Portal:Oregon

Paranoid Park is a 2007 American drama film written and directed by Gus Van Sant. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Blake Nelson and takes place in Portland, Oregon. It stars Gabe Nevins as a teenage skateboarder who accidentally kills a security guard. Van Sant wrote the draft script in two days after reading and deciding to adapt Nelson's novel. To cast the film's youths, Van Sant posted an opening casting call on social networking website MySpace inviting teenagers to audition for speaking roles, as well as experienced skateboarders to act as extras. Filming began in October 2005 and took place at various locations in and around Portland. Scenes at the fictional Eastside Skatepark were filmed at Burnside Skatepark which was, like Eastside, built illegally by skateboarders. Paranoid Park premiered on May 21, at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival and was given a limited release on March 7, 2008. It grossed over US$4,481,000 from its $3 million budget. The film received mostly positive reviews; some praised the direction and cinematography in particular, though others believed the film to be overly stylized and slow paced. It won one Independent Spirit Award, two Boston Society of Film Critics awards and the Cannes Film Festival's special 60th anniversary prize.

Elliott Smith (1969–2003) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. His primary instrument was the guitar, but he was also proficient at piano, clarinet, bass, harmonica and drums. Smith had a distinctive vocal style characterized by his "whispery, spiderweb-thin delivery", and use of multi-tracking to create vocal harmonies. Smith was born in Omaha, Nebraska and raised primarily in Texas, but spent the majority of his life in Portland, Oregon. After playing in the rock band Heatmiser for several years, Smith began a solo career in 1994 with releases on the independent record labels Cavity Search and Kill Rock Stars. He eventually signed a major label contract with DreamWorks Records in 1997, for which he recorded two albums. Smith rose to mainstream prominence when his song "Miss Misery", written for the film Good Will Hunting, was nominated for an Oscar in the Best Original Song category in 1998. Smith battled with depression, alcohol and drug addiction for years, and these topics would often appear in his lyrics. In 2003, at age 34, he died from two apparently self-inflicted stab wounds to the chest; the autopsy evidence was, however, inconclusive.

• May 1, 1839, the Peoria Party sets out on the Oregon Trail for the Oregon Country.
• May 2, 1843, meetings at Champoeg create Provisional Government of Oregon.
• May 9, 1850, member of the First Executive Committee and namesake of Hillsboro, David Hill dies.
• May 11, 1792, Capt. Gray enters the Columbia River, becoming the first Euro-American to accomplish this feat.
• May 18, 2007, tire king Les Schwab, founder of Les Schwab Tire Centers, dies at the age of 89 in Prineville.
• May 21, 1998, Kip Kinkel goes on a shooting spree at Thurston High School in Springfield.
• May 22, 1902, Crater Lake National Park is established as Oregon's only National Park.
• May 30, 1978, sportswear company Blue Ribbon Sports officially changes its name to Nike.

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• ...that leaders in Oswego, Oregon, petitioned the United States Board on Geographic Names to change the name of the town's Sucker Lake to Oswego Lake (pictured)?
• ...that the Hatfield Government Center light rail station in Hillsboro, Oregon, was the busiest on the Westside MAX extension within a year of opening?
• ...that Luis Palau, an evangelical minister based in Portland, Oregon, collaborated with government leaders in Portland and neighboring cities, and 500 Christian pastors, to rally volunteers to address homelessness?
• ... that an irrigation dam failed on Bully Creek in 1925, flooding the city of Vale, Oregon, with 3 feet (1 m) of water and causing US$500,000 in damage?

• ... that Ira F. M. Butler was Speaker of the House of Representatives in the last session of the Oregon Territorial Legislature prior to statehood?
• ... that Linn County clerk Del Riley established Oregon's vote-by-mail system, now used as the only voting method in the state?
• ... that in Pacific States Telephone & Telegraph Co. v. Oregon, decided 110 years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the initiative process?
• ... that the keepers of Carl Griffith's sourdough starter, which traveled the Oregon Trail in 1847, are sworn to keep no other sourdough starter in their homes?
• ... that William H. Strayer was the only Democrat in the Oregon State Senate in 1931?
• ... that California maintains 16 checkpoints along its borders with Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona to help protect against an invasion by exotic lifeforms?
• ... that former Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives Frank J. Van Dyke was born in Penang, Straits Settlements, British Malaya, in 1907?
• ... that in 1943, it took the Oregon State Senate 45 ballots to elect William H. Steiwer as president of the senate over fellow Republican Dorothy McCullough Lee?

Multnomah Falls

Multnomah Falls is a waterfall on the Oregon side of the Columbia River Gorge, located east of Troutdale, between Corbett and Dodson, along the Historic Columbia River Highway. The falls drops in two major steps, split into an upper falls of 542 feet (165 m) and a lower falls of 69 feet (21 m), with a gradual 9 foot (3 m) drop in elevation between the two, so the total height of the waterfall is conventionally given as 620 feet (189 m). Multnomah Falls is the second tallest year-round waterfall in the United States after Yosemite Falls.