California Gray Whale On The Beach

It's not that I'm a shill for the National Geographic television channel, but the KATU NEWS report that a dead California gray whale had washed upon the beach just south of Newport this weekend coincided with the airing of a 2007 documentary concerning gray whales and its predator, orcas, or killer whales.


The episode, about the 2004 Mother's Day attack in Monterey Bay by orcas on a gray whale cow and its one offspring, is the typical well-done affair we've come to expect from the NG, mixing eyewitness interviews with taped footage of both actual and recreated scenes, the presence of a number of boats witnessing the event naturally increased the coverage of something no one had ever seen before.


The KATU report tells of finding the tongue of the beached whale intact, which means orcas had no role apparently in the death of this whale, an issue that is addressed in the documentary as to why orcas go for the tongue.


I found myself, watching the show, much like the whale watchers on board that day did, at first intrigued and then riveted to the spot as the orcas battered both of the whales for hours.


As for removal of the creature on the coast, we surely have come a long way from the days of using dynamite.......right?


SITE WITH EXCELLENT PICTURES FROM 2004



NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC VIDEO

3 Little Pigs In A House

Not much to do with the traditional fairy tale, except perhaps for the fact that a Clackamas County man might consider the company who forced him into foreclosure on his house his version of the "big bad wolf". The man's response? Letting three pigs live in and roam around the house, without food or water, for a few days. Story and some pics from inside the house are at the NWCN site HERE.



Hope it doesn't give my dad any more ideas, the most he's come up with to express his displeasure for the expanding city limits is to start raising pigs before any annexation, so he'll get to keep the pigs while developments go up in the area.

Dishwashing Your Way Acros The U.S.A.

Memories of one of my first jobs have come back to me a bit while reading the story of Pete Jordan, who had a goal of sorts to wash dishes in all 50 states of the United States, and then write a book about his story. Even though in the New York Times book review he says "I obviously would prefer not to work", he managed to accomplish the task of getting to 33 states throughout the 90's before stopping, a symbolic act for a profession where it is all too easy, as Jordan admits to doing in the interview, to roll over, go back to sleep, and go look for another job later.



Thankfully I never had to wash dishes for long when I was starting out in restaurants, and the dishwashers I knew of were either young kids just starting out, or older guys who couldn't, or wouldn't, get any other type of work, the latter type presumably mixed in between bouts of being otherwise unemployed or being in jail.



The rest of Jordan's story can be found in the Times book section HERE.




JUNE 12TH EDIT: NPR story of Pete, with audio of the author reading, is HERE.

Never Did Like Ranch (Or Chunky Blue Cheese) Dressing

Now I know why......a shocking STORY from Wheaton, Illinois. I'll stick with the french dressing, please and thank you.

AC Milan 2 Liverpool 1

So this match couldn't possibly live up to the breath-taking standard of the 2005 Champions League final meeting, could it? I didn't think so either, at least in terms of a big deficit and a big comeback by either side. What we got was a match in which Liverpool had the better first half, but failed to really mount any serious offensive challenges. At the death of the first half, AC Milan got on the scoreboard with a free kick from Filippo Inzaghi to give them the lead.


Though I was rooting for the Reds, I honestly didn't think they could get the lead after their performance in the first half, I was hoping that maybe they could take it to penalties again. Alas, Inzaghi scored a simple, but beautiful goal in the 82nd minute to seem to seal Liverpool's fate. Surely, with so little time left, there wasn't much chance again for a repeat of two years ago? Things got a little more tense in the 89th, when Dirk Kuyt headed one home in the 89th, and suddenly that repeat seemed possible again. However, some time wasting by Milan, and an announced 3 minutes of stoppage time that seemed to end at 2:45 put the finish on the match, not that the "extra" seconds would've mattered too much. All I know is that the Liverpool fans I sat with wanted Peter Crouch on earlier, and were quite happy when midfielder Boudewijn Zenden was subbed for in the second half.



At any rate, a lively crowd (and packed) crowd gathered at Rennie's to watch the proceedings, I grabbed a seat by the Liverpool contingent, where a flag and two scarves were on display (one of them was for the 2005 CL title); just before the match, a tape of You'll Never Walk Alone was played to get everybody going, most everybody in this end knew all of the words. A very nice touch. Even met again the Spurs fan watching the season ending game versus Charlton, he remembered me and pointed out a couple of other Spurs fans in the house. I was also happy not to have received a parking ticket, I parked on Alder by Cy's in a one hour space at 11:20, expecting to either plug the meter later. By the time 12:20 rolled around, there was no way I was gonna leave my seat in the crowded place for anything, I just said "to heck with it, a ticket can't be that much". Getting back to my car at nearly 2:00, I was more than a bit shocked to find that there was no paper of any kind placed between the windshield wipers. Yeah to that.....




UEFA RECAP

Blazers Get #1 Pick In NBA Draft

No links to any stories here, they'll be easy to find tonight.....but I'm still a bit stunned by the news. Thank you to the friends from Corvallis who texted me immediately , I actually forgot about the lottery pick show. Scratch that, I was trying to forget about a lot of things as I was watching the Mets being crushed by the Braves 8-1. Thanks also to my brother in Santa Barbara, a long time Blazer fan who was truly excited by the news, calling in moments later. Some of the best Blazer news I've heard in a long while. Hmmm, Greg Oden....... or........Kevin Durant?


Scratch the "no links to stories here", I just recalled hearing Steve and Nate on KPNW's SportsTalk talking about a page on the ESPN website on the odds of the various teams in the lottery getting that first pick with some analogous situations, the Blazers chances were the same as "drawing two pairs in a five card draw", the rest of the teams odds are HERE.

Recycle Used Computers And Peripherals At Staples

Good news for people like me who've, in the past, been "bequeathed" old computer equipment such as scanners and printers that are on the aged side in terms of the lifespan of the equipment. I know that there are periodical efforts by recycling companies to gather such products so that they don't end up in a landfill, but those dates always seem to slip in and out of my mind, mostly because I tend to hear the radio ads rather than the print ones.


The news is that Staples will apparently now have a permanent policy of accepting those products to be recycled, for a fee of $10. Now I don't have to scramble to remember dates I've heard, the fee will well be worth it to free my household of another large paperweight. More information, and some back story to the Staples idea, can be found on the CNet Story.

You're adopting who?

A lovely point of view from parents who adopted an autistic child, one that they had formed a relationship with before the adoption. From today's Los Angeles Times opinion section, the story is HERE.

The Joy (And Cost) Of Text

6,807 text messages in one month, an average of well over 200 per day. As the song by William Shatner and Henry Rollins goes, "I can't get behind that", especially when the total bill comes to over $1,100.



Texting is useful in situations where a phone call may not be appropriate, but even I have to say that much of what I, or others I know, have texted in the past could've easily waited a few minutes, or a couple of hours, or until the next day, for "normal" face to face communication.


It has affected some of my coworkers at times, the younger ones especially, when I feel they are more interested in the messages rather than the job at hand, which can be annoying. Not quite sure how the schools deal with the situation of text messages these days, and the whole texting-while-driving scenario is a truly dangerous distraction that's a post unto itself.



The story behind the big text numbers cited at the beginng, from a Washington, D.C. teenager, from today's WASHINGTON POST.

Mets 10 Yankees 7

I can't really ever feel sorry for professional athletes, especially when one is compensated monetarily as most of the players on the New York Yankees are. Saturday's Yankee debacle at Shea Stadium, then, even had me shaking my head a bit at the action on the field, between the bad luck and the bad baseball.


Some of the former was exhibited when Yankee starting pitcher Darrell Rasner was struck on his pitching hand just nine pitches into the game, subsequently leaving the game after some practice throws. The second bit was David Wright's second two-run home run, the ball of which hit the bottom of center fielder Johnny Damon's glove as he was reaching over the fence for it, bouncing out and over the fence to his dismay.



The bad baseball came in the way of three errors by Yankee second baseman Robinson Cano, who's lucky he wasn't charged with four when he couldn't turn what appeared to be a sure double play. His third error, when he tried to throw the ball to first base after slipping in the rain-soaked grass, but hit his foot instead, is one that's gotta be filed in the "What are you doing??? category.



The best news was that the Mets won though, with starter Tom Glavine getting career win number 295 despite not being his sharpest, though good enough to get out of a bases-loaded, one-out first inning jam allowing just one run. It was then that the Mets took over, with Endy Chavez getting four hits, along with Wright's two home runs the biggest offensive factors in the game.


The Mets got three hits, I think, that weren't hit especially hard, but landed where the defense wasn't, and also were aggressive on the basepaths, steatling five in six attempts to keep the Yankees thinking about more than just the batter, in fact I think Yankee pitcher Mike Myers, who replaced Rasner in the first, was more preoccupied with keeping Chavez at first than pitching to Wright, who blasted a 3-1 pitch into left field to give the Mets the lead that they would not relinquish.





STORY









YANKEE LUCK

Control: Critical Plaudits At Cannes

A good sign for the upcoming film by Anton Corbijn titled Control with THIS story about the films reception at Cannes. Also in the article is a short interview with Sam Riley, who portrays Curtis in the movie.


Another good sign for the movie is the final quote from the director, who was worked with Joy Division and New Order many times over the years, which tells me everything I need to know....They hardly ever agree on anything together, but they have agreed that they all love the film."




Another story on the reaction to the film, along with some more information about some of the principals, is HERE, from today's Guardian.

Bobblehead!

Good job by the Portland Beavers for literally carrying things out to the letter (phonetically speaking); a promotion for one of three Bob L. Heads across the nation to be immortalized as a promotional toy at a game later this year. Sounds like the kinda thing Bing Russell and the Portland Mavericks might've done.



STORY

Beat On The Bat: The Life Of A Baseball Bat With The Twins

Much as I enjoyed watching the Beavers on Sunday, the ping of a metal bat as a ball is hit is still a distraction in my mind. Call me a purist, hearkening back to the days as a kid learning the game, but the solid crack of a wooden bat on a ball brings me a moment where I where I sit up and take notice of where the ball is heading. That's not to say I don't follow the ball, once hit, in college baseball, it's just the preference for the wooden type of bat is so deeply rooted that I don't think it will ever be changed. Of course, in conversations with others on the subject, the cost factor of metal vs. wood has to be a big consideration for schools, especially when the total life span of a wooden bat is regarded. Today's StarTribune ran a story on the life of a bat in the major leagues, as well as some of the thoughts and practices that the players on the home town Twins make when choosing one before they head out to the batter's box. The story is HERE.

Tottenham 2 Man City 1

Followed this one again via GameTracker, as I had no particular interest in Man U/West Ham . Still haven't seen any of the highlights, as Sky Sports didn't show any in the show I caught, and Fox Soccer place the match into the "also-played" category section of all scores and no highlights as they focused on the battle of relegation to open their show.


Spurs scored twice early on behind Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov, and were playing the better football, when City's Emile Mpenza knocked one in just before the first half ended to cut the lead in half and give the visitors some hope. Once again, with a lead, I watched the tracker show the time of possession give way from the advantage of the home side to that of the visitors, with the final tally giving the Blues a 56% percent lead in that stat. A couple of fine Paul Robinson saves (that's why he's England's number one, blah blah blah,) kept Spurs in the lead, and Jermaine Defoe missed a late penalty kick that might've eased the minds of the Spurs faithful a bit earlier, but once again nothing comes easy with this team, does it?



All I know is that Spurs finish fifth, for the second year in a row, and qualify once again for the UEFA Cup. I feel extremely confident Berbatov will be staying put (not so sure if the defense continues to be as leaky next year and Spurs slip down the table while the rest of the league fixates on Berbatov); it was indeed a roller coaster of emotion with this team this year, alternating the exhilarating with the aggravating, often within ten minutes of each other, but damn it, it sure was exciting to watch, and gave all of us something to think and write about. COYS!!!!



BBC



SPURS REPORT

Mother's Day At Goss: Washington State 5 Oregon State 3

Wound up celebrating part of Mother's Day this year at Goss Stadium in Corvallis, as my parents, OSU baseball season ticket holders for the last few years, wound up with the tickets from their neighbors who couldn't attend today, and most of our family today was in attendance together, which pleased them no end.


My first time at Goss, a nice place to watch a game, with some prime seats behind home plate (square behind home plate, a couple of rows in front of Mike Parker in the broadcast booth, luckily I could only hear him when it was really quiet).



The Cougars struck in their half of the first, behind designated hitter Travis Coulter hitting the ball in the gap between center and right for a triple; I wasn't sure Coulter was going to make it to third but his aggressive base running set the tone for the game, and he wound up scoring on the next batter's sacrifice fly. Coulter wound up with three hits, adding two doubles to the triple, for an impressive outing.


Jayson Miller, a left hander for the Cougs, pitched very well, allowing just four hits in his eight innings, and was hardly challenged at all by the Beavers. The home side could only manage one run, in the bottom of the second, against Miller with Jason Ogata, who had doubled, scoring on a single by Braden Wells.


It was when the relief pitcher for the Cougars in the ninth took over that the Beavers rallied, scoring twice, started once again on a double by Ogata, and then a two-run homer by Mike Lissman to cut the lead in half. The Beavers had two more runners on at first and second, but Lonnie Lechelt hit into an unusual double play to end the game (the Beaver fans behind me thought the second basemen had trapped the ball, but apparently he did not, and he doubled off the lead Beaver runner who tried to take third base).


It was a good time regardless, as I had no horse in this race, I didn't particularly care who won, all I wanted was a good, close game, which I got, and no one gave me crap for wearing my Oregon sweater. It was also nice to see an old childhood friend working the security detail, he remembered all of us, as well as a Beaver co-worker, who has long implored me to "educate" myself watching the Beavers baseball team. Well John, I still don't like the metal bats at all, but it was nice to see the effort taken to provide a lovely home field advantage, and my hat's off to you for being part of that; now all you have to do is show up at any place showing the Champions League final on the 23rd between AC Milan and Liverpool and then we'll be even.


Some of the rest of the details from the game can be found HERE.

Young Marble Giants: Reunion Show And U.S. Reissue

More good news on the domestic reissue front of a quality album that is long overdue, this item being the sole album by Welsh artists Young Marble Giants and the album Colossal Youth. The album will be part of a three-disc set, put out by the great people at Domino Records, who've done a superb job in their handling of seminal stuff from Josef K, The Triffids, and Orange Juice. Not sure if Colossal Youth has ever had a US release on CD before, I seem to recall seeing a CD, probably a EU copy, years ago at a Circuit City , but it had no extra tracks on it, the new one will satisfy the hunger of fans who want their collected works in one place.


So the reunion show is in Wales, I never thought that a US tour would materialize from a group who hadn't played together for over 25 years, the LIVE AT HURRAH DVD is a good enough encapsulation of their minimalist pop live as I expect we should get.




STORY

Know Before You Go: A Guide To Bikini Styles

I must admit a sense of failure in acknowledging that all of those years of perusing the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue have left me with a less than satisfactory knowledge of some of the names of the various bikini styles. (I thought somebody had told me they had descriptive words in those issues........but for the life of me I can't recall any of 'em). Glad that someone at Digg found the following site to help unfortunate people like me in educating ourselves, and for that I am eternally grateful. Cheers....




FIELD GUIDE TO BIKINIS

Underwear Bandits On The Loose In Colombia

This week's run of more inexplicably weird and disturbing news continues......a BBC report from Pereira, Colombia about a gang stealing women's underwear while the ladies are out in public.




STORY

The Camera Adds Ten Pounds.....At Least

Obviously the belief of some female lacrosse fans at Framingham State College in Massachusetts, some of whom took matters into their own hands by liberating hundreds of copies of their school newspaper that featured a front cover photo of the girls, with bared midriffs, cheering on their team. The papers were taken because they felt the picture made them "look fat".








STORY

Charlton 0 Tottenham 2

Dimitar Berbatov opened the book on the possible relegation of Charlton today with a wonderful goal created with some of his skill in the seventh minute of the game, and Jermain Defoe slammed it shut with an added time goal at the finish to seal the fate of the Addicks for next season.


Did not watch it live, but a clean sheet is still nice, even against a woeful team, though Darren Bent is a quality player and finisher.


Berbatov took a pass from Ledley King and totally confounded Charlton defender Talal El Karkouri with a deft move, and then finishing it in glorious style as both El Karkouri and goalie Scott Carson nearly collided in trying to prevent the goal.



Was fortunate enough to stop at Rennie's, on a break in my work route today, to see if they would have the game on, as they do with the Champions League matches, where quite a crowd shows up to cheer their team on. I got there at the half time break today. Well, there were two people interested in the match.........although one, to my delight, was sporting a Robbie Keane shirt. Finally....another Spurs fan in the state of Oregon. We had a nice conversation about Berbatov and the transfer rumour mill, but work was calling me back, so I had to check the score via my phone for the next hour.


The win puts Spurs up to sixth, one point behind Everton with a game in hand. Another UEFA Cup berth appears within reach.....COYS!!!


RECAP

"Life's Short. Get A Divorce"

Just an ad campaign, on a large downtown billboard, for a Chicago lawyer. An obvious success because people are already talking about it, any publicity has to be good publicity, right?


I honestly can't believe that people would look at a billboard, and then have a light bulb go off in their head to file for a divorce as soon as possible after that. Can't even believe that later they would even remember the law firm responsible for that ad........but I will doubtless be proven wrong by some well-meaning group or person.




STORY



MAY 9TH UPDATE....well, the billboard didn't stay up LONG

Mind Your P's And Q's...

......when dining with others. An ex-spouse to be specific, with alcohol involved. Don't eat off of their plate, especially when steak knives are involved. Yikes.



STORY

Arsenal 1 Chelsea 1

"Mourinho are you listening, you'd better keep our trophy glistening, coz we'll be back in May to take it away, walking in a Fergie Wonderland!".




Don't care much for Man U, even less for Chelsea, and nothing at all for the Arse. Still had to tune in this morning to see what kind of drama would unfold at the Emirates, and what might possibly be the background for the match between Man U and Chelsea later this week at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea had to win to keep their faint Premiereship hopes alive. Alas, it was not to be, as Arsenal fashioned a 1-1 draw from this encounter, which sent the title back to Old Trafford. The Gunners' Gilberto Silva scored on a penalty kick, thanks to a straight red card to the Blues' Khalid Boulahrouz, who upended Julio Baptista in the box just before the first half ended, for the only goal between the two teams.


Chelsea played well in the second half with only ten men, and finally broke through midway through the second half on a diving header from Micheal Essien. Can't recall the exact moment, but a bit later on Frank Lampard widely missed a ball that looked as if it had a real chance to hit the back of the net, and Salomon Kalou had a certain goal knocked away on a great save from Jens Lehmann.



Can't say for sure that I thought Chelsea would win with a lineup that didn't include Drogba, Cole, Ballack, and Shevchenko, but it was a good effort to the final whistle all the same.



Hope you're happy Don and Jack......a :beer: to the both of you gents.




RECAP

Share A Free Drink, Lose Your Job

How do we know that it's not allowed if it's not in the manual? Even though the Subway Sandwich employee handbook allows free soda and water to employees, it's apparently against the law to share that benefit as part of a consolation process with a friend. The police had been called, the scofflaw employee was arrested and briefly jailed, all for some product with a total value of four dollars. The article, from New Zealand, is HERE.


There was also a site entitled subwayuncovered.com, detailing some other unpleasantness dealing with the Subway corporate offices, but it has now been taken offline.

Hogzilla The Movie

I've always enjoyed watching the Hogzilla documentary, which gets to the bottom of the issue concerning the size of the legendary Georgian beast, that the National Geographic television channel has aired from time to time, it certainly beats watching American Idol in terms of watching creatures on the tube.



Looks like a film is due to be made on the porcine king, in a horror-movie style with attacks on humans. Some more details HERE

AC Milan 3 Man United 0 (Agg 5-3)

Not much of a contest as AC Milan advanced to the Champions League final, and a rematch of the instant classic with Liverpool from 2005, with a 3-0 thrashing of Manchester United.


AC was on the attack from the start, which included a steady rain at the beginning of the match, and Man U looked a bit uncertain in both attacking and defending, and it was in the latter aspect which took its toll. Not sure if even the presence of Rio Ferdinand, still out with a groin injury, would have made a difference in the game. Kaka's opening goal in the 11th minute was a well-executed finish off of a header that left the Man U defenders flat footed, but it was the second goal, by Clarence Seedorf in the 30th, which left no doubt about the outcome of this match, and of who would advance to the finals. It was on this goal where some sloppy defending had to have left even the most ardent Man U fan with a queasy feeling in their stomach, coupled with the fact that by this point Man U had yet to really offer a serious attack on AC goalie Dida.



AC was a bit physical with Cristiano Ronaldo, though I believe the referee was correct in not calling a foul every time Ronaldo hit the grass, and about the only good chance that Man U had for the match was when Darren Fletcher booted a wide open shot, from in front of the goal, over the crossbar in the second half.



Special mention to AC's bulldog-like Gennaro Gattuso, who raised an extended middle finger to somebody from the vistors after a heated tackle, caught on camera for millions to see world wide.



Well done to AC Milan, the rematch of that classic title bout from just two years ago is just as irresistible a fixture as having an all-English final between two bitter rivals would've been. Can LFC handle the blitz that AC Milan produced, both today and two years ago? Can Rafa and the fans urge their heroes onward again if they do, and will AC's coach Carlo Ancelotti let that happen again? That's why they play the games, and at first, I'd have to go with the Italian club, they'll be too eager to show that 2005 was an accident, but Liverpool will certainly have the mental fortitude not to let what happened in that first half occur again. Should be another classic on the 23rd of May in Athens.


RECAP

Liverpool 1-0 Chelsea (Agg 1-1) LFC 4-1 Pen

Sucks that I had to work today and miss one of the semifinals of the Champions League, this one between Liverpool and Chelsea, who've clashed again in one Cup format or another for what seems like the 100th time in the last three years. Well, I did manage to catch a few minutes of second half action when I was able to, but it wasn't the same as watching the match with a group of other fans. At least I'll be able to see tomorrow's match.


I did catch the highlights on FSC, a deceptive corner from Steven Gerrard to Daniel Agger halfway through the first half that curved wonderfully past the seemingly stunned Chelsea defense and a diving Petr Cech for the only goal of the game. That home goal equaled the home goal that Chelsea got last week, and so after a couple of extra periods that produced no result, penalty kicks were to be the deciding factor in this one.


Liverpool goalie Pepe Reina made two nice saves on Chelsea attempts, of their three total, whilst Liverpool sank their first four, the last from Dirk Kuyt, to seize the victory and send LFC en route to Athens on a chance to win their sixth European title, one that might possibly be a rematch of their classic 2005 battle against AC Milan, if the Italians can hold off Manchester United tomorrow at the San Siro.



Lots of Liverpool shirts at Rennie's today, it's always fun to watch these things with other football fans, I will probably be watching the CL final their this year. And of course, hearing the words, being sung en masse, Walk on...........walk on........with hope in your heart.......and you'll never walk alone.....you'll never walk alone still elicits an emotion from yours truly. Lovely stuff you Reds, even if Jose says the better team did not GO THROUGH.



RECAP

SportsCenter Promos

Top ten lists are usually fun to discuss with your friends and family, dependant on the subject of course. What some may love other may dismiss, but I have to say that the folks at SPORTABLE have compiled a very fine list of their favourite ESPN SportsCenter promo ads, you know, the ones that feature various athletes and anchors in situations that are often ludicrous, but are a nice twist on perceptions and reality (i.e. Steve Irwin wrestling with the mascot from the University Of Florida Gators, which I'd never seen before, oddly enough). The image of Charley Steiner bellowing Follow Me! Follow Me To Freedom! in the Y2K clip remains a personal fave of mine.










STORY