There, I did it – added a new blog entry.

P.S.  Thanks so much to all of you who contributed to my “Birthday for a Cause” fundraiser last month.  We were able to raise over $700, which means seven women in the Congo will be given the skills needed to start their own business and provide for their families.  Awesome.

After a short visit over a 3-day weekend both this spring and again now in late August, Portland has become a new favorite destination for mini-vacations.  While we aren’t usually in town for very long we manage to do lots of relaxing, our trip this weekend was so enjoyable it rates among some of our best week-long vacations over the years.  We rediscovered the beauty of the “urban happy hour” and adjusted our meal schedule to complement….theres nothing better than a $2 1/2 pound cheeseburger!  If you’re looking for some Portland recommendations we’d be glad to help as our list of favorite places has grown once again.

To replicate our fantastic weekend, first get a screaming deal at “The Nines” hotel from hotwire.com, then check out: Jake’s Grill, Escape from New York Pizza, Portland City Grill, any McMenamins, Mio Gelato, the Living Room Theaters, or Dragonfish.  Finally, spend the rest of your time at the Japanese or Rose Test Garden, Magpie, other vintage shops, or riding the MAX.

See other pictures of our trip by clicking the link below

(more…)

I seem to have hit some type of internet treasure cove of comedy this evening, lots of quality stuff….  why not share?

“Look Around You” (Video)

A 2005 BBC comedy that poses itself as a 1980’s science and technology educational program… It’s like the Office meets “321 Contact”.  It’s been shown recently on Adult Swim as well.

“Dynamic Pawn” (Video)

A hidden web gem, this amazing Pawn shop commercial must be from another decade itself, but don’t take it’s advice on how to choose a gift for your loved one. (Crazy Bruce’s Liquor also gets a nod for amazing commercial).

“You Look Nice Today” (Website)

It’s always good to find a quality podcast, and I think this one might be going on heavy rotation on my iPod soon.  The website describes the show this way; “You Look Nice Today is an audio-based Journal of Emotional Hygiene… The three hosts met on Twitter.com, and soon realized that none of them had anything better to do than this. And Twitter.”  If this just sounds like a few nerds recording a podcast, you’re right… but its very funny, and occasionally/regularly features John Hodgeman.

“Stuff That Insists On Being Looked At” (Website)

A Cool photoblog

Funny Newspaper Ad Parody (Video)

Ok, this one somehow makes me very happy, and is incredibly funny…. but it isn’t a video about “Kittens inspired by Kittens” so I don’t get it.  Maybe its because I want to have a snobby East Coast sense of humor – I think this might fall into that category. Regardless, it makes fun of newspapers – and features Michael Ian Black, along with Paul Rudd… so it must be good.

“Japanese Dole Banana Commercial” (Video)

Late addition to this evening’s list – but talk about hidden internet jems, this video probably isn’t even very searchable in YouTube because the entire description and title are in Japanese…. but its one of the greatest commercials in all time.  If all retailers in the US could advertise like this, there would be no recession.

Welcome to the first northslope blog post of the New Year!  I thought I’d start things off with a “Links of our Lives” entry, giving you a sneak peak into some of the websites that I’ve been reading and thinking about after reading over the past few weeks.

Juror #11 Explains All!

Its not too often that the Juror of a fairly large, public trial decides to tell about their experiences in a way that doesn’t include writing a book, or sit-down Barbra Walters interview.  Senator Ted Stevens, the longest serving republican senator in history was recently found guilty of seven felony counts and shortly thereafter lost reelection for the first time in 50 years.  The trial contained some pretty interesting characters on the witness stand, on each side of the case, and even in the jury box – according the Juror #11 who has started a blog detailing their experiences in a high profile political and legal case.

Classic Card Game “Pit” sees resurgence with economic troubles

I guess there is no better way to take control of your finances during tough times than to pretend you have finances in the first place!  Stacy Downs of the Seattle Times shares this fun article that breaks down the ins and outs of this 100 year old, but surprisingly relevant game that brings the market to you as you trade commodities with other players.  I would be interested to see a new version of “pit” that replaces Corn, Flax, and Barley with updated commodities like Crude Oil, Natural Gas, Gold, and Copper.

What will George W. Bush miss the most about being president? Probably his rug.

A meeting of all the living Presidents last week in the Oval Office, along with President-Elect Obama was a pretty unprecedented event.  The offhand comment “I just love that rug” made by Bill Clinton took me to Google trying to figure out what type of amazing design could inspire such a non-partisan compliment.  Each sitting president re-designs the Oval Office to their own personal tastes, and apparently the rug that Clinton was admiring is a favorite conversation starter of President Bush.  This 2006 Washington Post article pokes fun at President Bush’s constant mentioning of the tapestry, even when out of the country and not in the office itself.

Barack Obama can’t imagine a life without txt-ing – regardless if it only might be days away

Speaking of Presidents our next President, Barack Obama has been saying for a while now that the hardest part of becoming the leader of the free world is that his precious Blackberry cell phone might have to go.  The Secret Service, along with dozens of lawyers are strongly encouraging the President-Elect to ditch his handheld messaging device because of the security and legal hurdles it would pose to his administration.  Did you know that Presidents don’t use email?  Every message a president would send from a computer or pocket device would be subject to the freedom of information act and the 978 Presidential Records Act.  On January 8th, just under two weeks before being sworn in, Obama is still trying to find a way to keep this addicting part of his former life.  (Extra: Peter Scheer of the SF Gate thinks it would be a mistake to get rid of the device)

Palm Lives! – Introduces the most reveloutionarry phone on the market

Well, its been a year and a half since the iPhone was released by Apple – and its competitors have finally been able to put a new device on the market that properly rivals, and surpasses the iPhone technology.  Palm was a company two feet away from the grave, the operating system running on most of their Smartphones was barely unchanged since my first Palm Pilot back in high school.  The introduction of the “Palm Pre” gives new hope and life to a company that practically invented mobile computing in the first place.  It will be fun to see how Google (Android, G1) Apple (iPhone) and Microsoft (Windows Mobile) respond to this new challenge.  I still think if Google or Apple do it right, they could still walk away in a few years as the market leader, but this amazing Palm device finally unseated Apple as the developer of the most groundbreaking phone on the market…

I’ve been busy collecting my favorite websites, news articles, and blogs for the last month – all to share here with you during this edition of “Links of Our Lives”

Local Homeschooler runs away to the woods to find out if he can handle public school

The title says it all, this is the story of a local Lake Stevens boy who after being homeschooled for most of his life, panicked just hours before his first day at public junior high. He left for the woods surrounding his home knowing that if he could hack it out there, public school would be no problem.

Globe Trotter Rick Steves prepares Iran travel special for PBS

I love Rick Steves, his books saved us a ton of time and money while traveling in Europe a few years back and should be at the top of any travelers reading list for your next international destination.  In an effort to bring some humanity in how we see the controversial country of Iran, Steves headed out to recently to film his PBS travel show.  The previews look very interesting, check out his site and look for the special to air in 2009.

What the heck is a “net-book?”

After being introduced just a year or so ago, I believe the “netbook” will the next big item to shift from “gadgety” to mainstream.  Ultra low cost portable computers are a big hit lately, small laptops with limited resources, designed to handle a variety of online tasks, and often not even running windows are changing the tech industry.  At $299 and dropping ($199 by next year) I’m thinking that this will even be a good “second computer” purchase for our family in the near future.

Quest and Its Relationship with the Evangelical Covenant Church

In Fuller Seminary’s fall 2008 “Theology News & Notes” Newsletter, Covenant Pastor Eugene Cho from Quest Church in Seattle contributes a very interesting article in an issue devoted to “Emerging Churches Within Denominational Structures”.  Eugene tells the fascinating story of Quest Church, and how a relationship of trust with the Covenant denomination resulted in the “gifting” of a recent merger with a 60-year old, traditional congregation.  He speaks about Quest’s relationship with the Covenant Church, while doing a good job of also introducing the denomination to those who aren’t familiar with it.

Curb Your Enthusiasm to return in 2009

One of my favorite shows will be back early next year, as “Curb” recently set a production date in December for season 7.  Each year its a no-brainer for HBO to renew the emmy winning series, the return usually hinges on the fickleness of its creator and star, Larry David.

Its been another big month, for both us and really the world in general.  We’re less than 30 days away from what I believe is turning out to be one of the biggest elections in American history.  Some of the links this round are politically related, but in ways other than focusing on the candidates themselves.  So, take a look and enjoy what I’ve enjoyed reading the most over the last few weeks.

Olympus previews next generation Digital SLR, with style

It’s called “micro four thirds” technology, and its going to make our digital pictures crisper, cleaner, and more colorful.  It allows camera manufacturers to create cameras with the quality of DSLR cameras, in a smaller and lighter package.  Olympus showed off a prototype of this new format recently that is both small, but also could be the most stylish digital camera we’ve seen in quite a long time.

The 269 tie: An electoral college ‘doomsday’?

This Washington Times article poses the interesting question, what would happen if on election day, there was a tie in electoral college votes?  The constitution tries to clarify what the procedure would be, but that isn’t even clean enough.  “Sound impossible? It’s not. There are at least a half-dozen plausible ways the election can end in a tie” We’re looking at one of those scenarios right now if the candidates hold onto the states they are leading in, with the exception of New Hampshire (which went Republican in 2000 and Democratic in 2004, each time by just 1.5 percent). This would make the 2000 election look like a student council runoff.

Covering Sarah Palin campaign from the Nome front

Steve Lopez, whom I found to be a bit snarky, and very sarcastic recently flew all the way from Los Angeles to Nome Alaska to cover the Sarah Palin campaign and talk to some “real Alaskans”.   Its an offbeat article that inverviews many people that we knew from living in Nome a few years ago…. and does provide some true Nome local flavor.

China prematurely describes space flight in article before it ever happens

China’s official news agency posted a story on their website describing in detail, and with quotes from astronauts the success of the country’s first space flight. The problem was that the flight wasn’t due to launch for another few days.  This takes running prepared obituaries to a whole new level, and makes you question how the news is reported in the world’s most powerful communist country.

The fall movie season is my favorite of the year.  Its when good films premier and they aren’t as concerned about being a summer or thanksgiving / Christmas blockbuster.  Last fall I remember seeing “American Gangster”, “Michael Clayton”, “Dan in Real Life” and “Gone Baby, Gone” all within a few weeks of each other and being blown away at the quality of each film.  This fall there is another lineup of great, and creative movies.  Ghost Town stars “The Office” creator Ricky Gervais and looks to be a funny and original comedy.  “Battle in Seattle” is intriguing to me because of the local flavor in this movie… I remember watching and listening to the news during this event in 1999.  A Thousand Years of Good Prayers is going into limited release this month, hopefully it will go into wider distribution soon.  Flash of Genius and Changeling are the two films on this list that I’m anticipating the most…. although I’m a bit apprehensive with Genius, hopefully the movie can live up to the trailer and won’t disappoint.  James Bond, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button will close out the fall movie season and will lead into the holidays.

Take a look at the trailers, form your own opinions, and enjoy!

√ Burn After Reading – Open (Rotten Tomatoes | Trailer)
Ghost Town – Sept 19 (Rotten Tomatoes | Trailer)
Battle in Seattle – Sept 19 (Rotten Tomatoes | Trailer)
A Thousand Years of Good Prayers – Sept 19 (Rotten Tomatoes | Trailer)
√ Eagle Eye – Sept 26 (Rotten Tomatoes | Trailer)
Appaloosa – Oct 3 (Rotten Tomatoes | Trailer)
Flash of Genius – Oct 3 (Rotten Tomatoes | Trailer)
√ Body of Lies – Oct 10 (Rotten Tomatoes | Trailer)
Changeling – Oct 31 (Rotten Tomatoes | Trailer)
James Bond: Quantum of Solace – Nov 14 (Rotten Tomatoes | Trailer)
The Road – Nov 26 (imdb)
Time Travelers Wife – November (Rotten Tomatoes)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Christmas (Trailer)

Like many around the world, last week we were all bonded together by viewing the marathon that is Olympic opening ceremonies coverage.  It’s the parade of nations that I’m always most inspired by, its so cool to see so many different countries and cultures converging onto one small little piece of earth for a 4-hour period of time.  The fact that a huge majority of all countries won’t get any medals (thanks for that tidbit, Costas) really highlights how much of an honor it is for most athletes just to show up and represent their home country.

My issue (like many others) with the Olympics this year fall onto the host nation.  There is a whole lot I could rant about when I think of China’s human rights issues, along with political decisions the mega-nation has made over the last few years. I won’t bore you with my normal rants, but I do think a good picture of the value that this country puts onto its people can be viewed by the following Olympic opening ceremonies story from CBS:

Olympic Singer Fails China Cuteness Test

A little 9-year old girl lip synced the Chinese national anthem because the 7-year old who sang the song wasn’t “cute” enough.  It wasn’t the director of the opening ceremonies who made this decision, he was asked to change girls by a member of the Political Bureau that views itself as “the vanguard of the people”.  They excused their actions by saying “The audience will understand that it’s in the national interest,”.

This country is so wrapped up in how they are viewed on the world stage that it is their own citizens who suffer.

I enjoyed this feature last month, and there have been a few more things floating around my browser that I thought would be fun to share with you…

Back to The Future Hoverboard up for sale

If you’ve been trolling around ebay for 80s movie memobrialia lately, you might have noticed that for a $30,000 starting bid, you could attempt to purchase one of the hoverboard props from BTTF 2&3.  I’ve never wanted obsene amounts of money more than I do right now… Even though its just a prop, I’m sure that I could get it to really “hover”.

Jeff Dye into Last Comic Finals

During the last “links of our lives” post I mentioned acquaintance Jeff Dye making onto “Last Comic Standing”.  Jeff has now made it into the final five, and has proven to be really, really funny.  If you get a change, vote for this KentWood & Kent area Young Life Alum.

Iditarod 2008 to be featured in Discovery Channel Series

The same guys who produced “Deadliest Catch” and “Iceroad Truckers” spent this last March in Alaska collecting footage for their next big project, telling the story of the Iditarod.  They outfitted a handful of mushers throughout the race with cameras during last years’ race… this production company has done a great job in the past and I’m excited to see what they do with this great event.

Breakthroughs in HIV & Alzheimer’s could be on the way

On the same day, I read articles about potential breakthroughs in the medical field that could lead to a HIV vaccine and another discovery that could lead towards a drug that could reverse the signs of Alzheimer’s.  Its a very encouraging thing to read that we are on our way to fighting some of these very discouraging diseases.

97.3 KBSG to flip formats next month – listen for a KIRO AM simulcast.

In radio nerd news…. 97.3 KBSG has been putting bad commercials on northwest TV for years, and has been putting Beach Boys songs on Seattle radio Airwaves for even longer as the local oldies station… that run is coming to and end about a year after the station was bought, and re-imaged to “B97″.  Another Seattle legacy station off the air.

So, I want to try something out and share links with you that I’ve found interesting over the last week or so. These are things that are more than just sites I’ve enjoyed visiting, but things I’ve ended up spending quite a bit of time thinking about afterwards.

Starbucks in Yelm and free wifi nation-wide:

Starbucks is finally rolling out free wireless across the country, but you have to have a registered Starbucks gift card. While I know some people aren’t very forgiving about the lack of breakfast sandwhiches, free internet will come in handy at the brand new (first) Starbucks in Yelm that opened this week.

Jeff Dye on “Last Comic Standing”

Its not to often that someone you went to High School with ends up on a competition reality show, and even more rarely is it rumored they make it into the finals. Kentwood Alum and co-former Kent Area Young Life volunteer Jeff Dye’s Last Comic Standing audition just aired on thursday, and websites report that he goes far.

Draft Governor Sarah Palin for Vice-President

It turns out that there are a handful of people out there who think Alaska Governor Sarah Palin would make a great addition to John McCain’s ticket in November. As the first female Alaska governor, and with a over 90% approval rating, Palin could be a fresh addition to the national republican party. I’m still trying to figure out who I’m going to support for President, and you can bet that the running mate choices will speak volumes about each candidates’ political philosophy.

Apple WWDC to begin monday, June 9th

Rumored to appear at Apple’s annual developers conference during Steve Job’s opening Keynote address: 3G Second-Generation iPhone, Tablet MacBook, a large tablet iPod Touch, a re-branding of the .mac online service, and a preview of the next operating system due out next year. Thats a lot of speculation, and a lot of products for a developers conference…

Mystery Science Theater 3000 lives on with RiffTrax

So, I guess its not news, but it was news to me when I found out that MST3K alum Mike Nelson (along with Kevin Murphy, Bill Corbet and others) offer a service where you can download a mp3 of them making fun of a movie and play it along with a DVD that you own or have rented. For the first time I’m looking forward to watching Batman & Robin, Battlefield Earth, and Road House.