Monday, December 28, 2009
My favorite otter pup on SW Yamhill. Photo: Daniel Ronan
O little town of Bethlehem,
How still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by.
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting Light;
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee to-night.
While at a Christmas Eve service at the church I grew up in, the first verse of "Oh Little Town of Bethlehem" got me thinking. Do I know another "little town?"
With the risk of falling trap to biblical implications, I'd venture to say that Portland is this "little town." It seems that astonishment and beauty resound in the "O" year after year for Bethlehem, much like feelings for our fair city.
(Continued)
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Yes, it's been a while, but I've decided that a "reporting blog" is a brutal business. Thus, the elephant in your room, that is, my lack of posts over these past three months, needs to be addressed.
Accordingly, I've decided to post more of my thoughts on Portland here on PDXme, rather than going through the lengths of investigative reporting for each post. Hopefully it'll enliven some sort of discussion, posted or otherwise. But then again, one can't ask for too much this Christmas. Look what happened to Packy.
"Packy," one of Portland's asian elephants, before here demise. Photo: Daniel Ronan
"Packy" the largest asian elephant of the United States, in her restructured form. Photo: Willamette Week
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
The "Oregon Stag" shirt at Greg's on Hawthorne. Photo by Daniel Ronan.
PDXppl is a series of profiles of Portlanders and area residents and what they do.
In any city, flashy marketing tends to take off more than in other localities. Take the "I ♥ NY" shirt or any sports team products as prime examples. Here in Oregon, we've come across one such example of a product as a part of a groundswell love for all things Oregon; the curiously designed "Oregon Stag" shirt with the state's boundaries. After a bit of research, I managed to contact the designer of the shirt and ask him a few questions (as you'll see below). Time will only tell the other products of OR love that will (literally) be in store, but I'm excited to see what the artists and dreamers of Portland and Oregon can come up with!
(Continued)
Filed in Controversy, Northeast, Politics, Portlandesque, Uncategorized
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Tagged Chris, Chris Stevens, Made in Oregon, Merchandise, Oregon Stag, Portland, Shirt, Stevens, University of Oregon
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Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Emerson Valentine Lyon in concert. Image courtesy of EVL.
PDXppl is a series of profiles of Portlanders and what they do.
Musicians are "a plenty" in the 503. With numerous music events such as MusicfestNW, PDX Pop Now! and the Waterfront Blues Festival, the Rose City definitely knows how to jive on a Saturday night. What is more, Portland has also been a producer of top musicians, namely the Decemberists and Pink Martini. Musicians on the local level are also pretty good. Whether hopefully transitioning to larger gigs or laying low in Portland, artists employ their talents in a myriad of music genres. Emerson Valentine Lyon (EVL), a graduate of Wilson High School in SW Portland, is one of these artists.
(Continued)
Amtrak ticket stubs for round trip train reservations and bike reservations.
This past weekend I took a trip up to Portland from Eugene with my bike. I really appreciate the fact that I can bring my bike on the train, as it gives me the choice to do whatever I like when I arrive at Union Station. Upon arrival, one can bike to the nearest bus line to get home, go to Powell's for the newest read, or relax at a nearby café. At any rate, the fact that Amtrak permits bikes on board does wonders for a visitor's experience in the Rose City.
As a pretty much monthly visitor to Portland, surprisingly enough, this past weekend marks the first time I have brought a bike on board. Accordingly, I've given some thought to how bikes on Amtrak trains fit the Portland goal of diverse travel options. In short, "choices." If you offer citizens choices in terms of their travel options, the more likely they will make a different choice than insisting on riding alone in their cars. Be it train, light rail, bus or bike, Portlanders get around. Amtrak's inclusion of bicycles on board increases the number of choices people can make upon arriving to town as to where and when they want to go. Accordingly, I've written a brief list of ideas and suggestions in light of my trip that might make arriving "from train with bike" that much more desirable and convenient.
(Continued)
Filed in Bikes, Community, Downtown, Government, Northwest, Pacific Northwest, Portlandesque, Transportation
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Tagged Amtrak, Bike, Bikes, Downtown, Eugene, ODOT, Oregon Department of Transportation, Portland, Seattle, Train, Union Station, Vancouver B.C., Washington State Department of Transportation, WSDT
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In an attempt to quantify the unquantifiable, I will begin to quantify my PDX soujourns, or "PDXjourns," if you please. Here is one such PDXjourn from this past weekend, sarcasm included! Be sure to check out my other PDXjourns on the new PDXjourns page. You will ask: why is the difference between this and the PDXjaunts page? Well, "journs" are escapes from Eugene and "jaunts," well they're my escapades in the around town. Whatever the case, I hope you enjoy. More pics and stats on the jump!
Ottavia of Italy & Quincey of New Jersey. Rendez-vous with a Southern European and current Eugenian: 1
(Continued)
Filed in Bikes, Community, Current Events, Downtown, Northwest, Portlandesque, Site, Southeast, Southwest
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Tagged Aida, Bike, Downtown, Hawthorne, Leanne, Made in Oregon, Made in Oregon Sign, Maggie, Mom, Northwest, Ottavia, Otti, Pearl, Quincey, Weekend
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This week has seen quite the heat wave in the Portland area, causing a surge in power usage as well as a surge in poetic creativity! A friend of mine, Amélie Rousseau, responds to the rising temperatures.
Beating the heat at SW Broadway & Madison, Summer 2007.
Portland in Heat by Amelié Rousseau
Portland in heat:
A blushing rose, propped up in its ornate vase: wilting.
Rectangular fans silhouette the windows and doors in SE Powell, the west hills, Sellwood, and St. John’s.
“Why pay thousands for air conditioning?” they say.
“It’s only hot in Oregon three weeks a year,” they say.
Tonight a tiny frog darted under my garage door.
Why should it want a night in this concrete hole?
I covet the frog's cool swamp to my hot sheets.
Portland in heat:
A boat waiting to sail: yearning.
Sea legs lost until the river breeze cools,
Only then can it fill its sails again. Freedom.
Other PDXpoesy may be viewed on the PDXpoesy page!
The Oregonian rose their daily's price to $1 at the beginning of July. Would you even buy this if Palin wasn't on the cover? Oh, what news!
I read a lot of Portland news. Each day I try to keep up with the latest happenings of the "Rose City" while reading the online weeklies, including the Portland Tribune, Willamette Week and the Portland Mercury. The Oregonian, the state's flagship newspaper, (with the most dreadful-looking website of any major publication I know) has fallen off of my "must read" list as of late. Beyond the more traditional media I, as any college student would, frequent local blogs.
My favorite blogs include Bike Portland and Portland Transport, two blogs dedicated to transportation issues in the Portland Metro Area. I've been an alternative transportation reader since my formative years in high school when I volunteered on the board of the Hillsdale Neighborhood Association. Watching livable communities organize and thrive is something I take much interest in and hope to pursue on the career level someday.
My career aspirations aside, I fear that the traditional media is loosing (if not having already completely lost) its relevance. With my blog reading, I have taken to reading authors that have specialized knowledge in their respective fields that offer professional analysis that Joe the Editor just can't showcase, much less produce. I would argue that when it comes to livability, or any issue for that matter, the media has the duty to inform and inspire those to take action.
(Continued)
Filed in Bikes, Community, Portlandesque
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Tagged Bike, Bike Portland, Bikes, Earl Blumenauer, Hillsdale, Hillsdale Neighborhood Association, HNA, Oregonian, Portland Mercury, Portland Transport, Portland Tribune, The Oregonian, Willamette Week
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