Posted inEntertainment

“Slumdog Millionaire” puts financial meltdown in perspective

We here in the United States, who think we're going through tough economic times, need to put Slumdog Millionaire at the top of our movie-watching list.Laurel and I saw it last night at Salem Cinema. Aside from the film's entertainment value (off the charts!) I came away with a fresh appreciation of how good the lifestyle of most Americans is compared with how Indians live in the Mumbai slums.Many scenes are incredibly powerful, showing how children and adults alike live perpetually on the edge of existence, eating meal to meal, not being sure whether the bed they sleep in one…
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Posted inSalem

Salem is a tourist draw? Only for bland lovers.

Don't believe everything you read in the newspaper. Especially if it's a front page story in the Salem Statesman Journal with the headline, "Is Salem a tourist draw? Absolutely, bureau says."Download Salem, a tourist draw? I'm a long time Salem resident (I moved there 31 years ago, but now live about five miles south of the city limits). I know Salem well, obviously.When family or friends come to visit for the first time, Laurel and I start to panic. "What are we going to do? Where are we going to take them? There's nowhere interesting to go."So I guess we're…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Digital TV changeover will hurt many rural viewers

Since we watch television via satellite (DISH network now, DirecTV soon), the February 17 changeover from analog to digital won't affect us -- since satellite already uses a 100% digital signal.However, quite a few rural viewers are going to find favorite stations disappearing in a few weeks, even if they've gotten a converter box that allows an old television to tune in digital TV (new televisions have a built-in digital tuner).Harry, a HinesSight regular who, like me, lives in rural Oregon, made me aware of this problem recently via email. He wanted me to complain about the changeover. Digital reception…
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Posted inHome life

Reasons to love a 3G, GPS’ized iPhone

After extolling in a quasi-philosophical manner why spending money on an iPhone brings legitimate happiness, a commenter on my other blog asked me to explain why I'm so enamored of this piece of technology.Glad to oblige. Tonight I got around to recording my voice mail greeting in which I used the phrase "dearly beloved iPhone." So just as I was eager to tell people about how wonderful my wife-to-be Laurel was after I met her, it's a pleasure to share what -- after five days of togetherness -- I find so enticing about the 3G iPhone.(Note: obviously I'm an iPhone…
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Posted inHome life

iPhone shows money can buy happiness

Jeez, here I am, sixty years old, and only now realizing that I've had it wrong for most of my philosophically-inclined life: notwithstanding the oft-heard adage, money really can buy happiness.I know this, because I've become increasingly blissful the more dollars I send in Apple's direction.Like a drug dealer that gets you hooked on cheap highs before bringing out the expensive good stuff, my first taste of the modern Apple offerings was the iPod Touch.It was cool. So easy to use. Such an elegant interface. I eagerly transferred my favorite CDs into iTunes, and thence to my new best friend,…
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Posted inEntertainment

I’m done with DISH network after Fisher feud

Sorry, DISH Network, I've changed my mind. Your satellite dish on our roof soon will be replaced by a DirecTV model. On January 1 I was planning to stick with DISH, even though turning off our local ABC affiliate, KATU (Channel 2) was deeply irritating. Watching the 2009 Rose Bowl on a 4.5 inch laptop window wasn't nearly as much fun as seeing it on our new 42 inch LCD television would have been. And we're getting anxious about the new season of "Lost" starting in a few weeks on ABC.Still, I was going to give DISH more time to…
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Posted inBooks

“Return to the One” published under new imprint

In case you're wondering what happened to my best-selling book (in the admittedly narrow Greek philosophy: Plotinus category), "Return to the One" is still available on Amazon.I've published it under my Adrasteia Publishing imprint, having gotten the rights back from Unlimited Publishing as of January 1, 2009.So now the book is in a transition zone. The old Amazon listing doesn't show any decently priced new copies available, because that edition is out of print. But the positive reader reviews are still there.The new "Return to the One" listing lacks the reviews, which hopefully will be copied over by Amazon soon.…
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Posted inTango/Dance

Tai Chi African dancing…only in Salem

Well, that was different. And fun. Doing Tai Chi to an African'ish drum beat. Learning a few Zambian dance steps from Mary, a visitor to our class who is finishing up a Ph.D. in fisheries science from Penn State.Mary's education has been supported by the Elizabeth Bowers Zambia Education Fund. Gerry, a fellow Tai Chi student, and his wife started the Fund in memory of their daughter. It's a great cause that Laurel and I contribute to each year. A little $$$ goes a long way, when its helping Zambian girls get an education.Mary gamely followed along with unfamiliar Tai…
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Posted inHome life

Warning: Buying a new TV can be dangerous to marital health

Whew! Laurel and I got out of Salem's Video Only store with our relationship intact. But it was touch and go for a while, as choosing a new television has become an exercise that highlights male-female differences.It used to be that you looked at a bunch of TVs lined up at a store and picked one that had a pleasing picture and was within your price range.On the afternoon of New Year's Eve, though, Laurel and I found ourselves taking a crash course in HDTV technology as we tried to decide on a 42 inch LCD set to buy.The impetus…
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Posted inEntertainment

How I see the DISH vs. Fisher dispute

Wow, it sure was fun to watch the Rose Bowl on a 4.5 inch screen this afternoon. That's the only way I could see the game -- via the Internet -- thanks to the hugely frustrating standoff between the DISH satellite TV network and Fisher Communications, which owns several ABC stations in the northwest, including Portland's KATU.Like I said before, curses on both DISH and Fisher. And I know a lot of other DISH subscribers feel the same way.I've asked representatives of both companies to give me the details of this contract dispute. How much was DISH paying previously to…
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Posted inEntertainment

How to watch 2009 Rose Bowl live on internet

I'm one of the disgruntled DISH network subscribers who just realized that the Rose Bowl is on ABC today, and our local affiliate (KATU) no longer is on DISH due to a ridiculous contract dispute.After having done some quick Google research on how to see the Rose Bowl for free over the Internet, here's the best option I've come up with. This site has a list of feeds around the world. I tried a few. Not wanting to download additional software I found that this feed opened even on my MacBook. At the moment I'm seeing a live feed of…
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Posted inSustainability

Global warming is global, not local

Memo from Reality to Global Climate Change Deniers: Even though somewhere it's really cold and there's a lot of snow on the ground, this doesn't mean global warming isn't happening.You'd think this would be obvious to anyone with half a brain. But anti-scientific right-wingers don't seem to be operating with a full cranium when it comes to global warming.I liked Cheryl Smith's letter to the editor in today's Portland Oregonian.I know it must be highly amusing for you, but will the day ever come that you don't print letters from global warming deniers that equate our local weather condition with…
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Posted inHome life

Well pump going rapidly on and off? Check pressure tank.

If humility is good for the soul, and admitting mistakes makes one humble, this blog post should get me one step further to saintliness.I'm also writing it because I enjoy firing up Google when I have a self-inflicted household problem and finding that some other guy has done something just as stupid as I did -- and thankfully shared the solution to getting out of the ditch he dug himself into.So here's my tale of well pump "short cycling" (turning on and off rapidly, which can burn out a pump). First, let's define a term: when I said stupid in…
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Posted inWriting/Weblogs

Look at me, I’m a publisher!

Well, more of a publisher. Before, my best-selling book (in the admittedly rather narrow "Greek philosophers: Plotinus" genre) had the Unlimited Publishing name and logo on the cover and title page.Now it's just me, me, me -- in the guise of Adrasteia Publishing, which is tasty little me with an assumed business name sprinkled on top.In the photo I'm holding a proof copy of the Adrasteia'ized "Return to the One" that arrived today from Create Space. As I wrote about a few weeks ago, I decided to cut my ties with Unlimited Publishing, a print on demand publisher that looked…
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Posted inSalem

Grouchy complaining about Oregon’s big snowstorm

It's Christmas Eve, so I need to get some Grinchiness out of my system before the clock strikes twelve and negativity becomes politically (and religiously) incorrect.First, a few personal positives about Oregon's biggest-ever December snowstorm.Our electricity never went off here in rural south Salem. None of our pipes froze and our heat pump kept working. We drove around fine with the aid of tire chains and all wheel drive. Today's rain has gotten our driveway clear.So we got through the storm better than lots of people, for which we're grateful. Friends in Turner (on the other side of I-5) haven't…
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Posted inSalem

Let’s block off the Columbia Gorge

After having watched countless TV weatherperson explanations about why Portland and the Willamette Valley are locked in a record-breaking snow and ice spell ("worst storm since 1968...40 years!") the solution is obvious:Block off the goddamn Columbia Gorge.That's where the cold air keeps coming from. I wouldn't have needed to put on and take off tire chains several times this week if it weren't for the gap between western and eastern Oregon that keeps on funneling frigid winds into the Portland area, and thence down into the usually temperate central valley.Normally, as a card carrying 1000 Friends of Oregon member, I…
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Posted inSalem

No snow in south Salem: joy!

Usually we habitually bored Salemites feel inferior to the way cooler Portlanders to our north. But today I've been happy to gaze at our outdoor thermometer and watch it hover around 37 degrees -- where it is even now, at 6:30 pm.From watching Portland TV (but not KATU, curses be upon you) I know that most people in the metro area wish they could be less cool in a climatic sense at the moment. Those damn gorge winds are bringing you much more snowy and icy precipitation results compared to Salem and points south. Seemingly the tug of war between…
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Posted inHome life

Fear and trembling in our 2008 Christmas letter

It's that time of year ... when I shamelessly plug our Christmas letter: "2008 Holiday Greetings from Laurel and Brian."Download 2008 Christmas Letter I talk about the fear and trembling with which we approach the annual letter. By the time I get around to composing it, we've received Christmas cards from people who clearly are into way more interesting things than we are.They travel to Machu Picchu. We manage to drive to central Oregon. They volunteer to build medical stations in central Africa. We use VISA to make charitable donations online. So I try to make our mundanity into something…
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Posted inEntertainment

Curses on both KATU and DISH network

Super irritating... to start our nightly recording of local news on Portland's KATU (Channel 2) and find an endless loop of a DISH network notification that we can kiss our ABC subscription goodbye because DISH no longer has an agreement to carry KATU.DISH says it's the greed of Fisher Communications that's at fault.KATU says that DISH network should be willing to pay more for it's programming.Here's what I say: to hell with both of you. DISH network, you canceled without notice a channel that's been included in our package since we signed up with your satellite service. If we knew…
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Posted inSalem

Saving Salem through magical thinking

Depending on how the weather turns out tomorrow, my wife and I may be getting a We Saved Salem medal from the city fathers. Well, city mother -- since Janet Taylor is the mayor.Why? Because this afternoon we (actually, "me," since in our household sex role equality hasn't trickled down to putting chains on) got the Highlander Hybrid ready to tackle the six miles of icy south Salem roads separating us from essential winter storm supplies that we hadn't gotten on our first expedition.Like, organic coffee beans. I panicked when I made some pre-blogging coffee yesterday and realized that I…
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