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Yeah, it stands for Mobile Armored Strike Kommand and it was not only a great cartoon series, but a popular line of toys. Like every good 80s cartoon, MASK featured a group of well meaning para-military types lead by Matt Trakker. They pretty much spend their time battling the nefarious VENOM (Vicious Evil Network of Mayhem) who are trying to take over the world. I love these scenarios because they leave so much to the imagination. Why doesn't the government get involved? How do they fund this type of thing? Why masks?

You see, the whole concept was that the forces of MASK and VENOM both had attack vehicles that would transform into other vehicles. The helicopter became an attack jet, the motorcycle became a helicopter, Matt Trakker's car became a jet. Nothing was what it seemed. Ok, so it wasn't as cool as Robotech or the Transformers, but you wouldn't say that to my face if I owned a car that turned into a jet. Especially if that car was a Camaro. Or if I had a kickin' mustache. Or if I wore a mask that could shoot laser beams out of its eyes.

At any rate, here's the cartoon intro. Enjoy as Trakker leads the mission.
MASK Cartoon Intro

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We headed out to the Columbia Gorge this weekend for some camping. For those who aren't familiar with this area, it's a river canyon that's carved a path through the Cascade Mountains. The walls are extremely steep on both sides (the north side being Washington state). The gorge is known for serious winds and bad weather during the winter, but it turned out to be a great camping spot. Our sites had this fantastic view of the river through the trees:

We stayed at the Herman Creek campgrounds which were great because they only have a handful of sites and they turned out to be rather secluded from both the other campers and the residents of Cascade Locks. It's also the site of a number of trails, so we got a decent amount of exercise in during the day. That's the one thing that is really neat about living in Portland: simply drive forty five minutes and you're in the middle of nature. Not the zoo or an Imax film, but actual real nature with mountains and animals and stuff. Of course, being in nature means taking certain precautions, so we were quick to bring an attack dog:

When she wasn't sniffing or napping, Gertie was keeping a vigilant watch to ensure our food was safe. A Beagle is essential when camping. After hiking and exploring the surroundings, we settled in for a night of sitting by the campfire. There's something really great about a campfire, it's one of the most versatile of all inventions.

You can cook by it

You can make S'mores by it

And you can just stare at it

There is just something great about camping with good friends and a Beagle. Something you can't measure with ordinary entertainment measurements; they just don't apply. You always know how good a movie can be or how much fun an afternoon at the zoo will be, but an evening by the campfire is something you talk about long after the evening is over. The stupid inside jokes you come up with, the laughing, or just Bear interrupting the serenity with a string of obscenities because she made a bad move at cards. You remember it.

So now it's Sunday evening and I know that tomorrow will be the same as it always is at work- but at least I'm going into it knowing I had a great weekend...

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This last weekend we went to the pride parade in Portland. It was a fun time. It was also a very odd mix of people. I think Portland is a bit different from other cities in the way that people here like to think they're progressive. I don't know if they are or are not progressive, but that's how they brand themselves. To that end, you can always find a protest or demonstration taking place downtown on any given weekend, so it wasn't surprising that the parade had a large turnout. Like I said, the parade itself was fun, but it was also strange seeing so many people passionately rally for so many different causes.

There was, of course, the group of people who decided to use the parade as a forum to tell everyone else that they were going to hell and that God hates us. They even told us to keep our dog (gertie) away from the homosexuals. I really liked the fact that they also warned against the dangers of abortion because if there is one thing gay people love, it's their abortions.

These young men were protesting their right to get abortions.

This guy was rather passionate about gender neutral bathrooms. The back of his sign said something about the horrors of a binary gender system. I don't really understand what this was about, but I think it's clearly way ahead of its time...

Then there were the gay square dancers. They may have been having the most fun out of everyone.

And finally, these lunatics talking about equal rights or equality or something.

No matter how you cut it, the parade was an interesting time and a lot of fun. We'll definitely be back next year.

As part of our birthday celebrations for Bear, we ended up doing some serious roller skating at Oaks Park. The last time I remember being on a pair of 4x4 tried and true roller skates has to be somewhere in elementary school. That was back before roller blades, back when our parents would drop us off for the afternoon at the rink, back when I aspired to someday grow up and be the roller rink DJ because he was the coolest guy in the world. Mike Seaver cool.

Going into the rink at Oaks Park was a trip back in time. Not a thing had changed. The same roller rink music, the smell of rental skates, and the fact that you could still buy red vines on a rope. I was a little disappointed that I didn't have my skates with me. Back when we would go to the rink for our elementary school skating parties, I had a pair of hand me downs from my brother. They were black and yellow and I called them the bumble bees. This time I had to settle for rental skates:

I was surprised that I had any balance at all on the skates, but it came back pretty quickly. Nobody accused me of being sex on skates, but I had a little groove thing going. What really surprised me though was the fact that none of the kids there could skate. They were falling left and right and most of them were so obese that they couldn't get up. They'd just sort of roll from side to side like baby seals until a parent or ref came along to get them back on their feet. I guess kids don't skate any more. It's a shame.

And yes, I was still envious of the DJ.

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I don't know about the rest of you, but this poem has certainly had an impact on my life. How many times have you stumbled, only to be reassured that He was carrying you the entire time? It makes you look past the little things and keeps your eye on the prize. I hope you all enjoyed our inspirational poem, the music, and most of all: the message. If this poem has touched you as much as it has touched us, then take a moment to comment on it and let us all know how.

If you have not yet seen the poem, you can do so by clicking here. Once again, thank you and spread the word!

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