December 15, 2004
Typekey Login Now Required
Although MT-Blacklist prevents most spam comments from actually appearing in my blog, it can only do so after the spammer has already sent one or more comments, each of which spawns a Perl process on the server. This morning, the server was crippled by several massive waves of spam comment requests resulting in dozens of runaway Perl processes. If you don't know what this means, let me assure you that it's a problem.
So from now on, you must log into Typekey in order to post a comment. If you don't have a Typekey account, you can register for one here. It's free and their privacy policy is reasonable. You don't even have to reveal your email address when submitting a comment.
I'm sure spammers have ways of exploiting Typekey too, but hopefully this will slow them down for at least a little while.
December 5, 2004
SFBC Winterfest
Paul and I pedalled to the SOMArts gallery tonight for the SFBC's annual Winterfest party. Hundreds of bikes with blinky little red lights streamed into the gallery garden, where valets tagged them, handed numbered stubs to their owners, and lined them up in tidy rows.
Inside, free beer stimulated the silent auction of bike gear and bike-themed art. I set my sights on a photograph titled Ascent and made a modest first bid. Three beers later, I was skulking near the photo, spying on my rival in a silent bidding war. I watched him outbid me by $15 and walk away. I sidled up to the photo, upped the bid by $1, and casually loitered nearby while he returned and wrote in another bid.
The bid was now $200. It was for a worthy cause and the photo was nifty, but dang that's a lot of money. Bid again or walk away? I just stood there, wiggling with ambivalence. Hey, there's that guy who sells tickets at the Red Vic! We chatted and I learned that his name is Dennis and the Red Vic needs more moviegoers; I felt guilty for not having been there in a while. I made up my mind to go there next weekend to see the new piece by the Brothers Quay. While we were talking, the silent auction ended! I was saved from a dubious purchase. Phew!
In the other room, there was a performance by Circo Zero and a table run by Haiku Hut, where I paid $3 for this on-demand haiku:
A Cat
Curled into herself,
Twitched with dreams of mice and birds,
Smiling in her sleep.
I spotted our new supervisor, Ross Mirkarimi, and Paul and I chatted him up. We all agreed that District 5 is the hippest district in town and that bikes are great. Since Paul works in the public sector, he and Ross had many more topics to chat about. Ross told me that his bicycle had been stolen during his campaign. He would bid on a new one during the live auction so he could bike to City Hall.
One of the items in the live auction was dinner with famous mountain biker Joe Breeze, who also designed my beloved Magma Lou Gonzalez. The auctioneer called out for Joe to come forward, but he was not in the house. Alas, I did not get to shake his hand and thank him for making my awesome bike. Ross bid on a bike or two but got none.
It was a school night, and the crowd was rapidly thinning. Paul and I pedalled home, buoyed by beer and bicycle comraderie. I always feel safer on my bike after I've connected with my fellow bikers! There are so many of them. I'm not alone in the bike lanes.
December 2, 2004
Art Trolling
Ert and Elise were making the rounds of the art gallery receptions tonight. I tagged along to two of the galleries, both conveniently located within a couple blocks of my apartment:
The usual funky urban hipster art. I like the embroidery pieces by Megan Whitmarsh: tiny little needlework yetis, king kongs, breakdancers, and Princess Leia.
This was pretty exciting: two dudes who each sew stuffed animals and other characters. I really dug the "audio monsters" by Gonzone, though Ciriaco Sayoc's flock of penguins made me grin too.