August 2015
Off to a Night in Portland
31/08/15 19:43 Filed in: Family
A busy day of work yet we got time to break away at 4 pm to leave for Portland. Bob had reserved a room at the Shilo Inn tonight. Dinner at the Shilo Restaurant seemed the best bet after a tour of the Ikea store nearby. We were able to buy some towels and bath mats at the store. Dinner was good and then it was time to nod off to sleep from too much food.
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Jesse's Party
30/08/15 19:37 Filed in: Family
David and Renee had a nice house party this afternoon for people to come and meet Jesse. Jesse was a dream for a baby, Nicolas was having fun with the other kids, and Ryan was acting goofy. I did get a nice photo of cousin Nancy holding Jesse (who made a lot of arm visits for the day).
Wind and Rain
29/08/15 09:00 Filed in: Community
We finally seem to have broken the dry spell for once. Our county commissioners had declared Linn County a drought emergency. At least today we started with an almost autumn like storm with wind, gust up to 40-45 mph throughout the Valley and Portland area (more on the coast) followed by some rain storms.
The Art at Petra
28/08/15 09:04 Filed in: History
This was just posted but actually was written for 2010. An interesting summary of how English scholars have restored some ancient wall paintings at the World Heritage site of Petra in Jordan. One much hope that ISIS will not wreak havoc not this country since they are determined much as the Taliban was in destroying evidence of ancient cultures. These cultures are heretical to them and must be gone. Only the Caliphate is to remain. Back to Petra and the Hellenistic art found there.
A City Destroyed
27/08/15 09:11 Filed in: Interests
Another Michael Totten article. (Related) He seems to find a way to bring home the culture of a city or geographical area. Cities don't have to be destroyed by mass weapons, they can be destroyed economically or culturally. His focus in this article is about the city of Sousse in Tunisia. This city was a resort city for many in Europe for a wonderful vacation along the Mediterranean. A few months ago, an ISIS inspired person took a weapon and killed 38 people while they relaxed along the beach. Now the tourist industry in this city and this country are decimated. Certainly achieving what this evil person wanted. One hopes the country will come back but it may take a long time to do so or never.
Baby Cake
26/08/15 21:36 Filed in: Family
Renee posted this neat photo of a John Deere themed cake at the baby shower her work mates at the hospital held for her. It looked like a very nice gathering. Cool cake welcoming Baby Jesse.
Elk at Night
25/08/15 21:11 Filed in: Animal Kingdom
The trail camera captured a few night time photos again. This time it was a cow elk again moving past the camera. Here is a picture of one of our local herd.
Boys, Boys, Boys
24/08/15 21:41 Filed in: Family
Renee posted a cute photo of all 3 boys together with smiles or close to smiles if a little baby can smile much surrounded by 2 big brothers.
Charlie Chaplin
23/08/15 21:15 Filed in: Interests
Charlie Chaplin in many ways was before my time. His life with his one wife, Oona Chaplin, did make the gossip columns periodically. He was "the" or "one of the" pre-eminent silent movie stars of the earlier age of film. He made his reputation as portraying himself as the Little Tramp. It is interesting to read a synopsis of his life and career. It brings his work a bit more into perspective.
45th Class Reunion
22/08/15 21:03 Filed in: Community
They say it is hell getting old. Yup, it sure feels that way when one attends their 45th high school class reunion. I remember going to my 10th class reunion and then Bob's the next year. I enjoyed his much more then. My class mates are nice people but I have lost touch with most and I tend to want to focus on who we are now, they want to go back to who were together then. My memories don't go back to those days to much of a degree.
The Class Reunion Picture
The Class Reunion Picture
The Korean Peninsula
21/08/15 19:39 Filed in: Interests
A fair amount of hostilities have occurred between North and South Korea over the last 60-70 years. Even currently, North Korea is making noise about trying to attack South Korea because "they exist". I came across this trivia story about how North Korea sent an assassination squad to South Korea in 1968 to kill President Park Chung Hee. They did not succeed but one member was captured. Shortly after the South Koreans tried training a group like the Dirty Dozen to do the same to Kim Il Sung. They were never deployed and were abandoned on the island they were sent to train on. An interesting story of skullduggery.
William Wallace
20/08/15 19:45 Filed in: History
Travelling to Bend
19/08/15 19:56 Filed in: Travel
We made a trek over to Bend, Oregon to talk to an attorney on updating our Trust and will. We need to make it more relevant for Oregon Law than California plus surprising much has changed in about 15 years. Yes, Surprise! It was a smokey drive over due to the fires around the state and PNW. We did get a nice stop in Sisters at the bakery to buy cheese bread and other goodies.
Psycho
18/08/15 20:09 Filed in: Interests
Bob and I went to see a digitized version of Psycho in a very well done remodel of an old theatre in Salem. Seeing the movie there on a big screen made one really appreciate the nuances versus seeing it on TV. There is a lot of movie history and art of filmmaking associated with this movie. To learn more about how Hitchcock did it, read the story here.
Happy 62nd Birthday, Bob
17/08/15 19:53 Filed in: Family
It is the Bobble's birthday today. Both of his sons did stop by to say Happy Birthday which is a very nice thing for an old man. We pretty much had a quiet day and went for Thai food for dinner in Lebanon. What a couple of old people.
VJ Day 70 Years Later
16/08/15 19:59 Filed in: History
When Hirohito surrendered on August 15, 1945, everyone thought the war was over with Japan. Some kamikazes still believed they could defend the homeland and tried. They attacked American planes as they approached Japan. At least one young soldier died as the result of the attack. Americans were preparing for the resumption of hostilities and maybe another nuclear bomb, possibly on Tokyo itself. Because the surrender delegation continued their journey to meet MacArthur, no further hostilities were started. More can be read here about this episode of history.
Jesse Hard at Work
15/08/15 09:02 Filed in: Family
Jesse came home from the hospital late morning today. It has been a hard job getting those parents trained to his every need. Exhausting in fact. So exhausting that he had to take a long nap in his battery operated swinging bed. Such is the tough life of a new baby.
Family Pics with Jesse
14/08/15 08:57 Filed in: Family
Here are a couple of nice photos of family pictures of Jesse from yesterday. A great family group photo and also one with a proud PaPa Bob holding Jesse.
Jesse Lewis Thayer is Here
13/08/15 08:55 Filed in: Family
Jesse Lewis Thayer made his introduction to the new world at 8:48 a.m. at the Lebanon Community Hospital. Welcome to the family little Jesse.
Enjoying the Spread
12/08/15 09:29 Filed in: Interests
The ballroom last night was set up for some very nice food selections from Jake's Grill in Portland. The room was set up very well, much like a relaxed "speakeasy" in some ways with Big Band type of music playing in the background. Sofas and tables around with lower lighting. It was fun. I liked the set up for the food. Much like Oregon in a way.
Portland Time
11/08/15 21:24 Filed in: Interests
I spent the day today up in Portland at the Banfield Summit. I finally got an invitation to attend. It was quite a nice event and the topic this year was Design Thinking. A new way to problem solve. The evening function was a very nice networking set up in a ballroom of The Sentinel Hotel. One of my networking experiences was catching up with Joyce Briggs from ACCD. Here we are together.
Aging and the Endoplasmic Reticulum
10/08/15 09:19 Filed in: Interests
I always knew that the endoplasmic reticulum was a cool name and "undervalued" or lesser known in cellular structure. Here it is coming out from the shadows to be a factor in aging in people. More details can be found here.
"The question of why we age is one of the most fascinating questions for humankind, but nothing close to a satisfactory answer has been found to date. Scientists at the Leibniz-Institut für Molekulare Pharmakologie in Berlin have now taken one step closer to providing an answer. They have conducted a study in which, for the first time, they have shown that a certain area of the cell, the so-called endoplasmic reticulum, loses its oxidative power in advanced age. If this elixir of life is lost, many proteins can no longer mature properly. At the same time, oxidative damage accumulates in another area of the cell, the cytosol. This interplay was previously unknown and now opens up a new understanding of aging, but also of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's."
"The question of why we age is one of the most fascinating questions for humankind, but nothing close to a satisfactory answer has been found to date. Scientists at the Leibniz-Institut für Molekulare Pharmakologie in Berlin have now taken one step closer to providing an answer. They have conducted a study in which, for the first time, they have shown that a certain area of the cell, the so-called endoplasmic reticulum, loses its oxidative power in advanced age. If this elixir of life is lost, many proteins can no longer mature properly. At the same time, oxidative damage accumulates in another area of the cell, the cytosol. This interplay was previously unknown and now opens up a new understanding of aging, but also of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's."
Dunnotter Castle Photo
09/08/15 09:08 Filed in: Interests
My Dunnotter Castle photo that was submitted to Ceiva for their travel photo contest showed up on the revolving photo frame from Ceiva. It is always exciting to see one of my photos displayed. Here it is in all its glory.
Ryan and First Ear of Corn
08/08/15 20:41 Filed in: Family
We had the first ears of 2015's crop of corn from Bob's garden. Yum. A bit on the early side but still great to have. Ryan let us know that he didn't want his corn stripped off the cob but to eat it on. Here he is enjoying the garden bounty and with a big smile.
The Great Terror
07/08/15 20:47 Filed in: History
I have blogged about the book, Bloodlands, by Timothy Snyder. It was fascinating but disturbing. I have to believe his inspiration was derived from an author and historian called Robert Conquest. Mr. Conquest died at the age of 98. He wrote in 1968 the definitive history of the time of the Great Terror in the Soviet Union. He tore the mask off of Stalinism and let the world know what Stalin and Lenin were like. I just ordered the book and also the one he wrote about the planned starvation of the Ukraine. They came today. One can read about the books and Mr. Conquest here.
The Atom Bombs
06/08/15 20:53 Filed in: History
The Protection Squad
05/08/15 20:46 Filed in: Community
I got a good photo at the end of the evening with Bob, UnderSheriff Yon, and Capt. Dan Hartman. Wrapping up a very nice National Night Out in our Berlin Community at Fire Station 35.
National Night Out 2015
04/08/15 20:39 Filed in: Community
Tonight was National Night Out for the community. We had between 35-40 people show up for our root beer float fest at the Fire Station. It was a fun, tasty and pleasant evening. Ryan certainly thought so as he contemplated his root beer. He wanted his PaPa to get it together and give him his float.
Picking Losers
03/08/15 20:34 Filed in: Interests
You know the feeling when it seems you like something and it should catch on. And it doesn't or at least for a very long time when you want it to stick around because you love it. What about when it happens over and over again. Surprise! It appears that they use people like me (us) who continually pick or buy losers through Big Data to determine which products are likely to not catch on. Some of use just doom it right from the start. Just read about it and weep. It won't be around long anyway.
Best Movie Soundtracks
02/08/15 20:28 Filed in: Interests
It looks like AMC did a list of the 100 Best Movie Soundtracks, or I guess it is from Entertainment Weekly. I would have to say after watching the movie the other night the soundtrack from "The Last of the Mohicans" is right up there for me. Also, "Rob Roy". Just because of the type of music I like. There 3rd on the list would be tops too for me as "Saturday Night Fever". Here is the list. My two mentions are not on the list and neither is Footloose. Are you kidding me?
Airplane
01/08/15 20:19 Filed in: Interests
Another iconic movie anniversary. It is now the 35th anniversary of the movie Airplane. What a goofy movie. Comedic lines played straight, "I picked the wrong time to quit smoking". It also took some serious actors and turned them into pretty good comedic actors - Peter Graves, Lloyd Bridges, Leslie Nielsen. It also hit a bit of the double entrendre edge, a little raunchy. Bob and I have loved it over the years. Our favorite story was of being in California, the boys were small and his mother, Dorothy, was visiting. Airplane was on TV and I was watching it. She was not amused at these scenes and I felt like slinking under the rug. Very juvenile humor but I guess not in front of your serious mother-in-law. Well, certainly if you want to read about it, go here.
