26 April 2016

[logo] Sacto Kings Debut New, Improved Logo

3320.
... and this one in over the transom. The NBA's Sacramento Kings (which, I've incidentally found out, is the oldest continually operating franchise in the NBA, having begun in 1923 as the Rochester (NY) Seagrams) have changed up the graphic identity, retiring a look they've sported (sorry not sorry) since 1994 ... to be precise, this look:


Not remarkable, really. Got the job done, we suppose. Doesn't make us laugh, doesn't make us cry. Kind of bland, really. Like something you got from SportsTeamLogoMart; about the only logo with less passion is OKC's.

But now, This ...



Very effect. We're enjoying this much; tough, clean, smart, direct. Its clean design mixes the right proportion of design and attitude.

What really got us going about this logo approach was this version:


This looks like something a Sacto fan could get passionate about. The lion wearing the crown (whose simplicity of design is genius to us), morphing to the basketball shape. 

Pretty nifty, we think. 



[pdx] In Portland, During the Playoffs, Blazer Fans Who Own Buildings Be Like ...

3319.
Seen looking north from NW 11th Ave and West Burnside St, just before we go in for our Sunday night session of Powells City Of Books-Church:


Hard not to feel good about the Blazers, right now.

16 April 2016

[Out122ndWay] Mount Hood Of The Day: Wy'East Walking His Sundogs

3317.
The view today from Rossi Farms was bright ... and beautiful.

The bright sunlight washed out the peak; that's it there, almost a dreamy silhouette. But today was brought to you by Mount Hood, the sun, and that high thin icy mist, which gave Wy'East sundogs to take out for a walk.


Of course, wherever there's one sundog, there's usually another not too far away.


Bow, wow, wow!

14 April 2016

[pdx] Portlandness Is The Atlas Portland Needed.

3316.
There's a section, near the front of the book Portlandness: A Cultural Atlas, (David Banis and Hunter Shobe, $24.95, Sasquatch Books, www.sasquatchbooks.com) which tries to define just what 'Portlandness' is, and then goes on to illustrate just where that Portlandness is thickest. In it, the book's authors, faculty in the Geography department at Portland State University, surveyed students in one of their courses to find out what qualities define life in Portland. The list of answers were largely what one would expect – things like green energy use, breweries, liberal politics, food carts – and they then related these qualities to things that could be measured via GIS and then, plotted the density of these qualities individually and then combined them all into an infographic that illustrated the combined density of all these statistics. 

The results  come off as one might expect: the more you go toward the center of Portland, the more Portland Portland is. Or maybe the more Portlandia. And the assaying is a valuable thing, because it represents a moment in time for Portland, one which our hometown has gone from adorable regional town to the west-coast's 'It Girl'. 

Latterly, Portland has become painfully fashionable and the subject of a national love affair which, if it may be levelling off, shows little sign of abatement very soon, for better … or for worse. Is there a Portland state-of-mind? Is there a way to objectively look at  that peculiar state of being that seems to be Portland and, here in the 2010's, and lay it all out for you, comprehendably? If there is, Portlandness: A Cultural Atlas  comes as close as anything can at the moment ... a witty, earnest look at what it means to be Portland right here, right now

Portland, for all its reputation and buzz, is still on a cusp of sorts. We're still at a place in the national consciousness where we can get either even more popular or pass the crown of the new cool on to another city (sorry, in advance, new city, if we do). But we weren't always this way. There is a story, a context, to how Portland is now and what that's made up of. Portlandness tries to tell that story, as it is now. If 'Portlandness' is a thing, this atlas does its best to describe it as it finds it. In the first part, as mentioned above, it tries to quantify that. 

Portlandness is divided into seven sections, after the introduction which sets the Rose City into a Cascadian context, which group maps and infographics according to overarcing themes: Urban Landscapes, The Once and Future City, Wildness, Views of the City, Social Relations, Food and Drink, and Popular Culture. Amongst them, there's scarcely a base that hasn't been touched, from historic street names to the hauntedness level of various areas of town; one map that combines all the historic plans of how Portland could have grown into one clear-yet-detailed graphic that makes you think of what may have been; the geography of the invisibility of our city's homeless; the interface between the coyotes of Portland and its chickens; a comic on geek culture and its spatiality; another demonstrating how far one is from the nearest indie coffee shop and plots that against Starbucks; a set of set tables demonstrating how long you're going to be waiting for that food at the Screen Door cafe; Chinatown then, and now; the evolution of the Guilds Lake area; a sorely-needed 2-page spread on how the city's annexations have created its shape (my favorite); soccer culture (would you ever doubt? - there's even a set of diagrams showing the loudness levels of various sections of Providence Park during a Timbers/Sounders match), even the story of Maywood Park. One section relates how children see the city, another composites how a group of students in a PSU course made mental maps of the town, characterizing it with their impressions. There's even a map of downtown that shows you the route you must take if you wish to be surveilled by the fewest cameras. And it even tries to answer the question does Portland have more strip clubs per capita than anyone else, making smart side-stop at the reason why that would be.

The design is a tight, disciplined, visually delightful thing, which herds all these infographic cats into something with a grand sense of order. Typography is beautiful, and the infographics are well-done and diagrams you can get lost in. By starting with a strong introduction (which even compares the Portland of Oregon to the Portland of Maine and finds more similarities than you might think) to give a regional setting and context, this book goes beyond mere interesting (and well-designed) fact presentation via infographics and does what a solid reference atlas should do … behave as a snapshot of a moment in time of an important time in the story of the place that is Portland. 

This is a fine book that I really can't put down for long, and anyone who loves, is intrigued by, aggravated by, or loves from afar Oregon's biggest town really should find a space on their shelf for it. 

The Portland of 2015 is a curious thing. Portlandness: A Cultural Atlas is the atlas Portland needs for this time. I'm kind of hoping that the authors decide to do a 2nd edition sometime down the road. 

The comparison would be epic.

Portlandness: A Cultural Atlas, (David Banis and Hunter Shobe, $24.95, Sasquatch Books) is available via Sasquatch's website (http://www.sasquatchbooks.com/book/?isbn=9781632170002&portlandness-by-david-banis), which also has links to other places you can purchase the work.

09 April 2016

[teh_funnay] Holy Talking Koi … Fish Wielder Character Cards!

3316.
As the release date for J.R.R.R. Hardison's epic, Fish Wielder, approachetththehth*, the swag gets better and better. And if you're lucky enough to be at a convention where J.R.R.R. is, you might stumble your way into this nifty find:


Fish Wielder Character cards! And a nice production they are, too. Slick, wonderfully colored, great-looking mementos of the adventure yet-to-be, they are great portraits of our main protagonists and antagonists.

Our hero, Thoral Mighty-Fist and his faithful companion, Bradfast … the talking koi.


Of Thoral, the card saith Perhaps the strongest, toughest, most mythical fighter in all the mystical world of Grome. His most striking feature is his piercing gaze. So intense is his stare that those on the receiving end often feel the need to look away for fear they'll catch fire.

Well, why … I eyes ya.

The heroine … Nalweegie … looks delicious. And there's a reason.


The elfish warrior princess, in the elfin language, Nalweegie translates as "the Evening Snack". She is so named because to look on her in twilight quells the hunger of one's heart without making one feel overfull, as can happen with a more substantial meal. 

You know what would be perfect? If her visage would also be part of 'this' nutritious breakfast. 
And, how can be a heroic tale without the villains? The set contains two:

This is Necrogrond:


The mysterious and evil sorcerer. A high priest of the Bad Religion, kidnapper of Princess Nalweegie** and the self-proclaimed nemesis of Thoral and Brad. Oh. He is also immortal.***

As nemesis-proclaiming goes, self-proclaiming saves a lot of time. We approve of the getting-things-done attitude of Necrogrond. 

And someone who needs no introduction … but he's getting one because he's a silent type … The Heartless One:


The scarlet-robed and mostly silent leader of the Bad Religion and the mastermind of the plant to find the lost Pudding of Power. By eating it, the Heartless One hopes to bring the peoples of the magic world of Grome to their knees.

Talk about eating like you mean it. I hope it comes with a MSDS.

The art is by Herb Apon (who drew the FW cover art), the coloring is by Dan Jackson (who worked with JRRRH on The Helm) and the silly is 100% Jim. Each card has the above descriptions and a QR code on the back, so you can sail away to where-ever that takes you in the online world of Fish Wielder.  And if you were lucky enough to go to Emerald City ComicCon, you may have run across Jim and he's probably given you one. If he offers you one, it's our hearty recommendation to accept … and join the school of afishonados waiting for this work to come out.

The world of Fish Wielder on line is best accessed though FW's site here: http://www.fishwielder.com/, which has as much as you need to know about the whole spree, and should keep you wanting some more.

Two fins up, so far. 

* ththththhthth. Thththth.
** Booo, hisss!!!!
*** So, there's that.

08 April 2016

[Out 122nd Way] Mount Hood-of-the-Day: Under Gray Skies

3315.
This edition was postponed because there was a lot of distractions last week, not the least of which were a chest cold that kept me off line most of the week. But this was a dramatic shot I liked and was just backed up just right.


I also tried an angle about 200 feet east down NE Shaver from 122nd, but found the parking not as advantageous.

But it draws a nice line between dramatic and mundane.

[teh_funnay] Spot The Error

3314.
In the last week, in as much as Wife™ and me were parched, we stopped at one of the fine purveyors of artificially sweetened, flavored, fizzy water arrayed along the many miles of SE Division Street and acquired a small supply of said beveraginal substance in the cup you are about to see here.

Bearing in mind the time of purchase, I invite you to spot the error.


Go on. Take all the 'time' you need!
 

06 April 2016

[Out122ndWay] SE Market St, In the Mist

3313.
A brief check-in, the fog this morning making it feel chillier than the unseasonably warm day this is destined to become:


You don't get variegated fog like that out this way very often, turbulent weather or no.

SE Market Street, looking east from SE 113th Avenue.

03 April 2016

[pdx_liff] Old Town Portland Sightlines

3312.
Devoted here to my love of looking as far as I can down a street and getting lost in the view.

This one, a look west down NW Glisan Street, from NW 6th Avenue:


And this one, looking south on NW 5th Avenue from NW Glisan Street:


Stage your favorite Leverage scene, fans. Remember, in Seasons 1-4, this was actually Boston, but we all knew it was really New Boston … Portland, I mean. 

[pdx_art] Art Nouveau M.S. Awareness Mural, NW 6th Avenue, Old Town

3311.
Also seen in Old Town last week during our sojourn there, this mural in an awesome dead-on Art Nouveau style:


This is the first and only time I've ever seen Multiple Sclerosis awareness displayed so gorgeously, and with such style. An artist rubricked Lydia Emily painted it in 2015, and I pay all due respect. It's most lovely.

If you're in Portland, you can see it on NW 6th Avenue at Flanders Street. overlooking the small parking lot on the NE corner.

If you're not in Portland, just look at the photograph.

[pdx_liff] Vintage Taxi Poster, The Fox and Hounds

3310.
Seen on the corkboard and The Fox and Hounds in Old Town (simply smashing burgers and fish and chips) was the following vintage poster:


How vintage is that?
  1. You didn't have to dial "503".
  2. Dig that Safeco logo.
  3. Dig that Radio Cab logo.
  4. The poster has the addendum 'OR WALK', and no Uber or Lyft-based snark. 
This thing is a straight-up collector's item.

[Out122ndWay] The Aliens Have Arrived Out On 122nd …

3309.
Or, at least, their tagger has. ET's no Banksy, not by a long shot, but I kinda dig his style anyway:


The above fella was spotteed on SE 122nd between Oak and Stark, on the old, boarded-up car wash on the lot between Ron Tonkin Honda on the north and the Astro station on the south, whereas this guy:


… was similarly eagle-eyed at SE Market (note the sign) and 122nd, on the same lot as the Plaid Pantry store, SW corner of that intersection.

Some things we can deduce from mere observation:
  1. The aliens are quite happy.
  2. They may need dental work.
  3. They are rather horny.
  4. They are good as opposed to evil (note the halo), and
  5. They have chin clefts that remind one, uncomfortably, of derrieres (or maybe it's me with issues, who knows).
So, let's welcome them, whoever they are. David Douglas is amongst the most diverse communities in Oregon, so a couple of ETs should fit right on in.