Posted inWeb/Tech

New CNN is ugly, confusing, and irritating

What could CNN be thinking? It's in last place among cable news networks. Yet CNN changes the look of its web site to make it painful to look at and almost impossible to find any real news on.I used to spend quite a bit of time on CNN.com. Now I take a glance, get a headache, and quickly click over to the New York Times and Google News.Big red banner. Big ads. Big headlines about nothing important (current featured story, "Groggy: excess sleep could be reason"). Small type size. Small focus on hard news. This all adds up to a…
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Posted inHome life

A real man will call a plumber

So, what does a guy do when his wife says, "The kitchen faucet is dripping. Can you fix it?"I took a look at it. Yup. It was dripping, no matter how I turned the Kohler single handle faucet. I vaguely remembered that the faucet used a cartridge. And that the last time I'd tried to replace a Kohler cartridge, I ended up having to call a plumber to bail me out. With increasing age (occasionally) comes increased wisdom. Grabbing the Salem phone book, I called a plumber right off the bat. When he arrived, after having told his scheduler that…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Cougars benefit Oregon’s environment — no reason to kill them

Wrong, wrong, wrong. That mantra kept being repeated in my increasingly irritated mind as I read Bill Monroe's call to kill more cougars in last Sunday's Oregonian.Monroe is an outdoors writer. But it's obvious that he doesn't know much about cougars, including their beneficial effect on ecosystems and how non-dangerous they are to people.Last week my wife and I went to a presentation at the Salem library by Oregon State University professor Bill Ripple called "Linking cougars to butterflies." As a Statesman Journal story said, cougars and other top predators are essential for a balanced natural environment.(Here's a PDF file…
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Posted inSalem

Zambia Night — belly dancing and coffee buying for a good cause

It's a tough job, being charitable. Yesterday I had to stand unmoving for a whole four minutes, leaving my vanilla latte unsipped for a while, as I video'd the Artemis Tribal Belly Dancers at a benefit for the Elizabeth Bowers Zambia Education Fund. Actually, I could have stood there for four hours. I love to watch belly dancing -- for all the right (and wrong, if there are any) reasons. And thanks to the troupe for only trying to entice females into attempting some moves at the end of their performance. I was ready to run for an exit, but…
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Posted inBooks

Nook is appealing, but lacks tactile reality

Damn. I want a Nook, Barnes & Noble's new well-reviewed eBook reader. Just like I wanted Amazon's Kindle.I love high-tech gadgets. Heck, I just got a computerized (sort of) flashlight, the marvelous Fenix LD 20. It's terrific. But last February I returned a Kindle 2 without even trying it. And even though I spent quite a bit of time yesterday trying to talk myself into buying a Nook, I figured that I'd end up not being happy with it -- mostly for the reason I wrote about before.I love my MacBook laptop. And my iPhone. Reading on a screen feels…
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Posted inWeb/Tech

Apple Store love: my sick MacBook Pro is fixed on the spot

I haven't been shy about expressing unforbidden love for my MacBook Pro, a sleek aluminum clad beauty who came into my life about a year ago and has stimulated blog posts of adoration (here, here, here, and here).Now my love affair has broadened to include the Bridgeport Village Apple Store in suburban Portland (Tigard). Here's why.As lovely as my MacBook Pro is, she has a few flaws, as do all objects of passion. A few weeks ago my 13-inch laptop stopped speaking to me. More accurately, she started whispering in a high tinny voice. Something had gone wrong with the…
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Posted inHealth

Bill Maher dangerously wrong about swine flu vaccine

Oh, Bill, I'm so disappointed in you. I love your HBO show, "Real Time with Bill Maher." But last Friday's episode showed me that you've gone bonkers over your obsession with vaccinations. Which you said usually aren't needed, and are ineffective. However, you're wrong. Dangerously wrong, as Michael Shermer ("Skeptic" columnist for Scientific American") says in an open letter to you -- which hopefully you'll take to heart.Saying on your show that pregnant women and young children shouldn't get a swine flu vaccination is horribly irresponsible. The CDC says that pregnant women are at higher risk of serious illness and…
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Posted inUncategorized

Now my Oregon leaf nightmare begins

Here in western Oregon we don't have afflictions that curse other parts of the country: hurricanes, tornadoes, long bouts of hot humid weather, deep snow, scorching temperatures.But this time of year the karmic weather account balances out somewhat, because one thing the Willamette Valley does have is leaves.Billions, trillions, gadzillions of leaves! Most of which seemingly end up in our yard. For the next month or so the adage what does not kill you will make you stronger courses through my brain frequently, offering me some degree of comfort that all the work I put into leaf maintenance will translate…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Blue Cross of Oregon trying to stop health insurance reform

Just when I thought Regence Blue Cross of Oregon couldn't irritate me further -- after many years of double-digit premium increases, after trying to deny my plan-switch application because of two minor preexisting conditions -- they're now part of an effort to scuttle health care reform.Deeply irritating. I emailed Regence yesterday, telling them that this subscriber of theirs wasn't happy that health insurers have emerged as the top foe of reform efforts.I note that you are a member of AHIP, which is actively trying to stop health care reform efforts. Do you support AHIP? If so, you certainly don't represent…
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Posted inRecreation

October beauty (and dog fun) on the Oregon coast

We were ready to head to central Oregon last weekend. But the weather report showed cold. And Laurel was getting a cold. The sunny, balmier Oregon coast seemed more appealing.Good choice.  We had our peanut butter sandwich lunch at Neskowin, north of Lincoln City. The beach is a short walk from the parking area. Walking toward the ocean, a large rock that's often surrounded by water looks like an island in the sand. Damn! I hate the crowded Oregon beaches! Laurel and Serena can barely move without stepping on a... Seagull. God, I love the powerful zoom lens and image…
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Posted inHome life Web/Tech

MotionX-GPS Drive: another reason I love my iPhone

My love affair with the iPhone is still passionate, continually renewed by the marvelous apps that I keep discovering and downloading. MotionX-GPS Drive came into my iPhone life yesterday. We're getting along great. This is a terrific GPS application that cost me $2.99 -- a far cry dollar-wise from the Garmin Nuvi that I also adore. (Laudatory review here.)Yet GPS Drive accomplishes most of what the Nuvi can do, and goes beyond it in some respects.   I like the clean and simple GPS Drive interface. The left screen is the home page. There you can search for various needs/desires,…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

More government, please — give me a public option

I can't understand all the rabid anti-government sentiment from right-wingers in response to the notion of offering people a publicly-run health insurance option. That's what Medicare is. And Medicare recipients rate this government program much more highly than users of private insurance rate their plans. A survey found that 56% gave Medicare a 9 or 10 on a 1-10 scale, while only 40% of private insurance members gave their plans that high a rating.Government programs work well, by and large. I went to two public colleges, San Jose State University and Portland State University. Got a good education. These institutions co-exist…
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Posted inFamily

Beer Frisbee as it’s meant to be played

I came to Beer Frisbee late in life -- two days ago, in fact -- but I've been ready for it since intense training during my California college days in the 1960's. Not by drinking beer, since this substance wasn't cannabis or a psychedelic. Hence...boring! But by spending countless Flower Power hours stoned on various substances and throwing frisbees with my brothers and sisters in altered consciousness.So when a couple of 30-something kids, Corey and Zack, challenged me and another 60'ish relative (Jerry) to a game of Beer Frisbee at a family reunion I jumped at the chance -- unconcerned that…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Conservative talk-show blatherers like Beck lack influence

Excellent news. And not wholly unexpected. I've always wondered if the right-wing crazies like Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Michael Savage have anywhere near the political influence that their over-heated egos claim.New York Times columnist David Brooks says, "No, they don't" in The Wizard of Beck.So the myth returns. Just months after the election and the humiliation, everyone is again convinced that Limbaugh, Beck, Hannity and the rest possess real power. And the saddest thing is that even Republican politicians come to believe it. They mistake media for reality. They pre-emptively surrender to armies that don’t exist.They pay…
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Posted inEntertainment

Corvallis Fall Festival shows why Trader Joe’s is coming to town

I've been envious, and more than a little irritated, at Corvallis since I learned that Trader Joe's chose to open a store there rather than in much larger Salem. "What does Corvallis have that Salem doesn't?" I'd wonder. And quickly answer, "Major university. More highly educated people. A progressive, creative vibe." Still, I hadn't spent much time in Corvallis recently. So to get a look at a town that Trader Joe's loves more than Salem, I said "sure" when Laurel suggested we go to the 2009 Fall Festival in Corvallis' central park. Comparing it to the Salem Art Festival, I…
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