This nice lady and her dog very graciously posed for me in Seattle's University District. Photo by MS(R)MWell, hi again, folks. It’s been a real interesting week on the political scene, eh? Sarah Palin decided to resign as Alaska’s governor amid speculation she’s preparing for higher office. That, coupled with her media-wide tete to tete with a highly respected comedian who is living proof that if you run your mouth long enough, it better be big enough for both feet (Know THAT one well), she’s managed to capture the spotlight brilliantly.
I’m sorry but I’m okay with that. If that’s what the public needs right now to cope with all this other “interesting stuff,” Sarah’s one of the best shows in town. And it’s admission free. Sarah, for some reason, reminds me of someone I dated back when chivalry was still an overcoat across a puddle.
She was a beautiful lass, this one, with a lot going for her. But she was extremely concerned about her health and had a real sincere and independent interest in things involving medicine, health, etc. She was also acutely empathetic and had a habit of acquiring personal symptoms from a spectrum of sources.
I happened to know a doctor with an extra big heart and I suggested she might want to talk to him to see if he could help her deal with her apparent hypochondria. Yep, you’re way ahead of me. She ran off with the doctor and they’re living happily ever after.
Sarah Palin reminds me of Shakespeare’s classic use of fools. It’s one thing to act like one. It’s an entirely different matter to be one. And the Bard knew something the younger of the Smothers Brothers played to the hilt. We all love watching a fool, don’t we?
If Governor Palin indeed IS a fool ~ and before any of the Conservative readership starts trumpeting or the Liberals braying, I said IF she’s a fool ~ look at the attention she’s getting and ask yourself, for one fleeting second, what that says about those of us who keep her in that spotlight in the first place. Personally, I’m off the hook. I’m just here for the company and the free popcorn. Aaaand moving right along here and stuff.
This past Fourth of July proved, despite a statewide ban on private fireworks, a little more dazzling than most of us would have liked, I suspect, for a Washington State couple who pulled their car over during a thunderstorm and still got hit by lightning when a bolt ricocheted off a tree and into their rig. The vehicle in question suffered two flat tires and a fried ignition system. The couple were unharmed but, I rather imagine, some thoughtful about such arcane matters as luck, Fate and that ubiquitous and all-encompassing, “sometimes ‘stuff’ just happens.”
This week’s critter story poses a couple of unique demographic/cultural challenges for me because while, on the one hand, it involves a bear, it’s about one “east of the mountains,” as we say here. That’s a term that we use locally to describe that part of Washington state on the eastern side of the Cascade Mountains. In a broader sense, it can include everything up to and including the Atlantic Seaboard.
I have a native Northwesterner’s mixed feelings about people from the East Coast. I admire and respect especially New Yorkers. I have cousins in Flatbush with whom I speak occasionally and while they talk so fast that I have to record them and then play it back at half speed, they suggest, and perhaps rightfully so, that they could retire before I finish a sentence.
On the other hand, considering I can get mugged by a squirrel for a peanut butter sandwich at the Washington State Convention Center and yet never have been bitten, clawed, scratched or really inconvenienced by anything in the Deep Woods or the Seattle suburbs from a cougar to a lost topcutter (lumberjack/timber jockey) on payday Friday night strongly suggests to me that I’d last about 15 seconds on the wild streets of the Big Apple.
That having been said, when 9/11 happened, like much of the rest of the world, I raged, wept and rose up in unmitigated and unqualified admiration for those alleged victims/survivors. There was nothing ‘victim’ about the emergency personnel and the ‘average’ New Yorker to suggest running away or amok with this. They dug out the living, buried the dead, held the requiems, repaired, reinforced and rebuilt. They vowed it would not happen again in their city and it has not.
I’ve spoken with several friends who survived the Blitz bombing of London during World War II and the more recent terrorist attack on their subway system. The most succinct but perhaps profound expression of empathy and identification came from a Manchester-born cabbie who said, “Every once in awhile, I almost feel like inviting a Yank home to tea. As long as he’s not from bloody Boston.” Has he done so yet? I don’t know. I think I knew better than to ask? Eh?
We need to say thanks to the reader from Vancouver, British Columbia who sent us this photo and story about Canada’s preparation for electric transport. The picture portrays what looks like an ordinary gasoline/petrol pump replete with hose and nozzle. Except these are designed to keep engine blocks from freezing during extremely cold weather.
The same 120-volts can be used to recharge hybrids, which only use their motors at low speeds before the engine kicks in, and ‘true’ electrics which only have an electric motor. I’d suggest a term like Canadian Ingenuity and come up with the French equivalent. I am bilingual but I am not fluent in French and I have too much respect for you folks to even make the attempt. However, I still think it’s a good idea and Seattle’s had recharging stations for about as long as we’ve had electric buses.
And definitely under the category of “Just No Pleasing Some Folks,” it appears that some concern has been raised that electric cars are too quiet. I didn’t particularly like the stealth/terrorist lead on this story but this is the New York Times and they do that sometimes. I got passed that quickly and I see some legitimacy to the fear that the blind may not hear them coming or that other ambient noise may totally muffle the noise of, let’s say, a Prius.
Two things bother me about the time and energy involved in this one. Because of the sensory compensation factor, most blind people hear better than those of us with sight. Second of all, if they can put a bell on a bicycle and chirping birds on a crosswalk sign (Seattle), it doesn’t seem like a monumental engineering challenge to put a voice on quiet car.
It also probably wouldn’t hurt most big city pedestrians to pay a little more attention to what’s going on around them in general. Having gotten so lost in thought myself that I almost got broadsided by a Metro bus in rush hour, again, voice of experience suggesting here. It is one thing to focus. It is another to get yelled at by a public transportation driver who can cuss the bark off a birch in three languages. Slow learning curve but I do have one. Sometimes. Nevermind. I digress.
And finally, our gratitude (I think) to the reader who sent us the Crosscut.com article headlined “the many uses of manure”. I’m not quite sure on what or how many levels we’re supposed to take that but it was an interesting read.
Manure’s been used for a long time here to generate gas for heating, etc. but now apparently, the methane itself can be used to generate electricity. Thanks to the Bonnieville Power Administration, electricity in the Pacific Northwest is incredibly cheap so thus far, it hasn’t been cost effective.
However, that could certainly change and this is in keeping with the general trend here toward integrated energy sources. It’s like a spare parachute; nice to have just in case and it might as well be one you either packed yourself or wasn’t packed by an angry spouse or someone who owes you a lot of money.
On that note, that’s it for this week. Take care, stay well, God Bless and thanks once again for the ear.
Rusty
NORTHSTAR RECOMMENDS
The Tomatoman Times – a life commentary blog with the blended stylings of John Steinbeck, Mark Twain, Jack London and Will Rogers. Poignant, at times rancorous but very contemporary and an ultimate celebration.
Vinyl Cafe with Stuart McLean – Live from the smallest record store in North America. Canadian humour, entertainment and commentary at its maple leaf best. Popular on National Public Radio in the States.
Ask Barbie, Advice Columnist. -- a blog that delivers the amiable maternalism of Ms. Landers, the slightly off-centre humour of Erma Bombeck and the ingenuousness of an unreconstructed romantic with no axes to grind.
Sightline Daily (formerly Tidepool) – The United Press International/BBC/CBC/Reuters of the American Northwest. Delivered by email to subscribers and available on their web site, they offer news shorts with links to the source. Its editors draw from a coverage area which includes Alaska, British Columbia, California, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. They also put out an excellent weekly environmental edition. And they’re growing.
U Got Style.com – Those of you involved in or aficionados of independent films and the arts in general will totally love this one. The writing is lively, the interviews engaging, the artwork original and occasionally delightfully retro. Definitely worth checking out.
Rusty Miller, Freelance Photojournalist -- Yep, a little shameless self-promotion here to help pay for the blog. Take a look at the services offered menu on my writer-for-hire homepage and samples of my digital lens work on my photography website. If you see something you like, email me and we’ll get together on it.
COMING ATTRACTIONS
In the weeks to come, we’re going to create ~ in addition to Northstar Recommends ~ a Northstar General Store in which you, the readers, will have an opportunity to market your own goods and services and, as well, to shop here. We’re going to get real creative with this and whenever possible, we’ll have tried what we’re carrying on the shelves, as it were. We’ll be taking a straight ten percent for this, via Paypal. We’ll also consider barter and trade.
If you’ve got any recommendations of your own and are interested in the General Store, email me and we’ll talk.
MS(R)M
I’m sorry but I’m okay with that. If that’s what the public needs right now to cope with all this other “interesting stuff,” Sarah’s one of the best shows in town. And it’s admission free. Sarah, for some reason, reminds me of someone I dated back when chivalry was still an overcoat across a puddle.
She was a beautiful lass, this one, with a lot going for her. But she was extremely concerned about her health and had a real sincere and independent interest in things involving medicine, health, etc. She was also acutely empathetic and had a habit of acquiring personal symptoms from a spectrum of sources.
I happened to know a doctor with an extra big heart and I suggested she might want to talk to him to see if he could help her deal with her apparent hypochondria. Yep, you’re way ahead of me. She ran off with the doctor and they’re living happily ever after.
Sarah Palin reminds me of Shakespeare’s classic use of fools. It’s one thing to act like one. It’s an entirely different matter to be one. And the Bard knew something the younger of the Smothers Brothers played to the hilt. We all love watching a fool, don’t we?
If Governor Palin indeed IS a fool ~ and before any of the Conservative readership starts trumpeting or the Liberals braying, I said IF she’s a fool ~ look at the attention she’s getting and ask yourself, for one fleeting second, what that says about those of us who keep her in that spotlight in the first place. Personally, I’m off the hook. I’m just here for the company and the free popcorn. Aaaand moving right along here and stuff.
This past Fourth of July proved, despite a statewide ban on private fireworks, a little more dazzling than most of us would have liked, I suspect, for a Washington State couple who pulled their car over during a thunderstorm and still got hit by lightning when a bolt ricocheted off a tree and into their rig. The vehicle in question suffered two flat tires and a fried ignition system. The couple were unharmed but, I rather imagine, some thoughtful about such arcane matters as luck, Fate and that ubiquitous and all-encompassing, “sometimes ‘stuff’ just happens.”
This week’s critter story poses a couple of unique demographic/cultural challenges for me because while, on the one hand, it involves a bear, it’s about one “east of the mountains,” as we say here. That’s a term that we use locally to describe that part of Washington state on the eastern side of the Cascade Mountains. In a broader sense, it can include everything up to and including the Atlantic Seaboard.
I have a native Northwesterner’s mixed feelings about people from the East Coast. I admire and respect especially New Yorkers. I have cousins in Flatbush with whom I speak occasionally and while they talk so fast that I have to record them and then play it back at half speed, they suggest, and perhaps rightfully so, that they could retire before I finish a sentence.
On the other hand, considering I can get mugged by a squirrel for a peanut butter sandwich at the Washington State Convention Center and yet never have been bitten, clawed, scratched or really inconvenienced by anything in the Deep Woods or the Seattle suburbs from a cougar to a lost topcutter (lumberjack/timber jockey) on payday Friday night strongly suggests to me that I’d last about 15 seconds on the wild streets of the Big Apple.
That having been said, when 9/11 happened, like much of the rest of the world, I raged, wept and rose up in unmitigated and unqualified admiration for those alleged victims/survivors. There was nothing ‘victim’ about the emergency personnel and the ‘average’ New Yorker to suggest running away or amok with this. They dug out the living, buried the dead, held the requiems, repaired, reinforced and rebuilt. They vowed it would not happen again in their city and it has not.
I’ve spoken with several friends who survived the Blitz bombing of London during World War II and the more recent terrorist attack on their subway system. The most succinct but perhaps profound expression of empathy and identification came from a Manchester-born cabbie who said, “Every once in awhile, I almost feel like inviting a Yank home to tea. As long as he’s not from bloody Boston.” Has he done so yet? I don’t know. I think I knew better than to ask? Eh?
We need to say thanks to the reader from Vancouver, British Columbia who sent us this photo and story about Canada’s preparation for electric transport. The picture portrays what looks like an ordinary gasoline/petrol pump replete with hose and nozzle. Except these are designed to keep engine blocks from freezing during extremely cold weather.
The same 120-volts can be used to recharge hybrids, which only use their motors at low speeds before the engine kicks in, and ‘true’ electrics which only have an electric motor. I’d suggest a term like Canadian Ingenuity and come up with the French equivalent. I am bilingual but I am not fluent in French and I have too much respect for you folks to even make the attempt. However, I still think it’s a good idea and Seattle’s had recharging stations for about as long as we’ve had electric buses.
And definitely under the category of “Just No Pleasing Some Folks,” it appears that some concern has been raised that electric cars are too quiet. I didn’t particularly like the stealth/terrorist lead on this story but this is the New York Times and they do that sometimes. I got passed that quickly and I see some legitimacy to the fear that the blind may not hear them coming or that other ambient noise may totally muffle the noise of, let’s say, a Prius.
Two things bother me about the time and energy involved in this one. Because of the sensory compensation factor, most blind people hear better than those of us with sight. Second of all, if they can put a bell on a bicycle and chirping birds on a crosswalk sign (Seattle), it doesn’t seem like a monumental engineering challenge to put a voice on quiet car.
It also probably wouldn’t hurt most big city pedestrians to pay a little more attention to what’s going on around them in general. Having gotten so lost in thought myself that I almost got broadsided by a Metro bus in rush hour, again, voice of experience suggesting here. It is one thing to focus. It is another to get yelled at by a public transportation driver who can cuss the bark off a birch in three languages. Slow learning curve but I do have one. Sometimes. Nevermind. I digress.
And finally, our gratitude (I think) to the reader who sent us the Crosscut.com article headlined “the many uses of manure”. I’m not quite sure on what or how many levels we’re supposed to take that but it was an interesting read.
Manure’s been used for a long time here to generate gas for heating, etc. but now apparently, the methane itself can be used to generate electricity. Thanks to the Bonnieville Power Administration, electricity in the Pacific Northwest is incredibly cheap so thus far, it hasn’t been cost effective.
However, that could certainly change and this is in keeping with the general trend here toward integrated energy sources. It’s like a spare parachute; nice to have just in case and it might as well be one you either packed yourself or wasn’t packed by an angry spouse or someone who owes you a lot of money.
On that note, that’s it for this week. Take care, stay well, God Bless and thanks once again for the ear.
Rusty
NORTHSTAR RECOMMENDS
The Tomatoman Times – a life commentary blog with the blended stylings of John Steinbeck, Mark Twain, Jack London and Will Rogers. Poignant, at times rancorous but very contemporary and an ultimate celebration.
Vinyl Cafe with Stuart McLean – Live from the smallest record store in North America. Canadian humour, entertainment and commentary at its maple leaf best. Popular on National Public Radio in the States.
Ask Barbie, Advice Columnist. -- a blog that delivers the amiable maternalism of Ms. Landers, the slightly off-centre humour of Erma Bombeck and the ingenuousness of an unreconstructed romantic with no axes to grind.
Sightline Daily (formerly Tidepool) – The United Press International/BBC/CBC/Reuters of the American Northwest. Delivered by email to subscribers and available on their web site, they offer news shorts with links to the source. Its editors draw from a coverage area which includes Alaska, British Columbia, California, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. They also put out an excellent weekly environmental edition. And they’re growing.
U Got Style.com – Those of you involved in or aficionados of independent films and the arts in general will totally love this one. The writing is lively, the interviews engaging, the artwork original and occasionally delightfully retro. Definitely worth checking out.
Rusty Miller, Freelance Photojournalist -- Yep, a little shameless self-promotion here to help pay for the blog. Take a look at the services offered menu on my writer-for-hire homepage and samples of my digital lens work on my photography website. If you see something you like, email me and we’ll get together on it.
COMING ATTRACTIONS
In the weeks to come, we’re going to create ~ in addition to Northstar Recommends ~ a Northstar General Store in which you, the readers, will have an opportunity to market your own goods and services and, as well, to shop here. We’re going to get real creative with this and whenever possible, we’ll have tried what we’re carrying on the shelves, as it were. We’ll be taking a straight ten percent for this, via Paypal. We’ll also consider barter and trade.
If you’ve got any recommendations of your own and are interested in the General Store, email me and we’ll talk.
MS(R)M
