Category Archives: Uncategorized

Heading for the T-Places

Posted on May 12, 2022 by Jim Blackwood Jr

I have an admission. From the mid-1980’s when I arrived here until a few months ago, I had no idea there was a difference between the cities of Tigard and Tualatin. I knew they were somewhere south of Portland. I … Continue reading →

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Does America Only Have 3 Years Left?

Posted on October 14, 2021 by Jim Blackwood Jr

I was awash in hope for the great American experiment. It is a wonderful notion, this idea that a wildly diverse collection of humans would gather to commit themselves to a creed, a collection of ideas. Through the flaws at … Continue reading →

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Drake! WE ARE LEAVING!!!

Posted on August 10, 2021 by Jim Blackwood Jr

Have you ever been to a show with a band you love and about halfway through the set you are done? Maybe the line-up changed. Perhaps the new album was an awful dance-beat nightmare? Or maybe, to your surprise, your … Continue reading →

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The End of America

Posted on May 28, 2021 by Jim Blackwood Jr

I doubt that the middle can hold. Circumstances the founders could not have expected are unleashed and what we know of as America hangs by a precarious thread. The founders knew this form of government was an unlikely concoction. In … Continue reading →

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The Colonization Game

Posted on May 17, 2021 by Jim Blackwood Jr

After the 21st time I saw “land back” spray painted on buildings and toppled monuments in Portland, I mused on this popular notion of rethinking colonization. There are folks who are now decolonizing almost everything. Decolonize mathematics. Decolonize science. I … Continue reading →

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When Essays Become a Book

Posted on October 20, 2020 by Jim Blackwood Jr

For some time now, I have not written many essays on this site . Now you get to know why. I have been using the COVID-19 quarantine to write a new book composed of 24 essays. It was the years … Continue reading →

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Time to Ask. Why Are We Still Marching?

Posted on June 3, 2020 by Jim Blackwood Jr

I was channel surfing local Portland news last night watching the protest and the riot. They were happening at the same time on different streets. The protest left downtown and ended up where it started, Revolution Hall in inner SE. … Continue reading →

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Portland’s Dangerous Street Plaza Idea

Posted on May 29, 2020 by Jim Blackwood Jr

Alone and masked, during the lock down I have walked many of the business districts in Portland. I set out to record a history of the closing of small businesses, restaurants and bars by photographing every closed sign I could … Continue reading →

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Racist!!! Whatever Dude

Posted on July 22, 2019 by Jim Blackwood Jr

I chose to hover somewhere just left of center in the American political drama. What was I thinking? Some days I live I a vertiginous nightmare spinning from one political extreme to the other. It must be nice to live … Continue reading →

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Talk Radio. It’s All the Same Show

Posted on June 19, 2019 by Jim Blackwood Jr

Button number 1 on by car radio is Oregon Public Broadcast (OPB).  Button number 4 is KXL Talk Radio. When I am driving in the Portland area, I compulsively bounce from one station to the other. In the noon hour … Continue reading →

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