Greater Loss of Gains

The Album to 8-Track to Cassette to CD to Digital Download.

The Film to VHS to Laserdisc to DVD to Digital Download.

The Story Telling to Books to Digital Download.

The Painting to Film to Digital Print.

The Conversation to Letters to Phone Calls to E-Mail to Texting.

Plastics? Not anymore. The future? Is not seen, felt, and will not sit on your shelf for use. The future will get smaller and smaller. Album covers? No more. Movie posters? No more. The back of a book cover? No more. A Kodachrome print? No more. Social interaction? I have hope, but so much doubt. Plastics? No. You got it all wrong Mr. McGuire. The future is not plastics. It's made up of little tiny circuits and wires. So tiny most of us don't even know what they look like, yet they will hold everything. And when I say everything... I'm scared to mean everything.

A Couple Giggles Worth Noting

I know that Alzheimer's disease is nothing to laugh at, but sometimes you just have to laugh at things. While spending time with my family on Christmas Eve I received a text from a friend who was at his in-laws for the evening. The father in-law, sadly, has been stricken with Alzheimer's. Apparently the whole family was sitting around the table playing a game that involved drawing numbers. Somebody called out the number five. The table went silent except for the sounds of somebody aggressively chewing. They looked over toward the father who was busy chomping away at what used to be the number five.

Yesterday I went to lunch with my parents. I saw that mom needed to blow her nose as she had a bat sleeping in the bat cave. For whatever reason I didn't mention it to her right away. Finally, our food came. My big bowl of Pho looked great. I added all the sauces and veggies to make it perfect. I figured I should let mom know about her nose. She grabbed a napkin and gave a mighty blow, releasing the little booger. It bounced off the napkin back to her upper lip, and it then shot out into the open. It arced across the table and landed right into my Pho. I let out a little noise of disgust and disbelief. Mom began laughing not quite sure what had just happened, but by the look on my face knew something funny had just gone down. Upon my confirmation of the Greg Louganis like entry into my soup mom completely lost it. She laughed so hard I thought her head was going to pop off. Once the table regained control of itself I went into debate with dad who could not understand why I did not want to finish my bowl of Boo Gie Pho. My biggest concern was how to explain to the waiter why I did not want to finish my bowl of Pho. It had nothing to do with the cook, but I also didn't want to further embarrass my mom. I suggested we just go to the counter to pay to avoid any further issue with the booger.

Later that evening I was in the bedding aisles at Target seeking out the perfect sheets for my new bed. I passed an aisle and saw a young man in his twenties speaking to what looked like his girlfriend. The young man was holding a packaged set of bedding when I heard the following come from his mouth, "I used to have these until my dad took them away from me because he said they smelled like tongue." It began to boggle my mind, but I then decided to just let it go as there was no way my brain could ever make sense of that comment.

2010 Tops

These are a few of my favorite things. No arguing required. It's just opinion. And hey, it's not like I've seen every movie or heard every album. This is just what I know.

MUSIC:

She & Him - Volume 2 ~ Portland guy M Ward teams up with Zooey Deschanel (yes, the actress) for some simple pleasantries.

Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings - I Learned The Hard Way ~ More old school funk and soul. It doesn't get any better than this, I'm talking to you everybody in Billboards top 100.

Gogol Bordello - Trans-Continental Hustle ~ I'm somewhat convinced that this Gypsy Punk outfit cannot put out anything bad.

The New Pornographers - Together ~ These days, nobody pulls off Pop Rock more consistently than these guys and gals.

Band of Horses - Infinite Arms ~ Even if everything other than the single Laredo sounded like my dog cleaning himself, this album would still be on this list. But they don't.

John Mellencamp - No Better Than This ~ I've never been a huge fan of Cougarmellon, but this release leaves me in awe.

MOVIES:

Toy Story 3 - Yes, it's as good as 1 and 2. Who knew?

She's Out Of My League - Maybe I just related to this one too much.

Greenberg - Ben Stiller going a whole new direction... that works.

Hot Tub Time Machine - Nothing made me laugh more this year.

Kick Ass - Yes, it is.

Harry Brown - A feel good movie where an old guy kills a bunch of punk kids.

Babies - Look, I don't even have kids and I liked this movie.

The Karate Kid - Yeah, I said it.

Winnebago Man - Best documentary of the year about an old angry guy.

Jackass 3D - My guilty pleasure. However, less penis next time please.

TELEVISION:

Raising Hope - From the creators of My Name Is Earl.

Community - Some of the most thought out story lines.

The Walking Dead - Zombies done right.

The Office - I don't know if this will ever go bad.

30 Rock - Sometimes you just have to think to get it.

Mike & Molly - Fat love.

Rules Of Engagement - Perhaps more consistent laughs than anything else on tv.

Conan - He's back and he's still king of late night.

South Park - It never gets old.

Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations - Sure, he's getting older and more sophisticated, but he still has the best job in America.

CBS News Sunday Morning - The only news telling you about the good stuff.

The Daily Show - The only show telling the truth.

Whale Wars - I will watch anything that promotes interfering with savages.

Louie - FINALLY! Truth in a sitcom.

BEER: My list of what to drink if it's ever on tap. (Not including the super limited high end stuff)

Deschutes - Black Butte Porter ~ The best Porter on the market.

Deschutes - Jubelale ~ The best standard winter seasonal available. And 2010 is their best year yet.

Bridgeport - Hop Czar - A great Imperial IPA from one of Portland's first.

Rogue - Dead Guy Ale ~ Their flagship beer.

Double Mountain - Kolsch ~ Simply fantastic. My favorite beer to drink in the summer.

Lagunitas - Brown Shugga' ~ Their winter release. Good things come from accidents.

Lagunitas - Little Sumpin' Wild, Little Sumpin' Sumpin', and Undercover Investigator Shut Down ~ Any of these are fantastic, in the bottle or on tap.

New Old Lompoc - Centennial IPA ~ Sure C-Note is fantastic, but I recently discovered their basic IPA is top notch.

Widmer - Deadlift IPA ~ Another Imperial IPA that knocks my socks off.

Ninkasi - Tricerahops Double IPA ~ Perhaps my favorite beer of all time.

BREWERIES: Where I spend most of my time

Hopworks Urban Brewery (HUB) - Great environment, nice staff, decent food, and consistently good beers.

The New Old Lompoc - Basically my second home.

Rogue Distillery & Public House - The food is as good as the beer and the beer is outstanding.

Deschutes Brewery - Their seasonals are off the charts delicious. The food is good enough to be considered fancy. And the room is gorgeous.

Columbia River Brewing Company - My new friends. Can't wait to see where this place goes. One of Portland's newest.

Holiday Letter 2010

Holiday Letter 2010

Hullo-

Wuns uhgin I hav cunvinsd feedr tu let me rite this yeerz hawliday ledr. Az alwayez it tuke sum cunvinseeng butt hee finelee sed yes. Butt hee sed ownly if I uhgree tu lern how tu uze the ledr kombinashun uv “t” and “h”. So, now I no how tu spel “the” and uthr werds lyke that.

Aneewayz, 2010 wuz uh gude yeer fore mee. Skwirl wer evreewair. I skaird lotz uv kiteez hu tride tu wok on mi grasss. I went tu the beech uh cupl uv tymes. Butt I kan awlso tel that I am geteeng owldr. I slip uhlot wen I tri tu run fast on the slipree flore. I coff. And wen I luke at the shynee wol I can see awl theez grae harez on mi fays.

Ive startd uh nu hobbee and folloe feedr arownd evreeware, evun wen heez in the showr. I just stand thare and stair at him wile hee getz awl wet. Hee opinz the plastic and sez, “wut?” I just stair. Ive awlso bin diggeeng uhlot this yeer. It may have bin a rekord yeer for holez.

This haz awlso bin uh yeer fore mee getteeng yeld at uhlot. I donet no wi butt I luv tu pee on the frij. Won nite I awlso jumpd up awn feedrz bed wile hee wuz sleepeeng. Wen I nu hee wuz uhsleep I jumpd down and peed on hiz dore. Hee woke up and reelee yeld at mee uhlot. Wutz hiz problim? So now I alwaze hav uh caje arownd mee win feedr leevs or sleepz. He awlso putz a medal skreene awn the cowch cuz I lurnd how tu dig stufeeng owt uv uh kushun and wont stop deweeng it. Itz lyke snow day!

If aneewon tokz tu feedr pleez remind him that mi favrit thang iz haveeng mi fays rubbed. LUV IT.

Feedr seemz tu bee deweeng prity gude. He keepz makeeng stuf kawld beere. Hee uzed tu dreenk it awl the tyme and now hee makez it. Hee awlso playz this big pees uv wude with medal streengs on it. Itz reel noyzee. Thare havnt bin anee uv thowz prity feedrz arownd the hows much this yeer. I lyke them. Thay pet mee uhlot and feedr seemz tu lyke them tu. I wundr wutz up with that?

Feedr haz had frenz ovr. Won uv the prity wonz evun kame and stade with us fore uh wile. Shee brot uh litl prity won with hur. Thare namez wur anjee and elluh. Thay were reel fun. Rik comez ovr uhlot. Ive nevr seen sumbudee whu woblz az much az him. Won nite feedr had uh hole bunch uv peepl over. Thare wer uhlot of prity wonz. Thay drank litl beerez and tokd abowt it awl nite.

Uzr than that feedr duznt du much. Hee keepz rambleeng awn and awn abowt riting but duznt seeme tu git awf hiz buttt and du it.

O, I shude menshun ime now on faysbuke. I rite on thare uhlot. Sae hi and lyke me! Yu kan fined mee at…

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Radio/161035633922196

Hapee hawlidaze,

Raydeeo

& Sean