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Democracy in Action

I have been visiting the vote.com website for many years, and I find it interesting, but a little too simplistic at times. It is a good concept, but I found a site that takes online polling and notification one step further. moveon.org has set itself up as a PAC with its direction and goals voted on by its registered members. The site was borne out of an online petition to get past the Clinton sex scandal in order to demand “Censure and move on.” Well now they are setting their sights on the Democratic Primary. They will host an online “primary” this week in order to determine whom will be their candidate for the 2004 race. I registered at the site in hopes that this grand experiment in grassroots political organizing might make a difference. Call me a starry-eyed dreamer but I hope that this kind of effort catches on and we can see a more representative government. So go to moveon.org and see if you want to be part of it.

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Ceci n’est pas une guerre (c’est l’amour)

Jason Kottke presents a hilarious Flash movie delving into the relationship between W and French President Chirac:

Seeing U.S. President George Bush and French President Jacques Chirac get all buddy-buddy at the recent G8 Summit inspired me to make a silent film about the sometimes-tender / sometimes-turbulent relationship of these two powerful men. Witness the giddy highs and depressing lows of a very public love. The film is called Ceci n’est pas une guerre (c’est l’amour), or This is not a war (it’s love), and I hope you enjoy it. (Flash 6 required, ~580KB, best viewed with sound on.)

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Modified F-104 Starfighter To Break Land Speed Record ?!

Yes, you read correctly; I did a doubletake too when I first came upon this story. The North American Eagle team aims to break the British land speed record with a craft based on the chassis of an F-104 Starfighter:

A group of speed-crazed men from Pierce County wants to break the world land-speed record with a jet plane-turned-three-wheeled-vehicle they are building in a hangar in Spanaway… The vehicle has elements of a potential world record-holder: It’s a former Air Force plane re-engineered for subsonic speed, with a jet engine that generates 39,000 horsepower and solid aluminum wheels machined for desert surface.

North American Eagle F-104This should prove to be quite interesting…

It brings to mind the decidedly less ambitious effort that Shaft and I came up with oh, about 15 years ago: to explode an F-104 Starfighter plastic model by strapping model rocket engines onto it and lighting different types of fuses to ignite it. It’s probably a good thing that you can’t ignite those engines with a flame, and as such Shaft and I have all 10 of our fingers. And to think that we didn’t even drink back then… 😉

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a-ha US Fan Convention

Lisa e-mailed and asked me to publicize the upcoming a-ha U.S. Fan Convention in Hollywood, CA on July 12, 2003:

We’ve got fans of the band traveling in from Ohio, Virginia, Texas, New Mexico, North Carolina, Washington state (or far)… Please help us spread the word? We’ve got a DJ/live band and dance floor to party all night long to 80’s/New Wave remixes and of course, a-ha! 😉

That’s a bit far for me to travel to see a-ha, but it sounds like a fun time…

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Duran Duran Reunion!

Live Daily reports that “Duran Duran’s original five members are celebrating the band’s 25th anniversary by reuniting for a tour of the U.S. and Japan, and plan to release a new album next year… The outing will mark the first time in 18 years that John Taylor (bass), Nick Rhodes (keyboards) Simon Le Bon (vocals) Andy Taylor (guitar) and Roger Taylor (drums) have performed together; the original quintet last played at 1985’s Live Aid, according to the band’s publicist.” There’s more information at the official Duran Duran website; I for one will admit that I’d like to see them in concert, as I never did back in the ‘80s… 🙁