by jennifer on May 25, 2007
It has been several months since Joel and I began discussing the increase of crime in our neighborhood. Not only have our neighbors posted signs of armed burglaries, muggings and such in the hood, but there’s been so much more. It seems that at least 2-3 times a week, we’ll hear a full-blown shootout nearby. Sometimes these are clearly fueled by semi-automatic weapons, occasionally automatic, and rarely you’re everyday pistol.
I’m happy to have found someone tweaked the SF Crime Map app so it is cross-platform. A great idea, for filtering on crime in particular locations. However, the implementation, filtering and visualization could use some work. Still, it comes in handy from time to time.
The images in this post are pulled from the stats in my neighborhood. In the past 90 days, my local area has seen 92 offenses. You can check the division offenses in the chart below. Ranges from aggravated assault with deadly weapon to grand theft auto. Wheee!
What made me think of all this was actually not the sound of firearms and other deadly weapons outside my window this time — but a blog post by Matt McAllister about a similar subject, but from the Potrero Hill perspective. They’ve been hearing a lot of "crackling firearms" in the evenings as well. Unlike Matt’s observations, our violence in Bernal is not tied to the change in seasons, daylight savings and kids on summer break. Our violence has been on the steep incline since early this year, perhaps late 2006.
Another difference in our experiences is that Matt is thinking about this in the context of guns, access to guns, gun licenses, etc. While I agree, guns are obviously a core issue here, there are other influences going on as well. To name a few:
- The cost of living and increasing economic polarization within SF
- Lack of living-wage work within the city
- State-sponsored war elsewhere*
- Drugs (or course, drugs!)
*If our country is sponsoring a war without end, doesn’t this kinda give people a free ticket to do the same at home? Especially if they’re already pissed off about life?
At any rate, it seems a collective human illness that will get worse before it gets
better — if it does get better. The infrastructures of our cities and
the diverse threads of our lives are on the verge of collapse. While
the middle east fractures and burns in endless wars, the US elite continue to suck the souls of the lower and middle classes. Though it’s hard to imagine Ralph Steadman topping his own Nixon and Reagan series, I can at least see some beautiful art arising from all of this.
by jennifer on May 21, 2007
I came across this lovely blog, which collects the passive-agressive notes of roommates, co-workers, strangers, etc. It’s the attention to detail that it so beautiful in so many people. 
by jennifer on May 11, 2007
A fascinating read on the newly-imagined and reinvigorated residential downtown LA. The century-old city center has been in transition for several years. Starting with the expansion of MOCA, the still-new Disney Hall, by Frank Gerhy, the LA Subway, various historical preservation projects and recent massive loft transformation and development.
What is especially interesting here (and what the article points out) is the reversal of the archetypal sprawl that is happening. While the population has exploded exponentially, most (if not all) of the movement in the past century has been from center out. Indeed, the term "sprawl" is synonymous with LA.
However, this is changing. Downtown now boasts a thriving arts scene, alternative housing options (read: redefining lofts), the desire for new residents to build community, and the hope for utilizing the subway (work-in-progress) to avert the traffic crisis. All things point to positive change for LA. Right?
Very exciting on the one hand. On the other hand, what will happen with skid row and the underworld of the downtown we used to know? Is this simply more gentrification forcing poverty-stricken and homeless to flee or could this be the start of something entirely new? Unlike the way SF is going, let’s hope that this enormous new investment and community in downtown LA has a social conscience. I like to think this is the case, if only because I’m feeling optimistic at the moment.
I’d like to hear what Mike Davis has to say about all this. I haven’t read his most recent book, Planet of Slums, but I’m sure it’s a great place to get inside his head and understand a wider context at play.
by jennifer on May 11, 2007
by jennifer on May 4, 2007
We’ve been chatting about naming at work. In particular the art and science of naming and some of the folks who are great at it, like Igor, Lexicon and the like. So, names have been on my mind.
I wasn’t quite ready for a new name I encountered while having brunch yesterday. A couple I know are pregnant — who am I kidding — this woman I know is pregnant with her second child, which turns out is a boy.
Before I get into the name itself, it’s critical to describe the family this child is being born into. Just like some processes involved in product or company naming here are some key brand attributes of this particular family:
- Greedy
- Materialistic
- Back-stabbing
- Manipulative
- Evil
Like all good product names, this one is the embodiment of the parental brand attributes. The product name will be understood and somewhat experienced by these attributes as they relate to the name. The attributes inform and imbue the name with meaning.
Therefore, based on the attributes above, it should be no surprise at all that the name of the new baby boy will be, Cash. And while Id like to think it’s a tip of the hat to the Man in Black, I know these folks have no such savoire faire. It’s just an absurd homage to their love of money. Really.
And that’s some brilliant branding in a society which is increasingly becoming a feudal class system. I guess this kid’s future is already set in stone. Hope the ROI is worth it.
by jennifer on May 4, 2007
Beautiful 1-1.5 y/o healthy purebred mini schnauzer, "Bennie", available for adoption. This guy was rescued by Rocket Dog
from the Hollister shelter at the same time as our Raster was. Yes, Pixel and Bennie look similar, but Bennie is younger, has bigger, floppier ears and is a
wee bit smaller.
Gimme a shout if you’re interested.
