on Mythbusters, cars don’t really explode like they do in the movies.

Saw this new campaign poster of Hillary Clinton.

From the Hillary Clinton website:
I think they were trying for cool like Obama’s Hope Poster, but what they got was something a little Orwellian, a bizarre looking propaganda poster.  Is that rays of light emanating from Hillary?  Is she supposed to be the rising sun that lights up the Earth?

The poster conjures all sorts of imperialistic images, like Hillary “the dictator for life” or Hillary “mutual destruction is assured”.

I decided to take the themes of this and make my own quicky version of how I see Hillary.

From CNN.com: Fears over China lake sparks more panic
Not sure if I’d be carrying the wedding portrait if I were running for my life!