The Beach
There's just something about being at the beach that I enjoy so much. I've thought about what it is, but I just can't define or describe it. Even when its rainy and windy, its still the beach. But it has to be an ocean beach, on the open ocean - Vancouver beaches are decent, but they don't have the constant dull roar of the changing, crashing surf.
The cottage we stayed at this weekend on the Oregon Coast was great - huge windows looking out at the beach, a minute walk down to the water, and a nice wood paneled interior. It was so nice to just sit and look out the window at the ocean, the wind blowing the dune grass. But we didn't spend all the time indoors looking at the ocean. I went on a hike out to Cape Falcon in the pouring rain and whipping wind. Most of the hike was in the forest so we were somewhat sheltered from the rain and wind, but out at the viewpoints on the cape the rain hurt as it hit you in the face as it was blown sideways by the wind. Back down at the beach the sand was being whisked north by the wind and you could lean into it and have some of your weight supported by the force of the wind. The next day was not windy but had showers in the morning and early afternoon. I built a castle in the sand with my dad and brother, only to have the preliminary construction washed over by a rogue wave. But we started over again and eventually finished in time to be able to watch the tide come and wash it away. Something I had never seen at the beach before was all this foam getting washed onto shore and getting stuck on our castle. It was quite intriguing to look down the beach and see all these fluffy cream coloured foam piles sitting in a haphazard arrangement.
I think I have decided that the Oregon coast is one of my favourite places to be. You have the ocean, long perfectly sandy beaches, steep cliffs and rock formations in the water, surf beaches, hiking trails in the lush forest with gigantic trees, and small hills to walk up.
Here's some pictures of Oregon.
This picture I took last year when I was there in April. If you know where to look you can see the cottage we stayed in.
The view from our deck - the first day we were there when it wasn't raining.
Some of the dune grass.
Here's that foam I was talking about.
Ecola State Park - you can see Cannon Beach's famous Haystack Rock in the background.
Police Chases
I was coming home from Langley city yesterday along Glover Rd between Fraser Hwy and the Bypass and I see some police lights in the distance coming towards me. As we got closer I could see there were two police cars driving slowly blocking the two lanes of oncoming traffic. Then I saw the reason, there was a cow running down the road into the city. If only I had my camera that would have been a great picture - I thought it was hilarious. Hopefully the chase ended safely with no one being hurt. I should find out in the next issue of the local paper, it will probably make the front page.
Chinchillas and Balustrades
Just in case you didn't know, smoking is perilous to your health. In my brother's opinion, that is the main point of the movie Constantine, starring Keanu Reeves and that actress from the Mummy. The film had good potential in terms of plot, but just failed to deliver at the conclusion. To briefly describe the premise I would say - Keanu is an exorcist sort of guy who deals with demons on earth. So you see a portrayal of demons and the conflaguration of hell, but of course there were some theological issues. Overall it was interesting but I wouldn't recommend it. The main thing that I got out of it (indirectly) was how much more powerful God is than any demon or Satan himself. Amen to that.
The music industry heard my buddy
Jack Johnson release his third album, "In Between Dreams." This album is a lot more mellower than previous Jack albums, but is good nonetheless. If you are new to Jack, I would recommend either "On and On" or "Brushfire Fairytales" before buying "In Between Dreams." Just listening to Jack Johnson makes me feel cool. If you're not into that mellow, surf music, try listening to The Killers. I just can't get enough of that song "Mr. Brightside." I don't know what it is, but I like it. I can't say I always liked it since the first few times I heard it I thought the music was too foggy. The rest of the album "Hot Fuss" is pretty decent as well.
In other news, Audi recently released their new version of my favourite car, the
RS4 (for a shorter article see
here). At first glance I'm not sure I like the exterior styling of it. I think its that big shield grill that Audi is trying to make their symbol on their new cars. At the moment I prefer the previous RS4 produced only in 1999, of which only about 6000 were made. But the new one stays true to the Audi RS line tradition, with a V8 producing 420 hp with a 100km/h acceleration time of 4.8s. And this is a family sedan/wagon.
