turtles

A leatherback turtle on its way to feast along Oregon's shores is now known as the longest of the long-distance swimmers of the ocean world. The female turtle, known by its ID number -- 27957 -- swam at least 12,774 miles from the nesting beaches of Jamursba-Medi in Indonesia to the Oregon coast in 2003, and back out into the Pacific, according to a recent report of the marathon journey. That's more than four times the distance across the continental United States. It's a record for sea turtles, and the longest recorded migration of a swimming vertebrate species, scientists said. The turtle probably swam all the way back to Indonesia, but its tracking device failed before it got there. The epic migration highlights the long-distance ecological connections that stretch across oceans and countries, researchers said, illustrating how conditions in Oregon can influence turtle nesting on the warm beaches of Indonesia. What's so special about Oregon that a turtle would swim halfway around the Earth to get here? JELLYFISH! Leatherbacks are critically endangered and, though solitary travelers, gather along the West Coast to gorge themselves on jellyfish during the warmer months from about May to November. Scott Benson, a marine ecologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service, said that. He also noted that the turtles may retreat to warmer waters near Hawaii during the cooler months but return to Oregon again in the spring. They may spend a few years in this part of the Pacific, gobbling jellyfish and gaining strength for a long-distance swim back to the nesting grounds in Indonesia.

Terje Haakonsen

The legendary Terje Haakonsen. A true pioneer of style, grace and pure gnar on the board.

LISTEN TO LEE HAZLEWOOD

Martin

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction. . . . The chain reaction of evil—hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars—must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation.”

—Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968)

Leonard Pitts

Nationally syndicated columnist Leonard Pitts wrote this piece. It appeared in today's Oregonian and it says all that I've been trying to say but couldn't.

I've got nothing against fame. I'm famous myself. Sort of.

OK, not Will Smith famous. Or Ellen DeGeneres famous. All right, not even Marilu Henner famous.
I'm the kind of famous where you fly into some town to give a speech before that shrinking subset of Americans who still read newspapers and, for that hour, they treat you like a rock star, applauding, crowding around, asking for autographs.
Then it's over. You walk through the airport the next day and no one gives a second glance. You are nobody again.
Dave Barry told me this story once about Mark Russell, the political satirist. It seems Russell gave this performance where he packed the hall, got a standing O. He was The Man. Later, at the hotel, The Man gets hungry, but the only place to eat is a McDonald's across the road. The front door is locked, but the drive-through is still open. So he stands in it. A car pulls in behind him. The driver honks and yells, "Great show, Mark!" The moral of the story is that a certain level of fame – call it the level of minor celebrity – comes with a built-in reality check.
One minute, you're the toast of Milwaukee. The next, you're standing behind a Buick waiting to order a Big Mac.
That level of fame might stroke your ego from time to time, but it won't isolate or imprison you. And it will leave you your dignity.
Which is more than Britney Spears has right now.
I will leave it to others to talk about the child (the noun is appropriate) and her latest public meltdown, as captured on a jittery video showing her in the back of an ambulance after a three-hour standoff that began when she refused to surrender her kids to an emissary from her ex-husband. What gets me is that the jittery video exists. And that an army of photographers pressed against the ambulance so that it was forced to wade slowly through them. And that all this was captured from a helicopter overhead.
Friends and neighbors, that is not news coverage. It's a stakeout.
It's harassment. It's stalking. And there ought to be – I'm in earnest about this – a law. Call it the Get A Life Act of 2008.
Look, I understand that fascination with celebrity deeds and misdeeds is nothing new. It's older than James Brown leading a police chase, older than Lana Turner's daughter killing her mom's gangster lover, even older than Fatty Arbuckle on trial for rape. I also understand that the relationship between celebrities and cameras is symbiotic. And yes, I know it's difficult to work up empathy or outrage over something that affects a small class of people richer and better looking than the rest of us.
But see, I also know something has gone wrong, some essential perspective has been lost, when a Julia Roberts feels compelled – as she did a few weeks back – to chase down a photographer who had reportedly been staking out her children at school.
I'm embarrassed as a journalist that these members of my professional family – distant cousins, granted – have found no level to which they will not stoop to feed the public fixation on celebrity gossip. But I am also appalled, just as a person, that we the people provide the demand that drives the suppliers, that we support this voyeuristic intrusion, all-access trespass, 24/7 surveillance of other people's lives.
For criminy sake, America: Do you really need pictures of Britney in an ambulance so badly? Go read a book. Play with your kids. Make love. Something. Anything.
One is reminded of how photographers stood snapping away over the wreck of Princess Diana's car, like vultures feeding on carrion. And one is sickened.
If that's what it means to be truly famous, keep it. I'd rather stand in line behind a Buick.

Sir Edmund Hillary dead

Part of the two-man history-making team to first reach the summit of Mt. Everest died today. Sir Edmund Hillary was 88. A beekeeper by trade, the New Zealander was tapped by the British to be part of an expedition that would succeed where others had failed. The group was made up of seasoned British adventurers who had their sights set on the world's tallest peak. However, as they neared the start of the final ascent, they couldn't go on. Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, a Nepalese Sherpa continued undaunted. They navigated the final obstacle that stood in their way, a 40-foot cliff that was later dubbed the Hillary Step, before summitting on May 29, 1953. A remarkable achievement, the climb made headlines across the world. Hillary and Norgay were hailed as heroes and, with his newfound notoriety, Hillary began a campaign of charity and goodwill. He spear-headed efforts to build schools and get electricity to remote Himalayan villages. A man who exhibited the indomitable spirit of humanity, Hillary and his story inspired many.

The coolest part about the climb to me is that they did it with equipment that is considered shitty by today's standards. There are now fixed ropes where Hillary and Norgay climbed with nothing but ice axes and those spiky shoe things. These guys were tough and they blazed a trail that few dare to follow.

pee largo

A new year! I spent the last part of 2007 and the first part of 2008 in sunny Florida where I got to test the waters of the Atlantic and put on my grown-up face for some discerning grandparents. I also had a pretty good hot dog at the airport.

I just read about this dude in New York who was washing windows with another man when their scaffolding gave way. He fell 47 stories and [barely] lived to tell the tale. It's practically a miracle that he's okay. The other guy, his brother, died at the scene. I read that 50% of falls from just 3 stories are fatal and this guy fell from nearly 50 stories! Doctors had to pump about half of his blood capacity back into him, repair a bunch of broken bones and relieve the swelling of his brain. Even though he broke vertebrae, he narrowly avoided significant spinal injury. Doctors are amazed and they're expecting him to walk again and make a full recovery.