Today I checked out a new hiking area en route home from the Oregon Coast with my wife and two dogs, called Drift Creek Falls Trail 1378. It was on a very narrow paved forest road from the Lincoln City area. We brought some binoculars in hopes of seeing the whale migrations at Boiler Bay State Scenic Viewpoint (apparently whales are supposed to be headed from Mexico up to Alaska at this time). We didn’t see anything in the sunny, cold, and very windy beach weather. Mildly disappointing, but maybe some other time. It was nice to just do a day trip and get a change of pace on a nice day.

A couple cool YouTube videos that I stumbled across this last week while I haven’t been updating the blog:

  1. Neil deGrasse Tyson gives a very insightful astrophysicist’s perspective of why war is very bad for humanity and the planet from an evolutionary standpoint. The Star Talk channel that he leads seems intriguing so I subscribed to it. Totally makes sense why the guy is good friends with Bill Nye, The Science Guy. www.youtube.com/watch

  2. I mentioned James Talarico before, but he continues to impress me. At this point, he’d be my top choice for a “national” 2028 Democrat who’d make a great president, even over Gavin Newsom. Talarico just has serious charisma, he’s well spoken, and sounds moderate, patrioritic, and Jesus loving in rhetoric, while being totally progressive on policy, which is perfect (While, for example, I love Zohran Mamdani, but realize he’d be too progressive in rhetoric for a national candidate). This video was great with Scott Galloway and Jessica Tarlov of Raging Moderates. www.youtube.com/watch

  3. SNL last week was awesome! Harry Styles joined in a couple of some funny clips too! Plus, Weekend Update was great as usual. Not to mention James Austin Johnson’s impersonations are spot on. My faves from last Saturday: www.youtube.com/watch www.youtube.com/watch www.youtube.com/watch

Will have more to add soon too!