According to this Oregonian columnist, the “Most disappointing Oregon mall” goes to none other than our Old Mill District. Quoting the column: “The stores are dull and poorly stocked. No buzz here.” Exactly. There are a pile of high-end clothing stores down there, and some high-end gift stores, but nothing I can afford. And for all the hype that the creators of that mall (and even that area of town) created in the community, they’re really not living up to is, in my humble opinion. Get some more family-friendly stores, make it an inviting place to come down to (it’s pretty dark at night down there), and get some buzz going — make it the place to shop in Bend before the Best Buy, Bed Bath and Beyond, and Petsmart open up at the Mountain View Mall (or Cascades Village or whatever they’re going to call it after the demolition/rebuild is complete).
Month: December 2004
Typography of Newspaper Front Pages
I studied (and practiced) newspaper design in college, and really enjoyed it. Still, to this day, I’m a typography junkie, and I love it when I read things like this. A study was done comparing and compiling what the top 100 newspapers are doing with their typefaces on their front pages. Here’s the full PDF file of the study results. It’s interesting stuff, but I’ll stop here, as it maybe interests about two of the regular readers of this site.
Holiday Eating Tips
When you’re pondering over what to eat at the holiday meals this year, be sure to follow these simple guidelines (thanks Barney for these).
1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Christmas spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they’re serving rum balls.
2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. Like fine single-malt scotch, it’s rare. In fact, it’s even rarer than single-malt scotch. You can’t find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that has 10,000 calories in every sip? It’s not as if you’re going to turn into an eggnog-alholic or something. It’s a treat. Enjoy it. Have one for me. Have two. It’s later than you think. It’s Christmas!
3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That’s the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.
4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they’re made with skim milk or whole milk. If it’s skim, pass. Why bother? It’s like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.
5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Christmas party is to eat other people’s food for free. Lots of it. Hello?
6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year’s. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you’ll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.
7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don’t budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They’re like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you’re never going to see them again.
8. Same for pies. Apple. Pumpkin. Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or, if you don’t like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day?
9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it’s loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards.
10. One final tip: If you don’t feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven’t been paying attention.
Send Michael Moore A Christmas Card
Since I did some Bush-bashing earlier, I know you Republicans will love this one.
20 Amazing Facts About Voting in the USA
I’ve seen this forward going around lately, but I managed to find a copy with some cited URLs. And remember: I’m posting this to start debate (I didn’t write this, I don’t know how did), so don’t post comments saying I’m an idiot, as they will be deleted.
1. 80% of all votes in America are counted by only two companies: Diebold and ES&S. Link and Link.
2. There is no federal agency with regulatory authority or oversight of the U.S. voting machine industry. Link and Link
3. The vice-president of Diebold and the president of ES&S are brothers. Link and Link.
4. The chairman and CEO of Diebold is a major Bush campaign organizer and donor who wrote in 2003 that he was “committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year.” Link and Link.
5. Republican Senator Chuck Hagel used to be chairman of ES&S. He became a senator based on votes counted by ES&S machines. Link and Link.
6. Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, long connected with the Bush family, was recently caught lying about his ownership of ES&S by the Senate Ethics Committee. Link, Link and Link.
7. Senator Chuck Hagel was on a short list of George W. Bush’s vice-presidential candidates. Link and Link.
8. ES&S is the largest voting machine manufacturer in the U.S. and counts almost 60% of all U.S. votes. Link and Link.
9. Diebold’s new touch screen voting machines have no paper trail of any votes. In other words, there is no way to verify that the data coming out of the machine is the same as what was legitimately put in by voters. Link and Link.
10. Diebold also makes ATMs, checkout scanners, and ticket machines, all of which log each transaction and can generate a paper trail. Link and Link.
11. Diebold is based in Ohio. Link.
12. Diebold employed 5 convicted felons as senior managers and developers to help write the central compiler computer code that counted 50% of the votes in 30 states. Link and Link.
13. Jeff Dean, Diebold’s senior vice president and senior programmer on Diebold’s central compiler code, was convicted of 23 counts of felony theft in the first degree. Link and Link.
14. Diebold senior vice president Jeff Dean was convicted of planting back doors in his software and using a “high degree of sophistication” to evade detection over a period of 2 years. Link and Link.
15. None of the international election observers were allowed in the polls in Ohio. Link and Link.
16. California banned the use of Diebold machines because the security was so bad. Despite Diebold’s claims that the audit logs could not be hacked, a chimpanzee was able to do it! (See the movie here). Link and Link.
17. 30% of all U.S. votes are carried out on unverifiable touch screen voting machines with no paper trail. Link.
18. All–not some–but all the voting machine errors detected and reported in Florida went in favor of Bush or Republican candidates. Link, Link, Link, Link, and Link.
19. The governor of the state of Florida, Jeb Bush, is the President’s brother. Link and Link.
20. Serious voting anomalies in Florida–again always favoring Bush–have been mathematically demonstrated and experts are recommending further investigation. Link, Link, Link, Link, Link and Link.
Whack Your Boss
A little Friday Flash fun. It’s the Sopranos Meets Office Space. The challenge of this little Flash game? Find all eight ways to kill your boss. Thanks a pile of folks for this disturbing yet mildly entertaining link.
Redmond To Eliminate Soda/Candy Sales
The Redmond School Board approved a recommendation from the District’s Wellness and Nutrition Education Committee on Wednesday night that eliminates the sale of “non-nutritious” foods and beverages in schools. On the planned toss list are products such as “carbonated soft drinks and candy (or other bars containing more than 35 percent total sugar by weight), candies made predominately from sweeteners (e.g., licorice, jelly beans, gum drops, marshmallows), chewing gum and water ices” (whatever water ice is). Full story over here on Bend.com.
My thoughts: Getting rid of them from the machines is not going to stop kids from eating them during the school day. When I was in high-school, I would just keep my food and stash of soda in the fridge in the newsroom. What I would’ve liked to have seen is better alternatives — for example, the news Pepsi Edge sodas are still pretty tasty, and have half the sugar of regular Pepsi. And I’m sure there are candy alternatives that have less sugar and fat. Kids that have diet problems are going to have diet problems, and having a school take away that stuff isn’t really going to help them a whole lot when they go home and get the garbage again. I do know, however, that I needed the caffeinated beverages in high school to keep me awake, as I was up at 5:00am everyday for cross country practice, then early-bird jazz band, school all day, then my afternoon cross country practice and then I’d hit the newsroom to check in on the newspaper (as I was editor-in-chief, but was never actually enrolled in the class). I usually rolled home about 6:30-7:00PM.
“Mommy, look what we found!”
Some toddlers were playing around in their backyard, found something they couldn’t identify. Neither could mommy. The police could were could, and they could identify it, however: It was an un-exploded WWII-era anti-tank rocket.
Another Darwin Nominee
I’m glad idiots like this get removed from the gene pool:
A man has been charged with involuntary manslaughter for fatally shooting his friend through a protective vest on an apparent dare, police said.
Alexander Joseph Swandic, 20, died of a gunshot wound to the heart Monday after donning a protective vest and asking David John Hueth, 30, to shoot him, police said.
Hueth initially told police that Swandic’s wound was self-inflicted, but later admitted to the shooting. The two had apparently tested the vest by propping it against a dirt bank and shooting it twice, police said.
Idiots.
Do Not Read This
A Mexican man killed his lover in a drunken, drugged fight then cooked the man’s body in tomato and onion sauce and ate it over three days.
Police found Gumaro de Dios Arias grilling rotting human flesh for his breakfast, including part of a heart, when they raided a shack he lived in near the Caribbean beach resort of Playa del Carmen, a police chief said on Wednesday.
“He was preparing stews. There was a grill where he was cooking part of the heart and bits he had cut off the body. It was terrible, terrible,” said local police chief Martin Estrada, who was among a dozen police who raided the shack.
Thanks Barn for that disgusting link. I think I’ll be sick now.