I’ve read the Kausfiles blog at Slate.com on and off for quite a while. I don’t always agree with Mickey Kaus, the writer, but I appreciate his perspective and style. Also, he turns a nice phrase.
Lately, I’ve been enjoying another Mickey Kaus project, blogging heads (the link at the top of this post, and to which the subject line refers). This project, which is a video dialogue blog (or Diavlog, a term which they seem to have invented), includes contributions from a lot of different smart, funny people talking about important and trivial issues of the day. The conversations are interesting and thought provoking, especially those between Kaus and Robert Wright. Both men are fantastically arrogant, which makes their dialogues wonderfully compelling.
I quite enjoyed this beer, although the hop character mostly masked the oak flavor. I expect that if it was kept at cellar temperature for a year or so, it would mellow into a near perfect ale. That said, I buy products from the Stone Brewing Company with the full fledged expectation that they will be hopped beyond recognition, and after all; the bottle say “you probably won’t like it.” I’m not going to do a full tasting profile, because I want to enjoy my beer and relish it, not try to analyze the experience. One note on appearance, though; check out how much lacing there was on the glass when the beer was done. That’s what I call good head.
Due to the subprime crisis, the ensuing credit crunch, and related budget problems, The Alphabet has had to make some drastic moves to cut payroll costs. Effective immediately, we are laying off the following letters; U, Y, and C. Alphabetic workload will be redistributed as follows; the portfolio formerly covered by U will be taken back over by V. Some of yov remember that V has covered this load in the past, and we expect him to pick back up in fvll swing. The Y beat will be handled by I, or when she can’t do it on her own, IE. We’ll leave it vp to them to deside how to divide vp this work. Finally, C will be replaced by K and S. Thankfvllie, the portfolio is alreadie easilie divided bie sovnd. We vnderstand that this is hard on ieor families, and we didn’t take this desision lightlie. However, in these trieing times, sometimes diffikult khoises have to be made. Thank ieov for ieor kooperation during this most trieing time.
It looks like the project to save Eugene’s Historic Civic Stadium is gaining momentum since I last checked in on them. The eighth oldest minor league ballpark in the country is in Eugene, and unless there is some serious investment in renovations the stadium’s future is in jeopardy. Take a look at the work being done by the Save Civic Stadium group here.
Here are some winter pictures of my garden, all put to bed for winter, as well as my compost and my chickens. We’ve been enjoying gardening and expanding the growing space in our backyard over the past several years. Now, as solstice has passed and the days are (slowly) getting longer, I’m thinking about the garden again. This year; hops!
For the past week I’ve been thinking longingly of getting away from Eugene and making another stint in a larger city. Specifically, the siren’s call of Portland has been dragging on me. I lived in Portland for a year, went to school at PSU, and had an apartment in Downtown with Taylor. It was our first house together as married people. Actually, it was a pretty bad year. Taylor had a hell of a time finding work. We got in a car wreck and had to go to months and months of therapy to recover. We had no money, so despite living in the center of a cultural mecca, blocks from amazing museums, restaurants, theater, and music, we could afford none of it. This weekend we visited friends in SE Portland, and it made me want to make another go of it. But then I ran across this tidbit on a favorite Music blog, Monitor Mix, and realized why I don’t want to go back;
“Portland is a highly self-conscious city — a meta-city, if you will — constantly in dialog with itself. The self-obsession, fomented by accolades leveled at us by everyone from The New York Times to Bon Appetit, is a product of our insularity and homogeneity, not to mention progressive politics that veer toward extremism because they’re rarely tempered by opposing views. (During the last eight years, it was wasn’t merely “I don’t agree with Bush,” but “Impeach Bush.” The occasional McCain lawn sign or bumper sticker stood out as more than a simple difference of opinion. A recent Michael Pollan talk I attended felt more like a religious event than a lecture. Us Portlanders, we already know. Get it?)”
Sure, Eugene has many of the same qualities mentioned here. In fact, the liberal monolith in Eugene is more solid than in Portland, not less. But still, at least for now, our liberalism is more tie dye than fleece, more farm fresh than Whole Foods.
It's true. I do. I post what I'm thinking, which is interesting enough I guess, but it's a monologue. I know my ideas are not always conventional, and I know that in flesh to flesh conversations people often disagree with what I have to say. So I'll bet that bit to bit conversations spark disagreement as well. Let's have a discussion. Dialogue is so much more fun.
