When Hairbands Ruled the World
I had the TV on VH1 for the Alarm so I caught this show about when Metal Ruled the World which was basically an hour program about my life in the late 80's. It showed the whole Sunset Strip/Cathouse scene -- all the bands, the flyers, everything. Those were some fun, crazy times. I'm glad I was there. But as I watched I realized what's wrong with Little Friday is there is zero sex and drugs in it. There isn't even a lot of alcohol in it. In terms of my personal experience in Hollywood there was zero sex and drugs (well, to be honest, slightly more than zero, but still a very miniscule amount in the bigger scheme of things) which is a bigger statement about my social failings than my moral values. But the whole scene was defined by the hedonism of its heroes. For LF to be a successful story about the times -- it could use more juice. I don't know. I love the story and think it stands on its own the way it is -- I love the naivete of my wannabe rock star. Regardless, I don't plan to do anymore writing on this exact project. I still have some 80's stuff in me and I'm still working out what I'm going to do with it.

Bands Reunited: The Alarm
I taped the show on Thursday night and watched it yesterday afternoon. I liked it way more than I expected. Usually VH1 is so much filler. I don't remember being an Alarm fanatic, but I liked them a lot and had some of their records. Weren't they sometimes referred to as U 1and1/2 (as in less than U2)? I didn't remember until Erin mentioned it, that we saw the Alarm in Santa Barbara (Sunday, Dec 1, 1985 -- I just went and found the ticket stub) at the Arlington Theater. I saw REM and Dokken at the Arlington, too. (Not at the same time, in case you were wondering.) But back to the Alarm -- it was sad the way they melted down -- I had long moved on and gotten into the hairband scene by the time they broke up in 91. The coolest part of the show was seeing the fans -- when the band played it was this room filled with people my age (mostly guys?) going apeshit and singing every word.

Oscar Nominations Today
Bob put the TV on so we could watch them live. Keisha Castle-Hughes! I am so thrilled. I'm excited about a lot of the nominations this year. And I've actually seen a decent number of the movies. We saw In America over the weekend. It skates on the edge between something wonderful and something heart-breaking the entire time. We were wrung out at the end. And before that we saw Big Fish which is another fine film and heart-wringer. We still need to see Mystic River and Barbarian Invasions -- and those don't look light-weight either.

I know -- what is this? Maybe 3 posts a week for eons and now 4 posts in one day. I have more, too. I have a whole thing about Tex Hall's State of the Indian Nations address. I think I might start an Indian blog. More on this later.

But this is a Yoda blog. Yoda is my iMac. I bought him in March of 99 which makes him about 110 in computer years. He's a 266 MHz lime G3 with 64 mg RAM and a 6 GB harddrive of which I've used about 2.85 GBs -- I'm just getting the whole music on the computer thing and I got a digital camera for my birthday so my HD demands are rising. Poor Yoda -- he can barely walk and chew gum at the same time. I've used him pretty much every day since I bought him and he's been great but we ordered a new computer this week.

On 2/11/89 I bought my first MAC (I have extensive PC experience at work and can state with real authority: I hate windoze) -- a Mac Plus which I still have. I think it came with a half MG of RAM -- Erin upgraded it to a whole MG -- I think. I'm not really a power techno-geek. The new computer will only be my 4th MAC. The Mac Plus was The Good Mother. Then I got a 520 Powerbook which was Lestat. Then Yoda. The new one is going to be an EMAC named Frodo. I want a new machine but I'm always sad about ditching the old one. It seems rude to even write about it on him.

Black Magic Cake
Priscilla gave me her Bundt pan and a couple months ago she gave me this recipe:

1 cup butter
3/4 cup chocolate syrup
8 Milky Way bars (2.05 oz), cut up
2 cups sugar
1 cup buttermilk
1 t vanilla
4 lg eggs, lightly beaten
2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
3/4 t salt
1/2 t baking soda.

1 Preheat over to 325. Grease 12 cup Bundt pan. In Cooks Illustrated they had a tip where you melt 1 T butter and mix in 1 T cocoa powder and then brush the paste into your Bundt pan. Try it -- totally worked. In a microwave safe bowl heat butter, syrup and Milky Ways. Whisk until smooth.
2 Whisk in sugar, then buttermilk, vanilla, and eggs. Stir in flour, cocoa, salt and baking soda.
I should mention that I didn't read the instructions very well and I had 10 Milky Way bars but at the last minute I noticed the total on the whole package said 6.02 oz. OOPS. I used all 10 plus I threw in all the unsweetened baking cocoa I had in the house which was another 2 oz. It came out completely delicious.
3 Pour batter into pan. Bake 1 hour 30 to 40 mintes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out almost clean. Cool in pan on wire rack 10 minutes. Loose cake from pan; invert onto rack to cool. I checked at 1 hr 20 and it was ready to come out. I believe the source is Good Housekeeping.

We gave Priscialla hunk and I served it at writers group today. It went over VERY big. I encouraged everyone to eat at least 3 pieces. I learned that from my Tante Hilla. Guests appreciate it.

Sex Advice from Cowboys [Warning: explicit -- but hilarious.]

"Where's the best place to engage in outdoor sex?
Just about anywhere. I've done it in the creek, I've done it on horse blankets. I've done it in the long grass, got thorns in my ass. Hell, once I smoothed out pine needles and threw her down right there."

Super Size Me

This guy did an experiment where he ate three meals a day for 30 days at McDonald's. He made a documentary about the results. Not only did he gain weight but "It was really crazy - my body basically fell apart over the course of 30 days." Is anyone surprised?

Katha Pollitt is my new hero. Here she is on Christmas:

"Isn't there a better way to run the economy than by hectoring people into buying expensive, unnecessary items in order to exchange them with others who have done exactly the same thing?"

The full article is here.

It is Martin Luther Return of the King Day weekend at our house. We started Fellowship extended version on Friday and finished it yesterday and then watched Two Towers extended. This afternoon we're going to see Return of the King on big screen. Bob hadn't seen FOTR or TT and he kept saying, "I can't believe how good this is." I loved all extended stuff and can't believe some of the stuff that got cut out (although I understand why). Like that whole extended Boromir/Faromir scene in TT. None of the extra stuff felt like padding to me.

I thought I was having some sort of allergic reaction to something. I've never had an allergy and didn't expect one to pop up at this point in my life but I've been sneezing with watery eyes and endless runny nose. I've been at it all weekend and now I'm wondering if it might be a cold. I'd almost be relieved if it was a cold because then I could be sure it would go away. But it doesn't feel like a cold.

The latest snow report is that we only have a few lingering patches. Otherwise we can see lawn again. Our backyard plants don't look bad at all and I swear the grass and weeds have been growing under all that snow and ice. The front Rhodie needs chopping and will be much shorter in the future and the hedge-thing next to it will turned to compost. Also our front rain gutter is drooping. We went for our first walk in two weeks yesterday and saw all the damage to the trees in our neighborhood. Wow. One of our neighbors had such a lovely yard and he lost 2 trees completely and one he whacked back to a trunk. It looks so sad.

Liz Woody has a story Simple Customs of Salmon Nation in the Pantagonia catalog.:

"Salmon were the first to teach us of wealth.

"In the Longhouse the host family offers gifts in honor of loved ones in birth, naming, achievement and, finally, in death. It is called a Giveaway. ..."

Maybe it's a problem of my age but I never can remember how things work. The cd player in my car has this bluescreen display which you can setup to play little animated things -- which is so useful to have in a car where you'd want something to watch while you drive. It came set up to show what track the cd is playing or what radio station is on or the time but one day I was trying to figure something out like how to stop a cassette on fast forward and I accidentally switched it so that it now shows bouncing notes flashing up and down. Brilliant. And I don't even know where the instruction book is but do I really have to plow through a 50 page booklet just so I can display the radio station? Everything comes with huge booklets now. You need devote a whole area of your house to collecting and storing these things for reference later. Our answering machine loses the time if there is the slightest power blip and I can never remember how to reset it. My alarm clock does some odd thing so that when I hit snooze -- sometimes it's for 3 minutes and sometimes 7. Can we just have a 10 minute standard? Otherwise, why bother? I can lock the dialpad on my cellphone except I have to remember how to unlock it. All these passwords and PIN numbers and user names and passwords. It's way too much.

This afternoon I went outside to see if I could chip the ice off the front porch and walkway. Surprise -- it worked. I got it all cleared when the roof groaned and then all the snow slid off with a mighty WHUMP! and covered it all up again. I would have been bummed except it was so nice to be outside. I tossed chunks of ice the size of encyclopedias from the walk and onto "the lawn." The sun even came out for a minute or two. All around ice slid off powerlines and tree branches and the roof icicles dripped steadily. It was a great time to be outside. We unburied Bob's car and left the rest of the driveway for tomorrow. It's still over 40 degrees so I think we'll be back in action by tomorrow.

On Monday I was ready to go to work but I noticed my front right tire looked low. I almost decided to ignore it but I knew the bad weather was coming in and I didn't want to get stuck anywhere with a flat tire. Going to Les Schwab during weather events is like going to see Santa Claus at the mall on the 23rd of December, but I sucked it up and went anyway. The parking lot was full, the waiting area was full and the line at least 8 people deep. The wait was about an hour but it turns out that the best looking guys work at Hazel Dell LS and they have a huge window in front of the service area so I could spend my hour watching these guys running around with tires and tools and dirty hands. It was awesome. I had a nail in my tire and got it fixed and I was off for work.

I spent 3 hours at work, filled two boxes with things to do at home and left. It's now Weds and the news says we're in for still more of this freezing rain crap. I've had enough. I've managed to do most of the work I brought home but any additional requires other files or things on my work computer or reference materials at the office.

Check Out The Ice Scene

Okay - final trip wrap up.

First of all: important Pam Travel Tip. When you and your travel companion are tired and cranky, stop for food and a large, adult beverage. This will improve your attitude immediately.

The 31st was our last day in GAP. On the first is a world famous ski jump competition and the 31st is a preliminary. We could see the jump from Lisa and Flori's house. Lisa and I brewed up some tea and pulled the couch to the window upstairs and watched the jumps while we crammed in some last minute visiting. Later, I walked down to the grounds and it was nutty -- zillions of fans and lots of fan merchandise, food stands and a big Milka purple balloon. Also in the morning they blast this incredibly bad pop music at the grounds. What is it with Germany and this generic, supremely crappy pop soundtrack that's pumped in the background of everywhere you go? They played the Macarena. There are so many great songs out there -- why blast that one? On the plane inflight TV they played a few music videos and some pretty boy band did a cover of Mandy. I'm at a loss for words to convey how tragically dreadful and unnecessary this was. There was also a video by a girl group which was a cover of Jump (the one by the Pointer Sisters, not the Van Halen one.) Also there was a Madonna video and turns out she does that song from the shampoo video they play at the theater before the movie starts. And the video even looks like the commercial. Who knew?

But back to the trip. Bob and I packed and took the train back to Munich in the afternoon and checked into Pension Frank which is by the University and clean, moderately comfortable and cheap and otherwise not too special. We went back to the Marienplatz to get money and get a drink before hopping on the S-Bahn to Puchheim (?) to meet Lisa, Flori et al at their friends for a Silvester (New Years Eve) gathering. We ate dinner and met everyone and then bowed out early to return to Munich to see the party. We thought: when are we ever going to be in Munich for New Years again?

Foreshadowing: tons of people with bottles of champagne in their pockets and carrying giant backpacks stuffed with fireworks. Pure insanity. We returned to the Marienplatz which seemed to be the main gathering place. It's not an organized thing -- just tons of people standing around the public square and watching the fireworks go off. But not like a fireworks show -- like people shooting everything everywhere. And they have more powerful fireworks there than here -- incredibly loud things and screechers and the ones that pop in the sky. It was crazy. I'm having a tough time articulating just how wild it was -- just tons of noise and smoke so thick you couldn't even see the statue in the middle of the square and people aim these things at historic buildings hundreds of years old. We loved it.

After midnight we went home and near our hotel we found the News Bar which had a lively crowd and played techno-thumpy type music and had a huge poster of Akbar and Jeff on the wall. We had another drink and Bob had a snack and we enjoyed the celebratory scene.

On New Years Day we went to the Olympic Stadium area and found lots of other people walking in the brisk winter air. There's a snow park with a fake ski hill for skis and snowboards and little hills for the kids to sled on. We walked around there and walked through the actual stadium and went home at dark. Before that we found this restaurant Ayingers which was so super fantastic that we made a dinner reservation and went back. Bob had horseradish soup and a pork joint which was a fried pig drumstick the size of a soccer ball and I had some Bavarian festival soup with liver noodles, pancake strips and dumplings and who knows what else -- but very yummy. And also a special winter brew beer (see Pam's travel tip above). And also a grilled vegetable salad. For dinner Bob had some wursts and the festival soup and I had a festival salad with grilled seafood. FABULOUS.

On the way back to the U Bahn we ducked into the St. Michels church and mass was just starting so we stayed for that. At the end they played this big organ haunting church-y type song that sounded so cool. I don't know where the travel book is -- but I think this is the 2nd biggest church in Europe or something significant like that.

We had to be up by 6:30am to get to the airport and we didn't have an alarm (and Pension Frank doesn't have any services other than running water and a radiator that's just warm enough to keep frost from forming on the walls) so it was one of those wake up every half hour all night kinds of nights. As we headed out the door I said: I hope it didn't snow last night, because we had to drag our bags several blocks to the UBahn and I didn't have my boots on but it was snowing that very moment - and it turned out okay. We made it to the airport and all our travel went smoothly except that the Munich-Frankfurt leg was delayed because of the snow which made the connection to the Frankfurt-Portland flight tight -- which wouldn't have been so bad except we had to take a bus from the plane to the terminal, hike through the terminal to our gate, go through another security check with mean people that kept shouting at us -- like that's going to help me understand better. And then go to another gate, check our tickets and passports in time to board another bus that took about 15 more minutes to drive us to the plane.

But it all worked out and we got home and then found out about crazy weather and orange alerts and turned back planes and we thought we were lucky to have made it so easily.

Great trip. We're glad we went.

I'm not usually one for resolutions but this is my intention:
I will not use things I hate because it would be wasteful to throw them away. For example. I bought a couple of dish towels at Target and they are the biggest pieces of crap. It's like trying to dry your hands on a plastic bag. I put them in the drawer and then avoided using them, opting instead to use the raggedy, stained bar towels I bought at Walmart 100 years ago. Why not just chuck the yucky ones now?

We're home now. I have a bunch of stuff to write to wrap up but strangely haven't been in the mood for it. I spent about 3 hrs this morning catching up on email. Then I was done with computer time.

One of our neighbors made a snow penis (in the fully upright position) on their lawn. It was hilarious. It even had a vein and sticks on the 'nads (for pubes). By the time we went back to get a picture, someone had kicked it over.