ahhhh, fall. changing colors, (supposedly) cooler weather, and football! well i went to my first (and probably only) football game of the season. it's the third week already and this was the first game i've seen all season. what's that about?! well i've been on the road, went to canada where they don't pay much attention to football and just hanging with the parents. so the purpose of their trip was to see me, but they planned it around this football game. hawaii @ oregon state.
the last time the two teams played, OSU went to aloha stadium and won 35-32 at the end of what was an amazing season. we beat USC that year and won the civil war with UO. our last game was at hawaii against colt brennan and company. it was such a good game that was close all the way, with the Beavs coming out on top. that's what i was hoping for yesterday but it just wasn't meant to be. the warriors lost many key players to the NFL or graduation, including colt and his receivers. so hawaii scored first, a touchdown and i thought it'd be a great game. unfortunately there were a slew of hawaii injuries and the oregon state defense came alive. here are 10 mins of osu highlights.
so my parents were a little disappointed cause they came all the way to see this game, especially since the warriors didn't even play well. we went to eat chinese food after the game and al afalava and family were there eating too. he's from kahuku and had a big family come over for the game. in one of the newspapers he was quoted as saying if osu loses he can't go home, so now he's free to go and have bragging rights i guess. he's our hard hitting safety and a really nice guy despite his intense play on the field.
one of his hits last year at the civil war:
well next up is #1 USC on the 25th. they just spanked formerly #5 (overrated) ohio state 35-3. it wasn't even close. i am shaking in my little beaver boots. now i am in no way a fair weather fan but i seriously doubt my teams abilities in what might be the best USC team in the pete carroll era. they are deep, fast and good. this is a great football team that will be in the national championship game this year. no doubt. the last time the trojans came into Reser stadium they were ranked #3 and we won, 33-31
we've got some play makers and a decent quarterback-leader in moevao, speedy quizz rodgers and his brother james. sammie straughter is due for a breakout performance as well. the defense needs to step it up. while they did well against the warriors, the line is gonna really need to get some pressure on the QB sanchez and stop the run of the many many talented backs that USC has. we're gonna have to force many turnovers like last time and just play really well. we gotta bring the A game!
GO BEAVERS!
14 September 2008
06 September 2008
#135 - ahh, portland
travel is fun but it's always nice to come back home. i'm lucky and i have two such places, portland and hawaii. no matter how long i stay away for, hawaii still feels like home. i don't really want to live there anymore cause i love it on the mainland, but it is a special place. i am lucky to have family and friends there. i've been living in portland for 4 years now and oregon for a total of 8. i love the weather, people, places, greenery and attitudes.
my parents are here for two weeks so we went up to seattle and canada for one of them. after bumbershoot and spending time in seattle we drove up to canada. we have some far off relatives that live in vancouver, BC. we stayed with them for one night and they were nice people. i got to hear many stories about their past, many many stories of hardships they endured. it does get old eventually but they were pretty sweet and cute. we went to dim sum one day for brunch, it was the best i've had. the spring rolls with shrimp were amazing. the shrimp were HUGE and the outside so crispy and not greasy at all. roast duck (always a treat), choi sum, char siu bau and an assortment of other dim sum things. we also got a good spicy eggplant noodle dish. mmm...our relatives cooked dinner that night as well, baked salmon and tuna cakes. it was actually good, and i don't even like seafood. we visited grouse mountain, which is the highest peak in vancouver. they had a wildlife area with two grizzly bears and a program with birds of prey. it was pretty cool seeing the horned owl, ferruginous hawk, turkey vulture and bald eagle up close. they trained them to fly from post to post but some of them flew right over head. whooosh!
vancouver is where the olympics will be in 2010 so they are working hard on improving the city. it is costing them millions so i definitely plan on going and spending a few dollars up there. starting to save... my "aunty" (or however we are related) is not very happy about the money situation since they'll be in debt up to their heads and then have all these buildings afterwards. they had to build a curling building cause for olympics i guess it needs 8 lanes. the ones they had were only 4. so they built it on an old playground or something.
we took the ferry to victoria BC and went to the butterfly gardens and butchart gardens. i took many pics that i will upload soon. we spent lots of time and it was a lot of beautiful things with many colors. also in victoria we took a tour of the parliament building and visited the royal bc museum and saw two IMAX shows. it was fun!
all this was fun and i spent time with my parents but it was nice to finally come home to portland. it's comfortable here and i actually missed it while i was gone. seattle is too big and city-like, even though people like to think we're as big. we're not. being in canada was nice but we were mostly in touristy areas so that changes things a little. i'll be going back in 2 years and it'll be even more touristy. it's not a very big place yet thousands of people will be going for the olympics. i am giddy with excitement! stuff i want/need to see - snowboarding, ski jump, speed skating, figure skating (practice would be fine), hockey (any country). i am sure the events will all cost an arm and leg but i just want to be there.
my parents are here for two weeks so we went up to seattle and canada for one of them. after bumbershoot and spending time in seattle we drove up to canada. we have some far off relatives that live in vancouver, BC. we stayed with them for one night and they were nice people. i got to hear many stories about their past, many many stories of hardships they endured. it does get old eventually but they were pretty sweet and cute. we went to dim sum one day for brunch, it was the best i've had. the spring rolls with shrimp were amazing. the shrimp were HUGE and the outside so crispy and not greasy at all. roast duck (always a treat), choi sum, char siu bau and an assortment of other dim sum things. we also got a good spicy eggplant noodle dish. mmm...our relatives cooked dinner that night as well, baked salmon and tuna cakes. it was actually good, and i don't even like seafood. we visited grouse mountain, which is the highest peak in vancouver. they had a wildlife area with two grizzly bears and a program with birds of prey. it was pretty cool seeing the horned owl, ferruginous hawk, turkey vulture and bald eagle up close. they trained them to fly from post to post but some of them flew right over head. whooosh!
vancouver is where the olympics will be in 2010 so they are working hard on improving the city. it is costing them millions so i definitely plan on going and spending a few dollars up there. starting to save... my "aunty" (or however we are related) is not very happy about the money situation since they'll be in debt up to their heads and then have all these buildings afterwards. they had to build a curling building cause for olympics i guess it needs 8 lanes. the ones they had were only 4. so they built it on an old playground or something.
we took the ferry to victoria BC and went to the butterfly gardens and butchart gardens. i took many pics that i will upload soon. we spent lots of time and it was a lot of beautiful things with many colors. also in victoria we took a tour of the parliament building and visited the royal bc museum and saw two IMAX shows. it was fun!
all this was fun and i spent time with my parents but it was nice to finally come home to portland. it's comfortable here and i actually missed it while i was gone. seattle is too big and city-like, even though people like to think we're as big. we're not. being in canada was nice but we were mostly in touristy areas so that changes things a little. i'll be going back in 2 years and it'll be even more touristy. it's not a very big place yet thousands of people will be going for the olympics. i am giddy with excitement! stuff i want/need to see - snowboarding, ski jump, speed skating, figure skating (practice would be fine), hockey (any country). i am sure the events will all cost an arm and leg but i just want to be there.
03 September 2008
#134 - bumbershoot
i'm in canada right now! we drove up to seattle and spent two nights there. the second day we went to bumbershoot, which is a huge music and arts festival. it's been going on for many years but has become a giant event. i went with my parents, which was kind of odd cause it was more a "young people" thing. :)
we got there early, before gates opened, and stood in a long line that went around the EMP and down the street. it took about 20 minutes to get in once the line started moving at 11. once in we had to get our evening show passes, which were first come first served. the passes were for Superchunk and Death Cab for Cutie. i kind of mapped out the bands i wanted to see. there were about 5 different stages set up around the area, all with nice grassy areas to sit/lay in or stand and dance.
first we went to see vince mira, a young boy from seattle with an old, deep johnny cash-like voice! it was great. then we went to see joshua morrison but he got called away on military orders so couldn't make it. in his place was kristin ward, a folk singer. at that point my parents wanted to go to a comedy show and i to more music. so i left them.
i saw mark pickerel & the praying hands, blitzen trapper (awesome band from portland), langhorne slim (really awesome!) and two gallants.
i found some new music and had a great time! and of course in the evening, after we left to have dinner, we went and saw the big names in the stadium. it was fun. i got to dance around and be stuck with a bunch of sweaty teenagers. i went crowd surfing!!! i love it, you can see everything and it's fun!
we got there early, before gates opened, and stood in a long line that went around the EMP and down the street. it took about 20 minutes to get in once the line started moving at 11. once in we had to get our evening show passes, which were first come first served. the passes were for Superchunk and Death Cab for Cutie. i kind of mapped out the bands i wanted to see. there were about 5 different stages set up around the area, all with nice grassy areas to sit/lay in or stand and dance.
first we went to see vince mira, a young boy from seattle with an old, deep johnny cash-like voice! it was great. then we went to see joshua morrison but he got called away on military orders so couldn't make it. in his place was kristin ward, a folk singer. at that point my parents wanted to go to a comedy show and i to more music. so i left them.
i saw mark pickerel & the praying hands, blitzen trapper (awesome band from portland), langhorne slim (really awesome!) and two gallants.
i found some new music and had a great time! and of course in the evening, after we left to have dinner, we went and saw the big names in the stadium. it was fun. i got to dance around and be stuck with a bunch of sweaty teenagers. i went crowd surfing!!! i love it, you can see everything and it's fun!
28 August 2008
#133 - there is hope
there is hope again in this country and his name is barack obama. this will be the next president, he understands the needs of our country and what we need to have a future. "the change we need is coming, because i've seen it" what part of our country do we not need change? i see problems in every part: war in iraq, health care, economy/jobs, taxes, environmental policies, education, etc. i called someone to wish them a happy birthday and she said "did you see obama?! it was inspiring!" and it feels like there is so much going on, there is a special energy that seems to be involved in this election. her friend was undecided until she watched his speech. my mom cried. of course, there is a long way till the actual election but man, this is exciting!
you don't have to be a democrat to appreciate this speech. instead of dividing ourselves by our beliefs, why don't we come together as a nation? it is moving and addresses many of the concerns over obama's lack of experience or other issues people may have with him. just listening to him speak gives me the chills and i think it is hope that i am feeling. there is actually hope for this country. yes some may say this is the best country in the world but really, we are suffering as a whole. you may be comfortable in your suburban home with your 2 cars, children, etc but as they say, you are only as strong as your weakest link. we do not take care of each other and the divide between rich and poor is growing every day. we need to take care of those who can't afford health care and education. everyone has a right to those things. many people are born into poverty and we expect them to just rise above it but no one can do it alone. they have so much going against them yet we don't give them a helping hand.
you may not be a democrat, voter, political, idealist, optimist or activist but i know you are human. it is human to want what is best for yourself. everyone wants happiness and what better way than to provide a good life for every man, woman and child? we are just people, the same flesh and bone. we may differ on many things but why should we focus on that? we are all americans, let's come together and change our country for the better! listen and cheer, four parts for your enjoyment.
part 1
part 2
part 3
part 4
you don't have to be a democrat to appreciate this speech. instead of dividing ourselves by our beliefs, why don't we come together as a nation? it is moving and addresses many of the concerns over obama's lack of experience or other issues people may have with him. just listening to him speak gives me the chills and i think it is hope that i am feeling. there is actually hope for this country. yes some may say this is the best country in the world but really, we are suffering as a whole. you may be comfortable in your suburban home with your 2 cars, children, etc but as they say, you are only as strong as your weakest link. we do not take care of each other and the divide between rich and poor is growing every day. we need to take care of those who can't afford health care and education. everyone has a right to those things. many people are born into poverty and we expect them to just rise above it but no one can do it alone. they have so much going against them yet we don't give them a helping hand.
you may not be a democrat, voter, political, idealist, optimist or activist but i know you are human. it is human to want what is best for yourself. everyone wants happiness and what better way than to provide a good life for every man, woman and child? we are just people, the same flesh and bone. we may differ on many things but why should we focus on that? we are all americans, let's come together and change our country for the better! listen and cheer, four parts for your enjoyment.
part 1
part 2
part 3
part 4
27 August 2008
#132 - consumerism
how do you define yourself? when you meet someone new, they often ask "what do you do?" and it's a hard question to answer for me because 1) i wipe butts for a job and 2) i am going to school to become a nurse. neither of these things really define me as a person and i don't really want to introduce myself as one or the other. but what should i say? i am a person who loves to play dodgeball, sing in the rain, travel the world and to eat good food. :) i think people sometimes ask so they can feel superior. they might not even be listening to what you say, but waiting for you to finish so they can one-up you.
i was watching "trading spouses" on CMT (yes, don't laugh) and this lady was so caught up with herself, she kept mentioning that she had a four-poster California king bed. her relationship with her husband was distant at best, and really - she was crazy and self-absorbed. her insecurities with her personal life manifested itself in showing off of her material possessions. having a nice big bed does not make you a good or decent person. she criticized the other mom for not running twice a day and said how "they are lucky i am here to help them and give them some culture." she was from florida and they were from wisconsin. i am not sure there is much more culture in florida than wisco.
so these things make me think of the movie FIGHT CLUB. if you have not seen it, you must. if you do not like violence then you can skip over those scenes, i don't really believe it is essential to the essence of the themes and purpose. here is a short clip/quote from the movie about self and identity.
you're not your job. you're not how much money you have in the bank. you're not the car you drive. you're not the contents of your wallet. you're not your fucking khakis. you're the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world.
i don't believe in advertising, especially for drugs. this is a post for another day but people really believe in what they see on tv. while this isn't necessarily their fault, it is a problem. "advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need." it is so true. why is it that we are so dependent on material possessions? having things makes us feel good and buying things makes us feel we are closer to somehow having everything we need. we will never get to that place because hopefully we are always evolving and will never reach a state of being "complete". every day is a chance to become a better person.
tyler durden says "the things you own end up owning you. it's only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything." meaning, material possessions are weighing us down. maybe it does not feel like it but our lives revolve around our "stuff". we need jobs to pay the rent to store the things we buy and electricity to keep them going. many people even have storage units to store the things they have purchased that they do not necessarily use. useless things taking up your money. that does not seem to make you "free". when people go through natural disasters and lose everything, they gain other things. they realize how the thing that's worth the most (their life) is still there even if they have no money. the friends and family that they still have is worth more than that house or car. while it may seem essential to have such things, it is not. of course losing all your possessions would be hard to cope with but there is more to life than stuff. with nothing to keep you attached you might realize that you have a bigger, larger purpose.
i re-read this post and it sounds kind of preachy. these are just my observations in general and while i believe a lot of it to be true, i do not really live this way. i buy things, i love to shop. i have more t-shirts than a person needs. i can not do laundry for a month and still have clothes to wear. BUT i do feel that all my things weigh me down and that if i can somehow simplify my life and pare down my belongings i will feel more free. i want to travel the world and having all this stuff kind of makes that less achievable. i need to pay rent or for storage while i am away, just so i have my things when i get back. on my trip to mexico/guatemala i lived out of a backpack, for almost a month. i never really felt i was lacking because i had the essentials and it was enough. back home, my room full of stuff was sitting there. going to school and working i do need a little more than just the essentials but the more you have, the more comfortable you become. why can't i just be content? if i am content with my material possessions, i can move on to other things. i can be free to change other aspects of my life and really work on my inner self, rather than focusing so much on my appearance/image/status.
i am working on finding a new place to live, with some friends. i want to pare down before i move. it will simplify the moving process as well as cut out the things in my life i don't need. other people could find better uses for my unloved things. i've got things sitting in the basement i haven't seen in a year. i am not even sure what's down there. i've got clothes i've never worn and books i never open. so i will simplify. will this get me closer to changing my life for the better? i hope so. it is hard to change the hard-wired consumerist lifestyle that we've become accustomed to but i want to, and hey, it can happen.
i was watching "trading spouses" on CMT (yes, don't laugh) and this lady was so caught up with herself, she kept mentioning that she had a four-poster California king bed. her relationship with her husband was distant at best, and really - she was crazy and self-absorbed. her insecurities with her personal life manifested itself in showing off of her material possessions. having a nice big bed does not make you a good or decent person. she criticized the other mom for not running twice a day and said how "they are lucky i am here to help them and give them some culture." she was from florida and they were from wisconsin. i am not sure there is much more culture in florida than wisco.
so these things make me think of the movie FIGHT CLUB. if you have not seen it, you must. if you do not like violence then you can skip over those scenes, i don't really believe it is essential to the essence of the themes and purpose. here is a short clip/quote from the movie about self and identity.
you're not your job. you're not how much money you have in the bank. you're not the car you drive. you're not the contents of your wallet. you're not your fucking khakis. you're the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world.
i don't believe in advertising, especially for drugs. this is a post for another day but people really believe in what they see on tv. while this isn't necessarily their fault, it is a problem. "advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need." it is so true. why is it that we are so dependent on material possessions? having things makes us feel good and buying things makes us feel we are closer to somehow having everything we need. we will never get to that place because hopefully we are always evolving and will never reach a state of being "complete". every day is a chance to become a better person.
tyler durden says "the things you own end up owning you. it's only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything." meaning, material possessions are weighing us down. maybe it does not feel like it but our lives revolve around our "stuff". we need jobs to pay the rent to store the things we buy and electricity to keep them going. many people even have storage units to store the things they have purchased that they do not necessarily use. useless things taking up your money. that does not seem to make you "free". when people go through natural disasters and lose everything, they gain other things. they realize how the thing that's worth the most (their life) is still there even if they have no money. the friends and family that they still have is worth more than that house or car. while it may seem essential to have such things, it is not. of course losing all your possessions would be hard to cope with but there is more to life than stuff. with nothing to keep you attached you might realize that you have a bigger, larger purpose.
i re-read this post and it sounds kind of preachy. these are just my observations in general and while i believe a lot of it to be true, i do not really live this way. i buy things, i love to shop. i have more t-shirts than a person needs. i can not do laundry for a month and still have clothes to wear. BUT i do feel that all my things weigh me down and that if i can somehow simplify my life and pare down my belongings i will feel more free. i want to travel the world and having all this stuff kind of makes that less achievable. i need to pay rent or for storage while i am away, just so i have my things when i get back. on my trip to mexico/guatemala i lived out of a backpack, for almost a month. i never really felt i was lacking because i had the essentials and it was enough. back home, my room full of stuff was sitting there. going to school and working i do need a little more than just the essentials but the more you have, the more comfortable you become. why can't i just be content? if i am content with my material possessions, i can move on to other things. i can be free to change other aspects of my life and really work on my inner self, rather than focusing so much on my appearance/image/status.
i am working on finding a new place to live, with some friends. i want to pare down before i move. it will simplify the moving process as well as cut out the things in my life i don't need. other people could find better uses for my unloved things. i've got things sitting in the basement i haven't seen in a year. i am not even sure what's down there. i've got clothes i've never worn and books i never open. so i will simplify. will this get me closer to changing my life for the better? i hope so. it is hard to change the hard-wired consumerist lifestyle that we've become accustomed to but i want to, and hey, it can happen.
25 August 2008
#131 - cleaning schedule
my roommate has been trying to get a house meeting together for some time now. we've all got different schedules and i think i'm out of the house most. the others are night jobbers so we're on different sleeping schedules. so he thought it best he just talk to us individually. i don't know if this is a dictatorship but he said that we're changing the cleaning schedule to have "incentives" although i am not sure that is the right word. basically, if you don't do your chores by sunday you pay $15. $10 to the person behind you on the list and $5 to a house fund. there is no way i can afford this and there is no way i can get my chores done every week. there are 4 rotating chores: kitchen (worst and hardest), bathroom (2nd most), living room/laundry (lame and easy), garbage (once a week, easy). most of the time i do not even know what day it is so being on a cleaning schedule really doesn't work for me.
sure, cleaning the house is important but when i clean, it's a deep clean that you can tell the difference afterwards. i don't think it's necessary every week. if you've seen my room you know i am not even a neat person. i don't consider myself "dirty" but i'm in no way neat. i do have anal tendencies when cleaning and organizing but it doesn't bug me that my room looks like a hurricane just went through. i have better things to do than upkeep the visual aesthetics of my living space. i don't mind stepping over things to get to my bed, then throwing random things on the floor that have been occupying that space. my room is about 8x12 so there isn't much room. i have too much stuff and i know this. i'm working on it. my new place will be smaller.
speaking of, i'm going to move out. i can't deal with cleaning schedules and such. especially cleaning schedules with "disincentives", if there is such a word. two gals from work want to find a house to live in together. it's gonna happen at the end of september. one of them is in eugene till i find a place and the other is at her mom's and wants to wait till she pays off her credit card. so far i haven't found much that will fit our needs and wants but there is still a month so even if i found something it wouldn't work out. we don't want to pay more than $1200 for a 3 BR which is actually kind of hard to find in a good location. so i'll keep looking cause i need to move out!
sure, cleaning the house is important but when i clean, it's a deep clean that you can tell the difference afterwards. i don't think it's necessary every week. if you've seen my room you know i am not even a neat person. i don't consider myself "dirty" but i'm in no way neat. i do have anal tendencies when cleaning and organizing but it doesn't bug me that my room looks like a hurricane just went through. i have better things to do than upkeep the visual aesthetics of my living space. i don't mind stepping over things to get to my bed, then throwing random things on the floor that have been occupying that space. my room is about 8x12 so there isn't much room. i have too much stuff and i know this. i'm working on it. my new place will be smaller.
speaking of, i'm going to move out. i can't deal with cleaning schedules and such. especially cleaning schedules with "disincentives", if there is such a word. two gals from work want to find a house to live in together. it's gonna happen at the end of september. one of them is in eugene till i find a place and the other is at her mom's and wants to wait till she pays off her credit card. so far i haven't found much that will fit our needs and wants but there is still a month so even if i found something it wouldn't work out. we don't want to pay more than $1200 for a 3 BR which is actually kind of hard to find in a good location. so i'll keep looking cause i need to move out!
24 August 2008
#130 - brandi @ the zoo
brandi carlile is one of my favorite singers. she has an amazing voice and a great variety of music. in some songs she rocks out and others are sweet ballads. the band consists of "the twins", tim and phil hanseroth plus a drummer that's changed a couple times and the cellist, josh neuman. i went to my 4th brandi carlile concert the other night at the oregon zoo. it was an amazing show and i was right up at the front with other obsessed fans who knew all the words to her songs. they just wrapped up recording on a new album and so played a lot of new songs. i've been watching vids on youtube so i pretty much knew all the songs in the set, which ran about 90 minutes. it was great!!
it was a pretty amazing place to have a concert and they have concerts every week during the summer at the zoo. it just so happened that the elephant was very soon expecting a baby. so they kept commenting about the elephant and it turns out the baby, a boy, wasn't born till the next morning. i read that it was 286 lbs! i took a bunch of pictures throughout the show but many turned out blurry because it was dark and no flash was allowed (altho people still flashed, idiots). the funniest thing happened while i was shooting, this girl comes up and offers me a beer in exchange for e-mailing her pics! i agreed but didn't really want any beer so she gave me $2. does this make me a professional? :) the thing about brandi and seeing her live is that she puts everything into her shows. she lets it all go as if she's playing for you the first and only time. it really felt like i was the only one there, even though it was a sold out/packed show.
she played songs from her two albums "brandi carlile" and "the story" as well as some new songs on the upcoming album and cover songs. i've heard her cover many songs and she did a couple favorites, "folsom prison blues" (johnny cash) and "fortunate son" (credence clearwater revival). when you think about those songs you wonder how a gal could do it but she pretty much owns it! and as always, she closed the encore with a cover of "hallelujah" which is always amazingly spine-tingling. it is a leonard cohen song which has been done by many people and i think the most popular is the jeff buckley version, but brandi really makes it her own.here are a couple new songs, hopefully on the new album!
dreams
caroline (oregon zoo show)
that year (heard it at her last show but it's still new)
pride & joy (not new exactly but they kinda changed it)
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