Efficient Bureaucracy At Work!!!!

A Brazil-type mixup for an Oregon resident with the University Of Utah. Luckily, no brains were removed in this encounter.



UTAH

No More Dead Zone?

Good news for those folks on the Oregon Coast regarding the worst "dead zone" area (an area with unusually low levels of oxygen) seen in quite some time. Thanks to the researchers at Oregon State University.


NEW RESEARCH










DEAD ZONE STORY FROM 2004

When Animals Go Bad; Guess It's Human Season For Deer Here

An Aurora woman is attacked by a deer, being gored in her leg and side, before a man driving by stops to help the victim by trying to wrestle with the deer, eventually getting the deer to stop the attack and run.



YOU KILLED BAMBI....YOU KILLED BAMBI!!!!

830 In Scrabble Match

New highest mark for competitive spelling. Very impressive, though no one single word may come close to beating Bart Simpson's brilliant use of KWIJYBO.



830

Stop The Insanity, Man Sets Fire To Church And Parishoners

A Salem man entered the Peoples' Church on Lancaster Drive in NE Salem on Wednesday night and started several fires in the sanctuary while people were worshipping during an evening service. He was then subdued by several members of the congregation.

The personal connection to the story is that an ex-roommate of mine was a member of the church (I personally had been there several times, though not in the past decade, when I no longer resided in Salem), and that the suspect, one Kam Shing Chan, aka Daniel Chan, was employed at Canton Garden Restaurant



S-J ARTICLE



KATU STORY OF SUSPECT ARREST

Pin The State On The Map

This gets easier, but good luck if you start by having to place Kansas first. Points are deducted by how far away your guess is from the actual location.






It goes.............HERE

It Was 20 Years Ago Today, Mookie Wilson Made The Red Sox Pay

Hard to believe it's been 20 years since the fabulous rally by the New York Mets in Game Six of the 1986 World Series, coming from a 5-3 deficit with no outs to win 6-5 on three singles, a wild pitch, and the unfortunate ball that Mookie Wilson hit that rolled down the first base line between Bill Buckner's legs.




A good story, 20 years on, about the two men and the idiocy of some die-hard Red Sox fans who have singled Bucker out for villification for the Sox losing the Series, when obviously any rational person can see that there were a number of other factors at work in that series, which was voted Best World Series of all-time on ESPN's Who's No.1? series (probably not much of a compliment, I know, but still........)



We forgive Bill Buckner. For what? What crime did he commit?"


For the record, I went to visit my friends Tony and Dirk, who were music students at Mt. Hood Community College at the time. After watching the game, we parted ways to go to separate concerts: I caught Hunters & Collecters, with Screaming Blue Messiahs, at the Starry Night, while Tony and Dirk went to the Coliseum to see Van Halen.

Throw Another Keg On The Fire

WHAT????

The next 11 days are gonna drag

Until the great success that is the Borat movie comes to the screen here in the states.




Here is the first four minutes of the movie, showing Borat in his native land.


MOVIE-TIME!



In the interim, a report on some of the unsuspecting Americans who appeared in the film.



I LIKE!!!!

Every Sperm Is Sacred

From the first volume of the Oregon Voters' Pamphlet comes this hilarious and twisted argument. Measure 43 deals with having the parents of an unemancipated minor be given 48-hour notice before their daughter gets an abortion; current law allows all minors 15 years and older to get one without notification. (younger ages still require parental consent).


Here's a group that takes the Bible literally (at least the parts that fit their argument)



Also, every bold part of text is at it is in the text in the pamphlet, page 66.




LIFE IS SACRED!



At the moment of fertilization, cells begin to divide and multiply. Every cell contains our DNA-three billion pieces of genetic information. Every cell is sacred.

The 80 trillion cells in our body are dividing and multiplying all the time. And tragically, some cells die and are replaces. Why, God kills off several hundred billion of your blood cells every day! But “Thou shalt not kill”. Only God may kill your cells.

Every cell is sacred-sperm, egg, embryo, fetus, heart, hair, fingernail. Jesus said, “Even the hairs of your head are all numbered.” (Matthew 10:30). Every cell is God’s holy creation.

Although the Bible clearly indicates that the cells of the fetus have no soul separate from its mother (see previous argument), abortion nonetheless murders precious living cells.

According to Leviticus, a menstruating woman is unclean. She has wasted an unborn egg that could become a human life. The law should require parental notification of impending unborn uncleanliness.

Every act of masturbation kills up to 500 million unborn lives. Every sperm is sacred! Just like abortion, masturbation murders soulless cells. There should be parental notification prior to masturbation.

According to the Bible, beard shaving (Leviticus 19:27) is every bit as immoral as homosexuality! Just like abortion scrapes away life in the uterus, shaving violently scrapes away and murders million of living skin cells. Barbershops should be required to give parental notification before committing shaving sin.

Did you know that slaughtering a sacred appendix causes it to feel pain?

The Bible says that children who fail to honor their parents should be stoned to death (Exodus 21:17). Implementing biblical law as Oregon public policy could effectively eliminate teenage abortion, appendectomy, shaving, and sperm-murder.

Every cell is sacred. Every cell---from soulless fetus to fingernail---is a precious life that must not be killed.


VOTE YES TO STOP THE SLAUGHTER
OF THE
HOLY HANGNAILS!

I Like Chinese Food ....(The Waiters Never Are Rude)

.....in restaurants here in the U.S. only apparently, don't know how they operate on the mainland. They must behave quite badly, along with a great percentage of the populace, in lacking of the societal niceties that make everyone's life just a tad more pleasant (impending nuclear weapons discharge from crazed lunatics notwithstanding). Houston Rockets center Yao Ming has told his fellow countrymen to mind their P's and Q's in the upcoming Olympics set for Beijing in 2008.



LOOK SHARP!!!



Seriously, I know I like chinese food, American style,...........cause the fortune cookie said so afterward. :nod:

$40 Is The New $30 (For Entrees): It's Just The Way It Is

From the NY Times, a story about rising prices in restaurants here in the U.S, though I doubt that well-heeled diners in places such as Tokyo or London would argue too much about this development. No doubt it'll take some getting used to, much as we Americans and our relationship with the price of gasoline, and now long toward the time when it cost us somewhere under $2.00 a gallon.





Ehh.....how much?

Time-lapse of Aurora Borealis

These can be seen this far south from five to ten times a year, I would dearly love to view this spectacle at some point.





AURORA

Knocking is so last-century

The Hotel 1000 in Seattle, a high-tech place where the water that fills the bath in your room from the ceiling, plus infrared sensors that detect occupancy of a room. Sweet.




NY TIMES STORY





HOTEL 1000

Salem Bomber Update

First reported back in August in my blog HERE, when I happened to be in the capitol city working by chance. What an idiot.


UPDATE

I Would Die 4U

..and be buried in the colors of your fave MLB team. No surprise that the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs are among the first teams in this venture, since being "obsessive" is damn near a prerequiste for being a fan of either team.




I'm so happy I could die

Planespotting

Tracking the movment of planes by hobbyists leads to something else.






PLANES

What...............cartoons aren't like real life???

Unfortunately, a sad story out of Hillsboro about a lady and her rabbits, not quite the scenario as provided by heroes Wallace and Gromit.





STORY

Scarlett Sings Tom Waits???

Sure, according to THIS. Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis as done by Ms. Johansson would sound just lovely, I should imagine.





FEB.13TH EDIT: A little bit more info now on the album, out in the latter part of May. Have to admit I'm looking forward to Scarlett having a go at Who Are You?. UPDATE

Storm chasing in the midwest

Some spectacular weather pics on this site, from people in the midwest who chase developing storms when most other people are hurrying to their shelters.








EXTREME INSTABILITY

World's worst child Halloween costume.

I honestly can't see who THIS
costume might possibly appeal to, except for maybe someone in Germany. Demerit for the TP being hung the wrong way.

This.... will probably get messy

Country singer, and Dancing With The Stars contestant, Sara Evans has filed for divorce from her husband of 13 years Craig Schelske, citing adultery, verbal abuse, and watching pornography. In the affadavit, Craig even had the temerity to drink and smoke in front of their children (wow, my dad did that, and he's still married to my mom after all of these years). Full story from the Tennessean is below.


D.I.V.O.R.C.E



A great thread from a music business message board is listed below; it includes a classic post that says "Another rock hard republican showing his true colors over the internets. Republican, horny and stupid is no way to go through life, son. Personally, I've been all three, but not at the same time, though some may reserve judgement on that self-pronouncement.


VELVET ROPE THREAD


The NW connection is that Sara's soon-to-be ex is from here, I've seen her pic on the wall of a local eatery.


The sad news is that the kids will suffer a lot from such a messy divorce.

Halloween's coming.........something different for pumpking carving.

A step by step tutorial for a carved pumpkin that stands out.









YOU DIDN'T TELL ME YOU WERE GONNA KILL IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mets 2 Cardinals 0 Game One

Carlos Beltran hit a two-out, two run home run in the sixth inning, plus Tom Glavine, Guillermo Moto and Billy Wagner combined for a four-hit shutout of the St. Louis Cardinals to take a 1-0 NLCS lead in the best of seven series.

The Mets flashed some leather and made some fine defensive plays in the field, particularly Endy Chavez subbing in for the ailing Cliff Floyd, who appeared to reaggravate his sore achilles tendon in the second inning. In the fifth inning, after a Jim Edmonds single, Chavez made a spectacular diving catch of a Rafael Belliard blast; surely the sore-footed Floyd would not have been able to cover the ground needed to make the catch.

The Mets also turned a couple of double plays, the first of which came in the third with Yadier Molina being picked off of second after David Eckstein's rocket went straight to Mets thirdbaseman David Wright, who was easily able to make the double at second. An inning later, Albert Pujols drew a walk, but Carlos Beltran made a terrific read on a fly ball from Juan Encarnacion, and was aided by a blunder from Pujols, who had wandered too close to second base in time to avoid being thrown out.

Jeff Weaver pitched a very fine game, really only making one mistake, that being Beltran's homer in the sixth. Brad Thompson and Braden Looper also did a good job in finishing up the game, but they could not provide any offense whatsover to aid the pitchers in their effort.

Order In The Court.. Stop Monkeying Around!

The Indian Supreme Court, acting to quell the public nuisance of urban monkeys amidst the humans.





BBC STORY








LOAFING AROUND

"How many monks did the Chinese get?"

(lyric from Joe Strummer and the song Washington Bullets........they may be getting more). So much for reassurance of character with our "ally" against North Korea. Grim news from Nepal.





NEPAL

Paint just like Jackson Pollock

Well, he did it first, so the recognition won't be the same. Still, just another way to pass the time on the internet.






Paint away

The Dead Zone: Not Just Off The Oregon Coast, But Puget Sound As Well

A dire picture of the current state of marine life in the Puget Sound, from today's P-I.


PUGET SOUND


OREGON COAST

No El Duque or Pedro? No Problem!!!!

An excellent assessment of the post season situation that the New York Mets find themselves in, after the loss of two of their top two starting pitchers, and their 3 game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers. By Ben Shipgel, from today's New York Times.

Mettle, More Than Muscle, Fueled Mets’ Series Sweep

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 8 — Someday, fathers and sons may gather ’round The Baseball Encyclopedia or, more likely, a Web site, to reminisce about a team that defied all conventions in winning a world championship. In completing the first step of their journey, a 9-5 victory Saturday night that completed a three-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers in their National League division series, the Mets again asked their bullpen to pitch more than half the game and their offense to never stop hitting. This unorthodox formula has yielded extraordinary results.

It is not a traditional way of doing business, but this is no time to stop what works. Manager Willie Randolph is not afraid to yank his starters at the earliest sign of trouble, adjusting his lineup based on how he feels that morning and using as many relievers as necessary to patch together a victory. The only thing he can count on these days is a good game from Tom Glavine, who will probably start Game 1 of the N.L. Championship Series at Shea Stadium on Wednesday against the St. Louis Cardinals.

If, for some reason, Glavine does not deliver, then fine, Randolph will proceed with Plan B and not look back.

“You never see me cry about what we don’t have,” Randolph said.

In rolling to the three-game sweep and their seventh consecutive victory over all, the Mets look like a team that is still coming to grips with exactly who they are.

They are not the team they were last week. Just as they were dealing with the loss of Pedro Martínez, Orlando Hernández, their presumed starter for Game 1 of the division series, sustained a torn calf muscle that kept him out of the playoffs. They are also not the team they were for Game 1, when Randolph, swiftly and decisively, turned to his bullpen to relieve the rookie John Maine. They are not even the team they were for Game 3. Their left fielder, Cliff Floyd, strained his left Achilles’ tendon while scoring in the third inning Saturday night and was unlikely to be available for the N.L.C.S.

That means more playing time for outfielders Endy Chávez, one of Randolph’s favorites, and Shawn Green, whose six weeks as a Met had been defined by mediocrity until his dynamic performance Saturday against his former team. Randolph had a hunch that Green, a native of Southern California, would feel inspired returning home, and he had hits in his first three at-bats, drove in two runs and squeezed the final out of the game.

“I’d be lying if I said this didn’t mean more,” Green said.

The Mets proved to be deft counterpunchers, absorbing every Dodgers rally, then coming back almost immediately. In Game 1, after the Dodgers took a 1-0 lead in the second inning, the Mets scored two in the fourth. After the Dodgers tied the score at 4-4 in the seventh, the Mets scored twice in the bottom half. In Game 3, after the Dodgers scored five unanswered runs in the fourth and fifth to go ahead, 5-4, the Mets scored three in the sixth and held the lead like a vise.

“We’ve been talking about our resilience all year,” Billy Wagner said. “We don’t know any other way.”

The starting staff of Glavine, Maine, Steve Trachsel and Oliver Pérez or Dave Williams will not strike fear into any opponent, but it is good enough as long as the relievers continue doing their job and the offense does not let up.

Of the 27 innings thrown by Mets pitchers during the series against the Dodgers, a little more than half — 13 2/3 innings — were by the starters. In Games 1 and 3, Randolph used three pitchers in one inning and asked Guillermo Mota to pitch the sixth and the seventh. Randolph leaned heavily on Pedro Feliciano, Aaron Heilman and Wagner, all of whom pitched in every game.

No matter whom they play in the next round, the Mets will be considered favorites, with a World Series berth not far behind. But they had little time for making predictions or offering scouting reports on St. Louis in Saturday’s aftermath. The long and narrow visiting clubhouse at Dodger Stadium could hardly contain their joy, as Mota and Duaner Sánchez danced around, Champagne bottles in each hand, eager to douse whomever they could. José Reyes conducted television interviews wearing goggles. Wagner, while changing out of his soaked clothing, surveyed the corks and bottles strewn across the floor and remarked how blessed he was that he did not have to clean up the mess.

The party shifted to the center of the overcrowded quarters, where a group of eight Mets players and coaches gathered for an impromptu photograph. They hugged. They swigged. And then they sang.

“Meet the Mets, meet the Mets,” they crooned.

The rest of the lyrics were muddled, not to mention off-key, but they made their point with an exclamation mark. Less than a week after their role as overwhelming favorites was compromised, the Mets could not be blamed for feeling compelled to reintroduce themselves.

But their owner, Fred Wilpon, refused to gloat over his Mets being the last New York team standing. “No, I’m just happy we made it,” he said.

They still have the same quick-strike offense, but this is a new Mets team, still making sense of what it is, but one the players believe is coming together at just the right moment.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/09/sports/baseball/09mets.html?th&emc=th

We May Have The Bomb...........But The Homeless Have A Stolen AR-15 Police Rifle

Just what this city needs............a homeless person on the streets of Albany with an AR-15 rifle stolen out of the trunk of one of the cities police vehicles. The weapon was stolen when an officer was visiting the Helping Hands shelter, a place where many people of, uh, various reputations have gathered to , hopefully, start a new life. As people who work and live in the area will tell you, the shelter, which opened last year, has attracted a lot of people, and many of them had been camping out in vehicles parked on the street for the past several months, until a police crackdown was recently instituted.

Two cop stories in two days......................we're just reporting the news here folks, doubtless most people have already opined about the police force in their area.

http://www.katu.com/news/4330897.html

Oh no...............COPS!!!!!

In a scene reminiscent from the movie Brazil, comes this little story involving the police, porn, and a transposed number in Spokane. They wouldn't even clean up their mess. afterward, tsk tsk tsk.


http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/287548_wronghouse05.html?source=mypi

Mets Double Their Pleasure

The New York Mets have just taken a 2-0 series lead in the divisional playoffs against the Los Angeles Dodgers, winning 4-1 tonight behind a strong pitching effort from Tom Glavine. Of course, we can't forget the game last night, which turned on a pivotal play in the top of the second inning, when two Dodger runners were tagged out at home plate on the same play. The New York Times account, written by Ben Shpigel...

J. D. Drew was on first and Jeff Kent was on second with no outs, and Russell Martin hit a deep fly ball off the right-field wall for a single. Rich Donnelly, the Dodgers’ third-base coach, saw Shawn Green play the carom perfectly and was about to put his hands up when he saw Kent and Drew barreling toward him.

The cutoff man, José Valentín, threw a one-hop strike to catcher Paul Lo Duca to nab the tumbling Kent by a few feet. Following closely behind Kent, Drew had enough time to change direction and head back to third, but he headed home, too. Lo Duca, facing the Mets’ dugout, turned around in time to see Drew and tagged him out, too.

A couple of photos of the event, the first from the Los Angeles Times, the second from the New York Times.

The animals are the first to know (the future is hopeless)

First a humpback whale washes ashore in Washington state this week, possibly to avoid the large "dead zone" just off the west coast of the Pacific ocean; next a drunken black bear, maybe to dull the pain of this world, staggers into a Colorado town.




This beast weighs about 50 tons, and is about 54 feet long. No immediate plans for removal have been announced yet.



In the efforts to remove said whale from the Washington beach, there is little doubt that our neighbors will not follow the efforts of the Oregon Department Of Transportation in 1970 by placing dynamite under the beast and blowing the carcass to smithereens. Some links to the original KATU video with reporter Paul Linman, who is no doubt cringing at this memory being dragged up yet again, and stories about the event, which passed into urban legend it seems, are listed just below. Included is a short piece by humourist Dave Barry.







http://www.google.com/search?q=exploding+whale+Oregon&start=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official">THAR SHE BLOWS!!!



As for the bear, he came across some fermented apples and stumbled into Lyons, Colorado, stinking drunk. Officers gave the bear some unneeded tranquilizer and returned it to the woods to sleep off its hangover.

http://www.katu.com/home/video/4305837.html

Curse of the blog (part deux)

A second effort to the blogging world, it's been over a month due to computer problems and other issues. The first effort was entitled In My Area (Slates 'n' Slags), from some Fall songs; this new one is from the Mekons, and the proper title, in full, is Things Are Better (Now We Have The Bomb), a lovely sardonic song performed by the wonderful Sally Timms. This is the song during Mekons live sets where the band, and often the entire audience, throws their arms about in, hopeful, synchronicity, but as with most things Mekon-related, this doesn't happen that often.

Also, after my computer went down, I was unable to get access to the first blog, which is why this one has been started, with a link to the former site on this page.