Look, I’m no Portland newby; I’ve lived here a long time and have paid my dues and then some. But like many of you, I didn’t grow up here, and only really found out about Portland because of reasons that can ultimately be traced back to Courtney Love.
That’s one of the reasons that I love Mercury freelancer Joe Streckert‘s catalog of features on Portland and Oregon history—like our state’s history of explosions!
In addition to these periodic publishings, Streckert (whose day job is as a Portland tour guide, appropriately) has been holding casual seminars at the Jack London Bar to continue the education of his audience, like tonight’s focus on Portland TV personalities (which kicks off at 7:30). That is exactly the sort of shit I, and chances are you, missed out on by being born in a different state. He tells of “Clowns. Cowboys. A man with too many buttons. Buzz-cutted retailers. News anchors. An actual, real whale. Puppets.” And… I’ve heard of the whale. Should it even be noted that you can relieve yourself of ignorance while hurting your brain with alcohol at the same time? It’s all about balance.
- No idea.
Wow, that’s a lot of flare!
That’s Ramblin’ Rod, bitches. I am native.
MOTHERFUCKING SMILE CONTEST CHAMPION.
Once, in elementary school, in the year 1990: I wore a bunch of pins on my denim jacket. This kid on the playground was like WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, RAMBLIN ROD??? I never wore those pins ever again. But secretly I wished that I was Ramblin Rod.
Marjorie, you’re not really saying “no idea” as in you have no idea who Ramblin’ Rod IS, are you? Because that would really depress me. I thought everyone, even non-natives, still knew all about that show. But maybe I’m just getting old. Sigh….
Signed,
38 Year-Old Native
The late Rod Andrus. Also a spokesperson for…Ron Tonkin? I forget.
It’s too bad that the ‘For Portlanders Only’ blog seems to have gone away. Perhaps Samuel John Klein knows what happened there. The video archive alone was priceless.
Smile contest loser 🙁
I didn’t smile. Instead, I was making a face that suggested that I was pretending to suck a dick. No, I didn’t win. And no, it was not a face I made on purpose. Or maybe it was, I don’t know, I was 4.
Nothing will ever be as crazy stupid in Florence as that decision to blow up a whale. I’m so, so very glad that footage exists of it.
Yeah, I was on Ramblin’ Rod a couple of times. And before that, Romper Room. After those shows, though, my TV career cratered.
As a former smile contest winner, I’d just like to say… Actually, that’s all I wanted to say.
WHO’S RUMBLIN RAD?
I am not surprised that all our natives remember Ramblin’ Rod, but I am surprised that we all seem to have actually been on Ramblin’ Rod. Me too, but my smile evidently sucks.
Oh, I was never on the show. But I did pee next to him once in the Benson hotel’s upstairs men’s room. Brush with greatness!
@RICH: AW, MAN, THAT TOTALLY BEATS MY “I PEED NEXT TO RANDY LEONARD” STORY.
As well as my “I got pissed on while pissing next to Rasheed Wallace” story