Thursday threads.

Real snow on April 21. I expect a Bend Sux column today.

To newcomers to the area: this can be a dangerous time of year. When my son was in college, two of his friends asked him to go hiking with him. He couldn't go with them. The two got caught in a sudden blizzard and one of them died from hypothermia.

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In a tangential way, Sandy Meyers sounds like another victim of the economy. Her husband was involved in "day trading" and had "substantial" losses. But it's on his head. Money is only money.

I think the police are trying to cover their asses about the body location. The family members found the body through information "given to them by police."

Right.

Cause the police would never think to check the backyard.

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This is so apropos to my comments about fantasy and comics credibility, that I have to post. N.Y. Time Sunday Magazine, 4/18/11:

"Every would-be writer needs comic books. I certainly did. I can still vividly recall my discovery of comic books, followed closely by the revelation that this reading stuff was actually good for something. Because comics had it all over Readers. Comic books had pictures, and so did Readers, bu in comic-book pictures somebody was flying or punching somebody, while in my Reader little Sally was crying about her little read boat.

Even in my prepubescent days I had this vague feeling that Wonder Woman had it all over Jane, although I couldn't put my finger on the reason. I did know that watching Spot run was a real drag, when I could watch Krypto the Superdog fly instead. And I knew that if they ever met, Krypto would bite Spot's head off.

So I read every comic I could get my hands on, and my reading got better and better. My teachers soon began to marvel that I read with such "expression," while the read of my class read....like....this. I knew the reason. You need a lot more expression for, "Aha, Superman, now my red kryptonite will turn you into a BOILED EGG!" than you do for "See Spot run. Run, Spot, run." So the schools don't do it.

Remember comic books. Maybe your kid won't be as quick as I was, and regular comic books won't do, but even that's no problem in this day and age. There's always the undergrounds. "Tales of the Leather Nun" should do it every time.

"Adapted from a speech delivered by George R.R. Martin at Ambercon 3 in Wichita, Kan., on May 31, 1981."

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I've decided not to say anything about our new esteemed district attorney. He sounds like the kind of guy who might decide to retaliate.

But I will say this. To the Bulletin:

Couldn't you have come up with all this revealing information BEFORE the election? Instead of spending the previous years tearing down Dugan and then giving him a lukewarm endorsement?

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I hope Utterly Boring won't mind me stealing his blog entry yesterday in it's entirety. Too funny to pass up:

Was This A Cow Suicide Mission?

Was the cow out there fighting back, or was this just an accident? You be the judge:

MADRAS, Ore. -- A truck hauling frozen beef struck and killed a cow on Highway 97 north of Madras Tuesday night, triggering a fiery crash that caused no injuries but destroyed the rig, damaged the trailer, sideswiped another truck and shut the road for four hours, Oregon State Police reported.

The cow's mission wasn't accomplished, as the frozen beef was moved to another trailer.

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