Portland Tree Lighting + Pirates

So, the Portland Tree Lighting ceremony became the subject of national news this year. We were there and there was no evidence of anything unusual going on. The Mayor didn't even know about it, and he was there too. I think we were all busy trying to text-enter a contest to win a Tiffany charm bracelet (which we didn't win) at about the time the guy thought he was detonating a bomb with his cell phone, which is a little...eerie. But the FBI knew what it was doing, so anyway...

       

It was a fun event, lots of families around. One of the sponsors passed out flashy green pins, which had three settings: rapid annoying flashiness, slower annoying flashiness, and just green without flashing. Chuck made sure mine was set to that last one. It really wasn't so bad from afar, the sea of flashing green lights was kind of cool, but for the wearer and those close to you it was a little much. But the kids liked 'em.

There were sing-alongs, the Mayor, Pink Martini, the Pacific Youth Choir were all there, but my favorite part had to be the pirates. What is christmas without pirates, afterall? After posting my pictures to flickr the other day I found out this was part of "Pdxyar" and the pirates pictured are Captain Ragnar McHaggis Redgoat and Captain Whitebeard, Commander of the Sleigh!

      

Portland loves pirates!