[pdx] Made In Oregon Sign Belongs To City Now: May We Re-suggest Unicorns?

2359.

As announced on City Commissioner Randy Leonard's site today, Ramsay Signs have donated the famous (and almost U-of-O-oriented) "Made In Oregon" sign, and it will be restyled, with proceeds for conversion and upkeep generated by the pay-to-park lot underneath the Burnside Bridge. Here's an idea of what it will look like, from Commissioner Leonard's page:

Very nice. I like the design; I still think Made In Oregon had a certain resonance to it, and especially since I was also made in Oregon (round about the Silverton area over a period of about 9 months, though I don't particularly recall it). But I think we could have made it really Portland, and have a modest proposal: instead of that, why not:

Portland: built on an ancient unicorn burial ground.

Remember the unicorns.

Technorati Tags: Unicorns, Made In Oregon Sign, Portland, PDX, PDX Quirks, PDX Unicorns, PDX Unicorn Burial Ground

The Portland Police Mounted Unicorn Patrol, Then and Now

1970.Unicorns have been with us longer and in more remarkable ways that you might know. Our researches have uncovered this previously unreleased photo of one of the first Portland Police Bureau Mounted Unicorn Patrols ... ca, 1891:

And in modern times (ca. "now"):

Stranger and stranger, inDEED! Our guess is that the more world-weary unicorns (the ones that don't need to be tamed by a virgin) try out for the mounted patrol.

It's entirely possible that the old legends about the unicorn is a bit wrong, of course. You know, everyone has a PR flack these days ...

Technorati Tags: Portland, Unicorns, Portland Unicorn Burial Ground, Portland Police Mounted Patrol, Portland Police Mounted Unicorn Patrol, Portland Unicorns

[comix] Unicorns: Stabby When Angered

2556.

Best not to have a monster eat a unicorn in a previous strip, as the artist of Mister Woodles did. Because if you did, a guest artist, sufficiently friendly to unicorns, might fill in one day and even the score:

Go hither to see. http://www.misterwoodles.com/comic.php?comic=52.

Unicorns: Stabby when angered!

Read Smellabell while you're at it.

Technorati Tags: Unicorns, guest comics, Mister Woodles, stabby, Jess Warren, Smellabell

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Randy Leonard and The Black Unicorn

1961.Back in the early days of the Attorney General campaign, Randy Leonard introduced John Kroger to the peoples at a photo-op in downtown Portland (the following photo from here):

It was the beginning of a successful campaign to put the most dynamic AG we've seen for a great long time in office.

But did they know they had a visitor? After analyzing the photo, we found out:

Yes. It's the Black Unicorn.

Did his presence bless the campaign? Was the Black Unicorn simply looking on (as unicorns are wont to do, keeping their own counsel, as they do)? We find something oddly compelling about Randy, maybe he does, too.

One thing's for certain; we've been analyzing photos from the Macpherson campaign for a while now. Not one unicorn ever went anywhere near him.

And so that one goes.

Technorati Tags: Portland built on an ancient unicorn burial ground, Portland, Unicorns, Portland Unicorns, teh funnay, Randy Leonard, John Kroger

Leaked: The Made In Oregon Sign's Actual Final Design

1998.Nota Bene: I see by my incoming stats (as well as my higher-than-normal-visitor-count for the day) that this post has been tipped not only on Oregon Reddit by Dave of Dave Knows Portland but also by Matt Davis at PMerc! Nifty! if you stopped by from either of those points of departure then thank you muchly for stopping by! Please consider browsing the rest of my fine establishment, and say hi! Any linkage gladly returned! And the unicorns will smile upon you too!

by After secret and very tense negotiations between all the stakeholders in the "Made In Oregon" sign imbroligo over the weekend, which took place at the Coffee Romance at SE 82nd and Powell by the Food "4" Less store, we have an exclusive look at the design which has been leaked to us by a highly-placed but unnamed horse. Here it is:

This goes beyond the mere replacement of the words to remodel the bounding stag into a true reflection of the soul and sprit of the city of Portland which was, if I might remind everyone here, built over an ancient unicorn burial ground.

Attending the confab along with Commissioner Randy "I'm not a meanie" Leonard were Dread Lord "Dave" Frohnmayer, Amanda Fritz, Dan "I'll Bet You've Forgotten I'm A City Commissioner" Saltzman, Nick "Nick Fish" Fish, the Black Unicorn, and the White Unicorn.

Special refreshments were brought in by a squadron of Keebler Elves.

Thank God we finally got this settled!

(Portland + Unicorns = AWESOME!)

Technorati Tags: Portland, Unicorns, Ancient Unicorn Burial Ground, memes, Portland Built On An Ancient Unicorn Burial Ground, Made In Oregon Sign, Made In Oregon, University of Oregon, Dave Frohnmayer, Randy Leonard, Portland City Council

[type] What Is The Font In The "Made In Oregon" Sign?

2471.

Recently I responded to a reader who was playing around with the Made In Oregon sign that City Councilor Leonard just went up against the U of O over notice my image here in the blog header and asked me, essentially, what font that was.

The answer is, of course, it's no font at all ... at least not part of a designed font set.

The following is a riff based on the highly-informal self-study in graphic design history I've undertaken for most of my life.

When the original version of the sign was built ... somtime in the former half of the 20th Century, I forget the year ... signs like this were designed of a piece, I get the feeling. Before it was Made In Oregon, it was White Stag, designed with a flowing script treatment which I'm guessing was inspired by scripts of the day but not necessarily drawn from any of them.

When the sign went from White Stag to Made in Oregon, it was probably a conceptually-simple trick to design a font design for the sign that resonated with the White Stag design.

When I designed the "Unicorns" version of it I, in Photoshop, clipped out the letterforms that the word Unicorns shared with Made In Oregon ... specifically, the miniscule o, r, and n ... and created new letterforms using paths and filling with the fuzzy light texture ... letting the visual characteristics of the letterforms I did have inform the new ones I created. In a way, I let the old letters design the new ones, so they all kind of go together.

It does occur the me that an entire font based on the Made In Oregon script font would be a happy thing indeed. I need to get designing on that.

Technorati Tags: made in Oregon, PDX Unicorns, Font design, type design

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[Unicorns] PDX, Land Of Unicorns. As We've Been Saying

3152.

Now, the idea of Portland and unicorns is something I definitely approve of, in as much as here, east of 82nd, the idea of Portlandia is certainly a thing – of which even we, out here, are alternatively entertained and sometimes appalled by.

But somehow, it all comes together and creates something awesome, as witness this t-shirt (which had the tag of the T-Line company of notably unicorn-free Canby) we saw on sale at Powell's this last week:

Indeed, as we've been documenting for a while now, Portland is indeed built on an ancient unicorn burial ground (not to be mistaken with an ancient Unicron burial ground, which is not a thing that I think could possibly exist, but I'm no Transformer expert). And as the tagline I Believe  suggests, this is more than a cute pairing of unicorn and city, but expresses … a deeper truth.

I want to believe. And so do you. Shut up, you do. 

Unicorns In The City Council Chamber

1956.Portland being built over an ancient unicorn burial ground explains so very much, if you let silly things like logic go by the board.

For instance, over at PMerc, there's a photo of Councilor Fritz and Mayor Sam at the hearing for the increasingly-brobdingangian Columbia River Crossing thingy. View the article and the image here.

I found myself, though, in a Kolchak: The Night Stalker*/X-Files/Fringe** sort of way, wondering if there was a deeper story to the unsanity that has been Portland City Council of late. So, I nicked the photo from Blogtown and put it into Photoshop, applying the Unicorn Filter (of which I own the only one), found that there was indeed, something deeper to say about it:

What is the unicorn doing? Whispering some sage policy advice in Sam's ear? Protecting Amanda from a psychic barrage leading to cynicsm? Simply observing? We know not, and will never know, for unicorns keep their own council.

We could find a gentle virgin to tame the unicorn and perhaps find out, but, hey ... this is Portland, yes?

A note on the Photoshop Unicorn Filter: I've been allowed its use only if I keep the developers an absolute secret. I have further been told to say that if I tell you all who did it, the developers would kill themselves, which I 'splained to them was kind of backwards, but they said that's what they meant, and boarded the TriMet 33 so they could get out to Jim & Patty's coffee before it closed.

You don't argue with geniuses. You all know what I mean.

* The Darren McGavin version, not that lame-o Stuart Copeland version that deservedly died, screaming.
** Not the X-Files, no matter what anyone says.

Technorati Tags: Portand city council, unicorns, ancient unicorn burial ground, amanda fritz, sam adams

[unicorns] PDX Unicorn Mounted Patrol - Magically Delicious

2600.A very very thrilled tip-o-the-unicorn-horn today to Farmer McGlitter, who's featuring a photo and a link to this blog entry in his blog Unicornomics today:

Word is getting out that Portland was built on a unicorn burial ground, and that makes us even more magical!

Farmer McG's post, including five things that make having a mounted unicorn patrol awesome, can be found here:

http://unicornomics.com/unicorn-mounted-police

Clean. Green. Sustainable. Magical. Unicorns!

 

The Great Neon Sign As Civic Soul, or: Tulsa's Getting Its Route 66 Meadow Gold Sign Back

2020.(Updated with a link to ModernTulsa, who has a couple of gorgeous pictures. Scroll to end of post).

We here in the City Of Unicorns and Roses should relate to this story.

While not a point of controversy, the reaction of the Tulsa, Oklahoma community to the final fate of the Meadow Gold Dairy sign, a great neon bauble with nearly the same landmark status along Historic US 66, seems to be in the same class of public affection as the emotion the Made in Oregon sign garners.

According to Tulsa's The News On 6, The Meadow Gold Dairy sign was a fondly remembered landmark at the corner of East 11th Street and South Lewis Avenue, about a mile east of the downtown core, for many:

In the 1930's, Meadow Gold put it up atop a small building at 11th and Lewis.  It was a beacon along Route 66 until sometime in the 1970's.

"It's more than just a sign, it lives in people's hearts and memories it truly is a landmark," said Lee Anne Ziegler.

Meadow Gold, while still a regional brand across several Western states, appears to have moved on from Tulsa. But the sign remained for decades. Recently, the owner of the old building the sign rested on decided to raze that building. Local Tulsans sprang unto the breach:

The Tulsa Foundation for Architecture and others mounted a sign rescue project.  They got a grant from the National Parks Service Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program.  They were able to take the sign down and begin restoration.  Other grants and donations helped finish the project

"I just wanted it to be like I remember when I was a kid driving down Route 66," said architect Steve Vogt.

Of course, this wasn't meant as much of analogy: the power players and the people who consider themselves "stakeholders" in the discussion have much different attitudes and connections. But it would do everyone well in such discussions of changing the visual character of city skylines to remember that, whether or not they want to admit it, the public will claim a certain "ownership" to something that forms the backdrop of their very lives.

In a visual and subjective way, it becomes public property. The citizens of Tulsa handled it one way, and we're handling it ours. Adopting an "our way or the highway" approach, as the U of O side has done has, instead of being seen as an assertion of a fundamental American value, that of private property rights and doing with what belongs to you as you see fit, has instead come off as arrogant fiat. And then they ran into Randy Leonard.

Such is the course of the visual landscape. You may own a part of it, but frequently, it only seems that way. As for Tulsa, I'd suggest Unicorns, but I don't think that would get very far with them.

It all makes me think of that old T & R Truck Stop sign on I-5 at Albany. I think it's mostly gone now. And nobody has a picture of it. Pity ...

Update: The proprietor of the blog ModernTulsa, Cole Cunningham, pointed me to an post at his place which has (as already stated) two gorgeous vintage photos of the Meadow Gold Sign. Enjoy, and thanks for sharing them, Cole!

NB: The photo in this posting of the Meadow Gold sign was from the Wikipedia article on Tulsa, and is public domain.

Technorati Tags: Tulsa, Meadow Gold, Meadow Gold Sign, Public Landscape

[pdx_liff] The British Are Coming … For Our Smallest Park!

2917.There are some things with which a native-born Oregonian, up with which, shall not put.

This is the stuff to make the unicorns which died so that Portland might be cry.

A … well, you'll pardon the gradilocution … challenger has emerged. But about that, anon. This, of course, is the justifiably-world-famous Mill Ends Park, here in the middle of Southwest Naito Parkway, cross of Taylor Street in downtown Portland.

Sourced from thither. Photo, atul666.

Now, this is actually a park that should need no introduction. It was named after a column that Dick Fagan wrote for the late, lamented Oregon Journal, called "Mill Ends"; Fagan chronicled the doings of Patie O'Toole and his fellow fae folk in what was going to be a utility pole-hole. And from that auspicious beginning, it entered the hearts of Portland citizens, at 2 feet across, as an official city park (it's not a matter of opinion. It's the position of Portland Parks & Rec. They say it's a park, therefore it is; quod erat domonstrandum, matris futuor, as that esteemed hip-hop artist MC I$aac New-Jack-ton might have said).

But you know how it is. They see us rollin'; they hatin'. First they took the title of World's Shortest River from the D River in Lincoln City, a wound with runs … pretty deep. Now, they want to dethrone Mill Ends as the World's Smallest Park.

What scoundrels would do such a thing? What dastards, you may ask.

Well, you may ask. Go ahead.

Thank you. The British. Yeah. Those guys.

How sharper than a serpent's tooth, yeah? It seems that this little triangular park, Prince's Park, has stepped up as the pretender to the title. It's here (and here's an article about it) …


View Larger Map

It's the little triangle in the center of the picture there. I used Google Maps's measuring tools and estimated it at about 10 metres on a side. It's in a locality called Burntwood, which is just adjacent and west of a place called Lichfield, Staffordshire, UK, where the civic pastime is apparently figuring out how to drop a buzzkill on The City Built on An Ancient Unicorn Burial Ground.

How very rude.

Well, I say, bring it. There's a risk in getting what you want; Let's say that they prosecute their claim and win. Where would the title move to? Burntwood, UK?

Wrong, and wrong. As some of you natives are aware, there's another notable micropark in Oregon. It's nowhere near as teensy as Mill Ends, but it's fairly large in smallness; it's Waldo Park, at the corner of Union and Summer Sts, NE, down in … Salem. Which, at 3.7 by 6.1 metres, would fit within Prince's Park. So, the title would still say in Oregon, not move to the UK.

But, like I said, bring it. Bring your seconds to Mill Ends; I'll bring my seconds. I warn you, though, my seconds are unicorns and, practically speaking, unbeatable. But you and your seconds; me and my seconds. And on that fateful day, we'll look each other in the eye and …

Hell, I don't know. Go off and  have a microbrew.

We have some killer beers around here, you know.

Read the article at Litchfield Live, where I have commented (representing, yo!):  http://lichfieldlive.co.uk/2013/04/09/worlds-smallest-park-draws-on-luck-of-the-irish-to-see-off-burntwood-challenge/

Glorified flower pot!? Indeed! How very uncouth!

[pdx] Local Model Shows Off PDX Unicorn Wear, ca. 2012!

3030.

Sherman, set the wayback machine to about sixteen months ago. We at OryCon 34, not at all ready for the apocalypse that wasn't, and me and The Wife™are getting ready to attend the annual Who's Line Is It Anyway performance, and I have a spiffy new phone that'll take pixs and have teh Bluetoof and stuff.

And we meet a fellow con-goer.

Now, some time before, me and a few wired locals (most notably Dave Strom, who once ran the site Dave Knows Portland (which was DaveKnows.com but that site has gone on to alphabet heaven, alas, however Dave and his sweetie Heather and their twin sons and kitteh can be followed at the blog Mile73)were furiously spreading the word that Portland is, indeed, built over an ancient unicorn burial patch (there were others involved, and it's been long enough that your names escape me, but I remember how much fun that was, so if you stumble this way, feel free to check in).

It never got as meme-worthy as I'd like (nothing ever seems to) but it did get hooves. Because here I was, at OryCon 33, and I spot this lady (whose name has been lost in the memory graveyard):

She agreed for a photeaux. Here's a closer look:

The original attempt to post this is at this entry hyar (http://zehnkatzen.blogspot.com/2012/11/pdx-orycon-34-portland-unicorns-got-legs.html) shows the tiny pixs I was then able to get.

Yeah, I'll bear up under the embarrassment of taking that long to figure out how to turn on the Bluetooth feature of my cell phone, because these pix are just that awesome.

Another awesome thing to note is that Portland's most awesome uncelebrated holiday, St. Unicorn's Day 2014, is coming next week on the 17th. Drink to remember the sweet Unicorns which died so that Portland can be a city that doesn't suck.

[pdx] Why Is Portland OR Better Than Vancouver BC?

2182.Dave knows.

A half-megabuck for a liquor license in Canadiddia? Who knew?

Also: Unicorns? We haz them!

I'll stack whatever VanBC has to PDX's Unicorn Force any day of the friggn' week!

Technorati Tags: Portland, Vancouver, Cascadia, Unicorns, Portland Unicorn Burial Ground

[pdx] More Proof That PDX Is Unicorn City, USA

2234.Via Twitterer BlazersEdge, we find even more evidence of Portland's privileged position as being built atop an ancient Unicorn burial ground: we attract bball players who are actual Unicorns. Here is a picture of forward Jawan Howard, recouperating from a successful horn removal:

Now, as righteous as it is that Portland is on the site of the Unicorn burial ground, it'd be positively awesome to say that you actually were a Unicorn.

But we can see how that'd get in the way on the court. It's best this way.

They grow back, anyway.

At least, I think they do.

That's what I hear.

Good luck on the season, Jawan.

Technorati Tags: PDX, Portland, Portland Trail Blazers, Juwan Howard, PDX Unicorns, PDX Unicorn Burial Ground

Home Sweet Home, 2020

3642

Just east of SE Division St at 130th Avenue there is a pedestrian bridge. The south end is between the Dairy Queen and the Dutch Bros. drive through.

Division is a very wide street.

And about a year and a half ago, some artist decorated it up with a fanciful, colorful paint job. Unicorns, colorful clouds, and the like.

Despite that, it still reflects the human chaos of this time. There is a person in that homeless hideaway-in-plain-sight, and the presence of happy color alongside despair pretty much sums America up right now.

[pdx] Concept For Defenders Of A City Built On An Ancient Unicorn Burial Ground

2432.

The fab artist at Robot Friday does these amazing sketches, you see, and I think this is the perfect defender for weird ol' PDX;

Yes. A ninja pirate riding a skeletal unicorn pony.

This is full of awesome.

And Robot Friday, by Thomas Clemmons who I enjoy muchly, is here: http://www.robotfriday.com/

Technorati Tags: art, illustration, thomas clemmons, robot friday, ninjas, unicorns, PDX Unicorn Burial Ground

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[net_liff] "Spot the Unicorn", Zach Dundas Twitter Edition

2698.If you love something, they say, set it free.

Whoever came up with that folksy aneurysm must have had the internet in mind. Latterly, this bit of Unicorn-oriented Photoshoppery:

Which I created in March, 2010, has been showing up in interesting places. The newest find? The Twitter icon for Portland Monthly editor, Zach Dundas:

Am I irritated? Hardly! Flattered! Look, I know this about that; when you create something like this and fling it down the 'tubes, it'll get lifted and passed about. That was kind of the idea here. Right now, it's as close as I'm getting to fame, so, hey, it's cool. Definitely cool.

Remember the unicorns, my friends. You don't know you flattered me, Zach, but if you read this article, now you do. Thanks. Long may Saint Unicorn fly. Even though he hath no wings, yes, I know this.

[pdx] The Great Seal Of The City Of Unicorns

2686.Everyone knows …

Everyone knows. Don't you just love appeals to authority? Well, everyone knows that this is the city seal of the City of Portland …

But we know what they seal they really use, don't they?

They use this seal for the really important stuff.

I'm taking something into my own hands by telling you this, I'm sure. Not my life, no … they may take away a bicycle pedal or something though.

[pdx] St. Unicorn's Day … A Day To Remember

2584.Whatever you think of Portland's special atmosphere, that which makes us special didn't just happen. Oh, it's an environment that promotes itself, true, and that's a first cause, but, as Dr. Hans Reinhardt cogently said before he dove the USS Cygnus into the black hole in that Disney movie, "what caused … that cause?"

Research is ongoing here at the Portland Unicorn Institute for Portland Unicorn Studies, but every avenue of research conducted has led ineluctably to the conclusion that PDX is indeed built on an ancient unicorn burial ground. Our crazy, friviolous, delightful, NYT-celebrated culture most likely descends from this very fact.

Research has slowed a bit because grants are hard to come by latterly, but we do what we can on what we have, and the direction the research is going is promising Additionally cheering is that many independent lines of research have developed, the most notable being independent scholars such as Dave Strom and Mike Vogel. Each approaches the discipline with their own style and jenny say qua, as the French say. We don't know what that is.

But still, knowing that differing reasearch lines converge toward the same thing must feel like when Liebniz and Newton independently developed the Calculus - after the hairpulling catfight over came up with it first, of course. Intellectual joy!

We work tirelessly toward a view on our shared Unicornate past, as well as the view or Portland history that that will define. Until then, on St. Unicorn's day - have a drink in their honor. But don't drink to forget - drink to remember.

Because that's the way we roll here in PDX, yo.

 

Portland: You Can Ride Your Unicycle Here

2084.NB: Nifty thanks to Sarah Mirk of The Merc for teh linkage! Nifty!

Just one more reason Portland is 100% full of win: the unicycle lane:

According to this flickr user here, it's on NW Cornell Road, outbound, in the inner NW Portland nabe. Photo is by Shannon Henry and is Creative Commons Attrib/NC/Share-Alike 2.0 licensed. Good on Shannon.

All we need FTW? Unicorn lanes.

Technorati Tags: Portland, Unicycles, Unicorns, NW Cornell Rd, Portland Photos