blue ruin

2011-02-01T01:22:00.000-08:00

Keeping watch.

2011-01-09T14:12:00.000-08:00

New Years Eve in Portland.

2010-12-07T00:35:00.000-08:00

"A free society cannot be the substitution of a 'new order' for the old order; it is the extension of spheres of free action until they make up most of the social life."
Paul Goodman, Drawing The Line.

2010-11-20T14:43:00.001-08:00

Don't forget about us.

2010-09-07T20:08:00.000-07:00

Spotted this altered billboard on N Vancouver recently on one of my rides downtown. Nice work.

And I wasn't alone...

2010-08-12T20:11:00.000-07:00

Images from a recent summer Friday evening on the bluffs.

There was something reverent and timeless about the experience of sitting there just after sundown amongst small groups of people overlooking the river and the harbor. It's a natural gathering spot and it kind of feels like having the best seats in a giant theater.

2010-08-01T21:07:00.000-07:00

August 1st seems like a good day for blog post #4 of 2010.

2010-06-21T16:39:00.000-07:00

Mmmm, some new photos from this weekend. Beginning with the shredded bill of my brother's cap and ending with some plaintive chalkiness on the rough and tumble walls of Burnside.

(don't you just want to give Whole Foods a hug sometimes?)

2010-02-14T20:07:00.000-08:00

So much for winter, huh? At least we're not hosting the Winter Olympics like our Cascadian neighbors to the north.

Speaking of the Olympics, few people seem to know that Portland once made a serious bid for the 1964 Olympics (check out Dan's excellent write-up over at Cafe Unknown). Given the spirit of demolition prevalent in those days, we are probably lucky that we didn't even come close to winning the bid.

If I ever get serious about doing photo books, I think I may start with a book of photos of nothing but the streets, sidewalks, grates, and other ground-level attractions around Portland. Yes, even before I do my Portland graffiti book dedicated to Commissioner Leonard. I often think of Matt McCormick's film The Subconscious Art Of Graffiti Removal (different theme, similar results) when I am strolling around with my camera aimed at the ground. I could probably spend days making photographic interpretations of nothing but cracks in the pavement.

2010-01-21T11:32:00.000-08:00

Looks like someone was just trying to help.

2009-12-16T12:58:00.000-08:00

Urban form, for better or worse, as well as a few signs of the times. The bathroom graffiti, if you care, belongs to the Nightlight.

The huge "enjoy downtown while parking" sign never fails to get under my skin, partly because that parking garage is actually housed in the shell of an historic building that I would like to see renovated back into something other than parking (of course, we know that it is more profitable to charge people for parking than to maintain historic buildings), and partly because it is a reminder of the ugly reality of auto-dominance, even in the semi-mythical transit paradise of Portland.

2009-11-23T18:46:00.000-08:00

Reading the afternoon light; deep into autumn now.

2009-10-28T23:29:00.000-07:00

Fire + one year.

2009-10-16T16:53:00.001-07:00

Like Brian over at Portland Architecture, I attended the 40th anniversary Blazers preseason game at Memorial Coliseum a few nights ago as much to appreciate the building as to root for my team. As the sky darkened before the start of the game, what really struck me was how elegant the building looked with the lights on and the curtains up. It is a classic minimalist piece of architecture that inspires reflection and invites milling around. How many times have you wanted to wander all around the Rose Garden arena and its environs to check out the different angles, perspectives, and vantage points? Never? I didn't think so. With the corporate-feeling Rose Garden, the emphasis is on getting in and getting out. With the MC, there's a whole lot of glass between in and out, and when you're inside the arena you can't help but appreciate the translucence of the curtain wall that rises above the seats on all sides. It feels like a true civic space.

Watching the game, I felt torn about how much the Coliseum should be altered during any future renovation. Now that it has historic landmark status, the bar has been raised in terms of the need for thoughtful approaches to any major changes. It is without a doubt the coolest sports arena I have ever been inside, and for that reason I hesitate advocating for the removal of the arena bowl. At the same time, I also found myself thinking about something Brad Cloepfil said once about how he felt that Portland needed more parks with less programming, the kind of places that invite civic imagination and activities not pre-sanctioned by design. It would be interesting to see how MC could be de-programmed, in a sense, or at least turned into more of a multi-programmed facility. Perhaps some combination of indoor square (Pioneer Square's rain-free sibling), public market, contemporary arts space, or the like -- a place of connections that celebrates our civic commons. Emphasize the views of downtown. Connect the west side of the building to the river with a vast plaza over Interstate Avenue that stair-steps down to the river and connects to the MAX station. Throw in some housing. Art studios a la the Torpedo Art Factory in Virginia. A sculpture garden. A ferry terminal.

If the city really is going to run with a "Jumptown" theme for a re-imagined Rose Quarter (recognizing that the Rose Quarter itself represents the wholesale gutting in the last century of one of Portland's oldest and coolest neighborhoods), then the re-imagined Memorial Coliseum should be the centerpiece, a sort of town square for a new neighborhood that incorporates plenty of housing and retail along Broadway (a clear nod to that demolished richer past), and also emphasizes underground parking as much as possible. There is simply no way to restore a sense of neighborhood integrity and urban fabric with the amount of above-ground parking that currently exists there. It's time to pony up some serious money, Portland.

In closing, I still feel taken aback by Mayor Adams' failed push for a hasty demolition of MC beginning this January. While the rabid support shown for that foolish idea by the increasingly irrelevant Oregonian editorial board didn't surprise me (after all, they've also been hollering in vain for the biggest, most-mega CRC possible) it was kind of an inexplicable move for a guy who has billed himself as a design-conscious politician. One that I am still struggling to understand.

2009-10-11T17:47:00.000-07:00

2009-09-13T16:47:00.000-07:00

One of the small highlights of this past summer for me was attending one of the rooftop movie screenings put on by the NW Film Center at the Mallory Hotel. The Mallory is right in the middle of one of my favorite parts of the city, the west end of the West End, full of beautiful old buildings and slightly overlooked-feeling in general.

Despite expecting to be on the roof of the hotel itself, and quickly realizing that the screening was actually on top of their parking garage next door, I still enjoyed the artsy/folksy atmosphere and was barely able to pay attention to the movie (a common affliction for me under any circumstances).

2009-08-24T00:39:00.001-07:00

An assemblage of photos from a lazy August. First Thursday, Departure (yes, I did go back), the peninsula... I've always loved, and rarely get to see, that view of Portland from the bluffs above the river for its perspective of the Cascades running south along the east side of the valley. Exhale. Another summer.

2009-08-07T21:27:00.000-07:00

Recent shots from a beautiful evening last week, thinking about the endless dance (for me, anyways) of symmetry and asymmetry.

2009-07-27T17:35:00.000-07:00

A few weekends ago, we had a "bachelor party weekend" for my brother in anticipation of his marriage. We rented a cabin on the bluffs above White Salmon in the gorge. The view was hard to absorb: Hood River to the west, Mt Hood to the south, Mt Adams to the north, the desert off to the east, and the river below us. I found a nice spot for my tent in a weathered grove of oaks right on the edge of the bluff. I laid there in the dark and watched the tops of the oaks whip around in the punishing and relentless wind. It was magical.

2009-07-12T23:30:00.001-07:00

Signs of life.

2009-06-22T00:35:00.000-07:00

I think I am ready for my Blue Ruin sabbatical to end.

Actually, my cyber-absence can largely be explained by school, which felt like an albatross around my neck last quarter and sucked most of the vital energy out of my brain; by various construction projects around the house, and the call of the outdoors in general; by work, which has been busier than usual lately; and by the trip to Type Foundry studio that my new-ish, yet-to-even-be-named band made last weekend, photos of which are below.

2009-05-24T18:30:00.001-07:00

A few random photos from recent meanderings about town.

The Broadway Bridge one I just noticed as I was going back through my Memorial Coliseum sets. I took it on the fly from the top of one of the parking garages just north of the Coliseum. Those parking garages need to go, no matter how much money they bring in for the city, as part of any plan to revamp the lifeless Rose Quarter. Back in the day, not so very long ago, there was a nice block or two of retail frontages there along Broadway. Burying the garages and constructing some mixed-use buildings with street-level activity would go a long way towards restoring a sense of human scale to both that section of Broadway (especially with the Eastside Streetcar about to start construction) and the adjacent Rose Quarter. Do I think it is likely? No. I like that shot of the bridge, though. I wish it was more of a panorama because that view of downtown offers a nice sense of the lilliputian and fleeting grandeur of the city on a drowsy Spring day.

The class war poster below, glued to the side of one of the renovated warehouses along N Williams Ave, gave me the usual mixed feelings. On the one hand, I have my sympathies. And I appreciate the wheat-pasted gesture and its noise. (And that orange wall, isn't it beautiful?) The poster itself, on the other hand, seems almost like self-parody and reveals the out-of-touch irrelevancy of the left and most anarchists these days. Where is the sense of irreverent imagination that once gave anarchism its cultural moxie? I'd much rather gaze at one of Public Wondering's beautiful and intriguing posters because they always challenge me to slow down and take a look. No circle A's or ideological turgidity there. This kind of rote, regurgitated pablum just seems empty, and I doubt anyone is listening.

2009-05-16T00:17:00.000-07:00

I finally made it up to Departure last week, on a pleasant evening right as the sun was going down over the hills. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of announcing to the hostess that I was there to "drink a beer and take some photos". The manager informed me soon after that, if I indeed wanted to photograph the space, I'd first have to write a letter to Departure's corporate owner, Sage Hospitality, asking permission. I wanted to ask whether I had just been beamed up to Beijing or something, but instead I strolled around and took some pictures nonetheless. Mostly outside, which detracts from my story. I passed on the beer.

Yesterday evening I went back with friends and family (cameo appearance below). I found myself warning them as we were riding the elevator up to the 15th floor: "focus on the architecture!". For, indeed, Skylab has outdone themselves. They have managed to attach a modern, impeccably detailed, space onto the roof of one of Portland's most illustrious historic terra cotta structures, The Meier and Frank building, once home to the department store of the same name, now home to Macy's and the Nines Hotel. It is a playful yet serious place that is comprised of a central bar suffused with natural light, several dark passageways, a large sitting area, and two outdoor decks. It may sound pretentious to say this, but the use of materials is masterful. Wood. Glass. Fabric. Mirror. Metal. Dark and light. All are used to gorgeous effect. It is a place that begs to be touched. Repeatedly. Skylab's Jeff Kovel has said that they were inspired by the historic role of the department store as "portal" to the rest of the world, and it's a testament to this firm's growing talent that they have blended together not-too-obvious elements of space age luxury travel without being remotely kitschy. Stand at the bar and tell me you don't feel like you are in an oceanliner about to be launched into space. (I ordered one of the $6.50 draft beers this time.)

Unfortunately, their hard work has been crippled by Sage. In a space that screams for the welcoming, creative-commons ambience of Holocene, they have delivered a cultural atmosphere that invites comparison to a schmaltzy lounge in the Dallas airport. And that might be an insult to Texans. I'm not sure how one would describe the musical selection, but it is atrocious. Worse than elevator music. Kind of like being trapped in a mall. The overall effect feels as though you are merely part of a corporation's lame business plan. Accordingly, you won't find many of the denizens of Portland's independent and creative underworld milling about up there, despite the fact that Portland owes much of its current cachet to them. It's not an unfriendly environment or anything, just rigorously upscale in a way that leaves you hungry for authenticity. I found myself daydreaming about lugging all of my Broadcast records up there to dj some night, but I doubt that such an unpredictable scenario would fit in with their "program". That program needs to be jettisoned for the space that Skylab designed to be completed.

I'll be going back, with Ipod, to appreciate Departure's marriage of art and architecture. It's a beautiful spot to ponder our bend in the river from yet another perspective. To wonder if we really need all those parking garages... or if we'll ever be able to send the east bank freeway and Marquam Bridge the way of Harbor Drive. Or, heck, to just stare at a volcano and feel small.

* Check out the lights of the St Johns Bridge in the distance!

2009-05-03T19:05:00.000-07:00

Mixed messages.

I was charmed by the first one, not fooled by the second one, challenged by the third one, and humored by the last one.
The other one? Well, it is my favorite image of the bunch for its accidental beauty.

2009-04-22T13:00:00.000-07:00

The evolving billboard.

First, someone demurely suggested that we ask the mayor about his unfortunate Leonard-esque stance on the Columbia River Crossing. By the next day, the billboard itself had been enhanced.

I'm glad I stopped and snapped the second shot when I did (even though I was late for a meeting), because 24 hours later Clear Channel had, predictably, come to the rescue of Law and Order and returned the site to its role as a ho hum backdrop again.

2009-04-14T17:57:00.000-07:00

I want to strongly encourage my local readers to attend the City Council meeting tomorrow morning and let our elected officials know that Memorial Coliseum will not be demolished without a fight. Brian over at Portland Architecture has been acting as a sort of clearinghouse for the growing chorus of voices protesting this outlandish plan, so I won't spend much time re-hashing the many powerful reasons why this building deserves preservation in some form. Please visit his site.

All of these photos were taken this afternoon. Afterwards I was left feeling even more incredulous that this mid-century modern, SOM-designed, architecturally significant building might be torn down. And with our new mayor --white knight of the design community, booster-in-chief for making Portland one of the global epicenters of "sustainability"-- leading the charge.

Personally, I think the site and building (even the entire Rose Quarter; for an example, see what Stockholm has undertaken) seem like ideal candidates for an international design competition. Or an excuse to get Brad Cloepfil busy in his own city. Sure, there isn't a lot of money floating around these days, but, um, doesn't it seem like when something is deemed really important, the will to overcome any and all obstacles leads to a variety of creative financial arrangements? Much as I support the idea of an MLS team, and am currently suffering from Blazers fever, it is time to slow down.

It seems like there is a lot going wrong in Portland right now, and it doesn't all have to do with the economy. Is it historical amnesia regarding major missteps by previous generations that is leading today's powers-that-be to push, with great hubris, disruptive and regressive plans that future generations will likely regret?

We rue the era in which much of our cast iron architecture was demolished for parking lots, South Portland was removed wholesale by the PDC, the heart of the city's black community was ripped out by Legacy Emanuel Hospital, and old Albina was decimated by the Rose Quarter and freeway construction.

Similarly, future Portlanders will, I strongly suspect, wonder what in the hell was going on in the sustainability-obsessed early 21st century when sensible people had to protest a 12-lane mega-bridge and hastily-put-together plans for the long-dysfunctional Rose Quarter that involved sending the one handsomely-designed modern building in the area to the landfill.

Hopefully the voices of reason will win this time.

2009-04-09T23:52:00.001-07:00

Does it really have to be one or the other?

2009-04-08T13:44:00.000-07:00

Here a few shots from the Sunday rally protesting the form of, and process behind, the Columbia River Crossing mega-bridge that is currently in the planning process. It was encouraging, to be sure, but I was disappointed that I couldn't get a single one of my friends to join me. This is one of those issues, I worry, that people will sleepwalk through until it is too late. Right now, the distant prospect of moving the I-5 bottleneck south from the bridge into N and NE Portland, potentially sending overflow traffic onto arterial streets and worsening air pollution, doesn't seem to be enough to motivate many of the folks that I know. And I didn't even mention the potential for worsening sprawl on the Washington side of the river. Or the mammoth cost. Or the probable uninspiring design.

I eagerly await the first lawsuit.

My favorite sign of the day was the Randy Leonard one, which only those who have been following this story (another link here) will understand. Pretty funny.

I am thankful for elected leaders like Metro Councilor Liberty (pictured below) and City Councilor Fritz (I hereby rescind the skepticism I expressed about her during the election last Fall) who are willing to stick their necks out politically to make the right call rather than capitulate to backroom "compromises" and union/freight/DOT pressure, as Adams and Leonard have.

The last picture is from that hand-painted sign just east of the Hawthorne bridge that has gotten some media attention recently. It seemed apropos on my ride to work that afternoon.

2009-03-31T18:07:00.001-07:00

I was sorting through all the pictures that I took up on the roof of the Bank of California building and they seemed deserving of a post of their own. Taken together they offer a good almost-360 degree perspective of the city from right in the middle. And the bird, which I think was a Red-Tailed Hawk, was enough to give any hot-blooded bipedal domesticate the shivers. You should have been there.

2009-03-22T19:37:00.000-07:00

I had the opportunity recently to do a research project on the Bank of California tower for a PSU architecture class. Designed by Anshen & Allen in the late 60s, the building is an excellent example of International Style modernism. True to form, it pays no heed whatsoever to its surroundings, but, in the process of committing that architectural sin, also manages to be quite beautiful in an alien sort of way. Buildings like this tend to give me mixed emotions. To begin with, this block once was home to two theaters, the Liberty and the United Artists, and to one of Portland's many early department stores, Rasmussen's (before that, it was the site of our first public library, which also housed the earliest incarnations of the Portland Art Museum and Oregon Historical Society). But by the time the Bank commissioned this building, only the building housing Rasmussen's was still standing. In a pattern repeated again and again across downtown, the other buildings had been demolished to make way for surface parking lots.

The least successful aspect of the building is where it meets the street. A combination of blank walls, imposing entrances, no retail, and a large parking garage entrance right on Broadway. It's the sort of building that you usually just go around as a pedestrian. Anshen & Allen actually went through the trouble of placing a nice fountain inside the parking garage, something the NYT critic Ada Louise Huxtable referred to, in a withering critique of early-1970's Portland, as having "a kind of ludicrous logic" in that age of auto dominance. If you take a moment to look up, though, and think about the tectonics of the building... well, your heart may soften a bit: the way the tower straddles the base, the juxtaposition of concrete, glass, and tile, the 700 tons of slate on the exposed service cores that forms its own abstract pattern. There is a seductive grace to the way in which the various parts of the structure fit together.

I was lucky enough to get a tour of the building from the manager, Dan, who was a friendly and patient guide (patient in the sense that he was on his lunch break). When you step inside the bank lobby, you are at once struck with a feeling of reverence: the hushed tones, soaring 24-foot high ceilings, tall windows sending in shafts of light, and wonderful attention to detail and use of materials. I had to turn off the knowledge that I was standing in a bank lobby devoted to the glories of capitalism and simply appreciate the space for what it is. The rest of the tower was equally impressive, including the views from the roof. I found myself imagining a living space on each floor (the actual footprint of the tower is very small, making for nice interior spaces unimpeded by columns), with some sort of roof garden up top. Maybe someday. Currently it is all office and telecommunications space. There is also a very cool interior courtyard on the first floor with a fountain that looks like a giant mushroom --cool, but also further evidence of a building that has turned inward from the street.

In closing, I would vigorously argue in defense of preserving this building if need be (and with the mid-century Memorial Coliseum across the river threatened with demolition, you never know). I would also support and encourage some sort of renovation that would bring the ground level back into a relationship with the street. Overall, I enjoy the way this tower contrasts with its surroundings and stands representative of the era in which it was built, for good and bad. It certainly is more compelling than some of the bland and uninspired boxes that sprouted up around downtown in the 80s and 90s, right?

2009-03-10T00:51:00.000-07:00

What my morning commute looked like today.

2009-03-08T00:31:00.000-08:00

Did anyone else see Efterklang last night? They put on a transcendent show at the Doug Fir that I won't soon forget. Epic, smart, charming, gorgeous; plenty of compelling harmonies, out-in-a-field- at-the-end-of-the-earth hollering, and the kind of rhythms you want to jump up and down to. They straddled the fence perfectly between avant-garde and pop, between inscrutability and transparency...
And judging by all the new songs they played, the next album should be AMAZING.

A playfully serious and seriously playful finale to several weeks of madness.

Then I rode home in what I'm guessing will be the last snowflakes of a snowy winter.

2009-02-23T20:21:00.000-08:00

I realized the other day that I have a bunch of photos from the past few months just "lying around" on my laptop, so I'm going to do a couple posts worth of them. Somehow between the holidays, the snow, and the Sam Adams media spectacle, I just forgot about them.

Enjoy.

I have a few other ideas floating around, too, like a no-holds-barred Crap Architecture series. That could be exciting. Plenty of material to work with as of late, unfortunately.

2009-02-17T00:52:00.000-08:00

Graffiti seen yesterday in the alley between Vancouver and Williams. Usually I lean towards a happy mix of fatalism and misanthropy.
But seeing these words calling out resolutely from their new home scratched my dormant idealism for a few minutes. If only it were so easy for our decidedly uneasy and knavish species.

2009-02-08T01:49:00.000-08:00

This caught my eye in the jumble of newspaper racks outside Powells last week.

2009-02-06T00:01:00.000-08:00

Around the edges of the Portland Art Museum.

2009-01-27T21:55:00.000-08:00

Lately I've been trying to get off my bike and walk more, usually around the downtown area. It helps that I've been taking courses at PSU and usually have a few hours to wander around before work. I'm so used to powering my way across town from point A to point B, all senses on defensive overdrive, that experiencing the pedestrian world has felt at times like a revelation: a slow(er) unfolding of blocks and buildings and streets and people on the move that allows for more micro-marveling. The day that I lose my capacity for perpetual marvel... well, I don't know what will happen. Nothing good. In the meantime, here are some photos of stuff that I've been noticing, for better or worse.

The Oregonian Editorial Board Should Do What Is Best For The City And Resign Immediately

2009-01-23T01:46:00.001-08:00

Sunday Update: Good news in Puritan America today.

I wasn't going to write anything about the Sam Adams controversy and let my photo stand for itself, but it occurred to me that it would be entirely reasonable to demand the immediate resignation of the Oregonian's editorial board. They could have taken the high road and reserved judgment until the outcome of the investigation by the AG, but instead (probably in a pathetic attempt to sell papers) chose to demand Adam' resignation within hours of the story breaking. If the mayor had, say, taken a bribe from a developer, I'd be the first to demand his resignation. However, his sex life should not be our business, and I don't blame him for lying about sleeping with an 18-year-old. Stupid, yes (sleeping with Breedlove in the first place was incredibly foolish); worthy of resignation, no. The Oregonian editorial board let the people of Portland down, and undermined the public interest, by fanning the flames rather than simply reporting the story fairly, and for representing our culture at its hypocritical and moralistic worst. In my conversations with friends over the past few days, one sentiment expressed repeatedly ran along the lines of "why, oh why, are we stuck with such a horrible daily paper that seems so out of sync with the city?" Seriously. We deserve much, much better here in the City Of Readers. And the Portland (sic) Tribune barely even merits any attention. Headquartered in Clackamas and owned by a right wing Christian nut; reduced to printing one paper a week; riddled with grammatical and spelling errors. What more can one say? I remember when Jim Redden published PDXS back in the 90's. Man, has he fallen far. As for the Willamette Week and their star sex-scandal-journalist Nigel Jaquiss: nobody is winning any Pulitzers this time.

2009-01-20T16:42:00.000-08:00

I spent part of yesterday's holiday walking, appropriately, up and down MLK from Alberta to Lombard as part of a project to survey the street in advance of a citizen-led push to extend the streetcar north from Broadway. The idea is to get a photographic record of the urban form on the boulevard and show both the nascent revival that is happening as well as the massive amount of poorly utilized land that someday could be home to high-density mixed-use development. The street really is nightmarish in stretches for the pedestrian: roaring traffic; too many buildings that don't come right up to the street; too many vacant lots with suburban owners; huge billboards; a median that encourages high speeds and makes turning impossible for long stretches. All of this adds up to a feedback loop that keeps businesses from being sustainable and prevents any sort of human-scale, walkable environment from flourishing. Can the streetcar tame the traffic? Get people making local trips out of their cars? Encourage mixed-use development? Make the street a destination rather than a place to get through? Can it be done in such a way that the existing cultural diversity is enriched and solidified?

2009-01-06T20:49:00.001-08:00

I have a funny feeling that 2009 is going to be a year of hope aborted.

2008-12-30T17:16:00.001-08:00

Photos from our winter adventure of the last few weeks. It was magical seeing the valley blanketed in white and observing the remarkable level of social solidarity that emerges when people are nudged out of their cars. In some places, after the deep snow hit, the streets were more the province of walkers and skiers (not to mention a few determined bikers) than drivers. People were talking, helping each other, crowding onto the remaining buses and trains that Trimet valiantly tried to keep running. Drivers who would normally be speeding past my bicycle with sociopathic disregard were stopping to pick me up by the side of the road when I stuck my thumb out.
Hey - it was nice to get to know some of you.

(Abe was not impressed.)

2008-12-12T18:52:00.000-08:00

Beautiful moonrise yesterday evening. The chill that settled in immediately after the sun set behind the hills made me yearn to be in the sun on the other side of the river. I always have a slight feeling of reluctance trying to capture scenes like this, because you lose the movement and real sense of seasonal drama that "being there" gives you. (It doesn't help that my camera sucks, either.) I was up there for almost an hour waiting for the mountains to turn a nice shade of pink, and by the time I headed back down the hill I'd have to say that my hands were pleasantly numb.

2008-12-06T20:06:00.000-08:00

Lately I've found my mind returning again and again to the gulf between our human-centered perception of time, defined by our blink-of-the-eye lives, and the great expanse of time over eons. Yep, it seems like every time I stop halfway across my beloved Broadway bridge I end up trying to imagine what this stretch of river will look like in 500 or 5000 years. What will be left? The equivalent of smoldering ruins? Will we have recycled everything that stands today into something else during some time of great need? What sounds will echo across the valley? Will people still live here? Will their memory of this city --of cities-- have evolved into myth, like the travelers in Jim Crace's "The Pesthouse" who stumble upon what's left of a freeway in post-apocalypse America and try to connect what they're looking at to the stories handed down to them through generations? Will this place simply revert to the vast wilderness that it was only a very short time ago? I would give anything to be able to time travel into the future and see for myself.

2008-11-21T19:44:00.000-08:00

Cool public art next to the Columbia Slough and only a stone's throw from the sewage treatment plant; an old garage on Willamette Blvd that I've been lusting after ever since I first noticed it during a Bridge Pedal; and a very autumnal view of the harbor and downtown from the bluffs.

2008-11-17T01:01:00.000-08:00

Last Friday I went on a meandering ride from the Expo Center, at the end of the Yellow line near the Columbia, across the peninsula to the Willamette bluffs. Along the way I found some interesting public art along with the expected industrial detritus (photos forthcoming), and I also got a look at some neighborhoods that I rarely visit. I was most taken, however, by the many padlocks that have been secured to the chain link that covers the bike/ped bridge over Going just west of Interstate. I had completely forgotten that the bridge was even there, and was only slightly more surprised to find such a compelling example of poetic intervention in a space that most people probably travel through quickly and without reflection. It's worth a visit. I plan to add a few locks of my own one of these days.

2008-11-02T20:30:00.000-08:00

Seen on Halloween at about 1am near N Williams and Beech.

And... Happy Halloween indeed!

2008-10-27T20:24:00.000-07:00

Seems like a good time to devote a post exclusively to my studies of the semiological underpinnings of Homo Sapiens Portlandialithicus. Mostly because I've found some good (if occasionally perplexing) stuff around town, including a beautiful metal leaf art project wrapped around a telephone pole not far from PSU. And if you're wondering about the second to last shot (it's a dumpster), well, it just seemed like the perfect marriage of bureaucratic perfunctoriness and the kind of art that happens when things get scraped, dinged, and tagged by competing owners.

2008-10-13T19:04:00.001-07:00

Fall colors.

2008-10-02T15:18:00.001-07:00

Underneath the Broadway Bridge on the west side. It can be spooky down there. I always expect to see a body floating in the water beneath me but yesterday it was just a dead bicycle.

2008-09-10T14:03:00.000-07:00

Again, I love the fact that our public space is such a contested arena. Personally, I am a big fan of mixed-use urban infill, and of contemporary design that uses quality materials. From a practical and philosophical standpoint, but also from the simple pursuit of aesthetic pleasure (something that is highly subjective, of course).

However, I also respect and revel in the unsanctioned communication that happens all the time on our walls and telephone poles and anywhere else people can make their mark. The photo below represents exactly this sort of process: a crushed pop can, with the word "progress" scrawled on it, nailed into a telephone pole across the street from a new 3-story building on N Williams that will feature a small number of residential units as well as retail. The scene neatly encapsulated some of the complexities circling around in my head everyday as I ride around our fair city wondering what the future might hold for us.

The rest of the photos, well, it's TBA time again, and I've been to exactly one performance: "Built", staged at the South Waterfront's Discovery Center. The last three photos were taken outside of that building.

2008-08-29T12:24:00.000-07:00

Gorgeous night last night. You could pretty much smell the end of summer in the air, a development that I am pretty thoroughly resigned to after so many years living west of the Cascades. This morning, too: the fog rolling back towards the ocean; the cool blue sky; the sun a little lower than it was a few weeks ago.

2008-08-25T16:24:00.001-07:00

This oddly compelling work of art is mounted high up on a telephone pole in southeast. Exactly the type of thing that makes the average day much more enjoyable for me. I'm not sure what "quadrant" is a reference to, other than the five (yes, five) sections of the city that we refer to as "quadrants". And it's not particularly accomplished or anything as a painting. But it made me stop and spend a few engaged minutes looking up at an otherwise nondescript pole.

Remember last winter when someone was posting those cryptic paintings on telephone poles downtown? (I posted a picture of one of them here weeks before a photo popped up in the In Portland section of the O.) And some city government knuckle-dragger actually managed to track the artist -er, criminal- down and charge them? *update: found the story*

Funny how one arm of the city is gushing over Richard Florida and his "creative class" pop sociology, while the other arm is crushing one person's attempt to add some whimsy and out-of-the-box dialogue to the urban environment. Actually, not funny.

2008-08-10T12:04:00.001-07:00

Well, since I had to be at work today, and thus missed the Bridge Pedal (one of the minor highlights of my year), how about a few recent Keller Fountain shots instead?

On this day, the fountain was off, so instead of splashing around in the water everyone was climbing all over it. Oh, and in the auditorium across the street there was an old lady in a striking orange dress that I couldn't resist photographing.

The fountain is one of Portland's hidden gems and is widely regarded as a masterpiece of landscape architecture. One of these days I'll put together a more thorough post, involving flowing water and some of the history of the area.

2008-08-04T09:30:00.001-07:00

Went down to the South Waterfront on Saturday for Ten Tiny Dances and found my attention wandering, as usual. It really is crazy that, only 5 years ago, there was just a vacant brownfield down there.

2008-07-31T15:40:00.001-07:00

OK, time for part two, finally, of our canoe trip. Ross Island.

They don't call us Stumptown for nothing.

I got about 10 pictures of Aubrey walking, occasionally breaking into a little dance, down the beach. She had no idea, honestly.

Fish kill!

Mr. Pamplin in action. A true Christian patriot. (Too bad your paper sucks!) I paid no heed, of course.

Back on land...

Aubs was proud to have her bike on a hook on the MAX. I told her to "look cool" for the camera and she obliged.

Coupla bonus shots, including the first and probably last time that I will be appearing here.

Bye.

2008-07-21T10:17:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, I went on a canoe trip around Ross Island with Sarah and Aubrey. We ended up renting a canoe because the logistics of transporting my canoe proved too much of a hurdle without a car (I'm thinking about either finding a canoe trailer for my bike or storing it at Riverkeeper). Anyways, we locked our bikes up and put in by the Hawthorne Bridge, paddled past the Zidell barge facility and a beautiful heron looking resilient against a backdrop of concrete rubble, and hit the ground again at South Waterfront. We had one thing in mind: Bambuza.

Bambuza is the new Vietnamese bistro at the base of the John Ross tower. Whatever you think of the South Waterfront brownfield-to-urban-neighborhood project, this restaurant is worth a visit. The design aesthetic is perfect for the building and the food is fresh, delicious, and affordable. The papaya salad is particularly mouth watering. Last time I was there I got the catfish claypot and I think it may still be the most memorable thing I've eaten in a restaurant in Portland in 2008. Including anything at Pok Pok. Or Ken's. Or Toro Bravo (ok, that might be a stretch...). They were very patient with our load of bags, paddles, and life vests. I hope that a future Portland features many more people using the river for travel within the city.

Stay tuned for part 2 of this post, whereby we cross the river to Ross Island.

2008-07-14T12:22:00.000-07:00

Saturday evening was a gorgeous night to watch the first wave of nearly 10,000 bikers who completed the Seattle To Portland ride as they crossed the Broadway Bridge near the end of their 200 mile journey.

It was also my parents' last night in town after a thoroughly enjoyable month-long visit, so we walked up onto the bridge to watch the sun set behind the hills. The moon was up and the birds were restless.

2008-07-04T13:42:00.000-07:00

Multiple modes of travel.

More than one species.

2008-06-29T00:32:00.001-07:00

I went to Valentine's last week and was reminded of how much I appreciate that space. Very intimate and cute-casual. And you can sit up in the second floor loft and watch the goings-on below. My only regret is that they don't have better beers on tap. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale? Yuck.

2008-06-22T19:44:00.000-07:00

The Roses Are Blooming

2008-06-03T13:55:00.001-07:00

Last week some friends and I made our annual first pilgrimage to Rocky Butte. The butte is in outer NE Portland and has a commanding view of its surroundings: downtown Portland; the Cascades; the Columbia River; PDX; Mt Tabor; and, of course, the blue monolith that is the Ikea store.

There is a very nice fortress-like park at the top that was built during the 1930's as a WPA project, using stones from the long-closed quarry on the north side of the butte. In fact, the same stones were also used in the construction of the 1st Congregational Church downtown on the Park Blocks. Right in the middle of the park is an old tower with a light on top, once used to guide planes into the airport.

It was one of those days where you can see blue sky, but somehow the clouds tend to stay gathered right between you and the sun. Nevertheless, it was warm and we ate a delicious lunch featuring fresh bread, raw cheese, avocado, and anchovies, and discussed the relative merits of recently purchased records.

Is this guy not the quintessential Portlander? Happily buried in a book at the top of a mountain.

2008-05-24T12:32:00.001-07:00

The things we see without seeing.

2008-05-22T15:07:00.000-07:00

The Obama rally last Sunday was exactly the spectacle I was looking for. After a morning coffee at the Ace, several of us rode our bikes towards the waterfront, stopping briefly to gawk at Bill and Chelsea Clinton eating at Mother's Bistro. An appropriately surreal beginning. I was not expecting to run into 75,000 people, though, all with the same idea of how best to spend a gorgeous Sunday.

The first thing I noticed was the sheer number of bikes locked up to anything and everything. Thousands upon thousands. What if every day was like this? It really did look like Amsterdam for a few hours. Definitely inspiring; a peek into a very desirable future.

Theoretically, I'd like to see the political entity known as the US of A, with its massive federal bureaucracy, bloody history, and vast geographical scale, transcended by a social order that takes the best ideas implanted in the genetic code of our society and brings them down to a Jeffersonian scale, then mixes them with our contemporary understanding of ecological diversity and bioregional localism and networking. Voila: an independent Cascadia, my dream.
The rest of you can do whatever the hell you want.

In the meantime, I'm prepared to grapple with the world as it is, which includes being happy that our politics is rapidly being injected with the kind of talk we could only dream about as recently as 10 years ago. Who thought we'd have a new mayor in 2008 who is talking about peak oil? About the need to keep bloodsucking corporations like Wal-mart out of Portland? Of rejecting the autocentric social engineering of the past 50 years in favor of, among other things, re-building a streetcar network and investing boldly in space for bicyclists and walkers? And on and on.

Obama offers the promise of some of this sort of thinking bubbling up into the highest levels of power. His speech wasn't amazing or anything, but he did drop plenty of lines about living wages, renewable energy, bike lanes, and mass transit. I pumped my arm in the air and screamed once -- when he was praising Portland's land use and transportation policies. Mostly, it just felt good to be in the midst of such a rush of "historic" and optimistic energy.

My favorite part of the day was standing at the west end of the Hawthorne Bridge and watching the crowds of people streaming back across the river on foot and bike. Seriously, only in charming, tolerant, quirkily cosmopolitan Portland.

2008-05-19T11:20:00.000-07:00

Since my last post, two things worth noting have happened. One, my hard drive bit the dust: 2500 un-backed-up photos, unretrievable. I'm debating whether it is worth the large sum of money it would take to send it off to the nearest clean room. Or whether I should just practice the art of non-attachment.

The other thing is that I'm feeling bored with the general format I've been using: photos with minimal text. I'm thinking of doing more straight-up architectural and urban design criticism, among other things.

In the meantime, for anyone who needs some pointers for who to vote for tomorrow, just look at my front yard. Or scroll below the photo.

**To begin with, Chris Smith and Jim Middaugh are no-brainer votes for the two competitive City Council races. In Smith's race, there are a number of strong candidates, several of whom would be fine on council. Unfortunately, Amanda Fritz looks to be the front runner -- she has not impressed me at all, with her outsourced anti-outsourcing brochure, her Republican Party endorsement, her lack of clarity on mass transit and bikes, and her vaguely "law and order" back-to-basics platform with literature featuring photos of police badges. A bit puritan 1950's NIMBY for my taste. Smith, on the other hand, is an accomplished civic activist who is extremely knowledgeable on transportation issues and led the fight against the strong mayor measure last year. Middaugh is up against labor lawyer Nick Fish. A tough choice, but I'm voting for Middaugh because he will most directly represent me as a bicyclist and he, like Adams, has a youthful energy that this city needs after 4 years with a lackluster mayor like Potter, who has let his own sore ego sabotage the city and has not displayed the sort of leadership and wisdom one would expect from someone of his age. And Randy Leonard, well, you gotta love that guy, even when he's threatening to personally drive a truck up to the tram tower and pull it out of the ground.

**In the current race for mayor, I simply hope that Sam Adams tops 50% of the vote, so that we can avoid a run-off and many more months of Sho Dozono's Potter-redux shenanigans: I won't even go into it, other than to say that anyone advised by a lobbyist like Len Bergstein will never get my vote, and I don't ever want to hear him say "pet project" again. Oh, and the suggestion that fighting Walmart sends the signal that Portland is "anti-business". Adams is a hard-working, visionary, well-spoken, balanced-transportation-system-loving, wonky guy who loves this city, knows his numbers, and deserves a shot at guiding us at an important moment in our history. We need someone with guts and verve in the mayor's office.

**Last but definitely not least, I strongly urge anyone who has yet to vote to write in Joe Cortright for Rex Burkholder's Metro Council position. Burkholder, much to my dismay, has been drinkng the Columbia River Crossing Kool-Aid: Joe Cortright is the local economist doing his best to expose the faulty reasoning and dodgy numbers being used by proponents of this mega-sized freeway project that deserves to go the way of the forever-unbuilt Mt Hood Freeway.

2008-04-29T09:18:00.001-07:00

Last Saturday was a beautiful day for a ride downtown to catch the tail end of the farmer's market and then go nurse an americano in the lounge of the Ace Hotel.

Coming soon: my special local and state election endorsement extravaganza!

Also, I will be djing at Tiga (NE 15th & Prescott) tomorrow evening as --yes-- DJ Blue Ruin, re-visiting my musical roots with bands like My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, the Chills, Throwing Muses, Sonic Youth, Moonshake... on labels like Flying Nun, Creation, Sarah, and 4AD. Come say hello.

2008-04-18T13:28:00.000-07:00

Looks like someone lost their boots. And, I've noticed lately that even people who make it a religion this time of year not to complain about the weather have been doing some griping lately.

2008-04-04T09:21:00.001-07:00

That was a big blue sky day the other day. It drove me into the west hills so that I could stare at the fresh ribbon of white surrounding the valley.

Back on the east side, the dusk light was gorgeous and the air was right on the cusp of springlike warm and cool; the kind of evening that seems to get everyone and their brother out strolling the sidewalks and parks. I was (not) busy soaking it up.

2008-04-01T12:52:00.000-07:00

I'm as excited as anybody about the plan to breathe new life into Centennial Mills. I'm especially excited to see what sort of magic the architecture firm of MS&R can pull off with the admittedly difficult project. I'm starting off this new batch of photos with a shot of the Mills from the eastside.

The rest of 'em are from the general vicinity of the Pearl District, including the two parks and Fenouil, a restaurant I wish I could afford to try sometime.

2008-02-26T22:52:00.000-08:00

I'm sitting here in my beloved neighborhood bar, Tiga. Thinking about how much beer one city could possibly produce. Last I heard we were running neck and neck with Cologne for the "most breweries within city limits in the world" award. Yep, some cities have world-class museums. Some have world-class corporate power (holding nose). Some have monumental cityscapes reaching in vain for the sky. All of our "indicators" seem to be pointing in a different direction. May I raise a beer to that?

Anyways, I've been taking advantage of the recent spell of dry weather by avoiding the indoors as much as possible.

^^^ see Feb 12 post for historic context

2008-02-22T16:50:00.000-08:00

'Nuff said.

2008-02-12T13:43:00.000-08:00

On Sunday, I took advantage of the light and the first 50 degree day since early November (ouch) to ride around sans winter coat. I ended up poking around Harriet Tubman Elementary. It sits right on the bluffs in inner northeast, enjoying the nearby ambience of I-5 as it cuts through one of the oldest neighborhoods in Portland, long ago dismembered by the freeway builders and the urban planning disaster known as the "Rose Quarter".

2008-02-10T13:28:00.000-08:00

In the words of Duran Duran: "Hold back the rain!"

2008-01-31T14:47:00.000-08:00

Shoeprint? Or stencil?

2008-01-26T13:43:00.000-08:00

Seen through a window.

(Good question)

2008-01-23T13:00:00.000-08:00

More expressions of the body politic.

2008-01-17T15:02:00.000-08:00

It snowed this morning in the valley. Just enough to make a bike ride across town pure pleasure. This really is the deepest point of winter here. I like it much better than the months of November and December, simply because it tends to be colder and there is a gradual improvement in the amount of light we get everyday.

My grandmother died a couple hours ago. I'm in a reflective mode right now, thinking about some of the more merciless aspects of life. Long story, but if someone had told me at the age of 13 that I'd receive the news of her death (mere miles away from the scene of expiration) on a cold Portland sidewalk with barely a twinge of emotion, I would have been astounded. I wonder how unbelieving I'd be now if I could peer into the future. I'd guess thoroughly.

So, behold a few images from the lovely Columbia Gorge, the result of a Flexcar trip several days ago with Ms. Sarah Magrish, newly 29 and a seasoned adventurer.

Summer... what?

2008-01-08T19:20:00.000-08:00

As I rode around in the rain yesterday, I found my mind occasionally wandering to this ship that was berthed next to the Steel Bridge the other day. I kept struggling to remember its name, beyond the word summer, with which it seemed to be taunting passersby. Somehow I just could not grab hold of it. Was it Summer Fantasy? Summer Paradise? Summer Promise? Did I forget to take my daily dose of Vitamin D or something?

Well, the unintentional black humor temporarily anchored in the City of Winter Doldrums was appreciated. By me and my camera, at least.

Oh, right... fortune.

2008-01-02T15:38:00.000-08:00

"Language is a cracked kettle on which we beat out tunes for bears to dance to, while all the time we long to move the stars to pity." (Flaubert)

2007-12-29T19:33:00.000-08:00

How about those mailboxes? I got a lot of perplexed looks from passersby as I was trying to get the best shot (I didn't). None of them seemed to understand that I was photographing what may be the only abstract expressionist work of art in Portland that resides on the backside of a U.S. Mail receptacle.

2007-12-19T13:30:00.000-08:00

Still warm to the touch.

I hate cars.

2007-12-18T23:14:00.000-08:00

I may now have enough Broadway Bridge photos to fill a book.

Never gets old (for me).

2007-12-16T11:41:00.000-08:00

With all the fear-mongering going on in the local media about public safety on the rails, I thought I'd offer up a few photos (from yesterday) that prove that some deranged Portlanders are insisting on bringing their children along for the ride.

2007-12-13T18:43:00.000-08:00

Anyone know braille?

2007-12-10T11:15:00.000-08:00

A stunning desolate beauty.

At least, until May.

2007-12-01T20:38:00.000-08:00

Last of the batch.

2007-11-30T01:30:00.000-08:00

I think Coffeehouse Northwest must put something "funny" in their americano's. Seriously, though: sometimes combining spontaneity, intuition, and a pair of legs can result in unexpected satisfaction. That's how last Monday evening went for me.

2007-11-27T00:33:00.000-08:00

The late afternoon sun yesterday was... is there even a word for it?
It was bitterly cold and the light was sharp and generous, even as the night air gathered in the shadows. These are just the first photos that jumped out at me tonight.

2007-11-19T13:11:00.000-08:00

Isn't it nice how this poster invites conversation?

And... a couple of post-espresso perspectives on upper Fremont.

2007-11-13T14:12:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I wonder about those big dairy tanks down in southeast. Will they continue to molder away through the ages, long after the poles and wires have disappeared? Or will they just get torn down for condos after the next MAX line goes in?

2007-11-05T09:55:00.000-08:00

Molotovs, baby dinosaurs, and other signs and symbols noticed recently in my ongoing semiological study of Homo Sapiens Portlandialithicus.

2007-11-04T12:24:00.000-08:00

Yes, a few weeks ago I actually woke up at 5 in the morning and, for the sake of photography, drove my roommate's car up to the Pittock Mansion (same vantage point as most of the previous full moon post) pre-sunrise. Unfortunately, the sun rose over the mountains just as I was setting up my camera... so, I'll have to try that again sometime.

Still, a good crisp morning for walking around the mansion and the Wildwood Trail in Forest Park.

2007-11-03T10:11:00.000-07:00

A luminous full moon last month.

If you look closely you can just make out the outline of Mt Hood against the horizon in the second photo.

2007-11-01T18:59:00.000-07:00

Random recent photos, part 2

PS Please remember to vote YES on measures 49 and 50.

2007-10-26T01:57:00.000-07:00

Random recent photos, part 1.

2007-10-24T00:56:00.000-07:00

The last time the weather was as beautiful as it was today, Sarah and I borrowed a friend's canoe and rowed up the Willamette past the Sellwood Bridge and back. I spent much of the afternoon pondering the fact that I'd lived here so many years and never once been on the river. How strange. I found a piece of petrified wood on Ross Island that had been rounded smooth over the years by the water. We saw a deer on the riverbank. Cruised by South Waterfront, which appeared somewhat phastasmic, fixed in its own unreality. The Sellwood bridge, rated a 2 out of 100 on the bridge safety scale, and sure to drop in the next moderate earthquake if it doesn't get replaced first, looks even more narrow from below than it feels to be on it.

Finally, mentioning the deer reminded me of another wildlife experience I had recently after dark. I was down on the dock just south of the Hawthorne taking pictures of the city when I heard some rustling behind me. I assumed someone was walking down onto the dock and didn't think much of it, but when I turned around there were three small animals wrestling with each other, like cats, about 20 feet away. My first (very anthropocentric) thought was that someone was walking their puppies. A bit more examination and I realized, of course, that I was observing three baby wild things, unaware of my presence, in the act of playing. Unfortunately, I couldn't see very well in the dark, and when I clumsily tried to snap a picture of them using my flash they all jumped into the water and disappeared. For a few hours later that evening debate raged among my friends about whether I had seen baby beavers, baby river otters, or baby raccoons adept --hopefully-- at swimming.

2007-10-22T00:04:00.000-07:00

Another monochromatic yet mercifully dry day today for a ride around town. Clayton was my partner, waiting patiently while I snapped photos. Culminating over a happy hour beer with an "ornery" Ms. BKJ, fresh from five hours of studying at PSU. I can't think of many ways that I'd rather spend a day than wandering aimlessly around the city with a friend.

2007-10-20T11:05:00.000-07:00

Late night under the Marquam, Portland's one truly unfortunate bridge.

2007-10-17T15:36:00.000-07:00

Last Friday Savannah and I took a bike ride (via tram) into the west hills. After we parted ways, I took a lane going down W Burnside and then stopped accross from Powells for awhile before the memorial ride. It was one of those grey pretty evenings, with occasional patches of blue and orange in the sky, that starts balmy and ends with a chill.