Pot Luck: Eugene, Oregon Edition

Well, I got to work with Gizmo and scrape pen some more today. (4.00 / 2)

I was all ready to start moving chips into the boy's round pen when Harold pointed out to me that the aforementioned wood chips were from a black walnut tree. Argh! and other bad words. You can't use black walnut around horses, there's something in the wood that causes laminitis in the hooves, also known as founder. Bad, bad, and mucho vet bills. So the boy's still wandering around on hard packed old chips and a bit of hard pan.

On the up side of things, the ground squirrels tunneling on the side of his pen dug a tunnel that is perfect for draining the low area in front of his run in shed.

Rain finally came, and an hour ago it was actually 61 out here.

Had a bit of excitement out here too  this afternoon. I had come into the house and had just finished my lunch. All of a sudden Harold comes running into the kitchen yelling that the horses were in the back yard. Apparently he had left the gate into the field open after he rolled a round bale to the back for the herd. We rushed out to find Melora, Rose, Rocky and Flash zipping around the yard and having a fine time. Check front gates and they're both closed. Whew. OMG I left the gate into the emu compound open and, oh yeah, the mares had gone to visit Mr. Studly (Gizmo). Shoo everyone back down to the arena, then hook the ropes across the gateway and Harold stationed himself so that he could funnel everyone back into the field as I drove them foreward. It was all kind of commical. The horses all parade about, heads up, tails flung out like they're saying "Hey, look at what we did!" Most excitement out here in a while.

And poor old Giz, he was all excited untill everyone went back out to the field, then it was like "Oh, well. Never mind..." I swear, he's the best stallion in the known universe.

Regarding locavores as elitists - explain to me how supporting local business is elitist....

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by: Joanne Rigutto @ Fri Nov 06, 2009 at 04:12:32 AM UTC

L.A. Car-free Sundays? (4.00 / 2)

As a regular volunteer for, and diehard supporter of, Portland Sunday Parkways, I am sending hearty cheers out LA's way for this -

A volunteer coalition of bicycle advocates, transportation experts, artists and academics, cicLAvia wants to make Sundays in Los Angeles virtually car-free -- transforming the city's streets into giant bike lanes and creating a public space that connects every neighborhood in the city.

In addition to the wonderful community gathering spaces these events create, it also sends a great message to our children - cities are first and foremost for people, not cars.

Sure, many city people own cars... but we can't forget that it is people, on bikes or foot, who make lively neighborhoods and sidewalks.

Back during 2009's Sunday Parkways event here in Southeast Portland, after my volunteer shift was over, I got the chance to stroll down Ankeny from 20th to 39th without tons of steel whizzing by, and it was at that time that I first realized how beautiful that street is and what it must have felt like to stroll through this paradise in 1910 or 1920 or 1930.

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Fri Nov 06, 2009 at 04:41:37 AM UTC

Pragmatic idea. (4.00 / 2)

They should be able to do this. Last time I wandered around L.A. downtown already seemed almost car-free on Sunday. That was 10-12 years ago, but the difference then between Sunday and the rest of the week was startling. We'd bump into an occasional movie crew, but finding a place to eat was a challenge.

The definition of "L.A." will evolve for this project, but the concept is good.

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by: count @ Fri Nov 06, 2009 at 05:49:45 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

I've ridden a bike fron the Bronx to Montauk Point. (4.00 / 2)

And that's a long long ride but I find the idea of getting from one place to another in L.A. to be heroic.

Granted my last few long bike rides have all been in L.A. but I always hugged the ocean on a bicycle path except one ride from the ocean to West Hollywood on Santa Monica Blvd. but for a valley L.A. has far too many hills for me.  

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by: Eddie C @ Fri Nov 06, 2009 at 05:55:38 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

You rode a bike on SMB?! (4.00 / 2)

I got knocked over by a car while on foot there! Ah, one of my old stomping grounds :)

We seem to be having more weekend summer street closings here. In my 'hood, a stretch of Bedford is closed on Sats during the summer (couple years running now). I think any city/town could pull it off. They may need to do it incrementally and partial, but it can def work. The one downside in my hood has been the trash. And I'm not the only one who has noticed. People come over and stroll around etc, not their 'hood, so . . .  And when I say trash, I'm talkin' way too much. They just seem to walk and drop . . .  

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by: nycstray @ Fri Nov 06, 2009 at 06:53:27 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

We have a Bedford here too (4.00 / 2)

Bedford Park that is;

The area now known as Bedford Park was mostly farmland outside the town of Kingsbridge, then an unincorporated suburb of New York City. The area began to be developed with the construction of the Jerome Park Racecourse, for thoroughbred horse racing, by Leonard Jerome and August Belmont, Sr. in 1866. Jerome Park Racecourse became the first home of the famous Belmont Stakes horse race, until 1890. To attract the wealthy to the racecourse, Leonard Jerome built what is today Jerome Avenue. In 1874 the town of Kingsbridge was officially incorporated into New York City.

In 1890, Jerome Park Racecourse was sold. Construction was started to convert it into the Jerome Park Reservoir, to store fresh water from the New Croton Aqueduct. At the same time, the neighborhood of Bedford Park was beginning to take shape. Forty "villas" (suburban houses) were built on a 23-acre (93,000 m2) stretch, in a planned community, named Villa Avenue.
The area became a part of the newly created Borough of the Bronx in 1898.

The Italian and Irish immigrants who worked on the Jerome Park Reservoir project soon anchored the community there. In 1906, 200th Street was renamed Bedford Park Boulevard, likely named after Edward Thomas Bedford, a director of Standard Oil, president of the Bank of the State of New York, who was an associate of Leonard Jerome.

Development continued with the completion of the Grand Concourse, a multilane thoroughfare, in 1914; and the extension of subway to the area with the IRT Jerome Avenue Line in 1917. The Grand Concourse saw a boom in housing construction in the post-World War I era. Much of this was from middle-class (primarily Jews, Italians, and Irish) moving from Manhattan.

I lived off Bedford Park Blvd. before moving to Riverdale.  It was where I had my community garden plot. There was also plenty of street garbage there for the same reason. Not much here in Riverdale.  

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by: Eddie C @ Fri Nov 06, 2009 at 13:27:02 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

That's a shame... (4.00 / 1)

the garbage thing.  People like that ruin it for everybody else.  Maybe take pictures when you see someone do it, and blow 'em up into posters?  Stick 'em on telephone poles and stuff.  LITTERER!

:)

We don't have a problem with that here, I think it's a bit of a cultural thing, maybe?  I've never seen anyone here just randomly and carelessly toss trash on the ground, whereas back in Jersey I used to see people do it regularly.  

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Fri Nov 06, 2009 at 22:10:45 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Has anyone been following the progress of H1N1 and its colonization (4.00 / 3)

of us? I just saw a report on the news that it's estimated that as much as 70% of influenza cases world wide are H1N1 now. That's phenominal considering that the bug was only discovered last spring. It's also fascinating how fast it's traveled around the world.

While I understand that the seasonal flu season hasn't really gotten underway in ernest in the northern hemisphere, the southern hemisphere is about over or has just gotten over theirs, it's interesting that H1N1 is taking over and dominating so early up here.

I had read something in a Promed posting about the possibility of H1N1 coinfecting hosts with H5N1 and that the H1N1 had outcompeted the H5N1 virus. I don't think that was ultimately confirmed, but I wonder if the prevailance of the virus is due to it's getting an early start because being a novel virus our immune systems are naive to it, or if it's actually a stronger strain than the seasonal varieties. It's going to be interesting to see what happens when the seasonal flu season is in full swing in the northern hemisphere.

Regarding locavores as elitists - explain to me how supporting local business is elitist....

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by: Joanne Rigutto @ Fri Nov 06, 2009 at 13:54:13 PM UTC

very interesting (4.00 / 2)

my question is: how do you know you've got H1N1. I wish swine flu came w/ a symptom like oinking so you'd know if you had it. I've been hit with a nasty cold lately. My bf suggested maybe it was swine flu. I dunno. I felt like shit and now I'm feeling better. I assume it was a regular cold that was just really, really unpleasant.

"I can understand someone from Iowa promoting corn and soy, but we are not feeding the world, we are feeding animals and soft drink companies." - Jim Goodman

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by: Jill Richardson @ Fri Nov 06, 2009 at 16:18:06 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Without a test you really don't have any way of knowing. (4.00 / 2)

In the off season, people with flu like symptoms were presumed to have H1N1 as that was more likely than for them to have one of the seasonal strains.

I think one of the indicators that a person might have H1N1 is that the thing has a tendancy to set up shop deeper down in the lungs than the regular flu strains. Harold came home with some nasty bug last July after spending several days down at the Firemens' reunion in S. Oregon. I suspicsioned that it was H1N1, as it was very deep in his lungs, lasted for a couple of weeks, and almost sent him to the hospital, but without a test, there's really no way to know. What ever it was, I was exposed to it about as heavily as you can be without having my lungs directly innoculated. I didn't suffer even a single sniffle, and since I've had a couple different times when I felt like I was coming down with some respiratory bug, but that's only lasted for a day or so each time and both times the symptoms were very mild. I'm still on the fence as to whether I'll get vaccinated either for H1N1 or the seasonal flu.

Regarding locavores as elitists - explain to me how supporting local business is elitist....

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by: Joanne Rigutto @ Fri Nov 06, 2009 at 17:12:22 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

On the fence. (4.00 / 1)

Me too. I've never had a flu shot, but I haven't had flu since probably sometime in the 1960's. My bad habits protect me, apparently. I'm leaning to taking my chances again.

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by: count @ Fri Nov 06, 2009 at 19:34:21 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Hey, thanks for that above... :) (4.00 / 1)

I deleted it, so your reply went with it.  I gave up on banning Payday Loan Troll long ago, they just come back with a new name the next night.  I just delete their comments on sight now, instead...

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Fri Nov 06, 2009 at 22:14:44 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

"Oinking", lol... (0.00 / 0)

Would be interesting days in the doctor's office, indeed...

:)

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Fri Nov 06, 2009 at 22:16:15 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Hi, this is my first post here/ Raw Milk ? (4.00 / 2)

I have lurked a long time but finally registered because I'd like some help with my raw milk question if anyone knows.

I'm buying raw milk from a big "O" dairy farmer with a state permit. It comes in glass bottles with cream on top. Does anyone know how I separate it to make half & half (aka light cream, I think) for coffee while leaving a not quite whole milk for cereals, etc?

Do I combine by weight? By measurement?

Any help appreciated. : )

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by: pax @ Fri Nov 06, 2009 at 16:18:48 PM UTC

Half and half is (4.00 / 1)

Half and half. That is to say, it is like half whole milk and half light cream (table cream). I would shake the bottle and pour out some whole milk. Let the rest of the milk in the bottle settle, remove the cream, and mix it with an equal volume of whole milk. Weight or volume would be OK.

My question would be, how would one know how long to settle before removing the cream? In the store, we can buy table cream, light whipping cream, or heavy whipping cream. If the cream settles a long time, I suppose you would get whipping cream?

I think, don't be too persnickety about this, if close is good enough for you.

Half and half would be 10-12% milk fat by weight, just as a point of useless information.

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by: count @ Fri Nov 06, 2009 at 16:51:28 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Welcome aboard! nt (4.00 / 1)

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by: count @ Fri Nov 06, 2009 at 16:53:21 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

thank you kindly (4.00 / 2)

Yeah, I'm not going to get too persnickety. It's dairy, not brain surgery.  : )

I'm just all excited about finally finding a safe local source. Whoo hooo!

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by: pax @ Sat Nov 07, 2009 at 17:27:42 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Kratovil on health care (4.00 / 1)

Blue Dog Frank Kratovil, Jimmy Perdue's congressman, said just a couple of days ago that he wanted as much time as possible to thoroughly consider whether he would support the health care reform bill. With a House vote possible this weekend, Mr. Kratovil leaped off the fence. From the Baltimore Sun,

Kratovil announces opposition to health care legislation

Freshman Rep. Frank Kratovil, facing one of the toughest re-election fights in the country next year, announced Friday that he opposes the measure. His stance could complicate efforts by Democratic leaders to secure approval of the legislation this weekend.

"After months of thoroughly reviewing legislative proposals and speaking with constituents and stakeholders, I am not satisfied that this bill before us is a sustainable solution," Kratovil said in a statement released by his office. "While I applaud the efforts to improve this bill, I still am concerned that this bill does not do enough to bend the long-term cost curve and that it lacks adequate provisions to reduce the deficit and protect small businesses."

I agree with his conclusions. Providing health care shouldn't be on the backs of employers, insurance bills won't be sufficiently reduced without a robust public option open to all, and subsidized mandates only enrich insurance companies. Obama's hope for a 0.1% reduction in the rate of increase in health care costs is nauseatingly weak and timid. If I had a magic wand...

Kratovil is trying to preclude another contest with a Club for Growth opponent.

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by: count @ Fri Nov 06, 2009 at 19:48:39 PM UTC

Sandlin rejects HC bill (4.00 / 1)

Blue dog Stephanie Sandlin joins the retrograde parade.

House Dems say Sat. vote on health care may slip
By ERICA WERNER and RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, Associated Press Writers - 27 mins ago

A moderate Democrat, South Dakota Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, announced Friday she would not vote for the House bill - but held out the possibility she could support final passage of the legislation, after compromises with the Senate. Sandlin said she fears the House bill could diminish access to health care in her state.

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by: count @ Fri Nov 06, 2009 at 21:35:46 PM UTC

I still think... (4.00 / 1)

my solution is a pretty good idea - no more health care for Congresscritters until every single American has coverage.  I'm paying for theirs right now, while I have none myself.  Wtf?

What should they be worried about, anyways?  They can always go find a clinic, or visit an emergency room, right?

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Fri Nov 06, 2009 at 22:22:49 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

This is what we get (4.00 / 1)

when congresscritters are more concerned about getting re-elected than doing the right thing. Congrssionals are not elected for the purpose of getting re-elected.

Well, actually, I guess maybe they are elected for the purpose of getting re-elected. Party organizations at all levels of both parties seem to think so.

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by: count @ Fri Nov 06, 2009 at 23:03:41 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

And the funny thing... (4.00 / 1)

is that even when Democrats in conservative districts do play Republican-lite?  They still get attacked viciously by Club-for-Growthers and the far-right Republican organization in their areas.

You think they'd realize that by now, but apparently not.  They keep running head-first into the same walls, somehow expecting a different outcome next time...

How did these idiots even get this far into elective politics to begin with?  You can't 'appease' a hungry alligator with a handful of popcorn.

It's a simple equation - when the choice is two Republicans, voters will choose the real Republican every time.  Or okay, maybe 999 times out of 1000.  That explains the Herseth-Sandlins of the world.  I'm thinking Kratovil is a one-and-done guy myself, though...

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Fri Nov 06, 2009 at 23:16:23 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Kratovil (4.00 / 1)

I don't know about Kratovil's future. You're right, conservatives will come after him hard. His Republican predecessor (Wayne Gilchrist) was a moderate and popular in the district. He could have won the general election, I think, but he was more popular in the district as a whole than among Republican primary voters.

Hard to say. MD-01 is a funny district.

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by: count @ Fri Nov 06, 2009 at 23:34:51 PM UTC

[ Parent ]