Betsy has already said she’s going to get out of town for the long weekend but for me there is really no thought of that at all. Long weekend. Busy hot spots. Crazy drivers on the road.

Hide in my house? Yes please. Walk to the park? Sure why not.

I’ll make the most of the extra day with my family in our neighborhood. I am heavily domesticated though, so I’m wondering what all of you will be up to? Do you have a special way celebrate to Labor Day, Do you get extra time off or is this Monday just like any other day to you?

Earlier this week, we posted about the Ira Glass visit and how it was supposed to be at New Hope Church. With the wonderful efforts of Lelo, the Mercury and many bloggers in between, OPB chose to move the venue to the convention center. Though, during this week, OPB has been rather rude to the blogosphere. Lelo posted today that while she is glad the venue has moved, she is disappointed in how OPB has portrayed the issue. I went over to OPB’s Town Square where they pick on Lelo’s post in particular an then imply that by posting it, Lelo was spreading rumor and disinformation. Wow, what a way to gain membership.

While writing this post, Aaron, a former metroblogger, left this great comment on my other post:

Sadly, other than a few negative blog posts, it’s not likely that OPB management will see any problem with what they’ve done. I have an idea however: everyone who normally is out there supporting OPB, next year when it’s time to renew, give them less money. Say, $25 less so if you normally give $100, give $75. If you normally give $50, halve that. Send them a note explaining why, and then give the other $25 to your favorite gay rights organization. Sadly, they’ve shown they don’t care about bloggers, but maybe if they see a financial impact, it’ll matter.

Nuff said. Thanks Aaron for putting it so succinctly. And a big shout out to you readers and bloggers – you have indeed made an impact and forced an organization as big as OPB to change a decision. Way to go Lelo and Amy and Roey and everyone who worked on this. Viva la blogosphere!

In true BONES fashion, shout-outs are ringing through this post!

Some of you might know that I play a bit of the bones, rocks, the tiles–or if you’d prefer, dominoes. Dominoes is not a game–it is pure strategy and war–Michael Douglas vs Charlie Sheen war–a way to live one’s life :)

I’ve been battling around town (Aalto, Jace Gace, Chin Yen, B-Side, Plan B, etc) a bit lately against the Mayor (M.O.B.), Enigma, Six-Ace, The Slammers, C-Block, Fizzabella, Drunken Noodles, Becca and Trav, and of course–My Arch-Nemesis and the Stumptown barista-rrific S.P.

One might say, the posse’s getting bigger, so posse move ahead.

In Late September/Early October, we’re launching “PDX Bones, Hugs, and Discontent” (Title is WiP). The games will be played at Jace Gace (beer and waffles) and the B-side (patio and “Old Style”).

You don’t have to know how to play or own your own bones. We can accommodate 20 beginners or so, and we are down to teach–here is a starter guide though–we’ll be playing standard, all fives, six-count dominoes.

We introduce some of our own rules such as the ever so popular “big-six to start”, “ten to get in”, and the “twenty-twin-twin”. You will just have to be there I guess. The goal is to get enough people who can play well and establish PDX as a domino tournament city. Then we will take those fools in Cali who say they are the best and be on our way to battle Jamaicans and Puerto Ricans for that $1Million World Domino Championship prize!

Oh…and we’ll work in some prizes during the club nights also (Katu, we would like more free stuff)…come, the posse’s getting hungry, and Pipeline is treating….

Watching Good Day Oregon this morning and was disappointed in Good Day Oregon’s choice for a news feed. They have a section called Watercooler news around 7:45am. Along with the story about the Polish upside down house, they had a segments about a new kind of art in New York City. Yep, baristas in NYC are combining art with the making of espresso. They put designs in the foam. Shocking isn’t it. I’m really trying hard to be so sarcastic here that it isn’t working. I was just staring at the screen thinking – this isn’t new. The baristas in Portland have been doing this for years. I bet baristas all over have been doing it for years.

I immediately emailed Good Day Oregon with the following

I am writing about Friday mornings Watercooler News at 7:45am. I was very disappointed that you chose to show a story about barista art, but the baristas being from New York. This style of serving espresso with art in the foam has been around for awhile. In Portland, a true coffee city, we have some amazing cafes where one can see amazing baristas work. Albina Press alone has two of the nation’s best baristas (I say best based on awards from national competitions) – Kevin and Billy who take the creation of an espresso to high art. Our own Stumptown press has won accolades for their roasts also.
Your logo of “First Live Local” didn’t really work in this case. In the future, get local with these types of stories.

Celebrate local first before going to NYC for the stories.

I need to get away.

The last few weeks have been crazy-making; my nerves are fried and jangly as a result. But there’s help on the horizon: a kid-free 3-day weekend.

I’ve got a car, and money for gas. I have no pressing obligations here in town. And I’m thinking an impromptu solo trip to the coast is in order: just me, a stack of books, a few bottles of wine, and plenty of time for long, rambly walks on the beach, time to contemplate the ocean.

So where should I go to clear my head? The last few times I stayed at the coast, I had kids in tow, so we rented a condo. Now, I just need a room – somewhere that won’t break the bank, please (sorry, I’m just not the solo camper type.)

Yep, I know it’ll be hard to pull off on Labor Day weekend – and yep, I could just start working the phones. But I’m hoping someone out there will have other brilliant ideas instead…!

THANK YOU to all the commenters, emailers, and even IM-ers and Twitter-ers out there! I got a ton of great suggestions, and after just a few phone calls this morning, scored a room in Rockaway Beach right on the ocean. So I’m off tomorrow, woo-hoo…!

Last night before entering that elusive dreamland my husband and I turned our TiVo to the McLaughlin Group.We are a little behind on our TV viewing preferring to spend our evenings outside in the last of the warm Portland summer so we were surprised to find instead of mocking the extreme characters on last week’s episode we were actually driven to a real conversation about one of their topics.

McLaughlin asked the panel what the top Domestic Policy issue will be in the 2008 Presidential Election. We started to tease and joke a bit but then hit the back button to hear the choices he presented:

A. Healthcare
B. Infrastructure
C. The Economy
D. Crime
E. None of the above

In my way of thinking most of the panelists dodged giving a direct answer. All except the guest panelist answered more than one of the topics. It seemed in the end obvious what the answer was for the Washington DC crowd but it caused us to wonder: What’s the answer for Portland, for Oregon? What are the most important issues to us in the election that looms on the horizon?

I don’t mean to double up on the same topic but I also have to say that I was really impressed with the event Brian from KATU organized. I thought it was really cool that he was trying to bridge the gap between traditional journalism/media and the “bloggers.” I was a little apprehensive going into this event because I figured they were luring us into a situation were they would round up all the bloggers and give us tainted Kool Aid. Scott Moore from the Mercury was being proactive about the situation and decided to just off himself ahead of time. It actually turned out great and it was nice to finally put some faces to the blogs. We got free drinks and a great spread, and KATU let us play on the set with only a little bit of adult supervision. It was really fun and the SWAG bags were awesome.

Thanks Brian and all the folks at KATU! Other stations take note.

According to Mayor Potter’s Weekly Newsletter, the Independent Police Police Review Division is accepting applications for their nine member Citizen Review Committee. I don’t know if it’s all nine or not, but hit the link and get that application in, and maybe you can make a difference. Here’s what the site says:

The Independent Police Review Division (IPR) and the nine-member Citizen Review Committee ( CRC) were created in 2001 to help improve police accountability, promote higher standards of police services, and increase public confidence.

I know every time I mention the police I say the same thing, so here it comes again: START A BLOG. If it isn’t an issue for the Los Angeles Fire Department then what’s stopping you? They are using a free service to do it, and what I like about theirs is that it’s like the police blotter I miss so very much.

Katu meetup

Originally uploaded by dieselboi.

Matt Davis, famous for his work over at the Portland Mercury has been brought on by KATU as a guest reporter……

The KATU blogger meetup was a good time. I think some of us were apprehensive about the event wondering if Chris Hanson would show up to ‘catch a blogger.’ There were probably 50+ bloggers at the event and I knew some of them from the comments we receive and from the blogs I follow. It was great to match names/persona’s with faces. We also enjoyed some catered food, wine and microbrew beer. Yep, KATU served a bunch of bloggers beer and wine. When it came time to enter the studio, we were all in a ‘good’ mood. Many of us ventured behind the desk for photos and such. Some played with the green screen used by the weatherman and others lounged on the couch used for the more personal moments. All in all, it was a great event and I’m glad I went. I met some great people and even got a great book recommendation. Thank you Brian for coordinating this and thank you KATU for hosting.

ps: for full disclosure, KATU thanked us with a gift bag. Thank you KATU for the Rockstar energy drink, the ‘blogger meetup’ wrapped chocolate bar and a Fisher broadcasting flashdrive. Woot! Everything a blogger wants!

(more…)

Live blogging meet yer fellow blogger

Originally uploaded by dieselboii.

Tonight, KATU is hosting a huge blogger meetup. It is @ 6:30pm. Beforehand though, our friends at the Mercury hosted a foursquare tourney across the street with free beer. On a 100° day, the PBR never tasted so good.

So, we’re off to meet the bloggers of Portland. Woot!