Made in Oregon
Originally uploaded by Aaron Michael Brown

Wow. First Mercy Corps comes in and takes away the beloved mural of Packy the elephant and now University of Oregon (based in Eugene, no less) wants to change the iconic Made in Oregon neon sign that welcomes all crossing the Burnside Bridge. I honestly can’t believe they have the balls to ask for the change. Then again, will Portland’s laissez-faire attitude to anything old prevail? We’re slowly letting the neon on N. Interstate go bye bye, why not this?

The Made in Oregon sign has been around for ages. Not always in its current form though, so U of O has something to stand on. Over on Neighborhood Notes, we get some history. The sign was originally White Satin Sugar which changed to White Stag and then to its current form of Made in Oregon. Also, while the sign is protected, it is only the form and typeface, not the words. So, in all honesty, The Dancing Bare (a strip club in N. Portland) could have bought the building and changed the sign too. Wouldn’t that be a hoot?

You can have your say on whether this happens or not. There will be a pre-application conference regarding U of O’s proposed change on December 9th and is open to the public. You can also submit your comments to the city for consideration. And they will read them.

My opinion? U of O shouldn’t change the sign. It is probably one of the most photographed signs in the city and is a symbol of being proud of the products Oregon produces. Don’t change the sign.

Photo licensed under Creative Commons by Aaron Michael Brown. Thanks.

It’s the St. Johns pre-turkey twitter tweet meet at Leisure! We’ll be making turkey paper puppets, which well may end up in the Portland Code Trips vLog series. (You’ve been forewarned.) This series is the baby of @podcasthotel (aka Alex H. Williams), who is a proud St. Johns neighborhood resident. So am I. I expect several St. Johns “celebrities” to make an apprearance, schedules be damned. (You know who you are. Ahem.)

For the rest of you nay-sayers, I present to you the Top 5 Reasons You Should Haul Your Carcass to St. Johns (recycled from a post announcing a very fun Beer and Blog held at Leisure recently…hence the references to Beer and Blog…just roll with it):

1. Happy hour is from 4-6pm, as is Beer and Blog. Coincidence? I think not. Beer and booze are a $1 off and pitchers are $2 off, as are the bruschetta (applewood smoked bacon, marinated artichoke, build your own)
2. The Leisure Public House has a very cool bar that must be fondled. It is curvy and made of reclaimed wood and metal. The bar top is concrete sculpted and pleases me greatly. If you have a thing for functional art you have to check this out.
3. St. Johns is not “too far away.” Seriously, let’s put this misconception to rest! It is less than 5 miles from I-5 North, and if you get there via Willamette Blvd., your journey will mostly traffic light free with gorgeous views. (No views for the driver, though. Keep your eyes on the road, buddy!)
4. History rocks! This is a neighborhood full of character…and characters. We won’t be too far into the main retail district, but the building has some stories to tell. And some of them are even true!
5. The miscellaneous, yet delightful, discoveries: jukebox, generous outside patio, ping-pong table, bocce, wifi, and a sleepy and snuggly pub cat.

Happy hour runs 4-6 pm, and we’ll be there until 8pm. RSVP on upcoming.org if you’d like, or just show up. We’d love to Pre-Turkey Tweet Meet you in St. Johns!

I’ve had a revelation as of recent, as it relates to energy consumption. I believe that part of the reason that people have a tendency to be less energy conscious than they may be otherwise is that we are sometimes insulated from the levels of our consumption. Yes, we get a bill from our utility companies each month, but dollars alone seem to not be enough to help people understand how much energy they’re using. 

PGE’s bill tells you how many kilowatts you’ve used, and even provides a graph to see how your use has fluctuated not only from month-to-month, but also year-to-year monthly comparisons. This is valuable, as is the billed dollar amount, but at the end of the day you can’t put a kilowatt into a bucket, bag or Hello Kitty lunch-box. 

The same can be said for Northwest Natural Gas. While I don’t use natural gas to heat my home, cook my food or heat my water, I know that NWNG bills based on how many therms you use. But really, what the hell is a therm? Again, show me how to put it into said bucket, bag or Hello Kitty lunch-box. 

I believe that the sheer intangibility of household energy has led us to be less critical of our use of said energy. In automobiles we have a nice gauge that outlines the total volume of gasoline/diesel available in the vehicle’s fuel tank. And I think many of us know exactly what a gallon of gas looks like –you know, kind of like a gallon of milk, just far more stinky and far less desirable as part of a latte. Because of this, we’re painfully aware of how much energy we’re using and we can take immediate steps to reduce the amount. I believe we as a society would use less energy if we simply had a better grasp of what this energy looked like! (more…)

Ever wonder what it takes to get your newspaper to your door? Not the writing, printing and trucking, but the actual doorstep delivery. I have an inside scoop; a couple of family members have been doing it for years.

The day starts about 2 AM. She goes to ‘the shack,’ a nondescript building in a bunch of warehouses. After a caffeine infusion, she puts the ads in the papers and wraps them in plastic bags. She can do 300-400 in about an hour. Then she loads the car, a small station wagon. She has about ninety minutes to accomplish her mission, because the Oregonian advertises that the paper will be there by 5:30 AM. It’s a noble aspiration, but sometimes it can’t be done. Often the papers don’t reach the shack until 4 AM, but that’s not the customer’s fault.

So she tries. I have seen her come home soaked from the rain. Ice storms? It’s probably hilarious to watch her from the comfort of your living room as she slips and slides along the sidewalks. If the roads are too bad, she will use a tarp, tossing the bags of papers inside and dragging it along like Santa with a bad shoulder. She has delivered by shopping cart when her car has broken down.

Why does she persist? She likes the hours. She has kids, so it gives her a chance to make bill-buffer money without leaving the kids home alone after school. It’s good exercise. Soon after starting, the weight started dropping off, and she’s lost (and kept off) about 100 pounds. It’s everyday exercise; the job is seven days a week. The last day she took off? About a year ago, when I took her son to his first rock concert, and she wanted to tag along. (I would have been mortified if my uncle and mom had taken me to my first concert, but my nephew was thrilled to have two such cool old people in his life!)

The job has definite downsides. If she’s sick? Too bad. She takes a coffee can and a roll of toilet paper and forges on. The house keeps her awake late? “Oh well, who needs sleep?”

Then there are the FOODDay haters. Recently her pay-per-paper dropped, while the cost of the paper went up. (Delivery people are independent contractors. She even pays TriMet tax.) So she started delivering the bane to most people’s existence, the FOODDay.

For some reason, people love or hate the FOODDay. You know, it looks like a paper, but it’s full of coupons instead of news. She’s been chased down and paper-pelted by people who don’t want them. Others bitch if she doesn’t get there soon enough. It’s an aggravation she’d rather do without, but delivering the big O has hardly been a satisfying experience lately. After the pay-cut, she took on FOODDays to make ends meet. Now, Oregonian staffers are complaining that she’s either too early or too late, but not giving her a time frame in which to deliver. (Other than the specified “Not before 5 PM Monday, or after 5 PM Tuesday.”) She usually delivers them with the Tuesday AM edition.

Other than the one lady who complains every time the paper isn’t there by 5:30 AM, (even though she often leaves it outside until 7 AM) she likes her customers. She greets the dog and power walkers, is a great neighborhood watch, and even clears the spiderwebs from the sidewalks. (A not-so-fun side-effect of her job.) She’s Missouri Mule stubborn, so she drives out of her way to keep the 5:30 Lady happy.

I don’t think I’d be so flexible.

So, if you’re one of the dwindling numbers still getting the dead tree edition, thank you for your support! You are helping to keep a young family financially solvent. I’m asking that you be extra nice to your paper carriers; they go through a lot to get those coupons to you. And if you have issues with your paper or FOODDay, she likes the input. Leave a comment and I’ll pass the thoughts along.

Maybe you are one of the lucky ones she delivers to…

Yes, it is still Fall even though it is the middle of November.  I like saying Fall instead of the more puritan Autumn because it is a verb along with a noun.  Well, my friend Brian embraced all that Fall has to offer this past weekend and recorded it for your viewing pleasure.  Thanks Brian for the video.  I just love the time lapse along with the music choice.  Enjoy.

Make like a tree from brewcaster on Vimeo.