Archive for the ‘General’ Category.

Exploratorium Reflections

On Friday night I went to a Members Only night, celebrating the final day of the temporary exhibit “Reflections”. It was really really really fun! It is a giant spherical mirror, maybe 10′ tall, 15′ wide. It is mirrored on the front side while regular mirrors are mirrored on the back (which makes them sturdier with slightly poorer reflections).

doppelgangerIt was great fun playing with others, moving into and out of the focal point, seeing myself reflected perfectly though upside down in 3-D. It was like seeing my inverted flying trapeeze doppelganger! In the image to the right, which is the real me? The lighting is a givaway here, it was harder to tell in person!

kazooThese images on the left were not done with Photoshop, that’s what it really looked like! Freaky!
kazoo2

Kinky Salon High

I’m excited about going to Kinky Salon this upcoming Saturday, Sept 26th with Charlotte.

Here’s a terrific video from the last Kinky Salon, Alice in Wonderland

local version:

Kinky Salon HIGH
It’s time for some private tuition
September 12th and 26th

Get out those peachy folders, ‘Now & Laters’, little plaid skirts, letterman jackets,cigarettes and protractors…cuz its time to GO BACK TO SCHOOL!
That’s right- ORAL reports, spankings behind office doors, tongue depressors, tight skirts,’making-out’ under the bleachers, passing notes in the hallway, gossiping, Yeah, we wish high school was this much fun!

-School Election for Prom King and Queen!
-The KS HIGH School Talent Show!
-The NAUGHTY SPELLING BEE!
– SOCK-HOP! (… those school chaperones will be watching you!)

DRESSCODE: Naughty Schoolgirls, little plaid skirts and white bobby socks Principle/Dean, Head Nurse, preppies, Goths, drop-outs, teen mothers, greasers, surfers, surfer chicks, School Mistress, stoned bus drivers, science teachers, beatnik drama teachers, janitors, PTA parents, Gym teachers, Drama geeks, Jocks, ‘Goody Goodies’, Prom Queens, Heathers’, tough girls & bad boys, llies, Football Quarterbacks, band geeks, D&D Science nerds, Bus Drivers, Lunch ladies, cheerleaders… And as always- sexy costumes, lingerie, leather, latex, Fetish, uniforms and formal wear…NO STREET CLOTHES, PLEASE- no jeans, khaki, sportswear, etc will be admitted!

john benderI’m going all out. I’m showing up as John Bender the criminal Molly Ringwald fell for in The Breakfast Club.

After much hunting, I’ve found Mr Bender’s shirt, undershirt, fingerless gloves and pin, boots, pants, foot scarf, and hair.

john bender2I decided against wearing his jean jacket, overcoat and scarf (though I found them!) because they’d be too warm to wear at the party. Hmm, maybe I need the jacket…. hmmm.

Oop! Looking at that image, I see I forgot his earing and ear cuff!

“It feels good to be bad, doesn’t it?”

My College Friend Zim in New Zealand

I met up with Zimbabwe Smurf AKA Dave Sherman in Denver a few years ago, just a few months before he was to move to New Zealand and in his words:

arrive at the almost-empty airport at 7:00 in the morning, sitting in the lobby, hungry, cold, tired, with our backpacks and nothing else. We had nowhere to live, nothing to do, no one we knew, no car, no warm clothing. Remember this feeling. It is the meter-stick by which to measure our progress.

I follow Zim on his occasional blog. You can too.

Burnt Out Tail Lights in California

I mailed this letter to Caltrans today. We’ll see what happens

Caltrans District 4
111 Grand Ave
P.O. Box 23660
Oakland, CA 94623-0660

Lee Sonko
[address redacted]
September 14, 2009

Folks at Caltrans:

I’ve noticed that many drivers in the Bay Area have tail lights that are burned out. Burnt out tail lights are an eyesore and illegal and it becomes a real safety concern when enough lights on a car are burnt out. At the same time, it’s very difficult for a driver to tell when a light is burnt out without periodically inspecting their vehicle. Whenever I come to a Stop sign next to someone with a burnt out tail light, they are always grateful for me rolling down my window and telling them, but there’s no way a good Samaritan can reach even a small fraction of the drivers out there.

I would like to suggest that Caltrans occasionally put notices on some of its electronic signs, the same signs that sometimes read “Click it or Ticket” etc. A good sign might be, “Today is a good day to check your tail lights.” or “Are your tail lights burned out?”

Thanks,
Lee Sonko

I Got Scammed on Scam School!

It was a joy getting scammed by Brian Brushwood on his internet show Scam School.

Watch the embedded show below or go to the Scam School site and watch episode 77, “Pokerface”.

PS. Don’t watch to the end, it’s embarrassing. Alexis can (please!) verify for my avid viewers that on the very last poker game I played just before being on the show I won with 4 aces and a joker, 5 of a kind, so I initially gravitated to the aces, oop! And of course, I was a bit tipsy soooooo.. :-)

Brian Brushwood crushes Lee

(local 90mb .mp4 of the episode, “Punk your friend with Face Up Poker”)

Let’s go to the Exploratorium together!

I have an Exploratorium membership which means I can bring a guest for free. Let’s go sometime SOON! Ping me!

  • Their normal hours are Tuesday-Sunday 10am-5pm.
  • There is a special members-only event happening Friday Sept 18th 6-9pm called “Reflections”.
  • And there is Exploratorium After Dark! First Thursday of every month. The Oct 1st event looks cool, “Hardly Strictly Science”.

Cell Phones at Burning Man

Rumor has it that there may be some cell phone service at Burning Man. This is generally unpopular…

Rick: My normal phone has been turned off for the duration of the burn. Until then, if you need to contact me, give me a call on my uber secret non work phone. The number is …

Lee: Be warned that there is a scavenger hunt going on at Burning Man. “A person talking on a cell phone” is worth something like 1,000 points. If they catch you, they will put you and your phone in a burlap bag and drag you out to the trash fence.

Rick: I have no intention of using my phone at BM unless someone is bleeding. I also am tired of recruiters calling…

Lee: Awww. Come on, That’s 1,000 points! I’d clean up!

Rick: Well, start bleeding, then!

Lee: Touché!

Nature vs Nurture

Some friends have been commenting on a nature-vs-nurture paper concerning adoption. I haven’t read through the whole paper but I found a snippet that strongly implies the chart draws from incomplete data and is completely irrelevant.

Here is the paper for your perusal and comments.

Here is the graph

non-adoptees

and here is the snippet from page 14 calling this graph into question.

The survey measure of family income is much higher for the non-adoptees than for the adoptees: $61,000 per year versus $42,000 per year. But this huge difference narrows to $1,600 when I control for age, education, and gender.

I don’t know the origin of the graph for sure but it appears to be from marginalrevolution.com.

Check Your Tail Lights Today

Every time I get behind the wheel, I find myself driving behind a car with at least one broken tail light. Whenever I get the chance, I pull up to the car and tell the driver. They’re always thankful that I told them but it’s not often that I get the opportunity. Of course the problem is that when you are driving, you can’t easily tell when one of your tail lights is out unless you have a friend help you.

So I hereby declare, by the power invested in my by the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution that October 1st each year is “Check Your Tail Lights Day!”

Spread this news far and wide!

Strange Eats

This is written by my friend Schuyler and his brother. It’s pretty cool.

Stranger Eats: Recipes from Strangers