Incomprehensible

Maxx

My dog is dying. We're taking him to be put down Thursday.

I got Maxx when I was 12. He was a year and some change old. He's now 15. He's lived a long and happy life on easy street. Although he himself was never an easy dog.

But his end has been coming for a while. As a Jack Russel Terrier, he never slowed down until he got arthritis. And then congestive heart failure and the meds he had to take for that slowed him down and fattened him up. He still had an attitude and he still loved to run around. He just couldn't do it as well.

Over the past two years his eyesight and hearing have started to leave him as well. He can't even properly chase the cat anymore. He has to follow her by scent and that doesn't always work.

About three weeks ago he stopped keeping down food. Luckily he's had a fairly large amount of fat built up to live off of. The vets think it's his liver and that fixing him up would only push him on for a few more weeks. They think he's miserable now and the 'solution' would only make him moreso. It's cruel to drag it out like that. Cruel and selfish.

And he doesn't even know what's coming, you know? We'll offer him to go for a ride and he'll hop in the car and that'll be his last ride. But he won't be suffering any more.

I feel bad for my mom. He's always been My Dog and I've always had a spot in his heart. But when I left for college six years ago, he and Mum adopted each other. He's more Mum's dog at this point than he is mine. I mean, I'll always be his Boy and he'll always be My Dog... but they're the pair now.

It's difficult.

So on Thursday Mom and I will say goodbye to Maxx.

New Posts Elsewhere!

Hey hey hey.

I invite y'all to check out my recently updated grungynoir blog.

Also, Nick and I have started a Portland based music/video project. The slash in that phrase is important, any sucker can make music videos. We're trying something (slightly) different.

Ben, it might resonate with you. ...once we get the videos up.

But we've decided to ape some other projects except give it direct focus. Nick and I are working on a project called [dog] and [pony] and we film local acts in their practice spaces.

We will be doing other things to bring in money, as well.

And now at work they've got me editing as well. Which is OK. I get more time to write and such. You can find a post on Dead End Armory at that link. There'll be a post on Highway Jackson on that page tomorrow and another on Sam James by maybe Friday.

There's also a chance I'll write something on D. Gross. You won't see video of that until we reshoot it, though.

So... yeah. Go check out other crap I've been doing.

Obama Thoughts

I'm going to say something here and it might offend the other people of my generation... I've never really been that into Obama. I've always felt he was a bit too "politician" and not enough "person." I think that he's not as left as people say he is.

I really like him as a symbol, though. Everything that his election represents is incredibly powerful. And I'm not just talking about the election of a minority to the shittiest most powerful job in the country. I'm talking about electing someone with moral standards, someone who represents change. Someone who represents America for the People and not America for the Corporate.

Obama has always represented Change. That's something that interests me.

And I must say I'm incredibly impressed.

His precedent-setting first 100 days are off to a great start. America is working on redefining stances on torture, terror, the environment and human rights. We'd developed a draconian image in a lot of ways there. We're becoming a moral, upright nation.

I'm still not certain he'll live up to "the hype." But I am certain he'll provide change. And I don't think anyone seriously expects him to live up to "the hype."

Hrmm. This post is poorly written. Maybe I'll edit it. I have a poor track record at that, though. So, I'm posting it.

Just some thoughts.

To Share:

Rock on, you crazy diamond.

It's happening

Crap, you guys. We're boned.

Dewey's Thruway

So, this one is for all my homies who had to drive across upstate New York for four years.

The comic in question is Octopus Pie. I've tried to get into it before and failed. This time, however, it seems to have stuck and I'm quite digging it.

Also, at the recommendation of a dude who plays at Blue every now and again, Craig Mathieson, I have scoped out The Bowerbirds. Now it is I who will do the recommending.

And last week was a cool week at Blue. I went on Thursday as I normally do - generally because Sam James is playing - and saw a different act. Jesse Ray Carter. I was the only person there, apart from his lady and the owners. We chatted after his set and I found out that he was trained by none other than John Hammond! How sweet is that?

So, all of that stuff is cool.

Then the next day was Death Match VIII. Death Matches are always Sam James versus Meantone. They play to the death. I only made it for two songs, but Mr. Carter was there and pointed me out, so I got a wave out of Meantone. I'm looking forward to the next one.

So that's more cool stuff.

Yes!

Big Bird Sings at Jim Henson's Memorial

EDIT: More Paragraphs explaining self!



This is Big Bird singing "It's Not Easy Being Green" at Jim Henson's memorial.

Personally, this is one of the sweetest, saddest videos I've ever seen. I was moved to tears. I'd like to say it's not often that I cry, but that's not completely true. It is true, however, that I don't often cry like this.

I think part of that - the tears, that is - is because I hold Jim Henson in extremely high regard. He did a wonderful thing with both The Muppets and Sesame Street. There's some ineffable quality to them that makes them both child-likable-yet-adult-relatable. He created something that doesn't talk down to children but does cater to them.

If I lived my whole life and created something half as wonderful as The Muppets, I would die a happy man. And Big Bird's ode is perfect. Just perfect.

This video is a really good sort of cry, you know? One that truly honors the memory of the mourned. Like John Cleese's eulogy at Graham Chapman's funeral. It doesn't reek of over sentimentality. It just is. And that you can hear Big Bird's voice breaking up a bit just makes it all that much more perfect, more honest and more true.

This is the sort of thing you'd like for your own funeral. And I don't mean Big Bird singing, I mean the emotion, heart and honesty. The devotion. The truth. It's not easy being green. But it does have moments of wonder and awe and sometimes people really do recognize that being green is awesome. Jim Henson was green, you know? People loved him but they didn't Get him.

I don't know. I'm still getting weepy eyed just thinking about the video ten or fifteen minutes later. Maybe I'm biased. But when I think of the gods of humanism, Jim Henson is at the top of the totem pole.

Portland's Dry History

So, I've blogged before about Portland being the start of the Temperance Movement and how funny I find that. Not "Ha ha" funny, mind you, but "huh" funny.

Switch Magazine - a publication I generally detest - has a pretty great article about a Portland Prohibition Tour.

Check it.

Also, Salty Buddies of Age, we should take advantage of this guide. What are we doing next Tuesday 'noon? We're taking a walking tour of Portland's intolerant past.

We're Heroes!?

Disaster Averted.

That post title is the perfect time for the (SFW) Interrobang.