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HIGH GROUND TO VIETNAM VET MEMORIAL: a photo essay

“The high ground is good.” That’s what the old timer said. “And there’s not so many people.” I found him under the Vietnam Veterans of Oregon Memorial bridge, sitting in a lawn chair and handing out pamphlets on Veteran’s Day. Had his car parked on one side of a flowerbed and a walkway without a […]

WILLIE VLAUTIN SAVES LIVES

Richmond Fontaine is the name of Willie Vlautin’s band. Like Creedence Clearwater Rivival was the name of John Fogerty’s band, and Foo Fighters is Dave Grohl’s band, Willie is a musician comfortable without his name in lights. There’s no me, me, me with some guys and it’s a relief. They let their work speak for […]

NEIL GOLDSCHMIDT HISTORY CLUB

From Salem To An Unknown Location, Neil Goldschmidt’s Long Strange Trip. The first thing you learn about the History Club is you never talk about it. Replace History Club with museum storage and you still don’t talk about it. Those were rules broken only if you wanted to be an ex-employee of the Oregon Historical […]

FORGIVING CAM NEWTON

One More Thing Needs Adding For Cam Newton To Become An Icon. After watching Carolina QB Cam Newton stand astride the NFL on Monday Night Football, I saw a different player than the questionable Auburn player who beat the Oregon Ducks in their first National Championship game. What I saw was a man who deserves […]

WINNING THE PAIN GAME

Beat The Pain Game, Then The Withdrawal Game. One of the regulars came in today, though not on his cherried out Harley. Wet and cold is no way to ride a hog if you don’t have to. Said he’d been out a couple of weeks for shoulder surgery. Five places on his shoulder got opened […]

PORTLAND COLD CASE

When A Portland Walking Tour Turns The Corner And You See Portland Cold Case. People love Portland. You’ve probably heard it before. If it’s not the cute shops it’s the funky food; the Portland Building and cast iron building span the years. Public art? Who doesn’t love driving by the eastside ramps off the Hawthorne […]

OREGON DUCK FOOTBALL MISSION

Win The Game And Win The Hearts And Minds. Mostly The Minds. Oregon Duck football left Arizona with a triple overtime win last night. This is a team recognized in the past five years as a fashion trendsetter. Add two appearances in the college football finals, BCS and otherwise, and the Ducks come away looking […]

MODERN OREGON FOR EVERYONE

Move Here And You Won’t Miss Where You Came From. Oregon For Everyone. Oregon is more than Portland, much more, so much more that people who’ve lived here all their lives haven’t seen it all. There’s that much going on, too much really. Visitors have no chance of experiencing the Oregon-ness of Oregon, but they’ll […]

ONE LOVE STORY

It Started Like Love Story, Then Everyone Said They Were Sorry. A nice man and nice lady met and became a nice couple. When they got married they were nice newly weds. They were nice parents when they had kids. A great family in the making, then things changed. One of the parents needed more, […]

A LIKE FOR OREGON

What Brings You To A State Isn’t The Same As What Keeps You There. Take Oregon and New York for example. You stay around Portland for different reasons than people stick around NYC. Size is important. For hundreds of miles around Manhattan people won’t leave, never think of leaving, because of the island. “Oh, we […]