Assemblyman Jim Beall (D-San Jose) is normally somebody I really like. He's a great, honest guy, who actually cares about the community. Both now, in the state legislature, and earlier, on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, he's been a friend and advocate of the nonprofit community in which I work. But, Jim, if you're reading this, now you've pissed me off.
...sweet malt beverages known as "alcopops," which often mask the flavor of alcohol and tend to be marketed to younger drinkers. ... many of these products come in 23-ounce cans that contain the equivalent of five to eight cups of coffee, are 12 percent alcohol and are sold for $1.99. A regular energy drink, by contrast, can cost $2.99...
Personally, I've never heard of these before, but I can see why it would be an issue. But there's a couple of problems with attempting a ban.
First of all, the products are likely just a response to consumers who were already mixing energy drinks with vodka. Those who want a "buzz-drunk" will continue to do that, whether or not the pre-mixed version is on market shelves. This could be yet another law that will have absolutely no effect on the actual situation: those who market alcohol to under-age drinkers and lack of public knowledge of the dangers of the buzz-drunk.
Secondly, and what's really got me worried, is in trying to remove a few products aimed at under-aged drinkers, they could accidentally ensnare and ban legitimate adult products, such as ales, porters, and stouts enfused with coffee or chocolate.
According to the article, "Beall said he is working with beer lovers to make sure they can still enjoy brews such as the Cappuccino Stout from Lagunitas brewery in Petaluma." Well, I hope so! I love that brewery, and their product. But, somehow, I'm nervous that this bill can be written broadly enough to target all offending products, but narrow enough to keep Lagunitas and other creative craft brewers in the clear. It seems that whatever loophole is written in to save craft brews will be exploited by those market to kids.
Aren't there already laws against marketing booze to minors? Whether it's the manufacture who promotes the product to kids or the retailer or bartender who sells it, we have the tools to crack down on wired drunk adolescents already. Let's use these resources to get rid of the "alcopop crisis" and leave the craft brews alone!
Well, of course, the answer is yes, lesbians can be very funny. But that doesn't mean that all lesbians have a sense of humor. Let me explain...
Last Saturday evening, I went to see the Queer Queens of Qomedy show at the Rio Theater in Santa Cruz with my wife and sister-in-law. When the sister-in-law first invited us, she also warned us, "It's an all lesbian show, are you sure you'll be comfortable?"
We assured her we would, but it did raise a moment of concern of whether or not the "comedy" would be overly politically correct rants against the male dominated society and inside "jokes" that would go over our heads. Luckily, that moment of concern didn't last long, and we decided to go to the show.
Simply put, one of the best and funniest nights of comedy we've enjoyed in a very long time.
The organizer of QQQ is Poppy Champlin, and she led off the show with an act I thought couldn't be topped. But the second comic, Sandra Valls came close. After a brief intermission, and bit more from Poppy, Roxanna Ward closed the show with a musical-comedy combination that had us crying from both laughing so hard and her beautiful singing (when she wasn't mooing).
And there was no need to worry about political correctness. Sacred cows were slain and eaten raw. And any "lesbian-centric" humor was at least as raunchy and outrageous (and easily understood) as any male comic you'd see in Las Vegas. No, strike that; it's hard to find raunch in Vegas anymore. This was much better.
Which brings us to the point: Just because lesbians can be damned funny, doesn't mean all lesbians have a sense of humor. Last night I received an email from Poppy Champlin (I signed up for the QQQ mailing list after the show) saying that of the 370 people in attendance at last Saturday's show - the vast majority of whom seemed to be loving it as much as I did - one person was highly offended by the non-politically correct humor, and is starting a campaign to get QQQ in trouble with their sponsor, Olivia Travel - an organizer of lesbian cruises and vacation packages.
Poppy's email was asking for those of us who enjoyed the show to let Olivia know. I have sent them a direct message thanking them for bringing the show to Santa Cruz, and asking that they do it again next year. And, I'm taking this space on my blog to give a shout-out to all funny lesbians who dare to be outrageous and risk offending people. And thank you, Poppy, Roxanna, and Sandra, for a great night out.
Well, this year, March 15 falls on a Monday, and the pink slips have already begun appearing. So far, statewide, over 18,000 teachers have been told that their services will not be required for the next school year. That number will increase over the next twelve days. Of course, the number of children in school will not be likewise cut. Instead, class sizes will increase and services will be cut.
In my wife's school, second grade classrooms will increase from 20 to 30 students each, and teachers will have less time to prep lessons and grade work because they'll each have additional yard duty to fill in for other adjunct staff who have also been pink slipped. Oh, and she'll take home less money as health insurance premiums increase and the district considers whether to enact three or five mandatory furlough days.
Yes, this is obviously personal to me, but if you have children in California's schools, or you run a business that hires graduates of California's schools, or you see the benefits of an educated population on such things as civil participation and crime prevention, it should be personal to you too.
A few things to consider:
• Lawmakers have cut more than $17 billion from public schools and colleges in the last two years and more cuts have been proposed.
• Class sizes have increased to unmanageable numbers, denying students the one-on-one attention they need. More than 70 percent of elementary schools reported class size increases.
• Art, music, PE, career technical education and summer school programs have been eliminated.
• California spends $2,400 less per student than the national average and ranks 46th in per-pupil funding.
This is not just about K-12 education either, but our state colleges and universities:
• Student enrollment fees increased more than 30% this year. Rising student fees and reduced course offerings mean fewer students can go to college.
So, what can you do? Tomorrow, Thursday, March 4, there will be Stand Up For Schools rallies throughout the state. From silent protests in the morning before classes begin, to informational meetings in the evening where you can learn how to fight Sacramento and demand a quality education for your community, there's something you can do.
Another nice thing about these events is the teamwork behind them. These are not just organized by the teacher's unions, or just a few administrators working together, but a collaboration between the unions, the districts, the administrators, and other education staff and groups.
Many times we say things like, "Our state's future depends on this." Well, it may be trite to say it again, but this time, I really mean it.
... or an old one? Or, maybe, a bit of each. I've played guitar for years and years (not expertly well, but I enjoy it), and have often thought that someday it would be a great project to build an instrument of some sort.
Lately I've seen several videos on YouTube about cigar box guitars, including some by a vlogger I've watched on-and-off for some time. Seeing somebody I sort-of know doing it was a bit of an inspiration. Within a few clicks of his video, I came across a link like this:
So, I checked it out... and I read some more, and I watched some more videos, and I downloaded the plans. And I thought, I might actually be able to do this...
Okay, so I haven't started yet, but my current big work project should be wrapping up in the next month or so, and I'm going to need something to keep me busy through the spring. Till then, I'll be looking for good materials (nice thing about the plans is that it shouldn't cost me more than $30-50 to get it all done), and learning all I can from the cigarboxnation.com web site.
So, if you don't see me posting an update here with photos and videos of my finished project by mid-summer, please demand an explanation and force me to do this thing. Thank you.
Back in November I wrote about efforts underway to call a California State Constitutional Convention that would take our bloated, unworkable governance structure (California's Constitution is the world's third longest; eight times the length of the U.S. Constitution) and reform our state government from head to toe.
Well, as of yesterday, Backers of the campaign have suspended their efforts because of a lack of money. To date, they've only collected 100,000 of the million or so petition signatures required to get the Constitutional Convention on the ballot. Further, they've only raised about one million dollars ("only?") and some pledged donations have failed to come in.
"Campaign officials said they would need at least $3.5 million for a successful signature-gathering effort, plus millions more for the actual campaign. They blamed the tough economy and people focusing charitable efforts on Haiti for the lack of donations to their effort."
Well, first off, the nonprofit consultant part of me wants to yell at them for making excuses: Never blame the donors! They failed to get their message out and make a strong case to the average voter, plain and simple.
But, more to the point of this blog, part of my reason for supporting a Constitutional Convention and other reforms is to reduce the influence of money on our political processes. Now, we need another $3.5 million to fight against the high price of democracy. Huh?
As I wrote in that initial blog, the whole Initiative process (roughly one century old) was also an attempt to take power from the elites and corporations and return it to the people. Now we need new reforms to save us from the expensive mess that the old reforms have become. And so it goes.
The Repair California web site is still live, if you have an extra few million dollars lying around to give them to re-ignite the campaign.
Okay, I'm warning you right off that this is one of those medical update blog posts that turn a lot of readers off. If that's you, please click someplace else before going any further, I don't mind. I do these medical posts because when people are thinking of having a procedure done, or are having a problem, they often search out answers from other patients instead of always getting all their information from the doctor's point-of-view. This post is for those readers.
For those who have read my blog, or have known me, for any length of time, you know that I've been diagnosed with severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea or "OSA" (see my posts on the subject here). OSA is far more than just loud snoring; it's a health endangering condition wherein I actually stop breathing for several seconds at a time throughout the night, depleting the oxygen in the brain, disrupting sleep patterns, putting extra strain on my heart and lungs, and annoying the hell out of my wife.
For the last few years I've been using a CPAP device - a machine that basically forces you to keep breathing by putting a continuous flow of air into your nose by way of a face mask. I like to call it my "hose hat." The nickname is the most fun part about it.
While the CPAP has been effective at reducing my symptoms by about 75-80%, it's uncomfortable, I can only sleep in two positions without dislodging it (flat on back or at just the right angle on my right side), it's a damn nuisance if I want to get up in the night to pee, a damn nuisance to carry through an airport when traveling, and, frankly, being attached to an air hose while in bed inhibits intimacy with my wife.
The surgical options originally presented to me by my sleep doctor were not very enticing. I was told they could basically break my jaw and rebuild my entire windpipe and nasal system, giving me at least six months of the most excruciating pain imaginable and a lower success rate than the CPAP. I passed on that. But I also could not imagine strapping the hose hat to my head every night for the rest of my life. I kept my eyes open for other options.
But recently I heard of a new, minimally invasive option called the Pillar Procedure. The procedure, done in the doctor's office (not a surgical center), is the insertion of three to five small plastic pillars, each about the size of a match stick, into the soft palate at the back of the mouth. As tissue regrows over the pillars, over several months, this stiffens the palate, reducing the vibration that is the cause of most snoring.
After some additional research, I signed up for it and had it done yesterday.
Here's what the procedure looks like (warning: graphic video):
My procedure went pretty much as in the video above. Five pillars inserted in fairly quick time. Unlike the video above, mine was not completely painless. While I didn't feel the first one, the second one hurt like hell, but only for a minute. I felt the others go in, but it was bearable. This did not surprise me, as when dentists work on me I always require additional drugs before I'm numb.
Mine was much as the above. Very easy and quick. Altogether, I think I was in the chair in the examination room for a total of 35 minutes for both procedures, including signing the release forms, getting prepped, and going over my instructions for follow-up.
Yesterday I had a bad sore throat, not so much pain as discomfort in a place I wasn't used to. Also there was some bloody, mucus discharge from my nose (expected). I only ate soft, mild foods: a smoothie, yogurt, scrambled eggs. I did take Tylenol for pain, although I wasn't even sure if I needed it past the first hour or so.
Today I'm already feeling much better and haven't needed the Tylenol at all, and my nose is already clearer. Still some roughness to the throat so I'm not talking much, but definitely no pain or severe discomfort.
Now comes the waiting. Right now there's scar tissue in both palate and nose which will last for the next week or so before I start noticing the real benefits of the procedures. The full effect of the coblation should be known in a few weeks. The full effect of the pillars should be known in a few months.
And you know I'll post again letting you know if it was all worth it.
(BTW: The article links and videos are NOT the doctors I used, they're just informative links.)
Last Words, George Carlin's posthumous memoir, is a must read for every fan of Carlin as well as those who want a look inside the mind of the word-obsessed, meaning-searching, stand-up comedian. What we find inside is not always pretty, but it's as open, honest, and truthful as any memoir can be.
While the book is, at times, uproariously funny, the focus here is not on making comedy, but on how comedy is made. Humor, it turns out, is no laughing matter. Carlin worked meticulously on notes on topics, slowly and carefully shaping his 'bits' over years, carefully nursing them until they were ready for public view. This book, too, was decades in the making, and the effort paid off.
But also on view here is the private Carlin. The father who tried so hard not be the over-bearing parent that his own mother was that he missed huge chunks of his daughter's childhood. The addict and co-dependent with an addict wife. The workaholic who's career was declared dead several times, and who fought back with comeback after comeback.
Those who hate Carlin will find reason here to find him as the self-centered, uncaring, drug addled freak that they expect. And those who love Carlin will find the working class intellectual who rose above two-dimensional shtick to rip the lid off polite society and show it for the hateful, greedy, violent mess that it is, and did so with great humor. They're each part of who George Carlin was, and what made his work unique.
I miss George Carlin, I miss his work, and I am grateful that this book invited inside his head one last time.
By day I consult to local nonprofit agencies. When there is actual spare time I make videos, music, and write cultural and political rants and occasional fiction. My other interests include food, travel, books, and movies.
According to the article, "Beall said he is working with beer lovers to make sure they can still enjoy brews such as the Cappuccino Stout from Lagunitas brewery in Petaluma." Well, I hope so! I love that brewery, and their product. But, somehow, I'm nervous that this bill can be written broadly enough to target all offending products, but narrow enough to keep Lagunitas and other creative craft brewers in the clear. It seems that whatever loophole is written in to save craft brews will be exploited by those market to kids.
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