LOTSA LOCKE

Spectator.org has an article on Governor Locke that was mildly amusing:

The governor of Washington State is a constitutionally weak office, and it has been made even more infirm by the increase in voter initiatives in the last two decades. I often summarize the new consensus as, We hate the legislature, and the governor had better play dead.

The normal way of things in Washington is that politicians work hard to raise fees and taxes and pass irksome regulations, and then citizens sign petitions and vote for initiatives, pulling the rug out from under said pols at the ballot box.
Boy does that sound familiar.

END OF FILM?

Well.... maybe it's only the end of Kodak:

ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- First, it was new competition. Then new technology. Now, analysts believe struggling Eastman Kodak Co. has some two to three years to find a place in the world of digital photography.

If not, the venerable pioneer of mass-market picture-taking, which grew fat in the 20th century off high-margin, silver-halide film packaged in ubiquitous yellow boxes, could begin to fade into history.

Interesting.

PHOENIX?

Sure, I try and take a nice sunny day off. But nooooo.... They keep draging me back into the Blogosphere. Taking a jab at my "Another One Bites The Dust" series, b!X writes:

another one rises from the dead instead of bites the dust?

Henry Weinhard's production hops back to Oregon
I actually noted this back when the agreement was signed, but good luck finding my post.... Blogger has no effective search apparatus and I am too tired right now to go try an advanced Google search. Point, however, is taken. I made a call for good news and this qualifies, even if I am not a huge beer drinker.

Meanwhile, speaking of b!X, go check out this piece on the ever continuing stupidity Portland is inflicting regarding murals.

This is just so dumb it's almost a waste of breath. Suburbia, knowingly lacking much of the cultural richness of the city, is busy trying to find ways to ease the rules to encourage things like murals. Hey guys, come out here by me! We need you, and we might even, gasp, appreciate your efforts!

PORTLAND CITY GRILL

I just wanted to leave a side note about this establishment. Monday afternoon I ate here, alone, for lunch. My budget may be thin, but my tastes are not, and I have always been a harsh critic, especially of those who try to exude class but only end up exuding falsity. So I went in, knowing it was a step down from Atwater's, which I had never eaten at, expecting disappointment.

I was wrong, and I am more than happy to say it. The service was pampering, the food was good, and the view and atmosphere spectacular. Billie Holliday, Ella Fitzgerald, Sinatra, Mel Torme, and etc... played softly in the dark, inviting room as I ate, and watched the blue, blue world swirl away outside.

Sure, it's probably not as fancy a menu as Atwater's had, (prices were affordable, after all,) but it is, in my estimation, a very classy place.