Photo by Rich Oskin

As gas prices are rising local Portlanders are looking for alternate means of commuting around town. Bicycles are a number one as far as this city goes (we all know that!). But have you noticed more mopeds on the road? We’re talking small motorized engines with pedals here–not scooters! I certainly have.

According to founder and co-owner Patrick Fitzgibbons, local scooter shop P-Town Scooters has been selling new Tomos mopeds by the half dozen load every week. Portland Craigslist has been popping up quite a few vintage ones as well.

In my personal opinion, it’s a great thing that more people are hopping out of their cars and riding mopeds. They are efficient little machines that get about 100 miles per gallon. The vintage mopeds can be a bit of a pain with how much you have to repair the aging parts and mechanisms but so worth it once you get it running.

Now–for full disclosure–I am a part of the local moped gang Puddle Cutters, a part of the national Moped Army. Much like the local bicycle culture, we have our own scene. What is amazing beyond the transportation issue is that Portland produces such unique subcultures such as this one.

The Puddle cutters are having our annual rally this weekend, Hold My Beer, This is Going to be Awesome. We are raffling off a brand new Tomos moped with the generosity of P-Town Scooters. Raffle is this Sunday at Plan B, 5PM. Don’t miss out on the other events, rides, and parties either!

I sat here for awhile trying to figure out the best title for this post. Alas, there it is. I have decided to leave Portland Metblogs and try something new. I want to thank Metroblogging for the opportunity to write here over the years. I especially want to thank all the readers and commenters who have come and gone leaving behind amazing discussions. YOU are why I wrote. Now off to another adventure. Take care. Be well. Live long and prosper. So say we all. Best of luck. Godspeed. Keep on Keepin’ on. Just deal.

Your Portland blogger,

Dieselboi (aka Brett)

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Originally uploaded by dieselboi

Yesterday, when it was sunny, I walked about 2/3rds of the Rose Festival Parade route looking for duct tape. The good news is that people who normally were taping and reserving spots almost 2 weeks before the parade got the message. The bad news is that today, someone used spraypaint to reserve their spot.

According to the City, “The use of duct tape, chalk, paint or unattended personal property, such as lawn chairs, to mark or reserve a spot along the parade route is prohibited. “

Now, I wonder if the Portland Police are going to be out enforcing said ban. It is a $100 fine if you are caught. Will they go out Friday evening/Saturday morning passing out fines? Will they let it slide this first year? Anyone know how to get stats on that?

Oh, and to be honest, this actually may mean Tower as in placement of. But hey, let’s get this party started!

Duct tape

Originally uploaded by dieselboi

I was very proud of Portland this weekend. One of my good friends had a friend in visiting from Ireland, while we were at work she spent the day taking advantage of the weak dollar and shopping her little heart out up and down Hawthorne, Trendy-Third and Lloyd Center. Friday night was then dinner out before we headed over to the Doug Fir for a show. VHS or Beta were the headliners - it was the second time I’d seen them there, and they didn’t disappoint - the opening acts Another Cynthia and Tiger City were also fantastic - and of course the Doug Fir is just a great place to see a show. So we had a great time with what we were doing - but really I was so proud of our people.

Our Irish friend was in the states because she’d gone to Coachella with other friend, after that she spent a few days in L.A. - and about midway through Friday evening she told us how sad it is that when Europeans come to visit the States that they concentrate so much on L.A. and N.Y.C. - because that night, that wasn’t even over yet, was way more fun than the entire time in the LA area. We made new friends with boys and girls, meeting and chatting up with all kinds of strangers outside on the patio and downstairs dancing to the bands. She was overwhelmed with how friendly everyone was - and that they didn’t make snap judgments on people based on appearance. She was heading up to Vancouver B.C. Saturday morning, so she got to spend less than 48 hours in Portland, but couldn’t stop talking about how much she loved it here, and that next time she comes she’s skipping California and spending her time in Portland.

Thanks Portland - for being good people!

This is spectacular. And not because I’m trying to encourage underage drinking - I was a very wholesome child actually. I only had one or two drinks ever before starting college. But it’s awesome because it’s so simple - yet big enough to end up on The Smoking Gun.

More than half the kids at that school probably have the computer skills to replicate the school’s stationary and make the letter seem official. When I was in school we had a printed directory with every students name and address - I’m guessing now it’s online somewhere where creating a list to do a simple mail merge is also a piece of cake.

But wow - I bet the administrators and parents are in an uproar. Now, I do think that the legal drinking age should be 18 - i’s ridiculous that they can go to war and die, vote, get married, have babies… but not have a beer. So I think that makes the uproar even more hysterical.

And really, did it cause any harm? No. It was a senior prank - and a good one.
If I knew who did it, I’d buy ‘em a beer… after they turn 21 of course.

Oh yes - bald headed men are S-E-X-Y!!

And even more so when they - and women too - are going bald to help raise money for kids with cancer.

This weekend is the 6th annual St. Baldrick’s hair-raising event for children cancer research. The Rose City Rollers are donating a portion of the proceeds from their bout on Sat. to St. Baldrick’s - and a couple of the girls are shaving their heads at the event. Then on Sunday the Barracuda downtown turns from a frightening meat-market pick-up joint into a festival family-fun atmosphere with the highlight being more than 100 people getting their heads shaved in support of these kids and raising money for research.

My friend’s dad is one of those getting his head shaved in support of a little boy named Gabriel. We joke that he doesn’t have much hair left to shave, but that all 12 strands are going. He volunteers with the Children’s Cancer Association and is close to a lot of these little kids. It’s a pretty cool thing.

There are fun activities for kids and families on Sunday, so if you’re looking for something to do with the kids…take ‘em to Barracuda (how funny is it to say that?!) And help the Portland St. Baldrick’s team get to their goal.

I walked over the Steel bridge the other evening and came up towards the Rose Quarter and saw that this hillside overlooking the train tracks had seen some severe pruning. A bunch of small established trees had been cut down and left along with some brush. Upon closer investigation, I realized only trees that would block a perfect photo opportunity for the city of Portland were trimmed down.

I remember a story about 15 years ago about some large trees in the west hills down off I5 that were topped grossly and the only explanation was that homeowners wanted a better view of the east side. Is this the case here or is this planned pruning? Anyone know? If you are looking for a great photo opp, now you have it.

This is taken right to the east of the big peace symbol looking over the train tracks south of the Steel bridge.

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Originally uploaded by dieselboi

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(Note: you must be registered to vote. If you’re not sure about the terms, you may want to read the post before voting.)

The media landscape has changed dramatically over the last decade, with ownership concentrating in fewer corporate hands, and with declining newspaper circulation and ad revenue. Eric Alterman eulogizes the late, great big city daily in a recent New Yorker.

Our home-town daily struggles to maintain relevance with a proxy Web site, and tragi-comedically cautious style which has seen them sit on important stories (see Packwood and Goldschmidt) to protect their powerful friends, even as they pursue Pulitzers for fluffy human interest reporting.

Meanwhile, blogs have sprung up like weeds in the fertile soil once covered by paid journalists, with citizen journalists pouring forth millions of column inches daily, completely free of the stodgy old constraints of artificial objectivity. (more…)

 Do you have an opinion about Portland politics?  Have you had a wonderful or horrible meal somewhere in Portland?  Did you see some ironic or just plain cool graffiti somewhere in and around Portland?  Did you happen to see an urban chicken wandering down your sidewalk?  Are you a recent transplant who want to ask Portlanders why we do things the way we do?  Want to write about it?  Well, we here at Portland Metblogs would like to give you the opportunity to tell your Portland story here on the blog.  You can write pretty much anything, we only ask that your post be related to Portland and that you own your words.  Authors for Portland Metblogs come and go and everyone is appreciated.  We always enjoy having new and fresh voices join the fold.

If you are interested in writing for us, please email me directly at dieselboi@gmail.com and we’ll chat.

I’m not really sure if this is serious or not… I drive past it every day, but can’t figure out where it’s pointing to for these “Barber Babes.” I was finally awake enough today to pull over and snap a shot… it makes me giggle every time though.