Critical Mass Budapest ---AutoMentesNap--A Day without Cars

A BetsySelect Editorial

critical mass n.


1. The smallest mass of a fissionable material that will sustain a nuclear chain reaction at a constant level.

2. The amount of matter needed to generate sufficient gravitational force to halt the current expansion of the universe.

3. An amount or level needed for a specific result or new action to occur: “The sudden national uproar over drugs and drug abuse has reached politically critical mass in Washington” (Tom Morganthau).

http://www.answers.com/topic/critical-mass

After typing the names and populations of 1,365 Hungarian cities into my lovely database, I decided to take a stroll down Andrássy Utca to check out the Critical Mass AutoMentesNap (A Day without Cars). While my friends were organizing the Critical Mass day in Durham, North Carolina, expecting probably a couple hundred bikes today, I estimate that 3,759 bikers converged on Hösök Tere to support biking in Budapest. Now, please dont quote me on that estimate, although ive had several careers in the counting field (e.g., US Census bureau, RGIS Inventory Specialist and Mt. Rainier Amphibian Counter Extraordinaire), im a bit out of practice and bikes move, making it all the more difficult. Unlike North Carolina, the Budapest police shut down the main biking route to cars and let the bikers bike.

For those of you who are not familar with Critical Mass, it is an international movement ...."Critical Mass is not an organization, it's an unorganized coincidence. It's a movement ... of bicycles, in the streets." (http://www.critical-mass.org/).

Anyways, one of my hungarian friends, Kinga, a dramaturg at the National Theatre (yeah, i hear that that is an English word, although i sure as hell dont know what it means, something about managing the theatre, reading and accepting scripts etc. if you really want to know about dramaturgy check out http://www.dramaturgy.net/dramaturgy/what/List.html, quite helpful) anyways, Kinga was doing critical mass, and i wanted to check out the happenings on Andrássy utca myself.

For those of you in the states, Andrássy utca is a tree-lined boulevard with many beautiful mansions and embassys, similar in feel to the embassy neighborhood in DC. It is also home to the Opéra House (above).

The bikers convened at Hösök Tere (above). After walking my somewhat lazy (but getting more firm) american butt all of the way from my flat to the square while watching several thousands bikers burn multiple calories, I was feeling a bit ravashed. A big salty, cheesey pretzel seemed to be the answer.

On the other side of town Ambassador Walker (President George Bush's first cousin) was also doing some peddling----of the latest in Cadillacs (Cadillac XLR V8 Northstar priced at $120,000, 18 MPG City / 26 MPG Highway) in hopes of turning Budapest into the next Houston.

"These cars are distinctive, memorable and good, and you should all buy one."
Amb. George H. Walker III
(BudapestSun.com)

In search of studio space

anyone know of studio space in budapest? Looking for a relatively inexpensive place where i can keep my paints and come and go as i please. i do mostly abstracts, some figures, oils, acrylics and mixed media. i've sold a handful of paintings throughout the US and a few in Europe. Thanks! Im also looking for a good place to buy some paints. any art info. would be extremely helpful.

Procrastination

To go along with the list of foods that I crave, I've decided to keep a list of procrastination tactics that I have used to avoid the dissertation:

1. Writing on my blog (and checking obsessively to see how many people have read my blog).
2. Drinking multiple cappucinos per day
3. Working on a new novel.
4. Walking along the Danube
5. Chatting with the artists on Vaci Utca
6. Helping my elderly neighbor Jeanette with fairly mundane tasks (today was how to operate the elevator, no joke)
7. Going to the neighborhood grocery store daily (Match)
8. Chatting with the guys at the produce market, helping me learn all of the herbs in Hungarian
9. Losing in chess against my computer
10. Emailing excessively to friends, family and random writers and literary figures (who by and large have responded to my emails).
11. Body surfing in the wave pool at Gellert.
12. Studying Hungarian
13. Talking on Skype
14. Hopping on random trams/busses just to see where they take me.
15. Shopping at IKEA
16. Chatting with the Hare Krishnas on Vaci Utca (dont worry i havent been converted yet)
17. Dinner parties for fulbrights
18. Hanging out at galleries and art museums
19. Checking out the revitalized synagogue (largest one in Europe)
20. Reading all published books by Hemmingway (Im almost done with this one).
21. Cooking all of my meals completely from scratch (im joining the slow food movement).
22. Listening to 'state of things' on WUNC to catch up with all the happenings in North Cackalackee http://www.wunc.org/tsot/
23. Following numerous websites about Katrina and the aftermath
24. Fixing the dates on my blog as I have received numerous complaints from linear time-obsessed folks.
25. Checking out the auctions 'round town, in search of a funkified antique-esque lounge chair for my sitting room.
26. Work on my policy positions for my bid for the US Senate in 2012.

Want to come visit?

okay y'all, now dont think ive turned some new anal-retentive leaf and that i am all into scheduling now. im still known to oversleep and i still dont wear a watch. on most days i dont know whether it is a tuesday, wednesday or thursday. anyways, several folks have mentioned that they want to come visit, so my idea is to have people put in their dates on the coments on this blog, then i wont forget, ill be sure to wake up on time that day and be nice enough to meet you at the airport, train station, or wherever you want to meet me..........thanks.

Introducing BetsySelect

So this morning I woke up, fixed the coffee, walked out on my balcony to check the weather (damn, cold once again), then sat down at my computer for my morning read of the NYTimes before heading off to Budapesti Műszaki és Gazdaságtudományi Egyetem (my school, see building above). I usually dash through the headlines and leap right to the editorials, my favorites being friedman, krugman, dowd and david brooks (yes, way more conservative than me, but often has some incisive things to say). As i try to access an article on katrina and race by krugman, i remember that today the NYtimes initiates 'TimesSelect'. If i toss down fifty bucks per year, i too can "meet Paul Krugman" via video and then have access to his articles (and all other editorials, the business section, the sports section, etc.). I might pay fifty bucks to meet Paul in person over coffee, but no way over video on my computer screen. The New York Times has gone the way of the Salon magazine financial model, pay a flat fee and you are granted full access. Fortunately at salon.com you can still get to all of the articles, you just have to watch a slew of credit card ads before you are granted a 'pass'. There is no such option now with the NYTimes. Its fifty bucks or nada.

I predict it will last less than a year. The income stream will be less than expected and hits on the website will decline, motivating advertisers on nytimes to remove their ads. Just a guess--we will see what happens. As small payment capabilities are increasing rapidly over the web (such as buying an individual song at itunes for 99cents and you dont have to be suckered into buying the cd for 12 bucks when you only like four songs), Im suprised that the Times didnt follow suit (e.g., buy krugman for 99 cents and forever ignore the right-wing ramblings of david brooks). This approach would provide an excellent means for the Times to figure out who is actually being read--although i would hate to see the Times toss a little read editorial writer if he/she offers a unique perspective. I still believe that the media provides a public good by presenting a range of ideas, perhaps quite naive of me. Perhaps the flat fifty buck a year plan would encourage readers to avail themselves to read opinions other than those that are similar to their own, but this then assumes that these readers have a spare fifty bucks.

In order to raise the fifty bucks needed for TimesSelect, Ive decided to implement BetsySelect on this blog. However, providing a bit more flexibility---you can either pay a flat fee of five bucks for full access to my ramblings over the whole year (i value my ramblings at about 10% of full access to the NewYorkTimes) or pay 25 cents per blog entry.


Mom, there will be no more printing out the blog and handing it out to your friends for free! Im working on the xml/java coding to enable credit card and pay-pal purchases. Until i get the kinks worked out, please enjoy the free read, it's on me.

in the meantime, here is what m. thinks of Times Select.

And red-head barbie is busy at work, spear-heading a write-in email campaign to the Public Editor of the New York Times, Mr. Byron Calame who can be reached at:
• mailto:public@nytimes.com• Phone: (212) 556-7652• Address: Public Editor The New York Times 229 West 43rd St.New York, NY 10036-3959

And if red-head barbie's campaign doesn' work, I'm going to sic donovon on you, Mr. Byron Calame!