Posted inSalem

Salem’s curse continues: riverfront development stalls

I've lived in and near Salem (Oregon) since 1977. That's thirty-three years of exposure to a city whose lifeblood is blah. I'm hoping that just as researchers have found that caloric restriction extends life, so does urban excitement deprivation.Glancing at the front page of the Statesman Journal today, I was disturbed -- but not all that surprised -- to see that the Salem Curse continues. A promising effort to convert the downtown riverfront area into a mixed use development has stalled. Download Salem Riverfront project stallsSo now, instead of staring at ugly Boise Cascade industrial buildings, we'll be treated to…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Humor

BP, here’s a foolproof way to stop your oil spill

(Disclaimer regarding this blog post title: by "foolproof" I mean the dictionary definition of impervious to human incompetence. Given British Petroleum's past misdeeds involving the Gulf oil well disaster, they are arguably capable of superhuman incompetence.)This morning, as I was sipping my first cup of coffee, my freshly caffeinated brain came up with one of those brilliant ideas that pass so frequently through my cranium -- and which, sadly, often (if not always) fail to receive the acclaim from others that they so obviously (to me) richly deserve.I'd learned that BP was moving on to yet another attempted fix, after…
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Posted inEntertainment

Final episode of “Lost” left me lost (not surprisingly)

My wife and I have watched every episode of "Lost" during its six seasons -- which got increasingly confusing the past few years, and not because of our early senility. As Wikipedia puts it:At the heart of the series is a complex and cryptic storyline that spawns numerous unresolved questions.Yeah, no kidding. Even after we finished watching "The End" episode last night, Laurel and I looked at each other and engaged in our traditional post-Lost viewing interchange: "Jeez, what was that all about?" "I have no idea."We aren't Lostaphiles. We don't obsess over details of the show or study Lostpedia…
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Posted inPhilosophy

A vegetarian kills a squirrel. And cries.

I haven't eaten a bite of meat in over forty years. Yet today I killed an innocent animal. A gray squirrel, which I mistook for a not-innocent California ground squirrel -- who are continuing to drive us nutty (their newest trick is chewing voraciously on the bark of several much beloved trees in our yard, which could kill them if they're girdled.)When my air gun arrived last year, I talked about how bad I felt when, as a pellet gun toting kid, I shot a songbird. Today was no different when I found that the smallish squirrel that had been…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Salem

No, I’m not going to “get over” Measure 24-292 defeat

Today Blue Oregon, our marvelous state's numero uno progressive blog, published a Guest Column by yours truly: "Marion County charter change loses, but isn't lost." A commenter took the all caps typographic approach favored by right-wingers, saying "YOU LOST, GET OVER IT!" My response:Michael, why should I (or any other supporter of the Measure) "get over it"? If a basketball team loses 77-23, are they supposed to give up the sport? Or do they practice harder, find a different game plan, and expect to win next time?And if the other team played dirty, they'll take steps to be sure the…
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Posted inScootering

Scooters more popular in Europe (sadly)

Some friends of ours, TIm and Jan, just got back from Europe. Today Tim, knowing of my scooter obsession, sent me a photo he took in Florence, Italy. He said, "This picture was taken on a street that runs along the Arno river near the Uffizi museum and Ponte Vecchio." Bellissimo! I was in Florence for a few days back in my college days (1968). I don't remember seeing such a beautiful display of two-wheeled art. If I returned, I'd probably spend much of my time staring at scooters rather than other artistic treasures.Tim and Jan said that scooters are…
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Posted inEntertainment

Tapis Rouge adds extra Ah! to Cirque du Soleil

Somehow my wife and I have missed out on seeing a Cirque du Soleil performance in our sixty-something years. Last night we remedied this hole in our life experience by driving up to Portland in an unseasonably cold rain to see Kooza.After deciding to make this an early birthday present for Laurel, I had to decide whether to fork out $250 ($125 each) for the Tapis Rouge option. Browsing some Cirque du Soleil reviews, I saw that that some people loved it. Others thought it was a waste of money.Our conclusion: loved it!An emotional reaction which, I'll have to admit,…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Salem

Opponent’s lies keep Marion County charter change alive

Some elections put an issue to rest; others keep it alive. I'm betting that last Tuesday's defeat of Marion County's Measure 24-292, a citizen initiative to reform county government, will turn out to be a great example of how a loss will turn into victory.Today's opinion piece by Dick Hughes, editorial page editor of the Salem Statesman Journal, points to a reason why. In "These Oregon candidates should be honored -- or ashamed" he gave out a Worst campaign award. Download Statesman Journal Worst Campaign awardWorst CampaignThe anti-Measure 24-292 "Protect Public Safety" misinformation.The Marion County charter amendment had nothing to…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Election night in Oregon — off to a Marion Co. Dems party

I haven't been to many election night get-togethers in my life. Here comes another one. Laurel and I are about to leave for the Marion County Democratic Party, um, party at the Grand Ballroom in downtown Salem. We relished a Measure 49 victory back in 2007 there. Hopefully tonight will bring similarly good progressive electoral news.But whether or not Chuck Bennett wins the race for Salem Mayor, and Measure 24-292 passes (an effort to reform the county charter that would enlarge the Board of Commissioners from three to five, make the members non-partisan, and elect them by district), I'll be…
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Posted inMiscellany

Check out new Apture site/search bar

You'll see an Apture site bar appear when you scroll down the page now. Try it out -- pretty cool. Highlight a word or words. Click on "search." You'll get results from my blogs, Wikipedia, Google, You Tube, Amazon, and more. Web sites found via a search can be browsed from within this blog if you're using Safari or Chrome. Close the browsing window by clicking the "x" and return to the post you were reading. You can share a post via Facebook, Twitter, or email by clicking on the icons. Enjoy.
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Posted inSalem

Salem’s Clockworks Cafe stimulates my Steampunk soul

And I didn't even know I had one! A Steampunk soul, that is. But I must, since I enjoyed my day-after-grand-opening visit (Saturday) to Salem's newest coffeehouse -- Clockworks Cafe and Cultural Center, which is in the old Blue Pepper location on Commercial Street. Steampunk, for all of those old fogies who aren't as hip to what's happening as this 61 year old is (hey, I rode my big Burgman 650 scooter to the cafe, way trendy), has something to do with mixing old and new. OK, I'm vague as to what it is. But I was familiar enough with the…
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Posted inSustainability

Best argument for acting fast on climate change

Spring has finally sprung here in Oregon. It's warm and sunny. Which reminded me -- after a wintry focus on health care reform -- that Congress now has to get serious about passing climate change legislation. To fire up my enthusiasm for saving humankind from catastrophe, this morning I reached into the on deck section of my bookcase for a book that I bought last year but hadn't started to read yet.Love it! I'm already four chapters into Greg Craven's "What's the Worst That Could Happen?" (short answer: a freaking lot) Craven is a high school teacher at Central High…
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Posted inPhilosophy

Dog and cat videos show humans how to live

We humans are animals. That's a fact. Biologically, we're members of the Kingdom Animalia. Dogs and cats are our kissing cousins (in a sense).Today I came across two You Tube videos featuring a dog and a cat that made me realize how much other animals have to teach us. Since for most of my life I've shared a home with dogs and/or cats, I already knew this. But these videos had a special message for me -- maybe because I'm becoming increasingly attracted to wordless wisdom, the lingua franca of pets and us.Last night my wife said she'd read about…
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Posted inRecreation Sustainability

Camp Sherman forest thinning project — my photo tour

I felt some trepidation when my wife and I saw this sign as we got to Camp Sherman (central Oregon) last weekend. We're part owners of a cabin along the Metolius River that sits on leased Forest Service land. Forest fires are an ever-present danger. Several have burnt large acreages in the Camp Sherman, Black Butte Ranch, and Sisters areas in recent years. Wildfires used to naturally control the density of vegetation, but now that humans control fires, the forests are way overgrown. We know this. But when we heard rumbling early Monday morning and went out to the edge…
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Posted inPhilosophy

Stepping from hard pavement onto soft earth

Every day the dog and I take a evening walk. Sometimes it's a two-mile loop on paved roads in our rural neighborhood. Other times we head off on paths on our property that lead to a trail around a lake.I'm always struck by how different it feels to take even a single step on hard asphalt or concrete, compared to walking on much softer dirt or grass. I'm jarred by the one, relaxed by the other.Nature is, well, natural. So rather paradoxically, the relaxation I'm talking about is marked by an acute alertness, just as the jarring I feel as…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

If Newsweek goes under, I’ll be bummed

I swing both ways. I subscribe to both remaining weekly news magazines, TIME and Newsweek. And I'm an avid consumer of online news. Well, let's make me a tripartite swinger, because I also read two newspapers every day, the Salem Statesman Journal and the Portland Oregonian. I find this to be a balanced news diet, the weeklies being an important part of my nutrition.Now Newsweek is up for sale. It, along with TIME, may not survive. Call me old-fashioned (I still read books made of paper), but I find this highly disturbing. Newsweek necessarily has transformed itself from a communicator…
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Posted inHumor Web/Tech

Ellen DeGeneres iPhone parody touches on the truth

Apple officials are upset with Ellen DeGeneres for her all-too-true parody of an iPhone commercial, which shows that as easy as it is to use, it isn't that easy.The Apple guys need to get a humor implant. My wife and I each have iPhones and we frequently experience the sort of stuff DeGeneres does. Laugh on.
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Posted inCurrent affairs Salem

Chuck Adams likely behind deceptive Measure 24-292 letter

Today the leading political blog in our great state, Blue Oregon, published a post that I submitted last night: "GOP flack Chuck Adams sleazes up Marion County charter change campaign."I'm pretty proud of sleazes up. Already Google has the Blue Oregon post as the first hit for this term, which hopefully will go viral as an action word for what sleazes do.It came to me in an intuitive flash as I was trying to think of a way to describe the highly deceptive letter that was signed by Walt Beglau (Marion County District Attorney) and mailed to county voters last…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Salem

Marion County District Attorney Walt Beglau skates on thin ethical ice

Whether it passes or fails, a Marion County citizen initiative which got on the May ballot after almost 6,000 citizens signed petitions to improve county government, has served one important purpose:We've learned how far the existing power structure in Marion County is willing to stretch ethical bounds in order to keep the political system running along in its dysfunctional special-interest-favoring way.A few weeks ago a neighbor gave me a "No on Measure 24-292" letter that had been sent out by two Salem Chamber of Commerce bigwigs: CEO Mike McLaran and board member Dick Withnell, who owns several car dealerships. It…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Wow! Obama must read my blog.

Coincidence? Or something more...wonderful. I choose the more, that President Obama reads my blog and uses my words to inspire the American public. Check out the evidence:Last night, I wrote a post called "Gulf oil spill shows why government is important." I said:But hopefully people will take away a larger -- and marvelously simple -- message from this mess: government is us. The collective "we care" side of us.Today, President Obama gave a speech at the University of Michigan on the theme of defending government. He said:President Barack Obama took aim Saturday at the angry rhetoric of those who denigrate…
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