Programming Help

I have an idea on how to generate some income for my friends in the Bear Flag League but I'm stuck.

Does a program exist or can it be written that puts blog advertising in rotation on a blog? Each time a new user visits or the page is refreshed a new ad shows up? First you get Joe's Diner, next time it's Susie's Shoe Shop, you refresh and get Mark's Tree Service? A customer could then buy advertising relatively cheaply on a network of blogs, because they wouldn't be exclusively occupying the prime territory.

Any ideas?

Grandma Strikes Back

I had a chat with my pal Willie about all the hubub from the Washington Post No Style editor about the Roberts family wardrobe. He was stunned.

In a time when most children are dressed in Gap Kids and retailers of similar price-point and modernity, the parents put young master Jack in an ensemble that calls to mind John F. "John-John" Kennedy Jr.

Separate the child from the clothes, which do not acknowledge trends, popular culture or the passing of time. They are not classic; they are old-fashioned. These clothes are Old World, old money and a cut above the light-up/shoe-buying hoi polloi.

Willie is a top-flight athlete, member of the USA Barefoot Water-Ski team for the last 20+ years. And he's a southerner. His wife, Dawn, is also a fabulous athelete and they have 2 boys, ages about 10 and 4 or so.

Willie tells me that his mother devoutly believes that children should always wear pastels. Given his wardrobe, she may have encouraged him to think that adults should also only wear pastels. He is a handsome man and has the world's largest (or at least Sacramento's largest) collection of lemon yellow, pink, mint, aqua etc. shirts.

Last week his mom was in town and she took the family out to the Esquire Grill for lunch, hoping for an Arnold sighting. Willie was wearing Apricot colored pants and a white shirt, his brother was in plaid pants, the rest of the family was dressed to impress. And impress they did. The Esquire Grill patrons had never seen anything quite like it.

When most of them had finished eating, the waitress came around to snap up the plates. Willie's mom told them sternly "Not until everyone's finished!". The waitress put the plates down and fled in fear of being sent to the school principal's office.

I guess Robin Givhan (the No Style Editor of WaPo) doesn't know that good manners and crisp cotton is always in style.

Update: Even liberal Bob Beckel (he's the one who tried to get Bush electoral college voters to switch their votes in 2000 so Gore could win) thinks Robin Givhan is a doofus.

Friday morning 8/5/05 on Fox News...

BOB BECKEL: You want a short segment? You are about to get it. I couldn't agree more. This is the problem. This is what happens to us who are liberals, that is our newspaper of record, The New York Times, does something like this and have I to come on my favorite show in the morning and defend this stuff. Guess what? I think it is absolutely just off the wall crazy. You know what else? The Washington Post, did this on what they wear, they criticized the kid's clothes and his wife's clothes. I wish my kids would look like those kids did. The worst part on a serious note, we wonder why people are not going to get involved in public service anymore?"

Hat tip Kevin McCullogh

Help Fair Districts!

I just received an email from Ted Costa, author of the Fair Districts Initiative, Prob 77. He needs your help! It's extremely easy to contribute online -- just like buying something with paypal. Even easier! And any amount is welcome.

Fair Districts Update

July 26, Redistricting - Proposition 77 - is back on the ballot!

The battle over Proposition 77 - the measure originated by Ted Costa of the People's Advocate and endorsed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to change the way the state draws political district lines - has now moved to the appeals court. A three-judge panel on Monday blocked, at least temporarily, a lower court ruling throwing the measure off the ballot. The panel will now consider the initiative's fate in more depth.

For more information read Sacramento Bee Columnist Daniel Weintraub's article regarding this new development by clicking here.

If you want to learn more about the need to reform redistricting to stop Gerrymandered legislative districts go to http://www.fairdistricts.com.

The cost of our legal fees has surpassed $100,000.00. Any help you can give us will be greatly appreciated. You can make your contribution on-line at http://www.fairdistricts.com using your credit card or mail your check to People's Advocate, 3407 Arden Way, Sacramento, CA. 95864.

Daniel Weintraub is the California columnist for the editorial pages of the Sacramento Bee, a position he has held since November, 2000. Weintraub has covered California government and politics since 1987. He was a Capitol correspondent with the Los Angeles Times for 8 years and Capitol Bureau Chief for the Orange County Register for six years before moving to The Bee. He has covered three California governors and has written extensively on state fiscal issues, education policy, health care and energy.

Sincerely,

The Fair Districts Now Team


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Note: You have received this message because you contributed in recalling Governor Gray Davis. This was the first phase in our plan to repair California; our second step is to restore the power of the people back to the voting process by taking redistricting out of the hands of the legislature. If you wish to be removed from our list please reply to this message with the word remove in the subject line.

Irish Gumbo

Of course we can't confirm Roberts -- he can't spell!

From the NYTimes

In a proposed response to a letter from Gov. Bob Graham of Florida about the disposition of Cuban refugees from the Mariel boatlift of 1980, he repeatedly misspelled Marielitos (writing "Marielitoes") and rendered the capital of Cuba three times as "Havanna."

MAKING ROUNDS: Supreme Court nominee John Roberts meets with Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, in her office Tuesday in Washington.

Apparently the Miami Herald thinks that the person on the right is Kay Bailey Hutchison. I bet she's as mad as a hornet.

We're Still Alive

Daniel Weintraub reports today:

The battle over Proposition 77 - the measure endorsed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to change the way the state draws political district lines - has now moved to an appeals court. A three-judge panel Monday blocked, at least temporarily, a lower court ruling throwing the measure off the ballot. The panel will now consider the initiative's fate in more depth.

Sad Lance Armstrong

This morning I was looking at a fabulous photo on the front page of the Sacramento Bee of Lance Armstrong and his adorable little children. The darling little girls are in yellow sundresses and the photo is a complete aw shucks cute moment.



And then I realized that he divorced the mother of those darling little girls when they were just infants. And the boy was a toddler.

I'm not saying that he's a bad guy, but it certainly threw a wet blanket on the whole heroic victory thing.

What Else You Should Do In California

I got an e-mail from Little Miss Attila with her suggestions.

Spend a day at the San Diego Zoo;
Wander around Old Town San Diego, and buy art at one of the galleries;
Go to Comicon at the San Diego Convention Center;
Drive to the beach right at the Tijuana border, and look at the fence
that goes into the sea there;
Walk the main drag in La Jolla, and stay at the La Jolla Bed and Breakfast;

Hike San Jacinto;
Stay at the Strawberry Creek Inn in Idyllwild during the arts festival
in the summer, and explore the rocky grottoes along Strawberry Creek;
Rent a cabin in nearby Fern Cove during the winter; get snowed in;
Spend a weekend in Palm Springs, and ride the tram to the top of the mountain;

Walk along the "boardwalk" (it has no boards) in Venice, watching the
bohos go by; walk south through Muscle Beach, and have dinner on
Washington Blvd. at one of the great restaurants;
Have an evening drink at Casa del Mar, in the "world's largest living
room," overlooking the beach, with the ferris wheel at nearby Santa
Monica Pier lit up against the night sky;
Ride the ferris wheel at Santa Monica Pier;
Attend one of the free Thursday night concerts at Santa Monica Pier;
Run along the grassy median on San Vicente in Santa Monica;
Window shop at the Santa Monica Promenade;
Eat lunch or an early supper at Fritto Misto in Santa Monica;
Take the monorail up to the Getty Center; take in the views and wander
around in the gardens;

Hike the trails in La Canada, near Pasadena;
Drive up Angeles Crest Highway into the Foothills, with the weekend
motorcyclists whizzing by you (make sure you start with breakfast at
the Hill St. Cafe);
Visit the Arboretum;
Have tea at the Japanese tea house in Descanso Gardens (weekends only).

Now to look up and see if they have links.

Bad Piano Bar

Last night I tagged along with Marlene and friends for a birthday party at 2 Grand, Sacramento's new sing-along piano bar. Not good. They make fun of the people who don't participate --- I think if your show is good you don't have to force people to stand up or clap their hands.

To their credit, they did play George W. Bush's favorite song:

Brown Eyed Girl
Van Morrison

Hey, where did we go
Days when the rains came ?
Down in the hollow
Playing a new game,
Laughing and a-running, hey, hey,
Skipping and a-jumping
In the misty morning fog with
Our, our hearts a-thumping
And you, my brown-eyed girl,

You, my brown-eyed girl.
Whatever happened
To tuesday and so slow
Going down to the old mine with a
Transistor radio.
Standing in the sunlight laughing
Hide behind a rainbow’s wall,
Slipping and a-sliding
All along the waterfall
With you, my brown-eyed girl,
You, my brown-eyed girl.

Do you remember when we used to sing
Sha la la la la la la la la la la dee dah
Just like that
Sha la la la la la la la la la la dee dah
La dee dah.

So hard to find my way
Now that I’m all on my own.
I saw you just the other day,
My, how you have grown!
Cast my memory back there, lord,
Sometime I’m overcome thinking about
Making love in the green grass
Behind the stadium
With you, my brown-eyed girl,
You, my brown-eyed girl.

Do you remember when we used to sing
Sha la la la la la la la la la la dee dah
Laying in the green grass
Sha la la la la la la la la la la dee dah
Dee dah dee dah dee dah dee dah dee dah dee
Sha la la la la la la la la la la la la
Dee dah la dee dah la dee dah la
D-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d...

More Things You Should Do

I'm looking to add some new activities to my famous Things You Should Do in California list. Can you recommend any fab places you think I should add? Spectacular Irish Pubs? Great Motorcycle Rides? Best Community Theatre? Secret Swimming Holes? Best sushi? Coffee House? Wineries? Celebrity Sighting Spot? Golf Courses? Festivals? Microbreweries? Spas? Hotels? Restaurants? Specialty Stores? Parades? Movie Locations?

Make a comment, include a link. Thanks.

League Clambake

Am home and settled from my trip to Pasadena for the First of many Bear Flag League conferences. The sparkplug for the event was Justene at Calblog and many pitched in to help. The Boi from Troy was an excellent moderator and the speakers interesting and relevant.

We heard breaking news from Ted Costa that MAPA (the Mexican American Political Association) had endorsed Prop 77 by an overwhelming number -- something like 4 or 5 to one in favor. Read MAPA's political agenda from their website and you'll see how surprising this is.

Daniel Weintraub had some very nice things to say about us ...

None of them are famous, or even particularly well known. Most probably get only a few hundred or at best a couple of thousand visitors to their sites on an average day. But multiply those little clusters of readers by the 100 blogs in this group and pretty soon you are talking about real numbers. A political story covered in all of these blogs would probably be read by more people than one of my columns published in The Bee.

Alan Hoffenblum, author of the California Target Book said he frequently surfs through the Bear Flag League before his twice weekly radio shows on KCAL Radio in LA.

I'm hoping to organize a cocktail gathering for our group during the California Republican Party Convention at the Anaheim Hilton the weekend of September 16th. More details will follow.







Real Nice Clambake
Carousel
by Rodgers & Hammerstein


This was a real nice clambake,
We're mighty glad we came.
The vittles we et
Were good, you bet,
The company was the same.
Our hearts are warm, our bellies are full,
And we are feeling prime.
This was a real nice clambake,
And we all had a real good time.