Why I like Portland better than the Midwest.

Today, while visiting the "Mall of America" in Bloomington, Minnesota (Minneapolis / St. Paul metro) a late teens / early twenties woman walked by. She was dressed slightly punk. Something that you might find just about anywhere in Portland.

She had some black clothing on, some funky shoes with heels, a little bit of spiky jewelry, darkish eye make-up and had half her hair dyed green. Nothing really extreme. No visible piercing, no hard core tattoos, nothing that even really looked odd.

A girl, maybe around 6 or 7 years old, asked her mom: "Mom, why is she dressed like that?" and her mom replied "Oh, she must be in costume for the Harry Potter thing they have tonight."

Now, as a thirty something - I would look pretty silly if I suddenly went punk or goth. But by all reasoning, had I grown up in Portland - that is probably how I would have been. Most of the places I like best in Portland - *I* look out of place as the boring-ish guy in a T-shirt and jeans.

And that is what I love about Portland.

It really takes some looking to find those places in Minneapolis, St. Paul. Sure there are the obvious places, like around the University of Minnesota (Gophers easily make as cool as mascot as Beavers and Ducks) - but in my extensive exploring over the last 10 days, this area is EXCESSIVELY suburban and very homogeneous.

Of course, there are many other things I love about Portland too...

Raise the Oregon Gas Tax.

Pssst. Hey You. Yeah, you. My reader.

It is time to raise the Oregon gas tax.

Now go tell your friend(s)...

Attack of the Steller's Jay

This morning we came downstairs and in our "breezeway" there was a large Steller's Jay. The Jay came in through our *dog door* and was trapped in the small room. There is only one window and it was covered, so he was just standing there on the railing.

We opened the door to the room, and there he was hopping back and forth on the railing, looking at us with that "don't mess with me" eye. It startled the crap out of us.

This is the bird that regularly terrorizes our cat out in the back yard. I have a strange feeling that he chased our cat through our dog door.

We had to go around back and open the back door from the outside, and he promptly flew out. Lucky our breezeway door had been shut, he might have killed us in our sleep. Or at least made a mess in the house.

He is clearly a very smart bird, as he pooped on my wife's Denver Broncos hat that was there...

And our cat is still frazzled.

Miscellany for the day

Apparently the absolute BEST time to OMSI or Benihana - is July 4. Both will be completely empty.

People who review movies should have to take into consideration the intent of the Movie. For example, Transformers is not *supposed* to have a strong plot. It is *supposed* to have robots transforming and kicking each-others asses. Sure, the plot should not SUCK. The plot should not BLOW. And the plot should not make you want to HURL. But in an ACTION movie the plot is not supposed to be amazing, groundbreaking, or awe inspiring. But the ACTION should be, and the plot is there to hold it all together. Oh, and not *everything* needs to be completely believably plausible in a SCIENCE FICTION movie.

Changing your career is scary.

What the hell is a "drive by appraisal"? Do they come by in a 1964 Impala and shower your house with machine gun fire, and if it is still standing your house is worth more? Hell, I can drive by a house and say "I'd buy that for a dollar" and it doesn't actually make it *worth* a dollar. But then again, I guess that is why I am not a mortgage underwriter.

Note to record labels: Nationwide suing of your customers will almost always lead to reduced sales. Just thought - since you obviously read this blog - that you might want in on that litle industry tidbit.

Cannondale takes forever to ship "special order" bikes. Oh, and while we are on that subject - it is goddamn near impossible anymore to 1. Buy American made products, and 2. Shop the local guy. And I try MFing hard too. Most people give up WAY WAY before I do. Note to businesses: Making it HARD to buy your products, buy from you, or work with you - does not help us choose you. If your products and prices are already higher because you have to pay your employees more than $1 a day and you can't dump your toxic waste in the front yard - then you better have the BEST DAMN CUSTOMER SERVICE IN THE WORLD. I mean if I have to go out of my way to find you, and pay more to get you - then AT LEAST DON'T SUCK WHEN I HAVE TO WORK WITH YOU. Because trust me - most people are not as dedicated to saving the world as I am.

And speaking of "special order bikes" I would like to point out that there are literally hundreds of "commuter" style bikes available in Europe - but somewhere on the order of 7 in the USA. Just like smaller more efficient cars - we just don't get the options here in the states. Who knows how much they might sell if you JUST TRIED TO SELL THEM! The perpetual "there is no market" argument falls down because of course there is no market as people don't know they exist and if they did they couldn't get them anyway... (Quick, go find a *new* compact pickup truck for sale.)

Cake CAN be eaten for breakfast. Don't tell the kids.

It's not what you know, it's who you know. People do more time for Jay-Walking than Scooter Libby did for LYING under oath in court and covering up for an administration that commits TREASON. But hey, what do I know? Paris Hilton only had to do 23 days in jail - while people have done more time for carrying a single joint in their car get years. Who you know baby. Who you know.

Oh, and I think it would be extremely funny if the Portland TrailBlazers pick - Oden - like blows his knee or something while doing something mundane, like getting out of the shower. Not that I wish ill on anyone (outside of the Bush administration that is) - just that the TrailBlazers are putting SO much stock in this ONE guy. Like he is going to win the championship, cure cancer, stabilize the climate, and end world poverty - all this year.

Of course, I guess as a Raider fan I shouldn't throw stones...

Is it football season yet?

Transformers does not disappoint.

Michael Bay gets to keep his skin, because I just returned from the first showing of "Transformers" at the local theater (Pioneer Place, Portland), and it was everything I had expected.

Judging from the raucous cheers that erupted at various points throughout the movie, and the roaring applause from the filled theater at the close of the show, I would say that I was not the only one who felt that "Transformers" delivered.

I will be taking my entire family to see this one on the 4th.

And as a person who is both highly critical of movies, and had extremely high expectations for the live-action movie made-from-his-childhood-dreams - I enjoyed it very very much.

I will give no spoilers. But Optimus, aside from a new paint scheme, completely *is* Optimus.

My only qualm was the fact that the movie could be classified as a very elaborate commercial for General Motors. However, given that the entire original show was a thinly veiled advertisement for the toys - I guess I can't really be too critical there.

Oh, and Megan Fox is, well, a fox.