Nothing about law in this post; rather, it’s a farewell to an Oregon treasure and an Oregon adventure. Probably total coincidence that both Orblogs and the Portland Jazz Festival announced within days of each other that they were hanging it up.

OrBlogs was a total treasure or, more accuartely, labor of love. It was the best place to go to read blogs from all parts of the geographic and political spectrum in Oregon. I imagine I’m not the only one feeling a sense of loss at its recent annoucment that it has hung up the closing sign.

The other sad note is the death of PDX Jazz, the Portland Jazz Festival. It attracted top-flight talent and enriched the city. Anyone who went can tell stories about great shows. For jazz fans, it carried the promise–often fulfilled–of the possibility of magic.  It grew to mythic proportions for me because two of my oldest and dearest guy friends regularly used the festival as an excuse to invade the city.  I suppose on the upside, the city is a bit safer because local citizenry won’t have to view the arguably scary sight of three middle-aged guys wandering through the February rain in search of exuberant laughter. But still.

Someone smarter than me–Heraclitus, I think–said that the nature of the universe is change.  (Since I don’t speak Greek, I’ve always taken it on faith that he really said that….) I guess that’s proved again. So onward to the next treasures and adventures.

David Sugerman