Saturday, December 03, 2005
100 years on this planet
Today was my Great Grandmother Francis’ 100th birthday. My family seems to always rent out this G.I. building for all big occasions on 17th and Federal across from Mile High Stadium. Of course I was running late and when I got their there some silent ceremony thing was going on and we burst through the doors and 1000and of family members are staring at me and my girlfriend. So we walked in and the event remained silent for a few minutes and I couldn’t really see what the hell was going on. I guess my grandma was on the stage sitting on a chair with helium balloons in the shape of 100 tied to it. Then they had her blow out candles that said 100. Channel 7 and 9 News came to cover the event…Too bad I don’t have a TV. My grandmother has made all these years and I swear she still has a tumor in her head that causes her one non-stop 20 year headache. She’s indestructible outliving her husband, three children and one grandchild. She is my Godmother which means she baptized me…I was four and had no clue why I had my head dunked into some holy water. Grandma doesn’t remember me any longer…but she’s 100 and like I said my father’s side of the family the Spanish/Mexican Catholic side is just damn big (it seems like 1000ands of people.) I usually dread participating in such events. I see these people 2-3 times a year and its more like visiting with strangers that happen to be relatives…usually I try to avoid as much personal conversation feeling guilty that I don’t remember the name of who I’m talking to because the last time we talked was at the last funeral or for Easter or a wedding or something a year and a half ago. I guess it’s been like this since I was a kid. I really relate to very few people in this world...including people of blood relation. I wish love was the glue that held people together. Just like I get pissed that my professors can’t be more personal or that so-called friends can’t be loyal. This world seems like one giant façade that’s held together more by conventional stress than for genuine interests. My girlfriend says people just want to have superficial relationships. My boss Bill says I’m different compared to everyone else. Robert, someone I worked with at the Golden Corral in my high school years said, “Dude, were you locked in a closet as a kid?” My sister jokes that my family found me in a field. Of course that’s a joke considering how much we look alike and how I have my mom’s teeth, mouth and nose but in a metaphorical sense….she’s right. I just don’t belong. I sure hope I don’t’ continue down this road of utter isolation for 76 more years. But hey, maybe I’ll get a blurb in 9-News.
Today was my Great Grandmother Francis’ 100th birthday. My family seems to always rent out this G.I. building for all big occasions on 17th and Federal across from Mile High Stadium. Of course I was running late and when I got their there some silent ceremony thing was going on and we burst through the doors and 1000and of family members are staring at me and my girlfriend. So we walked in and the event remained silent for a few minutes and I couldn’t really see what the hell was going on. I guess my grandma was on the stage sitting on a chair with helium balloons in the shape of 100 tied to it. Then they had her blow out candles that said 100. Channel 7 and 9 News came to cover the event…Too bad I don’t have a TV. My grandmother has made all these years and I swear she still has a tumor in her head that causes her one non-stop 20 year headache. She’s indestructible outliving her husband, three children and one grandchild. She is my Godmother which means she baptized me…I was four and had no clue why I had my head dunked into some holy water. Grandma doesn’t remember me any longer…but she’s 100 and like I said my father’s side of the family the Spanish/Mexican Catholic side is just damn big (it seems like 1000ands of people.) I usually dread participating in such events. I see these people 2-3 times a year and its more like visiting with strangers that happen to be relatives…usually I try to avoid as much personal conversation feeling guilty that I don’t remember the name of who I’m talking to because the last time we talked was at the last funeral or for Easter or a wedding or something a year and a half ago. I guess it’s been like this since I was a kid. I really relate to very few people in this world...including people of blood relation. I wish love was the glue that held people together. Just like I get pissed that my professors can’t be more personal or that so-called friends can’t be loyal. This world seems like one giant façade that’s held together more by conventional stress than for genuine interests. My girlfriend says people just want to have superficial relationships. My boss Bill says I’m different compared to everyone else. Robert, someone I worked with at the Golden Corral in my high school years said, “Dude, were you locked in a closet as a kid?” My sister jokes that my family found me in a field. Of course that’s a joke considering how much we look alike and how I have my mom’s teeth, mouth and nose but in a metaphorical sense….she’s right. I just don’t belong. I sure hope I don’t’ continue down this road of utter isolation for 76 more years. But hey, maybe I’ll get a blurb in 9-News.
Friday, December 02, 2005
O.K. Soda Interview
If anybody come across my blog and feels it in their heart to answer these simple questions…Please do. Just put them in my comments page…thank you
(Unlike those stupid chain messages you’ll have 3000 years of good fortune if you answer this but nothing negative will happen to you if you don’t.)
O.K. Soda Interview
First and last name: (don’t have to put your last name if you don’t wish.)
What are some of the products from your youth that aren’t around today that you wish still were?
How have you heard of O.K. soda? Explain.
What did O.K. soda taste like?
What were some of its characteristics that set it apart from other sodas?
If it tasted like an emotion what emotion would OK soda taste like?
How many times did you purchase it?
What would be some of the reasons for putting it back on the market today?
What would be some of the reasons against putting it back on the market?
What are some of the cultural references you’ve heard about O.K. soda (from movies, music, commercials, magazines etc.?)
What is your approximation of the year it came out?
What city and state were you living in during 1994?
What’s your definition of O.K. ness?
How did O.K. soda live up to its tag phrase, “Everything is going to be O.K.”?
You’re the executive of the O.K. soda company. What would your sales jingle be?
What would your refreshment of choice be from this list?
a) Crystal Clear Pepsi
b) Coke
c) Sprite
d) Soda
e) A & W Root Beer
f) Mountain Dew
Your age: (optional…I just wanted to see if it’s a certain age group that has heard of it.)
Now that you answered this here is the best site I found on the topic.
O.K. Soda
If anybody come across my blog and feels it in their heart to answer these simple questions…Please do. Just put them in my comments page…thank you
(Unlike those stupid chain messages you’ll have 3000 years of good fortune if you answer this but nothing negative will happen to you if you don’t.)
O.K. Soda Interview
First and last name: (don’t have to put your last name if you don’t wish.)
What are some of the products from your youth that aren’t around today that you wish still were?
How have you heard of O.K. soda? Explain.
What did O.K. soda taste like?
What were some of its characteristics that set it apart from other sodas?
If it tasted like an emotion what emotion would OK soda taste like?
How many times did you purchase it?
What would be some of the reasons for putting it back on the market today?
What would be some of the reasons against putting it back on the market?
What are some of the cultural references you’ve heard about O.K. soda (from movies, music, commercials, magazines etc.?)
What is your approximation of the year it came out?
What city and state were you living in during 1994?
What’s your definition of O.K. ness?
How did O.K. soda live up to its tag phrase, “Everything is going to be O.K.”?
You’re the executive of the O.K. soda company. What would your sales jingle be?
What would your refreshment of choice be from this list?
a) Crystal Clear Pepsi
b) Coke
c) Sprite
d) Soda
e) A & W Root Beer
f) Mountain Dew
Your age: (optional…I just wanted to see if it’s a certain age group that has heard of it.)
Now that you answered this here is the best site I found on the topic.
O.K. Soda
Thursday, December 01, 2005
Waiting in the Light
This is the blog of a man being held by the insurgents in Iraq. I wish it wasn't so...my heart goes out to someone I don't know. My heart goes out. I must be one crazy motherfucker...I was against this war before it even began. Now people are beginning to see what I saw since day one and I can’t every get my mind around the idea…I’m just different I guess and will I always do and believe in what’s contrary to other’s beliefs? I'm so desensitized to my distrust in Bush and Company by now, that even though I read the paper and listen to the news on a daily basis…I can’t come to grips with the fact he’s dropping in popularity over the war. I didn’t think anything could move the Republican bases’ loyalty. Maybe news of the public’s newfound distrust in Bush is just so anticlimactic because it’s nearly a year too late. I’ve learned through classical conditioning to accept that Evolution is only a theory and creation is a more suited curriculum in school; I’ve learned that if you pound your chest hard enough and repeated lies enough, the public will believe you…But the one thing that tears my heart every time I read about it/hear about it…is the fact innocent wonderful beautiful people are dying violently…war is one thing I can never grow desensitized to.
This is the blog of a man being held by the insurgents in Iraq. I wish it wasn't so...my heart goes out to someone I don't know. My heart goes out. I must be one crazy motherfucker...I was against this war before it even began. Now people are beginning to see what I saw since day one and I can’t every get my mind around the idea…I’m just different I guess and will I always do and believe in what’s contrary to other’s beliefs? I'm so desensitized to my distrust in Bush and Company by now, that even though I read the paper and listen to the news on a daily basis…I can’t come to grips with the fact he’s dropping in popularity over the war. I didn’t think anything could move the Republican bases’ loyalty. Maybe news of the public’s newfound distrust in Bush is just so anticlimactic because it’s nearly a year too late. I’ve learned through classical conditioning to accept that Evolution is only a theory and creation is a more suited curriculum in school; I’ve learned that if you pound your chest hard enough and repeated lies enough, the public will believe you…But the one thing that tears my heart every time I read about it/hear about it…is the fact innocent wonderful beautiful people are dying violently…war is one thing I can never grow desensitized to.
A Love Letter to My Best Friend
Haaland my dear,
Tonight you said I was high on painkillers but I wasn’t. I was high on the euphoria you bring into my life. Like the time we were in a debate and you exposed your overly p.c. tendencies by calling the black people in France, “African America.” I love you for those debates where you pretend to be right but you know you are wrong and I take my throne of King of the argument by finishing off the words…”Poop head.” You said you were upset because I don’t send you long romantic emails anymore but I must ask…How can an email compare?
How can an email compare to the way I stare into your Norwegian blue eyes?
How can an email compare to the way I let you distract my blog writing in the school’s computer labs?
How can an email compare to the fondness I find in the way you cry over a Harry Potter book?
How can an email compare to how I love to see your face smiling back at me in a cheesy metro coffee shop, The Grind?
How can an email compare to you waking up to share the romantic morning with me?
How can an email compare to watching you learn French?
How can an email compare to watching you try to play The Beatles’ “Something”?
How can an email compare to your warm body holding me in bed?
I can’t find a good comparison between any of these things, but one thing I have found is your love- and I know I would be lost without it…I love you poop head!!!!
Nick
Haaland my dear,
Tonight you said I was high on painkillers but I wasn’t. I was high on the euphoria you bring into my life. Like the time we were in a debate and you exposed your overly p.c. tendencies by calling the black people in France, “African America.” I love you for those debates where you pretend to be right but you know you are wrong and I take my throne of King of the argument by finishing off the words…”Poop head.” You said you were upset because I don’t send you long romantic emails anymore but I must ask…How can an email compare?
How can an email compare to the way I stare into your Norwegian blue eyes?
How can an email compare to the way I let you distract my blog writing in the school’s computer labs?
How can an email compare to the fondness I find in the way you cry over a Harry Potter book?
How can an email compare to how I love to see your face smiling back at me in a cheesy metro coffee shop, The Grind?
How can an email compare to you waking up to share the romantic morning with me?
How can an email compare to watching you learn French?
How can an email compare to watching you try to play The Beatles’ “Something”?
How can an email compare to your warm body holding me in bed?
I can’t find a good comparison between any of these things, but one thing I have found is your love- and I know I would be lost without it…I love you poop head!!!!
Nick
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
I saw just before I posted this...this is blog 100!!!
Blog 100*****Blog 100******Blog 100*******Blog 100*********
Say What a day???
So the resounding voice of the mono-tonistic hypothetical male says…”An apple a day keeps the doctor away” feeding the world his daily serving of platitude. I am angry with this reverberating myth that echoes across our culture. This semester I have eaten an apple daily, integrating it into part of my haphazard routine. Of all the great important personal things that I seem to overlook playing guitar, writing morning pages, and relearning how play a game consol(…and I don’t care which one )I never seem to miss the consumption of that damn red apple. What’s my reward for this unwavering dedication? The last three months I have had the flu, gout and an intestinal stomach bug that landed me a nice visit to the ER. No ladies and gentlemen not the lovely TV show where high paid actors play pretend doctor. The real ER where people act like they are low paid and don’t pretend to care (not until my girlfriend set the nurse strait at least.) The apple a day thing ain’t working so it’s time for some Taco Bell. Yo quiero Taco Bell. Maybe I’ll eat it once a day for three months and see if my health improves…then I can actually give people a useful platitude to live by.
Blog 100*****Blog 100******Blog 100*******Blog 100*********
Say What a day???
So the resounding voice of the mono-tonistic hypothetical male says…”An apple a day keeps the doctor away” feeding the world his daily serving of platitude. I am angry with this reverberating myth that echoes across our culture. This semester I have eaten an apple daily, integrating it into part of my haphazard routine. Of all the great important personal things that I seem to overlook playing guitar, writing morning pages, and relearning how play a game consol(…and I don’t care which one )I never seem to miss the consumption of that damn red apple. What’s my reward for this unwavering dedication? The last three months I have had the flu, gout and an intestinal stomach bug that landed me a nice visit to the ER. No ladies and gentlemen not the lovely TV show where high paid actors play pretend doctor. The real ER where people act like they are low paid and don’t pretend to care (not until my girlfriend set the nurse strait at least.) The apple a day thing ain’t working so it’s time for some Taco Bell. Yo quiero Taco Bell. Maybe I’ll eat it once a day for three months and see if my health improves…then I can actually give people a useful platitude to live by.
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Another story of fiction.
Nicholas D in tha House
Nov. 29, 2005
School board ban
Page 243, Story 1
The Denver school board voted unanimously Tuesday to ban boys from playing on girl’s teams.
The decision came after four boys made the high school girl’s field hockey team last year, which the board considered a hazard for female players.
The board credited its 9-0 vote to concerns with the safety of high school girls.
“The boys are just too big and physical and it intimidates the girls on the team,” school board member Jane Tribitt said. “It is a matter of safety.”
Although Denver enacted this ban many other districts in the state do not have the same rule when it comes to co-ed participation and this raises other safety issues.
“If safety was a concern for the board,” high school director Hugh Baker said. “Then our girl’s teams with have to forfeit games if there are boys on the opposing teams.”
Stuard Adler, whose daughter was on the senior girl’s field hockey team last year, agrees with the new policy and said that girls who want to play on the boy’s football and baseball teams are not allowed.
Jacob Stevens who played on the girl’s hockey team last year didn’t think the board’s decision was fair.
“If we can’t play with the girls, we wouldn’t be able to play,” Stevens said. “There are not enough boys interested to create a men’s field hockey team.”
In accordance with the Denver school board's decision this policy will take effect immediately specifically banning boys from playing on the girl’s hockey, volleyball and softball teams.
“Just because there are not enough boys interested in the sport to field their own team,” Adler said. “(That) is not justification for being allowed to join the girl’s team.”
###
Nicholas D in tha House
Nov. 29, 2005
School board ban
Page 243, Story 1
The Denver school board voted unanimously Tuesday to ban boys from playing on girl’s teams.
The decision came after four boys made the high school girl’s field hockey team last year, which the board considered a hazard for female players.
The board credited its 9-0 vote to concerns with the safety of high school girls.
“The boys are just too big and physical and it intimidates the girls on the team,” school board member Jane Tribitt said. “It is a matter of safety.”
Although Denver enacted this ban many other districts in the state do not have the same rule when it comes to co-ed participation and this raises other safety issues.
“If safety was a concern for the board,” high school director Hugh Baker said. “Then our girl’s teams with have to forfeit games if there are boys on the opposing teams.”
Stuard Adler, whose daughter was on the senior girl’s field hockey team last year, agrees with the new policy and said that girls who want to play on the boy’s football and baseball teams are not allowed.
Jacob Stevens who played on the girl’s hockey team last year didn’t think the board’s decision was fair.
“If we can’t play with the girls, we wouldn’t be able to play,” Stevens said. “There are not enough boys interested to create a men’s field hockey team.”
In accordance with the Denver school board's decision this policy will take effect immediately specifically banning boys from playing on the girl’s hockey, volleyball and softball teams.
“Just because there are not enough boys interested in the sport to field their own team,” Adler said. “(That) is not justification for being allowed to join the girl’s team.”
###
If my soul was a shape it would be square.
The outgoing sun shinned its golden face today as lucid as ever, pumping Denver’s high to a magical 40 degrees. As I slipped into the comfort of my school’s admissioned parking lot I let out a laborer’s sigh of relief. Really it was a transition sigh from my one square life in the cube- to my next square life as a student. At least I’m a fun square at school. After parking, I walked as briskly as the weather and forked over my one hundred and seventy five quarters to the clunking parking machine which was freshly doctored together with medical tape. Shortly after anyone deposits their cash into the thing the tape repaired machine is for some reason programmed to make a forceful demand of, “PLEASE DEPOSTIT YOUR CASH NOW!!!. It comes out loud and flat in a diluted Midwest accent. One of my obnoxious pleasures (from a list of a million) is to walk away from the machine after I pay and just before it delivers its command and watch as the next unsuspecting patron gets patronized from some ghetto rigged machine with that damn half Denver half Waukesha accent. Told you I’m a fun square…I know how to get down.
The outgoing sun shinned its golden face today as lucid as ever, pumping Denver’s high to a magical 40 degrees. As I slipped into the comfort of my school’s admissioned parking lot I let out a laborer’s sigh of relief. Really it was a transition sigh from my one square life in the cube- to my next square life as a student. At least I’m a fun square at school. After parking, I walked as briskly as the weather and forked over my one hundred and seventy five quarters to the clunking parking machine which was freshly doctored together with medical tape. Shortly after anyone deposits their cash into the thing the tape repaired machine is for some reason programmed to make a forceful demand of, “PLEASE DEPOSTIT YOUR CASH NOW!!!. It comes out loud and flat in a diluted Midwest accent. One of my obnoxious pleasures (from a list of a million) is to walk away from the machine after I pay and just before it delivers its command and watch as the next unsuspecting patron gets patronized from some ghetto rigged machine with that damn half Denver half Waukesha accent. Told you I’m a fun square…I know how to get down.
Monday, November 28, 2005
"Good news I'm smart enought to appreciate my friends
Bad news I haven't got any left."- The Impossibles
I love the topic of OK soda and much time was supposed to be devoted to it. I have a feature to write in my journalism class along with the myriad of chapters to read and tests and finals to study for. But should I take a typical quirky Nick D topic and run off the end of the school year Type-A personality subdued? Or do I take the hard hitting interesting more life pertinent topic and make a piece of art? A piece of art that will take loads more effort and time to complete. Unfortunately, today I’m back at school and in the computer lab…I don’t have the trusty 8-ball communicator to guide my decision making process. Today I passed by Leticia’s office and stepped in for what I thought was going to be a superficial “How was thanksgiving” conversation and I wont’ lie to you, I was hoping to glean some juicy details about the Aaroné case. In the world of the 9-5 some wishes do come true. I spent the last 30 minutes of my 15 minute break receiving first hand experience of what I had only been reading about in the news. I walked away from the situation with an even bigger respect for the Berrelezes than I had before. I also walked away realizing that the comments she made…”This is the news…this is the news.” If I was a journalist there wouldn’t even be a question at to what I need to do. I would ask Leticia and Richard for an interview and write about a genuine topic my heart was involved with. I would sit down with these secret heroes (just the common working class folks I buy burritos from on Fridays) and I would write their story from the perspective of my voice. OK soda is right there for the taking…What to do? What to do?
I’m too tired and contemplative to do the commendable thing and give a summary of past events in this “Follow Up” story….So, here’s a link to what I wrote on this subject in the past.
Bad news I haven't got any left."- The Impossibles
I love the topic of OK soda and much time was supposed to be devoted to it. I have a feature to write in my journalism class along with the myriad of chapters to read and tests and finals to study for. But should I take a typical quirky Nick D topic and run off the end of the school year Type-A personality subdued? Or do I take the hard hitting interesting more life pertinent topic and make a piece of art? A piece of art that will take loads more effort and time to complete. Unfortunately, today I’m back at school and in the computer lab…I don’t have the trusty 8-ball communicator to guide my decision making process. Today I passed by Leticia’s office and stepped in for what I thought was going to be a superficial “How was thanksgiving” conversation and I wont’ lie to you, I was hoping to glean some juicy details about the Aaroné case. In the world of the 9-5 some wishes do come true. I spent the last 30 minutes of my 15 minute break receiving first hand experience of what I had only been reading about in the news. I walked away from the situation with an even bigger respect for the Berrelezes than I had before. I also walked away realizing that the comments she made…”This is the news…this is the news.” If I was a journalist there wouldn’t even be a question at to what I need to do. I would ask Leticia and Richard for an interview and write about a genuine topic my heart was involved with. I would sit down with these secret heroes (just the common working class folks I buy burritos from on Fridays) and I would write their story from the perspective of my voice. OK soda is right there for the taking…What to do? What to do?
I’m too tired and contemplative to do the commendable thing and give a summary of past events in this “Follow Up” story….So, here’s a link to what I wrote on this subject in the past.
Sunday, November 27, 2005
Witch Hunt
I went to Café Scientifique Tuesday Nov. 15th to complete a journalism assignment. As with anything in life we carry our predispositions. Before I arrived to the Wynkoop I had it in my mind’s eye that I was going to hear the details of this new monstrous science dubbed Genetic Engineering. The flier had quotations from a CEO in the field who embraces the technology. It also had quotations from an activist against this up and coming science. I walked through 30 degree Denver winds expecting to witness a verbose debacle beyond the intellectual confines of my comprehension. To my dismay there was no such debacle.
See to understand what took place one has to understand what the Café Scientifique is. It’s more a place of discussion. It’s based on this old café idea where people would get together and discuss current events. This idea is akin to what Starbucks did with their, “The Way I See It” cups. They printed cups with quotations from colorful personalities and people were to read these ideas and discuss them over coffee. In my limited perspective on it the company’s purpose miserably failed. Every single time I walked into a Starbucks I didn’t see one soul immersed in heated discussion over what they read on their damn cup. I don’t think I saw anyone even look at the words on the cup. In Café Scientifique this discussion concept is taken to a more tangible level because they invite experts from a science filed and have them give their brief introduction on the topic and then open the meeting to discussion from everyone, expert or not. I can unabashedly say I like Starbucks. It’s not my favorite coffee but I enjoy it. Starbucks does good things for their employees they do good things for the environment but none-the-less they are still under the cooperation umbrella so I don’t foresee them taking on such a cool endeavor as having people conjugating in tangible discussion in their commercial outlets.
This meeting taught me the power of elegance. I thought I was going to hate genetic engineering by the time I left and I was going sign up for something to help the cause that hinders this renegade science. Suzanne Wuerthele the guest speaker and genetic engineering committee for the Rocky Mountain chapter of the Sierra Club was as ineloquent as it got. Her inability to sell her message forced me to favor what she opposed. Mind you, the message of her purpose was initially subdued by the nature of the Café so her authority and purpose was then shifted onto her presence and verbal grace. This lacked in its intended goal much like the Starbucks, “The Way I See It” cup did. Here let me quote Wuerthele:
“The Sierra Club is very concerned with Bio-tech because we think there should be more???? until we understand how to fully assess the risks and impacts. There’s kind of an exception to that and that’s the medical stuff and I think that is due partly because the Sierra club is not really gotten into the issue and they tend to think about the environmental issues a little bit. Where I’m coming from tonight is I think there is a lot of valid interesting discussions and feedback on the subject.”
So I’m glad these activists form the Sierra Club haven’t had a chance to look at that medical stuff because then they might be responsible for fully understanding something before they deem it a problem. Maybe they’ll get to that stuff once they spend a little bit more time on the environmental thing.
Another twirk in her speech event was the fact she keep attempting to segue into a conversation with the audience. As you can see from Wuerthele’s quotation she said that she was interested in discussion and feedback. Many times in the night she would say something to the effect of, O.K. I’m going to stop talking and hear what you have to say. Then she never gave the audience a chance to participate. After the fourth time she did that, her request for our feedback became a twirk because it felt insincere.
Once the discussion got underway I listen to the reasons against embracing genetic engineering and I was 100% swayed for embracing it. It seemed that the medical possibilities and the practical need for farmers to gain efficiencies gave too much fuel to the pro case. One guy went into this crazy monologue about natural selection that was intelligent until he reached this anticlimactic fulcrum where he suggested that we should just inject these genes into ourselves and forget about changing our foods. Then some other guy shouted, “Why don’t we grow wings and fly away?” To which Wuerthele gave a nod of approval and said, that is not as far fetched as you might think. Hokey
I listen to the “Chicken Little” fear of not embracing new science and I wonder how Copernicus felt? How did Galileo feel? Was Columbus scared to fall off the side of the earth? What was behind the reasoning of Martin Luther King Jr. in saying: Hey white skinned people, black skinned people are your equals. In this Civil Right’s example I can guarantee there was so much traditionally inherited bigotry that there were people who couldn’t even fathom the notion of something being wrong with calling a black man “boy” and kicking him out of his way. Why was it wrong? Where was the evidence for this morality??? It wasn’t taught to him through the conventions of his society. Today I sit at home thankful that these pioneers of thought raged against everything traditional and embraced where their unique paths took them.
From the head of a coin there is always the tail as there is tale to more than one side of every story. There are people in the world who neglect the validity of spirituality because they have the rigid cells of science to toil with. There are the people who use the innocent curiosity of exploration and use it to carry out the gluttony rage of exploitation. There’s the people who gain new found freedoms only exert their power to dominate other groups of people. No protection from these atrocities has been gained from running away from them.
If the Sierra Club wanted to call themselves activists then they would actively pursue this science to glean the powerful secrets it has to furthering civilization. If the Sierra Club wanted to call themselves activists then they would spend their time, money and effort to embrace these sciences and learn the ways to protect people from the harmful bi-products it inheritably contains. The cat is out of the bag. There is no turning back. To me their pensive behavior sounds like nothing more than an old tired cliché of the Witch Hunt.
So now that I wrote my F U blog to the Sierra Club which they will never see. I will blast The Spits “Witch Hunt”…how can such a fun song be so pertinent to my serious mood?
I went to Café Scientifique Tuesday Nov. 15th to complete a journalism assignment. As with anything in life we carry our predispositions. Before I arrived to the Wynkoop I had it in my mind’s eye that I was going to hear the details of this new monstrous science dubbed Genetic Engineering. The flier had quotations from a CEO in the field who embraces the technology. It also had quotations from an activist against this up and coming science. I walked through 30 degree Denver winds expecting to witness a verbose debacle beyond the intellectual confines of my comprehension. To my dismay there was no such debacle.
See to understand what took place one has to understand what the Café Scientifique is. It’s more a place of discussion. It’s based on this old café idea where people would get together and discuss current events. This idea is akin to what Starbucks did with their, “The Way I See It” cups. They printed cups with quotations from colorful personalities and people were to read these ideas and discuss them over coffee. In my limited perspective on it the company’s purpose miserably failed. Every single time I walked into a Starbucks I didn’t see one soul immersed in heated discussion over what they read on their damn cup. I don’t think I saw anyone even look at the words on the cup. In Café Scientifique this discussion concept is taken to a more tangible level because they invite experts from a science filed and have them give their brief introduction on the topic and then open the meeting to discussion from everyone, expert or not. I can unabashedly say I like Starbucks. It’s not my favorite coffee but I enjoy it. Starbucks does good things for their employees they do good things for the environment but none-the-less they are still under the cooperation umbrella so I don’t foresee them taking on such a cool endeavor as having people conjugating in tangible discussion in their commercial outlets.
This meeting taught me the power of elegance. I thought I was going to hate genetic engineering by the time I left and I was going sign up for something to help the cause that hinders this renegade science. Suzanne Wuerthele the guest speaker and genetic engineering committee for the Rocky Mountain chapter of the Sierra Club was as ineloquent as it got. Her inability to sell her message forced me to favor what she opposed. Mind you, the message of her purpose was initially subdued by the nature of the Café so her authority and purpose was then shifted onto her presence and verbal grace. This lacked in its intended goal much like the Starbucks, “The Way I See It” cup did. Here let me quote Wuerthele:
“The Sierra Club is very concerned with Bio-tech because we think there should be more???? until we understand how to fully assess the risks and impacts. There’s kind of an exception to that and that’s the medical stuff and I think that is due partly because the Sierra club is not really gotten into the issue and they tend to think about the environmental issues a little bit. Where I’m coming from tonight is I think there is a lot of valid interesting discussions and feedback on the subject.”
So I’m glad these activists form the Sierra Club haven’t had a chance to look at that medical stuff because then they might be responsible for fully understanding something before they deem it a problem. Maybe they’ll get to that stuff once they spend a little bit more time on the environmental thing.
Another twirk in her speech event was the fact she keep attempting to segue into a conversation with the audience. As you can see from Wuerthele’s quotation she said that she was interested in discussion and feedback. Many times in the night she would say something to the effect of, O.K. I’m going to stop talking and hear what you have to say. Then she never gave the audience a chance to participate. After the fourth time she did that, her request for our feedback became a twirk because it felt insincere.
Once the discussion got underway I listen to the reasons against embracing genetic engineering and I was 100% swayed for embracing it. It seemed that the medical possibilities and the practical need for farmers to gain efficiencies gave too much fuel to the pro case. One guy went into this crazy monologue about natural selection that was intelligent until he reached this anticlimactic fulcrum where he suggested that we should just inject these genes into ourselves and forget about changing our foods. Then some other guy shouted, “Why don’t we grow wings and fly away?” To which Wuerthele gave a nod of approval and said, that is not as far fetched as you might think. Hokey
I listen to the “Chicken Little” fear of not embracing new science and I wonder how Copernicus felt? How did Galileo feel? Was Columbus scared to fall off the side of the earth? What was behind the reasoning of Martin Luther King Jr. in saying: Hey white skinned people, black skinned people are your equals. In this Civil Right’s example I can guarantee there was so much traditionally inherited bigotry that there were people who couldn’t even fathom the notion of something being wrong with calling a black man “boy” and kicking him out of his way. Why was it wrong? Where was the evidence for this morality??? It wasn’t taught to him through the conventions of his society. Today I sit at home thankful that these pioneers of thought raged against everything traditional and embraced where their unique paths took them.
From the head of a coin there is always the tail as there is tale to more than one side of every story. There are people in the world who neglect the validity of spirituality because they have the rigid cells of science to toil with. There are the people who use the innocent curiosity of exploration and use it to carry out the gluttony rage of exploitation. There’s the people who gain new found freedoms only exert their power to dominate other groups of people. No protection from these atrocities has been gained from running away from them.
If the Sierra Club wanted to call themselves activists then they would actively pursue this science to glean the powerful secrets it has to furthering civilization. If the Sierra Club wanted to call themselves activists then they would spend their time, money and effort to embrace these sciences and learn the ways to protect people from the harmful bi-products it inheritably contains. The cat is out of the bag. There is no turning back. To me their pensive behavior sounds like nothing more than an old tired cliché of the Witch Hunt.
So now that I wrote my F U blog to the Sierra Club which they will never see. I will blast The Spits “Witch Hunt”…how can such a fun song be so pertinent to my serious mood?
GE
This is a rough draft of my journalism assignment due this coming Tuesday. Unlike my other assignment posted here the details herein are not fabricated.
Nicholas D in tha House
Nov. 27, 2005
Genetic engineering
From tobacco plants becoming medicinal to goats milking silk Café Scientifique met Nov. 15th in Denver to discuss the possibilities that genetic engineering offers.
The discussion, held at the Wynkoop Brewing Company, also included how this technology is exploding to life faster than guidelines and regulations can be created to govern its use.
Genetic engineering makes it possible for scientists to introduce genes from one organism to another; recently tobacco plants have been combined with a gene which will enable it to produce the breast cancer treatment drug Herceptin.
John Cohen Café Scientifique’s organizer explained that the cost for Herceptin is $10,000-$20,000 to administer to one patient for a year.
Taking the production of Herceptin from the confines of the laboratory into the tobacco plant fields can save breast cancer patients thousands of dollars.
“So, if you don’t (genetically engineer Herceptin) there’s thousands of women who will die of breast cancer because they can’t afford the treatment”, Cohen said. “… that’s trying to provide a valuable drug that can only be made this way.”
Goats have also been genetically engineered so their milk will produce the protein found in spider’s silk.
Suzanne Wuerthele, a toxicologist and head of the Sierra club’s Rocky Mountain chapter in genetic engineering explained that there is a demand for large quantities of the spider’s silk to make bullet proof vests.
“Imagine milking the spiders,” Wuerthele said. “You just can’t do it.”
Farmer’s are embracing this science because it’s making their labor less intensive as new crops are being developed to be more self sustaining.
“In New Zealand there is some research in getting genes from the African clawed toad which has a toxin in its skin, into potatoes,” Wuerthele said. “So it can be expressed in the potato and it can make its own pesticide.”
“So you can see this is this is only limited by your imagination. This is a very powerful technology.”
The Food and Drug Administration labels genetically engineered foods as substantially equivalent foods and considers them to be safe.
This means that genetically engineered foods don’t have to be labeled and they don’t have to go through special long term toxicity testing.
This lack of regulation is what sparks the concerns in anti-biotechnology activists because little is known about these foods before they are released into the market and contaminations from genetically engineered farms to other farms is spreading.
Wuerthele explained that even though the U.S.D.A. passed something called the Organic Food Production Act in 1990 which asserts that if a food is going to be labeled organic it’s can’t be genetically engineered there is still no regulations formed to protect farms from cross contamination.
“About 7% of the organic farms in this country have contamination from other farms of genetically engineered variety,” Wuerthele said.
There is a concern for the unknown with this science still in its infant stage of development the process to create genetically engineered organisms is expensive, inefficient and done by trial-and-error procedures.
Cohen reiterated “the law of unintended consequences” which was a topic of discussion during the previous Café Scientifique.
Green Peace was sailing in the Philippines to protest the possible damage to corral reefs done by global climate change, Cohen said. As they approached the harbor their boat destroyed a patch of corral reef that they were trying to protect.
“They took out 100 square meter area of irreplaceable corral reef. So, that’s the law of unintentional consequences.”
###
This is a rough draft of my journalism assignment due this coming Tuesday. Unlike my other assignment posted here the details herein are not fabricated.
Nicholas D in tha House
Nov. 27, 2005
Genetic engineering
From tobacco plants becoming medicinal to goats milking silk Café Scientifique met Nov. 15th in Denver to discuss the possibilities that genetic engineering offers.
The discussion, held at the Wynkoop Brewing Company, also included how this technology is exploding to life faster than guidelines and regulations can be created to govern its use.
Genetic engineering makes it possible for scientists to introduce genes from one organism to another; recently tobacco plants have been combined with a gene which will enable it to produce the breast cancer treatment drug Herceptin.
John Cohen Café Scientifique’s organizer explained that the cost for Herceptin is $10,000-$20,000 to administer to one patient for a year.
Taking the production of Herceptin from the confines of the laboratory into the tobacco plant fields can save breast cancer patients thousands of dollars.
“So, if you don’t (genetically engineer Herceptin) there’s thousands of women who will die of breast cancer because they can’t afford the treatment”, Cohen said. “… that’s trying to provide a valuable drug that can only be made this way.”
Goats have also been genetically engineered so their milk will produce the protein found in spider’s silk.
Suzanne Wuerthele, a toxicologist and head of the Sierra club’s Rocky Mountain chapter in genetic engineering explained that there is a demand for large quantities of the spider’s silk to make bullet proof vests.
“Imagine milking the spiders,” Wuerthele said. “You just can’t do it.”
Farmer’s are embracing this science because it’s making their labor less intensive as new crops are being developed to be more self sustaining.
“In New Zealand there is some research in getting genes from the African clawed toad which has a toxin in its skin, into potatoes,” Wuerthele said. “So it can be expressed in the potato and it can make its own pesticide.”
“So you can see this is this is only limited by your imagination. This is a very powerful technology.”
The Food and Drug Administration labels genetically engineered foods as substantially equivalent foods and considers them to be safe.
This means that genetically engineered foods don’t have to be labeled and they don’t have to go through special long term toxicity testing.
This lack of regulation is what sparks the concerns in anti-biotechnology activists because little is known about these foods before they are released into the market and contaminations from genetically engineered farms to other farms is spreading.
Wuerthele explained that even though the U.S.D.A. passed something called the Organic Food Production Act in 1990 which asserts that if a food is going to be labeled organic it’s can’t be genetically engineered there is still no regulations formed to protect farms from cross contamination.
“About 7% of the organic farms in this country have contamination from other farms of genetically engineered variety,” Wuerthele said.
There is a concern for the unknown with this science still in its infant stage of development the process to create genetically engineered organisms is expensive, inefficient and done by trial-and-error procedures.
Cohen reiterated “the law of unintended consequences” which was a topic of discussion during the previous Café Scientifique.
Green Peace was sailing in the Philippines to protest the possible damage to corral reefs done by global climate change, Cohen said. As they approached the harbor their boat destroyed a patch of corral reef that they were trying to protect.
“They took out 100 square meter area of irreplaceable corral reef. So, that’s the law of unintentional consequences.”
###
Synchronicity
So, today I begin my morning by picking up my Rocky Mountain News from my leaf immersed front porch and I thumb my way to my favorite News' columnist Mike Littwin. If what was detailed thereon is not synchronicity abounding then I don’t know what is. He started out by writing about Aarone Thompson. She’s the six-year-old girl that is missing from a part of Aurora. The part of Aurora she’s missing from is very close to my old high school and in fact the neighborhood of one of my ex-girlfriend and an old friend of mine…So, he’s writing about a topic that is a little close to home but that’s to be expected he’s a writer from the local news paper. Then he directs his column to Richard Berrelez. So my mind is like what a minute are we talking about the husband to Leticia Berrelez? Leticia that works in the same office building as me and I in fact worked with her daughter in my department and currently still work with her brother in my department. Synchronicity times three right there. See, Richard had cancer last year and he and Leticia had just dropped their insurance so they really got into a lot of financial trouble. So, Leticia started making breakfast burritos and bringing them in on Friday to sell and make money for his treatment. God, I love her burritos and the money goes to a good cause so you can’t wrong. Well all was well with Richard and on Fridays he would come to work with Leticia to help sell the burritos. My sister and I always talk to them while scrounging up money to buy their delicacies. I usually try to work on my Spanish as Leticia tries helping me and Richard is very supportive of my Gringo efforts. The reason Littwin mentions Richard is because Richard lost his granddaughter 12 years earlier. See, his granddaughter was abducted from an apartment which was one block away from where I lived with my Dad. I remember being a kid and my grandmother being scared of my sister and I playing at those apartments because of that little girl being kidnapped so close to where we lived. That is synchronicity times 100 right there. The tragedy came to a fulcrum when Richard’s granddaughter was found by police bloodhounds in a duffel bag in the mountains. Since then Richard has trained dogs and donates them to police departments across the country. I learned about Richard’s job because my Grandmother remembers Richard from the news story about his granddaughter. Synchronicity baby. That’s why he is helping the search effort of Aaorne right now.
To sum up this up.
I have recently fallen into the readership of the columnist Mike Littwin.
He gets involved with a story from my old stomping ground in Aurora.
Randomly he mentions a guy I know from work.
The story develops into what happened in my old neighbor when I lived there 12 years ago.
My grandmother knows the Berrlezes from the old news story…She asked me if I knew who they were meaning the whole murdered granddaughter thing and not the co-worker thing.
“It’s a small world after all.”
So, today I begin my morning by picking up my Rocky Mountain News from my leaf immersed front porch and I thumb my way to my favorite News' columnist Mike Littwin. If what was detailed thereon is not synchronicity abounding then I don’t know what is. He started out by writing about Aarone Thompson. She’s the six-year-old girl that is missing from a part of Aurora. The part of Aurora she’s missing from is very close to my old high school and in fact the neighborhood of one of my ex-girlfriend and an old friend of mine…So, he’s writing about a topic that is a little close to home but that’s to be expected he’s a writer from the local news paper. Then he directs his column to Richard Berrelez. So my mind is like what a minute are we talking about the husband to Leticia Berrelez? Leticia that works in the same office building as me and I in fact worked with her daughter in my department and currently still work with her brother in my department. Synchronicity times three right there. See, Richard had cancer last year and he and Leticia had just dropped their insurance so they really got into a lot of financial trouble. So, Leticia started making breakfast burritos and bringing them in on Friday to sell and make money for his treatment. God, I love her burritos and the money goes to a good cause so you can’t wrong. Well all was well with Richard and on Fridays he would come to work with Leticia to help sell the burritos. My sister and I always talk to them while scrounging up money to buy their delicacies. I usually try to work on my Spanish as Leticia tries helping me and Richard is very supportive of my Gringo efforts. The reason Littwin mentions Richard is because Richard lost his granddaughter 12 years earlier. See, his granddaughter was abducted from an apartment which was one block away from where I lived with my Dad. I remember being a kid and my grandmother being scared of my sister and I playing at those apartments because of that little girl being kidnapped so close to where we lived. That is synchronicity times 100 right there. The tragedy came to a fulcrum when Richard’s granddaughter was found by police bloodhounds in a duffel bag in the mountains. Since then Richard has trained dogs and donates them to police departments across the country. I learned about Richard’s job because my Grandmother remembers Richard from the news story about his granddaughter. Synchronicity baby. That’s why he is helping the search effort of Aaorne right now.
To sum up this up.
I have recently fallen into the readership of the columnist Mike Littwin.
He gets involved with a story from my old stomping ground in Aurora.
Randomly he mentions a guy I know from work.
The story develops into what happened in my old neighbor when I lived there 12 years ago.
My grandmother knows the Berrlezes from the old news story…She asked me if I knew who they were meaning the whole murdered granddaughter thing and not the co-worker thing.
“It’s a small world after all.”
