Come on, people - say it with me: WOOOHOOO!

Sanity for once has prevailed and the proliferation of the Evil Empire of Retail has been stopped in Bend (for now anyway) - Bend city hearings officer denies Wal-Mart’s proposed 217,000-square-foot Supercenter.

I refuse to shop there, and have signed petitions supporting a citizen action to stop the new Wal-Mart. I'm certainly not rich (is a freelancer ever?), but I refuse to support an empire who treats their employees like crap in exchange for saving 20 cents on a bottle of shampoo.

You might be saving a buck by shopping at Walmart, but you're also helping proliferate poverty by supporting a retailer who is so greedy, it doesn't see fit to pay a living wage to the very people on who's back it has built its empire. The only way to truly stop them (and their continued abuse of their employees) is to STOP SHOPPING THERE.

This article in the New York Times today about an audit of American financial practices in Iraq turned my stomach and made me stark-raving mad (and I don't get mad very easily).

Agents from the inspector general's office found that the living and working quarters of American occupation officials were awash in shrink-wrapped stacks of $100 bills, colloquially known as bricks.

One official kept $2 million in a bathroom safe, another more than half a million dollars in an unlocked footlocker. One contractor received more than $100,000 to completely refurbish an Olympic pool but only polished the pumps; even so, local American officials certified the work as completed.

What the f**k?

Here I am, chugging bravely along, working honestly, paying my bills, and just trying to make a living as good as I can. While at the same time the government thinks it's ok to take my tax money and have some greedy government minion steal it and hide it in a footlocker in Iraq somewhere?

This is quite possibly the worst abuse of taxpayer money I've ever heard of. And this just makes it worse:

"It does not surprise me at all," said a Defense Department official who worked in Hilla and other parts of the country, who spoke anonymously because he said he feared retribution from the Bush administration.

Go figure.

My big question is: why are regular tax-paying people still supporting Bush and his administration? Haven't you heard enough, people? How much further does he have to go for you to say "NO MORE"?

And why isn't the Bulletin carrying this story? Was the death of a horse in a backyard somewhere (sorry, no link here due to the Bulletin's brain-dead subscription model) seriously more newsworthy than a story about governmental tax money abuse of such monumental proportions?

This last Burning Man 2005 post has been a long time coming - obviously, tickets for Burning Man 2006 are already on sale, and I'm plotting my return to the playa again.

But - in the spirit of always finishing things up 100%, in the very least, I thought should post some images of Burn Night here, even if the event itself is too distant in my memory now to be fully recollected in writing... only 222 days to Burn Night 2006!


Before the main event, there are always a bunch of fire spinners putting on a show.


The Man Burns!


The Man is down! Let the party begin.


In my wanderings that night, I met a kind and lovely Green Fairy who gave me a taste of Absinthe...


... saw a Phoenix burn ...




... and a post-burnpile crowd proved that the "naked-hippie-dancing-around-the-fire"-lore was not all it was cracked up to be.

Note to self: Do it all over again next August.

More photography is here

I just got this invite in my Inbox - and while I don't think I'm going to be able to make the premiere (sorry, Taggart!), I urge anyone who's living in or around Portland (or happens to pass through) to go make time and see this movie. It's plain awesome. And bring your friends!

Opening Night on Saturday, January 28 at 5:00 pm. Cinema 21 at 616 NW 21st Avenue
Farmer John and Director Taggart Siegel in attendance for Q & A following the film on Opening Night.
Scheduled to run February 1 – February 9.
Showtimes

The 16-time award winning documentary THE REAL DIRT ON FARMER JOHN is hitting the big screen beginning in January 2006. Because this is a grassroots effort, we ask that you invite 10 friends to see the film. Sharing this invite with friends and family will help build community, resurrect healthy agriculture, and make the world a more sustainable place.

THE REAL DIRT ON FARMER JOHN is the epic tale of a maverick Midwestern farmer. An outcast in his community, Farmer John bravely stands amidst a failing economy, vicious rumors, and violence. By melding the traditions of family farming with the power of art and free expression, this powerful story of transformation and renewal heralds a resurrection of farming in America. Through highly personal interviews and 50 years of beautifully textured footage, filmmaker Taggart Siegel shares Farmer John’s haunting and humorous odyssey, capturing what it means to be wildly different in a rural community.

Central Oregonians: You can also rent the movie for free from the BendFilm library if you're a member. If not a member - well, better get it done, people....

That's all it took to sell 14,000 tickets for the 2006 Burning Man.

Holy Crap. I better get a move on mine.

Last Friday, I went to see Brokeback Mountain with Shannon, Wendy, and Amy.

The buzz obviously had preceeded the movie's arrival here in Bend (which in itself is a remarkable event in a town with such conservative, and at the same time deeply Western, roots), but just to make one thing clear once and for all: I didn't go because it was plugged as "the gay cowboy movie" you had to go see, because it broke new ground (which it does). I went and saw it because I love Ang Lee's work.

But frankly, I couldn't have written this review Saturday morning - I needed a few days to properly digest it all, let the images steep in my conscious mind for a while. Only then was I able to truly and fully appreciate the depth of this remarkable movie.
I think everybody's by now heard the basic story-line: Two young cowboys go up on Brokeback Mountain to herd sheep for the summer, and come back down, forever tied to eachother by a love that transcends gender, time, their macho profession, and both their marriages.

But what you don't read much about are the absolutely amazing jobs both the actors, Heath Ledger and Jack Gyllenhaal, have done, and the incredible courage they have shown by taking on those roles in the first place. For Ennis and Jack are difficult characters, and a single second of hesitation or insincerity on either of Heath or Jake's faces, and the whole movie would have fallen apart.

But they never trip up. Not once. The embraces, the glances, the words they exchange are true and powerful in their sparsity. Their story allows the viewer a raw look at what it's like to crave a different and forbidden life - especially in a society where proving your manhood is a daily requirement - the emotional pain and all-consuming fear their characters suffer for it, and the misery of knowing that they are causing the people around them, especially their wives, insufferable heartbreak.

Heath Ledger, whose previous big-screen performances have largely relied on his pretty face and engaging smile, is nothing short of remarkable as Ennis - a character who despite his shy, tight-lipped demeanor and desperately closed-off emotions, makes you deeply care for him.

Ultimately, it's a sad and painful story, but a powerful and important one, and one that Ang Lee tells with tenderness, compassion, and an utter lack of judgement. Forbidden love is a universal theme, and one everybody who has ever been discriminated against, or has loved someone outside of the socially-accepted norm, can fully connect to.


Dancing Cowboys, at San Francisco GayPride Parade 1997.

Snarky is whining again about rising house prices.

I tell ya: You guys ain't seen nothin' yet.

$250k for a house? What a freaking bargain!

Take a moment, and think about what you get: A pretty damn nice home, actually. Most likely almost new too. In a decent location. With quick access to a vibrant and fun town, offering more good restaurants per capita than any other large city on the West Coast. Surrounded by one of the most awe-inspiring, beautiful, and accessible wildernesses in the West.

If you can stand a 25-minute commute (down a pretty straight, soon-to-be-4-lane road), you can even score an acre of land or so, with a house on it, in La Pine. Maybe even with waterfront and a mountain view. For the same price - or less.

I should know. I live in one of them.

Did you seriously think all that goodness, beauty and small-town fun - and the $150k for a 4-bedroom in town - was going to last forever?

I moved out of the Bay Area 3 1/2 years ago because I didn't feel like spending $500k on a moldy shack that would fall apart after a swift kick - on a postage-stamp-sized lot, no less, and with a snail-like commute of 30 minutes to get anywhere, even to the closest store or movie theater. Not to mention the endless rain in winter, and the constant real-life threat of floods and mudslides. Now that's something to complain about...

So you think you got it bad? Think again. And stop whining already about those evil Californians. They are not solely responsible. But you wanna point fingers? Fine. Consider this:

Down in the Bay Area, it was the fault of "all those other people moving in from all the other states in the nation, plus the well-educated Indians and Asians, plus the damn dot-commers" that drove up the housing prices.

Here and now in Central Oregon, it's the fault of those Californians who are sick of the rat-race - plus the rich people from Portland who saw a good investment opportunity in Bend and bought a second home they didn't really need, plus all the other immigrants from all the other states who had the same exact thought. Oh, and don't forget that this is the age of the Retiring Baby-Boomers - who are cashing in right now too, and are buying that retirement home in a nice place they can afford to spend their last years in, without going completely bankrupt.

Besides - I've listened hard and I've yet to hear a single complaint about the freaking killing all those old-timer Central Oregonians made by selling their vacant, raw 2-acre plots on the Westside or their old, decrepit, roach-infested downtown buildings to - yepp, here it comes - some Californian.

I happen to be one of them, and have seen it all before. To me, these rising housing prices in Central Oregon are like some sick joke, a never-ending deja-vue that just keeps repeating itself, over and over again.

Don't think it's going to get better either. It won't. As long as there are splendid mountains, and scenic rivers, and vast forests, there will be people wanting to come here to enjoy them. And stay.

So since you can't stop it, you might as well embrace it. Enjoy the ride while it lasts - and if you don't like it anymore, move to Burns. I bet homes are still pretty cheap there.

In the meantime - and for the love of god - shut up about it already.

UPDATE 3/2/06: THE VAN HAS BEEN SOLD!
Thanks for all the inquiries, folks.

UPDATE 1/31/06: People have asked for additional pictures of the van. Here they are:







We're selling our bad-ass van and getting a walk-in trailer to store all of hubby's tools in instead.



This van runs and drives perfectly. It handles excellent in the snow and due to its 4x4 conversion is the PERFECT vehicle for life in Central Oregon! It also has a brand-new set of Bridgestone ten-ply tires, rated for mud and snow.



The 4X4 conversion was done by Quigley Motor Company. The company uses Ford OEM parts for the conversion, so the front-end is a F-250 heavy-duty truck, instead of the regular E-250.



This van will go just about anywhere you want to go and is as reliable as they come.



Freebie: 4 Thule roofracks, worth $400! As a bonus, we're also throwing in a set of nice American Racing Aluminum Alloy 17" rims that fit the van.

Year: 1997
Miles: 118,000
Engine: Triton V-8, 5.4 liter
Transmission: Automatic w. Overdrive
Color: White

Price: 15,500 (OBO)

Email me for more info.

I could come up with several reasons. But foremost in my mind right now are the following:

• They LIE. All of them. Not just the random sales rep. No. They ALL do it.
• They CHEAT.
  
• They BEAR A GRUDGE.
  
• They DON'T CARE about their customers.

I know. The whole communications industry is rife with cons 'n crooks. But Sprint takes the prize. Followed by AT&T as a close second, of course.

So why do I have a problem with Sprint?

Well - 3 1/2 years ago, I moved to Bend. Hubby needed a new cell phone, so he went down to the Sprint store and signed up with them. That was after the rep there had told him that he'd have coverage in La Pine (30 miles south of Bend, for the unintiated). When hubby got back to La Pine, there was NO coverage. So he went and brought the phone back and cancelled the service contract.

25 days later, we get a bill for $75. That was for one month of service, and for an "activation fee" of $35. We call them to tell them that we never used the phone and had cancelled the contract. The service rep is extremely unpleasant and insists that we'd at least pay for the service. After some negotiation, we agree.

2 months later, we get a notice from Sprint, saying that the fee of $35 is now outstanding. We call them again - and this time, the (somewhat nicer) rep says: "Oh, ok. No problem. I'll expunge the charge. Please disregard all future notices and calls." (I know this verbatum, because I always make notes - with dates - when talking to phone customer service reps. Experience has taught me that over the years.) So we indeed ignored the next bill. Then we never heard from them again.

That was 3 1/2 years ago. Well, yesterday, hubby got a look at his credit report for the first time in years. And guess what? Yepp, there was the Sprint charge, staining the page like a cancer on his otherwise flawless record. Ergo, the bank denies him a much-needed loan for his new business.

So we call Sprint last night to yell at them. We have to call them not once, but twice, since they hang up on us. The second time around, we're on hold for a solid 20 minutes before somebody even picks up. Then, the most unpleasant rep I've talked to in a long time (outsourced from India - of course) tells us that we HAVE TO pay the outstanding charge. Says he doesn't care what the circumstances are. We demand to speak to his boss. That guy says it's out of his hands, he can't do anything (not even accept payment) and that the bill has gone to collections (odd, really. Just minutes earlier, the first rep tried to get us to pay up...) The collections agent is nicer, but doesn't show a glimmer of humanity either (I'm convinced that in the near future, all remaining customer service reps - apparently, there are few enough of them now as it is, otherwise I suppose I wouldn't be on hold for 20 minutes - will be replaced either by robots or aliens). So we pay up, just to get the damn thing off the record.

What's unbelievable to me is the fact that they told us all those years ago not to worry about the charge, that it'd be wiped out - but then still put it as unpaid into the system, in essence tarnishing hubby's credit for years to come.

What's the point, Sprint? Are you really so intent on carrying the title of Biggest Prick in the business? If you are, then congratulations - you've achieved it.

This is the place I'm going to keep a list of all the movies I watch during the year. [This will be an ongoing post.]

Movies are linked to the IMDB and rated with 1-5 stars.

January:

• Cronicas ****
  
• Confessions of a Dangerous Mind ****
  
• Shattered Glass *****
  
• Ghost in the Machine **
  
• The Interpreter ****
  
• Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith ****
  
• Zardoz *** (Weird! But I kinda liked it ...)
  
• War of the Worlds ** (Cool special effects, but the story was flat)
  
• Shallow Grave ** (Ewan was good, but the ending left much to be desired.)
  
• Brokeback Mountain ***** REVIEW
  
• The Island ***** (Excellent!)
  
• Syriana *** (Too damn confusing for the big screen. Save it for DVD where you can stop, rewind, and pause to try and grasp the bits and pieces that make up this otherwise remarkable movie.)
  
• Girl with a Pearl Earring ***** (Every frame like a painting! This movie gets better every time I watch it.)
  
• My Dog Skip ** (A little too corny for my taste.)
  
• Kiss the Girls *** (Not bad.)
  
• Behind Enemy Lines *** (Bleh.)
  
• Happy Endings ** (It tried. It really tried. But it just didn't quite pull it off.)
  
• Kingdom of Heaven *** Review (Second time around, and it still sucked.)
  
• Kissing Jessica Stein *** (Entertaining.)
  
• Bring it On ** (Moderately amusing at best. Terrible acting.)
  
• Passion in the Desert ***** (Remarkable. Outstanding. And oh so beautiful.)
  
  

As you can probably tell by now, I didn't buy into the whole Happy Holidays! Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! crap every other blogger in the blogsphere seemed to have succumbed to. I figured no matter if I wish my readers a good X-mas, they'll have one (or not)...

There will also be no endless posting of New Year's resolutions - only the resolution to continue to go against the grain by not posting such stuff.

On the Bright Side however - I am embarking on a new project. One that occured to me in a sleepless minute last night. You know - between the befuddlement of half-awakedness and the fog of mid-sleep. So this could be interesting - or could just be boring for everybody besides me. We'll see.

In any case: you see, I like movies.

No, you don't understand.
I really do.
I really, really do.

So much that aside from subscribing to HBO and Netflix, I forage in my friends' DVD collections for fresh stuff, and make regular trips to the local library to find nuggets (they have an excellent free rental collection of independent and foreign movies). I've seen all three "Lord of the Rings" movies on their opening day, and of course own the Extended Edition sets. I'm a member of the Regal Crown Club, which gives me a free movie ticket after something like 5 visits. What I can't catch on TV because of scheduling conflicts, I Tivo. (And I really need to get myself a DVD recorder I can hook up to the Tivo, because my HD is almost full, and I'm not willing to erase any of the movies I've recorded ...). I even volunteer for the local Film Festival, just so that I can go see those movies too and have access to their lending library after the fact. If I had a faster internet connection and BitTorrent - well, let's just say, it's a good thing that I don't ...

So - the word obsession comes to mind.

To fully realize that obsession now, I've come to the conclusion that I need to keep track of the movies I watch. A few times last year I've actually started watching a flick, and 10 minutes into it, realized that I'd seen it before. That totally bummed me out.

This blog would be a natural place to keep such a list. Of course, I don't update it nearly often enough. So maybe a running list in an ongoing post would work. Any thoughts/input, valued reader?

[Update: The list lives here now.]