Veterans Day Parade, 11/11/11, No. 4

37th Annual Ross Hollywood Veterans Day Parade

I’m on the TV news, at the parade! Watch the video here! My friend Diane, who is the mother of an active duty serviceman, and I had a great time, waving at everyone and thanking those veterans within earshot. We're right after Art, the reporter, says, "It's an honor everyone says is well-deserved." I put my camera down, she waves and I clap. It's a hoot!

I thoroughly enjoyed the rumble of many motorcycles at the start of the parade.

The only motorcyclist I could identify as a woman. She looks like she's having a blast! And she must ride quite a bit because you can see those patches there beneath her right elbow--the bottom one reads "10,000 Miles." At the top of the that column of patches is one that reads "HOG Mileage Est. 1995." HOG stands for Harley Owners Group. On the back of her jacket is a huge patch that reads "Sunset Chapter Tigard Oregon HOG Harley Owners Group." Way cool.


Obviously veterans are among this group of motorcyclists. Many had decals on their windshields and patches on their jackets in support of their service and other veterans.


How about the coonskin cap? I think from this angle you really get an idea of how it looks stretched over a motorcycle helmet.


Super cool flags. He swerved back and forth for several hundred feet before he reached the intersection that represented the end of the parade route.

Then a group of motorcycles appeared at the end of the parade. I don't know if they're the same people, though. I surmise that they are.

Here's the motorcyclist flashing a thumbs up to parade participants on motorcycles. Neat!


This patriotic motorcycle with a sidecar looks so cool.




A couple of nice smiles on those last two motorcyclists.

Veterans Day Parade, 11/11/11, No. 3

37th Annual Ross Hollywood Veterans Day Parade


Periodically this motorcyclist walked out to a parade participant or vehicle, paused at attention and/or saluted the veterans. Brought a tear to my eye and a catch in my breath every single time he did it. Brought a smile to every single person he saluted. I felt very good to see such respect in action.


He always made sure there was a stoppage in the parade's motion before approaching a vehicle.

Veterans Day Parade, 11/11/11, No. 2

37th Annual Ross Hollywood Veterans Day Parade


This veteran's hat reads Special Forces across the front.


Gotta love his furry passenger.

Veterans Day Parade, 11/11/11, No. 1

37th Annual Ross Hollywood Veterans Day Parade


Look closely and you can see through the windshield, Dr. George Timmons, Grand Marshall of the 37th annual Ross Hollywood Veterans Day Parade. Found this on the Internet about Dr. Timmons: Army veteran Dr. George Timmons, 91, of Portland, will serve as this year’s Grand Marshal. Timmons was originally sent to the Pacific Ocean Theater of WWII as a member of a military band. However, he soon traded his trombone for a rifle and became part of the Army’s 41st Division’s fight with the Japanese on Biak Island off New Guinea’s Papua coast. Following his military service he served as assistant dean of education at Portland State University and led a swing orchestra for several years.


Hard to believe Dr. Timmons is 91 years old! Note the six-shooter door handle on the Cadillac El Dorado. Accentuated on the trunk lid, the car's nickname, El Moo, a la the steer horns mounted on the hood, no doubt.

A night of firsts

Today is Veterans Day. Support those who served and their families, plus those currently serving. Thank you.


Last night, I went to the Laurelhurst Theater for the first time. I saw Alfred Hitchcock's 1954 classic film, "Rear Window," on the big screen for the first time. I walked home from the movie theater, a total of 10 blocks, for the first time since I was a little girl in Norco, Louisiana, a suburb of New Orleans.

Back then, the movie theater was a couple of blocks away, and I remember going several Saturdays to watch episodes of a serial. Don't remember which one, but I vividly remember walking down the shell road in the trailer park where we lived, walking toward the street perpendicular to the road between two rows of trailers, walking toward the levee that enclosed the Mississippi River. That levee soared above me, it seemed. I remember once seeing the smokestack of some sort of ship moving slowly by. I was in elementary school, maybe eight years old. I was short which added to my impression of the height of the levee. I remember that the smokestack was blue and white and yellow; there might have been a star on it. And here's why I only saw several episodes--my Daddy's job, building water cooling towers for industrial purposes, took us from place to place all across the country. The longest we lived anywhere was three months, the shortest overnight in Enid, Oklahoma--the supplies to build the cooling tower were not on site, so we were sent back to Borger, Texas, to work on another one there.

I don't have any trouble remembering scenes and the setting and the plot of "Rear Window." It is my favorite film, probably seen it on TV a dozen times. I feel blessed to have been able to see it tonight on the big screen. I never get tired of watching Jimmy Stewart act, seemingly without effort. I never get tired of watching Grace Kelly glow on screen. The characters played by Thelma Ritter, Wendall Corey and Raymond Burr-all so well done. And let's not forget the folks who lived in the other apartments overlooking the courtyard. Intriguing to be sure. No wonder Jimmy Stewart's character couldn't stop watching. He could go no where else, so he found the perfect way to spend time.


The lobby, looking toward the box office.


The theater where I watched "Rear Window." There are narrow, rectangular tables in part of the seating area, on every other row, I think. Until everyone ate their slices of pizza they'd bought in the lobby, I have to admit to sensory confusion--smelling pizza in a movie theater struck me as weird.

And the icing on the cake, this delicious neon all over the marquee.

Music moves.

Early. Meandering? Hardly. Focused. Ready. Drum. Tambourine. Somewhere. Music!

Red hat, red hat, where you at?

On her head, on her head, red hat said.

Red sunglasses, red sunglasses,
Who dat reflecting in the door, passing?

Why it's a pretty woman, blonde
And slender, hon.

Backpack on and steppin' out
Ready for the day, there's no doubt.

Street-level matching accessories

Couldn't resist taking this photo after work last Friday. I got off the bus at the east end of the Hawthorne Bridge for the express purpose of photographing fall foliage. I walked south, then west on the bridge approach to take a few photos. As I traced my path back to the bus stop to catch one home, she popped up, a street-level matching accessory to Nature's paint brush. You see them, don't you? The red jacket, green bag, and rust-colored purse. They match the foliage, fall and otherwise.


I kept walking towards the corner, going the same direction she did, once the light changed. The view to the right. These cars are coming off the east end of the Hawthorne Bridge. More street-level matching accessories.


The view as I stopped for the traffic signal on the corner of SW 1st and Main. All except for the man's cigarette, it's a great photo. I thought about cloning it out at Picnik, but decided to just not take the time. I guess I could stretch and say that the sidewalk sign matches the fall foliage, but it's too wimpy-colored. I like how the green leaves beneath the autumn leaves accentuates the colors. Cool.

#1, Cyclocross at Alpenrose, Sunday, October 2, 2011

A friend of my sons' rides and carries her bicycle in cyclocross events. Lamont took me to see one on a recent cool, rainy, muddy afternoon. From the moment we turned into the paved road that led to the non-paved parking area, I knew we were at a major event. The place was packed with vehicles of all sorts. Finally we found a spot which Lamont assured me he would remember and walked to stand on a sidewalk in the middle of what must usually be a paved parking area beside the Alpenrose Velodrome. Lamont texted his friends so that we could find them so that we could watch together. I had my rain poncho on, my camera hanging around my neck beneath it. Ready. Set. Go.

We ended up waiting at an opening in the tape that delineated the race path until competitors had passed so that we could get a good view spot. I had a real good time. Here are a few favorite photos.


Here she comes, on the left riding the bike with the pink front fork.


There she goes, around a curve that quickly changes into a straight away on a steep slope.


This shot gives you a pretty good idea of the angle involved in this section of the race.


Lots of riders, men and women slid onto their left sides and then had to get up and walk their bikes on this slope. Other decided just before getting to the slope to hop off and carry their bikes.


She's up and about to walk until she can get on her bike again. I want to find out where that man in the black shirt got his copper-colored cowbell!


However, I do not want to find out where this man in black got his teensy black cowbell. The other man's reminds me of my cowbell-ringing days as an undergraduate at Mississippi State University. Love the sound of thousands of clanking, clanging cowbells on a Saturday afternoon. Love it!

Sunday Bridges: Fremont Bridge over the Willamette River

Click here to see more Sunday Bridges for November 6, 2011.


The Fremont Bridge as seen from Interstate Avenue, northward bound on the Yellow Line MAX train. I'm looking toward the Northwest Hills. I have cropped and altered it with Picnik's HDR-ish special effect.

Found on the Internet:

The Fremont Bridge is a steel tied arch bridge over the Willamette River located in Portland, Oregon. It carries Interstate 405 and US 30 traffic between downtown and North Portland where it intersects with I-5. It has the longest main span of any bridge in Oregon and is the second longest tied arch bridge in the world (after Caiyuanba Bridge across the Yangtze River, China). The bridge was named for John Charles Frémont, though a nearby street was previously named Fremont Street in honor of the same individual.

The bridge has two decks carrying vehicular traffic, each with four lanes. The upper deck is signed westbound on US 30 and southbound on I-405. The lower deck is signed eastbound on US 30 and northbound on I-405. The upper deck is closed to vehicular traffic annually for the Providence Bridge Pedal, a fundraiser which, in 2011, benefited the Providence (Hospital) Heart and Vascular Institute and the Bicycle Transportation Alliance. (One of these days I'm going to get brave enough to walk the bridges included in this event.)

The Fremont Bridge is 2,154 feet long, with its longest span at 1,255 feet. The clearance below the bridge is 175 feet, while the vertical clearance is 18.3 feet--I assume that means clearance between the two decks. It crosses the Willamette River and surface streets in Portland.

Due to the public's dissatisfaction with the appearance of the Marquam Bridge, the Portland Art Commission was invited to participate in the design process of the Fremont. The improvement in visual quality resulted in a bridge that was nearly six times as expensive as the purposely-economical Marquam Bridge. Designers modeled the bridge after the Port Mann Bridge in Vancouver, British Columbia.

In October of 1971, while still under construction, a crack was found on the west span girder that required a $5.5 million redesign and repair. The main span of the bridge was built in California then assembled at Swan Island, 1.7 miles (2.7 km) downstream. After completion it was floated into place on a barge.

On March 16, 1973 the 6,000 ton steel arch span was lifted 170 ft (52 m) using 32 hydraulic jacks. At the time, it was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the heaviest lift ever completed. The bridge was opened on November 15, 1973 at a final cost of $82 million, most of which was financed by the Federal Highway Administration.

In 1976, an American flag and an Oregon flag were added atop the structure as part of the bicentennial celebration for the United States.[4] The 15 feet (4.6 m) by 25 feet (7.6 m) flags are attached to 50-foot (15 m) tall flagpoles at the crest of the arches.

The Fremont Bridge was also the 26th Peregrine falcon nest site designated in Oregon after the raptor was placed on the U.S. Threatened and Endangered Species list in 1970.

Seen on West Burnside after work Friday, November 4, 2011

I am waiting for the bus home. I took a side trip to Pioneer Courthouse Square for a few minutes, then rode the MAX down to the Big Pink, got off and walked to the bus stop at SW 6th and West Burnside. Plenty of action all around, vehicles going east and west, pedestrians crossing at intersections. Fun for a person who loves to take photos.


I saw the little dog, remembered by darling miniature dachshund Duncan, put the camera to my eye. Click. Captured the taut leash that represents one aspect of a dachshund on a walk--full tilt boogie. The other aspect, meandering and smelling everything invisible to the human eye. Love those personable little dogs!

#4, Blastolene Brothers--wildness on wheels--at Cars in the Park, Portland Art Museum, September 3, 2011

A very big hot rod with a powerful engine. Very big.


A very big hot rod with a powerful engine. You can see how tall it is, in comparison to the nearby people.


This photo also gives you an idea just how tall this thing is!


And this one gives you an idea just how long this thing is, even with part of it not in the shot!


A close-up of the brakes on the very big hot rod with the powerful engine.


The view along the side of the very big hot rod with the powerful engine.


The front end of the very big hot rod with the powerful engine. To me, the wheels look like they belong on an 18-wheeler.


One more view of the very big hot rod with the powerful engine. It was something to see, let me tell you!


One more view of the back end of the very big hot rod with the powerful engine.

I really like the streamlined design of the very big hot rod with the powerful engine.

#3, Blastolene Brothers--wildness on wheels--at Cars in the Park, Portland Art Museum, September 3, 2011

I think this just might be the vehicle that I found on the Blastolene Brothers' Web site, listed as Michael's new 1942 Ranger v-12 airplane engine.


Needle nose, this photo ought to be in the dictionary by the definition of needle nose. And one has to wonder, just how long does it take to make some sort of adjustment to raise the chassis high enough for the vehicle to the correct clearance for travel on the streets? I am assuming that something like that has to happen before anyone ought to even start the engine.


A pair of bucket seats?


Looks to me like those buckets are in a wash tub.




I couldn't figure out why that blue cloth seems attached to the engine. And are those things with the yellow cables a distributors? Anyone? Anyone?


The brakes and the back tires. And what's that big silver shape to the left? For some reason I don't totally understand, I think it's the differential. Y'all who know, please tell me I'm right. Or tell me I'm wrong. Please and thank you.

#2, Blastolene Brothers--wildness on wheels--at Cars in the Park, Portland Art Museum, September 3, 2011

I found this on the Blastolene Brothers' Web site. I think it is about this vehicle: Rocket II by Michael Leeds. Debut at 2009 Grand National Roaster Show where it won best Engineered. Features blown Hemi, Stainless Kulgul independent Rear end.


Can you tell what this one is? I couldn't, at first, because there was just so much to notice.


I walked up to the front for a look from a different angle. It's a motorcycle!


The seat looks comfortable, but do you put your foot in those recesses that look sort of like ice cream scoops?


This is a hoot!


Wonder what that silver loop is? And the black cloth-covered box? Wonder if it's a parachute? You know, to help it slow down.


Wings on the motorcycle!


Does anyone know which engine this seems to be?