Stuff you LOVE, baby

[ZaichikArky]

I'm guessing you don't live in the Pacific Northwest, V. =)

You're on the right track, but you mangled the details. Both Washington and Oregon have some of the most liberal people in the country, but also some of the most conservative. In other words, we have some of the widest political spectra in the Union. There is also a high ratio of libertarians, who tend to be anti-government but will split on social issues.

In both states, the liberals outnumber the conservatives, and both states vote Democratic at both the state and federal level. This trend has evolved over the past twenty years as the Republican Party has completed dismantled its liberal wing.

As for the taxation thing: Oregon has no sales tax and Washington has no income tax. So if you live in Washington and shop in Oregon, you get a good deal. (And you get the worst deal if it's the other way around.) The number of southern Washingtonians who shop in Oregon isn't all that huge, however. It's not very convenient in terms of time, and for smaller purchases it isn't economical.

Oregon is mildly hotter than Washington, primarily because it is farther south. The University of Washington runs an excellent probabalistic forecast site where you can see this mild effect in action right now:

http://www.probcast.com/

The much bigger climatological divide, however, is between the west halves of the states and the east halves. The western halves of Washington, Oregon, and northern California are a marine climate--mild and wet; the only such climate in the nation. The eastern halves of the same are arid and much more extreme in summertime highs and winter lows.

This climatological divide also correlates to the population distribution: in all cases, the western halves are more populous. They're also more liberal, both in urban areas (duh) and even in rural areas.

Very good response.

As for the political climate, both Oregon and Washington are known for their liberal population, but the liberals primarily stay in the west while the east side of the states have plenty of conservatives. However, the eastern sides of the states are less populated, so it's easy to see where the misconception of the states being neo-hippie breeding grounds comes in.

Many US states are the size of nations. California, for example, is very difficult to sum up. The northern and southern parts of it are so different, that many times, Californians don't really like to associate themselves with whatever location is their opposite. I guess it's a kind of rivalry... I wouldn't mind living in Southern California. I don't like the weather there, but I could get used to the warmer climate. I guess it depends where I go because if I'm anywhere near LA(which is where most of the SoCal population lives), it's kind of a different climate all together...

Here is something funny from the 80s...

[V_Translanka]

I'm from Washington, but I also just don't actually follow politics or all that...I only assumed that based on which color the states have been in the last Presidential elections. *shrugs*

[Lord J Esq]

Here is something funny from the 80s...

That's David Horsey! One of the best editorial cartoonists on the scene today. I'd recognize his work in an instant. (And the signature helped...)

[Zephira]

I love Pixiv, and the amazing comics contained therein: http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c183/ZephyrAnalea/ear.jpg?t=1246676303

[IAmSerge]

Haha Zaichik that is amazing =D wonderful pic!

Also, I love that I havent taken painkillers since 3 AM.  They last only 6 hours.

...And I thought the doctors told me this whole back thing is going to be extremely painful.

I mean, its definitely got some pain involved, but seriously, this... I mean its kinda weak.

The only real thing it stops me from doing is bending around and bending over...

But seriously, pain, you need to learn a few things.

Either that, or I'm just THAT pain tolerant =D

[Lord J Esq]

Kinda obvious...but I love fireworks. And I love that adults will allow themselves to be thrilled by fireworks.

[Zephira]

I loved the finale of yesterday's fireworks show in Carnation, precluded by a very stunning sunset.
When watching these things, you have to take a moment to really admire all the engineering and thought that went into the show. Fireworks are difficult things to build. The technician has to use very precise amounts of different chemicals and powders than burn in different speeds and colours, and it's very possible that the whole thing could blow up in his face before he finishes.
Then there's the people who plan the show. To get so many different fireworks the explode so differently and have such different burning times to all work in tandem is a huge feat of intellect.

[Lord J Esq]

I remember when the first cube-shaped firework explosions premiered, a few years ago. That was, and remains, the ultimate "WTF FTW!" firework for me. Fireworks want to be spheres, not cubes, same as when you blow up a balloon or grow a watermelon. It takes some very fancy voodoo to get cubical fireworks and balloons and watermelons.

Kudos to the people who put on the Seattle fireworks show. They do a good job every year.

My favorite of all the fireworks are those huge gold ones that explode outward in all directions and then stream down like palm trees or water fountains, and glitter. I love those! They came pretty late in the show yesterday, so for a while I was worried they might not have bought any this year.

[Zephira]

I love the Halo soundtracks, especially Halo 3. Michael Salvatori and Martin O'Donnell make an amazing composing team. It's been a long time since I have heard such an epic score from a video game.
The real great thing about Halo 3's soundtrack is how it takes tracks from Halo:CE and puts a new spin on them. Hearing for the first time one of Halo:CE's most prominent tracks given new life in the Sierra 117 stage of Halo3 elicited an immense surge of nostalgia amidst adrenaline, and it still gets me every time. There are a lot of games where I wish I could get amnesia so I could experience playing them for the first time again, but this game doesn't need that at all, it still feels fresh and new every time.

[Lord J Esq]

I love batteries. We just had a power blip here. It only lasted for five seconds or so, but it killed everything in my apartment--except the computer. Why? Because it's a laptop that I'm using as a desktop. When it detected a breakdown in mains power, it simply switched to battery reserve power. As a result, I did not lose any information and had to endure nothing more difficult than resetting my modem.

Every computer should have battery emergency power. Come to think of it, every computer should also have a hard drive mirror and a regularly updated backup drive, so that, short of Lavos dropping spikes on your tower, no permanent data loss will ever occur.

[Zephira]

Huh, forgot you were in Washington for a second there. I had a bit of a blip too, but the internet was the only thing affected.

I love nature. Yesterday my family was playing croquet in the back yard, and I saw two red dragonflies perched on a plant support. I've never seen a red dragonfly before in my life, supposedly they're rare. These two sat still long enough for me to get face to face with one and take a few pictures. It's head looked like some kind of motorcyclist's helmet, and it would tilt its head the same way I did when I was looking at it. Really cute bugs.

[Lord J Esq]

Let me be the first to say: Pics. Now.

[Zephira]

Red dragonfly: http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c183/ZephyrAnalea/redDragonfly.jpg?t=1246860767 http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c183/ZephyrAnalea/redDragonfly2.jpg
I got up real close to it with the video camera, but I don't know how to take screenshots with that.

[ZaichikArky]

wow, that is pretty, Z-gurl.

That really reminds me of one of the first japanese songs they like to teach students(who are learning Japanese).

This vid has lyrics(though the audio quality isn't great..)- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzZGoZVil6Q&feature=related . I like the enka style because young girls aren't forced to sound "cute" by singing like 5 year olds. You should hear this chick's voice. She sounds like a 5 year old when not singing XD.

[Lord J Esq]

Oh wow! Those are big little buggers, Zephira! What a find!