Camping in Genesee, CA 4th of July Weekend

Ever since we moved out here to Portland, Chris and Jeannie Stone have been telling us how amazing their 4th of July camping weekends are at the Stone Ranch in Northern Cali, between the towns of Genesee and Taylorsville. The land is known as high country, and it's a mix between the desert and the forest. There's mountains, creeks, lakes, waterfalls, wild animals, wildflowers, wild fires, ranch houses, cows, cowboys and a gold rush vibe to the whole area.


We left on our trip Saturday morning around 6 am and took the long way so that we could stop by Crater Lake, which we've heard so much about. Crater Lake is the deepest lake in America. It is a lake inside of a volcano with an awesome island in the middle known as Wizard Island. It has a 26 mile loop you can drive around at the top of the mountain, overlooking the lake. When we went, it was still quite snowy and you weren;'t allowed access to actually go in the lake, or I would've went swimming. It was gorgeous with butterflies and little gophers everywhere you turned.

the next four hours involved me speeding at 80 miles an hour, passing acre of acre of desert with pine trees and sage brush, ranch house, cows, horses, mountains, mountains and more mountains and then two super cool things: the best ice cream sandwich ever with peanut butter cookies in the town or Merril, Oregon and then a HUGE birdsnest which I was told was an osprey:

We arrived at Stone Ranch around 6:00 pm and set up our tent. Chris was the man as usual, lending us a spare tent, air mattress and sleeping bags. Spaghetti dinner that night and salad. margaritas. poppers (tequila shots w/ a splash of 7 up, banged on the table and then tossed down the hatch real quick).




Next day was the super-hyped up treasure hunt/scavenger hunt. we had the BEST time. we had about 5 teams of 5 or 6. each team was given a GPS. we had a big package of clues in envelopes w. longitude and latitudes printed on the front and hints...i.e., find the matchbox car at 3.995 latitude and 45.765 longitude. do the task at blah blah blah and take a pic of it. bring back a receipt from this place where it has this type of cash register, etc... AWESOME time! we came in second place...got back early but couldn't figure out two clues - one where it was a soduku puzzle on the front to find the latitude/longitude and then another where you had to solve a double equation with 2 variables! who remembers algebra?!??! we should've had a couple teenagers on our team like the others... I did have to swim across the creek though to find some m&ms on top of a huge rock..involved some decent mountain climbing skills...

best ribs ever that night.

monday was really decent as well...we made the acquaintance of these cool cats Craig and Jean from Santa Barbara, CA....we took some beers and went swimming at this place called Indian Falls...clear water, big ass cliffs, which I jumped off the 3rd level, around 35 feet, dope waterfalls, cool water, gorgeous views, etc... we also hit up this smalltown cowboy bar for some cans of budweiser... then found out what an indian taco is - an open face taco on indian fry bread, really good too...







































later that night, INCREDIBLE prime rib on the bbq with this sick garlic herb rub. it was Chris Stone's 54th birthday. chocolate cake and HOMEMADE creme brule ice cream. YES, they sat there and churned the fucking ice cream. How sick is that??!?!?!


























no way we were driving home that ngiht... next morning, drive home...left around 7 am...stopped 2 hours later for some eggs... stopped again around 5 more hours at Eugene, a hippytown an hour and a 1/2 south of portland...made it home around 5 pm or something...flexcar kicked ass this trip, didnt have to pay for gas, awesome reliable car...

in the end we had an awesome time and will be going every july 4th that we live on the west coast and probably even if we dont we'd come back for it anyway...thanks and keep in touch to all those we met, we had a blast...

garden, dylan bday, chicago

so its saturday and its pretty hot here this weekend, in the 90's, but tuesday it drops back down to the low 80's, high 70's for awhile...my garden is growing pretty decent now, i have a ton of peas and about 15 or so baby tomatoes...

ate a nice fruit salad with cherry yogurt from tillamook for breakfast along w/ some bacon... got a nice beef roast/chili in the slow cooker right now for dinner, i'll letcha know how it works out later... took a little roast, salt and pepper rubbed it, browned it on all sides on a hot skillet. sliced up a big onion pretty thick style, put that in the bottom of the slow cooker, added some dried mexican peppers, two thai chilis, a big red bell pepper, couple cloves of garlic, put the beef in, some dried cayenne pepper, some paprika, a can of black beans, a large can of diced tomatoes, a dash of worchestchire, a dash of bbq sauce and put that thing on blast.

so i was in chicago earlier this week for work for this compliance conference...only there for 2 days, 1 night...didnt get back though till 3:30 am on tues night because of a shitty united airlines layover..i was supposed to bounce at 8:30 pm from denver but it got pushed back 1 hr at a time t ill it was like 1 am...when we finally bounced....which made for an extrmely tired paul at work the rest of the week...chicago was dope though..killed an amazing ribeye w/ a horseradish crust at this steakhouse called wildfire... the river that runs through the city looks gorgeous..the city was clean...lake michigan was gorgeous! nice beach man on the cusp of the city! here's 2 phone flicks:




























also it was dylan's bday the other night... he was dying to go to this german joint rheinlander for the past few months..he loves the yodeling staff and the accordian player. this pic is really dark here but you can make out that he wore his german yodelling hat to the spot...we got him a record player and a few records...

more on bourdain...

more on bourdain...

Anthony Bourdain, The Pacific Coast, Full Sail Amber Ale, Waterfalls, and a new JOB

a post from melenie:

So excited that our friend Rich flew out here to visit us from philly...it was a dope week. We took a day trip to the coast and hopped on Highway 101. It was such a scenic drive...we enjoyed the beach, the sites, and the trees.....hehe. LOTS of TREES.

I interviewed for this really decent teaching gig at a school only blocks from my house. Right after the interview, Rich and I went Downtown to Powell's bookstore to scope out some new reads. As he was paying at the register, I glanced outside and saw Anthony Bourdain smoking a cigarette in front of the store!! I ran out and introduced myself....this is how the conversation went.....



Me: Sup Tony Bourdain? What the hell are you doing in Portland?

Bourdain: (He looks scared, then he smiles) Well, we're shootin for the series. Checkin out the scene. (he's looking at me like I'm some alien and I continue to speak in a speedy and overly excited voice)

Me: Dude, you're like a rock star. My husband and I love your show. I have to ask....How in the hell did you eat LIVE octopus, I mean, was it swirling around in your mouth? My husband and I just watched your show (taped) in Korea, and I have to say...you've got balls. Pardon me.

Bourdain: well, the tentacles do stick to your throat as you swallow.

Me: Is it cool if I take a pic of us with my corny cell phone? I mean, do you, like, have time, I'm sorry am I keeping you?

Bourdain: (looking at me like he's thinking of when he should make a run for it) No, it's cool, I'm just smokin a cigarette. No problem.

Me: Well, thanks dude. Safe travels. Have you been to Thailand yet? I have family there. (I kept rambling about stupid shit for like a full minute, embarassing myself)

Bourdain: Yeah, we were there last season. Thanks.

Me: OK...so...goodluck. We shook hands and he walked towards the door....I was walking to the door as well and he stopped and shot me that look that said, ( I think she's a stalker, god I hope this crazy woman doesn't follow me)

Rich walked out of the door and I attacked him with my excitedness. He now is convinced that I'm insane. It was fun. Pauly was so pissed that he didn't get the chance to meet him. I'm such a nerd. Anyways, for those of you who never saw the Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations show on the Travel Channel, peep it on Monday nights at 10 pm. It's decent.

Anyhow, I got the job offer the following day so it was a good week for me...FINALLY. We had such a great time with Richie. P and I will be posting new pics soon.

chillin......

went to jeannie and chris's last weekend to help jeannie out with her garden..she is growing some MONSTROUS veggies rightnow...also, my buddy rich is currently visiting from philly...i'm jettin to chicago for work monday and tuesday... been making some decent sales, melenie just got a dope job offer, things are cool:

HAWKING WARNS: HUMANS MUST GO INTO SPACE TO SURVIVE

HAWKING WARNS: HUMANS MUST GO INTO SPACE TO SURVIVE

HONG KONG (AP) - The survival of the human race depends on its ability to find new homes elsewhere in the universe because there's an increasing risk that a disaster will destroy the Earth, world-renowned scientist Stephen Hawking said Tuesday.

organics to you

i want to sign up for this dope organic produce delivery service next time i get paid: organicstoyou.org

here's one on the east coast for my philly fam: doortodoororganics.com

quick thoughts for 6-4-06

while i wait for mel to get ready so we can go to washington park / the oregon zoo...

1) da vinci code was banging, i highly recommend the movie and book. then read angels and demons, which was the better of the two.

2) there is this amazing home 11 blocks from here where this really nice retired guy named dave lives with his wife, 5 chickens, beehive and pig named Mooshi. he lets the chickens just roam around the neighborhood...talk about free-range! he was really nice though and chatted with us for awhile and even gave us 2 fresh eggs - just laid that morning! we made bullseyes out of them.
































3) speaking of bullseyes, it has come to my attention that many people don't know what these are! also known as the egg in a basket or bird's nest (tim t called it that, but my pops always called them bullseyes), the bullseye is a dish of an over easy egg inside a piece of bread. to make a super banging bullseye, take a piece of bread, any kind will do, and cut a whole in the middle of the bread. now, butter up a pan and turn on medium high heat. put the piece of bread in it, now crack an egg in the hole of the bread. let cook for a couple of minute, just like an over easy/medium egg. now flip the whole thing. cook for a few more minutes. put on plate. eat with fork and knife. amazing. here's a god explanation with a pic

4) the lilys outside our place are blooming nicely these days. its nice to come home to a super springy/green area

5) rich is coming out to visit soon..he's stopping out at stink & meca's first in san fran from the 8-13th then dropping by portland from the 13th to the 18th..

6) the bathroom at work. all guys like reading something while they do their business. with that said, the girls at my work will probably think i'm dirty/have a problem with me taking the newspaper out of the office to the bathroom with me. so, i have to resort to going to doing a #2 later in the day because then the guys in the office next door will have already done their duty and they always leave the newspaper in the stall when they're done. NOW, in the case that I have to go before lunch, i'm bored while doing my business, so i've been bringing my new cellphone and playing solitaire. or looking at my pics. or, lately, taking pics. here's one for you:

Cowboy Dinner Tree

I forget if I ever posted this or discussed it before...it's an AMAZING cowboy restauarant in the middle of the desert that Chris and Jeannie took us to when we were in Bend. There's nothing around for miles except for sagebrush, and and pine trees? Oh, and deer at night. Then, there's this amazing cowboy steakhouse.

Cowboy Dinner Tree Restaurant Silver Lake, Oregon

Comments: Years and years ago when, long before there was an old shack under what is now the Cowboy Dinner Tree, the ranchers from Paisley, Summer Lake and Siver Lake pushed their cattle through Syean trail enroute to the lush meadows of the Syean Marsh. By the time the cowboys had moved the cattle from Silver Lake lake bed to the Dinner Tree, it was considered the half-way point. Their the chuck wagon was waiting to serve-up some buckeroo beans and biscuits. Today after all these many years, the Cowboy Dinner Tree still serves-up the beans and bread, along with a slab of beef that most cowboys would only dream of on the trail! JOIN US FOR A TASTE OF THE REAL OLD WEST!

North of Paisley is the tiny community of Silver Lake with maybe a dozen structures, if you count out-buildings and state highway maintenance facilities. Here, we had a super experience - dinner at the Cowboy Dinner Tree Cafe. Located about five miles south of town, the Cafe‚ is where the grassland is dotted with juniper trees and before the Ponderosa pine forest begins. The story goes, during 19th century cattle drives, chuck wagons would prepare meals for the cowboys under the giant juniper tree out back of the Cafe. As time went by, chuck wagons were replaced by the Cafe and a most delightful dining experience for us non-cowboy folks. The Cafe's exterior looks primitive and the inside only slightly more substantial. The tables are slabs of Lodgepole pines balanced on a pipe set on top of welded circles of horseshoes. Two bare bulbs, powered by batteries, provide some illumination. (The rule is: the first person to complain about deficient lighting is required to use their car's battery to supplement the Cafe's fading supply.) The menu (you make your selection when placing a reservation) has two choices: steak or chicken. Both are prepared on huge grills outside and served with a softball size baked potato and a pie pan of fresh baked pull-a-part rolls - after communal bowls of salad and soup have been consumed. By the way, it's a whole chicken or 26 to 30 ounce steak! The meal is washed down with either ice tea, lemonade, or honest and true campfire coffee, complete with a layer of sludge-like grounds on the bottom. The owner/greeter/butcher is a "tall-drink-of-water" cowboy, complete with bowed legs and missing teeth, while his wife is the cook, and what a cook she is! It was one of the best meals we had this season and was overall a great time. (And we got four more meals from our "doggie bags"!)

Interview

Although this guy is a huge putz, this is a good interview between a popular German magazine and the president of Iran:

SPIEGEL INTERVIEW WITH IRANIAN PRESIDENT MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD

amazing race

Deadline for the amazing race tryouts are this friday - try to compete w/ us - beeeyotches!

get your app on

p

farmers market & my garden

rainy morning, but still the portland farmers market is poppin every saturday morning... tons of local veggies, local cheeses, free range pork, beef, lamb, chicken, etc.. the veggies that are nice right now are walla walla onions, lettuce, spinach, beets, carrots, arugula, beans, peas, asparagus, some berries, herbs, etc.. if i liked mushrooms the maitakes, morrels and shitakes looked good.. the goat cheese / chevre was all that...the locally made chorizo, andouille, sage sausage, hot and sweet italian and bratwurst was blazing.. some good elk sausage...fresh breads / muffins, etc.. also picked up some nice fingerling potatoes.. came home and took a couple pics of my lil garden too..

p

PDX Assassin

PDX Assassin
Written by Agent Melenoma:

Oh yes friends...my partner and I went out on a mission to assassinate our contracted target last night. We left our apartment at 8 pm to drive a half hour south of Portland to a trailer park in Clackamas County...on a determined mission to soak our target with whatever means necassary. We do a drive by and creep thru a stranger's lawn to step onto the porch of our assassin's home (which is a girl, who we discovered has a myspace account as well).....we ring the doorbell and wait. No answer. All the lights are out. So we drive around again and then notice that some dude is peering out of the window. So we call the girl's cell phone and leave a message. We choose to play the card of intimidation for the evening. I gave her a good scare. We leave Clackamas enroute to the PSU campus, which is the home of the second half of the targeted team. We discover his complex and await for a way to enter the secure building. A random stranger keys in and holds the door open for us. The hunt begins for our target's apt. on the 16th floor. We finally get there and we call his name while knocking on the door....he knew it was us. So we talk to him and assure him that we'll be back. We soak his door and leave to go home......But then, my phone rings.....

This is when the fun truly began.

I answer the phone even though I see that it's a 503 prefix and I don't know anyone who would be calling me at 10 pm from a portland number. It's some dude saying, "Hey Mel, what's up? Where you at? When you gonna be home?" (Laugh Laugh) I totally know what's up and I giggle and hand the phone to paul. Paul talks some shit and hangs up. Our hearts begin to pump...

We decide to drive by our flat to scope out who's there. I see a sillhouette of some dude peering thru my living room window and I panic. What the hell should we do??? We return our rental car to its designated spot and we decide to walk to get a cup of coffee and wait. As we walk to Safeway, i begin to feel nervous. I peer over my shoulders and scour at the thought of some random stranger popping me with a water gun before the night ends. I'm excited at the same time. So we enter Safeway with caution. It appears to be safe. We buy time and walk around. I feel weird, like someone's watching me. So we pay for our coffee and decide to stick around for an hour or so before going home....

Paul has to go to the bathroom, so I walk toward the cafe area to find a seat. I notice a couple dudes sitting there eating sushi and chatting. One dude looks at me and quickly looks away. I'm getting nervous. So I walk back to paul and tell him that a table is open. Just as I finish speaking, I feel somone creep up behind me....(Hey Melenie"...he says)

Like an idiot, I turn my head and dude squirts me straight in the face.

It's over. I've lost.

But it's cool. We joked...introduced ourselves, spoke about how we cased out our targeted kills, handed them our contracts, and drank a beer. It was fun. I think we made new friends.....needless to say, I certainly had a blast!! Goodluck Agent D and Agent B (aka Team Cooper) on your next mission. Until we meet again.....

Agent 100
aka Melenoma
Team 2-1-5

www.pdxassassin.net

My Nan Hannah (Banana)

I have been amazingly blessed to have had all four of my grandparents in my life up until my mid-twenties. My father's father, Pop Sid, passed away a couple of years ago to Alzheimer's disease. Last week I lost my mom's mom, my Nan Hannah, who helped raise me, taught me that tables are for glasses not asses, taught me the proper way to break the yolk in suny side up aka dippy eggs, taught me about poopin and tappin, taught me to talk to everyone from all walks of life.. She called me Pauly Smally and I love her more than anything and will never forget her. everyone loved my nan hannah, she was like a mom and a grandmom to all. she was very strong, I think she beat cancer twice but the third time was just too much....Pop Mel, you had an amazing wife...Stay strong for me, please.

I love you, Nan. Rest in peace.

More Bend Pics

Deschutes River Video

Bend, Oregon

Some pics from this past weekend in Bend with the Stone family:

Stand By Me

I filmed this in Bend, Oregon, this past weekend.

USA Today: NSA building massive database of phone records

USA Today: NSA building massive database of phone records

welcome to oceania, winston smith.

BBR "Newspeak"

HELLS YEAH!!!

first off - sorry for my most horribly boring bike videos below, i was still playing with my video phone and working out posting them on utube...got it under control now, cool videos to follow this weekend from Bend, I promise!

Now, a big word up to Stinke for putting up this video from the way back on 4th and tasker days!

So my man Tim and I had this rap group BBR, which stood for Big Brother Resistance back in the 90's. We started it back in high school in like 1992, while rhyming in homeroom. at first it was rap/rock like Rage against the machine style, but before Rage Against the Machine... then, in college, it was straight rhymes and beats... stinke on the beats, tim and I on the rhymes, different dj's - dj lunch, charlie brownski, low budget, question, etc.. my man bj and this girl april had a film class for temple university, circa 1998-1999. they made this video for us.

here ya go:

Bike Ride to work pt. 1

Rogue Brewery

best brewery in america: Rogue beer. what state? Oregon, you guessed it. we hit the tavern last night in the pearl district...amazing beer, wack food.

check out all the beers they make and do yourself a favor and head to your local 6 pack store and pick some on up: ROGUE brewery

ps: i love head:

villians and rain?

so stinke forwards me over this article about how chinese scientists now control rain.

this got me thinking that superheroes and supervillians are NOT far off at all. not the mutant ones that are born with special powers, but the ones that have created their own powers with technology - like dr. octagon, green goblin, cyclops, etc. if we can make it rain, shoot missles, have little lasers the sizes of pens, etc., why cant a crazy mean person - aka a villian, hook themselves up with missles, lasers, etc., and run rampant, becoming the first real supervillian? i don't see this as far off...

stink made the good point that watch, the first real mutants will be the people that drink this artificial rainwater in china...

on a not so side note, the special fx in the new superman movie look sick.

p

video work?

did the video work for y'all? lemme know, post a comment. maybe it's a flash plugin that's needed in your browser?

oh and marc goldie, email me your new address, bro, please, i got something for ya...

p