Do you honestly think it's not going to happen?

BTW, the bold is Amy's heavy little hand, not mine.

If you had your comments turned on this week, Jack, you'd probably find that 80% of people hate the tape. (That's the percentage we've found, and so has KATU and KGW. Even the Oregonian's readers are largely opposed to using the sticky stuff to try and own public space.)

I'm pretty comfortable with such a solid majority behind us. We're carrying out the will of the people.

(P.S.—what makes you think my hands are little, Jack? And what material are they made of that makes them so heavy?)

Well, mercury is pretty heavy.

Jack, we love ya. But if you've turned the comments off on your own site, why are you commenting over here?! Actually sod it, carry on. We think you're acting a little hysterical over this, why not just come out and join in the clean up?!

I hate to get all political...

..wait, someone who knows me might read this...

I love to get all political on this, so I'll just point out that if there's 20% that love the tape, and President Bush's solid base of support is in the 20% range, too... Jack just might be right.

There's probably plenty of fascists who would just love any excuse to kick some ass.

NOTE: I am not calling Jack a fascist.

RIP UP THE TAPE!!!!

I am with you ripping that shit up in spirit.

Way to go! I must be an 80%'er because I HATE the muther-effing tape! Let the fat asses from Gresham waddle down and fight over 12" of curb in real time. Hell - put that on Pay Per View and make a few bucks to give to the homeless who are displaced when this stupid parade takes over their living rooms!

This used to happen in the little town where I grew up, and it drove all of us locals *insane*.

It's a great damn idea! I'm almost ready to drive down from Seattle to lend a hand.

It's a great damn idea! I'm almost ready to drive down from Seattle to lend a hand.

Have the Merc tape off a spot for you in their goon squad, just to make sure.

80%? Wow that must be a really small echo chamber you have there.

Bring on the SUVers. I'm going out tonight with a videographer and a personal injury lawyer. Let's boogie!

I'm far more worried about getting hit by an SUV—or a Prius or a bike or whatever—tooting along MLK. Some of that tape extends into the damn street!

Not to get too serious here, but I'm really struck by the hostility toward people from Gresham. It's not just in the one comment above. In all the Clean Up Squad posts tape-users have been characterized as "suburban," "fat," "SUVers," and contrasted with anti-tape forces who are apparently trim city-dwellers who, I guess, don't drive SUVs? Where did that theme come from? What drama is The Mercury enacting here?

Matthew: I get what you're saying for the most part. A lot of the suburban characterizations are over-the-top. But the fact is, I really don't believe that people who live in this city are the ones taping it up. It's OUR CITY. We don't tape it up because we have to look at it every single day. I obviously don't know any better than anyone else, but it's my firm belief that the ones doing the taping are the ones that rarely come into town and don't have to see what a mess they make every year.

so, meeting at 730? i have a bbq to go to at about 7, but maybe, if you take the parade-bar route, it'll last a few hours.

do you have any of those reflective vests? really?

God's speed, my friends. God's speed.

Rip that tape up pronto!

It's insanely selfish. Rip it good.

Bring it SUV'ers! I am not that concerned about some over-weight yuppie in an SUV that can't even bend over to tie his shoes. It might be fun--probably the fight sport in me. May the tape come up.

As for Jack Bogdimski, he leaves his comments off because he gets his ass kicked daily on his blog.

Matthew: Randy Leonard just weighed in on that aspect on the much earlier thread, which is about to fall off the front page - check it out here: http://blogtown.portlandmercury.com/2007/06/cops_say_no_arrest_for_mercury.php

Basically, he says it doesn't matter where you're from—boorish is boorish.

This is going to be the best Rose Festival ever!!

Jack's "attack on tradition" cry is ridiculous. The tradition I remember is waking up early with my dad, brother, some coffee and doughnuts, and staking out a spot. Before I was old enough to join him, he and my uncles would do it, and we'd arrive later in the morning. Some people would even camp out to get prime spots. If some lame tradition of "taping" your space 3 days early has developed since, I'm fresh out of nostalgia for that. I remember some years walking for a while to find a spot, and maybe that used to deter some people from going (as opposed to the certainty of taping ahead of time), but I don't think attendance would suffer if we went back to first-come-first-served.

I work on 4th avenue and there are already nearly no spaces left for someone who just shows up early on the morning of thr parade to see it. That's ridiculous.

Good luck with the un-taping. I've always thought reserving your spot using that method was a pretty stupid thing to do. Lay off Gresham, though, puh-lease (that means you too, Randy Leonard).

It's funny. I've lived in Portland over 12 years and have yet to go to or participate in any Rose Festival events.

I used to live in the neighborhood close to lower NE Broadway and the taping gypsies would bug the sh*t out of me. (my term because they do seem to roll into town all giant caravans and families creating annoyance and all).

As I've gotten older however, I think it is such a symbol of Rose Festival - a parade and celebration over nothing really, and is more exciting to non-Portlanders than anyone else. Also, I'm thinking that a lot of these people don't have much excitement in their lives, and this is probably one of the highlights for them. I dunno, it's annoying, but it only lasts for a few days and it's not like it ever really affected me one way or another anyway.

I'm not sure why people care about this so much. What really gets my craw about Rose festival is the HUGE amount of money the City of Portland spends on it and the secondary problem that Rose Festival causes. For example, yesterday with Rose Fleet causing huge traffic problems due to the bridges needing to be raised and lowered so much, stepped up security by police, and I saw tons of Homeland Security SUVs parked all over the Lloyd District. How much does Rose Festival cost the city anyway?

Amy, Thank you for that link. I thought Davis Bragdon's comments were especially good. Still, like mine, the comments don't unpack or defuse this remarkable reservoir of bad feeling so many people are ready to spill out as soon as they need someone to ridicule. The strength and persistence of that impulse still astonishes me. I wonder where it comes from?

I lived a block off the parade route by the Burnside Bridge for a while, and I have mixed feelings about the parade and space-saving. I think the tradition of camping out for a spot is kind of sweet, and I don't want to stop it. However, there is always something that bothers me a little about this being the night that you can sleep peacefully in your tent on the sidewalk, if you look middle class enough to be there for the parade. If you stay out long enough, you may be shocked at how many people camp out the night before. I think it must be pretty cool for the kids to have this special late night party staking out the spot for the big parade.

I do not like the tape because no one pulls it up when they leave and it rots on the sidewalk for months. I hope you guys won't steal chairs from places like Hooper Detox, who do usually try to reserve the spot in front of their building for employees and volunteers of their organization.

There are many charmingly retro dimensions of the Rose fest - the carney, a beauty contest, shore leave.... It's all one big tacky mess. The tape and chained chairs are tacky too, just not charming.

As for the people - it's all just surreal diversity - a David Lynch film.

Totally awesome. I have always hated that tape-the real tradition is everyone going downtown and getting along and sorting it out themselves, first come first served, not taping out your pencil-dicked "claim" to a sidewalk and leaving duct tape all over the place. Also, I've noticed this year more than ever, the hotels and various businesses downtown are marking off huge swaths of the sidewalk-which is also collosally lame. I am leaving town tonight or I would be down there ripping up some tape.

I'm amazed that no one has really called this what it is: selfishness and a sense of entitlement.

I admit, I'm sometimes just as guilty of a lot of people when it comes to taking the "easy way" to do things but this is just ridiculous. If you want something, you should work for it. And if that means getting up early to get a slab of sidewalk to watch the parade, so be it.

Frankly, I'm glad the Mercury staffers (and assorted cohorts) are ripping up the tape. Someone is finally stepping up, albeit in a small way, against the selfishness that's seeping into our society.

I love this whole controversy. The most entertaining rose fest event in years. As far as the hating on suburbanites goes, I think that everyone needs someone to hate. It's a little bit of low-grade xenophobia mixed with ignorance and a touch of bandwagoning. I live in Beaverton and I've heard all the jokes and yuppie-bashing comments, but I just let it slide off my back because people who say things like that don't know the Beaverton I live in.

I've lived in NYC for five years and will be a resident of Portland, OR this August. Even from over here I think this is totally ridiculous. This trend would never fly in this city. At the Macy's Day Parade seats are reserved in bleachers, because those bleachers have a city permit allowing them to be placed on public sidewalks. The permit holder gets to choose who sits in the bleachers. Even this pisses people off, but it's sanctioned by the city, so there's not much we can do about it. But empty sidewalk space is fair game and is always "first come, first serve," because you can't claim a public sidewalk as your own personal, private domain.

Rip it up. Tapping public space for your own personal use is total crap.

“Somebody is going to get their a*s kicked”

Isn't that the whole point?

Jennifer, I was thinking the same thing. I grew up in Queens, NY, and was amazed at the "taping" concept. What's a parade without the jostling for space in the wee hours? Where's the eager anticipation of getting a great spot?

My daughter is turning 2 soon. I guess it's too late to come on down the morning of the parade and expect to find a her halfway decent vantage point since everything is reserved huh?

I will pig-fuck anyone that touches my tape. I plan on sitting across the street from my family's spot (in my Escalade), and if any of you jobless punks touch it, you're going down.

Suburbanites unite!

Have fun in jail!

It'll be easy to convict you, too, given all the TV cameras that are slated to follow us tonight.

Rip it up! Yeah, this is surely the best Rose Fest ever. This wouldn't have been such a big issue if people would act like adults rather than spoiled little children all the time. Yeesh! Entitlement runs rampant...

The Escalade's taped spot goes first . ..

Squeal like a pig, Johnny Do-Good . . .Squuuuueeeeeaaaaaaallllllll

For next year, why don't we have a registery at Portland City Hall and everyone registers their site? (I.e. use the trees/parking meters as markers/borders and 2 spaces for watching...)

Don't open up the registery until the day before the event??

For those on the merc pulling squad, bring some baseball bats, shotguns, golf clubs and some cars to block off the road while you pulled the tape...

I live in close SE Portland and I am a taper, at least for the last couple years. I am wondering if anyone out there knows when or why the taping tradition started. Was it because the big companies downtown and corporate sponsors have reserved areas for parade viewing? Or, did the companies start taping because it was the only way to get a spot for themselves. If I were an anti-taper I would be more upset with some big company reserving an entire block for their employees than hardworking citizens of Multnomah County like myself.

I live in close SE Portland and I am a taper, at least for the last couple years. I am wondering if anyone out there knows when or why the taping tradition started. Was it because the big companies downtown and corporate sponsors have reserved areas for parade viewing? Or, did the companies start taping because it was the only way to get a spot for themselves. If I were an anti-taper I would be more upset with some big company reserving an entire block for their employees than hardworking citizens of Multnomah County like myself.

MSN I NIIPET
MSN

MSN I NIIPET
MSN