Halloween has always been my favorite holiday – but in high school the big event was going to the big haunted houses. We lived about an hour away from Kansas City and that’s where all of the good ones were. They were primarily in old warehouse buildings downtown that were unoccupied most of the rest of the year – and not in a very good part of town. In a part of town actually that most of my friends and I were not allowed to go to if we did manage to convince them to let us drive to KC unsupervised. That of course just added to the fun. And in those years of adolescent hormones, moving through a small dark tunnel, cramped close quarters, and the excuse to have to scream and grab hold of the person in front of you at every turn – a teenagers dream night. But it’s been nearly 20 years since I’ve been to a haunted house – and I am bound and determined to go this year.

I was always skeptical of the haunted houses here. In a mall? at a fairgrounds? In an arena? With memories of crumbling abandoned buildings it hardly seemed that those could be scary, but Fright Town, underneath the Memorial Colosseum, seems to be pretty good. I’ve talked to a couple people who have been and the consensus seems to be that it’s the place to go. They have 3 different areas of haunted house – The Asylum, The Museum and The Ranch – the Asylum and Museum are apparently spectacularly scary and spooky. We grabbed a coupon the other day while in CD/Game Exchange – and I saw that it’s available online as well.

So grab someone you want to ‘grab’ and head out to get spooked – and see all the hard work that the folks who put this on go through to scare you!

DSCN6982

Originally uploaded by dieselboi.

As you know, I’m a beer drinker. I love the suds. Well, last week, I had the privilege of walking around downtown and NW Portland to a few breweries. We started off the night at a new place up of SW Broadway and Ankeny called Bailey’s Taproom. We had chosen it as they advertised some choice beers on their menu. Similar to the Green Dragon, Bailey’s Taproom is not the place to find Budweiser and Coors, but you will find Hopworks Organic Red, Walking Man Flip Flop Pilsner, Bear Republic Big Bear Black Stout, and about 10 others. They even update and publish their beer menu when taps change.

While I like the idea of so many taps offering such good choices and the great location downtown, I was a little put off by the decor. It felt like a bar in the Pearl or maybe even a wine bar instead of what I perceive as a beer joint. But hey, I’ve been back, so it could just be one of my pet peeves.

Check them out when you can, and have a beer on me.

Kenny and Zukes

Originally uploaded by dieselboi.

I have been hearing about Kenny and Zukes for a long while now. I never was able to go to Ken’s Place, but the reviews I read and the people I spoke to told me it was a place I would have loved. Oh, and the hype surrounding this new venture had me salivating. Oh, and I’m a sucker for pastrami.
This morning, I read over on neighborhood notes that Kenny and Zukes was now open. It is a “soft opening” with an official opening date of October 26. So what that means for us as the customer is that the staff is still working out some kinks. For me, I didn’t care and was willing to check it out.
They are open all day and we ventured out around 11:15. We were able to get a table, but within about 15 minutes, the line was around the corner. The staff was indeed working out some kinks, but in a good way. I didn’t feel ignored and we were able to order quickly. They did run out of corned beef, but I had ordered pastrami, so ha! My lunch buddy ordered a double decker (photo after the jump.) My sandwich was amazing. I am not used to thick cut pastrami that tasted like came from God’s kitchen. Seriously, it was so tasty, I kept chewing and didn’t want to put it down. My buddy got double turkey because they were out of corned beef and he couldn’t finish the thing. He tried too.
I’m not a reviewer, but I will tell you I loved this place and what they have to offer. I’m not a New Yorker either, so don’t have a reference to what this food’s influences are. I just plain love it.

They serve good beer, wine, egg creams and other refreshments. They also have a deli for take out lunch and meats.

Check out Kenny and Zukes. SW 11th and Stark by the Ace Hotel.

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I’ve thought long and hard about this one. I wasn’t going to tell you about my new favorite weekend breakfast spot, since it’s not crowded (yet) and they’re not selling out of the stuff I love (yet.)

But altruism wins over self-interest at the end of the day – so if you (like me) like to join the hordes of PDX people in search of great breakfast options on the weekend, well – add Podnah’s to the list.

Podnah’s? Really?

Yes, really. It’s that good. (Hat tip to VJ at alt.portland who turned us onto it – thank you ever so much!)

The menu was small, but good: Biscuits and gravy, of course. Ham and cheese grits. A smoked trout hash that’s to die for. There’s the obligatory Stumptown coffee. Mimosas. And kolaches – a Texas plum pastry that they were out of last weekend.

Breakfast starts at 8 am and runs through 1 pm – if you’re there after eleven, you get your choice of either breakfast or lunch. And the vibe is laid back, not frenetic.

Get there quick before the hordes descend…!

1469 NE Prescott St
Portland, OR

And that is Sam Adams. Last night on his blog, Commissioner Sam Adams declared that he “Cannot Support Renaming Interstate Under the Current Circumstances.” Thank you Sam.

Earlier this week, Mayor Potter put the rename vote on the agenda for October 31’s council meeting. Yesterday, the Mercury reported that Sam Adams and Randy Leonard filed a resolution for next week’s meeting calling for more process in the rename debate. Both believe that there is enough outcry against the rename to step back and re-evaluate which street in Portland will be renamed. Mercury’s report.

I’m feeling like our city officials are actually listening to us for a change. Strange feeling isn’t it?

I had one of those experiences today that I will remember for the rest of my life. I was standing waiting for MAX to head home, lamenting that it was delayed due to today’s events. Well, I actually didn’t have to wait long and when the Yellow line came, I stepped on. As I stood by the door, a young man approached and asked me the following question, “Excuse me, last Thanksgiving, did you give $20 to a couple of homeless guys?” I was taken aback. I had and looked at him and answered yes. He proceeded to give me $20. I didn’t know what to say. I asked if he was sure and he was. I followed up with a question of how things are going and he answered he was well. Wow. I am still trying to process this. What an honest man. So, I gave this $20 away almost a year ago. Now it is in my pocket again. If I had been able to react quicker, I would have asked him to give it to someone else, but I didn’t. So what should I do with this money? I don’t feel it is mine. Thanks dude for re-affirming that people can be awesome!

Max is shut down over in NE Portland around the Lloyd District and numerous streets have been cordoned off due to “Police activity in the area.” According to Oregonlive, bomb sniffing dogs discovered a vehicle that piqued their interest. Portland bomb squad is investigating.

This area is also where part of the fake terrorist activity was supposed to take place, but has been canceled for the afternoon.

Updates can be found @ Oregonlive and Blogtown. I’ll try and keep up on updates. Ahh and just before the evening commute.

Update, 3pm:
From KGW:

” A possible explosive was detected in the car owned by the wife of an official involved in the anti-terror drill, he was being cooperative, police said.

But it was unclear whether that was the only car that the bomb-sniffing dogs were reacting to, so police continued to search. “

WTF? So, how many other spouses or teenage sons and daughters are cruising around the city with possible “bombs” in their cars?

Our fellow Metbloggers in Pakistan are monitoring the situation and live-blogging the bombings in Karachi Pakistan. It appears multiple bombings have taken place against the motorcade that was carrying ex-PM Benazir Bhutto. From an initial post:

“Just heard a blast near our house (Sh-Faisal) and ran to watch TV. Minutes later it was announced that it was a bomb blast.”

More on Karachi Metblogs and Lahore Metblogs. Stay safe guys.

Once a month the Metroblog gets together and we hang out. We get some food and have some beverages and we invite anyone who is a regular reader or commenter (or Metroblogger, for that matter) to come by and say hello and have some food on us.

This time around we’re meeting at the raved about new beer joint in Southeast, the Green Dragon. It’s at 9th and Belmont (a smidge south of Belmont on 9th) next Wednesday, 10/24 at about 5:30 or so. We’d love to have you (and hey, we’re buying food) so come on by and say hello. You never know who you’ll find at a Metblog Meetup. Or just come and drink beer at an awesome beer place (said the girl who doesn’t drink beer and likes the Green Dragon anyway). You know, whatever you like. I’m not the boss of you. (:

EDIT: I meant Wednesday and got the calendar part wrong. It really is next WEDNESDAY, the twenty-fourth (10/24) at 5:30 at the Green Dragon. BLF regrets the error. (:

So first it was the secret about as old as I am. We found out about in in May of 2004. Then came a fascinating letter from Fred Leonhardt about the situation and what he had heard and seen over the last two decades. (You can read the PDF or just know that he told TheO in Januaryish 2004 the whole sordid tale and they ignored it, subsequently scooped by WW five months later.)

Now it gets good.

On October 5th, a letter was sent to Bernie Giusto regarding concerns that he “may have violated the established moral fitness standards” for Oregon public safety officers, the first issue being what did he know and when did he know it.

Sands through the hourglass and all of that…

Now Lars Larson is on the case, having written a letter of his own, this time it’s Governor Kulongoski in the crosshairs. So Lars requested an investigation by the Oregon State Bar to determine (again) what did he know and when did he know it?

Cut to today, and KGW’s reporters trying to get ahold of Ted for the last two days and being told for two days he was “too busy” to talk to Channel 8. So Pat “I Will Not Be Ignored” Dooris dutifully went to the TOPOFF event and at the press conference he asked El Gov about the investigation, at which point an aide jumped in and answered for him. (His answer? Go talk to someone else!) As soon as the aide finished speaking, Ted saw that his huff had arrived, so he left in it. Sounds like an awful quick decision, doesn’t it? Can’t believe it’s true? It’s on tape.

Do you have any more popcorn? I’m almost out and I have a hunch there’s a LOT more spectacle to this still. Who needs Survivor when you have Government?