Good morning folks. It looks like another pretty day in Oregon. The temperature has finally dropped to a more comfortable level, at least for me, and I am enjoying it. Right now I am enjoying by typing this blog, watching Community on Hulu which I love. One of the things that I like doing when the weather is nice is to either read or work on the computer with the windows open and the fresh air coming. Do not believe those laptop commercials on television!! I know from experience that it is next to impossible to work on a laptop outdoors.
Oh, sure they want you to think you can take your work out to the park. But, that just isn't true. I am not sure why the marketing people behind these commercials seem to think of this as a selling point. For me the selling point is the ability to go someplace and have a cup of coffee or tea and do your work there. I think people refer to these places as coffee shops. But, anyway I just do not think that working outdoors on a computer is that big of a deal. If I wanted to work outdoors I would be a lumberjack.
Now, that would be fun. I would stride around my mountain top wearing my red checkered flannel and my orange suspenders. I would sing jaunty logging songs to myself as I cut down trees and cleared my land. Then, after putting in a hard days labor I would return to my cabin, hang up my double-headed axe, and sit down to a hearty dinner. But, wait, why is my half-wolf and half-mastiff dog Goliath barking. I better check my security cameras. Oh, I see it is a black sedan probably government agents coming to drag me back in. Damn it!! I left that life behind me when they left me to die on a hillside in Vietnam. I won't go back to it. I am a logger now. The only person I answer to is Mother Nature she tells me what trees to cut down.
I begin each climbing up onto the roof of my cabin, that I built from fallen logs, and I take an air bath. There I listen as Mother Nature whispers to me of which one of my tree brothers needs to be culled from the group. The weak and the sickly, the ones that are holding back the strong from rising up. These are the ones that must be cut down. They must be toppled so that their brothers can grow strong and tall. That is what will continue to make tree society safe.
I shall now retreat to my bunker so that the government agents do bot bother me. If you need me please leave a message with Mother Earth I will receive it upon her winds.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Wednesday
I realize that I normally do not use this blog to trumpet what I do for work but I felt like I had to share this and this seemed to be the easiest way for me to do so.
This is from an article on Oregon live that I have linked in the title
"Attorney Ross Day, the executive director of Common Sense, also runs the petitioning outfit set up by the group. And he proudly noted that their measure - which would establish a non-partisan process for redrawing legislative district lines - had a high validity rate of 80 percent.
That's the highest rate of any initiative so far this year - and one of the highest in the last 12 years. My colleague, Kim Melton, compiled the validity rates stretching back to 1998 and found that it is well above the average rate of 73 percent. And it's a better validity rate than many initiatives from back before tougher petitioning laws were approved by the Legislature in 2007 and 2009."
The section that I put in bold is the key 80% validity!! This is huge and something as the article said that hasn't been done in the last twelve years. I wanted to post this because this is what I have been doing for the last year.
Now, for myself, all politics aside in the case of citizen initiatives, I do not care if it is a liberal or conservative issue. I care if Oregon voters get to have a choice or a vote on the issue. Now, it is true that I may not agree with the end result of the choice or I may not agree with where all of the funding is coming from for some of the issues that are moving around the state. But I think one of the things that makes Oregon a special state is the fact that we have this process. It, I think, makes us a better state then most of the states in the country.
But, what I am most excited about is the fact that we at Vote Oregon have been working to make sure that we run a clean system. There is a reason why our validity rate is the highest in the state. The biggest reason is my friend Travis and how important it is to him that we are a company that has integrity. He pushes this to the employees and they know that this is important. I believe that we could have gotten more total signatures had we wanted to cut corners like some other companies. But in the end that would not have benefited anyone and would have been, in my opinion, immoral. That is one of the things that I like most about doing this kind of work. I feel like I like it even more because in the past integrity was not a word that you heard with the petition process. I honestly feel like given time we can change how people think about the process and we can make it be the tool that it supposed to be and we can help people forget about the dark years when special interests and fraud seemed to dominate the process.
That isn't to say that everyone in the business runs as clean as we do because they do not. There is a reason why other firms had such low validity rates and did not qualify. I am totally confident that if someone wants an issue on the ballot in Oregon and they come to us with enough time and money we can get in on the ballot and we can do it clean and correctly with a high, high validity rate. This has been proven by the last few campaigns I have been involved in. I am hoping this will continue.
This is from an article on Oregon live that I have linked in the title
"Attorney Ross Day, the executive director of Common Sense, also runs the petitioning outfit set up by the group. And he proudly noted that their measure - which would establish a non-partisan process for redrawing legislative district lines - had a high validity rate of 80 percent.
That's the highest rate of any initiative so far this year - and one of the highest in the last 12 years. My colleague, Kim Melton, compiled the validity rates stretching back to 1998 and found that it is well above the average rate of 73 percent. And it's a better validity rate than many initiatives from back before tougher petitioning laws were approved by the Legislature in 2007 and 2009."
The section that I put in bold is the key 80% validity!! This is huge and something as the article said that hasn't been done in the last twelve years. I wanted to post this because this is what I have been doing for the last year.
Now, for myself, all politics aside in the case of citizen initiatives, I do not care if it is a liberal or conservative issue. I care if Oregon voters get to have a choice or a vote on the issue. Now, it is true that I may not agree with the end result of the choice or I may not agree with where all of the funding is coming from for some of the issues that are moving around the state. But I think one of the things that makes Oregon a special state is the fact that we have this process. It, I think, makes us a better state then most of the states in the country.
But, what I am most excited about is the fact that we at Vote Oregon have been working to make sure that we run a clean system. There is a reason why our validity rate is the highest in the state. The biggest reason is my friend Travis and how important it is to him that we are a company that has integrity. He pushes this to the employees and they know that this is important. I believe that we could have gotten more total signatures had we wanted to cut corners like some other companies. But in the end that would not have benefited anyone and would have been, in my opinion, immoral. That is one of the things that I like most about doing this kind of work. I feel like I like it even more because in the past integrity was not a word that you heard with the petition process. I honestly feel like given time we can change how people think about the process and we can make it be the tool that it supposed to be and we can help people forget about the dark years when special interests and fraud seemed to dominate the process.
That isn't to say that everyone in the business runs as clean as we do because they do not. There is a reason why other firms had such low validity rates and did not qualify. I am totally confident that if someone wants an issue on the ballot in Oregon and they come to us with enough time and money we can get in on the ballot and we can do it clean and correctly with a high, high validity rate. This has been proven by the last few campaigns I have been involved in. I am hoping this will continue.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Tuesday
Good morning folks. I hope you had a good day yesterday. I did not do a whole lot. One thing I did do was look into lowering the cost of my cable/internet bill. Now there were a few ways that I could do it. I could cancel one or two things and lower the price by $10 or so a month. Or I could lose Showtime(not a problem) and add Starz and a land line. Thus saving close to $40 a month. "Excuse me!"
I am adding a service that I do not need because I have a cell phone and that is going to drop my cost despite the fact that I am never going to use it and in fact I will never have a phone hooked up to the phone line. I was a little surprised, in fact, as I write this I have the internet and the cable but I have not even called and activated the phone. I have the correct modem for when and if I ever get a land line but I do not think that is ever going to happen.
On a plus side. Comcast was easy to deal with both on the phone and in person despite the ludicrous nature of the deal involved. So that was a good thing. It is interesting for me to note that I have seen Comcast evolve from a company that was extremely hard to deal with, to a company that due to the competition basically that the Internet and satellite television represents has become pretty accommodating. I really enjoyed their High Definition television signal during the World Cup. The quality of the picture was incredible. I am looking forward to the beginning of American Football to see if the picture is a nice.
Well that is all for today. I am thinking about heading out to Cascade Gateway park and playing a little disc golf. Catch you later.
I am adding a service that I do not need because I have a cell phone and that is going to drop my cost despite the fact that I am never going to use it and in fact I will never have a phone hooked up to the phone line. I was a little surprised, in fact, as I write this I have the internet and the cable but I have not even called and activated the phone. I have the correct modem for when and if I ever get a land line but I do not think that is ever going to happen.
On a plus side. Comcast was easy to deal with both on the phone and in person despite the ludicrous nature of the deal involved. So that was a good thing. It is interesting for me to note that I have seen Comcast evolve from a company that was extremely hard to deal with, to a company that due to the competition basically that the Internet and satellite television represents has become pretty accommodating. I really enjoyed their High Definition television signal during the World Cup. The quality of the picture was incredible. I am looking forward to the beginning of American Football to see if the picture is a nice.
Well that is all for today. I am thinking about heading out to Cascade Gateway park and playing a little disc golf. Catch you later.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Monday
Well I realized that my break from blogging really became quite an extended one. I did not mean for that to happen. But, I think, as I have mentioned before that often what fuels my blogging is me being righteously indignant about something and I just have not been feeling all that worked up. I suppose that is a good thing. I think it is good for my blood pressure at least.
I am on my vacation this week basically so I am going to try to stay busy writing and I hope that means I can do some stuff on here that may be topical and news related with out me ranting away about something though there are no guarantees. What is funny to me is that having said that I do not feel like I have anything to add to that right now. I may try to look up some experimental writing techniques just to see what they are like and if I am able to do them. So stay tuned dear readers I hope I can actually do some work on this during the week.
I am on my vacation this week basically so I am going to try to stay busy writing and I hope that means I can do some stuff on here that may be topical and news related with out me ranting away about something though there are no guarantees. What is funny to me is that having said that I do not feel like I have anything to add to that right now. I may try to look up some experimental writing techniques just to see what they are like and if I am able to do them. So stay tuned dear readers I hope I can actually do some work on this during the week.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Thursday (Film as Life)
I am going to try to do some writing late on Wednesday night since I do not feel all that sleepy. I am not sure why. I did go to bed very early one night this week and I think I may have filled up my reserves due to that. But what I wanted to write about was a movie that I finished watching today. You see I go out in to the garage everyday after work and I sit there for anywhere from 1 to 3 hours. No, I am not meditating, what I do is take care of my two Ferrets. I get them out of their cage and clean it and feed them and play with them for a little bit. What I also do is sit and relax and often if I am not reading I will watch a movie on my laptop from my vast collection of DVD's. So I thought why not use this as an opportunity to let my readers know what kind of films I like and why I like them.
This week I have watched just one film and that was Cameron Crowes Almost Famous now he wrote and directed this film. It is basically a loose autobiography of when he was a teen aged writer for Rolling Stone magazine. This is also a very dramatized version of his first tour experience I believe with the Allman Brothers. Now, I enjoyed the movie in the theaters but when it was released on DVD it was released in a directors cut bootleg version that is 162 minutes long. So I often watch it in a couple of sittings. Not because it bores me because it does not. But I just like to use my time a little better then sitting through a movie that long in one sitting.
I love music. I love movies. When I was younger I worked in a movie theater and I gave serious thought to attending film school. That dream never came true but I still love a good film. (Or even a bad film, I.E. Con Air) But, this movie tied it all together for me. It had music and film and I am a sucker for a good movie that can blend the two. I feel like it is very important for a movie to have the right combination of the two because the wrong music can absolutely destroy a film and the right music can take that film to a completely different plane. I realize that not everyone feels this way and I may be guilty of liking some lower quality films just because I enjoy the music that it is surrounded by. Often if I have enjoyed a film I will also buy the soundtrack because listening to that will often take me back to the place I was when I first enjoyed that film.
I just realized that I have gone on for quite some time just giving you the background of why I like movies and music together so I think I am going to stop here and I will discuss more about Almost Famous on Friday. If any of you who read this think this approach is going to be interesting please let me know. I always like some feed back. Or even if you have some films you might think I would like please feel free to tell me about them.
So I will talk to you on Friday about Almost Famous . I do not know about you but I am looking forward to it.
This week I have watched just one film and that was Cameron Crowes Almost Famous now he wrote and directed this film. It is basically a loose autobiography of when he was a teen aged writer for Rolling Stone magazine. This is also a very dramatized version of his first tour experience I believe with the Allman Brothers. Now, I enjoyed the movie in the theaters but when it was released on DVD it was released in a directors cut bootleg version that is 162 minutes long. So I often watch it in a couple of sittings. Not because it bores me because it does not. But I just like to use my time a little better then sitting through a movie that long in one sitting.
I love music. I love movies. When I was younger I worked in a movie theater and I gave serious thought to attending film school. That dream never came true but I still love a good film. (Or even a bad film, I.E. Con Air) But, this movie tied it all together for me. It had music and film and I am a sucker for a good movie that can blend the two. I feel like it is very important for a movie to have the right combination of the two because the wrong music can absolutely destroy a film and the right music can take that film to a completely different plane. I realize that not everyone feels this way and I may be guilty of liking some lower quality films just because I enjoy the music that it is surrounded by. Often if I have enjoyed a film I will also buy the soundtrack because listening to that will often take me back to the place I was when I first enjoyed that film.
I just realized that I have gone on for quite some time just giving you the background of why I like movies and music together so I think I am going to stop here and I will discuss more about Almost Famous on Friday. If any of you who read this think this approach is going to be interesting please let me know. I always like some feed back. Or even if you have some films you might think I would like please feel free to tell me about them.
So I will talk to you on Friday about Almost Famous . I do not know about you but I am looking forward to it.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
7-13-2010 Tuesday
There was an interesting piece this morning on NPR about the Supreme Court this session and all of there rulings. I am going to address it tomorrow. So, you folks get a day off from my rantings. I suggest you use it wisely.
Monday, July 12, 2010
July 12, 2010, Monday
Good morning folks and a happy Monday to you all. I hope you had a good weekend. I had a relaxing one to some degree. I did some running around on Saturday. There was a small birthday get together at some of my friends parents home. That was nice. I have known the family since high school and they have always included me in family functions which I enjoy attending. Following that, I grabbed my friend Nick and we headed up to the Portland Timbers game. They were playing Miami FC and it was a good match. The Timbers managed to hold on to win 2-0 and that always makes for a good time. The evening finished up with a quick trip over the food pod on Hawthorne St. Once there I had my usual Whiffie Fried Pie and I headed over to the Potato Champion cart for some tasty spuds. So the evening was a gastric and sporting success.
Sunday was a nice relaxing day as I watched the World Cup final and worked on my World Cup sticker book. I am nowhere near getting a complete set but it is kind of interesting and keeps me occupied while I am watching television. So overall it was a good weekend and the temperature dropped so that was a plus as well. I do not have any pithy news or political thoughts today other then I noticed that President Obamas people were on the Sunday morning talk shows because he has taken a drop in the polls amongst Independent voters. Well my response to this is "BIG SURPRISE"! This is happening because most of the Independent voters, myself included, actually made the mistake of thinking that he was being serious and honest about being a different kind of politician. That he might actually bring some change to the office.
Well as far as I am concerned what he has done in office and what he is doing is not all that different then what has gone on before. Now I know that some of my more conservative readers will argue that he has brought lots of change and none of it is good. But in my humble opinion I just disagree. I do not think he has brought enough change and it is really business as usual in Washington D.C. and as far as these people being concerned that Obama is turning us into a Socialist nation. Come on!! Take a look at a real Socialist nation a good hard look and you will understand they have not reached that point and I do not think we are ever going to reach that point. The corporate and military interests in this country are to entrenched to ever let that happen.
Well, I guess I did have something to rant about. I hope you have a nice day.
Sunday was a nice relaxing day as I watched the World Cup final and worked on my World Cup sticker book. I am nowhere near getting a complete set but it is kind of interesting and keeps me occupied while I am watching television. So overall it was a good weekend and the temperature dropped so that was a plus as well. I do not have any pithy news or political thoughts today other then I noticed that President Obamas people were on the Sunday morning talk shows because he has taken a drop in the polls amongst Independent voters. Well my response to this is "BIG SURPRISE"! This is happening because most of the Independent voters, myself included, actually made the mistake of thinking that he was being serious and honest about being a different kind of politician. That he might actually bring some change to the office.
Well as far as I am concerned what he has done in office and what he is doing is not all that different then what has gone on before. Now I know that some of my more conservative readers will argue that he has brought lots of change and none of it is good. But in my humble opinion I just disagree. I do not think he has brought enough change and it is really business as usual in Washington D.C. and as far as these people being concerned that Obama is turning us into a Socialist nation. Come on!! Take a look at a real Socialist nation a good hard look and you will understand they have not reached that point and I do not think we are ever going to reach that point. The corporate and military interests in this country are to entrenched to ever let that happen.
Well, I guess I did have something to rant about. I hope you have a nice day.
Wednesday, July 07, 2010
July 6th, 2010, Wednesday
Hello again everybody. I took a little break last week because work was getting pretty hectic but things have settled down and I hope to get back on board pretty soon. I know Joel has been on pins and needles wondering when I was going to return to spread more of my wit and wisdom around like Country Crock on a toasted bagel. Like Jiffy Super Crunch on a piece of toast my knowledge covers your brain and makes it super tasty.
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