Welcome to Oregon Brick Block and Rock!
Home of sci-fi shorts, deep space communications theory, commentary on the war on terror and other stuff. Click below on whatever looks interesting.
Join our mailing list - and enter to win a free T-shirt!
Click here to view our past newsletters

War on Terror: Cheney vs. The Framers

Added: September 11, 2007
The sparks certainly have been flying in the last few years. On one side, we had Dick Cheney and the neo-cons, pulling out all the stops in the demagogy department, rolling large with a full scale take-over-the-world plan that raised more than a few eyebrows. On the other side we had the Founders, long dead and buried, having left nothing but a few ideas scribbled on some highly flammable pieces of paper. On the surface, it was not a very balanced match-up and the early going was pretty bumpy. Now however...
Read the Story || War on Terror Mini-site
What is the War on Terror series?

Randy and Mike: The Ball Point Pen Caper

Added: September 5, 2007
Randy and Mike pull off a pretty much successful heist and end up feeling far too much like Indiana Jones. Will they ever strike it rich and be able to retire? Not if things keep going like this - that's for sure. One thing we do know for sure is that life in an economic inversion will certainly be filled with many surprises...
Read the Story || Randy and Mike Mini-site
What is the Randy and Mike series?

War on Terror: Cosmic Scorecard

Added: September 11, 2007
Is the total effect of a person's life on Earth a calculable sum? We think so...oh no, wait we don't think so...I mean, well...I guess we kind of do and don't at the same time. Whatever. Regardless of how we feel about it, we apply our newly minted (but extremely rigorous) mathematical formula to the life of Mr. Richard Bruce Cheney. The results? Well the results are either good, or bad or incredibly unnerving - depending on your point of view. Read the article and decide for yourself.
Read the Story || War on Terror Mini-site
What is the War on Terror series?

Blow by Blow: Tour of the OBBR Facilities

Added: August 20, 2007
Some sense of the environment in which the OBBR projects take shape is crucial in understanding what we are all about. As my daddy used to say, however, there is such a thing as too much understanding.
Read the Story
What is the Blow by Blow series?

War on Terror: The War on Fiction

Added: July 22, 2007
An insidious fairy tale poison has penetrated every level of our society, from the hallowed halls of government to the whispered nothings shared by man and wife. We undertake a ruthless campaign to root out and destroy this creeping plague - and bring the truth to light.
Read the Story || War on Terror Mini-site
What is the War on Terror series?

Blow by Blow: Pelican Bay State Prison

Added: July 14, 2007
A little trip down nostalgia lane to an extremely memorable 1993 tour of that infamous northern California supermax prison. It remains, just as it was then, a place you really don't ever want to go.
Read the Story
What is the Blow by Blow series?

War on Terror: Pacifist Generals

Added: July 12, 2007
All of our generals go to school for years and years and have the equivalent of a Ph.D. - in warfare! Asking them how big the Pentagon budget should be is one thing, but asking them how many troops we need to invade and occupy Iraq is another. Eisenhower wisely warned us to ignore the former while paying very close attention to the latter - Dubya, unfortunately, got it backwards.
Read the Story || War on Terror Mini-site
What is the War on Terror series?

Randy and Mike: The Silverstream Model 261 Self-Contained Long Range Armored Combat Trailering Unit

Added: July 17, 2007
Long combat deployments together can truly test the bond between husband and wife - but not always in the ways that you might expect.
Read the Story || Randy and Mike Mini-site
What is the Randy and Mike series?

Space Radio Dish: Transmission Test Failure!

Added: May 25, 2007
It was a calm spring evening in Oregon, excitement was in the air, and the time had come to prove once and for all that the microwave transmission unit for the SRD did not work...at all!
Read the Story || SRD Mini-site
What is the Space Radio Dish?

War on Terror: Cheney's Commencement Address at West Point

Added: June 14, 2007
Should he have mentioned the words "character" and "leadership" more than the words "hate" and "fear"? Should he have struck a more optimistic tone with the kids? Most importantly though, did he really need to have the entire graduating class of West Point executed in cold blood? Read the transcript and decide if the Veep really did go too far this time.
Read the Story || War on Terror Mini-site
What is the War on Terror series?

War on Terror: Torture Links

Added: June 14, 2007
One slight upside of spending a 6 weeks up to my neck in the horror and insanity of torture through the ages is that I came across some really good web resources on the topic.
Read the Story || War on Terror Mini-site
What is the War on Terror series?

Randy and Mike: Storyboards

Added: April 9, 2007
Ever wondered what the naked charge scene from Giant Christian Robot might look like? - or perhaps the flaming log truck ambush at Sexton Pass from Cow Creek Clusterfuck?. Check out the storyboards and compare them to your own vision. (Note: These look best when they are printed out and posted conspicuously on your wall).
Read the Story || Randy and Mike Mini-site
What is the Randy and Mike series?

War on Terror: The 'No Nazi' Rule of Journalism

Added: June 14, 2007
Comparing modern American politicians to Nazis is silly. Here's why.
Read the Story || War on Terror Mini-site
What is the War on Terror series?

War on Terror: Hitler's Legal Trouble

Added: June 14, 2007
Hitler kept his legal team working overtime to make sure he stayed on the right side of the law.
Read the Story || War on Terror Mini-site
What is the War on Terror series?

Randy and Mike: Shooter

Added: April 19, 2007
A local sniper speaks frankly about the ins and outs of shooting people at long range.
Read the Story || Randy and Mike Mini-site
What is the Randy and Mike series?

Blow by Blow: The Time Capsule

Added: April 26, 2007
I recently was invited to write a short piece for a time capsule that will be opened in 2107. Read what went into the capsule and the story behind it.
Time Capsule Introduction
Time Capsule Message
What is the Blow by Blow series?

Randy and Mike: "Mike and His (Demon) Girl"

Added: April 12, 2007
Mike just can't get it right with the ladies, and this week's R and M installment adds a whole new demonic dimension to his troubles. Will Randy save the day again? or will Mike's inexplicable habits finally get him disemboweled? Take a break from your demon-free life and head over to post-apocalypse Arizona to find out...
Read the Story || Randy and Mike Mini-site
What is the Randy and Mike series?

Blow by Blow: Lawlessness in Southern Oregon

Added: April 12, 2007
Law enforcement officials in Southern Oregon are expressing concern that lawlessness might break out at any moment. Should we feel good or bad about this?
Read the Story
What is the Blow by Blow series?

Randy and Mike: Mike in Hell Part One - The Backhoe Fight

Added: March 10, 2007
Brand new update for the ongoing saga of Randy and Mike in NewEarth 2049. After embarking on a routine contract job to destroy some renegade road maintenance equipment in northern Cal., R and M soon find themselves in an epic struggle of tactics against Einstein-smart killer machines! Read the Story || Randy and Mike Mini-site
What is the Randy and Mike series?

Space Radio Dish Update! - The Theory

Added: March 5, 2007
Thought you needed the resources of a modern state to blast weird messages hundreds of light years into space? - Think again. Read the theory behind the SRD and updates on the construction.
SRD Theory Page || SRD Mini-site
What is the Space Radio Dish?

Blow by Blow: "Moron Kills Wife and Children"

Added: February 28, 2007
What do you do when you are $3950 short of the $4000 dollars you need to buy your family ski equipment? Read the Story
What is the Blow by Blow series?

Randy and Mike: Giant Christian Robot

Added: February 20, 2007
All new adventure for the Randy and Mike series. When a local warlord kidnaps Mike's girlfriend, our heroes are forced to go on a search and destroy mission against a 15 mile high invincible battle robot (Christian owned and operated).
Read the Story || Randy and Mike Mini-site
What is the Randy and Mike series?

Space Radio Dish Update! - The Message

Added: February 15, 2007
The SRD Message section has been updated with a huge amount of info on the message we will be sending, including a .wmv file of the animated pictograph.
SRD Message Page || SRD Mini-site
What is the Space Radio Dish?

War on Terror: Project for a New American Century

Added: November 24, 2006
How did we let these guys in the door?
Read the Story || War on Terror Mini-site
What is the War on Terror series?

Randy and Mike Update: Warfare Just In Time

Added: February 9, 2007
Will the Norwegians outbid the Ukrainians for the air strike on Northwest Portland? Will the French artillery demand more than $9000 Euros per square meter of saturation fire? Will the overall force projection ratios per meter exceed the long-term resource extraction percentages? As the clock ticks down and the battle unfolds, things are tense on the floor of the international belligerance trading floor.
Read the Story || Randy and Mike Mini-site
What is the Randy and Mike series?

Space Radio Dish Update: Pictures

Added: February 2, 2007
The Pictures section of the SRD mini-site has been updated with images of the Spring 2006 beta assembly. We got it in and out of the van without any injuries!
SRD Pictures Page || SRD Mini-site
What is the Space Radio Dish?

Blow by Blow - Recommendation: Avoid Playing Chess with Your Girlfriend

Added: January 30, 2006
Chess is like tennis, only meaner and with more strategy. You don't just win at chess, you destroy your opponents civilization, you burn their cities down, you rape their women and kill their men, you crush the very essence of their will with sheer force and then ride off to the next valley leaving nothing but smoking ruins. This is not the kind of analogy you want to get into with your girlfriend.
Read the Story
What is the Blow by Blow series?

Randy and Mike Update: Shankton Meets the Reverend

Added: January 26, 2007
A local warlord and a local religious man have a high-stakes debate. When does God take over control of a bullet headed for your skull?
Read the Story || Randy and Mike Mini-site
What is the Randy and Mike series?

Space Radio Dish Update: Target Stars

Added: January 19, 2007
The Target Stars section is now fully updated with a long list of probable and not-so-probably targets for the upcoming transmission dates. Cast your vote for the first target system!
SRD Target Star Page || SRD Mini-site
What is the Space Radio Dish?

Randy and Mike Update: The Prussian Tank Incident

Added: January 12, 2007
The Albertan Expansion Forces try a new tactic on the advancing Prussian tanks: leveraged buyout!
Read the Story || Randy and Mike Mini-site
What is the Randy and Mike series?