I’m Going Straight To Hell

Because in all the hoopla around the Terry Schiavo death, I laughed at this.

But really, the whole mess was taken so out of proportion, and politicians on both sides of the political spectrum were trying to use this whole thing as leverage for their own gain. There were so many lies that were spread around about the whole thing that it was just ridiculous. And the media coverage on this, when there were other big events going on around the world, was just asinine. Nevermind that there was an earthquake that killed a couple thousand, the networks just cared about ratings.

One important lesson came about in all this: Make sure you have a living will. If I ever create one, I’m going to make sure it reads something like this.

April 4, 2005

Juniper Cafe To Close

Did I miss this in the local media? I had heard from my father-in-law a couple weeks ago after his weekly Friday trip to Juniper Cafe that they were going to close. We went there on Wednesday before we headed out of town, and confirmed with the long-time staff there: As of May 1st, Juniper Cafe will be no more.

What’s happening to them? From what I was told, the owner of the place was looking to move on and just wanted to sell the place. The buyer wasn’t interested in keeping the place running, but to bulldoze it into a parking lot.

The buyer? The Real Estate office next door. So they’re looking to increase the size of their parking lot (which already seems like it’s fairly good size, but whatever).

Everybody knows my feelings about the Bend real estate market, as well as how all our homestyle dining establishments are shutting down. So after Pilot Butte closed down for dinner and Jake’s Diner is relocating to the worst location for a restaurant in Bend, now Juniper Cafe will be closing.

My brother and father-in-law have gone there weekly for years. I’ve gone there quite a bit, and first started going there with my family when I was little. It’s looked the same since I was a kid, and the folks there (despite going through a couple owners) have always been nice. I will miss it, that’s for sure (just like I still miss the Snow Bunny on the Westside — I went there on their last day — as they had the best damn sausage gravy on the planet).

So where to go now? I haven’t been to Sargent’s for years (but they’re on the other side of the real estate office, so I wouldn’t be surprised if that gets bought up and bulldozed as well). Palmer Cafe is good, but it’s small and crowded (though the food’s really good).

Juniper Cafe, you will be missed.

April 3, 2005

Late-Life Sex Prolongs Life

At least in monkeys. So when you see those 80-year-old millionaires on TV with their new 20-year-old hottie, he’s doing something good for his health (even if it’s not for his pocket book).

April 3, 2005

Our Government At Work

A government-funded study on the Internet was only supposed to take nine months. It ended up taking seven years.

April 3, 2005

Adventures with Scientologists

You can tell a lot about the former owner of your home by the mail you get for that owner. Me, I get NRA and tool catalogs for the previous owner of my home. The previous occupant of this guy’s home was a Scientologist, and he got some weird letters. So he decided to have a bit of fun with them.

April 3, 2005

Lost In Translation

What happens when an American DVD is pirated in China and the pirates try to translate? You get some really awful subtitles.

April 3, 2005

How Many 5-Year-Olds Could You Take Out?

Some people debate some really strange stuff when they’re drunk. Link via NTK.

Oh, and yes, I’m back from vacation. More links to come later.

April 3, 2005

Why The Huge Link Dump?

As you may have noticed, I posted quite a few links today. Why am I doing it? I wanted to give you something to look at for the next few days as I’ll be offline. Why? My wife and I (and no kids) are going to an undisclosed secret location tomorrow where I will be enjoying a nice dinner and a show. I’ll actually be back in town late Thursday if anybody needs to get ahold of me, but don’t expect much in the way of updates until Sunday when I’ll be back to procrastinating during my lunch break at work.

Meanwhile, enjoy all the links I posted today, click on a few ads while I’m gone (because each click is a few pennies for this site), and be sure to enjoy some of the downloads I posted earlier before they disappear for good.

And I apologize for folks on my mailing list who will see these links for the next several days in your inbox.

On a side-note, anybody have a mini-van for sale? Our small sedan is just not working for a family of four with car seats (and I’m NOT buying an SUV). I missed out on one on Craiglist Portland earlier this week. E-mail me privately if you have a good deal on a decent rig (and NO, I’m not buying a Ford — ever. If somebody were to give it to me, that’s fine, but I’m not paying for one).

March 29, 2005

Good Photography Articles

For all of you photographers out there, here’s a couple good article that I’ve had flagged and haven’t had a chance to post.

  • How To Edit Your Photos Like A Pro. Most of it is common sense for somebody who has done any photo editing, but it’s still a good article.
  • Quit Fethishizing Your Equipment. A good article that explains why I’ll always be shooting with my old manual Canon AE1: Your equipment will give you better images. Your eye for a good image and your abilities as a photographer will give you good images. A great photographer could shoot equally as well on brand spanking new digitals as they can on the old classics (I own one of those old classics — it’s a great camera).

March 29, 2005

Don’t Blame Wal-Mart

There are some folks who really don’t want to see a new Wal-Mart Superstore show up here in Bend. I understand everybody’s gripe about it, but I’m sorry: I’m like most Americans and like low prices. I like supporting the local community, and do when I can, but, for the most part, I go wherever is easy and cheap (two things that will be more available since the new Wal-Mart will be about two miles from my house).

Should we really be blaming Wal-Mart when Americans like low prices? I don’t think so. Besides, they are really good at getting federal funding for projects, so maybe they can help us out a bit.

March 29, 2005