powen's endless thoughts

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powen's endless thoughts Forays into the Real World tag:blog.powen.org,2005:dd6356a0beeaf329e736d20e5aac9616 Textpattern 2012-05-13T04:43:58Z Powen Shiah powen.shiah+txp@gmail.com http://blog.powen.org/ Powen Shiah 2008-09-08T22:42:00Z 2008-09-08T22:45:38Z Photos from Podcamp Philly tag:blog.powen.org,2008-09-08:dd6356a0beeaf329e736d20e5aac9616/b7df26fc4ff5dfa19d61e64d5d58895f This weekend I was at <a href="http://www.podcampphilly.com">Podcamp Philly</a> which is the first Unconference-/<a href="http://www.barcamp.org">BarCamp</a> -style gathering I’ve been to. It was held at <a href="http://www.temple.edu">Temple University</a> and there were maybe 250+ people there. I was really excited by all the people who are so enthusiastic about new social media and the web, really inspired me to start blogging again. Well, to try to get back on that horse. I’m going to try to make some time to write about the actual sessions I attended and the conversations I had (we talked a lot about <a href="http://twitter.com">twitter</a>, but for now, here’s the Flickr photo set of the weekend. <object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="500" height="375" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=59894" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000"> <param name="flashvars" value="&offsite=true&intl_lang=en-us&page_show_url=%2Fphotos%2Fpowen%2Fsets%2F72157607175298489%2Fshow%2F&page_show_back_url=%2Fphotos%2Fpowen%2Fsets%2F72157607175298489%2F&set_id=72157607175298489&jump_to="></param> <param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=59894"></param> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"></param> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=59894" bgcolor="#000000" allowFullScreen="true" flashvars="&offsite=true&intl_lang=en-us&page_show_url=%2Fphotos%2Fpowen%2Fsets%2F72157607175298489%2Fshow%2F&page_show_back_url=%2Fphotos%2Fpowen%2Fsets%2F72157607175298489%2F&set_id=72157607175298489&jump_to=" width="500" height="375"></embed></object> Powen Shiah 2008-09-08T03:18:00Z 2008-09-08T03:22:10Z a funny email I got this weekend tag:blog.powen.org,2008-09-08:dd6356a0beeaf329e736d20e5aac9616/acab0f992797b2466ff3c965cca336da Mark, the organizer of the Netzwerk Philadelphia German group (meetup) that I’ve been going to pretty regularly since I moved here sent out a hilarious email to a few people. There’s been an outflux of people in the past few months, started <a href="http://twitter.com/martinet">Martin</a> who moved (back) to Germany, Sylvia who moved to San Francisco, Gundula who went back to Munich (she was only ever going to be here for a year), and now Marc, Stefanie, and their son Jakob are moving back to Germany too!* Besides considering them part of the “core” group, Mark’s totally in love with <a href="http://polexa.jimdo.com/cc_images/cache_355894303.jpg?t=1220504771">Jakob</a> , who is possibly one of the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/powen/2474795642/in/set-72157600097510630/">cutest</a> and most good-natured babies ever. It’s really sweet that he’s throwing a bit of a farewell party. <blockquote> Liebe <a href="http://dict.leo.org/ende?lp=ende&p=wlqAU.&search=Genossen">Genossen</a> und Genossinnen, Fellow workers and comrades. The Socialist movement is as wide as the world and its mission is to win the world, the whole world, from animalism, and consecrate it to humanity. To realize this great social ideal is a work of education, and organization. The working classes must be aroused. They must be made to hear the trumpet call of solidarity: economic solidarity and political solidarity. Genosse Schmidt and Genossin Storf have carried this work forward here in the stomach of the Capitalist beast. Yet, there comes a time when those who have fought the proud fight against pre-modernist, ex-parte and post partem imperialist oppression must return to the the socialist fatherland to once more make common cause with the proletariart and to acquire adequate health care coverage. That being the case, you are invited to celebrate the departure of our faithful comrades-in-beer, Genossin Stefanie Storf, Genosse Marc Schmidt, and Genosschen Jakob. We will be convening at the address below on Sunday, September 14 starting at 5 pm. Following Genosse Hass’ self-critical session on “Marcuse and the Dialectic of Strudel”, food and drink will be served, courtesy of the people and our global sponsor, Wachovia Bank. Attendence is mandatory. That includes Genossen Swaboda and Gebauer. Please let us know if you can join us! Yours in Solidarity, The Central Committee for the Establishment of Peaceful Coexistance and Repatriation to Germany </blockquote> *There have probably been others but it’s not coming to mind right now. I suppose the list looks pretty sparse to represent an exodus but since they were all pretty frequently at the Stammtische it’s like a bunch of regulars are disappearing :-( Powen Shiah 2006-09-29T10:13:25Z 2006-09-29T10:13:25Z Sorry for the lack of updates... tag:blog.powen.org,2006-09-29:dd6356a0beeaf329e736d20e5aac9616/98efb1ea04d3aa726d6c2a07203ebde7 It’s been really difficult finding reliable internet access that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. My pictures are also all on my laptop, so until I find a wireless network or a way to get internet onto my computer, I won’t be able to upload any more pictures. I’ve been at Schloss Sommersdorf for the past two days, and it’s been really quite pleasant. I’m in the Gothic Room, which is this enormous bedroom + sitting room on the third floor of the “new” part of the castle (new as in… 16th century, maybe? I can’t keep the dates straight in my head). It’s a little bit scary at night, sleeping in a room the size of my entire apartment in Philadelphia, but a nightlight helps a lot. Last night was the castle tour and candlelight dinner, hosted by Baron (Dr.) Manfred von Crailsheim and his wife Baroness Lilo (apparently in German you say [i]Baronin. The castle is quite an amazing place, and I wouldn’t want to spoil the fun if any of you ever decide to come here… so let’s just say that you get to meet some of the Baron’s ancestors! The dinner itself was wonderful—I ate way too much—a rather traditional fare of vension, sauerbraten, spätzle, sauerkraut, pear w/berries, and hot raspberries/red berries on ice cream. All of this was then followed by coffee and schnapps! We also watched a short TV clip from Extreme Homes (I think it runs on the Home and Garden channel) that featured the castle in Sommersdorf. Quite entertaining if you can find it online or something—drop me a comment or an email if you do. Powen Shiah 2006-09-20T14:48:00Z 2006-09-23T16:18:01Z Zürich Airport tag:blog.powen.org,2006-09-23:dd6356a0beeaf329e736d20e5aac9616/c3a8e8dd328b0bf6a6ea4b8df30d6237 The ride up to JFK from Philadelphia was not too pleasant. I hardly ever get carsick, but being jolted around on the shuttle from Philly to New York, with multiple stops in New Jersey to pick up random people at hotels, made me quite queasy. I think I might explore a way to take Amtrak back, maybe even the Chinatown bus or NJ Transit. At least that way I’d have a headrest. I did make it in plenty of time to check in for my flight to Switzerland, though I have to admit envying the people seemingly randomly picked out by the Swiss Air staff who got to move out of the economy check-in line and over to the business / first-class counter for a speedy check-in. They don’t take your luggage right away anymore at check-in, you’ve got to bring it over to this scanning area yourself. Of course, I got in the wrong line (all the other luggage was going to South Africa) and had to go back. One of the reasons our flight was late leaving was that the previous flight (Continental) had been held up. While there may have been other reasons for their delay, the one I saw was that a woman had forgotten / lost her rosary (presumably at security). They held the entire plane and a gate agent came running up with this giant metallic necklace-thingy —well, a rosary— so they could finally leave. Somewhat mind-boggling, but I suppose you need all the good fortune and divine favor you can get when flying these days. Our Swiss Air flight staff was charmingly discombobulated and in amusing disarray the entire flight, frantically counting passengers before take-off and making desperate announcements like “Please sit down so we can finish serving breakfast. We have to be done in fifteen minutes!” A few pictures: View from the airplane – my German seatmate with the window seat kindly leaned out of the way for me to take this. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/powen/250492471/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://static.flickr.com/107/250492471_3d91cb182c.jpg" width="333" height="500" alt="Swiss Air" /></a> Amusing signs on the smoking lounges in the airport. Just exchange Camel or another cigarette brand for Winston, but all of them have that delightful phrase below: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/powen/250492747/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://static.flickr.com/108/250492747_c7fd8fa961.jpg" width="500" height="165" alt="Smoking is Bad" /></a> Powen Shiah 2006-09-17T20:19:00Z 2006-09-17T20:26:01Z Schloss Sommersdorf tag:blog.powen.org,2006-09-17:dd6356a0beeaf329e736d20e5aac9616/f7bce87c57f91581657ec73d69792e96 Dr. Manfred von Crailsheim (aka “the Baron”) just sent me a beautiful picture of the castle. <a href="http://blog.powen.org/images/5.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href, 'popupwindow', 'width=2352,height=1845,scrollbars,resizable'); return false;"> <img src="http://blog.powen.org/images/5t.jpg" alt="" /> </a> Powen Shiah 2006-09-17T05:17:00Z 2006-09-17T05:18:58Z Off to Germany, Czech Republic, and Hungary tag:blog.powen.org,2006-09-17:dd6356a0beeaf329e736d20e5aac9616/4c99d66c6d265be510415863b23697bf

Since I’m taking off on Tuesday (Sept 19) for my first work trip, I thought I’d resurrect this site as sort of travelogue. A bit of a rundown of what I’m doing…

Powen Shiah 2006-02-16T02:00:00Z 2006-02-21T19:41:05Z Asian Arts Initiative Journal #2 tag:blog.powen.org,2006-02-21:dd6356a0beeaf329e736d20e5aac9616/0d0d2fc12b6035d7d730f8b108956730 Wednesday, February 15, 2006 Since Betsy was not going to be in Monday and President’s Day, we arranged that I would come in Wednesday this week and next week. When we met today, we went over my schedule, including helping out this Friday at the MANTRA open mic event. Betsy updated me on several different things going on. The save-the-date postcards for the annual fundraising banquet (of which I received some to distribute) and the search that just started for a new position, Director of Development and an internal search for a new program assistant. I also brought up the possibility of outsourcing the AAI’s email through a recent initiative through Google. I had sent an email to Betsy earlier this week and was pretty excited about the possibilities for the organization, since it would simplify the current email setup and offer more possibilities/functionality. I had hoped that we could at least apply for the (free) program, but Betsy said that she would have to discuss it at the staff meeting. It was somewhat surprising to hear this since I thought it was a relatively straightforward matter to sign up, since it wouldn’t be a commitment. I had forgotten that even small organizations have specific channels for making decisions. Betsy and I worked using the database software some more to estimate a better idea of how many people will need to be called during the call-a-thon on Wednesday evening. We also discussed the details of when the calling would take place and by whom. I spent much of the afternoon rewriting the script for the call-a-thon. I found it was hard to switch to the mode of writing for a telephone call, as Betsy had to point out, many of the phrases or sentences I was using would be awkward on the phone or didn’t reflect regular speech patterns. I also had the task of investigating the possibility of setting up a mailing list for the participants in the Artists’ Exchange program, which one of the board members had suggested we set up (modeled after another organization’s mailing list). I looked around on the web-interface for the mail setup and found some mentions of mailing lists but no actual way to add them, so I called the customer service number of the company. After spending a long time on hold with someone (who seemed very confused by my request), I was told that they didn’t offer that functionality. I’ll have to look into other, outside possibilities that still allow the “asianartsinitiative.org” tag to be visible. Powen Shiah 2006-02-07T02:00:00Z 2006-02-07T21:58:07Z Asian Arts Initiative Journal #1 tag:blog.powen.org,2006-02-07:dd6356a0beeaf329e736d20e5aac9616/7b1eda2fb38c1256ed1c1e1ba7f0eea3

Today was my first day at the <a href="http://www.asianartsinitiative.org">Asian Arts Initiative</a>. It is located on the 2nd floor of a building sort of near Chinatown and very close to the <a href="http://paconvention.com">Convention Center</a>. Unfortunately, the planned expansion of the Pennsylvania Convention Center is forcing the Asian Arts Initiative and the other groups and artists in the building to move, though most likely not until next year, or December at the earliest.

Powen Shiah 2006-01-25T14:47:00Z 2006-01-25T14:49:33Z Rodents Attack! tag:blog.powen.org,2006-01-25:dd6356a0beeaf329e736d20e5aac9616/3b7cb4a550c9bef9180363de493fcc8d <img src="http://blog.powen.org/images/4t.png" alt="mouse in paper bag" /> Terrifying experience… catching mice in my room. I called workbox and there are now traps. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) nary a one’s been caught. Powen Shiah 2006-01-18T06:44:00Z 2006-01-18T07:09:30Z midnight snack tag:blog.powen.org,2006-01-18:dd6356a0beeaf329e736d20e5aac9616/26088b98421a67c38c959f0da9c15eb7 <img src="http://blog.powen.org/images/3t.jpg" alt="persimmons" /> I bugged Sung for a persimmon tonight, since I was still starving after eating a fuji apple. I think it may have been the first one I’ve ever eaten, other than a random bite here or there. Powen Shiah 2006-01-12T03:36:00Z 2006-08-21T14:40:02Z Welcome tag:blog.powen.org,2006-01-12:dd6356a0beeaf329e736d20e5aac9616/f19a1a2bb99388cb83cee3092401c933 <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/powen/5140721/"><img src="http://static.flickr.com/4/5140721_3ec8c956f6.jpg" alt="" /></a>