The father of my friend Cory once worked for the PPD. That's him on the right. This photo was taken sometime in the '70s. The gent in the socks? A rather daring public masturbater who was caught in the act on what was, hopefully for him, a warm day in downtown Portland.

Cory's mother recently found this shot in her attic. It's definitely something that belongs in a family photo album.

Labels: the law

Aaron Breniman is the first, and hopefully not last, person I know who has opened a bar and grill. His place is called The Verdict and it's located across the street from the Clackamas County Courthouse in Oregon City.

Naturally, given its proximity to a hotbed of jurisprudence, The Verdict has a legal theme. Old Oregon case books line the walls and the menu is littered with terms from Pre-Law 101. "Happy Hour" is instead an "Abatement Period" and the appetizers are listed under "Opening Statements." I recommend the chicken wings.

There's also a gigantic gavel over The Verdict's snazzy island bar, which I think looks sharp when rendered in black and white.

Labels: Booze, the law

Pssst! You wanna bootleg or two for last Thursday's Decemberists' show at the McDonald Theatre? Here you go. Tell no one where you got these. Yeah, yeah, yeah, both files can be opened in iTunes or Quicktime.

The file for the first Hazards of Love set can be downloaded by clicking here.

And the file for the second singles/Oregon Trail reenactment/"let's go storm Spiller Hall" set can be downloaded by clicking here.

Please, enjoy these responsibly. Or not. I seriously doubt that anyone from Columbia Records is going to put forth the effort to send this wee little blog a cease and desist letter.

[Knock on wood. Wood that may or may not have been stepped on by the restless spirit of a 19th-century chimney sweep or a mythical shape-shifting womanizer.]

Labels: music, the law

I saw this PPD van driving around downtown as I was going home last night and decided to risk an accident in order to take a cell phone shot of it. Naturally, I had to make some use of the photo after risking life and limb like that. So stupid question time: this van qualifies as a paddywagon, right?

Labels: the law