Sunday, June 29, 2008

What's in a name (or slogan).

Quick perusal of the paper this morning. A son and daughter n'law are home, sleeping on our new pull down bed, (which as a bed makes a great couch.) I've blogged everyday, but I think I'm more impressed by people like Chubby Mommy or HackBend who have active family and social lives and still manage to blog regularly.

Anyway, the thing that leaped out at me is the slogan, "Sisters Country."

Hey, right on! They nailed it. I'm usually so skeptical of these kinds of things, but that just sound right.

Reminds me of the first time (out of two total) I went to a Downtowners meeting and they were talking about an advertising campaign "Village by the River."

WTF?

What's wrong with Downtown? Even 'Old' Downtown? It's what we are. Get down with old downtown, man.

Speaking of names. Got a call from Jerry Opie of the Sole Shop, who is filled with knowledge about the last 40 years of downtown history (I keep telling him to write it down, and he keeps telling me to do it.) He was laughing about the Liberty Theater being sold. Especially the name Liberty Theater, which is an exhumation of a name from way back. We all knew it as the "Fine Arts" Theater. The Fine Arts being XXX.

He also remembered all of the restaurants names that were in Toomies before them: Breads of France, Bentleys, Cyranos, and Piscatore. I used to think that location was doomed before Toomies arrived. Also, just to give you a flavor of what the '80s were like. I remember one of those incarnations they had a white piano in the window, and the waiters were dressed in tuxes or some kind of monkey suit, and I have a vivid image of one of them standing next to the shiny piano, wearing an ill-fitting tux, a white towel draped over his arm, staring out the window with the loneliest, more forlorn look I've ever seen.

All dressed up and nowhere to go.

5 comments:

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Sisters Country

It may "sound" right, and it may actually work. Once. But Sisters is a horrendously BORING place to stay. There is NOTHING to do, and you inevitably find yourself being pulled towards Bend to actually eat or shop.

The food scene in Sisters is just abominable. The shopping is worse.

Go there today. It's hot as hell, and you'll do 1 "sweep" of town before you want to commit suicide.

H. Bruce Miller said...

I remember the white piano but not the monkey suits.

Speaking of names: Why does everything these days have to be named "The Something at Someplace"? "The Shops at the Old Fair District" is one ridiculous example (as well as being a shameless ripoff). Doesn't anybody have any imagination?

"The food scene in Sisters is just abominable. The shopping is worse."

Agreed. I've always been surprised that nobody has ever opened a good restaurant in Sisters.

Wife and I drove out to Suttle Lake last Thursday and ate lunch at the lodge. It was quite good and reasonably priced -- a pleasant surprise, since the last time we had been there the food was abominable.

juliejulie said...

Thanks for the compliment. For the record, it's easy to blog when my children spend most of the day reading Harry Potter and playing at the neighbor's. Don't know if that makes me admirable or just clever.

I swear I've been trying to get them to go down to the bookstore, but they're too lazy. Tell us what new comics you've got this week...any new Manga?

Duncan McGeary said...

Funny you should ask!

We're getting some of the more popular ones:

Black Cat #15; Fruits Basket #20; Naruto #30; Rave Master #29.

On Wednesday.

You also travel, which would discombobulate me, I know.

The Natives Are Restless said...

You guys are right one with the Sister's eating scene, excpet for two little gems. Jen's Garden is pretty damned good for a town the size of Sisters. And Kokanee Cafe is (or at least used to be) also a nice little find...though technically it's in Camp Sherman.