Posted inDogs Home life

If you set off loud fireworks, you’re terrifying dogs

Here's a simple fact, lovers of loud fireworks: your enjoyment is being bought at the price of animal pain. Many dogs are terrified of fireworks. So also, I'm sure, are wild animals -- deer, birds, raccoons, etc. On behalf of our dog, Zu Zu, I just want you to be aware of what you're doing when you set off loud fireworks. I can't inject a sense of compassion into your fireworks-loving brain, though I sure wish I could. I just want to speak for the stressed-out dogs who can't write a blog post. And even if Zu Zu could, (she's a…
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Posted inSalem

Oregonians are heat-weenies

OMG! Oh, the heat here in Western Oregon. Why, oh my my my, it got to 93 degrees here in Salem a few days ago. Well, maybe it was 95.  I can't remember exactly. This senior citizen has been too busy land paddling his longboard skateboard five miles around the up-and-down trails at Minto Brown Park in 90-degree weather. Takes me 40 to 45 minutes. Halfway through my workout I stop for a minute and take a few sips of water. Then I get back on my longboard. No problem.  I grew up in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Delay in Obamacare mandate for large businesses not a big deal

It's always entertaining to watch right-wingers try to make an OMG! mountain out of some routine Obama action (or inaction, such as his being proven to have nothing to do with Benghazi talking points or IRS review of tax-exemption applications). Now the outrage of the day is the Obama administration's decision to delay by one year implementation of the Affordable Care Act mandate that large employers provide health insurance. Wow. One whole year. And the decision only affects 1 to 1.5 million workers who are employed by a company with 50 or more workers that doesn't already provide health insurance.…
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Posted inWeb/Tech

Tips: if Reeder isn’t working for you after July 1

I've been using Reeder on both my iPhone and MacBook Pro to peruse blog updates, along with Google Reader when I'm at my computer. After Google Reader died on July 1, I've had to turn completely to Reeder and The Old Reader, a web-based Google Reader look-alike. I like The Old Reader, but prior to July I found that Reeder updated feeds automatically more often than The Old Reader. So I'd decided to make Reeder my main replacement for Google Reader.  Only problem was, and it took me a few days to notice this, I wasn't getting any blog post/RSS updates.…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Salem

Stu Rasmussen’s closet is a transgender thing of beauty

(Embedded video I had originally via USA Today was auto-play, irritatingly; I got so irritated by it playing I've linked to the Statesman Journal web page where the video can be watched.) Like I said in "Salem to Silverton: a trip from boring to charming," Silverton mayor Stu Rasmussen is one of the many attractions of Salem's pleasingly eccentric neighbor-city.  Rasmussen became the nation's first openly transgender mayor when he was elected in 2008. HIs popularity hasn't diminished; in 2012 he was elected to another term.  A video tour of Rasmussen's closet shows why Stu Rasmussen is such an appealing…
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Posted inHome life Humor

Even with my Ninja Fan, I don’t look much like a Geisha

As noted in a post about my visit to the 2013 World Beat Festival here in Salem, I bought an $8 Ninja Fan at a booth in the Asia Pacific area.  (this is the metal version of the plastic fan I got) For a long time I've wanted a fan. My Tai Chi instructor knows a fan form, which looks really cool when he does it. The fan snaps open and shut in harmony with his movements. After all, fans can be weapons. However, when I had a photo of me and my new fan taken by a Statesman Journal…
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Posted inEntertainment Salem

2013 World Beat Festival — great multi-cultural fun

Every year I look forward to Salem's World Beat Festival. I'm never disappointed. For the suggested $5 donation you really get your money's worth.  Today I was fortunate to arrive just in time to see a Japanese Martial Arts demonstration featuring students from Tokyo International University of America here in Salem. Highly enjoyable. Loved the drumming! Also loved the veggie Himalayan noodle plate from the Kathmandu Cafe -- my usual World Beat lunch. It's great to see lots of people out and about, enjoying themselves. Sadly, this is rarer than it should be in Salem. For a city of over…
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Posted inHome life Skateboarding

Strange creature roaming Minto Brown Park is… me!

My secret is out. Entirely willfully. Because I wrote the Salem Weekly Strange Up Salem column that begins with: Have you heard the rumor? Of a strange creature roaming the trails of Minto Brown Island Park. It’s like nothing seen before. Fortunately, it elicits smiles rather than screams. The rumor is true, because I am that creature. A senior citizen skateboarder. More than that: a longboard skateboarder who propels himself on flats and mild uphills by pushing with a stick, not his foot. I’ve gotten pretty damn good at this, a super-fun activity called land paddling. I mention my longboard…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Salem

Salem City Council votes for Third Bridge in absurdist drama

Since I like out-of-the-ordinary plays, under different circumstances I would have loved the Theatre of the Absurd that was on display last night in the Salem City Council meeting room. While on vacation in central Oregon, via CCTV I used my laptop to watch the Council approve the so-called Salem Alternative option for a $700 million third bridge across the Willamette River.  Wikipedia tells us something about absurdist dramatists: Their work expressed the belief that human existence has no meaning or purpose and therefore all communication breaks down. Logical construction and argument gives way to irrational and illogical speech and…
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Posted inWeb/Tech

Watch out for “Please verify your information for your Apple ID” scam

Close call. And I consider myself pretty savvy when it comes to recognizing phishing schemes -- attempts to collect log-in information via a fake communication from a normally trusted company or website. If you're an Apple customer and get an email like this, beware. Title of email was "Please verify your information for your Apple ID." Maybe because of late night grogginess, I actually clicked on the link. Which led to a page that looked like the Apple web site. There were boxes to put in my account ID and password. Fortunately, an alarm bell went off in my brain. …
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Posted inCurrent affairs Salem

Salem’s US Bank kills last two trees. Let the revolution begin.

Let the revolution begin. US Bank and the City of Salem need to be fought -- intensely, for as long as it takes to restore virtue to a city that is giving away its soul to big business and clueless bureaucrats. A few hours ago somebody sent me this photo of US Bank killing one of the remaining two trees in front of the State Street building today.  This is how those two trees looked not long ago. They got a temporary chain saw reprieve because of migrating birds nesting in their branches. There was no good reason to remove…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Salem

A poem for Salem’s Mayor, City Council, and other officials

I rarely buy poetry books. But this weekend I picked up Mary Oliver's "A Thousand Mornings" while browsing in the wonderful Paulina Springs bookstore in Sisters, Oregon. Thumbing through the pages, I came to Extending the Airport Runway. After I read it, with moistness in my eyes, I knew that I had to buy the book. Tomorrow the Salem City Council likely will approve going ahead with an giant unneeded $700 million Third Bridge across the Willamette.  The City of Salem also approved killing five large, healthy, beautiful trees in downtown Salem for no good reason. And the City also…
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Posted inDogs Home life

Behold! A breathtaking dog frenzy on a Metolius River walk.

Our youngest dog, Zu Zu, sometimes goes into a Dog Frenzy. On a walk along the Metolius River in central Oregon, I was fortunate to have been making an iPhone video with Socialcam (great app) when Zu Zu went into a frenzy. It's shown near the end of my four-minute video, "Metolius River dog frenzy," which also features scenes of the beautiful spring-fed river and Zu Zu exhibiting her agility dog ability in some water'y stick fetching.   After an extensive five minutes or so of You Tube research, I am prepared to boldly claim that this is the most…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Salem

Salem Third Bridge teeters toward City Council vote

There can't be many $700 million projects like Salem's Third Bridge, a.k.a. Salem River Crossing. At least, I sure hope there aren't. Almost certainly it will get an OK to move forward at next Monday's City Council meeting, but nobody -- not even the most avid proponents -- can come up with a coherent reason for why another bridge across the Willamette is needed. Case in point: would-be bridge builders have been saying that rush hour congestion between West Salem and downtown is a horrible problem. Ergo, we need a Third Bridge.  I guess No Third Bridge fact-based arguments have…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Oregonian will be printed and delivered only three days a week. Sad.

[Note: I updated this post after first wrongly saying that the Oregonian will only be printed three days a week; actually it will be printed on the other days, just not delivered to homes.] As a long-time subscriber I'm already missing you, Portland Oregonian daily newspaper. Now you're only going to be delivered to my home on Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday.  With a "bonus" Saturday edition apparently being included with the Sunday paper. Sad. I recently watched a 60 Minutes segment about the New Orleans daily going the same direction -- publishing in print only three days a week, with…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Salem

Mark Wigg, winner! Best arguments against Salem Third Bridge

Salem, Oregon has a conservative-leaning City Council and Mayor. Back when I was growing up, the 1950's and 60's, conservatives were pretty damn thrifty. Also, unashamed of being conservationists. Conserve was taken seriously as the foundation of conservatism. My mother was an avid Republican. She didn't like to spend money, partly because she came of age during the Depression. Yet also because she believed in only buying what you needed.  Things have changed. Just look at what Salem's City Council and Mayor are pushing upon the citizenry: a $600-800 million unneeded and unwanted Third Bridge across the Willamette River. It's…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Salem

West Salem says “no” to Third Bridge

Sounds like a "fun" (in a certain sense) time at the West Salem Neighborhood Association meeting last night. Four Salem city councillors and the Mayor were desperate to get a We want a Third Bridge! vote -- since a main purpose of spending $600-800 million on a new bridge is to improve traffic flow from/to West Salem. But... strikeout. Third whiff. The No Third Bridge folks report this was the third time the West Salem Neighorhood Association has declined to support the project. Supporters sure gave it a "good" (in a certain sense) try, though. After an 18 to 18…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Salem

Salem City Council members on “Why build a third bridge?”

Last Friday I emailed each of Salem's eight City Councillors, plus the Mayor, a simple question: "What is the single most important reason Salem needs a Third Bridge? And please support your reason with some facts." About a month ago I asked Peter Fernandez, Salem's Public Works director, the same question at a forum featuring him and No Third Bridge leader Scott Bassett. I blogged about Fernandez' answer.  I asked for the single most important reason. Numero Uno. #1. The words most likely to make opponents of a Third Bridge think, "whoa, maybe we really do need this thing!" So how did Fernandez…
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Posted inSalem

Stop parking meters in downtown Salem — sign the petition!

The City of Salem wants to install nasty parking meters in downtown Salem's Historic District, plus other places where two-hour free parking currently greets visitors with a welcoming smile. Those greedy meanies need to be stopped. (Both meters and the city officials who want them.) There's no good reason for installing meters.  If you're a registered voter who lives in Salem or West Salem, sign the Stop Parking Meters Downtown initiative petition.  Already almost fifty downtown businesses have signature sheets. Here's where you can sign. ABC MusicAcademy of Hair DesignArbuckle Costic ArchitectsArt & Antiques PlusArt DepartmentAvalon SalonBike PeddlerBittersweet BoutiqueBook BinBridal…
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Posted inFamily

A “thanks, dad” to my absent, asshole father

On Father's Day... some thoughts about a father I barely knew. And disliked what I did know about him. Yet it has belatedly dawned on me that my not-so-good dad deserves a lot of thanks -- because without him I'd only be half of what I am. And who is to say which half of me is better than the rest? I'm one big heap of Brian, no dividing possible. I've told my story of my barely there relationship with my father. The title of that post, "One hour with my father," sums it up.  In my entire life, I…
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