Carlos Santana is one of my musical heros. He’s also a board member and part owner of premium spirits brand, Tequila Casa Noble.
I don’t drink a lot of tequila, and I can’t say that I have ever tried Casa Noble, but now that I know Carlos’ role in the company, I will give the product a sip or two. Yes, it’s that easy to get me to sample the product. We’ll see about cost, taste, availability and all the rest.
I have to say, I love that Carlos reveals himself in the video, but the construction of the piece isn’t beautifully rendered, as it needs to be. Premium brands need to go all out on their production values, or doubt creeps in.
Speaking of Carlos and doubt creeping in, did you hear he’s doing a two-year “residency” at House of Blues in Las Vegas? I may find myself attending some of these shows, but I can’t help reflecting on how this is an unfamiliar time in rock and roll. For one, ticket prices to live shows are freaking outrageous.
Grateful Dead’s bass player, Phil Lesh, is also about to embark on a residency program at his own venue, Terrapin Crossroads in San Rafael, Calif. His opening ten-night run is just about sold out, although it looks like there are a couple $300 VIP tickets and $150 general admission tickets remaining. It’s enough to lead a psychedelic rock fan to drink.
I love when an environmental issue, or any issue, helps to melt the artificial construct of political lines between people and communities come together to face off against corporate agressors.
Thankfully, that’s exactly what’s going on in Nebraska, Texas and other communities that would be directly impacted by the proposed Keystone Pipeline.
Property-rights conservatives, water supply activists and landowners are banding together along the pipeline’s proposed route through Texas, challenging plans to claim land for the proposed pipeline that will run from Canada’s oil sands to Texas’ Gulf Coast.
“Crippling someone’s water supply knows no party line,” said Rita Beving, consultant to the bipartisan East Texas Sub-Regional Planning Commission. A Republican mayor and a Democratic city secretary lead the group’s fight against the pipeline.
In other words, cowboys ain’t taking any of TransCanada’s shit. Or Washington’s, for that matter.
“Lifelong Republicans are standing shoulder-to-shoulder with urban tree-huggers,” Malinda Frevert, a spokeswoman for BOLD Nebraska, said of that effort.
For a Gentile, Scott Carrier knows a lot about Mormons, having lived most of his 50-plus years in Salt Lake City. Carrier’s new book is titled Prisoner of Zion, which interestingly is something he’s perfectly willing (and happy) to be. The place does have a magnetic pull, no question about it.
His book of stories weaves tales of home with tales from Carrier’s adventures in war torn countries on the other side of the world. Both carry weight, but I particularly like his take on Utah and Mormon culture. I also think Carrier’s timing is good, as the closer Mitt Romney gets to the White House, the more people will want to know about the Latter Day Saints.
In “Inside the Momosphere” Carrier describes how when he was eight years old, his LDS friends told him about being baptized in the Mormon temple, and what it meant.
They told me they’d been baptized in the temple and now they were going to a different heaven than I was, unless I converted. They said there are three levels of heaven and they were going to the highest one, the Celestial Kingdom, but the best I could hope for was the second level, the Terrestrial Kingdom, which isn’t a bad place, just not the best place.
To reach the Celestial Kingdom is to become god-like yourself. So, you can see why Mormons have had, and continue to have, an adversarial relationship with people of other faiths. No one wants to be told their version of heaven, which they’re presently making great strides to reach, is second class.
And class is a campaign issue this year. Thanks to the wealth he has amassed, Romney’s life on earth is a bit finer than most Americans will ever know. But it doesn’t stop there, it’s not just about money. Because Romney is by all accounts, “a good Mormon,” he’s also headed for a better afterlife, one where he will achieve godliness, and I have to think that’s a problem, politically speaking.
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At the end of the book, in a piece called, “Najibullah in America,” Carrier endeavors to describe the American-centric world view held by many Mormon students in his classes at Utah Valley University in Orem. For these students, there simply is no separation between church and state. No need.
Jesus Christ created the United States of America by raising up our founding fathers and guiding their hand in writing the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Once protections for religious freedom were in place, Jesus directed Joseph Smith to found an entirely new religion, restoring the true gospel, and begin building the Kingdom of God on Earth in preparation for His Second Coming.
That’s right, the pilgrims were just laying the groundwork for the intergalactic super show to be orchestrated, like a radio program, from Temple Square. But more importantly, America is for Jesus. Literally. When He comes back, He’s coming back to the America. So, naturally we must protect America at all costs from infidels, and keep funding the military at insane levels, which is a plank in the Romney campaign.
I know a lot of Jack Mormons, people who’ve thrown off the faith. I also know some good Mormons. They’re good people and I don’t want to see the kind of misunderstandings that might occur in this election season around religion. For instance, some conservative Christians, notably Southern Baptists, won’t admit the Mormons into the Christian brotherhood. Yet, Mormons are “busy building the Kingdom of God on Earth in preparation for His Second Coming.”
It may seem unfair to bring a man’s religion in to the campaign, but one’s ideas are often shaped by one’s faith. Therefore, it’s not just fair game, it is an essential part of considering where the person is coming from. Romney was a Mormon missionary in France. He knocked on doors in a Catholic nation that loves wine and sex. He knows what rejection looks like, which is good.
He also believes he’s living a righteous life, but it’s hard to know for sure if he is or isn’t. Just this morning he said he really doesn’t care all that much about the poor. He meant he wants to appeal to the middle class, but it didn’t come out that way. It came out like he’s callous and out of touch. The thing I wonder about is if it’s not all his fault, because a sense of superiority appears to be baked right into his cosmology.
[UPDATE] Reciting verses from The Bible this morning, President Obama responded to Romney’s comments about the poor, without having to call out Romney by name. He’s also clearly saying to Romney’s team and to the nation that he, President Obama, will be the good Christian in this race, thank you very much.
At the end of 2006, I started doing yearly recaps of my travels. From 2006-08 I was traveling for work a lot, so the lists were rather lengthy. Since, migrating to Oregon in 2008 we’ve been keeping it much closer to home. In fact, in 2011 I flew to Boston and back and that’s it. All other travel was by car.
Moclips, WA
Brownsville, OR
Enterprise, OR
Walla Walla, WA
Zigzag, OR
Madison, NH
Franklin, MA
Boston, MA
Government Camp, OR
Our Valentine’s Day trip to the Washington Coast was one rich with discovery. We found an old seaside lodge with a great restaurant in Moclips, which is basically the end of the road in west central Washington.
Additionally, we took our maiden voyage to Walla Walla in 2011. Walla Walla, as you may know, is Washington’s Napa Valley. We also found our way to the charming hamlets Enterprise and Joseph, Oregon in the NE corner of the state. It’s good to know these kind of “last best places” still exist.
“Portland is where young people go to retire.” That’s the rap laid down by Portlandia, a funny send up of life in Oregon’s biggest city. However, the issue of few jobs and low wages is not very funny for the Oregon citizens searching for their first job or in the midst of a non-elective “career change.”
Oregon Transformation wants to put pressure on politicians in Salem to fix the state budget crisis and make the state a friendlier place for business. “With new ideas and new leaders we can rebuild a robust private sector, which is essential to maintain Oregon’s quality of life,” argues the group.
It’s an expanse of the city without a single Zipcar spot or independent microbrewery, where you’ll see more pajama bottoms than skinny jeans. It’s a landscape of chain link and surface parking that, by contrast, makes 82nd Avenue look positively gentrified. It’s a cookie-cutter residential sprawl so devoid of landmarks, public spaces and commercial centers that some residents simply call it “The Numbers.â€
I don’t know who is responsible, or what combination of forces are responsible for Oregon’s weakened economy. It’s a topic I’ve taken up in this space before, and my guess is it will keep coming up until a new dawn rises over the volcanoes. Not knowing is troubling to me because it’s important to trace trouble to its source, so we know how to fix what’s wrong and how to avoid making the same mistakes again in the future. Yet, we can’t as a state lose much time pouring through the record books, because what Oregonians need most is a solution, a.k.a. the kind of jobs that support a family. In other words, we need an honest assessment of what went wrong and an instant and effective response to the problem.
Imagine that a friend from school wants to relocate his non-polluting company to the Pacific Northwest, and calls you for your trusted insight and advise. Can you honestly say that Oregon is a better place for business than Washington state? Or California, for that matter? Oregon has to compete, on the gridiron as in the C suite. Anything less than that is simply unacceptable, and it’s not just “quality of life” that hangs in the balance, but life itself. Oregon can provide the education and social services required of a great state, but the state needs increased revenue from lots of healthy companies to make it work.
Personally, I moved here in 1994 and left in 1995 after finding nothing more than temp work. I returned 13 years later with more skills and experiences under my belt, ready to propel my own engine forward. But success isn’t something a person achieves on their own. For me to be successful here, I am dependent on others being successful here. So, my concerns are both selfish and selfless. The better shape Oregon is in, the more I and every Oregonian can achieve.
Bank Simple, seeks to reinvent personal banking with modern online and mobile experiences, no surprise fees, and great customer service.
In order to do that, the company is consolidating its San Francisco and New York City offices and moving staff to Portland, where they intend to hire several more people.
A proud Mayor Adams says, “This company’s willingness to pick up and move here is another sign that the City of Portland’s Economic Development Strategy is on the right path to strengthen Portland’s economy. Two years ago, we put the plan in place and made sure to identify the Software Sector as a key industry cluster.”
“With BankSimple’s move, I feel that we made a right decision to focus on software and am optimistic that more companies are soon to follow,” says the Mayor, who is not running for re-election.
The other clusters that Portland officials are focusing on include Advanced Manufacturing, Clean Tech, (Academic) Research & Commercialization and the Athletic & Outdoor Industry.
Naturally, there are also software start-ups that are not venture backed. And I can think of plenty of other industries in Oregon that are in a good place to grow. The music and film industries, the green building and alternative energy industries, sustainable agriculture, food and beverage, professional services, tourism, retail and hospitality are all sectors that I have my ad guy’s eye on.
Yes, the economy in Oregon is sobering still, but there are signs that a turnaround is in the cards.
We moved from NE Portland to West Linn at the end of May and ever since we have been busy learning the area. I like to call it the South Shore, although I may be alone in that. Anyway, one of the things that stands out is the fact that West Linn and Oregon City, just across the river, both benefit from historic roots. In fact, it’s what keeps these towns from being suburbs, in the classic “municipalities made possible by Eisenhower-era freeways” sense.
Oregon City, of course, is the oldest city in Oregon. It’s where the Oregon Trail reached its end, and the place where white settlers filed their land claims in the new American territory. Today, more than 60 buildings in downtown Oregon City are eligible for the National Historic Register. But it’s clear that Oregon City needs help, as in economic development and urban renewal. It’s times like these that it would pay to be a multimillionaire, because the opportunities to usher in a new era of responsible growth and revitalization are immense.
There’s also significant pressure to make Oregon City a town of malls and planned communities, a move which strips some of the grit and character from the place. In my quest to understand the players and the details of the South Shore drama, I’ve been reading up on the Mayor, the City Commissioners, and plans for two massive projects–Clackamas Cove, a mixed use development on 109 acres, and The Rivers, a proposed 650,000-square-foot mall that would be built on a former landfill.
Oregon City Mayor, Doug Neely, is for the developments, but Commissioner James Nicita isn’t so sure. Nicita, a lawyer with an urban planning degree, wants to let taxpayers decide, and the developers aren’t happy about possible citizen roadblocks.
Steve Mayes of The Oregonian has been following the story. In June, Mayes reported that CenterCal, the company developing The Rivers, broke off negotiations with the city, citing a “deep division” among city commissioners, in particular two newly elected commissioners, James Nicita and Rocky Smith Jr., who both campaigned against the project.
According to Mayes, the project has been dogged by political clashes between those who see a mall as a way to turn an eyesore into a destination retail center and those who question the need for a $17.6 million subsidy. Now, negotiations between the land owner, Park Place Development, and CenterCal are at a standstill. City Manager David Frasher said, “You don’t have a project if the developer doesn’t have the land.”
Personally, I don’t think the Portland area needs another mall. You can find one a short drive in any direction from Oregon City.
Plus, a modern cookie-cutter mall is far from the only solution that will grow jobs and the tax base. What would be truly exciting is to see the organic growth of historic revitalization projects in the core of Oregon City’s downtown. That way, Oregon City remains a unique and vital place to work, live and visit. Naturally, this is the more complicated solution, one that depends on the actions of hundreds of individual investors, versus the swift moves of one or two adept developers.
I have my own ideas about what might work in Oregon City, and what I’d love to see happen there. After visiting Walla Walla last April, I can see how the urban tasting rooms model that makes Walla Walla such a desirable and walkable wine destination, might also work in Oregon City.
Why would the state’s wine industry make that kind of commitment to Oregon City, which isn’t known for producing wine? Access to the large wine-drinking population of Portland and its visitors, and cheap rents for historic properties, are two reasons why.
America is all tapped out. It’s all been discovered, mined and otherwise done. Am I right?
Of course not. There are still many special places tucked away, especially in hard to reach corners of the West. Although few places feel as tucked as Wallowa County, Oregon. It is the northeastern most county in the state, about six and half hours from Portland. The Nez Perce loved this part of the county, and fought hard to keep it. Once you see the granitic Wallowa Mountains against the aching blue sky, it’s easy to see why.
As much as I wanted to see nature’s grandeur up close, I have to admit I was also curious about Terminal Gravity in Enterprise. Terminal Gravity is one of the finest brewers in Oregon, and in the nation, and it comes from a tiny town in a remote part of the state. Naturally, that gets the wheels spinning in more ways than one. What is this place where rivers and beers flow freely, I wanted to know.
I’m happy to report that Terminal Gravity is a friendly little spot. We sampled some of the seasonal beers that they do not bottle and then came back for dinner. I ordered seared Ahi tuna and a Double IPA. That’s the thing about small town Oregon, you can place that order and have every confidence that it will be delicious upon delivery.
The next morning, we drove a few more miles over to Joseph, Oregon and found the town to be even more charming than Enterprise. We visited Wallowa Lake and then settled in for a great breakfast at Old Town Cafe, before heading to Walla Walla for the rest of the weekend.
Walla Walla in southeast Washington is another off-the-beaten path destination, although it’s much more well known than Wallowa County, Oregon. It’s well known because the wine industry has exploded in the area over the last decade (it’s also home to Whitman College). The wine business is now a $100 million a year business in Walla Walla County and wine snobs and non-snobs alike are flocking to the little city from points near and far to quaff the local vino.
There are 108 tasting rooms in Walla Walla County and 140-plus bonded wineries. The historic downtown is literally jammed with tasting rooms, the airport industrial area has another 20-plus producers and then there are the estate wineries out in the country. I love to get a feel for the land where the grapes are grown, so we focused our visits on the estate wineries south of town on this first trip to the area. We were particularly impressed with Tertulia Cellars’ Cabernet Sauvignon. We also got into some serious Syrah over at Waters Winery and had a nice picnic on their picnic table. Dusted Valley is another producer south of town that’s well regarded and well worth visiting.
For the past five years I’ve been keeping track of the trips I make during the year as a way to celebrate (and make note of) the people and places I/we had the good fortune to visit.
This year I spent at least one night in the following places (other than at home in Portland, OR):
Samish Island in Skagit County, Washington is an idyllic Puget Sound beach community. It was our great fortune to spend a relaxing week there in a beautiful beach-front home with stunning views of Bellingham Bay, Mt. Baker and Orcas Island.
We had planned to visit Orcas and maybe North Cascades National Park while there, but we found we didn’t want to leave the cozy environs of Samish and its nearby communities for long. We did venture to Bellingham, Mount Vernon and LaConner, but the little towns of Edison and Bow, just a few miles from Samish, offer essentials like lunch along the slough, bottles of wine and fresh-baked peanut butter cookies. When you include the restaurants on Chuckanut Drive, there really is no reason to wander too far.
The Oyster Bar on Chuckanut Drive–an historic road that hugs the coast–is now one of our favorite restaurants anywhere in the world. It’s a charming roadhouse with a long history and an even longer wine list. The views of Bellingham Bay and the San Juan Islands from every cozy table are enthralling. The service is impeccable and the food is pretty damn good too.
It was fun to slow down and experience the rhythms of the tide. At low tide, we saw the water retreat a quarter mile, revealing tidal pools, clamming opportunities and lots and lots of birds, particularly hungry herons. At high tide, seals came in close to see who might be playing on the beach. Of course, our girl Lucy was there to greet the sea dogs when they poked their heads up.
Overhead we saw jets coming in for Vancouver, BC landings. At night, we could see the milky way, and one evening we saw seven shooting stars in the span of an hour.
Samish Island is low key and glorious at the same time. It’s also accessible and remote. There are lots of old cabins and some impressive new homes too. There are wild berries growing along the road, crabs in the bay, and most residents have a nice garden. Samish Island–named for the Samish Indians–is nourishing, not just in food stuffs, but in spirit. It’s a great American place.
