UPDATE and the Portland Oregon sign

UPDATE: Chemo Round 5 is tomorrow. Please pray that all goes well with this round, that I don't have any blood pressure spikes or hives. Thank you!



Another photo I'm glad that I took through the bus window yesterday morning.



One more, without the tree blocking it. I really like this sign and the fact that I get to see it very often.

Yesterday Leland bought me a polarizing filter for the lens so that I'll be able to alter the reflections and get clear shots of what I'm trying to photograph through the windows. I've got a couple of sweet sons, first Lamont found the perfect soft had for me on the day of Chemo Round 2 after I'd lost my hair; now, Leland's decided that I should have the best chance possible to take fine photos. Thanks, sons! I love you so!

Blue skies make us happy in Portland, especially on Friday!

The iconic Portland, Oregon, sign stands on top of a building on the west end of the Burnside Bridge. I get to see it every week day on my morning commute. Today it will be backed by blue skies. Happy Friday!

The only constant is change, right?

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I'm standing in an area labeled the Burnside Bridgehead, at the east end of the bridge. See the backside of that giant A? It stands for Andersen Construction which recently started construction of a building on what is known as Block 67, very close to the north side of the bridge itself, in between NE 3rd and NE 2nd which run parallel with the Willamette River. Notice the Portland Oregon sign across the river, just visible between the A and the black pole? The Big Pink across the river, coming out of the top of the A? Well, before this new building is completed, maybe by the estimated date of May, 2016, I'm certain that neither one will be visible from where I stood on November 15, 2014, to take this photo--a great deal of this view of downtown Portland will disappear, available only to those who decide to rent an apartment in the building--I haven't discovered its name yet, but plans call for it to be a 21-story apartment tower on a 0.76 acre site; Skylab Architecture designed the building which is far from your typical tower in its shape. It's supposed to have 284 apartments on the top 16 floors. On the remaining floors, retail and commercial space, plus 202 parking spaces. Planned building amenities include a community plaza with a barbecue area, bike parking with repair station, technology lounge, pet exercise area, fitness center and spa. I read one place online that the intention is to offer 20% of the apartments to residents making 60% or lower of median family income, in an effort to respond to the growing need for workforce housing. Is that really going to happen? Oh, and just on the other side of that fencing, in between NE 3rd and NE Couch (the street in between me and the fence) there will be another building built which will be either two or three stories, commercial use only. I read it described as a spit of land, labeled Block 76W these days.

Bicycle delivery person on the Burnside Bridge and the fantabulous Portland Oregon sign, brilliantly lit at night with neon and incandescent bulbs

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I took this photo last Saturday while I waited for the bus home after a great lecture at the Architectural Heritage Center. The delivery bicycle caught my eye, I stood up from the seat in the bus shelter and walked west on the sidewalk for a few steps, and took several photos as he pedaled along. I stood there, cold but bundled up in the sunshine, and wondered about how cold that delivery guy would feel once he stopped pedaling. As I took the photos, I realized I could get the neon Portland Oregon sign in the photo, too. Serendipity! I have cropped it into this square and altered it with HDR at BeFunky. The red-topped buildings are on the east side of the Tualatin Mountains, also known as the West Hills. They are well more than 23 blocks away from where I stood.



It's easy to see why I like the sign so much--it's huge, colorful, and looks great as each word lights up. I took this photo on June 12, 2012, when the trees had all of their leaves. By the way, at one time the sign advertised White Stag clothing which explains the leaping stag at the top of the outline of the state of Oregon.



Here's the sign before the change to the current wording. I took this photo on November 5, 2010, because I'd been keeping up with the news stories about the sign--what to do with the wording, who would pay for the electricity to light it, who would pay for the maintenance. I didn't want to miss a chance to get one more shot of it. Lo and behold, those decisions were made--the city owns the sign and pays Ramsay Sign $2000 a month for electricity and maintenance, the funds coming from a parking lot's fees, and Art DeMuro, president of Venerable Properties which owns the building underneath the sign, donated $200,000 for the lettering to be changed--and on November 16, work began on the rewording.



And here it is, November 26, 2010, on the night the new wording debuted. I stood on the sidewalk on the Burnside Bridge Friday night after Thanksgiving, waiting quite a while for the mayor to throw the switch. During the holidays, the stag's nose is red, an homage to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. I read on the Internet that when the sign was lit, two of the neon rods in the stag's head had not yet been reattached after the change in lettering, therefore the blank spot underneath the antlers. One week later the work was completed. Ramsay Signs made the word Oregon in 1997 and the word Portland in 2010, matching the colors as closely as possible.



There's the red-handled switch. No mayor yet, but I did get a kick out of seeing this contraption rolled onto the sidewalk and plugged in so that it would be ready when he arrived. Naturally, once he did and I heard the countdown begin, I turned my camera on the sign. Who cared about taking a photo of the mayor when the sign lit up. Sorry mayor, not me.

Back or front, I really love this sign.

The two sides of the Portland, Oregon, sign--in the sunshine. I took this photo through the bus window as we headed east on the Burnside Bridge--March 21, 2014.




See why I love it? I took this photo from the Tom McCall Waterfront Park, looking west, on March 21, 2014.

Seen either on or from a TriMet vehicle, be it bus or MAX, or maybe even the Portland Streetcar, which is not TriMet

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From the Portland Streetcar, headed to work, south on MLK, on November 21, 2012. As we made our way through the intersection with Burnside, I liked the way the streetlights along the sidewalks on the Burnside Bridge disappeared in the distance, as well as the shimmer of light on the Big Pink. 

I took three photos--this is the second one. I've put it here because the Big Pink is more in focus in it than in the other two. In the photo, the wide blur at the base of the Big Pink is a vehicle stopped at the traffic signal. 

I wonder if the driver thought I would get his/her face in the photo? No chance of that, not enough light. And, as you can tell by the blur, the streetcar was bookin' on down the street. I know that the blurry image is not driving along beside the streetcar because the streetcar tracks are adjacent to the curb without any sort of lane between them and the curb. 

Oh, before I forget, in this photo you get an idea where the Portland Oregon sign is located, the sign that is the image used as the header for my blog. It's on top of a building and only looks closer to the street because of perspective and distance.

Look! Look! Look! BeFunky dot com!

Looking east at the Portland Oregon sign while waiting for the bus at West Burnside and SW 2nd Avenue.

Original photo, straightened and sharpened only at BeFunky dot com.

Same photo, straightened, sharpened, and altered with Featured Effects 3, also known as Cartoonizer. I like it!

Same photo, straightened, sharpened, and altered with Featured Effects 1, also known as Cartoonizer. I like it, too!

Thanks to Randy at Santa Fe Daily Photo—click to visit—he takes fantastic photos of all sorts of sights! .