Tonight's speech

Initial reaction post:

Wow, I thought, this is a really good speech.

Then, I noticed, he turned to scripture at the end.

And then we heard the usual blessing.

And then the country music came on.

!

More later.

First addition: Pastor closes ceremonies with a prayer, and finally: "End this prayer as you would in your personal religion."

And Pelosi closes with the gavel, but keeps rambling, and then tells god to bless everyone again.

Good speech by Obama.

These conventions are overwhelming.

17 wasted days

The Beijing Olympics are over (you wouldn't know it, thanks to NBC's tape delays), and if any athletes took the opportunity to speak out about China's continued civil rights violations, we didn't hear about it. Lots of silent, smiling athletes accepting their medals and "minding their own business," "trying to avoid politics and focus on their sports." Spineless. Foolish. Because they could have used their platform to encourage change and, as many are self-absorbed (their daily routines requiring them to be this way to some extent), they could have had headlines and respect like what was given to Tommie Smith, John Carlos, and Peter Norman in 1968. These athletes took a lot of criticism at the time, but in the years since they've become civil rights heros. And a move like this in Beijing would have been relatively low-risk. China's brutality is well-documented. It didn't need to happen on the medal stand, even. There were microphones thrust into the faces of hundreds of athletes.

So, thanks, Michael Phelps. Bolt. Lebron and Kobe. Lisa Leslie. Bryan Clay. LeShawn Merritt. Kerri Walsh. Walter Dix. Vincent Hancock. Venus and Serena. You did what you came to do. We're all so proud of you.

65 pounds of cocaine (I love Greek food)

This is very interesting. I-5 is certainly a major drug pipeline up and down the West Coast, but how many cars get pulled over for following too closely? I wonder what the full story is. I lived a few buildings away from the Douglas County jail in Roseburg; Jackson Street is one of the nicest in the county. Across from the jail is one of my favorite restaurants, Alexander's Greek Cuisine.

Anyway, don't tailgate if you have 65 pounds of cocaine hidden in your car.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Two Seattle men are facing drug charges after a traffic stop on Interstate 5 in Southern Oregon turned up about 65 pounds of cocaine worth an estimated $600,000.

An Oregon State Police trooper pulled over 25-year-old Cristian Escalante-Castaneda and 28-year-old Alfonso Garcia-Castaneda near Sutherlin after spotting a car following other traffic too closely on Wednesday.

The trooper became suspicious and called for backup with a drug-sniffing dog that found the cocaine hidden inside compartments in the car.

The two men were charged with unlawful possession and distribution of a controlled substance, and were being held at the Douglas County jail.

Two films and a bolt of lightning

One of my favorite ways of escaping the heat is to hide in movie theaters. Hide from the heat, that is. Friday night I went to the Darkside to see The Sensation of Sight, and yesterday I saw Woody Allen's new film, Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

Both were excellent. Critics affectionally wrote that The Sensation of Sight is "typical indie filmmaking," and I suppose I won't argue with that. It was shot in, I believe, 18 days in New Hampshire with an estimated budget of a few thousand dollars. David Straithairn (who played Edward Murrow in Good Night, and Good Luck) plays a troubled, retired high school English teacher. Straithairn's character, Finn, has left his family and moves temporarily into a bed and breakfast. During the day he passes his time attempting half-heartedly to sell an old collection of encyclopedias out of a Radio Flyer wagon. We're generally left in the dark about what, exactly, is troubling Finn, until late in the film as writer/director Aaron Wiederspahn slowly reveals the connections between his characters, using even the very last scene in the film to bring the story to an uncomfortable (sorry to be vague) but complete conclusion.

I love Woody Allen, and I'm not ashamed to say it. Vicky Cristina Barcelona is typical Woody (minus NY) with that funny-yet-embarrassingly-accurate-and-pointed dialogue that reveals how well Woody knows his audience and how well he knows what it's like to be at least slightly neurotic. He's making fun of himself and anyone remotely like him, which is most of his audience, and he does it in a way that leaves us feeling slightly challenged but okay with ourselves. Javier Bardem, Scarlett Johansson, Rebecca Hall, and Penélope Cruz make up Woody's love circle in Spain, and the film is narrated really well by Christopher Evan Welch.

Later Saturday night thunder started rumbling and finally a warm rain came pouring down around 12:30 or 1 a.m. At least, that's when I noticed it as I left the Crowbar with a couple of friends. The lightning was unlike any I've seen in Oregon since moving here three years ago, and two of us had to walk about a dozen blocks across town in the rain. We started by jogging a block or two but gave up, and really, it was one of the few times I've missed the Midwest and all its summer weather. The lightning was close, dangerously close by the time I got to my apartment. I was out back watching the sky when a bolt cracked four blocks away, shaking my apartment and setting off car alarms. (Earlier in the night we watched Usain Bolt break the world record in the 100 meters to win gold.) I slept well for the first time in weeks.

"Burn After Reading" trailer

Release date: Sept. 12

High temperatures

The National Weather Service recorded 102 degrees at 7 p.m. in Corvallis, and my apartment thermostat is at its limit right now, 95 degrees. It's nearly midnight. I'm afraid to walk upstairs.

And this, for the entire region, stretching from Eugene to, ahem, Castle Rock:

...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 PM PDT SATURDAY...THE EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING IS NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 PM PDT SATURDAY.

STRONG HIGH PRESSURE COMBINED WITH SOUTHERLY FLOW ALOFT WILL BRING WHAT IS LIKELY THE HOTTEST WEATHER OF THE YEAR SO FAR TO THE INLAND PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON AND NORTHWEST OREGON TONIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY.

IN THE INTERIOR LOWLANDS... TEMPERATURES WILL LIKELY EXCEED 100 DEGREES ON FRIDAY. THE EXCEPTION WILL BE ALONG THE INTERSTATE 5 CORRIDOR NORTH OF LONGVIEW WASHINGTON THAT WILL LIKELY BE IN THE 90S BOTH DAYS. MOST LOCATIONS IN THE COAST RANGE AND CASCADE FOOTHILLS ARE EXPECTED TO REACH THE 90S BOTH DAYS AS WELL.

IN ADDITION TO THE HOT AFTERNOONS... LITTLE RELIEF IS EXPECTED TONIGHT AND FRIDAY NIGHT. THIS WILL ESPECIALLY BE THE CASE IN DOWNTOWN URBAN AREAS... WHERE TEMPERATURES WILL NOT LIKELY FALL MUCH BELOW 70 DEGREES OVERNIGHT. OUTLYING RURAL AREAS WILL BE A BIT COOLER OVERNIGHT...

Maybe this doesn't sound so miserable if you've lived in, say, Arizona, or if you've survived the summer heat in Kentucky or Mississippi, but this may be the warmest night I've spent in Oregon. My friend Eric's jazz trio played at Bombs Away tonight, and the bar/restaurant couldn't keep the beer cold. We had about 10 people in our group by the end of the night. Now, I know that perhaps the waitress could have tallied our bills separately, but she did a good job, and it was very busy. I get a little bit upset when a group of people fails to leave a sufficient tip for good service. Half the group pays more than their fair share, and we barely round up enough for the bill. No idea if anyone is to blame directly, but it's bullshit. The server shouldn't be slighted like that.

Like I said, it's hot tonight.

It smells like Tuesday

I'm in a rotten mood. I won't list all the reasons.

But I got my motorcycle back today with a new chain and sprockets, and the front brake was rebuilt. New tube in the front tire.

There's something eerie and hollow about most Olympic athletes. You know what I mean. I love sports and I'm competitive, but I feel sorry for these kids in gymnastics.

Tomorrow (Wed.) is my last day of Spanish for the summer. These 12 credits flew by. My grades are good (my transcript will just read "S" anyway), but it's tough to retain everything in 9 weeks. I'll have to review periodically over this next month. Actually, that's not going to be a top priority. My thesis and my teaching license need to be addressed first, and a Fulbright application should follow.

Again I'm only sleeping soundly in the afternoon on my couch.

I need to get away for a few days. Maybe I'll make a motorcycle trip to the coast.

The Polyphonic Spree: "Mental Cabaret"

I hate goodbyes

This week I said goodbye to two people I'll always remember as opening me to new ways of seeing during my time at OSU. Thank you, Michael, and thank you, Kristen.