Rick's Picks

The Meaning of Life?

Devereux — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 21:43:00 GMT

The Meaning of Life?

By Rick Devereux

Why, why, why, why, why? (Job 3:11-23)

I am no philosopher.

I am no poet (at least, not a very good one).

I am no theologian.

I am, however, a human being.

As a human being, I have many of the same contemplative thoughts that have been plaguing mere mortals since the first days of ceremonial burying.

Why are we here?

Well, I have no idea.

I am so riddled with confused thoughts regarding soul and religion and after-life and eternity and whatnot, sometimes I wish I was a simple child, blindly accepting everything my parents and teachers taught me.

But simple I am not.

And accepting I am not, either.

I question things. I question people. I question authority. I question myself and I question my own beliefs.

So I have no idea if there is a God or a Devil, a Heaven or a Hell, a soul or an afterlife.

One day I might tell you emphatically that it is all real and true and to be respected and feared. The next, I might deny the existence of any of it and demand proof.

One thing I do know, though.

I have always maintained a high level interest in The Book of Job.

The three major Western religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) all use stories of Job, a well-to-do man with a nice lifestyle who has everything taken away from him in a bet between God and Satan.

Here’s a quick summary for those of you who may not be familiar with The Book of Job:

Satan looks at Job and tells God, “Of course Job is faithful to you. Look how much you have provided him.”

God says, “Job would love me if he didn’t have those things anyway.”

Satan says, “Wanna bet?”

And so God systematically ruins Job’s life by taking away his possessions, his health, his family.

But Job—despite being a homeless, boil-faced widower—does not curse God.

God then rewards Job’s loyalty with even more possessions and greater health (basically a Fountain of Youth) then he had before the whole God-Satan bet.

Some historians have looked at The Book of Job as a way to answer the age-old debate, “Why do bad things happen to good people?”

But going by The Book of Job, the answer to that question is, “Because Yahweh/God/Allah is having a bet with Satan.”

Well, no offense, but that is a real crappy thing for God to do.

Who, in order to prove the loyalty of a friend or follower, takes everything away from them?

Genghis Khan thinks that’s a little over the top.

The thing I have always taken out of the book is simple: *** happens.

When bad things happen, don’t try to rationalize it by pointing to some evil thing you did in the past. *** happens.

Don’t lament, “Oh, why me?”

Do you ask that question when something positive happens? Do you need a reason why something good occurs?

There is no tally sheet that marks off good deeds done with rewards and bad deeds committed with punishments.

Your cat did not get run over by the neighbor because you did not give that homeless man your spare change.

Similarly, your favorite team did not win the game because you promised to donate your next paycheck to charity.

There really is no great cosmic scale weighing deeds with rewards/punishments.

*** just happens.

To everyone.

But The Book of Job did not leave a negative taste in my mouth about life as hopeless or horrible.

Quite the contrary.

I always feel renewed in my utmost belief in the power of positive thinking after reading The Book of Job.

You see, even though all of these horrible things are happening to Job, he doesn’t curse his existence.

His mantra was, “The Lord giveth; the Lord taketh away.”

Job does not wallow away in misery pining for what he has lost. He moves on.

The only thing that Job (and therefore, any person) can control is his attitude (you can’t control Job’s attitude, only your own attitude).

Bad things happen all the time without rhyme or reason to very good people; be it you are sideswiped by a drunk driver, you have a brain tumor, the person in front of you has 16 items in the 15-Items-Or-Less line, or a traffic jam makes you late for a meeting.

*** happens.

You can’t stop some things from happening.

The only thing you can control is how you react to those bad things.

Will you cry or get mad or wonder why you ALWAYS get stuck in traffic behind the person who goes 20 MPH in the fast lane with their blinker on?

Or will you let go of that anger and realize you have no control over such things?

The real challenge is to stay positive when facing unpleasant circumstances.

That, for me, is the lesson of The Book of Job and the real meaning of life.

Middle Majority, Unite!

Devereux — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 01:02:00 GMT

Middle Majority, Unite!

By Rick Devereux

WARNING: This blog may contain political opinions that may upset you!

I know I am going to upset some people, maybe even a lot of people, but I think the law of averages means more people will agree with me than disagree.

I am sick of the fringe extremists holding the political conversation hostage.

The Rush Limbaugh’s of the world want us to believe President Barack Obama is a communist and that all of the country’s problems are to be blamed on Democrats, Liberals, Green Peace and illegal aliens.

The Michael Moore’s of the world want us to believe former President George W. Bush was a fascist and all of the world’s problems are to be blamed on Republicans, Conservatives, Capitalism and big business.

I, speaking for the Middle Majority, would like to offer two words to both groups:

SHUT UP!

I remember when I was in school, teachers would explain the bell graph or the bell curve and how it applied to the range of grades received: A few A’s and a few F’s; a little more B’s and a little more D’s; and the majority got C’s.

The loudest people shouting for Obama’s job or Limbaugh’s sanity are the extreme F’s (there is no way I would refer to them as A’s). Sure, they are passionate, but they are so rigid in their beliefs that they refuse to even acknowledge anyone who disagrees with them.

When you pin the problems on others, you pin the responsibility of fixing the problem on others, too. If others have the responsibility to fix something, you don’t have that responsibility.

While I follow political discourse and stay up-to-date on current events and am confident in my knowledge of the issues facing this nation as well as the world, I am not nearly so egotistical to say I have all of the answers, let alone say I am right and anyone who does not think like me is wrong.

Democrats and Republicans are to blame. Democrats and Republicans have a responsibility to fix the problems.

Honestly, though, it’s not Republicans and Democrats.

It’s everybody.

Left, Right, Liberal, Conservative, oil company lawyer, tree hugging activist.

Everybody.

The lunatic shouting fringes need to go away.

Just because they can shout louder than me does not mean they are correct and I am wrong.

Just because they have radio shows spouting their hate does not mean I am wrong.

The shouting lunatic fringes only want to win. They do not care what the opposition has to say.

I believe in compromise and moderation.

I believe in the Middle Majority!

All a-Twitter

Devereux — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 23:46:00 GMT

All a-Twitter

By Rick Devereux

Old versus new.

Paper versus monitor.

Reporter versus blogger.

We have all heard the grumblings for years, newspapers are dying and journalism as we have known it for more than 200 years in North America will have to change or fail.

The tornado that was the Michael Jackson overexposure that blew across everyone’s life the past weeks has apparently supported those in favor of the death of the classic journalist. Because people found out electronically, print is dead. Or so goes that line of thinking.

Michael Jackson’s death was not first reported in a newspaper or on a breaking news flash on CNN or even a local Los Angeles station. As a matter of fact, it wasn’t even broken on a web site, per se.

Paparazzi gossip site TMZ reported Jackson had a cardiac arrested, but that was first a story on the web site and linked to on TMZ’s Twitter account. About an hour later, that Twitter account reported Jackson died.

“We regret to inform that Michael Jackson has Died - Posted Jun 25th 2009 5:20PM by TMZ Staff”

It was not a citizen journalist, not a blogger, not even a full story. Just a scant 92 characters.

“We regret to inform that Michael Jackson has Died - Posted Jun 25th 2009 5:20PM by TMZ Staff”

That sent off a firestorm of electronic activity the Internet has never seen before. Ever.

The spike in web traffic slowed virtually every website everywhere. Here’s a snippet from a story that ran on KOIN Local 6:

The Internet slowed drastically as rumors spread about MJ’s health.

People flooded news sites like CNN and LA Times and TMZ to find out what was going on, but the real spike in readers came at MySpace, Twitter and Facebook.

Social Media guide Mashable has a story with graphs that illustrate the increased views.

Tech Crunch, which analyzes the Internet, also has graphs showing the number of Google searches for Michael Jackson by the hour.

Silicon Alley Insider is reporting TMZ.com traffic reached a new high Thursday, breaking the old record by 33 percent. Also, Silicon Alley Insider has a graph showing the spike in YouTube videos related to the King of Pop.

Breaking News Online is reporting AT&T set a record yesterday for the amount of text messages sent, breaking the previous number of texts sent on Sept. 11, 2001.

But the spike of web users also spiked the amount of rumors.

Last week, I learned through a Tweet that Steve McNair had died. When I told other people about his death and where I heard about it, a co-worker responded with, “So he’s as dead as Jeff Goldblum?”

Facebook and Twitter accounts had stories about Jeff Goldblum (or Harrison Ford) falling to his death while filming a movie in New Zealand. Goldblum’s agent had to issue a release stating the actor was fine.

The authenticity is understandably questioned. An old mantra in journalism is, “If your mom says she loves you, verify.”

So does this mean newspapers are dead and the web will dominate us all? Or does this mean the Internet is nothing but lies and rumors and hearsay?

I do not know.

Does it mean things are changing?

Yes, but what else is new? “Things” are constantly changing. That’s the nature of “things.”

Big jumps in technology have always had rocky beginnings.

The first newspapers in the United States had the publishers acting as the writers and the editors and the layout design and, well, everything. It was what small television stations today call “one man band,” where one person has to do all of the work.

Journalists in the 1700s regularly wrote under multiple pseudonyms, sometimes responding to their own articles and posing as concerned citizens.

When photographs were introduced, newspapers deemed it fine for bloody images of the Civil War to be printed on front pages.

Radio was first invented not for news transmission, but originally designed as an emergency beacon for ships at sea.

When television first appeared, the news anchors just read stories. It was like a lecture and, therefore, not very successful.

But, “things” change.

Newspaper journalists realized arguing with oneself was not just silly, but dishonest. Photographers and editors realized showing dead people on a battlefield was not appropriate. Radio personnel figured out the broader applications of wireless transmission. And TV broadcasters learned showing images on top of the story was more compelling.

So why should we think the Internet—a place designed for speedy change—will be static? Why should we think the Internet and those using the Internet are fixed on how to do “things.”

Twitter, in its short lifespan so far, has evolved into something much more than just 140 characters of what someone is eating or watching on TV or buying at the store.

Now, businesses can promote products, celebrities can announce appearances and co-workers can share ideas quickly.

Could it be done through email? Sometimes, but that would mean the sender would need a whole lot of email addresses.

As a journalist, I use Twitter differently than other people might. I am signed up for breaking news alerts from all of the major networks, newspapers, magazines and ‘important’ people (I consider Chewbacca, the Pope and Barack Obama as important, thank you very much) so I know what’s going on.

I used to wake up in the morning (OK, fine, afternoon) and read the newspaper. Then it switched to logging onto the Internet and grabbing my news updates either through my email or at a web site.

Now, I get more than 300 texts to my phone everyday, with about 75 percent (maybe more) news related, and most of those are from Twitter.

I just found out, or at least received notifications, that former boxing champ Arturo “Thunder” Gatti died in Brazil. I knew before anyone else in the newsroom.

The way we use Twitter here at the TV station is still being defined, but it has so far been used in one of three ways: to promote, to inform and to solicit.

We often link to a story already written and posted. The hope is the headline grabs someone’s attention and they click on the link. Hopefully, after reading the linked story, they read other stories on KOINLocal6.com. At least that’s the plan.

The news (@KOIN_Local_6), traffic (@KOIN6Traffic) and weather (@forecastupdates) departments doll out information on a regular basis. The hope is it is information people find interesting or useful (Hedu Turkoglu changes his mind about signing with the Trail Blazers; a crash has slowed I-5, so take another route; it will be colder today than yesterday, so bring a coat).

And we also use Twitter to get feed back from our audience. What are your thoughts about 39ths Ave. becoming Cesar Chavez Blvd.? What do you think about the Recall Sam Adams effort? What are your thoughts about Michael Jackson? It makes the viewer feel like his or her voice is being heard, plus we really do like to hear from our audience.

But the bottom line on Twitter, Facebook and the new age of journalism is this: it, like every other line of work, is only as good as the people in it.

Luckily, KOIN Local 6 has great people here who really are dedicated to providing the best possible news coverage as possible.

Makin' Music

Devereux — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 04:03:00 GMT

Makin’ Music by Rick Devereux

I’ve never understood the question, “Do you like music?”

Is it even humanly possible to not like music?

You don’t have to like the music that’s played on the radio, or music that has words. But can anyone really not like any type of music whatsoever?

You can enjoy purely instrumental music or purely vocal music, or music that sounds like nature, but everyone likes music in some form.

1. While some purists may derail beat boxing as a silly time-waster, 17-year-old Jules Dales can make music with her mouth. The talented Canadian can sing a Michael Jackson song, complete with drum beat, by herself. I have a feeling legendary beat box artists Doug E. Fresh and Biz Markey are smiling at the skillz being passed to a new generation. Watch Dales perform in these videos.

2. Some might argue that at least beat box artists are making music, but DJs are just instruments to play records (or~shudder~CDs). Turn-tablists like D.J.P. might have a beef with that sentiment. D.J.P. grew up in Missouri, but he was a club DJ in Portland after winning the 1999 DMC US Finals in San Francisco. D.J.P. truly is a musician, though, and not just some mindless monkey spinning records. He is a master at layering two, three or even four or five vastly different songs on top of each other. It has been called ‘mashing,’ but it’s really more like layering than strictly mashing songs together. Listen to multiple mixes at his own YouTube channel here.

3. Speaking of ‘mashing’ songs, Mental_Floss has a quiz putting your ears to the test trying to pick out the two songs being played. Mental_Floss is an amazing magazine and website with lots and lots of interesting articles, quizzes and games.

4. Sometimes the names of bands are more interesting than the songs they sing – that can’t be a good thing. But where those names came from is sometimes even more interesting than the names themselves. Here is a list of how some bands got their names (I never knew what Oingo Boingo meant).

5. Knowing the origin of a band’s name may be kinda neat, but learning the origin of a musical movement is even better. Countless biopics have been made attempting to show the lives of rock stars (“Walk the Line,” “Ray,” “The Doors,” “The Dewey Cox story,” etc.), but one of the best but rarely mentioned is “What We Do Is Secret.” In it, the history of The Germs is told, and with it, the story of West Coast punk music. Not only is it a great look at the underground music scene of the late 1970s/ early 1980s, it also shows the birth of the coolest name in all of music (Hint: he was also a guitarist for Nirvana and Foo Fighters.

Wastin' Time

Devereux — Fri, 29 May 2009 13:22:00 GMT

By Rick Devereux

Twiddling thumbs. Humming a tune. Fidgeting with your BlackBerry.

Some might call such activities time wasters, but they are more accurately things we do when we get bored.

For me, when I get bored, my eyes glaze over and I seriously do not think of anything at all. My wife does not seem to believe me when I answer, “Nothin’” if she asks what am I thinking about.

But I do have that special ability to turn off my brain.

It’s turning it on that I might have trouble with.

Here are some time-wasters for your enjoyment.

1) A complete time waster is going through email. I have some sort of mental disorder where I can’t have any un-opened text messages or emails. I NEED to open them up. The problem is most of my email seems to be about winning some foreign country’s lottery, improving my performance in bed (Hey, my wife hasn’t complained yet!), or some other unprovoked piece of junk mail.

And if it seems like Spam takes up the bulk of you inbox, you’re right!

A recent study by Symantec’s MessageLab Intelligence reported spam now accounts for 90.4 of all email. The scary thing is spammers are getting more and more creative in using different domains to send he unwanted emails, meaning it’s getting harder and harder for spam filters to know what’s junk and what isn’t.

2) If you want to waste your time, but in a way that will put a smile on your face, check out these adorable pictures of a baby chimp and baby tiger playing together. Awwwww.

3) While Facebook can be a great tool for keeping in touch with friends and/or family across the globe, and even re-connecting with people you never wanted to see again (seriously, there’s a reason I stopped talking to you after 7^th Grade), let’s face it, Facebook is a time waster.

There are tons of tests when you’re bored (gee, I always wanted to know what Periodic Element I was. Now I know it’s Boron).

Christopher Beam and Chris Wilson with Slate.com put together a piece on President Barack Obama’s first 100 days in office as if it were published on Facebook. Pretty amusing.

4) Speaking of Facebook, make sure you know who can and can not view your profile. That way you know what and what not to put on your profile. This guy apparently needs a lesson on that topic.

5) CollegeHumor.com is a fantastic site if you are bored. You will laugh your pants off at pretty much anything on the site, and you will end up trying to read as many stories as possible, before you know it, you will have wasted half of your day there.

This little slideshow about Odd Man Out is my latest addiction at CollegeHumor.

Changes in attitude

Devereux — Sat, 16 May 2009 01:57:00 GMT

Changes in attitude

By Rick Devereux

There is something insulting about sympathy. To have sympathy for someone is to feel sorry for someone, to think someone is in an un-winnable situation, to basically not trust someone to make it through a tough time.

What kind of friend doesn’t have faith in you?

I’m not being heartless here. I have empathy for people. I can understand the hard times people are in or get into.

But empathy and sympathy are not the same thing.

I have a very good friend who just found out he has a brain tumor. He’s in his early 30s and has a beautiful wife and amazing son. But I know things will be OK.

Oh, I’m not delusional. I know things will be tough, I know it will seem impossible, I know it will be scary. But I also know he is stronger than he thinks.

And he’s not alone.

Every single one of us is stronger than we think.

There is nothing you can’t accomplish if you put effort into it.

Will it be hard?

Yes.

Will it totally suck at times?

Yes.

But that’s the way it goes, kiddo.

The only people who have it easy and don’t have problems are the ones in the cemeteries. (I mean the dead people, not the grave diggers and other workers. Those guys have problems, too.)

Life is not fair. Who ever said life is fair? Where is it written that life is fair? Life is amazingly UNfair! But it is unfair to everyone, so I guess that makes it fair?

The people who want sympathy want things to be fair. There is a sense of entitlement. There is a sense they deserve less pain than other people; more joy than other people.

You make your own pain. You make your own joy.

If the unthinkable happens to my good friend fighting the brain tumor, I will feel for his wife and son. I will have empathy. There will be no sympathy, though. That’s because I have faith that she and her boy will some how, some way make it through the hardship.

Believe me, I have dealt with friends in truly life and death situations, I have had my own life and death situations (some from own doing, but some just life being life).

I urge you all to try to change the way you look at life, the way you deal with hardships and the way you see the world.

1) Art is supposed to help you see the world and look at life in different ways.

And it doesn’t have to massive works of art. Something as simple as a business card can start an inner dialog about what is possible.

If you start to think about it, a business card is meant to let people know who you are, so why be like everyone else? I’ve been around the world and have met a lot of people, and I certainly don’t want to be like everyone else. They’re kinda lame. (But not you. You’re cool.)

One of the most memorable business cards I ever received was from a pair of young entrepreneurs starting their own clothing line. At first glance it was a regular business card: Company name and logo, mailing address, website, phone number, fax number. But the title under each name set them apart from every business card I had ever seen. One had the job of “Dominate and Benevolent King” and the other was “Lord of All that is good.” Brilliant!

This website shows 100 creative business cards. While some may not be the best for jamming in your wallet (only to get lost with the two dozen other business cards stuffed in there), but that’s the point. These business cards shine.

I currently don’t have a business card, but those cards have me wondering: Wondering what type of design would I use if I wanted to stand out; Wondering what other interesting cards other professions could use; Wondering what represents my profession best? And isn’t art supposed to make people wonder about the world around them, make them look at things differently?

2) It takes a very special type of person to look at a wall and think, ‘How can I make this into art?’

Sure, there’s the usual spray paint/mural approach, but for real ingenuity check out what German robotic company Festo is doing.

But creating an interactive wall is just one of several other unique creations: robotic jellyfish that can also fly; robotic penguins that also fly; cubes that communicate with each other.

But their bionic arm has me thinking of the Terminator movies.

3) It’s hard to think a photograph loading program on the Internet could make you look at rooms differently, but Photosynth does just that. The program can turn your pictures into three-dimensional renderings of the objects you shot (granted, you may have to take a LOT of pictures, but it’s still a cool concept).

And while I’ve seen lots of interactive photo-landscapes, this one of New York City is pretty cool.

The contrast of those is impressive. One site makes you realize miniscule details, the other focuses on the big picture.

4) Sometimes changing your outlook on life can be as simple as changing what you are looking at. And what is the one thing you look at most of the time without realizing it? Your computer’s desktop.

Using your old vacation photos is all well and good, but sometimes you need a totally different image to revitalize your view.

Abduzeedo has lists of cool (and cost-free and hassle-free) desktop wallpaper.

5) The relationship between humans and apes has been debated between scientists and theologians before Darwin came around.

This video is enough evidence for me that proves how closely related we are to our furry cousins. The kids act like kids and the parents act like parents.

As always, please send your questions, complaints and/or suggestions to rdevereux@koin.com

Summer lovin'

Devereux — Sun, 10 May 2009 22:06:00 GMT

By Rick Devereux

Summer is my favorite time of the year. Everything about it suits me just fine.

I enjoy grilling. I enjoy drinking beer or an iced cocktail from time to time. I enjoy wearing flip-flops and shorts. I enjoy hanging out at a baseball game.

So even though it isn’t quite summer yet (summer solstice is June 21), summer is more about an attitude than a date on the calendar.

Summer attitude means taking things slow, relaxing more, stressing out less, having a more carefree way of life. Summer seems to me to be a time of action, even if that action is sleeping in a hammock while the sun sets over the West Hills.

Summer in Oregon and Southwest Washington is gorgeous, thanks in a large part to the seven months of rain that precede summer. There are plenty of events, locations or activities that are purely Portland in the summer.

1) Nothing says summer like baseball. A quintessential summer experience is sitting in bleacher seats, eating a hot dog and drinking a cool beverage. The AAA All-Star Game will be played at PGE Park July 15 (the Homerun Derby will be two days early on July 13).

2) Watching the city of Portland settle in for the night while the sun sets is a beautiful thing. One of the best views of the city can be taken in from the Pittock Mansion atop the West Hills. The Mansion is a museum featuring collections from local artists, but it also holds special events throughout the year. “Artists after Hours” on May 23 is one such event. Wine, live music, breathtaking views and stunning art collections will have give you the type of relaxation associated with summer’s evening, even if summer is a month away.

3) Bobbing reggae music is my choice for a summer soundtrack. I have been known to pop in a reggae CD during the rainy season just to cheer myself up. Hopefully it won’t be raining come August 7. That is the start of the three-day Northwest World Reggae Festival in Mohawk Valley, Ore. (about 115 miles of Portland/10 miles north of Eugene). I and I will be there. Boy!

4) I go through propane during the summer like the city of Portland goes through proposed sites for a new baseball stadium. I have been known to become so desperate during winter to grill in the snow. The best ingredients to use while grilling (or cooking anything, actually) are fresh ingredients. Going to the Farmer’s Market is always a great bet, but planting your own could be fun. I am no green thumb, but Oregon State University offers an extension course that could transform me into a ‘Master Gardener.’ I just like how that sounds. If you want any more cooking ideas, pick up a copy of Edible Portland magazine or visit their website.

5) I know I pretty much exhausted the topic in my last blog (Be afraid, be very afraid), but one last thing about swine flu – Consumer Reports says the hype helped slow the spread. So even though I ridiculed the overblown attention given to the H1N1 outbreak, that attention made people aware of the flu and probably made them take extra precautions in not getting the flu. It seems the fear-mongering helped slow the spread. Still, I blame this guy for the start of this whole thing.

6) OK, here's one that I'm adding on a little late, but it's such an amazing story, I just had to let everyone know about it. Have you ever seen one of the movies from the 'Alien' series? The whole alien bursting through the stomach thing is a pretty big fear of mine. Well, it seems an English man had a near-Alien experience. He started bleeding through his belly-button and went to the doctor. FOX News is reporting his stomach ruptured, and an embryonic twin emptied out! Luckily, The Sun has pictures of the guy with his twin brother. The blog Filmdrunk has the story, too, and with totally different pictures (Warning: These pictures are not about the story whatsoever, but are funny).

If you have any questions, comments, concerns or ideas you would like covered, email me at rdevereux@koin.com.

Be afraid, be very afraid (Or not)

Devereux — Sat, 02 May 2009 22:07:00 GMT

Be afraid, be very afraid (Or not)

By Rick Devereux

Run for hills! Swine Flu is here! You are powerless to stop it!

We are officially in panic mode, people.

Put down that pork chop and stop kissing that pig. We are all in grave, grave danger.

The mega-attention that is being given to H1N1 (AKA, the swine flu) has reached ridiculous proportions.

Let’s put something into perspective; according to the Center for Disease Control, the number of children who died in the United States from the flu during the 2003-‘04 flu season was 153; the number during the 2004-‘05 season was 47; the number during the 2005-‘06 season was 46; and the number during the 2006-’07 season was 68.

The number of deaths in the U.S. due to the swine flu?

One.

But Rick, that number is sure to rise!

Calm down, there Sparky.

Of the 109 confirmed H1N1 cases, there has been one death, a whopping mortality rate of 0.9 percent.

The Journal of American Medical Association wrote an in-depth report on influenza and respiratory syncytial virus deaths in 2003. A quick synopsis of that report is: Old people and infants die from the flu.

So, if you are old or an infant, you should be concerned. But if that is you, you should be concerned of swine flu, bird flu or any other flu.

OK, maybe I’m being a little heartless here. If someone close to me older than 65 or younger than 18 months contracted the H1N1 virus (or any other flu, for that matter) I’d be worried. If you are taking care of an older or younger person, the CDC has great information.

It seems like basic health and common sense will help. Do all the things they taught in pre-school—cover your mouth when you cough, wash your hands, don’t lick a public telephone—you know, basic things like that.

But Rick, there are reports that this particular strain of flu is striking younger, healthier people.

Yeah, so?

Any of them die?

Didn’t think so.

I hate to sound like such an anti-sympathetic person, but it’s the flu.

Do I want the flu?

No, but it’s only the flu. If I do come down with the flu, I know I probably got it that one night I tried to lick what I thought was icing off that telephone in Chinatown. (BTW, it wasn’t icing, but I regret nothing because I would have always wondered)

My last rant about the swine flu is that it has nothing to do with pigs whatsoever. Jeffrey Kluger with Time magazine has a nice article supporting that assertion and Associated Press writers Mike Stobbe and David Caruso agree that the swine flu is not as powerful as even ‘regular flu.’

1) Keeping in the theme of pork, everyone knows bacon can save the world (it’s science, look it up) actually, a scientist at the University of Texas claims bacon can save your life during a heart attack. I have actually had the famous (infamous?) Bacon Explosion. After eating a piece, I thought I was having a heart attack, but it apparently saved my life.

Besides saving your life, bacon can save you time. Or at least space. In a world where space can be limited in sending URL links (text messages, Twitter, etc.) Bac’n Me will reduce your regular URL into a shorter, saltier, more delicious URL.

I could go on and on, but the L.A. Time’s technology writer Mark Milian has a great write-up on how bacon is sizzling on the internet (pun intended). But here are 10 fantastic bacon ideas (if/when I get an iPhone, I will get the bacon iPhone sleeve).

2) There are worse things in life than contracting the H1N1 virus. How would you like to never have the inclination to ever eat a Cheeto the rest of your life?

I shudder at the thought.

Here is a video of a guy almost dieing from eating the world’s largest Cheeto. (I warn you, it might make you cry.) The worst part might be what happens to the nice keyboard he eats the cheesy treat over.

3) Lack of sobriety and communication has often resulted in hilarity, probably throughout all of human history.

I’m pretty sure someone rolled out of bed one 19^th century morning, looked at the empty bottle of whiskey on the dresser and asked, “Who did I send that Morse Code message to last night?”

Shortly after Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, someone else made the first ‘Drunk Dial.’

With the advent of cell phones, text messaging is now the ubiquitous way of communication, whether sober or not. TextsFromLastNight.com has a list of some very memorable texts—even if some of the people who wrote the texts can’t remember sending them. Watch out, though, because this is a supreme time-waster, but you will want to read every text.

4) Mother’s Day is right around the corner (Sunday, May 10), so you better think of something nice for her.

Instead of giving her one gift on one day, take her to the Oregon Sesquicentennial Film Fest at Maryhurst University.

The event showcases how the Pacific Northwest and Oregon has contributed to Hollywood’s history and the film-making process.

5) “What else can you do with an umbrella – other than shield yourself from rain. I mean, we carry these things around with us, is the ANYTHING else they can do?”

You ask, I respond.

Turns out, you can do lots of things with an umbrella.

You can use it for self defense, you can make a chart-topping song, you can make works of art, you can make flying weapons of death, you can tell all those people on top of buildings looking down you what you really think of them, and here are some way cool umbrellas (watch TV, play Star Wars, go to a rave, etc.).

But mostly, umbrellas are for shielding yourself from the elements.

If you have questions, comments or suggestions, email me at rdevereux@koin.com.

Living is learning

Devereux — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 23:19:00 GMT

Living is learning

By Rick Devereux

The Internet is the main reason people call the current time in history “The Information Age.” At no other time in history has so much information been available to anyone, anywhere and for free. Granted, some of that information may be incorrect or one-sided, but the information is out there.

Now if you already know everything (I’m looking at you, Ken Jennings) these sights might be simple review. But if you aren’t winning millions of dollars on Jeopardy, you might just learn something.

1) There is absolutely no doubt that my worst subject throughout my educational career (which was longer than it should have been, but that’s a different story) was science; it was a subject that I could never understand. Maybe if my instructors taught in zero gravity and used candy corn like in this video from NPR, I might have earned better grades.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102964810

2) Even though I married someone who knows and understands finances and the current financial climate, I am still figuring out how the economy went from 2008 highs to 2009 lows (but it does seem to be getting better). This Subprime Primer slideshow explains a lot in simple terms (and simple, REAL simple, illustrations). I never knew the final victim was a Norwegian village. Follow the link to found out how.

http://www.businesspundit.com/sub-prime/

3) I like to stay active and at least try to stay in shape. I read different articles on this type of workout and that type of meal plan. But I immediately thought of the tongue-in-cheek site The Onion when I saw this:

http://abcnews.go.com/International/Story?id=7389753&page=1

I know that Mayor Sam Adams was the city’s former transportation commissioner and Portland prides itself on its public transportation, but it has nothing on this Moscow subway:

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2372125.ece

4) The only state with a higher unemployment rate than Oregon is Michigan, so there is a good chance either you or someone you know is looking for work. The Internet has made it easier to find jobs – at least theoretically. Grazing all of the typical job sites—HotJobs, Monster, Craigslist, Linked In, etc—may not be enough. Everyone says networking is the best way to get your foot in the door, but if your network is all dry, you need to expand said network. MyWorkster is one way to do that.

http://www.myworkster.com/

5) I never took a design class, but I always thought there were some unique minds in those courses. It takes someone to look at the world a little different to come up with products like these:

http://www.oddee.com/item_96648.aspx

If you have any comments, complaints or suggestions, email Rick at rdevereux@koin.com.

All pirates, all the time

Devereux — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 04:24:00 GMT

I gotta tell the truth, I can’t get enough of the Somali pirate story. It has so many things to offer: it’s funny because it involves pirates; it’s serious because it’s a life-threatening situation that destabilizes an entire region; it’s inspiring because Captain Richard Phillips put his crew first; it’s amazing because the Navy SEALs’ rescue operation seems impossible.

Here are some sites that are inspired by the pirate predicament:

1) CNN has a great story on the final moments leading up to and following Captain Phillips rescue. I can see this becoming a movie with Josh Hartnett playing a cocky, rookie SEAL, Kevin Costner playing a grizzled SEAL leader who comes out of retirement for one final mission, and Jeff Bridges as Captain Phillips. Just read this story and you’ll see the movie unfolding…

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/04/13/somalia.rescue.breakdown/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

2) Foreign Policy has a phenomenal report on the history of Somali. The writer (Jeffery Gettleman is currently the East Africa bureau chief for the New York Times) has spent time in Afghanistan and Iraq, but he says visiting Mogadishu is what scares him most. The article details the country the current generation of Somali pirates grew up. In 18 years, Somalia has seen about four months of peace. Reading this puts perspective on why the pirates dare to board ships and demand millions of dollars.

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=4682&page=2

Gettlemen wrote another great article regarding Somalia, pirates and Somali pirates for GQ. The similarities are striking between modern pirates and Barbary pirates of the 17^th and 18^th centuries.

http://men.style.com/gq/features/landing?id=content_8201

3) Who knew dolphins were communists? Well, the Chinese are grateful they are. Apparently thousands of dolphins swam between a Chinese vessel and the Somali shore, thwarting an attempt by pirates to attack. Is it true? Who knows? But the picture that accompanies this article by the China Radio International is cool.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-04/14/content_11184581.htm

4) As serious as this situation is, what with a major shipping corridor cut off because of vigilantism, it is hard not to think of the Jolly Roger, Jack Sparrow or the theme song for the Disneyland ride. But it’s hard to not talk about pirates and without the urge to talk like a pirate. International Talk Like A Pirate Day allows one to indulge in such an activity.

http://www.talklikeapirate.com/howto.html

5) And if ye talks like a pirate, shouldn’t ye drink like a pirate? Aaarr. The traditional pirate drink of choice be rum. But what is rum? Get all ye rum facts here, ya matey:

http://www.tastings.com/spirits/rum.html

Rick Devereux is a KOIN Local 6 Web Producer and has been working and writing for Internet sights since 1999.

Korea, Mexico, What every man should own, bouncing politicians and Extreme Sheep Herding

Devereux — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 19:02:00 GMT

The Internet can be a big, scary place, a place where the wary traveler only visits familiar locations.

But there is a world (wide web) of information, entertainment and support out there.

Here are some interesting sites to help you get started on the big journey of branching out and finding your own way on the web.

1) How do you solve a problem like Korea? OK, I have to admit I stole that line. But it’s such a good line I couldn’t resist. The Council on Foreign Relations is a wealth of knowledge on all kinds of international issues, but the section they set up on the Korean Krisis is easy to navigate, informative and thorough.

http://www.cfr.org/publication/11954

2) It is understandable to be concerned about a house the next block over with unruly occupants. If that behavior starts to bleed its way into your block and inch its way toward your house, anyone would be cautious. That’s how I feel about the Middle East and even Korea. But Mexico isn’t just your next-door neighbor, it’s like renting out a room in your house. The LA Times has a comprehensive section dedicated toward the “Drug war at our doorstep,” with more than 130 stories in the past 10 months on the subject.

http://projects.latimes.com/mexico-drug-war/#/its-a-war

3) Not everything on the web has to be as serious as nuclear missile discussion and drug cartels. I’m a fan of lists. They create fun debates on subjects. Esquire has a list of “31 Things Every Man Should Own.” While I may never own one pair of boots for everyday wear and one specifically for working, it’s a fun list.

http://www.esquire.com/features/things-every-man-should-own-0509

4) If you want to both waste time and take out your political frustrations, Planet Dan has what you want. The simple sight of your favorite (or least favorite) politician (or former-politician) helplessly falling through the air and bouncing off orbs is strangely cathartic, soothing and addictive. Plus, it gives you a quick lesson on physics.

http://www.planetdan.net/pics/misc/hillary.htm

5) The Internet is full of videos, from the goofy to the gorgeous, the silly to surreal. But the best viral videos are the ones that make the viewer question the legitimacy of what they are seeing. “Did they just do what I think they did? That can’t be real. This must be fake.” This video on extreme sheep herding is definitely in that category of, “How’d they do that?”

http://video.yahoo.com/watch/4744168/12670535

Rick Devereux is a KOIN Local 6 Web Producer and has been working and writing for Internet sites since 1999.