Blazers Nostalgia: Old School Z100 Jamz

Courtesy of Andrew comes a link to fondly recalled days of yore. It has nothing to do with New Zealand, but the Blazers have been a theme in these pages, and this classic video needs a home here. (I'll have an NZ-relevant post soon to compensate for my Blazers obession.)

Hobbes, Censorship, Kiwis, and Teaching

So I'm teaching political philosophy right now, and we just finished a unit on Hobbes, who is famous for trying to justify an extremely totalitarian state. One of the elements of the totalitarianism is that the sovereign has total rights of censorship (that's supposed to keep the peace!). When I used to give these lectures in the US, the students got a kick out of that. Here they take it more seriously.

After all, we have a state censor here in NZ. You get the usual areas of concern being censored, which I guess isn't too surprising, but the whole thing freaks me out a little bit. The worst part is that during the daytime, movies with the equivalent of an American R-rating are banned from TV. That's right--I pay for movie channels, and I can't see the movies I'm paying for. For example, last Saturday Monster was showing, but I couldn't watch it. It's not a parental control thing, although it is aimed at kids, because I have no choice but for my cable box to ban it.

One last swing through Oregon and California

Last post on the trip back to the States, then it'll be a return down unda here on JIINZ...

If you like golf, go to Bandon Dunes. End of story. Ridiculously good golf, and a nice place to stay. Here's a pic from there during the trip Andrew, my dad, and I took. My smile is explained by the fact that while I had 27 pretty bad holes, I managed to pull off my best 9 ever: 41 on the back nine at the Dunes course (two pars and two birdies, unbelievably). Plus you get to go by a National something-or-other where there's an Elk Preserve. And it's a great stretch of coast.

The other photo doesn't feature any amazing destinations or anything. But it is of Steven, Angie, Marty, Julie, and Jordan at a post-Pride barbeque at Guilly and LJ's, which capped off a fantastic weekend in the city. Actually, there's an amazing destination: make time to go to SF Pride at least once. Absolutely worth it. I found that it works particularly well if the weather is spectacular and you go to a Giants/A's game the day before. But that might just be me.

Sonoma, Part Deux

I'll keep this one nice and short, letting the pictures speak for the Sonoma Coast. They're all from the hike proper (discussed in the post below), except for the one of Julie and me, which is from the finishing spot, the beach at Goat Rock.

Sonoma

Continuing documentation of the US trip...

Say someone says to you: "let's go to Big Sur!" I think that in most cases, "okay" is the appropriate response to such a suggestion. Julie said that to me, and I demurred. Silly, I know. But I wanted to see a part of California I hadn't yet seen, despite the fact that I actually have not spent enough time in Big Sur. So we settled on Sonoma and Sonoma Coast State Beach (from Bodega Bay north, it stretches over several miles, weaving in and around various small, mostly ridiculously charming beach towns). Mike then joined us for two nights of camping, and it turns out that this is a spectacular piece of coastline, making me feel less foolish for not going to Big Sur.

Two especially great spots were Bodega Head and the hike from Wright's Beach to Goat Rock. We didn't book far enough ahead to get a car-camping spot at Wright's Beach, but as you can see on that link, they are literally right on the beach. That rivals the Wanaka car-campground for excellence. In any event, the hike is great. Even if you only have a day to run up the Sonoma Coast from SF, it's a very good option. As you can see from the elevated pic featured here, it's entirely flat, except for the one hill from which this picture is taken. And it's a gorgeous stretch of cliffs and beaches (about 5 miles long for this part of the hike). And some nice wildflowers, too.

The first two pictures are from Bodega Head. The elevated one is, again, from the hike, as are the other two. I'll have a second post on this hike shortly.

Don't forget to click for bigger pictures.

Josh Is In Portland

Okay, so this blog is supposed to be about NZ, and only relationally about the US, that is, about the US only insofar as the US situation can shed light on the NZ situation, or, as is more likely, about how my US experience contrasts with my NZ experience.

But I've been in the US for a couple of weeks, and I was fortunate enough to take in some very nice sights and experiences, so I thought I'd post them here. That way, if you're travelling to, or already near, some of these places, you might be more motivated to visit them (much as this blog might tempt you to visit NZ--especially when you see sights like this, in case you forgot).

This first such post features pictures from a hike my mom and I took in the Columbia Gorge, which is, to my mind, likely the most underrated spot in terms of natural beauty in the Lower 48. That's not to say it's the best, just that it's the most underrated. It's also a little hazy on this day, so Mt. Adams didn't come through (it's there in the wide vista pic, I swear!). But fewer spots are better than the Portland area on a sunny summer day, when all the mountains (Hood, Adams, Jeff., St. Helens, and even Reineer) are out.

Anyway, this is McCord Creek Falls, which is a very nice hike. It's 2.2 miles RT (up and back, not loop), but fairly steep for that distance (600 ft.). You can google it for information about how to get there, but it's only about 10 minutes past Multnomah Falls, off Interstate 84. Look for the barn once you're on Frontage Rd.

Don't forget to click on the pictures for a larger view.