It's hard to believe, but here's what the front page of the Oregonian's anemic website looks like at this hour:
At least they got the Olympics into the right hand corner. But the rest of those stories -- that's all they've got to tell us about?
1. Canby music show with '80s cover bands.
2. Comedian leaving Portland for L.A. (hint: he already left).
3. Lucha libre wrestling.
4. Oregon Ducks have one of the top punters in the country.
Thanks, but we think we'll go reorganize our sock drawer rather than read any of that.
Comments (11)
Well, it's not as if there is anything to write about in Portland.
The SF Gate webpage had an article this weekend about how an unfunded pension plan for police and firefighters is currently ravaging the finances of Oakland, California, despite the fact that the pension plan was closed to new entrants in **1976**. Fortunately, we would never be that stupid.
Scrolling down by the page down key still causes part of the article to go underneath that huge floating banner at the top. Would have thought that would be fixed by now.
I clicked on two different stories from Oregon Live's Oregonian front page menu just now this morning, one a sports story about Olympic sponsorships, the other about NE Portland neighborhood events. On the right side of the page for each story,among all the promo and ad stuff, is a box listing "recommendations," with hot links to other Oregonian stories. Three stories are listed. One, from clear back in June, is about a guy who crashed his car while masturbating. Another, fromn clear back in May, is about a guy caught masturbating in a park. Both stories have the word "masturbation" in their headlines. Man, even the most salacious of supermarket tabloids hardly stoop this low.
The new site looks tabloidy and unserious. The headline font looks blotchy and ugly on the screen. With so many un- and underemployed Web programmers and graphic designers in Portland they couldn't have come up with something more polished and professional looking? Although I suppose it was mandated by their corporate overlords in New York.
It took me awhile to figure out that one can click on the "News" tab at the top left-hand corner to go straight to a scroliing line-up of news stories in the middle of the page. Of course, you still get the ads and other Oregonian links, etc. on both the right- and left-hand side of the page, but you don't have all the annoying, silly "front page" crap, including that GD drop-down ad.
Another thing I've noticed recently at some sites (Slate, The Atlantic, to name two) that is just unbelievably obnoxious is when you're reading an article, scrolling down, out from the right-hand side shoots this small ad for the site itself that covers part of the article you're reading. You then have to stop and "click the X" on the ad to get rid of it so you can continue reading! And it happens more than once on the same article as you continue to read and scroll down. Why in hell would any web site want to irritate and annoy their readers in this way? Just boggles the mind.
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
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: 21
At this date last year: 52
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
Comments (11)
Well, it's not as if there is anything to write about in Portland.
The SF Gate webpage had an article this weekend about how an unfunded pension plan for police and firefighters is currently ravaging the finances of Oakland, California, despite the fact that the pension plan was closed to new entrants in **1976**. Fortunately, we would never be that stupid.
Posted by Random | July 30, 2012 5:41 AM
Pensions or punters, what to chose?
I think the Zerogonian punted on that one.
Posted by Harry | July 30, 2012 5:49 AM
Looks like the "happy talk" of the 70s.
"No one ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public.". -- H. L. Mencken
Posted by Nolo | July 30, 2012 7:42 AM
Scrolling down by the page down key still causes part of the article to go underneath that huge floating banner at the top. Would have thought that would be fixed by now.
Posted by Andrew | July 30, 2012 8:22 AM
I clicked on two different stories from Oregon Live's Oregonian front page menu just now this morning, one a sports story about Olympic sponsorships, the other about NE Portland neighborhood events. On the right side of the page for each story,among all the promo and ad stuff, is a box listing "recommendations," with hot links to other Oregonian stories. Three stories are listed. One, from clear back in June, is about a guy who crashed his car while masturbating. Another, fromn clear back in May, is about a guy caught masturbating in a park. Both stories have the word "masturbation" in their headlines. Man, even the most salacious of supermarket tabloids hardly stoop this low.
Posted by The Boregonian | July 30, 2012 9:17 AM
The new site looks tabloidy and unserious. The headline font looks blotchy and ugly on the screen. With so many un- and underemployed Web programmers and graphic designers in Portland they couldn't have come up with something more polished and professional looking? Although I suppose it was mandated by their corporate overlords in New York.
Posted by Eric | July 30, 2012 9:32 AM
Not to mention that you can no longer get to the Winterhawks section by hovering over the word "sports"...
The only thing that is true in that rag is the date, yesterdays weather, and the sports scores. All else is opinion or spin.
Posted by It's Mike | July 30, 2012 10:02 AM
We need a new Oregonian-sponsored animal in the Oregon Zoo: The Pander Bear.
Posted by NW Portlander | July 30, 2012 11:26 AM
It looks like a website built by a member of the trendy creative crass....
Posted by tankfixer | July 30, 2012 1:02 PM
It took me awhile to figure out that one can click on the "News" tab at the top left-hand corner to go straight to a scroliing line-up of news stories in the middle of the page. Of course, you still get the ads and other Oregonian links, etc. on both the right- and left-hand side of the page, but you don't have all the annoying, silly "front page" crap, including that GD drop-down ad.
Another thing I've noticed recently at some sites (Slate, The Atlantic, to name two) that is just unbelievably obnoxious is when you're reading an article, scrolling down, out from the right-hand side shoots this small ad for the site itself that covers part of the article you're reading. You then have to stop and "click the X" on the ad to get rid of it so you can continue reading! And it happens more than once on the same article as you continue to read and scroll down. Why in hell would any web site want to irritate and annoy their readers in this way? Just boggles the mind.
Posted by realitybasedliberal | July 30, 2012 3:31 PM
The Oregonian is less relevant everyday, and the new format has succeeded in encouraging me to look elsewhere for local news.
Posted by Mark | July 30, 2012 8:45 PM