The ‘Deep Slate: November 2012 Edition

DeepSlate Logo

[Ed. Note: After years of the ‘Deep Slate being email only, I’ve moved it to my blog as well as email. You can find all the online ones here]

  1. You can find your polling place in SF HERE or for the rest of CA HERE.
  2. You can print just the LIST (all the better to take to the polls) from HERE.

Thanks again to the number of folks who have asked me for my opinions. I know I say it every time but it is quite true: I really am honored by your interest.

Sorry this has taken so long, but as usual, I’m doing the best I can under the relentless pressure of October (Work deadlines! Halloween costume! election stuff!).

If you like it, please do let me know! Also questions, criticisms, comments welcome!

GO VOTE! ‘deep —–

The format of this post is simple:

  1. The LIST: The simple list of my endorsements for this election
  2. The DETAILS: The whys and wherefores of each endorsement.
  3. My VALUES: A brief explanation of my values and sources, to help make sense of my opinions.

THE LIST:

The key is as follows:

US: President: Barack Obama US Senate: Dianne Feinstein Congress: Nancy Pelosi

CA: Assembly D13: Tom Ammiano Assembly D19: Phil Ting State Senate D11: MARK LENO BART Board D9: TOM RADULOVICH

Prop. 30: Temporary Sales Tax & Progressive Income Tax for Schools: YES YES YES Prop. 31: Budget and Legislative “Reforms”: No Prop. 32: Unfair Limits to Political Spending: NO NO NO Prop. 33: Changing Insurance Rates to Benefit Insurance Companies: No* Prop. 34: Replace the Death Penalty with Life w/o Parole: YES YES YES Prop. 35: Deeply Flawed Human Trafficking Legislation: NO Prop. 36: Improve Three Strikes Law: YES YES YES Prop. 37: Require Labeling for GMO Foods: YES Prop. 38: Raise Income Taxes for Education: Yes Prop. 39: Tax Treatment for Multistate Businesses: Yes* Prop. 40: Support Redistricting Decisions: Yes*

SF: Board of Supervisors D1: Eric Mar D3: David Chiu D5: 1. John Rizzo 2. Christina Olague D7: Norman Yee D9: David Campos D11: John Avalos

Community College Board Chris Jackson Rafael Mandelman Steven Ngo Amy Bacharach

Board of Education Sandra Fewer Jill Wynns Rachel Norton Matt Haney

Prop. A: City College Parcel Tax: YES Prop. B: Parks Bond: Yes Prop. C: Affordable Housing Trust Fund: YES YES YES Prop. D: Consolidate Off-Year Elections: Yes Prop. E: Gross Receipts Tax: Yes Prop. F: Hetch Hetchy and Water Study: YES Prop. G: Corporations Are Not People: YES

Read on for the details of why I’m recommending the above…

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The ‘Deep Slate: June 2012 Edition

[Ed. Note: 10/31/2015: This “post” was originally an email I sent to my friends on 06/05/2012. I have posted it today in 2015, and backdated for archival/search purposes]

(my apologies if you get this multiple times & if you don’t want to get this type of stuff from me, just let me know)

Hey folks –

Sorry this is so RUSHED: Two Words: Wedding Planning!. I KNOW THIS FEELS LIKE AN UNIMPORTANT ELECTION TO MANY OF YOU – BUT PLEASE VOTE! At the SF Level, the DCCC races are actually a big deal (and always under the radar) and at the STATE level, Prop 28 is a small ray of HOPE!

Usually, I write two emails for the ‘Deep Slate, one for just the simple list of my voting recommendations & another which is the detailed “whys & wherefores” , however for today’s election that won’t be necessary. The two bits will fit in this handy email 🙂 I’ve included the boilerplate “who I am section” at the bottom for those of you who are receiving this who don’t know me.

Please feel free to forward this far & wide….
————————————-
To find your polling place:
http://tinyurl.com/yfbsg9
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The key is as follows:
• the more UPPERCASE – the more strongly I feel
• exclamation = don’t get me started!
• * = I don’t know a lot about it & went with the Guardian or California League of Conservation Voters (CLCV)
————————————-

State Senate, District 11: Mark Leno

State Assembly:
Tom Ammiano (D17)
Phil Ting (D19)

Democratic County Central Committee

District 17 (East Side)
Avalos, John
Campos, David
Chiu, David
DeJesus, Petra
Dorsey, Matt
Gembinski, Chris
Haaland, Gabriel Robert
Katz, Leslie
Mandelman, Rafael
Migden, Carole
Morgan, Justin
Pimentel, Leah
Rosenthal, Alix Amelia

District 19 (West Side)
Alonso, Mike
Aragon, Wendy
Bard, Kevin
Dwyer, Kelly
Lauterborn, Mar
Mar, Eric

California Ballot Measures
Prop. 28: YES
Prop. 29: YES

SF Ballot Measures
Prop. A: No
Prop. B: YES

——— WHY & WHEREFORE ———

State Senate, District 11: Mark Leno
State Assembly:
Tom Ammiano (D17)
Phil Ting (D19)

All 3 of these candidates are exactly the kind of people we need to retain at the State level. Mark Leno is remarkably strong and progressive leader while still managing to bring pragmatism and an ability to compromise to Sacramento. Tom Ammiano has done great work in in the Assembly & Phil Ting has been an excellent assessor here in SF & his steadfast opposition to Prop 13 can only help in Sacto.

Democratic County Central Committee
Avalos, John
Campos, David
Chiu, David
DeJesus, Petra
Dorsey, Matt
Gembinski, Chris
Haaland, Gabriel Robert
Katz, Leslie
Mandelman, Rafael
Migden, Carole
Morgan, Justin
Pimentel, Leah
Rosenthal, Alix Amelia

District 19 (West Side)
Alonso, Mike
Aragon, Wendy
Bard, Kevin
Dwyer, Kelly
Lauterborn, Mar
Mar, Eric

The Democratic County Central Committee is actually one of the stealth most-important things in SF politics. Since SF is around 75% Democratic & many people vote the party line in elections & the DCCC make the official Democratic party endorsements: voila. The DCCC has a lot of power! It has long been the front line in the constant battle between monied downtown interests in SF which tend to be more conservative, and neighborhood, environmental, and other grass-roots types that have sought a more progressive SF. This year is no different.

California Ballot Measures
Prop. 28: YES
Prop. 29: YES

I always like it when I can enthusiastically support ballot measures. They are so often so grey at best. While neither of these measures is perfect they are both DOING GOOD.

Prop 28 tweaks the heinous term limits system for the better. A significant part of the reason that the State Legislature is so startlingly lame is term limits. Our legislators are barely in office long enough to understand how the system works before they are termed out. We basically have a bunch of rookies at the wheel. All the time. Ugh. 28 doesn’t fix this but makes the terms longer so they have a chance to get better. YES YES YES

Prop 29: Yes it isn’t ideal for various reasons, but smokers really really really do cost our health care system a large amount of money – and yes, non-smokers pick up part of the tab. This measure, though regressive, is essentially fair. If you smoke, pay for treatment research.

SF Ballot Measures
Prop. A: NO
Prop. B: YES

Prop A is a good example of something that should be a good thing, but in reality isn’t. Recology, our waste disposal company is a monopoly & isn’t competitively bid. In general, I’d be against such a scheme. That being said, this alternative is flawed for many reasons and would probably lead to much much less successful recycling, composting and waste minimization here in SF, and Recology has really really been doing a good job with that. No on A.

Prop B: A pretty simple one. SF Rec & Parks has been increasingly renting out our public spaces to private entities, resulting in less access for the people of SF. While this is somewhat understandable given our tight budgets, this policy statement shows we don’t like it & want better solutions. Additionally, Coit Tower has been particularly heavily hit for private events & that is the focus of this non-binding policy statement. Yes.

10 Years At Apple

On May 2nd, 2002 I took a leap & started working at Apple. Today I got my 10 year crystal award.  Pictures don’t do it justice – I love it: 

IMG 1484

 And this letter from Tim Cook pretty much nails it:

This award celebrates 10 years of your amazing contributions to Apple. Through your hard work, passion, and commitment, you have helped to show the world that technology can do more than engage and expand people’s minds. It can also touch their hearts and reach their souls. It can be both human and humane. In doing so, not only have you helped to alter what people have come to expect from the devices in their lives, but you have also changed what people expect from themselves. You have helped them create, relate to, and enjoy the world around them in a fundamentally different – better -way. Thank you for making this kind of difference. It is a great accomplishment in 10 years.

Tim Cook, CEO

IMG 1487

Proud?  Yes I am. 

(click more for a few additional pics)

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Why Adopt Baozi?

[Ed. Note: A few days ago, Kate Antoniades contacted me because she runs a blog, “From Alone to Home: Stories of Adopted Pets” (www.fromalonetohome.com), which collects pet adoption stories as her way to encourage other people to choose shelter/rescue adoption. She asked me to write up Baozi’s adoption story & it turned into a nice little piece on why we decided to get a pup from my point of view! Here it is.]

[Ed. Note: Also check the previous post to listen to her awesome puppy yawns & see pix and video 🙂 ]

Baozi Snoozes

Pet’s Name: Baozi (包子)

Adopted by: Amandeep & Kimberly

From: SPCA, San Francisco, Calif.

Ever since I was a young boy, I’ve wanted a dog1. Growing up, my Mom never allowed us to get one because she feared she’d be left to take care of it. In hindsight, I can understand, as my brother and I were plenty of work as it was2.

My entire childhood was thus spent longing for a dog & getting all the B-list pets I could get my Mom to sign off on. A menagerie of parakeets, fish, hermit crabs, snakes, lizards, toads and jumping spiders paraded through our home, but none filled the void. (Many of these hapless creatures were captured from the woods near my house.)

As soon as I moved out on my own, I thought about getting a dog, but with adulthood came a dawning realization of how much work that would entail. I knew I wasn’t quite ready. But still the idea persisted. Every friend’s dog that I baby-sat tested my resolve. Every girlfriend I had was measured up as a potential puppy-mamma. Every “sidewalk-adopt-a-pet” event I passed on the street was a crisis.

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Puppy Yawns (for your Listening Pleasure!)

Not all posts here at Deeptrouble.com involve issues of magnitude and commentary most insightful.

Some involve…. (drum roll)…

PUPPY YAWNS!

(click here to hear the goodness)

The last one is the best actually 🙂

I’ve always wanted a puppy & last weekend Kimberly and I adopted little Baozi* from the SPCA here in San Francisco. She is as adorable as you might imagine. These yawns are compiled from two of the early morning (2:45am and 5:15am to be exact!) “take her out to pee!” runs (iPhone Voice Memo app FTW!)

*It means “stuffed bun” in Mandarin & is pronounced “Bow-dzuh”! She’s a German shepard mix…



Trikeasaurus Rex RFP (and a Brief History of Trikeasaurus!)

[Ed. Note for friends: I have decided to have a new custom trike built: Trikeasaurus Rex! To do so, I need to explain what Trikeasurus is, so I made this video & blog post as an RFP (Request For Proposal). It is a simple history & set of requirements – but by all means DO CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO I MADE BELOW:]

[Ed. Note for potential suppliers: I’m just using the term “RFP” because I have delusions of grandeur – don’t worry, I don’t necessarily need a formal “proposal”. This is really just a framework for discussion.]

[UPDATE: 10/2/20 I just realized I never updated this post with a picture of the results of this post: Trikeasaurus Rex built by the awesome Rob Archer of Nebula Cycles]

So here it is. And if you ever see me cruising around San Francisco, I hope you say Hi!

Trikeasaurus Rex in Santa MonicaAmandeep B 

 

 

 

History

For almost 5 years now, I have been enjoying Trikeasaurus, my roving tricycle-sound-system.

Trikeasaurus was initially conceived as a simple way to transport my sound system to my FlashDance events. Flashdances are free, outdoor dance parties I put on in various locations in San Francisco every month or so during the spring & summer.1

As it has turned out, Trikeasaurus has become a much more general purpose source of fun and I use it often, not just for FlashDances. Watch this video to get a sense:

Trikeasaurus in its Natural Habitat

The video shows Trikeasaurus mostly in its initial configuration, a cheap, Husky adult tricycle with a small, custom metal-work speaker mount system.

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Rocket GLAM 43rd Birthday Party

GLAAAAAAM IIIIN SPAAAAAAAAACE!

Glamsters! Thank you all SO MUCH for making my GLAM Party such a huge success. So many of you! So many rocket-packs! So many aliens! SO. MUCH. GLAM.

A few quick thoughts:

  • I LOVED SO MANY OF THE COSTUMES. SO GREAT! I think Liz won on overall Rocket Glammiest and Best Rocket Pack! (& bringing the hotness!)
    DSC_0123
  • I get an honorable mention, coz I LOVED my costume, and it did not turn out looking like a GLAM SPACE CHICKEN as I feared. If I wear it everyday going forward, someone please intervene. My best Glam Costume to date!!!
    DSC_0102>
  • I also was SUUUUPER happy with the playlist (see below) I hope you were too!
  • So I’ll post a few random shots here, but for gods sake, at least check out the BEST 50 Photo Booth Shots here on Facebook
  • Here is the full set of photo booth shots on Flickr – honestly there are closer to 85-90 GREAT shots in there!
  • Sorry the photo booth was a bit balky (& the first chunk of shots were out of focus) – we just got it & it will be in better shape for the NEXT GLAM Birthday 🙂 Big thanks to Adrian & Kimberly & all the volunteers who took pix!

DSC_0404

Big thanks to Kimberly for all the hard work in making this happen (and putting up with the fact that we made it happen “my” way 🙂 ) You rock babe! (And damn you’re hot!)  And you make the best ridiculous facial expressions in the photo booth shots.

ROCKET GLAM!

‘Deep

.ps For those of you who still don’t understand, here is why (as I said after my 40th Birthday GLAM of the Dead party):

Q: Why GLAM? A: GLAM – because I love bright shiny things. When i turned 31 I decided to reclaim my love of all things shiny, sparkly & bright. Guys (at least straight ones) aren’t supposed to love that stuff as much as I do. Yeah. Whatever. It’s been all GLAM ever since

You can find pix from all my GLAM parties here.

.pps

And here is the playlist. Like I said, twas one of my best!

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The Proposal

Ed. note: Numerous people have asked for “the story” of me proposing to K, so I thought I’d write it down. It feels a little odd to write a blog post about such a moment, but we here at deeptrouble.com are all about giving the people what they want. 🙂 Also, this post allows me to explain why we have unexpected pictures of the proposal itself.

Updates 2/16/12:


I’ve been thinking about asking Kimberly to marry me for a while now & I told myself that if I felt like asking her 5 times or so, I should just do it. In the end, it ended up happening half by intent and half by serendipity, like many of the best things in our relationship.

IMG 1978Unexpected Proposal-Cam! (courtesy of Hannah Tries)

 

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The Story of Trixie!

[Update 3/16/2012: “The Story of Trixie” has come full circle, as the blog where we got her inspiration has posted about her 🙂 See the epilogue after you read this post.]

TrixFinal

Trixie in her natural habitat, the ‘Deepistan National Parklet (& in front of our temporary construction mural by Adrian Cotter.)

When I started my front-of-home renovation project, my architect Jane Martin surprised me by asking if I was interested in doing a parklet. The irony was that though I spend plenty of time involved in issues related to urban spaces & livability (and thus I run in parklet-y circles), the thought never occurred to me! Luckily, it did to Jane & I immediately loved the idea.

Months later, as the parklet project was really making progress, Jane proposed doing a “succulent sculpture” for it. And since she was so dead-on about the parklet, I immediately said sure! I thought “Ummm – a what?” Jane excitedly explained that our parklet needed an artistic focus & that it should be plant based. At that point, seeing her vision completely, I said “sure!” I said “Ummm – hmm” & started trying to figure out how to say “no” to something she was so enthused about.

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Hunting For Happiness in The People’s Republic

[Ed. Note: This post is 4 months late. The trip was 8/15 to 9/10/11. Now that no one cares, I thought I’d post about it. 🙂 I’ve been trying to write this for months, but really I was too focused on this project at work to make it happen…  If you want to just look at my PICTURES, here they are, but I think the pix are better if you read this post & vice versa…]

[Ed. Note II: I was in China for less than a month. I saw a tiny, tiny, fraction of the country in terms of square miles.  I met maybe 150 Chinese people.  I had more than a “Hi, can I buy that?” conversation with maybe 10 (being REALLY generous).  Nonetheless, I’m about to post something now that makes vast sweeping generalizations about an entire nation of over a billion people and thousands of years of history, with languages I can neither read nor write.  So please accept everything I say here as gospel from someone who knows everything.  I certainly do.

In all seriousness: I hope I don’t offend anyone (esp. my Chinese friends) with my thoughts and impressions – I really am just trying to understand what I saw & felt while in a fascinating and very different place.]

 

DeepNoFocus

 

Our hero in the Great Taklamakan Desert

 

A few months back, I was whisked off to China by my girlfriend to experience her step-mother country.  Kimberly, although pretty damn white, has studied Mandarin since she was very young & then majored in Chinese studies in college & lived there for a total of 8 years.  I knew she was missing China, so it should have come as no surprise when she hijacked our planned trip to India by taking us to China instead.

I recovered from this by planning to trade her for a panda. Perhaps two.

Unbeknownst to me, she subverted that plan by having us head to the far western deserts of China along the Silk Road.  Pandas are NOT in the desert. Sigh. (She’s tricksy!)

Luckily, I found a new fascination soon after arriving in China: looking for signs of happiness.

But, before we get into that, a brief map:


View China Trip 2011 in a larger map
We landed in Hong Kong, then flew to Beijing, spent a week or so there, and then started heading consistently west, more or less along the route of the Silk Road: We took an overnight train to the ancient capital Xi’an, spent a couple of days there, then took a 26 hr train ride to Dunhuang (sort of the gateway to the West). We then flew to Urumqi, the most remote city from any sea in the world according to Guinness, and the biggest city in Xinjiang, the western-most province. From Urumqi, we flew to Kashgar near the border with Pakistan, and spent a few days there exploring the edge of China, before flying east to Shanghai & then back to Hong Kong.

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