Friday, September 13, 2019

Very superstitious,
Writing’s on the wall,
Very superstitious,
Ladders bout’ to fall

Does this feel weird? It’s Friday the thirteenth, and we have a Full Moon—a cosmic/calendar coincidence that hasn’t happened in thirteen years and won’t for another 30. And it’s a Micro Moon, the dusty orb’s farthest point from the earth. So let’s carry on and expect good things, from this Friday, September 13, 2019! The day should be sunny except for a shower leftover from overnight rain, and highs of 70. Saturday is cloudy and 75; Sunday shows plain old rain. We officially topped at 83 yesterday, and could that be the last 80-plus of the year? Hope not. But could be. Sunrise 6:46 AM, sunset 7:25 PM. And moonrise? That smallish ball will peep orange over the shoulder of Mt. Hood at 7:44, and bleach bone-white as it sails the path toward moonset at 7:04 tomorrow morning.

Recall the Portland Police Lieutenant who drew grief for texting chummily with the Patriot Prayer boys during our notorious right-left rumbles? Lt Jeff Niiya has been exonerated by an Independent Police Review investigation and praised by the Mayor for doing his job: gathering information and sharing it with police commanders, trying to keep the peace. Ted Wheeler initially called the texts “disturbing” and “crossing several boundaries,” but Lt. Niiya explained the friendly tone of his texts, while being griddled by investigators with his job on the line, in blunt terms: “You don’t get cooperation by being an a-hole to people. Do I condone the actions of the group? Absolutely not.”

By the way, Chief Danielle Outlaw scorned the media for “narrowly tailored” public records requests for texts and emails, saying that the narrowness of the records lacked the vital context. But one of the reporters who did the initial story, Katie Shepherd, replies via Twitter, “That is kind of jarring considering the Bureau’s records division has asked me to narrow many requests I have made. The Bureau charges huge fees for broad requests.” Public records are public records. They should be free to the public.

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I listened to the gun violence portion of the Democratic presidential debate last night, and the sound bite coverage this morning, but not having three hours to devote to it on a school night, the debate is in my video queue for weekend. I did see the part where Beto O’Rourke said, “Hell yes, I’m coming for your AR 15,” and this morning he says he’s getting death threats for it, beginning with a Texas State Representative who tweeted, “My AR 15 is ready for you, Robert Francis.” If you have comments on what you saw/heard, bring it on!

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Say, look who’s back! Portlandia! Our famous copper statue has been hidden by a shroud for months while workers rebuild the lemony Portland building. But the shroud was pulled yesterday morning, and she’s back, and really shiny after a deep clean.

The annual swirl of Vaux Swifts should be nearing its peak at Chapman School in NW…they counted 5,160 birds on Tuesday night…the average peak is around September 20, but anytime should be good! (Park at Montgomery Park..the streets packed). And I know there are other Swifts viewing spots too. Share, please!

The Montana Grizzlies visit the Ducks on Saturday night…Cal Poly’s at the Beavers at 1:15 PM…Hawaii’s at Husky Stadium at 4:30..and the Cougs are at Houston tonight. And Portland State, which hung 70 on a lesser opponent last week, will try to avoid getting a taste of its own against #24 Boise State.

This is the weekend of Rose City Comic Con at the Oregon Convention Center. which calls itself Portland’s premier pop-culture event! In town for photo ops and autographs are Cary Elwes, hero of “The Princess Bride” (Buttercup: “We’ll never survive!” Westley: “Nonsense, you’re only saying that because no one ever has!”) …along with Weird Al Yankovich, his second time in Portland in a month…Lou Ferrigno…Pauly Shore…and..um…a whole bunch of celebrities your kids have heard of.

Mark Knopfler, the Sultan of Swing himself, still Wanting his MTV, still doing the Walk of Life…plays at the Keller Auditorium tonight. Hey, he did the beautiful soundtrack to The Princess Bride! I wonder if he and Cary Elwes will connect while they’re in town?

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Let’s try the Tell Me Something Good thing again. Yesterday all the links in the Coffee Cup were dead ends, though they were fine when I posted them. And this morning, the first two links are dead, while the others are good. I don’t have time for this!

–“A young cancer survivor gets a wonderful surprise”

–“Mets Win Emotional 9/11 Tribute Game With 9 Runs on 11 Hits”

–“After Porcupine is Rejected By His Mother, Wiener Dog Steps in to Be His Best Friend”

–“This therapy dog is helping firefighters take care of their mental health”

–“JK Rowling donates £15.3m to the University of Edinburgh for MS research”

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Everybody have a safe and lucky and kind and nonsuperstitious day. A rocky start for me, given the links hassle. By the way, has anyone seen a woolly bear yet? I’ve seen just one…and he was puny indeed, trying to cross my road. What could this portend?