The Mens Weekend - June 2007

Each year my friends and I take leave of responsibilities, family, and work and head to some place in Oregon for a week on our own. This year it was the Oregon Coast. 5 days of golfing, poker, blackjack and beer. We all lost our pink ladies by the 6th hole, but we found what is now our golf trophy for the coming years. We paid homage to the Chinook Indians, and we enjoyed awesome tri-tips and wine over the sunset above. As for the rest of the weekend, well that remains between the 5 of us...

The Evolution of the Ash Street Saloon

You may have wandered by it. May have even caught a band playing there any night of the week. To me this place epitomizes your typical local bar for bands, loud, old, grungy, and full of people downing beer after beer.

But there is a history to the place. Before the Ash Street Saloon started in 1994, it was a Korean Restaurant, before that a Mexican joint, and long before that it was a bookstore, and sometime around that era a barbershop as well. The place has worn many faces.

There was a restaurant called Hesse’s Café in the 1915 and 1930s next to it, they used to pass out tokens for meals to all the sailors and port workers. It also had a card room in the back that few knew about.

But it all started as the Bickle Building, built in 1885. This was where the Portland City Council would meet up stairs... below was a confectionary (candy store).

Small Anecdote to all this history -- Across the street is the Multnomah Hotel (now an Embassy Suites)… in 1905 a bi-plane took off from the roof (that was a 60 foot runway they say)… in 1996 (likely at the opening of the Embassy suites) the stunt was re-enacted.

The Other Bar by the Crystall Ballroom

Cassidy's was established in 1979, and the bar and restaurant still prides itself on high quality service and the some of the most knowledgeable bartenders in the city. It is among the top favorites of locals.

Though the city ordinance requires all bars to stop serving at 2am, last call at Cassidy's typically occurs around 2:30am all nights of the week.

History about the building and much of the bar was difficult to come by, as I think the owner thought I was scamming him when I asked to take some pictures for my book. He allowed the pictures, but I was not able to get in contact with him later to show him the finished product. Sometimes it goes that way...

Jack Bog's Blog - for those that haven't read it yet

Just wanted to give a quick mention to Jack Bog's Blog right here in Portland. Recently Jack viewed my blog and asked to use one of my images, and now it is up on his site. But aside from the photo, this is one of Portland's best blogs, if you haven't had a chance to check it out, please do so. Jack works very hard to add multiple posts per day ranging from the goings-on here in Portland, its politics, to other interesting information gathered near and far.

Uptown Billiards - The Bar Where John Wayne Drank

Pool halls still exist within Portland. But on the south end of NW 23rd there exists a small door with steps that lead to a somewhat hidden establishment unlike any other in the city. Perhaps not the most infamous pool hall to ever grace Portland, but absolutely one of the best modern pool halls in the town today.

The bar itself was built in Belgium, and sent around the Cape of South America to San Francisco before the turn of the 20th century.

In 1908 it was put on a stage coach and moved to Paisley, Oregon. Then in 1936 it was put on a flatbed truck and moved from Paisley to Redmond, Oregon. After a well-used existence, in 1994 (and much to the objection from the residents of Redmond) the bar's current owner loaded it onto a U-Haul and brought it to Portland.

In times past, it was customary for bartenders to throw their small change up on the bar at the end of the night. When the bar was detached from the wall in Redmond, people heard lots of clanking from within. They filled two containers with coins dating as far back as the 1910's, including steel pennies, mercury dimes and even a couple liberty half-dollars.

A resident of Redmond told the owner, before she hauled away the bar, that John Wayne once sat at this very bar. Apparently The Duke was filming a movie in central Oregon (most likely this would have been the famous 'Rooster Cogburn', in which Katherin Hepburn co-starred), and this bar was where he spent most of his off-hours passing the time.

Photos from Portland this Evening

Rain isn't always a bad thing, but it did shorten the walk around the city tonight. There is so much in Portland to photograph, and so very little time these days it seems to get it done right. In any case, thought I would post a couple captures from the evening.

The first is a new condo tower in The Pearl known as The Pinnacle.

The second is from the South Park Blocks, a slightly out-of-focus Lincoln staring down, if you will, on the 4 chief virtues of the Masons located on the refurbished north gallery of the Portland Art Museum. I once attended a lecture in that wing given by Oliver Stone, in the days before the remodel.

Far from the Portland Crowd - but Still Shot Dead

A couple years ago I drove to the far desert in Southeastern Oregon, and as I have mentioned in a previous post I stayed in the very small town of Frenchglen. Across from the old hotel was this collapsed home.

At the time of the town's establishment, Portland was already a major city and port on the west coast. The gold rush has ended, but there was still much money to be made farming and ranching around the Portland area, shipping these goods out of Portland down to San Francisco or up to Seattle.

But apparently, with the aid of railroad development, some intrepid individuals found their way to the high desert to seek their fortune.

From this source:

"Frenchglen was named after Pete French and Dr. Hugh Glenn who was Pete French's father-in-law. The "P" Ranch was established in 1872 as the headquarters for French-Glenn Livestock Co. Pete French owned 150,000 acres at the base of the Steens Mountain, in what is now known as the Frenchglen Valley. He was unarmed when allegedly shot and killed by Ed Oliver on December 26, 1897 over a fencing dispute."

A Sunday Post After a Weekend of Research

I spent some time this weekend doing some research for my new book, "The Streets of Portland." I have been learning much about those who first came to Portland pre-1850, and helped to build the economic foundation that would make it one of the most prosperous cities on the West Coast in the 1800's, just behind San Francisco. One of these men went by the name of Couch (for those not from Portland this is pronounced "kooch"), and I will have more on him later.

For now, I am posting this pic of the First Presbyterian Church on SW Alder. It is just down from where I work, and its construction is owed to Couch. I snapped this picture last fall.

The Burning Bush of Eastern Oregon

A few days ago I posted a picture from the Oregon Coast. This evening I thought I would display a photo taken from a trip a while back to The Steens in southeastern Oregon. While I shot this with a small Canon P&S, 11 wild horses stood 50 yards behind me. I am sure they were critiquing as well.

We stayed at the hotel in Frenchglen. A small outpost about 30 minutes from the Steens mountains. I have lived in Oregon almost my entire life, and yet it took me 30 years to make it to the far desert of Oregon. It is a quiet and serene place, and I recommend everyone go there at least once.

Start of the new Book Project: The Streets of Portland

Today marks the unofficial start to my new project, The Streets of Portland. Actually it isn't just me, I have help from a few fellow photogs who are collaborating with me on it. The book will be a historical view of the named streets in downtown Portland, along with accompanying photographs taken from myself, Byron, Rick, and Miles. The next few weeks will be light in terms of work (research and writing - minor snaps of pics here and there), but I am hoping come mid-July to be able to kick the process up a notch or three in time for publishing in the fall.

A Silver Sunset off the Oregon Coast

As my new project, The Streets of Portland, begins to take shape it is time to dust off the lens cover... re-learn high-pass sharpening techniques...all the stuff I forgot in the past 6 months while I was busy marketing my book. This photo was taken in Neskowin, OR, a few weeks ago just after the sun had set past the horizon.

The Freemason Lodge that Serves Liquor and Culture

Tucked away on the east side of Portland on Stark Street you will find a small strip of businesses. One of the buildings occupying this block is a split level bar known as the Goodfoot (a James Brown reference no doubt). Upstairs you find a pool hall with classic pinball machines in the corner. After 8pm each evening the downstairs will open all days of the week, hosting local musical acts in a basement atmosphere, where the candlelight dances on the tables and the blue-lit bar serves drinks throughout the performances.

For me, Portland is a city of transformation. Bars with music acts alone are all well and good, but the unique aspect of the Goodfoot is its Last Thursdays, where local artists display their works around the red felt tables that stand on hardwood floors once the domain of an old Freemason Lodge. Still today the faint markings of the t-cross and sextant can be seen on these floors, the symbol of the Masons.

After a couple of pints, and tilting one of the pinball machines, I settle into a corner booth on the upper level to purvey a scene of locals that drift in between the pool players, drinks in hand, eyeing the paintings hung on the walls that surround the pool room.

A variety of people live in this neighborhood, many appear to be local. The First Thursday crowd of the modern Pearl District are nowhere to be seen. I find myself asking, is this a place where art imitates life, or life imitates the art? Music from a bass guitar riff rumbles against the wood floor as the band takes the stage below. In a bar full of people, I am left alone in my corner, at yet with no one at my table, I feel oddly at home. The Goodfoot represents all that is wonderful about Portland. This place doesn’t simply want to just cater alcohol to its customers; it offers a voice in Southeast Portland. Part art gallery, part social gathering place, part musical display.

The Goodfoot has its own personality. In my booth I hear its voice asking me, “What do you have to contribute?” And my response, is nothing more than to take a mental snapshot of a new breed of bar, and reply back with, “Do you think I have it in my soul to become a new breed of man?” The answer returned is silence intermixed with the sounds of cue balls, clinking glasses, and snare drums from below.

My first commercial photo at Southpark

About a year ago, while I was running around like a mad man gathering photographs and content for my book, I happened upon the bar at Southpark. After the owner saw my photographs, she purchased this one (the second one down on the page) for her website. I was proud of that shot. I believe the bartender in the pic is still there. I reccomend to all to drop by the bar on a late evening, it is a great place for quite atmosphere and first class drinks. And if you're into wine, they have quite the cellar selection.

A Call from Florida

This week I am down in the capitol of Tallahasse on a business trip. The only true nightlife I am able to find are the ever-circling moths that dash about the street light in the parking lot of my hotel as I stagger back from the office at an ungodly hour. As for the bars, though I have not had time to bend an arm in one, I can tell you there is a lot of flavor down here. Catering to both locals, and the Gator alumi.

Things these past weeks have been so-so, McMenamins loved my book, they thought it was great and asked to carry it. The problem however, my book is self-published, making it rather costly to produce on-demand. Unfortunately the price which would have allowed McMemanins to carry the book, would have cost me money, an no where near a break-even. Breaking-even I might have gone with, after all this experience was about creating the book and sharing it. I was never in it for the profits. But time goes on, and soon you might find some copies of the book soon at a local art dealer on SW 10th and Morrison, by the MAX stop. Even if you wouldn't buy it, flip though some pages, and let me know.

The word apparently is getting out as well that I am seeking other like minded individuals to collaborate with me on my next project. It wont be about bars, but I am thinking of something devoted to the streets, and street life in Portland, both from today, and days long passed. If you might be a writer, artist, or photographer and would like to join in this adventure, let me know. I have been contacted by a writer and two photographers to date.

Here is a shout to a website for a photographer who might help on this new collaboration:

www.portlandground.com

Back in a few, and warmer days are ahead.

What others are saying about my book

Another Portland blogger was kind enough to check out my book, and in turn I must say thanks by posting her review here. Divebarwife also provides some interesting tales from other areas of the Portland bar scene, click the link below for her blog:
Divebarwife