Time: 2:00 pm
Temp: 59 degrees F (feels like 59)
Conditions: Mostly cloudy, wind 8 mph
Distance: 1.8 miles out, 1.9 miles back (3.7 miles total)
This part of the Library Challenge is like getting to the heart of the artichoke - it's the best part: Running downtown. More people to run around, but also more to see. Too bad I'll be passing back out of here so quickly. But for now...
First interesting sight: A Peculiarium, a combination joke shop and game store. Cool, hope they do well with that. They're in the right consumerist neighborhood (Northwest 23rd area) for it.
And from stores for people who need more stuff, just 2 blocks later a guy who has (I assume) just what he needs:
Just a little further on, a nice view of the Fremont Bridge from below. Fun, because it's usually viewed from the top as I zoom over it:
And then...Whisk(e)y Town. I love how they put the 'e' in there as optional, so no one can complain they spelled it wrong.
And of course, you shouldn't have a Whisk(e)y Town without a dumpster and an ambulance nearby:
A quick jaunt past two small city parks, Tanner Springs (lots of foliage) and Jamison, which features water in the summer, and is lined by a funky cool wobbly-looking, leaning wall.
And less than 2 miles from the start, the majestically large Central Library:
Immediately upon entering, visitors encounter this beautiful marble staircase, with inspirational words engraved on every few steps, like EXPLORE, CREATE, and BECOME. They actually encourage kids to bring sheets of paper and make tracings of the designs, so they can take part of the library home with them. Nice.
At the top floor (where the CDs are), there were many aisles of books, as well as some nice views of the library below and the light rail train outside.
I also passed some people waiting patiently, in the Collins Gallery, for...what?
As I was leaving the top floor, I found out. It was a two-person performance...Shakespeare perhaps? Sorry to say I didn't stay long enough to find out. But it was pretty lively, volume-wise, for a public library. And the audience seemed quite entertained.
On to the CDs: This time for some reason I was drawn to some harder/stronger stuff. Dillinger Escape Plan is one of those bands I've read a lot about ("critical darlings") but haven't heard much. And Front 242, well that looked interesting just from the cover art, and that it took a few minutes just to figure out who was the band and what was the album title. (Album art with no text can indicate some great music, with some good examples by Porcupine Tree, or arguably the masters of the practice (thanks to Storm Thorgerson), Pink Floyd.
Heading north toward Burnside, I jogged past Providence Park (recently renamed from Jeld-Wen Field, formerly PGE Park, previously Civic Stadium, before that Multnomah Stadium, which was originally Multnomah Field). Many red-scarved people were milling about the front, and I realized that I was about to miss another performance, this one by the Portland Thorns soccer team. Guess it's good I did, as they suffered their first loss of the season, 0-1 to the Seattle Reign (haha, good name).
A quick run back down 21st and 23rd Avenues, past a local Trader Joe's to pick up some cheese and bananas (because, you can always use bananas), and past my favorite float tank place, then back to the starting point, the Northwest Library.
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LAST WEEK'S MUSIC
Charles Mingus, Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus (1963)
I don't listen to much jazz, but when I do, it's the masters of the 50's and 60's - Brubeck, Monk, and in this case Mingus. This album had a few tracks with a big band feel to them, including this one. Random thought: I prefer rock music, but I often whistle along in a jazz style, improvising over the straightforward rhythms and note structures. Maybe that's why I like rock so much: It's very "predictability" allows me to be adventurous in my interactions with it. Hmmm...
Yaz, Reconnected: Live (2010)
And then there's Yaz (known as Yazoo in the UK), a synth-pop duo from the early 80's who didn't release much but were well-regarded because of their powerhouse singer, Alison Moyet, and ultra-talented songwriter/keyboard player Vince Clarke, who had left Depeche Mode (who did just fine without him, thanks to equally talented songwriter/keyboard player Martin Gore). A friend of mine suggested I give their debut album a chance, and judging by this live retrospective reunion release from 2010, I think I should have. It's good stuff!
This was one of your best. I want EVERYBODY to read your blog!
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