Surf's up! (Jack Bog's Blog)

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This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on July 13, 2012 9:44 AM. The previous post in this blog was Planner hype was wrong: Hordes not flocking here. The next post in this blog is Smile as you go under. Many more can be found on the main index page or by looking through the archives.

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« Planner hype was wrong: Hordes not flocking here | Main | Smile as you go under »

Friday, July 13, 2012

Surf's up!

Hey, let's go swimming in the Willamette in downtown Portland. The water's fine! What could go wrong?

Posted at 9:44 AM | Permalink

Comments (12)

Chicago has North Avenue Beach, which is right in the center of the city and a lot of fun. No one goes in the water.

Posted by Justin Morton | July 13, 2012 9:53 AM

I did see a guy in just a Speedo and swim cap swimming in January under the interstate bridge three years ago. True story.

Posted by Tom | July 13, 2012 10:07 AM

Watch out for all types of logs floating by.

Posted by reader | July 13, 2012 10:59 AM

Dude, you're already paying for it (with your sewer charges for the projects that have made the water cleaner), so might as well take advantage. Mayor Creepy can pump in some techno and round up some young boys, pretend it's Ibiza and host circuit parties. We're well on our way to mimicking Barcelona and the coast of Spain in every other way, including 25% unemployment, and the money's already gone, so if we're going down anyways why just drink the Kool-aid when we can host our very own Jim Jones party, right?

Posted by This boat has sailed | July 13, 2012 10:59 AM

Anybody remember the caimain that the police claimed was roaming the Willamette fifteen years ago? Well, the police never found it (first searching to kill it, and then searching to prevent it from drowning in cold weather), so it could STILL BE OUT THERE! Duhn duhn duhn! This means we have only one thing to do: film this whole event and sell the footage to SyFy. I even have a title: "Caimanoid vs. Hipster".

Posted by Texas Triffid Ranch | July 13, 2012 11:28 AM

Who knows? Maybe we're ready for that kind of thing again. Didn't you run a link to the bit about a fancy public beach in Oak Grove or somewhere, back in the day?

Barges and log rafts aren't as numerous up here as they used to be. With Ross Island mining closing and Zidell no longer scrapping there, it might be reasonable. Those things go slow, but swimmers go slower and could be invisible to the pilot. They deal with it OK out at Hood River, as far as I know.

Then again, the Willamette of the past was famous for big snags rocketing through 2' below the surface and invisible due to muddiness. Getting bumped and dragged by one of those? Not fun to any normally wired person and too frequently fatal. I'd want to know that had gotten a good deal rarer than it used to be.

Posted by dyspeptic | July 13, 2012 12:17 PM

Dookie...Dookie in the river.

Nah no thanks.

Posted by BOBO | July 13, 2012 12:59 PM

My idea of fun. A beach covered in gooey gobs of goose guano.

Posted by PDXLifer | July 13, 2012 1:37 PM

We could be the Salton Sea of the Northwest...

Posted by Tim | July 13, 2012 1:54 PM

Anyone speak fish? Lamprey? These populations could provide an earful, anyone listening?

Posted by sheila | July 13, 2012 2:01 PM

If the water quality has improved, why not? Most cities do have river beach fronts.

Posted by talea | July 13, 2012 7:10 PM

Most cities do have river beach fronts.

Yes, but Seattle had the choice of putting the beach on EITHER the Duwamish River OR Alki Point on Puget Sound. They chose wisely.

Tacoma had the choice of putting the beach on EITHER the Thea Foss Waterway or way out on the Sound. They chose wisely.

Portland is choosing the unwise path. There's already a beach at Kelly Point Park. There's a beach at Rooster Rock, several on Sauvie Island, and one at the Gleason Boat Ramp near PDX. There are beaches on Government Island (if you have a boat to get to it.) There's a beach at Chinook Landing.

Why does downtown need a beach? Oh, yes, to fit King Sam's ginormous ego boost. I need a better reason than to make King Sam happy.

Posted by Erik H. | July 14, 2012 7:02 AM

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

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