Dateline: December 5, 2024
Today we took our first “old folks” bus ride to the Portland Art Museum downtown Portland. Here we are crossing the bridge across the mighty Willamette.
The Portland Art Museum has free admission on the first Thursday of every month. Today was the day and what a day it was proving that it doesn’t always rain in Portland and that when the sun shines it can be 30 degrees. It was very clear and very cold and very dry.
When we reached the museum, we arrived as the doors opened at 10:00 a.m. which we were very happy about. Upon entering, we were allowed one hour to look at the exhibits and that was followed by a one hour conversation with the man that collected all the psychedelic posters, light show, and attire. The speaker told us some great stories about the backstories of some of the art!
As pictures are worth 1,000 words, Above, is the original lyrics of ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ which were written down (some might say haphazardly)As we were reminded, that song was the first Beatles’ song that topped the chart as number one in 1964. As for the other pictures, I.will share these with you. However, you might be wondering about the Beatles. Along with the posters, there was an exhibit of Paul McCarthy photos as well as some other photos taken by George Harrison’s wife, Linda, as well as other famous photographers. It was a delightful exhibit. Much fun was had by all as many remembered the Beatlemania we all lived through starting in 1964.
The Fab Four in formal attire. Taken shortly after Ringo joined up.
This pic was the group having fun!
And here is Rayman having fun!
Bubbles, our group organizer did a great job of herding cats and what we learned is that these Willamette View friends of ours are punctual. Rayman and I kept being late to board the bus. We plan to clean up our act for the next adventure. The “newbie” excuse is only going to work for so long, after all.
You all know the type, right? They hold everyone else up while they are doing whatever it is. Every tour has one or two that add angst for the others who are anxiously awaiting “lift-off.”
After we spend an hour doing this exhibit, we went to see the psychedelic posters at the presentation in the auditorium. Like this one.
An interesting one because it combines counter-culture, the Sierra Club, and Native American art. This had not been done before. It was groundbreaking.
The others that follow were part of the exhibit in another building.
A poster advertising The Byrds. These posters were often given away or sold for a few pence. They are now worth a lot of money are show up at auctions.
I liked this one above. I have many cat friends that will appreciate this poster!
In an attempt at full disclosure, I attended a couple of those shows at the Fillmore (West Fillmore)back in the day. Any walk down memory lane can be sad, exhilarating, embarrassing, happy. Today our adventure was a happy one. Fun look back at the counter-culture of the 60s. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that while I was rocking out in San Francisco, Rayman was wiring runways for the Air Force. Poor baby.
We look forward to the next adventure. Because we were delivered to the front door, we didn’t have to park. There was no way to get lost coming and going except for our slight tardiness. Everything else was without incident which robs me of telling funny stories for you. But never fear, we are planning a road trip to Colorado in 2025. There will be more faux pas, more getting lost, more unplanned silly stuff to report on coming down the pike. Get it? The reference was admittedly subtle. Pike’s Peak is in Colorado and we don’t plan to visit it…we might get too high!
Cheers to all!
The Traveling Princess,
Dianna
p.s. let me know if you liked this.
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