Days of The Last Hurrah lives

When Rindy Ross played the familiar opening strains of "Harden My Heart" Friday night at Pendleton Center for the Arts, I was frozen in time. For a brief moment I closed my eyes and remembered hearing Rindy and her husband, Marv, playing with Quarterflash in the subterranean Portland club - The Last Hurrah.

I turned 21 during my junior year in college in 1981 and remember entering the nearly obscured doorway to the club on numerous occasions, heading down the stairs and listening to some great music.

Marv and Rindy performed a medley of old Quarterflash tunes - that was great too. But, they also played some new songs - songs not even on an album yet. "Kites," I think was the name of one. Wow, it really showcased Rindy's strong voice and vocal range.

And then there was the last song. Marv had this box thing that looked like a jack-in-the-box, but instead of some puppet popping its head out when he turned the crank, it played several accordion notes. I don't recall the name of the song, but the Portland natives sang about Tonya Harding. It was quite amusing.

I'm amazed. My husband and I paid 12 bucks each for tickets to the show and there's not a bad seat in the house. How cool is that?

By the way, the couple will return for the upcoming Hermiston Desert Arts Council season with The Trail Band. Definitely worth going to.

Hit the trail

That's my husband, John. We hit the highway to find a place to ride our ATV last weekend.

We got a map from the visitor's center and attempted to follow it, but in small print it said, "This map was designed to show general locations of OHV recreation sites in Oregon."

So, when we get stopped for riding illegally, my defense is, "I'm riding in the general location."

We had a great time, but I can't help but become irritated as we drove for miles and miles through public lands that we have to drive so far to ride.

We were the only people riding where we were - although we did see some people on our way out in a meadow. It was peaceful. I deal with people and traffic (yeah we have traffic in Hermiston) all week long, I don't want to deal with a bottleneck of ATVs at some destination riding area.

Recycling rant

In the wake of legislators looking to revamp Oregon's bottle bill, ("Two sides of the nickel," May 3 East Oregonian) some people don't really understand what recycling is. Taking empty cans and bottles back to the store isn't about the environment - it's purely driven by economics and getting a nickel back.

Recycling is smashing the soup or refried bean cans, throwing them into a bucket in the corner of our kitchen; flattening cardboard boxes and tossing them to one side of the garage; putting newspapers in grocery bags stacked on the dog's crate; and putting glass jars in a bag in our shed. Then when the bucket is full of cans or the cardboard starts getting in the way or the stack of newspapers builds, John or I fill the Bronco or truck and drive to the recycling trailers a half mile from our house and put the items in the corresponding bin.

To me, this type of recycling is an inconvenience. I don't get paid for it, I don't get a pat on the back for it, I just get the satisfaction in knowing it's the right thing to do.

And about my pop cans and bottles, I can't remember the last time I fed machines to get my nickels back. Instead, they collect in the garage (the opposite side from the cardboard) and when they start to overflow, I donate them to can and bottle drives held by Special Olympics or other worthy organizations.

Then there's the cans I collect at work. I have a box under my desk ... which quickly began overflowing with cans and bottles, so I poured them into a bit plastic bag. It seems, though, it never went from under my desk to anywhere else.

Then when I was working on the bottle bill story I met a woman who was taking cans and bottles back to the store so she could get enough money to purchase her medication. I told her she could come to the newsroom and I'd give her the bag. It wasn't a big act of charity on my part - I don't know how many nickles it represented, but she was very appreciative. However, I was just as appreciative to get the bag out from under my desk.

Chchch changes

I thought this whole blog thing was my random thoughts, but Daniel Wattenburger, news editor for the East Oregonian, wanted us to write about things we'd like to get rid of most in the world (evidently someone is writing an editorial about spring cleaning).

Anyway, Yoko Ono would be at the top of my list. Her primal wailing IS NOT music. While my husband has some very eclectic taste in music - some of it I enjoy, some of it I tolerate and then there's Yoko. We have an agreement, I don't play Amy Grant when he's home and he doesn't play Yoko Ono when I'm home.

Please note, the name of the album is, "Yes I'm a Witch." No kidding.

Another thing I detest is when I get e-mails and someone thinks it's fun to use a rainbow of colors to write their message. USE BLACK FOR BUSINESS PURPOSES!!! It's easier to read.

I don't want this to turn into a big rant, so the last thing I'll mention is, I wish people would include the address of places when they send public service announcements for events, rather than just the name of the place. If I ever get to negotiate a contract for my work as the community editor of the East Oregonian, I would have it include an additional clause for me to get paid for how many addresses I have to look up.