Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Keep Newport Hills Weird with Puffballs

In the "weirdness" sweepstakes, the contenders are decidedly un-weird in their choice of symbols:  Vermont's is an outline of their state.


Berkeley's is generic:




And Austin's, the original, is downright predictable and a bit of a sell-out: token tie-dye and the subheading: "support your local businesses." 

"Keep Portland Weird"appears in the opening credits of "Portlandia,"  and had its origins in 2007 when the owner of Music Millenium imported it from Austin.  There's even an extensive article about the KPW movement in Wikipedia, from which I take the following facts:


:
In a "weirdness" contest with Austin, Portland emerged the clear winner, taking nine of twelve total categories.
So What makes Portland weird?  Things you'd never see in Newport Hills, that's what.  For example, 
the Zoobomb cycling events
artist Adam Kuby’s Portland Acupuncture Project, as well as
the popularity of yarn bombing
  Another is the "Horse Project".


"The first "Keep Portland Weird festival" was held in October 2007 at the Central Library, and among the participants were the Portland Ukulele Association, Free Geek, and the Portland Area Robotics Society. Another took place in November 2009.

If you launched a campaign to keep your community "weird", what are the top five symbols you'd choose?  I've only come up with one so far.  Here's a possible contender for Newport Hills.  An egg-shaped topiary outside the beloved Chevron gas station.