Wednesday, March 21, 2018

Good morning to all the Drips in Dripville! It’s Wednesday, March 21, 2018, our first morning stepping into Spring, and wouldn’t ya know it, the weather’s going straight into the tank. Light rain today, high 55, followed by heavier rain tonight and tomorrow, and then a 1000 foot snow level on Friday and Saturday.  Sunrise 7:11 AM, sunset 7:24 PM.

Big news from Austin, where police say the bombings that terrorized the Texas capital are apparently over. Austin police say the bomber blew himself up in his car. The suspect is described as a 24-year old white male, no name released, and no word yet on motive.

The Blazers get a chance to start a whole new winning streak; the old one ended at 13 in a home loss to Houston.

Environmentalists are displeased to hear that Canadian oil is being shipped to Asia out of the Port of Portland. Bloomberg says oil companies are testing it as an alternative to shipping from British Columbia, where they’ve run into tribal and environmental opposition.

Aviators like to say that any landing you walk away from is a good one, and a 67-year old gentleman flying a home-built Kit Fox Super Sport executed a doozy, plowing up a stretch of beach and flipping over on Wallace Island off Clatskanie. Much better than ditching in the Columbia River. His sweet little red plane, seen on the pilot’s YouTube channel doing loops and flawless stunts, was wheels-up in wet sand against a rising tide when the Coast Guard arrived.  The pilot walked away. Whatever went wrong, he made a good landing.

It’s spring, so wild animals are prowling for love in all the wrong places, like the motel in The Dalles–where a two-year old male cougar was spotted in a room. Alone. ODFW has a strict protocol requiring that cougars which break into buildings and don’t seem to be afraid of humans be put down, and that’s what happened to this critter, just like the one in Silverton the other day.

Folks in Tualatin teamed up save-the-whales style to rescue some giant goldfish that have swum around for years in the lake at The Commons. The lake is being drained for cleaning, and these goldfish, which have grown into quite the lunkers since someone planted them, were doomed–but for the city’s effort to strain them out, and private pond-owners’ willingness to take them in.

Last night was opening night for Hamilton at the Keller. It’s close to..but not quite…sold out between now and the end of the show’s Portland run on April 8. We’ll get lots of Hamilton chatter tomorrow, because tonight is media night.

Today, as Rose Festival’s Marilyn Clint tipped us off yesterday, is National Rosie the Riveter Day, to honor the millions of women who went to work in nontraditional jobs during WWII while the guys were off at war. Together, they comprised the Greatest Generation. In celebration, the folks at Rose Festival are planting the new Rosie the Riveter rose at 11:00 am at Washington Park.

Let’s give a rosy Portland welcome to the trio of smart sophisticates who make up the Slate Political Gabfest, a weekly podcast that has informed many people including me for years. Emily Bazelon of the New York Times, John Dickerson of CBS, and David Plotz of Atlas Obscura will do their show before a sold-out Revolution Hall tonight at 7:30, and I think it drops as a podcast tomorrow.

White House aides were slapping their heads as President Trump had a conversation with Russian strongman Putin–and didn’t once bring up the nerve gas attack in Britain, the intelligence showing that Russia could cut off our power grid any time they want, or their interference in the US election. Instead, he congratulated Putin on his “election win,” which senior staff had specifically urged him not to do.  Said Republican Senator John McCain, “An American president does not lead the Free World by congratulating dictators on winning sham elections.”

Via Twitter, fittingly, a Republican Senator has threatened Trump with impeachment if he fires Robert Mueller. From Jeff Flake of Arizona: “We are begging the president not to fire the special counsel. Don’t create a constitutional crisis. Congress cannot preempt such a firing. Our only constitutional remedy is after the fact, through impeachment. No one wants that outcome. Mr. President, please don’t go there.”

Let’s see if we can bring down the BP a few mmHG:

–“This Bus Driver Stops Every Morning To Feed A Stray Hungry Dog” (Adopt the critter, pal. He already thinks you have.”

–“A puppy was trapped in a Florida storm drain with water rising. A deputy lowered another deputy into the drain by holding on to her belt, and just in the puppy was saved. She’s been nicknamed “Poncho” while they search for the owner.”

–“Doctor dressed as Chewbacca tells boy he’s getting a new heart”

–“Scottish woman keeps ‘house trained’ pet bumblebee queen and even ‘cuddles’ it.”

–“Platypus milk might save us from bacterial infections” Sounds tasty, but I’ll stick with Alpenrose 1%!

Speaking of good news…tonight’s the night of the Royal Rosarians Newsmaker of the Year banquet, which my buddy Bruce Murdock and I dress up and MC every year. It’s “Tell Me Something Good”–live and in person. Some seats still available! For us it means Spring!  It also means a very late night for your resident Drippist, so tomorrow’s news breakfast may be on the kiddie-menu side.

Let’s close with words from Tom McCall, the great Oregon governor whose birthday is tomorrow. Tom McCall said, “The interests of Oregon for today and in the future must be protected from the grasping wastrels of the land. We must respect another truism – that unlimited and unregulated growth, leads inexorably to a lowered quality of life.”

It’s the first full day of Spring! Let’s have a heightened quality of life!