"I've Waited Hours For This..."

View of Mt. St. Helens from Portland. We're close. Come on...Don't be embarrassed: Mt. St. Helens Volcano Cam.

"OK Chris. Do You Wanna Come Over And Watch The Eruption Or Do You Have To Work?"

 

The words on everyone's lips here? The buzzwords in Portland? You guessed it: "Magmatic Gases." 

I guess disaster preparedness has become official: My co-worker "K," who lives about 25 minutes closer to St. Helens came home this evening to find a warning posted to her front door explaining the hazards and procedures of "Ash Fallout." My dinner companion this evening "L," has a perfect view of the volcano from her back deck and will invite me over to watch if the eruption is lengthy. 

Photo: The A. Langfield Collection

Scariest Song EVER Turns 30.

(simpatico) It was this week in 1974 that Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells" hit number 1 on the U.K. albums chart (over a year after its release). The late rise was probably due to an excerpt appearing in the movie The Exorcist.

Even Though That Huge Ass Volcano 65 Miles From My House Is About To Blow, Waist High Still Manages To Represent "The No."

 

Just wanted to let the vacationing in "The Fresno of Europe" Fresyes know about the most interesting Fresno referral received here at Waist High so far. 

Fresno tidbit: It is considered to be the largest city in the U.S. that is not served by an interstate highway. 

Tidbit and photo courtesy: westcoastroads.com

From "Volcanic Unrest" To "Volcanic Advisory."

 

The city of Portland Oregon and the offices of Waist High went on a Mt. St. Helens Volcano Alert Wednesday prompting scientists to warn that a small or moderate eruption could happen in the next few days. 

"Scientists said they believe the seismic activity is being caused by pressure from a reservoir of molten rock a little more than a mile below the crater. That magma apparently rose from a depth of about six miles in 1998, but never reached the surface." (katu.com) 

See below post for Waist High's city of origin natural disaster alert. 

Photo: USGS via katu.com

Insert Twilight Zone Music Here...

Just one day after the following comment was made at Waist High from a Bakersfield reader: "Now where's all the Oregon is so great comments? You would never have to worry about that in Bakersfield!" in reference to the over 700 earthquakes on Mt. St. Helens this past Friday, comes word that: (kabc.com) "An earthquake has rocked an area of Kern County. Seismologists say the quake struck at 3:54 pm with a preliminary magnitude of 5.0. It was centered 17 miles northeast of the town of Arvin and 21 miles east of Bakersfield."

Be well Bakersfieldians.

Seattle. It Was A Scream.

This just in for all you washed up losers who "find (my) life & thoughts interesting enough to follow it more than once," the pictorial account of "My Lovely Teenaged Daughter's" 16th Birthday Extravaganza, or what I like to call "Scream Across The Pacific Northwest: A Rock And Roll Tour 2004."

Sure, Waist High could have bought her the predictable pieces of useless plastic for her 16th, but why not have a little fun?

Heading out from Portland, it was on to Olympia for gas, Renton for the Jimi Hendrix Memorial, the Lake Washington area of Seattle for Viretta "Kurt's" Park, and downtown Seattle for the Experience Music Project.

Teenaged daughter and I got bogus directions to the Cobain sites and ended up searching for about 90 minutes. After essentially giving up, we started to head out of the area to get on over to the EMP. But neither of us could stand it once we were out of the area, so we decided to search for it on our own. As we were heading to the byway that would take us downtown, we saw an extension of Lake Washington Drive from across town where we had been searching earlier. On a hunch we followed the road and sure enough eventually found the house and the park.

Fun was had by all. The Teenaged Daughter and I got up on stage as the band Waist High and performed at EMP.

Huge Ass Volcano That Is 65 Miles From My House Update.

Over 700 earthquakes in Mt. St. Helens on just Friday alone. Trails around the area shut down for the first time in 18 years. Don't believe me?

"May The Road Rise With You."

 

If you have never met Waist High personally, you might not know that she loves to purposely aggravate people. For fun sometimes, WH likes to call her mother and say random things like, "You know, I have a real problem with the way I was raised." Or "Do you think I would be as weird as I am if I was breastfed?" Usually her replies are something like, "Aren't you supposed to be at work?" 

Sunday morning my mother and I were driving on the outskirts of Oregon wine country in the Taurus. I was purposely trying to aggravate her with no real success for about two hours. She was just not playing along. Suddenly, she had finally drove me to the point where I had to pull out the big guns so I pulled out Public Image Limited and inserted it into the tape deck and began to play it at a high level of volume all the while slamming my head back and forth. 

Finally! I finally got her. Success at last! In her high pitched exasperated voice she screamed: "Will you PLEASE turn that down? I can't stand your music. The only kind of music I like is music with no words." 

Photo courtesy: suprmchaos.com

You Can't Fool The BPD. Well...Sometimes You Can.

From Crazy Ape comes the greatest (real or fake) testimonial EVER about License Plate Photo Blocker Spray: "This is a high gloss spray that even the Bakersfield Police Department admits they have a hard time proving what's on your plate."

Happy Birthday.

Shrooms. Hot Lava. Really Evil People. The Pacific Northwest Is A Hotbed Of Goings On.

(katu.com) "Seven Washington County (Oregon) residents are expected to survive after eating poisonous mushrooms. The group was hospitalized after picking the mushrooms near their home. Death Cap Mushrooms grow in abundance in the Northwest and can be confused with popular non poisonous varieties."

(katu.com) Swarms of tiny earthquakes have been rattling the lava dome in the crater of Mount Saint Helens. The experts monitoring the volcano in southwest Washington say it could indicate that a small amount of magma is moving into the crater, cracking the lava dome.

Washington state seismologist Tony Qamar says it is "unlikely there is any hazard to anyone outside the crater."

The eruption of Mount Saint Helens in May of 1980 killed 57 people and leveled hundreds of square miles of forest and spewed ash over much of the Northwest.

(katu.com) HILLSBORO, Ore. - A Hillsboro father has been sentenced to three years in prison for repeatedly siccing his dog on his two children as a form of punishment. David Hoskins, and his wife, Joyce, were arrested in May when police say the couple's eight-year-old son had a chunk of his left ear bitten off by the pit bull-Doberman mix.

Hoskins said, "Those kids mean more to me than anything in this world." And added, "I just, I thank God they're okay and they didn't get hurt worse than they did."

Their seven-year-old daughter needed stitches to close multiple puncture wounds on her arms, legs and back from dog bites. Joyce Hoskins will be sentenced at a later date.

Leave it to Tim Riley to wrap up the story nicely: "The children have been placed in foster homes. The dog has been euthanized. Have a good weekend."

Father Bad. Son Bad. The Ward Weavers.

(koin.com) Ward Weaver will spend the rest of his life in prison for the murders of 12-year-old Ashley Pond and 13-year-old Miranda Gaddis. Pond and Gaddis disappeared in early 2002. Their bodies were found in August 2002 on Weaver's rental property -- next door to the girls' apartment complex.

(Ward) Weaver pleaded guilty Wednesday morning in a Clackamas County (Oregon) courtroom to aggravated murder. In exchange for his guilty plea, 41-year-old Weaver will avoid the death penalty and instead serve two consecutive life sentences in prison without the possibility of parole.

Ward Weaver is the son of Ward Francis Weaver Jr. "who was convicted and sentenced to death in Kern County in 1985" (bakersfield.com) for the 1981 double murder of 23 year old Barbara Levoy and 18 year old Robert Radford.

(bakersfield.com) It was Feb. 5, 1981, when long-distance truck driver Ward Francis Weaver Jr. came across a broken-down car on Highway 58, about one mile east of Tehachapi. According to court records, Barbara Levoy and her boyfriend, 18-year-old Air Force cadet Robert Don Radford, were headed for Colorado after visiting Radford's grandmother at her home near Fresno. When their car broke down and a truck driver stopped, they may have thought a good Samaritan had come to their rescue. Weaver had other ideas.

He later admitted to bashing the young cadet in the head with a metal bar because he wanted to have sex with Levoy. An autopsy revealed 11 wounds to Radford's skull. Weaver then threatened Levoy with a knife and forced her to accompany him in his truck. He raped her several times before finally strangling her and burying her body in the back yard of his Oroville home.

People v. Ward Francis Weaver Jr. (Appeal 2001)

Attention Non Sharp Knives!

Dirty Scoundrel With Bat Teeth sends Waist High e-mail: "In as far as your website, did it ever occur to you that people who have enough time to read it everyday may not be the sharpest knife in drawer? I mean seriously I don't know very many people who would find your life & thoughts interesting enough to follow it more than once?? You feel free to post what ever you want about what an asshole I am. I am sure all of the washed up losers who read it will impact my life??"

It's a wonder this high school dropout can spell big words like "interesting" and "everyday."

Isn't He Cute?

(Content removed by author)

Quote Of The Week.

Former law enforcement personnel tells Waist High why crime is higher in the summer: "Well, the bars flush the toilets at 2 a.m."

I Don't Make This Stuff Up.

 

The two most interesting comments made to yours truly this week: "Are those your real teeth?" and "You remind me of my car." 

Photo courtesy of: northerntel.net

With My Own Two Eyes.

Photo: kink.fm

 

Photo: kink.fm

Friends? Low Places? I Am One Of Those Friends!

Greatest excerpt from an e-mail sent to Waist High today: A good friend will come and bail you out of jail.......but, a true friend will be sitting next to you saying, "Damn...that was fun!!"

Waist High Can Die Happy Now.

 

Photo: kink.fm

For The Love Of All Things Holy.

Sorry to have abandoned you my loyal readers. Good news for Curt and Roland fans is that KINK 101.9 (who hosted the Tears For Fears show on 9/11) actually has good pictures available to view. The show was incredible.

And It Burns Burns Burns.

Greatest "Could Have Been" commercial EVER: "Johnny Cash's family has refused to allow advertising writers to use the song 'Ring of Fire' in commercials for hemorrhoid relief products." (oregonlive.com)

Complaints. Always With The Complaints.

A fatal shooting Thursday night outside a North Portland drinking establishment has neighbors saying that the death has made "a bad street even worse." Their complaints run the gamut, from "bad food (to) UNATTRACTIVE STRIPPERS." (oregonlive.com)

Dear Readers.

Don't hate Waist High because she is beautiful. Don't hate Waist High because at the moment she has a nationally recognized, world class web site but no working computer. Don't hate Waist High because last night she saw Tears For Fears' first "All Electric" show in ten years. Hate the fu***** who stood next to Waist High during that show AND TALKED THE ENTIRE TIME.

Meow.

Greatest (I mean worst...yeah...worst...it was awful) license plate frame Waist High saw this weekend: So many cats, So few recipes

So Let's See. That's About 4 More Safe Childbearing Years Right?

To my Viking brethren: if you have been feeling old lately, just know that it is only going to get worse. I took the force of the blow yesterday for all of us as I watched my lovely little daughter drive away to take her driving test. More disturbing than that, was the conversation I had with my former spouse (and fellow WHS 1986 classmate) while we were waiting for that lovely little daughter to return.

Our 20 year high school reunion is in 20 months.

Greatest quote from the 1983 West High Valhalla: "the Freshman (that's us) have made West High a great school." >>>>>>>>>>>>>>"This crowd of students have accomplished many things through out the year. A few of the fellow classmates have helped clean up the campus. THEY INSPECTED THE TRASH CAN WHENEVER THROWN IN ONE..."

Not Forgotten: ABC.

 

Only 2 out of the 4 original members of ABC agreed to perform on VH-1's Bands Reunited tonight, but that's OK. 

Photo: bbc.co.uk

Words Of, Well...Wisdom I Guess.

While having her full breakdown in the parking lot after not passing her driving test, my former spouse brought up a good point in an effort to soothe his only child who was born almost a month early: "Hey, since you were born four weeks early, you are actually ahead of schedule!"

Haircut 100: Not Forgotten.

 

How about that Nick Heyward on VH-1's Bands Reunited last night? 

Photos: Jason Dufner via vh1.com

That Guy.

In case you care, it was exactly 9 years ago today that Mark Fuhrman invoked his 5th Amendment privilege against self incrimination (out of the presence of the jury) in 'that trial.'

Thanks Kurt!

Here We Are Now. Entertain Us.

Seattle was a scream. Details, and a pictorial account coming soon.

Waist High Was 16 Once. She Knows What Goes On.

Now I get to be the one worried sick cause it's 2:30 a.m. and my daughter isn't home from "the movies" yet.

Oregon. We Don't Speak Your Language California.

Say hello to the central Oregon coast town of Florence, recently "rated the top retirement spot in America." (koin.com) According to USA Today: "This year's study reflects a continuing shift from Florida as a retirement mecca to the Pacific Northwest, the Rocky Mountains and the Southwest."

Waist High useless fact of the day: Heceta Head lighthouse is one of the most photographed lighthouses in the United States.

God Bless You Aamer!

T minus 5 days until the premiere of VH-1's Bands Reunited Season Two. T minus 8 days until they tread very sacred ground: In the early 1980s, the English Beat's fusion of punk, reggae and ska quickly made them a UK sensation. But just before embarking on a major US tour, the two lead singers abruptly quit. Without any vocalists, the English Beat would never play again.

In 1978, singer Dave Wakeling and guitarist Andy Cox formed the Beat. Soon joining were MC Ranking Roger, bassist David 'Shuffle' Steele, drummer Everett Morton, and a fifty-year-old Jamaican saxophone player known only as Saxa.

Known in America as the English Beat, the group featured a diverse line-up in terms of age, race, and musical style. Their unique fusion led to a string of hits and tour dates with some of the world's greatest bands. However, the band's members became tired from the road and tired of one another.

When Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger decided to leave the band it splintered into two groups: General Public and Fine Young Cannibals. The six original members of the English Beat have not performed together in over two decades. Tonight we try to get them to reunite.

If I did not already say it, God Bless You Aamer Haleem!

BR Season Two kicks off Sept. 6 with Haircut 100.