VARIOUS ECSTASIES

GO AHEAD, REPUBLICANS... NOMINATE HIM!

2012-02-01T15:45:00.001-08:00

LOL!

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/01/10289765-romney-im-not-concerned-about-the-very-poor

WHAT SAY YOU?

2012-01-26T17:25:00.001-08:00

Check out this recent study:

http://news.yahoo.com/low-iq-conservative-beliefs-linked-prejudice-180403506.html

I know a number of people who are conservative who don't fit this profile at all, and it is enough to cause me to wonder about the validity of the study.

On the other hand, these results might be a validation of John Stuart Mill, who famously said "Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservative."

The study may have just proven to be a confirmation of something we have known for a long time.

8-)

REAL "FAMILY VALUES"... AND NOT FROM THE RIGHT WING

2012-01-23T21:55:00.000-08:00

YES, WHERE ARE THE JOBS?

2012-01-19T21:24:00.000-08:00

A GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING

2012-01-19T11:35:00.000-08:00

"And I would want this to continue—more debates, more vetting of candidates, because we know the mistake made in our country four years ago was having a candidate that was not vetted to the degree that he should have been, so that we know who his associations and his pals represented and what went into his thinking." - Sarah Palin, just the other day, talking about how she hopes the Republican presidential field does not shrink to just one candidate.

I find this to be quite amusing, because in hindsight it is pretty easy to see that a large part of the GOP's problem four years ago was that SHE was not carefully vetted. McCain had quite a track record, and the GOP knew exactly what it was getting with McCain. This is little more than self-promotion and self-aggrandizing on her part.

She just refuses to stay out of the spotlight, but that's O.K. It provides lots of great fodder for the late-night comedians.

THIS IS LOTS OF FUN!

2012-01-16T17:56:00.000-08:00

http://www.politicususa.com/en/obama-fox-news-poll

THERE'S GOTTA BE A REASON...

2012-01-16T17:48:00.001-08:00

http://www.alternet.org/teaparty/153736/is_there_a_scientific_reason_many_conservatives_hate_science/

SO...

2012-01-15T20:06:00.000-08:00

The following was found at a Facebook site, and it looks like something that has been passed around the internet via e-mails. But I still enjoy it. 8-)

So, you’re a Republican who hates taxes? Well, since you do not like taxes or government, please kindly do the following:

1. Do not use Medicare.

2. Do not use Social Security

3. Do not become a member of the US military, who are paid with tax dollars.

4. Do not ask the National Guard to help you after a disaster.

5. Do not call 911 when you get hurt.

6. Do not call the police to stop intruders in your home.

7. Do not summon the fire department to save your burning home.

8. Do not drive on any paved road, highway, and interstate or drive on any bridge.

9. Do not use public restrooms.

10. Do not send your kids to public schools.

11. Do not put your trash out for city garbage collectors.

12. Do not live in areas with clean air.

13. Do not drink clean water.

14. Do not visit National Parks.

15. Do not visit public museums, zoos, and monuments.

16. Do not eat or use FDA inspected food and medicines.

17. Do not bring your kids to public playgrounds.

18. Do not walk or run on sidewalks.

19. Do not use public recreational facilities such as basketball and tennis courts.

20. Do not seek shelter facilities or food in soup kitchens when you are homeless and hungry.

21. Do not apply for educational or job training assistance when you lose your job.

22. Do not apply for food stamps when you can’t feed your children.

23. Do not use the judiciary system for any reason.

24. Do not ask for an attorney when you are arrested and do not ask for one to be assigned to you by the court.

25. Do not apply for any Pell Grants.

26. Do not use cures that were discovered by labs using federal dollars.

27. Do not fly on federally regulated airplanes.

28. Do not use any product that can trace its development back to NASA.

29. Do not watch the weather provided by the National Weather Service.

30. Do not listen to severe weather warnings from the National Weather Service.

31. Do not listen to tsunami, hurricane, or earthquake alert systems.

32. Do not apply for federal housing.

33. Do not use the internet, which was developed by the military.

34. Do not swim in clean rivers.

35. Do not allow your child to eat school lunches or breakfasts.

36. Do not ask for FEMA assistance when everything you own gets wiped out by disaster.

37. Do not ask the military to defend your life and home in the event of a foreign invasion.

38. Do not use your cell phone or home telephone.

39. Do not buy firearms that wouldn’t have been developed without the support of the US Government and military. That includes most of them.

40. Do not eat USDA inspected produce and meat.

41. Do not apply for government grants to start your own business.

42. Do not apply to win a government contract.

43. Do not buy any vehicle that has been inspected by government safety agencies.

44. Do not buy any product that is protected from poisons, toxins, etc…by the Consumer Protection Agency.

45. Do not save your money in a bank that is FDIC insured.

46. Do not use Veterans benefits or military health care.

47. Do not use the G.I. Bill to go to college.

48. Do not apply for unemployment benefits.

49. Do not use any electricity from companies regulated by the Department of Energy.

50. Do not live in homes that are built to code.

51. Do not run for public office. Politicians are paid with taxpayer dollars.

52. Do not ask for help from the FBI, S.W.A.T, the bomb squad, Homeland Security, State troopers, etc…

53. Do not apply for any government job whatsoever as all state and federal employees are paid with tax dollars.

54. Do not use public libraries.

55. Do not use the US Postal Service.

56. Do not visit the National Archives.

57. Do not visit Presidential Libraries.

58. Do not use airports that are secured by the federal government.

59. Do not apply for loans from any bank that is FDIC insured.

60. Do not ask the government to help you clean up after a tornado.

61. Do not ask the Department of Agriculture to provide a subsidy to help you run your farm.

62. Do not take walks in National Forests.

63. Do not ask for taxpayer dollars for your oil company.

64. Do not ask the federal government to bail your company out during recessions.

65. Do not seek medical care from places that use federal dollars.

66. Do not use Medicaid.

67. Do not use WIC.

68. Do not use electricity generated by Hoover Dam.

69. Do not use electricity or any service provided by the Tennessee Valley Authority.

70. Do not ask the Army Corps of Engineers to rebuild levees when they break.

71. Do not let the Coast Guard save you from drowning when your boat capsizes at sea.

72. Do not ask the government to help evacuate you when all hell breaks loose in the country you are in.

73. Do not visit historic landmarks.

74. Do not visit fisheries.

75. Do not expect to see animals that are federally protected because of the Endangered Species List.

76. Do not expect plows to clear roads of snow and ice so your kids can go to school and so you can get to work.

77. Do not hunt or camp on federal land.

78. Do not work anywhere that has a safe workplace because of government regulations.

79. Do not use public transportation.

80. Do not drink water from public water fountains.

81. Do not whine when someone copies your work and sells it as their own. Government enforces copyright laws.

82. Do not expect to own your home, car, or boat. Government organizes and keeps all titles.

83. Do not expect convicted felons to remain off the streets.

84. Do not eat in restaurants that are regulated by food quality and safety standards.

85. Do not seek help from the US Embassy if you need assistance in a foreign nation.

86. Do not apply for a passport to travel outside of the United States.

87. Do not apply for a patent when you invent something.

88. Do not adopt a child through your local, state, or federal governments.

89. Do not use elevators that have been inspected by federal or state safety regulators.

90. Do not use any resource that was discovered by the USGS.

91. Do not ask for energy assistance from the government.

92. Do not move to any other developed nation, because the taxes are much higher.

93. Do not go to a beach that is kept clean by the state.

94. Do not use money printed by the US Treasury.

95. Do not complain when millions more illegal immigrants cross the border because there are no more border patrol agents.

96. Do not attend a state university.

97. Do not see any doctor that is licensed through the state.

98. Do not use any water from municipal water systems.

99. Do not complain when diseases and viruses, that were once fought around the globe by the US government and CDC, reach your house.

100. Do not work for any company that is required to pay its workers a livable wage, provide them sick days, vacation days, and benefits.

101. Do not expect to be able to vote on election days. Government provides voting booths, election day officials, and voting machines which are paid for with taxes.

102. Do not ride trains. The railroad was built with government financial assistance.

103. Don't let your preschoolers attend Head Start.

The fact is, we pay for the lifestyle we expect.

Without taxes, our lifestyles would be totally different and much harder. America would be a third world country. The less we pay, the less we get in return.

Americans pay less taxes today since 1958 and America is ranked 32nd out of 34 of the top tax paying countries. Chile and Mexico are 33rd and 34th.

The Republicans are lying when they say that we pay the highest taxes in the world and are only attacking taxes to reward corporations and the wealthy and to weaken our infrastructure and way of life. So next time you object to paying taxes or fight to abolish taxes for corporations and the wealthy, keep this quote in mind.

Otherwise, you are unwitting or willing dupes for the wealthy 1% who want no part of you except your compliance.

Heh! I enjoy that. Of course the nutters would just turn around and use it to say "See? The government has its fingers in way too many pies!"

To which I would say "Do you really think we need to get rid of it all?"

BILL MAHER'S REPUBLICAN COMMERCIAL

2012-01-11T18:22:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xJkD18WyLw

IS THERE A DISCONNECT HERE?

2012-01-08T14:29:00.000-08:00

Hmmmm. How does this work for so many of our nation's born-again right wing Christian Republicans who view Reagan as a god?

Maybe before they clamor too much more about putting Reagan on Mount Rushmore, or putting him on the dime in place of Franklin D. Roosevelt, or naming more and more things after him... they should take a look at some of his quotes. Not only did he value a church-state separation, he also valued compromise (now a dirty word to most on the right).

Same thing goes with the way they espouse the philosophy of Ayn Rand, who happened to be an atheist. While they may not espouse her philosophy directly, they do espouse it through the way Rand has influenced American right wing politics. Why are those of faith so willing to flock to her when she said things like the following (from an interview in Playboy magazine):

Playboy: Has no religion, in your estimation, ever offered anything of constructive value to human life?

Ayn Rand: Qua religion, no - in the sense of blind belief, belief unsupported by, or contrary to, the facts of reality and the conclusions of reason. Faith, as such, is extremely detrimental to human life: it is the negation of reason. But you must remember that religion is an early form of philosophy, that the first attempts to explain the universe, to give a coherent frame of reference to man's life and a code of moral values, were made by religion, before men graduated or developed enough to have philosophy. And, as philosophies, some religions have very valuable moral points. They may have a good influence or proper principles to inculcate, but in a very contradictory context and, on a very - how should I say it? - dangerous or malevolent base: on the ground of faith.

The next one is from her novel "The Fountainhead":

"My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute."

Seems to me our nation's religious fundamentalists should be damning her, and viewing her philosophy as some sort of evil spawn of faithlessness. To say such things, she clearly must have been under Satan's influence. Yet she is becoming increasingly popular, and mostly among our political right wing. It must be very difficult to endure the squirming necessary for when they have to compromise her philosophy of objectivism with her lack of faith.

Ronald Reagan was not an atheist, as far as I know, but by the standards of many of today's American religious community, he might as well have been if he believed in a church-state separation.

Apparently the "religious right" (which is neither) needs to be more careful when it chooses its gods.

WHO WOULD MITT ROMNEY CHOOSE AS A RUNNING MATE? I THINK I KNOW!!

2012-01-07T12:40:00.000-08:00

(South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley - photo found at http://www.libertarianrepublican.net/2010/05/sarah-palin-endorses-nikki-haley-for.html )

Now here's a thought... if Mitt Romney wins the GOP nomination, I wonder who he would pick as a running mate?

OK, so I gave it away by posting the picture above. But here is why:

Would Romney pick some far right politician as a running mate? Should he?

I really have no issue with Mitt being Mormon, but a lot of religious conservatives do. And with Mitt not being viewed as a conservative by so many right wingers (even though he is definitely right of center), he may feel the need to kowtow to the far right and pick somebody like Marco Rubio, Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan, etc. (one of the "tea party" young guns) in order to keep more right wing voters interested in going to the polls. After all, lots of their bluster has to with things like "If Romney gets the nomination, I probably won't vote."

Of course with public opinion where it is re. that group in general, I think choosing someone from Congress could be a serious miscalculation. To mollify the "tea party" element in the GOP, Romney would still need someone further to the right than he is. Where else might he look?

There are a number of state governors who might be available and willing. I could see him choosing someone like Jan Brewer (AZ), Mitch Daniels (IN), Sam Brownback (KS), Chris Christie NJ), Bobby Jindal (LA) or Nikki Haley (SC).

I don't think he would offer it to Rick Perry (TX). I also don't think he would choose someone who could be recalled during the next year, like John Kasich (OH) or Scott Walker (WI).

Would he choose a woman as his running mate? If he did, I think it would have to be Haley. She is the Indian-American daughter of immigrants, and that would provide for some good campaign public relations. Haley is also a "tea party" darling. Jan Brewer might be popular, but she has been in too much controversy over immigration in Arizona... so if Mitt chose a female running mate, I think Haley is likely.

My hunch is the choice would be from Haley, Pawlenty, Christie, Daniels, Jindal and maybe Sam Brownback. But if Romney wants to make his candidacy look more right wing, show diversity on his ticket, and kowtow to the "tea party"... then it's Nikki Haley.

The only thing that might scare Mitt away from Haley is that there have been past allegations that she had affairs. If that does cause him to not choose her, it seems any of the others mentioned in the previous paragraph might also suit Mitt's purposes. (For the record, I think all of them, including Haley, would be absolutely awful!)

I am just about always wrong when it comes to this kind of stuff, but remember... if Romney wins the GOP nomination, Nikki Haley will be his running mate.

You heard it here first! LOL!

"IT WAS AN EMBARRASSMENT OF RICHES"

2012-01-06T21:56:00.000-08:00

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE PEOPLE OF IOWA FROM KIM JONG-UN

2012-01-02T13:54:00.000-08:00

From the fertile and creative mind of Andy Borowitz!

http://www.borowitzreport.com/2012/01/02/a-letter-from-kim-jongun/

GOOD OLD GROUCHO!

2011-12-31T15:01:00.000-08:00

This is the national anthem of the Republican Party, at least when it comes to Barack Obama... recorded about 80 years ago, and it rings true today!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pq4eeyVr_Hs

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2011-12-31T14:59:00.000-08:00

A FUN STATE OF AFFAIRS

2011-12-30T15:37:00.001-08:00

"In a desperate attempt to find someone less slithery and soulless (not to mention less Mormon), party members have lurched manically from one ludicrous candidate to the next, only to watch in horror as each wilted the moment they were subjected to scrutiny. Incessant pleas to the party's ostensibly more respectable conservatives to enter the race have been repeatedly rebuffed. Now, only Romney remains viable. Republican voters are thus slowly resigning themselves to marching behind a vacant, supremely malleable technocrat whom they plainly detest. In fairness to the much-maligned GOP field, they face a formidable hurdle: how to credibly attack Obama when he has adopted so many of their party's defining beliefs. Depicting the other party's president as a radical menace is one of the chief requirements for a candidate seeking to convince his party to crown him as the chosen challenger. Because Obama has governed as a centrist Republican, these GOP candidates are able to attack him as a leftist radical only by moving so far to the right in their rhetoric and policy prescriptions that they fall over the cliff of mainstream acceptability, or even basic sanity."

Glenn Greenwald: The Real Reason the GOP Primary Is a Pathetic, Incompetent Clown Show | Tea Party.

www.alternet.org

Because Barack Obama has adopted so many core Republican beliefs -- particularly in the realm of foreign policy -- the Republican race is a shambles.

ONCE AGAIN, GEORGE TELLS IT LIKE IT IS!

2011-12-29T12:10:00.000-08:00

http://archive.truthout.org/untellable-truths65905

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYBODY!

2011-12-24T12:32:00.000-08:00

SNAVE'S BEST MUSIC OF 2011 - revisions noted in red!

2011-12-17T10:41:00.000-08:00

Time for more of these lists! There was a lot of great music out there in 2011. Thanks to everyone who turned me on to such great music during this past year! As always, there was too much good music and not enough time or ears to hear it all! A few revisions have been noted in red, for albums released in 2011 that I have managed to hear and consider since I posted the original list. And because it's 2011 for another eight days, another one or two might sneak in here or there! 8-)

My 25+ best albums of 2011:

1. Other Lives - Tamer Animals - Quintet from Oklahoma (pictured above) produces some of the most creative and dynamic work I've heard in ages. Hard to describe their music, but I love it. At times there are hints of classic rock influences such as the Moody Blues and Pink Floyd, and songwriter/keyboardist/guitarist/main vocalist Jesse Tabish recalls Roy Harper at times in his tone and delivery. Full of power, full of emotion, Other Lives' music touches me on many levels. I saw them in concert on 12/8 in Portland, Oregon... see them if you get a chance! Everyone in the band is a multi-instrumentalist, and they can create multiple moods within songs. Songs like "For 12" and "Dust Bowl III" are only about four minutes long, yet they have an epic feel about them. Other Lives will open for Radiohead on that band's tour soon, and I think they're a band on the way up. I'm already excited about their next album, whenever that is!

2. Tame Impala - Innerspeaker - This is actually music from 2010, but I include it here because I believe it was not officially released in the US until 2011. I searched for it in stores in 2010, and couldn't buy it until 2011, anyway. 8-) This is great psychedelic groove-rock from a young trio from Perth, Australia. I listened to "Innerspeaker" many times during the past year! The vocals are Lennon-esque, the melodies are good, and the moods are great! "Innerspeaker" is available with a second disc called "Extraspeaker" which includes the song "Sundown Syndrome" (used in the soundtrack album for "The Kids Are All Right" last year).

3. Radiohead - The King Of Limbs - Very trippy, very strange, and highly underrated. No, it's not "The Bends", "OK Computer" or even "In Rainbows". Call it "inaccessible" if you want, but there is a lot going on in this record, and every time I listen to it I hear something new and different. One of their best in a while, in my opinion (although I wouldn't bother with their 2-disc set of remixes of these songs, "TKOL RMX 1234567"... it's OK, but really nothing too special). While I am one of the many who would love to hear Radiohead release something like "The Bends" again, I love just about everything they do... I suspect whatever direction they move next will be fine with me.

4. Steven Wilson - Grace for Drowning - Ambitious double-CD by a modern prog-rock master, this one runs the gamut of moods. It is great stuff. His guitar, vocals, songwriting and arranging are all topnotch. My friend Jim refers to Wilson's music as "cinematic", and I agree with him 100%. It is big, it is expansive, and it creates images for the listener as it goes! His previous solo release "Insurgentes" is also pretty amazing. One of our times' more interesting talents, Wilson has fronted Porcupine Tree for years, recorded as Blackfield (see #23 below) and has produced for Opeth and others. Check out "Grace For Drowning", it's incredible.

5. The Antlers - Burst Apart - Mostly mellow, melodic and atmospheric. This one saw lots of time in my CD player this year. Vocalist Peter Silberman is an acquired taste for some listeners, though I find his singing to be sublime. His understated guitar and keyboard work creates beautiful atmospheres and textures throughout the album, and his lyrics are arguably more uplifting this time than on 2009's "Hospice" (also an excellent record). Michael Lerner and Darby Cicci provide more than able support in the construction and arrangement of the music. This is beautiful stuff.

6. Wye Oak - Civilian - Duo from Baltimore, Maryland produces some great music! I guess I would call it electric folk-rock but it's deeper than that. Singer Jenn Wasner has a great voice, strong at times and ethereal at others. See them live if you can... there are just two of them, but they sound like three or four people. Drummer Andy Stack plays drums with one hand and keyboards with the other; he and Wasner both sing. "Civilian" is a fine record, one I think more people should hear.

7. Bon Iver - Bon Iver - Unlike his first album, this one is more slick and produced-sounding... but he creates some truly amazing sounds. He shows how multidimensional his talents are by expanding from quiet folk-like music into more textured and complex material that is louder and has a more electronic feel, yet retains his wonderful vocals and harmonies and his great sense of melody.

8. Steve Hackett - Live Rails - The ex-Genesis guitar master shows that he can play his own new material just as well as he does the old Genesis classics. Hackett is similar to Jeff Beck in some ways, particularly in how he finesses his guitar to get some delicate sounds, then turns around and attacks it to get sounds that border on metal. He is a pro's pro on his instrument, totally worthy of much greater respect and recognition than he gets. The sound of this album is so immaculate I can hardly believe it is a live recording. His backing band is great. "Live Rails" makes me want to see Hackett and his band play next time they are on tour!

9. Wilco - The Whole Love - While maybe not as strong lyrically as some of their past efforts, I think it's one of their best when it comes to the music and the overall sound. Basically, they're just a great band, and I will probably like most anything they do. I like this one more than their last two. Some have been critical of "One Sunday Morning" for being 12 minutes long, but for me it's 12 minutes of sheer beauty. If you can get the "deluxe" version of this album with the 4-song extra CD, I think it's worth it for the alternate version of "Black Moon". My favorite Wilco album is "Summerteeth", and of all their albums since then, "The Whole Love" comes closest to capturing the feel of "Summerteeth" for me.

10. Younger Brother - Vaccine - This trio produces some of the best electronic rock sounds today. "Train" sounds suspiciously like Alan Parsons Project, and I mean that in a good way. It's a pretty outstanding record from start to finish. Electronic music becomes more organic as masterminds Simon Posford (Shpongle, Hallucinogen) and Benji Vaughan create new worlds of sound with recently added full-band-status member Ru Campbell providing some fine vocals. It's modern, but comfortably old-school in enough ways that it should be cross-generational in its appeal.

11. Umphreys McGee - Death By Stereo - This new release is more accessible than some of their previous records. "Death By Stereo" is very concise, enormously well-crafted rock music inflected with prog. Some label this group as a "jam band" but Umphreys McGee is more eclectic in their approach enough so that they transcend categorization. On this record you'll hear some good loud rock and roll, but also some funk, some R & B, some prog rock moments, and even a few jazz inflections. I highly recommend "Death By Stereo" as well as their 2009 album "Mantis". These guys are highly polished musicians, and their craft is high-level and high-octane.

12. My Morning Jacket - Circuital - I think this one is their best records since 2003's "It Still Moves". The title track and "Outta My System" are standouts for me, but I like just about all of it. Over the years they have expanded their sound to include different styles of rock, and this time out they synthesize the high points of their past efforts into a cohesive product. Jim James is as good as ever at hitting most of the notes head-on with his unique vocal stylings, and he is so influential to so many young singers nowadays. The band sounds tight and powerful. They are always exploring, always creating, and doing things on their own terms... and "Circuital" is no exception.

13. Deer Tick - Divine Providence - An ode to drinking and excess at times, this is a fun record from some very talented guys. Some of those who are more "in the know" than me are saying this CD represents something of a departure for Deer Tick, so now I'll have to hear some of the rest of their catalog... because this one is excellent! It growls, it rocks, it burps, it swears, and it mostly just has a good time.

14. The War On Drugs - Slave Ambient - Their lyrics are interesting, they have a great, carefully crafted sound. My only complaint is that all their songs are written on maybe two chords, sometimes three... but I haven't heard anybody write such simplistically musical songs and do it this well in a long time! They're supposedly going to be at the Sasquatch festival in May... I'm looking forward to it!

15. Real Estate - Days - Sunny day rock and roll from this New Jersey trio, the music is drenched in reverb and it's full of atmosphere. Plenty of ethereal guitar textures for those who like that sort of thing (as I do!) Dreamy music for a fun drive on a sunny day.

16. P.J. Harvey - Let England Shake - I love Polly Harvey's voice. Untrained, unencumbered, and unusual. These songs are interesting, they have some nice atmosphere, and they are simple and subtle. The lyrics are excellent, and most of the songs have to do with some aspect of England. I can see why so many people like this one so much! I like it the most of anything she has done since 1995's "To Bring You My Love". One of my standout tracks on this album is "On Battleship Hill".

17. Yuck - Yuck - More than just a little bit of fuzzy Smashing Pumpkins and early-90's sound from this quartet based in London. A very pleasing record. It is such a strong debut it makes me wonder if they will be able to top it. A lot of this record features mid-tempo, grunged-out stony slacker sounds, and it would make a great party record.

18. Feist - Metals - Leslie Feist creates some pop music that is just non-conventional enough to make it quite interesting (not a lot of stuff like "1, 2, 3, 4" on this one). She has a very fine voice, and I like her lyrics as well. Add all that into some creative and fun song arrangements, and it's a very pleasant listen!

19. M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming - Ambitious release, presented as a 2-CD set (although it would fit onto one disc). It has some highs and lows, but the highs make it a good record. I was unaware band member Anthony Gonzalez had the vocal range he does... his singing on "Reunion" and a few other tracks totally took me by surprise. Nice packaging and presentation, too.

20. Boston Spaceships - Let It Beard - this Robert Pollard side project represents a real creative outlet for him. This album has 26 tracks, but it is 70 minutes long... it's a real drunken psychedelic opus, and it covers a wide musical range. There are some low points, but for the most part it's pretty solid. Chris Slusarenko does most of the guitars and basses, and the Decemberists' Jim Moen is on drums. J.Mascis and Steve Wynn guest.

21. Mogwai - Hardcore Will Never Die But You Will - I think this "post-prog" band just gets better and better. Over the years they have refined their sound, taking it from extremely primitive to highly sophisticated. The music on this album portrays not just shades of light and dark, but so many shades of gray in between. Bright, dark, light, heavy, day, night... So many moods, so little time!

22. Yes - Fly From Here - This hybridization of Yes combines some of the feel of the later, more pop-oriented stuff with the feel of their earlier material. No Jon Anderson this time, but bassist Chris Squire, drummer Alan White and guitarist Steve Howe are still around, and singer Benoit David more than holds his own. Lots of Geoff Downes keyboards going on. It's not what I'd call "classic Yes", but it's lots of fun!

23. St. Vincent - Strange Mercy - Very nice album, only a couple of tracks I don't care for (1 and 9). The rest sounds like (as J. Marquis put it) like the album we wish Kate Bush could have (or would have) made this year. Annie gets a good groove going in quite a few places this time. Seems there is a little less polyrhythmic starting-and-stopping, and longer periods of time where the toe has a great time tapping. Good guitar work too, as always.

24. Tommy Keene - Behind the Parade - Great music from one of the unrecognized and unheard-of modern masters of power pop. He has plenty of guts, but still hasn't achieved much glory. He won't be in very many Top 40 lists, but he made my Top 20. 8-) Lots of sunshine, heartache and jangle to be found in this record.

25. The Feelies - Here Before - Nothing really outstanding in the reunion album from these rockers except that after about 20 years without releasing anything, they haven't lost a step. If you liked them before, you still should. Lots of typical uptempo freneticisms, with Bill Million and Glenn Mercer's guitars interplaying and intertwining like always.

26. Blackfield - Welcome To My DNA - The third full-length collaboration between Steven Wilson (see #4 above) and Israeli singer Aviv Geffen, this one is emotional, cinematic, and accessible to many ears. Well-produced, beautifully recorded. Wilson's influence is strongest in the arranging and production, but all the tracks were written by Geffen on this one (with the exception of Wilson's song "Waving").

27. Low - C'Mon - Some highs and lows on this one, but "Try to Sleep" and "Witches" make this CD a very good one for me. Wilco's Nels Cline helps with some of the guitars this time. I love Alan Sparhawk's plaintive vocals, and the harmonies he and Mimi Parker do are still there in all their glory.

28. Sigur Ros - Inni - very nice live double-disc set from Iceland's finest (sorry, Bjork fans... Sigur Ros is better! LOL!) These guys are totally about atmosphere, and whether its live or in the studio, their music makes me think of ice, mist, glaciers, and alien landscapes. This album has lots of E-Bow sounds, lots of high, ringing notes, lots of primal vocals... it's quite powerful. I just got it recently, and I suspect that with more listens it might rise up a ways in this list. "Inni" is available with a Blu-Ray concert disc that you will probably find to be wonderful (if you are Sigur Ros fan, as I am).

29. The Decemberists - The King Is Dead - I'm usually not a fan of this band, but I like about 2/3 of this album quite a bit. "This Is Why We Fight" is one of my favorite songs of the year. I like the stride they're hitting, and as I am gradually getting to like them a bit more with each release, I look forward to their next one.

Honorable mention (these have their moments):

Elbow - Build a Rocket, Boys! - Guy Garvey is a great vocalist, I just think this material is not as strong as some of that on their earlier records.
Atlas Sound - Parallax - Deerhunter frontman Bradford Cox's solo project, sounds pretty mellow.
Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues - getting in touch with their inner CSNY.
Battles - Gloss Drop - A bit harsh and repetitive in places, but they are still as mathy and precise as always.
Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring For My Halo - I love a few tracks off this one, but find the rest of it mainly forgettable.
Foo Fighters - Wasting Light - Seeing them in concert at Sasquatch helped me realize what a really good band they are. This album is not great, but it's pretty powerful in places.
Bright Eyes - The Peoples Key - Conor Oberst is a great lyricist, in my opinion. And I like his lyrics much better on this one than on some of his previous efforts. Musically it's OK.
The Strokes - Angles - I'm not crazy about this band like a lot of people seem to be, but there are a few tracks on this one I really like, particularly the opening track "Machu Picchu".
Coldplay - Mylo Xyloto - Nothing as adventurous as their previous output, but it's very pleasant, immaculately produced and well-played. Sounds like they're going for the pop jugular this time...
Todd Rundgren - (re)Produced
Radiohead - TKOL RMX 1234567 - 2-Cd set of remixes from "The King of Limbs", only in a couple of places do the remixes begin to approach the magic of the original songs.

Still haven't heard, but plan to and am looking forward to it because I hear they're great:
Matthew Sweet - Modern Art
Smith Westerns - Dye It Blonde
Ray Davies - See My Friends
Adele - 21
Elliott Murphy - Just a Story From New York

Nice try:
Kate Bush - 50 Words For Snow - I was excited to hear it, but found it to be a very tough listen.

Worst:
Lou Reed and Metallica - Lulu - I had such high hopes for this one, and I think it may be one of the worst things I've ever heard.

Ones I have accidentally left off or have forgotten:
Probably too many to count!

Best band I discovered in 2011 that has been around a while and that I had never really heard before:
The Samples

A 2010 release I discovered that I like after seeing the artist in concert:
JBM - Not Even In July

Best forgotten band I remembered in 2011:
Gentle Giant

Some of my Top 40+ Songs of 2011:
1. Other Lives - Dust Bowl III
2. The Antlers - No Widows
3. Kurt Vile - In My Time
4. Tame Impala - It's Not Meant To Be
5. My Morning Jacket - Outta My System
6. Other Lives - Tamer Animals
7. Other Lives - For 12
8. Tame Impala - Desire Be Desire Go
9. Bon Iver - Holocene
10. The Decemberists - This Is Why We Fight
11. Low - Try To Sleep
12. The Antlers - Corsicana
13. Bon Iver - Calgary
14. M83 - Reunion
15. Steve Wynn and the Miracle 3 - Resoulution
16. Deer Tick - Let's All Go To The Bar
17. Wilco - One Sunday Morning
18. Low - Witches
19. The Antlers - Rolled Together
20. Steven Wilson - Like Dust I Have Cleared From My Eye
21. Radiohead - Bloom
22. Wilco - Black Moon
23. Real Estate - Green Aisles
24. Feist - Comfort Me
25. PJ Harvey - On Battleship Hill
26. Yuck - Georgia
27. Younger Brother - Train
28. Radiohead - Little By Little
29. Wye Oak - Fish
30. Younger Brother - Safety In Numbers
31. Real Estate - It's Real
32. The Feelies - Way Down
33. Tommy Keene - Already Made Up Your Mind
34. The War on Drugs - Brothers
35. Steve Wynn and the Miracle 3 - Colored Lights
36. Boston Spaceships - Chevy Marigold
37. Yes - Hour of Need
38. The Strokes - Machu Picchu
39. Deer Tick - Clownin' Around
40. Wye Oak - Civilian
41. Atlas Sound - Angel Is Broken
42. Boston Spaceships - Christmas Girl
43. Dwight Twilley - You Close Your Eyes
44. Elbow - The Birds
45. Boston Spaceships - Tourist UFO
46. Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring For My Halo

If you see anything I have left off this list that you think needs to be on it, and if it is something I have heard, I can always readjust. 8-) Happy listening!

R.I.P. CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS, 1949-2011

2011-12-15T21:11:00.002-08:00

http://www.npr.org/2011/12/16/143595854/writer-christopher-hitchens-dies

QUOTE OF THE DAY

2011-12-15T20:23:00.000-08:00

“You know, you never want to say, ‘It’s all them. But I do think that right now at least, in the Republican Party there are a couple of notions. Number one is that compromise is a dirty word. Number two, anything that Obama’s for, we’re against.”
- Obama

THIS ABOUT NAILS IT

2011-12-13T17:08:00.001-08:00

http://video.msnbc.msn.com/hardball/45646574#45646574

THE SMARTER COURSE?

2011-11-18T07:21:00.000-08:00

http://www.salon.com/2011/11/18/the_favor_george_w_bush_did_for_democrats/singleton/

What do you think?

METALLICA MACHINE MUSIC

2011-11-08T18:45:00.000-08:00

The pairing of two rock legends, Lou Reed and Metallica, seemed to hold such great promise. I have always been a fan of Reed, and I have always admired Metallica and loved their sound.

But what might have been a coherent, incisive hard-rocking record is instead a muddled, largely spoken-word affair in which Reed's usual anger is present but comes off as the partially-sane ramblings of a cranky old man. And the content of some of his ranting is just downright scary.

A sign of what might have been is the first ten minutes of the final track, the 19-minute-plus "Junior Dad", but that one has an unnecessary extra eight or nine minutes of quiet ambient music tacked on at the end. And the first-time listener will probably suffer all the way through the other SEVENTY-or-so absolutely brutal minutes of "Lulu" to get to that track.

If you are a Metallica fan, this is still your band... but it is not your band's next great album. This is Metallica but relegated to a generator of heavy mood music as a background for Reed's rambling and ranting.

If you're a Lou Reed fan who likes to think Lou's last great album was "New York" (as I do), maybe you have held out hope that he still has one great album in him, yet to come (as I have). Well... this is not that album.

"Spermless like a girl", Reed repeats incessantly in "Frustration". I have to say Metallica shows that it still has plenty of sperm, but nowadays, Lou is far from seminal. I love him, but I think it's time for him to hang it up.

I found myself liking "Lulu" at times, because it does have its moments. But for the most part, I hate it. It is heavy, abrasive, and more than a bit heavy-handed more often than not. Metallica's contribution is majestic and powerful, and I give them 3 to 3.5 stars for their effort. If there was just a mix available without Lou's wails and warbles... Lou's part gets 1 star, so the average makes it a 2-star album for me.

It could have been so beautiful...

Look online for Chuck Klosterman's review. He says it all best.

I submitted the previous review to Amazon.com, and I did not read Klosterman's review before writing mine. Check out what Chuck says here:

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7146312/lou-reed-metallica-album

This review is pretty spot on, too. A bit harsh, maybe... but that's o.k.:

http://thatshowkidsdie.com/2011/11/02/spermless-like-a-girl-on-lou-reed-metallicas-lulu-and-my-fascination-with-suckiness/

My first thought after suffering all the way through this album was "This one is headed straight for the CD store as a trade-in!" But then I thought, that as a connoisseur of "bad art"and "outsider music", maybe I will just keep it... get it out every once in a while and listen to a few minutes of it, just to remind me of how good the rest of the CDs in my collection really are.

And maybe, just maybe, guys who are 69 years old (like Lou) shouldn't try to play rock and roll. I'm in a band, and I'm 54... but sometimes I wonder how much longer I should do it. There are limits. And Lou Reed, like The Who at halftime a couple of Super Bowls ago, is a perfect illustration.

BAD LIP READING

2011-11-02T17:55:00.000-07:00

If you are having a hard time digesting with the political candidates are throwing at you, this link will serve only to a) make things more confusing or b) provide you some relief via a good laugh. It does the latter for me! Thanks to blogger buddy Tom Harper for steering me to this site.

http://badlipreading.tumblr.com/

NEED A JOB?

2011-10-27T09:57:00.000-07:00

http://rockcenter.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/10/27/8495501-now-hiring-north-dakota-oil-boom-creates-thousands-of-jobs

Finally, they're tapping the Bakken formation. As this starts to take off, maybe some of those who think we need to drill for oil in the ANWR will shut up. 8-) Drill, baby, drill? They are getting their wish. We are drilling.

There is possibly more oil to be had in the Bakken than in the ANWR, and it could be produced more quickly. We might see this oil lots faster than we would see oil from northern Alaska.

I have always thought the only reason the right wing wants to drill in Alaska is to tick off environmentalists anyway... by "beating them". I think they want to win some kind of psychological game over the left more than they want us to be more self-sufficient when it comes to energy. The Bakken formation should render that all moot, at least for a while.

It would still be nice to get ourselves weaned off of fossil fuels, though. I'm not holding my breath for that to happen, because there is too much money to be made from fossil fuels for anyone to change their minds and do things differently.

But at least we're tapping some of our own oil resources here in the "lower 48". It's about time. This formation is huge, and it ought to help us to at least be slightly less dependent on *foreign* oil, or to build up our own reserves. It will be interesting to see just how many jobs this new "oil boom" can create.

OUT OF ONE QUAGMIRE, ONE QUAGMIRE AVOIDED, ONE LEFT TO GET OUT OF

2011-10-21T17:00:00.000-07:00

I was wondering when or if the United States would ever end the war in Iraq. My question was answered today when President Obama announced our troops would be out of there by Christmas. Will there be any who remain over there as a presence, or are we really done with it? Whatever happens, it looks like that is one quagmire we are getting out of.

Another one that could have become one was our involvement in Libya. Now that Gadhafi is gone, it has been announced that we will be out of Libya by the end of this month. Sounds like we are doing what we should, which is keep away from Libya while it develops its own new government. Quagmire avoided!

That leaves Afghanistan. While I know there is a plan in place for ending our war there, I can only hope it ends sooner than later. I also know that for every guy like Osama Bin Laden, Anwar Al-Aulaqi and Moammar Ghadafi who are eliminated, more will spring up... but it seems like there has been a recent surge in the number of such types the world is being rid of. And it seems like people could put partisanship aside for a least a few minutes and savor this!

The right wing loves to talk about how Barack Obama is this generation's version of Jimmy Carter. But that won't stick. Do you know why?

The answer is that we finally have an administration that is actually tough on terrorism. The Republican party has tried to portray President Obama as a weenie. Well... sorry, guys. He has provided the kind of leadership against terrorism you could only have wished for under Cheney-Bush. Whereas Carter will be forever (and undeservedly) tagged with the images of the failed hostage mission in Iran, Obama will be associated with images of the takedowns of Gadhafi, Al-Aulaqi, Bin Laden and others. And once his legacy is more firmly established, what will Bush be associated with? "Mission Accomplished".

The utter disconnect on the part of the right wing is laughable when it comes to these things.

And the Obama administration knows that the wars are too expensive. One area the Republican party continually hammers Obama on? Spending! So now we will be spending less without the Iraq war.

So really, what is there not to like about getting the United States out of Iraq? There will be more money in our coffers for, as Obama calls it, doing some nation-building here at home. The Iraqis will have their sovereignty back. We installed a democracy there, and they're our ally. We have access to their oil, I'm sure.

Saying the Iraq war is Obama's problem makes as little sense as saying the economy is Obama's problem. Neither idea is true. In both cases, what Obama is still trying to do is clean up the mess the previous administration left for him. And what his opponents continually try to do is pin the errors of judgment made by their heroes on him.

Just watch. A few more good things like this Iraq announcement will happen in the next 6-8 months, and the country will begin to wake up and realize that Obama is better for our country than any of his opponents might be. He may tend to capitulate to the GOP at times, and his policies may be proving more centrist than some lefties would prefer... but the mere thought of Herman Cain or Mitt Romney in the White House ought to provide a stark-enough contrast for voters.

Americans will realize Obama will not be getting us into more wars. We will realize he has been trying to get America back to work... and that a primary contributing factor to the continued unemployment of millions of Americans is "tea party" intransigence.

We will all soon realize that it's time to give him four more years, and if all can go well, his victory could be resounding.

WILL THIS REJUVENATE OUR SPACE PROGRAM?

2011-10-20T09:54:00.000-07:00

At a time when China is gaining dominance in the world, this sounds like a kick in the pants for our space program. I have always been a supporter of such things, and I don't care for the sound of this article. If they are getting ready to go to the moon and start using it to their advantage, maybe we should get busy.

http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/10/19/8402070-will-china-take-over-the-moon

SAD AND DISGUSTING

2011-10-16T14:40:00.000-07:00

http://www.examiner.com/humanist-in-national/american-cancer-society-refuses-500-000-from-atheists

I guess money from those of us who are non-believers is no longer needed in the quest to eradicate cancer. Cancer does not discriminate, but the American Cancer Society apparently does. Looks like I'll be finding other worthy causes to donate to now, that is, if they want my money.

WAY TO NOT DO Y OUR RESEARCH, RUSH!!

2011-10-15T14:10:00.000-07:00

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/united-states/111015/rush-limbaugh-obama-christians-lra-lords-resistance-army-uganda

Rush obviously didn't research this one too well. He is so out to trash Barack Obama that he hurried into this one and set himself up as a supporter of vile atrocities. If the left does not use this example to totally trash Rush Limbaugh, I wonder if the left has any smarts at all... He is virtually handing himself to the left on a platter this time.

Just because something has the word "Lord" in it or has an association with Christianity does not mean it shouldn't be above scrutiny, or that is shouldn't be stopped if it is into the business of terrorizing, maiming and/or killing people. Rush saw that Obama was sending troops to bring in somebody who is responsible for atrocities, and when he saw that the person was a "Christian" he must have thought "Bingo!"

Sorry, Rush. Your support of rape, murder, forcing people into slavery and forcing children to become soldiers is just one more reason why so many people should not take you seriously... bascially, you are an asshat.

IT FIGURES!

2011-10-13T22:20:00.000-07:00

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2011/08/22/24-policies-that-republicans-supported-before-they-were-against-them/

Vote Democrat. The ass you save may be your own!

A SIMPLE GRAPHIC

2011-10-13T20:21:00.000-07:00

AND THE RIGHT WING IDOLIZES THIS GUY? LOL!!

2011-10-08T21:52:00.000-07:00

Found at the great blog www.davesplash.com (and stolen and posted here):

"We’re going to close the unproductive tax loopholes that allow some of the truly wealthy to avoid paying their fair share. In theory, some of those loopholes were understandable, but in practice they sometimes made it possible for millionaires to pay nothing, while a bus driver was paying ten percent of his salary, and that’s crazy. [...] Do you think the millionaire ought to pay more in taxes than the bus driver or less?" - Pres. Ronald Reagan, class warrior, June 6, 1985

DON'T LOOK NOW...

2011-09-25T17:05:00.000-07:00

... but the Eastern Oregon University Mountaineers have a top-ten football team in their division! Right here in little old La Grande!

EOU won its first three games of the year, all road games, against teams that were either ranked in the NAIA Top 25 or who had garnered some votes. The biggest win was in Helena, Montana against #1-ranked Carroll College, 42-33. And it was the first time Eastern had ever beaten a #1-ranked team in ANY sport!

The Mounties won again on Saturday, beating Montana-Western here in La Grande 45-39. Their schedule has just about all their October games being played at home.

But while they are 4-0, the Frontier Conference is always tough. I am guessing EOU will probably lose a game or two the rest of the way, but who knows... maybe not!

Chris Ware, their senior quarterback, has set all kinds of school records on offense. Running back Kevin Sampson is a top-ten NAIA athlete at his position. A solid lineup on offense and timely defense has gotten EOU off to its great start... let's see where they go from here! Coach Tim Camp has done a great job building the program into a strong one since he came on board a few years ago, and it is a "given" that he will keep the kids motivated.

And while we're on the subject of success, let's not forget the EOU Vollleyball team. While they are a decent 9-6 overall, they are 8-0 in their conference!

And with the mens' basketball team going to the national tournament the last three years, and with the womens' team winning 18 or more games each of the last three years and going to the national tournament once, La Grande has become a small-college hoops haven!

Much of the credit for the recent EOU athletic success should be given to Athletic Director Rob Cashell, who won a West Region Athletic Director of the Year award last year.

The college has grown, too... over the last twenty years or so it has doubled in size, now to an enrollment of over 4,100.

LET'S GET OUT OF THE WARS... NOW

2011-09-17T15:42:00.000-07:00

If the big issue is now our nation's economy, then Americans need to know how much the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are really costing taxpayers. If more of us knew, there would increased pressure on Congress from the public to get us out of Afghanistan and to further decrease our involvement in Iraq, maybe enough pressure that we could be done with those places fairly quickly.

This has been a major disappointment for me with the Obama administration. I was hoping we would be more "done" with Iraq and Afghanistan than we are. I trust Obama more than I do the Republicans on the matter, as I believe our involvement in both places would have escalated under McCain more than it has under Obama, and that we could well have invaded Iran by now had he won in 2008. But that's a hypothetical. Right now I disappointed in part because I believe the cost of the wars is the main thing dragging down our economy.

This is not to demean the bravery of those who have served in those places and who are currently serving there... not at all. I want our troops home, and I want them home now. And I want them treated with respect when they get home for courageously following the orders they have been given.

My point is, there comes a time when we need to decide what we can afford and what we cannot. To my conservative friends, this means before we start debating about the cutting of social programs and NPR and other things some of you don't like, let's get rid of the cost of the wars first. Let's get them out of our annual budget, and THEN talk about the other things. In any event, if we are continuing our involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq at the expense of our own society and its needs, then we should seriously question such involvement.

This, from Wikipedia, pretty much says it all:

"According to estimates near the beginning of 2011, the U.S. war in Afghanistan would cost U.S. taxpayers an $116 billion for that year - nearly twice the amounts being deeply slashed from domestic programs, including key U.S. infrastructure needs such as water, air traffic, and rail projects - while the minimum projected cost of the U.S. war for the next two years, $200 billion, exceeds the domestic budget deficit of all 50 states put together."

Also:

"The Congressional Research Service estimates that we have now spent or committed $300 billion, and that is only the money for which we can account. Some will say it is twice that, for this war, like the war in Iraq, was funded off-budget with no transparency."

"$300 billion. That is about $101 million per day for 2,950 days. Or, to put out another average, that is $3,947 per family of four that every American family has paid to date."

"To continue this war at its current level and to escalate it beyond its current scope is a trillion dollar question. Are those who would so cavalierly make this commitment willing to demand another $3,947.36 from every American family of four to pay for it?"

"Thousands have protested federal spending to rebuild America's schools, roads, bridges and critical infrastructure, but are they willing to do the same when their taxes are being spent to rebuild Kabul?"

— U.S. Congress Rep. Eric Massa, November 4, 2009

That was from about two years ago.

More recently, some of our politicians, such as Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, have indicated they would rather spend billions on building new schools in Iraq but not spend any money on building new schools here in America. My view is that with our current debt situation what it is, and with the cost of the wars, such a view as Cantor's suggests seriously skewed priorities.

"According to the Congressional Research Service, through fiscal year 2010, Congress has appropriated $1,087,000,000,000 for the Department of Defense, for the State Department, and for medical costs paid by the Department of Veterans Affairs. This amount includes $751,000,000,000 related to operations in Iraq and $336,000,000,000 related to operations in Afghanistan."

— Congressional True Cost of War Act, March 8, 2011

That's a lot of money, and it's a lot more than we can afford. If we want to cut federal spending, getting out of the wars is the first place I'd start.

Let's not be cutting funds for valuable things such as schools and our nation's infrastructure. Let's not overlook our national and state budget crises for the sake of continuing the wars. The Taliban attacked us and sorely wounded us ten years ago, but at what cost do the wars continue? At what point do the wars become little more than crusades?

It didn't take 10 years of war with the Taliban in Afghanistan to get Osama Bin Laden. All it took was a carefully-planned special operation.

We could have learned a lesson from watching what happened to the Soviet Union, but we continue to choose to ignore our history lessons.

I only focused on the money aspect of the wars, but what about the cost in human treasure? A price cannot be put on the lives lost in both these wars.

I'm sick of groups like the Project for a New American Century and their quest for hegemony. We can't afford that sort of thing, now or ever. Let's mind our own business for a change, and fix things that need fixing here at home. Let's get all the way out of Iraq and Afghanistan, now.

POORLY CONCEIVED MOVIE REVIEWS

2011-09-12T18:49:00.001-07:00

I don't tend to watch a lot of movies, but lately I have seen three of them.

Are these poorly-conceived reviews of movies, or are they reviews of poorly-conceived movies? You read, you watch, you decide. 8-)

SOURCE CODE - Main character is a hero, wins the girl, etc. But done in a thoughtful way. Good earthbound Sci-Fi stuff here, makes you think a bit. Some characters are slightly wooden, but what the hell, the "what if" factor in this film's story makes it a good time. B+

APOLLO 18 - If you are as tired as I am of "found footage" movies like "Blair Witch Project", "Cloverfield" and "Paranormal Activity", don't take this flight. I do have to say the use of NASA-moonwalk-type film footage gives this an air of believability those others don't have. This one is pretty scary in places. It's kind of a sad movie. It's like a scary horror film that goes to the moon. I give it a B- because it did scare me a bit, but not a better grade because I thought I had predicted the ending and I didn't. So there.

CONTAGION - Lots of good actors, not much character development... we get a few glimpses into Matt Damon's and Laurence Fishburne's characters, and maybe Jude Law's, but that's about it... and there are LOTS of characters in this one, a high-profile director (Steven Soderbergh), etc. Hey, it's a disaster movie, so we shouldn't expect too much substance, right? 8-) But there is some. And I have to admit it's a scary scenario, and one that will eventually be more likely to happen than not. I give it a B... I didn't care for it all that much, but it seems like a reasonably realistic film, and there are enough aspects of the human condition examined (greed and hubris in particular) that causes me to think it's not just your average disaster film. I can't wait for some of the right-wingers to start bleating about this one ("The government has enlisted Hollywood to scare more people into getting flu shots nobody needs this winter!" "Matt Damon is out to turn our country communist!" Etc. etc. LOL!)

WHEN GREEN TURNS TO BLUE

2011-08-22T20:20:00.000-07:00

The Oregon Ducks made it to the NCAA national championship football game last season, losing a close one 21-18 to the Auburn Tigers. The Ducks are ranked in the national Top 5 teams in all the preseason polls. So why do I find myself less excited than I should be? The season opener is about ten days away... the Ducks go to Arlington, Texas to play highly-ranked Louisiana State University in that huge stadium the Cowboys play in, it's an ESPN Game of the Week, etc.! What's not to be excited about?

I attended my first Ducks game at Autzen Stadium in 1977. For a few months out of every year since then, every week has involved a lot of anxious waiting around for Saturday afternoons or evenings to arrive. After baseball, my favorite thing to watch is college football, particularly if my Ducks are playing.

In recent years, the UO football program has scaled new heights. No longer one of the league doormats, Oregon now finds itself perennially in the nation's NCAA Football Top 25 polls. While this is great for recognition for the school and for the state of Oregon, with it comes other kinds of notoriety.

Just recently, it is becoming increasingly difficult for me to enjoy watching my team without having a few twinges of guilt. As a relative newcomer to being a fan of a big-time football program (not just perennial Top 25, but getting to be more like perennial Top 10 now), I am also new to the intense media scrutiny the Ducks face, and to being a fan of a team whose players who get in trouble with the law (and whose methods of recruiting players are now coming into question to the point that possible penalties loom for the program).

It gets tiring reading about such ominous things in the paper every day.

It also brings about the realization (and an obvious thing that can sometimes be obscured by being a sports fan) that college should maybe be about learning and academics, and not so much about stud athletes.

I want my team to be the best in the country. It's what any fan wants for his team. I just want them to do it the right way.

Those things aside, my prediction for this season is a 10-2 regular season record, with losses to LSU in the opener and then to Stanford (at Stanford) during the regular season. That ought to be good enough for second place in the PAC-12 Conference and a very high-profile bowl game. But given the strength of Oregon's schedule, a 10-2 prediction could be optimistic.

Oregon has tough road games against the University of Seattle and the University of Arizona. The USC Trojans will be tough for the Ducks, although that contest is a home game for Oregon.

And the Ducks will face a tough challenge in their "Civil War" game with the Oregon State Beavers as always, but this year the game is in Eugene and the Beavers will likely find themselves outmanned.

Two or more losses will keep the Ducks out of the Bowl Championship Series, but they'll be very good, and highly entertaining to watch.

As long as their key players stay out of trouble, that is. No marijuana use in cars traveling 118 miles per hour, please.

And as long as the NCAA doesn't hand down any harsh penalties for recruiting violations... please, coach Chip Kelly! You and your staff need to stay on the up-and-up!

If the University of Oregon gets punished, it will get what it deserves. It's what usually happens when people push the envelope in such circumstances.

Did Oregon's coach Chip Kelly push the envelope too far? Maybe he did, maybe he didn't. We'll be finding out more about those things (and many others) during the coming year.

IT'S TIME TO STAND UP, MR. PRESIDENT!

2011-08-22T19:53:00.000-07:00

(image from http://www.downstatenews.com/ )

http://articles.philly.com/2011-08-18/news/29900969_1_house-republicans-republican-congress-truman-approach

The above article contains the following, which I think is wonderful to read:

"And did you see what an ex-Bush White House adviser wrote online? Quoting Peter Wehner:

"If taxes cannot be raised under any circumstances, then we have veered from economic policy to religious catechism. There is something amiss when the political pressure in a party, any party, is so intense that it prevents a serious intellectual conversation from even taking place."
"If a former Karl Rove deputy can say those things, surely that is more than sufficient cover for you to go medieval on the GOP brand."

- Peter Wehner, former Bush aide and former Karl Rove deputy

Of course the "tea party" people will say because Wehner was an aide to Bush, he was an aide to one of the worst presidents in history so therefore his comments don't count for anything much... while at the same time they must be in love with the idea that Karl Rove is probably working 24/7 to help the GOP defeat Barack Obama at every turn.

I think Wehner is on to something here. Veering from economic policy to religious catechism, indeed. That leads to intransigence, and also leads to an inability to have serious intellectual conversations about matters which affect us all.

He's right, there is definitely something amiss.

THEY SHOULDN'T COUNT THEIR CHICKENS TOO SOON...

2011-08-19T22:13:00.000-07:00

(image found at Squatlo Rants! blog)

http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/12/g-o-p-house-majority-at-risk/

The conservatives can laugh at the Dems all they want, but they ignore us at their peril. All it will take to energize the Democratic base and get a whole lot of independents on board is for the GOP to nominate a far-right Republican. The contrast between Obama and someone who wants to trash just about every part of the current system will be stark.

BEWARE OF WOLVES IN SHEEPS' CLOTHING

2011-08-19T12:12:00.000-07:00

http://www.democracynow.org/2011/8/17/ex_evangelical_denounces_michele_bachmann_calls

People are complex, and because that is so true, we can't be taking those with far-out religious ideologies for granted, particularly when they achieve high levels of prominence and run for public office. They can hide their real intent behind sound bites and platitudes.

While there may not be a lot of Christians in this country who are Reconstructionists in that they will openly say that's what they are, I submit that Reconstructionism is insidious... it is gradually finding its way into our nation's "mainstream" Christian culture as pastors and politicians who subscribe to its basic tenets gain more influence, then lead their flocks and followers. Inroads are being made toward theocracy, and we are fools if we don't sit up and pay attention.

Many who follow those pushing Reconstructionism are probably unaware of the extent to which their leaders want our country run by strict fundamentalist religion. I'm not sure if Michelle Bachmann would want public stonings, public executions for swearing, legalized slavery, and a society like that depicted in Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale", but you never know... she just might... and indicators suggest she may well have these ideals. If she is not an outright Reconstructionist, she is one highly influenced by Reconstructionists who has probably risen higher in the political food chain than any of her ilk before her.

Her supporters need to wake up, smell the coffee, realize what she is all about, and dump her like a hot potato. Her numbers would instantly drop to somewhere in the single digits. If they know what she is really about and they don't stop supporting her, scary times could be in store for our country sooner than we think.

A MARINER FAN's LAMENT

2011-08-07T13:23:00.000-07:00

It has been another miserable season for the Seattle Mariners baseball club, at least at first glance. When one looks at the standings, they will see the M's in last place in the American League West Division with a record of 49-63.

But it hasn't really been all that bad a year, considering the team was 43-43 and nearly at the top of the division before embarking on a disastrous club-record 17-game losing streak. Since the losing streak ended? They have gone 6-3.

So, what happened during that horrific three weeks or so in July? Well... everything that could go wrong did go wrong. It was a combination of bad hitting, bad fielding, average-to-poor pitching, and bad luck. Some baseball statistician declared the odds of this year's Mariners losing 17 in a row would be about 10,000:1.

But it happened, and it caused the ball club to become "sellers" rather than "buyers" at the July 31 trading deadline. General Manager Jack Zduriencik made two deals. In the first one, he sent two decent to fairly-good pitchers, starter Doug Fister and reliever David Pauley to the Detroit Tigers. In exchange, Seattle got third base prospect Francisco Martinez (now playing for the Mariners' AA affiliate), Tigers' outfielder Casper Wells, and starter/reliever Charlie Furbush. There will also be a "player to be named later", whom we will know the identity of in a week or so, if not sooner; he will reportedly be one of the Tigers' top three draft picks from 2010.

Wells is now a regular in the Mariners lineup, and for now Furbush is in the starting rotation. Both have had good debuts for Seattle. Martinez is a work in progress, and the PTBNL (probably reliever Chance Ruffin, starting pitcher Drew Smyly or third baseman Nick Castellanos) will be a good player in time.

The second deal sent the frequently-injured starting pitcher Erik Bedard to the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox sent one prospect, outfield Chih-Hsien Chiang, to Seattle and two other prospects to the Los Angeles Dodgers. L.A. then sent Seattle outfielder Trayvon Robinson, who had been playing for their AAA team in Albequerque. Chiang is with the Mariners' AA affiliate and already playing well, and Robinson is with the Mariners and hit his first major league home run last night in his second major league game (in his first game, he made a spectacular catch in left field).

The Mariners are definitely better than they were in 2010, but they still have a long ways to go. What will happen next?

For the rest of this season, they will use a starting rotation of Felix Hernandez, rookie Michael Pineda, rookie Blake Beavan, rookie Furbush, and veteran Jason Vargas. In September when it is time to expand major league rosters and call up some players from the minors, a few more of their young starting pitchers will probably get a look. Pineda has had a great rookie season, and Beavan is off to a great start. Furbush looks like he could be pretty useful as well. Vargas is probably destined to be about average as a major league starting pitcher... but all in all, given that they have some very good young arms in the minors in Danny Hultzen, James Paxton, Taijuan Walker (to name a few), when it comes to starters they look pretty well loaded.

In the bullpen, Brandon League will probably continue as the closer. He was pressed into the job when last year's closer David Aardsma had a couple of surgeries that put him out for the season. Aside from an ugly four-game stretch about a third of the way through the season, League has been excellent. With Pauley gone to Detroit, veterans Aaron Laffey, Jeff Gray and Jamey Wright have had to take up some of that slack... but there have also been some innings for youngsters Josh Lueke and Dan Cortes. There is a chance League may be traded during the offseason in an attempt to bring some hitting for the offense, but for now he will finish games for the M's. The bullpen looks like it might be pretty decent next year. If Chance Ruffin is the PTBNL in the Detroit deal, he could be their closer in 2012.

Hitting is where the team needs the most help. The offense was historically bad in 2010. The Mariners had the worst offense in the American League since the advent of the DH... what was that, something like 40 years ago? Ugh.

Young Dustin Ackley was called up in June and has done amazing well at second base for the Mariners. Their first draft pick in 2009, he advanced rapidly through the minors and is showing Seattle fans he is capable of being an offensive force and an adequate second baseman for years to come. Designated hitter has been a problem for Seattle for a while, and they finally parted ways with Jack Cust after signing him as a free agent during the off-season in hopes he would add some power to the lineup. Now Mike Carp will get the bulk of the time at DH, and although it's a small data sample, his batting average is .300 so far... and that is encouraging.

Casper Wells is an instant upgrade over everyone the Mariners have been trotting out in left field this year. Shortstop Brendan Ryan anchors the infield, making some amazing plays and getting a timely hit here and there.

Justin Smoak has struggled at first base this season, dealing in part with the death of his father, some thumb injuries, and generally adjusting to the majors. The team still has high hopes for him. Likewise, outfielder Michael Saunders recently lost his mother to cancer and has struggled so far in the majors. He has good skills, and like Smoak, is still in his early-mid twenties. Let's hope that next season these two will blossom.

Right fielder Ichiro Suzuki is not necessarily a black hole in the lineup, but he does not appear to be seeing the ball as well as he has in the past, both in the outfield and at the plate. He will be 38 in October, and he has one year remaining on his large ($19M a year) contract. Will he retire? Or will he come back next year and give it another go? It's hard to say, but without him playing at the levels to which the M's are accustomed, he has not been as valuable this season as in years past.

Center fielder Franklin Gutierrez continues to battle irritable bowel syndrome, and he has never really been able to get started this season. His batting average is still below .200, and to me, he just looks tired. I don't know that he will be able to continue in the majors and have value as a hitter. His fielding is still very good, but his bat is not. It could be fortunate for the team if the newly-acquired Robinson does well over the next couple of months; he is a center fielder by trade.

Catcher Miguel Olivo is an erratic hitter, and while he has a good arm for throwing out baserunners, he lets a lot of balls get past him. He was signed as a free-agent last winter to a two-year contract, and I suspect they will still have him next year.

At the end of the season, the Mariners will have a much better idea of which kids will stick, and which aren't as likely to. During the winter, Jack Zduriencik will have the task of making some deals, either by trading players or signing free agents, for the purpose of adding offense to the lineup so the team can be more fun for fans to watch next year. While the team is devoted to a rebuilding process that emphasizes the drafting and development of young players, the Mariners also know they need to try and field a competitive product. Thus, I look for them to acquire a couple of players this winter who will have some degree of name recognition for fans.

Next year? .500 ball or better. But that's not guaranteed, and I can tell you, being a Mariners fan can be a really long slog sometimes.

THERE IS NO "LIBERAL MEDIA"

2011-08-04T09:44:00.000-07:00

Smart blogger S.W. Anderson of the Oh! Pinion blog at http://ohpblog.ohpinion.com/ alerted me to the following. Thanks, S.W.!

http://www.thenation.com/blog/162434/tiny-tea-party-rally-vs-large-progressive-rally-which-gets-more-beltway-ink

The following comment was made by yours truly at Oh! Pinion:

This is ample illustration of what should be absolutely apparent to anybody who pays attention: there is no “liberal media”.

Corporations control the media, and those who own the presses are the ones with “freedom of the press”. They have the freedom to select the stuff they want us to see and hear, and in many cases, they aren’t going to want us seeing things that go against their interests. Through this kind of manipulation, voters are fooled into thinking views like those of the Tea Party are mainstream, and that those views represent the views of the majority.

In this way, Tea Party and other far-right candidates get elected, and then they wreak havoc (or at least they try to). If they are allowed to have their way, they will decimate things like Social Security, Medicare, then Medicaid, public education… and then the American people will wonder what happened to those things! “Oh… you mean I voted for so-and-so and he helped get rid of that program I liked? How did that happen?”

I like to believe people are generally not stupid, but I do believe they can be manipulated through various means. Distraction is one way. What we are provided with by FOX, CNN, the major networks and most any source of “news” is not only going to NOT tell us the whole story, but it will often provide plenty of distractions so we will look the other way while other things happen… the kind that are going to impact millions of us on a personal level.

So for as many times as those on the right may cry about how Obama is getting all the breaks, there is at least as much time being given to those on the far right end of the political spectrum, and they will usually be allowed to make their point in a way which gives them the last word… and they get enough air time that they are given credence in the eyes and mind of the public.

The “tea party” was not a grass roots movement to start with, nor is it one now. It is a convenient way for certain interest groups who are not patriotic in any sense of the word to prey on the patriotism of average Americans, to use them as marching foot soldiers in advancing a corporate agenda.

So it comes to no surprise at all to me that a rally promoting progressive values would get virtually no press, while the “tea party”, which truly is a media darling because it is confrontational and therefore sensational can hold a rally with less attendance but still be the “news” story of the day.

---------------------------------------------

Sure, The Nation is a left-leaning publication... but that doesn't mean what they are reporting here is not true.

And people can go ahead and cite as may Bernard Goldberg quotes as they want, and refer to things they see on websites like NewsBusters, and I will cite items such as these:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYlyb1Bx9Ic

http://www.faulkingtruth.com/Articles/OffTheRail/1015.html

http://mydd.com/users/paul-rosenberg/posts/liberal-media-myth-goes-scientific

Anybody out there know of any good sources for news? I have pretty given up on the mainstream media as a watchdog. It's now more like a corporate lapdog. RIP.

THIS SOUNDS PRETTY COOL

2011-07-17T19:06:00.000-07:00

My mom told me about this. Sounds kind of interesting:

http://www.heifer.org/site/c.edJRKQNiFiG/b.2529663/?msource=kwg356&gclid=CJuEmYbniaoCFUsZQgod7m3lyQ

I think I will continue to make most of my donations to local charities, but I think Heifer International sounds like a cool idea.

HENRY RIFLE RACK, ca. 1863

2011-07-11T08:32:00.000-07:00

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!

2011-07-04T13:54:00.001-07:00

Have a happy, fun and safe Fourth of July, and if you have a moment, stop to be glad our country is as great as it is, and to give thanks to the people who have made it great through the years, from the Founding Fathers on!

IS THIS THE WAVE OF THE FUTURE?

2011-06-28T10:39:00.001-07:00

I hope it is!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43556583/?GT1=43001

I HATE TAXES! BUT I LIKE...

2011-06-23T20:56:00.000-07:00

By EW Adams

FUN, AND WORTH A LOOK

2011-06-20T21:21:00.001-07:00

I greatly enjoyed "Super 8", the movie by J.J. Abrams and Steven Spielberg that is currently in theaters.

Abrams wrote the film and directed it, and it was produced by Spielberg. It's a good "coming of age" film, plus it has lots of explosions and fun sci-fi stuff. The kid actors in it are good, and the dialog between them is hilarious in places.

This one should rank up there with some of the better things Spielberg has been associated with. And of course Abrams is pretty amazing in his own right, as the creator of lots of thing, including "Lost", "Alias", "Fringe", "Undercovers", and "Cloverfield".

It's hard not to like "Super 8". Give it a try!

SNAVE'S SASQUATCH EXPERIENCE, v.2011

2011-06-07T20:22:00.000-07:00

All in all, I have to say the 2011 edition of Sasquatch was a great festival! There were some great artists this year! I had the pleasure of being there this year with my wonderful daughters Kelly and Katie, and with my great friend Rand (as well as with thousands of other people)!

I have included a number of my own Sasquatch photos here for you to enjoy. You can click on them to make them larger. Regretfully, many of the pictures are somewhat grainy-looking. I hope to have a new camera for 2012... but these should be plenty good enough for you to "get the idea"! 8-)

First of all, there are some bands I didn't get to see, or ones where I didn't see more than a song or two. When it came to Death Cab For Cutie, The Decemberists and Modest Mouse, I simply wasn't very interested in them so I didn't see them play. Local Natives and Wilco were another story; I wish I could have heard entire sets by both of them. I did get to see a few songs from Wilco's set, but I have seen them before and they were playing at the same time as Deerhunter. This is my one Wilco photo, and it's a pretty silly one:

I did get to see a couple of songs by Yeasayer (above), and they were very good. They play pleasant electronic pop music. Gayngs (below) was also interesting.

And I thought Surfer Blood (above) was pretty likeable as well.

Twin Shadow is another one I would have enjoyed seeing, as I like his music.

I also didn't get to see Bonobo, Bassnectar or Ratatat, or any of the other artists at the Banana Shack (also known as the "dance tent"... not that I could have gotten close enough to see anything anyway, it was a real people zoo!) Most of the time the crowd level looked like this:They need to build a bigger "dance tent"!

What I didn't care for so much:

I didn't find The Bronx to be very enjoyable. Way too much testosterone for my tastes from this L.A. punk band. No photos for this one.

Regarding Death From Above 1979, I think it's cool that they reunited and are out touring, but I didn't find them to be particularly enjoyable either; they are a two-piece guitar and drums outfit that primarily deal in noise.
Death From Above 1979

Matt and Kim were fun for the couple of songs I saw, but their stage presence made me think they could have been a band created by Disney... just way too happy and wholesome! Heh... they were good, but just not my musical cup of tea.

And now I will rank the rest of them:

32. THE SECRET SISTERS - This duo sings traditional country and some originals. They have beautiful voices!
"Your Cheatin' Heart"

31. THE DRUMS
Echoes of early U2, which is a good thing.

30. OLD 97s
This band plays great bar-band-style country rock! Singer Rhett Miller is a good entertainer. They are recognized as pioneers of the alt-country movement, along with artists of the stature of Wilco and Son Volt. Seeing the Old 97s was a treat.

29. COLD WAR KIDS

Before seeing them at Sasquatch, I thought they were simple pop/punk... but I guess I hadn't really ever paid attention to them before. There is much more to them than that. Decent songwriting, good singing, and all in all, quite a good band that earned my respect with their performance.

28. THE THERMALS - I didn't manage to get pictures of this band, but I love their energy. They are a three-piece group from Portland, and they play melodic punk music that is not too harsh, but just harsh enough.

27. THE FLAMING LIPS were something of a disappointment, if one could really call it that. I was pretty hyped about getting to hear them do their CD "The Soft Bulletin" from start to finish, but I had forgotten about what a sad album it is, and besides, singer Wayne Coyne did a lot of talking during the show. It was kind of slow-paced and seemed to lack much of the positive energy the band is known for, making it into kind of a downer. The music was good, and it was played well... all the color and excitement was there, with the balloons and great visuals and all. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for it. Here are some pictures. As usual, their show was a spectacle.
"Race For The Prize"

Singer Wayne Coyne pontificates about something or other.

It was much better when Wayne just sang.

The Flaming Lips are known for their great visual effects.

26. THE ANTLERS - I did not get pictures of this band, either, but I very much enjoyed the portion of their set that I saw. Peter Silbermann has a unique voice that is very listenable. The songs are interesting. After hearing part of their set, I had to download their CD "Hospice"... they are worth a listen!

25. ARCHERS OF LOAF
They reunited recently, and I heard part of their set. It was quite enjoyable.

24. RODRIGO y GABRIELA - Just one picture for this act and it's one of me with them playing onstage in the far background... but still pictures don't do them justice. Look up some of their live performances on YouTube for a real treat! They are former metal guitarists who have gone acoustic. Rodrigo plays amazing leads and melodies, while Gabriela uses her hands and feet to become a human beat-box. Simply wonderful stuff!

Katie and I enjoyed them!

23. !!! is pronounced "chk-chk-chk", according to the band, although they say it can also be pronounced as any string of three identical monosyllables, like "Bam Bam Bam" or "Pow Pow Pow".They are kind of like a modern-day version of INXS, doing guitar-and-synth songs with a hard dance beat. They are one of the leaders of what is referred to as the "dance-punk movement". Their vocalist Nic Offer, while not quite as charismatic as INXS' Michael Hutchence was, struts and prances to great effect, and he truly owns the stage.And at times, he waded out into the crowd! They are a very exciting band, everybody danced!

22. TYPHOON
They are kind of like a bigger band, with strings and horns, and are sort of like a cross between Belle & Sebastian and Arcade Fire. Very pleasant to listen to!

21. IRON AND WINE

I was expecting singer Sam Beam's soft, pleasing, semi-somnambulent folk music but was fascinated to hear him play with a full band... they took off into several avant-garde jams. They were fun!
Sam Beam emotes!

20. BRIGHT EYES

I have not been a fan of band leader Conor Oberst until the latest Bright Eyes CD, "The People's Key", at which point I realized what a great lyricist he is. I still find his vocals to be an acquired taste on his CDs, but in concert he is a very good entertainer.
Eventually he did ditch the hoodie!

Cold and tired during the Bright Eyes set... here, Kelly's hoodie stayed on!

Good friends and good times: John and Rand

19. BLACK MOUNTAIN
This late-Sixties/early-Seventies-style band from Vancouver, B.C. knows what they are doing.
The singer sounds like Grace Slick at times, the guitars and musical arrangements could be from four decades ago. Not all that exciting a stage presence, but they're more about the music anyway. A fun, impressive listen!

18. BOB MOULD
The legendary Mould, formerly of Husker Du and Sugar and now playing solo material, did a solo set to open the festival on Friday evening. He was in fine form on his electric, and I have always liked his voice... hearing him play live was a treat! Later that evening, he joined Foo Fighters on stage for a song from their latest album "Wasting Light".

Katie and Kelly enjoy the afternoon/evening on Friday

Kelly used her hat and Katie used mine (a great stocking hat which Kelly made, by the way) to block the sun

17. SEATTLE ROCK ORCHESTRA

This group is just plain fun, see them if you get a chance! For this show they played the music of Radiohead from "The Bends" and "OK Computer", using a typical band lineup plus a small orchestra of 15-20 people and three vocalists.

In this picture they are doing "Airbag" from Radiohead's "OK Computer" album.

16. ALOE BLACC

He is a genuine soul singer with a fantastic band to back him. If you like the voice of Bill Withers, you might like Aloe!

15. SHARON JONES AND THE DAP KINGS

Sharon Jones is a classic-style soul singer with a fantastic band. She strutted, danced, shouted, sang, and totally entertained! If you ever get a chance to see her, go for it!"100 Days, 100 Nights"

Here is the view looking north from alongside the main stage.

14. S.CAREY

Ambient and pretty music by a band from Wisconsin, fronted by Bon Iver drummer Sean Carey. Interesting songwriting, sometimes echoes Talk Talk from that band's latter days. Lots of space inside the music, and it's very contemplative stuff.

13. PEPPER RABBIT

This three-piece band, including Xander Singh and Luc Laurent, plays atmospheric and mellow music that is also beautiful much of the time. They are a bit on the quirky side, and may be an acquired taste for some, but I would recommend checking them out.

Damselfly on my hat

12. FOO FIGHTERS

I had not paid a lot of attention to them until recently, and I thoroughly enjoyed their performance. Dave Grohl is quite an entertainer, and they did the songs of theirs I like best, including "The Pretender", "Times Like These" and "Learn to Fly". Apologies for the lousy photo!

11. WHEEDLE'S GROOVE

This is an amazing funk band from Seattle, with guys who have been paying their musical dues for years and years. They are about as tight as you can get!

10. CHROMEO

They play basic dance music, but they do it in a way that is fun and exciting. I couldn't help but find myself dancing, and their set was one of happiest and dancin'-est I got to experience this year!

Duhrrr!

9. THE RADIO DEPT.

This Swedish band plays some of the best dream pop you'll hear. In this presentation, they were a three-piece band that featured two guitars, and a keyboardist who played keyboard riffs while employing a bass and drum program. Sounds kind of synthetic, but hey, it's smooth and it's very nice.

"Heaven's On Fire"

Kelly and I enjoyed The Radio Dept. from above.

8. FITZ AND THE TANTRUMS

From L.A., this band blends pop, soul, rock and R & B in a very enjoyable way. The singer, Michael Fitzpatrick ("Fitz"), sounds a bit like Daryl Hall at times, which I think is a very good thing!

"Dear Mr. President"

Co-vocalist Nicole Scaggs has great pipes and, like Fitz, energizes the crowd... they work so well together!

I liked them enough that I bought their CD "Pickin' Up The Pieces" and got all their autographs on it at their signing session at the Easy Street Records booth:

Katie and I are waiting for autographs

Katie and me with Fitz and the Tantrums.

They were really nice. I asked Fitz how long his band has been together and he said "We've been playing for about two-and-a-half years." I told him I have been in a band for eight years, and while we are good, we could only dream of being as good as his band is. He raised his eyebrows, smiled, and wordlessly and effusively shook my hand. He is a great singer, and he and his bandmates are humble, happy to be where they are today. I hope they go on to great things!

7. WYE OAK

Like Beach House, Wye Oak is a duo from Baltimore. They play cerebral music with few equals. Their stuff is part folk, part rock and part something else.

Jenn Wasner is an incredible vocal talent, and she writes songs and plays guitar. Andy Stack plays drums with both feet and one hand while playing a keyboard with the other hand! In this case, he was playing bass lines... so if you turned your back to the stage, they sounded like a 3- or 4-piece group.

Taking a break.

6. WOLF PARADE

Good, raw rock in the band's final performance. Dan Boeckner and Spencer Krug know how to bring it. Much better live than on CD, and it's a real shame they won't be playing any more.

It was a nice sunny time for watching Wolf Parade from above.

5. FLOGGING MOLLY
Their mix of Irish music and punk music creates a happy and festive mood.

I met them at their signing session, and all of them signed the double-live CD I purchased. They're nice people, I like their music, and I like their politics as well!
Dave King is the band leader and primary vocalist, pictured here (above) with his wife and band's violinist (and piper) Bridget Regan.

Evening colors during the Flogging Molly set

Cold, but still enjoying the music!

4. BEACH HOUSE

Their music is so crushingly beautiful, and it almost made me cry. Singer Victoria Legrand has an absolutely gorgeous voice... it sounds perfectly untrained, it is heartfelt, and she knows how to bend notes around my soul.

3. GUIDED BY VOICES
Singer/songwriter Robert Pollard and bassist Greg Demos

Guided By Voices is one of my all-time favorite bands, and they did a great job on the Sasquatch main stage. They took their enthusiastic crowd of us hardcore followers who got right up in front on a great one-hour ride.
Guitarist Mitch Mitchell and Robert Pollard show them how it's done! This is the GbV "classic lineup" tour, and this is basically the same band who did the albums "Propeller", "Bee Thousand", "Alien Lanes" and "Under the Bushes Under the Stars" in the Nineties.

Greg Demos with guitarist Tobin Sprout. While the band is mostly about Robert Pollard, Toby gets to sing once in a while, and he is quite a talent in his own right.

I was afraid the hugeness of the environment would eat GbV up, but they rose to the task... in fact, they kicked butt!
Robert Pollard was in good form today, with great strutting, lots of high leg kicks, and Daltrey-esqe microphone cord twirls. His band has paid lots of dues over the years, but they have never received much but critical acclaim and a cult following. Today, playing before a crowd this size was akin to the band getting a lifetime achievement award at the Oscars... a great reward for lots of hard work over the years, and for a job well done! I love these guys. I hope they gained a bunch of new, young fans at Sasquatch!

They played 20-25 songs during their 60-minute set as Bob sucked down the tequila and Miller Lites. Some of the their songs are only about a minute long, and many clock in at less than two minutes!
Here Bob sings the obscure "Kicker of Elves" from the "Bee Thousand" album

Mitch Mitchell is a real roughhouse guitar player but he is quite a nice guy! When I saw GbV in Portland at the Crystal Ballroom last fall, he visited with me after the show and I got my picture taken with him.

Mitch and Bob

These guys really know how to rock!

Greg and Tobin

Bob belts 'em out

Guided By Voices officially disbanded in 2004, and this is just a reunion tour. Check out their back catalog, particularly the later CD "Do The Collapse".

Pollard churns out solo albums at the rate of three, four, maybe even five per year. He is also an accomplished collage artist. Sprout does amazing true-life artwork, and also records solo material.

2. OTHER LIVES

This band from Stillwater, Oklahoma plays something that is sort of like what you might hear if Pink Floyd married the Moody Blues and then gave birth to Band of Horses, then had Roy Harper do the lead vocals. Hearing them for the first time at Sasquatch was a moment of wonder for me.
Some reviewers tar Other Lives with the label "chamber pop", but what they do goes much deeper than pop music.
Acoustic guitars, synths, cello, all kinds of instruments... and they make it cerebral.

I met them at their signing session, and they were great to visit with. They were very pleased that I bought both their CDs, and they were more than happy to all sign each one. 8-)

I can't get their latest CD "Tamer Animals" out of my CD player at the moment. I know they just released it recently, but I already can't wait for the next one!!

1. DEERHUNTER
Here the band is performing their set opener, the magnificent "Desire Lines" from the "Halcyon Digest" album.

"Desire Lines": singer/guitarist Bradford Cox and bassist Josh Fauver.

"Desire Lines" was the only song where Bradford Cox didn't do lead vocals. Here it was Lockett Pundt's turn.

This year, Deerhunter was my #1 Sasquatch band by a mile. They cover many moods and many feelings, often simultaneously, and they get into some great jangly pop as well as some fantastic stoner jams. Josh Fauver the bassist was smiling all night long, and I don't blame him. If I was playing in this band, I'd be all smiles too. Right now, I think they are one of the planet's best!

I think band leader Bradford Cox is a genius. Tall and lanky and long-fingered due to having Marfan's Syndrome, the somewhat emaciated-looking Cox is the architect of the band's dreamy sounds. He has a wonderful voice, and knows how to create sound textures onstage that most bands could only dream of doing. He works well with the other guitarist Lockett Pundt. Pundt uses many degrees of reverb, while Cox does the same but also uses loops and other devices to create a sound that is deep and textured.

They did most of the songs from their most recent CD, "Halcyon Digest". Here they are doing "Helicopter".

I have not been made so breathless and mesmerized by a band in ages as I was by this young band that hails from Athens, GA.
I have all their CDs and will continue to keep up with them for as long as they are around! Long may they run!!

Other notes:

Kelly got to have an album signed by Major Lazer. It was a very special moment for her. Here are some fun photos!

Here is Kelly with Thomas Pentz, better known by his stage name Diplo. Diplo and fellow DJ Switch make up Major Lazer. I didn't see Switch here, just Diplo.

The t-shirt I bought this year was Wilco (the green one with the white block letters and the frog)

I bought CDs by Other Lives, Flogging Molly, Twin Shadow, S. Carey, Pepper Rabbit, The Radio Dept., Fitz and the Tantrums

We all camped at the Wildhorse Campground, and it is SO much better in every way than the Gorge Campground. This was our campsite:
Katie and Kelly at our picnic table

Wildhorse Campground

The Wildhorse Campground office

The Wildhorse Campground "cafe", which may not look like much from the outside, but which has chefs and has some GREAT food that is cheaper and better than what the food vendors at the Gorge venue offer.

I look forward to going back to Sasquatch in 2012, staying at the Wildhorse Campground again, and having all kinds of fun. Maybe I will see YOU there! 8-)

SEATTLE MARINERS UPDATE!

2011-06-05T12:12:00.000-07:00

As if any of you out there besides me really care, I'm providing an update on how my Seattle Mariners team is doing this season.

The ball club entered the season with low expectations. After a horrendous 2010 season in which they won 61 games and lost 101, nobody expected them to be any good at all this year.

Well, they are still not very good, but as of today they have managed to win more games than they have lost, and over their last 34 games they have won 22 and lost 12... the best mark in the major leagues over that period.

What has been working for the Mariners for them to exceed expectations as they have thus far in 2011?

General Manager Jack Zduriencik, known simply as "Z" to lots of Mariners fans, brought in some bargain-basement scrap-heap types of players during the off-season, and so far they have been improvements over players used in 2010.

New catcher Miguel Olivo, signed as a free agent, has mediocre hitting stats (a .251 batting average, 6 homers, 23 runs batted in), but last year catchers Adam Moore and Rob Johnson batted .195 and .191 respectively and had 6 homers between them for the entire year. Olivo has decent game-calling skills too, as the Mariners have one of the best starting rotations in the majors.

New designated hitter Jack Cust, also signed as a free agent, has had some struggles in regard to hitting for power, but he gets on base at a decent clip and his bat shows signs of waking up. Compared to the Mariners' output from people used at DH last season, Cust may not be an improvement yet, but he is not worse than what they had in 2010.

Shortstop Brendan Ryan, who came to the M's from St. Louis in a trade, has a brilliant glove. He makes some amazing plays and he anchors the infield defense. He has also shown he can put together a good hitting streak, and while being a .260 hitter is nothing to brag about, he is showing he can at least do this consistently. Compared to journeyman Josh Wilson, a guy the M's used extensively at SS in 2010, Ryan is a revelation, both in the field and at the plate. Plus, he is a lovable oddball kind of quirky guy who gives great interviews and who can invigorate the clubhouse.

Another revelation is young first baseman Justin Smoak. Smoak arrived in Seattle mid-season last year when the Mariners traded star pitcher Cliff Lee to the Texas Rangers for young players. Smoak struggled mightily with the Mariners last year but this year he is 10th in the majors with 10 homers, and he has driven in 34 runs so far while playing a good 1B. Last year's first baseman Casey Kotchman only had 9 home runs all year, and batted just .217.

Ichiro Suzuki, the ever-dependable right fielder, has been in a slump. While the team has won 13 of its last 17 games, Ichi is 11 for his last 69. I am hoping this is just a bad slump, and that he can work his way out of it. He is 37 years old, and while he could be in the twilight of his career, he stays in great shape and has a good outlook toward the game. The team is winning games in spite of him being in a slump, so the more he can snap out of it, the better the team will get.

Same thing with Chone Figgins, the third baseman. Figgins has never been what the Mariners imagined he would be when they signed him as a free agent a couple of winters ago. He got into a fight with then-manager Don Wakamatsu last season, he tends to sulk, he is sort of a prima donna. I am hoping the team will trade Figgins and his poor attitude and his lousy .184 batting average.

Who would replace Figgins at 3B? Possibly journeyman Adam Kennedy, another scrap-heap type of player that "Z" signed during the winter. Kennedy plays all the infield positions, and at the moment he leads the M's with a .293 batting average. He has provided the ball club with a good, steady, reliable veteran presence, and he has been a big part of the team's improved play.

Center fielder Franklin Gutierrez is one of the best fielders in the game, and he has shown in the past that he has an adequate bat. This year he is off to a slow start with the hitting due to having problems with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. This plagued him last year too, but went undiagnosed until this spring. After missing the first month or so of the season while recuperating and adjusting, he is back with the M's. He is struggling at the plate so far, but once he regains more of his strength he should be dependable with the hitting as well as the fielding.

Left field has been a black hole for the team thus far on offense. Young Michael Saunders, another excellent fielder, was expected to fill the hole but he only batted .168 over 45 games and got sent to the minor leagues to work on his hitting. Another youngster, big Carlos Peguero, has shared LF with veteran minor leaguer Mike Wilson. Peguero is learning on the job, as he is trying to find ways to be a more disciplined hitter. If nothing else, when he does hit a home run the ball travels a long ways. He may not be the Mariners' left fielder of the future, but he is fun to watch.

The starting pitching has been some of the major leagues' best. Felix Hernandez, Jason Vargas and Doug Fister have all been doing great jobs. Rookie Michael Pineda has been amazing so far. And maybe best of all, the seemingly-always-injured Erik Bedard appears to be healthy for a change, and after several long stints on the disabled list and a shoulder surgery, he is finally pitching like the guy the Mariners thought they were getting when they traded for him a few years ago. The bullpen is good, led by closer Brandon League, who weathered a horrible 4-game slump a while back and has basically been "lights-out" in the 9th inning. Backing him up are several scrap-heap guys who have risen to the challenge in fantastic fashion: Jamey Wright (1.75 ERA), Aaron Laffey (2.05) and David Pauley (0.76).

So as of today the team has won 30 games and lost 28. Not great, but not bad by any measure. What happens next?

They have a potentially phenomenal young player named Dustin Ackley who is now playing second base for their AAA affiliate, the Tacoma Rainiers. Expect the Mariners to call up Ackley at some point during the next month and to trade current backup second baseman Jack Wilson.

Expect the M's to aggressively shop Chone Figgins, and if they find someone to trade him to, look for them to move Adam Kennedy to third base and for Ackley to assume the second base job.

If the team is still near the top of the American League West division in a month or so, look for "Z" to make a trade or two to bolster areas of the lineup where the hitting is weak. If Jack Cust doesn't hit more, we may see a trade for someone who could be a more capable designated hitter.

Finally, in baseball's draft of players tomorrow, I expect Seattle to choose third baseman Anthony Rendon of Rice University. He has had some injuries during the past year, but he is one of the best athletes available in the draft, and according to most scouts he is close to being ready for the major leagues, maybe close enough to have an impact next season. They may also draft high-school phenom infielder Francisco Lindor from California, but I expect it's either Rendon or Lindor.

So, these are just some of the many reasons why this year's team, despite a continued difficulty scoring runs, is way superior to the bunch the franchise employed in 2010.

My prediction for the Mariners was originally 75 wins and 87 losses. Now I think it will be more like in a range from 78 wins and 84 losses to maybe as high as 84 wins and 78 losses. That won't be good enough for them to win their division, but it might be good for second or third place. Certainly not LAST PLACE again! Heh!

SHE IS WRONG ON JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING

2011-06-03T19:42:00.000-07:00

Here are two things Sarah Palin is wrong about... it's just the tip of her Wrongness Iceberg...

http://www.politicususa.com/en/sarah-palin-paul-revere

HMMMM... NO RAPTURE YET...

2011-05-21T17:35:00.000-07:00

But if the Rapture didn't happen today after all, but you still want to dwell on such things, here is a website that is kind of fun. You can pick your own Apocalypse from 144 different ones. Choose five of them, and you get a reading that tells if you believe everyone lives or dies, and whether you look at such things as human-caused or otherwise. Check it out!

http://www.slate.com/id/2295187

WE'LL MISS YOU, HARMON KILLEBREW

2011-05-13T17:47:00.000-07:00

We're going to miss you, Harmon Clayton Killebrew. I know I am. Today he announced that was forgoing further treatment for his esophageal cancer. He announced he had the disease in December of 2010 and began treatment then, but doctors have told him there is no hope for recovery. For the last ten years or so he has been an advocate for hospice care, and that is the route he has now chosen. He is in the company of his family and close friends for his final days.

I have been a Harmon Killebrew fan for a long time, probably since about 1967. It was at about that time I began watching the Major League Baseball "Game Of The Week", and it seems the Minnesota Twins were on a good deal of the time. I got to where I became a Twins fan. They had some great players back then, including the likes of Tony Oliva, Rod Carew, Ted Uhlaender, Jim Kaat to name a few. My favorite was Killebrew, the big Twins first baseman who hit so many prodigious home runs, seemingly as if it was nothing.

In my car, I have a sort of shrine in my glove compartment. In it, you would find a small, stuffed toy tiger, as the Tigers are the mascot of my high school. There is a "God's eye" my daughter Kelly made from plastic straws and yarn when she was a preschooler. A couple of rounded granite river stones, about the size of marbles, from one of my favorite streams.

And, encased in acrylic, a 1968 Topps Harmon Killebrew baseball card, like the one pictured above. In fact, one that I got out of a pack of Topps cards that summer. Finding that card in that pack is one of my favorite memories, and the best part of it was examining the card closely and finding out that Harmon Killebrew's birthday was also mine! The fact that he was born and raised only about 125 miles from where I lived was also pretty exciting.

Killebrew began his career in 1954 with the Washington Senators, and continued with that team when they moved to Minnesota after the 1960 season and became the Twins. By 1968, Harmon was already 31 years old and he had led the American League in home runs five times and he already had 380 homers in total. He would go on to hit 573 for his career, and with that number he holds down 11th place on the all-time list. Perhaps his most spectacular year was 1969, when he hit 49 home runs and drove in 140. His decline as a player started in 1972; he played two more years with the Twins before playing his final season with the Kansas City Royals in 1975 at age 39. His long and successful career is a testament to his hard work and his dedication to the game of baseball

You can call it hero worship if you like, and I freely admit, that is exactly what it is: Harmon Killebrew always has been, and always will be one of my heroes.

Let's hope his final days go smoothly and without pain, and that he is able to find peace and comfort.

THOSE DREADFUL CROWS.... !!!!

2011-05-13T16:22:00.001-07:00

Being a birdwatcher, I have always had a fascination with crows. They may seem to be plain, ordinary, large black birds to the casual observer. But if you ever find yourself near one, chances are they are watching you... very closely!~

http://www.cracked.com/article_19042_6-terrifying-ways-crows-are-way-smarter-than-you-think.html

Some of what you will read in the Cracked.com article is true. If you have time to watch the full "Nature" episode, "A Murder of Crows", it is pretty fascinating. Check out the part where the crow is actually using tools. Amazingly smart, these "bird brains" are!

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/a-murder-of-crows/full-episode/5977/

This website from Davidson University has some good information as well:

http://www.bio.davidson.edu/people/vecase/behavior/Spring2007/Burke/index.html

IT SEEMS TO ME...

2011-05-10T17:21:00.000-07:00

It seems to me that if the powers that be in the Grand Old Party want their party to make more gains in the 2012 elections, they just might have to be hoping:

- the economy does not recover (except that it IS on the mend... it will take a while, but there are positive indicators... and whoever/whatever is ultimately responsible, the administration will get the credit)
- unemployment increases (except 200,000+ jobs have been added in each of the last three months, and the trend is positive... and whoever/whatever is ultimately responsible, the administration will get the credit)
- the country gets attacked again (this could happen but it is not likely... and now the country is more likely to perceive the Democrats and Obama as "strong on defense" for quite some time)
- taxes are raised (but it hasn't happened since Obama took office, and it probably won't happen during the next 18 months)
- Obama takes away everybody's guns (but it hasn't happened since Obama took office, and it probably won't happen during the next 18 months)
- Obama takes away everybody's freedom of religion (but it hasn't happened since Obama took office, and it probably won't happen during the next 18 months)
- further spending cuts are not made (but that HAS happened since Obama took office, and more cuts are likely within the next 18 months)

It seems to me the only real issue they are going to have, and it is a major issue, is the deficit. That, and... well... the usual "moral values" stuff and whatever of the usual straw men they can cook up to frighten voters.

The GOP will be able to make their case that solving the deficit is huge, but if Obama's team comes up with a way to solve it gradually over time by streamlining some things and eliminating others, instead of cutting everything all at once or privatizing the whole mess, the choice will be pretty clear for voters in the presidential race.

And the congressional races?

It seems to me there is something we have seen throughout political history called the Coattail Effect.

So unless something catastrophic happens between now and November 2012 (which is what the GOP has to be hoping for at this point), and pretty much regardless of who the GOP runs, Obama will very likely be a two-term president and the left will gain back some seats in Congress.

For anyone to hope for something catastrophic to happen simply so their political agenda could be advanced... it seems those people would really have to... well... "hate America".

Heh... I know that isn't the case. They don't REALLY hate America. They just want to rebuild it. Except they think that in order to rebuild it, it has to be torn down.

Which again, should make the choice pretty clear in 2012.

SASQUATCH BANDS I WILL BE SEEING

2011-05-03T23:28:00.000-07:00

I looked at the schedule of artists for the Sasquatch Music Festival this year, and it looks like these are the ones I will be seeing for sure. I will get to see all of most of these, and for some will be seeing part of one act before heading to see another:

Rival Schools
The Bronx
Bob Mould
Death From Above 1979
Foo Fighters
Local Natives
Seattle Rock Orchestra (performing songs of Radiohead)
Wolf Parade
Bright Eyes
Death Cab For Cutie
Bassnectar
Wye Oak
The Thermals
Iron and Wine
Smith Westerns
Fitz & the Tantrums
Tokyo Police Club
Beach House
Flogging Molly
Flaming Lips (performing their album "The Soft Bulletin" in its entirety)
Modest Mouse
Ratatat
Wheedle's Groove
Old 97's
Rodrigo y Gabriela
Black Mountain
Guided By Voices
Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings
The Decemberists
!!!
Deerhunter
Wilco

I have recently discovered Deerhunter and Wye Oak, and am very much looking forward to those two shows. Another one I am anxious to see is Beach House. I have seen Wilco, Guided by Voices and the Flaming Lips before, and those are all great bands on my list. I like the latest CD by Bright Eyes (Conor Oberst) and am looking forward to their show. I saw Rodrigo y Gabriela there a couple years ago, and they are amazing. Modest Mouse wasn't so great last time I saw them there, maybe this year they will sound better. All in all, it is a pretty cool lineup this year.

Sasquatch, HO!!! 8-)

NO MORE OSAMA! GONE NOW, BUT NOT BIN FORGOTTEN...

2011-05-01T20:25:00.000-07:00

BREAKING NEWS:

It looks like the U.S. finally got Osama Bin Laden! The details are still sketchy, but now as of 8:30 p.m. PDT it appears Bin Laden died at a mansion outside of Islamabad in Pakistan (according to CNN and Reuters) and that he died of a gunshot wound to the head (according to CBS and other sources). CBS is also saying the operation was a U.S. thing, and that it might have been done without the permission of Pakistan. Sounds to me like a special ops or CIA thing, but we will find out more soon. President Obama is scheduled to speak on this soon.

It will be interested to see how Al Qaeda responds to this. This is a major step forward in the "war on terror", but it is impossible to foresee what will happen from here. My guess is that rather than being demoralized, his followers will probably try to step things up and get into some retaliations for a while...

Although I like to think if our intelligence was good enough to allow some of our people to be in position to get Bin Laden, it is also good enough to prevent something of the magnitude of the attacks on NYC and the Pentagon from happening again. Many thanks are in order to our military, our intelligence community, and to the president and his administration for continuing the pursuit of Bin Laden.

This is good news. We shouldn't go on cruise control, but we should take a moment to celebrate.

QUESTIONS ABOUND FOR THE PORTLAND TRAILBLAZERS

2011-04-29T09:12:00.000-07:00

I know many of you could care less about the National Basketball Associaton, but as a (very) longtime fan of the Portland TrailBlazers, I follow them closely.

And last night, the Blazers did just as I expected... they lost to Dallas in their first round series of the NBA playoffs.

It's just that I expected them to lose in seven games, not lose it in Game Six at home, at the Rose Garden.

Now, they face all kinds of questions going forward.

It is hard to tell what they will do during the off-season. I think they will need to add a couple of fairly impactful players if they are to be more than a 48-win lose-in-the-first-round team next season.

Trading for Gerald Wallace was an important forward-looking step this year. Now they need to upgrade the rest of the roster a bit.

Upgrading the starting lineup would prove difficult, and might not really be necessary. The Blazers may not be able find better players to fill primary roles than power forward/center LaMarcus Aldridge, point guard/shooting guard Brandon Roy, small forward Nicolas Batum, shooting guard Wesley Matthews and forward Gerald Wallace. Andre Miller is still pretty good as a point guard. But after those first six players, I think the team should have questions.

Ranking seventh and eighth on the roster would seem to be shooting guard Rudy Fernandez and power forward/center Marcus Camby. Fernandez doesn't ever seem satisfied with his role, and tends to be a bit inconsistent. The aging Camby is still good as an inside presence, but he nearly always seems to have injury concerns. I think it is possible to upgrade over those two players, possibly through trades and/or free-agent signings, but I think they also need to be considering the rest of the bench, where they need to build some depth. After the first eight players, they have nobody who can really make meaningful contributions on a consistent basis. Young players such as point guard Paddy Mills and small forward Luke Babbitt may have some promise for the future, but there are no guarantees there.

Another question the Blazers face is whether or not to keep their nearly-always-injured center, young Greg Oden. He will be able to try free agency after the season, and I think it is a situation where Portland can match what another team offers for Oden and keep him, should they decide to do that. I would love to see him come back, but I just don't know... Maybe it's better to invest the money elsewhere and let him move on. The kid has tried his hardest to stay healthy, but it just hasn't worked out for him or for the team. If they keep him, will he just get hurt again and spend another year on the sidelines? Or will he finally be healthy and provide them with some much-needed size and defense under the basket? It would be truly painful for Blazer fans to see him either fail in Portland or blossom with another team. So, what to do?

I could see them trading Andre Miller and Marcus Camby in order to upgrade at the point guard position or move up in the NBA draft. Miller is still good, but he is aging; same deal with Camby.

In the NBA, salary-cap rules often allow for some trades which appear lopsided in terms of talent. One team can let a good player go for players of far lower talent in order to dump the good player's large contract. Would the Blazers be able to trade some of their bench players for another highly-skilled or more impactful player? That has yet to be seen.

As for the NBA draft, some mock drafts I have looked at online have Portland taking power forward Kenneth Faried from Morehead State with their 21st pick in the draft, and I would be cool with that. But I would rather see them get a young point guard like Connecticut's Kemba Walker or Brigham Young University's Jimmer Fredette, and groom one of those two to replace Andre Miller. They would have to move up about 10-12 slots from #21 to have a shot at either of those guys, which would probably mean trading their own first round pick plus another player from their roster for a draft pick in the #5-#10 range.

I think Walker would be great to have. Either he or Fredette could become another legendary Portland fan favorite, I think... kind of like a Jim Paxton or a Geoff Petrie from the days of old. And with the 21st pick, they might have a shot at Butler's point guard Shelvin Mack, which could also be a good choice, although I don't see him as having the potential for as much impact as Walker or Fredette.

In any event, I hope they hang on to Aldridge, Batum, Matthews and Wallace as a nucleus around which to build. And point guard/shooting guard Brandon Roy showed that he can still play; I doubt any other team would want to take on his big contract given how bad his knees are, so he should be back next year too. There are five pretty darned good players. And they could still probably do plenty worse than Andre Miller at point guard, so that is probably six players they could feel pretty good about carrying into next season.

Now, let's do something about the rest of the roster.

Congratulations to them for a good season this year, and good luck to them in improving the roster for next season, so they will be built not just for the regular season but also for the playoffs.

BUT... WAIT...! IT HAS TO BE A FORGERY!!!

2011-04-27T06:41:00.000-07:00

Well, the information on the one pictured above is not real.

Hold yourself together Republicans, here is the scoop on the REAL one:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42779923/ns/politics-white_house

But I am sure many of you will label this a forgery, still believe he was born in Kenya, etc. , etc. because your minds are already made up on the matter. Tsk, tsk. LOL

YOU TOLD 'EM, HUBERT!!

2011-04-20T20:33:00.001-07:00

Compassion is not weakness, and concern for the unfortunate is not socialism. -- Hubert H. Humphrey

I LOVE THIS QUOTE

2011-04-09T19:36:00.000-07:00

‎'Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind.' - Dr. Seuss

FUN AND EXCITING ANALYSIS

2011-04-08T23:28:00.000-07:00

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why_glenn_beck_lost_it/2011/04/06/AFNEgnqC_story.html?nav=emailpage

"MY COACH SUCKS"

2011-04-08T08:44:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iymXdRQDISg

FUN AND EXCITING NEWS!!

2011-04-06T12:12:00.001-07:00

http://tv.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=639694&GT1=28103 He will still be working for FOX, but I am glad that he may not reach as many viewers now.

SPACE RACE

2011-04-06T07:56:00.000-07:00

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110406/ap_on_sc/us_sci_space_x_rocket I find this exciting, because I like space exploration. I think NASA has pretty much outlived its purpose at this point. The last 30 years have been frustrating for me, because all we have seen is space shuttles. After the Apollo missions ended successfully, I figured we would have landed people on Mars by now. If getting private enterprise to take over is what it takes to get us back up there doing some actual space exploration, then so be it. As a fan of space exploration, I'm just glad to see somebody doing something that represents more than treading water.

EDUCATIONAL VIDEO

2011-04-02T23:55:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmdbllWOOzs

A COLORFUL CHARACTER!

2011-03-25T13:45:00.000-07:00

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/Arizona-Diamondbacks-longtime-bullpen-catcher-Jeff-Motuzas-will-eat-almost-anything-for-money-032511/?GT1=39002

MIND YOUR DOG'S MANNERS... OR ELSE!!!

2011-03-25T12:30:00.001-07:00

http://www.seattlepi.com/national/1110ap_us_dog_spat_shootout.html

WANT TO DEFEAT THE KOCH BROTHERS?

2011-03-13T14:12:00.000-07:00

If we want to, there are quite a few things we will have to be willing to do without:

http://www.politicususa.com/en/defeating-koch-waking-giant

http://www.invista.com/en/brands/index.html

MAURITIUS MIRACLE?

2011-03-10T18:09:00.000-08:00

http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/stiglitz136/English

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

2011-03-02T18:44:00.000-08:00

Sure, corporate tycoons have to eat too. I look at this though, and I have to wonder, what's wrong with this picture?

Looks like maybe Bill Clinton was able to reverse the trend a little, it took him a few years to start reversing it because things from Reagan and Bush I had to be undone. But then it started going up again under Bush II; took him a couple of years to start undoing what Clinton did. Looks like it takes each new guy a couple years to reverse the trend the last guy started.

Ya think Obama can start reversing the trend again soon? Not if some people have their way, he won't.

A THOUGHT ABOUT WORDS IN RED

2011-02-28T19:07:00.000-08:00

I like this old Bible my mom had and eventually gave to me.

In it, the words of Christ are all in red. The rest of the book is o.k., but to me it is those words in red that are what the book is really about. Why do so many people forget about those words in red and focus on the ones written by others? And those written by the hallucinating guy whose verses supposedly forecast "end times"?

I have always thought that if more people followed the example of Christ, the world would be a much better place. I am not what most people would call a Christian, but I believe there is a bit of Christ in all of us, and we can know this if we bother to look around inside ourselves and find it.

Read the words in red. Do all the other words really matter as much?

“I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” - Mahatma Gandhi

JOKE

2011-02-28T19:03:00.000-08:00

A union member, a Tea Party member & a CEO are seated at a table, where there's a plate with a dozen cookies. The CEO reaches across the table & grabs 11 cookies. Then he turns to the Tea Party guy and says "Watch out for that union guy; he wants part of your cookie!"

BLAKE GRIFFIN IS AN ABSOLUTE FREAK

2011-02-21T00:08:00.001-08:00

In the picture, the Los Angeles Clippers' 6-foot-10 power forward Blake Griffin is dunking over the New York Knicks' 7-foot-1 center Timofey Mozgov. I feel sorry for Mozgov, because this dunk and pictures of it are quickly becoming iconic in the NBA! It would be no fun to be the player who got dunked on in one of the most spectacular dunks in league history... !

I seem to have lost the ability or the wherewithal to provide you with working links in my blog posts, so my apologies to you.

But if you like great slam dunks, you might not mind copying the following and pasting it into your web browser.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdP5PZvM8J0

The video takes three minutes, and if you're a basketball fan, this kid is an absolute joy to watch!

IS NOTHING SACRED!??

2011-02-20T12:44:00.000-08:00

Is nothing sacred any more?

http://www.care2/com/causes/politics/blog/minnesota-democratic-rep-betty-mccollum-receives-death-threat-over-nascar/

THE CHOICE IS YOURS!

2011-02-18T23:17:00.001-08:00

FUN FROM THE ARCHIVES

2011-02-17T20:07:00.000-08:00

Reprinted by unpopular non-demand, this article appeared here at my blog in July of 2004:

Ages ago when I was in Middle School, our baseball team was playing a road doubleheader. We finished up around dinnertime, and got something to eat from a local greaseburger joint called "The Hand Out". The folks preparing the food were dripping with sweat. They wore soiled white undershirts which exposed armpits that exploded with hair. Hamburger buns were heated on a filthy-looking grill, then slathered with some oily liquid via basting brushes. This was not an appetizing scene, and many of us found ourselves disgusted as we watched. Our stomachs were full of afternoon junk food; red vines, candy bars and chocolates... but we ate our dinner anyway.

The trip home took us over a mountain pass. It was March, and there was still a fair amount of snow on the summit. Our ancient school bus had a problem with its heater, so the heat was the all-or-nothing. To keep ourselves from suffocating, the windows were all lowered six inches along the sides of the bus.

Being prone to motion sickness, I sat in one of the front seats near the window. My friend Bill was concerned about my pale, sweaty appearance.

"Snave, are you o.k.?" he asked.

Before I could answer, my head was out the window. The wind was icy through my hair, and as I puked my guts out the pain forced a tear or two. However, the misery quickly turned to laughter as I pulled my head back in and heard anguished cries from all those on my side of the bus!

"God!! Who Puked?!"

"Awww, man!!"

I turned to face my friend Dave, seated directly behind me. His wiry hair and his eyebrows were coated with a fine misting of light-colored, foul-smelling vomit. He shouted in disgust as he wiped the stuff from his face. Not only had I soiled Dave... I had soiled about 20 other people as well! Not a bad accomplishment, if I say so myself. (To Dave's credit, we are still friends!)

Several weeks later I went to my friend Marty's house after school, and the school bus we rode happened to be the Bus of Infamy. Believe it or not, the windows still had not been cleaned! For the benefit of all the other bus riders that day, I pointed out different food fragments that were still glued to the window... bits of hamburger, lettuce, licorice rope, you name it.

Afterward, for some time to come, I was appropriately known to many around the school as "Mr. Gross-Out".

-------------------------------------

A couple of months after the above atrocity appeared in what was known at the time as "Various Miseries", this was submitted disrespectfully by yours truly... as if the original post a couple months earlier was not enough:

a poem by Snave, arranged by Martin Klammer

Dripping with sweat
Their soiled white undershirts exposed armpits exploding with hair
Hamburger buns heated on a filthy grill
Slathered with oily liquid via basting brushes.

Our stomachs full of afternoon junk food--
red vines, candy bars and chocolates
We ate our dinner anyway.

My head was out the window
The wind icy through my hair
I puked my guts out
The pain forced a tear or two.
I heard anguished cries from those on my side of the bus.

Weeks later on the Bus of Infamy
Windows not cleaned
Food fragments glued to the window
Bits of hamburger, lettuce, licorice rope,
you name it.

AN ORLANDO VACATION MEMORY

2011-02-17T20:00:00.000-08:00

My family will vividly recall me laughing out loud during the "parade" at Disney World six or seven years ago, when Mickey came by on a small float. He was smiling and waving, from inside a large (probably) plastic bubble. I was laughing because I imagined him suffocating inside that bubble... frantically pounding at the sides of the bubble with his white gloves, and slumping down, limp, as his air ran out. A sad, yet somehow pleasing image for me. And until now, only my family knew this. Now it is out here on the internets, for all of you to see. 8-)

Don't get me wrong, I had a wonderful time at Disney World! But as my kids were nearing the end of high school, I was at the end of about 15 years of non-stop Disney. So imagining Mickey suffering? I consider it my private reward.

SASQUATCH LINEUP ANNOUNCED

2011-02-07T11:15:00.000-08:00

Here is the 2011 Sasquatch lineup and what I am looking at re. priorities!

Foo Fighters are still on for headlining the Friday show as far as I know. The daily schedule won't be released for a while, so who else is on the Friday bill (or on for any of the other days at what times) is anybody's guess.

My guess is the other three headliners for the following three nights will be Wilco, Flaming Lips and either Death Cab or The Decemberists. (I'm a bit surprised Arcade Fire isn't doing Sasquatch this year, I think lots of people expected them.)

I think the acts supporting the headliners will probably come from a range of artists including either Death Cab or the Decemberists, Bright Eyes (Conor Oberst), Modest Mouse (I think those would be the top three supporting acts), and then the fourth would be from among Iron and Wine, Pink Martini, Beach House, Deerhunter, Wolf Parade...

It all looks good!

1. MY MUST-SEE BANDS:

Deerhunter
Wilco (will be a headliner)
The Flaming Lips (also will headline, and will play "The Soft Bulletin" in its entirety)
Beach House (I can't wait!)
Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings (I don't have anything but a few download tracks, but I think they will be great live)
Rodrigo y Gabriela (not something I listen to a lot on CDs but they are a must-see live)
Foo Fighters (Friday night headliner - I am not a major fan, but I understand they put on a terrific concert and am looking forward to hearing them!)

2. I WILL DEFINITELY TRY TO SEE THESE (I would only miss if one of the above acts was scheduled at the same time):

Black Mountain
Guided By Voices (!!!)
Local Natives
Old 97’s
Yeasayer
Bright Eyes
Iron and Wine
Flying Lotus
Death From Above 1979
Pink Martini (the ultimate lounge act, replete with strings, etc.)
The Thermals
Bonobo (DJ set)
Wolf Parade
Archers of Loaf
Ratatat
Flogging Molly

3. IF SOMETHING ELSE IS SCHEDULED AT THE SAME TIME IT’S O.K., BUT I WILL STILL TRY TO SEE THESE BANDS:

The Decemberists
Death Cab For Cutie
Modest Mouse
Robyn
Chromeo
Bassnectar
Sleigh Bells

4. THE REST OF THESE I KNOW VIRTUALLY NOTHING ABOUT (SO IT’S TIME TO GET BUSY AND STUDY THEM!):
Matt and Kim
Cold War Kids
Against Me!
Best Coast
MSTRKRFT
Major Lazer
Jenny and Johnny (this act is supposed to be very good from what I have heard and read)
Surfer Blood
!!!
CSS
Gayngs
Tokyo Police Club
Das Racist
Noah and the Whale (I have heard snippets of these guys, they don't sound bad)
The Radio Dept.
Reggie Watts
Fitz and the Tantrums
Smith Westerns
The Head and the Heart
The Antlers (with a name like this, they HAVE to be halfway decent)
The Drums
Sharon Van Etten
K-os
City and Colour
Young the Giant
Moondoggies
Twin Shadow
Secret Sisters
Aloe Blacc
Villagers
Sam Roberts Band
Wye Oak
Rival Schools
Foster the People
Alberta Cross
S. Carey
White Denim
Cotton Jones
Basia Bulat
Other Lives
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
The Bronx
Gold Panda
Tim Minchin
Pepper Rabbit

SEATTLE MARINERS OUTLOOK FOR 2011

2011-02-03T15:37:00.000-08:00

The Seattle Mariners were a horrific 61-101 last season, and their offense was historically bad. They scored the fewest runs of any major league baseball team since the advent of the designated hitter! Can things be worse in 2011? Maybe... but I don't believe the Mariners can be that bad again.

As usual, they have some new faces on their roster. None are household names, but the newcomers could be helpful.

Seattle signed Jack Cust to be their designated hitter. He has been in the Oakland organization for a while, and he is known primarily for hitting home runs and for striking out. But despite the strikeouts, Cust had an on-base percentage of nearly .400 in 2010, so while he fans a lot he also knows how to take a walk. Look for 20-30 homers from Cust, with about 180 strikeouts and about 90-100 walks.

Miguel Olivo was signed to be the M's catcher for the next couple of years, and while he is a fairly bad hitter he does have a bit of power. Most of all, he will provide lots more offense than the M's got from youngsters Adam Moore and Rob Johnson last season. Look for 15-20 homers from Olivo.

Infielder Brendan Ryan was acquired from the Cardinals in a trade, and although he is known as one of the best defensive shortstops in baseball, he will likely begin the season as the Mariners' second baseman. His hitting was off last year, but in 2009 he hit pretty well. Look for a rebound from Ryan at the plate in 2011. Seattle also signed veteran utility man Adam Kennedy to provide some backup, and Josh Wilson (who saw extended time with the M's last season) is also around. Veteran Jack Wilson will probably be the starting shortstop, although he is injury-prone and it would not suprise me to see Ryan slide over to play short when Wilson inevitably gets hurt.

Chone Figgins was a bust at the plate last season, and he played out of position at second base. Now that the Mariners have traded the disappointing Jose Lopez (last year's Mariner third baseman) to the Colorado Rockies, Figgins will head back to play his natural position, third base. He is good defensively. Look for his bat to rebound this year, too. He will bat second in the order behind leadoff hitter Ichiro, and he will steal quite a few bases.

Franklin Gutierrez will be in center field, and his glove is one of the best in the game. His hitting was off last year too, but he ought to be able to hit 15-20 homers and bat around .275 this season while playing stellar defense. Ichiro is back in right field, of course. Look for him to get his usual 200 hits, bat over .300, and steal 30-40 bases. He is aging, but his skills have not diminished.

Other than Ichiro, the aforementioned veterans will all need to have comeback years in 2011, in part because the Mariners will be relying on youth at a few positions. Their regular first baseman will be young Justin Smoak, who came to Seattle in last year's Cliff Lee trade. Smoak will have growing pains, but he still ought to be able to hit 20-30 homers this season. Young left fielder Michael Saunders might be able to hit about that many home runs too, although he has had trouble hitting left-handed pitching during his first couple of stints in Seattle. (Erstwhile problem child Milton Bradley, if the Mariners have him back, will probably see some time in left field too.)

Another youngster to watch will be prize prospect Dustin Ackley, an outfielder in college but now being converted to a second baseman by the M's. Ackley is a pure hitter, one with a great swing. He will probably not become a classic power hitter, but look for lots of doubles and line drives off his bat. His rise through the minors has been quick and efficient. Expect Seattle to call him up this season, after he has had a bit more time in the minors with the AAA Tacoma Rainiers.

In the pitching department, Felix Hernandez won the Cy Young Award last season with only a 13-12 record... but yes, he was the best pitcher in baseball. With some better offense behind him this year, Felix ought to win 15-20 games. The rest of the Mariners starting rotation is questionable, though. The number two starting pitcher is probably lefthander Jason Vargas, acquired from the Mets a couple of years ago when General Manager Jack Zduriencik traded reliever J.J. Putz to New York. Vargas was 9-12 with a 3.78 earned run average last season. Look for him to have a good year in 2011.

Who will fill the #3 through #5 slots in the rotation? It's a big concern for the ball club. Since his arrival in a trade from Baltimore a few years ago, lefty Erik Bedard has been injured just about all of the time he has been with Seattle. He has battled through arm, hip and shoulder problems, but he is supposedly healthy now. If this is true, and if he can still pitch well, he could be a good #3 starter. After that, it's a crap shoot. Doug Fister, Luke French and rookie Michael Pineda will battle it out in Spring Training. Look for Pineda to become the #4 starter. Fister was decent in 2010, so I would expect him to round out the rotation for 2011. A young starting pitcher with an outside shot to contribute is Mauricio Robles, although it appears the team may be grooming him to be a relief pitcher.

The bullpen will not be great, but the Mariners could do far worse. David Aardmsa has been the Mariners' stopper for the last two seasons, and after an offseason hip surgery it appears the righthander will be ready to go for Opening Day; if he is healthy, he is very good. Brandon League, also a righthander, will appear in a lot of games for Seattle; when his sinker gets going, he is very hard to hit. Seattle signed veteran righthander Chris Ray during this offseason, and if the former closer is healthy he should prove valuable. Some kids may figure into the bullpen mix this year, too. Josh Lueke and Dan Cortes are hard throwers who have the potential to be closers in the future. Brian Moran is a lefty who has made a rapid ascent through the minor leagues and who could be in Seattle soon. And if Shawn Kelley can come back from injury, the bullpen looks like it could be useful in 2011.

While Mariners will not be great in 2011, they won't be as horrible as they were in 2010. This year I look for them to win around 75 games. If they fire on all cylinders, they might win as many as 80.

It will be 2012 and 2013 when they will be closer to contending for the American League West Division title; Jack Zduriencik is drafting and stockpiling good young players, and soon the Mariners' minor league system will be the envy of all the other major league teams. Building strong minors means the team will have talented kids coming up to Seattle every year for a while, and that there will be enough good talent that Seattle can use some of it in trades for acquring the needed veteran players who can help solve trouble spots in the lineup.

Step by step the team is improving. I greatly look forward to witnessing more of this improvement, starting soon! Only 12 days until pitchers and catchers report for Spring Training!

COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASON NEVER REALLY ENDS

2011-02-03T15:01:00.000-08:00

This is one of those times of years when this sports fan gets a bit antsy. College football bowl season is over, baseball hasn't started yet, college basketball's March Madness is still about six weeks away. The NBA? I'm antsy about all the Portland Trailblazers getting injured. Hockey? Who cares about hockey! 8-)

But even though the college football season is finally over (and it was a good one if you are an Oregon fan), things just keep getting better for the Ducks.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/footballrecruiting/football/recruiting/commitments/2011/oregon-60;_ylt=AskrgWI08VEOTJVp9Eeejh5JPZB4

They were able to pick up some five-star recruits, they got a whole slew of four-stars, and they have also gotten some junior college players who should be able to step right in and contribute next season. I think I'm going to have a hard time waiting for that opening game against LSU in Dallas! That ought to be a good one! Too bad it won't be for about seven months!

NOPE, NO PERSECUTION HERE

2011-02-02T17:22:00.000-08:00

I think it's a shame that FOX "News" has not been losing many viewers, but apparently a certain FOX pundit has.

http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/archives/237958.asp?source=mypi

Of course Glenn Beck has his angry supporters who basically claim he is unfairly picked on in the media, etc.

But Glenn Beck is no victim of persecution here. Facts about ratings are simply being presented.

Beck is just being pointed out more than the others in this article because his show has had the highest ratings and he is the most sensational of all these TV political pundits. If the others were as interesting as Beck, if they had as many bestselling books out as he does, and if they were actually in the public eye as much as he is? They would have received more prominent mention in the article. Beck is a bona fide celebrity; the others are all second-tier when it comes to star power.

I do not make this observation in support of Glenn Beck. Personally, I can't stand looking at him, let alone listening to him. I just fail to see how one could argue that anyone like Olbermann or Cooper is more popular than Beck (even in the media), or that Beck is a victim. If anything, add Beck's prominence to the fact that he is a fascinating personality and it is going to draw lots more attention to him than to the others. And all that extra attention he seeks and gets through his endless self-promotion is going to put him under the microscope more than it will the others.

The mainstream media may be critical of Beck. Or maybe to those who are being sensitive about it, it may seem like the mainstream media treats him unfairly. But think about it... when Glenn Beck makes a comment that may seem outlandish to most people, the media does him huge favors and lends credence to what he says simply by acknowledging what he says and prominently featuring it in the news. He often not only has FOX News working for him, but the mainstream media as well.

If we really had a "liberal media", they would just ignore Beck or we would see more things critical of him. Instead, we have a corporate media that pushes whatever "news" it thinks will sell... because they are all about their bottom line. The more sensational the news, the more it is likely to sell. Beck is a lightning rod in our political world. Because he energizes some sections of our society the way he does, you can bet he will be in the news, and what we hear about him in the news will not always be pretty.

He is not being persecuted. The things we hear and read about him are not much more than the trappings that go along with his being a celebrity.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

2011-01-17T11:08:00.000-08:00

Have we not come to such an impasse in the modern world that we must love our enemies - or else? The chain reaction of evil - hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars - must be broken, or else we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation.

He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.

Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.

Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can't ride you unless your back is bent.

An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.

A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.

A man who won't die for something is not fit to live.

Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.

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.

I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality... I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.

I submit that an individual who breaks the law that conscience tells him is unjust and willingly accepts the penalty by staying in jail to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the very highest respect for law.

"A religion true to its nature must also be concerned about man's social conditions....Any religion that professes to be concerned with the souls of men and is not concerned with the slums that damn them, the economic conditions that strangle them, and the social conditions that cripple them is a dry-as-dust religion."

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT!

2011-01-10T09:32:00.000-08:00

Tonight is the night that Oregon plays Auburn for the NCAA football championship. Needless to say, I am pretty pumped up about it!

I don’t know what to expect.

Auburn’s Heisman Trophy award winning quarterback Cam Newton is a bigger, faster and more talented version of Ohio State’s quarterback Terell Pryor, who beat the Ducks in the Rose Bowl last year. Newton runs well, and they have running back Michael Dyer, who averages nearly six yards per carry. Newton throws well too; he has an extremely high quarterback rating at 188.2, he completes 67% of his passes, and has thrown for 28 touchdowns while only throwing six interceptions. At 6’6” and 247 pounds, to say Newton is imposing is an understatement. He does it all! The Tigers’ defense is led by defensive lineman Nick Fairley, who has a reputation as a “quarterback eater”.

Oregon’s LaMichael James finished the season sixth in the nation in rushing with 1,578 yards and was a Heisman Trophy finalist. Auburn’s Newton was not all that far behind with 1,238 yards. Oregon QB Darron Thomas completed 60.7% of his passes, threw for 28 touchdowns, was intercepted just seven times, and ran for 421 yards.

Oregon has allowed 18.4 points per game this season, and led the nation in scoring at 49.3 points per game. Auburn allowed 24.5 and scored 42.7. The Ducks allowed their opponents 331 yards per game, while Auburn allowed 362. The Duck defense picked off 20 passes this year, while Auburn had 10. Statistically, the Ducks would seem to be a slight favorite.

A number of things will have to line up in order for Oregon to win tonight, though:

1) The Ducks’ defense will have to give a complete effort to contain Newton and Dyer.
2) Oregon’s offensive line will have to step it up in order to protect Thomas and to get the running game going.
3) Oregon’s offense needs to hang on to the football, not fumble it away.
4) The Ducks’ defense needs to force turnovers.
5) The Ducks need to cut down on penalties.
6) Oregon’s coaching staff will need to successfully make adjustments on the fly, as they have done all year, on both offense and defense.

I trust that item 6 will happen. I do not trust that 3 and 5 will happen. On items 1, 2, 4 and 5… I’m hoping!!

What I predict will happen:

Auburn takes an early lead 14-0, Oregon gets a field goal to cut it to 14-3, Auburn scores again to take a 21-3 lead after one quarter. Duck haters will be clapping their hands and cheering with delight.

The Ducks come back with a score and go for the two-point conversion and get it, to cut the lead to 21-11. Auburn gets a field goal to go up 24-11, but Oregon comes back with a touchdown and extra point to make it 24-18. Another field goal for Auburn, then another touchdown for Oregon makes it 27-25 Auburn at halftime.

They trade touchdowns again in the third quarter, and the score is 34-32 Auburn when the Ducks take the lead 35-34 on a field goal. The Ducks score again to go up 42-34 after three quarters.

In the fourth quarter, Auburn’s defense is tired. Their offense musters a field goal to make the score 42-37 Ducks, but then Oregon gets a touchdown (with another two point conversion) and a field goal to go ahead 53-37. Auburn gets a meaningless touchdown in the final minutes to make the final score 53-44 Oregon.

In typical Oregon fashion, the Ducks get behind early and then win the game in the second half, in this case outscoring the opponent 50-23 after falling behind 21-3.

That 53-44 score is what I actually saw on a scoreboard in a DREAM a couple of nights ago, so I had to figure out a way for the teams to arrive at that score… thus the elaborate prediction!

But anything can happen. Auburn could beat the Ducks horribly by something like 56-19, or Oregon could romp by a score like 56-21. But I doubt either team will really be able to stop the other’s offense.

Look for a high-scoring game! And look for the Oregon Duck mascot to be doing a lot of push-ups!

And win or lose, I am proud of the Ducks for even getting this far. Go Oregon!!!

SAD STATE OF AFFAIRS

2011-01-09T12:59:00.001-08:00

The events of yesterday have left me a bit shaken. I thought America had advanced past things like assassination attempts on political figures. Guess I was wrong, eh. And from the tenor of a number of influential talkers and political figures, my guess now is that we may be in for more of this kind of thing. I hope I'm wrong this time, too...

A friend commented about how much it bothered her that in the wake of the assassination attempt on Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in Arizona, the new House suspended business for a week in order to focus on getting more money to protect themselfs.

Sadly, I think that is what most of these people are about... themselves. It seems a shame that the higher a person gets on the political food chain, the more they seem to be all about preserving and consolidating their power, getting re-elected, and grabbing goodies. The only way they seem able to preserve these things is to lie, manipulate and use fear-mongering to get votes. It's like they prey on the American people.

I have serious doubts that very many of these "tea party" candidates are any more honest or more willing to promote "government of the people, by the people, for the people" and keep it from "perish(ing) from the earth" than any of their predecessors were. Lincoln said those things in the Gettysburg Address... lately, I have thought that maybe he was the last great Republican, and that was almost 150 years ago. And if FDR was the last great Democrat, that has been well over over half a century ago. I believe American politics has gradually devolved to the point where greatness is no longer something we can expect.

If these new House members are really serious about doing anything besides things that are only symbolic, they will need to play well with others. I have my doubts about that too, because that seemed to be a campaign promise many of them made... to not get along. Well, they will need lots of luck getting re-elected in 2012 if they don't bend. They are in a lose-lose situation; none of their radical proposals will make it to the President's desk for his veto, because none of it will get past the Senate. If they don't work across the aisle and don't accomplish anything, the angry voters who put them in office will be angry with them. If they do work across the aisle, they will be violating the trust of their angry supporters by doing what they said they wouldn't do... try to get along.

Either way, they will accomplish nothing that will appease their base. And with anti-incumbency the new fashion, a bunch of perceived "do-nothings" won't have much chance. I would say the odds are looking very good for centrist candidates in 2012. Obama is now wisely positioning himself that way. If the Republicans had any smarts at all, they might be doing the same thing.

Apparently Gabrielle Giffords is one of the rare politicians who can listen to others, and who doesn't view those who disagree with her as "the enemy". I hope she can make a complete recovery for herself personally and for her family. And, maybe also because I suspect the country needs her. From most indications, she sounds like the kind of politician the country needs more of.

SNAVE'S TOP 20 BEST SONGS OF 2010

2011-01-02T20:32:00.000-08:00

I did the list of CDs a few days back, now it's time for a list of my favorite songs of the past year.

1. Neil Young - Sign Of Love

2. Beach House - Walk In The Park

3. School Of Seven Bells - I L U

4. Arcade Fire - Ready To Start

5. Deerhunter - Desire Lines

6. Arcade Fire - Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)

7. Neil Young - Peaceful Valley Boulevard

8. Superchunk - Everything At Once

9. Tame Impala - Sundown Syndrome

10. Deerhunter - Memory Boy

11. The Black Angels - Telephone

12. The National - Bloodbuzz (Ohio)

13. Dr. Dog - Later

14. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Running Man's Bible

15. Ben Folds - Clare's Ninth

16. Teenage Fanclub - Sometimes I Don't Need To Believe In Anything

17. Broken Bells - The High Road

18. Kings Of Leon - Beach Side

19. Yeasayer - Madder Red

20. The National - Afraid Of Everyone

AN INTERESTING ARTICLE

2011-01-02T11:08:00.001-08:00

While some of you might disagree, I view this as a growing national crisis:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-rodda/mandatory-us-army-survey-_b_801597.html

Those who would transform our country into a theocracy are attempting to convert our military into a religiously fundamentalist military. What better way to make sure that once the right politicians are all in office, the military will be there to help keep the country in line? I believe they can accomplish this over the next 15-20 years if we are not vigilant and careful.

Those who are pushing religious fundamentalism on our military need to have their feet held to the fire. Would our Supreme Court, in its current configuration, do anything to stop this? I believe they should. These elements in our military are actively working to promote a particular religion, and even a particular variety of that religion. Needless to say, this is unconstitutional. And once these people got the power of the military behind their religious fundamentalism, the outcome would be anything but good for America and for the world.

(Sorry about the link not being active. For what it's worth, I tried using "edit html" and "compose" functions when creating this post, and neither would let the link come up as active. Help on that would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!)

SNAVE's TOP FIFTY ALBUMS OF 2010 (the final edition!)

2010-12-29T13:13:00.000-08:00

Here is my final list of Best Albums of 2010. Sorry I had to re-do this, but I left out a couple that were major, and there were some new ones I had the chance to hear during the past few weeks that altered the course of things a bit!

Among others, I did not hear the Elton John/Leon Russell collaboration, nor did I hear the one by Black Eyed Peas, "Treats" by Sleigh Bells, "King Of The Beach" by Wavves, "Plastic Beach" by GorillaZ, the new Dead Weather (although I have it, just haven't heard it yet), Crystal Castles, "Crazy For You" by Best Coast, "Contra" by Vampire Weekend... so I still have lots of work to do! I don't listen to "country", hip-hop or rap, so there won't be any of those artists represented in my list.

And there are STILL probably a number of these I have forgotten or overlooked.

Some of this will look similar to what was on here last time, but there were a few "late arrivals"... So HERE GOES... and this is IT!

1. The Arcade Fire - The Suburbs - Well worth the wait, full of the usual high energy. More polished than their previous albums, some die-hard fans see them selling out with this release... but I like the idea that their sound is gradually becoming more accessible to more people. A great band, a great CD, and they have a great future.

2. Neil Young - Le Noise - I thought Neil had gone away, but he is definitely still here! This is a guitar effects tour de force, with producer Daniel Lanois helping Neil create some amazing sounds. Good songwriting too. Check out "Hitchhiker" and "Peaceful Valley Boulevard"! Good work, Neil!

3. Foals - Total Life Forever - Some may refer to Foals as a "math rock" band... lots of intricate patterns and guitar interplay in their music. This is very atmospheric, very pleasant. One I can't help but come back to repeatedly.

4. Beach House - Teen Dream - I don't know how to describe this music. It is sort of like folk music, sort of like pop, and always very dreamy and relaxing. Nice songwriting with good lyrics and pleasing arrangements. Some of the better-crafted music around today. Thanks to J. Marquis for getting me started as a Beach House fan!

5. Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest - Beautifully textured songs, great arrangements, nice performances. Because I like a fair amount of reverb and good melodic tunes, this one is right up my alley. Love it! It's music that causes me to stop and go "Whoa..."

6. Caribou - Swim - I finally heard this one all the way through, and must admit I was a bit taken aback. I should know by now that just listening to samples of songs on iTunes is not the way to go about judging whether or not I like an album. That's what I did at first with this one, but once I heard this one from start to finish, I realized that the songs have a way of building. By the time I am a couple of minutes into each song, I am captivated by what the artist (Dan Snaith) is doing. It is electronic music, but electronics done very well!! Thanks to my daughter Katie for turning me on to Caribou!

7. The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Who Killed Sgt. Pepper? - BJM leader Anton Newcombe does whatever he feels like doing, and with this album he has abandoned his late 60s sound and gone for a mix of beats and drones in creating a dark, danceable atmosphere. An interesting new direction for one of the most talented (and frustrating) artists in the business.

8. Shpongle - Tales Of The Inexpressable - Simon Posford and Raja Ram create some of the best electronic music around. This stuff is ear candy, and each track is a journey. If you like relaxing ambient stuff that tends to have a beat and also tends to take various twists and turns as it tickles the brain, this is your ticket. Thanks to my friend Rand for introducing me to Shpongle!

9. The Black Angels - Phosphene Dream - This band will take you right back to the 60s. A nice, dark, throbbing acid rock vibe. Nothing very technical going on with these guys... just lots of pounding, primitive drums and psychedelic guitars. "Telephone" is one of my favorite songs of 2010.

10. The National - High Violet - These guys just keep putting out good records. A great American rock band, with hints of folk and artiness throughout. No bombastic guitar solos here, and for these songs, such things aren't necessary as the songs carry themselves. I have seen them live at Sasquatch a couple of times, and they are wonderful live.

11. Robert Plant - Band of Joy - I forgot about this one, I love it, I had to include it. He has one of the best voices on the planet. His cover versions of two songs by Low (especially "Silver Rider") are amazing. Again, thanks to J. Marquis for getting me to hear this one!

12. Widespread Panic - Dirty Side Down - I tend to like this band's live material a lot better than what they do in the studio, but this is a great studio effort. Here they mix up rock, jazz and blues in a very nice way. Well worth the listen, and it will draw you in if you like Southern-flavored stuff. Thanks again to Rand on this one.

13. Minus The Bear - Omni - Very tight band, with a very focused sound. At times they are funky, at times they rock out, and they always have layers of different things going on, making for a very interesting listen! A Sasquatch band in 2010.

14. Broken Social Scene - Forgiveness Rock Record - Another typically busy-sounding mess of a BSS album, although this time the band has been stripped down to a core of about five or six people (instead of the usual 10 or 12!) Propulsive arrangements that churn around and make you want to dance! Also great at Sasquatch in 2010.

15. Massive Attack - Heligoland - Electronica, but with emotion. Very intense music, good lyrics, good vocalists they use. Their show at Sasquatch in 2010 was the best I saw all weekend.

16. Black Mountain - Wilderness Heart - This band from Vancouver, B.C. gets a great late Sixties and early Seventies vibe going at times. Excellent hard rock with a psychedelic edge.

17. Mojo - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - nice and relaxed, with a lot of the songs being done in very few takes. It's fun to hear this band stretch out and jam a bit! They're so good and have been at it for so long, they can pretty much do anything they want.

18. Dr. Dog - Shame Shame - This some of the best good-timey sit-on-the-porch-and-have-drinks rock and roll music I have heard in ages.

19. Belle And Sebastian - Write About Love - Stuart Murdoch and his friends are back after a hiatus with more somewhat precious geek-pop for librarians. Excellent melodies, good songwriting in general. The band continues to show maturation with each release!

20. Mogwai - Special Moves - A live recording of this ambient post-rock group from Scotland. If you like musical atmospheres, there are lots of them on this disc.

21. Superchunk - Majesty Shredding - I had never heard Superchunk prior to getting this CD on a whim. This is some of the best and most exuberant power-pop stuff I have heard in a long time.

22. Teenage Fanclub - Shadows - These guys aren't dead, they are just ripening beautifully with age. Beautiful songs, great vocal harmonies, some real jangle going on in here. "Sometimes I Don't Need To Believe In Anything" is one of the year's best songs, in my opinion.

23. Brian Eno - Small Craft On a Milk Sea - Another of modern music's "old masters" is back. There is a lot of quiet stuff on here ala "Music For Airports", but then there are some faster more intense numbers full of electronic spiders and scorpions, kind of akin to what he was doing on "Nerve Net". Lots of the usual genius on display.

24. School of Seven Bells - Disconnect From Desire - While their first one "Alpinisms" was a bit lighter, the new one tends to be more beat-heavy. If My Bloody Valentine can't be together, this band may be the next best thing. There are some great propulsive tracks here, and the one called "I L U" is heartachingly beautiful. The DeHaza sisters have great voices, and ex-Secret Machines guitarist Benjamin Curtis work so well together... and take my word, if you have a chance to see them play live, don't miss them!

25. Local Natives - Gorilla Manor - Lots of rhythmic stuff here, good vocals, great arrangements.

26. The Besnard Lakes - The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night - I love this one. Lots of melodic noise, with nice singing and some excellent guitar solos. Ambient passages are interspersed among other beautiful passages of thick sound.

27. Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse - Dark Night Of The Soul - Last album by the late Mark Linkous, aka Sparklehorse, features all kind of guest cameos on vocals and some good song arrangements and production.

28. Gavin Harrison - Circles - with help on vocals from collaborator O5RIC, the Porcupine Tree drummer gets into some heavy-duty prog rock. The drumming is amazing.

29. Philip Selway - Familial - solo effort by Radiohead's drummer is not what one would expect: it's mostly soft-sounding cerebral folk music! Selway shows he is a very capable songwriter. He doesn't do much drumming here, he leaves most of that up to Wilco's Glenn Kotche (and Wilco multi-instrumentalist Pat Sansome helps out a bit as well).

30. Band of Horses - Infinite Arms - I don't like it nearly as much as their two previous albums, but I still like it.

31. Soundtrack from The Kids Are All Right - This has a good collection of artists, including David Bowie, Tame Impala and Deerhoof. It plays quite nicely as a good "mix CD".

32. Mumford And Sons - Sigh No More - It's like a vocal quartet with a banjo thrown in, and then you add the bass, drums and acoustic/electric guitars. Very nice music, always melodic.

33. Broken Bells - Broken Bells - If you like James Mercer of The Shins and if you like Danger Mouse (Brian Burton), you will like this record. "The High Road" may be one of 2010's best songs.

34. Interpol - Interpol - They sound kind of sterile at times, kind of cranky here and there, sort of robotic, kind of angst-ridden... but I still love 'em. This is a step back in the right direction after their major-label dabbling with "Our Love To Admire" (Capitol Records). It's like a mix of that album plus their second one, "Antics". I still like their debut album from 2002, "Turn On The Bright Lights" the best, and sadly all their output will always be measured by that album. But their later ones have merit, and shouldn't be ignored because their energy is different than that of their first one.

35. Boston Spaceships - Our Cubehouse Still Rocks - As long as Robert Pollard is alive, he will probably release at least a half dozen albums each year. This time around with the Spaceships he is as much into the melodic power-pop/rock faux British invasion styles as ever. It's not as refined or polished as it could be, but Pollard usually never is. He simply ROCKS.

36. Stone Temple Pilots - Stone Temple Pilots - Nice reunion album, the first and last tracks are gems. They get into some sort-of Beatlesque moments here and there, very poppish, almost psychedelic in places. It's a very derivative album (their own material as well as the material of others, but it is nonetheless a well-crafted and very creative album.

37. LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening - Like him or not, James Murphy is into creating some of the best danceable party music around. And at the same time you can jump around to this album, it's also fairly arty.

38. MGMT - Congratulations - This time around, the kids stretch out and do some things that are a bit more experimental than on their first album. The track "Brian Eno" is a highlight for me.

39. Spoon - Transference - This is my favorite Spoon album to date. While I have not been enthused about their earlier releases, and while I have not understood the appeal of the band to this point, I think I am beginning to get it. Britt Daniels is pretty good.

40. Royskopp - Senior - My favorite of theirs will always be "A.M.", but this one is also great "chill music". I find their electronica to be some of the most relaxing kind.

41. The Walkmen - Lisbon - Having been somewhat disappointed with their releases since "Bows + Arrows" back at the beginning of the decade, I was pleasantly surprised with this one. I like Hamilton Leithauser's voice, and the sparse arrangements on these songs seem to fit the material nicely.

42. We Have Band - WHB - Echoes of Men Without Hats, but in a positive way. There are some dreamier, ambient kinds of moments here, as well as some synthy dance moments. It's fun stuff!

43. Grace Potter and the Nocturnals - Grace Potter and the Nocturnals - Grace sings like a cross between Joan Jett and Janis Joplin, and she has a crack band of musicians that create a Sixties-and-Seventies era vibe. And this is all a good thing!

44. Shearwater - The Golden Archipelago - Not as good as either "Palo Santo" (2006) or "Rook" (2010), but still makes me glad this mellow band has continued to do its thing, and that singer Jonathan Meiburg broke away from Okkervil River to do Shearwater.

45. Midlake - The Courage Of Others - A quieter and more melancholy record than their previous release, this one is still very good.

46. Heart - Red Velvet Car - A very solid effort, and if you like Heart (as I tend to) you will like this a lot.

47. Kings Of Leon - Come Around Sundown - "Beach Side" is my favorite song of theirs, ever. "Radioactive" and "Pickup Truck" are also pretty cool. I am gradually beginning to understand their appeal a bit.

48. Robert Randolph and the Family Band - We Walk This Road - I don't like it as much as I liked "Colorblind" (2006) but it's still good! He is a virtuoso on the Sacred Steel.

49. Wolf Parade - Expo 86 - This has taken me a couple of listens, but the more I listen to it the more I look forward to hearing them at Sasquatch in May.

50. And the honorable mention group:

Portugal. The Man - American Ghetto - They need to write some different songs. What they do is magnificent, but it seems they recycle the same two or three songs over and over.

Yeasayer - Odd Blood - "Madder Red" is one of my favorite songs of the year. I didn't care for the rest of the album as much.

Grinderman - Grinderman 2 - I am deciding I like the more delicate and intricate Nick Cave (like on his recent albums with the Bad Seeds) than the caterwauling, violent Nick Cave (as heard here... it's almost like this is a modernized version of his old band The Birthday Party in places!) There are a few good grinding tracks on here, but to listen to it from start to finish is something I find tough.

Ra Ra Riot - The Orchard - I just didn't like it.

AND FINALLY, my "discoveries of the year". I like to mention artists I had not heard or heard much of prior to 2010.

Jets Overhead - Two gals and three guys from Victoria, BC... they are wonderful. They play mostly mid-tempo melodic pop/rock music, and they are very good live.

Ween - Whoa! What a revelation. What else is there to say? They can play whatever they want, in whatever style they want. And often times they can do it with a sense of humor.

Atlas Sound - pleasant stuff, would have been this year's list but it was from 2009.
Phoenix - I thoroughly enjoyed the "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix" CD.
Dr. Dog - See blurb about "Shame Shame" above.
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros = sunny happy hippie fun!
Portugal. The Man - Almost could have been at home in the early 70s.
Darker My Love - Their first two albums are very good.

AND MY RE-DISCOVERY OF 2010:

RUSH! (the band, not the radio talker!!)

Glad I got to go see them with J. Marquis at the White River Amphitheater... they are fabulous.

REST IN PEACE CAPTAIN BEEFHEART

2010-12-19T10:29:00.001-08:00

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/dec/18/captain-beefheart-died-provocative-unpredictable

(undoubtedly-photoshopped image found at http://readersrecommend.blogspot.com/2009_01_01_archive.html )

Sorry the links aren't workable, Blogger is not letting me put working links in here today, for whatever reason, whether I use the "compose" or "edit Html" buttons makes no difference... so, to read the article you will have to cut and paste, I guess. Maybe the Captain would have preferred it that way! LOL

NCAA TITLE GAME LOOKS LIKE OREGON AND AUBURN ON JANUARY 10!

2010-12-04T17:18:00.000-08:00

When I used to go to the University of Oregon I never would have imagined the Ducks as having a chance to play for a national football championship. Sitting through the infamous 0-0 "Toilet Bowl" Civil War game in 1983 made me think such things would never happen. That was played in the rain, in 38 or 39 degree cold, and nobody could hang on to the ball! By the end of the game, the home fans were booing the Ducks!

But over the last 25 years, Oregon's program has gradually elevated itself. How it has done this is a matter of debate, but it seems a pretty solid thing to suggest now that each year, when people talk about the top 10 or 15 teams in NCAA football, the Ducks will be part of the discussion.

There are two sports things I have wanted to see during my lifetime. One is the Seattle Mariners playing in a World Series, and the other is the Oregon Ducks playing in a national title game of any sort. Looks like I will get to watch one of those two things, at least!

I don't know how much of a chance the Ducks actually have of beating Auburn... I think the SEC is a tougher conference than the Pac-10 this year from top to bottom, and I can see Auburn winning by a couple of touchdowns.

But you just never know!

As for having in-state bragging rights over the Beavers for a whole year in football, it is hard to put a price on that. It would have been hell to have to put up with all the needling from my OSU friends during the next couple of decades over this one, had the Beavs won today and deprived the Ducks of a chance at a national championship.

I do feel badly for OSU because they won't be going to a bowl game this year... for that to have happened, they needed to beat Oregon today. But more than that, what they needed to have done to be bowl eligible this season was to have beaten the teams they *should* have beaten (Washington State and UCLA, and probably the University of Washington too) in games earlier this season. Instead of being 5-6 going into this game, I think the Beavers should have been 7-4 or even 8-3 (and I do wish they could have been), but such are the breaks.

Beaver fans can at least look forward to OSU kicking Oregon's butt a couple of times in basketball this year. That might be kind of ugly! LOL!

For the next five weeks, I will be anticipating the title game but it will be not be a pins-and-needles wait like it was for the Civil War game. I'm glad the Civil War is over! Now it's time for some fun!

WOW! THE SEASON IS WINDING DOWN...

2010-11-26T23:17:00.000-08:00

The NCAA football season is winding down, and who would have guessed anyone would beat the Boise State Broncos? Not me. I knew Nevada would at least give them a good game, and the Wolfpack did just that, and more. Nevada won the game 34-31, and as one of the ESPN announcers said, Boise State is now "off the radar" for the national championship.

I don't know if you saw any of that game or not, but it was a thing of beauty. While I don't count myself as a Boise State fan, I did think it would have been kind of cool for a national title to happen within shouting distance of where I live... but pride goeth before a fall. The game was tied 31-31 with something like nine seconds left, and Boise State had the ball. BSU quarterback Kellen Moore heaved a "hail Mary" pass downfield to receiver Titus Young, who made a spectacular catch. It put BSU in range for an easy field goal to win the game with two seconds left!

But after that miracle play, the Bronco players were celebrating like the game was over! I saw that, and my thought was "Hey... guys... your kicker has to make the field goal first..." And their kicker pushed his kick to the left and the game went into OT.

Boise State got the first possession, and when they had a fourth down and what should have been another easy field goal, their kicker missed AGAIN. On Nevada's possession, their kicker was true and it ended up 34-31.

It looks like the Broncos finally ran out of miracles. I feel somewhat sad about it, but I am also a bit relieved. I do admit some shame in knocking the Western Athletic Conference, as it looks like there is actually another tough team in that league besides Boise State. By knocking the WAC, I was knocking all the other teams besides Boise State, and in college football, anything can happen on any given day.

Which brings us to next Saturday, of course!

While it seems like there should be no way on earth the Oregon State Beavers should be able to beat the Oregon Ducks, it would not surprise me at all to see it happen.

Should it happen, it won't be the end of the world for me as a Duck fan. I have been a Duck fan for enough years to know that Oregon getting wins is nothing to be taken for granted. There have been a few Civil War games in the past when the Ducks appeared to be the better team by far, but did not come out on top.

The big key for Oregon State, of course, is for their defense to show up. Even if the Ducks have an off night on offense, their offense is probably better than average. Oregon has shown a weakness for giving up big plays here and there, and the Beavers will have to hope their quarterback Ryan Katz is at the top of his game, that running back Jacquizz Rodgers can bust a few big runs, and that the Ducks relax on the pass coverage.

The key for Oregon is to not deviate from the attitude they have adhered to all season. Love him or hate him, their coach Chip Kelly has done a magnificent job keeping the team sky high all the time, all season long. He and his coaching staff have also done a wonderful job making adjustments at halftime on both offense and defense, so even if the Beavers get out to an early lead next Saturday, I wouldn't write too much into it. Kelly keeps them focused, and if they get behind, it seems only a matter of time before they catch up and move ahead.

Before tonight's 48-29 win over Arizona, Oregon wasn't commenting much about the Civil War. I am not sure who it was that said if Oregon wins game number 11 (tonight's game against Arizona), they won't lose game number 12 (against OSU next week). Whoever said it, I agree.

The opportunity to play for a national title is something that doesn't come around every year. If the Beavers take that away from the Ducks, I have to say it won't be the end of the world for me as a Duck fan. Seriously, for me the worst part of it would be losing in-state superiority and also having to listen to certain OSU fans I know lord it over me for the next few years! LOL! The reason it wouldn't be so devastating is that with their win tonight, the Ducks clinched a BCS bowl game. That is also something that doesn't come along every year.

Beaver players and fans need to be thinking about their game at Stanford tomorrow, because they have to get that one out of the way before the Civil War. On one hand I'd like to see the Beavers win that one, naturally because they are an Oregon team. On the other hand, should they find some way to upset Stanford in Palo Alto, it would make them tougher to play next weekend as they would be on a really nasty high.

As it is, I'm not sure OSU's coach Mike Riley has figured out how to motivate his team from one week to the next. The Beavers are so up and down this year... you never know which team is going to show up next. Will it be the pushovers (losses to UCLA, Washington and Washington State), or will it be the giant-killers (wins over Arizona and USC)?

My guess is it will be something in between. But in college football... you never know what will happen!

THIS IS RIDICULOUS

2010-11-25T11:14:00.000-08:00

While I have tried to keep this blog apolitical, and although I will attempt to do so in the future, I couldn't let this one go:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/11/24/martin.michelle.obama.palin/

If you are a Sarah Palin fan, don't just stop reading the article because you think she is right about everything and because the author of the article is immediately critical of her. Read what U.S. Army Major Gen. Paul Monroe has to say, about halfway down the page. Then decide whether what Palin is blabbering about is right or not.

If you can even admit that you agree with her in lots of instances but that in this case she is overreaching a bit, you're maybe on the road to recovery. 8-)

I can say with certainty that kids were in far better shape 30 years ago than they are today. P.E. was a daily occurrence at school, and every day it included some hard exercise. Over the last 30 years, school curriculum has been gradually degraded by cutting out P.E., not making it a requirement, etc. Now we have a celebrity presidential wannabe talking about how the First Lady promoting physical activity equals more government intrusion into our personal lives? Or talking about how the First Lady believes parents can't do the job required to keep their kids in good shape? Michelle Obama has never hinted at either.

Good grief... reinstate P.E. as a school requirement wherever we can, increase the quality of school lunches, and for heaven's sake, if the First Lady wants to use her status to help promote good health and healthy choices, shut up and let her do it!

I tend to trust Paul Monroe (and Michelle Obama) a lot more on this issue than I trust someone who looks for an anti-government angle in *everything*. In her vain attempts to cast everything in an "anti-government" light, this time Palin casts common sense aside.

WHAT'S ON THE iPOD? No. 1

2010-11-19T14:55:00.000-08:00

This is a list of what came up on my iPod when I set it to "shuffle play". What's on your iPod?

‎1. Mogwai - Friend of the Night
2. The Delgados - All Rise
3. Third Eye Blind - Never Let You Go
4. Wire - Blessed State
5. Beatles - I Want You (She's So Heavy)
...6. Pearl Jam - Green Disease
7. The Guess Who - Undun
8. Ebeling Hughes - Transfigured
9. Harry Nilsson - 1941
10. Jordan Zevon - Camila Rhodes
11. Ween - Spinal Meningitis (Got Me Down)
12. Darker My Love - Add One To The Other One
13. Godspeed! You Black Emperor - Storm
14. Los Lobos - Whiskey Trail
15. M83 - Run Into Flowers
16. Fleetwood Mac - That's Enough For Me
17. Sugar - Man On The Moon
18. Smashing Pumpkins - Beautiful
19. David Sylvian and Robert Fripp - Brightness Falls
20. Jane's Addiction - Classic Girl
21. Truckasaurus - Up, Up, Down, Down, L, R, L, R
22. Massive Attack - Incantations
23. The Merry-Go-Round - Listen, Listen
24. Duncan Browne - Fauvette
25. Todd Rundgren - Worldwide Epiphany
26. The Replacements - Rock 'N' Roll Ghost
27. The Velvet Underground - Beginning To See The Light
28. Ambrosia - You're The Only Woman
29. Youssou N'Dour - Yo Le Le (Fulani Groove)
30. Grateful Dead - Not Fade Away
31. The Byrds - Mae Jean Goes To Hollywood
32. The Nazz - It's Not That Easy
33. Simon and Garfunkel - Somewhere They Can't Find Me
34. John Cale - Secret Corrida
35. Smashing Pumpkins - 1979
36. Todd Rundgren - Fidelity
37. Little Feat - Old Folk's Boogie
38. My Bloody Valentine - You Never Should
39. King Khan adn the Shrines - Welfare Bread
40. The Replacements - Valentine
41. The Bangles - Going Down To Liverpool
42. Pete Townshend - Parvardigar
43. Gordon Lightfoot - Minstrel Of The Dawn
44. Translator - Necessary Spinning
45. Meat Puppets - I Am A Machine
46. King Crimson - Elephant Talk
47. Steve Earle - Brand New Companion
48. Porcupine Tree - Waiting - Phase One
49. Porcupine Tree - The Joke's On You
50. Mogwai - Hunted By A Freak
51. Robert Wyatt - A Beautiful Peace
52. Faith No More - Evidence
53. Shearwater - Missing Islands
54. The National - Terrible Love
55. Boston Spaceships - Sight On Sight
56. Mercury Rev - Sudden Ray of Hope
57. Wilco - Handshake Drugs
58. Todd Rundgren - Tic Tic Tic It Wears Off
59. Gov't Mule - Devil Likes It Slow
60. John Cale - Circus
61. The Helio Sequence - Repeater
62. Genesis - Tonight, Tonight, Tonight
63. Frank Zappa - Echidna's Arf (Of You)
64. Robert Pollard - Strictly Comedy
65. Jack Logan - Good Times, Bad Memories
66. Shooby Taylor - Stout-Hearted Men
67. Yo La Tengo - I'm Set Free
68. Keith Emerson Band - The Parting
69. The Who - The Ox
70. Talk Talk - Today
71. The Who - God Speaks Of Marty Robbins
72. Collective Soul - When The Water Falls
73. Catherine Wheel - Half Life
74. Pete Seeger - We Shall Overcome
75. Echo & The Bunnymen - The Killing Moon
76. Mercury Rev - Tides Of The Moon
77. Low - Untitled
78. Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians - So You Think You're In Love
79. Harry Nilsson - Good Old Desk
80. The Feelies - Too Far Gone
81. Chris Squire - Hold Out Your Hand
82. The Ataris - The Radio Still Sucks
83. Rodd Keith - Hippy Happy Land
84. Simon and Garfunkel - At The Zoo
85. The New Pornographers - Miss Teen Wordpower
86. Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band - Sugar 'n Spikes
87. Pearl Jam - Love Boat Captain
88. Rolling Stones - Emotional Rescue
89. Robert Palmer - Sailin' Shoes
90. Pink Floyd - Eclipse
91. Jimi Hendrix - Hey Joe
92. Hall & Oates - I Can't Go For That
93. Stevie Wonder - Higher Ground
94. Neil Finn and Bic Runga - Precious Things
95. Joni Mitchell - Real Good For Free
96. Cheap Trick - Low Life In High Heels
97. Van Morrison - Domino
98. Warren Zevon - The Heartache
99. The Velvet Underground - I'll Be Your Mirror
100. The Flaming Lips - All We Have Is Now

10-0... WILL IT LAST?

2010-11-14T12:59:00.000-08:00

Still having a great time as an Oregon Duck football fan. Two more conference games to go, one at home against Arizona, and the final game in Corvallis against Oregon State.

Oregon barely got past Cal in Berkeley last night 15-13, but they did what they had to win the game. Cal controlled the game at the line of scrimmage, which is something that has not happened to the Ducks all season. And Oregon got lucky when Cal's kicker Tavecchia stutter-stepped during his approach on a successful field goal that put Cal ahead 16-15... but Cal was penalized for the missteps and the field goal didn't count. Tavecchia missed his second attempt and the score remained 15-13. Then the Ducks masterfully ran off a huge chunk of time at the end of the game to preserve the win.

Oregon's detractors are going to salivate because this game exposed some of Oregon's vulnerabilities and to them, this will mean Oregon will lose its last two games. To them, I say a win is a win. Oregon won at Cal, and they are still unbeaten. And they still need to take things one week at a time.

I wish I could say the Oregon State Beavers won yesterday too, but they were beaten in Corvallis by the Pac-10 Conference doormats, Washington State, 31-14. Oregon State's season seems to be going in the opposite direction from Oregon's. The Beavers are now 4-5, with three very difficult games ahead. They play USC next weekend in Corvallis; somehow they always seem to upend the Trojans at Reser Stadium, so I'll go with them to pull off the upset. In two weeks though, they have to go to Palo Alto to play Stanford. Then December 4, it is the Civil War game against Oregon.

While there is a very chance Oregon could end the regular season 12-0, Oregon State could very well end the year 4-8 and with no bowl appearance. I am hoping the Beavers can win their next two games against USC and Stanford to make themselves bowl-eligible with 6 wins, but then of course I hope they get stomped by Oregon in the season finale.

Again, like everyone else, Oregon needs to take things one week at a time. They don't play next weekend, which allows them lots of time to prepare for Arizona on 11/26. It will be a good game, as Arizona has a good defense and also has QB Nick Foles back from a knee injury. It will be higher-scoring than 15-13, but it might be as close as a couple of points!

That is the same day Boise State plays perhaps its toughest conference opponent, Nevada, in Reno. That ought to be a good game too.

AN INTERESTING ITEM

2010-11-14T12:58:00.000-08:00

http://www.truth-out.org/de-legitimizing-public-education65117

THIS FAN IS HAVING LOTS OF FUN

2010-10-30T21:35:00.000-07:00

Because it is likely to end on any given weekend during the next six weeks, I am enjoying the Oregon Ducks' run while it lasts.

Tonight they pasted USC 53-32 in Los Angeles. People who say the Ducks are still unproven and have not faced any tough opponents need to realize this: Oregon has indeed faced some tough opponents... the Ducks have simply been so much better so far that the worthy opponents have looked, well... not so great.

USC and Stanford have been quality opponents for Oregon, and the Ducks dominated both those teams.

What's coming up for the Ducks? Next is the University of Washington, and that will be a home game for Oregon at Autzen Stadium in Eugene. I am not sure how Oregon will lose that one, as the Huskies have a very average team this season. The Cal Bears are pretty average too, but that game happens a week later in Berkeley, CA... so it might not be easy. Oregon has a bye for the weekend of November 20, and then they face the #15 Arizona Wildcats, always a tough opponent. That game is in Eugene, and I think Oregon ought to do well.

That brings us to the Civil War game against Oregon State, which is in Corvallis this year. The Beavers have not had a particularly good defense, but as is their tendency under coach Mike Riley, they are wildly unpredictable. Going into today's game, their defense ranked 119th out of 120 NCAA teams, yet today they nearly shut out Cal in a 35-7 win. I am not sure how OSU can shut down Oregon's offense, but they will be ready for the Ducks... they always are!

Can Oregon run the table and end the year 12-0? Yes. Will they? Who knows! But like I said, I'm enjoying their #1 ranking while I can, hoping it will continue, but knowing full well how easily it can evaporate... so, one game at a time!!

LOOKING AHEAD AT THE REST OF THE NCAA FOOTBALL SEASON

2010-10-17T12:43:00.000-07:00

I am so interested in college football that I almost forget the NFL is in Week 6, or is it Week 7? Or only Week 4 or 5, maybe? Heh! Whatever! Other than keeping track of the Seahawks and watching them here and there, I don't know what else is going on in the National Football League. My mind is way more tuned in to the college game. So...

Thinking as Duck fan who would love to see his team run the table and get a national title, here are what could be some very pivotal games:

10/23 - LSU at Auburn - one of these teams gets their first loss of the year in this game.

10/23 - Oklahoma at Missouri - the Tigers will give the Sooners a tough game.

10/23 - Air Force at TCU - Horned Frogs should win, but Air Force ought to give them a good game.

10/30 - Oregon at USC - I don't know how the Ducks will possibly be able to control the USC passing game, but that's what I thought when Oregon hosted Stanford. The difference here is that this one is a road trip to L.A. I rate the game a toss-up.

10/30 - Michigan State at Iowa - I like to think the Spartans will lose to the Hawkeyes here.

11/6 - Alabama at LSU - If LSU is still undefeated after playing Auburn, the Tigers will get their first loss in this game.

11/6 - TCU at Utah - Utah or TCU will get its only loss for the year in this one.

11/26 - Arizona at Oregon - The Ducks should prevail at home against the Wildcats, but it may not be easy.

11/26 - Boise State at Nevada - BSU plays in a conference of pushovers, and Nevada is that league's second best team. It's a road game, and might provide the Broncos with a test, but I'll count on BSU to roll.

11/26 - Auburn at Alabama - If Auburn is still undefeated at this point, the Tide will give them their first loss.

11/27 - Oklahoma at Oklahoma State - The Sooners have to travel to play their in-state rivalry game... good luck, Stoops! Heh!

11/27 - If LSU is still undefeated by this point, I don't think they will beat Arkansas on the road.

12/4 - Oregon at Oregon State - There ought to be a lot of scoring in this game. If it was going to be in Eugene, I'd go with the Ducks. Because it is in Corvallis, I rate the game another toss-up.

OREGON: I think the Ducks will lose one game this year, and it will be to either the Trojans or the Beavers, and they could possibly lose both... but I will stick with the one-loss thought. Whichever team they lose to is higher-ranked at the end of the year could determine whether the Ducks get to be in a the mix for #2 or not. But I will predict a top ten finish for Oregon.

THE BCS CHAMPIONSHIP: A national title game between Boise State and Utah will be what it takes to finally get the NCAA to institute a playoff system; there will be so much squawking about two teams from "Podunk" playing for the title that measures will be taken to insure that the Alabamas, Oklahomas, Ohio States and other rich, traditionally-great programs of the college football world remain the focus.

Anyway...

Predicted final records:

Boise State 12-0
Utah 12-0
Oregon 11-1
Oklahoma 11-1
TCU 11-1
Auburn 11-1
Iowa 11-1
Michigan State 11-1
Alabama 10-2
Ohio State 10-2
LSU 10-2
Nebraska 10-2

Possible bowl games:

National Championship game (Fiesta Bowl): Boise State vs. Utah - BSU wins
Rose Bowl: Oregon vs. Iowa - Oregon wins
Other possible BCS games: Oklahoma vs. TCU (go TCU!), Michigan State vs. Auburn, Ohio State vs. Alabama

IF YOU LIKE NEIL YOUNG YOU WILL PROBABLY LIKE THIS!

2010-10-02T21:38:00.001-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wU5B53b9ntQ

53 MINUTES OF GREAT MUSIC BY ROBERT PLANT AND BAND OF JOY

2010-09-21T18:14:00.000-07:00

To hear some really good live music by Band of Joy (which includes Robert Plant), go here:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129992517

They do fun versions of Zeppelin tunes "Misty Mountain Hop", "Gallows Pole" and "Houses of the Holy", but the Band of Joy songs are QUITE good in and of themselves. Enjoy!

DUCKS, BEAVERS and BRONCOS

2010-09-12T13:12:00.000-07:00

Ahhhh! College football time again!

My Oregon Ducks are off to a great start. They beat an outmanned University of New Mexico Lobos team in Eugene at Autzen Stadium 72-0 for starters, then went to a hostile environment in Knoxville, TN to play the University of Tennessee Volunteers and beat them 48-13 in front of 102,000 at the stadium and in front of a national TV audience. It looks like new quarterback Darron Thomas is doing just fine so far, and the Ducks are fine on both sides of the ball. Their problem players from last year are mostly gone (burglar/stoner Jeremiah Masoli and puncher LaGarrett Blount) and it looks like neither will be missed. UO has what should be another patsy on the schedule next week as they host Portland State at Autzen. Then they will start Pac-10 play with a couple of games against Arizona State and Stanford... we will know how good they really are after their first couple of conference games.

Oregon State looks like it will be good this year as well. New QB Ryan Katz appears to be going through some growing pains, but once he gets a few things figured out the Beavers will be fine. OSU began its season with a tough road game against TCU, where they hung in there but ultimately lost 30-21. That was just goofy scheduling, having them start their season like that. Even goofier was the "bye" on week two, and then a road trip to Boise State a couple weeks from now. Whereas the Ducks will probably start Pac-10 play with a 3-0 overall record, the Beavs could well begin their conference schedule at 1-2. OSU features the Rodgers brothers, Jacquizz and James. As long as those guys don't get hurt and as long as Katz comes along, the Beavers will make some noise in the Pac-10 this year!

As for Boise State, well... they passed their road test in the season opener against Virginia Tech by coming from behind for a 33-30 win. While Virginia Tech began the season ranked, they may not be ranked for a while due to their 21-16 loss to FCS-level opponent James Madison yesterday... So if Boise State just got past a team that was beaten by a lower-level opponent, that begs the question: How good are the Broncos, really? In the long run, it doesn't matter. As long as BSU can beat Oregon State in Boise on September 25, the Broncos should win all of their games in the generally-weak Western Athletic Conference. As their win over Oregon in last year's opener did, this year's likely win over OSU will give Boise State an undefeated regular season. They will have plenty of time to prepare for their bowl game, which given their likely undefeated record, will be high-profile. But despite their weak schedule, they are a very good program and I believe they deserve whatever they accomplish this season! I'm looking forward to the chance for the region in which I live to have a national champ!

Then again, the Broncos are not the only good and still-undefeated college football team in the region... ! 8-)