I sometimes tell people that Astoria is strange because it started out as pure capitalist endeavor by America’s first millionaire John Jacob Astor and then soon morphed into a hot bed of Finnish socialist activity.1 Then at some point in the late 60’s and 70’s, hippies invaded Astoria and sort of froze it in time [...]
Watching the stumble bums ride their bikes is an exercise in disorientation. Interspersed among the touristing nuclear families, they stand out with their “grizzly adams” and leather boots.
My first impression of the Northwest was marveling that everyone seemed to ride a bike until certain logics took hold: Astoria is a lousy place to bike unless [...]
HelmetJohnPDF
May 31st, 2008 ~4:23pm
Every once in a while, this town can still collapse the socio-economic strata into a mishmash. I was going to say “of a bygone era” but I know that was never true. One of the things that first impressed me about the town was the level of integration between most of the [...]
march 30, 2008 6:39pm
I’m sitting in my chair looking some 16.3 miles straight ahead to the top of Saddle Mountain 1 and waiting for some sort of signal that this town is not going to be torn asunder by some fire-n-brimstone conflagration between the nastiest rednecks west of the AppalAchia and the looniest bunch of [...]
Brief notes. Fragmented, the tiny group 1 of locals that used to drink at the Voodoo seems to have migrated, whole and without interruption, over to the Fort George Brewery. Same faces (too many males, not enough females), all older (unbelievably).
I’m not sure why this place has been picked. I suspect the Rogue would [...]
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Posted 22 February 2008
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astoria oregon
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Also tagged: Annie's Uppertown Tavern, astoria oregon, Bridgewater Bistro, Gunderson's, Mary Todd's Workers Bar, memory, The Chartroom, The Labour Temple, the merry time, The Portway, Triangle Tavern, Voodoo Lounger, watering-hole
