Rainy day musings

Over a year without a blog post!  If only I had more time.  And yet, in the time before the taking of a toast and tea, there is time yet for a hundred indecisions, and for a hundred visions and revisions.

It's raining today. It was raining yesterday, too.  We need rain, so it is good that it is raining.  However we need sun, too.  We need both the sun and the rain.  Yesterday we had both at the same time.  I was driving with my wife on Guerrero Street, and it was raining, but we could see sunshine ahead, and then we saw a rainbow.  It was faint at first, and then it began to intensify.  It grew into a full arch rainbow. And then it became a double rainbow.  It was beautiful, and I wished it would last all day, but it was gone within a few minutes.

As George Harrison said (or titled his album), all things must pass.  It's not easy to accept that good things must come to an end, but if bad things must come to an end as well, then that's some consolation.  I don't like the idea that I am going to die some day.  I probably waste too much time thinking on this inevitability.  It does not engender happy thoughts for me.  I don't believe in an afterlife, but I have a hard time accepting that I will simply cease to exist.  What could that moment be like when one passes from life into death?  It can't quite be like going to sleep, because in sleep we dream.  But in death, what dreams may come?  There's the rub.  I don't believe any dreams will come.  I recently read Roger Ebert's memoirs, and I like how he thinks of death.  He believes we simply return to the same state of existence as before we were born, and he was content with that.  I find some comfort in thinking of it that way, too.

International Art Museum of America Explained

Time for another blog post. I had been curious about the mysterious "International Art Museum Of America" that opened on mid-Market Street in San Francisco. I had walked by it a bunch of times and pressed my face against the glass, and was puzzled by its Disneyesque "fake" rock formations and zen-like garden-scapes visible on the interior. Anyway, I read a posting on the SFist website about the museum, and then saw that someone named Vince H. had commented on the posting, and it helped to explain the museum nicely. The comment is no longer present on the SFist posting, so I am re-posting the comment here:

1. International Art Museum of America (IAMA) is a public-benefit, non-profit art museum. IAMA displays works of art of the highest order in the world, thereby serving the development of mankind and the advancement of culture and art. By providing people with the beauty of art, IAMA is helping the progress of human civilization. IAMA is not affiliated with any religion or religious organization. It is purely an art museum.

2. In order to ensure the exquisiteness and uniqueness of exhibits displayed by IAMA, the board of directors of IAMA established strict standards for the collection or display of any work of art. Those standards are as follows:

Whether it is an ancient or new painting, a work of calligraphy, an ink-wash painting, an oil painting, a watercolor, a gouache, a sculpture, or any other type of art, it must be:
1. A work by a world-class artist or an artist who creates national treasures. The works of such an artist must be of the highest or second-highest level in the world when compared with works in the same genre by other living artists. The works of such an artist must also have a market value of at least US$200,000 per square foot; or
2. A work by an artist whose works were exhibited by a governmental body on the highest national level. The works of such an artist must have a market value of at least US$20,000 per square foot; or
3. A work by a famous artist who is head of a museum or art academy. The works of such an artist must have a market value of at least US$20,000 per square foot.

A work will not be considered as a possible selection by IAMA unless it can meet one of these three standards. IAMA only emphasizes the quality of the art, not the number of artists whose works are selected.

3. All of the works created by various artists that are currently on display at IAMA meet the above-described standards and were approved through voting by the board of directors of IAMA. No individual alone has the right to approve or disapprove of which works will be displayed. Why are there more works of art on display that were created by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III than works of art created by any other artist? It is because the artistic creations of other artists truly cannot compare with those of H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III. People’s evaluations of the exhibits since the opening of IAMA have clearly borne this out. All of the visitors to IAMA have marveled at the fact that other art museums simply do not have the high quality and unique works of art that are on display at IAMA. Furthermore, IAMA is the only museum in the world that contains artwork that cannot be duplicated. It is also the only museum that has a faux boulder in which mist created from the artist’s sculpting skills lingers without ever dispersing. This is unparalleled in the entire world.

4. IAMA is purely an art museum. It respects all religions but does not belong to any one religion. It has no direct or indirect relationship with any religion, nor does it have any business connections with any religion. IAMA has no interactions with Hua Zang Si, a temple located in the Mission district.

5. We welcome everyone to come and visit IAMA. As the saying goes, “Seeing is believing.” When you visit IAMA, you will know whether what we say is the truth.

Words to live by

When I worked at Gap Inc back in the late 90s the company decided to launch an employee recognition program founded on a list of seven phrases called the "words to live by." Our CEO, Mickey Drexler, was apparently a big fan of motivational phrases, and so credit-card-sized copies of the "words to live by" were distributed to all employees for easy wallet storage. While cleaning out a drawer this evening I happened upon this valuable life philosphy, and would like to share it with you. Here they are, the words to live by:

• everyone counts
• every difference makes a difference
• own it, do it, done
• less is more... simplify
• take the smart risk
• do it better every day
• do the right thing
  

Yelp update

Yelp is now displaying my reviews. My previous post was obviously making waves down at Yelp headquarters. It was the talk of the company. The CEO has resigned in shame. A gift basket, with a sincere note of apology, is on its way to me now.

Yelp gets one star

I wrote three reviews on Yelp, and for some reason they disappeared from public view. I did some research, and was surprised to find the following explanation as to why my reviews were yanked, as posted on the Yelp website:

The review may have been suppressed by Yelp's automated software system. This system decides how established a particular reviewer is and whether a review will be shown based on the reviewer's involvement on Yelp. While this may seem unfair to you, this system is designed to protect both consumers and businesses alike from fake reviews (ie, a malicious review from a competitor or a planted review from an employee). The process is entirely automated to avoid human bias, and it affects both positive and negative reviews. It's important to note that these reviews are not deleted (they are always shown on the reviewer's public profile) and may reappear on your business page in the future.

Based on my own experience, then, the Yelp automated software system is deeply flawed. For the record: I gave Fishermen's Grotto No. 9 two stars, Pazzia Restaurant two stars (later updated to four stars), and The Italian Athletic Club five stars. I give Yelp ONE STAR, and a flip of the bird.

Don't you know it's gonna be... all right

Our federal government's efforts at health care reform have brought into glaring light the great problem that plagues our country: that the people we elect to government do not represent our, the voter's, interests, but instead represent the interests of those who give them large sums of money; namely, large corporations, and other moneyed special interest groups (including even from foreign countries). Votes are for sale up on Capitol Hill. Corruption abounds. These folks need money to pay for their election campaigns, and if they didn't take it from the large donors in exchange for their vote, they wouldn't be re-elected. I suppose that is their rationale. Maybe this is nothing new, but it has become painfully apparent in the past few weeks. Every sane person knows that our health care in this country is outrageously overpriced, and continuing to escalate out of control, and yet Congress is putting the brakes on any meaningful reform. It's a sad state of affairs. It seems we need campaign finance reform before any other meaningful change can take place. Unfortunately, the electorate is largely ignorant, and easily manipulated via the corporate-controlled mainstream media. There is little chance any important change will be happening soon, despite the "Yes We Can!" rallying cry of not so long ago. There will be no new birth of freedom. The rich will continue to get richer, and the poor will get poorer, and government of the people, by the people, for the people, will continue to die a slow death, til it perish from the earth.

Struggle in Iran

Some incredible images are coming out of Iran. An oppressed people are courageously fighting back. Here's hoping for their success, and may it serve as an inspiration to us all.