I was wandering around Leiden last week when I came across a playground in a neighborhood filled with Soviet-style apartment buildings. The expanse of gray and concrete was shattered by a series of Disney murals surrounding the place.

One of these days I'll learn to tilt my iPhone horizontally so I don't wind up with vertical videos.

Labels: Netherlands, YouTube

And so ends this thrilling (well...), enthralling (not really) and engaging (pfffft!) video tour through Eastern Oregon.

Labels: off topic, Oregon, sojurns, YouTube

Labels: off-topic, Oregon, sojurns, YouTube

Labels: off-topic, Oregon, sojurns, YouTube

Labels: off topic, Oregon, sojurns, YouTube

Would you take a car down this road?

Ok, better question, would you take *your* car down this road?

Labels: off-topic, Oregon, sojurns, YouTube

Can I pronounce "Imnaha"? As these videos prove, no, I sure can't!

Labels: off-topic, Oregon, sojurns, YouTube

In part 3, I argue with Lars Larson (on the radio) while cruising to Hells Canyon in the middle of a thunder storm. Along the way, I encounter a family of deer, break them up and then attempt to reconcile the situation.

Labels: off-topic, Oregon, sojurns, YouTube

I don't think this video needs any further context. The picture quality isn't the best but I think the audio makes this one worth posting.

Labels: off-topic, sojurns, videos, YouTube

Did you know that there's actually stuff in Oregon beyond the Cascade Range and east of the Willamette Valley? It's a fact!

I know, I was just as surprised as you are now when I first learned this after 22 years of living in this state. While studying at the University of Oregon, my friend "Dangermoose" and I ventured out to the Alvord Desert and the little town of Fields, which sits in the bottom, right-hand corner of the state. At the time, Fields boasted a population of eight people and eleven dogs.

I regret to inform y'all that, despite having lived in Oregon for almost all of my 31 years on this planet, I had never set foot anywhere near Hells Canyon until a few weeks ago. I had a long weekend to kill so I decided it was time to mosey out that way. I tossed a tent in the trunk and aimed my car in the vague direction of the canyon and Joseph, OR.

A bit of a digression here. Have you heard of these places called "Walled Mart"? I think that's what they're called. I stopped at one in Pendleton and...It. Had. Everything. Tacos. Every cereal ever created in history of man. Denim shorts. Mud-flaps. Davenports. Wide aisles too. And super-happy elderly people that greeted me at the front entrance. Yes sir, good ol' Walled Mart where I doubt anything bad ever happens, everyone is always happy and the staff are well-groomed, well-treated and enjoy reasonable hours, high pay and quality benefits.

So this is the first installment of a series of short videos I put together about Wallowa County and "the wilds" of Oregon. Over the course of the trip I encountered dumpster-diving deer, irritated cows, thunderstorms, strange towns, fire service employees and more. In this video, I explore the front entrance to Joseph, a town that likes to brag that it's "heaven on earth" and that it sits at the edge of the "Swiss Alps of Oregon."

In addition to numerous art galleries and a corner filled with Swiss chalet-style shops and an "Arcade of the Dammed" (I'm still angry that I couldn't get "TMNT: Turtles in Time" to work and that the "Addams Family Pinball Machine" locked-up), several shops sell "What Happens in Joseph, Stays in Joseph" bumper stickers. I know, right? But do the residents know? They have to be on this gag.

Also: my father now has one of these sitting in the back window of his Camry and he has yet to notice it. Anyway, on to the video...

Labels: off-topic, sojurns, videos, YouTube

Today I learned that one of the great things about dumping hours of time into fixing your blog and writing dull posts about dumping hours of time into fixing your blog is that people will send you emails offering their condolences (I received three today. Three! This is very exciting because this blog never garners email). And that some of these emails will include videos of zombies chasing people around forests while riding unicycles.

Yeaaaaaaaaaah, you're not going to want to click that play button if you're at work, squeamish or think the whole zombie thing is "totally played out." As for myself, every time I start thinking that every conceivable twist on the zombie genre has been done, I see something like this. Plus, I'll sit through just about anything zombie-related until I finally see something, be it a movie or a graphic novel or whatever, featuring the undead using hot air balloons to attack their victims. Wouldn't that be somethin' else? Zombies in hot air balloons? With unicycles now out of the way, I think that's the last original thing that can be done with zombies.

It should also be noted that the video above includes a not-so happy "happy ending" that is going to keep me away from anything nature-related for at least the next two hours. This includes the "Little Tree" air freshener in my car.

Kudos to the Filmed By Bike (link) entrants that created the video and to Kim for passing it along.

Labels: YouTube, zombies