Saturday, May 31, 2008

Weekend Edition


Oregon's State Flag: the Governor responds!

After much waiting, a few weeks ago I finally received a response from the governor regarding the packet of new designs we sent him for the Oregon state flag! Because I know this will be important to all of you, I will print his message here in its entirety.

Theodore R. Kulongoski
Governor

Thank you for sharing your opinion and comments. I appreciate hearing from Oregonians who are concerned about their communities and state. I believe citizen input is vital to a strong and healthy society and I urge your continued involvement.

[fake signature]

Frankly, I was a little disappointed by this response. Not only did he not designate one of your flags as the new official Oregon banner, but he failed to even indicate which one was his favorite. I was feeling a little dissed by that, but my mood improved a little when I got a second, identical postcard in the mail again yesterday. That he took the time to send TWO postcards shows a certain level of caring.

Still, the State of Oregon is clearly not in Estonia's league when it comes to responding to flag criticism.


Masthead

So, I put up a graphic masthead the week before last. My main motivation was that the image – it's a mediaeval illustration called "the Chariot of Venus" what I found on BibliOdyssey – cracks me the hell up. But I'll admit it: it was also a half-hearted attempt at making the blog more attractive, so as to... you know... attract more readers.

I am conflicted about trying to "grow" the blog. In general, I consider myself damned lucky to have the number and stripe of readers I already have. Yet, who among us does not want more readers, more attention, more publishers falling all over each other trying to bid high enough to secure a deal for the book tie-in?

To this end, I have wrestled with trying to come up with a sub-title that is snappy and witty and yet communicates what the actual CONTENT of the blog is. If I had one of those, the potential audience member out there who is jonesin' for this kind of content could find us and pull up a chair. Unfortunately, this line of thought leads me to the problem that this blog doesn't really have coherent content, other than "stuff that happens to be interesting to michael5000." And any marketing professional would tell me that the market segment of "people who share michael5000's interests" is a very, very difficult group to target. They would tell me this, just to get me out of their office.

But I digress. The new masthead's approval rating is down around 55%, which is far too low for the standards of this operation. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I am open to extreme measures.


Vatican Update

Although the Pope has more or less reacted to the recent decision by the California Supreme Court legalizing same-sex marriage – he's agin' it – the Church is apparently liberalizing with respects to some other theological issues. According to an AP article that caught my eye in a recent edition of the 'Gonian, the Vatican's chief astronomer (awesome job!) Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes feels that a belief in the possibility of extraterrestrial life does not contradict church teaching.

"Ruling out the existence of aliens would be like 'putting limits' on God's creative freedom, he said. 'How can we rule out that life may have developed elsewhere?' Funes said. 'Just as we consider earthly creatures as 'a brother' and 'sister,' why should we not talk about an 'extraterrestrial brother'?"

Personally, I am disappointed that Rev. Funes apparently did not address Orson Scott Card's hierarchy of alienness in his remarks. Nevertheless, I applaud this step towards peace and genuine friendship among the galaxy's sentient beings.


Quilts, Baby!

Finally, I would be remiss in not letting you know that my quilts Labyrinth and Ice & Fire will be on display here in the City of Roses next weekend. It's Labyrinth's public debut. Here's the details:
Northwest Quilters 34th Annual Quilt Show
University Place Hotel
310 SW Lincoln Street

Friday, June 6, 2008, 10 am - 7 pm
Saturday, June 7, 2008, 10 am - 4 pm
Sunday, June 8, 2008, 10 am - 4 pm

Admission is six bucks and no, I'm not able to "put you on the list."

8 comments:

The [Cherry] Ride said...

I like the new Masthead. Very Chauncer-esque.

The [Cherry] Ride said...

(Sorry, Chaucer)

fingerstothebone said...

How were you able to come to the "the new masthead's approval rating is down around 55%" conclusion?

Not that I approve, mind you.

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater said...

Are there some foxy chicks at the Quilt Fest? And I mean hot in a Golden Girls kind of way.

Sorry about the lack of interest in the flags. : (

Anonymous said...

Congrats on the quilt showing!

That banner cracks me up too. I remember the funnies with it.

How can the approval rating be down? although it does look like the life and times of Micheal 5000 is a bit risque. he he

Two of the same post card with the same faked signature. That is double the love.

I am going to wonder if the Pope himself is an alien now.. . .again.

Anonymous said...

You need a governor with fewer syllables and more imagination.

You could change the masthead daily with whatever strikes your fancy (or your plain).

ET in da hood! There's a wonderful song written by Mike Hunt, on Patrick Sky's "Songs That Made America Famous (Something to Offend Everyone)" LP, called "The Pope". The album label had a "rear" pictured on it, and the turntable spindle would penetrate the, uh, center. The lyrics included the great lines "You know, you just shouldn't quibble / With a man who is infallibibble" (rhymes with quibble), and "Giovanni Mantini / You know who I meany / Giovanni Mantini / The Pope."

Kudos re Quilt Show.

Michael5000 said...

@Fingers: Through the poll, that's how. You sassy thing.

@Dr. Ken: Yes, Golden Girls would be the dominant form of foxiness on hand. I could introduce you around, if you like.

Rebel said...

You know, I certainly wouldn't expect the Governor himself to reply... but you'd think that his staff could come up with a few nice things to say about the flags. I mean, come on!!!

BTW Dr. Noisewater - *I'll* be at the quilt show! But I'll be foxy in an unemployed kinda way.