Posted inScience

Lars Larson thinks global warming is an Oregon joke. That isn’t funny.

Oh, Lars, you're so funny. But only in your own right-wing mind. Today I heard Oregon's contribution to uninformed talk radio (Lars Larson has both a national and local show) praising global warming and today's record breaking heat wave. "Oh, sure, global warming is going to turn southern California into a dust bowl," I recall Lars saying. "But it's going to be great for Oregon. Just look at the terrific weather we're having. Global warming, bring it on." First of all, Lars, my daughter and her family live in Hollywood. Real people live down there, like they do elsewhere in…
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Posted inHome life

Our remodeled kitchen: before and after photos

A month ago I never would have believed that I'd ever blog enthusiastically about our remodeled kitchen. Yet here I am, posting before and after photos with caffeine-fueled delight. Here's an "after" that doesn't have a matching "before." We've got an open house, early '70s vintage, completely woodified—no white walls. We wanted to stay as natural as possible. Bisque appliances, not stainless steel, retro though it may be. Granite countertops, because after considering various possibilities we realized that nothing looks as stone-like as real stone. You couldn't call our tastes sophisticated. Hey, we live on ten acres in the south…
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Posted inMeasure 37

Measure 37 backroom deals outrage Republicans. Not me.

House Bill 3540B, the Measure 37 fix that passed the Oregon House several weeks ago, has been a lot like Oceanic Airlines Flight 815: Lost. Thanks to the NW Republican blog, a likely reason why has been YouTube'd up. In a speech on the House floor, Rep. Bill Garrard decries backroom deal making that has been going on between the Governor, Democratic legislative leaders, and so-called special interest groups. Garrard, a Republican member of the Joint Land Use Fairness Committee that came up with the Measure 37 fix, opines that the closed door negotiations over amendments to HB 3540B are…
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Posted inHome life

Laurel gets LASIK; Brian becomes (briefly) Buddha-like

At 3:30 pm Laurel and I got home from her LASIK surgery. For five and a half hours, and counting, I have been her compassionate care giver as she lies quietly in bed or a recliner, dark goggles on, popping her pain pills, listening to PBS and CNN (no TV watching until tomorrow, so says the Casey Eye Institute post-operation patient instructions). So, yes, I'm looking forward to being nominated for sainthood. Or better, Buddha-hood. Already I have brought her several glasses of juice, set up a radio by her bed, cooked a Gardenburger, made a salad, and fetched some…
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Posted inMeasure 37

Measure 37 lies and the assault on reason

Political lies don't surprise me anymore. But they still bother me. Especially when the lies are aimed at destroying Oregon's livability. Measure 37 was largely supported by large timber companies and other fat cats. They're out to build subdivisions on irreplaceable farm and forest land. Now Oregonians in Action, a puppet that springs into action when corporations pull the strings, is running full page ads in the Portland Oregonian in an attempt to keep those subdivisions alive. Sunday's ad was headlined, "We're not greedy developers." Yes, you are. Check out the list of major Measure 37 donors. Note that Stimson…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Even horses say, “Save the Metolius from destination resorts”

It was a quiet day on the Metolius River in central Oregon yesterday. Well, all the days are. Cell phone reception is blessedly non-existent. The Bend Bulletin was way late in being delivered to the Camp Sherman store, so I biked two miles from our cabin for nothing. Which was just fine with me. "Nothing" on the Metolius is far, far better than the everything that clutters the mind and heart out in the unnatural world. We biked down to the end of the road in the afternoon. I stood for quite a while tuning into this horse standing in…
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Posted inMeasure 37

Hollywood beauties vs. Oregon beauty

This long-time Oregonian (thirty-six moist years) is willing to admit there's a lot to like about southern California. Hollywood in particular, where my daughter, son-in-law, and one month old granddaughter live. Last weekend I stood in line at the trendy yogurt shop next to the M Café, scene of my previous intimate encounter with Kirsten Dunst--if you agree with me that sitting at two tables separated by a sheet of glass is "intimate." This Hollywood visit, no movie stars. But there was an attraction right in front of me. Two, actually. I couldn't help noticing the twenty-something girls as I…
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Posted inMeasure 37

Measure 37 fix: let the lies begin from OIA

Oregonians in Action (OIA) conned voters into approving Measure 37 in 2004. Now that the Oregon legislature is on the verge of approving a ballot referral that would fix this horribly flawed law, the OIA con-machine has fired up and is starting to spew more lies. Consider the ridiculous statement on the OIA web site that HB 3540 "effectively kills Measure 37." That's garbage. What this fix does is kill the ability of claimants to trample the property rights of people already living in the area, since it limits developments in groundwater limited areas to three houses. The same limit…
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Posted inEntertainment

Survivor Fiji’s sleazy Dreamz lets down inner-city blacks

Time to take a pass on political correctness. Dreamz, a twenty something who sleazed his way to the final three on "Survivor Fiji," epitomizes much of what's wrong—from this blogger's 58 year-old rural Oregon white guy perspective—with black inner-city culture. Dreamz, whose real name is Andria "Dre" Herd, loved to talk about the tough times he had growing up in the projects. OK. That's no excuse for being an irritating, lying, egotistical jerk. Lots of people have difficult childhoods. I did, for sure. I wasn't homeless, like Dreamz was for a while, but I grew up in a broken home…
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Posted inFamily

From fifty-eight years to one month old–in two hours

I flew from Portland to Hollywood yesterday to see my (one and only) granddaughter for the first time. The plane trip took two hours. Along the way I lost a lot of years. All the way down to Evelyn's age--one month. Maybe not in rock solid reality, since I'm still able to put up a blog post on an unfamiliar computer, and Evelyn doesn't do much but sleep, cry, poop, pee, eat, and look around in an unfocused fashion. Still, we've got a lot in common. Don't you see the resemblance? This grandfather can. In his "the circle of life…
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Posted inSalem

Salem’s Sustainable Fairview looks less Green now

My wife and I were early investors in Sustainable Fairview Associates (SFA), the group that took over the 275 acre former Fairview Training Center property. We had high hopes that a model sustainable community would sprout in Salem—which sorely needs some Green pizzazz to offset this not-so-fair city's deservedly bland image. As I said in my "We check out of Sustainable Fairview" post, about a year ago we sold our shares after a bittersweet and often frustrating relationship with the management of SFA. Nonetheless, we still had high hopes for the 246 remaining acres (one chunk was sold to Pringle…
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Posted inMeasure 37

Wise analysis of HB 3540, the Measure 37 fix

I hate Measure 37. Other people love it. In between love and hate is where most Oregonians are, according to Richard van Pelt. He's a Friends of Marion County activist who likely has forgotten more about Oregon's land use policies than I know now. Yesterday he sent me a thoughtful email about the Measure 37 reform effort embodied in HB 3540, which has passed the House and is to be considered soon by the Senate. Richard had read a comment I'd left on Russell Sadler's Blue Oregon post: "The M37 clock is ticking. Extend it while we debate it." [second…
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Posted inHome life

Her owners went to Maui, and all Serena got was a pampered dog boarding

Jet lag has been melatonin'd away. Scarily tall grass has been cut. Piled up mail has been sorted to manageable proportions. It's time for a Maui vacation post-mortem. First, and most importantly, I know that somewhere in the blogosphere there's a number of people—maybe as many as two or three, if I count relatives—who are deeply concerned about how Serena the Wonder Dog made it through eleven days at the Shaggy Dog Kennel in Dallas. Oregon, not Texas. However, it still is about a half hour drive each way, since we live in Salem. We take Serena all the way…
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Posted inMeasure 37

Time-out needed on Measure 37 subdivisions

The Oregon House of Representatives took a first step toward fixing Measure 37 today. Reform legislation will be sent on to the voters via a ballot referral, with voting to take place in September or November. But it's not enough. A hold, or "time-out," needs to be placed on Measure 37 subdivisions to prevent a lot of damage from occurring between now and the vote. My wife and I know whereof we speak. Along with several dozen neighbors, we've been fighting Leroy Laack's plan to put 43 homes and 43 wells on nearby groundwater limited farmland. Today we got some…
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Posted inMeasure 37

Measure 37 smackdown–I call legislators “chicken!”

Oh, yeah. It's Land Use Reform Raw. I've made the call out in an AP story about Measure 37, "Democrats want voters to take another stab at Oregon land use law." The final two paragraphs: But the prospect of an endless barrage of TV, radio and newspaper adds, pitting entrenched interest groups against each other, is frustrating for some. Brian Hines, a retired property owner in Salem said he was disappointed lawmakers couldn't come up with a solution. "I think that's pretty chicken," Hines said of Oregon lawmakers decision to send the property rights reforms back to voters. "It will…
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