[OR_liff] Portland-Salem Area Map, From ODOT, 1971

3478.

This I'm just posting because it's map, it's dear, it's sweet, it's nostalgic, and it's Oregon.

This is a map of the greater Portland-Salem area, the population and power center of my state, from an offical Oregon state map of 1971, from ODOT:

Everything in this is the landscape of my childhood. Even so, the city boundaries are somewhat out of date, even for them; Salem only had a population of around 68,000 (it's over 160,000 today); Gresham has topped 100K; all the city boundaries have expanded considerably.

But the roads are still largely in the same place. It's still Oregon, that's for sure. 

[transit] Good News for West Salem Bus Riders … More Routes

2827.Have been following the news in transit down in Snailem ever since the peoples decided not to vote the last transit levy, which, in Oregon's third larges city, and the State Capitol, shaved the Cherriots down to a five-day-a-week system.
Which is embarrassing to me, and I Salem's been in my rearview for a very long time, now.
But they seem to be doing some impressive number work. No Saturday service, and they still have to fix the ongoing heartbreak that is the downtown transit mall and the Courhouse Square building, but somehow they're managing to expand service in West Salem, which is creditable, I think.
Routes are going from just three to six new routes, and this includes an express going up and down Wallace Road NW. There will be more service on the flats, and the heights are going to get more service up Glenn Creek and Doaks Ferry Rds NW, but some of the off-peak frequencies - 2 hours - are not exactly anything to scream about. But it's better than it was, and that's what counts.
Here's a link to the PDF.

[OR_liff] State Of Jefferson In Eclipse This Weekend

2819.

On this coming Sunday, there'll be an annular eclipse of the Sun that'll be the first North American continental eclipse of the 21st Century. Sometime around 4:45 PM, the shadow will pass onto the American mainland near the Oregon-California border. Oregon will be within its shadow, but only the southwestern corner - Curry, Josephine, Jackson counties.

This Google Maps interactive map view is mounted by NASA and available here.

An annular eclipse is, as the science writer for the HuffPo accurately put, no match for a total solar eclipse. When the event is fully on, due to the variations of distance from Earth that the Moon has, the Moon is far enough away so that it covers almost all of the Sun's disk, leaving a 'ring of fire' (as they dramatically like to call it) which throws enough light that, if you didn't know there was an eclipse, you probably wouldn't be aware. It's like a partial solar eclipse really.

So if you're looking for some real solar eclipse action and your here in the Portland Metro, I wouldn't haul ass to Grass Pants unless you're a real sky geek. If you're looking for that, it's going to happen on Monday, the 21st of August, 2017. The totality will cover an area from just south of Newberg to about Monroe, and the middle of the shadow will cross I-5 at around 10:15 AM PDT (9:15 AM PST)

But, this coming Sunday, the state of Jefferson will be in partial darkness, but there are some I know that say that it doesn't take an eclipse for that to happen down there.

[OR_liff] The Popcorn Machine Has Been Cleared Of Blame …

2805Not long ago, word broke that Silverton's magnificent Palace Theater, a fixture for most of a century (and as an opera house, even longer) at the corner of Oak and Water Streets in the center of downtown, suffered a tragic fire.

At the time, one of the theatre's owners, the famous Stu Rasmussen, guessed it might have been the popcorn machine. The lobby suffered a remarkable amount of damage, and the estimate went as high as $300,000.

Good news: a message on the marquee has proclaimed that WE WILL BE BACK, and word is the business is on the mend: fully insured, saith this article at the Statesman-Journal.


Good on Stu and his crew. I always figured him for a smart cookie.

And the popcorn machine is off the hook for the blame. 

[OR_liff] The Perfect Sister City For Boring, Oregon?

2804Why, that would be Dull, Scotland, of course.

No, seriously. Really.

I mean, here it is. Right next to the Dull Wood, in fact.

Why would anyone bother to make this up?

(Via)

[or_liff] Ringo Not Here; Try Next Ocean Liner

2702.Remember that ginormous luxury yacht (actual pronounciation throatwobbler mangrove) that everyone thought Ringo Starr was on that was supposed to be history-buffing Astoria?

Well, it was a luxury yacht. But it wasn't Ringo's.

Yet another Oregonized brush with fame averted.

[OR_liff] True Oregon Facts!, Volume One

2695.Being an Actual Oregonian, born in Actual Oregon and All That, I can be considered to be an authority of Actual Oregon Stuff, provided you haven't Actually Checked With Anyone Else First.

But nevermind that now! I have decided, having little else to share, to share my immense trove of genetically-coded Actual Oregon Knowlege with you. Herewith, the first volume of True Oregon Facts!

• Scotts Mills, Oregon, was founded specifically so that the residents of Molalla would have a town they'd be allowed to make fun of.
  
• The locality of Four Corners, just outside of Salem, was named because State Street and Lancaster Drive met at an intersection with four corners to it. This also gave rise to the Intersection Act of 1905, which ruled that, to prevent confusion with Four Corners, all subsequent intersections must three or fewer or five or more corners to them. This greatly restricted urban sprawl.
• Eugene, Oregon is only a legend and has no basis in fact; its reputation is based solely on a Ken Kesey novel in which the mythical town was laid out, titled "One Flew Over The Duck's Nest".
• Oregon's only "town", the Town of Hammond, was made extinct in 1991 when it was eaten whole by the mayor of adjacent Warrenton. To this day, Warrentonian children are made to behave with veiled threats by their parents that if they don't shape up, the mayor's coming over.
• Celilo Falls' name was based on a Chinuk word meaning "Great Thundering Water the White Man will soon submerge behind a dam, but at least we get to sell him fish at the side of the road, livin' the dream."
• The city of Astoria was founded by about 50 New Yorkers who took a wrong turn on the Triborough bridge, found themselves 3,000 miles from civilization, and were too arrogant to admit to each other that they didn't know where they were.
• Enterprise, Oregon was named after the USS Enterprise … just not the one you're probably thinking of.
• We actually have a town called Milton-Freewater. We're all trying to figure out WTF about that, too.
• Roseburg was named for a mysterious, gigantic floating flower of which only 1/10th showed above the surface of the South Umpqua River.
• Frank Herbert write the iconic science fiction novel Dune after spending some time in Florence near the Oregon Dunes, but it was really the dry and arid social life there that influenced him. The Fremen, it is said, were inspired by the Florence City Council. Nobody knows where he came up with the spice. That stuff's whacked, man.
• Scio, in Linn County, comprises 3/10ths of a square mile … all of it land, broken dreams, despair, and weariness.
• Chinuk Wawa - Chinook jargon, the trade language of the Northwest native tribes - as 12 words for "waterfall", fifteen words for "salmon", forty words for "rain shower", but only three for "leveraged buyout".
• Salem" was a name chosen for the capital city that was inspired by the Santiam name, "place of rest", or "Chemeketa". Other alternative names were "Kickoffyershoes", "Youkidsstayouttamyyard", or Lars Larson's suggestion, "R'lyeh".
• The Willamette Valley is estimated to have been inhabited for the last 10,000 years … but only stylishly for the last 30 or so.
• "The Dalles" were taken from the French "La Dalles". It's said that "La" is French for "The". Nobody knows what the hell "Dalles" are. Or were. Or if there's more than one of them. Or … hey! Look over there! Milton-Freewater!
• Tom McCall was Oregon's first cyborg governor. All governors since (with the exception of Kulongoski) were, to some degree, augmented bionically in a plan to create the perfect Governor. Saxton was a clone. We're ALL still trying to figure out what Sizemore is/was.
• Oregon's current motto is "She Flies With Her Own Wings",changed from "The Union" (1957-1987). Other mottos we used include "Between Washington and California" (1901-02), "Pull My Finger" (Most Holiday Seasons Between 72 and 76), "Not Idaho" (Jun-Aug 1943), "No, Cut The RED Wire" (37-39), "Take the Red Pill, Neo" (Odd numbered months in 97), "Home Of Leverage" (Sundays 8pm, 7pm Central) and "Nadine, Get Me A 6-Pack of Beer At the Plaid Pantry" (incomes of $30K and under)

My personal research is coming up with new discoveries all the time. So stay tuned to this blog and I'll post them … as soon as I can find them. 

True Oregon Facts! May we advise you to Accept No True Oregon Fact Subsitutes? Ours are the original and genuine!

[OR_liff] The Death Of Print, Bend Bulletin Edition

2672.The company who owns The Bulletin of Bend (usually referred to as The Bend Bulletin, though the masthead is simply The Bulletin) has hit a financial snag and declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy, meaning they're going to try to reorganize and move forward.

They apparently bet on continued growth and profits that didn't actually happen. Sounds like a sign of the times to us.

[OR_liff] 18 Days In Jail And He's A Freakin' Jean Valjean

2667.Welcome, my friends , to the story that never ends: Crime and Punishment, Bill Sizemore Edition.
After eighteen days of a sentence that he was released early on (that at least one report I've read said he probably shouldn't have been) due to good behavior, Ol' Bill was going all Victor Hugo on the conditions in Jail:

"I think it borders on cruel and unusual punishment," he said. "I was there 18 days and rarely ate the meals," he added. "I just ate Snickers bars out of the vending machines - to the best of my ability - and ate things other than what was on the trays because it was just too disgusting to me."

Thank God for the blueberry danishes in the machine, or it would have been total hell, I suppose. But credit KATU for going for the prize - since jail was such a hardship, will he turn his Energizer Bunny of Justice on the court system?

The meals costs taxpayers about $1.15 each and Sizemore suggested maybe they should spend more. But when we pointed out the irony in a tax activist wanting taxpayers to fork over more money for jail food, he changed his tune. He then said maybe they should just add fruit and other healthier choices.

One short jail sentence and it's Les Miz all of a sudden. 
KATU, thank you for the spot-on question.
Bill, thank you for just being you. Shine on, you crazy diamond.

[OR_liff] Dutch Bros Wants Your Freedom Fighter Fan Art!

2648.Our favorite local coffee drive-through company is holding an art contest.

A few months back witnessed the debut of Dutch Bros. Freedom Fighters, a goofy-yet-cool comic book celebrating the goodness that is Da Broze, complete with a parallel universe, four dudes and a cute princess called to quest, a Mad Cow and an even more insane Kung Fu Frog, and a Dragon who just isn't worth a damn unless he gets his morning cuppa.

Dutch Bros has just announced a fan art contest. The rules are pretty simple. Make some art - anything you can do, just make sure you include a Dutch Bros coffee cup in it. The winner gets 10 copies of the upcoming Issue 2 (I understand that Issue 1, which has gone out of print, is something of a collectors' item), with one of them signed by the creative crew, and your art published thereon. They're going to whip up about 50,000 copies of this, I understand.

Well, there you go. Simple to enter, fun to try. Something like a coloring contest for kids and ironically-slanted adults. So, why not?

Enter it here: http://www.dutchbros.com/freedomfighterscontest