The X-Ray
Cato, located
lust over the
Burnside
Bridge on the
west side ot
the river, Is an
underground
rock club with
live music
nightly.
\ (h^ not head to
tfye tyhedium-sized
metropolis that sits
only two hours to
the north.
Sire, it's no
ttle — not as
ngy, no space
needle — but if
you know where
to go, a weekend
in Portland can be
a refreshing week
end away from
the city locked in
the 1960s.
Story by Dave Charbonneau
Photos Courtesy Daily Vanguard
-f\<ed of t/jp
rivals
Mayberry'
Powell's Books on West Burnside
Is supposedly the biggest book
store this side ol the Mississippi.
Rowe Junior
High (Southeast
ol Portland cn
Mitwaukie) —
Essential tor history
butts This is the |unior
high school which Tonya
Harding attended In fad. up f
the road about a mile is Milwaukie
High School, the school which Harding
dropped out of after her treshman year
La Luna (Southeast Portland) For
great music and reasonably priced
beef tins is the place to go Bands tike
Smashing Pumpkins and Mudhoney
have played there m the last three
months and on any given weekend one
of Portland's better bands is usually on
the bill, and it's an all-ages club
X-Ray Cate (West Burnside) — Tins lit
tle hole m the wall is another rock club
A very underground atmosphere with
tons o( velvet paintings, and a groovy
jukebox with Devo and Elvis songs You
can also get stuff like peanut butter
toast at the snack bar One problem
the place is all-ages place with no beer
but that brings us to the next place
Caribou (West Burnside) — Right
across the street trom the X-Ray is this
bar It has the cheapest prices you
could ever hope to find
Drinks (beer and well drinks) are a dol
lar, every night, all night So, in between
sets at the X-Ray, you can run across
the street and have some good cheap
fun
The Mission
;NW Portland)
Quiif a cool place to go ana
dnnk McMenamiri's tine nncrobrew and
watch a movie tor a dollar
Microbrews (Everywhere) — Virtually
everywhere you go in Portland, you're
bound to find a rmcrobtew The best is
Bridgeport Brewpub (NW) Others
include Wtdmer (SW). McMenamm's
(about ?0 locations) and Portland
Brewing Company (NW)
Dot's (SE Belmont) — A very hip little
place that I've never actually been to,
but I hear it's supposed to be pretty
cool Unfortunately, it burned down a
couple of months ago but should be
reopened within the next month or two
Mike’s Driv»-ln (Seliwood and
Milwaukie)
— Great yogurt shakes
and hamburgers with eggs can't be
beat No where to sit but it's good food
tor cheap
Foster Drive-In Theater (SE Foster) —
When was the last time you went to see
a movie al a drive in7 Well, this is your
calling It opens in March and usually
has current releases Load up the pil
lows and blankets in station wagon and
catch a double feature like the good ol'
days with ma and pa
Powell's Books (West Burnside) — If
there's a book you want to find. Powell's
will have it It's supposedly the biggest
book store this side ol the Mississippi
Coftee shop and everything It's amaz
ing there's not a place like this in
Eugene
Record Stores — There are virtually 15
or so independent record stores
through
out Portland. Or
course, there's Tower Records
(NE 102nd and Halsey) but the real
finds are Ozone (W Burnside).
Locals Only (SW 2nd). 2nd Avenue
| (SW 2nd) and Music Millennium (NW
r 23rd and E Burnside)
t
The Trallblazers — It you got a lot
ot money, why no pick a weekend when
the Blazers are playing at the Memorial
Coliseum Just wait outside on the side
walk and watch the scalpers come run
ning You could probably get a pair of
tickets tor Si00.00 maybe less it you
wait until tip-off, not that I've ever done
it.
Plttock Mansion (Northwest, just follow
Burnside up the hill) — For romantic
types, take a walk around this historic
mansion I don't know why it's historic,
but it looks cool.
Other places of note
The Lotus — Dance, drink and party
with weird people!
The Lotus is one of the more trendy
spots In Portland to go dance the night
away with people from all walks of life.
Anywhere between NW 21st and 23rd
— The hippest part ol Portland About
200 bars and good restaurants and
plenty of Yuppies Kennedy used to
hang out here (and I don't mean JFK)
The Portland Zoo — Follow the signs
Portlands. In
all her majes
tic beauty,
sits atop the
ontryway ot
The Portland
Building near
Portland
Stale.
Rowe Junior High, located In MHwaukie.
la where Portland s own Tonya Harding
spent two years ol school
Student
learns new
definition
of freedom
Mandy
Baucum in
the /ungle
near
Shuahutindi.
I was tired of silling. I had been on the hus
for 10 hours with only one bathroom break,
and nil I wanted to do when 1 reached the
bus terminal in Quito was to look for the
restrooms.
Through the crowd of dark-skinned people
hurrying around me 1 saw a flight of stairs
and the haven I was looking for at the end.
After spending almost throe months in
Ecuador as an exchange student, my friend
|nn and I hod been through this ritual a few
times before. But this time we had brought
our own paper with us (because many bath
rooms don’t even have someone selling toilet
paper outside - there simply isn't any). This
time there was a woman selling toilet paper,
but we informed the woman that we
wouldn't need to pay.
Although the woman seemed fairly upset
with my decision to refuse her services. I
continued into the bathroom.
As I neared the horrible-smelling stall. I
realized that the woman had followed me
and was now becoming somewhat hysterical.
I still ignored her, determined to hold my
own. Wasn't it a public bathroom?
I entered the stall and put my camera bag
on the ground as far from the used pieces of
toilet paper as I could. Looking up 1 saw the
short woman holding the stall door and
yelling at me. She was talking Spanish really
fast, too fast for me to understand.
Even though 1 had difficulty understanding
her 1 repeated again in her language, "►
already have toilet paper!"
Watching the woman and my reaction. |un
seemed a little afraid. I fumed at her in
English about the annoying woman and her
hysterit reaction to my rebellion
"No. no. no sunoritu." she kept repeating
like a mother forbidding her child. "This
bathroom isn't public." she repeated several
times for my understanding.
I didn't think she was telling the truth but I
didn't want to argue. Defeated. I relumed to
the bathroom door and paid the five measly
cents.
Jen laughed at my belligerence but com
plained along with me about the many times
we had l>een taken advantage of.
Later I told my host father, Patricio, about
the incident. He told me that the restroom
was public and that the woman should have
let me enter without paying,
The view from the top oi an open air bus over
looking the Jungle at dusk. The oil pipline follows
along the road.
"I should have jusl sat down and gone to
the bathroom right in front of her," I said,
still fuming about the unfairness of it all.
"You know what she probably would have
done?" he laughed at my indignation. "She
probably would have pushed you off the toi
let."
( That wouldn’t have been loo hard, consid
ering there was no lid on it.)
"It would have been easier to just pay her
the 100 sucres," he said. "What is that in
American money, like five cents or some
thing?''
Embarrassed, I realized the different way
of thinking between Patricio and I His idea
of freedom is totally unlike mine
Freedom to him is being able to take a stop
sign as a suggestion and not an order
Freedom to hirn is if a police officer pulls
him over, accepts his bribe and allows him to
continue toward his destination
Freedom to him is being able to drink a
beer anywhere he wants.
Freedom to him is being able to enjoy see
ing a few cows herded across a busy street in
downtown Quito, population 1.2 million.
His life is one with less structure and
fewer rules, fie is free to do as he pleases and
to experience life with all its flaws and glo
ries.
For me. freedom comes from laws. My
rights are something I can point to in a book
or constitution. I can point to a rule and jus
tify a wrong or unfairness. If someone
wrongs me, I can file a lawsuit or talk to my
congressman.
One of my Ecuadorian professors used to
call the American attitude toward justice,
" I ho religion ol democracy.
My first reaction was one of defense, but
then I started to think aliout it I remembered
that once I watched Judge Wapnor preside
over a case where a man was suing for five
cents, the return of a pop can. I also remem
bered my own behavior in the bathroom and
tlie 10 cents I refused to pay.
Who was I to go against the grain and make
a big fuss about my rights?
Maybe somebody from the United Status
would have admired rny tenacity, but most of
the women in the bathroom just lookud at me
like I was crazy.
Maybe I had it all wrong. I thought. But I
still couldn't let go of my original feelings.
Isn't justice what gives us hope that someone
is on our side? How many laws will it take to
achieve real justice?
I can't dm ide whose system I think is tau
ter. or even that I should. But I know for sun*
that when it comes down to fighting over a
piece of toilet paper, I've taken my freedom
just a little too far.
- Mandy Buucum
Oregon Daily Emeudd