[10/4/2001 3:15:41 PM | Dan Spalding]
Matthew’s Account of Gaming Night
An exclusive to DanSpalding.com, written by artist activist extraordinaire, Matthew Riederer

Last Thursday, I went to Arial and Aragorn’s house for gaming night. I am pretty uncomfortable in most unfamiliar social situations. I don’t often like new people. On this occasion however, the lour of “gaming” drew me out of my hermit cave in the back of Dan Spalding’s apartment and I found myself on a bus heading east. Our bus arrived just in time for us to miss our connecting bus, so we called Aragorn for a ride. “Which corner shall we wait on?” Paul [Dan] asked into his cell phone. “It doesn’t matter,” Aragorn told him, “you are sticking out like sore thumbs.” This was a very accurate observation considering it was made over a phone line.

“Matthew, this is Aragorn. He has contempt for everything.” This is how Dan Spalding introduced me to one of the co-host of gaming night. “So, what is your level of geekyness?” Aragorn offered me as kindling for a conversation. “I self identify as a nerd.” I answered. I have thought of myself as a nerd since high school. I equate nerdyness with passion. If a person is so interested in something that they forget themselves in it, then I will call that person a nerd. Everyone is a nerd for something. “What type of nerd are you?” he asked next. I was puzzled by this question. I like lots of things, but what am I really nerdy about? After a long minute, I came up with an answer that I judged was both sufficiently nerdy to qualify and interesting enough to continue talking about. “I draw comic books.” I said. Well actually, I am working on my first real comic book now, but that counts. Aragorn nodded approvingly. “We have a website, ‘angrynerds.com.’” Aragorn told me, indicating his friend Don as the second member of, “we.” “Comic books, huh? You and I get cred in different circles.” he observed. This made me happy.

Next Arial sat me down at a computer to get me oriented to the controls. This was the next generation of video games for me. Most of my experience comes from Tomb Raider. In that game, a gamer can move a virtual representation of themselves around “the map,” but the computer aims the guns. In this game, a gamer controls both navigation of the map and the aiming of guns. This added variable (aiming) was a paradigm shift for me, so for the first few minutes I was as agile as a toddler. Later, I managed to find a better weapon with Arial’s patient but firm instructions and soon after that I blew someone away.

And now a word about blowing people away. Blowing people away is the point of this game and honestly, it is uniquely satisfying. The other honest truth about gaming is that it is one of the most troubling pleasures that I take. It is troubling because I am blowing people away and loving it. At some point during gaming night, someone asked if video games were straight edge. On a globe with simulated brutality and violence at one pole and alcohol at the other, my moral compass doesn’t know which way to point. All things in moderation.

So, my conclusion about gaming night: I can make no judgment as to where I stand in regards to its rightness or wrongness. It is my current feeling that if you are going to do something, you should really do it, throw your whole self into it. Arial and Aragorn and this weekly gaming party that they throw is truly in that category of throwing one’s whole self into something. They qualify as nerdy under my personal passion definition and I love nerdyness. So, I love gaming night for all its nerdyness.

Matthew
[edit]

[9/18/2001 3:46:06 PM | Dan Spalding]
More updates from temp-ura and more life advice from mom

My mom further advised me today to shave my beard, because I have the looks and demeanor (?) of a terrorist. Mom... We further chatted about her side projects, and the cat's sick, and she's cancelled her flight home to Japan because airline service is still so patchy.

Temping is agreeing with me. It's strange to think that even when it's good I'm basically selling my youth for $17 an hour, about $6 after taxes. George W. Bush... I'm at the City of Oakland City Hall, and just saw Sonja, a buddy who works in the next building over, at our front desk. Sonja was one of the Jane Does from the LA Democratic National Convention protests who I visited in jail. She was a model jailed protestor and I was a member of a kick ass legal team. Now we're both working for the man and listening to "Lite 107.3"

If other people are doing more interesting things with their lives, please tell me. And especially tell me if you're not doing more interesting things. You can post by writing into the guestbook from the main www.danspalding.com page. You don't need to make a new account, it's fast and easy and *fun*, and the first five people to write get a postcard from me with a piece of juicy gossip on it. Entries can be about anything. Play today! (or you can just write to me at dan@midnightspecial.net)
[edit]

[9/17/2001 11:30:52 AM | Dan Spalding]
A phone message from my mother with unsolicited life advice. List of NYC Obies follows.

Danny? This is your mother. How are you doing? It's 6:30pm on Sunday night, but are you doing ok over there? You shouldn't join terrorists. And if you put your head in a turban people might think you're Iranian, so you shouldn't do that either. And it'd be better if you shaved your beard.

I'm holding on here in the Bay Area. There's been a lot of organizing over the last week of instant response to anti-arab violence (24-hour phone #s to call, phone lists for different neighborhoods to dispatch people to scenes of harassment/assault), "Mosque-watch" stuff, etc. As far as I know there's been hundreds of death threats here, some broken windows, but no serious assaults.

I think that's mainly because things haven't really started yet. It'll be a lot different if we send troops to Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, or wherever, and we start getting reports of US soldiers getting killed and NBC shows the same stock footage of Arabs celebrating. The good news is that that hasn't happened yet, and we have (some) time to organize before it does.

In the meantime Midnight Special is going to have more "Know Your Rights" trainings (aka your rights and how cops trick you out of them) and is going to put out more materials. At this point I'm more afraid of my government and my racist neighbors than I am of terrorist attack.

And here's an unverified rumor: When some folks saw the stock footage of Arabs celebrating last Tuesday, they thought, "Wait; it should be night time over there!" And sure enough they tracked down the footage to a scene from the early 1990s. That's fucking underhanded and irresponsible, and I'm sure the facts of the matter will never see the light of day.
[edit]

[9/12/2001 4:17:51 PM | Dan Spalding]
List of Obies and friends in NYC
If you have info on people who aren't yet listed, or conflicting info, please e-mail me at dan@midnightspecial.net; please include a phone # so I can verify conflicting or bad news.

People who are ok (everyone so far)
Dana Adipietro
Nate B.
Carter Baer
Jeremy Broomfield
Nick Cairns
Lacey Clarke
Kate Daloz
Dave, Quentin Rowan's roommate
Mike Dimpfl
Ashley Dinan
Johny Edmonds
Gary Ford
Megan Gale
Ed Herzman
Danielle Hoelter
Jenni Lapidus
Zach Layton
Kerry Lowe
Tara McDonnel
Hannah Merriman
Priscilla Miner
Kirk Montague
Tanner Mullen
Nathan Nichols
Raquel Olivo
Gus Powell
Ben Rosenblum
Quentin Rowan
Sandy [Rumineer?]
Maggie Russell-Ciardi
Nicole Santomasso
Joseph Segar
Frank Shea
Correne Spero
Damian Stanley
Corey Stoll
Mark Trushkowsky
Peter who did drama, '98
Emma Winter-Roff
Chris Younkman

Special thanks to all the folks who checked in. If it's not too morbid, I'd suggest that we all come up with mass e-mail lists of all our friends so we can immediately tell each other the next time a disaster strikes - natural or man-made.
[edit]

[9/12/2001 11:36:44 AM | Dan Spalding]
For the Obies in the house
An e-mail from Mark Trushkowsky, Brooklyn, NY

hey dan, as you can probably imagine i've got a lot of these e-mails to answer, but rest assured myself, kate [daloz], lacey [clarke], ed [herzman], mike [dimpfl], kirk [montague], peter [repeater], jesse [chenven], danielle [hoelter], jonny edmonds, kerry [lowe] and nate [renate], tara mcdonnel and cor[rene] [spero] have all been accounted for and are ok. lacey and pete saw the second plane hit and some people saw one or both of the towers fall. most of us convened at kate's after walking, or hitching or arranging rides home and stayed there until late watching the news coverage. i need to go to work tonight and i also have to figure out how volunteering is working for tomorrow so i have to go. but give my news and love to all in the bay (and to andy [horowitz] too)

struggle strong

love mark
[edit]

[9/11/2001 12:52:34 PM | Dan Spalding]
9/11 Check-in

Just checking in from home here in Oakland. I've been a little freaked out. I woke up early to drive Leone to the airport when her housemate Sarah told us about the plane crashes. We didn't know the scope of the attack, but it was scary enough to hear that a plane crashed into the Pentagon, where my dad goes for work about once a week.

So I have to call him about 10 times to get through (and his office is in northern Virginia!), and sure enough he's ok. But he was going to the Pentagon that night with a group that practices public speaking. DC is a very small world, and it's strange for it to be so fundamentally changed. The Pentagon is far and away the biggest ugliest and most stable-looking building in the area. It's not as public or as fragile looking as the white house or the Washington Monument. It's a mental anchor for the geography of the city. Who know's what'll happen to it now.

That's all for now. Keep an eye out for future news about my trip to Leone's ancestral home in Eastern Washington, my first picket at the Port of Oakland, Andy and Mark visiting and of course much much more.

Love,
Dan.

[8/7/2001 3:05:31 PM | Dan Spalding]
It's been a long time, but I just wanted to check in. I am posting from the Asian Public Library in pleasant downtown Oakland. It's a bit chilly, what with me wearing a black tank top, black leather belt, blue dickies, black socks and black doc martin frankenstein boots. I'm almost finished reading One Man's Justice, a Japanese novel from the seventies onlyrecently translated into english. It takes place immediately after world war II. The protagonist, a lieutenant in the imperial army, beheaded a captured US airman the day Japan declares defeat to the US. A wanted war criminal, he moves to another town, changes his name, and gives up his old life forever. While the alienation from his family and a changing Japanese society that envies and embraces the US while condemning their former military is engrossing, the apologist tone is somewhat distressing. (The US did many bad things to Japan in the closing days of the war. Unmentioned are Japanese atrocities committed by the military abroad, and Koreans enslaved in Japan).

I've also decided to teach adult education. The pay is good, and after I'm finished with the testing/paperwork/etc. I may be able to teach as early as late this Fall. Who knows? Seasonal work seems to drop off after the Christmas season, so even if it takes longer the timing seems about right.

Also looking for cheap web hosting. These ads suck, yo.

PPS Going to Leone's ancestral home this weekend. Wish me luck with the 'rents and cowboy culture. Yee haw!

Love,
Dan.
[edit]

[7/25/2001 9:36:00 PM | Dan Spalding]
An actual e-mail from an actual random person!

Dear danspalding.com,
Towards the end of May I stumbled upon your web site while searching the internet for directions on how to grow a peach tree from its pit. Although I wasn't that impressed by the content of your website I appreciated its "concept" and your obvious expertise in web design. Your use of imagery in combination with text was evocative to say the least. Seeing as I am temping as a paralegal right now I basicly have nothing to do nine to five five days a week so I have developed the habit of checking your website once or twice a week. This brings me to why I decided to finally write you this email.

Sometime in late May or early June you began to write about your experiences in San Diego in the "Peach Pit" portion of your web site. I feel that the content of your website improved immensly at this time. I found myself checking your website everyday to see if there was new stories about your adventures in San Diego. Tales of those wacky "Unitarians" and the "Rogue Catholic" were what got me through ten minutes of actual work that I have to do most days. But suddenly on June 27th they were no more... What of "Jedi Power Battle?" What of "Free Mumia?" What of "Miker?" "Nathaniel?" "Matthew?" "Amelia?" The unamed fifth member? What has become of your tales of sunny San Diego California? Was San Diego just a project and we will never hear from those kids again? Are they going to visit you in the Oakland and we will hear more of them then? Or in Mexico for an end of the summer bash? Or in Philly? When will see the return of those "suckers!"

Free Mumia!
Dissect Reality!
And all Political Prisoners!
[edit]
posted by Dan Spalding Thursday, January 24, 2002

[7/23/2001 11:41:51 PM | Dan Spalding]
A more somber entry
One of my favorite things about the East Bay - in fact, my favorite - is the community that I'm a part of. The members of it who are a little harder working and more creative often organize events where the rest of us can go, see each other, and be entertained. Though not necessarily in that order.

So I went to a performance last Saturday at a warehouse in Oakland. It opened with a youngish woman who lived there dedicating the evening's performances to her neighbor Ray, who had died the week before. Ray was in his seventies, and the two of them would talk sometimes. She told one story about how sometimes when they were out sweeping the patch of sidewalk in front of their homes they'd smell the same ocean smell, and comment on the strange wind that brought it to their part of the city.

It's not fair, but I imagine Ray as an elderly black man who bounced around without a great deal of economic stability in his life. There are fragments from which I can construct this life: the woman's mentioning of Ray spending some time in the south west, as he often spent stints in different places, doing different work; the fact that in the midst of dot com boomery the warehouse's neighborhood still ain't gentrified; and the dance we in the community often do while talking about poor people of color.

I pictured the Ray I imagined talking to the woman. I pictured Ray not having too much family - pure speculation - and having these half stilted, half natural-through-familiarity conversations with a youngish radical punk in a mostly black neighborhood. Who else did he have to talk to? Who else was remembering Ray that night?

Who will I have left to talk to when I'm in my seventies? Who will remember me when I die?
[edit]

[7/12/2001 5:02:40 PM | Dan Spalding]
Can I just point out I used to be the biggest nerd ever.com?

I used to watch MST3k (or, Mystery Science Theatre 3000 to everyone else) all the time. It's only the funniest tv show ever, where this guy and his two little robot assistants made funny comments at movies.

So fast forward through high school and college to me at my temp job. I have a "little" time to kill. So I check out mst3k.com and find myself at a site that has little summaries of every episode ever.

So this is just a little tidbit from the guy who played the voice o' one of the robots about how crappy episode #910: The Final Sacrifice was:

You know what? You lose me straight away when your movie’s protagonist is named 'Zap Rowsdower'. The second I hear him identified as 'Zap Rowsdower' I am squeezing past you and climbing over your legs and muttering 'excuse me' and I am getting the hell out of the movie. Only this time I couldn't because I was at work and I'm hourly and I had used up all my vacation and sick time. How about Plink Holmgren? Or Pow Flowhauer?

[edit]
[7/9/2001 2:09:31 PM | Dan Spalding]
Over 500 hits!
Today I celebrate, after about four months, what most commercial sites enjoy after 30 seconds of "going live." Ten million in debt? No, over 500 hits. Why is that special?

I'm glad you asked. Because, I believe, virtually every hit was from someone who knew me or would soon meet me. At most, I envision folks who checked out the page were only one degree of separation from me. For me, this is part of the promise of an on-line community. I think a community is a group of people you regularly interact with, and who you identify on sight. I guess you can kind of have that in an internet chat room, but I much prefer flesh-and-blood folks I went to school with, organized with, e-mailed with, etc.

So thanks to all the folks I know, and those I don't but will soon, for checking out my page. I know it ain't much - but it's all I got (on-line). And I think my friends might know a little bit more about me, and might know me a little bit better, through reading it. Though they may like me a little bit less for my harping on them to check it out.

Two requests...
1. Check out Smart Quotes! I swear I have interesting quotes from e-mails, newspapers, books, friends, etc. You will like it because it is good.

B. Tell me what else this site needs. High on my list is switching to a server that doesn't have ads. AND putting on live video of me singing "Faithfully," by Journey. Here's looking to hit # 1000.

Love,
Dan.
[edit]

[7/6/2001 5:00:52 PM | Dan Spalding]
Best cover songs ever

5. War Pigs, Faith No More
4. More Than a Feeling, Sleater-Kinney
3. Head Like a Hole, Devo
2. Tangerine (Led Zepp), Big Head Todd & the Monsters
1. This One Goes Out to the One I Love, Bippy
[edit]

[7/6/2001 1:40:03 PM | Dan Spalding]
Another long week without an update

So here I am in JAMS Endispute, having been verbally reprimanded by both my local supervisor and my handlers at Blue Moon temp agency. What next, a written reprimand? Is it even ok for me to use the internet on my own time? These are the questions which suddenly loom heavy over me, like the shadow of an anvil.

Bleh. In other news I went to an incredible conference last week, organized by the National Organizers Alliance, or NOA. They host it once every two years and this year it was in beautiful Sonoma County, home of countless cheap zinfandel wineries. We were at a state college there, with such beautiful amenities as buildings, grass, trees, and a pool and JACUZZI. You can imagine what space became the social center of the conference. Or at least the two days of it I horned in on.

So I got to meet a lot of really sharp, dedicated people who organize youth and general communities. What for? Some folks at Derechos Humanos in Tucson, AZ give "know your rights" trainings to undocument immigrants, and do a "migra watch", like copwatching the border patrol. And thanks to my phenomenal follow-up, Midnight Special is in the process of setting up a meeting with someone from that group to talk about trainings next week. In related news, NOA has just nominated me for "Best Organizer Ever." It's a mostly symbolic post - a lot of community center ribbon cuttings, etc. - but in the event I am chosen I will be proud to serve our members as a symbol of organizing in action making a difference.

Finally, I had the strangest experience last week. While I was still in San Diego, the night after a big protest, we had to have somebody watch over our "tent" there to make sure it didn't get taken, etc. It was something we rented to give folks shade from the intense San-D-Town sun, for a measly $2000. So we couldn't risk the cops trying to take it down or something and breaking it.

So. Leone and Jene and I go to watch over it. This is around 7pm, so it's actually getting chilly. And the one-wall-only nature of the "tent" being what it is, we were shielded nought from the elements. This is downtown. So as such, people were walking around a little. Among the folks to approach the tent are a couple of college-age lookin' kids. One is a bigger African-American guy wearing preppy clothes, the other a whisper-thin white guy with a cheesy hippie-looking shirt and a skateboard. We start talking. THEY'RE BOTH IN THE NAVY. How weird is that? I try to put them in one box, and HEY, it turns out they belong in a different but equally defined other box. I think we all learned something that day. For example, the two kids were really nice, and the white guy got hassled and ticketed by San-D-Town cops for his skateboard all the time.

Must go. Will update as events warrant.

Love,
Dan.
[edit]

[6/29/2001 9:46:49 AM | Dan Spalding]
In its entirety, an e-mail to Mike Kabakoff
PS He informs me in a previous e-mail that they're called "horn books," not "horned books." Check the Smart Quotes section for details and how to get them on-line.

The "horned book" thing was a gag, but I just assumed "horn" was a reference to a shoehorn. Mkabakof@umich.edu : "They're called 'horn books' for a reason, and it might not be what you think..."

In related news, I walk out my front door today and who's in the mini-parking lot of my apartment building but Katy Hansen, of Oberlin fame. I met her the first day of orientation, as she was the roommate of my high school pal Beth O'Brien. Oneof her coworkers lives in the same building as me. How many units in that building? FIVE (5).

Finally, I am making plans to go to Leone's family home with some mutual friends in mid-July. I'm pretty psyched about it, as I love meeting people's parents. Her dad's a lawyer who does everything from criminal defense to class action prosecution. I am looking forward to "talking shop" with him. He also donated $100 to Midnight Special after I sent him a newsletter. However, Leone-dog refuses to send my family a fundraising letter. (I'm getting someone else in her collective to send one).

In closing, as you know, we bought a "trunking" police scanner for the DNC protests last summer. A friend operated it, which meant none of us in the collective knew how it worked. So we brought it to San Diego and... didn't know how to use it. So I downloaded the directions to it, both official and unofficial guides, and now it works like a charm. Though I haven't yet used the Pro-92's "trunking" feature, which lets you follow PO conversations more closely. It's SUPER fun. And I picture it being on in the background in our house, and if we hear about someone getting pulled over or arrested in our neighborhood (happens kind of a lot), we can go out and cop watch. Did I mention that in my first week there I saw a helicopter hovering over a stopped car, with two or three police cars present? The copter had it's spotlight on the car, too. It would've been nice to have a clue as to whether the car was registered stolen or if it was just a slow night for the cops.

PS I'm taking a bus up to Santa Rosa today, and I'm going to make a list of all the questions I have from my "korn book." Get ready for some intense criminal law questions, sucka!

PPS Tell me how school and the rest of your life is going, too. And have you been through the arb yet? Or at least the cemetary? Or Cafe Xoloft?

Love,

Dan.

3PS Thanks for checking out my page so often.
[edit]

[6/27/2001 11:43:28 AM | Dan Spalding]
Jingo update!
From an explanation in an e-mail to Mike D. in NYC

PS You'll appreciate this. In San Diego I was working with these great Unitarians and I took to adding slogans like "Free Mumia" at the end of all my farewells. eg: "I gotta go, but I'll be back at six or so. Free Mumia and all political prisoners." Or, "Take it easy, be safe, don't do drugs."

Towards the end I just made "Free Mumia" an ejaculation, like, "Free Mumia! These biscuits are hot!", or if someone asked if I had finished their chips: "Free Mumia, no!" In poor taste mocking of a political prisoner on death row or ironic interrogation and undermining of activist jingoism? You make the call... please.

Also, I would also appreciate Ed & Kate gossip. You owe me for my incisive analysis of the San Diego protests.

Free Mumia,

Dan.

PS End the racist death penalty.

[edit]

[6/21/2001 11:58:06 AM | Dan Spalding]
Top Five Lies I will tell you to get you to check out my web page

5. I misquoted you in the Peach Pit section

4. I just wrote something reeeally funny on it

3. Check it out or I will steal your identity

2. There's an article I posted that actually has a lot to do with what you're doing

1. I didn't misquote you in the Peach Pit section
[edit]

[6/20/2001 1:04:33 PM | Dan Spalding]
An e-mail from M Kabakoff, in it's entirety:

From you.com

"And I like the way he subersively draws people with both eyes on the same side of their face, flounder-style."

That's subversive of what? The human state of morphological symmetry? Is that something we should necessarily try to subvert? I like my eyes like I like my cheeks, one on each side of my face. And for that matter, flounders, like us, have a middle, and one eye to either side of that middle. They're not lying with one cheek or the other on the ocean floor, they're kind of lying on their bellies.

And do I have better things to do with my time than sit here and talk trash? Yes!

-how funny is that? PS Bold added by me.
[edit]

[6/19/2001 2:29:35 PM | Dan Spalding]
Update from latest temp job

I am temping in downtown San Francisco, enjoying the sun and beautiful downtown financial district. Hrm... Well, anyway, I just wanted to give folks a "headzup" on tedrall.com, an excellent site for the black humor of comic strip great Teddy "the other Teddy R" R. It has all of his comics in an easy-to-access archive, so check out the latest for some commentary on the death penalty that makes for in incisiveness what it lacks in subtlety. And I like the way he subersively draws people with both eyes on the same side of their face, flounder-style.

And for the record: Black frankenstein boots, olive green pleatless slacks (thanks to A* for help in selecting them), wrinkled white shirt. Two pairs crew socks and grey Today's Man TM boxer briefs.
[edit]

[6/16/2001 6:30:33 PM | Dan Spalding]
Check in!

So I went to the San Diego law library here and it was a great trip. Found a slew of useful motions that will help activists get the best legal defense they can get themselves. Also set up the legal office here and it's looking great. And I have some GREAT new secret web page design/domain name plans you wouldn't believe.

Last books finished: Before the Dawn, the autobiography of Gerry Adams, past and possibly current president of Sinn Feinn. Pretty good, but he gets wicked reformist at the end. Safe Area Gorazde, by Joe Sacco, an excellent history of the "probably won't get shot by the Serbian army" zone/city of Gorazde, in comic form. Incredibly compelling, well drawn and written, this is one of the best books I've read this year. Joe doesn't try too hard to see the other (Serbian) side, but since this is the story of a Bosnian/Muslim enclave, that makes sense, and he does do his homework otherwise. These are small quibbles and it's an excellent read. AND he draws himself ugly so you know a) he has lots of integrity or b) he's even uglier in real life. Or 3) he's a Unitarian Universalist.
Just for the heck of it: Wearing a blue polo shirt, black belt, nice greenish slacks, white crew socks (?). No underwear (laundry day).
[edit]

[6/10/2001 1:45:33 PM | Dan Spalding]
From an e-mail to Lindsay K sent May 22, 2001

So please write soon. Things are busy here in the land of the Midnight Special. Phaedra (tha blonde one) and I went to Austin, TX for three days last week to have a law collective meeting and a "know your rights" training. It seems kinda unreal now. We stayed and did the meetings/trainings in a giant activist warehouse space on the "east" (or, "colored") side of town, which is built on a swamp. The only thing peskier n the Texas-sized mosquitoes were the Texas-sized fleas that left Texas-sized welts/sores on Phaedras legs when she slept on the sketchy couch. I slept on the same couch the night before, but on a sleeping bag. I vaguely remember waking up in the night from the ferocity of the mosquito attack and, in some sort of fugue state, deciding to go to the bathroom after only 40 minutes of scratching myself vigorously and wondering if I should get up. In the bathroom, from divine providence, I found that nasty bug stuff that's like 99% DEET and 1% poison and applied liberally. The smell took me to the days when Blaine and I were hiking on the AT and in Massachusetts at dusk the forest literally hummed from the mosquitos. Like being under industrial power lines, but from all around. As sinister as possible. ASAP.
[edit]

[6/9/2001 4:14:26 PM | Dan Spalding]
Quick late-night dialog update!

Set-up Last night jene mentioned that she was being shorted on bed space. Indeed, Leone was hoarding much of the bed, spreading out at her leisure, whilst jene and I huddled on what remained of the futon.

Comparing the situation to that of the world's neediest next to the world's greediest,

I said: We might as well be Third World countries here.
jene: I'll be Tahiti.
Leone: I'd like a martini.
I: I know you like to drink on public transportation in the Bay Area, but please knock it off with the BARTini's.

[much laughter]

jene: What the fuck? You might as well say, "I know you like to turn the lights on and off, but please stop it with the switcheroonies."

[convulsive laughter]

Editor's note: This is probably us at our best
[edit]

[6/9/2001 11:31:02 AM | Dan Spalding]
Check in!

Wearing Cute red baseball t-shirt with grey shoulders and #5 on the back. Black cargo pants. White crew socks. Blue Today's Man TM boxer briefs.
Reading Next to nothing these days besides NYTimes online, IndyMedia.org online, WashingtonPost online, and Slashdot (in print).
Latest obsession Star Wars, Jedi Power Battles. It's super fun on Miker's Play Station, and I've found hints online. Yesterday I got the intminable Nathaniel to play a game or three.
Latest plea? If yr interested in helping the legal team here in San Diego from June 22-30, give a call to (619) 235-9375 and tell anyone who answers that you are interested in helping out! You can do it for as long or as brief as you want! It'll be fun! You'll help arrested people who are protesting the commodification of all life and the destruction of everything natural and free and good! Woo hoo!

L,
D.
[edit]

[6/4/2001 11:31:23 PM | Dan Spalding]
Highlights!

And I'm not talking about the kids magazine I used to read in the dentist's office, either. Today I learned how to REALLY drive stick, on I-5 to San Diego from Oakland. I first give much props to those who taught me before: Erin Savage, Shira Schlessie, and Mike Kabakoff, I salute you. It was the groundwork you laid that lead to the barn raising of Leone and jene (new friend), who were able to build on the foundation you laid to raise the edifice of stick driving near-comptency you see today. If you could see it, which you can't, I guess. Jene in particular was good about pointing out when I had to "Shift to second! Straight down!" And Leone was good about my practicing in her car.

To be fair, I think I'm on the far left hand side of the learning curve.

Also, I am now back in beautiful San Diego-town. I got some hang-time with Matthew, one of the infamous Unitarians I mention below. He's great. And I'm perversely happy to be back.

Love,
Dan.
[edit]

[6/1/2001 4:20:03 PM | Dan Spalding]
DanSpalding.com web fan #1: Lindsay Knisely

Quick note - I spoke with Lindsay on the phone yesterday and she was able to recite Mike Kabakoff's entire quoted e-mail posted below. How's that for a dedicated fan? (my counter also says that she accounts for 3% of all my hits...)

Anyway, here's some dialog from our conversation:

Lindsay Hi, one of the things I hate most? Explaining my jokes.

Dan That's still better than what I do, which is explain my jokes and expect a Kafkaesque transformation that will make them funny. Which never happens.
[edit]

[5/31/2001 10:22:49 AM | Dan Spalding]
Quick update!
I am cold-kicking it in San Diego, working with the locals who are going to be "bottomlining" legal for the BioJustice/BioDevastation conference. They're all Unitarian Universalists (except for the rogue Catholic), which means two things: A) They know how to use consensus, 2) They've all had sex in churches, and C) They know how to get big projects done!

It's no coincidence that some of our greatest presidents have been Unitarians: Abraham Lincoln, Richard Nixon, Jefferson Davis... The list goes on and on. And these UU's in particular have a high tolerance for my sense of humor (some find me "funny"). We are going over our trainings and doing the research that goes with 'em. Also networking with local lawyers and other organizers. And figuring out money stuff and getting an office. I can proudly say I am doing the least work of anyone involved, which is good, because my job description is being the trainer "shadow." That means I help coach people to do my job while they do two other jobs on top of it. I am an occupational genius.

In other news, good friend, good person, and dedicated activist Josh Raisler Cohn was sentenced last week to six months in a federal prison for violating a "ban and bar" letter and protesting at the School of Americas. For those unfamiliar, the "SOA" is a training ground for Latin American soldiers. Historically (judging by the curriculum they teach and what their graduates have gone on to do) they have learned how to target community organizers, union members, and others who call attention to inequality in Latin America. Though they ostensibly teach democratic principles, one of their best known graduates is Manuel Noriega.

Josh has been organizing around the SOA for years, and is facing his coming time in prison with a grace that I have not seen in anyone else. If you know him or don't, please write to him at "joshinjail@riseup.net." Any messages sent there will be printed out and read to him. I think we can all make that half-year a little easier, although I don't think it will keep him out of trouble in the future.

That's all. I'm leaving SD today but coming back on Monday, and I will try to keep y'all posted.

In solidarity,
Dan.
[edit]

[5/24/2001 11:39:00 PM | Dan Spalding]
From the "I love to make a boy's wish come true" dept.

dan,
been checking danspalding.com every day since i started my office job. great time waster/$$$ maker, if ya know what i mean. hey, have i ever met [censored]? would i remember her? think i'm in love...(swoon, swoon) oh, please mention me on dsp.com. i think i would be the happiest boy alive if i was on your site...please at least mention me in the peach pit (and my new email, elliott@riseup.net) and maybe even quote me.

www.danspalding.com - not just for quoting my friends out of context without their knowledge and against their will any more.
[edit]

[5/24/2001 11:35:13 PM | Dan Spalding]
Check in!

Where San Diego, California
Doin' Helping set up the local legal team for the biojustice/biodevastation/bionics protests
And now? After a long day of trainings, it's Miller time. Or Pabst Genuine Draft Time, as it were.
With Much-famed Leone, Sam, Sarah, and that hippy-ish (and cool) guy from Ruckus. The one that does climbing stuff - big n white.
Dissed today Lauryn Hill: Cheesy. Steph Sherer: Poopy; belonging in the feminine (domestic) sphere. Bose-Einstein condensation: Not really a "new" form of matter.
Interrogated Amelia, rad member of the local legal team, and Sam, who spoke truth to power and called me and Leone on our inquisition.
Satyagraha? Means "fuck shit up" in Indian. [joke]
[edit]

[5/24/2001 11:29:54 PM | Dan Spalding]
The entirety of an e-mail received from former randomly-paired freshman [sic] roommate M. Kabakoff:

You dumb motherfucker. I read your website alll the time. You have to start getting into more than what flavor ramen you're eating.

But if we're on the topic anyway, my favorite way to prepare shin ramyun is to cut a block of tofu into cubes, and throw that in the broth along with the noodles. A few minutes before turning off the heat, I'll add the bok choy or broc-rabe, and after the heat is off, I'll throw sliced scallions on top. Also, along with the flavor packet, you can throw in crushed, sliced, or minced garlic. Talk about the heartiest of cheap meals. Here's the downside for me though, and the reason I probably won't be eating much of the above during my first year back in school: the shit knocks me out. I might as well be eating NyQuil with noodles.

I'ma call you soon, sucka, be prepared.

[edit]

[5/23/2001 12:28:49 AM | Dan Spalding]
My god, a week goes by without a post. Time to update

Wearing Purple and white shiny "9" soccer shirt, black cargo pants with zipoffable legs, "Body Wild" boxers from gramma for new years.
Listening to Free Kitten, a great Napster find. One of those band that had a clever name (I think I saw it the same trip I saw "Nude Pictures Inside").
Where ya' going? I'm heading down to San Diego, or D-town as it's known locally, to help folks set up their legal team for the upcoming biojustice/biodevastation protests against genetically modified food/medicine/human genes/etc.
Are you procastinating right now? Ummmmm.....
Dan Spalding-Datkam shout out to Megan Snyder Pants, the woman who's as beautiful waking up as she is going to sleep. She sent me a wonderful e-mail and will be the FIRST to receive a collectible postcard from D-town. As it's known locally.

The end.
[edit]

[5/15/2001 7:39:47 PM | Dan Spalding]
The www.danspalding.com hall of fame
The following people are recognized for perusing this very web page before even meeting me. I salute you.

In rough chronological order
March? Jackie, who is not only the prestigious first person I know of to read the page before meeting me (at the request of longtime friend and boyriend (hers, not mine) Blaine Mathena), but who enjoyed reading the Kurt Vonnegut quote in the "Smartquotes" section.

March? April? Irina Cedric, rad Canadian proto-lawyer who checked out the web page because it was shamelessly advertised at the bottom of an e-mail sent to a listserv. She wanted to know what she'd be dealing with in Quebec City. (Some questions are better left unasked)

March? April? Jessica M, of R2K/Philly phame who also wanted to know what she was dealing with. For the record, both she and Irina were expecting (desperately hoping for?) a tall hunky blonde tanned muscular JCrew meets AK Press Californian. Little do they know I'm from the 'burbs of DC, and am more N'Sync meets Tuscadero than anything else. Why the fuck do people think I'm "from California"? For the record, my Cedric, my web site does NOT end in .ca

April? Mateo, of near-Burlington fame. A great guy who not only did not guess the totality of my identity from my alleged state of birth, but got the John Irving reference in my books section. Props and double props, my friend. He also snuck me into Canada in the spare tire well of his Range Rover (joke).

That's all for now. If you do not technically know me, e-mail me at dan@midnightspecial.net. I'd love to have more bragging rights.
posted by Dan Spalding Thursday, January 24, 2002

Tuesday, September 11, 2001

Just checking in from home here in Oakland. I've been a little freaked out. I woke up early to drive Leone to the airport when her housemate Sarah told us about the plane crashes. We didn't know the scope of the attack, but it was scary enough to hear that a plane crashed into the Pentagon, where my dad goes for work about once a week.

So I have to call him about 10 times to get through (and his office is in northern Virginia!), and sure enough he's ok. But he was going to a meeting there that night with a group that practices public speaking. DC is a very small world, and it's strange for something so dramatic to fundamentally change it. The Pentagon is about the biggest ugliest and most stable building in the area. It's not as public or as fragile looking as the white house or the Washington Monument. It just sits there and serves as a mental anchor for the geography of the city. Who know's what'll happen to it now.

That's all for now. Keep an eye out for future news about my trip to Leone's ancestral home in Eastern Washington, my first picket at the Port of Oakland, Andy and Mark visiting and of course much much more.

Love,
Dan.
posted by Dan Spalding Tuesday, September 11, 2001

Tuesday, August 07, 2001

It's been a long time, but I just wanted to check in. I am posting from the Asian Public Library in pleasant downtown Oakland. It's a bit chilly, what with me wearing a black tank top, black leather belt, blue dickies, black socks and black doc martin frankenstein boots. I'm almost finished reading One Man's Justice, a Japanese novel from the seventies onlyrecently translated into english. It takes place immediately after world war II. The protagonist, a lieutenant in the imperial army, beheaded a captured US airman the day Japan declares defeat to the US. A wanted war criminal, he moves to another town, changes his name, and gives up his old life forever. While the alienation from his family and a changing Japanese society that envies and embraces the US while condemning their former military is engrossing, the apologist tone is somewhat distressing. (The US did many bad things to Japan in the closing days of the war. Unmentioned are Japanese atrocities committed by the military abroad, and Koreans enslaved in Japan).

I've also decided to teach adult education. The pay is good, and after I'm finished with the testing/paperwork/etc. I may be able to teach as early as late this Fall. Who knows? Seasonal work seems to drop off after the Christmas season, so even if it takes longer the timing seems about right.

Also looking for cheap web hosting. These ads suck, yo.

PPS Going to Leone's ancestral home this weekend. Wish me luck with the 'rents and cowboy culture. Yee haw!

Love,
Dan.
posted by Dan Spalding Tuesday, August 07, 2001

Wednesday, July 25, 2001

An actual e-mail from an actual random person!

Dear danspalding.com,
Towards the end of May I stumbled upon your web site while searching the internet for directions on how to grow a peach tree from its pit. Although I wasn't that impressed by the content of your website I appreciated its "concept" and your obvious expertise in web design. Your use of imagery in combination with text was evocative to say the least. Seeing as I am temping as a paralegal right now I basicly have nothing to do nine to five five days a week so I have developed the habit of checking your website once or twice a week. This brings me to why I decided to finally write you this email.

Sometime in late May or early June you began to write about your experiences in San Diego in the "Peach Pit" portion of your web site. I feel that the content of your website improved immensly at this time. I found myself checking your website everyday to see if there was new stories about your adventures in San Diego. Tales of those wacky "Unitarians" and the "Rogue Catholic" were what got me through ten minutes of actual work that I have to do most days. But suddenly on June 27th they were no more... What of "Jedi Power Battle?" What of "Free Mumia?" What of "Miker?" "Nathaniel?" "Matthew?" "Amelia?" The unamed fifth member? What has become of your tales of sunny San Diego California? Was San Diego just a project and we will never hear from those kids again? Are they going to visit you in the Oakland and we will hear more of them then? Or in Mexico for an end of the summer bash? Or in Philly? When will see the return of those "suckers!"

Free Mumia!
Dissect Reality!
And all Political Prisoners!
posted by Dan Spalding Wednesday, July 25, 2001

Monday, July 23, 2001

A more somber entry
One of my favorite things about the East Bay - in fact, my favorite - is the community that I'm a part of. The members of it who are a little harder working and more creative often organize events where the rest of us can go, see each other, and be entertained. Though not necessarily in that order.

So I went to a performance last Saturday at a warehouse in Oakland. It opened with a youngish woman who lived there dedicating the evening's performances to her neighbor Ray, who had died the week before. Ray was in his seventies, and the two of them would talk sometimes. She told one story about how sometimes when they were out sweeping the patch of sidewalk in front of their homes they'd smell the same ocean smell, and comment on the strange wind that brought it to their part of the city.

It's not fair, but I imagine Ray as an elderly black man who bounced around without a great deal of economic stability in his life. There are fragments from which I can construct this life: the woman's mentioning of Ray spending some time in the south west, as he often spent stints in different places, doing different work; the fact that in the midst of dot com boomery the warehouse's neighborhood still ain't gentrified; and the dance we in the community often do while talking about poor people of color.

I pictured the Ray I imagined talking to the woman. I pictured Ray not having too much family - pure speculation - and having these half stilted, half natural-through-familiarity conversations with a youngish radical punk in a mostly black neighborhood. Who else did he have to talk to? Who else was remembering Ray that night?

Who will I have left to talk to when I'm in my seventies? Who will remember me when I die?
posted by Dan Spalding Monday, July 23, 2001

Thursday, July 12, 2001

Can I just point out I used to be the biggest nerd ever.com?

I used to watch MST3k (or, Mystery Science Theatre 3000 to everyone else) all the time. It's only the funniest tv show ever, where this guy and his two little robot assistants made funny comments at movies.

So fast forward through high school and college to me at my temp job. I have a "little" time to kill. So I check out mst3k.com and find myself at a site that has little summaries of every episode ever.

So this is just a little tidbit from the guy who played the voice o' one of the robots about how crappy episode #910: The Final Sacrifice was:

You know what? You lose me straight away when your movie’s protagonist is named 'Zap Rowsdower'. The second I hear him identified as 'Zap Rowsdower' I am squeezing past you and climbing over your legs and muttering 'excuse me' and I am getting the hell out of the movie. Only this time I couldn't because I was at work and I'm hourly and I had used up all my vacation and sick time. How about Plink Holmgren? Or Pow Flowhauer?

posted by Dan Spalding Thursday, July 12, 2001

Monday, July 09, 2001

Over 500 hits!
Today I celebrate, after about four months, what most commercial sites enjoy after 30 seconds of "going live." Ten million in debt? No, over 500 hits. Why is that special?

I'm glad you asked. Because, I believe, virtually every hit was from someone who knew me or would soon meet me. At most, I envision folks who checked out the page were only one degree of separation from me. For me, this is part of the promise of an on-line community. I think a community is a group of people you regularly interact with, and who you identify on sight. I guess you can kind of have that in an internet chat room, but I much prefer flesh-and-blood folks I went to school with, organized with, e-mailed with, etc.

So thanks to all the folks I know, and those I don't but will soon, for checking out my page. I know it ain't much - but it's all I got (on-line). And I think my friends might know a little bit more about me, and might know me a little bit better, through reading it. Though they may like me a little bit less for my harping on them to check it out.

Two requests...
1. Check out Smart Quotes! I swear I have interesting quotes from e-mails, newspapers, books, friends, etc. You will like it because it is good.

B. Tell me what else this site needs. High on my list is switching to a server that doesn't have ads. AND putting on live video of me singing "Faithfully," by Journey. Here's looking to hit # 1000.

Love,
Dan.
posted by Dan Spalding Monday, July 09, 2001

Friday, July 06, 2001

Best cover songs ever

5. War Pigs, Faith No More
4. More Than a Feeling, Sleater-Kinney
3. Head Like a Hole, Devo
2. Tangerine (Led Zepp), Big Head Todd & the Monsters
1. This One Goes Out to the One I Love, Bippy
posted by Dan Spalding Friday, July 06, 2001

Another long week without an update

So here I am in JAMS Endispute, having been verbally reprimanded by both my local supervisor and my handlers at Blue Moon temp agency. What next, a written reprimand? Is it even ok for me to use the internet on my own time? These are the questions which suddenly loom heavy over me, like the shadow of an anvil.

Bleh. In other news I went to an incredible conference last week, organized by the National Organizers Alliance, or NOA. They host it once every two years and this year it was in beautiful Sonoma County, home of countless cheap zinfandel wineries. We were at a state college there, with such beautiful amenities as buildings, grass, trees, and a pool and JACUZZI. You can imagine what space became the social center of the conference. Or at least the two days of it I horned in on.

So I got to meet a lot of really sharp, dedicated people who organize youth and general communities. What for? Some folks at Derechos Humanos in Tucson, AZ give "know your rights" trainings to undocument immigrants, and do a "migra watch", like copwatching the border patrol. And thanks to my phenomenal follow-up, Midnight Special is in the process of setting up a meeting with someone from that group to talk about trainings next week. In related news, NOA has just nominated me for "Best Organizer Ever." It's a mostly symbolic post - a lot of community center ribbon cuttings, etc. - but in the event I am chosen I will be proud to serve our members as a symbol of organizing in action making a difference.

Finally, I had the strangest experience last week. While I was still in San Diego, the night after a big protest, we had to have somebody watch over our "tent" there to make sure it didn't get taken, etc. It was something we rented to give folks shade from the intense San-D-Town sun, for a measly $2000. So we couldn't risk the cops trying to take it down or something and breaking it.

So. Leone and Jene and I go to watch over it. This is around 7pm, so it's actually getting chilly. And the one-wall-only nature of the "tent" being what it is, we were shielded nought from the elements. This is downtown. So as such, people were walking around a little. Among the folks to approach the tent are a couple of college-age lookin' kids. One is a bigger African-American guy wearing preppy clothes, the other a whisper-thin white guy with a cheesy hippie-looking shirt and a skateboard. We start talking. THEY'RE BOTH IN THE NAVY. How weird is that? I try to put them in one box, and HEY, it turns out they belong in a different but equally defined other box. I think we all learned something that day. For example, the two kids were really nice, and the white guy got hassled and ticketed by San-D-Town cops for his skateboard all the time.

Must go. Will update as events warrant.

Love,
Dan.
posted by Dan Spalding Friday, July 06, 2001

Friday, June 29, 2001

In its entirety, an e-mail to Mike Kabakoff
PS He informs me in a previous e-mail that they're called "horn books," not "horned books." Check the Smart Quotes section for details and how to get them on-line.

The "horned book" thing was a gag, but I just assumed "horn" was a reference to a shoehorn. Mkabakof@umich.edu : "They're called 'horn books' for a reason, and it might not be what you think..."

In related news, I walk out my front door today and who's in the mini-parking lot of my apartment building but Katy Hansen, of Oberlin fame. I met her the first day of orientation, as she was the roommate of my high school pal Beth O'Brien. Oneof her coworkers lives in the same building as me. How many units in that building? FIVE (5).

Finally, I am making plans to go to Leone's family home with some mutual friends in mid-July. I'm pretty psyched about it, as I love meeting people's parents. Her dad's a lawyer who does everything from criminal defense to class action prosecution. I am looking forward to "talking shop" with him. He also donated $100 to Midnight Special after I sent him a newsletter. However, Leone-dog refuses to send my family a fundraising letter. (I'm getting someone else in her collective to send one).

In closing, as you know, we bought a "trunking" police scanner for the DNC protests last summer. A friend operated it, which meant none of us in the collective knew how it worked. So we brought it to San Diego and... didn't know how to use it. So I downloaded the directions to it, both official and unofficial guides, and now it works like a charm. Though I haven't yet used the Pro-92's "trunking" feature, which lets you follow PO conversations more closely. It's SUPER fun. And I picture it being on in the background in our house, and if we hear about someone getting pulled over or arrested in our neighborhood (happens kind of a lot), we can go out and cop watch. Did I mention that in my first week there I saw a helicopter hovering over a stopped car, with two or three police cars present? The copter had it's spotlight on the car, too. It would've been nice to have a clue as to whether the car was registered stolen or if it was just a slow night for the cops.

PS I'm taking a bus up to Santa Rosa today, and I'm going to make a list of all the questions I have from my "korn book." Get ready for some intense criminal law questions, sucka!

PPS Tell me how school and the rest of your life is going, too. And have you been through the arb yet? Or at least the cemetary? Or Cafe Xoloft?

Love,

Dan.

3PS Thanks for checking out my page so often.
posted by Dan Spalding Friday, June 29, 2001

Wednesday, June 27, 2001

Jingo update!
From an explanation in an e-mail to Mike D. in NYC

PS You'll appreciate this. In San Diego I was working with these great Unitarians and I took to adding slogans like "Free Mumia" at the end of all my farewells. eg: "I gotta go, but I'll be back at six or so. Free Mumia and all political prisoners." Or, "Take it easy, be safe, don't do drugs."

Towards the end I just made "Free Mumia" an ejaculation, like, "Free Mumia! These biscuits are hot!", or if someone asked if I had finished their chips: "Free Mumia, no!" In poor taste mocking of a political prisoner on death row or ironic interrogation and undermining of activist jingoism? You make the call... please.

Also, I would also appreciate Ed & Kate gossip. You owe me for my incisive analysis of the San Diego protests.

Free Mumia,

Dan.

PS End the racist death penalty.
posted by Dan Spalding Wednesday, June 27, 2001

Thursday, June 21, 2001

Top Five Lies I will tell you to get you to check out my web page

5. I misquoted you in the Peach Pit section

4. I just wrote something reeeally funny on it

3. Check it out or I will steal your identity

2. There's an article I posted that actually has a lot to do with what you're doing

1. I didn't misquote you in the Peach Pit section
posted by Dan Spalding Thursday, June 21, 2001

Wednesday, June 20, 2001

An e-mail from M Kabakoff, in it's entirety:

From you.com

"And I like the way he subersively draws people with both eyes on the same side of their face, flounder-style."

That's subversive of what? The human state of morphological symmetry? Is that something we should necessarily try to subvert? I like my eyes like I like my cheeks, one on each side of my face. And for that matter, flounders, like us, have a middle, and one eye to either side of that middle. They're not lying with one cheek or the other on the ocean floor, they're kind of lying on their bellies.

And do I have better things to do with my time than sit here and talk trash? Yes!

-how funny is that? PS Bold added by me.
posted by Dan Spalding Wednesday, June 20, 2001

Tuesday, June 19, 2001

Update from latest temp job

I am temping in downtown San Francisco, enjoying the sun and beautiful downtown financial district. Hrm... Well, anyway, I just wanted to give folks a "headzup" on tedrall.com, an excellent site for the black humor of comic strip great Teddy "the other Teddy R" R. It has all of his comics in an easy-to-access archive, so check out the latest for some commentary on the death penalty that makes for in incisiveness what it lacks in subtlety. And I like the way he subersively draws people with both eyes on the same side of their face, flounder-style.

And for the record: Black frankenstein boots, olive green pleatless slacks (thanks to A* for help in selecting them), wrinkled white shirt. Two pairs crew socks and grey Today's Man TM boxer briefs.
posted by Dan Spalding Tuesday, June 19, 2001

Saturday, June 16, 2001

Check in!

So I went to the San Diego law library here and it was a great trip. Found a slew of useful motions that will help activists get the best legal defense they can get themselves. Also set up the legal office here and it's looking great. And I have some GREAT new secret web page design/domain name plans you wouldn't believe.

Last books finished: Before the Dawn, the autobiography of Gerry Adams, past and possibly current president of Sinn Feinn. Pretty good, but he gets wicked reformist at the end. Safe Area Gorazde, by Joe Sacco, an excellent history of the "probably won't get shot by the Serbian army" zone/city of Gorazde, in comic form. Incredibly compelling, well drawn and written, this is one of the best books I've read this year. Joe doesn't try too hard to see the other (Serbian) side, but since this is the story of a Bosnian/Muslim enclave, that makes sense, and he does do his homework otherwise. These are small quibbles and it's an excellent read. AND he draws himself ugly so you know a) he has lots of integrity or b) he's even uglier in real life. Or 3) he's a Unitarian Universalist.
Just for the heck of it: Wearing a blue polo shirt, black belt, nice greenish slacks, white crew socks (?). No underwear (laundry day).
posted by Dan Spalding Saturday, June 16, 2001

Sunday, June 10, 2001

From an e-mail to Lindsay K sent May 22, 2001

So please write soon. Things are busy here in the land of the Midnight Special. Phaedra (tha blonde one) and I went to Austin, TX for three days last week to have a law collective meeting and a "know your rights" training. It seems kinda unreal now. We stayed and did the meetings/trainings in a giant activist warehouse space on the "east" (or, "colored") side of town, which is built on a swamp. The only thing peskier n the Texas-sized mosquitoes were the Texas-sized fleas that left Texas-sized welts/sores on Phaedras legs when she slept on the sketchy couch. I slept on the same couch the night before, but on a sleeping bag. I vaguely remember waking up in the night from the ferocity of the mosquito attack and, in some sort of fugue state, deciding to go to the bathroom after only 40 minutes of scratching myself vigorously and wondering if I should get up. In the bathroom, from divine providence, I found that nasty bug stuff that's like 99% DEET and 1% poison and applied liberally. The smell took me to the days when Blaine and I were hiking on the AT and in Massachusetts at dusk the forest literally hummed from the mosquitos. Like being under industrial power lines, but from all around. As sinister as possible. ASAP.
posted by Dan Spalding Sunday, June 10, 2001

Saturday, June 09, 2001

Quick late-night dialog update!

Set-up Last night jene mentioned that she was being shorted on bed space. Indeed, Leone was hoarding much of the bed, spreading out at her leisure, whilst jene and I huddled on what remained of the futon.

Comparing the situation to that of the world's neediest next to the world's greediest,

I said: We might as well be Third World countries here.
jene: I'll be Tahiti.
Leone: I'd like a martini.
I: I know you like to drink on public transportation in the Bay Area, but please knock it off with the BARTini's.

[much laughter]

jene: What the fuck? You might as well say, "I know you like to turn the lights on and off, but please stop it with the switcheroonies."

[convulsive laughter]

Editor's note: This is probably us at our best
posted by Dan Spalding Saturday, June 09, 2001

Check in!

Wearing Cute red baseball t-shirt with grey shoulders and #5 on the back. Black cargo pants. White crew socks. Blue Today's Man TM boxer briefs.
Reading Next to nothing these days besides NYTimes online, IndyMedia.org online, WashingtonPost online, and Slashdot (in print).
Latest obsession Star Wars, Jedi Power Battles. It's super fun on Miker's Play Station, and I've found hints online. Yesterday I got the intminable Nathaniel to play a game or three.
Latest plea? If yr interested in helping the legal team here in San Diego from June 22-30, give a call to (619) 235-9375 and tell anyone who answers that you are interested in helping out! You can do it for as long or as brief as you want! It'll be fun! You'll help arrested people who are protesting the commodification of all life and the destruction of everything natural and free and good! Woo hoo!

L,
D.
posted by Dan Spalding Saturday, June 09, 2001

Monday, June 04, 2001

Highlights!

And I'm not talking about the kids magazine I used to read in the dentist's office, either. Today I learned how to REALLY drive stick, on I-5 to San Diego from Oakland. I first give much props to those who taught me before: Erin Savage, Shira Schlessie, and Mike Kabakoff, I salute you. It was the groundwork you laid that lead to the barn raising of Leone and jene (new friend), who were able to build on the foundation you laid to raise the edifice of stick driving near-comptency you see today. If you could see it, which you can't, I guess. Jene in particular was good about pointing out when I had to "Shift to second! Straight down!" And Leone was good about my practicing in her car.

To be fair, I think I'm on the far left hand side of the learning curve.

Also, I am now back in beautiful San Diego-town. I got some hang-time with Matthew, one of the infamous Unitarians I mention below. He's great. And I'm perversely happy to be back.

Love,
Dan.
posted by Dan Spalding Monday, June 04, 2001

Friday, June 01, 2001

DanSpalding.com web fan #1: Lindsay Knisely

Quick note - I spoke with Lindsay on the phone yesterday and she was able to recite Mike Kabakoff's entire quoted e-mail posted below. How's that for a dedicated fan? (my counter also says that she accounts for 3% of all my hits...)

Anyway, here's some dialog from our conversation:

Lindsay Hi, one of the things I hate most? Explaining my jokes.

Dan That's still better than what I do, which is explain my jokes and expect a Kafkaesque transformation that will make them funny. Which never happens.
posted by Dan Spalding Friday, June 01, 2001

Thursday, May 31, 2001

Quick update!
I am cold-kicking it in San Diego, working with the locals who are going to be "bottomlining" legal for the BioJustice/BioDevastation conference. They're all Unitarian Universalists (except for the rogue Catholic), which means two things: A) They know how to use consensus, 2) They've all had sex in churches, and C) They know how to get big projects done!

It's no coincidence that some of our greatest presidents have been Unitarians: Abraham Lincoln, Richard Nixon, Jefferson Davis... The list goes on and on. And these UU's in particular have a high tolerance for my sense of humor (some find me "funny"). We are going over our trainings and doing the research that goes with 'em. Also networking with local lawyers and other organizers. And figuring out money stuff and getting an office. I can proudly say I am doing the least work of anyone involved, which is good, because my job description is being the trainer "shadow." That means I help coach people to do my job while they do two other jobs on top of it. I am an occupational genius.

In other news, good friend, good person, and dedicated activist Josh Raisler Cohn was sentenced last week to six months in a federal prison for violating a "ban and bar" letter and protesting at the School of Americas. For those unfamiliar, the "SOA" is a training ground for Latin American soldiers. Historically (judging by the curriculum they teach and what their graduates have gone on to do) they have learned how to target community organizers, union members, and others who call attention to inequality in Latin America. Though they ostensibly teach democratic principles, one of their best known graduates is Manuel Noriega.

Josh has been organizing around the SOA for years, and is facing his coming time in prison with a grace that I have not seen in anyone else. If you know him or don't, please write to him at "joshinjail@riseup.net." Any messages sent there will be printed out and read to him. I think we can all make that half-year a little easier, although I don't think it will keep him out of trouble in the future.

That's all. I'm leaving SD today but coming back on Monday, and I will try to keep y'all posted.

In solidarity,
Dan.
posted by Dan Spalding Thursday, May 31, 2001

Thursday, May 24, 2001

From the "I love to make a boy's wish come true" dept.

dan,
been checking danspalding.com every day since i started my office job. great time waster/$$$ maker, if ya know what i mean. hey, have i ever met [censored]? would i remember her? think i'm in love...(swoon, swoon) oh, please mention me on dsp.com. i think i would be the happiest boy alive if i was on your site...please at least mention me in the peach pit (and my new email, elliott@riseup.net) and maybe even quote me.

www.danspalding.com - not just for quoting my friends out of context without their knowledge and against their will any more.
posted by Dan Spalding Thursday, May 24, 2001

Check in!

Where San Diego, California
Doin' Helping set up the local legal team for the biojustice/biodevastation/bionics protests
And now? After a long day of trainings, it's Miller time. Or Pabst Genuine Draft Time, as it were.
With Much-famed Leone, Sam, Sarah, and that hippy-ish (and cool) guy from Ruckus. The one that does climbing stuff - big n white.
Dissed today Lauryn Hill: Cheesy. Steph Sherer: Poopy; belonging in the feminine (domestic) sphere. Bose-Einstein condensation: Not really a "new" form of matter.
Interrogated Amelia, rad member of the local legal team, and Sam, who spoke truth to power and called me and Leone on our inquisition.
Satyagraha? Means "fuck shit up" in Indian. [joke]
posted by Dan Spalding Thursday, May 24, 2001

The entirety of an e-mail received from former randomly-paired freshman [sic] roommate M. Kabakoff:

You dumb motherfucker. I read your website alll the time. You have to start getting into more than what flavor ramen you're eating.

But if we're on the topic anyway, my favorite way to prepare shin ramyun is to cut a block of tofu into cubes, and throw that in the broth along with the noodles. A few minutes before turning off the heat, I'll add the bok choy or broc-rabe, and after the heat is off, I'll throw sliced scallions on top. Also, along with the flavor packet, you can throw in crushed, sliced, or minced garlic. Talk about the heartiest of cheap meals. Here's the downside for me though, and the reason I probably won't be eating much of the above during my first year back in school: the shit knocks me out. I might as well be eating NyQuil with noodles.

I'ma call you soon, sucka, be prepared.

posted by Dan Spalding Thursday, May 24, 2001

Wednesday, May 23, 2001

My god, a week goes by without a post. Time to update

Wearing Purple and white shiny "9" soccer shirt, black cargo pants with zipoffable legs, "Body Wild" boxers from gramma for new years.
Listening to Free Kitten, a great Napster find. One of those band that had a clever name (I think I saw it the same trip I saw "Nude Pictures Inside").
Where ya' going? I'm heading down to San Diego, or D-town as it's known locally, to help folks set up their legal team for the upcoming biojustice/biodevastation protests against genetically modified food/medicine/human genes/etc.
Are you procastinating right now? Ummmmm.....
Dan Spalding-Datkam shout out to Megan Snyder Pants, the woman who's as beautiful waking up as she is going to sleep. She sent me a wonderful e-mail and will be the FIRST to receive a collectible postcard from D-town. As it's known locally.

The end.
posted by Dan Spalding Wednesday, May 23, 2001

Tuesday, May 15, 2001

The www.danspalding.com hall of fame
The following people are recognized for perusing this very web page before even meeting me. I salute you.

In rough chronological order
March? Jackie, who is not only the prestigious first person I know of to read the page before meeting me (at the request of longtime friend and boyriend (hers, not mine) Blaine Mathena), but who enjoyed reading the Kurt Vonnegut quote in the "Smartquotes" section.

March? April? Irina Cedric, rad Canadian proto-lawyer who checked out the web page because it was shamelessly advertised at the bottom of an e-mail sent to a listserv. She wanted to know what she'd be dealing with in Quebec City. (Some questions are better left unasked)

March? April? Jessica M, of R2K/Philly phame who also wanted to know what she was dealing with. For the record, both she and Irina were expecting (desperately hoping for?) a tall hunky blonde tanned muscular JCrew meets AK Press Californian. Little do they know I'm from the 'burbs of DC, and am more N'Sync meets Tuscadero than anything else. Why the fuck do people think I'm "from California"? For the record, my Cedric, my web site does NOT end in .ca

April? Mateo, of near-Burlington fame. A great guy who not only did not guess the totality of my identity from my alleged state of birth, but got the John Irving reference in my books section. Props and double props, my friend. He also snuck me into Canada in the spare tire well of his Range Rover (joke).

That's all for now. If you do not technically know me, e-mail me at dan@midnightspecial.net. I'd love to have more bragging rights.
posted by Dan Spalding Tuesday, May 15, 2001

Sunday, May 13, 2001

Found haiku

That thing where if it
Speaks with one voice it's not the
Voice of the people...

-Greg, of Coalition for Human Rights in the Americas, in a discussion on anarchist organizing

Check in!
Wearing Barefeet, blue dockers pants, red "Tank 91-92" t-shirt with un-funny comic on the front.
From Home in the Lake Meritt area
Out the window I can see A pile o' broken bricks in front of a house two lots down from us, in their backyard. A big tree out our window. Another beautiful Oakland afternoon coming to a close.
Last movie I think it was South Park, or Office Space? Maybe Schindler's list.
Recent meals by me Last night, a delicious Thai vegetable curry with coconut milk, props to Phaedra for co-chefing; this "morning," delicious crepes; this afternoon, delicio (de-LISH-ee-yo) Shin Ramyun kimchee-flavored ramen with bok choi, carrots and cucumber.
Only a few of the people who have recently checked out my web page, to prove you are in good company Tam, of Saskatchewan fame, who I met at the jail vigil in Quebec City; Jess, see quote above, from Philly, who I met in Burlington; my friend Lauren Samosa who will help design a t-shirt for sale on this site to put the dotcom back in danspalding-dotcom.
Is this the most boring update you've ever given? You want me to bite you right on the eyeball or what?
I'm not defensive Word.
posted by Dan Spalding Sunday, May 13, 2001

Tuesday, May 08, 2001

I have to admit to you I've been reading your web site, and I can't stop... I ask myself, What am I doing?

A bewildered and bedazzled Jessica, from Philadelphia
posted by Dan Spalding Tuesday, May 08, 2001

Check in!
Last Friday I interviewed at three temp places. I forgot how much I hated the process, though I don't know how. Maybe because I like the temping so much... Or because I like lying during the application process. For example, on my application to Apple One I describe myself as follows:
I am a detail-oriented team player. I have trouble sleeping soundly at night if I have not completed a project in a timely manner.
And I wonder - will Wendy (or whoever) who interviews me glance at that during the interview, chuckle softly to herself and kick me out? Will I be hired as president of the company? Will I make Wendy cry? What's wrong with that?

Ooh! And tonight I'm going to a baseball game, my second ever. The first was last July, us (the Mets, natch) versus Colorado. We lost, as I recall. Tonight's game is us (I have no idea who) against Montreal. Wish us luck.
posted by Dan Spalding Tuesday, May 08, 2001

Thursday, May 03, 2001

We just finished a brief 210-minute long meeting at the collective. It turns out that we have about as much going on in the foreseeable future as any 10 person group of full time activst legal types can handle. Bear in mind we are five part-timers and you can see the dilemma. Between the trainings to polish and invent; conferences; materials to produce; lawsuits against us; mass action support; and (courtesy of the LAPD) mass arrest support, we have as much work as humanly conceivable. Bully for us.

We also talked about money some. On that note I wrote a sappy letter to my alumni magazine about the work we do and how great Oberlin is and some shit, and included our name, the Midnight Special Law Collective, and our URL, so they can make a donation. We shall see if this transparent ploy bears fruit or is itself pruned. Hopefully the underpaid students who actually cobble together that glossy rag send me $5 when they gleefully delete my e-mail, not before making snide remarks in the text and blitzing it to their buddies behind the computer lab help desk.

Finally: Seriously dudes, y'all ever check out the quotes section? Because it has everything. Funny quotes from politicians. Funny quotes from me. Meanspirited quotes from politicians (or at least my friends) about me. Quotes from novels I'm reading. AND the aforementioned letter to the Oberlin Alumni magazine. So check it out!
posted by Dan Spalding Thursday, May 03, 2001

Monday, April 30, 2001

Quickie: I have safely returned to Chez Midnight Special in Oakland, CA. I watched Michael Collins, Die Hard, and South Park yesterday in an effort to recuperate from my cold. So far, so good, but I think I'll need a couple more days of lethargy to fully recover. Weather here is beautiful.

Also, for the record, please check out the "Smart Quotes" section. There are really good quotes from folks in Vermont and Quebec City, various magazine articles and books, etc. Far more entertaining than this section, really. Peach Pit sucks.
posted by Dan Spalding Monday, April 30, 2001

Saturday, April 28, 2001

Report back: I arrived at the Burlington bus station last night around 2am, crossed the street, and crashed at the now-quiet legal office. Yesterday I got to meet the man who was re-arrested on charges of attempted murder of a police officer. Turns out he was taken to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP, the Canadian FBI) and interrogated for 14 hours. He was also put in a line-up and allegedly idenitifed by the officer who he allegedly beat. Finally, the police tried to coerce him with stories about how he was identified by a woman he (again, allegedly) sexually assaulted on the Friday night before the protests started, and the RCMP tried to talk him into accepting charges of attempted murder instead of assualting an officer, on the grounds that attempted murder is a lesser charge.

Of course, all this was false. The entire time the protester repeated that he wished to remain silent and wanted to see a lawyer. He was denied a lawyer, as were many protesters arrested during the Summit of the Americas meeting, where trade reps from 34 countries in our hemisphere talked about the Free Trade Area of the Americas. Fortunately for him, he was ultimately released without any new charges.

Finally, we at legal spotted an ugly trend at the protests. Instead of mass arrests, defined as arresting, say, more than 30 people at a time, the police seemed to be picking off protesters here and there. In some cases they were high-profile organizers like Jaggi Singh, or the folks who fed the protesters for free. At other times they were simply folks dressed like "anarchists." Finally, the police arrested many for no apparent reason at all. But when they did so they attacked quickly and with overwhelming force. Video shows Jaggi arrested by about a half-dozen cops dressed as protesters. They (allegedly) jumped at him, threw him on the ground, beat him briefly, and then identified themselves to the protesters around as police officers and literally threw Jaggi into a police vehicle. He was denied bail and is facing multiple (bogus) felony and misdemeanor charges.

For everyone else the police used massive amounts of tear gas - according to one headline, 5000 canisters. Thats an average of over 100 an hour for the two days of the big protests. Of course, they were not used that way. Instead, the police lobbed multiple tear gas canisters in the cramped streets and alleys of the old city of Quebec. This happened to legal marches as well as protesters who used property destruction. In any case, the police didn't have to deal with the paperwork (and possible lawsuits) of mass arrests. And because of tear gas's lingering effects, anyone hit with that much tear gas - especially those with asthma, or older folks, or children - have a lot of trouble protesting the next day, much less the same day. Did I mention the use of pepper gas?

This means that police in the US are likely to take note of Quebec City's at least partially successful bid to quash protesting. So we, as a movement (and I use "a movement" deliberately, to encompass explicitly anti-globalization work as well as anti-poverty and anti-police brutality organizing), have to be proactive. When we organize mass protests we have to be ready to train each other to be wary of being isolated, even during a mass action. We have to file for injunctions against the use of tear gas and pepper gas. And we have to prep legal support people and legal teams for the "single 'em out" tactics used in Quebec.

Any other suggestions would be much appreciated.

In solidarity,
Dan.
posted by Dan Spalding Saturday, April 28, 2001

Wednesday, April 25, 2001

Today almost everyone arrested during the FTAA protests got out of jail. And just when we think it's over, one guy gets arrested immediately upon leaving jail and charged with attempted murder. Allegedly yanked a cop away from his friends and beat him. Almost certainly not true, but more work to be done, and one more person harassed and how many more intimidated by this bullshit?
posted by Dan Spalding Wednesday, April 25, 2001

Today almost everyone arrested during the FTAA protests got out of jail. And just when we think it's over, one guy get's arrested immediately upon leaving jail and charged with attempted murder. Allegedly yanked a cop away from his friends and beat him. Almost certainly not true, but more work to be done, and one more person harassed and how many more intimidated by this bullshit?
posted by Dan Spalding Wednesday, April 25, 2001

Monday, April 23, 2001

It`s funny that when I`m actually doing something interesting, I`m too busy to update my Blogger. It`s only when things are so slow that I`ve read the New York Times on-line for two hours that I bother to update le Peach Pit. "Check in from my paralegal temp job at Dewey, Cheatem and Howe..."

So. Now I`m in Quebec City doing legal support for folks arrested during the Summit of Americas/Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) protests. Other than a 6 hour stint back in the 80s when I visited Niagara Falls, this is my first time into Canada. And I`m learning about international cooperation: language ish, working around different cultures, etc. Like Peace Corp, but with less cultural imperialism - and just as much patronizing. Did I mention I have worms? But that is neither here nor there.

So on Saturday after we came back from legal observing and otherwise legal supporting the protest at the Vermont/Canada border, the legal team had a question. Now what? If we were in college, the answer would be simple - par-tay!

Instead we decided to drive up to Quebec City and answer phone lines. (I guess some things never change) We arrived Saturday night, and proceeded to hang out with the New York People`s Law Collective and Republican National Convention (protester) legal collective. I think I answered a phone once. Then we crashed at 4 AM, only to get up Sunday morning and answer more phones. However, that afternoon and evening, along with some other folks who had been answer phones all morning, my friends and I proceeded to then answer phones some more.

At midnight we relented at went to a Coyote Ugly-esque bar/restaurant downstairs from the office. Since we are borrowing space generously offered by the student union here at Laval University, the Pub, as the b/r is called, is full of attractive young people and good drinks. We have three or four rounds and talk shop, me and my American colleagues, as well as Mack, who`s so cool and with it and fluent in English that you forget sometimes that he is Canadian. (He claims to have a girlfriend, but I`ve never seen her...)

So on Monday I get to check out the jail vigil and run into old friends. I get to gossip. Opt out of lengthy annoying consensus decision making process meetings. And come home to see Natalie and Phaedra of Midnight Special Law Collective fame, and Jenny, of helped us with our newsletter fame. Now I am well fed (courtesy the Pub) and content. And I`m not answering phones.

In solidarity,
Dan.
posted by Dan Spalding Monday, April 23, 2001

Thursday, April 19, 2001

For upbeat updates on Dan Spalding, check out www.midnightspecial.net.

Here's what we got as of 4/19/01:

Thursday, April 19, 2001
Things are quiet here in the Burlington legal office - too quiet. Well, not really, but so far it appears that the vast majority of people trying to cross into Canada from Vermont and New York are getting through. This isn't to say that some people aren't being held back arbitrarily - check out Vermont's Independent Media Center for information on union organizers, among others, who were apparently denied entry for political reasons.

With some perspective, our problem with people being held back at the US/Canadian border is absurd. On the one hand, thousands of tons of products pass through our borders every day, to profit giant corporations. And capital passes with almost no resistance, making it difficult for working people to demand fair wages or safe working conditions.

On the other hand, hundreds of people have died in the last few years trying to cross into the US from Mexico, many coming from Central or South America. The militarization of the border we've seen here is business as usual in Texas, Arizona, Florida and California.

The real test will be coming in the next few hours. Hundreds of protesters are going to a celebratory fish fry in nearby Mohawk Indian territory, and most will be peacefully going into Canada from there. The question is whether US and Candian border officials will be content to merely arbitrarily refuse high profile organizers, or will shut down the border to all protesters.

However, it's no suprise that US and Canada are collaborating to make it difficult for people to come to Quebec City to protest the FTAA. While mobility is enhanced for goods and capital, it's awful for getting their agenda passed. So, along with everyone else here in Burlington, I am eager to see what will happen in Quebec City when ordinary people mobilize against a trade treaty so evil it can't withstand the light of day. Or vigorous public protest.

In solidarity,
Dan.
posted by ms lc 12:30 PM

Wednesday, April 18, 2001

It's busy times in Burlington for the legal team. There is an incredible mix of seasoned legal folks and first timers here - e.g. the cynical and the fresh. Actually, everyone is happy to create a local, sustainable legal team. Today we finalize office procedure and dig in to the nitty gritty logistics - distributing legal documents, final trainings, debunking myths, and general damage control.

This action is different than most other actions. The specifics are _all_ up in the air - where are people crossing into Quebec? What are people doing if they can't make it? Are all the legal teams in all the different states (and countries) on the same page? Will everything be done in time?

For the same reasons, this is like virtually every other mass action. As someone still green to the global anti-corporate movement and mass actions, I am just coming to see the similarities between mass protests. You never know everything. You don't even know what limited information other people have. All you can do is organize democratically, so as many people as possible get the knowledge, skills, and resources they need to do what they need to do. And I feel very priviliged to be a part of that.
posted by ms lc 11:53 AM

Tuesday, April 17, 2001

I just came into Burlington last night with some folks from the NYC People's Law Collective (PLC), and we definitely hit the ground running. Immediately after arriving at the IMC I hopped onto the Call To Action bus. The Action folks have been touring since the beginning of February, doing workshops and trainings across the country. On the bus I met an old hand at civil disobedience and trainings - Mateo. Together we hashed out a legal training that we were scheduled to give in about two hours.

The training was great, and afterwards we repaired to the Kitchen, which was serving free vegan food, most of it organic. Today (Tuesday) we're doing three trainings. I look forward to collaborating with the great legal folks here in Burlington, as well as people from R2K (Republican National Convention 2000 protests) legal and others.
posted by ms lc 9:08 AM

posted by Dan Spalding Thursday, April 19, 2001

Friday, April 13, 2001

Quick check in
I am safely arrived in New York. Everything is just familiar enough. I like being here a lot, but a big part of that is the weather and my being able to make last minute plans with friends. - Hannah and Emma Winter-Roffe, if you see this, e-mail me to make s'more last minute plans! - I also feel pretty good because I actually have a handle on where to eat. So, as this is a pay connection, here's the scoop

FRIDAY
Traveling Eat delicious lichee sweets
8 AM Arrive at JFK, weary but among the first to deplane
4:45 PM Baggage emerges at pick-up area
8:45 AM Just catch the A train into the city
10 ish Get to Union Square, and pick up some climbing rope at Paragon and wander a bit. Make plans with Miek! (my-EEEEK!) for 2-4 today.
11 AM Eat pierogies, OJ, and coffee at the polish place on the gentrified strip in Williamsburg. One waitress spills coffee on my hand, which leaves my shaken but unburned. Other waitress gives me a free strawberry-banana smoothie. I proceed to dunk my arm into the fry vat, and receive a coupon for two weeks of free dinners.
Then I browse at the cool bookstore whose name escapes me at 9th and check out Beacon's closet. Run into Matt from Oberlin there. Have stilted conversation which reminds me of why I left NYC with a quickness. Swing by L Cafe to ask if Wendy still works there. She does, but not 'til Saturday. Roll by that ridiculous cafe in the mini-mall and ask if Jene is working there. She doesn't but she was there earlier that day. Also move bowels there. ****
1 PM Run into Wendy at the L train. We talk about her coming master's in architecture, and I rave about Moshe Safdie's work but forget his name, thus somewhat reducing the rhetorical force of my praise.
2 PM Arrive at Mike's, (re)meet special friend Greg, who lives with Matt from Oberlin mentioned above. Mike is kind of enough to let me shower then help with my too-feathered hair afterwards. Try in vain to reach Lacey and Hannah. 'Tis fun.
5:30 PM Meet up with Mike and Mark and Lacey, and have a great time hanging out in Thompkin Square park. We are in an enclosed area and people let their ugly dogs and one Afghan rabbit wander about unchained. I halfheartedly try to narrate a PBS nature special on the immintent food chain that's about to make itself evident, but instead I am interrogated and in turn interrogate everyone else.
7 PM I fail to reach Maggie, but I leave notes to her in Sharpie at the place I propsed meeting in an e-mail. We then eat around the corner at Cafe GiGi. MM&L are kind enough to buy a couple bottles of red wine, wrapped in burlap (?), and we order several pizzas and salad. Kerry Lowe arrives, as does Maggie (eventually).
9:45 PM Maggie leaves, I run into Al, and then the rest of us go to the bar Monas, Erin comes, and more ridiculousness ensues.
2 AM On the way hmoe, I receive a contribution of donutes from, in fact, Dunkin' Donuts.
posted by Dan Spalding Friday, April 13, 2001

Friday, April 06, 2001

A more metaphysical / psycho-social check-in

Who? Dan Spalding, 24 years old, male human
Long term plan - professional Become an organizer who helps people form organizations that help them fight for radical change, while educating and activating others in their community.
Long term plan - personal Have an interesting and meaningful life, read lots of novels, get out of the city sometimes, learn all the time, have fun, not take self too seriously, get married and have kids in late 30s (either mine or the late 2030s) and move to a cabin in Vermont. Travel in Europe and Australia.
Religion Believe in a God who believes in poetic justice and the possibility of redemption for everyone
Big ideas 1) It's better to be inclusive than exclusive, 2) When people say they're doing something for someone else (to make them more comfortable, for their benefit, etc.) they are almost always doing it for themselves, often in good faith, and 3) If someone is mad at you they usually have a good reason for it.

and finally...
4) What seems natural and normal is actually artificial and arbitrary, and set up for the benefit of the people at the top. It sticks around (or gets more extreme) because anyone who speaks or acts contrary to it is (often) made to appear mistaken, irrational, or selfish, and is harassed, threatened, attacked, or imprisoned.
posted by Dan Spalding Friday, April 06, 2001

Monday, April 02, 2001

First things first - there is a picture of me on Indy Media SF's web page. I was legal observing for the April Fool's Day protest of the Free Trade Area of the Americas - like NAFTA for North & South America, and the Caribbean. I'm the guy in the suit. (For a great article, check out "Crouching Fat Cats, Hidden Agenda" on www.midnightspecial.net)

The protest was super, thanks for asking. The SFPD was especially solicitous, thanks in large part to an understanding Seargeant whose name escapes me but whose deeds will live on in legend for eternity. It might sound like I'm laying it on thick. BUTT, the cops were actually really good about stopping traffic for us. The protest climaxed in front of a Levi's store across from Union Square. Levi's is one of over 100 mega corporations that has a draft of the FTAA (it's going to be a series of laws and agreements), something the PUBLIC and most members of Congress haven't seen. So, the protesters were demanding the text of the FTAA.

There was a follow-up action today, and you kin read about it on the Indy Media SF web page.

Flubber Lives
Finally, the last two weeks has been characterized by incredible socializing on my part; I'm talking hanging out with Lindsey Stowe-Berns, Lindsay "Nice" Knisely (refer to her for questions about Leone, as she is the only Oberlin friend I got who's met her), talkin' to fuckin' Nicole Balin (who I still haven't seen for two years), the long-awaited reunion with Blaine M (and meeting the lovely Jacqueline, who is a much better cook than he is, though they are both excellent hosts festing me with TWO delicious dinners, to each I contributed only my good wit and generous appetite, and enduring Blaine referring to me as his servant boy while he nursed a hangover), walking thru the Oakland hills with Michal and Noah of Oberlin fame, going to a party at Beth "Inner Sunset Crips" O'Brien's new place, featuring Katie Hansen, her beau Dan, Highdiver Johnny O', and JANET and BRAD who taught at me old high school (and Janet was my x-country co-coach - rest assured I interrogated both thoroughly on their current lives and the nature of the lie they were living back at Edmund Burke), got a ride there with Patsy, Dan, and Miss Fashion-pants, kicking it with Reclaim the Streets at the 4/1 protest and finally watching Simpsons, the last 1/4 of Flubber, and the X-Files with Leone.

'Nuff said.
posted by Dan Spalding Monday, April 02, 2001

Monday, March 26, 2001

Deception unmasked
So my friend Jess Toubman sends me an e-mail about her adventures over the last 18 months, cc:ing her 80 closest friends. Many of them are my friends, too, or so it seems. I stopped looking after seeing a couple familiar names. Familiar as in, "Bob," or "Jenny."

So I proceed with the usual hijinx: I send her back an e-mail about how I'm worried about her involvement in [ridiculous name] gang, and that I don't think her "posse," or "gatt" will keep her safe. At the end I put in a quick plug for www.thiswebpage.com. For good measure, I send it to everyone on her cc: list.

So it's two hours after the crime and what do I get in my mailbox?

From: "Elizabeth Breakstone"
To: dan_spalding@hotmail.com
Subject: Re: Jess Toubman, please read this
Date: Mon, 26 Mar 2001 14:41:14 -0800
hi dan spalding,
is this just a shameless attempt to get people who you haven't spoken with since college to look at your website?
anyways, i hope that all is well in san francisco, and i hope to find a poem to me on your web page in the near future.
eliz

Read this in your Casey Casem voice
Liz, here's your request, coming in all the way at number one this week - "Betrayed," by Dan Spalding.

Betrayed.
Lied to.
Breach of trust,
And
Abuse of e-mail privileges.

Jess Toubman.
Once you believed I would
Not
Hijack your cc: list
Of all your closest
F
R
I
E
N
D
S.

(Once you believed I was not Satan)

I am the snake.
I am the weasel.
I am the, how you say,
Snake which eats the weasel
While
Being eaten by another snake.
Beware
Betrayal.
[2000] [2001]
posted by Dan Spalding Monday, March 26, 2001

Saturday, March 24, 2001

Today was the first time I updated my web page before checking my e-mail. Thus marking a steeper descent into my own ego...

(embrace the downward spiral)
posted by Dan Spalding Saturday, March 24, 2001

Friday, March 23, 2001

Dan Spalding Check In!

Where Jams, a lawfirm that does class action suits and stuff, in Embarcadero #2 in San Francisco
Wearing Black Frankenstein Dr. Martin boots, olive green slacks (hip), black belt, blue polo shirt courtesy Lindsay Kniseley
I can see from here An 8" tall tinsel Christmas tree, a 3/4 enclosed cubicle, various extremely inspirational yet functional materials like a calendar for this year and a calendar for 1999. Business cards in a smart business card holder for the person whose desk I am co-opting. A gray, apparently burlap curtain that I would open to see the vista of downtown San Francisco except that it is heavy, and I'd have to lean over in a conspicuous way to really open it up. And there's no guarantee that it'll open anyway. It's not worth it.
Reading I just quit Rule of the Bone by Russel Banks (or Russell Ranks, as he's sometimes derided), because it was boring and yet another book by the white man. Instead I am plowing through Secrets and Lies by Gary Schneier, an excellent bok on computer security. Just finished A Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing, by Melissa Banks, who must have gone to Oberlin. It's a good coming of age/getting a clue book. The happy ending feels pasted on, but I choose to believe that it is only so contrived because it is completely autobiographical. Otherwise there's no excuse for it.
Visitors? I much enjoy visitors to my tiny home in Oakland. Most recently over was Lindsey Stowe-Berns, and soon I will run into Michal Lando (who may not count because she indeed lives in Berkeley) and Lindsay Kniseley. Lindsay is coming from Eugene Oregon, where she is completing a two year course of study for her Massa's degree in Computer Science. She spends time with her mother Marty Beyer who is EXCELLENT, and who, too, lives in Eugene.
How you can worm into my heart like a heartworm 1) Casually mention references to the lastest postings on my web page, 2)Without being prodded by me, and 3)_Connive other people into checking it out. I'm easy to please, and quick to prod, so get to it!
posted by Dan Spalding Friday, March 23, 2001

Wednesday, March 21, 2001

The hungest over I've ever been
Ok, it started after a tour of the Brooklyn Brewery, but that shouldn't count because I only had four cups and they were small. And then we went to sushi which should have cleansed the palate. I think wasabi is supposed to neutralize alcohol.

But the real hijinks started when we went to Enid's, a trendy bar in Greenpoint. It's the kind of place where they project 50s movies with the sound off on Thursdays. So I'm there with my friends from Greenmarket. Among other things they had extended my 2-week temp gig seemingly indefinitely, with no awkwardness or sense of obligation. It was my finest work in NYC, before or since. So I'm in a trendy bar with friends and the crowd is young and hip, which is definitely what I'm trying to project with my black velvety pants, tight green button-up collared t-shirt and shiny duck-toed boots.

Hijink: My pal Brendan knows the bartender casually, his name's Chad. So I strike up a conversation with him. I immediately get his attention because I call him by name and act real familiar. When he explains that he doesn't quite remember where we met, I remind Chad that it was at that cool Williamsburg party on a rooftop with ridiculous dot-commers and artists. He nods his head at the memory. That's because asking people to remember that party in Williamsburg on a rooftop with ridiculous dot-commers and artists is like asking someone from Leningrad if they remember that one time it was real cold and they almost starved to death. So there's an instant bond between us. It's not that we emerged weakend and lesser men, but that we emerged at all.

So the joke's on me, because for the rest of the night whenever anyone in proximity of me orders a drink Chad mixes another one for me, on the house. I had previously been experimenting with binge drinking - natch - with friends at bars where we knew the bartender, so this part of the night was no big suprise. But instead of purging I instead stumbled straight home. The following morning my defacto housemate Kirk does an amusing impression of me coming upstairs the night before. It involves me bumping into something stationary in the kitchen, and then being suprised Kirk is there and apologizing exuberantly. It's really funny when he does it, so much so that I almost don't throw up. I turn on the water in the bathtub so my other visiting friend, Jesse of haiku fame, doesn't hear. But she does and she comforts me when I exit.

I proceed to vomit with such force that small bruises appear around my eyes. In high school a couple of times the hard partiers would come on Mondays with eyes that weren't bloodshot as much as they were bright red where the white was supposed to be. My pal Blaine explained that this was from vomiting too hard. I had vomited a fair deal by that point in my life, exclusively from the flu, which I seemed to catch at three week intervals. I thought I knew what vomiting too hard meant. But that morning after Enid's clarified everything. Including the fact that I had to cut down on my binge drinking.
posted by Dan Spalding Wednesday, March 21, 2001

Friday, March 16, 2001

Top six activist nick-names for me

6. Fiskal Spawnser
5. DJ Process
4. That guy with the puns that're really funny
3. Oscar Wilde - except I wouldn't want to go to jail for violating sodomy laws and then catch tuberculosis
2. Dan Legal
1. Dan Spalding
posted by Dan Spalding Friday, March 16, 2001

Thursday, March 15, 2001

Let me tell you a little story
Back in 1998, Link magazine, a thin, nearly contentless rag distributed free to students at various colleges and universities, had a contest. The challenge was to come up with a new name for the Dartmouth mascot. As everyone knows, at the time (and right now) it was (and is) "Big Green." But it's hard to really get inspiration from a mascot that's two adjectives strung together. So a coupla kids from the school wrote to Link asking for a new one.

As it turned out, my suggestion tied for first place. Here's Links's report on the contest:

EVERYBODY WANTS TO SUGGEST A NEW DARTMOUTH MASCOT
We received a shocking number of responses to our request last issue for a new Dartmouth mascot. Most of them were also shockingly stupid, such as "The Darts," "The Cheese Weasels," "The Crust Buckets," or simply "Beer" (on the notion that it would be fun to chant). But the following suggestions from Paul and Dan were stunningly brilliant and earned them both a priceless, coveted Link T-shirt.

After reading the dilemma about the Dartmouth "Big Green," the answer to their problem seems a bit obvious. Chances are, the school has already invested a great deal of cash into green merchandise, so it would only take a bit more to change the mascot to the Jolly Green Giant, right? After all, think of the advantages:

1) Same color.
2) You get to throw peas at your opponents.

Of course, you may have to rename him the "Jolly Green Vertically Enhanced Person" to be truly PC, although that may still be offensive to green people.

Paul Masgras
The Ohio State University
masgras.2@osu.edu

I've come up with an idea for revitalizing Dartmouth College's mascot's name. How about Big "Straight, Male-Dominated Elite Institution for Rich White Kids" Green? You know, kind of a nickname. It's just a thought.

Dan Spalding
Oberlin College
sds0705@oberlin.edu

PS I got over 600 hate mails from Big Greeners, almost entirely hostile, mostly violent and many homophobic, aka "You can shove your letter up your ass. Which you'd obviously enjoy." Heh heh. At least they didn't try to prove me wrong...
posted by Dan Spalding Thursday, March 15, 2001

Wednesday, March 14, 2001

Just when you thought I couldn't get any more self-congratulatory...

ASSOCIATED PRESS

August 22, 2000

LOS ANGELES -- Authorities throughout the day and into the evening released 41protesters who had been jailed since their arrest during the Democratic National Convention.

...

Supporters on a hunger strike outside the county jails said they would continue to refuse food until the last jailed protester was released.

"We aren't completely sure that the Sheriff's Department is acting in good faith," said Dan Spalding, a spokesman for Midnight Special Law Collective.

"There's always a possibility of them holding someone back," he said.

(get the full text)
posted by Dan Spalding Wednesday, March 14, 2001

To a certain studio apartment in Brooklyn, with love

Drinkin' on the front porch of Chippy,
You were kickin' it like the nine-footer, or Rippy;
You invited me up,
Gave a me a can (about 2.5 cups),
And we hung out 'til the air got too nippy.

You were the first to get me drunk in the city,
Drinking lemon drops made us so witty
Chillin' with Kate,
And Corr and Dana (checkmate!)
I told stories like I was Walter Mitty

I'd rather see you than Yasmine Bleenth,
With you, I'd even see What Lies Beneanth
And we'll get the chance
To dance off our pants(es)
When I FLY TO NYC ON APRIL 13TH!

Call me at 510) 834-1883 for the deets, dood. I'm coming home for the weekend. (And you'll NEVER guess what's happening next!)
posted by Dan Spalding Wednesday, March 14, 2001

Monday, March 12, 2001

Upon request...!!?#,

A house called "Chippy,"
Upon it, drinking Guiness
See my walk to doom

Boyfriend and girlfriend,
Hold hands in the arb, I thought
You and Mike Dimpfl

Your mother hates me
Why, still unclear to me why
I think she'll kill me

Live with a beauty,
Watch lifetime, own a dog, live
The lesbian life

If you can guess this person, you win a handsome postcard from Dan Spalding and a small gift from Japan, both suitable for framing. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. May stick to certain types of skin. Lacey Clarke forbidden from entering.
posted by Dan Spalding Monday, March 12, 2001

Friday, March 09, 2001

Cutlural Studies makes us all want to vomit - with a Top Five at the end
Let's be grown-ups about this. For those of us who are in a position to be familiar with the rarefied field of cultural studies (ie mostly people who went to expensive private colleges), and didn't major in it, cultural studies is as interesting and relevant as hearing someone brag about their new cel phone. The idea is that the marketplace is a democratic institution, and its "cultural products" - pop music, television shows, mainstream movies, print media, advertisements, styles, catch phrases, etc. - are meaningful reflections of the people who consume them - i.e. the masses. This is ostensibly a liberation. No longer do rich white men in power declare what culture is, by defining it or creating it. Now it's in the hands of the people. You can think of the transition as from Mozart composing symphonies to Christina Aguilera singing one of ten different songs you'll hear on the radio these days.

Unfortunately, the masses don't choose their cultural products, at least not when they're mainstream. Not with media monopolies owning virtually all of our publishing houses, newspapers, music labels, and radio and television stations. Instead, cultural products are largely created, distributed, and owned by - suprise! - rich white men in power. We don't choose to listen to Christina A 24/7. Instead, her record label creates her stuff, pours a ton of money (out of her advance, not out of their own pockets) into slick recording, videos, posters, etc. Then they go through their near-monopoly pals like MTV and the few megacorporations that own nearly every radio station in the US to make those stars popular. Since independent radio stations get bought out and it costs an incredible amount of money to start your own television or even radio station, what Sony wants you to buy, you'll have to listen to and see ads for constantly.

So I'll cut my Baffler magazine/Thomas Frank-inspired rant short. The above paragraph is actually an example, though a screedy one, of useful cultural theory. However, most of what's actually out there is feel good bullshit. Cultural studes scholars make arguments based on free associations between pop culture and societal trends, and uses other similarly vacuous scholarship to back them up. And there are a number of departments and chairs that are paid for - double suprise! - by the same companies that produce the drivel that's forced down our throats. Almost never do you see what should be the first tenet of cultural theory - that pop culture is a part of capitalism, and like the rest of the system, it's used by those in power to get more power (money, monopolies, access to the political structure, ideological hegemony) at the expense of everyone else. Instead, inexplicably, the fact that Ricky Martin is more popular than, say, Steinbeck, is applauded as the general population sticking it to the man.

There's obviously a balance, though. What people prefer does shape pop culture - although it's usually not "people" in the amorphous sense as much as people with the most disposable income who buy the banal shit that's out there, i.e. white men. But you can't ignore why some trends are popular. And you can't accept that we should be nostalgic for the canon of dead white men, and that our deviation from it has caused disaster. There's room for a common ground, and if we want to change society for the better we should be reaching towards it. The left bears this responsibility the most, and there should be a conciliation between old school anti-capitalist politics and the cultural theory crowd.

Having said that, I will now take potshots at cultural studies with still another stupid top five list.

Top five titles you'll never see to cultural studies theses
5. It's probably just a coincidence
4. I will bug the living shit out of everyone I meet at parties for the next 10 years with this thesis
3. A study of television commercials, 1995-1997, with close scrutiny on which companies owned the products being advertised and who their target audience was
2. This study is actually going to benefit someone outside our incestuous academic circle
1. Rupert Murdoch can go to hell
posted by Dan Spalding Friday, March 09, 2001

Thursday, March 08, 2001

Speaking of the Catholic Church - it's not very popular with my generation. I know more people with CRUNCH memberships than regular Catholic church-goers. What's to do? Well, in today's competitive marketplace where time is the most valuable commodity and people's loyalties are as fleeting as the last Ben Affleck movie, it's time to make some changes so the bad boy with the big hat can be relevant once again.

Top five changes the Catholic Church needs to make
5. Morning mass moved to 2:30PM
4. Communion wafers to be described as "Christ-o-licious"
3. Confessions to be televised and rated
2. Pope John Paul II to defend title against the Dalai Lama in pay-per-view edition of Ultimate Fighting Championship
1. New slogan: "If it feels good, do it!"

(0. Not send Dan Spalding to hell for coming up with this stupid list)
posted by Dan Spalding Thursday, March 08, 2001

Wednesday, March 07, 2001

Dan Spalding update!

Place 21st Floor of office building in Downtown Oakland, working for Fitzgerald, Abbott, Beardsley and Asshole
Job Surfing internet for approximately 6 hours a day
Wearing Black frankenstein boots, gray unpleated slacks, black belt, blue polo shirt courtesy Lindsay's basement.
Corporate Accoutrements Obloid stainless steel Starbucks coffee mug, cel phone
What do the words "cel phone" spell phonetically? "Self One"; think about it
I can see from my 21st floor perch: A pool in a hotel (?) outdoor enclosed playspace (tm), people walking through a pedestrian street in an outdoor foodcourt, the giant white cranes at the loading docks of West Oakland, a picture of the woman who works in the office I'm squatting with her husband (presumably). Treasure Island. A purple mug.
Books reading: Targeted A guide to preventing, preparing for and reacting to an Animal Liberation Front-style raid of your laboratory; Private Warriors, research done in part by Daniel Burton Rose, about the privatization of military goods and services (aka arms trade and US-sanctioned and deployed mercenaries). Jar Of Fools, and excellent graphic novel.
I just felt A weird pressure on both temples, pressing in
Gossip? I may have made out in the same room as Chelsea Clinton (Not at the same time)
New address 1837 8th Avenue, Oakland, CA 94606
posted by Dan Spalding Wednesday, March 07, 2001

Tuesday, March 06, 2001

I just got a report from the famed Eugene Anarchists and they are starting an Anarchist High School up there. It is generating some controversy, from its