My Letter to the Editor

Sent to the editor of my community’s Sunnyvale Sun newspaper (which happens to also be where I cut my teeth as a reporter).

Editor –

We just read the latest about the ongoing saga that is the Sunnyvale Town Center development, and the foreclosure the center is currently going through. The town center project is an utter embarrassment to the city, and the Sunnyvale Sun should be holding the city council and the city manager’s feet to the fire.

Our family decided to buy a home near Washington Park in 2006 for many reasons, but the then-pending development of the town center was at the top of our list of reasons to move into the neighborhood. After seeing the plans for the center, we thought it’d be wonderful to someday be able to walk to downtown and enjoy the new shops and restaurants that were due to open. Since the place is half-built now, I’m confident it will be completed someday. The question is: when?

One idea that could help push for a solution: Perhaps the Sun can host a community forum, where city leaders and developers will show up and answer tough questions about how the center ended up in this mess, and what they’re going to do to make it right. I understand the current macro-economic climate had a devastating effect on the builders’ ability to complete the project, but I feel like our city has completely failed its residents, and the Sun should be pressing hard for answers. The city’s residents deserve them.

Steve and Jo Enders
Sunnyvale

Back From CGI

Me and a crew of three reporters/editors blitzed the Clinton Global Initiative last week in NYC. It was an incredible experience and there are far too many good stories to tell from the week.

It was a week I’ll never forget, personally, and it was also a great week for Tonic. We got a lot of compliments on our coverage from around the convention — from journalists and from folks involved in CGI. Their praise meant a lot, and made the long hours of prep work and stress worth it.

You can see the archive of our work, here: http://www.tonic.com/tag/clinton-global-initiative/

My Beef With the ‘Supreme Master’

Last week, a new advertising campaign geared at providing understanding of Islam kicked off in the south Bay Area and was all over the news. But there’s another ad campaign happening globally (and locally) without any fanfare, which is backed by an odd organization and extols the planet-saving virtues of vegetarianism.

As a guy who doesn’t eat anything that ever had a neck, I can dig the message. But the group behind the ads, something called Supreme Master TV (suprememaster.tv), is downright creepy.

Supreme Master TV adThe grainy iPhone photo at left was taken in Mountain View two weeks ago as I drove home from work and was surprised to find the ad on the back of a valley transit shuttle bus. My boss has seen a similar billboard in the Dublin, Ireland airport. Another billboard is said to exist on I-880 in San Jose. Suddenly, the SM is everywhere!

I first became aware of the SM at a fave vegan/vegetarian lunch spot in downtown Palo Alto. The Loving Hut is a great little place, if not a little weird, that makes very good vegan sandwiches. It’s also got a plasma television on the wall in the dining area broadcasting a bizarre loop of shows distributed by the Supreme Master. A few weeks after visiting the restaurant for the first time, I started to see cars around the area sporting big bumper stickers for the TV network and going veg. The websites are linked pretty tightly — perhaps there’s an affiliation.

The ads don’t say anything about the SM. What little of the broadcasts I’ve seen are very odd, with robot-looking, plasticky hosts, grainy video (I’ve seen mostly shows/footage about our dear animal friends, natch) and a lot of text covering the screen in multiple languages. I’m starting to see the SM everywhere lately, and it’s starting to freak me out a little.

This weekend, we ordered take-out from Merit Vegetarian in Sunnyvale — the place is one of my favorite vegan/veggie joints in the area. I walked in and was shocked to see that behind the counter and up near the ceiling, they’ve recently installed a large plasma TV with the Supreme Master broadcast showing. Surprised and probably acting a little weird myself, I asked the woman behind the counter if she knew what it was. She said No and shrugged her shoulders as she handed over my bags of food. Looking back at the restaurant as I left, I saw a huge poster in the window to Be Veg! Go Green! with the Supreme Master logo on it, just like the bus ad.

The website is only of slightly better quality than the shows. The network’s mailing address is in Arcadia, Calif. but I’d be surprised if the shows are shot in the US. According to the website

SUPREME MASTER TV is a free-to-air satellite channel broadcasting 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with a variety of engaging programs in English with over 40 languages and subtitles. Being the ideal television channel that brings to your life Nobility and Spirituality. Broadcasting on 14 satellites platforms across the globe.

And, the Supreme Master is revealed as Ching Hai, a woman born somewhere called “Au Lac” who was involved helping her community during her youth, later separated from her husband, and went on an enlightenment journey through the Himalayas where she became fully enlightened.

She’s quoted:

I have a dream. I dream that all the world will become peaceful. I dream that all the killing will stop. I dream that all the children will walk in peace and harmony. I dream that all the nations shake hands with each other, protect each other and help each other. I dream that our beautiful planet will not be destroyed. It takes billion, billion, trillions of years to produce this planet and it’s so beautiful, so wonderful. I dream that it will continue, but in peace, beauty and love, yeah? That is my dream.

Sounds like a nice person with a good dream. But what’s with all the TVs showing up in my favorite veggie restaurants? Is my seitan dinner funding SMTV?

Here’s the thing: Wherever I go, people raise eyebrows at my eating choices. No matter how liberal California may be, there’s hardly a day that goes by that I don’t find myself telling the story of my vegetarianism to someone. I don’t mind explaining if people ask — to me my diet is hardly a big deal. I don’t preach my lifestyle to anyone. If you want to eat a juicy steak, go for it (though really I wish you wouldn’t, for various reasons). You’ll never see me scoff at meat on your plate.

Supreme Master TV isn’t hurting anyone (that I know of) and may be perfectly innocuous, but it smacks of a religious cult’s mouthpiece. And it’s suddenly everywhere, and directly associates with vegetarianism and veggie food. The TVs in my favorite restaurants appear as brainwashy, sub-conscious background noise (not to mention just plain bad television). Frankly, I don’t want to be enlightened when I pick up my food or sit down for lunch. I just want to enjoy a meal. Can vegetarianism ever escape its label as a bizarre and bland food choice for the holier-than-thou set? Not with relationships such as this.

Supreme Master, you’re also preaching to the choir by broadcasting in these restaurants. So as a conversion vehicle, it falls flat. Who’d want to go home and tune in after seeing the show in a restaurant? The message, while noble, is weird in its presentation. Maybe it’s a cultural thing, but I just don’t get it. It makes even less sense when the employees of restaurants don’t even know why the TV is on.

I’d rather these restaurants ditch the TV. Please, just pass the freakin’ tofu.

Bat-biker

Backstory…

The boy has had a Glide 2 Ride bike since Christmas, and has done a great job learning to ride it. The bike comes with pedals, but you can choose to attach them when the kid is ready for them. Concept is to learn balance before slapping the pedals on, and he picked it up quickly. But, he’s been reluctant to go with the pedals until now (and after many promises not to let him fall). By the way, the thing turns heads wherever we go and I highly recommend it.

Anyhoo – he also has been learning to save money and had enough to spring for a fancy new Batman costume, which he wanted for Halloween. He missed Halloween while in the hospital getting his appendix taken out last year, so we hope this year is a little more special. It’ll be hard for it not to be.

Flash forward to this weekend, when we got the pedals on, and Nathan was cruising up the street after only about 10 minutes on the bike. This video is the second ride done all by himself and with costume, natch. Yeah!

Gratuitous photo of sleeping babies

The twins, three weeks old, napping, like they do…

sleeping babies