Happy St. Patrick's Day

Enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving

At least there's going to be nice weather in Hillsboro for the rest of the week. We'll be spending Thanksgiving with Gramma and Grampa, the Sacramento Reids and four of the Gallup Proffitts. Gabriel's had a hoot playing with cousins. There is a Wachdorf gathering in Seattle this weekend that Jill and Gabriel might make for a day or two, but looks like he's beginning to feel kinda yucky.

So a Happy Turkey Day to everyone and their families. Oh, and on a related note, if you've lately been wondering how Rick is doing, there's actually a video of him to watch.

Cheers!

New Video for Gabriel

"Upside Down" by North Shore Oahu's Jack Johnson - Hawaii, swimming, and Curious George. What's not to like?!



There's much to update about, but I won't do that until I get all of the photos put online. Until then, it was great visiting with Uncle Tom, Aunt Kate, Baby Hayes and Grampa while they were in town.

Check out Baby Hayes photos and updates over at ItsaReid! when you get a chance.

Music Video for Gabriel

Portland band (formerly of the town settled by Mr. Albert B. Kerkee) that made it big - The Shins - and their "Australia" video. Clearly filmed in Oregon during the winter. And clearly a page taken from The Smiths play book (link SFG - Safe for Gabriel).



Incidentally, Johnny Marr, the lead guitarist for The Smiths way back when, is now the guitarist for Modest Mouse, an Issaquah, Washington band now also based in Portland. They met when Marr was recording an album here. Modest Mouse with Marr is the author of this tune, "Dashboard", which I find surprisingly catchy - and funky - for a Pacific Northwest alt-rock band (video images NSFG - Not Safe for Gabriel).

Why Is She Bothering With American Idol?

She starts blowing the competition out of the water at 3:48 if you want to fast forward.



I think the Chairman of the Board would have agreed.

Update: Nice Video of Zach Steer's Iditarod Finish

Click on this link for a nice interview video with Zach Steer just after he crossed the finish line of the Iditarod in Nome.

I'm Feeling a Little Less Relevant

Thank God for DVD

You don't really see it anymore, but there was a time when TV transcended itself and could be intelligent, poetic and even inspirational.

Take for example an hour-long, character-driven television show featuring a large cast, won Emmy awards, took place in an exotic location, and featured the following characters:
-A young, talented but stubborn doctor stranded in a remote location
-A beautiful, tough young woman in an on-again/off-again romance with the doctor
-A younger, more rugged ex-con with an affinity for books, sharing an attraction for the woman
-A mystical, metaphysical bond between a philosophical white character and a similarly philosophical black character
-A younger male character, with mixed heritage, and an affinity for pop culture and a laid-back "dude" personality

Sound a bit like Lost? It's not. It's Northern Exposure, and it couldn't be a more polar opposite television show, despite some remarkable coincidences that Lost creators have seemingly cribbed. But the bar was set pretty high by NX, with no brutality, killings, or other glorifications of the darker side of humanity.

Proof:



Another thank you very much for my Christmas gift, Jill.

Eventful Weekend

Part I

This past weekend was rather eventful for Hillsboro, Oregon and/or its residents.. at least the ones that get press on this website.

First, Mom and Jim Ed completed, and Andrea went over half way on, the Seattle to Portland (STP) Bike Classic. It's a two-day bicycle ride (over 100 miles each leg) from the University of Washington in north Seattle to the Lloyd District in Portland.

I don't have photos, but I can vouch for the fact that they were both rather sunburnt and exhausted when I picked them up near the finish line. Follow the link above for more information about the event.

Congratulations to All Three of You for Your Foolhardiness Bravery!

Part II

This weekend marked the annual Oregon Airshow held at the Hillsboro Airport, a couple of miles from where we live. Past years have been enjoyable because the different plans have a flight pattern that goes somewhat near where we live.. fly-bys, not acrobatics.

Well, this year was a great time to not be home. It turns out that on Sunday, one of the planes crashed into a residential area, killing the pilot and destroying at least four homes. We were visiting a garden in Forest Grove when it occurred, but on the way back home we noticed a large plume of black smoke billowing upward in the distance from where the airport is located. As we got closer, the smoke was coming from a slightly different direction than the airport. It turned out it was coming from a neighborhood just east of the airport.

The Hawker-Siddeley Hunter MK-58A


It was apparently part of the static display of planes parked on the ground. At the end of the show, as the pilot took off to head back home to California, the engine apparently had an all-out failure. The story reports the engine was silent when it hit the ground. Luckily, the house was vacant and the pilot managed to stear the plane from hitting the always busy Orenco New Seasons grocery store we visit often.

Here's video caught by people in the area and rebroadcast on a local TV station.


A sad day for Hillsboro. Now the whole airshow is being questioned, led (not surprisingly) by Intel. The company has two of its largest facilities in the world located right near the airport and could easily have suffered a major catastrophe compared to a few homes, still tragically, destroyed.

Part III

Tom and Kate were in town to ferry folks around for the STP bicycle event and to visit Gabriel and us, but they ended up mostly ferrying people around. Gabriel got to see them for a couple of hours or so. Maybe next time!

THE COWLITZ TRIBAL CASINO - IN THE NEWS AGAIN

I recently provided testimony before a Clark County, Washington Board of Commissioners work session regarding the impacts of a major, new tribal casino proposed along I-5 at the northern end of the county. I wrote a memorandum for the County summarizing our comments about the Casino Environmental Impact Statement and was there to answer questions.

The Columbian, the paper of record for Southwest Washington, had a couple of stories including information about the memo I wrote, one of of which includes a misquote of something I said.

First story
Second story with misquote

I like the press, but I'm not dumb enough to actually believe (much less say) that a small casino could work at a warehouse/distribution center. I have to wonder what the reporter was smoking thinking.

WOW!!