Dawkins on Colbert

Posted 19 October, 2006 in Atheism

If you haven’t seen it, or you’d like to see it again, here’s Richard Dawkins on the Colbert Report:

At the Richard Dawkins Foundation web site

And while we’re on the subject, the most recent episode of The Jason Crane Show features an interview I did with Richard Dawkins last year.

A great political ad from the September Fund

Posted 17 October, 2006 in Politics & Activism

You can find out more about the September Fund at septemberfund.org.

Viva Las … oh, never mind

Posted 15 October, 2006 in Labor movement, Random Musings, Travel

It’s not that I hate Las Vegas, it’s more that … um … OK, it’s that I hate Las Vegas.

I’m writing this from the Sahara Hotel and Casino in Vegas, where I’ve come for a meeting of hotel union folks. Las Vegas is one of the power bases of my union, UNITE HERE, given that we represent hotel and gaming workers. Nearly every casino on The Strip is union, and this city is home to more than 50,000 of our members. Hotel and gaming jobs here are becoming middle-class jobs as a result.

For me, though, Vegas is everything I dislike about American culture — lit up. Commercialism, overindulgence, self-centeredness, neon. It’s all here in quantities that could make even the most calm and collected person lose their marbles. And as you’ve learned by now, I’m not the most calm and collected person.

I think I would have liked Vegas 50 years ago, when the Sahara was built. Back when the entertainers had last names like Sinatra, Martin, and Davis. Back when Count Basie backed Nat Cole and swing was the popular music of the day. These days, though, most of that history is buried under an enormous pyramid, a fake Eiffel Tower, and a make-believe New York City.

The popular wisdom about this town is that everything’s cheap because they want you to gamble. That may have been the case back in the day, but now Vegas is a tourist destination for the whole family, and even the most obscure magician or comedian charges $50 a ticket.

At least I’m staying in one of the last surviving hotels from the golden era of Vegas. The Sahara was built in 1952, and it looks it. It’s far down on The Strip — actually off the main part of The Strip, as far as I can tell. The only other hotels and casinos near here are the Las Vegas Hilton and the Stratosphere. Except for the color TV and the wireless Internet access, it’s easy to believe that this room was occupied by John and Mary from Wisconsin on their first big trip back in the late 50s.

To summarize: It’s fantastic that so many workers are able to build a life here with a good wage and decent healthcare. That’s a good thing, and I hope for their sake that this place keeps going strong. But for my sake, I hope the next one of these meetings is somewhere else.

For information on UNITE HERE Local 226 in Las Vegas, visit their Web site. For more about the Sahara, check out this interactive timeline.

The Hagyard Building, circa 1920

Posted 11 October, 2006 in Family, Random Musings

The picture at the top of this site is a section of the Hagyard Building on Main Street in Lenox, Massachussetts. It’s the building in which my grandparents and great-uncle lived, and it’s the first place I lived, too. This building looms so large in my life that I chose it as the symbol of this site. I took that picture in 2003 or 2004. Well, tonight I found another photo of it, this time from some time between 1910 and 1920:

I found this photo here, at the Library of Congress’s American Memory collection. The collection is chock-full of amazing artifacts, so go take a look.

Nietzsche Family Circus…

Posted 9 October, 2006 in Random Musings

…pairs a random Family Circus cartoon with a random quote from Friederich Nietzsche. Enjoy!

You’re welcome.

And thanks to Norm at One Good Move for the tip.

Giving credit where it’s due

Posted 9 October, 2006 in Random Musings

Back in April, I posted this item alerting readers to shows by Tierney Sutton and Claudia Acuna. To illustrate the article, I used two photos, including this one:

It turns out this photo was taken by Seattle’s Bruce C. Moore, a fact I learned when he mentioned it on his blog, Hey, I took that!. Bruce’s blog is dedicated to finding his photos in use by people who haven’t asked his permission, paid him or credited him, and he really made me reflect on that practice. In this digital age, it’s easy to find a photo of almost anyone you choose to write about. The ease, however, has lowered the bar for attribution. The photo of Tierney Sutton is taken from her own Web site, where it is also uncredited.

My apologies, Bruce. Consider me on notice. I’ll work hard from now on to provide proper credit for the photos I use, and to seek permission where feasible. I can’t promise complete compliance, but I’ll do my absolute best. As I said to Bruce on his blog, I encourage Bruce and other photographers to contact bloggers and Web administrators directly and let them know about their use of uncredited photos. People deserve to be recognized for the work they do.

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