A lie a day (Jack Bog's Blog)

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This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on March 22, 2008 11:40 AM. The previous post in this blog was Obama photo-rama. The next post in this blog is Volunteers. Many more can be found on the main index page or by looking through the archives.

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Saturday, March 22, 2008

A lie a day

A howler today from an Adams backer: The OHSU Health Club aerial tram is like "the Space Needle, the St. Louis Arch, NY Central Park, the Eiffel Tower."

Posted at 11:40 AM | Permalink

Comments (13)

It's not that far-fetched of a comparison. It's something that adds to the city's skyline, it's quite visible, and the tram can be a fun activity for tourists. I've never had an issue with those who think it's a neat tourist trap.

The fact that it's portrayed as an effective method of public transportation is the laughable part.

Posted by Aaron B. Hockley | March 22, 2008 12:27 PM

the tram can be a fun activity for tourists

It's a sad statement that a trip to a hospital ward is the best we can show them.

Posted by Jack Bog | March 22, 2008 12:42 PM

Tourist attractions generally offer something to do when you get off the ride.

Purchase a full fare ticket on Portland's Scenic Tram, and get a free cholesterol check while you wait.

Families of four will receive free blood typing or body mass index.

Bring your family or class reunion (parties of 79 or more) and one lucky winner will get a free colonscopy or endoscopy (winner's choice).

Posted by LiloandStich | March 22, 2008 12:44 PM

I dont think was ever honestly intended as "public" transportation. It was only sold to the public as such to get public transportation dollars.

Posted by Jon | March 22, 2008 12:46 PM

Doctors and nurses are members of the public, aren't they? Of course it's public transportation! :o)

Posted by Frank | March 22, 2008 2:22 PM

Hey..head up the hill for a colonoscopy. Double your pleasure!

Posted by Bob M | March 22, 2008 3:13 PM

It's something that adds to the city's skyline, it's quite visible

no, it's not "quite visible"--that is, unless you're in a very specific part of downtown or next to the river.

and, the "city" consists of a lot more than the tiny fraction known as "downtown". in fact, most of Portland's population are nowhere near the "skyline".

Posted by ecohuman.com | March 22, 2008 4:52 PM

Double your pleasure!

The City Council doesn't use anesthesia...

Posted by Jack Bog | March 22, 2008 6:05 PM

Sho is in the travel biz - maybe he can hype up usage!

Posted by Gerry | March 22, 2008 6:18 PM

Your Sam booster may well have a point.

After all, was it not the Roosevelt Island Tram that put Manhattan on the map?

Posted by gen. Ambrose Burnside, Ret. | March 22, 2008 7:54 PM

That's got to be one of the dumbest comments I've read. I think a better comparison would be the Millenium Wheel in London. What a lovely sight that big carni' wheel is along the Thames, facing Parliament and all that great architecture. At least the Millenium Wheel was built for the Y2K celebration and paid for itself then.

I don't remember Forest Park or Waterfront Park and such being presented to the public and voted for with ridiculous budget assumptions, only to have City Council start blaming their staff for their own stupidity.

Posted by Ted | March 23, 2008 9:05 AM

The Tram is a demonstration of absurdity. It's high cost and short trip to nowhere
make it the unimpressive "what's that thing" that it is.

Posted by Ben | March 23, 2008 1:18 PM

The Planning Commission, Design Commission and City Council hearings all had PDOT, Planning, and Council member staffs testifying that the tram was NOT a tourist facility but "a transportation link vital (linch pin) to the success of SoWhat for 10,000 biotech jobs." Success hasn't happened, plus Sam now claims it's an Eiffel Tower equivalent. WOW. The sales job continues.

Posted by Lee | March 23, 2008 9:21 PM

In Vino Veritas

Charamba, Douro 2008
Horse Heaven Hills, Cabernet 2010
Lorelle, Horse Heaven Hills Pinot Grigio 2011
Avignonesi, Montepulciano 2004
Lorelle, Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2011
Villa Antinori, Toscana 2007
Mercedes Eguren, Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Lorelle, Columbia Valley Cabernet 2011
Purple Moon, Merlot 2011
Purple Moon, Chardonnnay 2011
Abacela, Vintner's Blend No. 12
Opula Red Blend 2010
Liberte, Pinot Noir 2010
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Indian Wells Red Blend 2010
Woodbridge, Chardonnay 2011
King Estate, Pinot Noir 2011
Famille Perrin, Cotes du Rhone Villages 2010
Columbia Crest, Les Chevaux Red 2010
14 Hands, Hot to Trot White Blend
Familia Bianchi, Malbec 2009
Terrapin Cellars, Pinot Gris 2011
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2009
Campo Viejo, Rioja, Termpranillo 2010
Ravenswood, Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Quinta das Amoras, Vinho Tinto 2010
Waterbrook, Reserve Merlot 2009
Lorelle, Horse Heaven Hills, Pinot Grigio 2011
Tarantas, Rose
Chateau Lajarre, Bordeaux 2009
La Vielle Ferme, Rose 2011
Benvolio, Pinot Grigio 2011
Nobilo Icon, Pinot Noir 2009
Lello, Douro Tinto 2009
Quinson Fils, Cotes de Provence Rose 2011
Anindor, Pinot Gris 2010
Buenas Ondas, Syrah Rose 2010
Les Fiefs d'Anglars, Malbec 2009
14 Hands, Pinot Gris 2011
Conundrum 2012
Condes de Albarei, Albariño 2011
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2007
Penelope Sanchez, Garnacha Syrah 2010
Canoe Ridge, Merlot 2007
Atalaya do Mar, Godello 2010
Vega Montan, Mencia
Benvolio, Pinot Grigio
Nobilo Icon, Pinot Noir, Marlborough 2009
Portuga, Rose 2011
Revelation, Chardonnay, Pays d'Oc 2010
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 2005
Monte Alto, Tinto Reserva 2005
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Cabernet, Indian Wells 2009
Espiral, Vinho Rose
Vin-Koru, Pinot Gris 2011
14 Hands, Hot to Trot Red 2009
Rodney Strong, Cabernet, Sonoma 2009
Abacela, Vintner's Blend #11
Portuga, White 2010
La Bourgeoisie, Red 2009
Januik, Red 2009
Three Rivers, River's Red 2008
Kirkland, Alexander Valley Merlot 2008
Muga, Rioja Rose 2010
Quinta das Amoras, Vinho Tinto 2009
Mauro Molino, Barbera d'Alba 2009
Garda Chiaretto Rose
Columbia Crest, Two Vines Vineyard 10 White
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Pinot Gris, Columbia Valley 2009
L'Hortus, Rose de Saignee 2010
Maculan, Pino & Toi 2008
McKinley Springs, Bombing Range Red 2008
Trader Joe's Pinot Gris 2009
Montes Alpha, Cabernet 2007
Gran Sasso, Sangiovese, Terre di Chieti 2009
Garda, Classico Chiaretto Rose
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 1999
Picos del Montgo, Tempranillo 2008
Chateau de Montmirail, Vacqueyras 2008
La Granja 360, Syrah 2009
Montgras, Carmenere Reserva 2009
Lange, Pinot Gris 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Cabernet 2008
Kirkland, Pinot Grigio 2010
Trader Joe's Coastal Syrah 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Merlot 2008
Trader Joe's Coastal Chardonnay 2009
Vieux Papes Red
Domaine de l'Aujardiere, Chardonnay 2009
Santa Rita, Cabernet, Medalla Real 2007
Penfold's, Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet 2008
Guild, Red, Lot #02 2008
Dievole, Dievolino Sangiovese 2008
Laforet, Burgogne Chardonnay 2009
Columbia Winery, Merlot 2007
Bonterra, Cabernet 2008
Elk Cove, Pinot Gris 2009
Maquis Lien 2006
Scott Paul, Pinot Noir, Le Paulee 2007

The Occasional Book

Hope Larson - A Wrinkle in Time, the Graphic Novel
Rudyard Kipling - Kim
Peter Ames Carlin - Bruce
Fran Cannon Slayton - When the Whistle Blows
Neil Young - Waging Heavy Peace
Mark Bego - Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul (2012 ed.)
Jenny Lawson - Let's Pretend This Never Happened
J.D. Salinger - Franny and Zooey
Charles Dickens - A Christmas Carol
Timothy Egan - The Big Burn
Deborah Eisenberg - Transactions in a Foreign Currency
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. - Slaughterhouse Five
Kathryn Lance - Pandora's Genes
Cheryl Strayed - Wild
Fyodor Dostoyevsky - The Brothers Karamazov
Jack London - The House of Pride, and Other Tales of Hawaii
Jack Walker - The Extraordinary Rendition of Vincent Dellamaria
Colum McCann - Let the Great World Spin
Niccolò Machiavelli - The Prince
Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird
Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus - The Nanny Diaries
Brian Selznick - The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Sharon Creech - Walk Two Moons
Keith Richards - Life
F. Sionil Jose - Dusk
Natalie Babbitt - Tuck Everlasting
Justin Halpern - S#*t My Dad Says
Mark Herrmann - The Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law
Barry Glassner - The Gospel of Food
Phil Stanford - The Peyton-Allan Files
Jesse Katz - The Opposite Field
Evelyn Waugh - Brideshead Revisited
J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
David Sedaris - Holidays on Ice
Donald Miller - A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
Mitch Albom - Have a Little Faith
C.S. Lewis - The Magician's Nephew
F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
William Shakespeare - A Midsummer Night's Dream
Ivan Doig - Bucking the Sun
Penda Diakité - I Lost My Tooth in Africa
Grace Lin - The Year of the Rat
Oscar Hijuelos - Mr. Ives' Christmas
Madeline L'Engle - A Wrinkle in Time
Steven Hart - The Last Three Miles
David Sedaris - Me Talk Pretty One Day
Karen Armstrong - The Spiral Staircase
Charles Larson - The Portland Murders
Adrian Wojnarowski - The Miracle of St. Anthony
William H. Colby - Long Goodbye
Steven D. Stark - Meet the Beatles
Phil Stanford - Portland Confidential
Rick Moody - Garden State
Jonathan Schwartz - All in Good Time
David Sedaris - Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
Anthony Holden - Big Deal
Robert J. Spitzer - The Spirit of Leadership
James McManus - Positively Fifth Street
Jeff Noon - Vurt

Road Work

Miles run year to date: 32
At this date last year: 66
Total run in 2012: 129
In 2011: 113
In 2010: 125
In 2009: 67
In 2008: 28
In 2007: 113
In 2006: 100
In 2005: 149
In 2004: 204
In 2003: 269