Friday, June 27, 2008

Have you forgotten what we were like then
when we were still first rate
and the day came fat with an apple in its mouth

it's no use worrying about Time
but we did have a few tricks up our sleeves
and turned some sharp corners

the whole pasture looked like our meal
we didn't need speedometers
we could manage cocktails out of ice and water

I wouldn't want to be faster
or greener than now if you were with me O you
were the best of all my days

Frank O’Hara who was born today in 1926, died in 1966. He went to Harvard, decided to write poetry, sold postcards at the Museum of Modern Art where he eventually became a curator.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

There’s an expanded letter to the editor in today’s Denver Post about the committee that’s picking a committee to oversee the remodeling/replacement of Boettcher Concert Hall. I posted this comment:


I've always loved the current concert hall, which opened to rave reviews. So I was against Mayor Hickenlooper's request for remodeling money.

A thru I wouldn't have passed without the Mayor's support, so I hope he is now staying on top of how the money is being spent.

I understand that this was not done with the new addition to the Denver Art Museum, and that we are now facing serious roof issues because the construction was not properly done, and that the contract for the work was not well negotiated so that the city is now responsible for the necessary replacement.

Will the Mayor approve the plans and oversee the constructions for the new concert hall on behalf of the Denver citizens who he convinced to vote for A thru I?
How is the other A thru I money being spent? Has the city issued any kind of a progress report?

I invite the Mayor to update us at the next Denver Speakers Corner, Sunday, July 6, 4 p.m., Civic Center North Pavilion, on Colfax just across the street from the Denver Newspaper Agency. More info (including video of our first two meetings) and optional RSVP at hppt://cocacop.meetup.com/2

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

"The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one's real and one's declared aims, one turns ... instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish squirting out ink." and "If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear." George Orwell, the writer made famous by his book Animal Farm, who was born today in 1903. He died in 1950 just after his last book 1984 was published. At a time when most British intellectuals still supported Communism, Orwell became one of the first leftist writers to speak out against Stalin. In 'Why Write?' and 'Politics and the English Language' (1948) Orwell argued that writers have an obligation of fighting social injustice, oppression, and the power of totalitarian regimes.


In today’s Rocky Mountain News, Colorado State Senator Shawn Mitchell is critical of the Denver Chamber of Commerce for opposing Amendment 47, which he says will return the balance of power to business-labor relations in the state after then actions of the past couple of years.

The large organizations that are increasingly dominating our society, government, corporate, and labor, naturally seek power and control of the individual. This country was founded on the belief that there is another way.

We each need to think for our self about the many issues that we face at this critical time in our nations history, and then speak out. This is difficult when collecting a paycheck from one of those large dominate economic organizations, as an increasing proportion of our population is today.

That’s why I just posted a comment at the end of Sen. Mitchell’s column encouraging people to join us for Socrates CafĂ© and Denver Speakers Corner. Will you?

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

"Honey, I just forgot to duck." Jack Dempsey, the great boxer who was born on this date in 1895 here in Colorado. (d. 1983)


Visa is giving a $100 advertising credit on Facebook to each of the first 20,000 U.S. businesses that download the Web application needed to join the network, which debuts Tuesday. About 80,000 small businesses already have profiles on Facebook. I just signed up, how about you?

Monday, June 23, 2008

The Denver Post's Al Lewis questions the value of social networking sites like Linked In and Facebook in his column yesterday. I've been on both for some time now, not sure any business has resulted from either. What do you think, are they worth the time?