Goonies Saturday, June 5, 2010

I've posted a few photos here, and I've uploaded more to this Picasa album. You can click through them with the arrows at the top and read the captions. For the opening of the Oregon Film Museum in the old jail, the City staged a reenactment of the jailbreak at the beginning of the The Goonies film.

First, Mayor Willis Van Dusen introduced State Senator Betsy Johnson, and she applauded the opening of the museum. They noted that the museum was dedicated in honor of all of the films made in Oregon, but that June 7th would forever be Goonies Day in Astoria and today was their day at the Museum.

Willis Van Dusen introduced the actors. I didn't catch the name of the guy in the white hat, but an anonymous commenter thought it might be Joe Pantoliano, who played one of the Fratelli brothers, and I think that's right. Next (plaid shirt) is Curtis Hanson ("Mr. Perkins"), then Jeff Cohen in a black shirt ("Chunk", with his daugter in the blue shirt. I found a link to the Goonies cast then and now, so have fun with the facces! Everyone seems to be having a good time. The mood was laid-back and fun. You'll see more pictures of the actors in the album.

Oh, look. In the middle of this photo there's a guy in a hat racing from the jail to a waiting black jeep. Note the red gas can.

There's a hot pursuit . . . and you can see more in the photo album. Note pirate hats in the foreground.

At the other end of town are The Goon Docks - right next door to my shop, Tapir and Friends Animal Store (which has no sign and has reverted to its roots as an online-only business).

At The Goon Docks, you can buy tickets and memorabilia.

It's nice when the town gets together and has a good time. The crowds even left me a place to park. The weather was as gorgeous yesterday as it is rainy so far today. I haven't been out yet, but I can see from my window that The Goon Docks are again filled with people.

Here's a web site I found showing more location pix for several of the movies made in Astoria. There's an index list here. Just look for these titles: Free Willy, Kindergarten Cop, The Ring 2, and of course, The Goonies. It doesn't cover all movies made here, but you'll enjoy seeing stills from the films as well as the locations.

Here is a YouTube video interview with Curt Hanson and Jeff Cohen uploaded during the weekend.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Sturgeon Boats and Goonie Stuff

I think that for the next few days, I'm going to post several photos for each day - the regular daily photo, and then some Goonies stuff. Today's first photo is of people out early in the morning fishing for sturgeon on the misty river. I've already seen several weather changes, and it's hard to tell what kind of day it will be. The sparkles in the background are reflections of sunlight on the Washington side of the Astoria-Megler Bridge.

By the way, The Goonies wasn't the only movie shot in Astoria. There were quite a few more. Currently on every store video shelf is The Road. An important scene at the beach next to a wrecked ship was filmed at the Peter Iredale. If you go west from Astoria, that's where you'll meet the Pacific Ocean. The crew didn't even have to bring in the driftwood, because it was already there, as you'll see from the linked posts. They did bring in a lot of other set dressing, though, because we don't usually have Apocalyptic garbage on the beach :)

Below are a few photos I took while doing errands yesterday evening.

The door and interior of Video Horizons display Goonie memorabilia and a sign announces a costume party tonight.

Video Horizons' windows are filled with Goonies. I'm glad I picked up my weekend movies LAST night. I may try to go look at the costumes tonight, but I'm making no promises.

A new thrift shop on 7th Street across from the post office gets into the spirit.

I've been meaning to show you this Victorian-era brick church (First Baptist) for some time, but there are always cars in the way. I'm showing it now because the gray building to the left is the Goonies' Jail.

Here's the jail from the other side. It will have its grand opening as the Oregon Film Museum this morning, but as of last night they were still working on it. The words along the top are new. I think there was some text there during the filming, but I'm not sure. Typically there was none.

I only watched the first part of the movie because, unlike so many people around the world, I couldn't stand it. I usually don't give up on a movie part way through, but in this case, I did. I remember the jail scenes at the beginning, though, and I think there was a shot from this back corner. I wonder how they got rid of all those wires, or if they left them in the movie.

Didn't somebody's father work at a museum? They used the Flavel House across the street from the jail as the location for the museum. It's not such a stretch, as the Flavel House is - actually - a museum.

Here's the Flavel House from 7th Street.

See Weekend Reflections from around the world.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

When The Goonies Went to the Store . . .

When The Goonies went to the store, this is where they went. It's just around the corner from their house, which I'll show another time. Signs had been changed to make this building into a grocery store, and I don't know what they did about the unsightly wires and poles, which are a plague for anyone trying to capture this otherwise-photogenic town.

The sign says 37th Street and Lief Erikson Drive. Leif Erikson Drive is an Extension of Marine Drive and is also Highway 30. It's the main drag through Astoria going along the Columbia River. It's also called East Columbia River Highway on some maps, although I've never heard anyone use that name.

I tripped over a plant and landed hard on the sidewalk while backing up to get this angle, so I hope any Goonies fans will appreciate the photo. I'm not feeling very charitable towards this location right now, although I like the blue sky.

Addendum: With bruises and sore muscles healing, I can enjoy this photo again. I also want to thank Gayle and Peggy for helping with info. Peggy verified that this is the location used for the store in the movie (I wasn't 100% sure), and Gayle added in a comment: "Sheryl - 'in the day' this was, in fact, a small neighborhood grocery store. Lovvold's Grocery." Thanks to you both!

This street sign shows one local spelling of Leif Erikson's name. I wonder what happened?

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

The Goonies are (Almost) Back . . .

This is the Clatsop County Courthouse, shown from the corner of Commercial and 7th. The front of the courthouse is on the left, on Commercial (Avenue/Street) [digression: "streets" have numbers and "avenues" have names, but most people use "street" for both; I am herewith giving up trying to conform to the system], the old County Jail is the small gray building on the right, and the turret peeking over the jail is the Flavel House. The huge tree on the right was in this recent post, and the small protective roof at the corner of the building houses a piece of a huge old-growth tree that's on display here. (I haven't done a post on it yet.) The post office, which I've shown several times, is out of the picture on the left, across the street from the courthouse. The color of the courthouse building seems to brighten up the area unless, I think, you're there on unpleasant official business.

One reason I'm showing this photo today is because the old jail (seen in the beginning of The Goonies movie) will, on June 4-7, 2010, be opening as the Oregon Film Museum. You can read all about it here, and if I'm in town, which I expect to be, I'll try to get a photo of the event. I will not, however, be watching the movie. I already tried that once, and I made it maybe halfway through. Did you watch The Goonies? Did you like it? The film's landmarks are big attractions around here.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Lady Washington replica in Astoria's waters, or: Star Trek comes to Astoria

On Wednesday the Lady Washington passed this way under cloudy skies. The clouds and haze are still with us, so I'll go ahead and use this interesting photo for Skywatch Friday. You can see how the Lady Washington's size compares to the stern of one of the tankers that more often travel the river here. Both the replica you see in this photo and the original tall sailing ship have gathered their fair share of fame. The replica was built just up the coast in Aberdeen, Washington, in time for the 1989 state Centennial, and has been claimed as the "State Ship," which I'm sure is very different from Plato's "ship of state"! I've seen the Lady Washington rarely, but when I do it's always a treat. Some of us just call her "the pirate ship," and we all know which ship we're talking about. The Lady Washington has actually been in a number of movies, including Star Trek Generations, HMS Interceptor, and Pirates of the Caribbean.

The original Lady Washington was built on the East Coast in 1787 and sailed around Cape Horn. She was named after Martha Washington and was captained for a time by Robert Gray, the man who entered and named the Columbia River (on a different ship, the Columbia Rediviva) in 1792. The Lady Washington was also the first American ship to reach Japan. You can read more about this historic vessel in Wikipedia.

It always lifts the spirits to see this beautiful ship in our waters, and she sometimes docks at the Maritime Museum, where you can get a closer look. She currently sails up and down the Pacific Coast teaching sailors and non-sailors about seamanship, customs, and about ships of her era, keeping history alive and fascinating.

This is my entry for Skywatch Friday. Come visit skies around the world today!

I want to thank all my friends who have been visiting my blog and commenting. I've had shopping cart technical issues, and then I took a day off. I am REALLY looking forward to spending time visiting your sites again! Hopefully later today :)