Lee.org

Want to find out what gun was used in a movie? Check the Internet Movie Firearms Database!

My handgun is apparently quite popular in the movies.

Tuesday evening the International Space Station will be flying by San Francisco. Join a contingent on Bernal Hill or just look up at the right time. I caught it once before and was cooler than you’d initially imagine.

Tuesday evening starting at 5:29pm sharp for just 3 minutes. Starting in the southwest, going high in the sky and ending in the northeast.

Join us on Bernal Hill! Call me or comment on the blog or just show up

—————————–

Find out when the International Space Station will be in San Francisco.

and

Find out when it’s coming to YOUR town.

I was chatting with Schuyler and I was reminded of his fantastic Stranger Eats, the site is predicated on him asking total strangers online for recipes. The results are sometimes delicious and often hilarious.

Most recently, he made queso fresco so I gave it a try. Let me just say that 10 minutes ago I had milk, salt and vinegar and right now I am eating my very own home made queso fresco! And it’s good!

I’m excited about going to this outdoor lasertag game I’ve heard about in the Bay Area for a while now. I heartily welcome you to join me!

Check out BattleSFO lasertag either on the website or Facebook

Here is the invite from Facebook

Capture-the-flag lasertag and potluck picnic party
Date: Saturday, November 14, 2009
Time: 11:00am – 4:30pm
Location: Junipero Serra Park- Isis lasertag group picnic site
Street: 1801 Crystal Springs Rd
City/Town: San Bruno, CA
View Map
Description: http://sflasertag.org/battlesfo/participate

BattleSFO is an intense afternoon of outdoor lasertag and a potluck picnic party in the park. Six Teams will be playing 12 minute games of capture-the-flag in a 2 acre wooded area of Junipero Serra Park.

We’ll provide the latest in mil-spec outdoor lasertag equipment and radio headsets for each player.

This is lasertag at its finest. We’ll be playing with some of the best lasertag equipment available, running around in the open woods. The radio headsets help you know what’s going on, making the games much more thrilling. Between games we’ll be having a potluck BBQ picnic party at our private group picnic area, and watch the other teams play from above. It’s going to be a high-adrenaline afternoon of fierce competition and fun times. Spectators welcome

Cost:

* Player: $50 per player covers all lasertag and radio equipment rentals, park rental fees, and staffing
* Youth Games: $15 per youth (with a registered adult)
* Volunteer: There are 8 openings for volunteers who will play for free in exchange for refereeing games and helping setup.
* Spectator: People are welcome attend the potluck picnic for free without playing, but please register so we know you’re coming.

Please register on the event website to confirm your space. Thanks! Volunteers should also register, as there are only 2 more spaces.

http://sflasertag.org/battlesfo/participate

Wanna shoot me? Here’s your chance!

I’m going to BattleSFO along with Sai from Noisebridge on November 14th. I’ll likely be volunteering to help run the games.

Join me!

They always have the best little Swiss finger food at these things!

You should register at the site below and write back to me if you’re going.

It’s free :-)

——————————————————————-
COMPETITIVE MARKETS: BEAUTY OR BEAST?
Thursday November 5, 6.30pm-9pm
——————————————————————-

In the aftermath of the financial meltdown, the virtue of competitive markets is being questioned. It is little appreciated, however, that the economic concept of “competitive markets” is abstract—just as a “vacuum” is an idealized environment for physicists—and that the theory rarely spells out how to implement markets in practical terms.

Peter Bossaerts, professor of finance at the California Institute of Technology, explains what economists mean by the term “competitive markets,” what the markets are theoretically supposed to do, and where they fail. He’ll also evaluate whether or not eBay, the New York Stock Exchange, the real estate market, the Over-the-Counter credit derivative markets, and other institutions are really instances of “competitive markets.” Audience members participate in hands-on demos of market behavior, so laptops are encouraged.

Details & Registration: http://www.swissnexsanfrancisco.org/activities/events/competitivemarkets
Location & Parking: http://www.swissnexsanfrancisco.org/aboutus/contact

A friend wrote to me…

>Fiend me on facebook!

Several years ago during Christmas I tried saying “Bah Humbug” as a joke whenever anyone wished me a merry Christmas. After a few days, I suprised myself when I said it to someone and actually meant it; it kinda freaked me out. The power of suggestion, even to yourself, is very real.

For the most part, San Franciscans are a bunch of dance-around-the-peace-tree hippys. That’s ok, I like dancing. And when the zombie revolution comes, it’ll be easy to repel their sorry undead asses with my patchouli scented bullets.

(Don’t stop at the following sentence, read the whole post because it gets weird)

In San Francisco, it is illegal to buy or have in one’s possession a BB gun / air gun / pellet gun.

ARTICLE 9: MISCELLANEOUS CONDUCT REGULATIONS
SEC. 602. SALE OR POSSESSION OF SLING SHOTS OR TOYS PROJECTING MISSILES BY AIR OR GAS PROHIBITED.
It shall be unlawful for any person, except for a peace officer authorized under California Penal Code Section 12600, to buy, sell, offer or expose for sale, barter or exchange, have in his possession or use any sling shot.
It shall also be unlawful for any person to buy, sell, offer or expose for sale, barter or exchange, have in his possession or use any toy by which, whether used singly or in combination of units, missiles may be projected by force or compressed air, carbon dioxide, or any other chemical, gas, or other element, or combined thereof. Nothing in this section is intended to be inconsistent with Government Code Section 53071.5 or any successor statute regulating imitation firearms, BB guns or air rifles.
(Amended by Ord. 4782, Series of 1939, App. 1/6/48; Ord. 260-04, File No. 031932, App. 11/4/2004)

The state calls an air gun a “BB Device”. It is a form of “imitation firearm”.

California Article 1, Section 12001, subsection G: For purposes of Sections 12551 and 12552, the term “BB device” means any instrument that expels a projectile, such as a BB or a pellet, not exceeding 6 mm caliber, through the force of air pressure, CO2 pressure, or spring action, or any spot marker gun.

The state says you can’t just tote an exposed imitation firearm (which includes BB guns) around.

12556.
(a) No person may openly display or expose any imitation firearm, as defined in Section 12550, in a public place.
(b) Violation of this section, except as provided in subdivision (c), is an infraction punishable by a fine of one hundred dollars ($100) for the first offense, and three hundred dollars ($300) for a second offense.
(c) A third or subsequent violation of this section is punishable as a misdemeanor.

So you can’t run around with a BB Gun in California unless…

(d) Subdivision (a) shall not apply to the following, when the imitation firearm is:
(1) Packaged or concealed so that it is not subject to public viewing.
(2) Displayed or exposed in the course of commerce, including commercial film or video productions, or for service, repair, or restoration of the imitation firearm.
(3) Used in a theatrical production, a motion picture, video, television, or stage production.
(4) Used in conjunction with a certified or regulated sporting event or competition.
(5) Used in conjunction with lawful hunting, or lawful pest control activities.
(6) Used or possessed at certified or regulated public or private shooting ranges.
(7) Used at fairs, exhibitions, expositions, or other similar activities for which a permit has been obtained from a local or state government.
(8) Used in military, civil defense, or civic activities, including flag ceremonies, color guards, parades, award presentations, historical reenactments, and memorials.
(9) Used for public displays authorized by public or private schools or displays that are part of a museum collection.
(10) Used in parades, ceremonies, or other similar activities for which a permit has been obtained from a local or state government.
(11) Displayed on a wall plaque or in a presentation case.
(12) Used in areas where the discharge of a firearm is lawful.
(13) A device where the entire exterior surface of the device is white, bright red, bright orange, bright yellow, bright green, bright blue, bright pink, or bright purple, either singly or as the predominant color in combination with other colors in any pattern, or where the entire device is constructed of transparent or translucent materials which permits unmistakable observation of the device’s complete contents. Merely having an orange tip as provided in federal law and regulations does not satisfy this requirement. The entire surface must be colored or transparent or translucent.
(e) For purposes of this section, the term “public place” means an area open to the public and includes streets, sidewalks, bridges, alleys, plazas, parks, driveways, front yards, parking lots, automobiles, whether moving or not, and buildings open to the general public, including those that serve food or drink, or provide entertainment, and the doorways and entrances to buildings or dwellings.
(f) Nothing in this section shall be construed to preclude prosecution for a violation of Section 171b, 171.5, or 626.10

… you can’t run around with a BB Gun in California unless you keep it in a box, you’re shooting it somewhere that it’s legal to shoot a gun, or the BB gun is painted some crazy ass color like bright purple! (Yes, the image of the Hello Kitty assault rifle above is real. Sanrio asked the maker of the rifle to remove the kitty and he did a while back. Then there’s the bARbie-15 :-)

So in brief, BB guns are more illegal than real guns in San Francisco. California law is more lenient, saying that as long as you keep it under wraps (or paint it bright purple), it’s not a big deal.

Weren’t you wondering how all the cool blog commenters get their face next to their blog comments? Yes, you were.

It’s easy. Just sign up and put your face on a Gravatar. It works pretty good.

IM…
schuyler: leather gloves make typing haRD. I CAN SEE WHY DR. HORRIBle goes fr the video blog. sorry caps. this is hard
Lee Sonko: hahah!
Lee Sonko: I need photos!

From the Boston Globe, a new ad campaign on the T from the Boston Area Coalition of Reason, which links to the United Coalition of Reason.

Who buys lab coats? Open up Amazon.com and search for “lab coat”. Pick the first one.

Let’s take a look see… (right-click and open the image in a new window to view full screen)

What is that down at the bottom? Down where it says “Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought”… Are those lab goggles? No. Are they pipettes? No! They are welding goggles. Welding goggles? Who could possibly need welding  goggles with their lab coat??? I’ll tell you who!

Doctor Horrible!

Thanks to Schuyler for pointing this out to me!

I was asked today by a friend to write down “one thing you saw today that made you smile”. Here is what I wrote:

I walked to the new Whole Foods supermarket in Noe Valley. I walked around quite a bit and found myself in the back at the meat and fish department. I smiled at the whole scene. There was a young mother with 2 kids draped on her shopping cart waiting in line. She, along with others in the line stood and waited; she looked uncomfortable at being in line and uncomfortable, somehow in her life situation. She didn’t know if she was doing things the “right” way, going to Whole Foods, spending the money on organic food instead of conventional, having kids, waiting in line. The scene looked familiar, it looked like a scene I was in when I was a child. There wasn’t a right answer then, or now. I smiled because, in knowing that there is no answer, I know the answer to her worries.

I just read in an article that came with my phone bill titled “Mandated Messages from the CPUC” the following:

When you call 900 numbers or toll-free numbers such as 800 and 888, the company you’re calling may be able to receive and display your phone number by using an FCC-regulated technology called Automatic Number Identification (ANI). With ANI, there’s no way to prevent your number from being identified during these calls. You canoot block your number from being displayed as you can when you call other phone numbers.

If you want to keep your phone number private, use a company’s regular toll number instead of the toll-free number. Or, call from a payphone. If you do use a toll-free number or a 900 number, you can ask that your number not be given to phone solicitors.

I had always heard that there was some technology that made it so your phone number could not be blocked. Now we both know its extent.

I think of San Francisco as being Home of the Zombie. So why isn’t there a San Francisco contingent for Thrill The World?

I assume that the local undead community believes this event to be about shark jumping.

Wow. Cracked.com comes through, again.

These are all real projects with links to verifications

Project A119 was a United States plan to nuke the moon in order to freak out the Russians during the cold war.

A large explosion on the Terminator line (the dividing line between the dark and light side of the moon) would put the sun behind the mushroom cloud, making the explosion visible with the naked eye from Earth. Presumably this is because the scientists in question were using prison logic: If you don’t want to end up somebody’s man-wife, you gotta kill the first random guy you see and make everybody else think you’re crazy.

Blue Peacock was a British plan to build 10 kiloton landmines to be activated during a retreat… and kept warm by chickens.

the U.S. Army employed no less than 22 full-time psychics to do remote viewing

Operation Northwood was a US plan fake a Cuban terrorist attack on US soil to give us an excuse to kick Cuba’s ass.

Project Horizon was a plan to put a nuclear military base on the moon in 1959.

The M-388 Davy Crockett was a tactical nuclear recoilless rifle projectile that was deployed by the United States during the Cold War with a selectable yield equivalent to 10 or 20 tons of TNT.

Yow!

I just called San Francisco 311 to offer a compliment to the city. The city changed the traffic light timing on Valencia Street between 15th and 26th about 4 months ago. It is now a green wave at 15 miles per hour in both directions. I love it.

For cars, it offers traffic calming and consistency. If you drive at 15mph, you’ll hit a green light at every intersection. Drivers make their way down the road roughly as fast but it’s less stressful. And if a driver -really- wants to go around this sluggish feeling traffic, they can take South Van Ness or Guerrero.

It is easy for bikes to keep up with the pace of traffic, making it feel safer because  there is no speed difference between cars and bikes. Going up-hill from 18th-21st it’s a healthy challenge to keep up with the lights. It’s an odd thrill on a bike, meeting up with the same cars at every light.

Pedestrians have less to worry about because traffic is moving slower and more consistently. The strip from 15th to 26th is a pedestrian-friendly shopping and living district, now moreso!

My only complaint: I want to see more of this!

Also read this article on SF Streetsblog that talks about the Valencia Street re-timing.

On the Wednesday of Burning Man, my bike was stolen. I had parked it in front of Soma with a cheap 4 number wire lock on the front wheel. So no drunkard took it, the lock was cut with tin snips or better :-(. And darn it, I was less than 5 minutes away from seeing the thief. I had glanced at my bike and decided not to leave yet, I took a quick stroll around the Soma fuel depot and went back to the bike. I immediately found my jacket on the ground, which had been sitting on the back of my bike… but no bike. But no matter.

I sent this letter to Feedback @ Burning Man today.

————————————————–
This is a letter mostly about stolen bike policies. I apologize in advance if it comes off as an angry letter. I really want to help improve on the state of things which is why I am bringing these issues to you.

At about 6pm on Monday, the last day of Burning Man I spoke with a man named Travis who was moving Yellow Bikes around on a truck. He drove up to me and some aquaintances at Center Camp and asked what we were doing. We had been looking around at the rows of unclaimed bikes. I explained that my bike had been stolen and I was looking for it or a suitable replacement. He gave me a long cold evil-eye stare and very strongly told me not to take a bike that didn’t belong to me but instead fill out a form at Playa Info, or that I could fill out a form with him the next day, Tuesday. We then went our ways.

1) I went to Playa Info and the place had already been disassembled. In its space there was a shade structure, a desk and some papers on the desk. The papers did not concern a Lost and Found registry. Obviously there would be no way to find Travis again since I learned nothing more from him except his name. So could anyone ever possibly fill out a Lost and Found bike form?

2) The 2009 Survival Guide has no mention of a Lost and Found registry. The Burning Man website mentions “At the end of the event, lost bikes (e.g. abandoned ones that have been gathered up) can be recovered at Playa Info. Unclaimed bikes are donated to Reno-based non-profits”. I note that they are not talking about a Lost and Found registry. So how could I have known about this mythical Lost and Found registry without angry Travis and his evil eye burning my guilty soul?

3) Most importantly, let’s say that Travis is right and I found the Lost and Found bike registry. It is obvious this would serve no one. I can imagine the phone call I might get a week after Burning Man, “Hey we found your bike. It’s in a pile of other bikes in Gerlach. You can either come and get it or we’ll donate it.” If I actually got that phone call, I’d be -very- angry.

So, in short, I’d like to ask Travis from Yellow Bikes (and Burning Man) how he can justify trying to push on me and presumably other people a policy of a Lost and Found bike registry that has an absolutely 0% chance of returning any bikes to their owners.

Some possibly better solutions include:
- a laissez faire policy about bikes
- publicizing and operating a Lost and Found registry (I dunno, sounds like a lot of work)
- encouraging and supporting volunteer efforts (I’ve heard that previous volunteer efforts met with mediocre success)

Thank you very much for your time and consideration. I look forward to my new bike being stolen in the big Metropolis in the desert next year ;-)

Lee Sonko

Aaaa! CTP, I need to own this button!

At the beginning of Burning Man this year, a woman told me this joke. vowed that I would retell it to as many people as I possibly could. I’d let it spark conversations and start a revolution. I ended up retelling it to maybe fifty or a hundred people! I asked, “Now, it’s your job to tell two friends. And tell them to tell two friends! With luck, by the end of the event every person will be telling every other person this joke constantly. It will become the new ‘Aloha’”!

Telling this joke started many an excellent conversation. By the end of the event, I had 2 variants.

Simple version

me – Do you know what the two sexiest barnyard animals are?
them – umm
me – [bow chicka 70's song mode] Brown Chicken Brown Cow!” [/bow chicka 70's song mode]

Long version

me – I was wondering, what do you think are the two sexiest barnyard animals?
[let weird thoughtful conversation commence for a few minutes]
me – You know, for me, [thoughtful pause] I’ve gotta say that the two sexiest barnyard animals have to be [bow chicka 70's song mode] brown chicken brown cow [/bow chicka 70's song mode].

It served as an introduction, just walking up to a stranger and starting in with the question. It could break a lull in conversation. It served as fodder for conversation, I’d ask which version they liked better or right pronunciation of the punch line; man, people had a lot of opinions on the correct pronunciation, fun! It was viral… it is viral! Tell your friend and plant the virus in their brain! It is a wonderful joke.

I have to thank the beautiful person who first told it to me!

Note: when telling the punchline, and at no other time during the joke, it is vitally important that you bob your head up and down, left and right, and forward and back! It is a complex motion but I can not be held responsible if you do not follow this practice! To perform the maneuver, imagine you are alternately trying to use your nose to touch two points, one just above and to your left and the other just above and to your right. Practice!

Macaroni and cheese lubricated with bacon fat – curiously fabulous

Bacon wrapped figs with goat cheese – sublime joy

Cupcakes with bacon icing – yes, cupcakes with bacon!

Bacon wrapped jalapeño poppers - Powie! Zowie!

Mini bacon bread buns – one of my contributions!

Italian spiced bacon bread rollup – mine! got a couple good reviews :-)

Jesse’s Bacon Wheel Casserole – as he described it, “…just a tuna noodle casserole BUT we use wagon-wheel shaped pasta, AND use bacon instead of tuna. The idea is that the small pieces of bacon will get lodged between the spokes of the wheel.” !! :-)

There were more bacon based finger foods that I consumed that added to the joy of the evening but, alas I forget what they were! Phoey!

Excellent conversation with Susie!

It was startling how within 15 minutes of arrival there was this bacon fueled frenzy of eating and “om om nom nom om!” and heated conversation with eye-rolling-back goodness. It’s weird that it’s hard to put my finger exactly on why it was so good. It was little like being drunk. It was… dare I say, the magic of bacon!

CTP had left a pile of awesome bacon themed buttons. CTP is awesome.

“Bacon: The Gateway Meat”

“Bacon: It’s what’s for dinner”

“Bacon: It’s what’s for desert”

“1: Kittens
2: ???
3: Bacon
4: Genitals
5: Safety”

(If you don’t get that numbered list, historically, safety was first but it had recently fallen to third. But bacon is the new safety and.. well, it’s funny, just trust me!)