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In 1997, the rave/rage group The Prodigy released an offensive track entitled “Smack My Bitch Up” which, when I was 15 years old I thought was really awesome. 

The music video was banned from MTV due to its content. It was rather hard to get banned from MTV back in 97’. For two years I dressed up as the Firestarter dude with double-spiked hair.

Fast forward to today and there is a new version of the video uploaded onto YouTube. I can’t stop laughing. Its a bit extreme, but that is what the Prodigy was all about. 

If you know the original version and the context surrounding it, then I think you will appreciate the gravity of the re-imagined 2012 version.

MASH SF: HISTORIC POLO FIELDS: GOLDEN GATE PARK

mashsf:

With much fanfare, the first bicycle arrived in San Francisco from Paris in 1876. By the late 1890s, bicycles were inexpensive due to replaceable rubber tires and inner tubes, and mass-produced parts, including high-quality chains. Bicycles were popular and fashionable; they became instant…

If you recall the alleycat bike race I threw a few years back, The Tourist Trap, the Polo Fields is exactly where I started the whole thing.

Today I was reading an article by Robert King about the atrocities occurring in Syria.

It saddens me that the cradle of civilization is being tarnished, trashed and demolished by a totalitarian, criminal, despotic regime. It makes me unhappy that the international community is doing nothing about it. 

I have written about my dissatisfaction regarding the under-reporting of this genocidal conflict before. Today I was looking at King’s images of death, despair and destruction and reminded of my wonderful time in Aleppo. The old souk is (or at least was) an exhilarating experience. Here is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world being destroyed by a maniac. 

The souk is a world heritage site. A walk down its dark, fragrant hallways is a passageway back in time. A time of nomads, jewels, silk, caravansary, frankincense and myrrh, Crusaders, Arabs, Muslims and the free exchange of knowledge. For although religion has often played a pivotal role in the actions defining human history, it is the trade routes that have transversed this globe and transmitted knowledge.  

Needless to say, I am unhappy, saddened and hurt by the ramblings of a madmen who runs unchecked and unbalanced by the international community. The United Nations is a terrible sham. The tribunals and “fact-finding” missions that our world’s governments support are a farce. Time and time again it is the United States that must come to the aid of others. Unless of course it is not politically prudent, in which case very little is done. For if there is not a direct connection between genocide and pecuniary justification on behalf of the US (or the many corporations that run the US) - than little is to be done to help the helpless.

In time things will get better in Syria. My only hope is that this happens sooner than later.

For more pictures visit King’s website.

All pictures in this blog posting are my own.

Christopher Hitchens is a contrarian intellectual atheist. His pursuit in disproving god and all things religious and saintly is what I find most profound. 

Its great to hear a voice of reason, which disputes and attempts to rationalize the ridiculous claims that so many billions of people devoutly believe and testify to as certain truths. 

We lost a great fighter, a drunk and a radical with his bout against cancer. Luckily his words live on and his videos do too. I was rather addicted to the veracity of his logic, persuasion and speech through the ChristopherHitchslap YouTube Channel.

Keep Calm and Carry On

Being Thankful

The view of Mt. Tam from Hoo Koo E Koo Trail

The Fire Road off of Crown Road

A Stream Along the Walk

Yesterday was Thanksgiving. A somewhat odd holiday here in America. I went for a hike with two of my siblings up Mount Tamalpais in Marin. It was a sunny, blue sky day with a temperature hovering around 68 F.

Its thought provoking that we are supposed to use this day to commemorate what we are thankful for, friendships and how beautiful it is to be alive. 

Yet, the holiday originates from the bastardization of  Native American traditions, the deaths of their tribes, the stealing of their lands and in modernity the commercialization of the Holidays.

It would surely be hard for our ancestors three hundred years ago imagining that videos like this one from Walmart are what Thanksgiving and Christmas have become.

Hater’s Guide to Williams-Sonoma and Laughing Chickens

Today a pretty funny email hit my inbox. 

Drew Magary writes at Deadspin and eloquently writes his remarks about receiving Williams-Sonoma catalogs.

This year, a first for Laughing Chickens, we are featured in the WS Holiday Catalog!

This will be the third time that Kristian Hansen has somehow appeared in a Gawker article. First was with a video I did with Nate Westheimer and Second time was with a blog and twitter post that I wrote when I was in the start-up game about then struggling entrepreneur Charles Forman. Of course Forman won at the end of the day with the sale of Draw Something and is now kicking ass with PictureLife ( they just raised $4M the other week).

Here’s Drew’s take on our product:

Made a new three tiered compost box from redwood. I am excited to see this bad boy in action. Working with raw materials and designing functional products is very important to me. Creativity and problem solving rule my work. What have you built lately that you are proud of?

Made a new three tiered compost box from redwood.

I am excited to see this bad boy in action.

Working with raw materials and designing functional products is very important to me. Creativity and problem solving rule my work.

What have you built lately that you are proud of?

Marisa, my youngest sibling, found this picture of me “modeling”. I love this image of my youth so much. It reminds me that I am still a kid. On Sunday I turn 30 and I do not think I have changed. Happy to poke fun at myself all the more with each passing day. Stay young, Stay Foolish

Marisa, my youngest sibling, found this picture of me “modeling”.

I love this image of my youth so much. It reminds me that I am still a kid. On Sunday I turn 30 and I do not think I have changed.

Happy to poke fun at myself all the more with each passing day.

Stay young, Stay Foolish

The tsunami yesterday was a flop. But, I am glad we took precautionary measures. Today I went for a run up into the hills. I was awarded with a magnificent Hawaiian vista from the Pillboxes in Kailua. Heading back to California if all goes as planned this Monday evening.

The tsunami yesterday was a flop. But, I am glad we took precautionary measures.

Today I went for a run up into the hills. I was awarded with a magnificent Hawaiian vista from the Pillboxes in Kailua.

Heading back to California if all goes as planned this Monday evening.

Tsunami Warning

My trip to Hawaii just become much more exciting!!

Thanks to the Ring of Fire and shifting plate techtonics we have giant waves heading our way.

Of course the one week that I am here in Hawaii is the week that there is a 7.7 earthquake off the coast of Canada. Which leads me to TSUNAMI ALERT!!!

Yeah, of course I only stay within the Evacuation Zone so that when giant waves come they will sweep me out to sea. But, with early detection and the power of the internet and twitter we are able to save lives. 

I always read about people who do not heed warnings about impending doom and destruction. The National Weather Service knew for over a week that a major storm was brewing, there were warnings to vacate the Ninth Ward… Did people evacuate? NO. Stupid move.

Tonight we are leaving the rental property and heading to higher ground. I hope there is a bar nearby.