Portland

I spent the last week in Minnesota, and was a prisoner of our rental car. The Twin Cities—with the exception of a few tightly planned neighborhoods, most of them in Minneapolis—were built for cars. We put more than 400 miles on the rental in just six days, simply by bouncing around to see family. It […]

Last week Amy said she felt crammed on the bus to work and today yes! TriMet reveals it’s true – the busses and Max have been packed with record-breaking ridership this past month. Portlanders took 8.9 million bus and light rail rides in May, which is a 4.4% increase over last may. This is good […]

Walking through SE industrial yesterday, I found this note scrawled on the window of a parked white van. It’s like spotting an I, Anonymous in the wild!

It’s now 5:45 am and Merc general manager Katie just broke in the port-o-potty down the street. “It’s rare you get to use such a fresh honey bucket,” she rightly proclaimed. After Matt, Alison and Erik were relieved at 3 am by Katie and boytoy Brian, the pair immediately began living the high-life, including french […]

Randy Leonard’s grandson Cole had the inaugural s’more: We’re almost onto the second package of marshmallows: Flaming marshmallows double as cigarette lighters:

And sailors! We have Battleship. Should we ask them for strategy tips?

We’ve started the fire, and are counting down to s’mores at midnight. How weird is it that we’ve got a bonfire going in a parking spot on SW Broadway? (Psst: We ran it by Randy Leonard when he visited, and he said we’re a-ok. Apparently so: Cops have passed without even a second glance. Who […]

Things are looking up! Monet brought BOOZE! Then someone drove by and yelled, ‘YOU ARE SO COOL.” (There is the slightest possibility they were being sarcastic.) Special guest drop-bys: Angie, the gal who we’re reserving the parade route spot for (thanks to her generous donation to the Mercury Online Charity Auction), and former Mercury newsie […]

It’s bubble time! We have learned three things about bubble machines in the last few minutes. They are incredible. They inspire passersby (and pedal cab operators) to stop, stare, and leap up to pop bubbles. They are nearly impossible to photograph: (And that’s Ned’s mom!)

Here’s the latest from the Mercury Rose Parade Camp-Out on Broadway: IT’S BORING! However, we have been providing a lot of useful information to passersby, such as: 1) Where’s a good restaurant around here? 2) What time is it? 3) When does the parade start tonight? 4) Are you guys really going to start a […]

Rose Festival Parade Camp-Out 2008 has officially begun! That’s the corner of SW Broadway and Alder, if you want to stop by for the festivities. We’re in front of Portland Coffee House, about a block north of Pioneer Square. (Bonus: Portland Coffee House was very kind to us last year on the clean-up patrol, and […]