Me and Reckoning.

I first started listening to REM the rock band around 1984 when I saw a video of theirs on MTV.The album they were promoting was called "Reckoning". I was hungry for a 1960's type of sound of the Byrds, Stones, Neil Young, Credence clear water revival etc, and here was this band fitting that sound in an exquisite/original way if not some what  frustrating as about 90% of the lyrics were unintelligible.

Due to my fandom of this group at this time  I read a article in the local newspapers entertainment section that interviewed the bands lead singer Michael Stipe , He spoke of Jack Kerouac, which led me to read a slightly life changing book for me named Dharma bums by Kerouac.

Sharing economy ?

Sharing economy is a type of dishonest language used by for profit businesses trying to manipulate public opinion in a selfish and dishonest way.

The meaning of "sharing" in the consciousness of most of the population is an image of altruism, giving of ones self, and sharing of ones self for free.

What the for profit business mean is breaking various regulations, over using the social commons to their narrow benefit all with the sleight of hand of deceptive language.

Life..

Life is short, and often sweet. There are so many good people we meet from friends, family to random strangers, most are  predominately good and often our experiences sweet.
Strange how I associate certain music with certain times and experiences. Often when I hear songs from Led Zepplin's album IV often called the untitled album I think to traveling in the evening around Marin County California on a bus near the town of San Rafael or sometimes the songs take me back to times in my mothers living room alone or with friends all when I was around 14 or 15 years old.

I love salted Cashews

Cashew tree.

Deacon Jones and Driving Cab at Night..

Deacon Jones once said that when you sack a quarter back it is like taking the whole opposing team and putting them in a burlap sack and hitting the sack with a baseball bat.
That is what I feel like the next day after driving a cab at night. When I drive cab at night I go to bed late wake up in the afternoon and feel like crap. Look like crap with all the lines in my face accentuated.
If you are vain or want the glow of youth, I don't recommend driving a cab at night.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deacon_Jones

I Will Explore This Album While I Drive Cab Tonight.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rnN67Y7_lg

My 10 Favorite Fights So Far This Year 2013

#1 Ruslan Provodnikov - Timothy Bradley

For me this has been my fight of the year candidate. I have no problem with Bradley getting the decision, although there is a rational case the fight could have been a draw or given to Provodnikov who beat the hell out Bradley.


#2 Guillermo Rigondeaux(The Jackal) - Nonito Donaire

Fight was a master piece, and an un-veiling of cosmic justice, the kind of thing that allows one to see all those people you think are fake and hype really are fake and hype.
Always thought Donaire was over rated , a protected fighter who was usually fighting smaller men coming up in weight to fight him,  or had a name and were past their prime . First Donaire denigrated Rigondeaux saying Rigondeaux wasn't ready for him and then Donaire got schooled by Rigondeaux awesome fight.

#3 Ruslan Provodnikov vs Mike Alvarado
Not quiet fight of the year  but close. Mike Alvarado tremendous athlete, puncher, tough guy, Changed styles from slugger to boxer, to south paw boxer in this fight, and Ruslan Provodnikov had to adapt, and in an intense war of wills, of world class athletes Provodnikov got Alvarado to wisely quit on his stool around in the 10th round.


#4Danny Garcia - Lucas Matthysee
Although not a barn burner, this fight decided for a moment supremacy at 140. In my opinion Matthysee was in control of the fight in the first 6 rounds, when an eye injury to the orbital socket caused Lucas eye to shut, for about 3 rounds after that it was all Garcia who showed a good chin, smart clinching when Lucas would get close and good movement not allowing Matthysee to plant his feet and fire with power as frequently.

#5 Jhonny Gonzalez - Abner Mares
In this fight Jhonny Gonzalez sent Abner Mares to the canvas hard with a beautiful left hook that Mares never really recovered from with the fight being stopped later in the 1st round. Great fight. The seemingly invincible Mares against an aging warrior with a trick ending . Excellent.


#6 Sergey Kovalev - Nathan Cleverly
This fight kept the intrigue of a possible new superstar on the horizon: Kovalev who has won the bulk of his bouts by ko. Kovalev comes from a hard scrabble background in Russia where as boy he was raised by his mom and he would help her by getting money recycling bottles.

#7 Vera - Chavez
This fight was a great fight on so many levels where the underdog Vera who was tremendously outsized by Chavez put on a boxing clinic and even though Vera was not given the decision, I felt he won.

#8 Matthysee - Lamont Petersen
Another devastating Matthysee ko.

#9 Wladamir Klitschko - Alexander Povetkin
Boring fight with too much holding by Klitschko but it helped to define where we are in the Heavy Weight division

#10 Matthysee - Dallas Jr.
Lucas Matthysee just has a cool style and this was a frightening ko of Dallas Jr.

San Francisco More Expensive More Congested-Less Appealing

I love San Francisco to death. But as it becomes more congested and more expensive the city loses some of it's hold on me. I am sure the rich don't enjoy the congestion either.

Gram Parsons Called this "Cosmic American Music"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovorTymu-1A


Dark end of the street great song anytime of day but best when driving a cab after 11pm on weeknight.

Lands End - San Francisco

This area is called Lands End. I believe what is in the picture are the foundations of a place called Sutro Baths from like 80 years ago. Very cool area. I dropped a guy off at a restaurant near where photo was taken on a beautiful Friday afternoon in September and I took a walk with my camera phone.

I Would Like to See Immediate Moratorium On New Parking Meters In San Francisco

I would like to see immediate moratorium on new parking meters in San Francisco.
Along with a law that 10 Meters that currently exist are removed for the next 15 years.
I would replace the loss of income by having someone go over contracts paid to outside vendors who provide services to the city and have the city get better bargains in these transactions.

Fed to keep printing money..

Really not that shocking. Send all your productive capacity overseas , and just print money and hope lame phone apps  and a stock market bubble can carry your economy on through the to other side.
They don't call him "Helicopter Ben Bernanke for nothing".
All this money printing only works as long as the Dollar is the reserve currency of the world.

Drove cab tonight...only thing good about it was Fela Kuti album..

That I listened to as as I drove. The music made the evening bearable, as I worked my around the city in this post-modern world.

The record made me think of the  gangster rock of The Clash, Bob Marley, New York City. The Atlantic Ocean and its facing of Europe, West Africa and it's (N.Y.C) relationship to the  Caribbean and Brazil .

I wouldn't mind seeing Kovalev vs Golovokin

According to Abel Sanchez in below link, Kovalev was either afraid or to respectful of Golovokin when they would spar in Abel's Gym.  I say lets have them fight at 175 pounds to clear the air on this situation.

http://www.boxingscene.com/abel-sanchez-on-golovkin-stevens-kovalev-canelo--69224

Fast Food Workers Strike In 60 cities For $15 An Hour ..

I say why not. Go for it burger flippers.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/08/29/fast-food-workers-strike-for-higher-pay-in-nearly-60-cities/2726815/

MEGAMACHINE-MUMFORD LEWIS

Mumford  proposed a constellation of five activities has operated from the appearance of the first cities down to the present to give humanity its growing dominion over nature, and a few control of the many.  This "Megamachine," as Mumford called it, is largely invisible and designed to be so by those who build and run it, since its working parts are human bodies driven by carefully inculcated belief systems. Such a machine is easiest to visualize as a pyramid, whose base  consists of mechanization, metallurgy, militarism and moneymaking (or finanance) and whose apex is mining.

Taken from page 19 of book by Gray Brechin "Imperial San Francisco"

Spitzer = Hero

With the limited knowledge I have of Eliot Spitzer, I would like to see him the next President of the USA.

The beginning of the Western working class Helots.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helots

Actually I thought it was an interesting photo and interesting concept of this ancient group of people Helots.

Been driving cab for about 2 weeks on the night shift.

After many years of driving cab on the day shift, I have switched over to driving cab at night. It is really just an experiment whose verdict is not out yet. All I can say so far is that it is a different way to be tired than the day shift.
I thought traffic would be easier to deal with at night, but what I found out is that traffic is also bad at night at least up until around 7pm.
San Francisco has some serious traffic issues. I would say that traffic in the last year has gotten worse than I have ever seen it. My un-empirical opinion is the congestion is worse from the addition of new residents to the city, un coordinated construction work, and increase in unregulated car services.

Kovalev vs Cleverly Aug 17, 2013

This fight will let us know if we have a new potential superstar on the horizon in Kovalev. It will be an indicator of how good Kovalev is. Kovalev has a record of 21 wins with 19 knockouts. I am intrigued to see if he will be a good opponent for Andre Ward in the future.

http://www.hbo.com/boxing/fights/index.html#/boxing/fights/index.html

Movie Fat City Trailer with Lucinda Willams song.

Fat City is a great John Huston film that I have watched maybe 3 times in my life but never from beginning to end. One day I will watch this masterpiece in its entirety in one sitting.
Link to trailer below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UevWnct5pkQ

Christiane Hayashi crushes TNC represenative in debate on radio show.

Christiane Hayashi Deputy Director San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency totally out thinks and out debates TNC(transportation network companies)   CEO in radio talk show. Also in  the conversation is  CPUC representative Marzia Zafar who seemed biased towards TNC industry.

please listen to radio talk show at below link  to keep informed.

http://www.kqed.org/a/forum/R201308060930

VC firms aided by low interest rates.

 The below story shows how the Federal Reserves easy money policy, can hurt and distort the real economy.
Venture Capital is funding firms like Uber, and Lyft which are trying to play the edges of rules and regulations to turn a profit, at the expense of what is beneficial for a local society. A similar dynamic can be seen in the privatization of public education.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-billion-dollar-start-ups-105604789.html

Destruction of regulated cab industry by non regulated cabs not in best of local San Francisco community.

The number one argument that should be used against unregulated cabs(TNC) is :
The destruction of regulated cab industry is not in the best interest of the San Francisco community.
This argument is simple , honest , easy to explain and true.
Cab industry , is a transportation business that should be looked at and regulated like any public utility.
We need to get the City Attorney , Chamber of commerce , Cab industry involved in this process of protecting regulating cab industry as greater public good.
If cab industry is deregulated:
Transportation from airport to city will be disrupted
restaurant will suffer
hotels will suffer
vacationing tourists will suffer
San Francisco workers getting to and from work will suffer
Disabled will suffer
Elderly will suffer
people affected by untrained, under supervised, under insured,under background checked drivers will suffer
city will suffer from congestion
city will suffer from pollution many more non  hybrid cars driven around and non hybrid cars

You can't buy cool.

In San Francisco we  have a neighborhood called the Mission that was once an  Irish neighborhood, then Hispanic neighborhood. The Mission District had a cool gritty edge to it. Financially well off 20 somethings could feel  this coolness, and decided to move into the neighborhood en masse. Now the neighborhood is quickly filling up with privileged college educated young people, and has become an unappealing brew of snobbery and entitlement.  The irony is in the process of  trying to buy the cool vibe of the neighborhood they have killed what made the neighborhood appealing.