Oregon

Eugene's riverfront bike trails are one of the most popular things ever built in Eugene. Last Sunday saw a wide range of Eugeneans out enjoying the sunny weather and riverside parks. Thanks to a video camera strapped to the handlebars with an old inner tube and songs from Mal Webb and David Rovics, here's a quick tour:

This week's EW has a story about the mayor's race that includes information about a recent political attack ad by Jim Torrey. Here's the ad with fact checking by EW:

Have you been following all the health care plans floating around these days? Sen. Ron Wyden has one and both presidential candidates have been touting their health care plans in Oregon over the last couple weeks.

Sen. Hillary Clinton praised Oregon's health care plan recently, but Stephen Colbert has a different take on Oregon's health care lottery.

For a good recap of the rally, see Chuck's post below. I don't have much to add to his report.

One funny thing I did notice ... is that people kept throwing up diamonds instead of "O"s. I thought Jay Z or Kanye was about to come out on stage or something. Work on your hand signs people. You confuse me.

Although, Obama did play Ye's "Touch the Sky" as part of his warm-up music ... along with some classic Stevie, Earth Wind & Fire, and Kool & The Gang. Serious points for soundtrack. Bet Hillary can't touch that. We'll have to wait and see when she comes to Oregon. But my money says she plays some Céline Dion or Josh Grobin.

Click any image to see the complete gallery of photos from the rally.
UPDATE: Audio of Obama's speech is now available for download at KLCC.org

Need something meaty to read this morning? Try "The Road to Clarity," The New York Times Magazine's six-page story about highway sign fonts. (Use BugMeNot if you don't have a NYT login and it asks for one.)

I'm still on page one, but here's what makes it relevant to Eugeneans:

The typeface is the brainchild of Don Meeker, an environmental graphic designer, and James Montalbano, a type designer. ... As a teenager in Portland, Ore., Meeker ran a small business out of his parents’ house making signs for local stores, cutting letters out of Plexiglas with a band saw. He majored in fine art at the University of Oregon and went on to get a master’s degree in graphic and industrial design at Pratt Institute in New York.

Fonts have been in the news a surprising bit lately, between this story and the documentary Helvetica. And then there's Achewood's nastily funny anti-Comic Sans cartoon. (Don't use that font. Ever. Same goes for Mistral and Grunge, but those are my own personal hatreds. Comic Sans is the enemy.)