Posted inCurrent affairs Sustainability

Cosmic reasons to vote Democratic this November

Being a philosophical sort of guy, I enjoy looking at the big picture. The really Big Picture. Like, where we stand in the cosmos. Which can be viewed as "super small" or "very tall" depending on one's perspective -- and they can merge into one vision when perceived through the factual lens of science. Our universe is 13.7 billion years old. If Stephen Hawking is correct in his surmising, it is but one of a near-infinity of bubble universes which spring from quantum fluctuations in an everlasting energy field (no God required). Most universes are inhospitable to life. We, obviously,…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Crazy Ninth Circuit decisions show importance of Obama appointments

When I voted for Obama, one big reason was the power of the President to appoint members of the federal judiciary. Often our court system is the only thing that stands between screwy executive and legislative branch actions that violate the Constitution and/or established laws. Judges aren't perfect, for sure, and I'll offer a couple of egregious examples of this. But getting competent people appointed to vacant judicial positions is the best way for a President to assure that our federal courts operate as our Founding Fathers intended. So I've been bothered by Obama's seeming "ho-hum" attitude toward Republican obstructionism…
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Posted inPhilosophy Tango/Dance

Learning the Hustle offers lesson in living

For me, learning how to dance means a lot more than just gaining some skills in moving around the hardwood to music. After all, life is a dance. And dancing is part of life. Last night Laurel and I had a private Hustle lesson with Lora at Salem's RJ Dance Studio. Lora has an impressive background in dance and music. At this stage in our dancing lessons, her central critique of me -- which is entirely accurate -- is that often I don't follow the beat or rhythm of a dance. I'm pretty good at getting steps down, though. With…
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Posted inSalem

Trader Joe’s coming to south Salem. For real!

When it comes to a Salem Trader Joe's, it sure looks like The Who was right: "Won't be fooled again." Every sign, including the one below that I took a photo of this afternoon, points to Trader Joe's opening a store on south Commercial Street. So even though we Salemites were fooled by the Trader Joe's false alarm in June, when the Statesman Journal had a front page story about an apparent store opening at Keizer Station in north Salem that turned out to be wrong, this time the evidence is much stronger. I was alerted to this marvelous bit…
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Posted inRecreation

Photos of Camp Sherman’s new Lake Creek Trail

Laurel and I had read in the Sisters Nugget weekly about the opening of a hike/bike/ride trail that goes from Camp Sherman to Suttle Lake. On Labor Day we decided to give it a try, starting from the Camp Sherman end. Wisely. Also, necessarily, because we were staying at our co-owned forest service cabin along the Metolius River and didn't have an extra car for a shuttle. I say "wisely" because on this trail we had to break our usual rule of mountain biking: namely, don't bike up any mountains. Or even steep hills. So it was good that we…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Kitzhaber shouldn’t lose to Dudley, but I fear he will

It's just so wrong -- the highly respected political prognosticator FiveThirtyEIght saying that Chris Dudley has a 56% chance of becoming the next Governor of Oregon, while John Kitzhaber has a 44% chance. Hey, we're a blue state! On the left coast. I want Oregon to be an idyllic island of progressivism where Democrats like me can take shelter from the Republican storm that threatens to wash over most of the rest of the country come November. Yet here we are, first week of September, just two months from election day, and Kitzhaber seems stuck in low gear while Dudley…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Humor

Baby carrots go Xtreme! I’m crunch with that.

For a sixty-one year old dude, I'm on the cutting edge of what's happening, man. (Though those last three words date me.) In fact, I'm the handle that anticipated the cutting edge four years ago. Back in 2006 I was one of the few bloggers covering the baby carrot scene. My "Baby carrot community shaken to roots" post had a terrific title which should have won some kind of award. However, I didn't exactly make eating baby carrots seem like a mucho macho activity. I eat a lot of baby carrots. My wife makes me. At the age of 57…
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Posted inMeasure 37 Sustainability

Oregon Court of Appeals reverses Yamhill Co. subdivision approval

Here's more good legal news for the vast majority of Oregonians who want our state to stay as green as possible -- both environmentally and economically. Hot on the heels of a Marion County District Court judge's reversal of the county commissioners' decision to allow a 43-lot, 217 acre subdivision on groundwater limited farmland in our neighborhood to move forward comes an even more legally significant ruling: Today the Oregon Court of Appeals said approval of a 10-lot, 39-acre subdivision in Yamhill County was flawed and needs to be reconsidered by the Board of Commissioners. This is the first decision…
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Posted inRecreation

“Into the Wild” — best trail ride in western Oregon

My wife loves horses, but we don't have one. So she's always on the lookout for good trail rides. We've paid our money and taken our chances with quite a few stables in the Willamette Valley and central Oregon. Almost always, we've been disappointed. Laurel is a very good rider; I'm a decent rider. We don't enjoy plodding along with a rules-obsessed guide who is taking out a bunch of inexperienced riders, because if one person can't handle a trot or canter everybody is forced to walk their horse the whole time. Yesterday we had a wonderfully different experience with…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Measure 37 Salem

Judge slaps down Marion County Commissioner Patti Milne

Ooh, I love it! A judge gets into a slapdown. Not literally, of course, but judicially. A front page story in today's Statesman Journal tells the tale: "Judge blocks 43-lot subdivision in south Salem." Download SJArticle-Laack subdivision I had the news here first, in my Circuit Court reverses Marion County commissioners post. This was hugely reassuring for our neighborhood, which has been fighting the Ridge View Estates development (a.k.a. Laack subdivision) for almost five years. Repeatedly, the Keep Our Water Safe committee formed to protect our property rights and senior water rights came out on the short end of 2-1…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Oregon isn’t a high tax state (repeat until truth sets in)

Call me old-fashioned, but even though I enjoy Stephen Colbert's humorous take on truthiness, it still seems to me that social policy debates go better when people on both sides of an issue respect the facts. Such as: Oregon isn't a high tax state, especially for businesses. A report called "Is the Grass Really Greener in Other States: an Oregon Perspective" presents the most recent evidence of this undeniable fact. Download Greener-pastures-Report-8-17-101 It's must-reading for those who want to know the truth about Oregon's business climate -- which is at odds with the anti-tax lies spread by those who opposed…
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Posted inRecreation

Photos of 2010 Portland Street of Dreams

Today Laurel and I, along with neighbors Tim and Jan, trekked up I-5 to Portland to pursue a dream. More accurately, six of them -- the new homes featured in the 2010 NW Natural Street of Dreams. We enjoy looking at fancier houses than ours, as do many other people, judging from the crowded Street of Dreams parking lot, even on a Monday. This seems to be partly a lifestyles of the rich and famous sort of voyeurism, and partly a desire to get ideas for fulfilling homeowner desires. (Guess that's why this is called a Street of Dreams.) As…
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Posted inWeb/Tech

iPhone Navigon app replaces my Garmin Nuvi

Right away my dearly beloved iPhone 4 replaced the Flip Video camera that I used to carry around with me in case I witnessed space aliens landing, or some other newsworthy event that I could film and then sell the video for millions. (Hey, I can dream.) Now I've also relegated my Garmin Nuvi GPS device to the Drawer of Unused Electronic Items, because the Navigon app for the iPhone functions better than a standalone Nuvi does. I can say this with considerably confidence because I've used the Navigon app quite a bit in the past month or so, notably…
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Posted inMeasure 37 Salem Sustainability

Circuit Court reverses Marion County commissioners

Last Friday our rural south Salem neighborhood got some great news: in Marion County Circuit Court Judge Nely Johnson reversed the Marion County Board of Commissioners' approval of Ridge View Estates, a 217 acre, 43 lot Measure 37 subdivision on Liberty Road. Read all about it in our press release. Download Willamette Valley Farmland Protected - Final-1 Judge Johnson issued an oral opinion, asking the attorneys for our neighborhood's Keep Our Water Safe committee (Ralph Bloemers of the Crag Law Center and Sean Malone, a Eugene attorney) to prepare Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law. These should be finalized…
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Posted inRecreation

Photos of Lake Louise gondola & Moraine Lake trail

Well, after three previous photo posts of our Banff (Canada) trip you knew the big finale was coming -- a grizzly bear shot! I mean, a shot of a grizzly bear, not a photo of a grizzly bear that's been shot. Laurel had been hoping to see a grizzly bear the six days we'd been in the Banff area prior to heading to the Lake Louise gondola on our last full vacation day. The gondola folks claim they offer the best grizzly bear viewing in the Canadian Rockies. We could only hope as I leaned around in the ski area…
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Posted inRecreation

Photos of Banff: Sunshine Meadows

OK, this is my third blog post in a row about our trip to Banff, Canada. But hey -- when my wife and I spend a bunch of money and time venturing out of Oregon to sightsee, I want to share my photo souvenirs as widely as possible. These are of a hiking excursion at Sunshine Meadows, only twenty minutes or so from Banff. In the winter Sunshine Village Ski Resort worships the white stuff. In summer, flowers rule on the high mountain meadows. After forking over $52 for two tickets, a bus took us from the lower reaches of…
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Posted inRecreation

Photos of Banff: Johnston Canyon & Lake Louise

As shown in my Day 1 report of our first-time visit to Banff, Canada, we rain-habituated Oregonians hit a semi-wet period north of the border -- which made us feel right at home. Day 2 we headed to Johnston Canyon for a creekside hike, figuring that if we were going to get rained on it'd be better to be viewing close-in scenery rather than distant cloud-cloaked mountains. When we got to the Johnston Canyon parking area, we found that lots of other people were on the same wavelength. One guidebook says this is the most popular hike in the Banff…
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Posted inRecreation

Photos of Banff: Day 1 of our first-time visit

Our vacation in Banff (Alberta, Canada) went great after a rocky start checking in with United Airlines/Air Canada at the Portland airport. Remember the good old days when, even though you were traveling in coach, you were checked in by a real live person who could deal with problems and questions on the spot? Those days are gone if you're traveling United/Air Canada out of PDX. We were forced to use an annoying electronic kiosk prior to checking our bags. It recognized my passport, but was clueless about my wife's reservation. The machine told her to pick up a phone…
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Posted inHome life

“Can you spare some gas money?”

Out in the south Salem (Oregon) suburbs, there aren't many people asking passers-by for money. But once in a while I see somebody with a cardboard sign standing on the sidewalk at the junction of Liberty and Commercial. He or she is easy to ignore if I stare straight ahead until the light changes.I try to avoid reading what the sign says. It might be "disabled veteran -- need help." Something like that. I figure it's probably a con job. Today, though, there's wasn't any avoiding possible. I was starting to get on my Burgman 650 scooter after shopping at…
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Posted inBooks Writing/Weblogs

Self-publishing loses its stigma. So…write a book!

Ah, the times they are a'changin, just like Bob Dylan said they would. What was shameful not so long ago has come out into the open, standing tall and proud. And I'm not talking about homosexuality. Rather, self-publishing. My print on demand (POD) loving soul was thrilled to read in a recent issue of Newsweek, " Who Needs a Publisher?" Until recently, reviewers and booksellers looked down on self-published authors the way Anna Wintour scorns Dress Barn. Now new writers and established authors alike are increasingly taking publishing into their own hands, and the publishing establishment is paying attention. According…
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