stupid rules, paid for by stupid people

last night, in da club (as we like to say on da eastside, across the river), two 'o clock am sharp, i was once again confronted with one of LA's most absurdly executes laws: no alcohol after two.

don't get me wrong, i do understand the apparent necessity for this rule. after all, we don't want all them drunkards hittin' the road all at once, creating rampage on the asphalt. stop at two, give them another two hours to cool down and everybody is happy.

it itches in the implementation of the rule.

cut. back to the club, 2 am. i am enjoying my freshly purchased coke, when this guy, type muscle brain, walks up to me and asks me if i am going to drink the drink. it goes a little something like this:

him, big guy > you gonna drink that?

me, small guy > i thought so, yeah.

big guy > now?

small guy > well, i'd like to take my time...

big guy > now?

small guy > you want me to down it? i can't down a glass of coke on command, it's nasty.

big guy > it's the law, if not, the cops show up and close the joint down. so give it.

small guy > the law is nasty.

now the big guy takes the coke from the small guy and tosses it in the trash.

i love this country.

---

see: the DFA DJ tour 2007

watch: best in show (2000)

let's just privatize the ish out of it...

... and leave other parts to rot.

that's todays theme. some of you might have heard of it, others not. it's called skidrow and it is the shit. the smelly shit.

what is basically is, next to the shit, is a bunch of homeless people living on the streets. not the back alleys but the middle of downtown los angeles. anybody who has read "city of quartz" by mike davis might have an idea of it, but it actually is much worse.

imagine yourself on a music festival, say pukkelpop (my most recent festival experience). you are on the campsite, and it's full of people living in a rather rudimentary fashion. tents, caravans and a few motorhomes. but only for three days, four at most. now, cut back to downtown LA. it is like pukkelpop, but more permanent and nastier.

it really makes me wonder what decision lead to such a strange urban appearance. apparently, skidrow is moving. and what is moving it? right, money. slowly but surely downtown is being repopulated again by the more wealthy and more creative part of society. they just don't want any bums on their doorstep.

not only rem koolhaas is going east, the homeless are also on an eastward course. how long for them to cross the LA river?

 

on the other hand, we have redondo beach.

you have the sea, you have the beach AND you have the seaside open-air swimming pool. pay up bitch! and there is no other option. for next to the beach you have this.

see you next time.

The war on terror: new deal '06

not only is the war on terror costing a lot of lives on all sides, both good and evil, it is also, praise the lord, generating a lot of jobs. jobs you'd, say ten years ago, would think of as impossible. cfdr would still be alive, he would turn over in his grave...

so here's the top something of useless jobs in the name of freedom and democracy.

1. the inevitable garbage-can checker. this one actually exists. they look sharp, they are fast paced and they look if there are no dirty bombs in the trashcan you just threw your empty coke bottle in.

2. the shoelace official. 'is this a normal shoelace, sir?' if you dare to say no, get yourself ready for a nice interview in some dodgy backroom.

3. k-9 interrogator. for all your subversive bff's.

4. the embedded journalist. aka 'i forgot the golden rule of journalism'. be independent or be square, please.

that's it. in the air inbetween chi city and the city of angels.

#2. wikipedia is for suckers and i love it.

issue number one. this is my second post, and since the first one was just a startup, let's clear the books, go tabula rasa and consider this the first one.

since a blog is useless if there's nothing to discuss or nothing interesting on it (i don't care where you have been, or what food your cat has eaten; i absolutely do not care how a coffee machine makes a nice cup of coffee and i certainly do not want to know how long it takes for a certain material to release one drop of something) i make the statement right here and right now. if you don't care about anything, do not read this blog... if you are interested in everyday observations about everyday things, you might find this interesting. if not, no pun.

anyway, back to the topic. and today's topic is wikipedia. i used to work as a student-assistent at my university in delft.  one of my jobs was maintaining and updating the chair's wikipedia account. this basically meant writing stories on underground construction technologies, tunneling work and built underground structures.  sounds pretty boring, but fortunately wikipedia is not only an online encyclopedia, it is also a community of social rejects.

just pressing the 'random article' button a few times, and you end up with the most obscure items possible. fun to read, but even more fun to watch the reactions. in wikiworld, you have obsessive-compulsive attraction seekers (bit like bloggers i guess), you have people who like to abuse their powers and you have, well, just call them losers. people that never had anything to say, nobody to have to listen to them and nobody who cared about them.

for them, wikipedia is a 21st century saviour. its openness gives them a place to ventilate all their obsessions and passions. and other people to condemn them. go forth and intensify. go to wikipedia.org and see for yourself. one tip: look for 'fancrud' and you'll have a great time for sure.

issue number two. in two days i am leaving for los angeles, to live there for six months. i don't feel anxious about it. is this a bad thing or something very general? i don't know, but i'd like to.

and then the usual linkbombing at the end.

read: republish

watch: subtopia

listen&watch: justice vs simian - we are your friends

good night.