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Travel Bans From History, Who Should Be Banned

    Travel bans tend to be specific in terms of where to go and where not to go.   Travel bans say one thing: Don’t go there, girlfriend. Stay away, pal.   Like a dress code in the NY disco dancing prime time of the late ’70’s, while punk rock was getting ready to […]

Smart Boston Loves Boomerpdx Portland But It’s Not Enough

    Smart Boston got it’s name by being smart. No news there, not when the Wall Street Journal and Times Higher Education list of top colleges came out Wednesday, September 27th, 2017.   Do we all agree that the WSJ/THE poll helps smart Boston? With two of the top three colleges in town, there’s […]

PROFESSOR JIM JEFFERIES EXAMINES SOUTHERN HERITAGE WITH OLD MEN WHO WRITE BOOKS AND ONE WHO GIVES THEM CONTEXT

  If it takes an outsider like Jim Jefferies to explain things in America, the story doesn’t change, just the angle of interest. Jefferies reminds me of history professors from a few small discussion classes seniors took to graduate, symposiums. They’d show up slightly tanked, looking like they woke up in the same clothes they […]

FAILING MEMORIES, ENHANCED THOUGHT, BOOMER BRAIN

Failing memories include a list of golden moments that show up online more often than it should. They’re supposed to invoke a better time, but for the wrong reasons. Someone needs to set it straight, but who? Could be you if you saw the television shows first hand, been alive for events, and remember. The […]

EVERY YEAR JAPAN GETS FURTHER AWAY FROM HISTORY

History is the story of winners. At least that’s who writes the first draft. Over the years the story changes; call it revisionist history. It’s not a bad thing if you’re not hiding God awful actions. America tries to open up history for all participants, for all the good it does. Now we know the […]

MILLENNIALS NEED BOOMER ‘LEAVING LESSON’

    Leaving Lesson for the younger generation? Stick around. Once upon a time solving problems was simple. If something didn’t go your way, you left. The first class for Leaving Lessons explains how it works. You’ll learn the best time to bail is not a year on a calendar, but an age. 20 – […]

KEN KESEY, SOMETIMES A GREAT OREGON IN KERNVILLE

Kernville house for Ken Kesey’s Sometimes A Great Notion In some parts of America I balk at driving the back roads. I drive on, but carefully. Those roads show more about a shared history if you look hard enough. The Siletz Highway, OR 229 headed east off of 101 north of Depoe Bay, is one […]

PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS IMPROVE MEMORY

Memory problems? Let the Portland Trail Blazers help. This Easter a sign kept popping up: “At my age I can hide my own eggs and half an hour later won’t know where they are.” Ha. Ha. Ha? What’s so funny? I forget. Except memory loss is no laughing matter. You want to remember important things, […]

THE REAL WESTERN AMERICA OUT HERE IN OREGON

The real Western America isn’t Texas or California Readers around the world see the American west through movies. From John Wayne in his cowboy costume, to private eye Jack Nicholson in LA’s Chinatown, to policeman Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry franchise, they view the west through a distorted lens. Forget about the red rocks of Colorado, […]

DURABLE PORTLAND CAST IRON FINDS

    Portland cast iron over your head in an earthquake? It’s still art. I see the stuff and think health hazard. Cast iron is heavy enough on the ground, let alone falling any distance. That’s one of the cautions about historic preservation: save yourself first.