Posted inCurrent affairs

Our caring about societal issues has a disturbing trajectory

It's a familiar happening. Some event stimulates an outpouring of concern about a societal issue. Like mass shootings, global warming, police killings of Blacks, Postal Service slowdowns, Trump's outrageous actions. Protesters march in the streets. Facebook and Twitter erupt. Legislators are contacted. Passionate views are expressed. Vows of "we've got to do something about this" are plentiful. And then... the familiar trajectory of the bell-shaped curve is evident. What goes up, comes down. A peak level of societal concern is reached, then declines to about the same level it was at before. Maybe a bit higher, but nowhere near as…
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Posted inTango/Dance

Why I think “Our Last Tango” is such a great dance movie

Thanks to Netflix, recently my wife and I enjoyed watching "Our Last Tango," a documentary of sorts about the passionate relationship between two highly talented Tango dancers, Maria Nieves Rego and Juan Carlos Copes. I say of sorts, because the film bounces back and forth between footage of Maria and Juan in the present day (the movie was released in 2016) when they were 80 and 83, respectively, videos of them performing when younger, and reenactments of memorable moments in their relationship by four skilled Tango dancers -- two for their early years together, and two for their later years.…
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Posted inHome life

What I like and don’t like about my 2020 Subaru Crosstrek Limited

When I meet someone who has just moved here from California, I give them advice on how to disguise where they came from. Which includes, ditch the California license plates ASAP. Then put them on a Subaru. I've lived in Oregon for 47 years. Seems like I should have a Subaru. Six months ago I bought another Subaru after owning a Legacy way back when. Here's my Adobe Spark web page review of what I like about my 2020 Crosstrek Limited (lots of things) and what I don't like (a few things). Click below to be led to the web…
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Posted inNeighborhood

Dumb stuff our HOA is trying to do

From what I can tell, Homeowners Associations (HOAs) are about as beloved as the IRS -- a necessary evil that people want to have as little to do with as possible. Which means I must be an aberration, since for about 25 years I was the secretary for our HOA, Spring Lake Estates Recreation Property, Inc. here in rural south Salem, Oregon.  That meant I not only had to attend almost every meeting of our HOA board for a quarter century, I also had to stay awake enough to take notes and write minutes that were close enough to what…
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Posted inEntertainment Web/Tech

In one day, I’ve become a 71 year-old TikTok addict

This isn't a cry for help, even though I'm addicted. To TikTok, the video-sharing service that has aroused Trump's ire -- which led me to download the iPhone app this morning, in part because my default position is that whatever our Idiot-in-Chief is against, I'm for, since Trump is almost always wrong. Last Thursday Trump signed an executive order aimed at TikTok.  In the order, which takes effect in 45 days, any transactions between TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, and U.S. citizens will be outlawed for national security reasons. In practice, experts told NPR the order likely will mean the viral…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

“A Letter on Justice and Open Debate” needs to be read by all extremists

Last Friday Bill Maher's Real Time show on HBO featured a discussion between Maher and two people who signed a letter calling for more tolerance of opposing views and the free exchange of information and ideas -- Thomas Chatterton Williams and Bari Weiss. (There's a video of their Real Time segment on a Daily Beast story. It's well worth watching.) Williams spearheaded the letter, which I've copied in below from a Harper's web page. To see who has signed it so far, click on the preceding link. It includes some familiar names: J.K. Rowling, Salman Rushdie, Fareed Zakaria, Malcolm Gladwell,…
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