DRF

My Mantra

2011-10-17T09:57:00.000-07:00

I must confess to having a secret. In the summer of 1969 I was a student at UO in Eugene OR. I was on the verge of somthing, threatened by Vietnam and the draft, lacking funds to continue school, and essentially adrift. I met an attractive young lady who introduced me to Transcendental Meditation.

I remember my introduction to TM very clearly. It consisted of meditating with a "guru" (young blond hippy guy). There were lots of flowers and incense. The key to the practice seemed to be the receipt of my mantra. The mantra is a simple two syllable sound silently repeated during the meditation practice. He whispered my mantra to me. It imbedded itself on a permanent basis.

I never became a true devotee of TM but I have used the meditation practice throughout my life in order to reduce stress, relax, and free my mind of the cacaphony of daily existence. It seems that the quiet and disciplined repetition of the mantra combined with deep breathing is very effective at isolating the thought processes from the world at large. This is a private and solitary pursuit.

My mantra is the only pure secret I have. I have never shared it with anyone. I have the feeling that if I were to do so it would be somehow diminished. I wonder if there is anything to this or if I am jealously guarding a "secret" simply because I am able. Perhaps it is not even wise to admit that I have a secret. Oh well, the cat is out of the bag now...

New "Iconic" Floor

2011-01-14T20:11:00.000-08:00

The University of Oregon has unveiled the floor de-sign of the new Matthew Knight arena. You are forgiven if you "don't get it". I don't either. At least we can rest assured that it cost a lot of money. Following are highlights as I understand them.

1. Graphics of Douglas-fir trees surround and overwhelm the floor creating a dizzying if not muddy image. The orange and brown color gives the impression of a stand of trees dying from a bark beetle infestation.

2. Slogan - Deep in the Woods. Does this refer to the plight of the visiting team or the tax payer?

3. Other Slogan - Kilkenny Floor. This is an obscure homage to the other rich guy (aside from Phil Knight) who has "contributed" to the university. For those lacking local knowledge this might well be misinterpreted as an advert for the manufacturer or installer of the floor.

4. Best Confusing Image - Thingy bob under the big O. While at first glance indecipherable, I am informed that this is a creative styling of the name MATT referring to Matthew Knight, deceased son of Phil Knight and namesake of the arena. An untutored reading of this might be TAT or MAM. According to the official explanation this image is constructed of two Japanese Torii (gates) bracketing the letter A. I didn't see this until it was explained. What the image of the Torii has to do with basketball, Matthew Knight, UO etc. is a mystery. My impression is that it is a rather fuzzy attempt at a display of spirituality. Perhaps the designer is not aware of the close relationship of the animistic Japanese Shinto religion and its close ties to militarism and the cult of the Emperor.

5. On a Practical Note - Where is the center line? Can the players see it? I can't. What is the effect on the psyche of visiting players? Is this an effort to render them disoriented?

In summary it is the humble opinion of this author that the design of this court is confusing, inconsistent, and excessively ambitious. My suggestion would be to sand it down and start over. How about a simple image of a Duck? As a UO alumnus I would find this preferable.

Courtesy of Jack Bog's Blog

2011-01-10T12:10:00.000-08:00

At a time when the nation could use some cheering up -- and the need for civility in discourse is on everyone's minds -- here is a collection, sent to us by a friend last week, of high-class insults:

The exchange between Churchill & Lady Astor: She said, "If you were my husband I'd give you poison." He said, "If you were my wife, I'd drink it."

A member of Parliament to Disraeli: "Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease." "That depends, sir," said Disraeli, "whether I embrace your policies or your mistress."

"He had delusions of adequacy." - Walter Kerr

"He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." - Winston Churchill

"I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure." - Clarence Darrow

"He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary." - William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway)

"Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it." - Moses Hadas

"I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it." - Mark Twain

"He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends." - Oscar Wilde

"I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend... if you have one." - George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill

"Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second.... if there is one." - Winston Churchill, in response.

"I feel so miserable without you; it's almost like having you here." - Stephen Bishop

"He is a self-made man and worships his creator." - John Bright

"I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial." - Irvin S. Cobb

"He is not only dull himself; he is the cause of dullness in others." -Samuel Johnson

"He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up." - Paul Keating

"In order to avoid being called a flirt, she always yielded easily." -Charles, Count Talleyrand

"He loves nature in spite of what it did to him." - Forrest Tucker

"Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?" - Mark Twain

"His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork." -Mae West

"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go.." - Oscar Wilde

"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts... for support rather than illumination. " - Andrew Lang (1844-1912)

"He has Van Gogh's ear for music." - Billy Wilder

"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it." -Groucho Marx

Vitriol, Violence, and the American Politic

2011-01-10T09:03:00.000-08:00

We (or at least the great majority) of Americans were greatly saddened over the weekend by the senseless killings in Tucson Arizona. America's body politic has again been tested by our proclivity towards vitriol and violence. Following are some thoughts we would do well to consider:

1. We do not agree as a nation on a wide variety of issues. This is hardly new. States rights vs. Federalism, the role of religion, gun rights, foreign policy, and immigration will continue to be subjects of debate and hopefully compromise.

2. We seem to forget or overlook the value of government. I believe that the more recently expressed hatred for government is quite likely the result of a lack of understanding and consideration of both the proper role of government and the benefits resulting. With a democratic representative government we are responsible for the election of representatives who write and pass the laws. Complete rejection of the value of government is it seems a clear case of self-loathing if not just ignorance.

3. There seems to be a cycle of rhetoric which results in violent outbreaks. The effect of whoever shouts the loudest and makes the most extreme points has the result of gradually increasing the level of anger and feelings of isolation among those espousing the views. This has been exascerbated greatly by the freedom of the internet, but is fueled by leaders in our own government. A recent example has been the tenor of the Republican campaign against the Democratic opposition. Please consider for example Sarah Palin's use of a map with targets overlayed to demonstrate actions which she would have us take:

4. Our political leadership should take as much blame as the fringe groups. Personal attacks on the opposition whether from one party or the other, lead the electorate to believe that our Representatives, Senators, and administration are bad people with evil intent. This is made worse by the use of simplistic sound bites and marketing phrases used to increase the level and fear and anger rather than to inform the issue. A good example is the use of the expression "Death Panels" to describe end of life care provisions in the new health care law. If you hear this repeated enough times it soon becomes the definition of the issue, regardless of its lack of actual content or accuracy.

5. The expanded reach and freedom of the media has thrown more fuel on the fire. Fox News, MSNBC, and the blogosphere in general have contributed greatly to the lack of respect and personal attacks on leaders from both sides. I have been a long time reader of a local blog here in Portland. Jack Bog's Blog (www.bojack.org) has been an excellent source of information about state and local politics and economics. However, recently the quantity of personal attacks against everyone from the President to the Governor to the our Mayor have increased to the point where I decided to cease reading it. A good example was Jack's coining of the name Mayor Creepy to describe Sam Adams, the Mayor of Portland. I found that I was no better than Jack or many other readers when it came to heaping scorn and personal attacks on the Mayor. No, I don't agree with Sam Adams on a range of issues and culturally we are worlds apart, but is anything positive gained by the constantly increasing personal attacks? I don't think so.

6. It is time to reel in the anger and provide role models based on respect and civil discourse. Leadership will be required to accomplish this. I wonder if Jack Bog could go for a full week without using the expression Mayor Creepy, or describing our President in such negative terms. Would this have a positive effect on the tenor of the comments to his blog?

You can take personal action now by not giving in to the urge to "pile on". You can refrain from personal attacks on our elected officials and government workers. This does not mean you have to agree or condone all positions and actions. As a nation we can decide to work together for the best solutions to our problems or we can take the approach recently demonstrated in Tucson. It is up to you.

Our City At Work

2010-12-02T20:46:00.000-08:00

Portland OR, led by Sam Adams (aka Mayor Creepy) and his happy band of sustainable bicycling, mass transit enthusiasts has opted for redistributing our property taxes via a mass printing campaign.

Yesterday I came home from work and found this colorful reusable shopping bag waiting for me on my front porch.

Inside the bag there was a veritable cornucopia of brochures, maps, guides, guide books, and more. There were materials from the local bicycle consortium, the department of transportation, Tri-Met, the Water Bureau, Office of Sustainability ad nausium. I am guessing there was at least $75.00 worth of printed materials. Of course this doesn't include the cost of the production, not to mention the massive employment rolls of the City required to produce this.

At first I was outraged at this absurd waste of money by our City. Then the Lady Wife pointed out that all this largesse was FREE!. When I reminded her that our taxes paid for all this, she pointed out that she had actually requested this material, and was delighted that the City could provide all this great information for FREE!

I guess it is FREE but I would prefer that we could fund our schools, patch the holes in our streets, replace the Sellwood bridge, and provide police and fire protection. At least now I have plenty of fuel for lighting the barbeque...

Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse...

2010-10-22T15:28:00.000-07:00

The local Fox affiliate in Portland brings us this lovely pictorial of Area Man who strives to be the most tatooed person in the world. Having run out of skin surfaces he recently had the whites of his eyes tatooed as well. It really is difficult, yet fascinating, trying to imagine what is going on in this man's mind.

If you enjoy the truly creepy, check out the following link:
http://www.kptv.com/slideshow/news/25448712/detail.html

More on Carbon Sequestration

2010-10-09T16:37:00.001-07:00

Brother Dave followed up on comments regarding carbon sequestration in forests in my previous post with the following erudite comments:

Dean,

Per your request I looked at your latest posting. I have always been
of the view (without data of course) that a mature forest (read "old
growth") is probably not sequestering much or any carbon on an
incremental basis. Admittedly there is a huge amount of carbon locked
up in those big trees, but that is not really the policy issue. The
analysis should always be at the margin. How much annual incremental
carbon is sequestered (through tree growth) or released (through tree
death or harvest and resulting decomposition) is the question the
analysis should be focused on. I think the greenies tend to confuse
the debate by focusing on a static analysis rather than a dynamic one.

It sounds like the site you were visiting had slow growth rates
resulting from 100 year old logging practices and resulting site index
damage. OK, not much incremental sequestration and if there are some
really old trees around which are falling down it could be negative.
As an alternative think back to the trip we took to Mt. St. Helens a
few years back. Remember the Weyco noble fir forest that had been
planted up there. Those trees looked like they were growing so fast
that you could hear them grow if you were quiet enough at night. The
incremental carbon sequestration on that site had to be quite large
compared to the site you were looking at and even bigger than the
adjoining federal lands where no replacement timber had been planted.

This tends to lead to an argument that we should liquidate old growth
and plant new trees which we pick for rapid growth and then apply a
variety of growth generating silvicultural practices. Makes sense in
the abstract, but I am not sure it is quite that simple. First you
have to consider what happens to the old growth forest you liquidate.
About the best you can do with that is convert it to building products
and put it into structures which will defer the carbon release for
another 100 years or so. As to the slash and residuals fro the
manufacturing process the preferred prescription seems to be to use it
for energy generation. Those of us in my industry and the biofuels
industry like to argue that any carbon released in that process is
irrelevant because of the replacement sequestration occurring in the
tree farm. Fair enough, so long as you don't count the tree farm
twice that way, once for the benefit of the guy who owns it and once
for benefit of the guy who is burning the slash and residuals.

A better solution is to maximize the recovery from the log/tree into
building materials and other useful products which do not release the
carbon for an extended period. Is there a process to turn slash into
a solid object such as a plastic? If so how much energy does that
process consume. This gets really complicated. Another question that
occurs to me is the rate at which growing trees sequester carbon. I
can just about guarantee that if you plotted annual sequestration
versus tree age, it would not be a straight line. It would start out
very low (because the tree is very small) and end very low (because
the tree is not growing). Again, however, no data. However, all this
means is that the replacement of old growth with a new tree farm does
not give you a year one payback. It will take time before the
incremental sequestration of the tree farm catches up and "covers" the
carbon released as a result of the harvest. All nice in theory but
pretty much worthless speculation without real data. This is the kind
of question where the assumptions swallow the answer and site
differences will yield significant variances in outcome.

Oh well. Way to complicated for this mere finance lawyer. I have to
go and prepare to teach a class to a bunch of third year law students
on deal making.

DGG

Wind River Canopy Crane

2010-10-08T07:58:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I had the rare opportunity to visit the Wind River Forest Experiment station and ascend into the canopy of an old growth douglas fir forest in the gondola of a large (250') construction crane. The crane which has been in use for 12 years is used by scientists from UW and the Forest Service to conduct research into the ecosystem of the old growth forest. The views were awsome and I was able to restrain my urge to flee long enough to be strapped into the gondola for the ride. The following video is narrated by one of the scientists as we ascend alongside a 700 year old douglas fir.

I have long suspected that the contribution of forests by way of carbon sequestration to the slowing or elimination of global warming is to a great extent wishful thinking. I believe this because a great deal of the biomass (including, leaves, stems, branches, dead trees etc.) release their CO2 back into the atmosphere as a result of metabolic respiration (decomposition). Consequently the net carbon sequestration is demonstrably less than the gross amount. In conversation with the lead scientist on site I learned that this is a major area of study for the project. They are actually measuring (atomospheric sampling and isotopic analysis) the quantity of CO2 that is absorbed on site and the quantity released. This conversation took place in a 100 year old stand of douglas-fir. The site had been logged by steam donkey in 1910 and badly damaged in the process. Heavy soil compaction and destruction of the understory has resulted in a slow growing stand of undersized trees of very low productivity. When asked about carbon sequestration in this site Ken (lead scientist) replied that this forest unit was a net producer of CO2. This study is currently in pre-publication stage and is being submitted to Science magazine. I look forward to reading it.

Guess what Steve's new hobby is!

2010-10-04T15:20:00.000-07:00

My pal Steve just landed this 1983 Cadillac Deville "Rennaisance" This beauty was an aftermarket production by Wisco of Roseville MI. Both Wisco and R. S. Harper, firms which were best known for building "pimp cars," produced limited editions for those requiring that extra image bump that only a truly pimped out caddy can provide. Their customized features made ordinary Cadillacs "distinctively different" and "elegantly impressive". Wisco Cadillac Coup deVille came with custom, padded landau top, opera windows, door saddle trim, non-functional landau bars, chrome roof arch and chrome belt molding, limousine rear window, custom deck wheel and lower deck trim, and the most awsome "Rolls Royce" style grill work ever.

This baby has only 54,000 miles and runs great. I confess I didn't actually drive it on the road for fear of being pulled over for contributing to the delinquency of myself.

Every red-blooded American male should want one of these!

A Moose is Loose

2010-09-15T20:04:00.000-07:00

This morning, imagine my surprise on arrival at Anchorage South HS to find we were sharing the parking lot with a large and rather unfriendly moose.

There is actually a 10' high moose fence surrounding the school to keep these critters out but there is nothing to stop them from coming in the main entrance just like any other SUV.

We followed/herded this fellow back out the driveway where he decided to explore the front garden of the residence across the street. No one seemed to worked up about his visit. Seems like a normal occurance in the Anchorage burbs. Enjoy following video:

Northern California Sequoia Sempervirens

2010-09-05T12:31:00.000-07:00

The Lady Wife and I recently visited the Redwoods in Northern California. We spent most of our time visiting the major parks just south of Crescent City. We camped at Gold Bluffs beach (oceanside of Prairie Creek State Park). It was pretty cold, foggy, windy. Just 1 mile or so inland we enjoyed beautiful sunshine. The first major grove of redwoods we visited was named after Lady Bird Johnson who dedicated the Redwood National Park in 1968.

Please note the epicormic branch on the side of this tree. These poorly secured branches arise in response (I think) to openings in the canopy yielding sunshine previously not available. If climbing, it is probably not a good idea to attach your rope to one of these.

As we walked the trail in the footsteps of Lady Bird we came upon this circle of trees. They are certainly many hundreds of years old, if not thousands. I am wondering if the circle formation is an example of a "fairy ring" where trees were propogated from the base of a fallen tree in a circle around the stump or root wad.

The tree I am standing in is an excellent example of the redwood's ability to withstand a cataclysmic fire. The heartwood was completely hollowed out to some 50 or 60 feet above my head. It would seem that the dry heartwood of the tree burned while the much wetter sapwood remained and protected the cambium from the fire inside the tree. I don't think I would want to be sheltering here in a big windstorm.

Here's another beautiful circle of trees at Jededian Smith State Park.

While redwoods are quite resistant to attack by fungi and insects they are not impervious to same as is evidenced by this conk (fruiting body) about 20 feet up the bole of this living tree.

Still at Jededian Smith, here's a nice example of a nurse log.

A redwood grove is definitely not the place to be in a windstorm. This tree literally exploded on impact with the ground when it came down. The park staff had cut through the pieces of the trunk to restore the trail.

I encourage anyone who has not visited these amazing trees to get in the car and head south!

A Bolus is what you might cough up...

2010-08-23T15:39:00.000-07:00

If you were a ruminant, or perhaps this could apply to our cat Dexter coughing up a big nasty hairball, but actually I am thinking of the campers we met on our recent expedition to Bolin Lake.

After visiting the Redwoods in Northern CA we took a long cut over the Siskiyou Mountains (Hwy 96 closed in winter) to Happy Camp, Seiad Valley and eventually hitting I5 north of Yreka. On our way over the Siskiyou mountains we saw a sign for the aforementioned Bolin Lake. We met some bear hunters who allowed that this was a very nice little lake with camping and brook trout. On arriving at the lake we found a very nice camp site right on the shores of the sub-alpine jewel. Our joy however was short lived. The group camping up the hill from us was enjoying top ten country music at relatively high volume. I made up an excuse to visit them to check it out. The group seemed to consist of 20 something female micro-cephalic douchebags who could just as well have been camping in a Walmart parking lot. When I approached I immediately noticed a very significant pile of empties next to their tent. I enquired if they intended to stay up late listening to their crappy music. They replied that this was indeed their intent and looked to have enough Bud Light in stock to keep the "good times" rolling.

In addition to skanks out camping we met our next door neighbors who while stinking drunk had managed to haul a big-ass travel trailer up the very narrow and precipitous logging road to the lake. They arrived in a cloud of dust and greeted us effusively with tales of the gentleman's military experience and love of scuba diving. They showed every sign of wanting to visit more, a lot, and frequently. The lady wife was scared. I was a little annoyed but more entertained. I know I wouldn't want to meet this yahoo on a blind curve. We enjoyed eating our sandwiches on the bank, I tried casting (without luck) for trout.

We decided to preserve our sanity and head on down the road. We arrived an hour later at the infamous Happy Camp. After loading up on a few necessities we headed out of town heading east. It is interesting to note that Happy Camp very proudly declares itself to be the Bigfoot capitol of the world. Please note life size replica that welcomes you to town!

Another 20 minutes down the road we arrived at Thompson Creek Lodge. Nice people, quiet, kitchenettes, lawn, beauftiful trees, the creek itself and the Klamath River. Much better than trying to deal with the aformentioned morons at Bolus er... Bolin Lake. I hope to return someday when they are not there...

Nevertheless fair readers, please do not let this cautionary tale deter you from visiting the Siskiyou Mountains of S. OR and N. CA. If you have the capacity there are many lakes and beautiful streams available to the hiker. Camp skanks and drunken motor home types do not hike.

Vindictive Cat

2010-08-16T10:28:00.001-07:00

This post comes to us courtesy of Jack Bog's blog. It is a real Craig's List advert (expired). Except for a few minor details I thought the seller was describing our cat Dexter, but on further study I must confess that this cat is worse than Dexter. Herewith:

Vindictive Cat free to home (portland)
Date: 2010-08-08, 11:13AM PDTReply to: This Cat is 12 years old. It is very cute and has a long tail, so it will look good sitting in your window while you are away! It has two looks on its face at all times 1) surprise. 2) angry glare. It has always been vindictive and angry. It will shred your arms to the bone if picked up, so handling is not advisable. Cat will use litter box only once and then considers it soiled and will choose your chair (or elsewhere) instead. Free *1 month supply/ 5 gallon bucket of Nature's Miracle* will accompany Cat to new home. Cat hates other animals and children and people so please be an animal free and kid free and spouse/friend/roommate free home. Cat can only live with one Person. Cat hates for Person to have other people over, so you shouldn't have friends or it will pee in their purse or on their shoes. Person should be strong of mind and body and not at home much, as cat is not into interaction. Interaction with its Person makes Cat angry, and it will vomit on your pillow in retaliation. Cat hates to be inside too long, but will not go through doors as it hates doorways. You must chase it outside with clacking salad tongs. Cat's *favorite salad tongs will be provided for free* and will accompany Cat to new home. Cat hates to be outdoors for too long as it prefers to pee, poop and vomit on your things, it likes to do this to claim its Person (this Person could be you!). Cat will come inside easily at dinnertime, no salad tongs necessary. Cat will vomit once during, and up to three times after dinner, usually on pillow, duvet, or laundry. Sometimes it will vomit in doorways. Sometimes it will just poop in these places. Other places Cat will poop: in front of refrigerator, in front of windows, near the litterbox, in front of teevee, on top of you if you are around for too long. Cat should not have access to any bathrooms as it hates bathmats and will destroy them on sight with a barrage of pee and poop and finally clawing it to shreds. Other things Cat will claw to shreds: arms, face, carpet, pillow, chair, laundry. Cat has a loud obnoxious yowl to indicate when it is angry. The yowl is akin to that of a rabid zombie on the make and is quite terrifying, so you would be well advised to take heed and figure out what Cat wants. If you haven't cleaned the litterbox in less than an hour, check that first. It may want you to provide running drinking water from the faucet. It WILL get on the counters, you should not interfere or you WILL be sorry. If yowling occurs between the hours of Noon and 7:00 pm, it may require feeding. Cat will attack you for your food, so it is not advisable to eat in the house. If not fed what you are eating, Cat will knock the dishes off the table in retaliation and eat the shards of glass and porcelain that fall, so that you will be required to take it to the vet. It likes the attention from the vet. Cat will look sweet and pitiful at vet's office and as I said before, Cat is very cute. No one will believe when you try to tell them what Cat is capable of, so don't try. They will look at you as if you are the problem. I will understand your situation and you can call me in an emergency to talk about Cat. * 1 year of free consulting and phone support * comes with Cat. I will not be available in person for support, Cat will not like it and it will escalate situation. Other things to be aware of with Cat. Cat has LONG hair and is prone to fur balls and the vomiting of hairy, slimy bits. This can not be helped. Cat hates any glass of drinking water to be left about and will drink from it and knock it over. You should not drink water from glasses. Cat does not like for its Person to sleep. It will walk/stand on your face with one razor sharp claw in your nostril and yowl like a zombie, so you would be well advised to stay awake and always be ready to attend to Cat. Cat weaves evil spells and makes hexes. Many do not believe this is true, but I am convinced of this fact. Cat will place spells on you while you sleep or read or watch teevee. I think that is the bulk of the information I can provide about Cat. Cat is up to date on shots, sterilized and is physically healthy, it should live on for several more years. Please bring heavy cloth sack, a metal box or crate, face protection (I use a hockey goalie helmet) and long leather gloves when coming to pick up Cat. I will not be available to assist in transporting Cat. Thanks for looking. EDIT WORTHY OF NOTE: Updating ad to clarify that Cat is not abused. Cat is LOVED... from a safe distance, we are experienced animal people. You must love Cat or you will not make it long. Cat has always been uptight and has never been the subject of an abusive situation. We actively love Cat. Look how cute!! But it is hard. We do not abuse Cat with clacking tongs. Cat needs a lot of encouragement to go out, and hates when you have tongs...so free tongs for you...use them as you will. No, we didn't let Cat eat shards of glass, but Cat would eat the shards if not herded off. Cat does look cute and act innocent for vet. I really didn't expect anyone to come forward to take Cat given the extent of the disclosure I have given. Offers will be the subject of careful, but unlikely, consideration given the only people who would possibly want this Cat are going to sell the poor animal to a lab or have 100 other Cats at home. We have tried it all and consulted with consultants. The cat is 12 years old for crying out loud! We are tired. If you have the perfect situation, and you know how to deal with a Cat like this one, and you are sane, write a proposal and we will give it careful scrutiny. For those giving free advice, please bring it on! Will welcome ideas - provided you know something of what you are talking about. Here's the skinny: Cat has been in care of current owner since kittenhood. Cat was in an apartment fire once - it was next door but, you know, chaos and trauma ensued. Cat has always been "particular" unless in the EXACT RIGHT situation, which is with ONE Person and an "always open and never closed" Cat door to outside area. Cat will not push open a flap...hates doorways. NO other pets (poops in their food bowls). And being always catered to as if in slight fear of Cat. We have 4 cat boxes, each cleaned every day, not enough for Cat. Yes, we've tried the water fountain from Sky Mall magazine, Cat hates the fountain. Cat wants a personal fresh mountain stream or a constantly running tap. Given ALL of these things consistently, Cat will occasionally cuddle with knees at bedtime and purr loudly...lest you move with the intention to do ANYTHING. Cat will then flick the tail in your face, and as I said, the tail is very long. Or Cat will pound on the bathroom door to attack the bathmat, or later in the night, your laundry (or worse). Cat is female. Cat never forgets a slight and her slights are many. She's just a weird Cat, physically healthy, gets regular checkups with vet to prove it. We have 4 other very healthy, contented and happy pets. Thanks everyone for your concerns. Cat probably thanks you too in her way.
Location: portland
it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

A Cautionary Tale

2010-08-09T16:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we were working on cleaning out our basement and the Lady Wife took it upon herself to inventory a load of old Christmas cards. She found one that I will never forget...

Many years ago the Lady Wife and I had the good fortune to live and work in Japan. We lived in the far North of Aomori Prefecture (Shimokita Peninsula) in the little backwater of Mutsu. While we had many Japanese friends we were guilty as most expatiates of some degree of gentle mocking of the local culture and the occasional bout of sarcasm. Our chief of Sarcasm was one, Steve Wilkenson. Steve, hailing from England was quite adept at mocking both friend and foe alike.

One year at Christmas time Steve sent the following card to his friends and relatives around the globe. We thought it was pretty hilarious, some others according to Steve did not share the humor.
The Tomb of Christ as described on the sign is in the village of Shingo (formerly Herai) in Aomori Prefecture. The locals (at least some of them) actually believe that Jesus brother Iskiri died on the cross and Jesus himself lived in Herai to the age of 106. For a great deal more information on Herai and its heretical heritage click on the photo above.

A number of years later Steve died in a sky diving accident in Oregon. Apparently he packed his own chute and it failed to open at all. I learned of this accident while watching the evening news on television. To add more woe to this tale, the Lady Wife and I while visiting Japan stayed a few days with Steve's widow, Erico. Within a year of our visit Erico had sucumbed to cancer and left their son an orphan at boarding school in Tokyo.

Best Marmot

2010-07-15T12:20:00.000-07:00

The is the best video I have ever seen of a Marmot Eating a Biscuit. I have never seen a marmot eat a biscuit. One time however a Marmot shat on my sleeping bag. My cat sits like this, what a great posture.

Do Not Mistake this for Science

2010-07-13T11:38:00.000-07:00

My lovely niece spotted this one whilst surfing the interweb. Apparently the author of this web site has confused weight lifting, deer hunting, and man toys with the science of paleontology. You will enjoy his graffic depiction of the Treeosaurus. The real "gold" however lies in the text of his website where he "explains" his theories about T-Rex and reverse tree humping.

http://treeosaur.com/

Single Worst Bank Ever!

2010-07-11T11:21:00.001-07:00

I'm talking about personal consumer banking here not corporate or investment "banking". If you guessed WELLS FARGO then you must have also had the misfortune of doing business with these wankers. I believe that the stage coach is an apt symbol for a bank which displays 19th century business ethics, communication infrastructure and that great indifference to its customers which was characterized by the financial sector represented by the Wild West image of the stage coach.

Following is a brief summary of Wells Fargo's incompentence, indifference and perfidy.

1. WF purchased First Interstate Bank, eliminated international banking services, and started charging onerous fees for checking accounts. This was in about 1994. I dropped out and joined a credit union.

2. This year my wife's brother died and as the executrix of his will she informed the bank of his demise and had the address changed to ours so we could be sure to get all the statements etc. This was promptly followed by a deluge of direct marketing efforts congratulating the deceased brother John on his recent "move" and offering new and better banking services. When confronted with this insensitive and lame promotion the local bank manager did not have the decency to apologize but simply blamed it on the "marketing" division with whom he had no communication.

3. The Lady Wife and I were considering purchasing a plot of land. Apparently in a state of advanced delirium I called WF and inquired about applying for a second line of credit. I endured a brief application interview over the telephone with some douche bag in North Carolina. Two weeks later I received a phone call from a young lady named "Missy" in Arizona informing me that they would require two years of personal tax returns and pay stubs as part of the application process. This was followed by a demand for copies of my corporate tax return as well. Missy asked what percent of my company I personally owned. I replied that I owned 1/3 of the stock. Missy responded with "Yes, but what percent is that?" At this point I asked her to kindly cancel my application for a loan as it was not possible for me to contemplate doing business with a "banker" who could not make the leap from 1/3 to 33 %. At my subsequent meeting with the local bank "manager". I was informed that my application had been denied. I advised him that he could not deny my application as I had already canceled it The accompanying artist's rendering of Wells Fargo Banking Zombies is an appropriate comment on the quality of WF personnel.

4. My daughter had established a checking and savings account with WF when she was still a college student. She discovered to her dismay recently that WF had charged penalties for an inactive account draining all funds from the account and then proceeded to charge overdraft fees when further penalties were assessed. Upon her protest to the local bank "manager" she was refunded $1.50 after cancellation of outstanding penalties. So, they stole $45.00 from her account with no notice then returned $1.50.

Wells Fargo Bank is a stove piped organization set up to fleece consumers through obfuscation, usurious penalties and fees, and clumsy stupid marketing promotions. Their employees are poorly trained, and completely aloof to the needs of their customers. They deserve to fail...

Disappearing Car Door

2010-06-22T09:31:00.000-07:00

I would invest in this even if it is British! Click on photo to see website for really cool invention:

Blindness Pandemic Strikes China

2010-06-21T16:59:00.000-07:00

The following video argues in favor of:
1. Driving the largest vehicle available
2. Installation of stop signs
3. Avoiding China...

Fishin...

2010-06-21T12:52:00.000-07:00

Salmon, why do you torture me so? This spring season I have fished relentlessly on the Clackamas, Trask, Wilson and Sandy rivers. I have used spinners, lures, salmon eggs, sand shrimp, cured shrimp and more. No luck, zero, bupkis! This morning I arrived at work (office on Clackamas River) and realized that the sand shrimp in my bait bag were reaching the end of their shelf life. Knowing that placing these little jewels in the refer would result in severely negative consequences I decided with a great sense of largesse that I would walk down to the river and donate the excess bait to one of the good ol boys fishing the big hole. I gave the shrimp to Ike. He was too busy on his cell phone to say thank you and I can only hope that he would have done so if not for the exigencies of multi-tasking. Later on, while walking the dog downstream I ran into Chuck, who advised me that within 30 minutes of Ike receiving my gift that Ike caught a 15 lb bright shiny Chinook salmon. Aarghh !*?!!# A lesser man would give up...

New Product Concept

2010-06-17T13:58:00.000-07:00

You just have to love the pragmatic Chinese approach to the daily challenges of life in the city.

Sapporo Beer

2010-06-08T14:36:00.000-07:00

My friend Hiromi Yoshida put this new ad from Dentsu up on facebook.

Perp Apprehended, Not Killed

2010-05-05T10:35:00.000-07:00

Kudos to the Gladstone Police. Yesterday they apprehended the "Top Hat" carjacking suspect on the Clackamas River (directly behind our office). I unfortunately, did not get to witness this incident as I was out of the office at the time. The police had every chance to shoot and kill this idiot when he pulled up his shirt revealing a plastic gun stuck in his pants. They are to be commended for simply tasing and capturing him. I am afraid that if this happened in Portland our Perp would be on a slab at the morgue at this time. Thanks to KOIN Channel 6 for capturing the following video. I can tell you that our office staff were quite entertained by the entire episode!

God I Love Science!

2010-04-06T12:58:00.001-07:00

Actually it is the juxtapostion of science, industry and marketing that create the best tecno-babble herewith a great example:

Babies

2010-02-13T21:11:00.000-08:00

Following video trailer is from upcoming film "Babies". Namibia, Mongolia, Tokyo and San Francisco. Babies have a lot in common, but I am not so sure about the parents. At the very least this will be terminally cute.

I Am Worried About NASA

2010-02-11T12:53:00.000-08:00

The shuttle is up there again, but apparently for the last time. I haven't heard any news about what the next big space thing is going to be. I grew up with a life time of next big things from NASA. The following video is disturbing:

NASA Scientists Plan To Approach Girl By 2018

Transportation Cycle

2010-02-08T08:29:00.000-08:00

Over time with the development of energy and infrastructure resources we have created larger and more powerful vehicles to move products from farm and factory to market. Recently in cities such as Portland and Amsterdam young progressives have been reverting to human power to move cargo. I see a possible trend here which you may find a bit circular. Recently, local bike stores have been offering an ever wider array of bicycles designed to carry cargo, as well as an assortment of bicycle trailers. Following is what I see as a natural sequence of development (or regression, depending on your point of view).

Obviously no captions required.

Exotic Species

2010-02-07T10:24:00.000-08:00

My dog, Domino, has a crazed blood lust for the local squirrels. Turns out he may be an inadvertant environmentalist. The squirrels native to Portland are the big beautiful silver gray variety with the big fluffy tails. The have been completely eliminated in the city by little feisty brown buggers from someplace in the Mid-West. In honor of a Miss Leslie Zucor of Reed College I would like to share with you the following video demonstrating the art of Squirrel Launching.

Run For the Roses!

2010-01-26T13:23:00.000-08:00

Apparently getting to the Rose Bowl wasn't good enough for the stars of the University of Oregon football team. Jeremiah Masoli (quarterback) and Garrett Embry (wide receiver) were caught red handed looting computers and other electronics from the SAE frat house on campus ( see sordid details at: oregonlive.com). The police were "uncomfortable" releasing names just yet but the young man who caught them knew them, spoke to them and chased them down. Is this what we can expect from the $20M invested in the new Student Athlete Academic Center built for the pampered jocks? We should all be howling with indignation. Maybe Phil Knight will get a little indigestion from this one...

I Thought Tatoos were Permanent

2010-01-17T20:43:00.000-08:00

I have always had this image of tatoo afficianados as being either big tough guys or a least rangy camel smoking hipsters. With the exception of the full body tatoo this kid looks like a Republican Congressional Page. Am I suffering from cognitive dissonance or is this a clever fake?

Just when I thought I had plumbed the depth of stupid tatoos along comes this young man.

How long do you thing it might be before she dumps him? I usually think it might take a matter of months or even years before people regret their permanent tatoo decisions. I would think the psychological life span of this one might at best be measured in days or weeks.

Turnagain Sound

2010-01-17T10:27:00.000-08:00

Last week I travelled on business to Anchorage AK. I had the good fortune of taking a short drive south to Portage lake which took us along Turnagain Sound. We caught the sunset and tide going out on our way back to Anchorage. It was bloody cold but quite beautiful...

Here We Go Again...

2010-01-10T13:27:00.000-08:00

The "Followers of Christ". Once again in court for allowing a child to die. First it was Carl and Raylene Worthington accused of allowing their 15 month old daughter to die of pneumonia. Carl was convicted and Raylene got off scott free. Now it's Jeff and Marci Beagley parents of Raylene, who are in court accused of letting their son, Neil, die from a recurring urinary tract infection. The hapless Neil had been raised in complete isolation, never attending school, and never having seen a doctor. Young Neil had never known anyone outside of the church and family. He died in agony at age 16 probably feeling he had somehow offended "God". The parents defense is based in the idea that at age 16 Neil was responsible to make his own decision about whether to see a doctor or not. Does this make you sick or what? I hope the Oregon City court puts these folks in jail where they belong. Followers of Christ? I don't think so...

http://www.oregonlive.com/clackamascounty/index.ssf/2009/12/clackamas_hearings_set_stage_f.html

U of O Taj Majal

2010-01-05T08:45:00.000-08:00

In the Oregonian this morning I read with dismay about the opulent new Academic Center for Athletes which is now complete at University of Oregon. I note with some nostaligia that the new center will accomodate some 130 tutors who will be employed to study for the jocks. I remember as a freshman at U of O in 1967 working as a jock tutor myself. I wrote papers and took tests for these morons. They could not graduate without someone covering for them. I am sure there are many exceptions to this rule but they are exceptions none the less.

At right behold the appalling bad taste exemplified by the student lounge complete with Italian leather lounge chairs. I particularly like the rug apparently designed to assist the athlete scholars in learning the alphabet.

The Oregonian also recently noted that Phil had placed 1.5 Billion dollars of Nike stock in a trust fund. He can afford to do pretty much anything he wants. How about scholarships for real students?

I actually used to know John Jacqua and cannot believe he would have signed off on this.

Please click on link below for Oregonian article...

http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindducksbeat/2010/01/new_oregon_academic_center_bac.html

Our Mayor at Play

2010-01-04T13:11:00.000-08:00

Portland is know for being "weird". Our mayor Sam Adams goes by the nickname of Mayor Creepy. City Commissioner Randy Leonard is called Fireman Randy. Storm Large is as close as Portland can come to Hollywood skank...

Avatar?

2010-01-01T14:43:00.000-08:00

I confess I was kind of enthused about seeing this opus. My friend Jim went to see it and warned me that the 3D FX brought on nausea. I also talked to my son's friend Danny and he warned that the plot could also induce nausea. An internet review described the story as " ... a largely humorless movie that plays like the sensitive white man goes native saga, Dances with Wolves in outer space."

I could probably avert my eyes when the 3D starts to overwhelm my inner ear but I am defenseless against the adolescent plot development. I have never enjoyed puking so I guess I will have to give this one a miss.

Darwin on Marriage

2009-12-21T20:35:00.000-08:00

The Lady Wife and I are pleased to announce that today is the 35th anniversary of our marriage. We were thinner then, but just as happy now.

Last spring I had the honor of presenting the following reading at the wedding of our niece Elana to our new Nephew-in-law Seth. The notes on marriage by Charles Darwin were apparently scribbled in the margin of one of his notebooks. Read and enjoy:

Deciding Whether or Not to Marry:

Not Marry?

Freedom to go where one liked

choice of Society and little of it.

Conversation of clever men at clubs

Not forced to visit relatives, and

to bend in every trifle

to have the expense and anxiety of children -

perhaps quarrelling -

Loss of time -

cannot read in the Evenings -

fatness and idleness -

anxiety and responsibility -

less money for books

if many children, forced to gain one's bread (But then it is very bad for one's health to work too much).

Perhaps my wife won't like

London, then the sentence is banishment and degradation with indolent, idle fool.

Marry?

Children - (if it please God) -

constant companion, who will feel interested in one

(a friend in old age) -

object to be beloved and played with - better than a dog anyhow

Home, and someone to take care of house

Charms of Music and female Chit Chat -

These things good for ones health but terrible loss of time

My God, it is unthinkable to think of spending

one's whole life, like a neuter bee, working, working, and nothing after all

No, no won't do

Imagine living all one's days solitarily in smoky

dirty London House -

Only picture to yourself a nice soft wife on a sofa

with good fire, and books and music perhaps - compare this vision with dingy reality

Marry! Marry! Marry!

Awkward Family Photos

2009-12-20T10:58:00.001-08:00

Have you ever looked back at the family photos and thought "What was I thinking?" These things tend to be committed over the Holidays, so by way of warning I offer the following exhibits for your consideration. These examples of photographic excellence are brought to you courtesy of Penny. Where she got them I do not know...

You Face

2009-12-13T12:34:00.000-08:00

Fair Reader,

You may be aware that I have railed on occasion against the current fashion of "social networking" on line. It is with no small amount of chagrin that I am hereby announcing my intention to set up my own Face Book page.

I have been inspired to do this by the fact that I have been receiving an increasing number of e-mail type messages and highly valued comic content via the Lady Wife's Face Book page as well as those of others. So, I want to make it quite clear that I am not taking this step because I want to Friend you, but rather in self defense out of the fear of being left out of the loop. Let's face it. I can little know (nor long remember) when anyone reacts to or comments on the contents of DRF.

More important however, than my profound sense of insecurity about being left out of something, I am keen on mining the comic potential of having my own Face Book Page. Last week I was watching the most recent episode of the NBC sitcom, 30 Rock. The characters introduced a social networking site called You Face. You can enjoy this in full streaming glory at: http://www.hulu.com/watch/113089/30-rock-secret-santa.

So, if you receive a request to be "friended" by yours truly you have two choices:
1. Respond in the affirmative exposing yourself to my world and its inherent psychological risks.
2. Quietly stand up, carry your notebook computer to the kitchen sink, fill sink to a depth of 6 inches and submerge the computer for a minimum of 5 minutes. This should take care of the problem.

Air Piano

2009-11-27T18:20:00.000-08:00

Fair Reader,

If you are a lover of comic genius, or Beethoven, or both for that matter, the following video should be most pleasing to you.

Domino Strikes Back

2009-11-27T16:12:00.000-08:00

I have mentioned in previous posts that our dog Domino has "issues". Herewith proof:

Wii Pray

2009-11-19T13:25:00.000-08:00

Fair Reader,

Please forgive me as I have not been writing much lately but merely passing on video content. The following comes to us courtesy of Jack Bog's blog.

Canadian Swine Flu Advice

2009-11-16T16:34:00.000-08:00

Why is Canada so funny?

Marshallow Test

2009-11-16T13:09:00.000-08:00

This speaks for itself...

Cognitive Dissonence

2009-11-08T10:55:00.000-08:00

We recently, and I might add very generously, purchased a new bed for Domino (dog). He had previously been cramming himself into a laundry basket full of dirty towels. The cat, Dexter, apparently decided this was a good oportunity to establish some small measure of hedgemony over the dog who of course is measurably more stupid than the cat who is no slouch in the retard deparment either. The dog's response to this sudden and unexpected move was a decided "What the Fuck?"

The Lady Wife and I have enjoyed watching a most excellent television drama filmed on location in Nova Scotia. Our favorite character is Bubbles (pictured at right) who is a great lover of cats. There are 8 years of episodes available on Net Flicks and YouTube. Following is a link for my personal favorite episode "If You Love Something, You Must Set It Free". This is a touching tale of Bubbles love for a rather large cat. Let the viewer beware however that TPB reflects the common argot and culture of low level criminals and losers who inhabit a trailer park but don't have a clue that they are not socially successful. While the language is a little on the rough side, your can't help but enjoy...

Roll On Columbia

2009-11-08T10:13:00.000-08:00

On Monday, driving up the Columbia River Gorge while bound for Eastern WA and OR I again enjoyed the spectacular beauty of the mighty river. Woody Guthrie wrote a pretty much forgotten song while working on one of the dam projects on the Columbia river called Roll On Columbia. Please hear him below:

I stopped at Eagle Creek for a rest and enjoyed watching the Chinook Salmon spawning in the beautiful clear water. These are fish (native or hatchery) who have survived their journey to the Pacific and returned to spawn and die.

Dom is Back!

2009-11-04T13:42:00.001-08:00

Fair Reader,

You may recall an earlier post when I lamented the fact that the Lady Wife and I were forced to "adopt out" our Jack Russell terrier, Domino, due to his repeated displays of destructive behavior (eating the living room, etc.). We assuaged our guilt with the fact that we had found a home for him in the country with a loving family who were homeschooling 8 children. When we visited, Mom, Dad and the kids professed enthusiasm and dedication to taking on this new responsibility. There were a few clues that I chose to overlook: The giant velvet painting of Jesus on the wall, the two kids who looked mildly retarded, the fact that Dad had been layed off from his job repairing copy machines, the unmowed lawn etc. Nevertheless this tribe seemed keen on Domino and stated that if there were any problems they would call and if necessary we could come and pick him up.

About a week later we received a reassuring e-mail stating that Dom was sleeping on the bed and was becoming a "member of the family" I am glad that I was not a member of this family! Five months later we received a call from a veterinarian in Canby OR. He had read the chip in Dom's neck and learned our contact information. Dom had been abandoned on a farm about midway between Canby and Molalla. The folks who found him were keeping him on their farm but apparently could not do so on an extended basis. I called the Family and "Mom" informed me that the gave Dom away. This of course was bullshit. They dumped him in the country.

We retrieved Domino and found him none to worse for the wear. He had lost a few pounds, had a couple of broken teeth and a scarred ear. On the positive side he seems better able to ride in the car without puking! At the end of the day it is clear to me that Domino is our responsibility. Giving him away because we weren't doing a good enough job of caring for him was not my proudest moment. I am very glad to have Domino back. I won't be "adopting him out" again.

Let's get Europe over with!

2009-10-22T13:01:00.000-07:00

As you our Fair Reader are no doubt aware, the Lady Wife and I recently returned from our trip to Europe and of course, you did not. In order to share our experience with you I have (at the terminus of this post) provide a link to a slide show which summarizes in photographic and chronological form our recent trip. The basic itinerary included:

The Netherlands .....................................................Germany

Switzerland............................................................. Belgium
To see a complete slide show click on the following link: http://picasaweb.google.com/dean.gadda/DeanJennyInEuropeFall2009?feat=directlink

Sorry you couldn't join us. If you can get together the scratch I encourage you to improve on our experience.

Basel to Liege

2009-10-01T01:13:00.000-07:00

So, Tuesday morning 9/29 we sadly depart Basel Switzerland for Belgium. We started out the day by carefully following our host’s detailed instructions for closing windows, shutters, unplugging this, turning off that, carting food stuffs to the neighbors, and generally fortifying the house against marauding Gypsies and Romanians.

We boarded the IC train for Basel SBB in Liestal like this: Train pulls in and I stab franticaly at what appears to be the Open button with no success. Ready to bolt to the next open door, the Lady Wife casually reaches out and depresses the actual button providing access to the 1^st class carriage. Feeling much like Pa Kettle I schlep my suitcase, European carry all, and big plastic bag of lunch, souveniers, wine etc. onto the train. We collapse into our seats to the tune of our own laughter and sighs of relief that we hadn’t spilled the coffee clutched in our third hand(s). We proceed to fold ourselves around our luggage and chatted voluably (tres Americain) as our 10 minute trip to Basel SBB begain.

Just as we began a very nice young woman seated across from us took it upon herself to advise us that we were in the Quiet Car. This of course resulted in abject apologies and added more weight to the ever growing sensation of cultural incompentence which seems to follow us like the the cloud of dust which follows the Charles Shulz character “Pigpen”.

Arriving in Basel SBB we noted with consternation that our ICE train to Frankfurt was departing not from platform 11 as shown on our schedule but to our (my) horror from platform 10! This of course brought to mind the paranoic concern of what else may have changed. Was platform 10 going to yield up the train to Frankfurt Main enabling our connection to Liege Belgium on time? Would we be diverted to some remote Romanian village for a life of servitude and cultural anomie?

Our tickets stated clearly that our seats were to be in Wagen 9. I was hoping for a nice first class car but apparently the local custom is to put the foreigners in a Wagen. Again to my horror I noted that the cars (turned our these are Wagens) were not marked with der Wagen Number! While I began to flail frantically to and fro the Lady Wife noted that the range of seat numbers were clearly shown in the Wagen Window (pronounce Vagen Vindow).

So, here we are on the beautifully appointed ICE high speed train bound for Frankfurt. Imagine my delight to find that our reserved seats not only face backwards but are situated in a window desert limiting our view to a narrow glimpse of the very rapidly receding German country side. The seats, however, are leather just like a BMW! The Lady Wife, ever sensitive to real or imagined discomfort, pointed out to me that the aging farmer and his wife seated directly behind (see photo) were in fact giving off a very strong essence of farm, cow, BO?

We arrived in Frankfurt Main in the very old grand station. I proceeded to the ticket wind

ow tbe

next leg of the journey to Liege Belgium. I was informed that there were no more 1^st class reserved seats available but we should be able to sit in seats not marked reserved. How Kind! Next we exited the station to find a street of food stalls selling, brats, shchnitzel, crepes, wine, etc. to a ravenous crowd of office workers. We joined them for bratwurst mit brot und appel juice. MMM!

On returning to the station we boarded our train for Liege on the first class car and settled in. We enjoyed laughing in an experienced superior way about the travails of two young Americains seated incorrectly in the 1^st class who had to move up to the more crowded 2^nd class car. Ha Ha! Glancing up at the LCD display in the front of the car imagine my horror when I noted that the train we were on was apparently bound for Dusseldorf and Amsterdam instead of Liege and Brussels. I raced to the door and asked the conductor if there was time to disembark. Nein! Oh Fuck! It must be some kind of Romanian plot. The conductor advised that the train was divided into two parts which would separate in Cologne with the front end heading for Belgium. We unwisely decided to embark on a forced march through the 2^nd class cars to the front of the train, only after massive schleping to find that the only way to access the front of the train was to disembark at Cologne and walk up to the front section. Totally stressed out, jambed in with too many passengers and way too much luggage we proceeded to stress our way to Cologne, where we easily “moved up” to our richly deserved 1^st class accomodations for the remainder of the trip to Liege.

Arriving at Liege we were to treated to the sight of what is probably the most extraordinary train station in the entire world. Just inaugurated on September 18^th the station, designed by a big deal Spanish architect will probably throw Liege into poverty for the next century. Please watch the following video!

Cochem Germany

2009-09-24T12:13:00.000-07:00

The Lady Wife and I decided to visit Germany on the way to Switzerland. We spent two days in the little village of Cochem on the Mosel River. It was quite picturesque and relaxing. We were completely surrounded by septegenarians, mass quantities of vitamin P (pork) and of course castles. We found ourselves returning to the hotel in the afternoon to sleep off the vitamin P and mass quantities of beer and auslese wine. Following are some photos which should be self explanatory.

1. Germans love Kitsch

2. This place is castle crazy. They are everywhere and can be seen with German language tour for euro 4.5.
3. Vitamin P - Pork is a way of life.

4. Wine, beer and great motorcycles.

Dutch Surprise

2009-09-20T09:24:00.000-07:00

The Lady Wife and I are now enjoying our first days of the great Eurocation! To the right you may see the remains of our first party. No wonder everyone seems so happy here! This morning we drove into Germany.

Whilst stopping to hit the ATM we came across the first potato vending machine which I have encountered. You can actually purchase a 2 and 1/2 kilo bag 24 hours per day. Go figure!

The main event of the day was our visit to the little village of S-Heerenberg. We enjoyed our visit to the Huis Bergh castle . We enjoyed drinking the local brew and listening to our in-laws join in a music "session". Everyone there was really old. The music included many rousing Irish and Scottish folk tunes. The enjoyment extended to the gustatory delight of devouring a plate of deep fried dough balls with meat bits chased with a fine dry Pilsner.

Below be sure to click on the video below for actual evidence of the aforementioned hootenanny!

Sorry for this...

2009-09-03T21:11:00.000-07:00

Fair Readers,

My apologies for not having posted anything for such a long period. I have been busy dragging the local economy out of recession in a vain attempt to enrich myself. The big excitement is that the Lady Wife and I are scheduled to depart for a rerun of last year's aborted European vacation. I am fully confident that this expedition will provide fodder for real blogging.

The Lady Wife is recommending that we visit a Dutch Cheese Market as we speak. We can also visit a miniature city in The Hague or perhaps meet the Giant People of The Hague. Maybe I can learn why it is The Hague instead of just Hague City, Hague Town or Hagueville. Here in Oregon we have The Dalles (same dilemma). We can also hear the deer hollering for their mates at De Hoge National Park.

Before going abroad I will be donning my new 3 Wolves T-shirt for a 4 day float on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River. Hopefully there will not be an excess of babes on the river. I don't want them to loose control on exposure to the shirt. For more information on the effect of the shirt on hot women check out the excellent anecdotal evidence lurking in the above highlighted link.

Lastly I am looking forward to catching trout in the river. I will be enjoying fly fishing probably amongst some serious types with lots of gear and teen tiny dry flies that I couldn't tie on with an electron microscope. I will of course be packing some hardware and large leach flies which bear a disconcerting resemblence to a small dead kitten. I have also been seriously contemplating the manufacture of some dry flies based on the use of various types of cigarette butts.

No Tattoos?

2009-08-20T14:05:00.002-07:00

The following video features one Danny MacAskill. I am wondering if this is his real name or perhaps a pun. The young man's balance and skill is astounding. His apparent lack of X generation tattoos is equally remarkable. Enjoy!

Found Art(ist)

2009-08-09T14:26:00.000-07:00

So, I got up this morning with a minor hangover, staggered out to the living room and to my dismay saw an old pickup with what looked like construction debris in the back. After breakfast I went for a walk in the Canyon at Reed and on my return found two young men standing at the pickup. On closer inspection I found that what I initially took for construction debris turned out to be canvases and other format works of art. The young artist, Brett Bowers, was happy to pull out the pieces and display them against the side of the truck for me. Photo below is of Brett and his works. Turns out he is living in a rental just down the street and using the garage for his studio.

The Lady Wife came out and was immediately taken with Brett's work. It is bright, comical and very local. We immediately scraped together some cash and bought the painting below. It is done in acrylic on birch plywood and is called Hawthorne Slide. This is Brett's interpretation of a view south from Riverplace to the Hawthorne Bridge.

Following are some of the works he had in his truck.

You can (and should) visit Brett's website at http://www.brettbowers.com/. I suspect that I have made a very good investment! Stay tuned to DRF for announcements of upcoming gallery shows in Portland...

Odd Fellows Indeed

2009-07-30T18:33:00.000-07:00

Emmert International of Clackamas Oregon contracted to move the 118 year old Odd Fellows Building to accomodate the construction of a new US Courthouse. Does it seem a bit dim witted to move a 118 year old brick building? Does yet another city need yet another monumental over engineered Federal Courthouse?

Work on the building transport stalled last month. General contractor Layton Construction says subcontractor Emmert International walked off the job, leaving the building perched on its own equipment. Oregon-based Emmert International, which specializes in moving heavy structures, claimed Layton Construction owes it money.

Terry (I can move anything whether it's a good idea or not) Emmert always has an entertaining difugilty in progress. Previous hilarious escapades included the destruction of a county sherrif's car by Terry's herd of buffalo, his attempt to become a major sports owner by purchasing a very minor local basketball franchis and hosting games at the long abused Eastmoreland Racquet Club and much more.

Future Darwin Award Winner

2009-07-27T12:39:00.000-07:00

I am about to pee myself with excitement. I have waited a long time for something as mind numbingly stupid as this. I have been tipped off to the exploits of one Robert Maddox of Medford Oregon. He apparently (no actually!) is manufacturing pulse jet propulsion systems in his garage and marketing them via E-bay for installation on bicycles. The objective is to propel oneself at upwards of 100 mph for 5 minutes or so generating lots of flame and an ear-splitting 150 decibles of sound. Check out the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3V5qbVbNLM.

As good as the hare-brained technology itself was the spin the Oregonian newspaper had on the story, interviewing the local Southern Oregon Business Development manager who pointed out that Mr. Maddox had given up on carpentry work due to the economic downturn and is now focused on selling these little beauties. The Oregonian stated: "While the pulse jet may not hold the key for economic development, jobs and payrolls, entrepreneurs like Maddox are critical the region's future, says Ron Fox, executive director of Southern Oregon Regional Economic Development Inc. in Medford."

According to the Oregonian: "The pulse jet - which powered Hitler's V-1 bombers over England - runs on air and gasoline or just about anything flammable. It compresses the ingredients in a long tube, igniting them with a spark plug and forcing in air with a leaf blower or air compressor. Once it's running, the explosive flow of exhaust gases creates a vacuum in the tube, sucking fiery exhaust back inside and igniting fuel 220 times a second, with an enormous pulsing roar.

I can only hope that Mr. Maddox has one hell of a product liabililty policy to backstop his venture. I suspect however that he is not worried about such trifles. Unencumbered by fear, common sense, or any demonstrable thought process it is Mr. Maddoxes intention to take this technology to a whole new level. The Oregonian gones on to clarify: "Thinking further ahead, Maddox, a skydiver with over 1,000 jumps, has begun work on a four-pulse jet rocket with a capsule on top to carry a pilot. The 40-foot tall airship will weigh 2,500 pounds, generate 4,000 pounds of thrust, travel at 250 mph and, when it gets to 25,000 feet, allow the pilot to bail out and skydive down, while the rocket descends on parachutes."

It must be something in the water in Southern Oregon. "Two of Maddox's big nitro-methane powered, 1,000 horsepower pulse jets sit on the Top Gun Ground Fighter of Wally Larson of Jacksonville. It looks like an F-16 minus the wings and, while Larson, who uses it only for show, said he believes it could break the land speed record, but "I never wanted to kill myself." Back in the late 60's while attending High School in Central Point I assisted a friend in the creation of what we believed was the world's fastest Honda 50. My friend Jerry bored out the cylinder and adapted our little beauty to run on straight alcohol. It was doing somewhere in excess of 70 mph when the head completely shattered resulting in extremely rapid deceleration and rather nasty shrapnel wounds for the pilot.

We look forward to more on the exploits of the courageous Mr. Maddox.

Faith, Ignorance and Death

2009-07-25T09:13:00.000-07:00

Carl and Raylene Worthington of Oregon City, members of the Followers of Christ church, stood by and watched their 15 month old daughter Ava die from multiple causes culminating in pneumonia and a blood infection, both treatable conditions. Why did they do this? As they stated repeatedly in court, they do not "believe" in doctors or modern medicine.

Their recent trial for manslaughter took place in Oregon City. They were acquited of the manslaughter charges by the jury. The only conviction was for Carl for a misdemeanor charge of criminal mistreatment. One of the jurors has subsequently stated that he would certainly have voted for conviction if only he had known the history of the church including the deaths of 18 children since 1991. These victims of medical neglect are all buried together in the Oregon City cemetery.

In court the defense claimed that the parents were surprised by the child's death because they thought she only had a minor cold. Doctors testifying for the prosecution stated that medical evidence showed that the child was poorly developed for her age, lagging in most growth and development benchmarks. At the time of her death she suffered from a very large growth on her throat which impeded her ability to breath and swallow properly. When police and medical teams arrived at the Worhington's home they had to move a large number of people out of the child's room and the house. The members of the church had gathered to pray, annoint the child with oil and perform rituals to save her life. They did not take action even when little Ava ceased breathing. They did not call 911. Does the entire congregation gather to "annoint" the ill for a common cold? How in good conscience can they claim that the death was a surprise? How can this happen?

Afterwards jurors stated that they were swayed by empathy for the Worthingtons who thought they were doing the "right thing" for their daughter. To my mind this calls into question the wisdom of a jury system to rule on an emotional issue like this. They clearly did not apply the law to the facts of the case but were swayed by emotional arguments alone.

I am apalled by the sheer arrogance and disregard for human life displayed by the Worthingtons and their fellow church members. President Fred Smith, a seventh-generation member of the church, testified in a January court hearing that members adhere to biblical teachings and traditions passed down through families. There are no written policies or guidelines on faith healing or other practices, he said. The church has no pastor or leadership. They are in fact a dangerous cult following beliefs based on charismatic pentecostal thinking of the 19th century. Please let me remind you that antibiotics had yet to be discovered in the 19th century.

Our criminal justice system failed us on this one. I can only hope that the Followers of Christ who have now stood by and watched a minimum of 18 children die will themselves succumb to treatable illness and suffer as have their children.

The citizens of of Oregon City have another chance to get one right. Raylene Worthington's parents, Jeff and Marci Beagley, go on trial in January. They are charged with criminally negligent homicide in the death of their 16-year-old, Neil Beagley, who died last June of an untreated urinary tract blockage. Apparently young Neil had suffered on and off for years with easily treatable urinary tract infections, but never received any medical treatment. Once again the Followers of Christ stood by and watched him die in agony.

Shame on everyone involved in the terrible history! I cannot fully express my outrage at this ongoing tragedy. Ruled by ignorance and the tyranny of religious dogma the trail of suffering and death continues... This is the saddest thing I have ever written.

Let's Dance

2009-07-24T12:41:00.001-07:00

I know you have all seen this already, but if not then you are in for a treat:

Mellow Velo

2009-07-19T13:07:00.000-07:00

This morning the Lady Wife and I joined our neighbors for an outing to the Alpenrose Velodrome to see the bike races. I am not a big fan of bicycle racing commuters who plunge headlong into traffic, run stop signs and lights and generally expect traffic to part like the Red Sea, but.. The Velodrome track races are cool. With high speed, an edge of serious danger, and serious athletes it was a great deal of fun to watch. I highly recommend that more people turn out to watch these events.

Economics Lecture

2009-07-17T06:45:00.000-07:00

The Professor hails from Reed College and is teaching at UW. More leactures are available on YouTube. There will not be a test...

Best Portland Tirade

2009-07-16T12:51:00.000-07:00

Fair Reader,

I copied the following text from http://www.professorbainbridge.com/. Check out the post "The Best Trend Ever". The following hilariously accurate text is copied from a comment to the aforementioned post by one "Evil Dave". Yes, I have broken my rule about overly long posts, but you may consider this a multiple post. I suggest that it be savored like a good bottle of whisky. Perhaps it would be better not to chug the entire bottle in one sitting.

The Three R's of Portland or Why Portland Sucks

"Latte Town" was coined a few years back and is the most appropriate term for the City of Portland that I have ever heard. A Latte town consists of mostly white, educated baby boomers and young single people. The inhabitants of the town are usually newcomers who have priced out all the original inhabitants. These towns are usually expensive, pretentious, abound in natural fibers and are laid back on the surface. Latte towns like Portland pride themselves on their most cherished concepts of diversity and inclusiveness. Most Portlanders accept this myth as Gospel but upon close examination Portland's dirty little secret is revealed. Portland is an overwhelmingly white, non-ethnic city. It is as vanilla as it gets so it makes one wonder what all the celebrating of diversity is all about. Drive through any neighborhood surrounding the downtown area and the impression that you get is that Portland is nothing more than a series of elitist ghettos compromised of rich white homosexuals, rich white yuppies, rich white hippies, rich white trust funders, and rich white kids from the suburbs pretending to be street people. Where's the diversity? Well it doesn't exist but the average Portlander likes the concept and in their eyes the different shades of rich whites all constitute diversity. In a series of articles I will attempt to breakdown and explain these subtle distinctions between the various factions of lily white, latte people that make Portland what it is.

The Artist-Intellectual

The visitor or newcomer to Portland is bound to be struck by the sheer numbers that belong to this group. They seem to be everywhere and are in fact everywhere. They are the reason that all the coffee shops have tables and chairs. The artist-intellectual fancies himself as a poet, a writer, a musician, a filmmaker, etc. You get the drift. They spend most of their days idling around the coffee establishments that one finds every 10 feet. They are usually equipped with a notebook that they use for their poems, journals or their artwork. No one ever gets to see the contents of these notebooks. More often than not they have a beaten and weathered paper back copy of some book authored by Kafka or William S. Boroughs. They love to discuss their favorite subject, themselves. Given the opportunity they will prattle on for hours about their poems, art work or the film they are making. You never get to actually see any of their work but you do get to hear about it. Their lives are like one never ending semester in grad school. Initially I believed these losers but then got to thinking. What would an aspiring actor, artist, musician, filmmaker being doing in Portland Oregon, a latte town? Why wouldn't they be in NYC or LA? Because they're phonies, that's why. Here's how it works with these clowns. They flunk out of college in New Jersey so their parents send them to Reed College in Portland in hopes that they will get their act together. They drop out of Reed but stay in Portland while still on Daddy's tab or some trust find. One Saturday Josh or Seth drifts down to one of the hundreds of hippie craft markets downtown. Some hippie is selling didgeridoos that he made I between bong reps. Josh buy one and takes it home where he proceeds to get baked after which he blows a few sour notes into the didgeridoo. The next day he's a musician. Not really but that's what he's telling everyone at the coffee house and pretending is good enough for a Portland artist-intellectual, in fact it's everything. In three months he will switch his designation from musician to filmmaker and then onto to something else 3 months later. As long as it sounds cool he will keep this charade up and no one in his circles will call him on it because they are doing the same thing.

The Activist

This group is usually comprised of people that used to be part of the artist-intellectual group in Portland. They have gotten a little older and may have finally, after 12 years, obtained a liberal arts degree from Portland State or Reed College. They may still run in artist-intellectual circles but have latched onto some "cause" at this time of their life. An activist always lives off some sort of trust fund or inheritance. When you ask an activist what he does for a living he will actually say he is an "activist" with a straight face. I used to look in the want ads and at the state employment office but never once did I see an advertised job entitled "activist". The activist usually lives in some semi communal house with other activist and artist-intellectuals, the kind of place where people sleep on mattresses on the floor and where the walls are covered with hippie tapestries. Oh yeah there are always like 15 cats roaming around the house and it stinks of cat piss, body odor and patchouli. The activist is still a bum at heart but feels the need to pretend that he is productive and feels extremely self conscious about living off some one else's money but not enough to actually get a job. So the activist associates himself with the following types of groups: art councils, school-to-work collaboratives, environmental groups, preservation groups, community-supported agriculture, antidevelopment groups, and other ad hoc activist groups. Affiliation with these groups will change every 6 months or so. It all sounds cool and actually creates the impression that they work.

The Crone

The Crone is a middle-aged woman that lives alone with her two cats. She is extremely bitter and unpleasant to be around. Crones usually populate the SE and NW sides of Portland. Often you can see that the Crone was quite attractive in her day. You can easily envision her twirling around dressed like Stevie Nicks at some Grateful Dead show back in 1978 Nature and time have not been good to her. She's always had a bad attitude but at least in her younger days she had perky breast and booty to match. Nice T&A can go a long way for making up for a crappy attitude but now she's only left with the bad attitude and the Stevie Nicks get up. The Crone is usually involved in several crackpot wymn's organizations that promote some sort of radical and unrealistic form of feminism. They usually have names like the United Front of Sisterhood or Radical Wymin For The Extermination Of The Male Species. Crones usually have jobs in local government or at State Universities, places where their inability to get along with anyone has no bearing on keeping their jobs. I worked with a Crone at City Hall. She filed a sexual harassment charge against me because she was eavesdropping on a phone conversation I was having and I said the word "chick". She filed another sexual grievance against a guy because he displayed a family picture on his desk of his wife and four kids at the beach. His wife was wearing a bathing suit, one piece, and this sexually offended the Crone who viewed this as objectifying women. The Crone wishes she were a lesbian because she hates men so much. She's tried to convert but it never took. Now her only objective in life is to feed her cats, read Tarot cards and make every one else's life a living hell.

The New Age Spiritualist

This could very easily be the official religious doctrine of Portland. All Portlanders fall into one of two groups when it comes to God. They are either atheists or they are new age spiritualists. You can hear them espousing their creed everywhere, "I'm spiritual but not religious", as if this automatically put them on the moral high ground. This belief system can best be described as spirituality without obligation. The new age spiritualist lives in a moral temperate zone where he picks and chooses tenants from all faiths that suit his lifestyle of the moment. Anything self sacrificing or too stringent is discarded and deemed "dogmatic" or "too religious". This way he can have the best of both worlds. In reality he gets little more than a set of watered down moral concepts that do nothing more than validate the liberal sensibilities that may be in fashion at the moment. For example, the New Age Spiritualist eschews judgmetalism. Particularly judgementalism that conflicts with their desires but he will embrace judgementalism when it comes to condemning cigarette smoking or individuals that don't have the right perception on the three R's which are racial sensitivity, recycling and reproductive rights. The new age spiritualist's home will be adorned with religious objects of oppressed people. Amazonian figures, Native American totems, Egyptian deities, animistic shells, or Shinto statuettes abound. The rules is that it's OK to display religious articles as long as you have no real association or knowledge of the said religion. A Crucifix would be seen as something a little too extreme.

The Dude

This is without a doubt the most ubiquitous character roaming the streets of Portland or any other Latte town for that matter. The Dude is usually a young white male that has great enthusiasm for games that are usually associated with extreme sports and the X-Games. He is called a Dude because this is the most commonly used word in his vocabulary. You've heard them before. They are the kind of guys that refer to everyone as 'dude' and use 'dude' as a noun adjective and a verb. When they say 'dude' they put a lot of emphasis on the "u". They say 'duuude' instead of 'dude'. Their aspiration is for life to resemble an extended hobby. Work is playful and play is something they pursue with earnest. Most don't work but if they must you can find them working at places that sell skateboards, snowboards and other thing that are of supreme importance to the Dude. Dudes are usually extremely stupid and have flunked out of all the worst community colleges so they rarely associate with the activist or artist-intellectual unless of course there is some sort of sharing of drugs thing going on. The Dude is held in high esteem in Portland because he is seen as someone who is bucking the system. He will quit a job in a heartbeat if the swells on the Columbia are optimal for shredding. He lives for the moment, the perfect wave and the perfect buzz. Priorities and responsibilities are no more than an after thought for these Portland cowboys.

Hippies

These dirty repugnant characters are the status quo in Portland. They seem to run across three generations and are composed of people who came from privileged backgrounds because no one from the real world could possibly embrace the fairytale concepts that the hippies hold dear. The hippies day is a full day consisting of sleeping till noon, smoking pot, protesting progress and reason, playing hackey sack and seeing how long they can go without bathing before they become infested with ticks. The hippie's biggest fears are work and responsibility so they go to great lengths to paint the "system" as thoroughly corrupt in order to avoid growing up. In their eyes any participation in the "system" is "selling out". This allows the hippy to live a lay about life without any moral quandary. Hippies without trust funds and generous parents must do some sort of work in order to buy pot and overpriced organic hippy food. This is why Portland has so many "markets". These are closed markets in the classic Marxist tradition. The hippies sell their hippy crap to tourist and yuppies with more money than sense. Here you can buy beeswax candles, dream catchers, and soap dishes made out of bird feathers. Bring plenty of money cause this shit ain't cheap. All major credit cards accepted. Hippies are easy to spot in Portland. Just envision the crowd at the original Woodstock in 1969. That's exactly what you will see with the Portland hippy. They will usually go by names like Sunshine, Rain, Heather, Noah, Seth or Jeremiah although the varieties are endless. Some hippies are hard to spot. They are usually 40 and over and have compromised themselves with jobs. Make no mistake about it, they are still hippies and when 5:00 pm rolls around they ditch the suit in favor of Birkenstocks and hemp clothing. These are the ones that make sure that the hippy ethos is forcefully inserted in all spheres of Portland's civic, cultural and business affairs. They are the ones that ensure that Portland remains soft on crime and educational standards and hard on increased taxation, subsidies and cumbersome business regulations.

The Psycho-Feminist

This is usually a young woman in her 20's or 30's. She has attended college and has received some feminist indoctrination in how awful the male species is. The problem is that the Psycho-Feminist still prefers men sexually. Some how she must balance her desire for empowerment with her more natural desire to find a mate. The Psycho-Feminist is truly a confused individual. She really has no idea how to reconcile her place in the world. She cannot balance her professional aspirations with her private life and is in constant turmoil over making any sacrifice between marriage, family and career. If you have had the misfortune to have dated or married such a woman I feel for you. Once you get out of that relationship, and you must get out, you will need years of therapy before you are right again. The Psycho-Feminist will subject you to years of emotional abuse over her gender turmoil. She's not man but doesn't know what it means to be woman. One minute she will want flowers and doors held open for her the next minute she will be cursing you out like a drunken sailor for some perceived slight. This breed more often than not ends up joining the ranks of the Crones. You can usually find the Psycho-Feminist at Powell's Bookstore completely immersed in some feminist manifesto like "Our Bodies Ourselves". Guys do yourselves a favor and find a nice foreign-born girl.

The Sensitive Male

Nature abhors nothing more than the sensitive male yet he proliferates in Portland. You will often be out at the Saturday Market and say to yourself, "Another lesbian couple!?" Upon closer examination you noticed that the more feminine looking partner is not a lesbian but is fact a man, the sensitive male. This is a guy that is really in touch with his feelings and it is not below him to gently weep after reading a poem or a love story. He usually "is not really into sports". He prefers careers in the "healing fields" like massage therapy, teaching yoga or some sort of new age mumbo-jumbo therapy. He is devoid of any passion or a sense of humor. Regular guys horrify him. He is disdainful of them and feels that his sensitive approach to life is superior. A psycho-feminist usually scoops him up and she controls every aspect his life. Eventually he decides, after years of dream remission therapy, that he is a homosexual and he leaves her. The sensitive male likes to read Iron John Bly and participates in events allied with the Men's Movement. He can usually be found pounding on a drum in the woods with other sensitive males. He is best personified by the hippie school teacher Mr. Van Dreesen on the Beavis and Butthead cartoons. Wymn in Portland prefer that all men go down the road of sensitive male and throngs of counselors in the mental health and educational professions have made it their business to castrate young men by turning them into these cream puff, pussies knows as the sensitive male.

Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse...

2009-07-09T16:29:00.000-07:00

Remember when I waxed on about the inadvisability of decorating your body with inappropriate or poorly thought out tattoos? I could have just as easily gone off about the morons mutilating their bodies with piercings and large jangly metal decorations. But just when I thought I had hit the bottom, here comes some guys from the Japanese club scene billing themselves as Bagleheads. The stomach churning effect shown to the right was accomplished by injecting themselves with large quantities of saline solution. I wonder what happens at altitude in an airplane under reduced air pressure? The real excuse for this awful post is that every time I list tattoo as a keyword, I get hundreds of pings from around the world. Maybe you will read some of the other posts while you are here?

Who is this man?

2009-07-08T13:30:00.000-07:00

This morning the Portland City Council voted to re-name 39th Ave. after this person. Despite the fact that only some 60 respondents out of 650 39th Avenue residents were in favor of the change, the City was swayed by the very vocal proponents who had gathered some 2500 signatures from around the city. Despite the fact that the gentleman's son said that his father would not have wanted this kind of recognition for his accomplishments. Despite the fact that there is not a single Latino business, sign or restaurant on the entire length of the street. Despite the fact that the great efforts of this gentleman to promote the interests of farm workers in California have no relevance to the residents of the street. Despite the fact that it will cause significant disruption and economic burden for the residents of 39th Ave. Despite the fact that any number of bridges, parks, pathways, statues, fountains, or public building could have been renamed in his honor without disruption to people who did not seek or want this change.

The only folks happy about this one are the "activists" who showed that a little political pressure and multicultural flag waving can trump common sense any day of the week in our fair city. The Portland City Council led by Mayor Creepy and Fireman Randy continue to show complete disregard for the for the wishes of the people who put them in office. What were we thinking?

Oh Boy! Oh Boy!

2009-07-03T14:38:00.000-07:00

This is better than a roomful of SC governors! Watch the video below to learn how Sarah has "passed the ball for victory". What better timing than the 4th of July!!!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/shannyn-moore/sarah-palin-resigns-as-al_b_225515.html

I am eager to learn the dimensions of the Iceberg...

My Foot Hurts

2009-07-01T19:43:00.000-07:00

And apparently my health care provider could care less. I pay Kaiser Permanente the total sum of $290 every month for "insurance" for my wife and I. In addition to this I get dinged $15.00 "copay" (who is the co in copay?). I have had appointments with Kaiser less than once per year.

Here is a picture of my foot, and yes that nasty bump on the ball of my foot hurts. Squash is out, basketball is out, hiking is out, walking is not fun.

I called my primary care physician and asked for a referral to a podiatrist. But no... The doctor had to see me before he could make a referral. After a few days I got in to see him and as expected he scraped at it a little with his scalpel and advised me to soak and abrade to reduce the bump. I asked if I should use a cheese grater but he suggested a pumice stone. Of course this didn't work. The bump now feels huge, swollen, and explosively painful.

I called my primary care physician to request the inevitable referral to the podiatrist. I was informed that the doctor was on vacation for the next week. I insisted on a referral, vacation be damned. This was Thursday one week ago. On Tuesday I hadn't heard back. I called, and was at last given the phone number for the Podiatry Department. I called and was informed that the earliest possible appointment was on August 11. Jesus H F_cking Christ. I asked if their strategy was simply to wait for the problem to cure itself or if they were actually hoping that a major infection would lead to my demise and eliminate their need to deal with me.

I emphasized to the shaken receptionist that this was not personal, except for me of course. She persisted in declaring that the appoinment 6 weeks out was the best I could hope for. I advised that this was unacceptable and that this was not the last they would hear from me.

My next call was to the customer service wing of Kaiser. I explained the situation and stated that I wanted to file a formal complaint. This seems to be the only way to get a referral appointment with this organization. The next day, today, I received a call from Podiatry (surprise!). They advised that by some undefined alchemy that they now had an appointment available on July 13th. I graciously accepted this and pointed out that now I only had to walk on my disfigured supurating necrotic foot for a further two weeks. I suspect that if I could get some care tomorrow that this would probably be a minor procedure. In two weeks they may have to remove the entire foot! Well, tomorrow it's back to customer service to file formal complaint number two.

Republicans, I understand are worried that a single payer health care system would result in the rationing of care. Of course health care is npw being rationed by ability to pay, and apparently the will and capacity to bend the bureaucracy to your needs. I suspect the more timid among us just wait until they finally get to see a doctor, get better, or succumb.

Well fair reader, I know that you are trembling with excitement about the outcome of my medical adventure. Stay tuned, maybe I will be able to get live video next time.

Sorry - Shit Spiral

2009-06-30T12:26:00.000-07:00

OK, the lady wife and I attempted to watch the last 2 hours of the ABC "drama" impact on Sunday night. The first half last week was so bad it was good. It included ridiculous special effects and science unencumbered by fact, or even reasonable speculation.

Unforunately the producers apparently shot their creative wad on the first half. The second part was devoid of humor, apocalyptic drama, or anything approaching originality. Guess what? The hero scientist was chosen to lead a suicide mission to the moon to insert a magnetic field flux capacitor (which only he knew how to build) in the only possible crevasse as defined by the heroic German scientist (who of course was the only person alive with the requisite knowledge of lunar geology to do this). The idea was that they would create a magnetic field which would propel Gary Coleman (whoops, I meant the brown dwarf) out of the moon and into the gravitational field of the sun, thus returning the moon to its original orbit and saving the earth for more dramas like this.

Instead of more fun special fx, societal chaos, and gripping action we were burdened with 1.5 hours of watching the heroic scientist's children and grampa struggle with the situation. Outside of a pretty good scene where grampa's caddy escaped the hold of gravity for a short flight, it mostly consisted of the doe eyed little scamps working up bogus tears while grampa succumbed to the longest heart attack in television history. I confess that after the death of grampa I fell asleep missing the heroic moon repair mission. I still have this mess on the DVR but I suspect that early round matches of Wimbledon will take precedence. I just don't seem to care if they saved the planet or not...

Shit Spiral from Space

2009-06-22T19:37:00.000-07:00

I must confess, the Lady Wife and I are hopelessly addicted to bad/inappropriate/sophomoric TV. An excellent example of this oeuvre is the current Sci-Fi Thriller on ABC entitled "Impact". This wildly entertaining two part drama highlights the activities of heroic scientists, politicians, army guys and everyday joes as the Moon begins an orbital death spiral soon to result in a collision with Earth. How can this happen? Well it turns out that the Moon has been impacted by a Brown Dwarf (no not Gary Coleman!) which increases its mass to 16 times that of Earth resulting in a decaying elliptical orbit replete with great special effects. Cool stuff includes massive bouts with static electricity, big waves, and best of all random reversals of gravity with people and their stuff floating helplessly skyward then plunging helplessly back to earth when the gravitational polarity flux is suddenly reversed. Its science. You get it. Right?

The first picture focuses on the whiz bang special effects but I would be remiss if I didn't provide a taste of the dramatic skills of the actors. The scene depicted on the right is where the token Asian scientist has an existential crisis which is solved entirely by scotch and a couple of monumentally glib comments from the hot blond scientist. Let's get back to the lab! Everyone is counting on us.

Here's the good news! Part two of this opus is on next Sunday at 9:00pm. Tune in for another in the great tradition of apocalypse movies. This one of course is derivative of the original Brit version "When Worlds Collide" by Phillip Wylie. The moon is one bad ass meteorite!

First Day of Summer

2009-06-21T20:03:00.000-07:00

Yes I know cacti aren't suppose to grow here but actually most prickly pear, and many of the agave varieties do quite well if not drowned by the winter rains. The bonus (though short lived is the summer blossoms.

This little clematis surprises me every summer with its big oversexed blossoms. I usually forget it is there until it rises once again, phoenix like from a tangle of shrubs and grasses.

I actually planted this Euphorbia Wolfii. While it looks like a "plant" it could well be classified as a noxius weed. They are dramatic, fast growing, toxic, and can be grown by a complete blithering idiot.

The first couple years for this hydrangea didn't look too good. Go figure...

The pink smoke tree has turned into a fairly large bush and will someday be a small tree.

The Yarrow in pink, yellow, and orange fires up as always

The Star Jasmine likes its new location out front. Its fragrance is almost overpowering!

This red calistemon is the smaller of the 3 we had last fall. They are a really cool drought resistant shrub from Australia. The largest one succumbed to the cold and was sent to the compost heap.

Immigration

2009-06-05T09:01:00.000-07:00

Last night the Lady Wife and I watched an episode of the television docu-drama "30 Days". This program takes individuals from one cultural or economic environment and plops them down in what is designed to be the opposite (rich/poor, educated/not, religious/other religion, gay/stright, etc.). The camera follows them for the next 30 days as they experience what it's like to live like the other guy. Usually this results in somewhat of an epiphany for both sides as they learn to appreciate the others situation, feelings, humanity etc.

This one really got to me. The scenario was that we had an individual Frank (actually Francisco) who is a member of the Minuteman organization which is dedicated to preventing illegal immigration from Mexico (by force if necessary). Frank is originally of Cuban ancestry and makes a lot of noise about his patriotism and how his parents entered the country legally after the Cuban revolution.

The program proceeds to drop Frank into a tiny studio apartment in East LA with a family of illegal immigrants. Frank gets a lesson in humility, hard work, and humanity, but still has a hard time overcoming his prejudice and xenophobia. If you have time, please watch the following video:

Heppner to Ukiah

2009-05-27T20:40:00.000-07:00

Today I had the good fortune of visiting Heppner Oregon. Hidden away in the foothills of the Blue Mountains of NE Oregon, Heppner is not on the way to anywhere. You have to want to go there. The principal of Heppner HS suggested I would enjoy returning to Hermiston via Willow Creek Road (FS 53) to Ukiah. He was not wrong. Following are videos and still photos.

The Blues have a way of sneaking up on you. Driving up Willow Creek, you can't see the forest just over the next ridge.

Listen for the crickets on this one. It doesn't do justice to the panoramic view...

A Long Hot Day

2009-05-26T20:50:00.000-07:00

Wandering the back corners of Eastern Washington I stopped in the little town (very little) of LaCrosse to visit the local High School (sales call). I was having lunch at the Tea Kettle Cafe (only lunch spot in town) when a man ran by outside looking like he was on the run from zombies. Arms flailing he raced by the cafe. We smelled smoke. Apparently the hardware store (out of business) was on fire. This was obviously the most exciting thing to have happened in LaCrosse for a very long time.

While shooting this video I was approached by an older lady demanding "Who are you?". It turns out that she and her husband were the owners of the afflicted building. She said that they had planned on remodeling the 100 year old building and startling a grocery business (there is none in town at this time). I pointed out that it might be cheaper to start over with a new building rather than bring the old one up to code. She did not seem to broken up about the fire, despite the fact that hubbies MG was inside...

Something New Something Cloned

2009-05-25T21:20:00.000-07:00

Today, I drove from Portland OR to Kennewick WA. This trip takes you out the scenic Columbia River Gorge to the high desert of Eastern OR and WA. The Gorge is a dedicated Federal Scenic Area. You are pretty much not allowed to do anything there but look at it.

Once you pass The Dalles (I always wondered about the "The") you have left the trees beyond. The sky widens, rocks, sage, and grass prevail. It is still very scenic. Recently in our quest for safe clean and politically correct sources of energy we have hit upon the wonders of wind energy generated by huge spinning wind mills. Well, I hadn't been out this way in 6 months or so and I was unprepared for the proliferation of giant spinning fan blades. I used to think of everything east of The Dalles as "The Big Empty". No condos, retail shops, parking lots, just scattered cows, basalt plateaus, and the occasional rattle snake.

Actual cowboys live here. I was quite surprised at the change in the view. From Biggs Junction to Arlington the parade of giant spinning wheels is constant. It reminded me of a scene from a Stephen King novel which I have forgotten the name of. I have been a big fan (no pun intended) of wind power. After seeing the invasion of the hills along the Columbia I am not so sure anymore. Here is yet another trade off for us to consider. The locals have been complaining for quite a spell now about both the noise and the aesthetics (or lack thereof). Now I know what they are talking about.

A little further down the road I shot the following video of the big Potlach poplar farm at Umatilla. This is across the highway from the chemical weapons dump. Many will consider these cloned trees as a grotesque example of Frankenforestry. They are however a very fast growing source of pulp for paper which we just can't seem to live without. Before this plantation was developed the land was devoted to sage brush and rabbit brush and light grazing. With the addition of water from the Columbia River this land has proven to be a very fertile area for growing wheat, trees and spuds. Yes, water from the river that could otherwise support SALMON. Here we go with the trade offs again!

Yes, and I know I am not supposed to drive while playing with the GPS, shooting video, and talking on the phone...

Charles Darwin on Marriage

2009-05-25T11:01:00.000-07:00

The Lady Wife and I have just returned from the City of Angels where we enjoyed the wedding of Elana (see Girl on Girl Action) and Seth (see The Handsome Camel). After a whirlwind courtship, proposal and acceptance our favorite niece has wed an extremely cool dude.

The ceremony was small, intimate, and followed the tenets of the Baha'i faith (Seth's side). I was honored to be asked to perform a reading. The following are excerpts from the notes of Charles Darwin:

DECIDING WHETHER OR NOT TO MARRY:

NOT MARRY?

Freedom to go where one liked

choice of Society and little of it.

Conversation of clever men at clubs

Not forced to visit relatives, and

to bend in every trifle

to have the expense and anxiety of children -

perhaps quarrelling -

Loss of time -

cannot read in the Evenings -

fatness and idleness -

anxiety and responsibility -

less money for books

if many children, forced to gain one's bread (but then it is very bad for one's health to work too much).

Perhaps my wife won't like

London, then the sentence is banishment and degradation with indolent, idle fool.

MARRY?

Children - (if it please God) -

constant companion, who will feel interested in one

(a friend in old age) -

object to be beloved and played with - better than a dog anyhow

Home, and someone to take care of house

Charms of Music and female Chit Chat -

These things good for ones health but terrible loss of time

My God, it is unthinkable to think of spending

one's whole life, like a neuter bee, working, working, and nothing after all

No, no won't do

Imagine living all one's days solitarily in smoky

dirty London House -

Only picture to yourself a nice soft wife on a sofa

with good fire, and books and music perhaps - compare this vision with dingy reality.

Marry! Marry! Marry!

My loving congratulations to Seth and Elana. Charles Darwin was right... about both Evolution and Marriage!

Hotel Murano

2009-05-17T08:15:00.000-07:00

The Lady Wife and I are currently in Tacoma, WA for our daughter Marie's graduation from University of Puget Sound. We are staying in Hotel Murano in downtown Tacoma. It was recommended to us by the good folks at UPS. So let's rip on this hotel a little...

I thought at first blush that the establishment must be Japanese by design or ownership. What with the name, Murano, which means valley in Japanese, the minimalist design, and hip urban architecture it all seemed to point in this direction. Would it were so, but the hotel is actually named after an island in the lagoon of Venice Italy.

Before I begin the deconstruction let me point out some real positives. Our room on the 21st floor has a truly spectacular view of Mt. Rainier. The lobby bar pours a hella good vodka martini. However the real experience of Hotel Murano begins at arrival...

We pulled up to the Hotel in the new family truckster looking forward to the valet parking advertised in the promo lit and website. I was informed that the parking was actually $18.00 for 24 hours. Ah what the hell, go ahead. I opened the back door of the car and began unloading luggage. The "bellman" asked me if I would like help with the luggage and then wandered off to let me schlep it to the front desk on my own. This is where I began to suspect that the institution lacked the service that would have prevailed if the Gods of customer service were Buddhist.

After checking in, loaded down with the aforementioned luggage we entered the elevator for the trip up. The elevator (apparently because they could do it and it gives the image of "exclusivity") required swiping of the room key card to activate the floor buttons. Most guests seemed to be fumbling this badly. We made it to 21, I stepped out heading for our room, and found that the Lady Wife had been a tad slow off the mark and was now on a return trip to the lobby. Not knowing what floor we were on it took some trial and error for her to finally arrive at our room. Ha! Ha!
In addition to the post industrial chic architecture and design I must also point out that the Hotel Murano is also a theme hotel. The theme in this case is Art. Each floor is devoted to a different and apparently prestigious artist. We were lucky enough to land on the floor devoted to one Bruno Romanelli. Bruno's works lent a wonderful aire of depression, darkness and death to the 21st floor. Our room has a lovely etching of what is apparently a corpse framed and prominently displayed.

On arising in the morning I showered and put on the oversize terry cloth robe which was hanging in the bathroom. The tag on the hanger informed me: USE ME ALL YOU WANT... AND IF YOU CANT LIVE WITHOUT ME, I AM A CHEAP DATE. $105.00

Another ever so trendy tag was the knob hanger that at most hotel's reads OCCUPIED. Not good enough for the Murano, theirs reads" TIED UP. Ha! Ha!

Apparently to make amends for the fact that I spent a fruitless 45 minutes last night attempting to log on to their "wireless network" I was supplied with a SPIRITUAL MENU. So where is L. Ron Hubbard on the menu? Can I switch religions daily? What about the secular humanists (atheists) among us? If religion isn't what you need please note the PILLOW MENU.

OK, It's 10:00pm and we have just returned from our celebratory graduation dinner. I am lying on the bed in the $105.00 Murano terry bathrobe. I hear some noise at the door. The Lady Wife looks up from the computer and says "Dean! there's someone coming in the door!". I leap into action and find a gentleman with his luggage and a card key who apparently was given the same room that we are already checked into. He, embarrassed, retreated to the elevator. I called the front desk and advised them that either he or I or both should have our rooms comped. The customer service juggernaut of the Hotel Murano lurches on!

At the end of the day I was not charged for parking, Internet service or any of the other threatened charges. Perhaps the management felt bad about trying to give us a roommate. Lastly, I confess we did not try the restaurant. We were lucky to find a less pretentious eatery just up the street. The surprises that Tacoma has in store are beyond imagination...

Heart Healthy Crockpot Nutria

2009-05-12T12:55:00.001-07:00

Thanks to Jack Bog's superior blog for introducing me to the following excellent website: http://www.nutria.com/site14.php. Apparently the folks in Louisiana are partial to eating Nutria.

The Nutria, for those of you who don't know, is a large rodent hailing from South America that was let loose on the American ecosystem a number of years ago by confused investors who thought they could corner the market in large rat fur. They did and then promptly released the buggers to infest our ponds, lakes and waterways.

Last year my former dog Domino (Jack Daniels terrrier) got in a battle with a Nutria which ended up costing me $250 in stitches (for the dog). There was some comic effect from Dom wearing a cone on his head for a few weeks.

Fact is, the Nutria is just not cute. You might mistake him swimming through the water for a beaver, but you will quickly note his lack of big flat tail. The Nutria eats grass. This makes him a favorite on golf courses across the country. They have very large, sharp front teeth. The gentleman to the left is in danger of loosing a digit or two.

Which brings me to the subject of eating Nutria. I have never sampled this delicacy but I would be willing to try. On a previous mission to South America, I had the good fortune of eating the Nutria's little cousing the Guinea Pig. It was scrumpdillyitious. The Nutria due to his larger size and vegetarian diet can only be better, right? Fair readers, if any of you are in the vicinity of Portland, OR and would be willing to embark on a late night hunting expedition on a local golf course with me please advise via your comment below. The first one to bag a fat Nutria, gets to watch his partner clean and skin the prize! I would think someone with the cultural background of Dwight from The Office would be keen on this...

Olde Reed Addendum

2009-05-06T20:28:00.000-07:00

The previous post featuring the Quest article "The Outdoor Pool Seriously Used To Be Awesome" featured a largely illegible jpg of the article in question: herewith the text:

Back in Olde Reed, when there were lots of "e"s at the end of words for no apparent reason, there was something known as the outdoor swimming pool. It was nestled in the west end of the canyon, surrounded by trees and blackberry bushes. This was a fixture of my childhood, being a Portland native. Swimming lessons were conducted there. you would walk down the precipitously steep steps as the familiar summertime smell of chlorine and sunscreen wafted up to you.

Now this wasn't one of these sissy modern day pools with the zero depth entry and laser guided water levels; it was a classic pool, probably from the fifties. It had cliff-like edges, and a real diving board. You just don't see that too much nowadays.

Then, several years ago, I think, a tragedy occurred. The watery heart of Reed College was ripped out in a blitzkrieg of enviro-cow-towing. Inexplicably, it was replaced with a fish ladder. Now, what kind of trade-off is this? We lose a pool in which people can frolic in the summer, and replace it with a fish ladder that someday a salmon might swim up and then die the in the swamp.

Some will say that the pool was hopelessly out of date, and would have required hundreds of thousands of dollars to renovate it and keep it from killing kittens and puppies with deadly chlorine gas clouds. Others will say that precious few actual Reedies used the pool, and it was locked up almost all of the school year. Regardless, it was awesome.

So now we spend money in order to build a ladder for fish. What next, a zip-line for squirrels to get across the canyon easier? A miniature escalator so the ducks don't have to walk uphill? I say let the animals figure out how to get around. We can't have our precious resources diverted to lazy animals who live off of government cheese and welfare checks.

So, excuse me if this dinosaur is a little old-fashioned, but I liked the days in which we spent our money for people instead of fish, for summertime fun instead of bowing to slimy fish and their heartless, beady eyes.

Olde Reed

2009-05-06T16:30:00.001-07:00

Back in the halcyon year of 2003 my son apparently thought more like myself on matters "environmental". Witness the front page story from the front page of the Quest student newspaper of Reed College:

Well, it's now 2009 the outdoor pool is gone, the current students don't know that it ever existed and the myth of the "Canyon" continues to grow unencumbered by fact, logic, or science.

The common assumption on campus includes the mistaken concept that the lake/pond is the only naturally occuring pond in the Portland area. Actually the dam which created the pond was built sometime around the turn of the century, backing up the springs of Crystal creek to form the current impoundment. The dam has obviously been maintained and improved over the years and until the advent of the fish ladder (concurrent with the demolition of the outdoor pool) was used both as a pathway and motor way over the creek at the base of the pond. The dam has done what all dams do over time. It has retarded the flow of water down the "canyon", resulting in the gradual accumulation of silt and organic detritus. Thus the pond has become shallower year by year. As it has become shallower, the water has become warmer and more filled with oxygen depleting (when it dies), algae and other water born plants such as duck weed.

The waters of Crystal Creek fed by springs above within and below the pond are beautiful, clear and cool. Allowed to flow freely it is a remarkably clear beautiful stream to see in an urban area. The pond itself however is a blighted polluted mess. Fortunately, as time passes it will eventually fill with silt and cease to be a pond at all. This being the case, why was the outdoor pool demolished in favor of a fish ladder? The obvious goal was to provide access to the pond by anadramous fish such as salmon and trout (steelhead). Yes, the odd fish, if it survives Johnson creek, could make it up Crystal Creek. But what happens to said fish after it powers its way up the fish ladder? It dies of course!

This brings me to to a fork(triple tined) in the road. I see 3 possible management strategies:
1. Do nothing. The pond will eventually disappear.
2. Dredge the pond to a depth of 20 feet. Landscape the shore and place strategic bolders, logs and other features to provide habitat. Plant liberally with large mouth bass, blue gill and crappies. Offer basic fly and spin fishing classes to the students.
3. Recruit an intrepid group of environmentally aware students, dress them in Ninja outfits, arm them with C4 explosive, detonators and a tutorial on explosive engineering. Blow the damn, declare victory for Environmentalism and allow Crystal Creek to once again flow freely without dams, fish ladders, or any man made "improvements".

Stand By Me

2009-05-02T19:20:00.000-07:00

I think you will like this...

Playing For Change | Song Around The World "Stand By Me" from Concord Music Group on Vimeo.

Next Blog Please

2009-05-02T16:59:00.000-07:00

You may wonder where I get time for this. Fact is, my days are longer than yours.

So I started off by clicking the "Next Blog" button that appears at the top of the Blogspot screen. This takes you on a random tour of blogs around the world. About one in ten of the blogs I have encountered are in English. What I have found is a veritable storm of creativity. Check out the photos from Embrujo

This photo is, I have learned, an album cover for "Our Broken Garden" by singer song writer Anna Broensted. I presume the bruised damsel is the aforementioned Anna herself. Let me know if you like the music. If you find it please send me the link.

I found the lovely image to the right in a Polish language blog. Another homage to pork flu!

H1N1 is Makin Me Sick

2009-04-30T19:36:00.000-07:00

Swine flu gets funnier every day. Apparently the pork lobby has protested to the Department of Agriculture over the use of the term Swine Flu. Our government of course immediately succumbed to this "logic" and is now using the name H1N1 flu. Catchy huh? Apparently the pork lobby was able to convince the Department of Agriculture that Americans actually believed that you could catch the flu from eating pork chops.

Even better than this, Orthodox Rabbis in Israel, have declared that the term Swine Flu is offensive to Jews and Muslims. They preferred to insult a secular organization (Mexico) by suggesting that the illness be called the Mexican Flu. It's great to see Jews and Muslims make common cause!

But wait, there's more! During yesterday's press conference with Our President a young female reporter asked the if it wasn't time to CLOSE THE BORDER WITH MEXICO. Actually I have heard this particularly ignorant and laughably stupid question on a couple of the talking head shows. President Obama politely replied that this would be like closing the barn door after the horses had already departed. I don't know why he didn't follow this with a brief discussion of the the serious economic and social dislocation this would cause.

The really great thing about Hysteria is little it has to do with the facts. Last year some 36,000 Americans died as a direct result of plain everyday flu. This year (at the same rate) we have probably lost about 12,000 citizens to the flu. The swine flu on the other hand has so far killed one unfortunate child who was visiting the US from Mexico. So where is the panic over our usual annual bout with the flu?

This is not to say there is no reason for concern over Swine flu, Avian flu or other new strains of flu virus to which we may have limited immunity and little knowledge about the potential rate of spread or possible severity. Seems like the CDC and WHO are doing a good job of monitoring the situation and advising reasonable measures we can take to mediate the situation.

But Hey! Let's face it. Panic and Hysteria is more fun and sells more crap on TV. Let's just curb the urge to act on it. One child in Fort Worth Texas was diagnosed with Swine flu and the entire school district has been shut down indefinitely. This over reaction has costs and won't necessarily provide any protection from the spread of the illness. I am less concerned about the actual risk from Swine Flu than I am from Panic Flu. If you are worried and want to know if you have contracted Swine Flu please click HERE.

Guest Post

2009-04-29T16:52:00.000-07:00

This one comes to you courtesy of the Lady Wife.

Reminds me of the time I meant “Sorry for the inconvenience”, but spell-checked it into “Sorry for the incontinence.”

Following is a Mormon faux paux: Apostles?

Nuptials

2009-04-29T16:09:00.000-07:00

The Lady Wife and I are over the top with joy! It seems the Handsome Camel is to wed Girl on Girl Action in less than one month's time.

To those impoverished souls unfamiliar with Seth (Handsome Camel) and Elana (Girl on Girl...) please click on and begin reading their most excellent blogs proudly linked off to the left of where your eyeballs are currently focused.

This is a marriage truly made in the Blogosphere. As it turns out Girl on Girl happens to be the niece of yours truly and the Lady Wife. We will be in attendance at the grand event to take place in the City of Angels.

In order to preserve the privacy of of the ceremony and its participants and keep the paparazzi at bay I must hold the details of this event in reasonable secrecy. Any readers with less than 2 degrees of separation seeking further information on the event please contact me through your comments below.

Anger Management

2009-04-25T19:36:00.000-07:00

A few weeks back my wife and I purchased a new (slightly used) Honda Pilot SUV. Actually the Lady Wife bought the car for me. Pretty sweet huh? We purchased the car from Dick Hannah Honda in Vancouver WA. this is one of those mega-dealer operations which sells multiple brands, has a full service body shop, gift shop, and even a delicatessen. The Lady Wife wanted to be sure we got an all wheel drive model as I do a fair amount of driving for business around the great State of Oregon and Washington. Buying a car is a pretty traumatic experience. I have had rather negative experiences with a couple of local dealers primarily due to what I consider rather strong arm sales tactics. The salesman at Dick Hannah, Saeed, seemed a good sort and was pretty helpful in getting us through the usual 4 hour purchasing process.

A couple of weeks later I was driving my sleek new gray beauty with leather and all mod cons in the rain and noticed that when I lost traction under hard acceleration the rear wheels didn't seem to kick in. Imagine my shock the next day when I crawled under the back of the car and discovered that my new car had only front wheel drive and not all wheel drive as it was represented to have by the dealership.

My friends at work, family, and neighbors all counseled me to get pissed off, and launch a full frontal attack on Dick Hannah. I was also advised to expect nothing in the way of compensation or satisfaction from the dealer. Well, I have lost my temper before and believe me it is not fun. I decided that I would try a more moderate approach and give the dealer an opportunity to provide the customer service they brag about.

I called Saeed. On hearing about the problem he seemed shocked. He said he would talk to his boss and get back to me. At first I didn't hear anything like an admission that they had screwed up. I was afraid that the pessimists might prevail. I called Saeed every day for a week asking him if he was making any progress on a resolution to the problem. I explained both verbally and by e-mail that I expected the dealership to buy the car back and sell me another that had 4 wheel drive, similar miles and features at no extra cost to me. I was actually surprised when Saeed told me that in many years of selling cars he had never made a mistake like this before and that he was working to get management to meet my demands.

Yesterday my wife and I went to Dick Hannah Honda and met with Saeed and the General Manager, Peter. Peter informed us that our satisfaction was more important than any profit they would have made on the deal. He proposed a number of different vehicles for the swap. At the end of another 4 hour session we sold back the gray Honda and purchased a beautiful red 4WD Honda Pilot. The replacement car had less miles, certified Honda 100K miles warranty, and was generally in better shape than the original. It cost me $2000 less.

I never became angry (nervous yes). Saeed said he lost a couple of nights sleep over this. This was a lesson for me. I now have a new friend, Saeed, and an auto dealer I will return to in the future. I am always blabbing on about applying the 3 Fs in resolving business problems. Said 3 Fs are Firm, Fair, and Friendly. This time it worked.

Run-on Diversity

2009-04-19T10:26:00.000-07:00

Why is it that the subjects of Diversity, Multiculturalism, Sustainability, and such hot button topics invariably result in grammatical cramping and truly monumental run-on sentences. The following sentences are excerpted from a piece in the Reed College student newspaper "The Quest". The author (Assistant Dean of Multicultural Affairs) is making an effort to apologize and simultaneously excuse herself from blame while displaying her heartfelt grief for not inviting enough students to an event.

The event RSCAT, was billed as a "weekend long training that sought to engage students in conversations about issues of privilege as a beginning effort to addressing student concerns regarding diversity that is student-led and motivated" Hmm... that seems quite to the point.

It gets worse. Perhaps the students didn't attend the event because they were unable to understand just what the hell it was. To whit: "All of the students who attended this weekend had to complete an application and commit to being a part of an on-going process to engage in personal education around the range of issues associated with diversity, as well as assist in efforts to design a new orientation program that is not dependent on the students who are 'different' (note clever use of apostrophes) to educate others. In addition students who are participating in this group are taking an active role in considering what is their role when it comes to offering a student perspective when it comes to responding to incidents such as racist graffiti, as well as what it means to develop on-going spaces where anyone can feel comfortable raising questions addressing the range of issues associated with diversity.

Reed College is probably the best small liberal arts college in America. I have a great deal of respect for the students and faculty. However, Reed is not immune to the political and social paralysis which has afflicted campuses across the country as they try to grapple with the issue of diversity on campus. The fear of offending someone (anyone) renders the above author incapable of writing a clear simple declarative sentence. I don't really know what she was trying to say but I suspect it was something along the lines of "I am sorry I didn't invite enough white students to our event, but it really wasn't my fault. Racism is bad. Let's work together to eliminate it". Wouldn't this have been easier to read?

I Dreamed a Dream

2009-04-14T18:30:00.000-07:00

If you haven't already seen Susan Boyle sing then you are in for a rare treat! I fucking wept when I saw this...

My Dog

2009-04-12T12:55:00.000-07:00

This was a rather difficult morning. Jenny and I decided that the guilt of not providing enough attention or exercise for our Jack Russell terrrier Domino outweighed the guilt of farming him out to a new home.

We posted an advert on Craig's List and within one hour had a call from a family who seemed to fit the profile just right. We threw the Domster in the car and headed for Molalla OR. The new familiy has 8 children and a mixed Jack Russel dog already. Dom seemed to hit it off well with the dog, cat and children. He was very intrigued with the chicken and two rabbits in the backyard hutch. I wouldn't give a plugged nickel for their lifespan. This should be a good solution for Dom with lots of attention, another dog to play with and small animals to possibly chase and kill. If this is such a great deal for the dog, then why do I have such strong guilt feelings?

On the bright side we can take the covers off the furniture, have a weekend away from home without organizing a dog sitter, and live a more hair free life. Nevertheless, I am not looking forward to sitting on the couch in front of the TV without Dom's head in my lap. If the new family calls back and tells us it's not working out I guess that will be OK with me.

Sustainable

2009-04-10T13:13:00.000-07:00

My least favorite word. The tip of the drumstick for the constant drumbeat driving our economy towards architectural devlopment favoring a very limited group of developers who have sussed out how to profit at the public's expense.

Allow me to quote a local architect speaking on the idea that we should tear down Portland's historic Memorial Colliseum in order to construct a new more "sustainable" baseball park for the Portland Beavers AAA baseball team:

"Falsetto said it’s usually not sustainable to tear down a good building."
“The idea is that the most sustainable building is the one that’s never built and the second-most sustainable building is the one that already exists,” he said."

I have yet to hear a spokesman for the "Sustainability" movement define in any rational way just what the meaning of the term is or demonstrate anything like of set of standards for evaluation (LEEDS notwithstanding).

There is certainly a reason that the vast majority of buildings constructed under the Sustainability banner are publicly funded. Based on market value and the ability to make a profit these buildings would not be sustainable. That is, at the high price per square foot they would not be marketable. This is not sustainable.

A Little Creepy

2009-04-07T14:44:00.000-07:00

The office manager at our company arrived at work today and installed this animatronic cat on her desk. While I appreciate the need to replace Pariah our previous real cat who apparently succumbed (or at least never returned on Monday morning) this thing is just a bit creepy. While the breathing is kind of cute, that fact that it is dead cold and otherwise completely paralyzed is somewhat off putting. This product was given to Deborah by her mother and of course could not be refused.

In addition to Mr. Cuddley it also came with a zippered mesh carrier (will it try to escape?) and a hair brush. I presume if it is subjected to too much brushing it will become bald. This is not an image I want to countenance. Oh well, perhaps the batteries will expire before his coat. If you want to acquire your own Perfect Pet you may acquire one at www.perfectpetzzz.com.

NCAA Championship Game

2009-04-06T20:40:00.000-07:00

God I love sports. I really do. This is why the MTVization of events like the NCAA championship series is so disappointing.

The constant cuts to commercials make the DVR not a convenience but a necessity for enjoying any continuity to the game. Unfortunately you can't cut past the announcers frequent promotion of CBS programs with screen within a screen promos.

Worse than the constant huckstering however is the adolescent banter of the announcers in an effort to sound hip and in tune with the street lingo of the players and fans.

Transcribed in actual time, the following quotes are not from some beer addled misanthrope in the cheap seats, but from the announcers themselves.

He got some sweet real estate!
Man, that was a lower body root canal!

They just come at you in waves

Michigan is down at the half, bigtime

They are taller inside and bigger on the perimeter

Tracing the ball we call it

North Carolina has Spurtability (I hope this is not a reference to the aforementioned lower body root canal)

That word in Irish "destiny" (apropos of what I am not sure)

A room service down for Tyler Hansboro (huh?)

Michigan State needs a little foul fueled injection

They just haven't given them much to chew on

Stylin and profilin a little bit big man!

Sharin the sugar we call it. Spreadin it around

As they say, I couldn't make this stuff up. Great performance by North Carolina. They won. Enough said.

I WANT ONE OF THESE!

2009-04-05T19:51:00.000-07:00

My nephew, Chris, is one of the designers of this new Electric Car. I want one. While I am not quite ready for the $49K tab, it looks like we are heading in the right direction...

The Model S from Tesla moves the electric car from the world of dweeb hobby car to a practical rig which lives up to modern auto technology. If this one isn't fast enough for you check out the Roadster.

Following are basic specs (from http://www.teslamotors.com/)

- 300 mile range
- 45 minute QuickCharge
- 0-60 mph in 5.6 seconds
- Seats 7 people
- More Cargo space than station wagons
- 2X as efficient as hybrids
- 17 inch infotainment touchscreen
With a range up to 300 miles and 45-minute QuickCharge, the Model S can carry five adults and two children in quiet comfort – and you can charge it from any outlet, without ever stopping for gas. World’s first mass-produced electric vehicle offers performance, efficiency and unrivaled utility for a base price of $49,900*, making it the only car you’ll ever need.
- Up to 300 mile range
- 45 minute QuickCharge
- Charges from 120V, 240V or 480V
- 5 minute battery swap
Three battery pack options offer a range of 160, 230 or 300 miles per charge. With the 45 minute QuickCharge or a 5 minute battery swap, you can drive from LA to San Francisco, Washington to New York or take even longer road trips in about the same time as in a conventional car.
- Seating for 5 adults + 2 child seats
- Unique hatch for oversized items
- 60/40 flat-folding rear seat
- 2nd trunk under hood
With seating for five adults and two children, plus an additional trunk under the hood, Model S has passenger carrying capacity and versatility rivaling SUVs and minivans. Rear seats fold flat, and the hatch gives way to a roomy opening, so you can stow a mountain bike, 50-inch flat-screen TV, full drum set or futon frame – more than ample for the entire family and their gear.
- 0-60 mph in 5.6 seconds
- 120 mph top speed
- Sport sedan dynamics
- All-wheel-drive available
Model S offers 100 percent torque, 100 percent of the time without jerky shifting and a fraction of the noise and harshness of internal combustion engines. This smooth and constant power delivery, combined with the sporty handling of the chassis and suspension, leads to a superior driving experience.
- Pure electric
- 2X as efficient as hybrids
- Proven powertrain from leading EV Mfr.
- 17 inch infotainment touchscreen
The Model S powertrain features a liquid-cooled, floor-mounted battery pack and a single-speed gearbox, delivering effortless acceleration, responsive handling and quiet simplicity -- no fancy clutchwork or gear-shifting required. Model S costs about $4 to fully charge – a bargain even when gasoline is $1 per gallon. You can listen to Pandora Radio or consult Google Maps on the 17 inch touchscreen with in-car 3G connectivity.

My New Sport

2009-04-05T08:13:00.000-07:00

Last night my friend Jim invited me to attend an indoor Lacrosse game at the Rose Garden. I have only seen an actual Lacrosse game (not a match!) only once before and that on television.

My impression of the game based on reputation was that of an athletic, tough, somewhat exotic game played primarily by Ivy League East Coast rich kids.

As played indoors the game is a lot like hockey without skates. There is stick checking, high speed collisions and frequent fights. The game also reminds one of basketball, with set offensive plays, picks and dunk like shots on goal. It is fun to watch. The players, apparently, are almost to the last man, Canadians. Apparently there are not enough professional hockey jobs to go around. I was surprised to learn that most of the players actually still live in Canada and only come to Portland for the games.

The crowd is decidedly blue collar, with many fans outfitted in official Lumberjax regalia. This is cute on the kids and a little ridiculous on the adults. In total I am guessing that there were close to 8000 fans present.

All in all I liked the game, but here is why I probably won't be attending again:

1. Noise Level - In typical Rose Garden fashion the obnoxious rock/heavy metal music incessantly boomed at least 80 decibels or above. I couldn't here anything said to me unless the speaker was located no more than 5" from my left ear.

2. General Adolescent Environment - Apparently the game isn't enough entertainment. The giant overhead scoreboard when not showing replays of controversial or violent play action showed everything from Yosemite Sam clips to close ups of the Jax Dancers. the whole thing reminded me of a professional wrestling match, replete with the gravel voice announcer screaming "YOUR PORTLAND LUMBERJAX" at every opportunity. Of course the entire set piece would not have been complete without the requisite mascot, Jaxon, shown at right preparing to cross check a 3 year old waif.

3. Jax Dancers - What would drive someone to want to do this? I suppose it is like the minor leagues for the Blazer Dancers. I particularly enjoyed the three lugnuts seated behind me whose invariable response to the Jax gyrations was an endless debate on which of the dancers they would like to "do". This greatly contributed to the adolescent environment and enjoyment of "sport".

4. Food and Drink - Jim and I enjoyed one too many beers. For once, I didn't even look when it was my turn to purchase. I am guessing the beverages probably were in the double digit range for a pint. I also enjoyed watching the vendors pedaling various neon colored confections and multicolored soft drinks in the stands. This may be a contributing factor to the general obesity and poor complexion among many of the fans.

5. Our National Anthem - After the teams were escorted onto the pitch by long lines of high fiving elementary students with flashing lights and ear splitting sound effects it was time for Patriotism. A high school choir took care of the singing (quite well actually) while the fans stood and searched in vain for the flag. All I could find was a stupendous electronic monitor which circled the entire arena, flashing red white and blue stars, stripes and strange waving patterns.

At the end of the day (or evening as it were) I must thank my pal Jim for introducing me to lacrosse. I will however, in the future, pass on the adolescent, deafening, over sexed Arena version in favor of the more traditional outdoor game. Perhaps the Iroquois had it right. No sound system, not a lot of rules, played to the death to settle cross tribal grudges. But then again, maybe they would have enjoyed the JAX dancers?

Oh, and by the way, the Lumberjax won (over the Colorado Mammoths) after a 12-12 tie in you guessed it; SUDDEN DEATH!

Ciclovia!

2009-04-04T10:25:00.001-07:00

My son, Bobby, is working with a group to bring Ciclovia to Los Angeles. Watch the following cool video to get an idea what this is all about:

http://www.streetfilms.org/archives/ciclovia/ Sorry I could not figure out how to actually imbed the video in my blog post. I need help on this technical stuff.

Some 38 years ago I spent some time in Bogota while in the Peace Corps. I remember the city as dark, scary, poor and overrun with homeless children. What a change! Now I want to go back and see the new Bogota!

Dental X -Ray

2009-03-30T14:23:00.000-07:00

This morning I enjoyed the kindly ministrations of a skilled Dental Hygienist. After the dental X-rays, scraping, poking, and buffing the old choppers to a high shine I was informed that I only had one cavity, and with luck it could be filled, without luck it will require a crown. A crown is where they fix your tooth using enough resources to enable the Dentist to purchase a golden crown to wear while driving his Cadillac with the silver fox fur upholstery.

No really, my Dental Hygienist is so wonderful. I am sure it is not her fault that the large cards of X-Ray film when inserted in my mouth appended to an expensive looking stick/fixture invariably result in a massive gag reflex. It is now 6 hours later and I am still enduring nasty bile flavored wet burps. My gag reflex notwithstanding (I was never able to handle diapering either) I struggle to understand why such large and decidedly uncomfortable fixtures must be inserted completely within my mouth to get the job done. Come to think of it I have never had to insert actual diapers in my mouth either! Well, at least I didn't actually barf. I am afraid however that the cumulative effect of the X-rays over the years may have had a deleterious effect on the ol' brain pan as shown in photo to the right...

An Homage to SLUMRA, SLABANG

2009-03-28T10:29:00.000-07:00

Recently in "Urban Adonia" the most excellent blog of my LA based common-law daughter-in-law, I read a wonderfully entertaining post about the hilarious names of products at the IKEA store. Her choices for most hilarious were SLUMRA (inexpensive sheets) and SLABANG (an alarm clock). In order to trade on Adonia's sharp skills of observation and discovery of what may be an almost inexhaustible source of humor I am in a few minutes (with notebook in hand) departing for IKEA to collect more wonderful product names. I will be back in a few hours to complete this post. Sound of door closing...

Sound of door opening and me yelling at dog... Well, I'm back! Now that I think of it I could have just browsed through the catalog and not subjected myself to the IKEA maze. I am somewhat consoled however with the thought that my visit to the actual store has resulted in a more authentic experience. Herewith are my choices for best names of IKEA products:

1. SANDIG - Baking set; Is this a Swedish word? Actually this question applies to almost all the names. I think rather that the names are mainly whimsical made up names generated by IKEA employees who are hoping somehow to get the last laugh.

2. GODIS - Highball glass; I am guessing that if you drink enough from these glasses your companion will appear as a GODIS...

3. Fornuft (with umlaut o) - Cutlery; I have no idea what this means but the umlaut seems to be used with a great deal of license in Ikea names. Sorry, but this web software doesn't seem to enable me to type a proper umlaut.

4. SNUDDA - Lazy Susan; This must refer to someone's Swedish sister.

5. SKANKA - Frying pan; I once new a rather homely young woman who aspired to be a chef.

6. BILLY - Bookshelves; This diminutive of William likely springs from the vast numbers of tatooed Swedish baristas.

7. FRACK (with umlaut) - Mirror; OMG! Frack the Cylons!

8. LACK - Shelving; As we lacked shelving for stuff I purchased two of these. I no longer Lack.

9. ARSTID - Lamp; I thought at first a misspelling of the name Astrid, or perhaps ala "The Office", Ass Turd.

10. DUDERO (with umlaut) - Lamp; My personal favorite. This is a man's lamp. It is for dudes!

11. RUTBO - Lamp; This is a girls lamp for the enjoyment of DUDERO.

12. KVART - Lamp; Is this Swedish for Fart? Like, did you just KVART?

13. PJATTERYD (with umlaut somewhere) - Picture; How the hell do you pronounce this one? Is it perhaps Patty Turd?

14. KNASTER - Bag of rocks; Hmm Knasty...

15. Gorm - Wood Slats (purpose unidentified); The expression gormless comes to mind. Look it up.

16. BUMERANG - Clothes hanger; Misspelled? I think not!

17. JABA - Clothes pins; Did the Hut use these?

Enough! I only had the opportunity to view a limited selection of the first floor. There is a vast world of silly names still available to the intrepid explorer who is brave enough to endure the IKEA maze. Please comment with your own examples of this new and superior language!

Carbon Sequestration Ad Nauseum

2009-03-26T20:35:00.000-07:00

From Scientific American Carbon-Offset Cowboys Let Their Grass Grow - January 2009

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=carbon-cowboys

"\Rangeland sequestration projects have generated only about 200,000 credits but are on the cusp of a major boom. The rangelands of the American West naturally absorb about 190 million tons of carbon dioxide a year. That’s about what 40 coal-fired power plants emit, but there’s still plenty of room for improvement. Through its Rangelands Soil Carbon Management Offsets Program, the exchange offers a financial incentive for ranchers to increase the amount of carbon dioxide that is absorbed by their lands. Sun Ranch was the first to qualify."

"Soil Sequestration Grass absorbs carbon dioxide the same way trees do, but on a smaller scale. Through photosynthesis, each plant takes carbon from the atmosphere and uses it to build more plant matter. When grass dies or trees are cut down, that carbon is released back into the atmosphere. But grass plants also release carbon out of their root tips to fungi in the soil, says Stephen Porder, who teaches biogeochemistry at Brown University. “When those roots die or the fungi die, they’re eaten by some microbe or worm, and a portion of that carbon gets stabilized,” he explains. “It gets stuck onto a clay mineral or a particle and stays in the soil.”"

OK, a tiny tiny portion of the carbon from dead plant material gets incorporated in the cells of the critter (fungi, microbe, etc.) which metabolizes the grass and its roots. The vast majority however is released immediately into the atmosphere. The net actual sequestration is highly unlikely to merit the amount of money our government environment activists would like to award to the "ranchers" who will take this land out of production. If I could get paid for growing cheat grass, rabbit brush and sage I would invest in all the high desert I could lay my hands on.

Carbon sequestration makes a little (very little) sense when considering forest ecosystems, it makes no sense at all when looking at range lands. It is worse than a simple waste of money to invest in this so called technology. Spending dollars to in a what amounts to an environmental scam not only steals from tax payers but does less than nothing to reverse the increase in CO2 in the atmosphere. Cap and Trade schemes will do absolutely nothing to reverse the process of climate change. They will provide cash flow for those savvy enough to play the game.

This is simple chemistry and biology. It is no mystery how photosynthesis and respiration work in the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide. Let's stop the wishful thinking and get on with the task of finding alternatives to fossil fuels. Allowing range lands and farm lands to lay fallow, and leaving forest management to the tender mercies of insects and disease will not get the job done. Come on people! Cowboys grow cows and manage their lands. They don't just find ways to scam the taxpayer for funds so that they sit on the deck drinking martinis and grooming their poodles.

Namaste

2009-03-22T10:00:00.000-07:00

The expression Namaste keeps popping up in my life. The first time was probably 1968 when I was indoctrinated into the "cult" of Transcendental Meditation. I still have never told anyone what my Mantra is. It is kind of comforting to have a real secret. Actually I think of the Mantra as a psychological blood pressure pill.

The second time the expression comes up is when I attempted to join the Peace Corps and go to Nepal. This seemed like a great alternative to the Tet offensive. I did end up in the Peace Corps but in Colombia. Outside of the occasional itinerant hippy, there was no Namaste there.

So I forgot about Namaste for many years, until, in an effort to relieve the pain and stiffness resulting from being an old fart playing tennis, I joined a Yoga class. I confess that the expression of Namaste by the instructor at the end of each class seemed somewhat like a cultural fish out of water. As a consequence of the popularity of Yoga as exercise and meditative pursuit the term Namaste has gained a much wider familiarity and use in American culture.

So here we are all the way to 2009 and I find myself engaged in a non-profit organization called Namaste Kathmandu. Go figure! I have never been to Nepal. I am not a Hindu. I am not even religious, but nevertheless the expression has come to have a great deal of meaning in my life.

Working with a recent graduate of Reed College by the name of Xeno Acharya (who hails of course from Nepal) I have been working to raise money for education and health services for a community of refugees living on the banks of the Bagmati River in Kathmandu, Nepal. We chose the name Namaste Kathmandu for our organization inadvertantly appealing to the popularity and romance of the term as it is understood in English and Western culture today.

We began our efforts in the spring of 2008 with a fund raising dinner and other events. We raised enough money to send Xeno back to Nepal for the summer. Xeno exceeded my expectations with the establishment of Paurohki Gaun Village and the completion of construction of Mechi Mahakali Primary School. On Friday evening we had our second annual Namaste Kathmandu Dinner to raise money for continued funding of the school and construction of a second building to serve as a community center and health clinic.

Longer term, Xeno will be attending University of Washington in the fall to pursue a degree in Public Health Administration. The goal is to return to Nepal and build both Namaste Kathmandu and working on a greater scale for the economic and social development of Nepal. Until such time as Xeno is established full time in Kathmandu it is our intention to keep Namaste Kathmandu small in scale, highly focused, and practical in nature.

OK, fair readers, here's the pitch. We need your support, your ideas and if possible some of your money. For more information on Namaste Kathmandu please visit http://www.namastekatmandu.blogspot.com/. Your checks made payable to Namaste Kathmandu may be sent to:

Namaste Kathmandu

5815 SE 18th Ave.

Portland OR 97202

Namaste! Peace be with you...

Welcome New Reader!

2009-03-14T10:17:00.000-07:00

With the recent addition of a site counter to my blog I am now able to view not only how many people (thousands!) are reading my posts but where they hail from. I would like to welcome a new reader (whoever you are) from, I am not making this up, NICEVILLE FLORIDA. I looked this up and yes, Niceville looks really nice.

Niceville as I have learned is the home of the annual Mullet Festival. I am not sure if this is a festival honoring a fish or a haircut but I suspect the latter. Please visit Niceville's website at: http://www.cityofniceville.org/index.html or better yet have a real vacation in Florida.