Urbana Explosiva

SMASH!

2010-03-30T16:46:00.000-07:00

Excited about all the new data

(CNN) -- Scientists at the Large Hadron Collider managed to make two proton beams collide at high energy Tuesday, marking a "new territory" in physics, according to CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research.

The $10 billion research tool has been accelerating the beams since November in the LHC's 17-mile tunnel on the border of Switzerland and France.

The beams have routinely been circulating at 3.5 TeV, or teraelectron volts, the highest energy achieved at the LHC so far, according to CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research.

(Here's the rest of the article: http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/science/03/30/large.hadron.collider/index.html?hpt=T2 )

As Jay Sherman would say, Hatchi Matchi!

2009-07-03T16:37:00.001-07:00

Pure bravery-

http://www.woai.com/content/justice/story/Wheel-of-Justice-Roman-Rios/TTq6mqgTPEi6Di3D0gHC5w.cspx

-alluding to the mafiosos of Saytown

And now a list of things that make San Antonio bearable (despite the insane heat):

1). the weekly gourmet meals that my friend cooks for his wife and me
2). fruit cups with coconut, jicama, watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, grapes, strawberries, lime, and red chile powder
3). the Huev (Web) House bar
4). Africa Live exhibit at the San Antonio Zoo IF you are not suffering from heat exhaustion
5). every convenience store sells Chamoys http://www.bad-candy.com/candies/chamoy/
6). the Big Red/Barbacoa special...everyday

7). the long-term bums staking their places for years are actually pretty nice
8). River Walk Expansion- where I take a stroll and end up at the VFW for peanut butter crackers and a Big Red
9). KONO 101.1 FM
10). SeaWorld (especially the Great White ride)

Hitting close to home

2008-08-10T06:57:00.000-07:00

I'm back in san anto and the gente stirs. International visitors from the Mexique are fighting for parking at La Cantera Shops in boxy black Escalades with cartoony Coahuila license plate. They ask for "banilla" at the gelato stand that has no such flavor and call out to each other (the days of the "estoy a la dillarts" talkie walkie are gone) in a tone reminiscent of the Mars Attacks-speak or Peanuts gang teacher voice.

literally on my street (actually, i've lived on both mentioned)
http://www.woai.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=27049750-e956-4de0-9194-160cfafe548a

portland

2008-03-27T19:39:00.000-07:00

the 17 stretches of Portland
lay out in front of you
like tracks for railcars
crisscrossing the earth

loving one ocean, while despising the other
knowing the one you love is shrinking
at 17 different points

a map configuration

to spell the name of his best face

------

(rain) in portland

i threw away my umbrella
and ate the rain
one drop
at
a time.

the process of idea

2008-03-06T16:06:00.000-08:00

Let's see...right now I'm moderately congested with tightened cracked skin that has become shiny because it is dead around my nostrils. My lips dry out easily like this, so I take dedicated breaths... too fast and a thick sniffle forms and sounds out. Making me sound dirty, like a homeless man on a bus.

Even though it's late afternoon, the overcast sky never seemed to really open up and have a day. I've missed a day. Thunder or a jet rumbles. It's rained a few times today, but not really leaving anything cleaner or refreshed.

To do: befriend a doctor specializing in sinus infections and lollipops

los encontramos

2008-01-16T19:32:00.000-08:00

Apparently, I'm fluent in Spanish. A little fact I had practically zero knowledge of until this afternoon, in Rocio del Aguila's Spanish class, where I felt like queen of all things with a rolled r. I met my new christmas present today, it's called the Texas Archaeological Research Lab. Santa is Darrell Creel and if Santa had an Obi Wan mentor that would be Dale Hudler.

I miss Portland and I miss Mount Hood (that sneaky devil). This morning was colder than the "cold memory"- coming out of the movie theatre at night and sitting in my car doing operatic arias denouncing the cold and it's unannounced arrival and abrupt commingling with my bone marrow. that's the coldest memory I have on record.

Found my ratty old copy of the golden bough, and skimmed through it for inspiration the other night. It read like Foucault and I had a thought that went something like "war as the human expression of energized nature- the original function of Roman god Mars (Ares)- making plants grow". (on a post-it note that i wrote hastily, stuck to my computer monitor)

Carmex in a tube, a puzzle box that you must put together to open, my childhood crush, Brad Renfro dead at 25. RIP, I loved you in Bully. This is the news of the previous week, and honestly, the truest inspiration I've ever found- it was all in me.

running down a thunder road in jungleland

2007-12-04T11:38:00.000-08:00

note to self: someday I can BE the Boss when they do his biopic (at least the mid-70s Born to Run scenes).

Let me say that Bob Dylan's manner of talking/singing has always reminded me of a 5-year old in constant response to someone taking away their toy (whatever the hell kids play with nowdays). Like "heeyyy...that's miiinneee" and carrying on as they try to reason with said toy-taker, continuing the subdued, slightly whiny intonation pattern.

Nonetheless, I'm intrigued (if Cate Blanchett came to Austin I would take her to the country & western gay bar on 4th St that looks like the inside of a Bill Miller's BarBQue) :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZGseissqX8

spinning the bucket of water with Dr. Raplanolovsky

2007-12-01T20:22:00.000-08:00

Dear Mr. Robert Lee Moore, thank you for your contributions to math/physics/astronomy. It is in homage to these ideas that UT built a building with clear neo-Stalinist influences (especially around the edges, ha) with an absolutely opposite interior Escher-like maze. My preference is to loiter around its face, or is it the rear; a debate for decades to come- in the smoker's enclave, sitting on crate seats and braving the cornered updrafts tinged with Bali Shag.
There are some pretty interesting types that walk through the sliding glass door set-up. And like the white buffalo of RLM the most interesting one of all, an imposingly rotund Russian string theorist by the name of Kaplonovsky, may be seen hunched in line at the Seattle's Best coffee stand. My sources tell me he's known for his one-liner sentence fragment "Look (in thickest Russian accent you find yourself attempting)...if you want to be pedantic about it..." and shifty eyes. If only there was some way to get this man to perform a cool hip hop song (about physics, of course!) and allow me to tape record it. Or let me photograph him doing the "Walk like an Egyptian" arm motions and put it on a t-shirt. Also, I've heard that during a particularly boring student presentation, he put his head down on the desk and began beating his forehead with a small empty water bottle.

But seriously... here in Travis County, we have crime rallies. Which are, by definition, protests against crime because people 'round these parts won't be standing for no deviancy. Stay away, criminal behavior! You are not welcome in central Texas.
http://www.news8austin.com/content/top_stories/default.asp?ArID=196063

Oh Texas, I love you and like to show off to other states that we were our own country once. When we bump into each other in foreign countries, after puffing our chests a bit and identifying ourselves as Texan, it's a steel forged friendship at least for the duration of the trip.

And for the record, W Bush was born in New Haven, Connecticut.

sugar mountain

2007-11-18T18:31:00.000-08:00

My family traveled to my grandparents winter house in Acapulco twenty years ago. We went to the zoo, no leashes on the monkeys, then walked around some tourist drag that I really have no reason to remember other than I wasn't supposed to eat anything dairy or made with ice from the vendors right off the street. I do remember at every handful of alleys a couple of military men with machine guns would be manning the section. My dad maybe bribed one of them to take a picture with my sister and I.
Years later I was walking back to Nico's apartment in Buenos Aires with a jug of mineral water and was called over to several men in dark blue uniform, with semi-automatic weapons, who wanted "a sip". I informed them in super broken argentine spanish that I was late for dinner, but gave them whatever the hell they wanted of the water. They had guns and very charming accents.

http://forum.surfermag.com/forum/showflat.php?Number=1275329
This guy (a snowboarder/surfer/physics professor-Dr. Lisi) claims to have joined the universe-inducing foursome of elements (strong/weak nuclear force, electromagnetism, and gravity) in a superunified theory based on associative mathematical equations dealing with the former three, with further linkage to gravitational force...everyone is questioning his academic familial history as we speak.

Here, he sums up a half-lifetime of work-
'"Being poor sucks," Lisi says. "It's hard to figure out the secrets of the universe when you're trying to figure out where you and your girlfriend are going to sleep next month."'

2007-11-16T14:40:00.000-08:00

wow

2007-11-14T18:37:00.000-08:00

These guys are playing a nano guitar...with lasers.

http://www.lutherie.net/nano_gtr.html

my head is being manipulated by a 9 kg black cat

2007-11-11T23:39:00.000-08:00

christ the defeated purpose of an appropriate email address becomes more apparent to me every day. I continue to hastily respond as Le Creep to people I'd rather have know me as Iliana the Last Check Writer. a point about being a creep. It began as a tangent to my schemes and pranks. The failed ones. the misinterpreted ones. The ones that rival lifelong monotony. It's the secret life of a grandma man as I once described it in another blog title. Eyes will shift as long as my skin sheds and floats around fine sun ray filters. Such a pretty sight on long road trips. I've learned the trick to soundless walking; the outermost tarsals. Most people with back problems walk like this. And when I suggest to walk "like a human"; as an in-line bipedal, rapport is immediately established as I have concurred with their practicing chiropractor.

This is about the time in the post where I make snide comments about my soon to be former physicist roommate, but Jack has taken to his pigeon coos and I have to rub his belly now.

that dilbert character on coffee is right on the money

2007-11-07T23:57:00.000-08:00

I saw three black hawks and two cobras? (helicopters) flying over UT this afternoon. Like Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries sailing across the eyes of blank faced dope addicts. Or maybe I've been mixing my Conrad and Burroughs a little too strongly these days.

In the past week I've met several strangers who, too have traversed the mossy paths of Washington's Olympic National Rain Forest (one of my private mental refuges). A trip most notable for the cool "dirt" which is actually fine black silt from the Hoh River so shut up and stop talking trash about my failed organic exfoliant christmas present.

Look there's a turtle pond on campus in commemoration of the victims of the Tower sniper. If you're in Austin, and have nothing better to do than make friends with a bunch of blinking turtles, come sit with us. They share multiple outcrops of limited surfaces sometimes piling atop one another like a commentator noted it must be at a Weinberg speech on the origin of the universe. Weinberg schmeinberg. Why are physicists some of the most difficult people to deal with ever in life? They feel that natural law somehow permeates their past, present, and future as some sort of justification for whatever action they may take, in theory.

If my roommate says "in theory" or "in practice" one more time...stupid physicists. It's like living with the interior of my own brain with monthly spasms of epiphany like "we are stars!" or "we can make stars!" or something like that. The only good thing about living with a physicist is he is usually too caught up in classical dynamics or some static mechanic quantum manic phallic panic to invade any other space than their own.

keeping it real

2007-10-20T19:34:00.000-07:00

the underbelly of austin is melting, exposing the true corporate steel nature of it's infrastructure when everyone thought it would be made of wooden peace knots. the university has plans to construct condos on its private land once home to the biological conservatory and field site.
there is a new statue up on the west mall of cesar chavez- to complement the mlk statue on the east mall, and robert e. lee statue on the south mall in the six-pack. all we need now is a gilded twin towers monument funded by haliburton on the north mall.

i did not eat grapes until i was well into puberty. i had pickles until then, with lucas sprinkled on top. then the strike ended. or maybe it was just that my mom got tired of not eating grapes like the rest of the texas farmworkers union. whatever it was, it worked. i'm hooked on those juicy bastards, purple and green. she'd turn me in to the supermarket employees when i'd sneak one. then try to matchmake me and the butcher block boy. crazy marxist mom.

the language of ostracism

2007-08-30T15:11:00.000-07:00

A "non-UT subject" is the term given by the University of Texas system for anyone that meets neither current enrollment nor current employment criteria. Our community is essentially students, teachers, and staff coming across suspicious packages and nestled non-UT subjects in the coziest concrete chaises of south sides of buildings.

I took the city bus to school today; without the burnt orange longhorn decals along the windshield, and without the green alcove with matching burn orange longhorn decals of the UT system bus stops. My professor told his auditorium class to take it all cum granus salis and I felt like giving the man a standing ovation for it. The blond hand-clutched mouth faces of the UT subjects felt isolated without the corresponding see no evil and hear no evil abercrombie and hollister eyes and ears.

Senator Craig fluffed an ankle in the men's airport bathroom. and I really hate the dick-smirk that Cheney seems to drown his face in.

capital shitty city drunks and thiefy bitches

2007-08-30T14:30:00.000-07:00

hee! I just discovered the UT campus blotter. Slainte!

SOUTH MALL, 200 Block West Inner Campus Dr.
Public Intoxication: A UT staff member observed a UT student attempting to defy gravity but he kept falling down. The staff member observed the student fall several times. During the investigation, the officer detected a very strong odor of alcohol on the subject's breath and saw that the subject was having challenges with his balance. During the interview, the subject was able to maintain a one word answer to all questions and directions, "Why?". The subject was taken into custody for Public Intoxication, and transported to Central Booking. Occurred on: 8-27-07, at 2:58 AM.

200 BLOCK EAST 21st STREET
Consumption of Alcohol by a Minor: A UT student was observed hanging his head into a trash receptacle. During the investigation, the subject attempted to stagger away when he realized a police officer was standing behind him. As the investigation continued, the officer detected a very strong odor of alcohol on the subject's breath. The officer noted that the subject's eyes were bloodshot and glassy. The officer learned that the student was under the legal age of 21. The student was issued a field release citation for Consumption of Alcohol by a Minor. Occurred on: 8-19-07, at 3:35 PM.

The Texas Union
Theft Suspect: The University of Texas Police Department is currently investigating two laptop computer thefts that occurred inside the Texas Union. The suspect is described as: White female, 19 to 25 years of age, 5'-4" / 5'-7", thin build, with shoulder length curly blond hair, worn in a ponytail. She is described as "very attractive." She was last seen wearing black colored clothing.

UNION BUILDING, #4 West Mall
Suspicious Package: A UT staff member discovered a clear plastic baggie that contained a green leafy substance outside a second floor lounge. During the investigation, the substance tested positive as marijuana. The marijuana was impounded to be destroyed. Occurred on: 8-02-07, at 9:27 AM.

2000 BLOCK CHICON
Disorderly Conduct (Abusive Language): A UT staff member got involved in a verbal altercation with a non-UT subject who was illegally parked. The non-UT subject displayed his wordsmithing ability with three and four syllable words towards the staff member. During the investigation, the officer learned that the suspect was illegally parked and had attempted to apologize. Occurred on: 7-31-07, at 1:45 PM.

JOHNSON WILDFLOWER CENTER, 4801 La Crosse Ave.
Criminal Mischief: A UT staff member heard an unauthorized vehicle driving through the undeveloped portion of the property. The unknown vehicle left the area prior to the arrival of the UT police officer. During the investigation, the officer discovered that several varieties of plant life had been damaged. Loss value: Unknown at this time. Occurred on: 7-30-07, at 6:29 PM.

100 BLOCK WEST 24th STREET
Public Intoxication: A UT student was discovered sitting on the ground having an extreme physical reaction to the over-consumption of alcohol. The officers learned that the subject had been celebrating his 21st birthday. The subject did not know how much he had consumed, but stated, "Too Much!" Austin EMS was contacted and treated the subject at the scene for alcohol poisoning. The subject was transported to a local area hospital for additional treatment. Occurred on: 7-29-07, at 2:40 AM.

Relocation & Blog Name Change & RIP wishes

2007-08-20T09:07:00.000-07:00

Blog change to The Ides of Austin are Upon You

whew. what a move. I'm settling into my little house which was filthy prior to my arrival. Which leads me to my point: RIP Leona Helmsly. You were a tyrant but by all means classy. I will never forget reading about you and your prison sentence in the Star rag on Fridays.

This week I'm working on beautifying my front yard.
my neighborhood was recently gentrified so the remnant undesirable populations still fringe the main streets. There's a great 24 hour supermarket nearby that reminds me of Nuevo Laredo. Once when I was there with my mom about 9 years ago we watched as a pack of sodas fell from someone's bag and was ripped open, befalling all the cans which were dented and punctured, and let off fizz in the street. Then some people came and grabbed what they could and ran off with the person's sodas that had fallen and rolled away. This reminded me of a story about Vietnam my art teacher, Mr. Lube, told me one time.

Pro Family Planning

2007-07-16T21:35:00.000-07:00

Will there be a day when I can enjoy the walk from my car across a movie theater parking lot in San Antonio without sidestepping a soiled diaper?

Bad parenting skills coupled with a withering environment (as an antithetical condition to an environment in which one thrives) are the major culprits.
Behavior
Bad parenting (efficacy as a parent) has a HUGE impact on the child's self-efficacy. This is evident in a child's willingness to learn and take on the responsibilities of knowledge. The children that just sit there saying they can't do it have parents with the same attitude, it's an internalization of a strongly patterned imitation.
Stop pointing the finger at income and status, and look at personal dynamics. How does a person interact with others? Individuals at all points of the SES spectrum with poor interaction skills can easily slip through the cracks by virtue of lack of intervention on the parts of teachers, family, and faith-based figures.
Teratogens
As a product of two sets of genetic material, wellness of both parents must be taken into account. This is even more of a reason to promote the inclusion of fathers in pregnancy maintenance or termination decisions.

A Proposal I Endorse
Sterilization at birth, application for parental license.

Cons: severe restriction of personal freedoms (right to procreate), third party decisions on parental applications may be biased or corrupted (racist/sexist/homophobic/fat-ugly phobic political tactics, pay-offs), illegal and maybe dangerous reversal surgeries

Pros: a reduction in child-related crime, particularly chronic criminal conditions (neglect, abuse), which have a multitude of secondary manifestations-damaging interpersonal relationships, medical illness or injuries; increased overall competency levels

Reno couple too busy playing D&D to take care of babies
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070715/D8QD02LO0.html

17 y.o. girl throws baby away after giving birth at Disneyland Denny's
http://cbs2.com/topstories/local_story_197201156.html

Man forces daughters, 9 and 11 y.o., into trunk of car on 90 degree day
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,289437,00.html

Mom throws baby into moving car after fight with Baby-Daddy
http://www.local6.com/news/13683354/detail.html

Mom beats 5 y.o. daughter to death http://www.nbc5.com/news/13690044/detail.html

c'est la vie

2007-07-09T22:16:00.000-07:00

July 9, 2007 Monday

Looking back at the Crimebase for June 29th-July 1:
(listing criteria is the crime must be an aggressive behavior resulting in injury or death)
-June 29, 2007 Friday- terroristic threats, nothing too crazy
-June 30, 2007 Saturday (182 reports total)
7pm 1300 Dawson St 78202- drunk husband punches wife in the mouth
8pm 1400 Gardina St 78201-emergency detention of woman who attempted suicide by stabbing herself in the leg several times
9pm 9100 Bridlewood Ln 78240- ex-military man headbutts girlfriend's forehead and punches her in the left temple
9pm 4800 Castle Pine Dr 78218- autistic boy hides in bushes until dark before attacking girl playing kickball; punches her face, scratches her neck, and bites her on the breast
9pm 8607 Jones-Maltsberger 78216- 29 year old male slaps female family member with an open hand after she confronted him about smoking reefer
10pm 4642 Rigsby Ave 78222-drunk man punches girlfriend's son in the face
10pm 7626 Callaghan Rd 78229- 28 year old husband hits wife in the head, bites her forearm, and kick her arms and legs
July 1, 2007 Sunday- lots of baby mama's getting into it with the new girlfriend

Vegases and Unicornz

2007-07-08T19:41:00.000-07:00

Meanwhile back at the ranch...

July 7, 2007 Saturday

1890 South Presa, 78210, 12:10am
Returning from a party, Daniel Lopez, 18, attempted to outrun a train with two friends, when he slipped and was run over. Police found reefer in his pocket.

TJ's Drive Thru Ice House 403 Culebra Rd 78201, 4am

Jesse Elizondo, owner of TJ's Ice House, was fed up with a string of burglaries, and decided to take matters into his own hands. A wheelchair bound man with a recently fractured
foot, Michael Adam Eden, 24, threw a rock through the front window, waking Elizondo, and began reaching inside when Elizondo fired once, hitting Eden in the chest. Police found Eden dead in the parking lot and the wheelchair he'd been using to get around at the door of the scene.

July 8, 2007

El Rancho Bar 104 Porter St, 78210, 3am
Anita Herrera, 30, was drunk and sitting in her car waiting for a friend when a fat, bald White man in his 30s outside the bar shot her twice, once in the leg and a graze on the right side of her head. She was able to speed away and seek treatment.

1751 Babcock Rd, 78229, 4pm
Carlyle Place Apartments
Two men in their 20s visited a third man they knew, also in his 20s, at his apartment, and began arguing with him. One of the men shot the tenant twice in the leg before he and his acquaintance took off.

redcoats and sawed offs

2007-07-05T19:46:00.000-07:00

July 4, 2007 Wednesday

500 block W Magnolia Ave 78212, 5:30pm
John Moore, 25, was stabbed twice in the side with an 8 inch bayonet by his neighbor, Anthony Martin Casarez, 23, over money owed to Casarez' pregnant wife, Valerie Moreno, for the week Moore had spent at their house while trying to save his marriage. He then stumbled across the street to his own home he shared with his wife and father where he told his father who stabbed him before he died.

500 block of S Polaris St 78203, evening
Man driving down S Polaris encounters two teens boys and a man in his 20s on bikes and pulls over to let them pass. They began to argue with the driver when one pulled out a gun and shot the driver in the hand.

4900 block Zulema 78237, 11pm
Adrian Rangel, 14, and his friend were leaving their house on the 4900 block of Zulema when they were caught in a drive by. Rangel and his friend took off in a car and caught up to the pick up truck at Acme and Castroville Rd when someone in the suspect vehicle fired a shotgun at the car, killing the passenger, Rangel.

300 block S Pine St at Wyoming 78203, 11:30 pm
A group of people barbecuing on a front porch noticed a dark green vehicle pass by twice before someone opened fire with a shotgun shooting a 19 year-old man and 20 year-old woman each in the foot.

The only east side I like is East Hastings

2007-07-01T13:07:00.000-07:00

Saturday June 30-Sunday July 1

200 block Ferris Ave 78220 early Saturday
Chris Martin, 56, sat on a curb with a female companion and noticed a vehicle drive by several times. He stopped the car and questioned the driver who then fatally shot Martin in the chest.

500 S Hackberry St 78203
Luis Casillas, a deaf man, goes to an east side crack house to score.
Two men follow him outside to a convenience store on the corner of S Hackberry and Nevada, stab him once in the back, and run off with the man's wallet and drugs.

NIMBY San Antonio

2007-06-29T22:45:00.000-07:00

This blog was created to examine the tense irrationale that seems to be gripping to the point of asphyxiating the Alamo City. I moved back October 2006 after a nearly two year stay in Portland, OR. Post-Katrina South, running W-E along I-H 10, is by far the most bleak, emotionally void atmosphere I've experienced to date.

So today everything dried out from the floods. This morning (10am CST) as I exited O'Connor Rd at I-35, I encountered the now-familiar scene of multi-emergency vehicles securing the area around a crash emitting the strong gas odor some people associate with a big explosion. Nothing blew up; I shut my eyes in vain.

Friday June 29th, 2007 Humid, 90 degrees F

4:00 AM 6100 Rittiman Rd near Gibbs Sprawl 78218
Amtrak train headed to Louisiana hits passenger side of pickup who went around railroad crossing arms and tried to cross tracks, despite conductor's efforts to sound the whistle.
Abdel Reyes, 25, partially ejected, died of severe head trauma.

Rose Park Inn 312 South W.W. White 78219
Man shoots "girlfriend" in head, leaving her critically injured.
He drives 13 miles N and drops her off at NE Baptist Hospital, avoiding Brooks Army Medical Center less then 2 miles N of scene.
Man throws gun out into bushes where police find it and returns home 2 miles S of the scene, calls his mom to tell her what he did, and is later apprehended by police.

Afternoon: Cash & Loan 8425 Bandera Rd 78250
Man throws gasoline on clerk, steals $400
Puts money in HEB bag, flees.