Since moving to Oregon in August 2008, I have had the extreme good fortune to spend my birthday celebrations with friends and family, mostly in pursuit of wine and food.
This year, Darby and I motored to Seattle early on the 4th. After a morning business meeting and a light lunch on Capitol Hill, we checked in to Hotel Vintage Park (one of three Kimpton properties in the city), before walking over to Seattle Art Museum during First Thursday proceedings. Soon thereafter, the Newmans swooped in to pick us up for the much anticipated birthday dinner in Ballard.
By the way, it is a real honor to travel to another great American city and enjoy a birthday dinner for eight.
When we got to The Walrus and the Carpenter, a tiny room for Seattle’s most popular oyster bar, we were told the wait would be two hours. Normally, that means one hour. On this night the hostess was a woman of her word. It took two hours and fifteen minutes to get seated. Thankfully, an accommodating bar up the historic Ballard street hosted us while we waited to dine on local edibles from the sea.
Writing about Seattle as a Portland resident is kind of like writing about your beautiful “Prom Queen” sister. You either come off as adoring, or bitter.
A year ago, at another fine dining establishment in San Francisco, Darby and I had a great time with three NorCal friends. Our friend Andy spoke about how “abundance mentality” is prevalent in California, while “scarcity mentality” tends to preside in Oregon. The conversation has stayed with me ever since.
Seattle clearly weighs in as an abundance heavyweight. It is an opulent city on seven hills. Part Minneapolis high design, another part San Francisco funky. I have heard mention of the “Seattle freeze,” but I do not encounter cold shoulders there. I find the people friendly and willing to engage in frank discussion, which of course, I appreciate immensely.
I suspect the very things that make Seattle attractive to me, are the things many Portlanders and Oregonians reject outright. As one good friend here told me last week, “Oregonians don’t want (that kind of) progress.” Right. And this is what makes Portland, Portland and Oregon, Oregon. Unlike Seattle and San Francisco, Portland is tucked away, 60 miles upriver from the coast and the world beyond. The city is also nestled in a valley and protected by a wall of western hills and Forest Park green space. To say Portlanders have a fortress mentality may be a bit extreme, but it is also true to some degree.
Of course, Portlanders and Oregonians do have something to protect. Few would argue otherwise. My interest here, in this geo-cultural exploration of three West Coast cites, is mostly about alignment and how we might reposition ourselves as a community. The “G” word, Growth, is seen as an impolite intrusion in Oregon — a reduction of green space and an increase in traffic, pollution and noise. Yet, growth simply is. There’s no way to stop it, and even with an urban growth boundary, there’s no way to maintain a psychic gate around this precious place. The question is how might Oregonians better align themselves with this planetary force?
Urban planners, economists, engineers and politicians have some good answers, but no one group of thinkers or doers has all the answers. The problem however is well documented. The median income for a Seattle family – $91,300 – is nearly half as much more than the family income in Portland of $63,400. To me, that’s a startling difference for two cites 167 miles apart from each other. Also, one in 20 Seattle homes is valued at more than $1 million. In Portland, the ratio is 1 in 100.
If we are to believe the management guru and best-selling author, Steven Covey, “abundance mentality” is something we can choose to consciously manage for personal gain. It stands to reason then, that the people of a city or state might also invite abundance into their lives for the betterment of the community. Too bad there’s no on-off switch to go from scarcity to abundance in a flash. Like most good things, it’s a process that takes commitment, a plan of action and time.
YACHT lights me up. Their grooves are infectious and the meaning in their work is at times profound.
I know this is high praise for any artist, but it’s not everyday that a New New Wave band with deep philosophical underpinnings kicks ass like YACHT kicks ass.
“The Earth, the Earth, the Earth is on fire. We don’t have no daughter. Let the mother fucker burn.”
Pop lyrics with juxtaposing ideas. That’s fresh. “Jona Bechtolt and Claire L. Evans make anthemic power jams, play them backwards and soak them in nearly-psychedelic cherry cola inspired live shows,” writes IFC.
“Utopia/Dystopia” is my favorite song right now. Which is kind of amazing considering I generally do not enjoy techno. Of course, YACHT can’t be defined merely as techno. The band is clearly borne of DEVO’s rib, and I respect their weirdness and ability immensely. But there’s more here. YACHT makes you dance and feel good — all while thinking interesting thoughts.
According to YACHT’s Mission Statement:
YACHT is a Band, Belief System, and Business conducted by Jona Bechtolt and Claire L. Evans of Marfa, Texas and Los Angeles, CA, USA. All people are welcome to become members of YACHT. Accordingly, YACHT is and always will be what YACHT is when YACHT is standing before you.
In addition to five studio albums, YACHT is the author of The Secret Teachings of the Mystery Lights: A Handbook on Overcoming Humanity and Becoming Your Own God, which you can download for on iTunes.
Evans is also a well respected science writer, who “examines the intersections between art, science, technology, culture, and all the lunatic fringes in between.”
Alas, YACHT believes, as I do, in the power of place. In fact, they operate in a Western American Utopian Triangle of their own making — with Marfa, Los Angeles and Portland as the three points in their geographic/geometric formation. My own Western American Utopian Triangle is configured differently — with Omaha, San Francisco and Seattle as my three axis points. Either way, I am charmed by the idea of a vast spiritual territory and the exceptional work of this provocative band.
Design is so much more than the look of things. Design is also the way things work, or conversely, don’t work. Portland, Oregon prides itself on being a place that does work, and the city has design and designers of every sort, throughout its history, to thank for that.
Last night, as part of Design Week Portland, we heard six Portland writers address significant designs born in Portland, and how the inventions, systems and objects created here helped to make the city the special place it is today.
Matthew Stadler opened the affair with a brief discussion regarding the formation of The Oregonian in 1850, largely as a civic action to boost Portland’s chances at becoming a viable city, in the face of competition from Milwaukie, Oregon City and Vancouver. Karla Starr presented a wealth of information about Vanport City, a massive and hastily constructed federal housing project near PDX, that was built to house shipyard workers during WWII. Starr noted it was the one time in Portland’s history when there were more jobs here than people.
I particularly appreciated the third presentation of the evening from Ziba writer and editor, Carl Alviani. His talk focused on “The Triggered Oscilloscope,” made by Tektronix in 1946. Alviani explained that this was the first time in our history that we could see and measure the electron world.
The invention of the Tektronix 511 led to myriad new inventions and helped Tektronix transform into a powerful company with 25,000 employees in the 1960s. But it wasn’t just Tektronik’s products or its impact on the local economy that made it such an important design development. The company set out to accomplish amazing things in a narrow field, and this helped it attract people who like to make discoveries, versus people who prefer to grow and manage a giant company like HP, Alviani noted.
Alviani said Tek sowed the seeds of today’s so-called “Creative Economy” and was “a social movement,” as well as a company. For instance, decades before it became routine, the company offered its workers profit sharing, free coffee, open offices and a relaxed atmosphere where individualism was honored. Alviani said, “the hippie engineer” found a home at Tek in the 1960s, and many local companies were born of Tek’s rib, Mentor Graphics being one of the more notable spinoffs to carry forward this special brand of Portland tech culture.
Portland Monthly editor-in-chief, Randy Gragg, shared some great material about Portland’s move to open space, and how San Francisco’s Larry Halprin, an influential American landscape architect and his wife Anna Halprin, a famous dancer, played a large role in “making the city safe for play.” Interestingly, the Halprins co-created the “RSVP Cycles”, a creative methodology that can be applied broadly across all disciplines.
The evening’s event, which was put together by Alviani, also featured two topics I was more familiar with. Chris Higgins shared the story of how the world’s first wiki was invented by Ward Cunningham, a former employee at Tektronix. Finally, my friend Rick Turoczy of Silicon Florist and Portland Incubator Experiment wrapped the session up with a look at beer’s role in shaping the city, from Henry Weinhard to the McMenamin and Widmer brothers.
Turoczy said that when people from other places visit the tech community here, they almost always make note of how every tech startup has a kegerator, sometimes several. Which is fitting. Portland’s makers want to celebrate their best work and the work of their friends, and the hand-crafted, heavily-hopped-but-still-working-class-brew is perfect beverage for that.
I love American history and American culture. I love ‘merican people (especially our artists, writers and musicians) and ‘merican places. Therefore, it pains me to encounter geo-cultural ignorance. And sadly, I encounter it all too often in places populated by lots of “book smart” people.
I just love when a native Portlander scoffs upon learning that I am from Omaha. West coast liberal bias is still bias.
Last Sunday, for instance, was a pleasant early-fall day. We played disc golf at Pier Park in St. John’s. The course, nestled among elder Doug Firs, was demanding but majestic. After our round, we boot scooted back to the car and headed to Breakside Brewery for the first time. I’ve been wanting to visit Breakside on NE Dekum for some time, so it was fun to finally arrive, find a place on the outside patio and order a Cucumber Gose. And an IPA to follow, washed down by a perfectly prepared blue cheeseburger.
A woman and her husband, both in their late forties or early fifties, approached the picnic table next to us and sat down. They minded their own business until Lucy emerged from our under table with a loud bark at another pooch passing by on the sidewalk. The lady — who wanted us to know she’s a native Portlander — started talking shit to Lucy and Lucy barked at her, which elicited more shit talking. A storm began to brew…
The banter from there went down the typical American superhighway. “Where do you live? Where are you from?”
West Linn. Omaha.
Full frontal scoff from the lady.
Darby says uh-oh. I say, I guess we’re done talking.
The lady wants to know where Darby’s from. Ohio and New York.
“Welcome to Oregon,” she says.
We’ve lived here four years.
In the years I spent living on the East Coast, and the years spent living in California and Oregon, I’ve noticed that coastal sophisticates sometimes feel sorry for people like Darby and me. We’re from Cleveland and Omaha – such unsexy places, they’re actually invisible to the “fly over” crowd.
News Flash! Yes, we have left our native grounds behind — as have our friends here in Oregon who migrated from Michigan, North Carolina, Arkansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Colorado, Iowa, New Jersey, Louisiana, Ohio, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Missouri and Minnesota — but we’re still proud of our homes, our histories, our friends and family that continue to grow their own American dreams, back home in the fertile soils of the south and middle.
We took a marvelous land cruise to Northern California last month. The highlight of the trip wasn’t the Southern Oregon coast, the redwoods, Mendocino County, or Marin. Those were highlights, but the highlight was having dinner with friends in San Francisco on Friday the 13th.
Our friend Andy made a reservation for five at Lot 7 on Valencia. The place had me at Hamachi Crudo, but everything else was off the hook, as well. Including the ambiance, the oversized photographs of San Francisco in the 1930s, and of course, the company around the table.
Andy is a builder and an entrepreneur, so it’s always fun to hear what’s going on with him. He spent the past several years introducing the California market to the environmental advantages of kegged wine. In fact, Lot 7 carries Andy’s wine and I like how they make the most of the presentation, delivering the red liquid in an artfully designed carafe.
Feel this with me. The air in San Francisco is rarefied, and the light makes everything look rich. In other words, it’s not like other places. And one could, without hesitation, extend that thought to California. California is not like other places.
Andy asked me how things are going with Bonehook here in Portland, and I replied it’s going okay. He said many people in Oregon are coming from a place of scarcity, whereas Californians are all about abundance. He said, tell a friend in Oregon about your new business idea, and they’ll pause and eventually say, “that sounds hard.” In California, on the other hand, the friend gets excited, introduces you to their contacts in the field and encourages you to go for it.
This little tale of two states — the states of scarcity and abundance — lodged in my brain and I’ve been mulling them over ever since. While it is true that Oregon doesn’t have the number of jobs, the economic might, or the vast opportunities that can be found in California, it’s wrong to think of Oregon as a place short on resources. In fact, no place in the United States has the right to think it’s coming from a place of scarcity. Scarcity simply isn’t real here. All of America is awash in abundance. We haven’t spread the wealth to every person and every family, but that doesn’t mean the wealth of this nation is limited in supply. It means it we have a distribution problem.
On the way home last month, we recognized how good it felt to be in California, but it felt even better to return to Oregon. Would I love to see Oregonians become a bit more free-wheeling in their ways? Yes, I would. Would a more open and inclusive mindset — not just politeness, but genuine friendliness — also open Oregon up to bigger and better business opportunities? Of course. Bottom line though, I can only do what I can do about it. I can be more open, friendly and free-spirited, and I can build my business in Oregon, whatever the challenges.
The second season of IFC’s Portlandia airs this Friday. The show is much anticipated in Puddletown and beyond.
Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen — the show’s stars — have been out “doing press” for the show. Thanks to the deeply sarcastic nature of the program and its willingness to skewer hipsters over an open fire, The New Yorker is biting. In a sweeping article by Margaret Talbot we learn about Brownstein’s childhood in the Seattle suburbs, how she rocked hard in Olympia’s riot-grrrl scene and how she eventually moved to Portland and tried her hand a day job in advertising.
Brownstein said working at Wieden + Kennedy proved alienating, because of the way “the work mimics art.” Ouch.
Another interesting reveal in The New Yorker piece is this bit on the so-not-Hollywood writer’s room:
For the second season, Bill Oakley, a former head writer for “The Simpsons” who had moved to Portland, has helped out on the show. He says, “I’ve spent a lot of time in writers’ rooms. They’re pressure cookers. In most cases, they’re heavily male. You work long hours and many of the people in them have a really negative view about themselves and life.” The “Portlandia” writers’ room, however, is collaborative and laid-back. Some meetings have been held in the loft of the director Gus Van Sant, who has become friendly with Brownstein. “Gus’s dog was wandering in and out,” Oakley says. “There was a microbrewery downstairs.”
Answer me this…where in Portland is there not a microbrewery downstairs?
[UPDATE] The dynamic duo appeared Thursday on “Fresh Air” with host Terry Gross on NPR. Listen in.
Portland Mayor Sam Adams is not running for re-election, but he is working hard to do the job Portlanders hired him to do.
For one, Adams wants Portland to be “the scrappiest small global city in the United States.” That means exports, among other things. “Even without a coherent regional strategy or partnership, Greater Portland ranks second in the nation in export value as a percentage of our economy,” says Adams.
Here’s a look at one Portland-based company actively participating in the global economy:
Portland Development Commission has loads of video segments on YouTube that help to paint the city’s business environment in a positive light.
Here’s one that showcases the city’s attractiveness to startups:
For more information on the progress being made on several important fronts, see these Progress Reports from the Mayor’s office.
Lawyer and Democratic state Sen. Suzanne Bonamici is competing against Republican business consultant Rob Cornilles for Oregon’s 1st Congressional district seat (vacated by sex scandal-ridden David Wu).
This is what Bonamici and Cornilles look like on TV, which is where most 1st district citizens voting in the Jan. 31 special election will see them:
The 1st district is considered the economic engine of Oregon, according to KATU. It includes downtown Portland and suburban Washington County where Nike and Intel hold fort. The district which stretches to the Pacific Coast is also home to much of Oregon wine country.
She says, “Portland needs real people with real experience” in City Hall. Which means experience earned in business, not politics.
According to The Oregonian, if elected Brady would give her cellphone number to city workers so they could call her directly with problems. I like that “Call me and I will help” mentality.
Brady also said she’d work to accelerate the city’s business permitting process to encourage job creation and build an economic development team.
I don’t know much about Brady or the other candidates, but I do know Portland is a place with the potential to become an engine of 21st century commerce. Whoever can best harness the copious talent here is going to win — not just elections, but also hearts and minds.
Eugene Register-Guard columnist Bob Welch paid a visit to Ken Kesey’s mom, Geneva Jolley, who turned 95 two weeks ago.
In the interview, Mrs. Jolley reflects on her son’s firsttwo novels…
“When the books came out, they were not red-letter days for me,” Geneva says. “They should have been. But I didn’t appreciate all that he had put into those books. I didn’t appreciate how famous they were going to become.”
She wonders if it was a mother’s protective instincts. “Maybe I didn’t want him to be a big turnip in a little turnip patch,” she says. “He always liked a crowd.”
Mrs. Jolley also says, “I never gave him credit for all he accomplished.”
I hope Kesey understood and I imagine he did. Lavishing praise on a writer, even a famous one in the family, isn’t normal. Asking said writer when he’s going to get a real job, now that’s normal.
