The west coast attracts all the refugees and fugitives of the US. Portland ends up the with the most disturbed people because it's the cheapest place to live.
Chuck Palahniuk

His thesis for this episode is that the Pacific NW is about obsession. Obsession is really the pessimistic version—passionate might be a better way to put it. Folks that weren't raised here or didn't come here for a job are here largely for the lifestyle. Yes, things are slightly cheaper than SF or Seattle.

The thing is, people are here to slack. And I don't mean that in a bad way. They may care very much about their job, but they also care very much, perhaps to obsessiveness, about something else: reading, writing, beer drinking, beer making, film watching, running, cycling, skiing, and of course food.

We have our short rainy winter to brood over the things we love, and perhaps to do them anyways.

Anyhow. Tony met up with Chuck Palahniuk, and I was pleased to see him, even if his view is that we're all freaks. I was pleased to see Voodoo Donut show up even if they don't make the best donuts in town. They're fun and inventive, and shoot, it's Tres from the XRay!

I haven't made it to Velveteria yet so I can't speak to that. The Heathman, of course, is a lovely oasis of calm and civility. And then there's Apizza Scholls!

I was so happy to see Brian, the owner/dough guru at Apizza get some decent airtime. He's truly a decent man who makes an exceptional pizza with exceptional ingredients. Tony got it wrong—it's not NY pizza, it's New Haven pizza, and that's the real difference between it and other pizzerias in town, and indeed, what trips a lot of folks up. I can't say enough good things about Brian and Apizza Scholls, though in full disclosure, I do know Brian... because after I had driven out to Scholls 4 times for his pizza, it only seemed fair to thank him.

The whole Shanghai tunnels thing I could have done without. One, because a whole lot of TV on Portland covers it, and two, because there is not a lot of written or oral history (outside of Michael Jones) that proves that the tunnels were used for crimping. Yes, Portland was a tough town, full of vice, and not the place to let your guard down. Yes, men were crimped for ships.

I haven't heard a lot of good things about the Cascade Geographic Society (Michael Jones) tours, and if I were going to pursue this, I'd do a tour with David Schargel from Portland Walking Tours. Cause who doesn't love tunnels??