Monochromania - Northwest Passages: Victoria to Portland - CycleBlaze

July 3, 2019

Monochromania

Well, folks - I don’t expect this post to make sense to anyone but myself.  Probably the smartest use of your time is to look at this fine photo of Bruce showing off his core and upper body strength and then just turn the page.

Bruce makes it look so easy. I’d probably fall over.
Heart 6 Comment 5 Link
Suzanne GibsonLove that orange!
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5 years ago
Scott AndersonTo Suzanne GibsonCarrot, to be precise - this is the wall of a salad bar. I was looking at it while Bruce and I were having coffee next door, and planned to take a photo of him next to the wall and its giant silhouette of a carrot, but a car was parked there before we came down so we settled for the cypresses.
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5 years ago
Jen RahnWow! Nothing like a feat of strength in front of a carrot-hued wall.
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5 years ago
Ron SuchanekHe's all burly from the garage construction.
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5 years ago
Bruce LellmanThank you everyone, thank you. I also just want to point out that my three hundred pound U-Lock is on the bike.
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5 years ago

As background though, I regard it as Suzanne Gibson’s fault.  She (a bit snarkily, I thought) suggested that yesterday’s photo of Frank posing in front of a sign with HIS bike wasn’t a valid submission for the Cycle365 monthly challenge (on July’s theme of monochrome) because it included a bike, but not MY bike.

I was OK with that - I reread the challenge, and she’s right - the wording does suggest that your own bike needs to be in the photo.  Rodriguez heard of it though and took offense somehow - those Spaniards can be so hot tempered at times - and every time we passed an interesting monochromatic wall he lurched over to it and struck a pose.   Hey, Suzanne Gibson, is this one OK? he seemed to be saying.  And how about this one?  And this?  It got a bit old, if you want to know the truth.  Sorry - at times I’m not the captain of my own ship, apparently.  I’ll do my best to keep him in line in the future, but make no promises.

Still fixated on bricks I guess, but we just liked the pattern here.
Heart 5 Comment 3 Link
Suzanne GibsonGreat texture on the bricks!
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5 years ago
Bruce LellmanTo Suzanne GibsonYes, I was thinking this too. They aren't normal brick texture.
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5 years ago
Scott AndersonTo Bruce LellmanI’d forgotten where this was, but we walked past it again the next day. This is Shattuck Hall, on the PSU campus. Built in 1915, it was originally an elementary school.
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5 years ago
We’re not fooled. This is grey, not red.
Heart 3 Comment 1 Link
Suzanne GibsonGrey and lots of lines creating lots of interest for the eye
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5 years ago
Definitely basalt grey
Heart 2 Comment 2 Link
Suzanne GibsonBeautiful stones!
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5 years ago
Scott AndersonColumbia River basalt was a primary building material here - vast basalt flows cover much of the Columbia Basin, and it was used as an early building material here. This is the First Congregational Church, one of Portland’s landmarks - built in the 1890’s, designed by a Swiss architect in the Venetian gothic style.
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5 years ago
Seafoam green - reminds me of an old motel room.
Heart 3 Comment 4 Link
Suzanne GibsonJust enough green to pick up the green of the water bottle
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5 years ago
Scott AndersonTo Suzanne GibsonI saw that too. Actually, the bike is pretty well outfitted for this. I can take him just about anywhere and he fits right in.
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5 years ago
Jacquie GaudetIsn't that sort of Bianchi green?
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5 years ago
Scott AndersonTo Jacquie GaudetYes, and I thought of that afterwards too. Even closer to home though, it’s very close to the color of Rachael’s Surly Straggler.
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5 years ago
Correct me if I’m wrong here, but I’m pretty sure this is mandarin for black.
Heart 2 Comment 3 Link
Suzanne GibsonAlmost right - actually the character "ming" means bright, clear (I'm not making that up, I did 2 years of Chinese.)
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5 years ago
Scott AndersonTo Suzanne GibsonPretty funny! I just made this up. I took mandarin too, before our first trip to Taiwan, but gave it up after a month. Too tonal, and I wasn’t making much headway.
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5 years ago
Bruce LellmanI took a year of Mandarin in college but I have forgotten all the characters I once knew. Written characters that is. I do remember all the human characters I once knew in college. Funny what the brain retains and what it lets go.
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5 years ago
I don’t remember where this is, but Roddy just thought it was in his fan.
Heart 2 Comment 1 Link
Suzanne GibsonPerfect background for Rodriguez I'd say.
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5 years ago
USPS blue
Heart 2 Comment 2 Link
Suzanne GibsonHow did you make any miles at all with all these monochrome temptations?
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5 years ago
Scott AndersonTo Suzanne GibsonYou’ll note I didn’t post any miles here. I’m not sure I even biked my age in furlongs here,
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5 years ago
One of my favorite hues, on the wall of Nossa Familia coffee.
Heart 2 Comment 4 Link
Suzanne GibsonLooks like chocolate to me. Who wouldn't stop for a whole wall of chocolate?
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5 years ago
Scott AndersonTo Suzanne GibsonNot me. I’m not really a chocolate fan, Mocha though.
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5 years ago
Bruce LellmanIn Thailand there seems to be a specific script that coffee houses use and they are always in this color. We can see up ahead that a cafe is coming up without knowing how to read Thai.
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5 years ago
Scott AndersonTo Bruce LellmanGood to know. I hear there’s decent cycling in Thailand. If we go someday, we’ll be all set with this knowledge.
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5 years ago
It’s all white.
Heart 2 Comment 1 Link
Suzanne GibsonAll white with me, too!
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5 years ago
This one makes me a bit wistful - it’s the wall of Oba!, one of our favorite restaurants in town until it closed over a year ago.
Heart 1 Comment 2 Link
Suzanne GibsonTerra cotta, cotta love it.
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5 years ago
Scott AndersonTo Suzanne GibsonHa, ha. I’d love it more if the restaurant were still home. They had the best happy hour in town.
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5 years ago
Lan Su white
Heart 2 Comment 2 Link
Suzanne GibsonThere you go, Lan Su Garden in the style of the 明 Dynasty
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5 years ago
Scott AndersonTo Suzanne GibsonShowoff.
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5 years ago
Heart 2 Comment 1 Link
Suzanne GibsonRodriguez is well camouflaged here, almost missed him.
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5 years ago
Rate this entry's writing Heart 6
Comment on this entry Comment 3
Suzanne GibsonIf you let me post any colors I want, I won't be snarky any more.
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5 years ago
Scott AndersonTo Suzanne GibsonI think I’d better relent then. After all, I’ve used up most of the spectrum here.
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5 years ago
Jen RahnBrilliant! I like how Rodriguez's mind works.
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5 years ago