Tag Archive for 'portland'

Awesome Portland Blogs: Yay! Monday!

Published
by
Rick Turoczy
on September 8, 2008
in culture, portland is awesome and technology
. 1 Comment

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.)

Summertime Portland in Song: A Retrospective

Published
by
sharon
on August 10, 2008
in culture and entertainment
. 1 Comment

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.


MixwitMixwit make a mixtapeMixwit mixtapes


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?

Awesome Portland Blogs: Dave knows Portland

Published
by
Rick Turoczy
on July 28, 2008
in culture, events and food and drink
. 2 Comments

Dave knows PortlandTell 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.

Wanna change the world? Start at home.

Published
by
Eva
on June 4, 2008
in portland is awesome
. 1 Comment

Today I went to the Greenlight Greater Portland kick-off event and heard Richard Florida, author of Who’s Your City talk about what a great city Portland is.  Given the livability factors (greatest number of microbreweries, library with the largest circulation per capita, greatest number of bookstores, forest, mountains, coast and desert within easy driving distance) that should be no surprise to anyone.  But, he went on to talk about how important involvement in community is to people’s sense of well-being and how the high rate of community involvement in Portland is a huge factor in what makes Portland livable.

This is not news.  Robert Putnam, author of Bowling Alone bet a steak dinner that the social isolation and decline in social capital was a national phenomena.  He lost.  Portland was the one exception.

But we cannot rest on our laurels.  We all need to continue to participate in community and ensure that Portland continues to be the awesome place that we know and love.  Here are some upcoming opportunities:

The City Club of Portland is a 93 year old organization that relies on volunteer research efforts to affect public policy.  At their annual meeting on Friday, Steve Schell will be reflecting on City Club’s research in his talk “City Club Research: A Quiet Catalyst For Momentous Change.”

Another important effort is the Bureau of Planning’s update of the 1980 Comprehensive Plan and the 1988 Central City Plan. The Planning Bureau says: 

The Portland Plan is an inclusive, citywide effort to guide the physical, economic, social, cultural and environmental development of Portland over the next 30 years. The plan will build on the work the community did through visionPDX, which captured and fleshed out our shared values of sustainability, equity and accessibility, and community connectedness and distinctiveness.

There are two upcoming opportunities to participate in The Portland Plan as part of the Community Summits on Saturday, June 14th.

Free Wireless, Music, and Good Food at the PDX Airport

Published
by
Dawn
on May 18, 2008
in travel
. 4 Comments

When I began traveling to Portland in 2000 and 2001, the Portland Airport was a mess. Construction was in full swing, and my experiences in the Portland airport were not good ones. I mostly remember walking for what seemed like miles next to construction barriers and ending up in isolated, unconnected terminals where food choices were very limited.

Fast forward a couple of years to the completion of the A, B, C terminal renovation. At the time, it was new and shiny, but unconnected to the poor D and E terminals. I was always a little sad when my flight was scheduled to leave from the no mans land that was D or E.

Now, we have choices. The gates are all connected by a walkway, so I can eat wherever I want and I can pick the shorter of the two security lines. We can choose between Starbucks or Coffee People and fast food or sit down restaurants in addition to Powells and other stores with entertainment for the flight.

However, my favorite thing about the Portland airport has to be the free and stable wireless. With the security rules in full force, the free wireless makes getting to the airport early bearable. If you are lucky, you might even catch one of the piano players or other musicians providing some free entertainment.

Awesome Portland Blogs: Lost Oregon (the rebirth of Stumptown Confidential)

Published
by
Rick Turoczy
on May 5, 2008
in culture
. 0 Comments

Lost OregonAs a relatively short-time Portland resident (I mean, I’ve only lived here 13 years or so), I’ve always taken a particular interest in the history of our fair town. And for that, there was no better place than Stumptown Confidential.

Now, you’ll notice I didn’t link to “Stumptown Confidential.” And that’s because, unfortunately, that brilliant blog recently met with its untimely demise—due to a hosting problem.

Stumptown Confidential is history - my files were lost when the host flipped some switch. I’m saddened that all my work from 2004-2008 is gone for good. Thankfully I still have the photos and put them up on a Flickr account.

But the story doesn’t end there. The good news is that Stumptown Confidential has risen from the proverbial ashes as part of another of Schlockstar’s sites, Lost Oregon:

The goal of the site is the same as Stumptown Confidential’s - document the disappearing Portland and Oregon of the recent past - through postcards, photos and words. Due to my geographical location of Portland metro, the site might be more skewed toward the area though.

So, take a little trip down memory lane—an often kitschy memory lane, at that—with Lost Oregon, an awesome Portland blog.

Awesome Portland Blogs: Crappy Indie Music

Published
by
Rick Turoczy
on May 2, 2008
in entertainment
. 6 Comments

Crappy Indie MusicIf the name of this one alone—Crappy Indie Music—doesn’t convince you to click, I’m not sure that my explanation will. But I’m willing to give it a shot.

Portland has a thriving music scene. And it seems were are forever hearing about the big-name stars who make their home here. But what about those talented musicians who fly a bit below the RADAR?

Enter Crappy Indie Music, which carries local music news on bands you—even in your uber-hip Rose City musical expertise—have likely never heard of. And the writing is as lively and punchy as the title of the blog belies.

In its own words:

[Crappy Indie Music — The Blog] CIMTB is a Portland-centric, Vantucky-luvin’ indie music blog.

For more, visit Crappy Indie Music, an awesome Portland blog.

Awesome Portland Blogs: Portland Food and Drink

Published
by
Rick Turoczy
on April 30, 2008
in technology
. 2 Comments

[NOTE: I spend a lot of time combing through Portland blogs. A lot of time. And as I wander through various RSS feeds, I tend to find a number of really interesting—and, well, awesome—blogs that I don’t really have the opportunity to share. So, now I’ll work on sharing these “Awesome Portland Blogs” with you.]

Portland Food and DrinkSeems I can’t swing a piece of bacon without hearing rave reviews for Portland Food and Drink. And with good reason. For a town of awesome food and awesome “blogginess,” it seems only appropriate that we would have an awesome food blog or two.

And, perhaps more than any other, Portland Food and Drink typifies that “awesome Portland food blog.”

And here is the foundation of why Portland Food and Drink is so amazing, and so amazingly popular:

I am passionate about food, passionate about wine, and passionate about anonymity. I have a wide-range of food experience from my earliest years growing up in a food-obsessed family. During college, I worked in the restaurant industry on both sides of the house, later in the wine industry, and finally traveling/tasting my way around the world. My first few years in college were related to agriculture, so if necessary, I can prune your orchard, manage your vineyards, or back your baler through one side of a barn and out the other, without any problem. This site is a labor of love – I spend my own money reviewing restaurants because I am passionate about food and want to share my experiences with others. Whether you agree or disagree, you can always count on my unbiased opinion. I don’t take free meals, and the restaurants don’t know when, or if, I am coming.

If you happen to eat—ever—then you should be reading. Check out Portland Food and Drink, an Awesome Portland Blog.

Photographing Portland for the 3rd Anniversary of the PDX Flickr Meetups

Published
by
Aaron
on April 19, 2008
in events
. 0 Comments

This coming Saturday (the 26th) is the third anniversary of a bunch of Portland Flickr users getting together. Instead of having a single group meetup, a bunch of folks from the pdx Flickr group are gathering at various spots throughout the city to take some photos and have some fun.

The plans are still being finalized, but several meeting points and times are already in the works, from sunrise at Pittock Mansion to sunset near the St. Johns Bridge. All of the information and planning can be found at this Flickr discussion thread. With the range of times and locations, I hope that everyone who loves to photograph Portland can participate in some way in what should be an awesome day of photography.

image by Flickr user Whateverthing, used under a Creative Commons license

Make opportunities for wishes

Published
by
missburrows
on April 15, 2008
in entertainment, southwest and technology
. 2 Comments

Back in the days when I used to ride the school bus to school, I was told by a fellow classmate that if you put your finger on a screw (in the bus) and lifted your feet while the bus drove over the train tracks, you could make a wish. Strange? Yes. But I wasn’t going to question the possibility of getting a wish.

I no longer ride a school bus, but whenever my husband and I head in to Portland we pass by the Portland Aerial Tram. If one (or both) of the trams is out, I get to make a wish.

Silly? Yes. But who doesn’t want more opportunities for wishes?