Man Who Inspired 'Rain Man' Dies At 58

Kim Peek may have been the world's most famous savant. Dustin Hoffman portrayed a character based on Peek in the 1988 film Rain Man, which triggered hundreds of news stories and documentaries about the man with "islands of remarkable abilities in a sea of disabilities," as scientists described him.

What's next?

I'm saddened that a school in Ashland took down a "giving tree" after parents complained, citing symbolism of a Christian holiday.
 
The school didn't give it the dreaded title of "Christmas tree" ..it was called a "giving tree" because it included holiday wish lists from needy children.  

Merry Christmas. Here is the story.

Black Friday cometh... Tips for you

Links mentioned in the story: www.bfads.net  www.BlackFriday.info  
www.dealtaker. com   www.dealnews.com

Nash breakin 'em down

Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash (13) dribbles around Washington Wizards
center Andray Blatche (7) during the second half of an NBA basketball
game, Sunday in Washington. The Suns won 102-90. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Phoenix Suns Steve Nash: Training Day

An all time favorite, a legend, an artist.

Suns move to 4-0 and Amare lays down the hammer

October 28th

Yessir, its my birthday today.

At the risk of sounding like an ego maniac, I was curious about the historical significance of the day, month and year I was born. I'm a bit of a research junkie, and a quick Wikipedia search revealed some pretty interesting stuff:

Events of 1975

• January – Altair 8800 is released, sparking the era of the microcomputer.
• January – Volkswagen introduces the Golf, its new front-wheel-drive economy car, in the United States and Canada as the Volkswagen Rabbit. 
• March 10 – The Rocky Horror Show opens on Broadway in New York City with 4 performances. 
• April 9 – Asia's first professional basketball league, the Philippine Basketball Association, plays its first game at the Araneta Coliseum. 
• April 30 – Vietnam War: The Fall of Saigon: The Vietnam War ends as Communist forces take Saigon, resulting in mass evacuations of Americans and South Vietnamese. As the capital is taken, South Vietnam surrenders unconditionally.
• July 17 – Apollo-Soyuz Test Project: An American Apollo and Soviet Soyuz spacecraft dock in orbit, marking the first such link-up between spacecraft from the 2 nations.
• July 31 – In Detroit, Michigan, Teamsters Union president Jimmy Hoffa is reported missing. 
• August 20 – Viking program: NASA launches the Viking 1 planetary probe toward Mars. 
• September 5 – In Sacramento, California, Lynette Fromme, a follower of jailed cult leader Charles Manson, attempts to assassinate U.S. President Gerald Ford, but is thwarted by a Secret Service agent. 
• September 30 – The Hughes Helicopters (later McDonnell-Douglas, now Boeing IDS) AH-64 Apache makes its first flight. 
• October 1 – Thrilla in Manila: Muhammad Ali defeats Joe Frazier in a boxing match in Manila, Philippines. 
• October 11 – NBC airs the first episode of Saturday Night Live (George Carlin is the first host; Billy Preston and Janis Ian the first musical guests).
• October 21 – 1975 World Series: The Boston Red Sox defeat the Cincinnati Reds in Game Six off Carlton Fisk's twelvth inning home run to cap off what many consider to be the best World Series game ever played.
• October 22 The Reds defeat the Red Sox four games to three in a broadcast that breaks records for a televised sporting event.

Fictional Events of 1975

• March 12 – Wrongly convicted murderer Andrew Dufresne escapes from Shawshank State Prison.

Events of October 28th 

• 1538 – The first university in the New World, the Universidad Santo Tomás de Aquino, is established. 
• 1636 – A vote of the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony establishes the first college in what would become the United States, today known as Harvard University.  
• 1848 – The first railroad in Spain – between Barcelona and Mataró – is opened.  
• 1885 – First porcelain toilet was built 
• 1886 – In New York Harbor, President Grover Cleveland dedicates the Statue of Liberty.
• 1962 – President John F. Kennedy and the United Nations Secretary reached an agreement with the Soviets, ending the Cuban Missle Crisis. 
• 2007 – Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner becomes the first woman elected President of Argentina.

Births

• 1949 – Bruce Jenner, American athlete
• 1955 – Bill Gates, American software executive 
• 1967 – Julia Roberts, American actress
• 1967 – John Romero, American video game designer 
• 1974 – Joaquin Phoenix, Puerto Rican actor

A look back at Dave on House

Anyone see a connection to "Project Blackbriar" from The "Jason Bourne" movies?

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The CIA in 2004 hired contractors from the private security firm Blackwater USA as part of a secret program to track and assassinate senior al Qaeda figures, the New York Times reported on Wednesday.

The House of Representatives Intelligence Committee is investigating why lawmakers were never informed about the program, the report said.

See my reference to Jason Bourne from 2004.

Rock steady Mac

PC World - Asus and Apple were the most reliable PC vendors in the U.S. during the second quarter this year, according to a survey released by Rescuecom on Tuesday.

Blinded Veterans Paddle the Willamette River

Obama's speech to Veterans of Foreign Wars in Phoenix today

Read the official transcript by clicking HERE

Griffey in the 14th

Pinch-hitter Ken Griffey Jr. lined a single off the right-field wall with two outs in the bottom of the 14th to give Seattle a 1-0 victory against the Chicago White Sox Wednesday night. The run end the longest scoreless game in the team's 33-year history.

Universal health care now a reality for Oregon children

Universal health care now a reality for Oregon children

Oregon now among 11 other states insuring all kids

06:00 PM PDT on Tuesday, August 4, 2009

By Kgw.com and AP Staff PORTLAND, Ore. -- Gov. Ted Kulongoski signed into law Tuesday a bill that expands state health care access to nearly every child in Oregon.
Kulongoski called the legislation historic.
"We will at long last bring health care to every Oregon child," he said at a signing ceremony at Doernbecher Children's Hospital. "Oregonians cannot afford for us to stand by and wait and do nothing."
The bill expands state coverage to an additional 80,000 uninsured children and 35,000 low-income adults. To pay for the expansion, the state is relying on a combination of taxes on hospitals and insurers.
The expansion is by far the biggest in the nation during these economic times

Bill Gittin' It Done

AFP Reports: Former president Clinton arrived in North Korea on Tuesday on a surprise mission to free two jailed US journalists, in what was the highest-profile visit by an American to Pyongyang for nearly a decade.

Barkley hits the green

Summer 2009

Click on an image to see it individually, and to see the whole album. Or use the arrows that will appear below the image.

Remembering Arlington

Hello, Hedo!

Hedo Turkoglu has reached an agreement in principle to join the Portland Trail Blazers, according to ESPN.

UPDATE:
Free agent forward Hedo Turkoglu changed his mind Friday and decided not to join the Portland Trail Blazers, opting instead to accept a five-year $53 million offer from the Toronto Raptors, sources told ESPN.com.

The decision left the Blazers livid and was a huge coup for the Raptors, who have promised Turkoglu all of the salary-cap space they will have from renouncing their rights to Shawn Marion, Anthony Parker and Carlos Delfino, which will likely add up to a starting salary in the $10.1 million range, with eight percent annual raises.

Oh... THATS where that was.

Darth Thriller

Their obviously have been countless tributes to Michael Jackson since his death. This may be one you haven't seen yet thats worth a look.

Lebron picks up a Shaq Diesel from Phoenix

So long, Shaq. You'll be missed by this Suns fan.

Watch highlights from the press conference

Nash covers the NBA Finals

The dream closet

We dont see many storms round these parts

Thunderstorms in Portland are rare, and they get A LOT of attention. I do love me some t-storms.

Storm rolls through Portland and Willamette Valley

What do you mean no juice!?!?

AP - An Oregon man spent Memorial Day in jail after dialing 911 to
complain that a McDonald's worker was rude and didn't give him an
orange juice he ordered. Raibin Osman was accused of improper use of
the emergency telephone number.

Phoenix music program lifts up kids

Vets for Vets

Welcome home, Scout.

Roxy: nose to nose

Roxy: The puppy who doesnt care how small she is.

Fun with Steve Nash

EAT THE HEAD!

Man Calls 911 After Eatery Runs Out Of Lemonade

(AP)  Authorities said a Florida man, 66, was arrested after calling
911 recently to complain that a fast food restaurant ran out of
lemonade. After a drive-through employee failed to respond to the
man's threat of contacting the police, the irate diner called 911, a
police report alleges.

He spent about 5 minutes talking to the 911 operator about his complaint.

Boynton Beach said the man was charged with abuse of 911 communication.

Your Dad named you WHAT?

AP - An Oregon man says people usually think he's joking when he introduces himself as Rip Van Winkle. But that's the name on his birth certificate. Really. Van Winkle told the Corvallis Gazette Times that his father and grandfather were nicknamed Rip, but his dad made things official for his son, figuring the nickname would eventually stick to him too.

Online records: Survey finds many states lagging

Americans can easily learn about their state songs and state flowers with a quick search on the Internet, but most will have a harder time checking whether their children's school buses are safe or a local gas station is charging too much.

The surveys were conducted by newspaper and broadcast journalists, journalism students, state press associations, and reporters and editors from The Associated Press.

"This is the first comprehensive survey of its kind," said ASNE FOI Committee co-chair Andy Alexander. "It tells us that many states understand that digitizing public records is key to open government in the 21st century. But it also tells us that, with a few exceptions, states have a long way to go before they become truly transparent.

Steve Martin funds theater production amid an Oregon high school controversy

Martin to Ore. troupe: Show will go on, on my dime

LA GRANDE, Ore. (AP) — Steve Martin has offered to pay for an off-campus production of his play "Picasso at the Lapin Agile," which was banned from a high school because parents objected to what they called adult content.
The actor and comedian said in a letter to a newspaper that he wants to keep the play, conducted in other high schools without controversy, "from acquiring a reputation it does not deserve."
The 1993 play imagines a meeting between Pablo Picasso and Albert Einstein in a Paris bar as they are on the verge of great achievements in painting and physics.
It is aimed at explaining "the similarity of the creative process involved in great leaps of imagination in art and science," Martin said in the letter published Friday in The La Grande Observer.
He said he disagreed strongly with local characterizations of the play as having to do with "people drinking in bars, and treating women as sex objects."

Portland St. wins Big Sky

OGDEN, Utah (AP) — Julius Thomas got free for a tie-breaking dunk with 3.5 seconds left and Portland State held on for a 79-77 win over Montana State on Wednesday night in the Big Sky Conference tournament championship game.

The Vikings repeated as conference champions and clinched their second consecutive NCAA tournament berth.

North and South

Hi everybody-
This story came out just before midnight Sunday night/Monday morning.

I'm intimately familiar with every detail discussed in this story, and wanted to share it with you to ask that we all keep the region and its people in our thoughts and prayers.

I copied and pasted the story from the AP below.
********************************************************************************
SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea put its armed forces on standby for war Monday and threatened retaliation against anyone seeking to stop the regime from launching a satellite into space in the latest barrage of threats from the communist regime.

The warning came as U.S. and South Korean troops kicked off their annual war games across the South, exercises the North has condemned as preparation for an invasion. Pyongyang last week threatened danger to South Korean passenger planes flying near its airspace during the drills.

N.Y. Philharmonic plays concert in North Korea

Musicians get standing ovation
The Associated Press
Tues., Feb. 26, 2008

PYONGYANG, North Korea - The New York Philharmonic performed “The Star-Spangled Banner” and North Korea’s anthem for Pyongyang’s communist elite Tuesday — a historic feat of musical diplomacy aimed at improving ties with the isolated nuclear power that considers the U.S. its mortal enemy.

The Philharmonic is the first major American cultural group to perform in the country and the largest delegation from the United States to visit its longtime foe.

The unprecedented concert, shown live on television inside North Korea, represents a warming in relations between the nations that remain technically at war and locked in negotiations over Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programs.

Kim Cheol-woong, a North Korean pianist who defected to South Korea in 2002 because of the lack of musical freedom, said last week that regular citizens in the North were prohibited from listening to or playing foreign music produced after 1900.

Half-court shot at buzzer lifts Nets past 76ers

LEO!!

Phoenix Suns guard Leandro Barbosa scored a career high 41 points tonight in a 140-118 Phoenix win.

The game also marked the Suns third straight game scoring at least 140 points, which has not been done by any team in over 18 years.

(AP Photo/Paul Connors)

Totally unfair

Things were finally looking up for the Suns and then... a poke in the eye ends the season of a critical player and one of the NBA's best: Amare Stoudemire

Nate dunks over Biff on Letterman

Watch by clicking
HERE

A welcome sight, Suns fly to 140 in win

Soldier suicides exceed combat deaths

Feb. 6: The fight to save soldiers' lives has moved away from front lines as a shocking rise in military suicides has prompted U.S. Army officials to step up suicide prevention efforts. NBC's Ron Mott reports. (Nightly News)

1,000

In July 2004 this little blog came on the scene and has posted 999 stories, thoughts, images and ideas.

This is post 1000. (Google automatically tracks them, I didnt count one by one.)

To the loyal fans of the blog... all two of you... thanks for reading and your support over the years.