Category: Arts & Entertainment

EDITORIAL: Me and Twitter

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EDITORIAL: Me and Twitter

EDITORIAL: Me and Twitter

Its the holidays, can we just lighten up. . .

D. S. Mitchell

Twitter and Tweet

I love Twitter. I hate Twitter. I love Twitter. I hate Twi….I know.  I sound a bit confused in my base emotions surrounding this global social sparring arena, and I am. My relationship with the Twitter platform,  reminds me of a couple bad relationships I’ve had in my life. I hate you, I love you, I apparently, “love to hate you”. There is something to be said about high adrenaline.  However it is usually like placing a pile of papers on a table and turning on a fan.  I forgot who said that, but I think it is applicable.

Commitment

To all of the clear thinking, intelligent, brilliant folks that hope for a more tolerant and inclusive world, I love tossing tweets back and forth, and I love you all. So many caring and committed individuals wanting to do everything they can do, to advance society and humanity.

Conversely

The ‘I hate’ side of me, comes out when somebody in the audience decides to suddenly join in, by launching a vile attack.  Why would someone choose to do that?  Hmmm. Good question.  Not all vicious attacks come from  Nigerian trolls, I have decided. Is it because the offender didn’t get any nookie last night, or did Mom yell at him,  did he get a bad grade, was he passed over for a promotion, did he have a fender bender?

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Cosmo Comes Calling

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Cosmo Comes CallingIntroducing Cosmos. The talkative crow from Oregon.

Cosmo Comes Calling

Oregon State Police called in on a foul mouthed crow 

By D. S. Mitchell

Down State Noise
Normally, the goings on in Grant’s Pass, Oregon, never gain the attention of the big city folks of Portland, Seattle, or San Fran.   Last week however, we here on the west coast got a bit of a smile as we learned about the antics of a rogue, rough talking, four letter word tossing, crow.  You read that right.  A crow. As the story goes, out of the blue a friendly, albeit attention seeking crow, showed up in town.  According to reports the first place the crow was spotted was on top of the Planet Fitness building, where he would talk to people entering and exiting the facility. Drawing both laughter and a raised finger or two.
Moving On
Apparently dissatisfied with the Planet Fitness digs our talkative and colorfully articulate bird looked around for friendlier faces.  He seemed to find what he was looking for when he found the Allen Dale Elementary School in late November.  It didn’t take long before he was the resident mascot. The news became public when Naomi Imel, an assistant at the school called in the story to the Oregonian on 12/09/2021. Lizzie  Acker 503-221-8052, lacker@Oregonian.com was the featured reporter who followed up on the feathered friend story.

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The Magical North Oregon Coast

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The Magical North Oregon Coast

The Oregon Coast is Magical

The Magical North Oregon Coast

 

D. S. Mitchell

Staggering Beauty

The Pacific coast of the United States is famous for its beauty. Oregon offers some of the most spectacular coastal terrain in the entire nation. Massive  rock formations,  dramatic vistas, magnificent bridges,  miles of expansive beaches, charming coastal hamlets, historic lighthouses; are the hallmarks of Oregon’s dramatic and magical coast.  I was born in this “Pacific Wonderland” and every once in a while I like to tell my friends around the world about this amazing place, I call home.

Memories of Rockaway Beach

I grew up in Portland, Oregon. Rockaway Beach is about 90 miles west of Portland. While most of my friends hung out in Seaside, I remember long lazy summer vacations at my family’s beach shack at Rockaway.  Our little surf shack was the hub of activity for many summers of happy memories. We would take short trips around the area, roast marshmallows, fish the coastal streams, dig clams on brisk mornings, build sand castles, and access quiet picnic spots along the beautiful beaches of the North Central Oregon coast. My mother loved that place. I can still remember her smile.

The Evilest Place on Earth

As an adult, I lived full time on the North Oregon coast, at a spectacular spot between Gearhart and Warrenton, called Surf Pines.  That’s what is so exciting about the Oregon coast, every mile is a delight of both man and nature made wonders. Surf Pines is just south of that gritty river town Astoria. Astoria was once called the “evilest place on earth.”  It is a good place to start; as iconic Hwy 101 finishes (or begins depending if you are going north or south), its path thru Oregon.

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Disturbed “The Sound of Silence”

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Disturbed “The Sound of Silence”

Disturbed “The Sound of Silence”

David Draiman is the perfect voice for this incredible song of pain and frustration. I loved Simon & Garfunkel. I loved their version of their amazing song, however sometimes a new voice can bring new life to someone else’s work. It’s a rainy day where I’m at. This version of “Sound of Silence” is a perfect reflection of the day.  So, here we go folks, the Calamity Politics Jukebox Choice of the Day, Disturbed doing “Sound of Silence.”

Women Of A Certain Age

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Women Of A Certain Age

We are Survivors of a hell of a lot. . . .

Women of a Certain Age, are survivors

Women Of A Certain Age

We are Survivors

By Anna Hessel

We Survived 

4 years of “The Donald”. Shoulder pads. Bouffant hair. Bodysuits that snapped down there. Mullets. We survived 45. Eighties fashions; including spandex and neon. Girdles that were never Spanx. Fighting for the ERA – we continue to survive this one. Thigh cream. Trump “presidency.” Platform shoes. Bell bottom pants that did nothing for our bottoms.

Nair For Short Shorts

Short shorts themselves. We survived 45 (and I’m not talking about the age…). Push up bras – some of us are still surviving this one. Aerobics classes at the ladies gym in brightly colored leg warmers. Jelly sandals. Ironing our hair with clothing irons. “That” administration. Velcro hair rollers (I actually still use mine!). Setting our hair on orange juice cans. Class photos, precursor to drivers license photos. Drinking from the garden hose.

The Trumpster

Suntans courtesy of baby oil and iodine with no SPF in sight. Junior High, High School, and College. Many of us survived childbirth, terrible twos, and raising teenagers. Gym class in uniforms that resembled prison garb. “Agent Orange.”  Powder Puff football games. Cheerleading skirts. Pageants with swimsuit competitions. Bridesmaid dresses. Rotary dial phones. Land lines. Twenty-six foot telephone cords. Beepers, and pay phones. Polyester pantsuits. 4 years of “The Family”. Paisley floral prints. Granny boots with ruffled dresses.

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Happy Halloween!

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Happy Halloween!

Halloween is about candy, fun and costumes.

Happy Halloween!

It’s That Time of Year…

By Anna Hessel

All About Pumpkin Spice

Happy Halloween, everyone!  The pandemic has changed how we celebrate, but it’s fun to remember Halloweens gone by, while dreaming up ways to make new memories.  The crisp fall air, bright and vivid autumn colors, and everything, from facial wash to floor polish, going all pumpkin spice, makes me think of Halloween. Chocolate, candy apples, and costumes, every child’s dream.  The crowning of our newest Miss America made me recall a particular Halloween costume of my youth.

A Mask of a Different Kind

Unlike the very cool Halloween ensembles we now see displayed in retail establishments, when I was child, costumes were different.  They came in a square box with a cellophane window and consisted of a one-piece garment made of a flimsy, shiny nylon, and a full face, molded plastic mask with cutouts for eyes, nostrils, and mouth.  Those masks were quite like a sauna for the face – those of us that have reached a certain age can remember that sweaty-faced feeling that came with wearing one of those frightful false faces.

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Advice for the 65-Plus Crowd

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Advice for the 65-Plus Crowd

Stay active as you age for a longer, happier life

Advice for the 65-Plus Crowd

Twenty-Three Tips for the Silver Sneakers Crew

By D. S. Mitchell

A friend of mine since high school sent me the following advice on aging.  I looked on the internet to find the source of the article and I was directed to a cemetery/mortuary site in California as the origin of the text.  For some reason I found that extremely funny. Post-Internment is not the time to worry about such things, I said to myself. Despite those feelings I did feel that there was some good information and thought it was worth passing on.  Although the following is not in quotes it has been authored by some unknown person other than me and I would gladly credit their work if I knew their name.

Twenty-Three Tips for the Over 65 Crowd

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“Just Dave” 09/19/2021

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“Just Dave” 09/19/2021

“Just Dave” 09/19/2021

Today, Dave is talking about the unvaccinated. The current epidemic is one of the unvaccinated. How come suddenly people would rather die on the battleground of stupidity than take an incredibly safe deterrent. Nothing is perfect, and that includes vaccines. Yet when tossing the dice the odds of surviving the vaccine far outweigh surviving COVID. How could anyone in their right mind want to take the chance of being paralyzed with drugs, have a tube shoved down their throat, a catheter shoved into your bladder, turned every hour so you don’t get bed sores? Now this isn’t going to be a two hour or two day affair. This could go on for months, until you die, or improve. If you die, most likely your last moments will be alone.  If you are lucky there may be a nurse there to hold your hand as you pass. So unnecessary.

Please, stop the silly nonsense and get vaccinated. Do it for yourself, your community, and the country.

Voltaire “God Thinks”

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Voltaire “God Thinks”

Voltaire “God Thinks”

Since we are talking about abortion this weekend Kaill McNeill suggested we use Voltaire’s “God Thinks” as the Jukebox Choice of the Day.  Voltaire is a Cuban-American singer-songwriter. This song is about how people use religion to justify their actions and how they make it morph to fit whatever they hate and want to regulate. The lyrics are on the screen.