Trimess

Monday, January 27, 2014

The "Mossy Pancake" bridge

Henry says MOSSY PANCAKE!
News at 11 - self-described historian and former director of Oregon Historical Society says that bridge name has to be historically significant.

I'm not surprised that they were unable to think out of the box. They are, after all, the same sort of people that came up with the names for all of the other boringly named landmarks around the state.

My son named the rabbit at his preschool "Mossy Pancake". If the bridge were named "Mossy Pancake" then at least everyone would smile when they see it. People would look to Portland and think "what a fun name - doesn't Portland have such a great sense of humor?". Think of "big pink". Instead we're going to get another "Marquam Bridge" -- where nobody even remembers the name, no matter what the "historical significance."

Does anyone remember the historically significant names of the two OHSU tram cars? There was a big naming process over that too. If they would have been named Tom & Jerry, everyone would remember (and smile). Instead it's as if they were never named at all.

Every time I go over the new bridge, I'm going to make sure to make a loud comment on the bus "WOW THE MOSSY PANCAKE BRIDGE SURE IS LOOKING GREAT TONIGHT." Maybe it'll catch on, and that will be my contribution.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I still think the Duniway Bridge is a pretty decent idea considering we're not naming it after someone insignificant to our history.

Max said...

What percentage of Oregonians had heard of Abigail Duniway, before the bridge naming?

What percentage will have heard of Abigail Duniway after the bridge is named after her?

Do you recall who Morrison, Hawthorne, Fremont, Burnside, Marquam, were?

See that's the point -- it doesn't matter what name they pick; it still will be ultimately meaningless. Might as well pick the name suggested by a 3 year old, or whatever the people want. At least then we'll get a smile out of it.

Al M said...

It was nothing more than a PR stunt meant to get people to LOVE the stupid MLR project and what they name it is irrelevant.

I was the only one talking about that and everybody said HE AL, STOP BEING SO NEGATIVE....ya right

Jason McHuff said...

Isn't the park named after her?

MAX Redline said...

They've already chosen a name; this is just a formality. Sort of like what happens when they "let you vote" to name an animal at the zoo.