Here's a popular downtown hangout. Powell's book store.
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Downtown Portland, Oregon late at night.
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Here's a couple of friends I made while walking around. The fellow on the left is Frank, the fellow on the right is Paul. They're Vietnam veterans living on the street. We got along fine. I told them I was in town from Los Angeles and they started sharing stories of their own time in LA.
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Frank and Paul were cool with their photos being taken. I told them they were going to be featured on the Internet. They say hello to the world by the way. I gave them a couple of bucks and turned on the flash to get a good picture of them. Nice folks here in Portland. Don't matter if they're living on the street or not, they're beautiful people.
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My late night galavanting included some folks hanging out while one of the group played his guitar.
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Here's a couple more friends I made here in Portland. From what they told me, they've been living on the streets for years. The guy on the left goes by the name of Beatbox. I can't recall the name of the guy on the right, but they were both cool dudes. I mentioned I was in town from LA for an animation festival and became an instant celebrity when I told them some of the projects I've done.
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In case you can't make out what the sign says, it reads, "Ninjas kidnapped my brother - need money for karate lessons". I helped the cause with a couple of bucks, thanked the gents and moved on.
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Portland has street cars!
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Another road to explore.
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This place started to hop later on. I think it was called the Living Room Theater.
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There was someone sleeping in this doorway blocked off from the street by piling their earthly belongings for privacy. I didn't disturb them but tossed a couple of dollars over the barricade.
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A picturesque building down the street from the hotel as I was making my way back. By this time I had pretty much given away the money I had in my pockets. Some of the people I met didn't want to have their picture taken so of course I respected their wishes. Later today I'll be at the Platform Festival building out this blog. Hopefully I won't be too out of it as I try to get a little sleep before the sun comes up. The Blogger Panel is in the morning. Thank you Portland for a great first night in your town. I enjoyed it and won't soon forget the experience. Thanks for your friendliness and hospitality. God bless.