knowitallgirl

Mays Field yes, SBC Park NO

Go Chris Daly and Matt Gonzalez! The Dynamic Duo has teamed up to support a resolution to change the name of the newly renamed SBC Park to "Mays Field at SBC Park." To quote Daly, "They lobby the Board of Supervisors. Why should they be mad when we turn around and lobby them?" he said. "I understand why they're not happy about it, but they're wrong."

I recently made a resolution to never refer to the ball field as SBC Park (I tried to avoid using Pac Bell, but I hate SBC even more). Sure, they paid for it. But why does that mean they can't both honor a great ballplayer and still get their chance to imprint their corporate logo into our brains? Again, I'm grateful to live in a city where our leaders are willing to tackle issues that other cities won't even discuss. While this issue is likely to go nowhere unless the public picks it up, I still resolve to only address it as the "Giants Ballpark" and not by SBC's moniker.

MoveOn.org's Super Bowl Ad

Ever the loyal MoveOn.org supporter, I'm including a link to the banner campaign they've started protesting CBS' decision not to run their Super Bowl ad:

It's getting some press coverage (here's The Chronicle's article), since PETA's ad was rejected as well, and it's being called out as a free speech vs. corporate control issue. Go corporate media!

America's Sweetnot

My friend Jen just wrote a preview of the new Courtney Love album at MTV.com (America's Sweetheart Takes On Male Rock Pantheon). Since it's a preview and not a review, you'll have to read between the lines to get any sense of her opinion, though I managed to squeeze it out of her that it sounds fairly identical to Hole. I have to admit the photo is fetching, vaguely reminiscent (to me) of an R.Crumb illustration (I keep thinking of the cover of Big Brother and the Holding Company). Jen does a great job of addressing both what makes Courtney a force to be reckoned with and what makes me cringe -- she's a contradiction, as Jen notes, which I think is what continually makes her interesting. She refuses to be dismissed as completely superficial or just another attention grabber, though she's more of a personage than a musician at this point (having not heard the album, I can't comment on that yet). Anyway, read it!

Death Penalty for Corporations

Taking the conservative personal responsiblity mantra to heart, Focus on the Corporation advocates stronger reprisals for corporate wrongdoers. Would corporate crime be as big of a problem if execs got the death penalty for their actions?

Ringing in 2004

Neb and I rang in the New Year at a proper church wedding in Akron, Ohio. Here are a few highlights:



The bride strikes a sad pose (all sad bride credit goes to Leanne)




The bride, Garner, and her new hubbie, Nick




Living it up in good ol' Akron!

People's Republic of San Francisco

Excerpt from an email from the Howard Dean campaign:

"The Club for Growth, the corporate interest group that attacked us last month, is now on the air again in Iowa trying to stereotype you. The new ad shows an elderly couple saying:

"I think Howard Dean should take his tax-hiking, government-expanding, latte-drinking, sushi-eating, Volvo-driving, New York Times-reading, body-piercing, Hollywood-loving, left-wing freak show back to Vermont - where it belongs.""

Well! I have to say, as far as stereotypes go, I think it fits the Bay Area quite well. Guess I should put Vermont on my list of places to go and colonize next, and leave Iowa for the deficit-creating, public commons smashing, Pabst Blue Ribbon drinking, pork-rind eating, Pontiac-drving, Fox News watching, body-padding, secretly Hollywood-loving, right-wing Bush supporters. Gotta love those stereotypes.

Then, I met the Lord.

Please tell me why accepting Jesus into your heart necessitates a lobotomy? According for a former Grand Canyon river guide, the canyon was formed not by the erosion of the Colorado River but by the great flood depicted in the Old Testament. Jesus, why is it when people decide to follow you ferverently they have to erase the part of their brains where they learned about symbolism and allegory in their 10th grade English classes? Why can't the lessons of Biblical teachings be seperated from the literal words that represent them?

Sigh.

Picture = 1000 Words

Heh heh heh. I love this photo, with Maria's severe gaze staring down at Arnold all day. "Don't even THINK about grabbing another chick's ass," her eyes say, helping to reminding him he's no longer on a studio's back lot where anything goes. Here's the Chronicle story where I grabbed the photo from.