Portland is Awesome

It was late-ish, I was in Downtown Portland and I could hear my heels clickity-clacking down the street. Soon enough, I heard another set of clickity-clacks, speeding up to me. The lady smiled at me and said, “Hey, let’s walk together! So we don’t look so alone.” So I let her walk with me. She asked where I was going, I told her, Berbati’s Pan, to see a burlesque show. She was a bit alarmed that I wasn’t exactly sure of the address, just sort of sure. She insisted that the street I was looking for was actually on the other side of the river.

She offered to give me a ride in her car. I tried to talk my way away from her, but she refused to let me go without first trying to use the pay phone to call 411 to ask for directions. (It didn’t work.) Then she stopped a poor lady passing by, jabbering on her cell phone.

The first lady, asked cell phone lady if she knew where Berbati’s Pan was. Then she insisted she ask the person on the other side of the phone to look it up. I stood there dumbfounded as the cell phone girl actually slowly and carefully spelled the bar’s name. She soon told me the exact address and gave me directions on how to get there from where we were all standing. At this point a very drunk homeless man came charging through, declaring that it was rude for us to stand in the middle of the sidewalk, so I was glad to be surrounded by others.

The lady looked a bit defeated that she was wrong about the address and would not be able to save a damsel in (not really) distress. I thanked them both and headed over to the club.

I realized after, that I did not learn their names, so, Lady #1: You freaked me the hell out, but thanks for caring so much about my safety. and Lady #2: Thanks. And thank you for not decking us when we asked you for help.

Let’s face it. When the weather is this nice, Monday isn’t a day to which we exactly look forward. Let alone a day that has us considering uttering anything other than expletives while we roll out of bed.

But all of that changes now. Because now you know about another awesome Portland blog: Yay! Monday!

Yay! Monday! is designed to provide you with exactly what you need to break through your Monday haze. And you’ll find it hard to keep your inspiration in check after reviewing the collection of nine inspiring sites, carefully selected by your curator Chris Kalani.

A weekly collection of Design, Art, and Photography that I like and want everyone to know about.

Even better? It changes every Monday. Get it?

So take a few minutes out of your hectic workday to head on over to Yay! Monday! another awesome Portland blog.

(Okay, so technically, Chris is from Vancouver, WA. But he works in Portland and he’s working on Refresh Portland. And besides, Yay! Monday! is way too awesome not to share. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.)

Music is memories. And these songs are my summer memories in Portland from 1992-1998.

Staring out the window at the passing, warm city as me and Sarah and Jess drove around playing my Dharma Bums tape. Hanging with Kaia of Team Dresch on her porch playing acoustic guitar in S.E. around the corner from my new girlfriend’s house. Interviewing Hazel on the radio and loving Fred’s dancing. Being a tad intimidated at the drunk punks stumbling around the Satyricon, but excited about the loud rocking Wipers show; the drum reverb like an old friend. Biking home in the warm summer quiet evening, weaving around the rose garden circles in Ladd’s Addition, humming to myself a Spinanes song, the day after Rebecca totally hit on me at a show at Berbati’s. Seeing Elliott sitting quietly writing something in a notepad in the back of every S.E. coffeeshop I seemed to walk into. And of course my friend Ben, who I was close with for a time…and life meandered and I went on to do things and he went on to be Kind of Like Spitting.

Today I thought about about my youth, my musical youth, my electric youth. I made a little mixtape for y’all of the bands that meant the most to me during that period of my life. Bands and musicians that I loved, bought their music, possibly knew personally. Music that watched me grow up.

Shout outs to those bands I didn’t include on the mix, but saw at shows around town.
In no particular order:
Hitting Birth, Calamity Jane, Kurtz Project
Nero’s Rome, Naked Lunch, Treefrogs
Drunk At Abi’s, Sweaty Nipples
Pond, Gravelpit, Thrillbilly
Henry Moon, Sylvia’s Ghost, On A Llama
Pete Mizer and the Five Fingers of Funk
Doris Daze, Jesus Presley, Skiploader
Richmond Fontaine, 17 Reasons Why
Carmina Piranha, Kerosene Dream
Everclear (Greg Eklund is a good guy)
McKinley (I actually did buy her CD; it was great.)

Pink Martini since I knew a guy who played bass for them, and they played at our crazy party when the tech company I worked for got bought out by Disney right before I moved away.

Kaitlyn Ni Donovan, still plays; I saw her a few months ago at a lovely wine bar evening show. And she has a special place in my heart for being the manager of the 1201, the bar which I basically lived at during my 20’s. Hi Phil!

And last but not least, Local’s Only, the little record shop that could (for a little while.)
I would go in there and get a new 7″ or zine or CD of some local band.

What are your 1990’s local musical memories? Where were they? Do you still listen to them?

Tell me this guy Dave doesn’t know Portland. He likes “beer, soccer, basketball, books, pinball, and festivals that serve beer, amongst many other things.”

Okay, so there’s no biking. But, I mean other than that? Dave knows Portland is an awesome Portland blog covering Portland’s favorite topics:

I used to make mental note of the dates and times of upcoming Timbers matches, eating contests, festivals, fairs, and events in and around town, and pester my friends with the information via email weekly as the events beckoned. If it had a beer garden, I was on it!

Luckily, Dave has stopped harassing his friends and has started harassing us by posting his insights to a blog.

If you want to know what’s happening in Portland, Dave knows Portland is an awesome place to start.

Working downtown is great for many reasons, but one of the more entertaining aspects is the free music and movies in Pioneer Square.

Every summer, there are movies shown in the square on these giant inflatable screens.  It’s called Flicks on the bricks (so named for the bricks in Pioneer Square).  Just show up, sit down, and enjoy!  Here’s a pic from last year.  Maybe I’ll see you on Friday at the Goonies!

And in the same location, you can enjoy Noon Tunes, free live music.  Just grab some grub at the carts and head on over to the square for some live entertainment!

Sure, you could go see Wall-e or Kung Fu Panda at the movie theater or eat yet another meal at an air conditioned restaurant to beat the heat. However, I have another option for you.

Mt. Tabor.

OK, I admit that it won’t be as cool as an air conditioned room, but it will be cooler and possibly more fun. I recommend going all the way to the top of Mt. Tabor where you will find a nicely paved circle with plenty of grass in the middle and some of the best views of the city available. The best part is that it will be shady, a couple of degrees cooler, and if you are lucky, breezy.

The options are numerous: volcano crater, reservoir, play area for kids, stair climbing, biking, running, hiking, picnics, and more.

What’s your favorite secret to beating the heat during the sunny summers in Portland?

I recently learned that the South Waterfront district is hosting a series of free sustainability discussions for those who are interested in learning more about our environmental impact. I’m a big fan of free events designed to educate the public. I have been involved in helping to organize many free technology events for the Portland technology community through my work with Legion of Tech.

Basically the South Waterfront district is hosting a series of talks with local sustainability gurus, it’s free and open to the public, and they even provide some catering and wine while bringing in a different sustainability expert each time. The next installment is July 10th 6-8pm at the Discovery Center (0680 SW Bancroft) with Regina Hauser, the Executive Director of the Oregon Natural Step Network. She will be discussing the Natural Step’s approach to living a more sustainable lifestyle. Here is a snippet from the description on the South Waterfront Sustainability Event page:

Sustainability asks us to live and work in a way that allows our children and future generations to flourish. How do we know if we’re doing the right thing? The Natural Step provides a framework for understanding sustainability which can be used as a guide for short and long term decision making.

The Natural Step is a global not-for-profit advisory and education organization dedicated to sustainable development. It gives decision-makers a shared, science-based understanding of sustainability and a unifying framework for moving towards sustainability.

(quoted from SWF Sustainability Speaker Series post)

You can RSVP for this event by contacting Jeremy Solly at jeremy@southwaterfront.com or calling 503.222.7788.

I have some creative friends who might agree most with the sad facts on remuneration for artists that is part of this story, but I think they’d also agree with the overall gist of this article. It’s not just the books, cafes, food in Portland that stimulate creative minds, but the general openness and tolerance. You can be whatever. Paris was a famous artists’ haven for the same reasons, except in its creative heyday it was also very affordable. And let’s not forget that what Paris also had in abundance was a world famous joie de vivre which it lost somewhat after WWII. Personally, I think about Paris-Portland comparisons all the time, especially when I hear of another creative luminary, like Todd Haynes, moving here to free themselves from the trap of well-scrutinized celebrity. And I detect signs we’re getting much better in the spirit for living. We’re more social. We just have to get to the point where more people love art more and make it possible for young artists to live, thrive and stay here.

I moved to Hawthorne just a few blocks away from the Daily Grind in March of 2007. One of the big advantages of the neighborhood was the ability to walk to everything: restaurants, Powells, groceries, bubble tea, coffee shops, and … an awesome health food store with a deli. I loved the vegan deli food, desserts, and the convenience of running out to pick up missing ingredients. Then, sigh, the Daily Grind closed. I was back to driving to New Seasons on Division to buy my health food.

We speculated about what might replace it, but we feared the worst. What if they put in yet another Starbucks? or Subway? or *shudder* McDonalds. Even worst, would they turn it into another condo building? Then yesterday, I got some amazing news.

New Seasons, another locally owned health food store, announced yesterday that they would be moving into the old Daily Grind location. Rejoice! I’ll have to wait until 2009, but then I will be able to walk to a great, local health food store with a deli. Awesome.

Every time I swing by Culinate, I find something mouthwatering or brain-stretching or just plain yummy. And that’s usually just me looking at the pictures. Then I start reading the brilliant prose and my mind is doing somersaults all over again.

Beautiful, exceptionally well written, and just downright interesting, Culinate is one of the best forward-thinking food blogs anywhere. Which is why it’s extra cool that it’s from Portland.

Next time you’re looking for a recipe, curious about food, or simply just looking for examples of beautiful preparation—be that food preparation or blog preparation—swing by Culinate, an awesome Portland blog.