Snowpocalypse 2008
About a week ago it started snowing like Mother Nature had something to prove. It was CRAZY. Especially because in Portland this is simply not the case. It’s an inch, and the city freaks out. There is currently at least a foot outside and that’s after a bit of melting. It is INSANITY and frankly it’s starting to freak ME out.
So I am a little stir crazy basically being housebound since Saturday evening (that was Freezing Rain time) and today declared on Twitter that I was losing my mind. A neighbor and fellow Tweep was on and getting ready to go out herself. I figured it was time my car had tire chains at least “in case” so I called around and found some just out on (the now infamous) 82nd. So @SharonG came by in her 4Runner and off we went. At least 82nd was pavement so it was ok to get around. We talked about this stretch of 82nd not being bad because there was Pho and having a mutual love of Vietnamese beef noodle soup we pulled in. We had a lovely lunch, and then off to get chains. We lost the place because the address in Google maps didn’t have much to do with where they ACTUALLY were, so as we headed down to 82nd and Holgate she got a text message reading only SOS and called to see what happened. Tire Tragedy at 92nd and Foster! So the second I had my chains we took off and of course got there in the nick of time! We didn’t end up doing anything helpful except lending moral support. Which is sort of disappointing since the universe put us almost exactly in the spot where they had ended up so we could go be helpful. That was basically it, a way around the problem had been sorted out after the call was made, so we ended up heading home. We came up 92nd and there on the right as a shining beacon of goodness was Burgerville. I mentioned they were on Twitter and had said earlier to hitch up the reindeer and head on in. So we were lured by the possibility of Chocolate Hazelnut Milkshakes and pulled in. We got around and the auto drive-through thing offered us that very thing! Again, the universe saying DO EET! So we tried. First there was debate about whether or not there were milkshakes of ANY variety. It was determined there were in fact milkshakes, but there was no hazelnut ‘syrup’ to give it all the actual hazelnutty flavor one (apparently) expects from a milkshake. So we tried, and eventually she sold us two. We got to the window and Sharon said “Do we get a discount for being experimental?” and we did! So that was cool. Then she continued up 92nd and we made it home safely.
After all that adventure, did I take a nap? Heck no! I shoveled a path for Teh Scoot to get from the curb to the garage door. I didn’t mean to, I meant to clear it so he could actually park in the driveway, but it SO didn’t happen after the snow got deeper AND I remembered we have a downhill slant to our driveway so it was even deeper than I originally thought. It was way more work than I was prepared for so I carved a path and called it good.
I measured today – 4″ at the front door (which is dry in all but the most intense of rainstorms, I have a covered porch that eliminates most of that). Just off the step (which was drifted so you couldn’t even see steps) it was EIGHTEEN inches. Out in front of the garage door it was more like two feet. Snow is currently up to the bumper of my car in the street. I’ll have photos up later, right now it’s late and I have to go in to work tomorrow (we were closed Monday and Tuesday) so I have to get some sleep.
Thanks to @SharonG for an awesome afternoon of pho and sliding and splashing around 82nd. Again, the power of Twitter. (:
I leave you with this: If SNOWPOCALYPSE is so unbelievably bad, just wait until THAWNAMI! You heard me.
Upgrades Ahoy!
Well I know I went to the upgrade party last night to help people, and I actually DID help people. I helped some play Rock Band with a full band, and I helped some upgrade blogs and answer questions about upgrading and themes and such. It was a really good time but I didn’t get a chance to upgrade mine until right now. And it’s done! My favorite thing so far is that the dashboard has a spot for a quick little post and I am writing this from there! I have many things to say about the dashboard and such, but those are for another post. Every time there’s a “big” jump in updates I am more convinced that jumping to WP was the right decision. If you need or want help then PLEASE ask in the comments.
Congress: Get Involved!
I am signed up for MegaVote which tells me about what all Congress is up to and how my representatives there voted and so on. It’s very informative. They also have links for telling your reps what you think, so I hit the one to tell mine that I am against the auto bailout (I was against the others too, there are a lot of reasons and that’s another post. Just go with this, ok?) and I added a note of my own that was very brief, clicked submit, and moved on with my day.
Today this showed up in my email:
Thank you for your letter on Congress’s response to the financial crisis confronting the auto-industry. The question of whether an additional bailout of the auto industry is good or bad policy depends entirely on how we provide assistance.
Giving the Big Three auto makers more funds to continue business as usual is probably not good policy nor is it a wise use of resources. I have long advocated investments that accomplish more than one objective. In the aftermath of 9/11, for example, I was disappointed that we gave money to the airlines without insisting that they use it to buy quieter, less-polluting aircraft. Today, we have the opportunity to use federal investments to not only help the auto industry respond to future needs, but to strengthen the economy and the environment in communities across America.
We could, for example, create fueling stations for the sorts of cars we need for the future: making sure that people with biofuel, compressed natural gas, and plug-in hybrids are able to get the energies they need for operation. We don’t yet have the infrastructure we need to make it easier to sell the products of tomorrow. Investing in such infrastructure would have a profound effect.
As the largest buyer of vehicles in the United States, the federal government could play an important role in shaping the auto market of future. If all federal departments and agencies were committed over the next three years to buy hyper fuel-efficient cars, plug-in hybrids, and flex-fuel or compressed natural gas vehicles, we could have a profound effect on the industry. This one requirement would provide a modern fleet for our operations, improve the efficiency of our departments, and reduce long-term operating costs.
We could also dedicate a portion of Detroit’s bail-out request to removing old, polluting cars from the road, trading “cash for clunkers.” This would improve the environment and help people who are probably paying too much to operate dirty, unsafe vehicles.
In short, we have a prime opportunity to stimulate a market, improve our own operations, and give people the incentive to upgrade their vehicle.
At a time of unprecedented economic stress, while we are struggling to protect the planet, reorient the long-term practices of auto industry, and change consumer habits, we can either provide a narrowly-defined knee-jerk reaction that has little or no effect, or a more thoughtful policy that will reap numerous benefits and get us where we want to go faster.
Again, thank you for your letter. I look forward to continuing our conversation on the financial challenges facing America.
Sincerely,
Earl Blumenauer
Member of Congress
I was very impressed with this thoughtful response. I also appreciated hearing back. It made me feel like someone received and read that message and sent me a reply. I was heard. Maybe I was the only anti person, maybe I wasn’t. I am completely aware there are staff people who spend a vast percentage of their time on reading and replying to communcation (calls, letters, email) on behalf of Mr Blumenauer. But the point is, SOMEONE (Earl or not) took a moment to send me a reply and while that may not have been a big deal to them it is a pretty big deal to me. I want to make sure I give credit where credit is deserved, and Earl’s office DEFINITELY deserves credit.
Here we go again…
So you may remember that at one point I was quoted as saying some unkind things about Southeast 82nd. And no, I still won’t call it the other thing. Well there’s another round of 82nd angst going around right now, because of the No-Hooker-Zone and it being allowed to expire and all this nonsense.
Oh you heard me, I said nonsense. Because apparently the REAL issue here is that we don’t yet have a Mayor Potter Style Advisory Committee to make recommendations. OK, we didn’t, until now. I am still confused about the No-Hooker-Zone because I thought Portland, nay, OREGON was a No-Hooker-Zone. If prostitution is illegal then why do we have a special part of town where it’s extra illegal? Like the No-Meth-Zone downtown I don’t get it. What makes this a good thing to spend time and resources and money on?
This isn’t to say I think it’s stupid to reach out to the people involved and try to get them off the street and into a better situation, I can’t imagine anyone “working” 82nd is doing it for fun. It’s a good idea to try harder to address the actual issue, and I’m not against that. It’s more that once again the approach is to sit around and talk about what’s going on and what can happen. But we KNOW what’s going on and we KNOW what is happening. Why isn’t it possible to take a different approach?
Here’s my idea: make 82nd less seedy so it attracts less seedy people. Whether you love it or it makes you itch, the Pearl District is the new fancy part of town. Imagine your “standard issue” streetwalker from 82nd sashaying down NW 11th. Not likely! So if 82nd looked better and had more than just porn and used cars, maybe this “oh no the prostitutes are back and what will we do and how is this possible and oh my STARS my delicate sensibilities” attitude and handwringing and committeeforming can finally stop.
Here’s what I said at the time:
Why not do what you’ve done in other parts of town? Give new businesses tax breaks to move there, make deals on new construction, make it tempting to build a new thing on 82nd. If perceptions are so key, then let people perceive actual redevelopment instead of some signs and some landscaping.
And here’s what I say now:
* Get a deal with Home Depot or Lowe’s or Hertz Heavy Equipment or whoever and give out vouchers for powerwashers. Make deals on paint. Make the barrier of entry to a Clean Shiny Eighty Second so low they are fools to pass it up.
* Make a deal with a big or popular business to MOVE to 82nd or open something new there (besides Wal-Mart). Give tax breaks to everybody who wants to set up shop there. Make new construction easier to start. If I thought it were possible I’d say to make a deal so moving into the former location of a used car lot was EXTRA cheap.
* Increase police. I don’t mean if it happens on 82nd all the cops in town show up, but right now the only time I see police in my neighborhood is when they’re lit up. I don’t see patrols or anything, and that should change.
* Promote good things. Fubonn, Asian Supermall, is a beautiful place and I ADORE it. Make some noise about it! Find a way to make a big deal about Hung Far Low, Slighty Tipsy Portland Institution, moving out to 82nd. Recognize those who ARE making an effort to improve 82nd and the area around it, like the Academy Theater.
* Ask the public! There are a LOT of people who live or work right around 82nd who have a lot of ideas and suggestions. Find out what they are! Crowdsourcing the brainstorm of improvement is a really easy way to get a lot of ideas that could be useful and it makes people in the area feel like they are doing something to improve the situation. Everybody wins!
And you know what? I didn’t even spend a bunch of time thinking of those few ideas. I’m sure if I applied some brainpower I could come up with some really fantastic ones! But the fact remains: There are better things to do about 82nd than forming a committee to talk about what we can do about 82nd. All this time later I think it proves that I was right: Changing the name DIDN’T DO A DAMNED THING. It was a (metaphorical) pig before, and we put (metaphorical) lipstick on it by changing the name, and now years later what do we have? A (metaphorical) pig. That’s right! Why don’t you quote me on THAT, Oregonian?
Beer And Blog And Corvallis!
As usual, it was all Twitter‘s fault. This morning @justinkistner mentioned that he and @emailstine were going to head south for The First Official Offshoot Chapter Of Beer And Blog. I asked if it would be possible to get a ride there with them, and Justin said of COURSE it would be possible. (See? I told you! Stupid Twitter.) So we coordinated addresses and I was given permission to leave a little early today, so off we went to Corvallis. Block 15, to be exact. This was history in the making, people!
Let me back up.
Almost a year ago, Justin was getting bombarded (mostly via Twitter, I know, AGAIN with the Twitter!) by support questions and blog issues and decided to get all the askers in one room at the Lucky Lab with some beer so they could all ask at once. Some folks who missed it wanted another crack at picking Mister Kistner’s brain, so he did it again. Then I wanted to talk about the essentials when you finally jump into your own WordPress installation, so we did that too, and eventually it got a name and a logo and was a regular event that moved to the Green Dragon and eventually turned their patio into THE happening place for the Portland Geek/Nerd who wasn’t afraid to socialize.
We didn’t just stop there, oh no! There was a Beer And Squirtguns session the Friday it was over a HUNDRED degrees, a Beer And Bowl session, a field trip to North Portland, all kinds of awesome speakers and ideas and generally good things happening. In fact WordCamp Portland actually came out of a Beer And Blog where we were talking about WordCamps in other cities and how we should have one….well why don’t we go for it? And well, we did and it was AWESOME.
I was telling Justin tonight that the moment it hit me something special was happening was when people stopped asking if it was going to happen this Friday and started asking who was going to speak or when people were going to start showing up. When people took for granted that this was always going to happen, that’s when I thought we might really be on to something. Well we were, and now not only are we on to something, but we are on to something contagious. (Listen to me, “we” like I run it or something!)
So that’s where it started, and that brings us to tonight, the three of us heading south. WE HAD A BLAST! I got to meet some great folks, talk about Star Wars and iPhones and Cameras and Goonies and Blogging (yeah we ended up there eventually) and WordPress and it was SUCH a good time! We ended up staying longer than intended and got back later than scheduled but I could have stayed the whole evening there in the upstairs part of Block 15.
Here’s the thing: Any city can start their own Beer And Blog Chapter. But it will fall flat EVERY time if you have no community to tap into or group of folks who are willing to talk to strangers and get people mingling. It’s really just an outlet for something you already have going on. If you have no community of any kind, you can’t get the word out. If you have no social people, you’ll just get a restaurant full of people on their laptops instant messaging each other about how they aren’t having fun. This isn’t to say don’t try it. But see if you can get a couple of your chatty friends to come with you and maybe have the nerve yourself (if this isn’t your usual M.O.) to walk up to someone and say “Hi, I’m _____ and we haven’t met yet.” Sometimes that’s ALL it takes. Well. That and smile at someone who comes up to you and says the same thing.
I think Portland REALLY works for this because we’re a social bunch and we have a fundamentally helpful attitude. Want proof? Sign in to Twitter and ask for help. With ANYTHING. Someone in Portland will offer you exactly what you need, something really close, or an introduction to someone else who can help you. This is another reason I adore it here. I really do enjoy helping out, and something that to me is no big deal can mean the world to somebody else.
So I threatened to go to bed about an hour ago and still haven’t because my head is still buzzing from all the ideas and the good conversation and the amazing energy I got to soak up in that loud crowded AWESOME group of Corvallians (I can’t think of a better word) who decided a little Beer and a little Blog was the perfect thing for a December Wednesday. Thanks for having me!
Real Quick Like
I’m not dead, and I’m (mostly) not neglecting this blog. I swear! I have been MONUMENTALLY busy lately, and currently I’m on vacation (till Monday, visiting Liplash and Rargirl in California) so I haven’t had a ton of time (or any time, really) to get my blog updated. I do spend time on Twitter and you can usually find me there if you’re looking.
Speaking of Twitter, it turns out local (KGW) news anchor Stephanie Stricklen is on Twitter too, and her and I have chatted a few times. She asked us for explanations of Twitter she could use on The Square (her news show at 7) and one of the explanations she put up was mine. Mine! I know! See for yourself! I guess she made it to the most recent Beer and Blog (yesterday) and after all the times we’ve just missed her and such she actually made it! And of course now I’m in another state. Anyway. She said she wants to talk knitting too so I’m sure we’ll hang when I get back. And now you have an update from a borrowed computer on borowed time (since it was naptime till a minute ago, and now the bulk of us are awake).
One last thing, I went and got my cyborg name and listed it below:
This post is totally gay.
Since I know posts fall off Craigslist after awhile, I wanted to preserve this before it was gone forever.
Ten Reasons Gays Shouldn’t Marry
10. Homosexuality is not natural, much like eyeglasses, polyester, and birth control.
9. Heterosexual marriage has been around a long time and hasn’t changed at all; women are property, blacks can’t marry whites, and divorce is illegal.
8. Gay marriage should be decided by the people, not the courts, because majority-elected legislatures, not courts, have historically protected the rights of the minorities.
7. Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That’s why we have only one religion in America.
6. Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.
5. Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That’s why single parents are forbidden to raise children.
4. Gay marriage will change the foundation of society. Heterosexual marriage has been around for a long time, and we could never adapt to new social norms because we haven’t adapted to things like cars or longer life spans.
3. Heterosexual marriages are valid because they produce children. Infertile couples and old people can’t legally get married because the world needs more children.
2. Civil unions, providing most of the same benefits as marriage with a different name are better, because a “seperate but equal” institution is always constitutional. Separate schools for African-Americans worked just as well as separate marriages for gays and lesbians will.
1. Obviously, gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children.
And if that wasn’t enough, Westboro Baptist Church (they do not get a link from me, they are behind the God Hates Fags site) came to Portland today and had themselves a good old fashioned protest. Clearly they did not realize that Portland is a protest town and we come correct for this stuff. See some photos taken by The One True B!x of their cute little attempt at stirring up support here. It isn’t often I say this proudly: We’re a buncha liberal hippies in PDX, and us treehuggers tend to be gayhuggers too so it’s adorable that you tried, but given your failure here I hope you go home and stay there.
Ignite Portland 4: The Ignite-ening!
OK seriously it’s the best I could do. We keep having these and I’m going to need to keep posting with goofy titles.
This time I was there in one small capacity: Sponsor Entourage. Initech has sponsored every single Ignite event thus far, which is cool. So this time all I had to do was show up early as part of the cow-orker carpool and that was fantastic! Plus, Teh Scoot and I got a new video camera That Very Day which was shipped to my office so I got to try it out on unsuspecting presenters. Here are my thoughts in no particular order:
* YAY sponsor video! It’s so much faster and I liked the interstitial graphics and some of the videos were creative and fun. However this is a missed opportunity for geeks to scream their fool heads off in appreciation of The Silicon Florist, one Mister Rick Turoczy himself. While that bit is disappointing I think sponsor vids are generally fab.
* YAY audience! I saw a TON of people I didn’t recognize at all and that was awesome. I also saw people I knew or recognized who were hanging with other people I didn’t know. Not that I am some sort of social director or anything but it is fantastic to see that such a cross section of folks show up to Ignite since it started as a pretty geeky event. I love love love that it is not another Tweetup. (:
* BOO audience! Shut up. I know you got in free. I know you have been drinking beer since whenever you started drinking beer. But please. Shut. Up. I asked nicely and got nowhere. Don’t make me suggest to the organizers that we need ushers or drink limits to keep loud idiots like you from effing it up for everybody else.
* YAY organizers! I love that this event comes together the way it does, and useful feedback (read: not just people bitching) is always taken to heart. I love that there is a ticket system, and that showing it on your phone (i or otherwise) will get you in. I love that we are a community such that tickets are needed. I love that when I was the volunteer coordinator for #3 my experience was awesome.
* YAY volunteers! Organize all you want but it doesn’t do you any good if you have no backup and volunteers are all about having your back. Especially in Portland, I love that we have so many volunteers to help out. It’s so nice to know that if I’m hoping to have some sort of event where I need bodies it will totally happen. We are helpful and that is awesome.
* YAY Bagdad! They sort of volunteer for this too, but the staff is phenomenal and they put up with a full house just for us and I want to make sure they get appreciated for it. I know they don’t do it for free but they could make it a really painful experience if they wanted to and they totally don’t. It’s awesome!
* YAY speakers! It is awesome that we have people willing to talk about The Ten Commandments (of Karaoke), or How to bluff (by my wonderful friend Cami Kaos). I even discovered What Portland can learn from Kentucky. Which was awesome, I might add. It is amazing that we have people willing to get up in front of a Bagdad full of people and talk about whatever it is with slides for five minutes.
* YAY Twitter! You knew I’d get here eventually right? Just because I didn’t know everybody doesn’t mean I didn’t give or get hellos from a LOT of people. I forget how many people I actually do know or am at least acquainted with until I go someplace like Ignite and I’m there with cow-orkers who don’t know any of these people. From that point of view I do kind of look like I know everybody. (: Plus it was a couple of fateful tweets about Ignite Seattle that created the one we have! (And in case you didn’t know, we were on the Twitter trends list!)
* YAY community! I got to say hi to people and wave to more and cheer for presenters I knew and it was a really really good time. Plus someone said to me, and I quote, “That’s just reason 101 why you rock!” which made my day. I love that Portland turns out like this for events like this. We rule! This is why I love living here.
I won’t even go into the afterparty we had at the Spaceroom where Miss Cami and I had two glasses of punch and decided our husbands, who share the common quality of quietly tolerating their wives and their rampant geekery, should TOTALLY hang out. And that we managed to get the Silicon Florist himself to take a great chinposin avatar picture and even though I had to go home and wash my hair (nosmoking January can’t come soon enough!) I had a great time. I can’t wait for Five!
Liveblog Doctor Who S04E12 The Stolen Earth By Russell T Davies
I am liveblogging each episode of Doctor Who as I watch it. I am publishing a raw stream of consciousness list of things I am considering and wondering about as I watch. In the interest of not spoiling anything for anyone I am putting all of it behind the jump.
This episode is the twelfth episode of Season Four (or Thirty depending who you ask), called The Stolen Earth. From the site: Earth’s greatest heroes assemble, to fight the New Dalek Empire. But a fearsome old enemy waits in the shadows…
(more…)
Liveblog Doctor Who S04E11 Turn Left by Russell T Davies
I am liveblogging each episode of Doctor Who as I watch it. I am publishing a raw stream of consciousness list of things I am considering and wondering about as I watch. In the interest of not spoiling anything for anyone I am putting all of it behind the jump.
This episode is the eleventh episode of Season Four (or Thirty depending who you ask), called Turn Left. From the site: As Donna’s world collapses, she finds help from a mysterious blonde woman – but can Donna and Rose stop the approaching Darkness?
(more…)
Election 08
I have to say a bunch of things on my mind right now. So here they are:
* This does not mean we are not a racist country. This does not mean there are not more people who will take a shot (literally) at him. People who are Americans.
* This does not mean we are finished. Not by a damn sight. If you made calls for Obama (as an official volunteer or using the iPhone app) you need to keep doing that sort of thing.
* This does not mean things will be immediately better. You heard the man himself say so: It may take MORE THAN A TERM to really set things right again.
* This is the first step in a long long journey to restoring the world’s faith in us and our reputation. Do not think for one second that President Obama automatically gives us back our cred.
* This is the time to knock off the cynicsm. Stop acting like you can’t make a difference. Clearly you can. And you have. Now that you get a crack at this don’t screw it up. Trying to RE-do something is always harder than doing it in the first place.
* This is the time to remember. Hit that little “Record” in your brain and try to capture this night. How it feels, how YOU feel, how you were part of it, what you did to help this night happen (hint: YOU VOTED. R or D or I or whatever, it doesn’t matter as long as it was a vote. If you didn’t, leave this blog immediately.). I know most elections aren’t really of this magnitude, but you were part of the process and that is always a good thing.
* This is NOT the time to stop. Winning the election was not the finish.
* This is HUGE for America. Whoever you voted for, please support the new guy until you have a reason not to. When John Wayne heard that JFK won he said “I didn’t vote for him, but he’s my president, and I hope he does a good job.” Let’s try to keep that in mind, ok?
* This is the perfect time to remember what the new guy has said all along: There are no red states or blue states, just the UNITED States of America.
I do some of these things already. Here’s a list of things I do now to be part of the process:
* Subscribe to Megavote. I can keep up on how my Senators/Reps vote VIA EMAIL.
* Contact people! Congress.org has a spot there on the left where you can enter your zip code and find your Congressional folks. Get ahold of them and tell them what you think! You can also check out places like True Majority and MoveOn.org to find out about issues being discussed or voted on and sometimes it’s as easy as replying to an email to get your name listed as supporting or opposing a particular issue. And you have a cell phone right? You probably aren’t using EVERY space for contacts. Put your Congresspeeps in there and tell them what you think.
* Get informed. I know I’m lefty but watch Rachel Maddow once in awhile even if you aren’t. She’s not a shouter, she LOVES talking policy, and never makes personal attacks on those who disagree with her. She loves to be engaged and in total disagreement with someone. I think you’ll like it. She’s fun to watch and there are a fair number of people watching her who probably don’t necessarily agree with all her views but watch anyway. Try it!
* Admit you’re wrong. It happens. Stop forwarding crazy emails even if they support your point of view, quit repeating things you aren’t absolutely certain are true, and mostly STOP running around saying something to people SIMPLY because CNN or Fox or MSNBC told you to. Come to your own conclusion and use that quote to back you up. (:
* Don’t gloat. Quit feeling superior, stop being smug, knock off all the superior nonsense. We are still pretty majorly buggered, and that’s not going to change just because we elected him. We gotta help him get it done.
I may add to this later when I am awake. But for now, check those out and if I missed anything please let me know.
Senatorial Conflict
I live in Oregon (in case you weren’t sure). Here we are in the midst of our SUPER FANTASTIC vote by mail process, and it is so the nicest thing. I remember waiting patiently at the Grange Hall for my mom to vote, and really I like this idea better. Or at least I did until this time around.
Here in Oregon we have two candidates for a Senate seat: Gordon Smith who holds the seat now, and his challenger, Jeff Merkley. This is my attempt to work out some of my conflict over who to vote for.
Gordon Smith Pros:
* From Pendleton
(He lives near my mom, actually. I like the perspective this gives him. As someone from ‘out east’ he has a point of view that Portlanders don’t have.)
* Sits on several Committees/Subcommittees (Ranking Minority Member on at least 1)
(Do you know how long it takes to become someone with enough power to get on a committee? It’s a LONG time. And it gives us visibility.)
* Has deviated from Party Lockstep ™ from time to time
(This matters to me because it means he has a stance of his own. NOBODY should ever march in complete lockstep all the time. Thinking for yourself FTW!)
Gordon Smith Cons:
* Republican
(We all know what this means. There are some larger issues I disagree with him on.)
* Fudging a bit on the “pro gay” issue
(He says he’s all gay friendly or whatever, but he’d vote FOR a Constitutional ban on gay marriage and that’s wrong in like 8 different ways. He just helped pass hate crime laws. Good, certainly, but not enough IMO.)
* Helped Trent Lott maintain Minority Whip position
(Trent #$@
(I can't call it pro-life, I just can't. He thinks it is wrong and I can't get behind that.)
* Pro Broadcast Flag
(Kind of a big deal really. This matters to me a LOT.)
* Running sleaziest/most negative campaign ads on TV (except maybe Merkley’s)
(Seriously. They are SO bad!!)
Jeff Merkley Pros:
* Democrat
(So we agree on some of the bigger stuff.)
* Unanimously elected to Oregon’s Speaker Of The House position
(In Oregon I’m pretty sure a unanimous anything is a big frigging deal.)
* Director of Habitat For Humanity’s Portland chapter
(This is good. I like that he’s done something that helps other people.)
* Pro “gay marriage”
(I use quotes because it should just be “marriage” and it should be for everybody. He agrees.)
Jeff Merkley Cons:
* Took away my Sudafed
(HUGE red flag for me. Sudafed is prescription only in Oregon now, and one of the biggest tines on the VOTE YES fork was “who, pray who, will think of the children!?” and it bugs me when someone is swayed by that. We still have a lot of meth, btw.)
* Claims he “grew up in a mill town” but graduated from a Portland HS
(I don’t get this. Why would his ad say it? It was super easy for me to determine this was hooey. They moved to Portland after FIRST GRADE. That barely even counts as living in the wilderness! I graduated high school from a teeny town where I spent my whole life. That’s a huge difference, Jeff.)
* Increased school FUNDING, but not school ACCOUNTABILITY for funding.
(If someone says they need ten dollars and you give it to them and a week later they need ten more, how many times do you give it before going “what are you doing with all that cash?” This is what already aggravates me about school funding.)
* Running sleaziest/most negative campaign ads on TV (except maybe Smith’s)
(Seriously. They are SO bad!!)
So while it would be nice to have Smith’s experience and committee seats, knowing that Merkley could possibly help the Senate hit the filibuster proof 60 votes would also be really nice.
If you know something I should be considering, or if I’m mistaken on something already in this list, please let me know. Thank you!
Kasugai Politic (and you)
I like Japanese nonsense, and this is one of my favorites. All Kasugai snacks say something on them that ends with “And You”. Now on to the actual post:
In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve rejiggered the sidebar over there. I did it to add two cool things to my sidebar: One is the Google gadget I titled “get your vote on” that gives you voter registration information no matter where you are (just feed it your city and state), and one is the bit underneath it titled “call your congressman” where you enter your zip code* and it tells you who your Congressional representatives are so you can get ahold of them and give them the what-for. It’s what they’re for, so don’t be shy!
If you want even MORE information about Congressional goings-on you can sign up for the newsletter offered by Congress.org called MegaVote and this one I like because it’s low traffic (once a week or so) and packed full of info. You tell it where you are and when bills are voted on it tells you how your representatives voted. I like this because I have every one of my reps in my phone and I call them and tell them how I feel about this or that, and then I check that against how MegaVote says they actually voted and then I follow up and either thank them for voting how I wanted or tell them I’m disappointed they didn’t vote how I wanted. For me that’s the good bit, the followup. It lets them know someone is paying attention, whether you agreed with them or not. I am not as good at this as I want to be, but I do a lot more of it than most people do (according to my informal statistics).
So check it out! Get involved! We need you more than ever. If you aren’t sure about some of the voting basics (hey, it happens, I’m sure there are a LOT of Americans whose only voting experience is calling in to American Idol) you can check out the FAQ at Declare Yourself. If you already know and you’re political to begin with you might want to take that act on the road. The Great Schlep is trying to get everyone to visit their retired Jewish grandparents in Florida so they know the issues and know how important the whole voting thing is for you. If the facts don’t seem so factual and you want to see if what one guy said about the other guy was true, your best bet is probably FactCheck dot org since they are nonprofit and nonpartisan (no really they are, not like the airquote fair and balanced of some news organizations), so they gain nothing by being honest. They come down on the side of facts, not the side of corporations or moral outrage or whatever else.
If I am missing a political resource that you find particularly handy, add it in the comments. I don’t want to leave anyone out!
*I want to make the results on call your congressman appear in a box below it like the Google gadget does. If you have any insight into this process and can help me make it work I will buy you a beer at the next Beer and Blog or a bacony treat of your choice.
Reach out, touch faith
Last week I had a lot of crappy days. All kinds of bad stuff happened, and normally I would have considered it a very VERY bad week.
It wasn’t.
My attitude was fine. I just kept coming home in a good mood, sounding almost chipper as I related that day’s tragedies to Mister Fishbones. I felt really weird about it and then I finally figured out why I felt so upbeat.
I had a chiropractic appointment, a massage appointment, and a friendly get together during the week. Since the get together was friendly, I was hugged a lot, and obviously getting cracked and kneaded meant there was laying on of hands (and elbows and whatever else).
I was supposed to be having a miserable week and it just didn’t happen because I had a whole lot of physical contact, and all of it was pleasant so it totally cheered me up. My fundamental outlook wasn’t bad at all, even though things were showing obvious signs of coming apart.
So if you are having a really bad week, or just a crummy day, find someone willing and get a hug. Or have your sweetie hold your hand awhile or whatever. Just get to touching already!
I like to think that I can reach out and “touch” people on the interwebs with my blog, or on Twitter, or through IM or what have you, and to some extent that’s true. But to really get the full range of human interaction you have got to drop those quotes and actually touch people.
If you are reading this when it’s posted, GO TO BED! It is late. Get some snuggles in before your sweetie is completely asleep. If you read this when it isn’t bedtime, find someone today who needs a hug* and hug them. It’s win-win, really.
*I would prefer you were trying to hug people you know. Look where trying to just give hugs away will get you:
Liveblog Doctor Who S04E10 Midnight by Russell T Davies
I am liveblogging each episode of Doctor Who as I watch it. I am publishing a raw stream of consciousness list of things I am considering and wondering about as I watch. In the interest of not spoiling anything for anyone I am putting all of it behind the jump.
This episode is the tenth episode of Season Four (or Thirty depending who you ask), called Midnight. From the site: The Doctor is trapped, powerless and terrified, on the planet Midnight, as the knocking on the wall begins…
(more…)
Liveblog Doctor Who S04E09 Forest Of The Dead by Steven Moffat
I am liveblogging each episode of Doctor Who as I watch it. I am publishing a raw stream of consciousness list of things I am considering and wondering about as I watch. In the interest of not spoiling anything for anyone I am putting all of it behind the jump.
This episode is the ninth episode of Season Four (or Thirty depending who you ask), called Forest Of The Dead. From the site: As the shadows rise, the Doctor forges an alliance with the mysterious River Song. But can anyone stop the Vashta Nerada?
(more…)
Liveblog Doctor Who S04E08 Silence In The Library by Steven Moffat
I am liveblogging each episode of Doctor Who as I watch it. I am publishing a raw stream of consciousness list of things I am considering and wondering about as I watch. In the interest of not spoiling anything for anyone I am putting all of it behind the jump.
This episode is the eighth episode of Season Four (or Thirty depending who you ask), called Silence In The Library. From the site: The Doctor and Donna enter a world of terror inside an abandoned library. They’re given only one warning: ‘Count the shadows’.
(more…)
On-Purpose Punditry
In my last post I briefly mentioned at the bottom that John McCain can’t send an email. Since his campaign does not deny it, I am going to presume it true.
You know what really grinds my gears? (Or as The Ambassador would prefer me to call it, You Wanna Know Why? I’ll TELL You Why!) Here it is: McCain’s campaign is having like six different varieties of cows over Obama QUOTING MCCAIN. What’s their excuse? “Oh you shouldn’t be mean he can’t type because he is a POW are YOU a POW too Obama then you can’t say anything you are a mean jerky head and YOU ARE NOT READY TO LEAD! VOTE MCCAIN! CHANGE 08!!!” and so on.
Guess what? BULLSHIT. (Sorry Mom, if you read this, but it is.) I have a friend who is deaf. She plays video games and she’s on Twitter and has a computer and does all kinds of things effectively. I used to know someone who had a degenerative eye condition and she kept a blog and used instant messenger and SENT EMAIL and did all kinds of things. With her computer, no less. So that means a deaf person AND a blind person both use their computers successfully. I know there are people with other sorts of handicaps as well who get around that pesky keyboard issue JUST FRIGGING FINE thank you very much. Some people have a computer as their only means of communication with the rest of the world. It certainly doesn’t stop them. So why is it stopping John McCain? You’re going to have to try a little harder than “it hurts when I type” because NaturallySpeaking is one such bit of software that allows you to talk to your computer to control it. It’s easy to use and would allow people who are unable to use a keyboard, for example, to be able to control the computer with their voice. I am not shilling for them, I just know they are one of the more popular software packages with this capability. So learn to talk to your computer and then you can send email with the best of them!
Here’s the thing: My great aunt was older than Senator McCain when she passed away. She had email and went to websites and was capable of all of this without getting someone to do it for her. My mom can run a spell check competently, and I have an aunt who is set up with her own gMail address now. I used my mom as a test case at a startup I used to work at. I would look at different UI elements and complain to engineers: You guys, my mom will never find this button. Can we put it at the top? Because we had decided everybody’s mom should be able to use this software, so she was my example. Also she lives in Eastern Oregon in a town of about 15,000 people. They have one “nice” restaurant in town, a couple of Mexican food places, and I think one Chinese place. It’s not the biggest place nor is it central to anything, so when my mom asks me about things (what is this Twitter I heard about?”) I can pretty much presume they’ve been around. My mom totally knows how to get her machine to check email, what her homepage is, and how to report spam. These are BASIC skills.
I am not saying McCain’s service to our country is useless or stupid. However that service does not entitle him to the Presidency. This seems to be his belief and I disagree. This is America and I am well within my rights (at least for now) to do so. I think Obama was well within the bounds of a “clean campaign” to point out that McCain doesn’t know how to send an email. It is yet another startling contrast between the candidates, and I think a valid thing to point out. My issue lies entirely at the feet of Rick Davis, McCain’s campaign manager. He is allowing this campaign to make McCain out to be a victim of his handicap and if someone wants to be The Leader Of The Free World they’d damn well better act like it and not let a little thing like “typing hurts” turn into the big issue of the day.
I would also like to point out, while I still have on my PunditPants(tm)*, that Karl Rove is absolutely the last guy on earth who gets to piss and moan about being taken out of context. Bitch all you want, turd blossom, the part you don’t seem to get is that I learned it by watching you.
*I have no actual graphic for PunditPants(tm), but I am accepting submissions. For now this photo will do since I only wear my PunditPants(tm) for blogging:
Accidental Punditry
(Or: The Day Banana Lee Stayed Home and Accidentally Watched Hardball.)
At the very end of Hardball today with these two particular guests on (whose names escape me at the moment) Chris Matthews asked, “You know, every candidate for President in our lifetime has had a very succinct message if he won the Presidency: ‘Get this country moving again’, Jack Kennedy, ‘It’s the Economy stupid’, ‘Are you better off than you were four years ago?’, I can’t think of the line from Obama yet.”
Buchanan (OMG yes THAT Pat Buchanan*): We can’t stand four more years of what we’ve had for the last eight years?
Matthews: Do you feel like four more years of this!? That’s what I’d say.
(he goes on)
“All I know is I’d go to the numbers…every time the Senator from Arizona spoke, I’d say let me read those numbers to you John McCain, you got a tough act to defend here, and you gotta defend it because you’re the republican candidate that’s why you’re standing here. You got an unemployment rate that’s spiking, you got a debt that’s growing, you’ve got a surplus that’s disappeared into a deficit and you’ve got gas prices at four bucks, your side has BLOWN IT, don’t ask for four more years.”
To which I say AMEN! I don’t want Obama to go out and say terrible things about McCain (and while he doesn’t know how to send email is TOTALLY TRUE it is one that they are crying foul about), but I want him to go out and speak truth to power as it were. If repeating “I said thanks but no thanks to that bridge to nowhere” over and over is going to make it true, then why not repeat things over and over that ACTUALLY are true? I wonder how well THAT would go over. How do you beat him up over things that are TOTALLY accurate? More “sex ed to kindergarteners” nonsense? Even KARL ROVE said your campaign is a little out of line.
*Not only is it THAT Pat Buchanan but that link is to his blog. McCain can’t send an email, but Pat Buchanan has a blog (E I E I O).
Pigs and Lipstick
Once again, nobody asked ME if it was a good idea. If anyone had bothered to say “Hey there Banana Lee, you come from a place with colorful language. You can still say ‘lipstick on a pig’, right?”
Because, you see, if they had, I could have said “Oh, no no no. Don’t do it. You will have nothing but heartache. Someone will misquote you and use it to drum up outrage against whatever you represent. They’ll gladly strip you of context and try to work people up about you criticizing something you never criticized at all.”
And they would have listened to that answer and said “My goodness Banana Lee, you certainly sound like someone who’s been there. Is this your area of expertise?”
To which my reply would only be, “Why, yes. As a matter of fact, it is.”*
*Seriously, I got misquoted about lipstick on a pig myself. It was stupid then and it’s stupider now.
