We are truly blessed in Portland. We have over two dozen craft breweries that call our city home. At a moment’s notice, we can enjoy beer from the likes of Roots Organic, HUB, Hair of the Dog, the Old Lompoc, and many, many others. But even the most obnoxious beer snob is caught drinking a PBR from time to time. When you’re camping, out fishing, or just trying to stay cool on a day like today, sometimes a cheaply made American lager is just what the doctor ordered.

I’ve never been much of a Pabst fan. I can drink it when I have to, but it’s rarely my first choice, even when beer slumming. On tap it has a strange aspirin-y taste that kinda gnarlifies it. Out of the can it’s slightly, uh, oily. If I’m going cheap, I prefer cans of Orangeboom, found at Trader Joe’s - although a recent price increase has almost made them not worth the bother. There’s always “Old German”, an east coast cheapie that can be found at Belmont Station. It’s inexpensive, and completely suitable for your beer slumming needs. If you’re not in the neighborhood, there’s always Miller High Life - “the champagne of beers” (just don’t try to make a mimosa out of it). I was also a big fan of Blitz, until the brand was discontinued after the Weinhard sale. And one can never forget the cheap bubbly wonders of Oly and Hamm’s, readily available at your local mini-mart.

So, what’s your favorite?

This is a fantastic idea. I actually can’t believe that students had to pay for buses in the first place. Having grown up in a considerably smaller city than Portland I rode a yellow school bus in elementary and middle school - and then drove in high school. We didn’t have bus service for high school - and city bus service was relatively sparse, so nearly every upperclassman had a car… lots of beaters, but we almost all had cars. But those freshman and sophomore years were tough - you had to rely on older siblings or friends to drive you places. And since your high school friend base now spread much farther apart then when you were younger - it was much harder to hang out with them after school or in the summer. In a city with public transportation as good as Portland - allowing students to use it is a no brainer. Plus it frees up parents from having to play chauffeur constantly and gives the kids more freedom to get after school jobs, do extra curricular activities or just hang out with their friends who may not live near by.

Good work Tri-Met!

According to the latest issue of the Portland Tribune, police are cracking down on single-passenger cars in the HOV lane. This is a good thing. Back in my ‘couve dwelling days, I can recall seeing way too many single passenger cars using the lane (for the curious - I used the C-Tran express or carpooled whenever possible. When not, I took my ungodly long commute in the non-HOV lanes in relative stride). Tickets are $242, so you might want to think twice.

Some people are grumbling, according to the article, that the lane has outlived its usefulness, and may be better served as a toll lane. I disagree. The lane is there to give those drivers who are doing their part on reducing single passenger commuting a break, and to remind those who are not that their commute could be a lot easier if they did. All a toll road does is allow people to buy their way out of traffic, and does nothing to address the real problem - too many people driving alone during peak hours.

As it stands, there are no plans to dismantle the lane, which is a good thing. In the meantime, it’s good to see tickets being handed out to the cheaters who don’t carpool but still feel entitled to use the lane.

For the past four years, the Grindhouse Film Festival has been presenting a wonderful assortment of good, wholesome exploitation flicks from the 70s and 80s. Their offerings have run the gamut from the deliciously cheeseball (”Alligator”, a film written by John Sayles - the best “killer Alligator” movie of all time), the gruesomely schlocky (”Zombie” and “The Beyond” - two gorefests from Italian hackmaster Lucio Fulci, a man who knew how to deliver the gory goods but is woefully overrated by his minions of fanboys), and downright notorious (”Cannibal Holocaust” - read about the entire sordid affair here).

The great thing about these movies (with the possible exception of “Cannibal Holocaust” - a movie that, due to its treatment of animals, I’ve never watched and probably never will) is that they are much more fun when viewed on a big screen, in a crowded theater full of people that laugh and scream in the right (and wrong) spots. They definitely play better as a communal experience, and we have the people at the Grindhouse Film Festival to thank for that opportunity

This Saturday, the fest is returning to the Hollywood Theater to present “Rolling Thunder” - a film written by “Taxi Driver” scribe Paul Schrader, concerning a hook-handed Vietnam vet seeking vengeance on the thugs that killed his family. It’s bound to be a rollicking good time.

You may know Jason Simms as a Willamette Week music writer. You may know him as a member of Portland punk group Shock Troops. Or maybe you know him as part of the team from Englishbaby.com who’s headed to Beijing during the Olympics to further their mission of teaching English to the world.

Portlanders John Hayden and Miguel McKelvey founded Englishbaby.com to help people learn English by relating the culture - music, movies, TV, etc. - not just vocabulary and grammar.

But it’s not just about American culture - so they’re going to China for a week, will be staying with members of Englishbaby.com and filming Chinese culture for the site as well.

I love this take on the Olympics! Sure, the athletes are competing for their countries, but they’re also there to meet people they might never otherwise meet, to share their lives and experiences, and connect with one another. And we may not agree with the politics of another place - but heck - we often don’t agree with the politics we have here at home!

Opening ceremonies are Friday - so when you’re sick of the cheesy NBC athlete profiles - flip open your computer, log onto Englishbaby.com and see what’s going on with a few Portlanders and their Chinese friends in the midst of all the craziness in Beijing.

Last year we had Illume - this year the Flutag is BACK!

Teams from the all over the Northwest made up of Starbucks employees, dragon-boaters, Kells staff, computer geeks, and students built flying machines shaped like underwear, Chinese takeout boxes, a Winnebago, Godzilla…. and will launch themselves off a ramp into the Willamette tomorrow afternoon. And it appears that several of the teams also have “special moves” choreographed by members of the Blazers Dancers…hmmm…..

The first flight takes place at 1pm in Waterfront Park just south of the Hawthorne Bridge - but the gates open at 11am. The last time it was here in 2004 they say more than 50,000 people showed up - so go early if you want a good spot!

And after everyone has gotten wet - I’d recommend popping into Three Degrees - the bar in the Riverplace Hotel - for a drink and a snack - they have good stuff and a nice outdoor seating area - then you don’t have to fight traffic out of the area.

Whhheeeeeee!!

We’ve raved here before about the North Portland Tool Library - a very cool place and an awesome concept - and this Sunday they’re having their second planning meeting to help them decide how they can improve their services, what YOU want from them, and how you - as a neighbor, member, volunteer, local business owner, or just interested person can help out.

We (and by we I mean my husband and our friends) have used the NPTL a few times in the last couple of years - doing a project in the house that required a very specialized piece of equipment that we didn’t have - and would probably never use again. Or something that we just didn’t have the room to store (I’d tell you what these things were, but I have no idea, I’m kind of construction dumb.)

And if you’re like me - they also offer some great classes to help you become less construction dumb!

From their Press Release - some subjects to consider for discussion:
• What can NPTL do better and how?
• What can NPTL do differently?
• How can we make the NPTL model more sustainable?
• How to best keep up with membership growth? Reduce lines? Keep costs low?
• Ideas about finding a new space to house the Tool Library?
• Sources of Stable funding (membership fees? Grant sources? Become a part of state bureaucracy like the library system? Funding drives, fundraising event ideas? Etc.)
• How can we better partner with other organizations in North Portland?
• Better and more: workshops, workshop leaders, tools, space?
• Other services you’d like to see?

When: Sun, Aug 3 - 9:30 am - 4:00 pm (but you don’t have to be there all day to participate - just as your schedule permits.) Coffee and bagels, then lunch are all provided.
Where: The Kenton Firehouse - 2209 N Schofield Street

www.northportlandtoollibrary.org
RSVP at online or at 503-823-0209

I’m back! From a hopefully short-lived extremely busy time at both work and home and everywhere in between. And yes, I have some new exciting information for you. This will likely not be a surprise to most anyone, but Portland has come in as number 10 on Walk Score’s top 10 most walkable cities, with the Pearl, Old Town/Chinatown, and Downtown all being our most walkable neighborhoods. Looking through the other cities, all of the “most walkable neighborhoods” are in downtown areas, which seems to be a “well, duh,” statement to me, since, well… duh. Of course the more urban areas tend to be more “walkable” with the increase in amenities in a small area. Anyhow, iff you haven’t checked out your neighborhood’s Walk Score, fill in your address and compare against your friends’ neighborhoods. My own Center comes in with a score of 80 (with my more immediate area coming in with a 71/100 - very walkable, though for some reason the map does not see some amenities near my place, like the QFC on Burnside, but denotes some businesses incorrectly, like Commercial Refrigeration on Glisan as a restaurant). And in fact, I do tend to walk to a number of places in my ‘hood often. This is a fantastic tool for checking out other possible neighborhoods for relocation (also points out how many bars there are, whether that’s a good or bad thing is up to you).

Speaking of bars, the boyfriend and I will be hitting up the Brewers’ Fest tomorrow at opening time. As these type of things tend to grow exponentially each year, I’m excited about trying all of the tasty wares, but I’m not too excited about the possible hours of waiting in line. If things look too bad, we may just head to Belmont Station to attend the tapping there of some kegs not featured at the OBF. Have I mentioned that I’ve been here now a year? My Portlandversary was on 7/15, and I can’t think of another place (within reason) I would rather be. ^_^

According to The Prids’ myspace page, here’s the latest posted on there:

“Our dear friends The Prids - David, Mistina, Joey and Maile - and two of their significant others - Kristin and Chris - were in a serious accident early Sunday evening while en route to Los Angeles on tour. A tire blew and they lost control of the van and it rolled several times. David was airlifted from the scene of the crash, he suffered a broken collar bone, broken ribs and has 6 staples in his head. Chris broke his arm and may have spinal injuries. Maile has a broken vertebra and toe and a severe cut with stitches on her knee. Joey broke ribs, Mistina suffered a concussion, and Kristin is in similar shape.

As of late that night, everyone had been released from the hospital but David had to go back in the middle of the night and was released Monday afternoon. Maile had to return to the emergency room Tuesday afternoon but was released later that day. She will be staying in Fresno for a short time then flying home. Friends of the band, Marshal and Kiisu, drove down from Portland and will be driving the rest of the band home today.

A special paypal account has been set up to help out and donate directly to The Prids. There have been so many generous donations made already as well as fundraisers organized and the band is extremely thankful! However, help with mounting expenses is still badly needed. There are still thousands of dollars in hospital bills to help cover (most of the group doesn’t have health insurance!) If you can’t help out monetarily, please repost this info on your blogs, etc. Thanks! ”

Also, I’ve been informed by several people (Divebarwife included) that there will be a benefit this Sunday at one our fast becoming favorite little places to hang, Plan B, for The Prids.

More on that here

Don’t forget - well be drinking tasty beverages and having a good time socializing tonight at Plan B on SE 8th & Main.

Come on by anytime after 5pm - we’ll snag a table on the patio and save a spot for you!!