A tradition like no other

Well, not really. But let's set aside Friday for the weekly notes column - this will hopefully lead to a regular posting schedule. I liked the pick-6 last week. So I'll do it again. (And yes, I'm now posting the final version of this on Saturday)


1) At some point in the next year or two, I'm going to have to pack up shop and move to another city. I've always considered Seattle to be a "safe" choice - but I had some eye-opening issues with the city this past weekend.

a) A horribly planned stretch of I-5 leaves 4 lanes converging into 2 just on the edge of downtown. Big Dig Lite? Almost - no reason for there to be crazy traffic heading into a city on a Saturday morning with no major events happening.

b) Jaywalking! $56 a pop, apparently. Walking back from the show (Gov't Mule & Ratdog) to the hotel after midnight on fairly empty streets - got yelled at by a snarrky cop who had snuck up on us (in a dark blue cruiser). Just a warning this time. But you can't actually step onto the street without a walk sign. Frickin' A.

c) Of course, I wouldn't have had to walk around aimessly at that point in the night, except we couldn't find a bar with a kitchen still open past midnight. This may be a chance of knowing where to go in a city, but even the bartenders and bellhops we asked seemed to have no clue. Did find a place eventually called Dragonfish, which is highly recommended for cheap late night Asian appetizers.

2) My best bet may be to move to Connecticut or Wisconsin, if only to become a constituent of one of my favorite senators - Dodd or Feingold. Thank jeebus someone is standing up against the warrentless wiretapping debacle. I don't know why this issue in particular bothers me as much as it does (maybe I'm reading too much Glenn Greenwald) as opposed to all of the other crap that's happened in the last 8 years. For his part, Ron Wyden, (D-OR) is doing a decent job with opposing it as well.

3) First time in years I haven't watched the bulk of the NBA draft as it happened (I was driving to and from Eugene, and couldn't even get it on the radio). Probably just as well, since I hate ESPN's coverage of such events. Got back just in time to see the C's grab JR Giddens. Would have liked to see CDR, but this guy seems to have some intense athleticism. Hopefully KG and the boys put the fear of God in him, and he gets over whatever issues he has left over from Kansas. Sounds as if he got the wake-up call after the infamous bar fight - I didn't realize Steve Alford was the Lobos' coach, and he had quite positive things to say about Giddens. Love the Bill Walker gamble - very similar to the Leon Powe selection - uber-talented guy with bad knees, don't have to offer him guaranteed money. I would have been shocked if the C's didn't pick a Euroleaguer with the 60th pick, and they didn't disappoint. Ainge has positive things to say, and the 15 second highlight clip ESPN showed has me sold. I'll be looking for Turkish League box scores soon enough. Of course, I'm still waiting on Albert Mirales, so what do I know? At this point, the only D-1 hoops I watch is the tournament (and some of the conference tourney action in the lead up), so I don't have many other Draft08 thoughts. Love what the Blazers are doing, and I'm actually quite intrigued by the Grizzlies. OJ Mayo and Darrell Arthur? Good show, Chris Wallace.

Almost forgot - didn't recognize till yesterday that JR Giddens was this guy. Sweet!

4) My work email is finally back up to speed - though I might be one of the few savvy enough to have done so. OHSU just performed a mass-move to a different set of servers, which was overdue, but handled quite poorly. For some reason, they managed to move all of my spam from the last two years (often in duplicate), which apparently never got deleted, since I block it with my own mail client, not the frivolous spam guards they have in place. But after sorting through upwards of 5000 backlogged emails, I'm good to go. Except for the ominous disclaimer on the web server "All users of this Email system are subject to having their activities audited. This system is to be used only for OHSU business, and access requires explicit written authorization". So, yeah, might want to redirect email back to my yahoo/google accounts.

5) Once again, I would much, much rather be in Montréal for the Jazz Festival right now. Got to plan this ahead for next year. I've still never had a Boréale Blanche. I did by a bottle of Trois Pistoles the other day; that helped a little.

6) I was always a proponent of interleague play, though I still don't understand why it all has to happen at once, instead of sprinkled throughout the season. But man, is the lack of the DH annoying. I'd much rather not have the AL East decided because Chien-Ming Wang injured himself running the bases. And if there's some freak accident on the hill in Minute Maid Park this weekend (knocking on wood till my knuckles bleed slightly) I'm going to have an aneurism.