Expanding My Categorization Horizons, And An Old Song
Other than the political blogs, I like to categorize blogs geographically. For example, Inland Empress would be considered an Inland Empire blog. (Everybody say "DUH!") I don't have a lot of blog links outside of North America, so I currently have a catchall "International" blog category.

So where do I put The Life and Times of Stavanger, described as follows?

The Life and Times of Stavanger is an online character sheet and event log of my forray into the land of Alleria. This log has been created for personal use, but visitors are more than welcome to reply or just browse around. I'm afraid there isn't much to see yet, but the page will continue to grow as I explore more of the World.

I find the concept fascinating, but perhaps I should put any such trip of my own halfway into reality. "Ontario Emperor's imaginary tour of Tom Peterson's," indeed.

Ronnie Cordova has been there for real:

RONNIE CORDOVA
GHOSTS OF 82ND AVENUE

Get in, we're going down 82nd, an endlessly interesting street that no one ever talks about. This is the Portland I know. Forget Hawthorne and the swank of the Pearl. I want to know where to get cheap smokes at 3 am from a shack that looks like it was built by a drunken hillbilly.

Look at this street, it's like a zoning free-for-all. A community center next to an apartment building next to a titty bar next to a car lot....

Now from here you can see the enormous face of Tom Peterson at 82nd and Foster presiding over these motley congregations like the Wizard of Oz. This huge Tom Peterson face is certainly troubling. Notice the jaundiced appearance, the hint of a leer, the vague suggestion of sinister intent. I try not to glimpse Tom's face when I drive by at night, for fear that seeing it will plague me with dark torments.

And of course when I think of Tom Peterson I think of Frank Bonnema. This is from Playboy Buddy Rose's website (I didn't even know he had a website):

I really enjoy Frank Bonnema’s commentary and interview style. Outside of broadcasting, what exactly was his role in the Portland Wrestling organization? Was he a KPTV employee, or did he work for the Owen family? Would he be present when all the angles and such were given to the wrestlers? It all seemed so seamless. He must have been a true pro. I miss him to this day.
-- Marc Covert

Frank had a cushy job. He wasn't in on any of the programs because Don Owen said he wasn't smart. Well, he was smart alright, because I would smarten him up to many of the things that I needed him to help get over. You need the announcer to be smart so that he can make all the points and help further storylines, match psychology, what have you. An announcer can make or break you, and I credit a great deal of my success in the Northwest to Frank Bonnema’s talents.

For those who never heard him, Bonnema was a low-key contrast to the bombastic pro wrestlers. I still remember this line: "Looked like karate to me."

Decades ago I co-wrote a song (around the same time I wrote "Gresham for the Sharks". The lyrics for this song are just about as bad:

We like Frank
We like Tom
We want to see Frank and Tom in the arena
In a hair match
Frank has a lot
But Tom has no hair
Frank Bonnema
Tom Peterson
Frank Bonnema
Tom Peterson
Frank Burn-Out
Tom Flat-Head

A friend wrote a song called "Flat-Head" to the tune of Devo's "Blockhead," but I've long since forgotten the lyrics.

Portlanders: to put this in context, this was back in the early 1980s, when Tom had two stores - one for furniture, and one for TVs and stereos. I understand that he subsequently grew and then went bankrupt.