The Fair: Things to buy

Let’s look at some fun things to purchase at the fair.

An interesting insurance requirement, which I assume has to do with child trafficking or pornography, or something along those lines.

img_5990

I also enjoy the sign added to bring our attention to the steampunk possibilities, as well as the display of the woman with very large breasts.  (Note that my enjoyment for the second is in its obviousness.)img_5991

You are missing something for your wrist, aren’t you?  This shop can help you.img_5992

These dogs walk forward and also perhaps bark.img_5993

No need to cover up your angel wings.  Here they are in rhinestone hoodie, with or without pink corset laces.img_5994

The food at this fair was sub-par. There were no churches selling specialty things, no Jobs Daughters selling baked potatoes.  We ended up with generic Yakisoba, made more fun by watching the X-Treme Air Dogs.  In the background you can see the fairlift.img_5995

Later, we got stuff at the Dairywomen’s booth.img_6037

Matt poses with a certain presidential candidate.  He didn’t want to get too close.img_6203

I know you needed a telescopic flagpole.  This is your place.img_6204

I wouldn’t have though the OR DOJ would have a booth at the fair, but here they were.img_6205

The fair is very cannabis-friendly, including this booth and there was a category of home-grown strains.img_6206

For the serious quilter in your life.img_6207

Same booth, a version of the Cinderella dress.img_6208

Why spend your time embroidering, when this machine can do it for you?img_6209

It’s Mr. Statue!  He’s usually in downtown Portland, but he made an appearance at the fair.img_6210

The Fair: The animals we saw

We started at the Horse Stadium where some showing was going on.img_5956

Then we wandered through and saw the cows getting gussied up. (Note embellished pockets on the cow handler.)img_5977

And also cows napping.img_5978

Two-week -old calves are hard to resist, apparently.img_5979

Mooi was sleeping, though, so we did not get to pet Mooi.img_5980

This goat was all for the petting, though.img_5982

Pigs were being shown.  We also encountered them on their way back to their pens after being shown.  Those pigs are pretty big up close.img_5983

Angora!img_5985

Pygmy goats!img_5986

I bet these guys don’t look quite so pretty when not at the fair.img_5989

Later in the day we stopped by the Extreme Creature Feature and saw all sorts of interesting creatures.

Like these turtles!img_6082

And this snake.img_6083

And my favorite:  the Alligator Snapping turtle.img_6090

They sit with their mouths open until some fish mistakes their tongue for something interesting and then SNAP!  Fish is dinner.img_6091 img_6092

There were also birds.  Like this parrot.img_6093

Some snakes had just hatched.  You can see the now-empty eggshell.img_6094

This made me think of Leath.img_6095

I loved these albino frogs.img_6098

This alligator seemed quite large.img_6102

Our last picture from the Extreme Creature Feature is this snake.img_6103

Great detail outside the Historic Poultry Building.img_6211

The bunnies were in the poultry building, too.  Here’s a pretty one.img_6212

Fluffy chickens.img_6213

And this fella.  Who looks pretty chill.  img_6215

The fair. Just getting started.

Here we are at the Oregon State Fair!  Hooray!  I love the fair.

One thing I noticed about the fair this year?  A lot of embellished pockets of jeans.  Like on this lady.img_5955

Matt takes a look at some fish.img_5958

The fair is a great place to come if you are thinking about Naturescaping.img_5959

A very good quote by Mr. Dickens.img_5960

Matt beats the kids to the mini-earth movers.  (There are advantages to arriving as the fair opens.)img_5961

To begin, we took the Fairlift so we could get a good overview.img_5963

The Fairlift gives some insights into the backstage area of the fair.  Look at all those prizes!img_5965

Were you looking for some sunglasses?  If you buy them here you get a free string!img_5966

Self-portrait from the Fairlift.

img_5967

The fair wouldn’t be my first choice for Body Piercing.img_5968

But Henna seems the right level of commitment.img_5969

At this booth you could check out the things that god cannot do. (We never walked by this  booth, so I’m not sure what the three things were.)img_5970

Trust them. They have your flag.img_5971

A view of the other Fairlift seats.  It was early, so they were mostly empty.img_5972

What’s happening behind the scenes of the Corndog tent.img_5973

Matt plots our day of events. img_5976

To be continued!

Hiking the Gorge: Larch Mountain

In which we attempt to go to Sherrad Point, but are thwarted by our hiking book’s directions.IMG_5938

In which we return to where we were and hike up to the picnic area, only to figure out where we went wrong.IMG_5939

Poor form!  Someone left a bottle of water for someone else to clean up.  We took it home and recycled it.  Shortly after this point, I tripped and full-body flopped to the ground.  My camera went flying, but thankfully tumbled onto soft needles and wasn’t damaged.  I put the camera away, so as to not court more danger.  So there are fewer photos of this trip.IMG_5940

Bridge timer photo.IMG_5941

Matt crosses the bridge.IMG_5942

We had just missed huckleberry season.IMG_5943

Abrupt change in trail elevation.
IMG_5945

And we make it back to our starting position.  This was a fun hike and we saw few people.  We’ve made plans to go back in May or June as a lot of the hike runs along a creek.  In late August, the creek had run dry, so it would be fun to go back and compare.IMG_5946

Portland Actor’s Ensemble Love’s Labour’s Lost

We’ve managed to attend both of PAE’s performances this year.  I appreciate how they begin with a tragedy and end with a comedy.IMG_5883

The Kings court, discussing the decree.IMG_5886

Our performance was ASL interpreted, which was cool.IMG_5892

Enrique Andrade (the Spanish voice of TriMet) as Don Armando.IMG_5895

Accompanied by the quite young and charming Manuel Avalos as Moth.IMG_5896

Kaelea Saplan as the Princess (in this version she is not from Aquitaine, just a run-of-the-mill princess.)  She was quite good as was LD McClure as Boyet.IMG_5904

I loved the 50s costuming.IMG_5905 IMG_5909

Including the boys glee club vibe.IMG_5910 IMG_5911

Costard (Jeremy Urann) had the rustic-cum-greaser down pat.IMG_5913

This production also had some excellent musical interludes like this one set to the Theme from a Summer Place where the attendants advanced their romances via sports.IMG_5915

I loved this moment Jessica Hillenbrand as Rosline slays Andy Haftkowycz as Berowne with a single look.IMG_5917

The girls post wooing.IMG_5918

Phillip Giesy and Paige McKinney played Sir Nathaniel and Holofernia and were excellent comic relief.IMG_5921 IMG_5922

The second act began with Emma Holland (Jaquenetta) and Jeremy Urann doing a fun dance.IMG_5927 IMG_5928 IMG_5931

The prince and his attendants disguised themselves as Muscovites to court the ladies.  These Muscovites come as Russian-style gangsters.  The ladies also have disguised themselves and come prepared for the men.  There is more wooing to the sound of Hernado’s Hidaway.IMG_5936

After that it was too dark for photos, but know that it all ended somewhat happily ever after. I find this play ends rather abruptly.

Yet another excellent evening with PAE.

Hiking the Gorge: Angel’s Rest

It’s another early Sunday morning and time for another hike.  This was a quick up-and-back to Angel’s Rest.

The Columbia River from not-so-much elevation.IMG_5653

Matt on the trail.  He would like you to note his good calf definition.IMG_5654

Can you see the hidden falls?IMG_5655

Hollow logIMG_5656

Bunny!IMG_5657

Taking stock of if we are there yet.

IMG_5658 IMG_5659

We now have a map.  It did not help as much as the trail runner who happened by.IMG_5660

We make it to Angel’s Rest.IMG_5661

The angels have many rocks on which to rest.IMG_5662

Two angels, resting.IMG_5663

I forgot to take this picture at the beginning, so here it is at the end.IMG_5664

What happens when you forget to unzoom before taking the self-portrait.IMG_5665

More successful shot.  But not a great one.  What is Matt looking at?IMG_5667

On this hike there were long discussions of Girls Season 4, which I had just finished watching.  Also Enterprise, which Matt is working his way through.

Portland Actors Ensemble: Coriolanus

I forgot my camera, which was unfortunate as there were times in this play when my fingers itched to be grabbing photos.  These two were taken with my phone. (And one of them doesn’t want to load in its correct orientation)IMG_20160709_184133

IMG_20160709_202554

We made this not-often-produced play a priority and I’m glad we did because the location of Pettygrove Park was a good one.  The sculpture “The Dreamer” and the hills where the audience sat added a lot to the setting. Fun Wikipedia fact:  the mounded hills inspired this park’s nickname: Mae West Park.  Further opinion:  I’m not sure anyone actually uses this nickname anymore. Or if they ever did.

The sculpture was used as a device to manufacture sound.  One of the actors “played” it with rubber mallets during battle scenes which added  a lot to the action.

The play was tight and held my attention, despite the intermittent rain. Arthur Delaney was a solid Coriolanus.  We’ve seen him before in other productions.  I also enjoyed Allison Rangel and Heidi Kay Hunter as the two tribunes.

Aside from the rain, this performance provided us unique theater-in-the-park experience.  During the climax, a passerby wandered into the action, first touching Ken Yoshikawa on the back during an intense interchange with Arthur Delaney.  Ken turned to see what was happening and then turned back and kept going.

The man retreated to sit with the audience on the hills talking loudly to himself, with a woman–possibly the stage manger–trying to coax him away.  Just as the cast erupted into the final fight scene the man ran into the fray, grabbing Arthur Delaney by the back of the neck.

“Back the fuck off, asshole!” Allison Rangel’s voice rang out as she broke character advancing on the man as everyone stopped.  He retreated immediately.  “That’s right, keep going,” she yelled as he disappeared.  Everyone, actors and audience, stared, following his retreat.  “I apologize,” she continued, addressing the audience, “That’s my boyfriend,” she said, meaning Delaney.

In the manner of all unexpected situations things were quiet for a beat before one of the actors asked, “Shall we start the fight scene over?” There was a mutter of agreement, the cast reset and we watched Coriolanus be killed for his betrayal.

Rangel’s quick action in a scary situation and the actors carrying on while most of them must have been completely freaked out brought home what a solid production this was.  We won’t soon forget Coriolanus.

Gorge Hike: Wahkeena Falls to Multnomah Falls

We got up early on Father’s Day and took a hike in the Gorge. It was a beautiful day for a hike.  Plus, there were Father’s Day hikers to spot.

The plan was to start at Wahkeena Falls, hike up and across and come down by Multnomah Falls.  It was a good plan.IMG_5580

Matt poses by some falls.  There were a lot of falls.IMG_5587

Self-portrait with falls.IMG_5588

More falls.IMG_5589 IMG_5590 IMG_5591

Either J or C, or possibly both, had recently been here.IMG_5592

Sadly, my camera battery was near death and I didn’t have the spare with me, so pictures were rationed.

Matt wanted me to take this picture.  I obliged.IMG_5593

Multnomah Falls.IMG_5594

There were a million people at Multnomah Falls.  There were a million people celebrating Father’s Day.  Here’s one family right here.IMG_5595

And here is a biker eating a cookie as big as his face.IMG_5596

It was a good hike and my legs were uniformly sore for the next few days.

McMenamins Crystal Ballroom Tour (Plus the Barley Mill Pub)

Time for more stamps.  Here we are waiting for our tour of the Crystal Ballroom.  And here is yet another stunning light fixture in Ringler’s Pub.IMG_5327

The brewery at the Crystal Ballroom.  This totally counted as a brewery tour.  Score!IMG_5328

Our guide leans against a pole in Lola’s Room, the smaller concert venue.  He apologized for being under the weather, but still managed to tell us many interesting facts.  IMG_5330

The Crystal Ballroom is not impressive to Matt at all.IMG_5333

These fabulous chandeliers, of which they are two, were in storage at a bank. McMenamins bought them and installed them.  That bank missed out, because that’s hand-blown Italian glass by some important dude.  Because not too many examples of his work exist these chandeliers are worth more than a million dollars.  (Note to self.  Make quick notes of tour facts so you can be more precise when writing the blog post.)IMG_5334

Self portrait with Matt on stage at the Crystal Ballroom.  This is where I saw .fun –or use this link if you want to actually see the pictures–and Matt and I saw Cake.

IMG_5338

Girls pose on stage.IMG_5339

A view from the balcony.  IMG_5340

After getting our stamps for the Crystal Ballroom, Lola’s Room and the Brewery Tour we headed over to the Crystal Hotel. Here was the answer to the photo quiz.IMG_5342

Then we had to skulk about waiting for Al’s Den to open.  I loved reading about Club Portland which was the gay bathhouse that was the previous tenant of the Crystal Hotel.  It was still Club Portland when I moved here.IMG_5343

And I adore this clever advertising for the four club baths.  See how the picture changes for each location?IMG_5345

Crystal Ballroom and Hotel completed, we popped over to the Barley Mill Pub to get our last stamp on that page.  We stayed for dinner and our free fries or tots.  Here, Matt reads the “One Day” column from the Mercury to me.IMG_5346

There is a lot of Grateful Dead stuff at the Barley Mill Pub.IMG_5347

Including this great collage of Grateful Dead tickets.  I was pleased to find that the show I saw (Eugene ’94 with Cracker) was in the lower left corner.IMG_5348

We are getting closer and closer to completing our passports.

McMenamins Hotel Oregon

McMinnville is further away than I thought, but we eventually got there.IMG_5070

I was hungry, so we walked up (and up, and up, and up) to the Rooftop Bar, which was great!  And is probably simply marvelous in the summer.IMG_5072

After we ate, we walked around outside and Matt posed for a picture with the pointy thing.IMG_5073

We went looking for the answer to the clue, which was “Kiss Me I’m Irish”.  This woodcut was not the answer, but I thought it was incredible.IMG_5074

I took a picture of this one because it was the most Irish one I had come across.  It was not, however, the answer.IMG_5076

Hey look! It’s a room named after Oregon’s most famous Suffragette.IMG_5077

This was the answer to the clue.  Tough one.  I’m not sure if Matt found it on his own (I tend to dawdle when looking) but I heard someone point it out to someone else.  I’m not sure if I would have noticed it on my own.IMG_5078

My completed page.  The Rooftop Bar guy stamped my first stamp in the wrong place. And then the Pub guy stamped that square in the wrong place.  So it got all messed up.  Matt’s was fine, however.IMG_5085

Our prizes.  I opted for the two magnets.  (An $11.00 value).  Matt opted for a sleeve for his pint glass.  Then he wondered why.IMG_5086

On the way back to the car we encountered this duo, who were dancing to Beyonce’s “Put a Ring on It”.  They were fun to watch.2016-03-05