Posted inRecreation

Hawk attacks on Portland swifts captured on video

Last Tuesday Laurel and I journeyed to northwest Portland to be part of September's daily swift watch -- when many thousands of Vaux's Swifts circle the large chimney at Chapman Elementary School before darting down it in a marvelous display of aerial avian acrobatics. My You Tube video won't make it on the Discovery Channel, but I got some good shots of a couple of hawk attacks. Kind of sad, but part of the balance of nature. In addition to the swifts, who naturally are the main attraction, I show the happy crowd of swift watchers perched on the grassy knoll…
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Posted inRecreation

More photos of the Metolius (can’t help myself)

OK, I admit it: I'm addicted to central Oregon's Metolius River basin. Can't get enough of this beautiful slice of Mother Earth. Have to share photos of my lovely every chance I can. Some headless horses in the "Johnson meadow" near the head of the Metolius.Looking upstream at Black Butte and toward the headwaters of the Metolius.Stump carved into a double-sided "chair" on the bank across from the Riverside campground. Laurel and Serena enjoying a quiet rest moment after going up and down a knoll near the Metolius. In late afternoon the sun filters through tall Ponderosas along the banks,…
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Posted inScootering

Tricking out my Suzuki Burgman 650 maxi-scooter

I was going to use "customizing" in the title of this post, but I like "tricking out" better. When a guy is riding a white Japanese scooter, he needs all the hip street vibe he can muster up. In fact, I'm going a bit backwards on the cool front, since I just replaced the tinted Clearview replacement shield that I wrote about last month with a taller untinted model.I've now got the XL Clearview shield for my Burgman 650 Executive, instead of a medium. That adds three inches in height. I decided that I was happy to trade being able…
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Posted inEntertainment

Survivor Samoa champions incivility with Russell Hantz

Watching the first episode of "Survivor Samoa" last night was bittersweet. Sweet, because my wife and I are huge Survivor fans. We've seen each episode of every season, so naturally we were looking forward to the fresh drama that plays out as twenty contestants try to outwit, outplay, and outlast each other.Bitter, because this was the most disturbing Survivor show I've ever seen. Plenty of jerks, assholes, and liars have competed for the winner's prize of one million dollars. But nobody like Evil Incarnate Russell Hantz. Usually it takes a while for a contestant to warm up to truly despicable behavior.…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

“We’re Number 37” song shows mediocrity of U.S. health care

Why are so many people in the United States so eager to keep this country mired in mediocrity -- #37 in the world -- when it comes to our underperforming, yet wildly costly, health care non-system? Beats me. I just wish each and every one of those opposed to health care reform would take three minutes away from watching Fox News and expose themselves to some truth for a change. In the form of a You Tube music video by Paul Hipp. I loved it! And, yes, it's truly true. OK, "mostly true" according to the well-respected PolitiFact web site.But…
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Posted inUncategorized

Is a move to Bend, Oregon in our future?

I don't believe in destiny. But as I was eating a marvelously tasty Southwest Tofu Wrap at Bend's Cafe Yumm in the charming Old Mill District, I gazed at the central Oregon sky from our outside table and thought, "We could easily end up living here someday."So call this a premonition. Or better, a desire.After I shared this notion with Laurel, who was totally receptive to it, we talked about some of the pros and cons of moving from the Willamette Valley (rural south Salem) to the Bend area.First con that came to mind: winter. We come to central Oregon…
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Posted inUncategorized

Head of Jack Creek erases life’s problems

It'd been four years since we last visited the beautiful Head of Jack Creek (near Camp Sherman in central Oregon). We shouldn't have waited so long. After contemplating the spring-fed waters for a few minutes, Laurel said, "I wish I could bottle a vision of this place and drink it whenever I feel bad." So true. Looking at the photos I took that day, to choose my favorites, was almost as moving as being there. Nature...the natural healer of so much that ails us. Being spring-fed, the almost constant water flow allows for wonderful low-level growth.  Vegetation growing in shallow…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Republican “Liar!” guy lies. What a non-surprise.

Finally...Obama got his mojo back last night. Like so many others, I was energized by his health care speech. I even sent $50 off to the Organizing for America folks whose email pitches I've been ignoring, because I've been irritated about how Obama was letting Republicans get away with so many lies.But in his speech before the joint session of Congress he called them out on the ridiculous Palin'esque "death panel" claim. It's a lie, plain and simple, he said -- absolutely correctly.It was amazing, but not particularly surprising, to hear a Republican congressman yell out "You lie!" when Obama…
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Posted inWriting/Weblogs

Why I transferred domain names from GoDaddy to Dotster

This morning I noticed a Twitter Tweet from Blue Oregon's uber-progressive, Kari Chisholm, which said in part:GoDaddy CEO is GOP activist. Try Dotster.com, local (Vancouver WA)For many years I've used GoDaddy for domain name registration and web site hosting. I've been satisfied with the service, but the GoDaddy style has bothered me. So Kari's suggestion pushed me to transfer four domain names to Dotster today. Before describing how that went, here's what rubs me the wrong way about GoDaddy.(1) Over commercialization. Take a look at the home pages of GoDaddy and Dotster. Over the top sales promotions versus clean and…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Doonesbury cartoon champions “Reasonists”

Perusing the Sunday comics this morning, my wife called out to me. "You're going to like Doonesbury today."Oh, yes, she was so right. I've copied in the strip below.As he so often does, Garry Trudeau encapsulated the United States' biggest political and cultural problem in just a few cartoon frames:GullibilityToo many people will believe anything, if they want to believe it. Reality? Truth? Evidence? Irrelevant. At the moment it's the Republicans and right-wingers who are playing the most games with American gullibility. In PolitiFact's "Pants on Fire" section, where the most egregious lies are documented, nineteen out of twenty of…
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Posted inHome life

I embrace my inner Anguished Artist

Anguished artist. Or tortured genius? I'll go with either one, though if I went full-bore with my inner Tortured Genius there's a risk I'd end up doing a Van Gogh and cutting off my ear.I did just get a haircut, though, so let's look on that gesture as a sort of performance art -- pointing to the pain my sensitive artistic soul has been suffering every morning this week when I get the newspaper, turn to a certain page, and feel like tearing my hair out.That page shows the results of the Salem Statesman Journal State Fair photo contest. I've…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Republican health care craziness has to stop

I don't think all Republicans are crazy. But most leaders in the Republican party are, when it comes to fixing this country's health care problems.The insanity has got to stop. For a while it was sort of amusing to see how bizarre the lies could get. Death panels! Socialized medicine! Veterans being encouraged to commit suicide! Now, though, summer is almost over. It's time to get serious. No more funny stories. Which, of course, aren't so funny if you can't afford health care, are getting screwed over by a health insurance company, or are a small business faced with another…
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Posted inWriting/Weblogs

What oral sex teaches about blogging

For some (obvious) reason this Twitter tweet by "rawprincess" caught my eye: 14 things oral sex taught me about blogging http://762ot.th8.usPretty true. Check them out.I liked an addition suggested by a commenter on this post. A lot of blogs and web sites, not to mention talk radio, sure take this advice.25. Keep the windows down and make them scream really loud so that the neighbors know what you’re up to.
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Posted inSalem

2009 Oregon State Fair photos: a bit of everything

Armed with a free entry pass, because I was going to participate in a Tai Chi demonstration, I headed off to the Oregon State Fair this morning on my Burgman scooter. What I found was pleasing variety and a fresh vibe that coexisted nicely with traditional fair offerings.Here's the photographic evidence. First off, I got a great parking spot right across the street from the entrance. Well, bicycles, motorcycles, and scooters should receive bonuses like this, being more sustainable alternatives to auto energy hogs. As soon as I enter the fair, I get an oh, yeah feeling. Whether six or…
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Posted inHome life

I become a fearsome (ground squirrel) killer

Hopefully the California ground squirrels who have been driving us nutty have an Internet connection and read my blog. Because if they do, they'll realize that this mild-mannered PETA-applauding animal-loving long-time vegetarian has been driven over the "aren't they cute?" edge into a kill the bastards! dark hole. Squirrels, notice: I am not smiling. This is a photo of a non-natural born killer who has been reluctant to send your furry little souls to squirrel heaven, but was driven to this extreme by all the destructive digging you've been doing around the foundation of our house and garage.Yesterday, thanks to…
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Posted inMiscellany

A good day’s digging in the Internet mother lode

Some days I turn up more interesting Internet riches than others. Today was one of those days.-- San Franciso Chronicle columnist Mark Morford runs hot and cold for me. But his writing style always is entertaining. I loved his tale of visiting a Vegas bar and coming to see lions and lionesses rather than a Dude and his mini-skirted admirers.And there he is, the big male lion, strong and haggard and terrible, watching over his pride of lionesses and sniffing the air for potential adversaries who might dare threaten his leadership position, take his women and gobble up his portion…
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Posted inDogs

Most boring You Tube video ever? Not to chipmunks.

Everyone wants to be known for something. I'm hoping that my new You Tube video, "Dog stalking chipmunk," will become anti-viral. (see video below, after these explanatory remarks) Meaning, anyone with an adorable cat can make a You Tube production that will garner millions of views. To be exact, 4,502,374 (until you click on "adorable cat" and add to the count). But it takes a special dog, and owner, to make a five minute video that, depending on your sensibilities, is either (1) the most boring ever, or (2) a Zen-like exploration of the dynamics of motionlessness. Immediately after uploading…
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Posted inScootering

Riding a scooter or motorcycle is good for your health

Now, so far the title of this blog post doesn't find much support on the Internet, judging from a comprehensive two-minute Google search that I just performed.But I wanted to be one of the first -- heck, maybe the absolute first! -- to point out the undeniable health benefits of riding a scooter or motorcycle. By "undeniable," naturally I mean my personal opinion -- par for the course in the blogging world.I will, however, back up that claim with some solid evidence from a trustworthy source, TIME magazine. Here's what I read in the August 17, 2009 issue, in an…
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Posted inFamily

I have a “what are the chances…” moment

Being philosophically minded, I wonder whether what are the chances... means what we think it does. A few days ago I met someone who made me exclaim, "No way! This is unbelievable."But believe it I did, because I was experiencing it. So what are the chances? Well, after something happens, it is obviously 100%. Before Tuesday, though, I wouldn't have bet that I'd ever have the conversation I did.A couple of guys from the water treatment company we use, Pacific Mist, came out to check the complicated system in our garage: Jeff, plus his 87 year old father, James. They…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Oregonian front page ad is disgusting!

There are plenty of outrages in the world for me to be incensed about. But today I choose to focus my disgust on Oregon's largest newspaper, the Portland Oregonian -- to which we subscribe, though we live in the wilds of rural south Salem. The past two days I've walked up our driveway to get the paper and have been met with an infuriating sight when I take a look at the front page.What doesn't boil over? I want to know! Now! I'm holding two newspapers in my hands, the Oregonian and the Salem Statesman Journal. I haven't had a…
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