Woolgathering; Ken Jennings; Martha, Martha, Martha!

Mighty Big Weather

Somewhere it's writ large, that a good blogger doesn't comment on the local weather.

Screw that. A heat wave is bearing down upon us, temps up near the century mark, and I hate it! I'll hate it starring right now, before the heat comes up, that way I don't have to get it going. It'll soon be too hot to think.

This is what God gave us Arizona for, I thought.

And what with the statistics showing that we have about 60% higher-than-average heat months in the last few years against about 40% lower-than-average cold months, maybe the vox pop should be understood when it worries about global warming.


Bridgework

The Saint Johns Bridge is closed while important work is being wrapped up on it. The Broadway Bridge is closed for about a month and a half whilst a new, more durable deck is installed. And the poor Sellwood Bridge has had weight restrictions choked down so low that Tri Met can no longer route the number 40 bus over it. As a matter of fact, there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth as local authorities determined to let emergency vehicles over it...the Westmoreland fire station, at Southeast Bybee Blvd and 22nd Avenue, is under remodeling and is closed, and Sellwood is being served by a station on the west side.

Tough to be in Sellwood these days. Solutions thus far: Tri Met has created a new route, the Sellwood Shuttle, that runs N-S through the district along Southeast 13th and 17th Avenues, terminating on the south at the Milwaukie Transit Center, and connecting to the central city at the Milwaukie Blvd/Powell Blvd gateway point. The other route is a crosstown, the number 71, I think, that runs up to the Lloyd District. So, now, there is no direct route to the Transit Mall from Sellwood, only transferring connections. And, for Emergency services, there will be access over the Sellwood Bridge, only when they get there, they have to slow down to 25 mph to cross. Well, it's either this, or your house and/or business burns down.

Sellwood never has gotten any respect. Pity. It's a cool part of town.

Ken, Ken, Ken!!!!

Who hasn't heard of this guy? His m4d Jeopardy! skillz are truly l337. Typically, he'll be up at about $10,000 and his opponents haven't cracked $1,000.

I bet I'm along with a lot of people: we watch the spectacle with vicarious interest, loving the heights he's going to but hoping to be there when the Ken-killer finally debuts. This guy smacks down other eggheads like there is no other competition for him. Eerie.

Martha, Martha, Martha!!!!

I was surprised that she only got 5 months in the pokey. Not that that won't be a burden for her...as many notables who have spent time at Club Fed have noted, it's not as easy as people think. Sure, it may not be the hellhole of depravity that regular penitentiaries are, but one is a prisoner there, meaning your day is ordered for you, you have your privacy and all control over your own life absolutely taken away from you. You are reduced to an inmate serving time, almost a number only.
And this has to be crushing to people who are used to having lackeys, a measure of fame, and considerable personal power.

There has been a great amount of press about how Martha was gone after because she was Martha. I think there is something to that. First, though, I think the sentence is definitely in line with the crime: it's only now that Ken Lay is doing the perp walk and there is considerable speculation that he'll get off with a slap on the wrist. Martha Stewart has done far, far, far less damage to society than the mess Mr Lay made of the economy and the personal lives of everyday people who work for a living. The Enron meltdown was, what, since two years...and only is he now being indicted.

Lesson: be a white male and get Republican connections, and give them a ton'o'money. You'll get a pass for as long as possible.

Enjoy the hot days ahead...if you're insane, of course.