Hobbit house
I was lucky enough to stay at this really amazing Hobbit home AirBnB by Kristie Wolfe. I recently read an interesting article on the properties she has created.
Fr Stu
Stu Long was a classmate of mine during seminary days at Mt Angel. His story was like the story of many of other seminarians – people that you might never have expected being calling to discern the priesthood. His story, however, was more unique than most – and his path certainly more twisty. His life has now become a movie by Mark Wahlberg.
After having seen the movie, I can say that it’s about as accurate as one could fit in 2 hours. They combined a lot of real life people into a few characters for simplicity – but I remember almost all these stories in the movie. I highly recommend going to see it. It’s the very kind of person that God often calls and you might find discerning a call to religious life.
If you’d like to read more about Fr Stu, check out these links:
Here’s a news clip on the movie from a local Helena Montana news report:
And this clip exactly matches a lot of the stories Stu had and as I remembered him
Mailbox Peak Trail
You may have heard Mailbox Peak Trail mentioned in hushed tones, the kind reserved for stories about some legendary storm or a bad accident. What inspires such reverence?
The original trail proceeds more or less straight up a ridgeline to the summit, gaining a jaw dropping 3,800 feet in two and a half miles. After a short flatter section, there is nary a switchback in sight as it climbs and crosses an open talus field. Until the Department of Natural Resources built a new, much gentler trail to the summit, accidents and rescues of wayward hikers were a fairly regular occurrence. Most of the old trail remains, marked for much of its length by a string of white reflectors nailed to trees – an earlier step DNR undertook to keep the uninitiated from losing their way in the most confusing parts of the trail.
While it might not be the most scenic of trails, it is definitely one of legends. It reminds me a lot of the Heartbreak Ridge trail on Table Mountain. It is so steep as to be a near scramble up, or requires using the trees to descend without tumbling. Heartbreak climbs 1650ft in 1.2 miles – which is almost the same pitch, but only half as long.
Story behind the Forest Park Drive-in
Perhaps you’ve seen this little drive in located on NW Skyline Blvd. These days it sits empty except for Christmas time when it has a Christmas tree in it.
It turns out this little landmark has an amazing back story. It was run by a WW II veteran called Old Ben (Benjamin Pachkofsky) that built the drive-in himself and also created a zip-line and a gigantic A-frame swing in the woods behind the building. It became a spot for people to come hang out and enjoy his creations and his food. Unfortunately, Ben seemed to suffer from the effects of the war via PTSD. His marriage ended in divorce and his son said he was a generous man that unfortunately needed help. Help that really wasn’t around back then.
The place now belongs to Scott Posey. Ben sold it to Posey for a song when he reached his 80’s. Posey has been approached countless times about people wanting to turn it into a 7-11, bikini baristas, and everything else you can imagine. Posey denied all the requests and hopes somehow to open it back up for it’s original style, but only time will tell.
Portland’s Daily Stolen Car Count
Property crime – including car thefts and break-ins – have become the new pandemic in Portland for both 2021 and 2022. In 2021 we reached a 25 year high in car thefts with over 1000 car thefts per month. 2022 is shaping up to be the same or worse.
It’s not uncommon to see vehicles without license plates driving around city streets and even randomly crashed into buildings. Since last year, Portland police can no longer pull cars over for traffic infractions, missing tags, expired registration, etc. It may soon be Oregon state law that police cannot pull anyone over for minor infractions.
Much like the old Portland Stabtown counter, there is now a new PDXStolenCars.com that keeps tally on the location and stolen vehicle count each day. They also list the most common open-air chop shops and dumping locations for boosted cars since local police no longer pursue such cases.
Gold Butte Fire Tower survived wildfires in unique way
Detroit Oregon and the surrounding area was ravaged by wildfires in 2020. However, one of my favorite fire towers, Gold Butte, survived thanks to the inventive protection of wrapping the entire building.
Funhouse Die Hard
Time to celebrate one of the best Christmas movies around – Die Hard.
Funhouse Lounge here in Portland has done a Die Hard musical parody show for several years now. This year is no different and all the shows almost immediately sold out. However, given the COVID situation, they also graciously provided a streaming option. I gave it a watch, and recommend you do too – but hurry – there are only a few streaming opportunities left.
Interstate Bridge Survey
Portland’s infrastructure is woefully behind. Despite 10 years and dozens of millions of dollars, there is still no I-5 bridge replacement plan.
Take an opportunity to answer their survey:
https://www.interstatebridge.org/november
Tekken
Turns out my neighbor’s sister is the voice actress for Tekken’s Nina Williams. Who knew?
More Polybius
Polybius is a great urban legend that got its start in Portland. There’s lots of fodder thrown around about it, but The Polybius Conspiracy appeared to be a real investigation on the subject. They even have a lot of interviews from local people. It turns out, it was COMPLETELY FALSE and their main character was an actor.
None of that was disclosed. It is one more reason you should be very weary of documentaries as information sources. Evidence shows you should NOT be putting faith in documentaries any more than an editorial opinion piece.
If you want a little better coverage, this is also a good video about the urban legend: