Best. Attraction. Ever.

James just pointed out to me that there is a Wikipedia entry for the Oregon Vortex, the roadside attraction he, Zach and I visited on our roadtrip to Portland senior year. Our decision to go to the Vortex went something like this:
Zach (reading the sign): Oregon Vortex?
James: You guys wanna go?
Sara: Didn't the sign say 300 feet ahead?

We promptly swerved as we almost passed the turn-off by, then embarked on what would became basically the best roadtrip story ever. I'll let the pictures and the entry explain themselves.

The trip included many highlights, such as watching USC kick the shit out of Hawaii in the season opener, and forcing Zach to eat so much food that he actually threw up on the side of the street -- but the gem of the trip was certainly the Vortex. I highly recommend it.

Oscar thoughts

Since Hollywood Boulevard is already shut down for the week, I don't think this post is premature. I've only seen a fraction of the movies nominated, but here are some random thoughts on what I've seen:

The Departed: I think everyone basically agrees that Martin Scorsese will finally take an Oscar home this year. But if he does win, it will be with that unspoken asterisk, as everyone seems to think "well, it's not his best work, but he deserved to finally win." Yet, I thought "The Departed" was great -- much unlike the consolation Oscars some people get. John Wayne finally won for the absolutely terrible "True Grit." Trust me, Scorsese winning for this movie isn't that bad. Also, I really like Mark Wahlberg, but his nomination for this movie is pretty weird. He is definitely in it the least of all the other heavy-hitters. Matt Damon probably should have gotten this.

The Queen: This movie was well-paced and managed to work in tons of real footage without disrupting the flow. Yes, Helen Mirren is great, but what really blew me away about this movie was how freakishly similar the guy playing Tony Blair looks to the actual Tony Blair.

Little Miss Sunshine: Unlike "Crash," this is the kind of low-budget, underdog film that I would actually like to see win something. The family in this movie has routinely been described as "dysfunctional" -- which is quite misleading. They are all misfits, yes, but they work surprisingly well together. It's got a great mix of humor and very touching moments, the standouts of which all involve Abigail Breslin. I'm officially rooting for J-Hud to take home the best supporting actress win, but if anyone else does, I hope it's Breslin. Her earnest breakdown ("Am I a loser?) made me lose it.

The Devil Wears Prada: In the few scenes where I wasn't paying attention solely to the clothes, Meryl Streep, not surprisingly, had an awesome presence. Her exhasperated facial expressions alone are worth catching.

The Last King of Scotland: I was not in any way shocked by Forest Whitaker's spot-on performance, but I was blown away by how little credit is being given to the rest of this film's cast. James McAvoy, a de-glammed Kerry Washington and a barely recognizable Gillian Anderson all do fine work, yet Whitaker is the only part of this movie people are talking about. Weird.

Dreamgirls: When I first read all the reviews, I was skeptical. The New York Times called Jennifer Hudson's performance "historic" and EW called it "grandly shattering," but until I saw it myself, I thought "how good could it be REALLY?" Let me spell it out for you: It. Is. That. Good. I've never been to a movie before in which people actually stood up and clapped in the middle of it, but people did. I sat there with my mouth open, and when her big song came to a close, simply mouthed "holy shit" to Rachel. Oh yeah, and Eddie Murphy is good too.

The Pursuit of Happyness: I love Will Smith. I was glad he did what he did with this role -- he turned in a restrained, thoughtful performance, when he could easily have made it over-the-top and thus less noteworthy. The movie itself, I thought, was not very well put together. Smith's character was so beaten down, so many times, that I felt like no amount of success he got at the end could have made up for it. Perhaps that's why it's not nominated for best picture.

That's it. I might try to squeeze in "Babel" before Sunday. Anyone interested?

Finally, a newspaper mention of a Libby other than Scooter

The Oregonian's Ducks blog has a rockin' shoutout to my o-bro (as in, older brother) Brian, whose Valentine's Day present was a 45-minute interview with Dan Fouts, and an end in sight for his book.

Quote of the day

Are there people in this country who actively dislike U.S. troops, and hope bad things happen to them? Sure, probably. But there are also people in this country who rob old ladies, molest little kids and believe in alien abduction. The far right loves to dredge up the occasional creep who thinks spitting on soldiers is cool and insists that this represents the "true" face of the antiwar movement. The rest of us should ignore this kind of idiocy.

Let's move on. To some on the left, "supporting the troops" has come to mean "protecting the troops": keeping them out of harm's way, ensuring that they have the support services they need and generally avoiding sending them to places where they might get hurt — such as, well, Iraq.

-- Rosa Brooks, in an LA Times piece

She's no Gwen

I am by no means the first one to point out that Fergie, the Black Eyed Peas spoiler-turned-solo artist, is at best a poor man's Gwen Stefani. Granted, Gwen Stefani isn't without her flaws (let me remind you of the horrendous first single from her new album, "Wind It Up"). But Gwen has always been an original -- in terms of style and sound. I get that they have similarities -- both front otherwise all-male bands -- but nowhere was I more appalled at Fergie's blatant ripping-off-Gwen than when I stopped to listen to the lyrics of her latest single, "Glamorous."

"Glamorous" is the third single off Fergie's first solo album. The third single off Gwen Stefani's first solo album? The similarly named "Luxurious." Take a look at the lyrics:

Gwen: "Champagne kisses, hold me in your lap of luxury/ I only want to fly first class desires, you're my limousine"
Fergie: "We flyin' first class, up in the sky/ poppin' champagne, livin' the life/ in the fast lane"

Gwen: "Diamond in the rough is lookin' so sparkly"
Fergie: "Wear them gold and diamond rings"

OK, OK, so they're not the first two artists to sing about the finer things in life, but again: the names of the songs are virtually the same, both are the third singles off the ladies' first solo albums and both say almost EXACTLY the same thing -- within about a year of each other. If I were Gwen, I'd tell Fergie she has some explaining to do.

Bye-den

A few days ago, I was considering writing a post on Joe Biden, who announced his candidacy for president. Sure, I thought, he tends to speak without thinking sometimes, but I first came to respect him during the Senate confirmation hearings for John Roberts, when he stuck to his guns and told the judge, who was refusing to answer even the most basic questions, "It's kind of interesting, this Kabuki dance we have in these hearings, as if the public doesn't have a right to know what you think about fundamental issues facing them ... without any knowledge of your understanding of the law, because you will not share it with us, we are rolling the dice with you, judge."

I pretty much pumped my fist in the air when I heard the exchange.

I was even more excited to hear about Biden's announcement after reading this From Harrop article, which points out that Biden has MUCH more foreign policy experience than any other candidate.

But, inevitably, my Biden ship sort of sunk when, almost immediately after making his announcement, he made a major misstep in calling Barack Obama "the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy."

Ummm ... what?

My main man, Eugene Robinson, pointed out the absurdity of this, when he said:

"Will wonders never cease? Here we have a man who graduated from Columbia University, who was president of the Harvard Law Review, who serves in the U.S. Senate and is the author of two best-selling books, who's a leading contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, and what do you know, he turns out to be articulate. Stop the presses ... Whatever the intention, expressing one's astonishment that such individuals exist is no compliment. Just come out and say it: Gee, he doesn't sound black at all."

So, sorry, Joe -- I'm already over you.