Mouse Farts in a Wind Tunnel

June 6, 2003

Internet quizzes are becoming ordinary, losing their edge. More and more, good ideas peter out after three or four half-funny questions written by fifteen-year-olds. The golden age of internet quizzes has passed, but a few odd mutants stand out. This isn't one of them.

Omae wa dochira anime no VILLAIN desu ka?

[koyasunomiko.com]

posted by el goose on 6/6/2003 09:36:28 PM | link

posted by el goose on 6/6/2003 10:02:27 AM | link

Struck with the long silence here. Not the longest silence, because you don't come back from that, but I don't blame you if you've been concerned. Been simultaneously busy and torpid, and lost a lot of time in a fugue last week. I had to go for cognitive testing ordered by my insurance company. I didn't know what to expect, so I was pretty frightened, but it wasn't bad. In fact it was quite fun, like a series of games -- use these little blocks to duplicate this pattern, cross out the number 6 every time you see it on this page, how many words can you remember that start with the letter "b" in one minute (answer: not that many, right off the top of my head).

I had to take the MMPI again, but it's been twenty years since the last one, so maybe it will show something new and fascinating. Unfortunately, the MMPI isn't designed to measure dissociative disorders. But it will say whether I'm still depressed or not. The questions designed to to measure hypochondriasis were among the most obvious and most amusing: "I have red patches on my neck." The MMPI is a gruelingly long test, but I am such a fast reader that I cut an hour off the scheduled eight-hour day. Very tired at the end.

The day of testing was also the first day I received my organic produce from a local farm -- I bought a share in this year's harvest through their Community Supported Agriculture program.

CSA is a partnership of mutual commitment between a farm and a community of supporters which provides a direct link between the production and consumption of food. Supporters cover a farm's yearly operating budget by purchasing a share of the season's harvest. CSA members make a commitment to support the farm throughout the season, and assume the costs, risks and bounty of growing food along with the farmer or grower. Members help pay for seeds, fertilizer, water, equipment maintenance, labor, etc. In return, the farm provides, to the best of its ability, a healthy supply of seasonal fresh produce throughout the growing season. Becoming a member creates a responsible relationship between people and the food they eat, the land on which it is grown and those who grow it.

How very Alice Waters of me. And I mean that in a good way.

I find it randomly interesting that the CSA method of interaction between farmers and consumers is called direct marketing, as that is also the name of the type of marketing practice that brings so much junk mail to your home.

Several advantages to the direct marketing approach of CSA, in addition to shared risk and pre-payment of farm costs, are the minimal loss and waste of harvested farm produce, little or reduced need for long-term storage, and a willingness by members to accept produce with natural cosmetic imperfections.

It is funny that minimizing waste is central to the concept of CSA direct marketing. In direct marketing, using snail mail to promote products or raise funds, huge amounts of waste are more than endured, they are calculated as a necessary cost of doing business. Returns on direct marketing mail are notoriously low, especially among fundraisers. This is the major reason why spam will never go away -- it is too damn cost-effective.

I first learned about Bluebird Hills through a short short commercial on the Food Network. They seem to have bought some fifteen-second slots (five or ten second?) from the local cable company and are using a very inexpensively produced ad in a slide-show style with a voiceover. Since the major way of promoting it otherwise seems to be via word-of-mouth (the best way imaginable to get more customers), I would say this is a kind of cool innovation for them. But that's the old marketing geek in me talking.

posted by el goose on 6/6/2003 09:53:19 AM | link

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June 4, 2003

Spike? This is what Spike means to me. Get over it, Spike. You're not my Spike.

posted by el goose on 6/4/2003 07:08:02 PM | link

find your element at mutedfaith.com. <º>

posted by el goose on 6/4/2003 06:37:10 PM | link

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June 2, 2003

Which OS are You?

posted by el goose on 6/2/2003 06:25:14 PM | link

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