también me cago en las vanguardias revolucionarias de todo el planeta

1:28pm: Procrastination
Procrastination is my enemy. Has been for most of my life. It is also the reason that I usually am in some sort of trouble or whatnot.

What is procrastination keeping me from doing right now? Cleaning my extremely messy room and doing my laundry.

I was able to get up early today, just after sunrise, to go out by the Bay and enjoy the morning as the sun rose over the Eastern Shore. It was very pretty.

I find it interesting that many of my "city friends" comment about how they could never live as far away from the city as I do. Yet, when they come down here and I take them out to the Bay, they fall in love with the area. I wish I could convince one or two of them to move down here. It can get lonely at times. Erik and Lisa are the best, but they are so busy with Sophia and other goings ons in their lives that I don't get to really see them that much.

Mmmmmmmm I have ice cream in the fridge. Damn procrastination.

9:16pm: What a weekend
Well, I was supposed to go to Pittsburgh this weekend to visit my sister and her husband, however, the truck broke down yet again. So now I'm stranded at home this weekend. I know that my sister is disappointed, but what can I do?

I'm using the time to be productive atleast. Today I had a telephone interview with a reporter about storm water runoff issues here in the county. Then I also talked to a development activist in the county about my campaign.

I was also able to finish the sanding on the wooden parts of the boat today. Now all I need to do is varnish the various pieces on Monday. Unfortunately, this is the easy part. The next phase of getting the boats ready for the summer is patching the various cracks/holes in the fiberglass hull of the boats. Of course, the Red Emma (the new boat) has no trailer. So I have to figure out what to do with that. If anyone in the area knows of someone trying to get rid of a small boat trailer let me know! *laugh*

As some of you might have noticed, a recent post of mine suddenly disappeared. There is a good reason for this and it mainly has to do with the campaign. To answer your question Ghoster, yes we would love to have you help out on the campaign. I'm pretty sure I have your email and will be getting in touch.

I will attempt to get up early tomorrow to do something quasi-religious to celebrate Easter. We'll see what happens though! *laugh*

8:47pm: Rebel Radio Project...
is on the air at 9pm EST.


Turn on tune in break out

http://www.wryr.org


Tonight's playlist:

Fugazi - Target
Le Tigre
Sleater Kinney
Naked Raygun - Treason
Squirrel Nut Zippers - Ghost of Stephen Foster
KMFDM - From Here On Out
Pixies - Where is My Mind
Clash - London Calling
Jon Spencer's Blues Explosion - History of Lies
Black Eyes - Someones Got Their Finger Broken
Operation Ivy - Sound System
Bad Religion - Against the Grain
Belle & Sebastian


As you can see...we turned this mutha out!

10:00pm: What you missed on tonight's show...
Rebel Radio Project 12/9/2005

Theme: Death Penalty

Playlist (not necessarily in this order):

Neutral Milk Hotel
7 Seconds -- 99 Red Balloons
LeTigre -- I'm So Excited
unknown ska band -- Take On Me
Pailhead -- I Will Refuse
Naked Raygun -- Treason
Elastica -- Connection
Black Eyes -- Deformative
The Clash -- London Calling
Sleater Kinney
The International Noise Conspiracy -- Black Mask
Johnny Cash -- San Quentin
Blues Explosion -- Hot Gossip
Jets to Brazil -- Resistance is Futile
Bad Religion -- We're Only Gonna Die
Screeching Weasel -- Hey Suburbia!

8:27pm: Oh yeah baby!
You know what time it is...

time to turn on
tune in
and break out

the Rebel Radio Project is on the air! (at 9pm est)

http://www.wryr.org

click the ON AIR button to listen!

4:21pm: My current state of being
hungry

bored

9:43am: Blah
Yeah...that describes it. Life has been blah lately. Last week was a fiasco. It is amazing how a series of delayed flights on Sunday night can affect the rest of the week.

Mainly I've been frustrated about politics. Local politics, Green politics, national Green politics...the fact that I feel that there are very few people who REALLY know what needs to get done politically in order to make the Green Party work.

I know I haven't mentioned this yet, but there is a grant/fellowship available for "young professionals" who are "leaders" to go and live/work in Germany for a year. Well...I am making plans to apply for this fellowship grant. I've been considering living abroad for a short period of time and this seems like the perfect opportunity. The deadline is next fall, but I have to actually set up a program/project on which to work while I'm there in Deutschland. Yeah...you guessed it. I'm going to see if I can work with the German Greens. We'll see what happens...

In the meantime I'm pulling out my hair trying to figure out how to recruit people to run for office in Anne Arundel County. All the usual suspects are shy and hesitant. And no...I cannot/will not run for office so don't even mention it.





Lemon curry?

8:03pm: If you are reading this
and it is 9pm (EST)

then click on this link http://www.wryr.org
click on the "ON AIR" button

Listen to the

REBEL RADIO PROJECT

thank you

that is all

2:15am: Oh Yeah...getting drunk with the little sister
So...my litttle sister, her husband, my best friend from high school, and myself went out and hit the "Veterans Parkway" bar scene tonight. (Only kakistocracy will understand this) First we hit Jumers, then we closed out Windjammers. So it is the first time I ever got rip roaring drunk with my little sister, and it was a blast. I haven't seem my best friend Tim in ages, so it was also good. However, I feel bad for sis hubby, and Tim, because when my sis and I drink all sorts of family secrets start pouring forth. But luckily, he is her husband, and Tim knows about everything there is to know about me.

Oh the joys of Robb being drunk. I'm a huggy drunk. I'm the type of drunk that will come up to you and put my arm around you and tell you what a wonderful person I think you are, etc etd. I tend to just be very honest about myself, etc. when I am drunk. Shhhhhhhhhh Don't tell big brother that.


Anyways...

VIVA ZAPATISTAS!

I haven't been this drunk in quite a while so I am enjoying it.

QUALITY NOT QUANTITY

Think about it...you'll get it. If you don't....wellll.............


Love you all...

7:53pm: Culture Jamming on the Plane
Since I go back to Illinois to visit family each year over Thanksgiving, I never have a chance to do anything for Buy Nothing Day (http://www.adbusters.org). Well this year, I was able to do some culture jamming on the plane on the way out.

While flipping through the airline supplied magazine (not to be confused with the SkyMall catalogs) I came across a section that was a mini buyers guide for Christmas. Well, this was too good to pass up. One of the layouts in this buyer's guide was the family all outside, with dad lounging around with his noise reduction headphones on, and the little boy in a bubble. That's right...a bubble -- a big transparent beach ball type thing that the boy can roll around in like a hamster ball. This was just too much to pass up.

So I took the three magazines from the seat pockets where I was sitting, and during my layover in Chicago I worked them over with my black marker. Then, when I get to Bloomington-Normal, I pull the three jammed mags out of my bag and swap them with the three mags in the seat back pockets. So now, I have three more magazines to work on while I'm at home and swap those out with the magazines on my next flight.

It makes me feel a little less guilty for not being able to do anything on Buy Nothing Day.


Don't forget....BUY NOTHING DAY is tomorrow!!!!!

11:19pm: Mr. Tufts Goes to Washington
The invitation said, "Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid Invite You..." and that was all I needed to read to RSVP.

It was an event to celebrate "progressive" radio in Washington D.C. (i.e. Air America). It was held at the U.S. Capitol, on the Senate side in a reception room there. I've never been to the Senate side of the Capitol and it was only the second time I had been in the Capitol. The Senate side is very posh. The room where the reception was held was very small and was cram-packed with staffers, politicos, and hanger-ons like myself. WRYR (http://www.wryr.org) was well represented with myself (Rebel Radio Project), Mike Shay (Inside Tracks), and Garland Nixon (The Edge).

Now, I am far more comfortable standing face to face with a riot cop at a protest than I am in one of these social settings. Lucky for me however, I had ptpgrad with me that evening. She was gracious enough to allow me to alter our date plans at the last minute so we could attend this event together. She was very kind to help guide me through the evening, and even gave me a kick-in-the-butt to get me out and schmoozing with the others at the event.

The invite said Jerry Springer was going to be there, but he wasn't. I was hoping to atleast meet Reid or Pelosi, but Pelosi didn't attend, and Reid, Durbin, and Schumer came in one door, each spoke 3 minutes, and then left out the other door (the Senate was in session).

All in all it was a fun evening...capped by a wonderful dinner at a restaurant suggested by ptpgrad. The best General Tso's chicken I've had in a long while. Not to mention, it was quite romantic to have a dinner in a restaurant that late at night with no one else in the place. ptpgrad had the connections to make it happen.

11:09am: Fashion Inquiries or Why I Learned to Love Working in DC
1. Since when are fishnet stockings acceptable business attire?

2. Why do women wear light (weight), short skirts when they KNOW it is a REALLY windy day outside? Or am I just being naive?

You just didn't see those things on the streets of Baltimore when I worked up there.


(start your "Robb is a sexist jerk" flaming.......................................................NOW!)

11:14am: Last Night
Is there anything MORE exciting than election night? Maybe Christmas...well definitely Christmas. But after Christmas comes election night. It is so exciting to eagerly await the returns after long hard work to get people elected. Of course, I got to savor TWO election nights this year! Lucky me...But last night's election night I didn't do as much work. I had one candidate up in Maine with whom I was working. She ended up 3rd out of 3, but with a VERY respectable showing. She probably would've done better if her local Green Party actually had their act together.

DO YOU HEAR ME PORTLAND?!?!?! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING UP THERE MUTHAFUCKAS!!!!!!!!!!!


Anyways...made some decent gains for the GPUS nationwide. Now...

The campaigns for 2006 start NOW! NOW! NOW!

yeah...can you tell I'm not on my ritalin?

Too much work...too little (actually none whatsoever) Ritalin

Not a good day to be me....

3:03pm: At the movies...
So I went to go see the Wallace & Grommet movie this past Saturday in Annapolis with a friend. First, the movie started 10 minutes late. Then, when the movie started, I noticed that most of the trailers were for movies that were rated R or atleast were definitely NOT for kids. Then, when the movie started, I noticed it wasn't the usual start to a Wallace & Grommet film. I realized that a mistake was made and was one of a couple of people who left the theater to go get management. On our way back, the entire theater (filled predominantly with kids and their parents) was standing out in the concourse and the parents were furious. Apparently, the film that was showing in our theater was SAW II. If you are familiar with this movie, you know that is does not ease you into the gore. It starts out in your face. You could understand why the parents were upset having their children exposed to the perverse violence associated with such a film. I actually saw the first SAW and thought it was pretty good, though slasher/horror films are not my favorite genre.

In the end, we got to see the Wallace & Grommet film, AND we walked out with two free tickets each. Not too bad considering that I was inconvienced for a mere half an hour or so.

And yes...the Wallace & Grommet film was funny and everything you would expect from a Wallace & Grommet film. It was wonderful to see it on the big screen as opposed to watching the shorts on a tv.

Anyone want to go see a movie?

6:42pm: What's been going on?
Well...lots of Green Party stuff as usual. I spent all day on Tuesday campaigning for our city council candidate in Frederick, Maryland. I love campaigning, and even though all I did all day long was stand outside and hand people information, it was a blast. In fact, the people in Frederick were much more responsive to us being out there campaigning at the polling place than other polling places where I've worked. The other poll workers were also fun (for the most part). I had some interesting debates, and just fun all around with the poll workers. Our candidate came in last, but she did receive 2012 votes. That is tremendous considering that there are only 100 registered Greens in the City of Frederick. In fact, based on voter turnout and the results, it appears that roughly 25% of the people who entered the voting booth cast a vote for our Green Party candidate. So all in all...a success.

Otherwise...

I went to Jug Bay today to hike with Lisa and Erik. I saw a really awesome beaver dam (and no Sara that is NOT a euphimism).

12:51pm: Who the hell is this guy?

Mengistu Miriam You scored 0 Ego and 4 Ideology!

Mengistu Halie Miriam (1937- ) spent 1974 to 1977 as just another member of the Dergue, the Communist revolutionary council which overthrew Emperor Halie Selassie. His political maneuvering won him the head of state job in 1977, and launched a rapid campaign of doctrinaire Communism. He forged an alliance with the Soviets, slaughtered political opponents and ethnic minorities, and attempted to collectivize agriculture. When combined with a drought, the collectivization campaign caused the infamous Ethiopian famines of the mid-80s. Much of the humanitarian relief thoughtfully provided by Bob Geldof et al. was re-invested in Mengistu's death squads. An alliance of ethnic minorities brought down Mengistu's rule in 1991, and today he lives in comfortable exile in Zimbabwe. They are the world / They are the rock stars / They are the ones who'll give us cash to buy / Automatic weapons.... Like Mengistu, you won't let a little thing like mass starvation keep you down. Yes, it looks awfully sad when you see all those starving children in fly-infested squalor, but once you realize that they're potential enemies, you feel a lot better about counting their ribs. Meanwhile, you've found a chef who makes the most delightful UNICEF Famine Chow recipies. Bon appetit!

My test tracked 2 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 41% on Ego You scored higher than 90% on Ideology

Link: The Which Evil Dictator Are You? Test written by echopapa on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

12:18am: Closure
Well...I finally got closure with Christy Ayers. I found out tonight that she has a new boyfriend. So that's that. I guess all that stuff about her trying to find herself and not be with anyone right now was just a lie. Why do people do that? It is so cowardly and disrespectful. I have so much more that I could write about this, but I just can't. It is over. Done with.


So anyways...I need ideas for a super cool costume for a Halloween party I'm going to on the 29th. Any ideas?

12:40pm: Overboard
The "City of Barcelona II" is officially decommissioned until further notice as of Saturday, October 15, 2005.

Saturday was a very breezy day out on the Bay. Perfect for sailing near the shore. A little gusty at times, but as long as you didn't venture too far out into the bay it shouldn't have been a problem.

Mistake 1.
Ventured too far out into the bay where the full affect of the wind and its gusts could be felt, and there were some powerful gusts.

So we were out in the bay cruising along. The wind towards our back and just cruising along. I was hiking out over the windward side of the boat having a great time. That is until a gust hit us. I "dumped" the mainsheet and that resulted in us losing control of the sail but kept us from tipping. However, in the process of trying to get the mainsheet back through the blocks on the boom, we tipped over.

Mistake 2.
Do NOT grab onto the boom when trying to put your rig back together. But I didn't know this until it was too late.

I had a hold of the boom and as we were trying to head into the wind, a gust essentially blew the boat over and we "turtled" it. So after gaining our senses we were able to upright the boat.

Mistake 3.
Do NOT swim away from the boat when the wind is blowing as hard as it was.

I started to swim out to pick up some of our stuff. Well, the boat got away from me. In the meantime, my colleague in the boat was trying to get her up and running again, and ended up turtling her a second time. So there I was, floating out in the Bay all by myself with my life preserve that I'm using as a floation cushion. I was bobbing up and down and being pushed to and fro by the waves as I tried to make my way back to the boat (now about 10 yards from me). After awhile I was able to get back to the boat, and after resting on the hull I got her upright again. Except...there was no sail, no boom, no gaff. It was gone. The mast came out from the boat and we lost the sail. It is now sitting at the bottom of the Bay.

So here we were. Out in Herring Bay with the wind blowing AWAY from the shore. We decided to let the waves work us back in a general direction. I tried to grab the attention of other boats out on the Bay. I was unsuccessful until I finally realized I needed to stand up. So I stood up and started waving my hands. I caught the attention of a boat and he sailed by, dropped sails, and towed us back to shore as close as he could get. We were able to paddle the rest of the way in from there.

Lots of lessons learned. But as my colleague said, "Live and learn...with an emphasis on LIVE." Yes...it was scary. I've never EVER been stranded on the water before and I've been around water and boats my whole life. I was out in the Bay with NOTHING but a life preserver. If he was not able to get the boat back together, if the boat floated away faster than it did, if I got some sort of cramp, I could've just floated out there until who knows when.

So now the task at hand is to get a sail rig to get her up and running again. I doubt she'll be up and running anytime this fall. We'll have her ready to go by next Spring. Now I know what I need to do to make sure this never EVER happens again.

7:01pm: Rebel Radio Project
If you are NOT a loser then listen to my show tonight...

http://www.wryr.org

Click on the "on-air" button...


But if you ARE a loser...well...

9:42am: Comments about commuting
1. I wish I knew how to dance (like really dance -- ballet or something). If you are familiar with Federal Triangle in DC there is this great arched walkway that is on the outside of the Rios Building at 12th and Pennsylvania. While walking down that passageway in the morning on the way to get the mail, I just feel like "busting a move". But, since I really have no move to bust, I don't do anything except scurry along with all the other worker ants.

2. They have finally put ATMs in the Metro Stations and the bank that is supplying them has an ad campaign in the metro stations to announce it. Well, the ads involve a cartoon man with an ATM as a head in different locations along the metro system. In one ad he is hanging out of a train, in another ad he is walking through the turnstile. It is very creepy looking. First he has an ATM for a head! Second, they take actual pictures of the metro system and superimpose him in those pictures. It just creeps me out to think of some ATM-head creature in a business suit roaming the metro system. This is the sort of stuff that gives me nightmares at night.

3:56pm: Sad...
Well I just found out that Christy is moving to Pennsylvania this month. She is transferring with the print company where we first met. Even though it appeared things were off between us, I still had a thought in the back of my mind that as long as she was here, there was still a possibility of us hanging out again (there was nothing to suggest that this couldn't happen). Well now that she is leaving, she will be gone.

I don't know how to feel. Savdog hasn't been very sympathetic so he is going to be my target when we play Halo2 tonight. I'll take out all my sadness on his corpse.


*sigh*

3:34pm: Moral Dilemma
Maybe some of you have seen this...

Moral Dilemma

This test only has one question, but it's a very important one. By giving an honest answer, you will discover where you stand morally. No one else will know, so you won't be fooling anyone but yourself if you give anything but a truthful answer. The test features an unlikely, completely fictional situation in which you will have to make a decision. Remember, you answer needs to be honest, yet spontaneous. Please read slowly and thoughtfully, giving due consideration to each line. Here's the situation: You are in Louisiana; New Orleans to be specific. There is chaos all around you caused by a hurricane with severe flooding. This is a flood of Biblical proportions. You are a photojournalist working for a major newspaper, and you're caught in the middle of this epic disaster. The situation is nearly hopeless. You're trying to shoot career-making photos. There are houses and people swirling around you, some disappearing under the water. Nature is unleashing all of its destructive fury. Suddenly you see a man floundering in the water. He is fighting for his life, trying not to be taken down with the debris. You move closer...somehow the man looks familiar. You suddenly realize who it is. It's George W. Bush, President of the United States!! At the same time you notice that the raging waters are about to take him under...forever. You have two options - you can save the life of G.W. Bush, or you can shoot a dramatic Pulitzer Prize winning photo, documenting the death of one of the world's most powerful men. So here's the question, and please give an honest answer: Would you select high-contrast color film, or would you go with the classic simplicity of black and white?

3:56pm: Four Hours of the Best Radio I've Ever Done
Saturday was a BIG day for us at the radio station. We set up a list of 20 "correspondents" who were going to be at the march on Saturday and willing to contribute to our live broadcast of the event. We had outfitted some of them with special mic/headphone setups for their cell phones so they could actually interview people using a microphone and hear it through headphones. We had one of our best commentators co-hosting the event, and a great volunteer working the phones to get the correspondents on the air. I was co-hosting/co-producing the program. We went on the air live at noon. We started by broadcasting a feed of the speakers we were pulling from online. It sounded great. Garland and I were commenting and providing descriptions of who the people were and what the different signs said. Then, as time came for the march to start we started calling our correspondents and putting them on the air. We talked to a Green from New Orleans who gave us a really good first hand account of what was going on in New Orleans. Trust me...it is MUCH worse than the media is letting on. And I'm not talking about the damage...I'm talking about the para-military police state that is being established in NOLA. Next we had other correspondents check in with us. Some of the things they covered were the start of the march, singing by various groups of people including the Raging Grannies!, and interviews with interesting people including a 9 year old boy. One of the highlights of our broadcast happened after I interviewed a woman from NYC. Throughout the day we had been reading emails and rumors from people on the street that the Amtrak trains from NYC were being delayed for unknown reasons. Well this woman had a first hand account of being on the 6am train that did NOT leave NYC so they rented a car to get to Washington D.C. This was the first confirmed report of the train mishap. So when we checked the DC Indymedia site for updates (we were relying upon them for breaking news) we saw that they had been listening to our stream and they reported our interview about the trains! VERY COOL!

All in all...we have 30 open slots for internet broadcast. We had all 30 slots filled for almost the entire 4 hours we were broadcasting. The most online listeners we have EVER had!!!! We were excited. We knew that Baltimore Indymedia and DC Indymedia were streaming us, and a LP-FM station in Macomb, IL was broadcasting our coverage as well. We don't know if there were any other stations, or if it was just individuals. Regardless...we are VERY excited.

In other news...the job offer is official. They want to get me on the payroll ASAP. So this is a HUGE event in my life. I have never EVER been offered a job that pays as much as this one for doing something that comes relatively easy to me and that I enjoy doing. This is going to be a change for me.

Bad weather lately for sailing. The wind has been blowing too hard so there have been way too many white-caps out on the Bay. Savdog is coming down tomorrow. Hopefully we'll have good weather.

8:22pm: Update from Hell
Okay...

1. Sailing sailing sailing...I learned that I should NOT take the boat out on excessively windy days. While it was a challenge and adrenaline rush to sail it in 2-3 foot waves, when it came time to turn her back to shore all hell broke loose. The wind was strong enough and the waves high enough and the boat small enough that I was literally surfing on the waves. That means I had a very difficult time controlling "Barcelona" and lost control of her twice. The second time I lost control of her I had to drop the sails and rerig it, put the sails back up, and sail it back to the boat ramp. Not a fun evening. But yes...we have named our boat..."City of Barcelona II" in honor of the original "City of Barcelona" that was torpedoed while delivering members of the Abraham Lincoln Brigades to Spain to fight the fascists.

2. I was offered a job with the company where I am assigned as a temp. It is database work and it pays really well. I'm really excited because I like working with these folks but most importantly, I'll be doing what I love which is building and designing databases.

3. Politics politics politics...national politics, state politics, local politics...I had my first meeting for the new local I'm starting in my county. I'm very very excited. It was a small turnout, but it was a good start for us. No where to go but UP! And we are going to have a kick-ass candidate for next year's elections so that will help boost our numbers as well and shake some things up in Maryland politics. Much more on this later (much later).

Continued.... ( Read more... )

9:10pm: ON THE AIR
Check it out...

Rebel Radio Project

http://www.wryr.org


Turn on tune in and break out






bitchin