Weird Portland Wednesday: Sleestak...of course

As you are exploring our beautiful Forest Park, as many a Portlander as well as a tourist will do, you come to the intriguing Witch's Castle. Out of the corner of your eye, you notice something standing in the shadows just inside a doorway of the Castle. And then it emerges....

It is the Portland Sleestak!

Yes, we have a Sleestak wandering our city streets. Think about it...any town that would have the Unipiper--Darth Vader riding around town on a unicycle playing the pipes--would have a Sleestak. No question.

Sleestak got his start in Portland in late 2019 but came into his own during early 2020. According to the Oregonian (Aug. 27, 2020), "By day, Brent Marr is a maintenance tech for a downtown property management company. By night, he’s the Portland Sleestak. Marr, 52, was one of many Gen-X kids who grew up watching Sid and Marty Krofft puppet-filled kids shows..."

The Kroft-created program, Land of the Lost, made an impression on Marr. He decided to make a Halloween costume as a Sleestak. And then he decided to make a better costume and wander around the streets of Portland, scaring people. No one was scared. Everyone wanted to have their picture taken with the Portland Sleestak. So Marr just went with it.

This story explains our little town (from the Oregonian):  

When the coronavirus pandemic hit Oregon, Marr took a several-month break from “Sleestaking.” But in mid-July, he brought out the suit, loaded it into a pickup, and headed out with a roommate to the Eastbank Esplanade. As dusk fell, Marr stood under a streetlight. He’d brought a speaker that played the call of the Sleestak, a sound like a low-fi recording of a howling wind.

At that moment, maybe a half-mile away as the crow flies, federal officers were tear gassing a crowd of protesters outside the federal courthouse. But on this side of the river, it was quiet. A few teens rode by on electric scooters. A group of cyclists slowed down, and one woman giggled and pointed when she noticed Marr standing.

Most people, though, ignored the monster on the sidewalk.

It was just a Saturday night in Portland.

Yes, the Portland Sleestak, just one more way we keep Portland Weird.
And so it goes~~~
peace