Inappropriate Police Conduct at the RNC

To Whom It May Concern,

I would like to express my dismay at a few actions taken by police during the 2008 Republican National Convention. I ask you to please help this commentary find the right ears.

I live in Connecticut, and did not attend the convention or the protests. However, I have followed them closely on the web, and in particular on youtube.com.
One video particularly disturbs me deeply :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j51_9e3a8ak
Update: video taken down - but someone else reposted it :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lA6V1JE1zbM
Additionally, here is some media coverage and a different angle:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGupCjUaht8

- In this video a girl can be seen non-violently facing off with a line of riot police and bicycle police who are trying to clear the street. Her hands are clearly visible displaying a two finger peace gesture.
- Several bicycle police (4 or 5) repeatedly ram her with the front wheel of their bikes. The girl stumbles back but keeps her hands in the air.
- An officer in riot gear sprays a chemical agent at her from roughly 10 ft to her left. This does not effect her defiant, yet peaceful stance.
- The officer standing directly in front of her then sprays her directly in the face from about 1 foot away.
- The girl then grasps her face in pain and turns / is shoved by another officer away. People in the crowd scream at the police.
- The girl is sprayed repeatedly by several officers even after she is clearly pacified, in pain, and has her hands up posing NO immediate threat to any of the officers.
- Several laser sights can also be seen to be directed at her person.
- The girl is sprayed, shoved, and rammed with bicycle wheels several more times even as she is turned away from the officers grasping her face in pain with one hand and holding the other up with a peace gesture.
- The girl is finally tossed to the ground by the officers. She sits up and raises her hands again in a gesture of peace.
- At this point an officer reaches in and pushes her once more but backs off leading me to believe that no attempt is being made to cuff her.
- A few officers ram their bikes into her legs once more as she supports herself on the ground with one hand while displaying the peace gesture with the other.
- The police can be heard to shout "Leave The Area!" though it is unclear if it is directed at her or the crowd in general, which is all but entirely behind the camera and not directly interfering with the ability of the police to take charge of the situation.
---end of video---

My concern is that the use of power by the police, in my opinion, far exceeded what was necessary to gain compliance. I understand they are trying to clear the crowd, however the crowd appears to be mostly subdued. There seems to be no reason why a few officers could not deal appropriately with this one passive resistor. A few officers could have taken hold of her and forcibly guided her off the street. Failing that, they could have placed her under arrest for interfering with the police. Her behavior in the video seems to indicate that this would have been possible without injury to the officers or herself, without the use of chemical agents, and without abusive treatment that only angers the mob that the police are trying to subdue.

The girl is clearly not physically resisting or fighting back at the officers, and her treatment by the officers is absolutely excessive and abusive. This is not supposed to happen in America and especially not right outside a convention to elect the next leader of the country! This behavior is shameful and I hope that those responsible will be held accountable for their actions.

Thank you for your time,
Dylan Riordan
Citizen of the United States of America

Salty calls for aMOREphous sentiency

My good friend, Salty, of "Motorcade of Mediocrity" has been insisting that I update my blog. Now Salty, I feel I must point out that I have logged 60 of my 180 posts since your last post! Salty, come on now!! I need me some Salty ramblin' !

Motorcade of Mediocrity hypocrisy aside, I have certainly let the blog trail off a bit, and I do appreciate the encouragement Salty I really do. I don't know what to tell you man, I've been in a slump....just lacking creative motivation.

But anyway Salty, let me tell you something. We made some pesto about 2 weeks ago. I assure you, it was delicious, but the weird thing about this batch of pesto is that it is still bright green even 2 weeks after we made it. Its refusal to oxidize and darken on the surface has lead me to regard it with a great deal of suspicion...which explains why I haven't finished it and it's still in the refrigerator refusing to go bad. [scratches head]

Anyway Salty, that's all I got for now, but I will try to get back into the swing of things. See ya this weekend!

Objects In The Rear View Mirror

I would like to take this moment to address an issue that has plagued me since it first came to my attention way back in '94 when I was a confused little boy entering the 5th grade and Meat Loaf was hot. No, not meatloaf as in, "meat loaf for dinner again." I am referring to the other Meat Loaf, you know, the one who played Bob in the Hollywood thriller, Fight Club. Five years before he donned the "bitch-tits" costume, Meat Loaf was hot on the charts with his single, Objects In The Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer Than They Are. The reference to the warning on a rear view mirror is a poignant metaphor about how memories from long ago still haunt us in the present.
All too true I'm afraid, but I myself have always been haunted by the fact that the title of the song is in blatant contradiction to the actual warning on a rear view mirror.

Objects In Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear.

Meat Loaf would have you believe that objects appear close when they are, in fact, far. The man clearly does not understand the principles of a convex mirror and could have taken a lesson from this scene in the 1993 Hollywood thriller Jurassic Park, which clearly points out the fact that, though the T-Rex appears close, it is in fact, closer. Oh Shit, Look Out Malcolm!!! Think they'll have that on the tour? Yes.... apparently, yes.

"Walking" -Ryan Larkin (1968)

Photographer criticised

"Liu [the photographer] defended himself, saying: 'I just knew that the city government has paved the pit, and without my pictures, the pit would not be noticed by the government, and there would perhaps be more people falling over.'" -Link found via peoplefallingover.com

Summer Reading Lists

"Today, where we live, the start of a two-day look at literacy in Connecticut. We'll talk with teachers and librarians about the benefits and the pitfalls of assigned summer reading. We'll find out what books teachers are asking their students to read. And, we'll look at the Harry Potter effect. What if millions of kids choose to pick up a book this summer that nobody told them to read?" - Link

My mom went on NPR's "Where We Live" this morning to discuss summer reading lists, a topic which she is quite passionate about. She and I have had many discussions about education over the years and I am proud to hear her on the radio discussing some of the same issues.

Avatar Machine

"Avatar Machine is a system which replicates the aesthetics and visuals of third person gaming, allowing the user to view themselves as a virtual character in real space" Found via Hack A Day

Will Wright and Brian Eno on Generative Music

Watch the whole talk

Oh Life With Your Colorful Suprises

April Was...
- Ziggomatic 17 and the flow of everything
- Grindhouse with Mike, Chris, and Sara
- Secret passages and Attic Break-ins
- Photo-lab phun, a photo of birds, and hats in the mirror
- The Senior show! Jen! Then a party at Elanie's and my new hat got around.
- "It all comes down to the fact that I have two grapes and a Big Y coin in my pocket" - Mike Stenta
- 1 Frame every 2 min for the next 2 weeks....and....GO!
- "I can gather all the news I need on the weather report. Hey, I got nothing to do today but smile."
- Niantic with Mike, Shane, and a snack. We found a "Trust Me" pamphlet with ulterior motives.
- Magnifying Glasses, Soap Bubbles, and Silly Putty at Artspace.
- "I've gotta big big big big heart beat, yeah! I think you are the sweetest thing."
- The fog rolled into Iceland and we were silhouettes.
- A party at Will's. A few more hat photos, and I met Patricia.
- Back up on the hill for sunsets & oranges....it was windy!






May Was...
- Aim conversations and an unexpected 4am "booty pickup".
- 2 Exams and then, "FREEDOM!!!!!!!"
- A campfire in the woods.
- Slack line with Mike and Julianne. We're gonna start a commune...someday...someday.
- Philosophy at the Conifer Garden and I found a 4 leaf clover.
- The Artspace time-lapse came to an end.
- Then pizza at my place w/ Mike, Julianne, Kyleen, and Zoe.
- Scalp massages from Patricia.
- Wrecking my car and hitting a cat on 195.
- Diana's Pool with Mike, Noelle & Malerie
- It was raining sunlight at sunset... and photos of Chris's eye.
- 16mm film spaghetti at WHUS because I forgot the take-up reel.
- Bonfire at Will's
- Bottle cap philosophy and skyward gazes with Malerie
- Planning the basement project with Dusty
- Charlie Chaplin in the backyard
- The slide, the sun,The Henney Buggy Band... and well, what is life without a little uncertainty?
- A new car!
- Packing, saying good bye, and moving out. Oh how I will miss that house.

It's raining seed pods in Hampton

It's raining seed pods in Hampton
Tiny sails with a genetic payload
They fly to do battle with entropy
Their roots will grasp chaos
Their branches will thrust upwards
And a new fleet will be born to continue the battle

My Car Wreck

More Photos

Monday afternoon I was heading down to my mom's house to work on the basement remodeling project my brother and I have planned. Just down the street from her house on Route 195, a cat ran right in front of my car. I know you're not supposed to swerve, but it was completely reflex. I'm a cat person and I really didn't want to hit that cat, but the thwunk sound on the undercarriage let me know that I had failed to avoid it... But I didn't have time to think about that because at this point the car lost traction. I swung the wheel left, then right trying to regain control.

There's a moment right before impact, right when you know you're not gonna avoid it. At this moment you think, "Fuck, this is going to suck." You think, "Well I'll be needing a new car cuz this one's going to be fuuuucked up." You think, "I wonder if the airbags are going to go off." Then it's all impact.

The car caught the edge of the road, spun around, and bounced off a tree. Suddenly I found myself with a whole bunch of canvas in my lap. The car was filled with smoke and it smelled like firecrackers. Airbags utilize an explosive charge, that's how they fill up so fast. The smoke was still pouring out of flaps in the heap of canvas in my lap. The windshield was smashed and bits of glass were everywhere.

I wanted out of the wreck, but my door would not open. It had been wedged shut in the twisted metal. I remember thinking, "I might have to climb out of the back door," but I can't remember if I did or not. Somehow I found myself on the side of the road. I grabbed my phone and called my mom, then I called 911, then I forgot that I called my mom and called her again. Passing motorists kept stopping and asking me if I was ok. I said yes.

Within a minute or two I heard the sirens. An ambulance and several police cars pulled up and suddenly the area was alive with activity. A paramedic came up to me and inspected my hand which was trickling a small amount of blood. He wrapped my hand in an excessive amount of gauze and asked me all sorts of questions. Meanwhile a police officer asked for my license and reached into the glove box for the registration. He took them to his car to process.

A wrecker showed up and dragged the car off the side of the road with some sort of quick jack. The paramedic commented, "It's amazing what they can do with wreckers these days." Then the car was towed off down the street.

It was right about this time that my mom and brother arrived at the scene. My mom gave me a big hug and I burst into tears suddenly realizing what had caused the wreck in the first place. "I hit a cat," I sobbed.

That's all I have to say about it right now...

An hour and a half ago I killed a cat and wrecked my car. That's all I have to say about it right now...

Diet Coke and Mentos

Experiment #1


Experiment #2


EepyBird.com

Yea Spider Kite! OWWW!

Spinning metal disks

A significant portion of my life is precariously invested in the microscopic particles on but a few small spinning metal disks. This realization leaves me conflicted between two thoughts:
1) That I must strengthen and protect this investment with more spinning metal disks.
2) That I must reduce my dependence on spinning metal disks.