damn NIMBY hater people

people complain about everything and affordable housing is one. but then try to build some affordable homes and look what happens. the people with the unaffordable housing complain that their houses may become more affordable.


From SFGate.com's On The Block by Betsy Schiffman and Tracey Taylor

Some Mountain Viewers Prefer Unaffordable Housing

A small group of Mountain View residents are riled up about a city proposal to build an affordable-housing development on a city-owned lot, according to the Mountain View Voice.

The concern, as one resident put it, is that the city is "building a ghetto" next to a fairly new condo development, 108 Bryant Street, and property values there will be shot.

Condo owners at 108 Bryant Street worry that Mountain View's plan to build affordable housing nearby will hurt property values.

The city's plan for the affordable housing project could climb up to four-stories tall with 51 units, and would be built at a Caltrain overflow parking lot on Evelyn and Franklin Streets. The units will go to those who earn less than 60 percent of the area's median income, according to the report.

As it stands now, prices at 108 Bryant Street appear to be holding somewhat steady. The most recent sale we could find at that address was a two-bedroom unit which went for $650,000 in October 2008, and previously sold for $620,000 in November 2006.

STORY HERE

old fashioned

in honor of ariel's mom drink an old fashioned. i can't guarantee you'll like it, unless you go to Matty at NOPA. for the homey folks here is a recipe from The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks by David A Embury. some claim that the old fashioned is the first cocktail.

Old Fashioned

* 12 parts American whiskey
* 1 part simple syrup
* 1-3 dashes Angostura bitters to each drink

In an old-fashioned glass, add bitters to simple syrup and stir. Add about 1 ounce of whiskey and stir again. Add two cubes of cracked, but not crushed, ice and top off with the rest of the whiskey. Twist lemon peel over the top and serve garnished with the lemon peel and a maraschino cherry.

from the wikipedia entry

my home in jello

this artist, Liz Hickok, is somewhat famous in SF for her jello creations. this is where i grew up, in jello. very fitting considering the small earthquake we experienced this morning. HER WEBSITE HERE

portable potty pyromaniac

life makes me happy. from the AP.

Clorox offers $5K to wipe out SF 'toilet torcher'

Friday, March 20, 2009
(03-20) 14:49 PDT San Francisco, CA (AP) --
The Clorox Company is offering a $5,000 reward and a year's supply of toilet cleaning products for tips leading to the arrest of San Francisco's notorious portable potty pyromaniac.

The Oakland-based chemical company plans to deploy a "potty patrol" team in the city Tuesday to make residents aware of its offer marrying marketing and community service.

Since November, more than two dozen construction site toilets have been set on fire in San Francisco, causing an estimated $50,000 in property damage and leaving a trail of foul-smelling evidence.

Explaining Clorox's interest in wiping out the unknown prankster, company spokesman Dan Gagen quips, "You could say that it's a crappy job, but somebody's got to do it."

start ups

Over the Moon Diapers
This company may not deserve to be at the very bottom of this list, but it’s difficult to get excited about used diapers. Those who aren’t raising a child (that includes me, thankfully) may not be aware that used diapers are a huge source of waste, with each rugrat going through 5,000 to 10,000 diapers before figuring out the toilet. That figures out to 27.4 billion diapers going to landfills in the United States alone, according to the Real Diaper Association.

Over the Moon Diapers wants to help out, of course. But this seems a bit more like a marketing than a technology play. After all, reusable cloth diapers have always been available.

story HERE from venturebeat.com

recession notes

when i met david burkholder he was presented as a gifted designer who could help remodel my home. he was wearing two shades of green - green khakis and a lighter shade and completely non matching green shirt. it was hard to reconcile a designer who couldn't dress. his pant shirt combo appear to be minor problems. i heard over the weekend that burkholder had disappeared. well, he didn't excatly disappear, he was sent to federal prison for 4 years.

he was fraudulently scheming his parents in kansas to raise money from friends and their church to help payback debts he owed. including, and i'm not joking, money he owed barbara streisand and a debt to help the family of his partner (who didn't exist) who was killed in a tsunami.

story here

hiding from the dance bomb

The Jackson Square food court is such a ghost town that Mike Long needed to liven the place up a bit with some funky movin'. Where are the security guards? Answer: Hiding from the dance bomb. Tracie D keeps it real!

enjoy

bristol and levi are done!!!

bristol palin and levi johnston have split up. remember pregnant bristol during the election and levi with a ring finger tattoo of her name? remember how great it was that these young lovers were going to have a baby and get married and show everyone that life is so beautiful and that the palin family had such great values? they broke up and bristol refuses to levi access to the kid because she doesn't want the little guy around "white trash." family values.

salon discussion here.

keep an eye on...

van jones. from a local bay area activist to an obama advisor. civil rights and environmental rights together to "green the ghetto." he works to remove the perception that environmentalists are tree huggers and environmentalism has no place in low income neighborhoods.


sfgate article here

new yorker profile here.

represent

met kamila velan last night at a work event. check our her blog her progressiveangels.com

she talks about the finance world and the importance/lack of women in the industry.

ketchup and mustard

this article from 2004 changed my life. i realized that indeed there was no replacement for heinz ketchup. there are high end versions of everything. $40 mustard and the $100 lb coffee. but with ketchup, there is none other than heinz. this is also malcolm gladwell before he was blink celebrity talking head.

The Ketchup Conundrum
Mustard now comes in dozens of varieties. Why has ketchup stayed the same?
by Malcolm Gladwell
STORY HERE

love across borders

i keep seeing the four barrel guys at blue bottle.

high jump notes

who knew the fosbury flop was popularized in the 60s by dick fosbury. before the fosbury flop high jumpers primarily used the straddle technique. i always took the fosbury flop for granted. thanks dick.

old style vs. new style new style gold



fosbury flop

executive summary

i can do a great impression of a hotdog

blogging

me: i need to blog

mvongremp: get there

me: what should i write about

mvongremp: cats

me: what about cats

mvongremp: oh shit i dono i thought you would have smacked that one down right away

me: i just want you to suggest a smack down

mvongremp: you want me to suggest something you will smack down?

me: yes suggested smack

me: suggest some smack

mvongremp: heroin

me: i need more than the white horse