Regan turned me on to a female vocalist/guitarist Chan Marshal, otherwise known as Cat Power. To me, her crooning, longing, mournful singing sometimes strikes the right chord and sometimes leaves me wanting to quickly change the track. Really, it depends on my mood. It's either great or crap.
However, they reviewed her new album, the Greatest, tonight on NPR (Fresh Air?). The review was really good, and so were the clips they played. This time, Cat Power travels to Memphis to record with many of the greats in soul music. The collaboration seems to really work for her. I'm probably going to get this album, unless someone tells me they already have it. Let me know, yo.
I'm back in my hotel now. The weekends are too short. I must not be the only person that realizes this. How come that's not our national motto? "In god we trust?" More like "In god we subvert the will of many for the purposes of the few."
Anyway, this weekend Jen and I worked on her resume and just kind of chilled around the house. It was raining balls outside and there really wasn't any reason to go out so we didn't. Jen made banana bread, and I love her for it.
Boise was lame again today. I took the later flight, thank god, that got me in around 2pm. Come to find out that the machines I'm supposed to be working on are unavailable, again, and I'm annoyed.
In more positive news, I'm enjoying this new beer I found called Ton~a. [That's a n with a tilde, or a nino as I ignorantly like to call it.] It's a lager-style from Nicaragua, and tastes very similar to the green bottle Dos XX. Since green bottle Dos XX is my favorite beer, and it is hardly to be found outside of Texas and southern California, this will have to do. I found it in Albertson's of all places. Go figure...
Here's a picture of the box. All the bottles were emptied by the time this picture was taken.
Thursday, January 26, 2006 :::
Well, I guess I got my wish. Waking up this morning I found myself in quite a snow storm. In fact, it's still snowing outside at 2pm. Ah, the gray clouds overhead, they make me smile.
Wednesday, January 25, 2006 :::
It's strange to look out the window and see sunlight instead of rainclouds. But it's testicle-retracting cold outside, usually in the 20s in the morning. I miss the clouds, oh those precious wet warm blankets that cover the sky and keep my pupils dilated. How I miss the greenery everywhere. There is snow on the hills surrounding Boise, and it is better than looking at the dead hills and brown grass everywhere. I suspect it looks much like Iraq, after we win the war on terrorism and hell freezes over.
Tuesday, January 24, 2006 ::: Rude Mechanicals, which I guess is an improv group or something in Austin, is doing a show based on the hilarious comic, Get Your War On. I guess it could be funny. Let me know if you happen to check it out.
WHEN:
January 19 - February 4, 2006 Thursday - Saturday @ 8 PM
WHERE:
The Off Center 2211-A Hidalgo St., Austin, TX 78702
TICKETS:
Fridays and Saturdays: Sliding Scale $10 - $18 Thursdays are Pay-What-You-Can Call 512-476-RUDE (7833) or make reservations online
As Omarosa puts it, “When a person leaves that controlled environment and they have to go home and cope with what they’ve experienced, the producers have no more control.” She likens the experience of competing on reality TV to the infamous Stanford Prison Experiment conducted in 1971. “It’s really stunning,” she says, “how many similarities there are between that experiment and the Burnett shows.” Of course, Philip Zimbardo’s experiment, in which 21 normal college students were randomly assigned to be prisoners or guards in a mock prison, was stopped after only six days because the abuse and trauma generated by the situation got out of hand so quickly.
Well, it turns out I'll have some time to post to my blog today after all. After getting up well before the ass-crack of dawn, I get to Boise to discover that I don't have tool time until 6PM tonight. Man, that 11AM flight sounds mighty nice right now. I think I'll go to bed early tonight.
Friday, January 20, 2006 :::
I am going to be flying out to Boise on Monday, to start another round of week-long M-F work trips. I am guessing this round will take me through the end of February. The third week of February I'll be in San Jose for a conference, which should be pretty sweet.
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Things with Jen have been very good lately (as usual). We really have an understanding of each other and we always support and validate each other. One of the things that keeps us so happy is that we always know that no matter what opinion we have, we're safe to express it without being ridiculed. We know that any opinion has both of our best interests at heart. Of course, we don't always agree on everything but we know we'll be able to make our case and will be heard. Jen and I really invest a lot of our time introspectively analyzing our relationship, and we discuss things that I think most people don't discuss. For example, we often discuss that the reason we're happy with each other is that we feel accepted and important, but that we actively appreciate each other and we don't set unreasonable expectations on each other.
When expectations are violated people feel personally affronted, and it is all too easy to descend into a cycle of "You should know better than to do that because it hurts my feelings," and "Stop being so sensitive; it really pisses me off when you blame me for everything!" Notice how the dynamic is now one of failed prediction and vague absolutism? If you don't expect your partner to be perfect, to predict your mood, to walk on eggshells around you, then you won't feel violated. Of course your partner will do something annoying or stupid, it's impossible to avoid, so stop expecting it to be different!
The key to our happiness is telling each other every day how important the other is to us, and following that up with actions that directly reflect the value we put on each other. So many couples get caught up in the little trivialities of everyday life that they forget that the person they're with is there to help them through the tough times and share the great times, and the small annoyances are nothing compared to long term happiness. I know that if I come home I'll get a hug and a smile (or rarely, if not, something serious is going on and I really need to tune in). That makes me want to come home. I never feel like I need to get out of the house or escape, I really want to spend as much time with Jen as possible. I enjoy her company.
I guess it really comes down to the fact that we're both very aware that the time we have together, young, affluent, without kids and obligations, is really very fleeting and we want to actively live in the now. We plan for the future but we don't live for it. Now is all you've got and you'd be a fool to waste it.
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I've made a decision about the new car situation. I'm not going to get one. At least not yet. I can buy the car I've been driving for free with the company, a 2003 Taurus, for around $5,000 and sell it for $10,000. The car has such low mileage that I don't think it's depreciating very quickly at all. It will be a 3-year-old car in January and in December, so what's the hurry? What we'll probably do is wait until August or so and try to snatch a deal on a closeout 2006 model. In the mean time, I can collect the car allowance money that replaces the free car and wait for a good deal to come along.
There is a book by HarvardLawprofessorElizabeth Warren called The Two Income Trap. In this book Warren examines the reason that more and more families are going into bankruptcy despite earning more than ever before. The short answer is that as families make more with both parents working, they feel that their lifestyle should reflect their income. They buy a big house, a boat, two SUVs, etc, because they have the money to pay for it. Except what happens is that when one parent becomes disabled, or gets laid off, or has a baby, suddenly the family is not making enough money to support the lifestyle they've cultivated. They have huge fixed costs like a mortgage or a boat payment and no way to make up the extra income they lost. Couple this with the insanely high amount of personal debt people now bring upon themselves, and you end up with a recipe for bankruptcy. One of the biggest causes of divorce is arguing about money. Not having enough puts an enormous strain on the relationship, and divorce only exacerbates the problem (they're expensive). I'd like to avoid it.
All of this is to say that I've known about this phenomenon for a while now, as Dr. Warren has been on TV (Dr. Phil, PBS's NOW, etc.) promoting her book. Well, I pride myself on relying on scientific rationality, and this would be a perfect example of how someone can think "we're both working, I deserve a sportscar." Well, think again. I had previously made up my mind to save the $10k on a Lexus and get the still extremely nice Accord, but I think now I can save a lot more than that if I just wait a little while. The whole time I've been shopping for a car I've felt uneasy about paying that much for something that I'll probably marginally enjoy. This decision is something I feel in my gut is the right way to go. It just doesn't make sense to sell my car early, to trade up, and to waste money that could be better saved for the future.
Jen and I both agree that we want to have kids within the next 4 years. While they are small, we both agree that she should stay at home to take care of them. We see the drop in income looming in the future, why shouldn't we be planning now?
Sunday, January 15, 2006 :::
At long last, my take on the best way to binge drink. This comic took way to long to make, so I either need to get better, faster, or care less.
THERE'S a saying here that you can't drink all day - unless you start drinking in the early morning," said Jim Parker, a bartender at a venerable neighborhood pub in Portland, Ore., as he served up two beers. It was actually early afternoon, though well ahead of a respectable happy hour. But the chill rain splashing the sidewalks outside felt like a handwritten permission slip from Mother Nature herself to enjoy Portland from the comfort of a barstool. Call it hoppy hour instead.
For people partial to fine craft brews and plenty of local color, Portland's rainy winter season is a great time to visit the city that is king of beers. Indeed, Portland has more breweries - 28 - than any other city in the nation if not the world, and it has arguably become one of the best destinations anywhere for beer-tasting.
On a visit to Portland in November, raindrops collected in puddles on the city streets, umbrellas were unfurled under gray skies and the light of day began dimming by midafternoon. A big disappointment for viewing the city's famous rose garden or day-tripping to the Columbia River Gorge - but perfect for visiting one of Portland's many brew pubs, cozy places with low lights or crackling fires, good food, good beer and good cheer.
"What we have here is this fun culture," said Fred Eckhardt, a local beer writer who happens to have a Portland beer named after him (Hair of the Dog's Fred). "Nowhere else in the world are you going to find such a variety of pubs that offer such a wide variety of beer than in Portland, Oregon. We are making just about every world style of beer."
Portland's reputation for producing quality craft beers developed in the 1980's, when Oregon repealed Prohibition-era laws banning brew pubs (restaurants with on-site breweries), helping to pave the way for the opening of several microbreweries. Today, Portland's brewers range from large operations with nationally distributed brands like Widmer to very small producers.
The Oregon Brewers Guild offers a map of local breweries for visitors, but a good place to kick off a tasting tour of Portland beers is at one of the city's oldest and largest breweries, Widmer Brothers Brewing Company, located in an industrial center on the east bank of the Willamette River.
Two Portland natives, Kurt and Rob Widmer, started home brewing as a hobby before starting Widmer Brothers in 1984 and producing 400 barrels of beer in 1985. They produce roughly 200,000 a year, most of which is their German-style Hefeweizen, an unfiltered wheat beer that accounts for 85 percent of the brewery's sales.
You can practically sniff out Widmer by its smell alone; the sweet aroma of brewing barley hits before you arrive. Widmer conducts free tours and tastings on weekends, providing insight into how beer is made, a process in which malted barley is crushed, blended with water and heated to release its sugars. The resulting liquid, called the wort, is strained off, heated and boiled with hops, which lend aromatic properties and bitterness to the blend. Then it is mixed with yeast and fermented until it is converted into alcohol and carbon dioxide.
Widmer also runs the Gasthaus, a bright, airy pub across the street from the brewery, where you can sample one of the dozen or so beers on tap along with German specialties like sauerbraten or house-baked pretzels for dipping in cheese fondue. It is tempting to order a Hefeweizen here in the place where it is brewed, but the Gasthaus is also the spot to try Widmer beers that may be harder to find outside Oregon - Cherry Bomb, Widberry or Snowplow Stout.
Across the river in the Pearl, as Portland's trendy warehouse district is known, is BridgePort Brewing Company, which bills itself as Oregon's oldest craft brewery. Started in 1984 and housed in a former rope factory, BridgePort is perhaps best known for its India pale ale, made with five different hop varieties. The brewery's onsite pub, when it reopens in February, will make a good stop to refuel after shopping the Pearl's swank boutiques. The new space will feature a bakery, a two-level bar and a full restaurant.
Mike and Brian McMenamin are two other brew-pub pioneers in Portland. They are brothers who have created a regional empire that would make Willy Wonka proud if he brewed beer. Walking around the city without coming across one of their 15 properties is about as hard as finding a Portland bar without Oregon beer on tap.
Their range of quirky properties include everything from the Blue Moon Tavern, a cozy pub smelling of wood smoke, to the Mission Theater, which shows recent movies and Monday night football games, to the Kennedy School, a restored 1915 elementary school that has been converted into a hotel, a brew pub, a theater and a concert space.
"Traveling in Europe, I saw pubs were more community-based," Mike McMenamin said. "Thirty years ago that wasn't happening here, and certainly not in Portland."
The brothers have recreated that community spirit in their McMenamins pubs and properties. Take the Kennedy School on a rainy night. The spacious halls were teeming with children and parents as well as hip 20-somethings, and a band was playing under a basketball hoop in the gymnasium.
It could have been a high school dance, except that the local bluegrass band actually played well, and the punch bowl was a keg instead. People were walking through the hallways sipping pints of Hammerhead ale and Terminator stout, or sitting at tables chatting with friends, teenagers and adults alike. Children rushed to the front, dancing in time to the music. Here, the beer blended into the background, and the music, the people and the fun took center stage.
It happened again two days later at an event based entirely on beer, Hair of the Dog Brewing Company's dock sale. Grateful Dead songs blared from a radio inside the warehouse, and the line of people dressed in beer gear ("Brew Free or Die" T-shirts, for example) waiting to buy cases and magnums at 10:30 a.m. extended back behind the beer tanks, nearly a 30-minute wait.
DESPITE the long line, the chill air and the morning hour, the party vibe was in full swing. Neighbors talked, swigging samples of the founder Alan Sprints's inventive beers, like Fred, named after Mr. Eckhardt, a hearty brew made with 10 hop varieties resulting in a whopping 65 I.B.U.'s (the international standard for measuring bitterness); Rose Cassis, a deep-pink-hued beer made with locally grown black currants; or Greg, inspired by the local chef Greg Higgins, an organic beer made with squash.
The crowd had certainly come to take advantage of the sale prices on cases of Mr. Sprints's premium bottles, but in the end, it seemed to be as much about having a good time as having a good beer.
It's easy, too, to sample beers from breweries like Hair of the Dog that don't have their own bars. Those beers can be found at local houses, places like the Horse Brass Pub, a British-style neighborhood spot in Southeast Portland that is a local favorite for its more than 50 beers on tap and its 29 years in business.
The Horse Brass is a cozy find on a rainy afternoon. Stepping inside is warming even before a pint is poured, with its deep golden walls, dim lights, a wooden bar lined with vintage beer coasters and - nonsmokers be warned - a haze of smoke. The bartender, Mr. Parker, a brewer himself, was quick to recommend Oregon beers.
"We've always supported local products," Mr. Parker said of Oregon's beer culture. "People are used to the idea if you are going to drink a beer, drink what is brewed in your own backyard."
About 11 percent of the beer consumed in Oregon comes from local craft brewers, representing the highest percentage of local craft beer consumption in the country, according to the Oregon Brewers Guild. The national average is only 3.4 percent.
A snug little place called Tugboat, tucked away on a downtown side street, is also worth a stop. Lamplight casts long shadows across the pub, its walls lined with books and haphazard oil paintings. On a Friday evening, Terry Nelson and Megan McEnroe-Nelson, the couple who own the pub, worked the bar as their dog, Tucker, dashed about.
With every seat taken, Ms. McEnroe-Nelson greeted two guests who walked through the door. "Care for a picnic?" she said, waving a hand toward the floor. Tugboat is a place where groups of friends sit at tables catching up or playing Scrabble, then stretch their legs mingling at the bar. Here, beer takes a back seat to conversation, and decidedly so.
"It's beer; it's not a Michelangelo," Mr. Nelson quipped about his brews.
And perhaps that sums up Portland's beer culture at the moment. Good beer has become so commonplace that it has blended comfortably into the fabric of social life. Instead of fancy distractions, a big scene or a big screen, there is simply craft beer and a craft of another sort - the art of talking.
Portland's Breweries
WIDMER BROTHERS BREWING COMPANY 929 North Russell Street, 503-281-2437; www.widmer.com.
The scene: A bright brewery and Gasthaus pub in an industrial neighborhood. The brewery offers free tours and tastings on Friday and Saturday afternoons. The Gasthaus has a wide-ranging menu that features German specialties.
The beer: Widmer is best known for its unfiltered wheat beer, Hefeweizen, but it has roughly a dozen beers on tap, including Drop Top Amber, Widberry and seasonal and limited-edition selections.
BRIDGEPORT BREWING COMPANY 1313 Northwest Marshall Street, 503-241-7179; www.bridgeportbrew.com.
The scene: Housed in a converted rope factory in Portland's trendy Pearl district, BridgePort's brew pub is undergoing a complete renovation and is scheduled to reopen in February with an artisanal bakery, a restaurant and two-level bar.
The beer: BridgePort beers often draw on the hop fields of Oregon's Willamette Valley. India Pale Ale is BridgePort's flagship beer, but the brewery also produces beers like Blue Heron Pale Ale, Ropewalk Amber Ale and the seasonal Ebenezer Ale.
The scene: One of the McMenamins breweries, it is in the Kennedy School, a restored elementary school. Classrooms serve as hotel rooms, and beer is brewed in a former girls' locker room. There are wood-burning stoves and nice scholastic touches like the Honors Bar (nonsmoking) and Detention Bar (smoking).
The beer: McMenamins brewpubs produce standard beers like Hammerhead ale, Ruby raspberry ale and Terminator Stout, along with many seasonal offerings.
HAIR OF THE DOG BREWING COMPANY 4509 Southeast 23rd Avenue, 503-232-6585; www.hairofthedog.com.
The scene: In an off-the-beaten-track location in a Southeast Portland warehouse, Hair of the Dog is a brewery, not a brew pub, so it's best to call ahead. Try to visit when the brewery is staging one of its periodic sales.
The beer: Alan Sprints founded Hair of the Dog in 1993 with the aim of developing unusual beer styles. His first beer, Adam, is based on a German beer recipe that had fallen into disuse. Other beers are inspired by local personalities.
TUGBOAT BREWING COMPANY 711 Southwest Ankeny Street; 503-226-2508, www.d2m.com/Tugwebsite.
The scene: An antique watch repair shop turned espresso bar and art gallery turned atmospheric downtown pub. The owner, Terry Nelson, brews beer in a small back room but still keeps up his watch repair business.
The beer: A rotating variety of beers on tap, including Extra Special Bitter, an India pale ale, Cask Stout and Hop Red.
Wednesday, January 11, 2006 :::
This site seems pretty cool. I need to test it to see if my computer can handle the load, but if you like old arcade games you should check it out. Free!
Click below to see how much it's raining on me right now. I live and work almost exactly half way between the Hillsboro and Beaverton city demarkations.
You know, normally I don't complain about the rain up here in Portland. In almost all cases, I prefer the rain because it keeps the sun out of my eyes, drops snow on the mountain, and keeps the trees green and lush all year long. However, at this moment it is raining so hard that it is dark as night outside. I'm glad I don't work outside, and that I have a cubicle right next to the windows. I get a natural soothing rain-gutter gurgle sound all day long.
Monday, January 09, 2006 :::
One other thing I'd like to mention this morning is that tomorrow will see the 6-month mark since Jen and I were married. Thanks to everyone that came to the wedding. We love you all.
So I spent a good portion of Sunday working on my comic. It's actually pretty hard to do, so don't expect great things from me on that. But I do feel like I'm getting better at it, and better at using Photoshop, which is why I wanted to start drawing in the first place. In any case, I have two of the panels finished and I need to get the third done. Each comic probably takes about 5 - 10 hours, so this is definitely a labor of love. Hopefully I'll finish it tonight or tomorrow.
In other news, I can't remember if I mentioned it, but I'm in the market for a new car. I've been looking at the V6 Honda Accord and the Lexus IS 250. We test drove both this weekend and they were both quite nice and fun to drive. Of course, the Lexus is clearly better in terms of looks, safety, features, warranty, and coolness factor, but the Accord is superior on price (duh), engine power, and rear-seating space.
There is a Lexus IS 350 model that is the same as the IS 250, but with a 300+ horsepower engine. I think that would be overkill, but I do want to take it for a test drive. Unfortunately, they didn't have one on the lot to test on Saturday, so they will be giving me a call in a week or so when one comes in.
What I'm really struggling with is whether I can afford the Lexus. Of course, right now with both Jen and I working that is not a problem (her car is completely paid off). In a few years, though, Jen will probably be taking some time off work to have a baby and that definitely eats into the family's income. Furthermore, around that same time Jen's car will probably be pretty worn out and we'll need to be buying her a new car.
On the other hand, once we start having kids, I would think that the chances of me buying myself a nice car are pretty slim. So, as my dad says, maybe I should buy it while I'm young and can afford it. He owned a cherry-red Stingray Corvette when he was my age. I don't know... I feel like I really worked my ass off for several years before I stopped traveling 100%, and I think I'd like to spend some of that money on myself. I'm good enough, smart enough, and gosh darnit, people like me!
I am just not very good at spending lots of money on myself, especially when I know I could probably use that money later. This is why I don't like gambling: it's not thrilling when the money comes in and it hurts pretty bad when the money goes out.
I think eventually it will come down to whether I think a $31,000 Lexus is really that much better than a $27,000 Accord. Honestly, they are both pretty nice and will last quite a while, so there isn't really a loser in this situation. I'm just not quite ready to purchase one yet. Maybe they'll let me borrow a Lexus for the weekend or something. I'll have to ask the next time I go to the dealership.
Duncan Campbell in Los Angeles Monday January 6, 2003 The Guardian
Jesus w as almost certainly a cannabis user and an early proponent of the medicinal properties of the drug, according to a study of scriptural texts published this month. The study suggests that Jesus and his disciples used the drug to carry out miraculous healings.
The anointing oil used by Jesus and his disciples contained an ingredient called kaneh-bosem which has since been identified as cannabis extract, according to an article by Chris Bennett in the drugs magazine, High Times, entitled Was Jesus a Stoner? The incense used by Jesus in ceremonies also contained a cannabis extract, suggests Mr Bennett, who quotes scholars to back his claims.
"There can be little doubt about a role for cannabis in Judaic religion," Carl Ruck, professor of classical mythology at Boston University said.
Referring to the existence of cannabis in anointing oils used in ceremonies, he added: "Obviously the easy availability and long-established tradition of cannabis in early Judaism _ would inevitably have included it in the [Christian] mixtures."
Mr Bennett suggests those anointed with the oils used by Jesus were "literally drenched in this potent mixture _ Although most modern people choose to smoke or eat pot, when its active ingredients are transferred into an oil-based carrier, it can also be absorbed through the skin".
Quoting the New Testament, Mr Bennett argues that Jesus anointed his disciples with the oil and encouraged them to do the same with other followers. This could have been responsible for healing eye and skin diseases referred to in the Gospels.
"If cannabis was one of the main ingredients of the ancient anointing oil _ and receiving this oil is what made Jesus the Christ and his followers Christians, then persecuting those who use cannabis could be considered anti-Christ," Mr Bennett concludes.
I've been working on a comic for the last couple of days, but since I can only do it at home (Photoshop), it's slow progress. I've realized that I'm not really that funny and I can't really draw very well. However, it's still fun so I will continue to do it for a while. It's really nice that the tablet stylus has a "draw" point and also an "erase" side so I can just draw like it's a pencil.
In other news, it's still possible I'll be going to Japan on my birthday next month. This is another one of those two-day meeting things. I told my boss I wasn't super excited about it, but he said he may go. If so then I'm sure we'll have a lot of fun, he's pretty good at finding a good time. So we'll see if that works out or not. Of course, it's hard to predict what the final outcome will be. Always hurry up and wait.
Monday, January 02, 2006 :::
Back at work today, after being off for 10 days. In a way, it's good to be back at work, but I'm not used to getting up before noon. I'm not sure I like it so much.
I hope everyone had a happy and healthy new years. Jen and I went to a party in Vancouver, WA, that was hosted by some friends from work. It was pretty chill, which was good.
Other than that, not much is going on. I'm probably going back to Boise very soon. I'll be going to SF in mid-February for a conference, and possibly to Japan on my birthday. Gotta love the two-day Japan trips!
For people partial to fine craft brews and plenty of local color, Portland's rainy winter season is a great time to visit the city that is king of beers. Indeed, Portland has more breweries - 28 - than any other city in the nation if not the world, and it has arguably become one of the best destinations anywhere for beer-tasting.
