Ciao!

Presidential catfight

First, I think Kerry won the debate. This isn't a statement about his message — or whether anyone should or shouldn't vote for him — but about composure. Bush was more passionate, perhaps, but often bordered on ranting. And. Despite the obligatory mid-debate "we both like each other personally" moment. Both candidates really tore into each other. Ironically, they tore into each other over petty differences. At least that's how I see it. Let's see:

Posted by Miguel at 11:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Debate in 40 mins

Less than an hour to go before the first presidential debate. This'll probably be the moment of truth for me. It's Kerry's chance to avoid nuance & shoot from the hip. It's Bush's chance to overcome low expectations. We'll see.

Posted by Miguel at 08:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

In-class debate

Tomorrow, my students debate whether the Iraq was justified or not. I'll sit on the sidelines (or play devil's advocate for both sides). The debate's based on a Reason Online Debate re-printed in our discussion reader, Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in World Politics. The two authors (John Mueller & Brink Lindsey) debated online before the war (January 2003); it's still available here.

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UPDATE: The discussion went really well; no one shouted or name-called. We also tied the discussion to issues raised in The Fog of War. I followed the usual format of having students "pro" sit on one side of the room, students "con" on the other. Few changed positions during the discussion (they're allowed to move around if swayed one way or another). I was, however, surprised about 60% of the class took the "Iraq war was justified" position.

Posted by Miguel at 05:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Who to vote for online quiz

OK. So I recently linked to this online quiz about who to vote for. In the spirit of intellectual transparency, here are my answer (w/ brief explanations).

Posted by Miguel at 05:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

For some reason, Western's on-campus LAN (wifi & hardline) is down. This totally sucks. I just might leave my office early. Argh!
.:from Treo

Posted by Miguel at 04:04 PM | Permalink

Free money = pizza + pop

I appreciate the offer of yet another credit card, w/ a $6,500 limit no less. Though I don't remember applying for a First National Card. Actually, I don't remember ever hearing of a First National Card. And I certainly don't want a credit card I can only use w/ a home-order catalog (unless it's J.Crew).

Posted by Miguel at 12:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

dBlog

I've been working on writing a brief introduction for my dissertation committee for the last 1½ week. Today, I finished a draft I'm happy w/. Subsequently, I'm launching dBlog, my place for (weekly) progress updates. You can read/comment there; keep in mind it's only a draft. I'm still working on the general outline; hope to post that Friday.

Now time for a well-deserved nap.

Posted by Miguel at 05:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Meetings & office hours

Sat down w/ Dr. Hauptmann (my dissertation advisor) over coffee. We always have great conversations, on a wide range of topics — music, literature, politics, and, of course, my dissertation. Talking to her helped sharpen where my draft for Friday's headed, and settled me on the fact that my previous estimate for the tome's length was exagerated; 300-400 pages will do. Whew!

Posted by Miguel at 08:23 PM | Permalink

Tools, not bombs

I just learned about an interesting project to help people in Iraq (it was featured on CNN). It's a donation drive for tools for Iraqi craftsmen, sponsored by Spirit of America. Think of it as tools, not bombs. If you oppose a military approach to rebuilding a country, but want to support the Iraqi people, and have some extra cash (they take PayPal), here's a great opportunity. Since you can't rebuild a country w/o, er, tools.

Posted by Miguel at 07:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Strategic voting

I won't pretend to tell you how you should vote. That's, after all, entirely up to you. But I do have one observation I think few anyone-but-Bush Kerry voters — I specifically mean voters, not supporters — have considered. I realize that Kerry has actual supporters, so this doesn't apply to them. But I've heard/read much grumbling from Dems about how Kerry isn't ideal. But because overthrowing Bush is so important, voting for Kerry is the default strategy.

Now, I understand & empathize w/ strong opposition to Bush. But not the "anyone-but-Bush" argument, since I can think of many people worse than Bush (Jerry Falwell, Pat Buchanan, Pat Robertson, Dan Quayle, David Duke). But is voting for a candidate you don't support simply to overthrow a candidate you despise a good strategy? Let me elaborate.

Posted by Miguel at 12:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Updates & To-Do

I spent a few minutes to change my comment settings back to open (no TypeKey required), but it means I have to approve comments. Also added a link to my moblog (snapshots taken from my Treo). Whenever I update it, a new image appears on the left sidebar.

Posted by Miguel at 10:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Seven songs

I discovered all the bands on This Week's iMix through March Records.

Posted by Miguel at 02:17 PM | Permalink

Italian Bluegrass

Spent Saturday evening w/ Sara, who invited me out to Krafbräu to hear Beppe Gambetta, a bluegrass musician from Genoa. I had a great time, enjoying a very witty — and very Italian (he has a cookbook & even sang a recipe) — flat pick guitar player.

We started the evening w/ dinner at Food Dance, and ended w/ a conversation at Fourth Coast. A lovely Saturday Kalamazoo night out.

Posted by Miguel at 02:44 AM | Permalink

Eurorail questions

In between cleaning my apartment & watching World Poker Tour, I'm looking up European travel info. Thanks to Cat's tips on The Screen Savers, I discovered Mobissimo. It's still in beta, but it searches the other major ticket engines & actually undercuts them.

I'm also looking at Eurorail info. I did find the very useful BootsnAll.com & Eurotrip, and there's always Lonely Planet. Anyone else out there can provide tips? Or maybe I should just stay in Rome the whole time? But I would love to see Barcelona. My biggest question about the Eurorail is: Can I sleep on the trains between cities (avoiding looking for hostels)?

If you've any advice, let me know. Or contribute to my All Roads Lead to Rome fundraiser.

Posted by Miguel at 02:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Pool tournament

Bret & I advanced our first match. Barely. Bret had a solid run, taking us to the lead. I played defense, then set us up for the 8-ball. But I missed a cut shot. The other team did, too. But Bret brought it home. Now we sit & wait for the next match. The waiting is the hardest part. .:from Treo

UPDATE: So. Um. We just lost to Dan & Bill.

Posted by Miguel at 07:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Bajo el cielo mas puro de América

Today is 24 September, the Santa Cruz regional holiday. It's an interesting year for it, since it follows on the heels of last year's October "guerra del gas" & the national gas referendum. One of the results was a Santa Cruz more disillusioned w/ national politics than ever. (Just three months ago, 100,000 cruceños marched in the city, demanding political autonomy.) You can see it in headlines from the city's major papers: El Deber ("Santa Cruz leader, but unjustly treated by the State"), El Nuevo Día ("Nothing brakes the cruceño advance 194 years after calls for independence"). Even La Paz's La Razón ("Santa Cruz celebrates its day apart from the national agenda"). President Mesa took the opportunity to reiterate his promise for greater political autonomy for the region (though papers report he was "coldly' met). And, of course, the night ended in true cruceño style by crowning a new beauty queen.

Posted by Miguel at 04:05 PM | Permalink

Work, inaction, work

Woke up early for my 10am class, w/ enough time to stop for a latte. Then headed up to the office to pick up my package. It was, after all, delivered to the university yesterday at 2:30pm by FedEx. A call to shipping/receiving confirmed I won't receive my package today. Seems it takes 5 business days for them to walk it across the street to my office. It takes longer to transport my package w/in a public university campus than it took for two private companies (Apple & FedEx) to ship a product across the US.

Posted by Miguel at 04:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Vote.com

Vote.com runs regular internet "elections" on various topics. Today's poll asks whether Dan Ra^ther should resign from CBS over the broadcasting of forged memos. The "Ra^thergate" story was quickly broken by bloggers, although Ra^ther & CBS stuck to their guns to the bitter end.

In other news of bloggers challenging authority: Iranian bloggers are still under attack by the regime's mullahcracy. Hossein Derakhshan has a good round-up (English & Farsi). The democratic revolution in Iran, when it comes, won't be televised — it'll be blogged.

Posted by Miguel at 09:09 AM | Permalink

Overheard

Sitting at a café desperately resisting the urge not to enter a next-table conversation. Things that start w/ "I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but ..." or making the point that nuclear weapons are bad & "out of harmony w/ nature" by comparing it to bringing an electric guitar into a café and "arggh!" (done w/ air guitar & rock'n'roll pose). Yep, that was the metaphor used.

Posted by Miguel at 10:53 PM | Permalink

University burro-cracy

Why does it take 52 hours for a FedEx to deliver a package from Pennsylvania to Friedmann Hall's receiving dock, but 24 hours for the building's shipping/receiving to take things up two flights of stairs? Let's hope I can pick up my package before class tomorrow morning.

Posted by Miguel at 07:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Political gambles

Yes, on the internet, you can gamble on anything. TradeSport's tracking bets on whether Kerry or Bush will win the 2004 election. You can also track state-by-state wagers; here's Michigan's.

Posted by Miguel at 04:54 PM | Permalink

Office hours

A slow start to Wednesday. Gassed up The Motron & headed up to pick of this week's comics pull from Fanfare. Then headed towards campus, stopping for a game of straight pool w/ Dan. Now I'm sitting in my office, about to start grading students' quizes, making Thursday's lesson plan, and starting on some more dissertation writing.

Posted by Miguel at 03:04 PM | Permalink

Great music, no dancing

The music tonight at 80s night is the best ever. Some really good underground/indie tunes fill the air. People are only slowly arriving. So maybe the dancing'll start soon. .:from Treo

Posted by Miguel at 11:22 PM | Permalink

All Roads Lead to Rome

I've decided to go to Italy for Christmas. My cousin Kathira, who I've always been close to, emigrated there a year ago. And, since I didn't get to see her the whole year I was in Bolivia (she was already living in Rome), I want to fly out to see her this holiday. If you want to help me see Rome (and maybe some other European cities), you can contribute to my All Roads Lead to Rome fundraiser. I set it up using the DropCash service. Basically, you drop a few PayPal pennies (or dimes?) to help get me on my way.

If you help me get to Europe, I'll send you a cool postcard. Or I'll cook you a delicious pasta dish. Your choice.

Posted by Miguel at 09:16 PM | Permalink

Catnap

How can you not love these girls? .: from Treo

Posted by Miguel at 03:35 PM | Permalink

Ciao!mobile

Now that I'm using my Treo more, I wonder how many other people are doing likewise. So, I've set up a PDA-friendly version of my blog. Enjoy.

Posted by Miguel at 03:03 PM | Permalink

Rocket Star News

The new Rocket Star Café website is up. And it's awesome. Not only is it aesthetically beautiful (as if Simon would ever design something that wasn't), it has some really cool bells & whistles. There's the Rocket Log group blog — an online version of the café's community composition notebook. An events calendar. Speaking of which, I'm excited about Friday's doubles pool tourney.

The coolest feature? The digital Rocket Log Notebook (requires Flash). You can open the book page by page, even manipulate pages. Try it; it's the coolest thing I've ever seen.

Posted by Miguel at 01:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Moblog Test

This is an inside view of the Rocket Star Café taken w/ & posted from my Treo.

Posted by Miguel at 09:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Seven songs

Having recently joined the iTunes Affiliates program, I figure I should start pushing music. So. Here's This Week's iMix. The little arrow links to the song's iTunes page.

Ryan Adams, "Wonderwall"
Ivy, "Kite"
Pet Shop Boys, "Home And Dry"
The Innocence Mission, "Bright As Yellow"
Cat Power, "Say"
The Jesus & Mary Chain, "Just Like Honey"
Nick Drake, "Fruit Tree"

Interesting that over half my music collection's not available on iTunes (only 32 of my 99 Most Played). I recommend March Records' website for free MP3s. They put out unbelievably amazing compilations. It's my favorite record label.

Posted by Miguel at 10:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Bittersweet visits

Caught a ride back to Saginaw w/ Sam to visit our parents Saturday afternoon & Sunday morning. I'm sure it meant a lot to them, and especially abuelita. But we focused on the being happy, even chit chat about everyday life. No sense dwelling on the obvious. Even spent a few moments around a backporch fire, laughing at childhood stories about my dad, as told by abuelita. He'll fly back to Santa Cruz w/ her, spend a few days visiting his brothers & helping w/ final arrangements.

At night, I drove into the city to visit Matt & April, kick back Miller Lite longnecks, talk about Matt's student teaching & 3-year-old Emet's latest adventures.

Posted by Miguel at 01:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ciao, abuelito

Abuelito died early this morning. He'd been in a coma, w/ DNR orders, for a week now. So, while not a shock, still sad. He was a wonderful, happy man. All heart, even to the end.

But his visit to the US wasn't all sadness. He enjoyed spending time w/ his son "en America" (my dad), fixing a screen door, puttering around in the garden. He enjoyed a trip to Chicago, the biggest city he's ever seen. He got to see the Tigers at a home game. He caught an enormous Walleye on Pratt Lake. He enjoyed a trip to the Saginaw County Fair — and the demolition derby! — w/ his grandsons. A fan of cowboy westerns, he got a kick out of Huckleberry Junction.

And I know abuelita is strong enough to make the trip back to Bolivia, taking his ashes back home. And w/ his eternal patience, I'm sure abuelito is waiting for her at the gates of Heaven, w/o a care in the world.

The best consolation I have, is that of all his brothers, my dad's most like abuelito. Every day, he'll remind me more & more of his own dad. So that kind of gentle, joyful spirit lives on in our family.

My brothers — who're better at the emotional stuff than I — have more to say. Sam. Andy.

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UPDATE: To everyone who phoned, emailed, or left comments about my abuelito: Thanks. It meant a lot to me.

Posted by Miguel at 03:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Brain trust

I forgot to mention that the lady who struck me w/ her Porsche two weeks ago came through w/ the helmet. A very nice, snug, black helmet arrived in the mail last Saturday. And, yes, I'm actually wearing it.

Posted by Miguel at 11:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

The Candidate

Warren Ellis is brilliant. Here's his 2004 election analysis from the point-of-view of Spider Jerusalem (Ellis' alter ego from Transmetropolitan). Be aware that Ellis' sense of sarcasm isn't for everyone (Mom, don't follow the link). Thanks, Josh Upson, for pointing this out.

Oh, and Ellis'll soon be writing Iron Man. Can't wait to see what he does.

Posted by Miguel at 04:40 PM | Permalink

Post midweek dissection

Showed The Fog of War to my students today; we discuss the film on Tuesday. It's the third time I've seen it, and I keep catching things I missed the first time. I constantly walk away w/ a slightly different interpretation — and an appreciation for the subject's humanity. I guess that’s why it's a good documentary (and not Moore-esque agit-doc).

Meanwhile, I've postponed painting my apartment, limiting it to Saturdays-only work. I really need to just get my rooms organized so I don't go insane looking at a constant mess. It's sad I fell behind on the work when I had non-work time. But, to be fair, other things did come up. It wasn't all procrastination & laziness.

Point is, I'm finally getting to a semblance of a "normal" schedule.

More importantly: I need furniture. W/ Retro closed (sigh), finding great retro Scandinavian furniture is a tougher job. So if you know of a great two-person couch w/ minimalist lines, do let me know about it. Though I think I finally figured out the schedule for the rarely-open Attic Treasures on Westnedege. I'm about to head out there.

Progress on the dissertation front. Slow, but steady. I've decided to wrap up the short introduction (5-6 pages) before moving on to a chapter-by-chapter outline. I'll work on that a bit more after a late lunch at home, but before the tonight’s poker.

More importantly, tonight I finish organizing my books by LOC catalog number. I'm gonna write the call number on the front cover page of each book in pencil.

Posted by Miguel at 01:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Inside the Zoo

Was just pointed to a new print/web Kalamazoo monthly newszine called Inside the Zoo. I've only glanced through it, but it's well-written, nicely designed, and clearly "left-progressive." Can't say I agree w/ all of it. But it's always nice to have a wider variety of local news sources out there. And they encourage reader submissions.

Posted by Miguel at 06:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Dancing in the dark

Bay Jo, Josh Upson, and Bret came over last night for dinner & cable TV watching. My fettuccine fini tossed w/ lemon & mint was a hit.

Posted by Miguel at 04:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

On "open source" journalism

My latest Western Herald column came out today. It's on "open source" journalism & the recent CBS meltdown. You can read the online version; below is the rough draft version.

Posted by Miguel at 12:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Comment issues

OK. I just re-enabled the TypeKey registration feature. Yes, I know it's a minor pain for you to register before commenting. But it's a major pain for me to individually approve comments. Every. Single. One. And I don't want to keep receiving comment spam, either.

So. Please. Register. Then you can post anytime w/o me having to approve comments, and w/o viagra sales pitches bothering everyone. Only Sam had any problems (I think he should flush his cookies). But if you can't leave comments for some strange reason, please email me.

At least now you know what I do in my office hours when no students drop by.

Posted by Miguel at 03:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Brainstorming & painting

Spent much of the weekend painting my apartment, especially last night. The kitchen's almost done, after I pulled the cabinet doors off & covered the countertop w/ an old sheet. I'll try to finish that up this afternoon. I also prepped much of the bedroom, and hope to get through that by the weekend. Well behind schedule, but slowly getting there.

Posted by Miguel at 01:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Friday meeting

Finally got together w/ my dissertation committee for a sit-down. We talked about my ten-month experience in Bolivia, my current funding situation, and future plans — especially the "finish-your-dissertation-soon" future. Which makes for a brief to-do list:

• Write (short) introduction to dissertation, focusing on a "biographical" (how my in-field research differed from my pre-field expectations) take on my field work. Due end of September.

• Develop an outline of upcoming chapters, w/ a paragraph or two on what each chapter covers. Also due end of September.

• Prepare a methodology chapter detailing the content analysis coding structure I'm (still) developing.

• Look for (and apply for) writing grants.

I also hope to get a few chapters drafted by early January. And this fall's plan includes massive amounts of data coding. Feel free to bug me, asking how much work I got done today. I need help staying on track sometimes.

Tonight I'm grocery shopping w/ Bay, then settling in for some food & TV or DVD watching. Tomorrow, the Kalamazoo Valley Museum is showing a September 11 film presentation (also Sunday). The 11'09"01 "film" is actually a collection of eleven, eleven-minute films by eleven filmmakers from around the world (Sean Penn was the American entry).

And bad news about abuelito today.

Posted by Miguel at 08:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Is it or isn't it?

Who'd ever think a discussion of 1970s typewriter fonts could be so interesting (and confusing at the same time).

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UPDATE: Story's now in The Washington Post, The New York Times, and ABC News, among others.

Posted by Miguel at 10:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Agit-doc

It's the term kicked around for the kind of work Michael Moore's famous for. It's a take on the term "agit-prop" developed in the 1930s. Of course, Moore's quite open & honest about his biases, and I give him credit for that. I stumbled upon an interview a conservative agit-doc filmmaker had w/ Moore, using a copy-cat style. In it, Moore's quite pleasant, and even encourages the filmmaker to "make his films" in the interest of open speech & dialogue. Once again, redeeming my original view of Moore.

The site also includes a work-in-progress edit of a film on political bias in universities (also clearly falling into the Moore-esque "agit-doc"). I try very hard to not let students know my biases; I wish more teachers felt that way. There's too much of a hierarchical power structure between teacher & student to do otherwise.

Enough about that. It's poker night!

Posted by Miguel at 07:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Kestrel is up

My Airport Express finally came in the office mail. So. You can now come over to my place & enjoy a WiFi LAN party. But maybe I should finish painting my apartment first? Meanwhile, I'm watching TechTV.

Posted by Miguel at 05:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

MT upgrade

I've upgraded to MT 3.1, primarily to block comment spam (one of the new features). Your first comment requires my approval. It's a one-time thing, and I'm sorry about the inconvenience, but it should pretty much kill comment spam. I'm still working out some of the bugs, so bear w/ me. If there are problems, please email me.

Posted by Miguel at 05:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Munakusqa hatun tayta

Posted by Miguel at 03:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Interview questions

Bay sent me the following questions, following up on a list of similar interviews started by J. Edmund. You may find my answers less entertaining than others. Forgive me.

Posted by Miguel at 09:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

On Treo

Finally got my Treo online. Now I can check email & web from my cellphone.

I'm still in Saginaw, spending the night at the hospital w/ my abuelito. It's raining outside. He's still pretty out of it. But he drank from a straw a bit ago, even held the cup in his own hands.

I should be back in Kalamazoo sometime around 6pm.

Posted by Miguel at 12:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Enjoy your Labor Day

In about an hour, I'm going to an Iranian wedding w/ Andy (it's his girlfriend's sister's wedding) here in Kalamazoo. Should be an amazing, interesting experience.

Posted by Miguel at 02:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

What the?

OK. This (via Burton Terrace) freaks me out. And this (via Instapundit) makes me question journalism. This election's turning nastier.

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UPDATE: A permalink from the local paper to the 1st story. Someone (still under investigation) shot at the GOP office in Huntington, West Virginia, during Bush's acceptance speech last night. Could be nothing. Still creepy, though.

Posted by Miguel at 07:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Yep, I should probably wear a helmet

Shortly after a sudden burst of expletives, that was the first thought that ran through my head after a dusty green Porsche t-boned me (didn't see me, turned right into me), sending me flying over my moped, across the hood of her car, spilling onto John Street. To my utmost surprise, I made it out w/ barely a scrape or two. And spent most of the next few minutes trying to console the lady who hit me, and was clearly shaken up about it.

Posted by Miguel at 07:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

Pretty accurate

Posted by Miguel at 04:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Stupid IT decisions

As of a some days ago, my wmich.edu account no longer forwards email to my personal POP3 account. I think it's the most ridiculous thing ever. Now I've all these old emails piled up, going ignored until just now. The argument was that it was meant to reduce spam (how, I've no idea). Well, I've still got several (about 80%) spam messages in my wmich.edu account. And I routinely get email — from "myself" sent to my centellas.org account?! So. It's not working. It's just become a stupid inconvenience. Who thought of this?

Also, I've to (yet again!) prove I'm a US citizen before the university can process me. I do this every single Fall since 1993. So, time to dust off my passport, birth certificate, consulate letters, and other miscellanea.

Posted by Miguel at 01:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Kerry hits back

Kerry recently gave statements (New York Times) again attacking Bush on his Iraq record. Which is good (attacking the record, I mean). But he still doesn't precisely explain what he'd do differently. Only that he'd have done "almost everything differently."

Posted by Miguel at 06:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Polling by states

My friend Patrick posted two electoral college prediction links a while back. Now that the election's closer, I thought I'd also post them up there. One is by a Bush supporter, the other by a Kerry supporter. Both use state-level polling & other information to estimate which candidate will win in the electoral college.

Since 2000, of course, most people are aware that national popular vote doesn't matter. All that matters is what candidate wins the most electoral college votes. So the nation-level polls the major media networks show are pretty irrelevant.

Posted by Miguel at 03:49 PM | Permalink

Advice?

OK. Now that I'm on Sprint, I figure I might as well get a Palm-powered phone. So. The toss up right now's between Palm's Treo 600 or Samsung's SPH-i500.

Posted by Miguel at 12:54 PM | Permalink