Time for some bad news and possible an obituary ad I suppose, as I have recently been informed to the tragic fate of my family's Nissan Pathefinder in Portland, Oregon.  It turns out that it was stolen a few days ago from right in front of our very own house!  Things seemed bleak for the fate of our family vehicle until Friday when my sister was informed by the Portland police that they had found our car on some street near SE 55th and that it was waiting for us in an impound lot.

While things may have seemed wonderful at first it wasn't until my mother and sister actually went to the impound and saw the car that they realized a more grim reality.  It turns out that while the car was recovered it had been stripped of several engine parts along with the outer shell of the front of the car.  What seemed odd was that the rest of the vehicle was intact and even the tires (which were brand new) were still on!

Unfortunately the damages caused from the theft would be to high to restore the vehicle back to its original condition so I think it's safe to say we arrived too late to save the Pathfinder.

I would like to take this moment to look back and remember all the wonder moments that I have experienced in and with that car.  It was like a member of the family and the thought of it's absence almost brings a tear to my eye.

Rest in Peace Pathfinder, your riding the highways of heaven now.

At appoximately 10pm on March 7th, 2010 an 8.9 baby girl was born a Portland, Oregon hospital.  I would like to take this opportunity to proudly introduce the newest member to the Mendoza-Raab family, please welcome Paola Vivia Raab Mendoza! 

Unfortunately I wasn't able to travel to the US because of work but I was able to get see a few of photos of my sister's newborn baby.  Here are just a few, and boy is she a cute little baby.

I just came across this video a few minutes ago and I got to say it looks promising (if your into those kinds of sentimental tearjerking, feel good, happy but possibly sad ending kinds of movies).  The film even has some A-list celebrities starring in it: Harrison Ford and Brenden Fraser.

I the past Oregon has been a choice location for such memorable films like Bandits and the ever classic Animal House (TOGA, TOGA, TOGA!!!), so it comes to me as no surprise that Oregon has once again been chosen for a film location.  I think I remember even hearing somewhere that the State of Oregon promotes film production companies to come and film in Oregon by giving them a discount on taxes or something.

Anyways here the link to the trailer,  Looks good to me.  What do you think?

Here is a song that was posted by brother Steve Wasson up in Portland, Oregon.  The song should put that extra boost of energy that might be missing from your day and remember Keep on Smiling!

If the answer is YES and you have access to the internet (or live in Portland, OR) then you will love listening to KMHD Radio.  It is one of my absolute favorite stations for Jazz and Blues and everytime I listen to that station I am reminded of all the fond memories of weekends up in the mountains by Mt. Hood listening to this station in the car.

If your interested then check out KMHD's website and listen to their live feed.

The above images are x-rays of my sisters baby currently under development with an expected completion time for February 2010.

For those of you who don't already know my little sister Monique has been pregnant for like the past 3 months now. Since then I have observed my sister transform into a parent which I will admit has been kind of scary to witness, not because I don't think she will be a good parent but because as her brother it is hard to imagine your siblings growing up to become adults.

Tyler her husband has long since hoped for a boy and even went as far as to purchase athletic baby apparel. Well I'm sure Tyler was just as pleased to find out yesterday that he would be the father to a baby girl, instead of the future sports star athlete boy he had anticipated.

Last night I spent the better half of an hour discussing female names for the baby with Monique. Let me just say that naming a child is probably one of the biggest responsibilities facing a parent, it literally dictates the child's future (not really but it's still important). There are a lot of terrible names out there which makes me wonder what people were thinking at the time that they decided to bless their child with a name that later would be legally changed in spite of the all the years of countless ridicule and shame.

I am sure that my sister will do the right thing and give her child a reasonable name instead of trying to name it after a stripper I once met at the Cabaret in Downtown Portland.