Last Post From Portland: Wreck of the Peter Iredale

 Tomorrow I fly out to Washington, D.C., to start my new life back in school. This time I suspect it will be more work than music school was. To celebrate, I have but one more photo gallery to share with everyone, this from a recent excursion to Astoria and Fort Stevens, both or which, I must say, were pretty boring and not particularly beautiful. I can't recommend going there. But the Wreck of the Peter Iredale was a fun photo subject. In its presence it looked like trash someone didn't bother cleaning up and decided to call "historical" to avoid responsibility for picking up after it. I wanted to capture its insignificance and smallness in comparison to the water, sky, and sand around it. A lot of photos I've seen of it online make it look big and bizarre, but I thought it was puny and funny in a pathetic sort of way. Anyway, enjoy the photos, and I'll be writing next time from the nation's capitol!

Waded into the cold Pacific Ocean for shots like this. Totally worth it.

This is a more standard composition of the wreck. Looks bigger than it really is, right?

This is a little closer to what it actually looked like.

There were a number of rusted posts like this just under water, and probably others I didn't see. Seems a little dangerous considering all the little kids playing around, but what do I know?

This is probably my favorite shot of the day.

Revamped MySpace Page

MySpace is looking to try and make a comeback. Who knows whether it will work or not. The important thing is my recorded music has a new home there.

Actually, the important thing is that I've recently made a breakthrough in recording technique and have been remixing the entire First Regrets catalog in the hopes of finishing the CD for once and for all before law school. And two of those nearly-completed songs, the two singles, can be found on that brand-new-old MySpace page.

Presenting for your listening pleasure:

Trillium Lake Again

The other day I made it back out to Trillium Lake, beautifully situated at the foot of Mount Hood. This time I nailed it on the photography front. One of the photo shoots I'm most proud of. Check out this sunset I watched:

Hiking Mount Hood Meadows

 
My friend Jay and I took a trip up to Mount Hood Meadows, which is a ski resort during the winter but now is covered with a beautiful array of wildflowers. Here's some photographic evidence of our excursion, although be warned: most of it's in black and white due to poor lighting.

Jay, as you may know, is the lead guitarist in our band, One Moment. Right now we're working on a CD (a Sam send-off before I head out to Washington DC for law school), and some of the tracks are online and available for listening, including my original City Love. Check it out here!

Mount Hood sunset

The Meadows and the Moon

The extra payoff: Umbrella Falls

Umbrella Falls

If I Were Chief Justice Roberts...

Don't get me wrong, today was a wonderful day for marriage equality. DOMA was rightly struck down as unconstitutional, and we got perhaps the best ruling on Prop 8 we could expect from a conservative court such as this (the 5-4 majority on Prop 8 was the oddest combination of justices, too).

Now people are celebrating, and for good cause, but there's something unsettling about the people out there who are celebrating Anthony Kennedy's role in the DOMA decision. Yes, he was key vote in overturning DOMA. He was also the key vote in yesterday's ruling gutting the Voting Rights Act, a disappointing ruling to say the least.

If I were Chief Justice Roberts and wanted to help out the Republican Party as much as I could this court session, a session taking place not long after an election landslide victory for my opponents, I would prioritize my major issues. The major docket issues this June, or at least the ones that proved to attract the most public attention, were: affirmative action, voting rights, and marriage equality. If Chief Justice Roberts could chose just one of these issues to claim as a victory, on behalf of the Republican Party, which would it be?

Voting rights, without a doubt. It would grant the Republican Party a great deal of lasting political power. The other two issues could be sacrificed without the loss of Republican power. And let's not forget that Prop 8 and affirmative action were decided on very narrow grounds that don't change much at all. Only DOMA and the Voting Rights Act were irrevocably changed.

And, with a stroke of political genius, if I were the Chief Justice I would release the decision on marriage equality last, knowing it would eclipse the Voting Rights Act decision's public importance (save the best for last) and wipe it from many memories.

After the Voting Rights Act was hobbled yesterday, many people pointed out that the decision left room for Congress to enact similar legislation using modern-day statistics. Indeed, the Supreme Court gave Congress clear instructions on how to refashion the law in a manner in harmony with the Constitution. Yesterday there was a sizable amount of support for this sort of solution and it looked as if an effort might be made in Congress to follow these instructions and create a new Voting Rights Act. However, even if the Voting Rights Act was a top priority for Congress it would be hard to imagine that it would make it through to Obama's desk without a herculean effort. After today's DOMA ruling, I doubt even the traces of that effort exist anymore.