Banks, OR BBQ, tractor/truck pull, and combine demolition derby!
Back and badder than ever! This weekend – Aug 16-17.
Oregon Trail Live!
“Gather the wagons, grab three sturdy friends and prepare to hit the trail. Costumes, silly team names and pioneer spirit are highly highly encouraged though not, we suppose, strictly necessary.”
http://www.oregontraillive.com/
I went down to the Willamette Heritage Center in Salem, OR today to participate in the live action Oregon Trail game. It’s a re-creation of the many adventures of the old Oregon Trail game many will remember playing back in the day as kids.
The day started out by arriving and building your own ‘wagon’ to carry throughout the challenges:
While we waited for the official start, we wandered around the center and looked at many of the funny re-creators:
There was even a saloon:
And a sheriff:
Soon we gathered for the start of the event which was kicked off by a bull-whip cracking minister:
And we were off to compete at 10 different stations based on events of the game. Like the 3-legged dysentery race in which you needed to run to an outhouse and back again:
The buffalo chip toss:
This was simply a demonstration at the center of some guys doing period black-smiting:
Some teams came with their own shirts:
They had a great little bluegrass band playing while you competed. Very talented guys and nice accompanyment:
This was the river crossing event in which your team needed to protect your wagon while the local women’s roller-derby team tried to whack you and the tiny wagon with pool noodles:
Alas, not everyone makes it to Oregon. Here you had to bury your ‘ill-fated 5th team member’ that you made out of paper at the beginning of the event. Points were given based on the quality of your eulogy and the song you sang. The winners sang, “The wheels on the bus” for top prize…
This was my favorite event. You had to drive this guy over a short course while he recieted facts about meat. When you got back to the starting point, he’d quiz you based on what you remembered from his facts.
Some Japanese exchange students were the ‘animals’ in the shooting contest. These actually shot back – and were quite good shots really. We got top marks for our efforts:
This was the ‘caulk and float your boat’ event. You had to use tin foil, plastic wrap, and other craft supplies to protect your wagon from capsizing while fording the two ‘rivers’. Ours passed with flying colors.
Finally, you got the end – the office of the surveyor general. She would give you a little bit of string and you’d go into the yard and ‘stake your claim’. You’d then set up a little homestead. A prize was given for the best decorated homestead.
There was a tie for one prize, and they had to arm-wrestle for top honors in the saloon:
Afterwards, we went over to downtown Salem to Coin Jam brewpub and arcade. They had some AMAZING old machines in here. Even better than Ground Control in Portland:
So, overall, a fabulous time!
Summer shot of Mt Hood
Decided to run up and get a sunset shot of Mt Hood on this beautiful summer day.
Finding lost relatives
Our family has a interesting family tree. On our mother’s side we have a wonderful relative that has been collecting information, letters, visiting home countries, and constructing detailed and far-reaching family trees. Yet on our father’s side we haven’t done as much of that.
At a recently family gathering, a few relatives on that side were reminiscing. In the course of the discussion, it was revealed that one of the branches lead to family that lived in Portland, OR. An aunt remembered they were buried in a cemetery ‘overlooking the Willamette’.
Well, there are a lot of cemeteries that could fit that description, but we felt odds were good we could find them with some internet searches. Turns out, however, they were not listed anywhere I looked. Instead, a cousin managed to find them at the Wilhelm Memorial Mausoleum – made famous partly by Chuck Palanuck’s book “Fugitives and Refugees: A Walk in Portland, Oregon”. Unfortunately, when I had looked them up via their online search page – they weren’t listed. A testament to the fact that not all information is on the internet.
I have had some time off the last few days, so I called them up and went over just before closing time. The mausoleum buildings were very nice and somewhat extensive on the ridge of the hill in the Sellwood district of Portland. Yet, like an iceberg, this was only the tiny visible tip of a much, MUCH larger structure. The greeter gave me a map and told me where I could locate them. I was buzzed into the crypts and went to find them.
First off, the place is MASSIVE. There are at least 5 floors that extend through the hillside. Room after room of crypts.
I finally arrived at The Hall of Apostles – where I was told they were buried.
And here they are:
One of my aunt’s remembered that Claude had said he would be buried in a spot where they could overlook the river – and sure enough – this was the view.
Paranorman and The Missing Dog
[Updated on 5-3-2013 after contact with Potato’s owner – see the comments section below]
I was watching Laika’s new movie Paranorman when I got a surprise.
Laika studios is based in Portland and the office is only 3 blocks from my house in our quiet little neighborhood. I got about 10 minutes into the movie when our young protagonist Norman is walking down the street and passes a seemingly innocuous little sign:
You’ll notice poor Potato is missing. And a $5000 reward. But would you be shocked if I told you this sign was hanging in our neighborhood about a year or two back:
[5-3-2013 update] Actual owner of Potato saw this posting and said that poor Potato just went missing and has yet to be found. It was not contractors, etc but I include that original posting here since that’s what I first heard. If you’ve seen her, do drop him a note or post here.
[This original information was disproven by owner – more proof that even in a tight neighborhood you shouldn’t listen to what every ‘neighbor of’ or ‘friend of’ has said.] Even more strange is the fact that I recently ran into folks in our neighborhood (who also owned a cute bulldog) that were friends with the owners of poor missing Potato and told the strange tale. It seems that some contractors were working at the owner’s house over several days. The day they finished, Potato went missing. The owners plastered the neighborhood with signs and a $1000 reward. Then $5000.
The owners grew to suspected the contractors whose stories didn’t quite jive when asked about the last day of their work. (Something similar happened to another house in our hood in which a house was ‘accidentally’ left unlocked on the last day the contractors were there. Right after the contractors left it was completely stripped in under 2 hours – even though it had set for weeks untouched. Convenient huh?). Apparently when the $5000 reward came out one of the contractors claimed that they came to work and Potato had fallen into the pool and died. The contractors buried Potato ‘somewhere else’ to cover up the accidental death. The owners were never convinced, and Potato never found. The owners are convinced he was stolen by the contractors. (Something I tend to agree with after a friend’s pug was stolen and only recovered when the family who took him was caught at a Petsmart when they ran the ID chip in him and it didn’t match. The people weren’t even remorseful about it at all. They were angry at the Petsmart guys and tried to forcibly take him back.)
If you have information about Potato, please post it here and the original owner should see it.
Snowstorm 2011!!! OMG were going to die!!! = 1.5 inches
It started with predictions of Snow-pocalypse. Portland was going to get creamed with snow – mountains of it. Multiple days of snow and ice that would result in stranded people, folks without heat or power, etc. Newcasters went on and on and on about how terrible it was going to be. 4-6 inches overnight with another solid 24 hours of more snow. Then it was 2-4 inches, then day before it was 1-2 inches. Then the night began, and the snow that was supposed to start at 3pm was still unseen as I walked home from a night of free-play at Ground Kontrol around 9pm. Queue sleep and wake the next morning:
So, we did actually get snow on Thursday morning, and untouched side streets that the sun wasn’t shining on were slippery, but by 10am it was all melted anywhere you went. Still, the local news crews were out doing hard-hitting, on the scene reporting in the 1.5″ official of snow laying around on the streets despite the fact there was a palpable air of desperation in their tone as they tried to play up what was clearly no snow-pocalypse. And the snow that was supposed to fall all day and night of Thursday? Well, it’s sunny right now on Friday and there was absolutely no snow yesterday or overnight. None.
Don’t get me wrong, up in the mountain passes and some of the local hills snow can turn the steep, unsalted/un-deiced streets into a real hazard you don’t want to drive on without studded tires. And if you’d gotten ALL the normal drivers out on these roads, it probably would have been a never-ending string of pileups due to drivers unaccustomed to driving in snow (I saw 2 cars off the road on a 1/2 mile stretch of icy pavement due to folks still driving like they are on dry pavement).
All this I could forgive if it was an isolated instance. But this seems to happen any time the hint of snow is predicted for our area. So if there’s one take-away I’ve learned from Oregon weather forecasters in the last 10 years – it’s this: don’t believe them when they predict snow-pocolypses *days* in advance. Check out weather.com yourself and watch the changing predictions there up to the day it’s supposed to happen. Till then, don’t change any of your plans.
Portland’s Recent Bombing Attempt
Recently, Mohamed Osman Mohamud, a Somali-born, 19 year-old student from Oregon State University attempted to detonate what he believed was a vehicle bomb amidst the hundreds of spectators at the annual Portland tree-lighting event. I was only 10 or so blocks away watching from the 30th floor of the Portland City Grill. Turns out he wasn’t working with fellow confederates, but had unwittingly been snagged by undercover FBI agents. He fell on their radar because his own father apparently wrote to the FBI and warned them about his son’s extremist viewpoints. Mohamed tried to contact militants in other countries, but the FBI intercepted instead. Following his lead, the FBI supplied him with a dummy van bomb which had 5 or 6 55 gallon drums of (what he thought) were explosives. The van was parked on the tree-lighting block and he walked (past my building) and activated the dud via cel phone right in the middle of the event. Obviously it didn’t go off and he was immediately arrested. Many have already called up the very likely charge of entrapment; but that will likely have to be decided in the courts.
Unfortunately, the night after the bombing, a mosque that Mohamed sporadically attended was set on fire. Arson is highly likely based on the early evidence. Fortunately only the office area was damaged and police are now running extra patrols around other mosques in the area. The mosque very quickly and publicly denounced Mohamed’s actions, and there has been no evidence any radical element is present there. So far there is no evidence that Mohamed appears to have contacted or worked with anyone from the mosque on his plans.
Unfortunately, this has revealed a general anti-religious attitude here in Portland/Oregon that I’ve run into before from what seem very well educated, self-described as open-minded, and well meaning folks. On OPB’s Think Out Loud radio show, a comment appeared on their live blog they read from while doing the show. The following comment was made, and struck a chord because I have heard it at a number of times at dinner parties/etc:
Religious people of all faiths are the problem. They are the cause of hatred, violence, misinformation, and ignorance throughout the world. The rest of us are dragged along in the wake of their poor behavior, we are associated with them because of the country we live in and the politicians they elect. Muslims aren’t the problem, all religions are the problem.
A number of people responded, but I liked this one best:
I disagree with your argument – not least of which is because it’s a contradiction. You say religions are the problem, but say Muslims are not. Do you realize what makes a person a Muslim is their identification with a religion? Why did you assume it was his religion when his own congregation condemns his actions and he didn’t appear to get support for his plan or ideas from them? Do you support the people that tried to burn down his Mosque because religions are to blame even though there is no proof to their involvement?
Secondly, you indicate that religions are the the cause of these problem. It’s far too simplistic and wrong to say religion is the the sole source of this kind of brutal hatred in the world. How about the purely political and ideological killings of rebel groups in Central and South America? Or the purely monetary murders of drug cartels in Mexico? The atrocities of the Kamier Rouge and Pol Pot, or the wholesale rape and hacking off of limbs by African militia groups? Somolian death squads? None of these groups are based on religious principles/backgrounds.
I agree with croyfp – it’s extremism of ANY ideology: be it political, ideological, religious, monetary, or otherwise that causes folks to feel the need to destroy those that don’t believe in what they do. In fact, I can see a bit of this kind of hatred and anger in your response that desires to destroy something you don’t feel is right in your eyes. A true desirer of the good seeks to take what is good, and correct what is bad via reasoned argument and dialog. An extremist says it must all be destroyed. So where do you find yourself in your statement?
People desire to hurt others when they themselves have been hurt and not found understanding or healing; so they try to hurt others so that others have to feel the hurt and helplessness they themselves feel. We won’t make a dent in extremists like this until they are allowed to be heard or at least given models to help guide them through their anger.
You can find the whole dialog and program here. There were some pretty good comments.
Portland’s $600 million biking plan
(this got stuck away in the ‘filed for later’ bin and I’m cleaning them out)
I’m not one that writes to reps often, but lately I sure have been. Especially after Portland just passed a $600 million biking expansion plan in Portland. Now I’m a fan of biking and exploring alternative transportation – but Oregon just forced a ballot measure vote on two new ‘Emergency’ tax increases to pay for basic services such as schools – both of which passed. I have a really terrible time looking at people spending $600 million on these sorts of plans when basic services are in emergency mode. But at any rate, there’s more to the story.
A few facts:
$600 million plan is a 20 year plan, and it is not actually funded yet. It was just passed with funding to be figured out in the next 30-90 days. The mayor is quoted as saying that his first thought on funding will be that once the big pipe project is finished, he’ll start diverting money from that project. Problem is (as one writer pointed out), that money comes directly from water and sewage bills that were raised to nation-high levels to fund big pipe. So, instead of dropping your taxes after big-pipe is fixed, your water bill would now start funding a bike project.
A few very notable and interesting quotes from sites:
“I propose that one way to help pay for these biking and pedestrian programs would be to license bikes with a yearly fee. I think we could also increase public safety if the bikes also had to get a quick mechanical and safety check just like a car is required to pass. It could also be used to ensure the rider has a proper helmet, lights for night riding, reflective gear, and other legally required safety equipment. We have a lot of local bike shops in the area; and they could check out these bikes and issue these simple sticker permits that are attached to the bike like a yearly license plate sticker showing I’m up to date. If the permits were numbered, it would also be a good way to track stolen bikes. It would certainly help create and/or keep jobs at these local bike shops – especially in these tough times.”
(to the Portland Transportation commissioner) “Your choices as Transportation Commissioner openly, blatantly, and consistently discriminate against my use of TriMet’s bus system to get around. As Transportation Commissioner, you have blamed buses for street conditions, when buses are but a small user of the road system. You have openly, actively sought out regional transportation funds serving cities as diverse as Troutdale, Forest Grove and Sherwood to fund the Portland Streetcar – a development project that was somehow tied to transportation and thus raided money used to improve the bus system. And you demand TriMet pay $3 million a year to subsidize that system – that’s $3 million a year not going to regional transportation.
And then you have the gall to say we can’t afford another pet project. Remember: Portland extends from Raleigh Hills to Gresham. And it’s your job, as Mayor, to represent – and support – each one of those citizens. That means that guy living on S.E. 163rd Avenue is just as much a Portland resident as one downtown – and deserves an equal amount of investment (since you take an equal amount of taxes from them).
Now: Can we afford your bike plan – AND meet your promise to your constituents at the same time? Or are you playing favorites with your special interest groups again?”
Weed out your friends you stool pigeon!
I find this an interesting concept on how local governments are starting to deal with deep budget cuts. I wonder what other services could become on-line like this – and the bigger question of what government services *should* be delivered like this. I found the recent app contest to be an interesting concept – and considered a few entry ideas myself. Right now, there is already an iPhone app that allows you to report problems – but only for city-owned lands. However, it appears individual departments aren’t waiting for others to come up with ideas for them:
Last week, the City of Portland launched a pilot program that encourages neighbors to send in online complaints with photographs of overgrown grass and weeds on other people’s lawns. Offending property owners could face fines of $216 a month. The city requirement is that grass be less than 10 inches high.
The Bureau of Development Services ran into deep financial problems last year when building permits and fees dried up because construction slowed amid the recession. The bureau responded to the reduction by slashing jobs (they laid off 18 people of their 34 – over half the staff) . One of the first casualties was the enforcement program for getting rid of neighborhood eyesores and hazards like dry grass, which can cause fires.
One consequence of complaining online is that the names of people who inform on their neighbors will become a matter of public record, so there’s no hope of remaining anonymous. (BDS says it won’t volunteer the name of the complainant to the bad neighbor, however.)
So, if you wanna rat out your neighbors, go here:
http://portlandonline.com/bds/gwcomplaints
Neighborhood cartoonist John Callahan dies
Just found out that John Callahan – the cartoonist of oft-irreverent fair – died July 24th. He lived in my neighborhood in NW Portland. I used to run into him a good bit in the video store, on the street, etc. Very intriguing character to talk to for sure.
Personally, he seemed a guy that fought with a lot of personal demons/suffering – but still attempted to always rise above them and constantly work on himself. I salute him for never seeming to give up despite the tremendous difficulties he seemed to endure – difficulties that probably would have driven other men to give up on themselves and the idea of living as full a life as possible.
