You Can Get There From Here

3897

This is the big ol' sign on the Marquam Bridge which, if you're travelling northbound on I-5, tells you where you can take it, pal.

It's a good and actually useful piece of trivia to know that the exit tying I-5 and I-84 together is at I-5 MP 300. That makes it quick work to figure how far and how long: the first exit into Salem, at Chemawa Rd at the edge of Keizer, is at exit 260, which means a little less than an hour south. The last Oregon exit on I-5, exit 308, is less than ten minutes north, except during rush hour, when it's an hour and an half. 

And California is 300 miles away, backthataway. 

One destination cited is The Dalles. The Dalles is one of just a handful of towns in the USA that begin with "The", amongst them, The Woodlands, TX; The Village, OK; The Plains, VA; and The Hell Did I End Up Here, NV. 

I may have made one of these up.

Follow me for more geographical tips.

The Steel Gray Of The River On A Cloudy Day

3892

The POV for this one was just above a short stretch of Willamette River left bank in the shadow of the Marquam Bridge called "Poet's Beach", and the color of the clouds reflected on the water caused the Brown Eyed Girl to exult about the steel gray color of the river water.

There are things about our individual worlds that can't compare to others'. For those of us who grew up in the Willamette Valley, the quality of the light here during days like this is like cloudy days nowhere else in the world; little wonder a great many of us act like Oregon (and particularly northwestern Oregon) invented the cool, cloudy day. But there's something to it, outside of parochial chauvinism; at least one of the actors in the series Grimm mentioned that the particular light of our area gave the production a certain feel it couldn't get elsewhere, like it was a character unto itself.

So, we get steel-gray rivers under torn, cloudy skies like nowhere else in the world, really, and it's not really an idle boast. This sort of light is the light that brings artists from elsewhere.

Pop Art Media Quiz (Hint: The Answer's "G.")

3857

The pictured item is: 

 

A: The State of Oregon
B: Bowed but unbroken
C: Home
D: $6.99 at the Craft Warehouse store at Gresham Station
E: Something I'm soon going to paint on
F: Particle board
G: All of the above.

[OR_liff] Oregon Eclipse Totality at 45° 8' 15.468'' N, 122° 50' 36.8268'' W, 10:18AM, 21 Aug 2017

3471.

Guess where we were today? And what we were looking at?

Here you go:

Woodburn, Oregon, about 90 seconds of totality, 10:18 AM, Monday, 21 August 2017. Not only will I never forget this, I will be having eclipse flashbacks unto, I should hope, my deathbed.

That is not as macabre a thought as you'd think. I have more pictures, they are to follow. 

[liff in OR] True Oregon Facts! Volume 1

3366.

There are a lot of 'facty' facts about Oregon. As a native son, I know quite a few of them. Additionally, as a native son, I know a great deal of facts about Oregon that are so true, so down-to-the-bone, that one actually has to create them.

When it comes to True Oregon Facts!, you've come to the right place. As a trained Oregon explainer, I am prepared to Oregonsplain them to you. Get ready to rock your knowledge of Oregon with True Oregon Facts!

• True Oregon Fact! Oregon's current motto is "She Flies With Her Own Wings",changed from "The Union" (1957-1987). Other mottos we used include "Between Washington and California" (1901-02), "Pull My Finger" (Most Holiday Seasons Between 72 and 76), "Not Idaho" (Jun-Aug 1943), "No, Cut The RED Wire" (37-39), "Take the Red Pill, Neo" (Odd numbered months in 97), "Home Of Leverage" (Sundays 8pm, 7pm Central) and "Nadine, Get Me A 6-Pack of Beer At the Plaid Pantry" (incomes of $30K and under)
• True Oregon Fact! The first mayor of Madras was a sasquatch. Her name was Nancy. Nancy Marie Sasquatch.
• True Oregon Fact! Oregon's beta-development code-name was "uh, Clem".
• True Oregon Fact! Ken Kesey was, in reality, a hobbit. Yeah, we know that one's a bit obvious maybe, but still.
• True Oregon Fact! Wy'east, the original Multnomahn name for what we call Mount Hood, actually translates as "Suck it, Tahoma, YOU'RE GOIN' DOWN!"
• True Oregon Fact! The approach of the annual session of the Oregon Legislature is heralded by the State Senators and Representatives swimming up the Willamette River to spawn.
• True Oregon Fact! Sam Elliott's mustache served one term on the David Douglas School District's school board.
• True Oregon Fact! All of Oregon is in the Pacific time zone, except for Malheur County, where it's later than everyone thinks.
• True Oregon Fact! Former Governor Vic Atiyeh's tears could balance the state budget without having to call the legislature into session. Sadly, he never cried. Peter Courtney wasn't having it.
• True Oregon Fact! Legendary Statesman Journal political columnist Ron Blankenbaker, who passed away in 2011, was kept in a secure location whenever the Governor and the legislature were in session for the State of the State address, to ensure continuity of commentary should anything happen to state government during the event. Even today, it is said he sleeps, Charlemagne-esque, in a cavern beneath Mount Jefferson, ready to ride to the rescue of the state of Oregon when the need is dire.
• True Oregon Fact! An original name for Seattle was "New York Alki", meaning, in a hybrid of emigrant and native, "New York, By-and-by", envisioning Seattle's prospering into a major metropolis in time. Similarly, the name of the original people of the Portland area, Multnomah, was misunderstood by settlers to mean "San Francisco, As Soon As We Can Sell The Land From Underneath The Natives And Jack Up The Rent."
• True Oregon Fact! While Mount St Helens' historic eruption was thought to have been caused by pent-up gas causing a massive landslide, subsequent research by the USGS has suggested it was really pent-up resentment and aggravation over Vancouver's being treated as 'merely a suburb' of Portland for decades.
• True Oregon Fact! The transmitter tower for KPTV Channel 12 was built, single-handedly by Ramblin' Rod Anders over a course of an 18-hour stimulant-fueled binge in 1954. There was nothing amiss about the stimulant; Rod was such an easy going guy all he needed were three or four cups of really, *really* strong coffee. Well, that and his super-human level of hustle. Reports of Heck Harper handing him up the materials remain unconfirmed for the foreseeable future.
• True Oregon Fact! Gilliam County was created for the express purpose of aggravating Morrow County.
• True Oregon Fact! Tom McCall, Oregon's legendary governor, wasn't a single Republican man but actually two small moderate Democrats and one liberal Republican in a specially-designed suit. That's why he was so tall.

That's the first batch. As you can see, you can know Oregon, or you can know Oregon … or you can "know" Oregon.

"Know" Oregon. Read True Oregon Facts! and don't blame us when if you don't pass your Oregon citizenship exam.

[pdx] Tri Met Bridge, We Christen Thee … Tilikum Crossing

3060.

… and that's the new name.

The word Tilikum (or Tillicum or, if you want to be really correct about it, TilixƏm) is from the Chinuk Wawa, the inter-tribal trade argot spoken by the people of Cascadia before us white folks got here, and, for a time, by many of the white people who got here. Elements of this jargon are still with us today, as I've pointed out before: if you look up the high mucketymuck or if you buy anything from this surf sports company or wondered about the sasquatch, you're speaking Chinuk, pilgrim. A skookum thing, to be sure.

From the TriMet email

Tilikum, which is the closest we can come in the 26-character common Latinate alphabet to writing the word, is a work in the Wawa meaning person or people or family, depending on the context. It survives, perhaps in a deplacé way, as the name of a neighborhood bar in Beaverton along the BHH; the name is rather appropriate, since the greater family in these modern times still, in this area of the world, is as likely to meet in an Oregon dive bar as anyplace else, perhaps, from my experience, more so.

The use of the stereotypical Indian war bonnet seems awkward but I am, at best, an armchair historian. I'll leave the more thoroughgoing analysis to those who put the word anal in analysis. 

Chinuk Wawa shorthand system
date unclear. Based on Duployan
shorthand. Source.

The name entire seems to read Tilikum Crossing: Bridge of the People. The ultimate clause of that sentence can be seen as a translation, and also a tagline, which makes it sound somewhat more appropriate to an adventure movie poster. It's not my choice, nor is it the preference of many others; many of us, including me, hoped it would be named for Kirk Reeves … indeed, it was the popular choice, as The Oregonian's Joseph Rose reported. In his missive to us in the proletariat, sent under the aegis of TriMet, historian Chet Orloff says:

But ok, I know some of you are disappointed and may be thinking of the new name in terms of winning and losing. However, please be reminded the process was not a competition or popularity contest. It was not about lobbying and who has the most clout.
The naming process was very deliberate. Our committee of 10 citizens asked fellow citizens (you) for input -- first, to provide possible names then, second, to comment on the four most meaningful names the committee believed best met the criteria we had established early in the process.  

The criteria (which can be seen in this TriMet blog posting by Mary Fetsch) were, of nature, subjective (history being what it is, I can't really see how it could be anything but), and can, I think it not untoward to point out, argue for anyone's case as it can be against. I know more than a few people who were holding out for Abigail Scott Duniway, whose name also would have been most worthy.

But it is what it is; if there's any salve to the fact that a name was chosen that I may or may not agree with it is that the search and decision was apparently done in good faith – the committee came up with a set of criteria and have appeared to stick to it as close as they could possibly do.

In that, Tilikum Crossing, in that it is a 'bridge of the people' (certainly any gorgeous cable-stayed bridge in the Transit Capital of the World that carries only foot, rail, and bike traffic and no cars reflects an ideal a lot of us Portlanders hope for) is a goodly name, and one I can make a certain sort of peace with.

The version TilixƏm needs some explaining perhaps: See this Soylent News™ article, also by The Rose, which explains the notation. Sadly, he does not call the upside-down e what it is, which is the schwa, but the article is a solid one nevertheless.

[liff in OR] The 2013-2014 Oregon Blue Book Cover Winner … And How You Can Enter The Contest For The Next

3052.

Its a beautiful shot of the Pacific at Yachats at sunset

Each biennium, the Oregon Secretary of State produces a volume called the Oregon Blue Book. It's an almanac full of facts and figures about the best state ever, and every 2 years, the Secretary of State chooses a new, beautiful Oregon photo to grace the cover.

This edition's winner is a photo by Beaverton's John Pederson, Strawberry Hill Sunset. A slice of this is

featured right, click here to go to a big version. It's a gorgeous shot, rich in color, taken of the Oregon beach at sunset from Strawberry Hill, which is south of Yachats. It's just the kind of scenery you get used to here, and it's beautifully done.

The full announcement can be seen at http://bluebook.state.or.us/misc/cover/front.htm. But did you know that if you have a hand with the camera you, too, might achieve a measure of State Archival immortality? The contest to select the photo that is to be the cover of the 2015-2016 Blue Book is open, and any Oregon resident can enter. There are requirements, of course; go to http://bluebook.state.or.us/misc/contest/guidelines.htm to see them. A link to the PDF entry form can be found thereunto.

Good luck there, all you amateur Ray Atkesons you!

[liff in Cascadia] Weathering the PDX Winter Like A Native

3004.

It's just water, people.

Reed College … giving away our secrets, yo.

[oregon] Mount Hood On One Of The First "America The Beautiful" Quarters

2361.

(via various) The US Mint is issuing more commemorative quarters, and coming out soon is going to be the one that I think should have been out all along – a quarter with Mount Hood – Wy'east – on.

The image is of Mount Hood over Lost Lake – as iconic an image of the mountain as exists. In its cohort, released this year as the first of the "America The Beautiful" series, commemorating national parks and forests and such, are Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas, Yosemite National Park, Yellowstone National Park, and Grand Canyon National Park.

That's some company to be seen in. But Mount Hood National Forest is one of the "old fellows" of the National Forest System, having been in existence, in one form or another, since 1892 – when it was known as the Bull Run Forest Reserve. After merger with another nearby unit and two renamings, it was known as the Mount Hood National Forest since about 1924.

For me personally, being born in Oregon and living within sight of Mount Hood the majority of my live, the mountain is as much as anything else a potent symbol of place, and I think it well deserves to be on a quarter.

Mount Hood From Lost Lake. Photo Credit.

Technorati Tags: Oregon, PDX liff, Oregon Liff, Mount Hood, Wy'east, Commemorative Quarters

[maps] Get Ready To Dial 10, Downstaters!

2278.At first it was just us in PDX and Salem. Then they made the rest of the northwest corner of Oregon dial 10.

The fact that I still live in the 503 is something of a consolation, of course.

The three-quarters of the state of Oregon in the 541 have gotten away without having to dial 10 – digits, that is – until now. They've come for you, Eugene, Medford, The Dalles, Ontario, Pendleton, Burns, KFalls, Keno, Suntex, Juntura, Sisters, Culver, Mitchell …

It's your turn now. As of 10 January, here's the way it's gonna be:

You'll have to start dialing 541+ the number for all your calls now, like we have in the 503 since about the year 2000, because you've got enough phones now you'll get what's called an overlay area code for cells and newer lines, 458.

I rib, but I remember the good old days, barely 10 years ago, when we were all united under the proud 503. It's the A/C of my birth, the A/C of Oregon, dammit!

The old days … they aren't so long ago. But they seem an eternity, yes?

Technorati Tags: Oregon, Oregon History, 503, 541, area codes, NANP

State of nogerO: Oregon, Backwards

2000.There are thirty-six counties in Oregon and just about thirty-six ways of looking at things. What if we took the names of those POVs and mixed them up just a bit?

This map is a map of Oregon's thirty-six counties but the names have been changed to provide food for thought. In a spreadsheet, I ordered the counties largest-to-smallest population, then created another list from smallest-to-largest. Pairing the lists and remapping the names, I then went down the combined list, labeling the county with the smallest population (Wheeler) with the name of the county with the biggest population (Multnomah). Here's what I got:

Clicky here to embiggen (Some of the names come out pretty small).

I found the way the names broke to be interesting both in the expected and the unexpected way. As I expected, a lot of wetside counties fled east and a lot of dryside counties fled west. Notice that the three biggest Oregon counties – the legendary Portland Metro area – still touch, but to get to Washington (schematically anyhow), you'd have to travel through Clackamas. Polk (now sitting in Union County's place) now separates Marion (whose seat is the state capital, Salem) from Lane (seat: Eugene), and I'm sure the idea of the U of O somewhere in the Wallowas sets more than one extreme sports-oriented college student alight.

Ironically, the three counties of the Portland Metro Area still abut the Columbia River, but along Clackamas and Washington – which is exactly the opposite from reality.

As interesting as the counties that changed region is the ones that didn't so much, like Jackson-which simply shifted eastward across the lower tier-and Harney and Deschutes counties have simply switched places. Counties containing regional centers-such as Josephine (seat: Grants Pass) and Jefferson (seat: Madras) mapped to each other.

If nothing else, it seems to show a clearer division between small-town Oregon (places like Fossil, K-Falls, and Prineville) Mid-size town Oregon (Bend, Pendleton) and Big-city Oregon (Portland, Salem, Eugene).

And, finally, really if nothing else, the mental luggage that each name carries mapped to an unexpected place really causes you (well, me anyway) to look at assumptions we tend to carry about regional stereotypes and character. With Oregon covering nearly 100,000 square miles, this is info recoding writ large.

And it was a fun little mental game too.

Technorati Tags: Oregon, Map Design, Information Design, Samuel John Klein, nogerO, Information Recoding

I Am ALL Oregon, Baby, V 1.01

1836.

Nota Bene: This list was originally composed back in 2007, when I found myself looking over a quiz and probably realized it came up a little short. The subject was How Oregon Are You?, and it was a cute quiz but I must have thought it missed the mark a bit ... so I came up with a list of my own, based on the fact that I was born here and while still young (and remarkably good looking), have, because of my unquenchable adoration for my home  (and my thrill at being fortunate enough to be able to calll myself native Oregonian) seen an awuful lot of modern Oregon history

From being born in Silverton to the Urban Growth Boundaries to the Ocean Beaches, from the Cascades to the Coast with occasional trips to Grass Pants Grants Pass, Terrebonne, and Pendleton, to the Rajneeshees and the Bottle Bill, I've seen an awful lot of Oregon. I know, instinctively, the correct pronounciation of the word Willamette, and how to properly school someone in saying it right. And while I might not be the quinessential Oregonian, I think I come pretty damn close.

There is a je ne sais quoi (no, I'm not making that joke) to being in Oregon. You can be in a beautiful evergreen grove, in majestic mountains, somewhere else ... and you just know it's not Oregon. It comes from the ground, somehow. It's a subliminal sense, a sense of terrior, if nothing else. There's just something right.

Anyhow! I recieved in the email another item to put in the list (H/T to you, Glenn Dettweiler) and it made me look on the list again, and in the interest of keeping it current, adding it to the list (it's #72, at the end). So, in the interests of being up-to-date and all, here's I am ALL Oregon, Baby, V 1.01.

Enjoy:

Welcome readers from UtterlyBoring, over in Bend. Feel free to comment–or if you have a question, ask away (and thanks for the tip).

861. It has not escaped my notice that a little quiz has been bopping about the blogging-o-sphere locally. The subject: How Oregon Are You?

Usually I shun taking such quizzes. Occasionally they are a little fun, but in the end they are typically based on someone else's perception of something we think we have in common but actually really don't–or at least, understand just differently enough that even though we all think we're on the same page, we actually aren't, or we're just using slightly different versions of the same alphabet.

Anyway, I'm not really trying to trash this quiz (especially in view of the tragic fate of the author...please, everyone, a moment of silence and then make the proper donation if you are so moved and can so afford), especially since it made a lot of people smile (me included) and was just made out for fun. It did make me think about what made "an Oregonian".

Especially in view of the fact that, despite the fact I was born in Oregon (Silverton, as I've before said), after two tries the best I could do was 88% (what did I get wrong, I wonder). Regardless, I do have an Oregon birth certificate, and that trumps all.

There are also "Oregonians" that I never "got". Gerry Frank, for instance. He's seems typically to be regarded as the quintessential Oregonian, even borrowing the name of a cherished Portland retail memory (M&F's "Friday Surprise") for his Oregonian column, but I can guaran-dang-tee you he never even soujourned for even a moment on my side of the tracks. I don't care who his family is; I just can't buy the idea of a fellow whose most signature literary achievement is the renowned How to Buy It, Find It, Eat It in...New York.

Yeah, I know...Meier & Frank heir, chief-of-staff to Mark Hatfield, and all that, but what he decidedly ain't is Oregonian Just Like Me™, and hardly the quentessential Oregonian. What business does an Oregon homie have getting to be an expert on the Big Smoke anyway? I mean, in those Pace picante sauce commericals, weren't the words "New York City" followed perforce by the phrase "Get a Rope"?

Okay, enough ranting. My point (and I do have one) is that there are many things that can qualify one as having that certain Oregonian something. Having grown up as a native-born (there are only fifteen of us: identify us for cool prizes!) there are a variety of things that I think you should be aware of and conversant on to be really Oregonian in my book. Since I have appointed myself arbiter, herewith, the list (not necessarily complete). You could really be an Oregonian if:

1. You remember who Gene Brendler is.


2. You watched Ramblin' Rod, no matter what age you are


3. You or some family member appeared on Ramblin' Rod, no matter what age you are.


4. You inveigled your parent(s) to buy Pop Shoppe pop because you saw it on Rambin' Rod.


5. You know what Ramblin' Rod and Lars Larson have in common.


6. You can name which TV stations the following personalities anchored for: Richard Ross, Pete Schulberg, Ivan Smith, Kathy Smith (no apparent relation), Bill Lagatutta, Bill O'Reilly (yes, that Bill O'Reilly), Robin Chapman, Tom McCall, Fred Jenkins, Rod Luck, Jim Bosley, Rick Meyers (no relation to Fred Meyer. Speaking of which...).


7. You know what Fred G. Meyer's middle initial stood for.


8. You knew that Freddy's was where you found things were "My-te-Fine".


9. You remember than Fred Meyer once had a store on SW Morrison St in Downtown Portland.


10. You understand why all Fred Meyer ads that aired during that time seemed to indicated that virtually nothing Fred Meyer advertised was sold at that Morrison Street Store


11. You remember how the building that housed that Morrison Street store was levelled (this doesn't happen often in Oregon)


12. You remember what sort of imported car Tom McCall stuffed his 6-foot-plus frame into during his tenure as Governor.


13. You consider Tom McCall God. There's no passes on this one.


14. You remember what Tom McCall did to make the beaches of Oregon open to everyone, all the time.
    You know that, in Oregon, signs that said "Ocean Beaches" was just Oregonian for "This way to the coast".


15. You understand that the correct way to say Glisan is seen as incorrect, and the incorrect pronounciation is what everyone uses.


16. You have spent at least one (preferably more) camping holidays at Detroit Lake (or similar reservoirs in the Cascades.


17. You remember when Bend had a population of about 15,000. Wasn't all that long ago.


18. You know what they Round-Up in Pendleton each year.


19. You have eaten frozen food products by Ore-Ida.


20. You have had earnest discussions with someone east of the Cascades about what Oregon really is.


21. You have visited Silver Falls State Park at least once.


22. You have ridden a Cherriot...or know what one is.


23. You know which Oregon town the "Cherry City" is...and why they call it that.


24. You have watched at least one go of the Jerry Lewis Telethon on KPTV.


25. You know what Vortex was (I'm not talking about the one down in SW Oregon).


26. You know what the 80's one-hit-wonders Quarterflash was before they were Quarterflash.


27. You know what the founders of Quarterflash went on to.


28. You know where Mark Hatfield kicked off each election campaign (or maybe that was Packwood).


29. You remember why "Trooper" Dick Curtis wanted to know where those two truckers were going with all that beer.


30. You remember his extremely short-lived daytime talkshow on KOIN-TV.


31. You remember where the Portland Sports Arena was. Bonus if you know what it was before it was that.


32. You know who Frank Bonnema was.


33. For that matter, you know who Victor Ives and Jimmy Hollister were, which radio station they worked for, which TV station they did a show for (and the characters thereon), and what style of comedy they did.


34. You ever ate "jo-jos" bought in a roadside convenience store.


35. You know there really is (was? what's become of her?) an Izzy's behind Izzy's Pizza and where Izzy's began.


36. You have a Bi-Mart Membership card (I still have my original green paper card from 1981) (It's Okay, I don't know what the 7734 is up with that name, either. But it IS a nice place to shop).


37. You vistied OMSI while it was still in Washington Park (and still affordable).


38. You saw a Tom Peterson's "Wake Up" commercial after midnight. Bonus here if you went down to Tom Peterson's in the middle of the night just to see if they weren't fooling about being open that late. Whether or not you were drunk when you did it doesn't matter, but it does make for an interesting story.


39. If you ever noticed that the Humane Society seems to be out near the airport...of course, that might just be me.


40. You remember what the shows "Evening" and "PM Magazine" were about.


41. You cringe whenever you hear someone going on, once again, about that damned exploding whale. Bonus points grudgingly awarded if you know who broke that story.


42. You don't get bonus points if you know where the fellow who broke the story in number 38 works now, but I will say he has a fine morning radio show. You should listen.


43. You know what KPOJ was during the 70s and 80s, when it was huge.


44. You know where the call-sign KPOJ came from, and what the letters (except the K) stood for.


45. You are aware of Mill-Ends Park, and why it became what it is today.


46. You know what was in Tom McCall Waterfront Park before it was a park.


47. You know the elevation of Mount Hood within 100 feet without consulting a reference book.


48. You remember when the Willamette ferries were for free.


49. You know how to get to the Wheatland, Canby, and Buena Vista ferries without consulting a Thomas Guide.


50. You ever had (or saw) a bumper-sticker that read "The Wheatland Ferry Does It For Free"


51. You remember Yamhill County back when all they had out there was McMinnville.


52. You remember that McMinnville's annual city fete is called "Turkey-rama".


53. You remember when Western Oregon University was called "Oregon College of Education".


54. You remember that OCE's campus paper was once called The Lamron...and why.


55. You know the back way from Independence to Corvallis (actually, that is just me...I highly recommend it. It's pretty!).


56. You know what the huge blockhouse of Highway 99W at Adair Village (just north of Corvallis) used to contain.


57. You remember how scandalous it was to have a case of Coors, and why you couldn't get it here.


58. You remember how disappointed you were at finally tasting Coors, and thinking you'd of been better off with a six-pack of Blitz-Weinhard.


59. You remember that Blitz-Weinhard was once "the beer here".


60. You know what I mean when I say "Mossback" (hint-this list is highly mossback-centric).


61. You're thankful that hops are once again plentiful along the state highways.


62. You miss the smell of beer brewing next when you go to Powells.


63. The words "Harbor Drive" mean anything to you.


64. You ever said "Don't Californicate Oregon".


65. You're sure that you'd love the Oregon Shakespearean Festival, if you'd ever get round to going.


66. You've heard of "Drain, Oregon", and that's just fine. No need to actually visit (no hatin' on Drain, by the way).


67. You know what and where the "D" River is, and think those kids up in Great Falls MT are just a teensy bit uppity. And wrong.


68. When you go to Newport, whether or not you can visit the Oregon Coast Aquarium, you make sure you stop by the OSU Marine Science Center.


69. You aren't as impressed by the various bouts of the "town" of Brothers being sold as the outside world is.You, every now and then, use Highway 99E to get to Salem, rather than I-5. Also a pretty drive.


70. You know the correct pronunciation of "Gervais"


71. You know the difference between "Eola" and "Ecola".


72. You remember when smelt were caught by the bag full every summer.

Wow. I didn't know I'd come up with such a big list.

Now you know what I mean when I say I think this is more than a little subjective. To me, however, the definition of an Oregonian would be someone, no matter where, they're from, that cherishes the special character of Oregon-no matter how you see it-and commits themselves, just like many of us do, to see that Oregon endures and Oregon, and not just some other place in the world.

Tags: Oregon, Oregoniana, Native Oregonians, Oregon culture, Oregon history

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[liff] Snow. Oregon. Almost April.

1452. The view of the south portico of the SunDial Manor at 0830 approx today:

Nice, huh?

Tags: Oregon, Oregon weather, Portland Photos

[oregon] Linus Pauling Honored With First Class Stamp

1390. He graduated from what would become OSU in 1922, defined the nature of the chemical bond (garnering the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1954), spoke truth to power about war (garnering the Nobel Peace Price in 1962), and rode Vitamin C like a hobby horse (extoling benefits which are still the subject of some debate).

In 2008, he recieved a singular honor; his likeness on a postage stamp, and enters popular immortality:

When I was growing up, one of the people I was told I should admire was Linus Pauling, especially because he was Oregonian and had done so much. I have my doubts about his position on Vitamin C, but the rest of it is awe-inspiring and remains so; his work still forms some of the basis of modern biochemistry. And even though he spent his professional and personal life after OAC in California, He remained an Oregonian at heart to the last; when his wfe Ava (herself his collegiate sweetheart – he born in what we today call Lake Oswego, her in Beavercreek) died he donated their combined papers to OSU; two years after his death, the Linus Pauling Insitute, dedicated to human health, moved from its longtime base in Palo Alto, California to the OSU campus.

He even contributed to the development of the first electric car, the Henney Kilowatt, cited by some as the predecessor to the EV1. He was smarter than anyone likely to be reading this discourse, as a matter of fact.

I personally am excited that someone like this gets the stamp honor. Too few Oregonians do, overall (Tom McCall stamp, anyone? Who's with me?). This stamp is part of a series of four, including Gerti Cory, Edwin Hubble, and John Bardeen. You have to be pretty historic to run with this crew, yo.

More details have been mounted by OSU here.

Tags: USPS, Linus Pauling, Famous Oregonians, Postage Stamps, philately

[oregon] Birthday State

1361. Happy 149th birthday to the greatest State in the union:

Oregon.

And a Valentine's Day birthday is appropriate, because to love Oregon is to be in love with Oregon. And since I was born here, that's never been a problem.

Update: There's an official Sesquicentennial (that's 150 years, in Metric or something) at http://oregon150.org. (thanks to Pete Best at Portland Metblogs for pointing that one out)

Tags: Oregon, Oregon's birthday, Valentine's day

[liff, oregon] Oregon State Capitol featured on Wikipedia Today!

1244. Swear I had nothing to do with this:


Today, 9 Jan 2008, The Oregon State Capitol Building was the Wikipedia's featured article of the day.

I am head over heels in love with this building, as I've said before, and I don't care who knows it. Yay, us! Raise a glass of Hefeweisen or pinot noir or what-have-you (got any Portland Punch around?)!

Tags: Oregon State Capitol, Wikipedia, Oregon

[or_photos] Silverton, Nexus of The Eastern-Mid-Willamette-Valley

1221. Welcome to Silverton, Oregon; gateway to Silver Falls State Park; Birthplace of Homer Davenport. Here we have the corner of Water and Main ...


A picture postcard if ever I've seen one.

The one thing that you notice when you're in downtown Silverton ...


Is that there seem to be signs ...


Pointing you just about everywhere.


Indeed, is there anyplace worth going to that you can't get to from Water and Main in Silverton?


Our advice: if a Silverton Police officer pulls you over downtown ... just don't tell him you didn't see the sign.

Tags: Silverton Oregon, Downtown Silverton Oregon, Oregon Photos

[liff, pdx] Apple Is To Orange As...

1106.


Your choice, Hobson.

(NE Killingsworth Street just east of the new Columbia Blvd connection)

Technorati Tags: pdx,Portland Landscapes,road signs,Portland signs,Portland geography

[pdx] For A Member of the Economic Underclass, My Calendar Is Surprisingly Full

1093. Today we need to drop off our ballots (we miss the days of polling places, so we wait til the last minute to get some of that election-day mojo that used to be accompanied by a VOTE HERE! sign), but the dance card is simply bursting–at least it is for us...

Tonight, The Wife™ and I are going to put in an appearance at the KEX-Sam Adams Domain Name Party. At last, Yours Truly, Cult Member 583, gets to meet "The Guys". And, yah, that Sam person.

Tomorrow there's going to be a Jeff Merkley blogger get-together over at the new Laurelwood Brewery on NE Sandy.

Pictures to follow

Technorati Tags: Sam Adams,Samuel Adams,Commissioner Sam Adams,The Great Brew-HaHa,KEX,Mark Mason,Dave Anderson,Jeff Merkley,Blogger Meetup,PDX Bloggers

[map_design] Where's The Free Oregon City Maps?

1091. And, for that matter, where's the free county maps and all sorts of things?

Why, they're right here.

One of the great things about ODOT is that it's your tax money at work made real, and if you love city maps like I do, then it's a boon.

Every one of Oregon's 242 cities (and many unincorporated localities) have been compiled and are published as city maps by ODOT, as well as detailed maps of all of Oregon's 36 counties! And, if you download them as PDFs, you can have all of them for free–such a deal!

If you'd like to visit ODOT's map publication office (555 13th St NE, Salem), you can have them for a minimal charge. I suggest it. It's an interesting place to go.

I am a fan of ODOT, naturally.

Technorati Tags: maps,map_design,Oregon maps,Oregon State Maps,Oregon City Maps,Free Maps