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Brian Libby

@brianlibby.bsky.social

800 followers 490 following 670 posts

Portland, Oregon architecture & arts journalist (Metropolis, Dwell, Oregon ArtsWatch, NY Times) • keen photographer and experimental filmmaker • fond of film noir, college football, cats, British panel shows, tennis, jazz, espresso, Columbo, democracy

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Brian Libby @brianlibby.bsky.social · 37m

So glad you liked it! I had the same response. I actually didn’t recognize what it was when the song first played on the radio. But each subsequent listen, I like it more. It gets to the heart of Come Together being about the bass, even as it reworks the bass line.

Brian Libby @brianlibby.bsky.social · 9h

@iammilliam.bsky.social Thought you might like this one.

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Brian Libby @brianlibby.bsky.social · 9h

One of the more interesting Beatles covers I’ve heard, which I was introduced to on KMHD tonight. youtu.be/Kp0n-461fg8?...

Counter Points Come Together

YouTube video by wilt234

youtu.be

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Brian Libby @brianlibby.bsky.social · 11h

At Mt. Tabor Park this afternoon, on a walk with a former editor of mine whom I hadn’t seen in 20 years, and who led me to different parts and vantage points of a park I thought I already knew.

Brian Libby @brianlibby.bsky.social · 22h

Another shot from yesterday at Washington High School. Although I'm rooting for cloudy fall to arrive in full force, I do enjoy the effect sunny days have on this building's windows.

Brian Libby @brianlibby.bsky.social · 23h

They’re right at the entrance as the hallway slopes down going past the bar.

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Brian Libby @brianlibby.bsky.social · 1d

Wow, that’s cool!

Brian Libby @brianlibby.bsky.social · 1d

Paintings of Nobel chemistry prize and peace prize winner Linus Pauling, encountered today at Portland’s Washington High School, which Pauling attended. It’s now a mixed-use concert venue, bar and offices (including my chiropractor).

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Reposted by Brian Libby

Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 1d

Gonna be thinking about this lede for a minute.

(RNS) — Last month, the Rev. David Black stood in front of a Chicago-area U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility and spread his arms wide. Adorned in all black and wearing a clerical collar, the pastor looked up at a group of masked, heavily armed ICE agents on the roof and began to pray.

“I invited them to repentance,” Black, a minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA), said in an interview. “I basically offered an altar call. I invited them to come and receive that salvation, and be part of the kingdom that is coming.”

But when Black began to lower his arms a few seconds later, the agents responded to his spiritual plea by firing pepper balls, or chemical agents that cause eye irritation and respiratory distress, video footage shows. One struck Black in the head, exploding into a puff of white pepper smoke and forcing him to his knees. Fellow demonstrators rushed to his aid, and as the pastor rubbed his face in pain, the agents continued to fire.

“We could hear them laughing,” Black said.

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Brian Libby @brianlibby.bsky.social · 2d

These are surreal dystopian times, but my sister is doing some amazing work out on the front lines telling the story.

Brian Libby @brianlibby.bsky.social · 2d

I wonder if there could be a silver lining to federal troops being sent to incite violence in otherwise-peaceful Portland: a tsunami of love and appreciation for the city.

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Reposted by Brian Libby

Valarie Smith @valarie.bsky.social · 3d

Laura Cumming gets Thiebald exactly right.

“There are still days,” he told an interviewer more than 50 years later, “that start with the thought: This morning, I’d like to paint a pie.”

America’s ‘laureate of lunch counters’ | The Observer

Wayne Thiebaud’s vibrant paintings capture the romance of a bygone age. The first solo exhibition in Britain of his art opens this week

observer.co.uk

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Brian Libby @brianlibby.bsky.social · 5d

At my friend Avantika Bawa’s gallery show of architectural drawings tonight, featuring modernist landmarks in Portland, London and Chandigarh.

Reposted by Brian Libby

Thom Hartmann @hartmannreport.com · 5d

Portland:

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Brian Libby @brianlibby.bsky.social · 6d

Fun time today being interviewed by filmmaker Erika Bolstad for her upcoming documentary "Monumental," about Portland's toppled and removed monuments and the question of which ones to bring back. I talked mainly about the beloved Thompson Elk statue and fountain.

Brian Libby @brianlibby.bsky.social · 6d

"Take this, that, those and these."
"Thank you, doctor."
"Oh, I'm not a doctor."

Honorable mention: "Larry Flynt is right!" (In response to a cameo by Stephen Hawking.)

Willow @rockshrimp.bsky.social · 7d

what's the stupidest/randomest Simpsons quote that lives in your head rent free? Mine is the urge to say "you said go to bread" every time I am about to head to bed.

Brian Libby @brianlibby.bsky.social · 6d

I hope it gets better soon!

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Brian Libby @brianlibby.bsky.social · 7d

I suspect most people reading this are not Oregon Ducks fans or even college football fans. But I want to pay homage to the brilliant "Ducks vs. Them" series of mini documentaries. This one, following last Saturday's epic win over Penn State, gave me goosebumps. www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwSH...

Ducks vs Them | 2025 Oregon Football Game 5 | “A Thousand Cuts”

YouTube video by GoDucks

www.youtube.com

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Reposted by Brian Libby

@dlp. @umadlp.bsky.social · 8d

Capital Cinema, Cologne, by August Sander, c. 1930.

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Brian Libby @brianlibby.bsky.social · 7d

Still considering various photos for my book cover, I came back around to this shot. I want to avoid any postcard-esque shot of a landmark, in favor of a pic that shows Portland's layers of history. Plus I've always loved this old '60s building on 10th Avenue with its checkerboard facade.

Brian Libby @brianlibby.bsky.social · 8d

Thank you! I appreciate the kind words.

Brian Libby @brianlibby.bsky.social · 10d

Wow, thanks very much!

Brian Libby @brianlibby.bsky.social · 10d

On the Willamette River yesterday (near the suburb of Wilsonville) with my friend Joel. He fished while I enjoyed the view.

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Brian Libby @brianlibby.bsky.social · 13d

Interesting story of a Japanese-immigrant photographer, Frank Masura, working in remote northeastern Washington near the Canadian border during the early 20th century, the subject of Beth Harrington's new documentary. Great photos, too: www.orartswatch.org/our-mr-matsu...

‘Our Mr. Matsura’: Director Beth Harrington discusses her new documentary about a historic Japanese-American photographer • Oregon ArtsWatch

The Emmy-winning filmmaker's portrait of an early-20th-century icon of Okanogan, WA screens Sunday, September 28 at Vancouver's Kiggins Theatre.