Whomp Power

Got this email from OSPIRG, thought I'd post it here. :)

During this late-summer weather, I'm reminded more and more about the natural beauty within our state. Mt. Hood and the Columbia River Gorge are truly two of the most breathtaking sites in Oregon. And right now, Congress has a historic chance to protect these great places, but I need your help to convince them to take action now.

Unfortunately, many once-pristine areas of Mt. Hood are now criss-crossed by roads and checkered with clearcuts. So, OSPIRG is working to protect Mt. Hood by designating new wilderness areas this year. Wilderness protection is the best way to preserve our most beloved special places.

As you've probably seen in the paper, Oregon's Congressional delegation has come together to support bipartisan protections. Sen. Gordon Smith has proposed a compromise between a House bill sponsored by Reps. Blumenauer and Walden and a Senate bill sponsored by Sen. Wyden.

We're calling on Congress to create 125,000 acres of new Wilderness for Mount Hood, including areas along the Columbia Gorge, the Roaring River, Hunchback Mountain, and Larch Mountain, and create 80 new miles of protected Wild and Scenic Rivers, including the East and Middle Forks of the Hood River and Fifteen Mile Creek.

Please take a moment to sign onto a petition to urge Congress to protect these amazing areas by the end of the year.

Go here to sign the petition.

We've been watching some of the new fall shows, and so far have really been enjoying Studio 60 from the Sunset Strip. We never watched The West Wing, so this type of witty and smart adult one hour drama is new to us. We hardly ever watch drama shows - no CSI or Law and Order or West Wing or any of the ensembles new this year. In fact, we realized that when we do watch a one hour drama, it is usually teen related. Like Buffy, and Everwood, and Veronica Mars (which, btw, I implore all of you to watch so it doesn't get canceled.) I guess we did watch Ed, and do watch Desperate Housewives (which I enjoy, mostly, but I'm not like "yeah! New Desperate Housewives! Must watch it now!").

Anyway, I think Matthew Perry is funny, and I like just about everyone on the show, and it certainly explains why Nate Corddry isn't on The Daily Show anymore.

Speaking of The Daily Show, the interview with the President of Pakistan was so great. I can't believe he was even on the show.

And if you haven't been watching 30 Days on FX, you (speaking to the world in general) should at least rent/buy the first season on DVD and watch it. Amazing and maddening and potentially emotional, all in one smart package.

D & I were thinking we could make millions if we could just come up with some sort of silent packaging for chips and crackers. I mean, you settle in to watch tv, and you've got your little bag of Spicy Thai Kettle Chips, and as you struggle to open them, the bag is so dang loud. Those lucky enough to have Tivo can just pause their show while they open the bag and pull some chips out. The rest of you just have to turn up the telly, or wait for a commercial. There has got to be a better way. I'm just saying.

We love Mario Batali. His shows are always entertaining, especially Mario Eats Italy (we miss Rooney!). We recently created a Batali wishlist on Tivo so we wouldn't miss him on things. This has been a good thing, as we saw him as a co-chef on an episode of Emeril Live a couple times. We also watched a really interesting show called Iconoclasts - this episode was titled Mario Batali on Michael Stipe. Turns out the two are friends. It was interesting to hear them talk about fame, food, and each other.

So then comes the reason I decided to blog. Mario was interviewed on Charlie Rose. I've never seen the show before, I just knew it was a talk/interview type show on PBS. What I didn't know is how boring it is. Now maybe I shouldn't be making rash judgements after watching just one show, but I don't think I can bring myself to watch it again, so here goes. How did this man get a talk show? How did he make an interview with Mario Batali - a gregarious and witty person that could entertain you simply by reading one of his cookbooks - seem so utterly tedious?

He didn't even do any research! He actually asked Mario if he had a television show. Mario was like, "um, yeah, I'm actually one of the Iron Chefs..." and then told the stupid idiot about all his other shows. At one point Charlie asked Mario a (long winded) question, and then as Mario got about 4 seconds into his answer Charlie cut him off and prattled on with his own related anecdote. The hell? Anyway, not at all inspired by Charlie Rose.

It's an end of an era in Toronto - Tie Domi is retiring. I don't keep up on goings on with the teams and players and whatnot, but I do know that I love Domi, and I'm not sure what it will be like to watch a Leafs game without him. Looks like the Leafs cut him, and he chose not to go elsewhere.

"I love hockey, I love the Toronto Maple Leafs, this is my home," said Domi, who was cut loose by the Leafs during the offseason. "There were other interests, but I couldn't see myself wearing another jersey other than the blue and white."

So thanks, Tie, for some great hockey.

So last Friday Owen wanted Chinese food for dinner (more specifically, wanted "Chinese noodles, those long things, what are they called again? Oh yeah, egg rolls, and that yummy tofu.") So we got a bunch of fortune cookies, and these were opened in the following order.





The first one was Owen's, and after we read it to him he said "I know! Like when we get to go get my Chinese sister!" The rest of the fortunes kind of fell into place after that. Big things better come this week. Big things.

So there is this godawful site called God Hates Fags, which, you know, is run by uber-religious whack jobs ("If this Gospel truth offends you, then please hit the "Back" button on your browser." -- trust me, its not all I want to hit at this point.)

So some kind hearted soul created God Hates Homophobes, whose duty is to "warn homophobes worldwide that if they don't change their evil ways they will go to hell and roast on an eternal flame." The sites been up six years, and its really sad they have to be up at all. Anyway, funny and informative stuff here, check it out.

Lawmakers in California must be hoping that their constituents don't read past headlines.

Take this article for example: "Schwarzenegger signs ban on mobile phone use while driving"

Governor Schwarzenegger signed a bill into law yesterday that makes "driving while operating a mobile phone illegal on California roadways"? Well....not quite...

First of all, the law only applies to handheld phones. So, despite evidence otherwise, the lawmakers decided that using a hands-free phone is safe.

Second, the law doesn't take effect until January 1, 2008. Why?! Does it take people that long to invest in a hands-free phone? People who can afford expensive cell phone contracts should be able to save up for an earpiece in less than 1.25 years.

Third...the fine? 20 bucks. Yep, risking the lives of every car you mindlessly speed by yields a fee of about half of what a street sweeping ticket costs. In addition, it's not technically a moving violation! It has NO bearing on your insurance like a speeding ticket would even though some studies show that it is as dangerous as driving drunk! Heck, why not just put a $20 tax on everybody's cell phone bill then the driving cell phone zombies wouldn't have to be inconvenienced with a chat with CHP?!

It must be a very proud moment for California Senator Joe Simitian. He's spent the last four years of his life leading the charge to get this monumental bill passed. The satisfaction of knowing that in just over a year Californians are going to be no safer than they are today must be immense.