The Battle for Your Soul on the Streets of Downtown Eugene

Eugenians' generally preferred disposition is that of the peace-love-and-happiness-hippie-house-painting-type already described earlier in this blog. But, when the oft-recreational-drug-induced state of oneness with all of nature and mankind is unable to be conjured, an acceptable substitute for most Eugenians is the state of disgruntled anarchist (and often incendiary [in the most literal sense of the word]) protester. Pretty much every day one can find protesters of all shapes and sizes gathering at city hall--and other places around town--disseminating their message.

I am currently very far away from Eugene, so I will have to use my background in the fine arts to present a visual approximation of this daily sight:



Something that compounds this white-knuckle drive for near-constant protest is the unique relationship between frequent residents of the downtown Eugene and the Eugene Police Department. Occasionally, this unique relationship can ascend higher up into the ranks of municipal government, to the extent that a former mayor of Eugene referred to the city as "the anarchist capital of the United States." (Jim Torrey, 1999)

A Scene from Seattle 1999 WTO Protests, Blamed on Eugene Residents

Just a couple of years before the WTO protests shown above, Eugene itself had its own smaller-scale experiment with civil disobedience when several old trees in downtown were slated to be cut down to the chagrin of local residents. Events unfolded something like this:

Given this general atmosphere, it is no wonder how a relatively peaceful Saturday evening could be peppered to include the very public display of one's personal convictions. Such was the case a few Saturday nights ago, when a break from work enabled me to witness this interesting scenario.

In a nation which largely identifies itself as Christian, delivering such a message in a public placed might be embraced--underscoring for passersby their own deeply held religious convictions. Such was not the case, however, in our city of Eugene. As the company trolled through the streets of Eugene, hoping to resonate with some of the downtown residents, they were followed by some of these residents, politely offering an alternative viewpoint on improvised protesting signs made out of cardboard.

Here are some pictures of how things unfolded:

How Many Bong Hits Does it Take for YOU to Think You are Georgia O'Keefe?

I came across this gem on Craigslist way back in 2005. Needless to say, the moment I saw it, I immediately bookmarked it, and now I present it to you. You may notice that the pics of the described art are not actually shown in this screen capture. This is because not only do I want to respect the intellectual property rights of the artist, but also, because this is a family blog and I don't want to get a bunch of letters from concerned parents. In addition, I believe that you can imagine the quality of the art based on the verbal description. Okay, okay... if you are still curious about what it looked like, you can roughly reproduce it by tying a paintbrush to the underside of one of your pets (if you don't have a pet, use a friend's), dipping the brush/pet in paint, placing the pet over a canvas, and changing color every few minutes, depending on the age and activity level of your pet.

The last paragraph was created and read in vain. Could anything really prepare the reader for this?:

I've never heard use of the adjective "orginal," but I have to say that from a phonetic standpoint alone, I am very intrigued. When I read this, I often wonder the thought process through which the asking price was determined. (I would kill to have a transcript of that process.) All we know for sure is that, after pitching these pieces so hard in the description, in the end, the asking price was placed somewhere between the cost of the blank canvas itself and the cost of buying a glossy poster of those dogs-playing-poker-paintings at Walmart. And that doesn't even take into account what the artist would actually take for it, assuming the asking price was the opening gambit, as is the case with anything bought or sold on Craiglist. But then, what does that say about one's feminist credentials, if one were to bargain for a painting representing "how all women are bruised by societies [sic] actions" or one depicting the very "warm" feminine organ which bore us all? Oh lord, my head is spinning... Is this what they meant by a "thoughtful home?"