As more U.S. city downtowns resemble theme parks, Portland’s Rialto offers a colorful experience that is not contrived. The large, high-ceilinged space includes a long bar, some 12 pool tables, several big screen televisions, pin ball machines and a row of booths that look out on Fourth Avenue.

I like the Rialto because it’s not self-conscious. It reminds me of the grittiness of Wayne’s Billiard Academy, a second-floor pool room that existed when I was at Portland State University. I’m sure grizzled heads turned when my wife walked in to place her bets.The Rialto attracts a diverse crowd that includes regulars as well as occasional bettors as well as gambling habitués and college kids.

My wife and I spent a few hours in this estimable establishment last Saturday for the running of the Preakness, the second leg of the Triple Crown. The crowd at the Rialto erupted as Street Sense and Curlin went neck and neck to the finish line.

If you are a numbers or statistics person, one of thoroughbred racing’s attractions is the mass of data behind the horses, jockeys, trainers and owners. My wife loves sorting out the numbers in the daily bible of racing, The Racing Form. She picked the top two finishers and our bet on the No. 3 horse came in fourth.

The Rialto is not a 40th-floor experience. It is close to the ground. The off-track betting parlor is actually a separate room, next door to the restaurant and bar. I’m sure many grizzled heads turned as my wife walked in to place her bets.

The movie Waitress is getting a lot of buzz. It is a good movie. In a phrase, it is a chick flick that guys can like.

Of all the output following the death of the Rev. Jerry Fallwell, the speech by Newt Gingrich to the graduates of Liberty University captures the human comedy and hypocrisy that inevitably shows itself when religion mixes with politics in an organized fashion.

To the Liberty graduates, Gingrich warned of “the growing culture of radical secularism” and its collision course with Christian ideals.

It is proof of how devalued American public life has become that Gingrich is taken seriously by the religious right and will enter the presidential race. This is the guy who divorced his wife while she was in a hospital bed, dying of cancer.

The use of code words is not unique to so-called Christian politics. A similar process may be observed in environmentalist and business circles. But it is used with abandon – and sometimes laughably so – by those who seek the votes of the religious right.

I had an opportunity last week to renew my acquaintance with the Columbia River Gorge Hotel. It is the small, tan stucco building that one sees on the north side of Interstate 84 just west of Hood River. Built in the 1920s, the hotel became a retirement home for decades until it was restored to its original purpose in the 1970s.

The hotel sits on a ledge that is some 100 feet above the Columbia River. In 2007, one marvels at how perfectly the architect sited this building, next to a striking waterfall.

– S.A.F.