the life and times of endenizen » protest

Yeah, like underwear.

t’has been a while. Wow that contraction didn’t work at all. For more examples of strange contractions, see urban dictionary’s entry on “t’would”:

James: Wanna go hang out at the mall next week?
Jill: T’would be cool.

But I digress, it is my pledge to make a post with more substance than content. Or vice versa, whichever sounds better. Underwear aside… eh, let’s try again.

Hi, I’m Brian. This is my blog and it hasn’t seen the light of my thoughts (I’m conceited that way) in about… let’s see here… just shy of five months, all told. No doubt when I started I didn’t imagine I would suffer quite a dry spell all at once, but there you have it. I’ve gone quite inward about the whole thing. What is a blog? Why do I need to use it? Is it possible to swallow one’s pride, as it were, and still commit one’s thoughts to paper for everyone else to see? Maybe not, but I guess I don’t care anymore for I’ve given up seeking the answers to such questions.

I work for a company that recently bought another company and you can read all about that over here. I neglect the mention of specific names because that would mean SEO which gets on my nerves. I’ve been doing all sorts of neat work on new features, new designs, fixing old things, and staring out the window in anticipation of the massive crowds set to arrive on April 9th. Yeah, you know what I’m talking about, let’s torch this joint!

“Olympic Torch” this joint, that is! That’s right, the torch is coming to San Francisco and I’m gonna be at ground zero when stuff happens. I’m not sure exactly what will happen, but if you’ve been watching the news recently, you know it will be worth a few photos.

Security heightened at Golden Gate Bridge
Olympic Torch Relay Descends Into Chaos
Olympic torch relay should be confined to host country says IOC official

Officials in Paris were today forced to extinguish the Olympic flame and carry it by bus when protesters against Chinese policy in Tibet tried to seize it.

Can a protest ever ‘win’? Perhaps in time, a ‘win’ can be felt. In Paris, a more immediate win was experienced when the Olympic flame, nay, spirit which travels the world for everyone to see, amidst thousands of security personnel had to be put out and confined to a bus. My friends in Paris, I say to you, “good show”. We Americans now have a protest to out-protest.

But I digress, (yes I did that twice. Don’t tempt me should you not wish a third.) there are other things on my mind as well. Doctor Who, for instance. It was recently revealed that Richard Dawkins would appear in an upcoming episode, as himself!

“People were falling at his feet,” says Davies, creator of the BBC’s flagship show. “We’ve had Kylie Minogue on that set, but it was Dawkins people were worshipping.”

I guess I can’t imagine how Dawkins fits in to all of this but I hope it at least involves a turtle that can fly.

And on that note, Battlestar Galactica was good, if not a bit uneventful in light of all the promises made. I suppose that’s how they get you hooked for the entire season. Maybe I should just wait till the season is over. It’s much more fulfilling to watch a whole season over a few days than feel cheated at the end of each 40-minute segment. Though I suppose to make it a social occasion would be a good excuse to have “Friday night plans”. Oh who am I kidding, I don’t know anyone else who watches this show.

Well, back to my life, which, at this moment, includes me going to bed.

Stay home for halloween. If you dare!

Tonight is Halloween. The city has spent $40,000 on a campaign to keep people out of the Castro. The massive hordes which usually converge here are being told that there is “no party” and all the bars will be closed. All subway stations near the Castro are also closing early.

However much of an effort the city makes to deter people, they also know that people will inevitably show up. There was talk of setting up portable toilets on Castro street because very few bars will be open. There was even talk of closing the street if too many people show up. Doesn’t sound like much of a party deterrent to me.

It’s 7pm now and security appears to be building up all over. The Muni has many employees patrolling the subway stations and there are police at every exit (perhaps to enforce the closure in an hour and a half).

Most interestingly, the 24-hour Safeway across the street has had a temporary fence set up around its border. It appears they are keeping only one entrance and exit open for the time being and additionally, there are three busses directly in front of the store (with an additional 7 or 8 on Market St nearby). I’m not sure what any of this is for, but there are a few possibilities.

Perhaps they are simply accomodating shoppers who stay late and would usually take the subway home. This seems strange as there will be free shuttles running after the subway is closed. Also, to have so many busses standing by at a station which is neither the start nor the end of the closure seems a little inefficient.

Another possibility is that the police will be using these busses to cart off partyers by the proverbial and literal “busload”.

According to the SF Weekly “The Snitch” blog, the cops will be using them, but not to carry people away:

Deputy Chief David Shinn and at least half a dozen other officials made pains to note that Muni buses and drivers will be available to ferry “platoons” of cops around town like troop transports. The notion of the police taking Muni to travel about town rapidly was greeted with barely a snicker, by the way.

The overall plan goes something like this:

Shinn will receive reports every half hour from command stations throughout the city; Mission Station, the post nearest the Castro, will be led by Capt. John Goldberg. At Shinn’s discretion, police can be redeployed throughout the city as needed. Shinn described a “zero-tolerance” policy for drunkenness, public urination and other likely offenses (he originally used the term “aggressive enforcement” but changed his wording when Police Commissioner Theresa Sparks told him that “aggressive enforcement” conjured up mental images of Tiananmen Square).

(quotes from: http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2007/10/100000_people_are_coming_where.php)

Should turn out to be an exciting Halloween after all