Best 90s Music Satire

Just watched the Trey Parker comedy classic, Orgazmo. Now this is a funny movie, but let's admit it, people who find this movie funny have a very, very warped sense of humor. Need I say much more? It's sad this movie has been so poorly received and rated since it rips the mickey right out of just about everything: religion, porn, Japanese stuff/people, mobsters, people, action movies, martial arts, T&A, you name it. Good, good stuff, but it's not for everyone - just crazy people like me.

But the best part was the background song for the the opening credits. Thanks to whoever is responsible for this website for the lyrics that follow, unless, of course, that individual ripped them off from someone else... Here are some links where you might be able to download an MP3 to hear for yourself (but please remember to delete the MP3 IMMEDIATELY after listening to it and then buy a copy of the soundtrack so that you will have purchased it legally, okay):

• After clicking this link, search page for "now you" to find links
• maybe this link?
• or just use your music 'sharing' service to locate the file, it should be there

Now You're a Man

Hey!

What makes a man?
Is it the power in his hands?
Is it his quest for glory?
Give it all you got
To fight to the top
So we can know your story

Now you're a man (man)
A man, man, man
Now you're a man (man)
A manny, manny, man
A man, man, man (man)
You are now a man
You're a man
Now you're a man

Live it, live it

What makes a man?
Is it the woman in his arms?
Just 'cause she has big titties
Or is the way
He fights everyday?
No, it's probably the titties

Now you're a man (man)
A man, man, man
Now you're a man-man (man)
Man-man, man, man-man
Now you're a man (man)
M-A-N, man, man
Man-man, man
Now you're man

What a great start to funny ass film!

Days Not Long Enough

This must be a sign that I'm doing better: I just don't seem to have quite enough time to do everything I'd like to be doing. This has felt a bit stronger this week. I know I am still sleeping a bit longer than normal, but I feel that is simply what by body needs. However, I am sure that medications have something to do with it as well.

I've been getting fewer movies from the library than in the past and barely manage to watch them during the week. Of course I am reading quite a bit more and I'm somewhat inclined to want to do even more. I wonder if I might even enjoy reading 'regular' print books. [I switched to reading large print novels some time ago. I do read other things - newspaper, magazines, non-fiction - now and then, but generally no more than 10 minutes or so at a stretch.] We'll have to see.

I did get out in the back this week and even spent a couple hours working back there. I cleaned off the patio, pulled up some dead plants, and the like. It looks a bit less dead back there now. The front is doing fairly well - most plants are still growing though the impatients and begonia are gone. I did cut down some of the petunias from over the asphalt to use as a mulch where a neighbor murdered and threw away my tomato plants a month ago. One thing I had wanted was to leave the leaves as a natural mulch with the intention that they would break down and further add to the clay soil. But of course she knew better what I should do with my plants than I did. (I guess I'm still somewhat angry about that mess!)

Not much else is going on. Of course I've taken it easy since my relatives visited over the Thanksgiving break. Both Robin and I missed them once they left even though the apartment was a bit crowded with three adults and an overgrown dog. It's hard to say how much the visit meant to me, not only because it's been a long time since I've seen any of my relatives (five years though I though it was longer), but simply because I enjoyed their company so much.

It's hard not to think about how much I'm sure we'd enjoy being closer (they live outside Chicago), but to go there would be question on the basic decisions of my life - to live and continue living in Oregon. That I do not regret (though the weather of the last two weeks has forced me to question it a bit). I just like to think that we had so much fun that we would spend a lot more time together if we could.

Highlights of their visit included spending Thanksgiving Day with my adopted family here in Oregon (lots of fun and way too much food - much more than two normal Thanksgivings!) with a trip through the rainy Willamette Valley, a visit to Uwajimaya, dinner at Syun Izakaya here in Hillsboro (very, very good though the tako sashimi was a bit off), and a trip to Powell's City of Books; a trip on the Columbia Gorge Scenic Highway (many waterfalls, including famed Multnomah Falls, but too many people, yes, even for a cold, rainy, winter's day) with a quick sidestep to Vancouver USA; and finally a hearty Hillsboro breakfast (I had leftovers for two days!) at Hale's before heading off the airport. And did I mention hours spent talking, laughing, looking at old photos, eating, and just enjoying each other's company? I was really good fun.

Real Hillsboro Weather

Slugs are Faster than My Internet Connection!!!

Even dealing with Blogger is getting very, VERY annoying. I can quite literally click on the link for a new post, put the laptop down, get up, walk away, do just about anything, and return to the computer before the entry input form appears on the window. I'm also trying to figure out the local weather (not the crap that's reported on the news, but actual local readings) and I can't get a page from the Weather Underground which uses Google Maps to even load properly. I keep getting some stupid message that I should try a higher level of zoom because supposedly they don't have maps of Washington County. Now how's that for a bull shit error message?!?

Here are some local readings:

• Portland-Hillsboro Airport via NOAA2 days 7 days
• Portland-Hillsboro Airport KHIO via Weather Underground
• A Residence in Cornelius
• Unknown at Baseline & Cornelius Pass Rd via Weather Underground
• A Residence in North Plains
• Farm near Meriwether Golf Course


• Hillsboro HS WeatherBug

I'm not sure that any really capture my local conditions. I am somewhat surprised that someone hasn't setup (and linked) a personal weather station to Weather Underground who lives within Hillsboro. That's mostly what I was looking for. I'm also trying to find a way to get an email alert when my neighbor is likely to have frost/freeze, but so far, not having much luck. Everything is so general and I'm sorry, I hardly believe that my weather is like that at PDX on anything but the most general level.

Here's the forecast that I've been getting from NOAA, but it seems the temperatures are always a couple degrees off. However, that is the difference between frozen plants and okay plants. Well, I want to do some other things and I've already spent well over an hour because these blasted webpages load so slowly! Here's the Weather Underground forecast.

Gays Voting on Marriage?

While this smacks a bit of a press release rather than a real news story (but then who actually employees real reporters these days), it does make one wonder. I can't remember, does Connecticut recognize gay marriages performed in other places, like Massachusetts? If so, then it would seem logical that those who are able would go up north to solemnize their union.

Additionally, the article lacks information on duplicate ceremonies. I wonder how many people have the real ceremony performed in Massachusetts but still return home for a civil union so they can qualify for partnership benefits at work or something similar.

No matter, the individual quoted sums it up so beautifully that it's hard to believe that at least a couple minds won't be swayed - that is those minds that are open to just such an experience and not closed by homophobia and pernicious discrimination.

Original article posted here.

Civil-union signups lag in Connecticut

Christopher Curtis, PlanetOut Network Tue Dec 6, 7:55 PM ET

SUMMARY: Connecticut's unions draw a fraction of the applicants of Massachusetts' same-sex marriages, as couples appear to hold out for full equality.

Civil unions in Connecticut are not being enthusiastically embraced by same-sex couples, according to marriage-equality organization Love Makes a Family.

The group noted that only 539 Connecticut couples sought civil-union licenses from Oct. 1 through Nov. 11, the first six weeks that they were available to same-sex couples in the state. The organization compared those numbers to Massachusetts, where more than 3,000 gay couples sought marriage licenses in the first six weeks of legal same-sex marriages.

While Massachusetts' population is roughly double that of Connecticut, nearly six times as many same-sex couples were married there than entered civil unions in Connecticut in the first six weeks.

"While there was an early flurry, it is clear that the community has mixed feelings about the new law," said Anne Stanback, president of Love Makes a Family. "For most gay couples, like every other couple, marriage is more than just a list of legal and economic protections, important as these are to families. The low numbers suggest that gay couples in Connecticut need and want the full security, dignity and commitment of marriage, not a parallel, separate status that continues to leave them vulnerable and unequal."

Couples have 65 days from the day the civil-union license is issued to conduct a ceremony.

Janet Peck, who lives with her partner, Carol Conklin, told the PlanetOut Network they are not seeking civil union because "we find civil unions to be second-rate."

"We find them to be demeaning and insulting. To pledge to say we're something that's inferior is just not OK," Peck said.

"Marriage means true equality for same-sex couples and their families," said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. "It is important that hundreds of couples now have the ability to provide some protections for their families, but it only takes a short drive north for Connecticut's citizens to be reminded that everyone can and should have the same rights and protections."

Stanback added, "I know there are some people that are holding out. I think people understand marriage is coming to Connecticut. Maybe not next year, but I think 2007 is the year of marriage for our state."

Original article posted here.

yet another test post

I've been unable to post all day today. I've no idea if this is yet
another Blogger problem or something on my end though I can't seem to
find anything on my end. In the past these things have been Blogger
problems and I only find that out a couple of days later. It sure is
frustrating.

Why I Love Stats

From Blog for Oregon, this post not only gets to the heart of the Bush Crisis (or at least one of them) but it points to the glory of statistics and illustrates just how the can be used to make just about any point you need. Bolding added to illustrate my points. An important lesson, folks:

Hitting back against wingnut letters in the O: One of my brother's unpublished masterpieces
Submitted by Ginny Ross - DFO on Mon, 11/28/2005 - 6:38pm.

Bush supporter Richard Divincenzo correctly notes, "On your President Bush-bashing editorial page, there are many letters critical of the president, while there are very few in support." True. But then he continues, "I do not believe that this is typical of the public sentiment."

Wrong.

Last week the letters received by the Oregonian ran 101 to 3 against the Bush administration. In fact, by printing Mr. Divincenzo's pro-Bush letter alongside only two anti-Bush letters (on 11/26/05) the Oregonian is actually showing an extreme right-wing bias, publishing 33% of letters supporting Bush but only 2% of letters opposed.

Perhaps this explains why the Mr. Divincenzo's of America continue to believe we are a divided nation. We aren't. We are, in fact, nearly unanimous in our disapproval of the Bush administration.

Join us, Mr. Divincenzo, and your final plea for us to "once again truly become 'The United States of America'" will be answered.

Burl Ross
Lake Oswego, OR

This post was originally found here.

Where do they get this stuff? Is this (Divincenzo) one of they idiots who is always whining about the Liberal bias in the media? Seems pretty clear that the bias lies on the other side of the fence. I guess they third letter was either unintelligible or contained too many profanities so that by the time it was edited down to fit in the paper all it said was, "I love George."