I love it when the New York Times uncovers things. Like Portland’s eastside! The “unapologetically industrial” central eastside has an “honest-to-goodness grittiness” that has enticed plenty of “bicycle-riding Portland tastemakers.” Just FYI.
Portland
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Have You Seen These Cryptic Construction Site Poems?
I saw these cryptic words spray-painted on a construction site on SE McLoughlin a few weeks ago and thought they were the work of some sophisticated tagger. It took spotting similar text again near South Waterfront to realize they’re actually part of a large public art project connected to TriMet’s Orange Line construction. Artists Buster […]
Posted inFashion
Wolf’s Apothecary
Jewelie Randall’s last name means “Wolf’s Shield” (beat that), so in keeping with the old time tradition of apothecaries named after their owners, she brings us Wolf’s Apothecary, a temporary source for locally concocted health and beauty products (Randall herself has 20 years of experience as a “city herbalist”), plus vintage and modern home goods, […]
Posted inPortland
As Seen in the All-Ages Dance Club Window Display
Courtney Ferguson One of these things is not like the other. Answer (of sorts) after the jump. Okay, follow my logic. I’m pretty sure that the makers of these “spooky” tombstones meant to write John Wayne Gacy in that second one. Why, you ask? Because just to the left of these tombstones is this electric […]
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The Jefferson Smith “How Do You Feel Today” Poll
Now that a few days have passed since we’ve learned more details about Jefferson Smith and the 1993 college party where he hit a woman he claims was attacking him—how are we feeling about him now? While some pundits are portraying it as an insurmountable obstacle and career ending fiasco, do you think he’s really […]
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Portlandia Corn Maze: Not Actually Very Portlandia-y!
Pat Moran Last week, I tweeted that I had mixed feelings about the Portland Corn Maze’s Portlandia theme. (I like corn mazes! I do not like hearing Portlandia jokes retold four thousand times.) Live Wire! host Courtenay Hameister responded: Someone else suggested that such an atrocity should be “cleansed with fire.” After actually visiting the […]
Posted inPortland
We Don’t Need to Fix Our Sidewalks
We just need to give everyone amazing tank wheelchairs! I ran into this dude yesterday at East Portland Sunday Parkways. He said a friend custom-built him the electric-driven chair. In a city with 65 miles of dirt roads and a distinct lack of sidewalks east of I-205, a tank wheelchair certainly makes an excellent gift.
Posted inPortland
Look What You Can Bid On In the Street Roots Auction: ME!
Our good friends at Street Roots opened up bidding on their fourth annual fundraising auction last night, and you should head over to take a look. There’s a mountain of good stuff to go for, and it’s vitally important to SR mission of serving up real opportunity for hundreds of vendors and real, street-level, quality […]
Posted inPortland
Where Did that “Young People Go to Retire” Joke Come From, Anyway?
This week in the paper, I wrote about two Portland State University researchers who dug into the “Portlandia hypothesis” about the city being where “young people go to retire.” The studies are really interesting and you should go read about them, but I was wondering what the people behind Portlandia think of all the hubbub […]
Posted inPortland
Imagine the Real World, But Filmed by Actual Portland Hippies
Are you sick of the Real World: Portland, yet? Good, because some kids on NE Emerson are shooting their own reality show in a house known as The Treehouse. “From an awarded poet, to a small business owner to a band about to launch their second west coast tour the lives of these individuals are […]
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Goodbye, Slovenly Newsracks of Downtown!
In Future Portland, the jumble of newsracks that stand on streetcorners may be a bygone. Last week, under a plan to clean up downtown, the Portland Business Alliance cut the ribbon on the fancy new racks that will replace the individual stands with boxes that hold a eight newspapers (including the Mercury). Behold! Four of […]
Posted inPortland
Portland: The Place Where Young People are Underemployed
This is a ridiculous sentence to write, but two Portland State University researchers have dug into what they call the Portlandia hypothesis: Portland is a place where young people come to retire. Yeah, it’s a joke, but it’s also a widespread perception of the city. The image of young people here is that we’re artsy […]