Adam,

Hi.  Any comments on this?  My conservative friends are “terrified that the liberal experiment has begun.”  Hmm.

Hope your day is going well!

Mom,

1) Obviously the president has no obligation to present the opposing view to his plan and cannot be faulted for successfully convincing ABC to cover the issue thoroughly.

2) Since Ronald Reagan abolished the fairness doctrine in 1987, no broadcast entity is required to present equal time to opposing opinions. Is this a good example of journalistic integrity? I’d say no, but it is certainly ABC’s prerogative to cover the issue however they please. If the RNC has a problem with it, the proper recourse is the one they appear to have chosen, which is to take it up with ABC.

3) None of the above can be interpreted as anything other than a very media savvy president doing whatever he can to get the message out on a very important issue. I’m not even sure what “The Liberal Experiment” is, but maybe the folks worried about it could find some more constructive ways to lend their voice to our national troubles.

The “Socialism” argument was bunk, and so is this.

Here’s three cheers to anyone who called and/or wrote the bank. I have a feeling a little well-placed outrage might have had a little something to do with this turn of events.

Regardless, we’ll take an optimistic wait-and-see approach until the deal is set in stone next week.

Email Arsen Melikyan in Eric Garcetti’s office and let him know you’re concerned about this threat to our Farmer’s Market. Also, feel free to give Ricardo a call and at least leave him a message that you’re calling about the Farmer’s Market…if you get him on the horn, then by all means, be nice.

It’s time to make the post office work for your tax dollars. Send a letter, drop a dime, and heck, stop by the bank if you’ve got a free moment. Ricardo Villarreal is the manager and the man responsible for the eviction. We’ve put in a call and he’ll be at the bank at 10am tomorrow, Friday June 12th. The address is 3250 Glendale Blvd. Stop on by and give him a piece of your mind. Make it clear that Atwater Village won’t take this lying down.

Save the Atwater Village Farmers market, and save the veggies. Go ahead and mention the bank bailouts too. Why not? I’m fairly certain Wells Fargo never took any federal dollars, but that doesn’t mean they get to go ruin a really excellent farmers market.

Get more info here: http://www.oursilverlake.com/threads.php?id=158_0_10_0_C

On the local tip, and thanks to The Atwater Village Newbie Blog, I heard word that there’s some danger that Atwater Village’s awesome farmers market might get kicked to the curb by Wells Fargo bank who has, thus far, allowed the market to operate out of its parking lot on Sunday mornings. Now I won’t dredge up the national banking debacle for such selfish reasons as saving my local, super-easy-to-walk-to farmers market, but it does seem like poor timing for “the big bank” to start pushing around “the little farmers market”.

Regardless, desperate times call for desperate measures, which in this case, basically meant writing a strongly worded letter (full disclosure, co-writing actually, with a lovely woman, initials MG). The letter follows, as do the names and addresses of the intended recipients. If you’re a local, please feel free to reuse and send your own letter. Heck, if you’re in New York you can still send it. Free speech man! And reasonably priced veggies too! Reasonably priced!

Dear [PERSON AT LARGE, MEAN OLD BANK],

I’m writing to express my appreciation for the courtesy you have extended to the Atwater Village Farmers market over the past four years by allowing it to operate within your parking lot on Sunday mornings. It is my understanding that there have recently been discussions of terminating this contract, and I cannot tell you what a blow this would be to our community.

Atwater Village has truly blossomed over the past several years. It is one of the only truly walkable neighborhoods in the city of Los Angeles, and as such, has enjoyed an incredible influx of families and local businesses. As Atwater Village has endeavored to reinvent itself, it has created a thriving environment which have made its shops and restaurants a destination not only for the local population, but for people from all over the city. The Atwater Village Farmer’s Market is not only a strong sign of Atwater’s improvement, it is also a cause of continued growth. Knowing that there is a farmer’s market within easy walking distance is a huge incentive for potential home buyers, particularly young families who want to be able to live, shop and eat locally in their neighborhood without driving.

In this difficult economy, many up-and-coming neighborhoods backslide, and when this happens, local businesses often suffer the most. For this reason, it’s more important than ever that Atwater Village retain its residents and continue to attract new families and local businesses. Continuing Atwater’s growth can only be an asset to your bank, particularly when those people moving into the neighborhood demonstrate how much they value putting their money back into their community. This is exactly the type of people who visit farmer’s markets, so their continued support and patronage of ‘the local Wells Fargo’ will benefit your bank more than being open a few hours on Sunday ever will.

The Atwater Farmers Market is a huge asset to Atwater Village, and a much beloved one. It is, by extension, an asset to your bank’s business. The best way to maintain good relations with the Atwater community is to ensure that the Farmer’s Market continues to flourish.

Sincerely,

[YOUR NAME HERE]

SEND YOUR STRONGLY WORDED LETTER TO THE FOLLOWING FOLKS:

Judy Fishman
Vice President
Wells Fargo Corporate Properties Group
333 South Grand Ave., Ste. 700
Los Angeles, CA 90071

Ricardo Villarreal
MAC E2063-011
3250 Glendale Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90039 ]]> http://www.painkiller.org/ridiculosity/save-the-veggies-in-atwater-village/feed 4 http://www.painkiller.org/ridiculosity/animal-band-names http://www.painkiller.org/ridiculosity/animal-band-names#comments Thu, 28 May 2009 02:38:38 +0000 cari http://www.painkiller.org/?p=491 117 or 132, depending on what counts.

(Obliquely related to animals or animal parts).

AIDS Wolf
(Animal Collective)
Angry vs. The Bear
An Horse
Apes & Androids
Arctic Monkeys
Atomic Kitten
Band of Horses
(Bat for Lashes)
Bear Hands
Bear in Heaven
Bear vs. Shark
(Be Your Own Pet)
Birdmonster
Birds of Tokyo
Birds of Wales
Black Horse
Black Joe Lewis and the Honey Bears
Bloody Panda
Breathe Owl Breathe
Caribou [formerly Manitoba]
Catfish Haven
Cat Power
(Common Loon)
Crocodiles
(Crystal Antlers)
Danger Mouse
Daylight’s for the Birds
Deer Tick
Deerhoof
Deerhunter
Department Of Eagles
(Doveman)
Eagles of Death Metal
Eagull*Seagull
(Earl Greyhound)
Elefant
El Perro Del Mar
Fleet Foxes
Foals
Frightened Rabbit
Gorillaz
Grizzly Bear
Horse Feathers
HORSE the Band
Hot Snakes
Jaguar Love
Japanther
Kid Koala
Kittens Ablaze
LadyHawke
Le Tigre
Lion Fever
Lungfish
Minus The Bear
Modest Mouse
(Mongrel)
Moth! Fight!
Mouse on Mars
New Young Pony Club
Night Horse
Noah And The Whale
Panda Bear
Panthers
Part Chimp
(Patrick Wolf)
Pedro the Lion
Peter and the Wolf
(Pig Out)
(Plants and Animals)
(Red Sparowes)
(Rob Crow)
Seabird
Sea Wolf
Simian Mobile Disco
Stars Like Fleas
Stereo Pony
Super Furry Animals
Sweet Cobra
Tarantula
(The Antlers)
The Bees
The Bird and the Bee
The Deer Tracks
The Dear and the Headlights
The Deer in Your Headlights
The Detroit Cobras
The Dodos
The Donkeys
The Doves
The Eels
The Field Mice
The Fruit Bats
The Late Birds
The Mountain Goats
The Octopus Project
The Ponys
(The Raveonettes)
The Reindeer Section
The Wooden Birds
The Wrens
These Arms Are Snakes
They Shoot Horses Don’t They
Toadies
Tortoise
Toy Horses
Turbowolf
Tweakbird
Ultra Dolphins
Wallis Birds
We Are Wolves
White Rabbits
White Whale
Wild Yaks
Wolf Eyes
Wolf Parade
Wolfmother

Fake/Mythical/Extinct Animals:

Dinosaur Jr.
Dinowalrus
Goblin Cock
Mastodon
Mogwai
Phoenix
Pterodactyl
The Muggabears
Thing-One
Thunderbirds are Now!
The Unicorns
USAISAMONSTER
Vampire Hands
Vampire Weekend

Sources:

http://www.OhMyRockness.com
http://www.Insound.com
http://forums.frankiedettoriracing.com/archive/index.php/t-26819.html
http://musicforants.com/blog/?p=90
http://beatcrave.com/2009-02-05/indie-rocks-5-most-overused-animal-names/

“Hello Mr. Rabbit. I am Jesus Christ. Son of God and King of Kings, etc. Why, may I ask, are you crying?”

Sobbing, the rabbit said, “Nice to meet you Mr. Jesus. I’m crying because I was on my way to a party and I lost all of my colorful eggs. I just don’t know what to do!”

“There, there,” said Jesus to the rabbit. “Perhaps I can help you find your eggs and then you can be on your way to the party.”

“Oh! That would be so grand,” said the rabbit. “How lucky I am that you should have come upon me out here in the middle of nowhere when we’re pretty much just surrounded by crypts full of dead people and whatnot.”

Laughing, Jesus said, “Well, well. You are lucky indeed. For lo, I was only moments ago reborn after being pretty brutally crucified on Friday. So it’s some pretty good luck for both of us, because now you can be the first witness to the miracle of my resurrection.”

“Wow, Jesus,” said the rabbit. “That IS miraculous. I’ve never actually heard of people really being reborn like that. I always just thought it was some sort of metaphor. Or is that a simile?”

“No, that’s a metaphor,” said Jesus with a chuckle. “But no, in this case, it’s the God’s-honest-truth, pun intended. I don’t know if you’re aware, but my Father, God, happened to single-handedly create the entire universe almost four thousand years ago. In addition to the many other magical powers imbued to me by Him, I’ve pretty much mastered the art of dying and coming back to life. Honestly, sometimes being flashy is the only way to get my message to stick with these people. ”

“Oh, you don’t have to tell me about that Mr. Jesus,” the rabbit said, nodding. “Imagine walking around as a human-sized rabbit. Honestly, I get picked on SO much! Seriously, the level of intolerance is shocking.”

“Worry not, my bunny friend,” said Jesus somberly. “I’m going to do something about all the intolerance. My thought is that if everyone worships me as the one true God, then all the violence and intolerance will become a thing of the past. Then, I shall reward all these good people by bringing them up to Heaven in a little something I like to call ‘The Rapture’. Those who failed to understand my greatness shall, of course, be left behind to burn in a fiery pit of hell-on-Earth for a thousand years.”

“Hmmm. Yeah, I guess that could work,” said the rabbit. “OR, you could just tell people that they should be nice to each other, and instead of worshipping a God, they should just try to understand everyone’s perspective and work together to make the world a better place. Although, I realize that does sorta skip the whole hellfire part.”

“Yeah. I was gonna mention that,” said Jesus. “The hellfire is really my favorite part. It’s kind of the good part of the whole shebang.”

“Yeah, I guess it’s pretty, uh, dramatic,” said the bunny rabbit appraising Jesus with a newfound awkwardness and looking as if maybe he’d like to get away from Him as soon as possible.

“Yes. Thank you. I’m rather fond of it,” said Jesus. “Now, shall we find your eggs?”

“Um. Right. Yes. My eggs,” said the rabbit. “Actually, that’s okay. I think maybe I can just retrace my steps and I’ll probably find them right in plain view.”

“Of course,” said Jesus, the Son of God and King of Kings, etc. “Like when you lose your car keys.”

“Well. Sorta, I suppose,” said the rabbit. “Although I’m a rabbit, so I don’t drive. And also, I don’t think anyone else drives yet since cars have yet to be invented.”

“Of course,” said Jesus in a slightly condescending tone. “I tend to forget that not everyone can magically see into the future like me. But anyway, I digress! I must be on my way so I can tell people of my miraculous rebirth, but before I go, I want to tell you that hereafter, people will call this day Easter. They will celebrate the day in my name! And you, from now on, will forever be known as The Easter Bunny! Your legend will grow as generations upon generations of giddy children help to find the colored eggs that you are herein forever doomed to continue losing.”

“Um. Thanks?” said the Easter Bunny. “That’s real nice of you to make me a buffoon for all time. You’re a real standup guy.”

“Thank you!” said Jesus, oblivious to the rabbit’s tone. “And now, I will leave you, and hope that hell on earth is kind to you and your children’s children since, obviously, only humans shall be able to participate in The Rapture.”

“Right. Of course.” said the Easter Bunny. “I really should have guessed that.”

“Goodbye Easter Bunny!” exclaimed Jesus.

As Jesus skipped away to spread the good news of his highly improbable rebirth, the Easter Bunny shook his head and turned to retrace his steps down the path from which he came.

“Yeah. Goodbye yourself,” muttered the Easter Bunny as he went. “I’m sure none of that will backfire on you.”

(Originally published on [painkiller.org] in March of 2008)

This was the same line-up as the last show with babies present, so it has something to do with the bands playing, but the last show was not nearly this loud.  Could you maybe at least put your hands over the baby’s ears when the show starts?  Oh no, you can’t because you are holding your baby in one hand and a glass of champagne in the other.  I am really hoping you breastfeed that baby because those little guys sure like to get a buzz on. Or you could cut out the middle mammary gland and put some sparkling wine in a bottle.

There were also babies at the Battles show in Central Park, and while that was outdoors and no one’s ears bled, it was loud enough to have to shout a bit to talk to someone next to you. The only time I have been even close to being okay with this sort of thing was the toddler at The Knit wearing studio-sized headphone things that blocked out sound. Am I alone on this? Am I the only one worried about hearing-loss in babies and toddlers? If they grow up with Tinnitus, someone should be punched in the gut.

Christ in a bobsled.

Subsequently, I have learned of impending break-ups and divorces via social networking sites, complete with trite, diminishing icons such as Facebook’s ‘broken heart’, i.e. “[broken heart] Paul is no longer in a relationship.” Then the subject is flooded with emails, wall posts and comments along the lines of, “Ohhh nooooo! What happened?”  The broken heart icon comes about when one makes changes to one’s Facebook profile, and more than one broken-hearted friend has been chagrined by the unintentional broadcasting of their bad news.  Worse yet are announcements of love lost in status updates or other bulletin-board-y modes. By far the most disconcerting to date was when a friend told me of his impending divorce on the message board of our Scrabulous (R.I.P.) game.  Okay, so Twitter and Facebook are easy, quick ways to let a lot of people know something you would like them to know. It can also, I have found, serve as a way of saying something you would rather not say, or imparting news you would rather not have, to wit, illness and death.

I think most of us have received news of a loved one’s loss through e-mail, or other kinds of mass distributed messaging. Of course in times like that who wants to spend hours on the phone, repeating something so painful and difficult to say in the first place?

Recently, a friend lost her father, with whom she had had a complicated relationship. What was novel was that she posted updates on his health, at times cryptically worded, on Facebook and likely elsewhere, probably from her iPhone outside the hospital. When he finally passed, she posted something along the lines of, “Dying looks so different than I thought it would.”  So, that was an odd way of sharing difficult news during a difficult time. It would not have been my first choice.

What disturbed me far, far more than her posting the updates were the unintentionally glib and silly comments posted by friends in response, most attempting a helpful, supportive or consoling vein.  Their undoing was their structure; their syntax and grammar and spelling:

Sorry UR dad died.

U never really lose people because they R always in UR heart.

Let us set aside for the moment my penchant for fully and properly spelled words, not to mention sounding like an adult and not a 12 year-old girl.  Instead, let us examine the complete negation of emotion accomplished by these ‘drive-thru’ sentiments, these Hannah Montana platitudes.  We are all plugged into something hollow here and I am frankly aghast.  Frowny faces should be reserved for pedestrian use.  Could we please put on our grammatical Sunday-best in matters of life and death? Frowny facing someone’s death is a new high in lows, beyond the pale.

Let us suppose that she wanted support and condolences on Facebook, or that she wanted answering gestures to her gesture. She did set a precedence with her status updates. However, y’all couldn’t spell that shite out?  Y’all gonna whip out some emoticon, the same one you used when the puppy cam was down?

Please people, let us make a pact today: when true tragedy visits and people we love (or know or met once at a party, or never met in person) are suffering, are grappling with enormous and painful circumstances, let us dust off our grown-up words and our grown-up emotions and try to make a real connection, to offer true comfort and support, if comfort and support be your aim.

From: Hauck, Cari
To: _____, William
Subject: FW: Dining Services Feedback
Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2008 13:48:28 -0500

I believe it happened to me almost exclusively at lunch time. The make-up incident happened today at around 12:14? The other times ranged from noon to 2:45. Today it was the gray-haired gentleman, but it has been several different men/custodians who have done the same.

On 12/17/08 1:41 PM,

“_____, William” <William._____@mtvn.com>; wrote:

> Understood. You mentioned that this has happened 4 times. At what times of the day, to the best of your recollection, did they >occur?

> Bill _____
> Manager
> Facility Maintenance
> MTVN
> 1515 Broadway
> New York, NY 10036
> 212-258-_____
>
> —– Original Message —–
> From: Hauck, Cari
> To: _____, William
> Sent: Wed Dec 17 13:30:11 2008
> Subject: FW: Dining Services Feedback
>
> Hi Bill,
>
> I got your VM and tried your extension but you are away from your desk. I
> cannot really speak freely on the phone regarding this issue as I am in an
> open bay area with about 20 other people in my immediate vicinity.
>
> I will gladly answer any questions via email.
>
> Best,
> Cari
>
>
> —— Forwarded Message
> From: “_____, Donna” <_____@RestaurantAssociates.com>
> Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2008 11:32:31 -0500
> To: <cari.hauck@mtvnmix.com
>
> Conversation: Dining Services Feedback
> Subject: RE: Dining Services Feedback
>
> I will forward this issue to the building maintenance department as this has
> nothing to do with the dining service in the Lodge.
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: cari.hauck@mtvnmix.com
[mailto:cari.hauck@mtvnmix.com]
> Sent: Wed 12/17/2008 10:54 AM
> To: _____, Donna; _____, Jace
> Subject: Dining Services Feedback
>
>
> From: Cari Hauck
> Email: cari.hauck@mtvnmix.com
> Tel: (212) 846-_____
> Cafe & Location: The Lodge – 1515 Broadway
> Comments:
>
>I do not know if this is you or 1515 maintenance, but it would be
> nice if the bathroom custodial work could either be done after The Lodge
> closes or by a female, so I do not have to repeatedly yell from the toilet
> to a man knocking on the door that Yes, someone is in here. This has
> happened at least 4 times and most recently, I was applying make-up at the
> mirror and the custodian simply opened the door without knocking, saw me,
> closed the door and knocked. It is ridiculous to be forced to tell a man
> not to come into a ladies room during operating hours.

> Contact Required: No
>
>
> Presentation: No Comment
> Quality: No Comment
> Value: No Comment
> Staff: No Comment
> Cleanliness: No Comment
>
>
> DISCLAIMER Important! This message is intended for the above named person(s)
> only and is CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY. If you are not the intended
> recipient of this e-mail and have received it in error, please immediately
> notify the sender by return email and then delete it from your mailbox. This
> message may be protected by the attorney-client privilege and/or work
> product doctrine. Accessing, copying, disseminating or re-using any of the
> information contained in this e-mail by anyone other than the intended
> recipient is strictly prohibited. Finally, you should check this email and
> any attachments for the presence of viruses, as the sender accepts no
> liability for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by this email.
> Thank you.

>
> —— End of Forwarded Message