NO more war!

If you haven’t already read Michael Moore's “An Open Letter to Obama on Afghanistan," take a minute to check it out. It's in response to the announcement that Obama has made a decision that holds an uncomfortably close resemblance to one that Bush might have made: an order to send approximately 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan—part of an elaborate plan, one with a reported "clear exit-strategy," that he intends to explain in detail tonight in a National Address from the U.S. Military Academy.

I love Danny Elfman

Daniel Robert "Danny" Elfman is an American musician, best known for composing music for television and movies, and leading the rock band Oingo Boingo, But best know, in out house at least as Jack Shelaton.



Christmas time is upon us again!
I will have to celebrate my birthday first!
This is the best movie ever as far as I'm concerned and can watch it over and over again. In case you live under a rock, it tells the story of Jack Skeleton, a being from "Halloween Town" who opens a portal to "Christmas Town". Danny Elfman wrote the film score and provided the singing voice of Jack, as well as other minor characters.

This is my favorite from the movie
Here are some excerpts I especially like

Kidnap the Sandy Claws, lock him up real tight
Throw away the key and then
Turn off all the lights

Kidnap the Sandy Claws
Throw him in a box
Bury him for ninety years
Then see if he talks

Kidnap the Sandy Claws
Tie him in a bag
Throw him in the ocean
Then see if he is sad

And the best one of all,
Kidnap the Sandy Claws, beat him with a stick
Lock him for ninety years, see what makes him tick

We're just a minor threat

Ramones
Starting out in the New York City Underground in 1975, the Ramones played fast, catchy punk rock, taking influence from the New York Dolls and the glue they sniffed. Many consider them the founders of punk and pop-punk. Their 3 chord songs were simple and catchy, everything that punk rock was supposed to be. The Ramones' first album inspired a ton of bands across the Atlantic. They released great album after great album in the 70's and continued to play into the 90's. The Ramones weren't the most talented or political band, but that didn't stop them from making some amazing music.

Good Riddance
Forming in 1986 as a way for Russ Rankin to vent his political frustration, these vegancore kids rose to punk rock stardom in the early/mid-90's, releasing album after successful album on Fat Wreck Chords. Ambiguously shifting between balls-out hardcore and sing-along pop-punk, Good Riddance never repeats themselves but in one way - they always deliver high-quality punk rock straight from the heart.
Gang of Four
Formed in 1977 by journalist Andy Gill and college students Dave Allen and Hugo Burnham, gang of Four is considered one of the first post-punk bands. In their 1979 debut Entertainment!, gang of Four fused punk fury with funk rythmns and angular guitars.Their next releases Solid Gold abandoned this approach in favor of slower paced almost dub-like songs and the usually political rantings.The last few release by the band were synthesized dribble, and did not sell well. the band split in 1984.
Agnostic Front
New York Hardcore legends! These guys from New York help pioneer the hardcore-punk scene in New York City, and helped create the NYHC sub-genre. With heavy influences from 77 punk, oi music, and working class lifestyle, Agnostic Front blends hard hitting hardcore with blue collar lyrics that can be enjoyed by anyone who likes hard-hitting in your face music. Roger Miret's voice is unmistakeable in any song. Released a new album not so long ago, where they moved from their hardcore-punk roots to a more metal influenced style, but they still made a golden album.
Dead Kennedys
The Dead Kennedys formed in 1978 in San Francisco, CA after Jello Biafra and Klaus Flouride answered East Bay Ray's ad to start a band in a local magazine. The 3 joined together with drummer Ted and started playing hardcore-punk together in the every changing SF scene. DK is known by nearly all punk fans because of their revolutionary changes in hardcore-punk, bringing in politically charge lyrics with high quality musicianship. The Dead Kennedys changed hardcore-punk forever.

Patti Smith
Known to many as punk rock's poet laurete. Patti Smith is arguably one of pinoneers of punk. She began as just a girl wanting to do poetry readings, and she turned into a legend in the eyes of many punks. She used her knack for poetry and imagery to write punk songs that were worth remembering, not for their music, but for their lyrics. Patti was one of the first female punks and she pushed boundries for many that followed her. The punk scene would be very different, and lacking a lot, had Patti not come along and gave us her heart and soul in her poetry and punk music.

New York Dolls
Cross-dressing, drug using, glam punks, the New York Dolls were punk before punk had a name. Formed shortly after the VU explosion, the New York Dolls were pioneers in their own right. Though the band quickly dissolved, everyone who saw them wanted to what they did, they wanted to be punks, they wanted the drugs, they wanted to dress up like women. Member Johnny Thunders went on to form his own band, also legendary.

X
The band 'X' was formed in 1977, and became an early leader in the LA punk scene; fusing an artsy punk style with some mild blues and country influences. The original members were Christine "Exene" Cervenka as vocalist, John Doe on bass and vocals, DJ Bonebreak on drums, and Billy Zoom on guitar. Zoom was later replaced by Tony Gilkyson when he quit the band in '86. The band formed an odd relationship with Ray Manzarek of the Doors, who produced their first album 'Los Angeles' (1980), as well as lending his keyboarding talents to a few songs. The band continued recording through the 80's, and still tours occasionaly with its original lineup.


Television
Televison formed in 1972 by friends Richard Hell and Tom Veralaine with Billy Ficca on drums under the name The Neon Boys. In 1973, they changed their name to Television. Richard Hell left the band in 1975 before the release of an album. In 1977 with Fred Smith on bass and another guitarist, Richard Lloyd playing, Television released their first album "Marquee Moon". This album is thought by many to be one of the greatest in history. They've released 6 albums, 3 live, the latest being their self-titled release from 1992. Television is one the most innovative bands of al time.


Suicidal Tendencies
Thrash influenced so-cal hardcore-punk band Suicidal Tendencies lead a major hand in marrying punk and skateboard culture in the early 80s. The band attracted both punks and metal.
7 Seconds
One of the longest last California hardcore-punk bands, 7 Seconds are usually a band mentioned in the same breath as other hardcore-punk legends like Minor Threat, and other youth crew bands like Youth Brigade. The band signed to BYO records in 1982, and released 3 LPs, then signed to Side 1 records and released other albums. They still tour today, with Kevin Seconds the only orginal membeheads to their shows, bridging a gap between two groups who usually have a dislike for each other.
Social Distortion
Social Distortion was formed in 1978 by frontman Mike Ness in Orange County, California. Their first album, Mommy’s Little Monster, debuting in 1983, showed Social Distortion to be a standard melodic punk band, but by the time their self titled album came out in 1990, they started leaning more towards the roots rock and cowpunk genres. Albums subsequent to this, including 1992’s Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell and 2004’s Sex, Love, and Rock’ n’ Roll, proved that Social Distortion can be a very flexible and innovative band, and that Johnny Cash style country and the Clash style punk may look bad on paper, but it sounds great.
Cock Sparrer
Formed in 1975, Cock Sparrer were one of the first oi bands, sprouting up even before the British punk wave had flowed through. Their songs were meant for the Cockney working class who frequented the pubs after a hard's day work and were ready to get drunk and have a good time with these fellas. Sparrer helped bring about all the oi bands around today, having nearly every modern oi band cite them as an influence. Them, along with Sham 69, Cockney Rejects, and Angelic Upstarts were the pioneers of the working class music of Oi!

The Stooges
The original Stooges lineup formed in Detroit during 1968 with Ron Asheton on guitar, his brother Scott on drums, David Alexander on bass and Iggy singing. Their first album came in 1969 and had, in my opinion, two classics, "1969" which featured a psychedelic intro that is still unmistakable today and "Now I Wanna Be Your Dog" which is just a cool song. Later they came out with Fun House, their sophomore album. Both albums, however, pale in comparison to their 1973 album "Raw Power" which had Ron Asheton on bass and James Williamson on guitar. Just about every song on the album is a classic, and became a blueprint for a 1000's of bands to come. After that, The Stooges broke up, Iggy went on to do some stuff with David Bowie, most memorably the song, "Lust for Life", but nothing close to what he had with The Stooges.

Circle Jerks
Circle Jerks was formed from the joining of former Black Flag frontman, Keith Morris, and former Redd Kross guitarist Greg Hetson in 1979. The band combined the rebellious attitude of 77 punk with the emerging hardcore music to make a mix we all know as hardcore-punk. Their debut album Group Sex, contained 14 tracks, none breaking the 2 minute mark. They played hard and fast and are loved by many.

The Misfits
In 1977 a band would change punk forever. This band was the Misfits. Formed by Glenn Danzig and Jerry Only, this band set out to make an impresion...and they did. Although Danzig, the original lead singer, left in 1980, but The Misfits returned in 1997 without Danzig,and with a new member, Doyle Von Frankenstein, and released "American Pshyco. The Misfits have influenced uncountable numbers of bands, all the way from AFI to Marilyn Manson and started the genre we know today as "Horror Punk".

Bad Brains
During the late 70's, former jazz fusion artists Dr. Know (Gary Miller), Darryl Jenifer, and Earl Hudson joined with singer H.R. (Paul Hudson) to create one of the most hardcore punk bands to ever hit the face of the earth. Influenced by anything ranging from The Sex Pistols to Led Zepplin, Bad Brains put out some of the most amazing hardcore albums punk fans had ever heard before. After H.R. discovered his roots, converting to the rastafarian religion and slowly converting the rest of the band, the four rasta-punks started putting reggae tracks into their albums, creating an amazing contrast between songs that had never been heard before. Mixing their rastafarian beliefs, and punk ethics Bad Brains put out some revolutionary hardcore tracks that no other band will ever come close to copy.
Operation Ivy
Ska gods Operation Ivy formed around March 1987, when Matt and Lint's (Tim Armstrong) band, Basic Radio broke up. After only being around for two years, and only releasing one album, Energy, Operation Ivy called it a day, playing their final show at the place where it all began, the Gillman Street club, in the home town of Berkeley, San Francisco.

Parenting Basics

The most important thing to remember about discipline for young children is that it needs to be kind, tender and humane. And so often it is not. Why are adults so afraid of being kind when disciplining? I think there are lots of reasons: one reason stems from how we were disciplined as children. In a tense moment we often go back to how we were raised even if we resented how we were treated. Fear, also, keeps us from being kind and tender because we are so afraid that our child will become a rude, hurtful, out of control adult. Sometimes we just don't know a better way.
I am getting into this whole child rearing thing much more now that my children are growing, no more babies for me. I am learning so much, I am considering child development classes at the college here in Corvallis. And having a career of it, I am definitely able and very patient. I am working at a pre-school now and I love it. I am very happy around children and love watching them interact. I have realized a lot just watching my new mentor Josie. She is a great care giver and she has already showed me so much. I have taken countless classes in the past 7 years and read about 50 books, but nothiing has shown me more then her.

Anothor one of my Idols is Bev Bos,
Have you ever gone into a bookstore and looked at the number of books there are on child rearing? Just the other day I did and I was overwhelmed. How do young parents sort it out? And how much of the information is important?

When I was a child my mother did not read a single book about raising children. She was so busy cooking, washing clothes, bathing and feeding eight children, she simply raised her children as her mother had. About the time I had my children, the "self-help" books started being written and I read them all. I did some things differently than my mother, as every generation does, but a great deal of my mothering came from my background. I know my husband never read any of the child rearing books.

So what's the point of all this? I think there are some important, informative books. I also think that what we have lost is a "sense" of parenting. With many children in childcare (which I am not against - I, too, have been a working parent) and parents leading very different lives from previous generations, parents sometimes seem at a loss for basic parenting skills.

Here is some basic developmental information I would like young parents to know:

1. Young children cannot collect information unless it is important to them. For example: When you say to a child, "Never, never, never run in the street.", they forget that "rule" when the ball rolls into the street. I heard a mother say to her child in the grocery store, "You got your hand stuck in the same part of the stroller yesterday. How could you be so stupid? Don.t you remember?" Probably not. When the pain is gone, children forget. The place they put their finger looks like a place to do just that.

Too often during the summer we read in the newspaper about children who fall into the swimming pool. Do you think their parents didn't tell them? Of course they did, but the information was not important to them. We make rules but children cannot remember them because their job is to play and develop into thinking young people.

We, all the adults in their lives, must be responsible for them - to watch and guide and gently remind them. We must provide safe places for them to play and not expect them to be responsible for their own safety.

2. Young children cannot share. Parents always look at me aghast when I say this. Developmentally, young children do not understand ownership. They think if someone takes something from them that either they won't get it back or it will be changed in some way. If you want your child to grow into a sharing adult, try not to demand sharing when it is not developmentally appropriate. Young children are basically egocentric, in other words, the world exists for them. You all have heard them say, "Mine, it's mine!" My grandson, Zac, who lives in our home, said, "This is my house and you and my mom and Grandpa live here with me." Ah, yes, if only he could make the house payments on "his" house. Does all this mean you must have two or three of everything? Of course not. But be understanding. Here is what I do when a child comes to me and says, "But I want it!" I say, "And I want you to have it! You need to ask her if you can use it when she's through." Make sure if you ask a child to pass out cookies or crackers that you talk them through the task, "Let's see, there is a cookie for Zac and one for Sarah and one for you, too."

Put their favorite things/toys up when others come to play and you know it is going to be difficult. Get a big box and stop at garage sales and get some toys to put in the box. Then, when company comes, get those toys out and say, "Here, these are my toys and all of you can play with them." They will look new to everybody.

At about four years old sometimes a child will start sharing but not until about six do they really start becoming much less egocentric.

3. Try to see each new stage as developmental. Too often as a child approaches a new stage of development we think the child is turning into a monster. Let me give your an example: At four your child seems to be able to walk, talk without yelling, and can be helpful with a sibling, etc. Then at four and a half they cannot walk - they fall and stumble. They cannot talk, they either yell or sometimes stutter and often use words you are appalled at. Then, they become five which is a very serene, together age. Remember each child is different at every age and there are many different personalities. But, in general, the more understanding you can be about developmental "stages", the more joy and delight you will experience as a family.

4. The most important thing to remember is that childhood is a very short, precious time. It is just a whisper - ask any grandparent. With tears they will say to you, "Oh, if I only could do it again." "If I had only spent more time." "If only I had laughed a little more and had not worried about the dust." I have never heard anyone say they wished they had dusted more often. Be kind and gentle with yourself as a parent.

One hundred years from now, no one will know if you kept a clean house, but it will make a difference in the world if you spend quality time with your children.

"There are people with all sorts of enthusiasms and creativity which are not often enough made use of or even recognized because the tendency is not to rock the boat but to keep on doing things the way they have always been done."

Art Cars or why I miss Oakland

I am truly missing my hometown, I love it here in Corvallis, but I am a little home sick. All the culture!!! For the love of culture people! Folks in the Bay area have more soul more energy more rhythm, more fun, case in point: Art cars!
The shot below is by Lake Merritt, and while art-cars might be a common sight around the Bay Area, it is only when you travel outside to other states/places you realize that it is not quite so commonplace to see such intricately decorated vehicles. I have seen one or two painted "hippie" VW bus's. But no Art cars. One Batman car, but kind of half arsed. When I lived in the bay area, I spent many hours just stopping to admire and study the countless art-cars I have seen around Oakland and Berkeley. They're amazing. I love the detail and the creative use of various found and recycled objects (including lots of toys) that people put into decorating these cars and I admire their makers for not wanting to adhere to the strict, bland uniformity of merely leaving their cars exactly as they rolled off the assembly line. These are truly unique vehicles.














Check out these little pieces of wonderfulness
Garbage truck envy
Art Car fest
Art Car central

This land is your land, this land is my land

Do you have one of those, who in history would you of liked to have met? I do. I have a lot, but one is my all time favorite. He rocks my world.
And these pleasures that you cannot ever forget are the yeast that always starts working in your mind again, and it gets in your thoughts again, and in your eyes again, and then, all at once, no matter what has happened to you, you are building a brand new world again, based and built on the mistakes, the wreck, the hard luck and trouble of the old one.
Life has got a habit of not standing hitched. You got to ride it like you find it. You got to change with it. If a day goes by that don't change some of your old notions for new ones, that is just about like trying to milk a dead cow.
As through this world I ramble
I see lots of funny men.
Some rob you with a six-gun,
Some with a fountain pen.
But as through this life you travel,
As through your life you roam,
You will never see an outlaw
Drive a family from their home.
Civilization is spread more by singing than by anything else, because whole big bunches can sing a particular song where not every man can join in on the same conversation. A song ain't nothing but a conversation fixed up to where you can talk it over and over without getting tired of it.
The world is filled with people who are no longer needed --
And who try to make slaves of all of us --
And they have their music and we have ours--
Theirs, the wasted songs of a superstitious nightmare--
And without their musical and ideological miscarriages to compare our song of freedom to--
We'd not have any opposite to compare our music with--
and like the drifting wind, hitting no obstacle, we'd never know its speed, its power.
Woody Guthrie was what folks who don't believe in anything would call an anomaly. Admittedly, the intersection of space and time at the corner of July 14, 1912, and Okemah, Oklahoma, was a long shot to produce anything like a national treasure.
Woody was born in one of the most desolate places in America, just in time to come of age in the worst period in our history. ... He became the living embodiment of everything a people's revolution is supposed to be about: that working people have dignity, intelligence and value above and beyond the market's demand for their labor. ... For me personally, Woody is my hero of heroes.

the 3 R's

Out of my two children, my 6 year old Sophie loves books the most. She will sit and listen to every word, pictures or not. She loves all the twist and turns and the complicated detail in Norse myths. Or exotic fairy tales told by other countries. All she wants to do is read, and Art. But reading is her passion, but she has not learned yet and it is frustrating her to no end. She frequently will ask her teachers to teach her, but she is impatient. I can see in her eyes the thirst for literature, for the fantasy life that lives and breaths in those books. I am thinking of getting her a tutor, she is too impatient for me to teach her, and she is so hard on her self. Strangers usually do a better job.
We had a parent teacher conference last week and her teachers says she is the brightest kid in the class, full of excitement, excitement to learn. She is basically ready for graduation. No surprises here, and no I do not regret her entering Kindergarten at 6. I think every kid should start later. What a wonderful think honestly, they get another year of just being a kid and they start with that much more experience and thirst for knowledge. As my Sophie is demonstrating. It brings tears to my eyes honestly. I never had that thirst. I could care less. I guess I could blame my parents, I don't recall a single book ever read to me, or any interest in my school studies. My Mother especially, since I was raised by her alone. She never asked to see any homework etc.
Patrick and I are very different. We do not allow TV or computer time unless something educational has happened. Then still 1 hour max. TV will rot your brain, I and my husband are living proof of that one. Why raise another vegetable, like so many children out there.
This Xmas even, no toys allowed! We are going to have a small one, with food, lots and lots of baking and puzzles and games only. I think Sophie is old enough to learn new things. This weekend I taught her some new card games, and she loves them. She loves games and we love playing them with her. Now we need to work on Mac.

seven stuff

On the seventh hour
of the seventh day
of the seventh month
the seven doctors say
"He were born for good luck
that you'll see"
I got seven hundred dollars
don't you mess with me
'cause i'm the hootchie cootchie man...
Muddy Waters
Iron Maiden's seventh studio album was Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
A famous dance group from Kercova(Macedonia)- Sevens group TThe number of notes in the traditional Western Major Scale
The original diameter in inches of the 45rpm format gramophone record.
There are seven musicians in a septet or a septuor.
7 Shades of Black is a song on the Smashing Pumpkins album Zeitgeist, which made its release in 2007.
Love Is the Seventh Wave by Sting on his first solo album, Dream of the Blue Turtles.
The number of stellar objects in the solar system visible to the naked eye from Earth— the Sun, the Moon and the five classical naked eye planets: Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn.
There is on a Scottish Mason's apron seven tassels on each side and when the apron.
In almost every system of antiquity there are frequent references to the number seven.
The Pythagoreans called it the perfect number, 3 and 4, the triangle and the square, the perfect figures.
There were for instance seven ancient planets. The sun was the greatest planet of the ancient seven and next to the sun, the moon, changing in all its splendor every seventh day.
The Arabians had seven Holy Temples.
In Persian mysteries there were seven spacious caverns through which the aspirants had to pass.
The Goths had seven deities, as did the Romans, from whose names are derived our days of the week.
King Solomon was seven years building the Temple. It was dedicated to the glory of God in the seventh month and the festival lasted seven days.
We require seven Brethren to make a Lodge perfect and we have our seven steps on the winding staircase.
The seven dwarfs
The seven deadly sins
The Trumpton fire brigade (a UK children's cartoon: They are Pugh, Pugh, Barney, Magrew, Cuthburt, Dibble and Grub)
The seven orders of architecture
The seven seas
The Seven Sisters
Almost all mammals have 7 cervical vertebrae
There are 7 types of virus according to the Baltimore classification
The number of spots on a seven-spot ladybird
The Menorah is a 7-branched candelabrum
God rested on and sanctified the seventh day (Shabbat). – Genesis 2:3. "Wisdom has built her house, she has hewn out her seven pillars." – Proverbs of Solomon son of David King of Israel 9:1
The Shmita (Sabbatical) year arrives every seventh year.
The Jubilee (Yovel) year comes after 7 times 7 years.
The Counting of the Omer leading up to the Giving of the Torah is expressed as "7 times 7 weeks."
The number of Archangels according to some systems.
The minor symbol number of yang from the Taoist yin-yang.
The number of palms in an Egyptian Sacred Cubit.
The number of ranks in Mithraism.
The number seven is of particular significance within Cherokee cosmology.
In Buddhism, Buddha walked 7 steps at his birth.
Circle Seven Koran, the holy scripture of the Moorish Science Temple of America
In Spanish and other Romance Languages, cats are said to have 7 lives as opposed to English, where cats are said to have 9 lives.
In Iran cats are also said to have 7 lives. [8]
The seven days of the week
The Kulin people of Australia living near the Dandenong Ranges traditionally have seven seasons. Some of the Native Americans of Montana also have seven seasons: chinook season, muddy spring, green summer, gold summer (or dry summer), 'Indian' Summer, late fall, and cold winter.
The United States declared Independence in the 7th month of 1776.
The British fifty pence coin has 7 sides
11-06-2002 NY City love you baby

Would you love me 'til I'm dead

Remember high school? Remember all the "what's your favorite" list? Now that I am sooooooooooo old (he he) I don't really have any list, I can honestly say there is not one Movie or book I like best. BUT I was thinking this week, I have been in bed a lot with some infection. It's been on and off for 2 years now. Seriously. I have an appointment finally with a specialist! So don't worry too much. I'm a big girl and I am finally realizing I can get help, since I never had insurance really.
BUT as I was saying about favorite's. I think I might have an all time favorite song, of course it's sweet and romantic. I do love a good mushy song. But mostly I love a great voice and thoughtful lyrics.
Also it is Patrick's and my anniversary soon. 7 years. I waited a long time to find him, Seemed like forever, Lots of mistakes a long the way. But we are soooooooooooo happy and I am stunned! I come from a broken family he comes from a broken family. I do not believe in soul mates or love at first sight BS. I believe in commitment and honesty and love. He makes me happy all day long. He is a wonderful and funny friend and he is very sexy (sorry) but it's true. He makes me laugh all the time and he is a great father! He doesn't mind my insanity and he is super motivated. And he loves to clean. I have truly found the perfect man (wink wink) I am looking forward to a life time with him and maybe that is why this song is my favorite? It reminds me of him?

I never felt magic crazy as this
I never saw moons knew the meaning of the sea
I never held emotion in the palm of my hand
Or felt sweet breezes in the top of a tree
But now you're here
Brighten my northern sky.

I've been a long time that I'm waiting
Been a long that I'm blown
I've been a long time that I've wandered
Through the people I have known
Oh, if you would and you could
Straighten my new mind's eye.

Would you love me for my money
Would you love me for my head
Would you love me through the winter
Would you love me 'til I'm dead
Oh, if you would and you could
Come blow your horn on high.

I never felt magic crazy as this
I never saw moons knew the meaning of the sea
I never held emotion in the palm of my hand
Or felt sweet breezes in the top of a tree
But now you're here
Brighten my northern sky.

My new hero: Spike Jonze

We took our kids to see where the wild things are, It was so good, I felt so deeply. I cried. This movie makes you think, which is interesting as often we get lazy and want it all presented on a nice clean plate for us to devour. This movie is about social rules, it is personal and is a magical film about childhood angst, it is uncompromising and an excellent interpretation of a classic book. Haunting, Innovative, And mostly kid friendly. Kids will totally get it. It rocked my world, I can't wait for it to come out on DVD, I will watch it over and over. My little one (3 year old) wasn't very interested, but he wasn't interested in any movie we have taken him to so far. My daughter got it, she looked kind of like "wow, he is throwing a fit and like biting his mom, you mean I'm not the only freak out there!"

our town

Iris Dement and this song always chokes me up.
The Willamette Valley (pronounced wi-LAM-it) is the region in northwest Oregon in the beautiful USA that surrounds the Willamette River as it proceeds northward from its emergence from mountains near Eugene to its confluence with the Columbia River at Portland.
We live in such a beautiful place, not to warm, not to cold. The Willamette Valley has a wet climate, with about 50 inches of rain a year. It rains alright, that is why it is soooo green! Summers are dry and somewhat warm, the rest of the year, from November to April is very wet. Snow is rare, with on average only one to three light falls a year, and a major snowstorm only a couple times a decade. I am soo glad there is barely any snow. I don't really care for the snow. I would rather visit the snow.
Some fun stuff: In the movie A League of Their Own, directed by Penny Marshall, Geena Davis's and Lori Petty's characters are discovered playing softball and living on a dairy farm in the fertile Willamette Valley. The Davis character eventually returns to her life there. And why wouldn't you.
I loved this when I was a kid, (oh River why did you have to die...)
The 1986 film Stand by Me was largely filmed in Brownsville, Oregon, a historic town in the midst of the Willamette Valley.. The unspoiled and natural beauty appears in many scenes, helping to establish the mood of the 1950s.
Health, prosperity, safety and security are all desirable aspects when it comes to seeking a place to live, work or raise a family.
We are the 7th best college town under 250,000 people
Corvallis is cited as the #1 city in America for green buildings per capita.
The 509J School District recognized the City for its outstanding efforts in support and encouragement for significantly lowering the drop out rate in the Corvallis School District.
The October issue of National Geographic Adventure has rated Corvallis as one of the ten best Where to Live and Play Now! cities.
Corvallis was named the Safest Small City in America for a second year by Farmers Insurance Group. Our low scores on crime rate, extreme weather, environmental hazards, and terror threats led to our #1 ranking.
The September/October 2008 issue of AARP Magazine named Corvallis as having the third greenest commuters (percentage who bike or walk) and the third longest life expectancy at 80.93 years.
ECO-Friendly Award
It is hard living in such a wonderful town, like no shopping, and no soul food! Like Tim Gunn on project runway I am trying to make it work. I miss the big city life, one day when I am a rich girl I shall move to a fancy loft in NY city. And live the life I have always secretly wanted! But for now I am sold on Corvallis.

I love meat and vegetables

I am an Omnivore, I love chicken, pork, beef and Turnips. In fact there is not one single vegetable that I do not love, and I mean LOVE. Prepared the right way and it all taste good to me. I'm not crazy about a lot of meat, but that was my Mom's fault, she allowed me to be picky. My kids on the other hand are NOT ALLOWED to discriminate against any vegetable. They have to sample it first, and honestly they look at me and go "wow Mom, this taste good." Or they simple put it back on their plate.
My kids are learning like crazy, Sophie has tons of homework (very simple stuff) and Mac has discovered dinosaur train on PBS. He is also obsessed with Dora the explorer, which we watch instantly on Netflix. My kids don't really watch that much TV, they are big time players with their imagination and such, which is nice. I guess my husband watched hours and hours and hours of TV growing up. We didn't even have a TV at times. Of course, I am trying to make up for it now. I think they realize TV is well, boring. But not Dora, Mac knows about 20 words in Spanish already and is ready for Kindergarten at 3. Not really. Dual-immersion look out. Just like big Sis.
But back to food, my favorite word! I could never be a vegetarian, I just love food too much. I can not imagine why someone would choose to be a vegetarian as well. I mean it couldn't possible be political, not these days. Too many people suffering for me to give a rats ass about some bunny. I love meat, love it.
So, on Mac's new favorite show Dinosaur train (which he only gets to watch once a week, since I am now working the other days) They teach all about Dinosaurs, and he is super into it. His says "Mama, dinosaurs are grande." He likes to mix Spanish in with everything. So does Sophie. When I'm asking Sophie to stop talking, she talks a lot!!! She says, "Mom, my boca is zipped." Today I asked Mac what is an Omnivore, he said Crows, I thought how the Fuck did he know that. TV! Go figure, I guess it is good for something now. Pigs are one well-known example of an omnivore. Crows are another example of an omnivore that many people see every day. Humans are omnivores.
When I was a kid, I watched threes company. I wonder what I learned from that show, yes sesame street was on, but I never got to watch it. We commuted on the Bay Bridge everyday. We lived in SF and I went to school in Berkeley. When we finally moved to Berkeley we didn't have a TV.
I love this song, not the movie so much. But the song kicks ass!!

It's just a jump to the left, and then a step to the right.

OK this might shock some of you but when I was 8 or maybe 9 my mom took me to a double feature of Tommy and Pink Floyd's the wall. At the old UC theatre on University avenue. (very cool web-site)1982 possible? Doesn't exist anymore. Awesome place, did the Rocky horror picture show and everything. Spent many a Saturday nights throwing rice and singing "lets do the time warp again" Boy have times changed. So when I was younger I loved Ann Margaret and Pink Floyd, never realizing drugs made these movies what they are. And everyone sitting in the theatre with me, practically all day, were probably tripping on something. We never went to a park, or camp, or anything associated with being a kid. No, I spent my days with my Mom (and she was high) FUN! (um... not) Why did I have to be an only child? I think about how I don't do drugs but I still love these movies and I wish I could bring Sophie to see them. She would love them. Especially Rocky horror. We could dress up, I can do a mean transvestite. Well a woman dressed up as a woman dressed up as a man.? Wha...

Mabon

September 22, is the date of this year's Fall Equinox (or Autumnal Equinox). For those who practice Wicca, Druidry, or other forms of neopaganism, it is known as Mabon.
There is either an equinox (autumn and spring) or a solstice (summer and winter)
On a day which has an equinox, the center of the Sun will spend a nearly equal amount of time above and below the horizon at every location on Earth and night and day will be of nearly the same length. The day is longer than the night at an equinox.
What does it mean? Well the days began to grow shorter and the nights longer at Summer Solstice, and at Fall Equinox, we will begin to notice the nights are getting even longer...winter is coming...and I can tell also because the mornings are quite chilly and the leaves began to change over the last few days here in Corvallis.













So what then is Mabon? What is its significance in the pagan calendar? Everyone knows about Halloween, but not about Mabon.
Mabon is the name used by some traditions of Wicca, as well as some other forms of Neopaganism, for one of the eight annual sabbats central to their beliefs. It is celebrated on the Autumnal Equinox, which in the northern hemisphere occurs on or around September 23rd (occasionally the 22nd). Many celebrate on the 21st since most early Wiccan and Neopagan sources reference this date as Mabon. In the southern hemisphere, the Autumnal Equinox occurs usually around March 21. Also called Harvest Home, the Feast of the Ingathering, Meán Fómhair, or as Alban Elfed by Neo-Druidic traditions, this holiday is a ritual of thanksgiving for the fruits of the earth and a recognition of the need to share them to secure the blessings of the Goddess and God during the winter months. The name may derive from Mabon ap Modron, a character from Welsh mythology, although the connection is unclear. Among the sabbats, it is the second of the three harvest festivals, preceded by Lughnasadh/Lammas and followed by Samhain [Halloween].

Children will always be afraid of the dark, and men with minds sensitive to hereditary impulses will always tremble at the thought of the hidden and fathomless worlds of strange life which may pulsate in the gulfs beyond the stars or press hideously upon our own globe in unholy dimensions which only the dead and the moonstruck may glimpse.
-- H.P. Lovecraft, "Supernatural Horror in Literature"

Is Glenn Beck the Imperial Wizard of modern Know Nothingism?

Know Nothingism was a nativist American political movement. It began because of popular fears that the country was being over run by immigrants. They feared American culture and traditions were being lost. They wanted immigration and naturalization of all immigrants stopped. These immigrants were the Irish. The Know Nothings began in the 1840's and Father Coughlin believed Democrats were moving the nation into the Socialist camp in the 1930's. So what is new? At the speed the Left is making us Socialist none of us will be around to know. I look at Beck and other's on the Right and I see a bunch of racist bigots hiding behind the language of the Constitution and freedom. Lets face it, Beck didn't get all wound up by the security forces in Afghanistan acting like they were at a Fraternity Toga party, yet the world was coming to an end because some members of ACORN acted absolutely stupidly and told someone how to run a brothel. Glenn Beck called President Obama a racist with a deep seated hatred of White People on the air. In a conversation with Congressman Keith Ellison, who is Muslim, after denying racism because some of my best friends are Muslim's, Beck ask him to essentially prove he was loyal to the United States.
On 3-10-09 in response to the killing rampage by Michael McClendon in Alabama, Beck stated listening to the description of him, he was reminded of the American people that feel disenfranchised right now and feel that nobody is listening to their voice. He further opined that because they get shot down by Political Correctness how do you not turn into that guy. Some one who just shot 10 people in cold blood.
This is just a sampling of the nightly gag spew that Glenn Beck puts out into the air waves. Forget all the phony civility crap. This is just blatantly racist crap that has no place in the discussion of our nation. It is time for Fox News to put up or shut up. Do you support a racist bigot?