“Modern Nazis don’t give Hitler Salutes”.

In the dead of night, a person apparently sticks some … “poetry”… onto the sides of the city’s parking meters.  He has a message he wants to send the city.  This poem’s next line (or is it the third line) rhymes the “Salutes” with “boots”, and we also see a line about sending their kids to the “best schools” to (next line, or the one after that) “learn the rules”.  Really digging deep into the rhyming here.

The big tell for this guy may come in with “and they hide their views on race”, which — I suspect is a bit of projection.

And then we get to the railings of the “Modern Nazis” — a “Progressive bunch” (I don’t remember what word he rhymed with “bunch”), but they vote Democratic because of the “right to choose” and you know what the right to choose is all about and then…

The restriction of the right for a Christian to voice outrage at the “least deviation of pc” in condemning perversity.  I assume this mostly means “homosexuality”.

Anyway, we get tossed a reference to Circe.  Which is interesting.  It appears our poet has a Circe fixation — his favorite minor Greek Goddess, I suppose — as Circe figures prominently in the other poem he’s plastered onto a parking meter — which — I seem to have misplaced these items so I’m working from memory — is about how the masses have been brainwashed to accept perversity and bay-killing.

Also there are about half a dozen cringe inducing mis-spelling in each poem.

I don’t know why this poet chose the nom de plume “Hatman” — it might be to remain anonymous in our city of Hat wearers, but I premuse that I will see a third poem from this poet in short order, and its message will be about the same.

There is evidentally a Root Beer shortage in the downtown area.  I know of two people who went to different stores yesterday looking for root beer, and only finding it at the Safeway out in the Pearl District.  But Rite Aid, downtown Safeway, the Dollar Tree… all out.

This begs the question … there are plenty of times you do understand how some commodity is out — like, bottled water on that day of the microscopic amounts of bacteria that wouldn’t shut down any city’s water supply but Portland’s — or chips and stuff on Superbowl Sunday or a big Ducks game or whatever — but this?  Why was there no root beer of all things on yesterday of all days?

Found in a public location, the type of spot one tosses this type of debris of evangelism — see: Jack T Chick tracts…

Homemade.  Small.  Folded in two.  Written in marker on the front: “Thank you for Saving the World”… picture of globe.

On the inside… “… With one less car”, and picture of bicycle.

Sometime later we get this insert placed here in ink… “#26 Acts of Kindness.  In honor of the victims of Sandy Hook”.  And then #8, Dawn Hocksprung.

It’s all kind of queasy-inducing.  Bicycle promotion against the backdrop of an act of senseless violence.  Why?  What is the connection?

This was weird.  I passed by a group of bar-hoppers leaving a bar — the individuals located in a gray area between full control and a tad tipsy.  And I heard this jab tossed backward:

“You’re like… The Trenchcoat Mafia!”

And then a woman in the group made her way out of the exit, and I see, yep, she’s wearing this sort of long trenchcoat.  She laughs at the jibe and repeats it.

Quickly scanning them I see that, yep, they’d have been in high school in 1999.  The Trenchcoat Mafia, to refresh one’s memory (and set a couple things straight) were a cliquish set of students at Columbine High School, largely graduated in 1998, a pair of mass murderers on the edge of this social grouping making for an unfortunate retro-fit recoloring of their high school years when it was plopped into a popular narrative via media distortions off of peer misapprehensions.  I would be tempted to suggest this would make for a horrible high school reunion experience, but (1) they’d be largely the type to forego such things anyway (2) Technology has largely shoved high school reunions aside (a positive aspect of facebook finally) and (3) I imagine any high school reunion out of Columbine would be a little odd.

None of this figures into the chuckling toss-aside.  It is a strange reference point.  It’s about the same as “Don’t drink the kool-aid”, but probably rather narrowly generational specific in probable usage.  Just a few years older and the likely automatic jestering reference would be to a creepy (sexual assaulting) flasher.

Hey!  A sure sign the Campaign is heating up!  I saw a sheet of paper stapled to a pole urging…

“Write in Freedom Socialist Party Candidates”

I can’t think of many more more useless exercises.  Understand, if you want to feel free to cast a ballot for the Socialist Party or whatever left wing party is on the ballot — that is not a useless exercise — it will be noted in the media as whatever fraction of a percentage point.  But this will will just be lost in the jumble.  I’ve read that some people have been so impressed with Ralph Nader since he was first proferred as Presidential timber back in 1972 that they’ve written him in every cylce since if not cast their ballot for him.  Something like that makes sense as well — but unless I misjudge the stature of this presidential candidate, I don’t see where this one goes.

So it is an image of Stephen Durham and Christina Lopez, the Presidential and Vice Presidential candidate.  A typical litany of issues — “Government that helps the needy, not the greedy”, “Soildarity with workers worldwide”, and then…

VOLUNTEER!  For the full platform, campaign material in Spanish, and how to get involved visit

… and it’s a website with “socialism” in the name.  I believe if you use a different suffix, or capitalize the “s”, you will find a different group of socialists…

and then, the Oregon Headquarters.  Bread and Roses Center apparently.

So what do we have here?  Campaign materials!  I imagine just a whole bunch more of these sheets to plaster on telephone poles?  Get the Word out and all that.  I think this blog post may do more on that score.

I saw a t-shirt with “10-13-2012” on it, followed by the words “If you thought [some other date] is big”…

I sure as hell hope that the date that I saw when I glanced — 9-11-2001 — wasn’t the date on the shirt, because … I don’t know… 10/13 is sort of significant to me and I wouldn’t want it to be clumped in the same category as 9/11.

Also that would make for a very disturbing message that would get them pulled over at an airport, or just about any other security check-point.

I would like to know what date that was, and what is happening on 10/13-2012 that is bigger than the other date, though.

“At first I thought he was a douche.  Then I got to know him and saw that he wasn’t a douche.  Now I find out that he is a douche after all.  I guess you should always trust your first instincts.”

“We met at the Naked Bike Run.  I guess he thought that just ’cause I was naked, then…”

“Bob Dole.  You know who Bob Dole is?”
“Bob Dole?  No the only Bob Dole I know is that old man who ran for President.”
“No.  Not him.  I’m talking about that other Bob Dole.”

I saw Steve Novick the other day.  Just passed him on the street.  I shouldn’t have been surprised — he does live in Portland — a city councilman in a few months … but he does make a striking impression …

Which is… I look down… and there is no other to put that: He is a really short man…  As in… really, really short…

And I say to myself, “Wait.  Is that –?”

And I look over to his hands and see…

Yep!  There’s the hook!  And I got myself a Steve Novick sighting!