garry’s subposthaven

The last thing the world needs is more pundits. Pundits only add ephemeral commentary to the world instead of anything concrete and real. They don't materially participate in the construction of any lasting artifacts; instead, they passively observe other people's work and offer a neverending babbling brook of opinions, criticism, and witty turns of phrase. It's pathetic.

Jeff Atwood is right. Perhaps in an ideal world, the only people allowed to grow an opinion are those who also create. Then a pundit's raw opinion will be tempered by the knowledge that they too will be judged.

Until then, we have the real world...

Here's the full article on why MUNI is slowest, most inefficient, most poorly run transit system in the country.

The subject of his wrath wasn't Muni's forthcoming deep service cuts or any of the myriad subjects discussed in SF Weekly's article. Instead, Ford was reportedly deeply displeased that Muni officials revealed to us Mayor Gavin Newsom's heavy-handed involvement in the transit agency's budgeting process and insistence Muni fudge its deficit numbers to make them smaller and "politically palitiable."

"There's a snitch in this room," Ford allegedly told his top brass.

In other words, the problem isn't that Muni has problems -- it's that somebody talked about the problems.

Oh, ok. Right. Don't fix the problem. Tell your top lieutenants to stop cooperating with the press.

Our San Francisco tax dollars at work.

I watched a documentary about [the Italian  painter] Caravaggio, and I realized if you were building churches for the Pope in that era, you were in a pretty similar position to a show creator. You’ve got an art you do, and it is also a craft, and it takes a lot of practical skill and management, and you have to have a crew, and you have to have a vision. But, ultimately, the Pope’s got to step up with a lot of cash. It’s difficult to do it without the Pope. You can’t ignore that side of the equation. You can’t be like: “I’ll just build St. Peter’s Basilica on my own.” If you really want to do that as a showrunner, go write a novel. There’s just no TV universe in which that happens.