Hopworks Urban Brewing will open their 9000sq ft location Tuesday to the joyous screams of beer mavens throughout Portland.  Hopworks (HUB for short) has been much anticipated over the past year.  Christian Ettinger, the owner and master brewer, made his name as the brewer at Laurelwood and has taken his vision of beer and sustainability to new levels.  The building HUB is in used to be Sunset Fuel and was reclaimed.  They are also doing fully Organic beer, a new trend in the craft beer arsenal.

I have been drinking HUB at different locations around Portland for a few months now and it is pretty darn solid for a brewery just starting out.  They obviously know what they are doing.  Oh, and they’ll have pizza and a back patio to boot.

Head on out next week to congratulate HUB on opening and help support another home grown microbrewery.

Hopworks Urban Brewing
29th and SE Powell
Opening 11am, Tuesday March 25

Wow. What a day.

Woke up at the crack of dawn, tickets in hand to go see Obama at the Memorial Coliseum. We arrived at 5:45, made a quick side-trip for a bagel and some coffee, and made it to the Coliseum by 6:00AM. There were already a couple thousand people lined up outside. By 7:00, there was an enormous crowd waiting to get in. Thankfully, line shenanigans were minimal. There were a few cutters here and there, and a couple people that stormed the front when the doors opened, but for the most part things were well-organized.

Much ink has been spilled about how fast tickets for this event went. Some less scrupulous individuals even went so far as to offer their tickets for sale on Craigslist (tickets came in an email. these people probably just kept printing multiple copies of their ticket and selling them – or trying to, anyway. if you did this, you’re a jackass). Turns out it didn’t really matter. There was room for all. As far as I know, everybody got in, and there were a few hundred seats to spare.

As for Obama’s speech. All I can say is “wow”. The news pundits on MSNBC and CNN keep talking about how different it is hearing Obama live than it is on TV. They’re right. He spoke for over an hour, but it really seemed like just a few minutes. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a public speaker with the skills this guy has. And despite the protestations of the Hil-dog, it’s not just fluffery. Obama talked in detail about some great ideas on how to get us out of Iraq, improve the economy, fix health-care, and improve our standing in the world community. It was, dare I say it, inspirational. An amazing speech from an amazing guy. I only hope that the Democratic party doesn’t try to get cute at the convention. At this point, I think the people have spoken, and Obama is the front-runner. Any cutesy games with delegates that results in Hillary getting the nomination is NOT going to go down well.

The speech finished up around 11:15. Just enough time for a sammich and then off to the Spring Beer Fest, which happens to be right next to the Rose Quarter at the Portland Convention center.

Quick recap:

The good: allowing brewers to bring two beers apiece, as well as schwag.
The bad: Not enough hard to find beers and too many mega-micros (Pyramid/McTarnahan’s, Widmer, Bridgeport, etc.). Also – a Pabst booth?!? Are you kidding??! I love me some Pabst as much as the next starving Portland musician, but why would I pay a buck for four ounces of Pabst when I can get 16 ounces for a buck at the bar down the street? Lame.
The ugly: Why can’t I sample wine AND beer with the same glass? If you buy a wine glass, you’re not allowed to sample beer. If you buy a beer glass, you are not allowed to sample wine. In order to sample wine AND beer, you need to buy both a wine glass ($5) AND a beer glass ($5). That sucks. I was told later by an attendee that the wineries will pour your sample in a taster glass, but I don’t know if this is true or not – and if it IS, then the folks running this shindig should tell you that before you drop $5 for a wine glass. And finally -the wine samples are TINY. Like baby-sip tiny. Nobody’s expecting open access to the entire bottle for a buck, but it should get you more than what it currently does.

Twitter has really come of age here in Portland.  The Oregonian has on the front page of their website – “Live updates on Twitter.”  Wow, I wonder how many people looked at that and thought – what is Twitter.  Shorthand – 140 characters of what you are doing right now.

I hopped over to Twitter just now – 7:25am – and saw a quick twit from Banana Lee Fishbones stating the doors are open at the Memorial Coliseum and she is indeed warm again.  So, the crowds have gathered and they are now staking out their spots to see Senator Obama who just may become our next president.  Honestly, I’m bummed I am not going.  The energy that will be in that building will be palpable.  As a student of history, I see this year as having as much passion about politics as when the nation elected JFK or tried to elect RFK.  People want change.

OK, back to Twitter-  RadioGretchen twitted from around 3:30am:  “radiogretchen at the memorial colesium. not many here. about 4 hours ago from web”  That my fellow Portlanders is dedication.  Have fun all.

Follow all the action on Twitter.

My girlfriend scored a couple of tickets through her law school to go see Vicente Fox, the former President of Mexico, speak at the World Affairs Council of Oregon last night at the Schnitz. I must admit that I’m fairly ignorant of Latin American politics. However, my girl is a whiz in international politics (being her focus of study and having spent two years in Guatemala), and got me up to speed fairly quickly.

Fox was a very engaging and interesting speaker. He talked about the recent history of Mexico (they’ve only recently emerged out of decades of a corrupt single party rule), how far they’ve come (abject poverty has been significantly decreased in the last decade), and how far they need to go (the country is still behind in wages, and is a pass-thru for the major drug producing countries in the south as they deliver drugs to the U.S. – one of the world’s largest drug-buying markets.)

He also had some interesting things to say about immigration, and warned that in the modern economy, isolationism simply doesn’t work any more. It was a very interesting speech.

Afterwords, there was a small-ish reception that we also were granted access to. Free beer, wine, and food from Elephant’s deli. Rockin’.

Hey all, there a great show happening at the Doug Fir tonight for a meesly $10.  The Builders and the Butchers are back in Portland after their much anticipated trip to SXSW.  They seem to be the darlings of the indie rock scene at the moment, so you should definately head on out and see them.  You can hear some of their music over @ CDBABY.

Federale (Myspace) is opening for B&B and that is what is bringing me out on a school night.  I have seen Federale numerous times and just love their sound and music.  I have described them in the past as spagetti western style music, but I don’t think that does them justice.  They are a tight band who play a soundtrack to a movie from the 60’s that doesn’t exist and has just released their first studio album La Rayar.  So put on your cowboy boots and western shirt and come on out to a show tonight.

Invisible Rockets, Federale, Builders and the Butchers
Doug Fir Lounge, SE 9th/Burnside
9pm, $10

Remember the first time you saw Indiana Jones on screen running from that big boulder through the tunnel?  You didn’t think he would make it did ya?  Well he did and became a cultural phenomenon and cult hero to many.  Back in 1982, three 12-year-olds made a feature-length, shot-by-shot perfect remake of Raiders of the Lost Arc- with special effects and an all-kid cast.  It took them 7 years to finish the film and now they are now taking it around the country and the world to show everyone what ambitious kids can do.

Some Portland fans are bringing the movie to Portland April 18-19 at the Hollywood Theater as a benefit for the Austin Miller Scholarship fund at Film Action Oregon and they are looking for sponsors.  This is a great event we’ll be covering fully over the next month or so.  If you are interested in getting your name in lights and wanting to help support a great cause, contact Matt Christenson (matt@whatwouldindydo.com) or leave a comment here and I will get you in touch with the players.

Trailer for the movie
BBC Story

I’m on my way now… and we’ll see you all soon enough!

KPAM talking head Victoria Taft and Oregonian columnist David Reinhard are encouraging Republicans to re-register as Democrats and vote for Clinton to (in Reinhard’s words) “keep the Democratic mess going”. In other words, they want to rig the election so the true will of Oregon’s real Democrats will be overturned.

Being from the party of “ethics”, Mr. Reinhard of course has issues with this, but they are fleeting. After all, he states “When is it unethical to act in the best interest of the nation?” Attempting to rig an election is hardly in the best interest of the nation. It’s my firm opinion that Reinhard’s articles often cross the line from mis-informed into the realm of mean-spirited and just plain ridiculous. This one is no different. You want opinions? It’s my opinion that Mr. Reinhard has long been a blight on the Oregonian’s editorial board, and here he is being ignorant and hypocritical, and proposing a dirty trick which only further disenfranchises people who are already sick of dirty political tricks.

As for Ms. Taft, well, the fact that people actually listen to right-wing radio and take it seriously depresses me beyond all measure. I suppose there are people out there who still think pro-wrestling is real, too. But the fact that such a person would suggest that her listeners game an election simply because their own field was laughably milquetoast is deplorable.

Regardless, I find it ironic and more than a tad infuriating. After all, Republicans are supposed to be supporters of Christian behavior, ethics, fair play, and upholding the spirit of the Constitution. In reality, it’s “do as I say, not as I do”. The fact that you can do this does not mean you should. It’s a lesson that I thought these folks had learned with the whole Iraq war thing, but I guess thick-headedness has no bounds.

Browsing the page for the upcoming Deschutes Brewery Portland pub revealed to me a job fair which is occurring tomorrow and Friday in case you are interested. No word on whether there will be beer drinking involved in the application process:

I would love to tell you today is the first day of spring, but it is not.  I have been pining for spring for awhile now and am the first to tell you it can’t come soon enough.  But I won’t tell lead you astray like Michael Rollins of the O.  He believes, and probably has some Oregonians believing as well, that today – March 19 – is the first day of spring.  Well, honestly, no harm, just people walking around wondering why it is so cold on the first day of spring.

Michael, spring doesn’t start until March 20, tomorrow.  I confirmed that with Google, the knower of all things.