**eastward movement is included

20070530

it sure is better than being kicked in the groin.

here's a shocker: fox news is a skewed media empire that deliberately lies to their viewers. also, i'll bet you didn't know that walmart is a selfish corporate entity with no honest concern for the struggling worker it employs. enlightenment is a poweful thing, huh?

transparent sarcasm aside, if you haven't figured it out by now my netflix subscription has clearly allowed me to get a taste of the dangerously informative underbelly of the documentary world. needless to say, i've felt compelled to at least respond to what i've seen, and then promptly get distracted elsewhere. but that's neither here nor there. so while my mind is racing, i'll continue ...

my response is simple: i don't get my news from television and i don't shop at walmart. besides being the obvious and logical choice, i am also aware of how 'fasionable' it is to be childishly outspoken about such truths.

so am i taking the easiest route available? of course. hell, i can't even watch foxnews in the first place since i don't pay for cable, and i can't even tell you where the nearest walmart is. essentially, i am fully aware my saying this is really just a pathetic expression of self-indulgent nobility.

but the facts speak for themselves in terms of walmart's purposeful and debiliatating presence; hefty doses of subsidization have provided the billions of dollars necessary to build new stores, their employees were forced to extract even more billions of tax dollars in health care from the government, they're consistantly fined by the EPA, and they have even had construction halted in states such as pennsylvania because of environmental violations. this is in addition to the obvious; walmart's destruction of the delicate commercial system of small american towns and the quiet exploitation of migrant workers overseas. their workers, especially in countries like china and bangladesh, supposedly have no rights whatsover.

in another vein, reinventing the wheel in terms of criticism for foxnews is a waste of my time. everyone already knows how pathetic it is that a large portion of americans are getting their daily news from a biased source and don't even know it.

the point is, in the end this all leaves me with a paralyzing feeling of helplessness. obviously, i will continue to go along my daily life providing absolutely no support for either one of these organizations, which in the grand scheme of things has about the same impact as a mosquito colliding with a bowling ball ... but what can i do really? it is well documented that hundreds of american communites have stood up to companies such as these and won, but in those situations most of the people joining forces were either directly affected or bored retirees tired of soduku and re-runs of the golden girls. until i am one of these 'victims,' i find it hard to see myself doing anything more than pissing, moaning, handing out empty gestures and taking the moral high road.

additionally, i think i need a rug for my apartment.

oh, and in two weeks i will have lived in portland a year. an event this monumentous at the very least deeserves a horrifically reflective blog post. hold on to your butts.


that is all.

20070514

... but at least we know these aliens are friendly.

obviously, i've reached the point where i'm just posting images just to fill up space ... it's what i'd like to do at the moment, however blogger doesn't seem to appreciate me attempting to upload images, so i'm left you {anyone? anyone?} to use your imagination.

first off, i'm going to jump ahead a few steps and put the words in your mouth; yes, my attention to this manifesto that is a 'blog' has waned. however, this does not mean that my life has just been less interesting. quite the contrary, actually.

obviously, my time has been occupied by the usual suspects; musical performances, mission theater hangs, new resturant hangs, etc. however, there has been a increased amount of 'movement' taking place over the past few weeks. 'movement' is without question a relative concept, given past travels in europe, my lack of activity because of a debilitating {again, relative concept} sickness and so forth, but that's neither here nor there.

anyhow, two weekends ago i took the train up to seattle to catch the royals and mariners battle it out, not to mention catch up with some notable chillers from colorado, gretchen & emily. watching baseball, especially in person is a therapeutic experience for me, and i was happy to share this with two of my friends who were otherwise indifferent to the sport. needless to say, i had a fantastic time. following the royals while living in portland is difficult for a variety of reasons, but i've tried my damndest to keep up with the latest, even when most of it involves a sickening amount of negative publicity that transcends the kansas city metropolitan area clear to each coast. somehow, i maintain a shred of hope that stereotypes and cliches will finally be defied this year.

making things even more interesting was this past weekend which was spent in fort collins, colorado. my younger brother was finally graduating from college, and it was mother's day. in mrs. keech's words this weekend was going to be a "special treat."

i was able to distract myself off from the to-be-expected-self-referential-contemption that comes with witnessing your younger brother graduate from college until i had my parents drive me to the airport sunday night. the stretch of interstate between denver and fort collins is somewhat desolate, somewhat hilly, and somehow being filled in with an impressive display of typical suburban development. beyond all of that is ubiquitous and depressing, the viewer has one linear and unobstructed view looking west at the foothills of the rockies and beyond. basically, it's gorgeous. moreover, on this particular evening the skies seemed especially imposing; clouds were dark to light, rain seemed to intermittantly fall from the sky in plumes of purple and blue as lightning peppered in between. so, right on queue, memories of our last days in manhattan peppered my thoughts. i could only hope my brother was experiencing that overwhelming coctail of emotions that comes standard with receiving a diploma.

segway to a memorial day weekend spent with a group of individuals who helped create the aforementioned good times; san francisco kansas state architecture graduation invasion 2007 ... it's gonna straight up pop off, baby!

oh, what's that you say? another masterbatory post? what can i say? it just ... happened.

***

oh, and work? much like a freight train, things are moving ahead quickly. after visiting the site last week {no camera this time ... it's ... ehm ... misplaced} i have a better understanding of two things;

1) why large corporate architectural machines that veil themselves as a non-corporate architectural machines cannot successfull or painlessly orchestrate a 'design-build' project,
2) why architects, both male and female, lose their hair,
3) why our boy brad kingsley was dead-on when he postulated about the relevance of 'leverage' in the architect/contractor/client dynamic.

i hope to have more photos soon.

***

concerts i hope to attend before i die*>

> the flaming lips.
> tool.
> radiohead.
> madonna.
> fountains of wayne.
> modest mouse.

*one of these is a lie. i'll leave it up to interpretation and/or fate.

About _

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New York, New York, United States
I take myself too seriously most of the time and I am trying to do that less. I remind some people of Woody Allen. I occationally indulge in the weekend camping trip. I adamantly support the Kansas City Royals baseball club. My identity is wrapped up in a few simple things, most of which are continuously displayed on this here blog.

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