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PORTLAND PICTURE TO THE REST OF THE WORLD

The Portland picture shows up after you forget about the beach, the river, the mountain. People show up to see the city sparkle and shine like the pictures they’ve seen in tourist magazines for fine living in the great Northwest, Portland pictures that seem to say, “Join us in reverence of our beautiful discovery.” Portland […]

Portland Welcome Mat: How To Walk Around Downtown Portland

    One of the great things about sponsoring foreign exchange students after your own kids have been out of college for years is rolling out the welcome mat.   The Portland welcome mat. And dragging everyone possible along the Portland Trail.   My wagon train always starts with Saturday Market and the sort of […]

COLLECTING EARLY PORTLAND CAR: THE BENSON

    Things don’t get much earlier when it’s called The First of anything, like the first car built in Portland.   That’s it in the picture. Nice car. Getting it from the donor to the museum was the job.   My job. Listening to an older man cuss about everything was part of the […]

HEALTHCARE BULLY PREYS ON THE WEAKEST

  Any coherent healthcare bully debate needs to go beyond the numbers, the insurance companies. Beyond drug company research and development that puts the BIG in Big Pharma. It’s about who the healthcare bully reaches for in the debate. The most vulnerable, of course. The population currently undergoing severe medical treatment. I’ll use cancer treatment […]

OREGON HISTORY, EXCITING AND DEADLY FROM THE BEGINNING

Don’t mistake real Oregon History for polite/academic Oregon History The history of Oregon, a U.S. state, may be considered in five eras: geologic history, inhabitation by native peoples, early exploration by Europeans (primarily fur traders), settlement by pioneers, and modern development. This is the sort of Oregon history you get from Wiki. It’s nice and […]

PORTLAND PROGRESSIVE REGRESSIVE

If you’re confused in 2016, you might be a Portland Progressive Regressive. Why do things look so perfect in the rear view mirror in Portland? More important, why do we keep looking? The Portland Progressive Regressive likes the good old days, but looks forward to the future. Their vision might not be 20/20, but it […]

HISTORY, OREGON HISTORY

You could walk by this building on NW Everett and just keep walking. Nothing to see here, just a worn out facade in a beat down part of Portland with chips and stains. A couple of radiator shops across the street complete the view. If there was anything special about it, there wasn’t a sign, […]

COMPASS ROSE CITY PORTLAND

Compass Rose As Eight Ball? You Are Correct. The eight ball works with some people better than others. Ask a question. Smack a stooge. Repeat. For these explorers it works best. Not so much for the rest of us. We need direction. We need a compass rose city Portland sort of direction. And there’s only […]

PORTLAND CELEBRATION SUNDAY

Make Portland Celebration Sunday every Sunday in Portland. Kris Krisofferson wrote a song for Portland Celebration Sunday. It probably works in other cities, too, but BoomerPdx likes Portland. On a Sunday morning sidewalk I’m wishing Lord that I was stoned ‘Cause there’s something in a Sunday That makes a body feel alone. And there’s nothin’ […]

THE ULTIMATE LETTERMAN JACKET

You can’t win the ultimate letterman jacket, you earn it with Olympian effort. The ultimate letterman jacket doesn’t have a letter. It doesn’t come from a high school or college with a colorful felt vest in school colors, white leather sleeves, and stretch cuffs or collars. Instead, the ultimate letterman jacket comes in soft black […]