Work in Progress Blog

2009-08-23T03:07:00.000-07:00

I am getting on with it here in UAE, working hard at learning the language, staying fit at the Rotana Beach (cheeky) Hotel, and visiting some far flung parts of the country.

Al Ain was interesting. Though didn't see many people, who I hear were all indoors during the first day of Ramadan, I got to see the main historic sigths with a few friends.

For the most part, we stayed out of the heat, but when we were outdoors, it was more comfortable because Al Ain doesn't get the humidity we get in Abu Dhabi.

It was 44 yesterday, but I barely broke a sweat because of the lack of moisture in the air.

Saw the former residence of Sheik Zayed (may Peace be upon him) and the Jumeri Fon rt with my friends Sarah, Jonny and Meeghan, all of Canada. Good times.

Also had some amazing strawberry and lemon juice with friend Amy Moser at the Rotana Hotel.

We tried to get a cab home in a gold cab, which I knew would be a mistake the moment I sat in the seat next to the driver.

An Afghani, he was a bit hot-headed. I could tell he didn't like me even before I told him I was American.

To sum, the man drove fast and erratic. We told him to stop. He wouldn't.

He wanted my hat, a cheesy fisherman's garment. I offered it to him. He wouldn't accept and kept driving faster and zigzagging through traffic.

"Schway, schway!" we said. Slow down.
"You get angry at me, I get angry at you!" was his retort, speaking surprisingly good English.

I told him my friend's dad was a doctor, and he wanted him to be safe, a story my friend Jonny had told me on the bus ride to Al Ain.

He didn't quite get it.

The girls threatened to call 999, which is the police. The Afghani started to desist. I will drive slower, he said. La, la, no no. you had your chance. Pull over! I said.

He finally did, letting us out about 3 km outside of town.

He had to find a taxi to get back to the bus station.

2009-08-23T02:55:00.002-07:00

I am ready to proceed with my blog today. If anyone out there knows how to download pictures onto a PC, please shoot me a line. I just got used to this InTerNet thing here, and need a little help with the rest. Thanks, j

2009-08-13T22:02:00.001-07:00

Either the foreign news media loves to interview fat, ignorant Americans or that is what we are. I think it's probably more of the former because it sells this image of America that most of their viewers want to see. I also notice the foreign news media (The BBC) does not give a balanced version of the story - ie, there are people who support health care reform. It only shows people hating on Obama and dissing European (socialist)- style health care. Which is worse? The American right-wing news media, which lobbies hard for a position and castigates the other side or the left-wing British media, which paints those right wingers in an inscrupulous light? Neither gets at the truth, which is what health care reform will do once enacted....I still wonder.

2009-07-27T15:19:00.000-07:00

Looks like it will be at least until Aug. 9 before I leave. Nice to have the extra week, just crossing my fingers that the delay in my visa processing is not due to some legal difficulties I had in Japan or U.S.
Hard to explain the drink. I'm not a bad person, but sometimes do stupid things like driving drunk from Bend to Redmond or staying out drunk in Japan.
I have to say, I like the beer. It's hard to give it up completely, but I've managed pretty well the last month or so.
The question is, can I give it up in the Middle East? That's the challenge. Stay out of prison, as Dave my diversion coordinator said upon my completion of the program. Don't get decapitated, my brother had engraved on my new Ipod Nano.
It's interesting, having a second alcohol-related arrest (albeit six years and two continents apart) changes things a bit for me. Now, I'm on the edge a bit to where it has started to affect my professional life. Until I get my plane ticket, I will be a bit nervous.

2009-07-25T22:02:00.000-07:00

In just a week, I could be going to the Middle East.

2009-07-05T22:44:00.000-07:00

How do you make God laugh? You make plans.
Brandy Philip, quoting some existential theorist.

Thanks Brandy!

2009-07-02T23:30:00.000-07:00

2009-03-01T18:08:00.000-08:00

Bistro Corlise closing....

Oh sad, like we really care. I'm sorry dude, we don't. So get over your crying and move to a real city where i'm sure there will be ample number of people willing to throw down $30 for a meal. whatevah...

2009-01-25T11:49:00.001-08:00

I keep thinking something is going to happen, but it never does. I am more and more disillusioned about my life here, like I'm living someone else's life. I would like to bail on this scene sooner rather than later.

I have not stopped paying my mortgage, but plan on doing so ASAP. I need to rent another apartment before my credit turns to shite. I am facing the prospect of job loss.

I want to get back into teaching. Best opportunities might come from abroad.

Might be good idea to travel to London in June....go see about jobs.

Need a month to month.

What am I waiting for?

dems election

2008-11-04T23:58:00.000-08:00

What this means is that money wins in politics. The money followed the Democrats this year, no matter what tright-wing loonies will have you say. The news stations bought it because they were paid for by the monied interests. This time, they happened to follow along with the right candidate and that makes me joyful and full of hope, hope, hope~ that's why they keep saying this is my victory.

2008-11-04T23:36:00.000-08:00

He was challenged by the crowd at first when they booed Obama. He handled it graciously and put the crowd back on his side. He then put the Obama experience in historic perspective. But what idiots! Why do those people still feel the need to boo Obama? Do they have no feelings of the man and his moment. When they shout U.S.A. U.S.A. U.S.A., I see them as hooligans who are trying to overshout the man as he delivers his speech, and my hope is, that when the historic record is told, the shouting in the background is part of that record of the day.

MCCAIN SPEECH

2008-11-04T23:35:00.001-08:00

MCCAIN: Gave a dignified speech that regained my sense of the man ...

2008-11-02T10:00:00.000-08:00

While the world waits for this historic election - Obama is ahead by 5-6 points in the polls and pundits say it would take a massive shift for him to lose - I read the Blogs for news.

2008-11-01T22:37:00.000-07:00

Just watched W.

Need more be said about the tragedy that was the last 8 years in American history? By the looks of it, Bush was a one-term president who basically was fucked by the WMD debacle and never ruled again after that. He was conned by his henchmen, but also my his own lack of curiosity. Never again should a president be afforded secrecy and omnipotent powers that Bush got in his first term. His father son hangups cost America big time. we may or may not ever recover.

As we sit here in the waning hours before the Nov. 4 election, it's easy to feel a moribound sense of loss. It's like we've been beaten and are waiting for the settlement from the divorce. W took everything, he wrecked our sense of selves, the kids are scarred for life and now the only question is whether he and his politics will go away and we can start over. there's not much left to salvage.

I wonder why i'm still here. The world is becoming a place where U.S. is less relevant. It's like the dying giant that ruled the earth for a good short time and now the rest of the world is picking up the pieces. We as Americans think we have some say. the rest of the world is licking its chops.

2008-07-06T21:31:00.000-07:00

I wish I could shake up the Magic 8-ball and figure out what the hell is going to happen with our economy. I'm not very good with predictions though, as evidenced by my last Blog post - about a month ago.

But I'm deeply troubled by what what appears to be an unraveling of the country that is accelerating by the month.

There's so much I don't know, but all I can do is try to be a better person. That means making friends this weekend with folks at the Moon Mountain Music Festival.

I enjoyed hanging out with Nina and Alice, two friends I made who live in the city of Bend.

We ate sausages and bacon, danced, and drank coffee and smoked a little. It was aieet.

The festival was incredible. I arrived up at Elk Lake, which is situated along the Cascade Lakes Highway in the shadow of Mt. Bachelor, at around 2 p.m. Saturday - grabbing the last available tent site.

I immediately ran into friends that I know - my yoga teacher and hair stylist Sundari and her husband John and family. Piper, who brought her cousin James from Philadelphia and my work mates Jen, Katie, Laurel and Wayland. All good times were had.

Laurel Brauns and Julie Southwell played an amazing set, but I hid off on the side not wanting to converse yet.

After seeing Piper, I began a walk around the lake, which is about 7 miles but looks a lot less from the start.

My walk started on some nice forest road, which became a manicured trail winding along the lake. Long-time residents enjoyed the Fifth of July sunshine on their docks while the music from the festival echoed across the lake.

I asked a young looking woman about the quality of the trail around the lake, and she told me I could get around it. She had a look on her face that didn't quite get it, I thought.

She said I might encounter some rocks.

Later, I ran into a nice woman Justin and her friend I forget her name who were tanning. We chatted for a bit about the festival, which they thought was sold out because they had tried online and couldn't buy tickets. I told them it wasn't and they said they might try it later.

Eventually I hit the end of the trailhead, but it was too far to turn around so I began the bushwacking.

I got through it eventually with some trials and tribulations.

I made it back to the festival, where I ate a delicious bowl of ravioli with wild mushrooms in a cream sauce and savored two pints of Cascade Lakes brews.

Long-lost friend Drew showed up too. Good talks.

Danced the flamenco with Piper. Hot. Spanish. dancing.

Enough said right now about the Festival/Gotta go to work again tomorrow...."(

hillary vp

2008-06-03T11:25:00.001-07:00

Hillary will be named Obama's VP within the next day or two. Just a hunch.

2008-05-06T20:00:00.001-07:00

Okay, now that Obama has won handily in North Carolina and Clinton is sucking wind to prevail in Indiana, does that mean we can finally start talking about vice-presidential candidates? Barack is going to need some way to handle those mounting criticisms that he is a liberal - ooh, shudder to think - and he's going to need some management gravitas. Because what has he done, other than manage some inner city youth program? He's solid on foreign policy, he'll say, because he has grown up multiracial and traveled the world. I feel 1 million times better with barack making war and peace decisions than GW. Shit, that fucks up my pick for his vice presidential nomination, because, by all means, he should select New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Here are the arguments:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2008/02/28/2008-02-28_barack_obamas_dream_ticket_mike_bloomber.html

But now I'm going to give the counterarguments. Namely, his choice of a veep also should somehow shore up the loss of white working class voters that has prevailed over the past several months. How is a billionaire Jewish guy from New York going to do that?

As much as I'd like to see Bloomberg on the ticket, I'm afraid Obama is going to have to find someone else. Something about mending political fences and keeping his enemies close to his vest prevails in the argument to select hillary clinton as his running mate. As much as I grew tired of her act and her husband's around February of this year, I think she's rebounded and garnered a lot of support. Barack could show a lot of hutzpah and rally both working class whites and retired women, to his cause.

It would be interesting to see that ticket. How would the Republicans top it?

2008-04-27T13:22:00.000-07:00

http://www.inman.com/news/2008/03/21/when-media-coverage-industry-interests-clash

note the Bulletin

2008-04-27T12:45:00.000-07:00

I am sitting at Townshend Tea House in downtown Bend this morning writing a bit, trying to pass the time. A couple of kids sitting next to me are playing chess. A little girl, restless in her wyas, sings out Our God is awesome...over and over again. She is fixing pillows and rocking a chair...I spect she is part of the God contingent here in Bend, which sings out front of Bellatazza Cafe...I will post a photo I shot of the God continegent later.

I woke up at 7 this morning and joined a group of about 50 runners at Phil's Trail for a 9-mile run. The run was part of a training group for the Dirty Half marathon in June. I took it slow, listening to my mind which knew this was an early part of my training, and my body, which couldn't go faster than 10 minute pace. It took me about an hour-forty minutes to complete the 9 mile run, about an 11 minute pace.

My body aches from the run, but my mind is lucid.

After the run, I went to Columbia Park off the river, laid down a towel, and read a chapter from An Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, by Tom Wolfe. It tells the story of Oregon-native Ken Kesey, who lived the dream of drug-induced psychosis. I remembered that lifestyle, which is so far distant from my current life.

I tasted it briefly during the summer after my freshman year in college. I went back to Danville and hung around with a couple of high school friends, smoking pot, doing a little LSD and working as a camp counselor in a day camp in Orinda, California.

My two friends would later live that life to its fullest extent in San Francisco. I would forever remain a prisoner of the suburbs.

2008-04-26T11:14:00.001-07:00

wqdewq

2008-04-26T10:42:00.000-07:00

Read this morning about a 60-something year old man who got killed by a great white off the coast of San Diego while ocean swimming with a group of fellow triathletes. Not the way I'm sure he expected he would go. I would like to learn more about this man, doing what I would so like to be doing, as I walked outside for the first time in several months without feeling any cold.

Guess I can't move to California. Way too many sharks there.

I worked probably 60 hours this week, got paid for 50 of them, and now I have to wonder about whether I say the right things to get a raise.

It's all rigged against me, I tell you.

Woke up yesterday and got a speeding ticket about a half-mile from my driveway. In a school zone. Which doubly fucks up both my driving record and the amount of fine I will pay. The peach fuzzy cop looked kind of annoyed when I had the gall to ask him to show me the radar gun that said I was doing 40 in the 20.

He had to get somewhere, I think.

Watched Before the Devil Knows You're Dead last night. I've gotta say, one of the better movies I've seen in awhile. PSH, EH and Marisa Freakin Tomei showed a few things about acting, great script and directed by Sidney Lumet. It worked for me because of the interaction between siblings.

Each of the characters has a reason for doing what otherwise would be horrible acts against family members.

This morning my brother called at 8:15 a.m. just to leave a message that he had already rode his bike to Pilot Butte and run up to the top. He's going to have paternity leave! from his teaching job in a week and said he would be working out everyday sometimes twice! Good luck beating me in the Deschutes Dash, he said.

I am not interested in triathlon training, I thought to myself, still lying in bed on this glorious sun kissed day. I'm going to run tomorrow.

Message to self: Marisa Tomei. Thank you.

2008-02-28T11:02:00.001-08:00

Bush = shades of Hoover?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080228/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush

Laney Grace McDonald

2008-02-03T20:38:00.000-08:00

Today marked the birth of Laney Grace McDonald, the most beautiful baby girl ever. Congrats to my brother Doug and his wife Kelly. I am a very happy uncle indeed.

what to do...??

2008-01-26T11:21:00.000-08:00

What can I say? For a few weeks now, I've struggled with thoughts that we could be entering a real dark period in our nation's history. Stock market crash, foreclosures, recession or worse. I heard yesterday about a married couple that I know through a friend who have decided to walk away from the payments on one of their two houses. It will only affect one of the spouse's credit, so as long as they stay married, they'll be alright, right? I wonder if other people are planning the same strategy. Yes, in case you were wondering, the husband is/was a real estate broker, part-time bartender, part-time writer. The wife works for a title company.
I've had these thoughts myself about my house. If the shit hit the fan, would I continue to pay the $1,200 per month that is going towards interest so that some bank can continue to stay afloat and my credit intact? I know there is some personal responsibility involved, but I think a lot of people will do what this couple is planning. It's going to lead to chaos. Our nation's individualist culture is rearing its ugly head. we have a generation that feels entitled to rising home values and easy money. It's going to get ugly.
But I've decided to approach this whole moment in history with a different take. Sure, things could get bad - banks could no longer have money to disperse, credit cards could stop working - but it would be bad for everybody. What are people going to do? Starve? I think not.
I will stick it out as long as i can, five years if necessary, but if I get laid off, what then? I will likely walk away, join the military or something. It could be liberating...
What will happen to all these houses sitting empty in the High Desert of Central Oregon? They will sit empty, become havens for meth addicts, lower housing values for all. It's not a pretty picture and doesn't offer any hope that the market will eventually rebound.

economic malaise

2008-01-19T12:09:00.000-08:00

Not much time - maybe 3 mins at most since I've gotta drive to Bend for my sister's b-day lunch - but have to post on Mort Zuckerman's comments last night on the McGlaughlin Group (sp?). The editor of U.S. News and World Report predicted that we are entering what will be the biggest economic downturn since the Great Depression. All signs are bad, he said, including the downturn in the housing market, the credit crisis, personal debt, and government debt. It kinda freaked me out. I also watched the Charlie Rose show on PBS as I try to do every Friday night. Not as much said by the economists interviewed on that show, but I can't help but wonder how Morgan Stanley's economist, who must have been behind the company's $5 billion bailout from China, really felt about the nation's economic future. And who is really behind this tax break to stimulate spending by Americans? GW Bush visited the Middle East last week, and bam!, the Americans get a tax break and are encouraged to increase spending. Where does that money come from, you ask? Those who we owe know that we can't be allowed to go into an economic malaise. Otherwise, their investments will be lost. Let's get the real scoop on who is making decisions for this country. It's not Americans any longer. It's the rest of the world.

2008-01-17T23:09:00.000-08:00

Alright dear reader (s?). It's time for another post. I have been lurking in the shadows, trying to maintain a perfect life. But I realize that my life needs some journalistic outpouring once in awhile! Not the strait-laced reporter's version either. I am ready for adventure with the keyboard. I want to take it and let it take me as far as I can go. who knows what the hell that means though, eh?

My first letter of intent goes out to those people who still think media is an honest business. I mean really now. Do you know who you're talking to here? It's the bug behind the leafy green vegetable that knaws against the back of your mind when you sleep. It's the irate, irresponsible media person who can't get enough because he doesn't get enough.

It's easy to be new at something. The hard part is being the old hand. It's hard because you have a taste for it and it eats away at your very being until you can't sleep and can't rest either. Even in yoga class, you're a wreck.

It's the color purple on a field of green. It stands out in a kind of beautiful way, but only because it's old. There's nothing getting in the way of it getting somewhere except itself. Its own decisions mar any kind of consistency that would help it get ahead. There's nowhere to go.

The future is kinda scary, if you didn't know.

We have for so long lived in the ever present fear of this happening, and now that it's about to happen, the fear grows greater. Will that lead to some kind of peace when it does happen? Or will there be some kind of reckoning to be faced? I fear the latter.

Just some rambling thoughts from a high, low and chemically altered newspaperman.

2008-01-02T19:42:00.000-08:00

I can't help but feel on this eve of the Iowa caucuses that we are living in a kind of sham of electoral politics. This is no way to elect a president, I have to think. But then again, it's the only way. please jesus, guide the Hawkeye state to make a wise decision.

elections

2008-01-01T21:27:00.000-08:00

Just one more day until the Iowa caucuses, and I'm wondering if the candidate has already been designated. I like John Edwards and Barack Obama. I am anti-Hillary. The Republicans make me sick. I almost wish we could dissolve the Republican party and have a national election for President between the Democratic candidates. I would not be so nervous about it.

Mitt Romney is so diabolically manufactured and trying to be Reagan, it makes me sick!

I used to sorta like Huckabee, but c'mon, the guy believes in Evolution! That God created man and woman came from man's rib.

Barack Obama is my number one, but I fear that Americans won't vote for him.... I could be wrong. Edwards I have always thought was a phony, but he's starting to appeal to me. Hillary is just plain evil, and her husband is not much better.

Who would do best for the country? Probably Hillary, because we need someone who's not going to take shit from nobody. I kinda think the others might. So I'm conflicted obviously. I'm not ready to vote yet, and neither is America until we know these people a little bit more.

see/read into the wild

2007-12-09T21:36:00.000-08:00

I've just finished reading 'How the West Was Ruined,' by Jonathan Raban, in the Jan. 2008 edition of Playboy. Yes, I read the articles. His argument states that John Muir's vision of the West, which obsessed over the sublime vision of 19th century romantics, is an outdated, elitist way of looking at the world.

"It's time to retire the language of the sublime, with its implicit class snobbery and muddling together of aesthetic pleasure with social hierarchy, and look freshly at the relationship between the ungussied-up townships of the American West and their natural surroundings."

you'll have to pick up a copy of Playboy to read the rest of the article - couldn't find the link.

But it's interesting, because I think of Christopher McCandless, subject of the film Into the Wild and book of same title, and his obsessive quest to throw off his suburban, well-to-do upbringing and live among the impoverished during his journey, which ultimately took him into the wilds of Alaska.

Chris McCandless is the young romantic searcher - with an almost unhealthy reverence for nature - which ultimately kills him. You're pulling for him, but you just know he's trekking towards disaster.

There's a poignant scene during his journey when he reenters society from a long, isolated journey down the Colorado on a kayak, which ultimately took him into a Mexican desert.

He hops on and off a train and visits LA, where he's aggrieved by both the plight of the homeless and its seediness and a trendy restaurant, where he could envision himself with other social climbers if he weren't the rough and tumble Alexander Supertramp.

He flees in desperation from the scene, back onto the trains, just like other romantics who view society with abhorrence and revere nature.

I say to hell with nature and Thoreau-esque journeys into the woods.

Try to live ethically in society - that's got balls to it.

I wonder how Raban would view him - did he escape his family - or did he try to create order in nature where it had been lost in his parents' lies? Were his intentions -similar to Tolstoy in his renunciation of money - socially conscious or elitist in their scope?

Because how can someone raised in wealth ever understand what it means to be poor? One cannot cast off his social umbrella completely. it's always there, isn't it?

It's present in his elevation of nature to the level of majesty. Noone who was truly penniless would see beauty in living in a stinky bus by himself in the middle of the woods. Maybe his priorities were out of whack.

The film, which I loved by the way, is shot in locations that are almost all what are considered majestic beauty-type shots. Grand Canyon, the coast, the top of a rock mountain near the Salton Sea where an old man and Chris climb to the top and see the light of God. It's all about some "higher" elitist? reverence in nature.

It's the difference between Western and Eastern Oregon. The warm fuzzies come out when you think of the Cascade and coastal ranges and thick evergreen forests. That's the type of environment that environmentalists protect. It's also got more $$$ than Eastern Oregon.

But I'm not so sure he would think of lost middle of nowhere towns in Eastern Oregon with the same reverence as say, the Oregon coast. Maybe that's the problem with young Chris McCandless, who would be approaching 40 if he were alive today.

He saw things from the eyes of a young romantic, not as they really were. He lived in the 19th Century, not the late 20th. What's so wrong about setting a forest fire that would have attracted the planes or at least someone to come rescue him? Probably didn't realize that the trees would grow back or that he squatted on millions of acres of forest.

why obama should be president

2007-12-09T21:20:00.000-08:00

It would eliminate all criticisms that we are anti-muslim if we had a post racial, African-American president in office, according to a very good article in The Atlantic by Andrew Sullivan, http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200712/obama
Hillary v Rudy would revisit the culture wars that have plagued the US since the 1960s. Ellen Goodman, columnist for the Boston Globe, thinks a polarization of politics is not such a bad thing http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/left/orl-syn-good1209,0,7865626.story
because it engenders political change such as the end of Jim Crow laws, the end of Vietnam, etc.
I have to side with A. Sullivan on this one. The U.S. is being crippled by this culture war - every time the right wing uses gays, abortion or immigration to divide our country, we lose grasp of the real issues. I'm sure the Dems do it too.
I just don't think race, gender ethnicity issues matter that much anymore in the new climate of global warming, class disparity and global politics. We need to get over the issues that have divided us as a country and start thinking how to function and compete within a global society. Obama will help us do this because he's not tied into the war, he's not already damaged by his efforts at health care reform and he doesn't incite memories of the 1990s.
This is a different era with different issues -time for a new leader who can help the nation redefine our place in the world nonmilitarily.
I still need convincing that his stance on issues is to my liking. Part of this is not having cable, other part is sheer boredom at reading the candidates platforms.
But mostly, I think it's a reluctance to get too involved too early when I don't feel I have a say in the process. The primary system gives so much power to two states - Iowa and new Hampshire. There's something pretty whacked about that. Any thoughts?

hawks chat

2007-12-09T21:15:00.000-08:00

seattle is a better team than they were last year at this time. Clayton is right http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=clayton_john&id=3148322 when he says that they pick up their intensity as the season goes along, just like the SF 49ers used to when they were champs. Last year, they were marred by injuries -remember, they had a Home Depot salesman playing cornerback in the playoffs against the Bears - and should have won that game. not that they would've beaten new orleans in the Dome, but just saying, they are a better team this year with fewer injuries. They are peaking at the right time. They've figured out the pass is a more valuable weapon than the run on 1st and 2nd downs. The Lofa Tatupu-led defense, even though he went to USC, is toight.

housing mess

2007-12-09T00:53:00.001-08:00

What once looked like a good investment is now turning into a kind of debtors' prison. My house, which I bought in June 2005, is nice and everything. I bought it for $168,000 - actually the listing price was 164, but I couldn't pay the closing costs so they added that to the price of the purchase. already 4k in the hoc by the time I signed the papers. A year passed and I struggled with payments. I made everything on time - I actually did pretty well my first year. But last year I made the calamitous mistake of taking out a home equity line of credit. I wanted to take a vacation, after all, I had worked so hard to make the payments the first year and I was about to start a new job after working so hard at the old one for two years and home values were appreciating so much....Actually, I should have seen the warning signs when an appraiser only said my house was worth 207. Anyway, people were listing their homes for 250 - similar 2 bedroom homes without a nice view of the irrigation ditch. So I thought, why not, and I still had those pesky credit card debts that I had consolidated and wanted to eliminate. So I rolled those into the house as well. Hey, property taxes come around - why not use the line of credit - that's what it's there for, right. A new bike - gotta have a new toy. whenever I had a month where I'd fall behind, write myself a check, it's all good, i'm still ahead.
Until I realized that I wasn't ahead. The collapse of Central Oregon's housing market, which some say is just beginning, http://www.bendblogs.com/Bend_Bubble_2/ reared its ugly head this summer. When I tried to put my house on the market in June, I listed it for $ 218. Good lord. That wasn't going to happen. Eventually, my price came down to $205, but that didn't sell either. My realtor and my listing were pulled.
Now, I'm facing realty of the housing market for the first time.
I met with another realtor who said that she could maybe sell my house for $189. I owe $190 and that wouldn't include her fee or closing costs. So basically I'm fucked with a house that will not appreciate any time in the future and continuous problem of credit card debt, an additional 5k, and a job that takes up all my energy and pays $33k a year.
I've got a world of hurt looking at me in the next year. I am thinking it's time to pull the plug on this house and either rent it out or take a hit and sell for below market value, whatever it takes. Either way, i've got to pack up my things and move back in with mom and dad with my tail between my legs.
At least I have that option. Total debt if I sell the house for $189? About $15k. And that's if I can sell or rent out my house. All of which I will have to pay before I could get out of parents' house. I spose it's a lesson learned. After all, I didn't know much about buying a house when I started this mess. I'll know a helluva lot more when I get out of it. I hope. By the way, those houses listed for $250, they never sold either.

news

2007-12-04T19:42:00.000-08:00

Reading the news is always an interesting experience, especially when you've reported it. I mean, what do you really know from a story? Has the writer really looked at all sides or are his or her personal biases slyly hid from view? What was his or her frame of mind when she wrote the story? I am less convinced that we have an unbiased media the more I see my own viewpoints, and how they interact with a story. I try to clear my mind, ask tough questions and present all sides to a story.
The reporter's mind is always under siege by questions of objectivity. I am sitting in an interview, formulating questions, trying to steer the conversation towards my questions, and I can tell my subjects see where I'm heading. It's somewhat easier when you know your subjects, but that's the rub. You cannot protect them from serious questions when you know them. You must become a vessel through which the serious questions are asked.
In a way, this form of journalism is impersonal. I am not taking sides, nor am I jumping to conclusions. I am asking the questions that I know will be asked by my editor, and my readers. I am the only one who can ask these questions.
And I love it when people want their stories to be told. I don't love it as much when I am faced with evasive subjects. But that's the challenge!
Here in Central Oregon, there are so many interesting stories to be told. I am learning to find a variety of viewpoints for every story.

redmond usa

2007-11-30T23:15:00.001-08:00

I grew up in a small affluent town called Danville just 40 miles east of San Francisco and now I live in an even smaller town called Redmond. It's the kind of town most people in Danville would just as soon forget. But it's my home.
Redmond's been known in the past as the fastest growing city in Oregon, but it's not like that really. The scale of growth is probably extraordinary for someone who grew up here, but I think of growth in this small town as a blessing.
It means more restaurants, more bookstores, more interesting people - people already living here probably don't see the need.

Redmond is the big city compared to Prineville or Madras - it's all about perspective, that's all.
But I see something akin to Danville about 17 miles south of Redmond in Bend, which is where is more commonly known to the outside world.
I wonder what people who live in San Francisco or London would think about a place like Redmond. There's not much to do here in the classic, 25 to 35-year old sense of things to do.
There are no museums, people watching places, no places to spend any time or money. But that's okay, because I have neither time nor money.
All I have is my imagination.
Would someone who saw where I lived suppose that I am wasting my life, wasting my time?
I don't know, but I would have to say they would be wrong.
I have lived in some interesting places, like Madison, Wisc., Arcata, Calif., Seattle, Wash and Osaka, Japan. I would like to live somewhere else again someday, but there's nothing wrong with staying in one place for awhile. And while I'm at it, I might as well get to know the place where I live.
Because there are universalities of man that can be discovered and applied to life wherever you go. And Redmond is pretty much an interesting place to be. It's not like there's nothing happening here.
I've always thought I could live anywhere thanks to my ability to read, write and wonder.
What's going to happen in Redmond, Prineville, Madras, Sisters? I think Bend has already taken shape as far as what it wants to be. The same cannot be said for any other Central Oregon city.
My job keeps me busy. I've established a broad net of understanding with Redmond at the center of it all.
Today, I went to Sunriver, yesterday Prineville, Tuesday and Wednesday I spent in Redmond. Monday in Bend. Last Friday in Madras.
It's a holy circle that I believe will eventually make me understand the people of this region better than anyone else.
Redmond is at the geographic center, equidistant to all.
It is the place that most reminds me of the majority of the U.S. - proud of its decency, not too showy, down-to-earth Redmond. There's no pretense here. It's Flag City USA and Tree City USA and the proud supporter of a new Wal-Mart Supercenter all rolled up into one.
There's local excitement brewing up again about the emergence of downtown Redmond, but I'm not sure I'm buying it yet. I mean really, it's great to see a new bookstore, but two?
And how is the reroute going to help downtown businesses other than to take drive through traffic away ?????
That's what i love about owning a house in Redmond. Christ nobody knows how this market is going to play itself out. We could be talking about whether we're in a depression let alone a recession a year from now.
but I will have a firsthand eye on the entirety of the region, not just Bend, during my time here. I will speak face-to-face with merchants in all the cities of Central Oregon, not just one part of it.
And I will see answers to these questions as they happen in the next 12 to 18 months. Because nothing is inevitable. Anything is possible, and likely.

Three books by Cormac McCarthy

2007-11-27T21:44:00.001-08:00

This won't be a politics blog or a sports blog or a culture blog. I don't pretend to have any insider knowledge. I don't live in Washington D.C. I'm not following anything that closely. I don't even have cable television - though that may change here pretty soon.
I'm starting from scratch really. Maybe that's how it's done, by noticing little things that people say or do and posting them on my Blog.
It's about creating a universe, fictional or otherwise, that people find interesting. I do it for myself, but I do it for whoever takes the time to read.....maybe it's something I've read like three books by Cormac McCarthy.
I've always wanted to read McCarthy, but had trouble reading him until I took up The Road. I read the first lines to myself like a father reading directions on medicine for his sick child. After awhile, it became a kind of poetry and I got hooked.
Sometimes we live on the road where forces are conspiring to get us and hunger grows and desperation emerges.
But small moments carry us through the day, maybe it's the connection with a loved one or a piece of fruit.
Not that looked at literally anything in The Road could compare to contemporary America, approaching the end of 2007.
We don't have to scavenge our neighbor's food lockers or eat other people for that matter, although I did think about going down to Costco and buying one of those 2 month supply kits and a shotgun after reading this book.
But there was a different landscape in the book that exists for us in our current world - the human landscape.
The father and son survive unimaginable circumstances in a realistic way. Their dialog is just how a parent and child talk to each other in every day life, but the subject matter is so striking.

I will find some examples::::

Then I read the first of McCarthy's Border Trilogy - All the Pretty Horses.
John Grady Cole is similar to the unnamed father in The Road because both go to places where most people would resort to lesser human forms -like cannibalism- but both refuse to go there.
Not even after he's (spoiler) been kicked around a Mexican jail and denied one last time by his Mexican flame. Cole learns that it doesn't matter whether you get the girl, or get the money, but there's no damn way they can take away your horse. Or your friends' horses, for that matter.
After reading The Road and All the Pretty Horses, I skipped ahead to No Country for Old Men, which recently became an Ethan and Joel Coen Bros. movie, with a screenplay written by another of my favorite Western writers - Larry McMurtry.
I think I got the book pretty well. It's essentially a violent book that doesn't let you get too attached to any one character because they keep getting dead.
His characters go the opposite direction of The Road and All the Pretty Horses - towards the diabolical. There's an undercurrent of pure evil that has taken over in this book. Maybe the aging sheriff is the last one that can save it. Maybe he's too late.
I found the sheriff's voice-over narration (in the book) annoying. Overall, a good read that kept the pages turning, but a disappointing ending so much that I skipped a few pages of it.
I read the book thinking about how it could be made into a Coen Bros movie. I'm hoping it's better.

2007-11-27T19:31:00.001-08:00

It's going to be interesting as the election year heats up which aspect of Bush's performance takes greater heat. His dismal handling of the economy - the tax cuts and the drain on the treasury that the war has created - or his impeachable offenses, like his involvement in the Valerie Plame leak case or illegal wiretapping.
People hear Abu Ghraib, Mission Accomplished and Halliburton, and they think of this administration's hubris and incompetence, but when their houses are being repossessed and their credit lines cut off, there could be some chaos in the streets.
That is what has rekindled this Blog. I'm not sure where it will go, but looking ahead to 2008, there is no shortage of material.
There needs to be some accountability for the current regime in Washington D.C., but at least there are voices out there calling for impeachment including Dennis Kucinich and this columnist in today's Seattle Post-Intelligencer. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/340904_focusimpeachment25.html
There are many articles this week were focused on the coming U.S. financial crisis, including:
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/12/bush200712
The president has not driven the United States into a recession during his almost seven years in office. Unemployment stands at a respectable 4.6 percent. But the other side of the ledger groans with distress: a tax code that has become hideously biased in favor of the rich; a national debt that will probably have grown 70 percent by the time this president leaves Washington; a swelling cascade of mortgage defaults; a record near-$850 billion trade deficit; oil prices that are higher than they have ever been; and a dollar so weak that for an American to buy a cup of coffee in London or Paris—or even the Yukon—becomes a venture in high finance.

My thoughts are that regardless of what happens, it looks like 2008 will be an interesting year to watch in the U.S.
Top stories in my opinion that deserve attention - winner of the B.C.S. NCAA football game notwithstanding:
How the election plays out - I mean, could Americans really ever vote another modern-day Republican into national office. I mean really. But you see the attack machine already greasing its wheels, don't you?
How the U.S. economy responds to simultaneous rise in crude oil prices, the collapsing housing market and rising deficit and war costs.
Better question: how will the U.S. consumer respond when no more credit is available and bad debts are called for payment?
Will $4 per gallon gas become a reality and what does it mean? Could it be a good thing?
How will the U.S. dollar fare against the Euro and what will a rise in prices do to the marketplace?
Will there be a surprise attack on Iran to sidestep what could be an impeachment year?
I don't think of anything as inevitable because history is not inevitable. There are forces and responses to those forces, but the Republican Party has taught me that anything is possible and the Democratic Party has taught me that anything (in an election year) can be messed up.

thanksgiving turkeys

2007-11-25T11:49:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving is a strong family holiday in America, and this year has a greater sense of the importance of family and friends as our country languishes under Bush rule.
Turkey time provided some good feastings and football at the homestead, with lots of litluns running around and grownups dancing with glee at the sight of their alma mater's college football victory.

2005-02-05T21:44:00.000-08:00

had an interesting discussion last night with friends at the local McMenamins pub in Bend. We were talking about the 90's cultural phenomenon said Seattle of the 90's with its Microsoft, grunge music and clothing, and tech revolution equated with Chicago of the 1930's, with its big-band era, jazz, and mobsters. We tried to pinpoint the cities that served as focal points for that time period. 60's was San Francisco, 70's we couldn't really identify, but maybe new york with its summer of sam, reggie jackson, and disco era couldn't really be overlooked even though it definately had some problems so did the rest of the nation.

My question: what about now? How will some future generation or us when we're grayer and sadder look back on this time period of the 2000's. someone at the table suggested new york because of the wTc and terrorism, but how do you credit that event with making a city great? Another fella said it was Austin, texas with its cool cultural scene, but no way. Slacker got done in the 90's-we can't say it's changing the nation. I suggested half-jokingly Crawford Texas, but no one really agreed. People did concede that maybe the red states have the upper hand over the blue states in terms of relevance these days, and I know that most of American television is geared towards those states. But, nothing really caught the imagination as being the city that's hip or relevant to our present time.

Then, I realized-there's a place out there that's beyond a place. it's not limited to where people are at physically, and maybe this is the beginning of the spiritual revolution-it's called the internet. People often inhabit these forums called blogs when they want to meet, see others, and express themselves unabashed. tonight, it's saturday night, and where am I? Not in the bars squashing another beer and saying all the wrong things, but online, communicating with my peers of myself, me, and I in a forum that i control. It's safe here-there's no terrorists online, and there's no rejection (other than silence).

that's my thought on where it's at right now. You can be anywhere in the world to enjoy it. All you need is a modem and a mouse. That's how we'll look back on this decade. Sorry Crawford.

The State of Our Nation

2005-02-05T18:42:00.000-08:00

Imperfect Union V: After watching Bush's State of the Union Address on CNN and MSNBC (and untold other networks), an unassuming viewer may have thought Republicans were the only party present for Bush's State of the Union. That's because the TV cameras focused almost exclusively on the Republican side of the aisle, rendering Democrats virtually invisible. When Bush invoked an imaginary Social Security crisis, you could hear, but not see, the Democrats boo, whereas the GOP and their obnoxious stained-ink fingers were visible after every applause. Surely this isn't indicative of the media's acquiescence to Republican Washington? www.thenation.com

The Nation has it right. How the hell did our nation's media get so cowed by the Republican right wing? I could not watch the State of the Union. In fact, i fell asleep, not because i was tired but sick of the obnoxious and in your face cheering that pervaded the event. Not a pretty site for America. But, hey, we're all happy when an Iraqi woman and the parents of a deceased marine can hug for the cameras. It's called made-for-television.

Other thoughts on the state of the union. Isn't it pathetic that John Edwards continues his election campaign, making speeches for his eventual run for president in 2008? Why doesn't he do something in the legislature? Oops, I think Dick Cheney just inhabited my brain. Sorry.

On CNN yesterday, pretty interesting feature on the Ethnic Studies professor at University of Colorado, under fire for his comments about the 9/11 attacks. Interviewed by paula zahn, he basically said that he believed the 'technocrats' in the WTC had it coming because they were part of the machine that inflicted the same misery and pain around the world as part of the American economic machine. I cannot agree with him on this point, but saying it does help us understand the terrorists' mindset, right? he should be welcomed to express his viewpoints in a free society, right???

Well, maybe not. Zahn apparently got pissed off about this, because she continued to interrupt him and put words in his mouth, concluding the interview by distoring some comments about what he would do if he got fired (he would challenge it) into a threat on the university that they'd better not fire him. What a crock of shit!

She's working for the dark side, and the scariest thing about it-this is not Fox News Corp., but CNN. I'm glad that they aired the segment and overall, it was pretty good, but Zahn's use of the families as victims and her apparent inability to understand his points were just criminal because you can see CNN heading in the direction of attack journalism just like Fox.

mlk--b-day

2005-01-16T01:38:00.000-08:00

"History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people." Martin Luther King, Jr. who could have turned 76 today.

Save Social Security!!!

2005-01-16T01:23:00.000-08:00

it's cold outside. frozen ice on the windshield cold. i wish it would snow or something just to give the cold some reason for being so damn cold.

anyway, there's lots going on these days worthy of a post. it would be interesting to comment on politics, but that leads to a heart of darkness. The further down the river we go, the worse it gets until we realize what our president stands for and even worse, his followers. i am not sure i want to travel down that road without some mild halleucinagenics. But, seriously, does anyone really believe that he's "saving social security" for anyone but the corporate interests? IE--the banks, oil companies and others who would benefit from "safe" investments. there's no doubt in my mind that there are worse problems in our society right now than social security, but it's one of those problems that annoys the rich because it's such a large government program and they want to raid it and dismantle it so that there's nothing greater than themselves.

It took a major financial collapse and a world war to create some of the social programs that exist today. Once the Republican leaders have their way, it will take something along the same lines to ever achieve social equity. But, I'm afraid that it might not be that easy. Just pray to God that when it happens, there's finally some sense in this world and someone else in power to handle the coming crisis...

new years stuff

2005-01-01T16:49:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone. There's many ways to celebrate this day, and I'm trying to incorporate all of them. first, there's football. If you don't like football, there's good food and an excuse to drink beer during the day. There's also some good television (Beverly Hills Cop-still can't get over Eddie Murphy's laugh), grey weather (the paper promises snow today), and food at the folks. Also took time to read the paper and make myself a lunch out of cans-canned ravioli, canned split pea soup, and well, bottled beer from Deschutes Brewery. Lovely.

I also had the opportunity to do some yoga today and that counts as my physical activity as much as anything else. It's too damned cold out there and the early night fall makes TV, eats, and the internet the best way to spend my time. Maybe I'm just lazy-not nursing a hangover either. Pretty much stayed sober last night except for a few drinks with girlfriend's parents and a Mike's Hard Lemonade around midnight. Went downtown but the lines into clubs were long and what's the point, really? I repeat, too damned cold for being out of doors.

Today's yoga class we turned up the Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and other yoga-esque tunes and played around a little. Upon Shivasana, or relaxation at the end of class, Michael the teacher asked us to maybe think about what parts of our 2004 we want to leave behind and what we want to happen in 2005. For me, I stayed in that meditative posture for a good long time.

It's pretty interesting to reflect back on the year that's been and try to remember what things you were thinking at this same time last year.

Twisted response to Tsunami from TBN

2004-12-29T17:58:00.000-08:00

They call themselves TBN-the Trinity Broadcasting Network-and they've managed to take over one of my channels on the cable network with an apocolyptic message that's preaching doom and gloom at every turn. Their message? The tsunami hit the beaches of Phuket, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka because these are lands "ripe with sin." As the mustachioed fellow's voice preaches a last days testimony to the world and looks for signs that the end of the world is near, the camera turns to shots of foreign tourists in Phuket, carrying away bodies. How convenient when a massive tsunami kills thousands of Muslims in a non-U.S. economic sphere of the world. My letter to their comments section reads as follows:

Dear Sir:

How dare you sit in your studio with pictures of the death and devastation calling the earthquakes that leveled villages, killed thousands of children, and tore apart families an area "ripe with sin." It speaks to your tremendous ignorance of the world outside your bible-preaching ways that you could take this terrible tragedy and use it to spread your proselytizing and moralizing upon the rest of the world. This is a sick and debased message--it is not the message of Christ that you spread, but the message of the diabolical. Rethink, because you are wrong.

Regards,

JM

Asian Tsunami

2004-12-29T10:44:00.000-08:00

In 2003, just as the American troops were storming into Bagdhad, I rested peacefully on the beaches of Phuket and Phi Phi Islands, just off the southern coast of Thailand. Little did I know at the time and little did the villagers know that their worldly paradise at the end of 2004 would be wrought with destruction. Sad to think of it but we live on a precarious position as fragile humans suceptible to earth's destructive nature. so many people died in this terrible event that we cannot help but think that their history will be changed forever.

holiday shopping

2004-11-23T21:43:00.000-08:00

since the last post, I've been writing business news for a local bi-weekly paper. Here's the link. www.cascadebusnews.com. My column's called the city desk. Also write lots of feature columns and new business stories here in Bend, OR.

There's lots going on these days, especially in sports. the Ron Artest story appears to have caught a hold on our airwaves recently-I don't really have anything interesting to say other than anything I say will probably be a collection of thoughts that I've heard on the radio or on the tele. Probably best to give these guys less attention.

I'm promoting a no-buy Christmas idea. I don't think anyone's buying it, but i really don't have it in me to go buying gifts for people this year. Maybe I'll make them something. Maybe not. I don't have the money either.

Why support GW Bush's reelection with his edict to go shopping? There's also a war going on which I don't support but where's the sacrifice that we need? also just watched bad santa, which in my mind qualifies as a genuine christmas movie.

anyone with me???

m's owners.

2004-08-29T21:46:00.000-07:00

I swear that the mariners are trying to sell the team... trade off all their high priced talent, bring up the rookies, but keep a public face of still being good to the community-keep the value of the team high...sell high, high, high!!!! Or just cheapen things a little until that nasty stadium debt is paid.

a dirty word

2004-08-29T14:38:00.000-07:00

Watching today's Olympic Marathon when Lima the Brazilian leader up to that point suddenly fell under attack by a deranged and defrocked Irish priest, undoubtedly drawing attention to his cause that the world is about to end. No doubt his antics are another sign of the impending apocolyse, but wasn't it more curious to hear the NBC announcer immediately label the man a "protestor?" What brings him to say this word, then later repeat it, with so much confidence? Protesting what? The contibrutions that these marathoners are making to Bush's war effort? Or did his kilt-wearing anti-Brazilian display register as a form of protest--no Brazilian will win this race! he determined... damn protestors.
Interesting race, though. I don't think Lima would have won had the protestor not impeded his course. He was starting to fade a bit and the Italian guy was solid. He does, of course, have a right to protest, but that's such a dirty word. We'll call it appeal, the outcome of the race. Nice work, NBC. Thanks for raising the lunatic's actions up to the level of protest while at the same time lowering the common viewer's regard for real protestors. Looks like you're doing good work for that company that brings good things to life.

'the messiah'

2004-07-17T20:33:00.000-07:00

new nickname for bucky jacobsen, courtesy of dave niehaus, the venerable m's announcer-'the messiah.' i like it. He's #33. mariners fans deserve a saviour. we believe. thanks dave.

saudi link

2004-07-08T23:11:00.000-07:00

Interesting link- http://slate.msn.com/id/2103239/entry/2103433/

Go see it!

2004-07-04T23:56:00.000-07:00

Watched Fahrenheit 9/11 last night, and although I take a skeptical take on Michael Moore's outlook on things, I strongly recommend this film because it makes both Bush Junior and Papa Bush look pretty darn silly. It's pretty amazing to think about, but it's been twelve years since we saw the last President Bush make a desperate, unsuccessful attempt to keep his job. Now, perhaps we're seeing another one. I first realized to myself during the 1992 election-it was my first year in college when I experienced one of my early political awakenings- that George Bush the President as we knew him did not really exist. He just didn't seem real, especially compared with Bill Clinton, who could play the sax and relate to us on the tube more than his opponent. I never viewed the elder George Bush as really anything but a plastic politician, but this film suggests that behind the veneer of his nervous politiking lies something much more nefarious and self-serving, a relationship with a government that literally gave birth to America's foremost enemy, Osama bin Laden, and other terrorists.

The film documents the family's Saudi connections and suggests a greater loyalty with the billionaire investors supporting the Carlsyle Group than with the United States of America. It's an interesting conclusion largely supported by interviews with the author of the House of Bush The House of Saud. It's good to take it at face value and ignore some of Moore's off camera wanderings; he's been forever discredited in my opinion as an arbiter of good taste by his sad portrayal of Charlton Heston in B for C. However, these are pretty desperate times and we need a filmmaker like Moore to remove the smokescreen that clouds people's vision and makes people defend Bush as a champion of American values. According to this film, Bush Sr. and Jr. both represent themselves and their investors, not America-it's the main thrust of the film in my opinion, and the part that resonated for me is the camera shot of George Senior conmingling with the Saudis. God, and they called Clinton Slick Willy. A name, perhaps more appropriate for the kings of the oil slick.

Maybe it will change people's minds. I don't know. We can only hope and work our best to make others see it.

9/11 cont.

2004-06-30T09:18:00.000-07:00

Success!!! Thanks Regal. Fahrenheit 911 is now playing in a local theatre. Now, I'd like to know what prompted this decision as last week the theatre did disclose when or if it would screen this movie. Was it the letters that people wrote or the strength of the movie's box office success? I believe it was the latter, and that's a good sign that this movie will have a tremendous impact on the 2004 election. Michael Moore, love im or hate im, he's changed the way people view their leaders. Now, everyone, go out and see the movie!

Fahrenheit 911-letter to regal

2004-06-27T13:27:00.000-07:00

Regal CineMedia Corp.
9110 East Nichols Avenue, Suite 200
Centennial, CO 80112

Phone: 303-792-3600
Fax: 865-922-3188

Dear Sir or Madam:

I am writing this letter as a patron of Regal Cinemas and as a concerned citizen to ask that Regal Cinemas release Fahrenheit 9/11 in {insert town or city here} as soon as possible. For months, I, along with a large segment of my community, have anticipated the June 25th release of this important documentary. When I learned that Regal Cinemas did not schedule a release date for my community cinema, I was greatly disappointed.

Fahrenheit 9/11, whether you agree with its message or not, is a landmark film. All Americans were impacted by the events of September 11, 2001-and a movie which won the Golden Palms Award for Best Film at the Cannes Festival deserves a wide release. It is critical that members of our community, who were all impacted by 9/11, be given access to the movie without having to drive a couple of hundred miles or wait for the DVD.

In closing, I congratulate Regal Cinemas for having the courage to screen the movie in several theatres across the country and I urge you to bring it to my community as soon as possible. Please make this film available so that we have the choice to either watch it or not; do not abrogate our freedom of choice.

Sincerely,

{ }

cc:
dgurin@regalcinemas.com
mcampbell@regalcinemas.com
amiles@regalcinemas.com
gdunn@regalcinemas.com
pbrandow@regalcinemas.com
barry.brown@regalcinemas.com
rwinograd@regalcinemas.com
robbya@regalcinemas.com
kevink@regalcinemas.com
ddelaria@regalcinemas.com

fahrenheit 9/11

2004-06-25T11:57:00.000-07:00

lots to blog. sorry, everyone, i've been on hiatus. Go see Fahrenheit 9/11 if it's in your town. It's not in mine. My next post will be a letter demanding Regal Cinemas to provide its release in my town...

magic, larry, and michael

2004-06-09T14:25:00.000-07:00

"The one thing that always bothered me when I played in the NBA was I really got irritated when they put a white guy on me," Bird said. "I still don't understand why. A white guy would come out (and) I would always ask him: 'What, do you have a problem with your coach? Did your coach do this to you?' And he'd go, 'No,' and I'd say, 'Come on, you got a white guy coming out here to guard me; you got no chance.' For some reason, that always bothered me when I was playing against a white guy."

-Larry Bird

First of all, I am a white guy and I'm somewhat miffed at being compared to 'cannon fodder' by Larry the Legend. His comments are probably true. He knows the game first from the perspective of 'The Great White Hope;' second, as an NBA executive Bird makes decisions on hiring and firing (ask Isaiah Thomas) and player personnel, that determines who comes into the league and who goes. He has a broader perspective than he did as an NBA player. His comments reflect an honest assessment of what's out there (mainly black athletes, many from high school)and what's not (white athletes); however, he shouldn't be looking for 'white guys' to fill his former role, he should be looking for the best possible players regardless of race. In no other business would his comments be considered acceptable.

Probably the most offensive part of the interview taking place in the same gym as the filming of 'Hoosiers-' comes when he says that the white corporate audience won't watch the black athletes play. We need to look at these comments closely if we are to measure what he's saying as racist, plain arrogant, or true. I don't think he's racist. It's obvious that Bird respects the black athlete. Interestingly though, he doesn't respect the white athlete. His comments may be true in the absence of great white players (exception: players from Europe, but he comes across as arrogant when he claims that 'white corporate America' wants to support another 'Great White Hope,' just as it supported him during his career. He's saying what many executives would never say, and what only Larry Bird could say-we need white superstars if we are going to stay interested, and he says this in the presence of Magic Johnson along with Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James, two black athletes who draw the most comparisons to Larry and Magic of this generation.

Bird's comments might rankle some, but I also think that Magic's knee-slapping laughter comes across as insincere. After Bird makes his statement, you get the sense that Magic makes his remarks about "comments made in barber shops" to both appease what Larry is saying and to project his Afro-American friendly image to his target audience. This also works for Magic in the eyes of the white audience, because he's able to soften things for us while maintaining ties to his black community. Whereas Larry feeds from the corporate trough of 'white corporate America,' Magic at least pretends to come from more home-style roots. But, I'd say that Magic has at least come as far within the same system by agreeing with Larry Legend and his ilk as Larry has gone by being lock-step with it.

Makes me yearn for Michael Jordan, who at least wouldn't pretend that he's critical of the system (ala Bird), or that he's somehow apart from the system (yes, Magic), but instead projects the image of his magnificent bust upon the face of corporate America. While Magic and Bird were perfect opposites, quiet and loud, slow and fast, Michael never really had an opposite, someone who could challenge him. His success (6 NBA titles) gave him complete dominance, and doesn't need to make any apologies- by being himself, we forget about race, and remember him for his greatness. Carmelo and LeBron, again two opposites, how will we remember them?

M's win! 5-4

2004-06-06T20:37:00.000-07:00

Finally, a game that leaves Mariners fans (especially me) feeling happy. Maybe I'm just used to listening to the homers praising the efforts or the attitude of the home nine, but I'm a bit shocked to hear the nationals skewering every one of the Mariners' lineup except Ichiro! for a collective slump that borders on malaise. It's just not something that Dave Niehaus et al. are willing to delve into, at least on the radio broadcast. I can't help but notice that Bret Boone looks smaller than he did last year. It makes me wonder if maybe the newly enforced steroid policy taking effect before the season has shrunken his bulk at the expense of his former gaudy stats.

This game leave me feeling good for the moment when my former high school classmate, Randy Winn, plays a significant part in tonight's win. He gets four hits, including his first home run, knocks in Ichiro! with a double in the 9th, then gambles successfully by stealing third on a 3-2 pitch walk to John Olerud, then scores on Boone's single to right. It was a great game by Winnbo; maybe the move back to left field took off some of the pressure that came from playing in Mike Cameron's shadow.

The win breaks up some of the dark clouds and vultures surrounding this team in its most dismal season in some Mariner's fans memory, but it does not change my opinion that management needs to break up this team. Basketball legend and Mariners fan Bill Russell appears in an interview with the ESPN team, and suggests that they are turning the proverbial corner. I disagree. There are far too many corners for this team to turn, and not enough horses to take the team back into contention. There is some hope for this season, however, in that the Angels and A's are not doing as well as expected, and I think that the Mariners can draw closer with continued shake-up of the team. Moving Randy Winn to leftfield (although done for purely practical reasons, as Ibanez gets hurt), bringing up some triple-A talent, and making shrewd deals for talent that can help us win now; these are moves that i want to see Bavasi making.

So, I'm not completely pessimistic about the Mariner's chances for the rest of the season. I just think that they need to blow up or restructure the team as in currently stands in order to turn this abomination into a respectable finish.

He did a 'superb' job

2004-06-03T10:10:00.000-07:00

Bush's statement to the press this morning from the Rose Garden conjured the image of the bad sheriff who allows a corrupt band of outlaws to run wild over the poor country folk in a saucy 1950's western.

It's a bucolic scene with birds chirping in the background. He speaks slowly, with a measured tone, but sounds defiant because he's talking to the press. For many people, this marks Bush as a 'straight shooter.' For me, it marks an incredible lack of eloquence.

When he says that Tenet did 'a superb job,' I think to myself, didn't he say that Rumsfeld did 'a superb job' too? To quote the immortal words of Inigo Montoya,

"You keep using that word. I do not think you know what it means."

Maybe this applies to Bush as well. Yeah, he's doing a superb job. But, then again, who's writing the performance reviews?

Democracy in Porltand

2004-06-01T12:19:00.000-07:00

(written in early May)
To vote online for our favorite American Idol or live vicariously through cast members as they vote for and against each other on the Survivor series; these actions indicate signs of a thriving Democracy, right? Well, not exactly. But, in a climate where Americans, myself included, sit back and expect the worst from our leaders, how can we expect things to change? The answer occurred to me last weekend as I took to the streets along with about 600 other concerned Oregon residents to form part of a nation-wide effort coordinated by America Votes to register voters for the upcoming November 2004 election.

Rain began to fall as I approached the packed Labor Hall in industrial Portland. The first speaker praised the rain, as it would assuredly heighten people’s sympathy for the volunteers who walked from door-to-door, and directly increase their willingness to register. The speakers were diverse, ranging from Pro-Choice leaders to the President of Portland’s AFL-CIO labor union, Timothy Nesbitt, to Peter Schumann, the founder of the now-powerful grassroots organization, Move-On.org, who wanted us to “just look around and see for ourselves what we were a part of,” to Arianna Huffington, who I remembered as being the author with wacky ideas and too-conservative candidate running for California Governor, who now had seemingly gone the other way. All these radical people in one room, trying to motivate its flock of volunteers to get out there and ‘make history.’ But, the most powerful motivator proved to be the Radical Cheerleaders, a national group that led such cheers as, “We're sexy, we're cute and radical to boot!” They danced, they sang, and they inspired. We took to the streets feeling a part of something and ready to make a difference.

Getting people to register to vote in May? Cynics might argue that it’s still a little too early to start hitting the streets, especially when we’re still in the middle of the Network’s Sweeps Season. But this year is different. Maybe it’s the war, or the recent revelations about prisoner abuse in Abu Ghraib, but things are heating up. The Internet makes possible the events that took place on Saturday, where several organizations, including Move-On.org, rallied its members to turn out across the country. Ever since the Howard Dean campaign demonstrated the power of grassroots organizers to excite and stimulate followers, we have seen an effort made by groups such as America Votes to coordinate all grass-roots groups with a common goal-to get out the vote or to ‘get that Bush guy out of office.’ Perhaps that was Dean’s problem. He had the right idea, but he didn’t have the numbers.

I tried not to act like a door-to-door salesman, or a religious proselytizer, who needed to convert as many non-believers to my cause of voting as possible. Instead, I took the even-handed approach; people have to make their own decisions about voting. I’m not going to push them. The first house that I approached, an older woman answered the door. Even though the trainers had told me not to accept invitations, she invited me in and I accepted. It was mid-afternoon, but her house appeared darker than it was outside. A TV dinner lay uneaten on a tray; a television game show announced it was time for the next contestant. The woman wanted to get involved, but she didn’t look like the typical activist. I told her how easy it was. I gave her a few web addresses, had her fill in a form. She thanked me, gave me her daughter’s address down the street and asked me to visit her as well, and let me out the door. It was obvious that this personal connection had done something for her, brought her something that couldn’t be found on the television, or the internet-the power of grassroots organizing. It had done something for me as well.

It had given me a taste of real Democracy.

Divisive Politics in US

2004-05-27T12:51:00.000-07:00

In a perfect blog, there would be something for everybody-a community where everyone is welcome, from the sports freaks and NASCAR dads to the news junkies and soccer moms. But, we live in an increasingly sectarian society with political parties split down the middle, where one side cannot really even understand the other. Perhaps this is what our Founding Fathers feared when they warned that the most dangerous element in a 'free' society is the prevalence of factions. Now, politicians are using these factions to their own political advantage, and dividing the people along the way. Perhaps the notion of community itself is an illusion in a 'free society.'

I'd like to think that my blog is open to anyone out there with a web browser and a little time on his or her hands. But, I know that's not exactly realistic considering the tastes of people out there. Part of what's exciting about following the political race or being a part of one is seeing which candidate can attract the greatest cross section of society into his camp. The politician who uses this factor to unite people from different sections of society wins my vote, but mostly politicians use this to divide people and turn them against each other.

Our culture is geared towards hooking and maintaining an audience. Television, radio, and print media know how to create communities of viewers, listeners, and readers and market their product to gain customer loyalty. Our viewing, listening, and reading habits dictate who we are, and most of these habits are shaped by our age, education level, and geography. We are becoming so polarized as a nation that someone who grew up in one of George W. Bush's "Red" states probably cannot understsand or relate to someone who spent much time listening to NPR or does much reading on thenation.com website. For those people, the right has done a pretty good job portraying these "liberals" as absent any deep moral convictions and "traitors" to our country's values. By comparison, we are used to reading that all Republicans and "right-wingers" are religious nuts and extremists. I am almost certain that this is not true, but it helps the dominant voice in one particular market to brand its name apart from the other. Grouping one group against the other is good advertising.

Is it too much to expect that we can all meet on a blog and share different opinions and ideas without casting ourselves all in the same cloth? The media spin on politics ranging from the occupation of Iraq to the 2004 election campaign is so fixed and frozen in one place. Only through dialogue can we share ideas and create new and fresh perspectives on the world and perhaps create a new political party outside the mainstream Dems and Republicans. Just a thought, but we have to start getting smarter as a nation and stop letting the media define the issues for us. We need to come together as a people and demand that leaders represent us instead of divide us.

I would love to talk or share ideas with a "Republican" not to change his or her ideas but to understand where they are coming from. It's not the politicians that will improve our lives, they are used to using politics to divide us. It's we the people that have to overcome our differences and create a better society.

Please feel free to comment.

prison torture

2004-05-24T11:36:00.000-07:00

The prison torture cases being reported around the world strikes at the heart of what it means to be an American. We celebrate the warrior accomplishments of the men and women of this country from WWII to the present day on Memorial Day. Those men and women who died for our country and those who lived believed and still believe that America stands for protection from this kind of treatment. We dishonor the service of those Americans and ourselves when we allow this kind of injustice to represent America in the eyes of the world.

First posting-Why Blog? 30th birthday and other matters

2004-05-22T09:38:00.000-07:00

'A blog is just one's thoughts written daily into a public forum' But, who's gonna read this stuff anyway? I thought to myself as I surmised the first line of my new blog. Hey, I can do this. I've written a journal most of my life, but as I've grown more accustomed to the digital world and less inclined towards pen and paper, I figured that writing a blog would be a better use of time than surfing the net and reading other people's blogs. It's the practical, but also soul-saving, thing to do. Also, it's my 30th birthday today, and to ensure my life's adventures are recorded for posterity...no, nothing that serious.

There's something about turning thirty that I haven't felt at other birthdays, maybe expectations are increasing and i know that i cannot sit around and be lazy. As my 35 year-old not so much older brother, writer, and fellow Mariner supporter said to me, 'you've gotta use every minute of the day Jeff' and I responded with the usual twenties era defensiveness. But, he's right. Soon, it's gonna happen-I will reach the half-way point of this life's journey (about 35 by Dante's standards)translated into modern English as the 'productive years of my life' and I wanna be ready.

It's kind of my baby, because while anyone can and will become a parent, it's the same with blogging...anyone can and will start a blog. I just want to do it well and maybe someday get noticed. No, I don't expect any awards like 'Blogger of the Year' or any crap like that. What parent rears his child with expectations for others to congratulate him on a 'job well done?' It's a pretty thankless job, but then again, so are most jobs of any value in our society.

So, please be patient Dear Reader, as I develop my style and confidence on this forum. I promise to pursue quality of writing above all and work towards improvement every day if possible. Of course, your happiness and occasional acknowledgement of my work, whether it be critical, praising, or suggestive does matter to me and I would like to hear your comments. Please feel free to drop me a line when you feel so inclined. Thanks. Jeff