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57 °F Forecast | Road Cams Sunday, September 19, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Rogue Valley's Finest EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend August 30, 2004 The �PantsOnFire-Mobile� makes its way Sunday through downtown Ashland. A project of True Majority Action, an organization founded by Ben Cohen, one of the founders of Ben and Jerry�s Ice Cream. Mail Tribune / Andrew Mariman PantsOnFire-Mobile turns heads By BILL KETTLER Mail Tribune As Republicans gathered Sunday in New York to nominate George W. Bush for a second term, the President made a surprise visit to Southern Oregon. Well, not exactly. Some Rogue Valley residents did, however, see a 12-foot figure of the President dressed in a flight suit when the "PantsOnFire-Mobile" passed through Grants Pass, Rogue River, Gold Hill, Medford and Ashland. The figure holds a reader board that displays various statements from the President, each followed by a statistic that points out the discrepancies between his spoken words and his actions. Flame-colored lights on the flight suit, cloth streamers and a smoke generator help to create the illusion of flames on the chief executive’s trousers, illustrating an old saying about what happens to people who don’t tell the truth. Advertisement "We try to leave the ‘liar, liar’ part to people’s imagination," said John Dickinson of Seattle, who drove the figure from Seattle to Southern Oregon. "There are a few who don’t get it." Pedestrians gawked at the figure and some motorists pulled over for a closer look as Dickinson parked in a shady spot at the Medford Shopping Center. "That’s quite a contraption," said Neil Miller of Portland, as he snapped a photo of the figure. "I like to see creative activism." "I saw it and said ‘We’ve got to have a picture,’ " said his wife, Melissa. The PantsOnFire-Mobile is a project of True Majority Action, an organization founded by Ben Cohen, one of the founders of Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream. Cohen is noted for his support for social justice issues, environmental protection, and initiatives that serve children, families and workers. Dickinson said the figure will travel to Nevada for Burning Man, an annual art and culture fair on a dry lake bed in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert. The figure startled some people in Grants Pass early Sunday as Dickinson and a local friend, Royal Gasso, drove it down mostly empty Sixth and Seventh streets. "That time of the morning most people who were out were going to church," Gasso said. "We did see a few people who didn’t like seeing George." The response warmed with the day as Gasso and Dickinson headed south along back roads toward Ashland. The tall figure can’t travel at freeway speeds without being wrapped and tarped. "The closer we got to Ashland, more and more people were honking and waving," Gasso said. Reach reporter Bill Kettler at 776-4492, or e-mail [email protected] Next stop .... The PantsOnFire-Mobile is scheduled to return to Medford after Burning Man concludes. It will be on display at Hawthorne Park, 501 E. Main St., at 7 p.m. For more information, see the Web site at:www.pantsonfire.net Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities