"There are two Oregon's," said Rep. Wayne Krieger (R-Gold Beach). "The Willamette Valley and everywhere else." Waiting to testify on House Bill 4095 at a Judiciary Committee hearing this morning, I thought, What is he talking about? Two Oregon's? That...

My wife wants to get another dog, even though our current canine companion, Serena, is still very much alive at the age of twelve -- though admittedly slowing down. (But isn't that to be expected given that she's 80+ in...

The Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation's outrageous decision to stop funding Planned Parenthood's breast cancer screening efforts is a case study in disastrous public relations. Overnight, Komen for the Cure went from "great public-spirited organization" to "handmaiden of...

I'm no economic expert. But much of economics is simple common sense. So it's no big surprise to me that the British economy is faltering after David Cameron's conservative government decided several years ago that cutting government spending in a...

My wife and I have quite a few words that finish off the title of this blog post. Jerks. Inconsiderate. Litterers. It hugely bugs us when we see someone toss a cigarette butt out of a car window. But usually...

Ha, ha! We were right and you were wrongI Thanks to Salem Weekly, our city's alternative newspaper, I got to gloat again about our neighborhood's land use win over the Marion County commissioners after publisher A.P. Walther asked me if...

Here's four big Green Thumbs-Up from my wife and me to Eugene residents Olivia Chernaik, 11, and Kelsey Juliana, 15. The Register Guard reports: ...with the help of their mothers, Lisa Chernaik and Catia Juliana, [the girls] filed a lawsuit...

Interesting piece in the New York Times about why movie trailers almost always feature male voices. Here's some excerpts from "Why Men Always Tell You to See Movies." The question has been pondered by mystics through the ages, but in...

One of our neighbors here in rural south Salem has become a celebrity -- in the tourism promotion world. Recently President Obama announced at Walt Disney World that Todd Davidson will lead an effort to increase international tourism through the...

Here's a can't-miss way to lose quite a bit of weight almost instantly. I'm sharing it with the world because I'd love it if this became known as the "Brian Hines Weight Loss System." (Don't hesitate to reblog this post...

When I first heard about "The Artist" (2011) I thought, "This is a movie that I should like, but won't." Black and white. Almost entirely silent, as regards speaking. French actors/director. An homage to films of the 20's and 30's....

"Range anxiety" is a hyped-up malady potential electric car owners shouldn't worry much about. Yes, at first I worried about how far our Nissan Leaf would go on a charge. Now, I don't. After four months of owning the electric...

This is one for our rural south Salem neighborhood's memory book. Until we die or move away, us old-timers will be saying, "Remember the flooding back in 2012? Man, that was something we've never seen before, or since." Spring Creek...

Curses to the companies that drop unwanted "yellow pages" directories beside our mailbox. That's littering, and we hate it. And double curses to Yellowbook for putting the Salem - Keizer 2012 2013 version of their unwanted directory inside our mailbox...

Ah, I was pleased to read in the Salem Statesman Journal today that another person dislikes Pringle Square for the same reasons I do. This monstrosity of a development proposed to be built on the riverfront is ugly and uncreative....

Way to go, Jon! At the age of 65, you're nominated for National Geographic's Adventurers of the Year 2012 award, along with Erik Boomer, a youthful 26. (Jon Turk is on the left in the photo above.) You've inspired this...

Man, I'm loving "Vancouvria." This homegrown You Tube'd video satire of Portland's more conservative neighbor to the north, where the dream of the suburbs lives on, is way better than "Portlandia" -- in my utterly subjective yet totally true opinion....

Who says the pioneer spirit in Oregon died out with the pioneers? It was alive and well today on what many are calling our state's 2012 snow-pocalypse. Though for some reason, many also are not. Hopefully these photos of my...

Great news! The Canada Party has entered our presidential race. I'd vote for Canada to be the leader of the United States, for sure. This is a highly persausive campaign video. But seriously... (though I hope, oh, I so dearly...

Astoundingly, via Google I wasn't able to find a reference to the most important bit of weight training etiquette every buff woman who frequents an athletic club needs to know: Do not, repeat, do not, leave a higher weight on...

Do you think Mitt Romney is a guy who will add jobs to the American economy? Think again. He's a job destroyer, not a job creator. He doesn't care if people get hurt when businesses shut down, so long as...

I'm a naked iPhone user. Meaning, sometimes we both are, but usually only my iPhone is. I've enjoyed feeling the glassy, metallic sleekness of the iPhones I've owned without a screen protector or case coming between me and my beloved...

My wife and I live in Salem, a.k.a. "So-lame," Portland's dowdy, plain, uncool neighbor to the south. We wish our city could be half as ravishingly interesting as Portland is. No, one-tenth as interesting. Heck, give us any little slice...

Damn you, Showtime! Last year I cancelled your half of our HBO/Showtime subscription, because you didn't have on anything we liked to watch. But last night we took advantage of DirecTV's offer to see Showtime premieres for free. And already...

Oh, man... just what I didn't need so early in the new year -- another reason to be depressed about the prospects of Salem, Oregon being able to ditch it's well-deserved nickname, So-Lame. Today the Statesman Journal newspaper revealed what...

There are many reasons why Obama and the Democrats were absolutely right to press for a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), billions upon billions of them -- all the dollars that people have lost in the Wall Street-led financial crisis...

Laurel, my wife, has a friend with a deliciously cynical sense of humor. Every year Nancy, which may or may not be her real name, sends out "The Dreaded Christmas Newsletter." And every year I rejoice when I read it....

By "us," I mean hundreds of people in our rural south Salem neighborhood who vigorously opposed a 217 acre Measure 37 subdivision proposed to be built on high value farmland that threatened our ground and surface water (wells and community...

This afternoon my open house fears turned out to be unfounded. Since I figured that I wouldn't know anyone at the gathering but the hostess, new Salem resident Laurie, my ever-anxious mind envisoned awkward moments standing around with a glass...

About four years ago I shared my supplements list with a mildly- to un-interested world. Seems like a good time to do it again, since there's been some Big News in the non-prescription nostrums I take every day to keep...