page contents Google

PRESS ROW AT THE PORTLAND THUNDER TABLE

From The 300 Level To Talking Heads. Arena Football? Have you seen a game on television? Been to one in person? Saturday night I did both. It started weeks earlier with an announcement. Free tickets for sports writers to the Portland Thunder. So far, so good. Oregon Sports News anchor Brad Stein made it happen. […]

DON’T BE A BABY, BOOMER, JUST JUMP THE FENCE

Age, like real estate, is about location, location, location. The beauty of Portland, Oregon is its proximity to the outdoors, great and otherwise. We’re not talking about the coast or the mountains an hour away. It’s Forest Park, and the walk starts under the Thurman Street Bridge. When you take someone on a hike from […]

SEX, DRUGS, AND ROCK AND ROLL. OR JUST DRUGS

How To Live Next To A Heroin House. A move to the suburbs in most cities means a move away from drugs and crime. Not Portland, Oregon. My inner eastside apartment was too dangerous for a young family. Houses had metal barred windows and bad yards. The juice was never changing. It was a bad […]

BETTER BUSINESS EVOLUTION

Every species knows the rules of evolution, or at least abides by them. The fossil record is full of proof, studied or not. Adapt or perish. Do the same rules apply to business? Consider the world economy. Industries didn’t move to China for the clean air and sparkling water. They moved for the favorable labor […]

PORTLAND BABY BOOMER YEARNS FOR TINY HOUSE

Besides riding the leading wave of beer, coffee, and strip clubs, Portland is also awash in the Tiny House movement. More than that, Portland celebrates the tiny house. One future looks like this: a Portland visitor leaves a tiny house hotel, gets into a tiny zipcar, grabs a bite at a tiny food cart, and […]

STEPHEN GASKIN: THE HIPPIE KING EXITS FARM

Believe in something or someone enough and you’ll follow them to the ends of the earth. Those following Stephen Gaskin to the ends of the earth found it in Tennessee. Gaskin’s death at age 79 explains much about the counter-culture of the Sixties in general and hippies in particular. A mobile society means moving away […]

STOP SMOKING, BUT HOW?

If nothing else, Baby Boomers seek one-of-a-kind, original, experiences. No off the shelf gear for this picky group. No out-of-the-box baloney for them. They want something delivered in goods and services that means more to them than anyone else. Boomers invented the personal computer, and we customize them to fit out unique view. Boomers didn’t […]

THE PEOPLE BEHIND BOOKS

For Example: I met the author during years of employment with the Oregon HIstorical Society. Some people called him TV. He was the regional history boss with enough pull to land international exhibits in Portland. While TV was the lead dog, he had a capable team pulling behind him. One of them was Bob Stark, […]

YELP REVIEWS OR YELP WHINES

Is There A Difference? What drives people to write yelp reviews? Great service and food brings out the positive. Anything less? Forget about it. If you’re not spending money on being pampered, do you need to  complain you’re not being pampered? Find a hair in your food while you’re out and jump on yelp with, […]

THE GOOGLE FACE OF PORTLAND WHEN YOU’RE NOT LOOKING

What Outsiders Don’t See On The Front Page. Live here long enough and you know Portland is more than the next eastside trend, like bewildered 30-somethings riding bikes and having kids. So much more. Stephen Colbert pumps for Powells Books. LeBron James rolls with Nike. Anthony Bourdain shouts out for Pok Pok. They point to […]