Posted inEntertainment

“24” and Jack Bauer more progressive now

What a difference a year makes. On both the national political scene and the hit Fox television series “24,” a progressive-friendly outlook is kicking the neocon ass. Now it’s a lot easier for me to admit my love affair with Jack Bauer (in the finest tough guy heterosexual fashion, naturally). Exactly twelve months ago I felt the need to explain how a compassionate progressive such as myself could be so attracted to a counter-terrorism agent whose interrogation techniques—breaking bones, electric shock, bullet in the knee—wouldn’t pass muster with the ACLU (to put it mildly). But as James Poniewozik pointed out…
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Posted inMeasure 37 Neighborhood

How to fix Measure 37

Measure 37 has made a mess of Oregon’s land use laws. That’s undisputed. My state now has a crazily complex patchwork of land use time zones, each governed by a different set of rules based on when the owner acquired the property. This is no way to run a society. It’s unfair, inefficient, damaging, and divisive. The governor says that we need to fix Measure 37. Legislative leaders say that we need to fix Measure 37. So let’s get ‘er done. Or git-r-done. I don’t care which, so long as it’s done. My wife and I are fully acquainted with…
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Posted inMeasure 37 Neighborhood

Our Measure 37 fight makes TV news and Loaded Orygun

Kudos to KATU Channel 2 for devoting about four and a half minutes to coverage of Measure 37 in general, and our neighborhood’s battle against a M-37 subdivision in particular. Three versions of the story aired on KATU’s early evening news programs last Monday. I uploaded the clips to YouTube, even the ones that didn’t feature me saying anything (Laurel came up with the most quotable remarks, which is only fair, as I got more air time on the previous Channel 2 coverage). Here are links to the clips (Story #2 is the longest and most complete): Story #1, 4:30…
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Posted inEntertainment

Sacha Baron Cohen’s hilarious Golden Globe acceptance speech

Cohen, a.k.a. Borat, Ali G, and Bruno, is a comedic genius. As evidence, I submit this video of his acceptance speech after he won a Golden Globe award for best actor in a motion picture musical or comedy. Sure, Cohen almost certainly gave some advance thought to what he was going to say. But he’s speaking spontaneously here, only glancing at the piece of paper he brought up with him when he gets to his “formal” thank you remarks. The scene he’s talking about, the nude wrestling encounter between Borat and his rotund Kazakstan comrade, is the most gut-splitting bit…
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Posted inMiscellany

Pinball car crashes on icy Portland street

Here’s a hugely entertaining video, in the best “glad that wasn’t me” sense, of cars sliding down an ice-covered street yesterday in Portland’s Goose Hollow neighborhood. (Thanks to Blue Oregon for the link from Seattle’s KING-5). Videos like this should put to rest the fiction that Oregonians are snow weenies. True, on the west side of the Cascades we usually get snowfalls that would be greeted with a yawn in Chicago, Minneapolis, or Denver. But there’s a big difference in slipperiness between cold dry snow and snow that falls around the freezing mark—especially when freezing rain precedes the white stuff.…
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Posted inMeasure 37 Neighborhood

Measure 37 subdivision battle hits front page again

If nothing else, we’re sure helping to publicize the danger Measure 37 poses to Oregon’s groundwater. Today’s Salem Statesman-Journal had another front page story, “Marion county decision may set precedent for farmland,” about the fight Laurel is leading against a 217 acre subdivision planned for nearby farmland. (Plus a related story about a similar situation in the Eola Hills). When I say “if nothing else,” I’m pointing toward the disturbing possibility that the Marion County Planning Commission might approve the subdivision application tomorrow night without requiring a study of how much groundwater actually is available in the area. Last Friday…
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Posted inEntertainment Home life

Must love dogs (and hate Reagan)

We forced ourselves to watch Must Love Dogs all the way through last night. If we’d paid for this two-paws-downer I would have felt cheated, but HBO brought this puppy into our television for nothing (extra). The movie’s Internet dating scenes reminded me of how Laurel and I met, so this aspect of an otherwise forgettable flick kept my eyes open. Back in the ancient days of 1989, online personal ads didn’t exist like they do now. We hooked up the old-fashioned print way, as related in “Thank you, Willamette Week personals.” Diane Lane and John Cusack first get together…
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Posted inHome life

Great snow photography tip

Here’s what I learned today about taking photos of snow: don’t wait. Especially if you live in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. By the time I roused myself to pick up my camera and venture outside, melting had made an appearance. You’ll have to trust me. The trees were beautiful. All white, instead of green. I’d compose a haiku in lieu of the missing photos, but I never can remember how many syllables go on each line. Anyway, there's something else the snow told me. You can’t stop things from changing. Snow, or anything else. But you can get on board the…
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Posted inEntertainment

Male geishas on the rise in Japan

Could it be my karma to become a male geisha? Signs point to it. Sunday Laurel and I finished watching Memoirs of a Geisha. Then the next day my Tai Chi instructor, Warren, who’d just returned from several weeks in Japan, talked after class about the clubs where women are served (in various ways) by male hosts. Warren thought I’d make a great geisha. I agree. There’s the language barrier thing, but Berlitz could get me over that. And I could learn how to say, “Yes, yes, you’re so right” in a flash. Along with, “Another drink, beautiful woman?” That…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Haditha shows U.S. is “bad guys” too

I’ve always been repulsed by the talk of good guys and bad guys in Iraq. The Bush administration, along with conservative pundits, loves to paint the United States as being on the side of the angels. The “bad guys” are the Iraqi insurgents, Baathists, Al Qaeda fighters, militias—any and all who are resisting the Snow White pure intentions of the “good guys” to bring peace, democracy, and the American way to the middle east. Abu Ghraib’s torture and prisoner abuse should have put to rest this ridiculous dualism. But it didn’t. Too many Americans have an unfortunate ability to downplay…
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Posted inMeasure 37 Neighborhood

We make the KATU Measure 37 subdivision news

Here’s two YouTubed videos of the Channel 2 news stories yesterday that featured our fight against a nearby subdivision. The first, aired at 4:30, was a brief one minute. The second was on the 5 o’clock news and ran 2:22. For the benefit of our broadband impaired rural south Salem neighbors, who mostly struggle by with internet dial-up, I reduced the size of the videos considerably (to about 1.2 MB and 2.7 MB). This had the pleasant effect of blurring the picture, thereby taking years off of my visage. Take a look. Our dog did indeed make it into a…
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Posted inMeasure 37 Neighborhood

Measure 37 could get us on KATU News tonight

Laurel and I were just interviewed at home by KATU, Portland Channel 2. We talked about the Measure 37 claim adjacent to our neighborhood—how a large proposed subdivision on farmland threatens the right of people already living here to not have their wells go dry. I’m not usually a praying sort of guy. But I won’t object if you want to pray, “Dear _____, please make sure that KATU doesn’t put on air the close-up of Brian sitting at a table drinking a glass of water. Or at least, that the video is blurred.” (like the photo above; recently got…
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Posted inMeasure 37 Neighborhood

After three hours, a moment of Measure 37 clarity

Well, another day, another front page Salem Statesman-Journal story about our neighborhood’s fight to prevent wells from being sucked dry by a Measure 37 subdivision. The headline sums it up: “Concerns about water hinder development plan.” Once again (the first hearing was two weeks ago) the Marion County Planning Commission got an earful from nearby property owners as well as consultants hired by the Keep Our Water Safe (KOWS) committee that Laurel chairs. Much of the testimony was technical and long-winded. The hearing lasted from 8 pm until after 11. But there was a moment when the absurdity of Measure…
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Posted inEntertainment

How to watch the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, if you missed it

I had a sinking feeling last night when my Dish network recording of the Boise State-Oklahoma Fiesta Bowl ended with three minutes to go in regulation. Like an idiot, I’d forgotten to extend the “stop” time past the scheduled game end. That feeling only got worse. On the evening news I saw some highlights of what I’d missed. And heard the KATU sports gal rave about what a great game it was. Then, this morning I got the newspaper. “Overtime thriller,” “wild finish,” and “one of the most dramatic finishes in BCS history” leapt out at me from the AP…
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Posted inMeasure 37 Neighborhood

Our Measure 37 fight makes the front page

Kudos to the Salem Statesman-Journal for today’s excellent front page story, “Groundwater dispute surfaces as a result of Measure 37.” Laurel is heading up the disputants, neighbors of ours who object to a subdivision being built on nearby farm land. Some of her testimony at a Marion County Planning Commission hearing, where opposition to the development was strong from many property owners who don’t want their wells going dry, was quoted in the story: “Marion County keeps allowing more development of new properties and new well entitlements in groundwater limited areas, with inadequate studies to determine whether even the current…
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Posted inHome life

How to record a game and not learn the final score

Yesterday my athletic-watching skills were sorely tested. But I passed with high marks. With astounding skill I managed to go out in public while the Oregon State-Missouri Sun Bowl game was being recorded on my DVR, and return home without knowing who won. I’ve got considerable practice at this, so I’d be remiss if I didn’t share some tips with those just coming up in the sports event recording ranks. Of course, I had to hone my talent in the school of VCR hard knocks. When I used to play doubles at the Salem Tennis and Swim Club, I can’t…
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Posted inEntertainment

Are you insane, CBS Sun Bowl producer?

Dear CBS, when you broke into the last 6:20 of the first half of the Oregon State-Missouri Sun Bowl game a little while ago, I was worried that World War III had broken out. After all, it’d have to be something really important to warrant broadcasting a CBS News Special Report in the middle of an exciting live football game. I was reassured when I saw that you were merely informing us that the six day funeral of Gerald Ford had gotten under way. Are you insane? I found the photos of black limousines interesting for about two seconds, after…
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Posted inEntertainment Tango/Dance

“Take the Lead” and Tango Zen

If I’m going to be reincarnated, coming back as Antonio Banderas would be entirely acceptable. As Roger Ebert says at the end of his “Take the Lead” review, Banderas oozes cool and charisma, just like he does in all of his movies that I’ve seen. “Desperado” remains one of my peak cinematic experiences, notwithstanding Ebert’s tepid review. However, I have to admit that my memories are as much of Salma Hayek as of my man Antonio. Last night Laurel and I finished watching “Take the Lead,” a predictable yet inspiring story of how ballroom dance changes the lives of inner…
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Posted inHealth

Omega-3 from V-Pure algae, not fish or flax

Being a vegetarian can be complicated. Fish oil is the best source of Omega-3 fatty acids, which confer important benefits to the heart, brain, eyes, and other body parts/functions. But I don’t like the idea of eating a once swimming life form (though my wife points out that I take a joint supplement, Celadrin, which contains an ingredient that once was part of a cow). So I’ve been searching for a karma-lite way to get my Omega 3’s. Several years ago I started taking a couple of flax oil capsules every day. I’ve also tried frozen waffles with hemp seed,…
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Posted inPhilosophy

An agnostic Taoist on Christmas Eve

Well, with just three hours to go on the west coast it looks like Christmas has survived the war against it. Which, of course, pretty much existed only in the addled outlook of Fox News and Bill O’Reilly. Speaking from the agnostic Taoist perspective, I look forward to celebrating the birth of Jesus by enjoying a vegetarian buffet at Salem's Marco Polo restaurant and opening a few presents that I bought for myself that are being wrapped by my wife at this very moment. As I did earlier today for a few gifts that she bought for herself. This year…
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