I'm Martin Matheny, and I do a lot of things. I write, I blog, I help people run campaigns or fight for causes they care about. (As long as I think they're right.) I design websites, and other things too.

And this is where you can learn more about all that stuff.

Thanks.

You ever get kind of excited about reading something, and then you read one little thing and it just pisses you off?  Well, tonight that's this.

A Chapman University student group wanted to find a way to relieve stress during finals week, so it came up with an innovative approach: puppies.

On Wednesday, in the middle of "cram week," a bunch of puppies will be stationed outside the university library for students to pet and play with. The event, called "Furry Friends for Finals," is being organized by the university's Active Minds club, which promotes mental awareness.

Upon first read, I thought this was fairly exciting -  an innovative way to reduce stress among college kids.  As I read, I started mentally constructing the argument I'd make to JMac to let me do an animal post on his blog, since he gets more readers.  In fact, I thought, this would be a helluva thing for UGA to try.

And then I read this:

Memphis Zoo is, bar none, the best zoo I've been to.  Here are the pictures. 

No video this time, since I didn't get a lot of good stuff on my phone.  Highlights included:

• Being one of the first dozen or so people in the zoo, and wandering over to the gorilla habitat just in time for breakfast.  (By the way, the Memphis gorillas are better at catching stuff than the Bears' receiving corps.)
• Finding some much-needed warmth in the herpetarium.
• Getting a decent picture of the moray eel that didn't require too much correction in Photoshop.
• Giraffes, giraffes, giraffes!  One of the better habitats at the Memphis Zoo, you really feel up close to the animals here. 
• Big cats were a little shy, but good habitat planning put a viewing window right behind one of the jaguar's favorite sleeping spots.
• A mass of sleeping meerkats.
• Asian small-clawed otters playing on land.  (They were too far away for decent video.)
• An American black bear who seemed fascinated by me and got really, really close.
• The new "Grand Tetons" section, with wolves(!) and grizzlies(!!).
• And, best of all, having the polar bear viewing area to myself for a good ten minutes while one of the bears was having his morning swim.

Spent an enjoyable few hours at the Birmingham Zoo today.  (And how nice it is to break that long drive to Tunica in half!)  Pictures are available on Flickr, and a short, badly-shot video as well.

The pancake tortoises in the video were particularly funny.  The larger (probably more dominant) one decided to food-block his cage-mate, and crawled on top of the food bowl, leaving his pal nibbling around the edges.

One piece of video I wish I'd gotten: the black-handed spider monkeys playing.  But, the crowd was too big, and I couldn't get close enough.

All of the pictures and video were shot on-the-fly with my G-1, because I left my Flip in the car.  Also, the Zoo has a cool podcast tour, which I'll be listening to tomorrow, because I left my mp3 player in the car too.

So, looks like we're ready to launch the all-new Beyond the Trestle tomorrow morning.  When JMac asked me to help with a redesign and moving the site over to its own url, I was glad to jump in, and I think between the two of us, we've got something simple, basic and nice.

For me, it's been a cool learning experience.  Whatever web stuff I've done in the past couple years (and I'll be the first to tell you that I don't bill myself as a web designer at all) has been on Drupal, and every time I do a site for someone, I invariably get to learn about new functionalities that I had no idea existed. 

Two great things about Drupal: it's open-source, so things are constantly being improved and developed for it, and it has a great, helpful community of evangelists out there making it easier. 

Anyway, check out the new Beyond the Trestle.  Hope you dig it.

So, have you tried flickchart.com?  It's a website, lets you choose between two movies you've seen, and over time, you get a more or less canonical ranking of your favorite flicks.

It is, by the way, harder than it sounds.  Try to choose between The Poseidon Adventure and Blazing Saddles.  It's a lot easier to say that I think When Harry Met Sally is a better rom-com than Sleepless in Seattle, but is it a better movie than Double Indemnity?  

Anyway, after 1005 rankings (I've seen a total of 402 movies on the list so far; if you haven't seen a particular title, you skip it and they give you another), here's my top ten, with a little bit of commentary.  It's an interesting list, and in some ways, I think less than accurate.

1.  Ghostbusters

Yep.  Nailed it.  Ghostbusters is actually probably my favorite movie of all time.  And next time someone asks me if I'm a god, I will say yes.

Matheny vs the masses: Ghostbusters has a global Flickchart ranking of 15, which is pretty respectable.  And, 171 other Flickchart users have it in the number one spot.  Clearly these people are people of refinement and taste.

2. Grosse Pointe Blank

I like this movie, but I had no idea it was #2-worthy.  Not sure it is, though it's definitely top twenty material. 

Matheny vs the masses: Grosse Pointe Blank has a global ranking of 311.  C'mon people, Ackroyd gets a teevee bashed over his head, and yells "popcorn!" a lot.  I mean, c'mon!  Oh, never mind.

So, I'm also in the running for an editor job at change.org, which involves a new round of producing some stuff.  Here are the samples:

• A shorter version of the story on Ohio's Issue 2.
• And, chickenpoop, part 2: the repoopening.  (Not its real title.)  Yesterday I talked about the use of poultry waste as feedstock for beef cattle.  Today, a better use for chicken feces - clean energy and soil additive.

Enjoy, or at least, learn.

I take a little respectful umbrage with Drew Westen in a 1,250-ish word post over at the Trestle.  I wrote it late at night/early in the morning, so...

Me talk pretty:

Westen's idea is good politics, and I don't doubt his assertion that it polled well. (In fact, I think I may have seen those numbers when I was working with him.) But as policy, it's completely unworkable on it's face.
 

Here's yer linkity.

So, I'm applying to be a blogger with change.org, specifically on their animal rights blog.  It's a nice job, making a little money to write about something I'm passionate about.  Win-win.

Anyway, apparently my resume wasn't too, too horrible, and change.org wants a few writing samples.  I went ahead and posted them here too, and here are some links. 

1. "I don't like you, David Martosko"  Martosko is a real-life Nick Naylor, mouthpiece for various industry groups that, among other things, try to put the kibosh on hidden-camera animal abuse investigations by HSUS, stop excessive mercury warnings on fish, and fight anti-drunk driving campaigns.  He's a slimeball. 
2. "Ohio's Issue #2 is a setback for animals, consumers"  One of the lesser-reported election stories from today.  (Actually, yesterday as I write this.)  Ohio voters unfortunately passed issue #2, a constitutional amendment that would put power over livestock oversight into a politically appointed committee of 13 that could overrule the state's ag department and its state legislature.
3. "Chickensh*t: It's what's for dinner"  Did you know that every time you sit down to a delicious cheeseburger, there's a chance that you're indirectly chowing down on chicken feces?  A coalition of good people and groups is trying to stop that.  You should help them.  (BTW, kudos to the McDonald's corporation for joining the effort on the right side.  If I weren't broke, I'd have a Big Mac tomorrow.)

Even if I don't get the gig, this has been a fun experience, and a very educational one.  So let me recommend taking a look at FACT, the Food Animals Concerns Trust.  I've been struggling a little with being both an animal protection advocate and a meat-eater.  The folks at FACT are saying good things that help reconcile that.

Orly (or if you're into lolcats, "O Rly?") Taitz, den mother of the birther movement, boasts today that Sarah Palin is her new Facebook friend. 

Whatevs, Orly.  Alastair Campbell is my Facebook friend, and he's far more awesome.

Matheny, FTW.