Posted inPhilosophy

The social value of getting wasted

With New Year's Eve coming up soon, this seems to be a good time to share some passages about the positive side of intoxication from a book I just finished, "Trying Not to Try: The Art and Science of Spontaneity." The author, Edward Slingerland, discusses the ins and outs (along with the yin and yang) of wu-wei, the elusive quality of effortlessly flowing with life so much praised in Daoist and Confucian philosophy.  Slingerland, a Professor of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia, clued me in to some aspects of both Asian and Western culture that had largely…
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Posted inEntertainment

We watch “The Interview” on Christmas Day. And like it!

It seemed fitting for us heathen unbelievers to finish watching "The Interview" Christmas evening. Plates of Tofurkey perched before us on TV tables, memories of a completely non-religious day resting in our heads, pleased to perform our patriotic duty by silently screaming Hands off our right to enjoy tasteless sexist frat-boy humor, North Korea! via my brave commitment to free speech by allowing Google Play to charge $5.99 to our credit card so we could stream the movie and watch it at home. (OK, experts are beginning to suspect that North Korea wasn't responsible for the hacking of Sony, but that…
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Posted inReligion Salem Science

There’s a better message than the “Christmas story”

Before getting into the main part of this post, let's warm up with some compelling tweets today from astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. I love them! QUESTION: ThIs year, what do all the world's Muslims and Jews call December 25th? ANSWER: Thursday [Comment: Tyson failed to mention atheists, agnostics, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, Daoists, and so many others who don't believe in the Christ part of Christmas. But he only had 140 characters to work with.] On this day long ago, a child was born who, by age 30, would transform the world. Happy Birthday Isaac Newton b. Dec 25, 1642Merry Christmas…
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Posted inHome life

I explain why we don’t have a 2014 Christmas Letter

All good things must come to an end. Even the humorous, well-written, captivating, wise, and inspiring Collected Christmas Letters of Brian and Laurel Hines -- which are composed by me (unless you find some of them tasteless and boring, in which case assume those were written by my wife). This year, 2014, our holiday message is an explanation about why we've bailed on our usual Christmas Letter.  Download 2014 Christmas Letter PDF I realize, or at least desperately hope, that some people's meaningless lives are made minimally bearable by looking forward to receiving our annual Holiday Letter. To them I…
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Posted inFamily Salem

My grandmother taught me the power of “I like it”

It was a pleasure to write my latest Strange Up Salem column for Salem Weekly, The power of "I like it."I told the story of how, when I was thirteen, my grandmother was the only person in a group of adults who responded positively when I read them a poem I'd written about the darkness that lies between the stars. Yeah, the poem was admittedly weird. But so are 13 year old minds. (All minds, actually.) Thankfully, Gram, as I called her, resonated with my early teen weirdness. That meant a lot to me at the time. Still does. Here's a…
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Posted inMeasure 37 Neighborhood Salem

A “For Sale” sign for 217 south Salem acres that warms my heart

For five years, 2005-2010, my wife and I led our rural neighborhood's fight against a subdivision that threatened our wells and surface water -- springs that feed the lake our community, Spring Lake Estates, is named for. We eventually won. A legal ruling caused me to write, "Judge's final decision on Laack subdivision: the meaning for me." Today I drove by the property on south Liberty Road, which has remained undeveloped. Our neighbors and us have been wondering what would happen to the 217 acres. Finally looks like something is. The Gysin listing shows the asking price as $2,300,000. That's…
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Posted inSalem

Salem’s downtown parking dysfunction continues

"Why the heck are you doing this?" I asked myself this question as I drove to last night's downtown neighborhood association (CAN-DO) meeting, which featured a presentation by Jim Vu on developing long-term solutions for Salem's downtown parking problems. Since I didn't hear an answer from myself (perhaps because "I" am the same person as "me"), I guess the reason is why anybody does anything: enjoyment, happiness.  Downtown parking is a never-ending soap opera in this town. Following the twists and turns of this drama is entertaining in much the same way watching dysfunction unfold on stage or screen is.…
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Posted inSalem

Salem’s Archive Coffee & Bar — a winner!

After walking for the first time into the recently opened Archive Coffee & Bar today, it only took me about three seconds to decide: This place is a winner! The vibe was immediately obvious. Youthful, hip, cool, ironic, laid back in a sophisticated fashion. A premonition of this was evident over a year ago, as noted in my "Archive -- cool addition to Salem's downtown scene." I walked up to the coffee side of the serving area and ordered my usual expresso drink: nonfat vanilla latte. It was beautifully presented. Tasted good too. I felt an extra dose of caffeine-stimulated chi/qi after I…
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Posted inHome life Salem Sustainability

On the need for wild places, and the wisdom to preserve them

"Visitation of the wild." "Ancient rhythms of Oregon." Biology professor David Craig's words from yesterday's Salem City Club meeting resonated with me as I spend several hours today picking up tree debris -- lots of it -- from the recent wind storm. My wife and I are fortunate to live on ten natural acres in rural south Salem. Our large non-easy-care yard is surrounded by large fir and oak trees. If you live in the city, and think your yard is tough to maintain, imagine triple (at least) the toughness. But here's the beauty of nature: wildness can be perceived…
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Posted inSalem

Salem’s “Great Good Places” — according to a City Club panel

Today the Salem City Club had an interesting meeting topic, Finding Community in Salem: Great Good Places. Six panelists talked about their favorite gathering places, which were billed as those that: Give us a sense of belonging to a greater community, of being connected to a community  – hangouts, coffee houses, public spaces, cafes, bars, parks, community centers, libraries, promenades, neighborhood stores – places that bring people together and make their lives richer. The City Club bulletin points out a book by that name, "Great Good Place: Cafes, Coffee Shops, Bookstores, Bars, Hair Salons, and Other Hangouts at the Heart…
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Posted inSalem

Salem’s Third Bridge planning reaches new level of absurdity

After attending today's meeting of the Salem River Crossing Oversight Team, I'm pretty much convinced that its members have jumped the gun on Oregon's upcoming legalization of recreational marijuana. And maybe dived into psychedelics as well. Nothing wrong with that. I'm just saying that while it's great to be high and enjoy an altered state of consciousness, it isn't a good idea to be off in your dream world while you're playing around with decisions that could cost Salem-area residents a billion dollars or so while buying them nothing, zilch, nada. A week ago I blogged about Salem's Third Bridge…
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Posted inSalem

Layoffs at Statesman Journal tied to worrisome Gannett “newsroom of the future”

About a month ago I started to hear rumors about layoffs of long-time staff at the Statesman Journal newspaper here in Salem, Oregon. Now it's happening -- after 15 years at the paper, business and City Hall reporter Michael Rose has been fired. Yesterday he tweeted: A little update: My 15-yr career with the SJ ended Dec 5. I was downsized. New twitter handle: mrose_nw. Thanks for following. Last Saturday night I talked with Michael at a fundraising event. He said that everybody at the Statesman Journal had to submit letters of resignation, with some people not being rehired.  I…
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Posted inSalem

Carl Wolfson fundraiser made me proud to be a progressive

Laughter. Great mostly vegetarian food. Interesting people. A gay-themed wedding cake. Republican fund-raising events might have some of these, but almost surely not the latter. And not as much of the former, I bet. My wife, Laurel, and I thoroughly enjoyed a benefit last Saturday night for Carl Wolfson, he of "Carl in the Morning" on Portland's XRAY FM station.  The low-wattage signal isn't audible over the air here in Salem, but podcasts are available. And Salem's KMUZ community radio broadcasts excerpts from Carl's show every Monday from 9-11 am. My favorite part of the evening was listening to Carl's…
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Posted inSalem

Something Red 2014 is something good happening in downtown Salem

Today I got an email from someone who disagreed with the contention that nothing was happening in downtown Salem last Wednesday, December 3.  Something certainly was: Something Red 2014, an event sponsored by Artists in Action. The nothing was happening notion came from a letter to the editor in the Statesman Journal that I talked about in yesterday's "Who killed Salem's First Wednesday? Clueless city officials" post. The letter started off with: Every year we look forward to First Wednesday in December. All the brightly lit and crowded stores, carolers in Dickensian costumes, food offerings and treats; everything for the…
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Posted inSalem Salem, Open Your Eyes

Who killed Salem’s First Wednesday? Clueless city officials.

Thank you, Vicki Tarbox, for mourning the demise of the First Wednesday events in Salem, Oregon. Your letter to the editor in today's Statesman Journal asks some great questions. After sharing it, I'll reveal evidence implicating the culprit who killed First Wednesday: City Manager Linda Norris and her accomplices on the Salem City Council.  Here's Tarbox's letter: Every year we look forward to First Wednesday in December. All the brightly lit and crowded stores, carolers in Dickensian costumes, food offerings and treats; everything for the holidays! We went downtown on the evening of Wednesday, Dec. 3, and there was nothing.…
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Posted inSalem

Salem’s Third Bridge scam revealed at funding workshop

Scam: a fraudulent or deceptive act or operation. Yes, thats what we've got right here in Salem, Oregon. This town has a reputation for sleepiness, but Salemians need to freaking WAKE UP to the Third Bridge scam city officials are trying to get them to pay for. Last night I spent two hours at a Salem River Crossing Funding Workshop, which would have been more accurately called How to Fool Local Citizens Into Paying a Billion Dollars for an Unneeded Boondoggle.  If you think my language is over the top, believe me, it isn't. The Love Salem blog speaks even…
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Posted inSalem

Salem, say “no” to paying $500 million for an unneeded 3rd bridge

Sadly, planning for an unneeded, unwanted, and unpaid-for Willamette River third bridge continues on in Salem. This half billion dollar boondoggle is like a zombie that's half alive, half dead, and keeps on staggering along to no particular purpose other than enriching the consultants working on the unnecessary project. A No 3rd Bridge Facebook link tells the wasteful tale: at least $62,088 has been spent every month for almost nine years on bridge planning. The CH2M Hill consulting firm must love that fact; taxpayers should hate it. So far about $7 million has been wasted in total. On this coming…
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Posted inSalem

Tim Jaskoski’s flowerful photo art: behold and buy

A neighbor and friend here in rural south Salem, Tim Jaskoski, has set up a web site to display and sell his creative flower art. Well worth a look. Here's a home page sample: "The Rose."   I also especially liked "The Hollyhock." As you probably can surmise, Tim uses PhotoShop to layer photographs he's taken to create unique compositions. He describes his reality-altering process here. A set of note cards can be purchased for less than $10. Prints start at $25. Easy online Christmas present shopping!
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Posted inSalem Salem, Open Your Eyes

Truth Bomb #8: the Statesman Journal is trying to trick Salem

The Statesman Journal is, as the saying goes, "dead to me." After 37 years of being a loyal subscriber to Salem's community newspaper, it pains me to come to this conclusion. But for good reasons, I no longer trust the paper to report local news fully and accurately. I've got lots of company. Confidence in the Statesman Journal seems to be at an all-time low, based on what I hear from a wide variety of people. Many have given up completely on reading the paper. Others, like me, continue to subscribe even though we've disturbed by the SJ's loss of journalistic…
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Posted inMarijuana Salem

Salem likes legal recreational marijuana, voting “yes” on Measure 91

Thankfully, Salem's reputation as a conservative town has been undermined further with the recent release of November 2014 election results by precinct. We now know that Salem resoundingly said Yes! to legalizing recreational marijuana via Measure 91: 53% vs. 47%.  Remember that this was a midterm election with a lower turnout than general elections, especially among liberal leaning folks. Thus these results likely underestimate Salem's support for Measure 91. Here's a chart showing how Salem compared with Marion and Polk counties, plus Oregon. Given the very strong Yes vote for Measure 91 in the Portland area, 90% in one precinct…
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