10 Thoughts for February 13, 2015

1. Mythology: It's Friday the 13th. Bad things happen on Friday the 13th. See next item.
2. Oregon Politics: Uh...so yeah, that happened. In a span of roughly 48 hours, an amazing series of events led to this morning's announcement that Kitz was resigning...next week Wednesday. It was a bitter announcement, though, as Kitz denounced the lack of due process and the abandonment of his allies. To be fair to his allies, it was his actions during the last 48 hours that led them to abandon him.
3. Oregon Politics: Kate Brown being the first openly bisexual governor in any state, is meaningless and meaningful. It is meaningless because the line between being openly bisexual and being a closet bisexual is separated by sexual privacy -- a line that should be irrelevant to people. It is meaningful because it breaks down the stigma and barriers of not being anything but strictly straight.
4. Sports: No, Little League International, you cannot give the runner-up of the US LL World Series, the championship, if you've disqualified the Jackie Robinson West team from Chicago. The counterfactual -- that the runner-up would have won -- is impossible to prove, as the team that JRW had beaten to get to the championship may have beaten the runner-up. In fact, taken back to the regional, had JRW not qualified, there are a series of teams who may have gone all the way to beat the runner-up in the championship.
5. Fifty Shades of You: It occurred to me, 50 Shades is most popular in a country with high moral rules and norms. Tackling the cognitive dissonance, head on.
6. Technology: Mattel is working with Google to produce an updated ViewMaster that operates like Google Cardboard. Looks pretty cool. VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality) are headed towards mainstream. Google Glass failed because of price -- not the $1500 developer price that this device sold at, but at the internal price that Google X could not achieve with their current design. Alternatively, Google Cardboard is accessible to everyone at $25.
7. Architecture: I can't figure out what it is, that elevates a lot of mediocre Architects into the spotlight. I just don't get it.
8. Fun: Cookie Monster Chase. Why? Because you get to hear Cookie Monster repeat, "Yum, yum, yum, yum...COOKIE!"
9. Politics: If you're not laughing at this BuzzFeed video of President Obama, you're either too old or too partisan. It's hilarious stuff!
10. Shopping: Dude. Eddie Bauer online store, clearance section, an additional 40% off. This is the kind of clearance you wait for. The clearance stuff, being already 60% off, is now an additional 40% off -- no need to drive to the outlet mall.