That's our girl

Herding the sheep on nothing but instincts.

It's GO time

the flaming chicken roundabout

Monday: rode through Shevlin up Mrazek until snow patches just before the canal.
Tuesday: Broken Top accessing C.O.D. went up to gravel access road. Headed towards Bend's trail but hit some serious snow patches. Returned to C.O.D. cutting out early for River Trail finish.
Friday: Through Shevlin cut across Skyliner and up Bend Trail. All access on lower Phil's Trails.
Thrilled to be MTBing on the Westside.
Where are you riding?

someone's got to say something 'bout this

so yeah,

george bush has as his newest appointee, a guy from Fox TV as the press secretary. man... i don't even remember his name or his old position at Fox, but all i got to say is, that is really "f"-ed up.




man that sucks

Moving along

The old movie cliche...An airplane takes off and/or lands and you know the film has taken you to another geographic destination. So how do we share our experience of making it to a new place in life? It is difficult for us to make the announcement to friends and family when we have made a leap of understanding or somehow taken our lives to the next level. Words are struggled for and gestures do not always capture the meaning we seek. Some experiences make it easy. Announcing a wedding, pregnancy, new job, new house. These are the obvious standards by which we easily measure growth. But what of the more important changes that occur bit by bit within ourselves? It has been interesting in my own life as I struggle with moving forward, stalling a bit, perhaps losing ground, before a new catalyst provides a boost in the desired direction.

What is more difficult to ascertain is how my loved ones are in their experience. It is easy with the little ones. Hearts are worn on sleeves as they seek to master walking, being independent, teaching elders what they know. Spending time with children is quickly rewarding. They are telling you all the time who they are and what they want. Family gatherings have become joyous in their simplicity. We watch the children to better undertand and laugh at ourselves. My own drama is far less entertaining than the phrases composed by my niece. Every sentence is a wonder. What becomes difficult is watching your sisters and brothers, mother and father as they grapple with life.

There is a familiarity about the tools they use to negotiate sorrow and or joy. The perfectionist will continue to strive for perfection. The doubter will doubt. The optimist will make those "glass-half-full" statements the same way they always have. But how do you connect with them after years of doing so in a patented way? How do you acknowledge their pain beyond saying "I'm sorry?" It is a mystery this life. But I believe, the children understand.

Was I delirious?

At the risk of turning this into a blahg, I will let you in on a little secret. I haven't been feeling so hot lately. I'll spare you the details, for now, but mention it due to what I thought I saw on the only three english-speaking television stations we receive here on the flanks of Awbrey Butte.
Evening programming began as it frequently does with the Lehrer Report. At the 8 o'clock hour, we continued on our beloved PBS binge. Little known fact: Mas is a friday night aficionado of public broadcasting. I find it extremely endearing that he will sacrifice a social opportunity to check out what the wonks are saying on Washington Week. My precious angel! look, an artist's rendition of Mas!
Again, things started out normal. There was even an Austin Powers offering for the other friday night wallflowers vying with PBS fare. Then, programming took a strange turn around 10p.m.

Austin Powers ended & the new local FOX news started up. Were these deleted scenes from the deluxe DVD set? Nope. That's our Central Oregon News with an uber-fake background of a... sunset? The anchors are not the amateurish twentysomethings you might find on the other local news. No, these two are in their sunset years (hence the background?) but still stutter and interrupt one another with tremendous frequency. This banner is directly off their website...nothin' too fancy for those high desert folks.

When it got too painful Mas, still in command of the remote, switched it back to good ol' PBS. There was no Gwen Ifil, Jim Lehrer nor even Dan Elias...There was a cat pageant. Cat Pageant? I will probably step on some toes here, many bloggers seem to have a soft spot for the feline but, this was the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen. First of all they splay the poor creatures out to show off their form. Is it me or did I sense that maine coon cat was feeling somewhat exposed by her sprawl for the camera? When it got too much, I shamed Mas into turning the station.past winner Best In Show

There was no respite on NBC. It was the Miss USA Pageant. Mas was hopeful that it was new the format a la American Idol where the viewers call in and judge. I quickly dismissed him pointing out that the "new" concept will take at least another year to make it on the air. An aside: mehopes reality tv will die of an Atkins heartattack by then. No, this was the same old recipe save for a little queer eye guy to keep the audience interested.

So now it was shuffle time. We laughed at the weather manbot as he delivered a canned feed from the "weather center". We guessed where such a center might be.

Me: Mars!
Mas: Uranus!

Back to the cats. Look at the fancy fabric on their wire cages...Ugg. Too Strange. Turn it.
Now, Miss Kentucky is finishing up her speech by stammering about how political correctness has gone too far. And the beauty of it? She wins!

Comes a time...

Made it to the Neil Young concert film Heart of Gold at the Tower Theatre last night. Although I am not the biggest fan around, I do appreciate Neil's songwriting and all around originality. Not to mention the fact that he is the Godfather of Grunge.

Heart of Gold was sans grunge. Still, I have to share my enthusiasm about this movie. There were a number of tunes from Prairie Wind, some especially poignant with their backstory of having been written shortly after Neil & docs discovered a brain aneurysm that would require surgery. (Performed successfully shortly thereafter)

There was a sense of camaraderie in the audience. An occasional hoot or hollar for a surgically-altered-yet-always-talented Emmylou Harris could be heard. And we clapped. I don't know that I have previously clapped to the filmed performance of a song. Although odd, it seemed appropriate.

I felt inspired by this movie. I marvelled at the sight of Neil singing "...keeps me searching for a Heart of Gold, and I'm getting old..." thirty years after writing the lyrics. My thoughts travelled through time and I felt like I understood something Neil wanted to share about living, about life.

Enemy of the State

Finally, my long held belief about the evils of corn are being discussed. The Omnivore's Dilemma is Michael Pollan's story about what we eat for dinner. He investigates a meal from the many sources by which it is grown, gathered, marketed and consumed. While, I have not yet read this book, I have enjoyed NPR interviews featuring Mr. Pollan. Especially as he bashes corn. Why? Pollen points out that American cattle fatten on corn. Corn also feeds poultry, pigs and sheep, even farmed fish. Think that's all? You're quite mistaken. In addition to dairy products from corn-fed cows and eggs from corn-fed chickens, corn starch, corn oil and corn syrup make up key ingredients in prepared foods. Don't believe me?
Take a look at the labels of packaged food in your cupboard and refridgerator. Ketchup? Yep. Yogurt? mm-hmm. If you drink soda you probably know that it is high-fructose corn syrup along with food coloring that you are enjoying. Perhaps you also enjoy the corn syrup that is in the toothpaste many of us brush our teeth with.

Another corn fact? Agribusiness loves this crop. It is one of the premier genetically modified crops out there!

Star Detective has a theory about our nation's obese kiddos and relatively recent corn syrup affinity.

And the ethanol debate? We'll save that topic for another time. Today's message can be summed up like this...


You don't have to be a corn hole.

An introduction

to my new friend...born in September of '05, wouldn't you know it? A Virgo. So far, he's not too fussy.
We've recently been getting acquantainted with brief outings east of town.

Persi, that's his name, is a true friend. He doesn't talk so much but when he does, he gets his point across.

Also, he makes you feel a little better about yourself. What once seemed impossible is now negotiated with ease.
Life has a way of making sense with Persi.

Good News

German director Tom Tykwer has a new release...This is the talent responsible for



Plus ++Winter Sleepers, The Princess and the Warrior, Heaven and now... Perfume

For more adoration check out his website.

Here is the linky Keep in mind that it will be at least three moons until this flick makes it to Central Oregon.

this is not a test

so here's the problem.

how does a husband react when an over bearing acquaintance is just that, "over-bearing", to his wife. my initial gut reaction is to let my wife deal with it exclusively, knowing that she can handle herself and is generally more diplomatic in those situations than myself.

...but then i think. fuck that asshole. he deserves any kind of wrath that i may rain down on him. i love our mutual friends that introduced this person to us and i know that they would not feel any remorse toward me if i did call his punk ass out, so why shouldn't i?

...but then i think. why should i even bother wasting any energy on this person, this situation. i don't feel that my wife has done anything wrong, why can't she just be herself and not have to explain herself or her actions to someone who is basically a perfect stranger. actually a totally imperfect stranger. so why do i even care?

...what am i saying? WHY DO I EVEN CARE? i care because this person has over stepped their boundaries and has decided to assert himself into our life. our life that he for some reason cares so much about.

...and then i think. how do i deal with him, this, a new situation that has made so many connected loving friends uncomfortable, all in agreement that there IS something wrong. but who can agree that something needs to be done. what needs to be done? does anything need to be done?

for now, i think what will i do the "next time" we see him, do i get in his face and let him know that he is an unwanted element to my life, or do i ignore it and wait for the "next time" something happens to puff my chest and get angry. essentiallly this situation sucks and like most situations like this, the victim is the one who is bothered most and forces themself to look inward asking "what did i do wrong"?

this is not a test.

you didn't do anything wrong baby, you were just being yourself.

Having it both ways

Lucky. Apple announces switch hitting status. Now Apple users get their choice of operating systems. Windows or Mac? Have 'em both if you like.
This has apple users doing a little soul searching...are we snobs? Elitists?

Or are we rightfully fearful of potential unforeseen consequences?