Everybody Staze...

Sorry I’m such a slacker.

For those of you who were there, you know that Tara’s party went over very well. I still need to get the video processed… but I promise to do that asap.

For those of you not there, I’ll say that things went smashingly. She loves her pad… she felt really touched that we all chipped in to get it for her… she really had no idea that this all was happening… and she’s already improving since she got it. Though I must say it’s a bit (A lot) louder than a soft pad… clack clack clack. Oh well… it’s a great pad.

I hope to write some type of review of it soon… but with finals coming up, and papers coming due… I’m not sure when I’ll get around to it.

Meetings for the next Kumoricon are coming along well. We didn’t have one this week, but I hope by the one next week the site will be ready to go live. Here’s hoping.

As a follow up to the con info and critisism… I must retract a bit I think. Turns out Ohayocon was the first to square everything. While it was impossible to get ahold of the person incharge of the artshow, we just got the check back and the 2 pieces that didn’t sell. Katsucon should be sending the check soon… and Ushicon, the girl is being a tad odd. First she looses a $900+ Money order… then certified letters us $300 cash… then supposedly mails the remaining $600+ Money Order Monday of last week… 13 days later, no check. It doesn’t take that long to get something from Austin, TX. So at this point I’m thinking the girl is either lying… or she really isn’t that bright. Just give us the money. And we’ll be done with you. I’m trying to push Druihd into emailing the conchair and letting them know about this horrible irresponsibility to follow through. As she mentioned… is there something wrong with just paypal-ing the money? GAR!

On a political front… Kerry is our man. Lets hope he can pull it off. Nothing Is sacred to the Bush administration. Using 9/11 footage for reelection commercials. Come on. Why didn’t daddy think of that and show footage of us bombing the hell out of civilians… or Reagan use it showing the wars in Central America, or Oliver North shredding documents with a smile on his face. Heck, why doen’t the Bush Administration show Rummy meeting with Sadam, Cheney at a board meeting for Haliburton, and W meeting with the Bin Laden Family, and Ashcroft hanging the sheet on blind Justice… that would be more appropriate’ “This is what we can do for you… join us in another 4 years”. How about Welcome to Hell… they are currently seating in the back… please watch your heads, and do check your bags and coats at the desk. Sorry… ranting.

Short of that… oh, and gay marriages are starting to happen. Thank God. Maybe if we can get about 40-50 Mayors doing this, we can get it to the point they can’t be reversed. How many thousands now? San Fransisco, Multnoma County in Portland, Upstate New York… come on… lets keep this ball rolling. And lets hope it doesn’t stop there…. there are so many good things that could happen… if we have a few mayors that are willing to risk being tried for breaking the law, maybe we can get some Governers, Senators, or Congressmen to start moving toward bettering humanity and the counry and saying to hell with the consequenses… this is the right thing to do.

Alright, so, since I just looked through about 220 pictures from the SAG awards, and then happened upon the oscar noms, I thought I’d give my predictions.

Best Picture: LotR. It’s missed the last 2 years, but it might win it this year. I just hope it doesn’t go to that garbage from Crowe.

Best Actor: Also tough. I’d say Kingsley from House of Sand. But all the listings for this one are good… while Depp was really good, they usually don’t give them to those type of performances. :-/

Best Actress: Damn. I’d say Charlize Theron in Monster. Good role, good job acting, all and all, very good. Runner up, Diane Keaton.

Supporting Actor: hmmm… Ken Watanabe, far and away. Amazing job with Last Samurai.

Supporting Actress: No Clue. Didn’t see a high enough precentage of these to comment.

Director: I hope it goes to Sofia Coppola. Ron Howard has won it the last 2 years in a row, and might win it next year with his new movie. But this year, I hope it goes to Sofia. Runner up, Clint. I won’t say Peter Jackson because like I said before, they usually don’t give them to movies like this.

Best Writing, Screenplay for Screen: Uhhh… Lost in Translation.

Best Writing based on Previous Material: guh. Probably Mystic River or LotRs. I hope not Seabiscuit. Didn’t much care for it.

Cinematography: hmmm… haven’t seen Pearl Earring yet, but I’d guess either Cold Mountain, or it. Maybe Cidade de Deus. heard very good things.

Editing: Lord.

Art: Lord or Last Samurai.

Costume Design: Last Samurai. Lord has won it, but really there wasn’t much new in this last one, so I think Samurai has it.

Makeup: tough. Either Lord or Pirates. (are we sensing a theme with me ignoring the Crowe shit?)

Music: Big Fish I hope. Go Danny Elfman!

Best Song: uhhh… no clue. Probably one from Cold Mountain… I’d say Sting since he’s more mainstream than Elvis Costello… but I like Elvis… so I do hope he wins.

Sound: Samurai or Lord… or Pirates for that matter. All of them were quite remarkable for sound quality and realism.

Sound Editing: Nemo or Pirates. (Pretty sad when a movie is so bad in my mind that I will ignore it in favor of a Bruckheimer movie)

Animated: Nemo. Was there any doubt? Brother Bear looked dumb.

Foreign Language: hell if I know. didn’t see any of them unfortunately.

Documentary (The Michael Moore catagory): Fog of War. I so want to see this.

Best short Documentary: not sure. haven’t seen them.

Best Short Film, Animated: no clue.

Best Short, Live Action: No clue.

Well, that’s it. Let’s see what my average is in a few days. The Oscars are Sunday Night, the 29th, at 5 Pacific. Shortly before Tara’s party. I hope to listen to them while I’m cleaning and cooking for the party. If I miss any of it, I do expect those attending to know the important ones. 🙂

Oh, as far as myself? I’m doing well. Today was a pretty good day all and all. Much better than Friday. Tara got some of her money from Ushicon, and will get the rest wednesday or thursday. Also means I got paid back for some money I loaned her. So financially I’m doing okay. Now if she can just get the other two cons to pony up the cash they owe her.

Here’s the complete text of Oregon governor Ted Kulongoski’s remarks to reproters on Wednesday following the defeat of the Measure 30 tax increase:

-From www.kgw.com

“Yesterday, the people of Oregon were forced to pick between two difficult choices: pay more in taxes at a time when many families are having trouble making ends meet, or face cuts in essential services like education, health care, and law enforcement.

Given the state of the economy, the fact that a majority of voters decided not to take on a higher tax burden isn’t surprising.

But now it’s time to move forward. The voters have spoken, and it’s our job in Salem to follow their direction and reduce spending.

As you know, when the Legislature passed the budget last summer, they also passed a disappropriation bill that would go into effect if Measure 30 were defeated. It was the Legislature’s bipartisan consensus on the best way to cut nearly $800 million in spending if that became necessary.

Many people have asked me whether I would call the Legislature into special session if Measure 30 were voted down, and my answer has always been the same: I am not inclined to call a special session unless it will bring certainty, stability and resolution to the issues, both in the short term and into the future, rather than political posturing.

We have reached a stage in Oregon where 95 percent of our general fund budget is spent on education, public safety and health and human services, in large part because of mandates from the federal government or from Oregon voters. Because that is where the spending is, that is also where the reductions in spending will be felt. In order to comply with the voters’ wishes, I have directed our state agencies to absorb the cuts to the greatest extent possible without affecting programs.

There are some executive actions I can take to establish a set of values and priorities to preserve programs for kids, seniors and people with disabilities – those in our society who are least able to fend for themselves, those with the least political power. I intend to set those values and priorities and to work with a bipartisan legislature to minimize the impact of these cuts.

First, as I said in my inaugural address last year, during tough times, children go to the head of the line. That still applies today. So while we must reduce spending on health services, we should make it a priority to keep the Children’s Health Insurance Program, so that needy kids will at least be assured of a minimum level of health care. This costs very little for the state, but saves quite a few children for our future. In addition, we should make it a priority to continue prenatal health programs for pregnant women, so that every child has a healthy start in life.

Second, we cannot abandon our seniors. It is my priority to continue to supply coverage of prescription drugs for our low income seniors. And we will continue prioritizing other programs for our seniors and people with disabilities.

Third, we must protect public safety. The disappropriation bill cuts $58 million from the public safety budget. There is no way to avoid most of those cuts. But I will not let hardened criminals out of the state penitentiary before their time. I have directed our public safety agencies to absorb as many cuts as possible within their administrative overhead first.

And, because the state crime labs are so important in helping our cops prosecute criminals, I intend to ask the Emergency Board of the Legislature to use their discretionary dollars to protect those labs from the cuts they are currently scheduled to take. We will work with our partners, the sheriffs and counties, to minimize the impact on our community corrections programs.

Finally, we must do everything possible to protect our schools from more damage. K-12 schools will see a cut of $284.6 million. Many of these cuts have already been felt: with the threat that Measure 30 would be on the ballot, the 198 school districts, where spending decisions are made, reacted in similar ways. They have simply not hired back the teachers they need. They have cut back on subjects, and they have increased class sizes. Ultimately, this is not helpful to our children or our economy.

I will continue to be an advocate for more school funding for our kids, as well as cost savers, such as pooling health insurance for teachers. I urge the citizens to get involved in their local school districts where these spending decisions are made, so that they can have some control over how school dollars are spent.

As for higher education, access remains my #1 priority. Though higher education faces a cut of $7.5 million, we will look for additional operational and administrative reductions in the chancellor’s office and campus by campus, and we will take those reductions before we resort to tuition increases.

Let me say one thing about efficiency and accountability in government. Together, we have already saved the taxpayers millions of dollars – in fact, billions, with a B – by reforming PERS, streamlining regulations and cutting jobs in government. We are consolidating computer data centers, leveraging our purchasing power to reduce procurement costs, and altering our budgeting process to focus on core priorities. Moving forward, we will continue to make progress. In the coming months, my staff and I will be working overtime to preserve essential programs, save money and prove that government can be accountable to people.

I have consistently said that I am very optimistic about Oregon’s future. Unemployment is coming down -although much too slowly. New businesses are moving to Oregon and Oregon businesses are expanding. Revenue forecasts are holding steady – or even going up a little. I think the worst is behind us. But there is a great deal of work ahead of us. I have tried very hard to set a new tone in Salem – to make it clear that this Administration will work with legislators of both parties to improve the lives of Oregon families.

I have always believed Oregon’s greatest strength is its people. We are blessed with a strong spirit and a hardy constitution. Together, we’ll create a better future for our state.”