Michale Graves is castor oil to hipsters. Strike one - he had the audacity to replace Glen Danzig in a reformed Misfits during the 90’s. Strike two - his fame has come largely through the “horror punk” movement - not exactly the first choice in music for the hip ones. Strike three - he openly supported George W. Bush during the 2004 election.

Well, I’m here to tell you that the hipsters are wrong - Michale Graves is cool and you should go see him this Friday. Yes, he fronted a Danzig-less, reformed Misfits during the mid to late 90s. He also wrote a lion’s share of the material, much of which is pretty good. And if Jerry Only came to you, a 19 year old kid, and asked you to front the Misfits, would you say no?

Yes, he came to fame by playing “horror punk”. For those not familiar with the formula, it largely involves wearing black, face paint, and singing about things like bats, zombies, and vampires. Done badly, it’s embarrassing. Done right, it’s a blast - the musical version of watching a 1950’s B-movie. Graves did it right.

Yes, he supported George Bush in 2004. Last time I checked, it was okay to disagree on some things. Some people may be willing to discredit someone’s artistic output because they’re not okay with who they put a checkbox next to in the ballot box. I’m not one of those people.

Finally, the guy has managed to release some varied and very interesting material since leaving the Misfits in 2000. The first album (”Web of Dharma”) was, perhaps, the perfect coda to the 1990’s “alternative” era. It’s one of the best albums that nobody’s ever heard. If you manage to find a copy, I highly recommend picking it up. Graves followed up with “Gotham Road” (an interesting mix of melody and crushing heavy metal), “Punk Rock is Dead” (a swaggering return to the “new Misfits” sound and a pointed “f you” to detractors), and “Return to Earth” (an honest but hit and miss attempt to broaden his sound). The latest, (”Illusions”) is a largely acoustic collaboration with Damien Echols of the West Memphis Three.

Graves’ albums have been either self-releasing or released through small labels for the better part of a decade now, but he’s still somehow able to launch national tours on an almost yearly basis. And no former Misfit (with the exception of Glen Danzig) has released such a prolific and varied output. Graves really marches to the beat of his own drummer. And what’s more indie than that?

Anyone who reads blogs knows there are plenty of bloggers out there who rant about something in their neighborhood.  Maybe it is the drug house down the street, the abandoned cars, the neighbor who doesn’t mow their lawn or rowdy teens.  Whatever it is, I always respond in my mind’s voice- “deal with it, you live in the city.”  And yet, I catch myself whining and complaining about similar things.  Oh well, what is one to do.

I have a new complaint though that falls into a different category.  I have learned to deal with the hookers, dealers, abandoned cars and nasty neighbors, but what I’m really ticked off about now is the helicopters.  Yup?  Helicopters!  I remember reading the New York Times a few years ago that there was an uproar about all the commuter helicopters flying in to the city and how the shear amount of them were disturbing residents along the routes from the toney neighborhoods outside the city.  I never would have thought I would complain about helicopter noise in Portland, but here I am.  The helicopters in question are the news choppers covering traffic or an incident.  I doubt Portland has a thriving helicopter commute scene and I usually only notice the helicopter noise because it is constant.  When these pilots what to get a shot of stalled traffic or breaking news, they usually just hover in one spot - usually above my house.  And since I live close to I5 and just north of I405, they are there almost every morning around 6am.  It wakes me up and makes me cranky!

So, if any of the news helicopter pilots are reading this, please find alternate locations to hover.  You have amazing cameras that can zoom, so you don’t have to be right over traffic.  Please, for the sake of my sleep and my family who has to deal with me being cranky, don’t hover over my house.  Ok, rant done.  Back to Thursday.

On Friday evening, we hosted a visitor to Portland and took them out. Initially we had planned on checking out the sunset from the Rose Gardens, but she had already seen that, so we had to think quickly. We were headed towards the Pearl, so decided to stop in at Henry’s for a drink.
Henry’s is the restaurant and bar located in the former Henry Weinhard’s brewery block on W. Burnside. It really is a nice place and I have only heard great things about it. We even had our holiday party there and it was a blast. The bar @ Henry’s has about 100 different beers on tap and this isn’t 20 flavors of Bud Light. They have brews from all the local microbreweries and some not from our hood like Victory and Dogfish Head. They also have a cooling strip. Yup, you know that frosted part of an old fridge? Well, they have that surrounding the bar for you to keep you beer or cocktail cool. What a great invention.
My only challenge with Henry’s is the crowd. On a Friday evening, it was full of the beautiful people - yet not necessarily the natural beauty. Lots of hair, makeup and some silicon. Granted, I was there with my beautiful wife and I’m no slouch, so I guess I’m being hypocritical :). Great for eye candy for boys and girls, but not my cup of tea. Too bad too as the beer selection is superb. I guess I’ll have to wait for the new Deschuttes to open.
Oh, and so you don’t think our visitor only saw Henry’s, we had a great dinner at Nostrana and then dessert at PIX. MMMM….Pizza followed by chocolate.

04 19 2008

Originally uploaded by dieselboi

Tonight was the first ever Food Cart Fest. The fest, held in an old warehouse underneath the Fremont Bridge, was a fund-raiser for Mercy Corps NW and Hacienda CDC. For $5, one got to sample the wares of eleven local food carts. A food cart fest is a great idea, as Portland’s food carts sport some of the tastiest food anywhere. Raising money for two very deserving charities was also a fine idea. As a fund-raiser, I’m betting Food Cart Fest was a smash hit. As a celebration of Portland’s food carts, however, it came up a bit lacking.

Don’t get me wrong - there were a ton of people there. That’s fantastic for the charities, and I am absolutely stoked that they made a lot of money tonight. However, the organizers did not expect this many people - and that was bad for the attendees. I arrived at 6:30 (a mere hour after festivities began), and Julia’s Mobile Cafe had already run out of food. Most of the other carts had long lines - made worse by the fact that they had to snake around large, empty tables (tables are a fine idea in the bar area, but when the sample given is no more than a couple of mouthfuls, there’s really no need (or time) to sit down with the sample). The lines moved fairly quickly - the notable exception was the line for the Altengartz Bratwurst cart, which took over 20 minutes. By 7:45, about half of the carts had run out of food, and the crowd began to clear out. When I left after 8:00, there were only a few that were still serving - and there was nearly an hour left in the event.

That said, given the choice between overcrowding and not enough food, or undercrowding and not enough money being raised, I’m in favor of the former every time. Still, this is Portland. Food Carts are HUGE. A Food Cart Fest is a fantastic idea - the kind of things Portlanders would come out for in droves. To me, it seems obvious that the event would be highly attended.

But, in the large scheme of things, my complaints are minor. As a charity raising event, it was a huge hit - and that is fantastic. Here’s hoping that they make this an annual tradition. Once the wrinkles are ironed out, this will be a winner.

The food I did sample was awesome (and those Brats were worth the wait). For me, the winner was the maple bacon ice cream (with real bacon bits!) from Junior Ambassador. Fantastic stuff.

We all love free things don’t we. Well, how bout tickets to Raiders of the Lost Ark - The Adaptation playing this Saturday evening at the Hollywood Theater. Portland Metblogs is excited to join other Portland sponsors such as The Portland Mercury, Video Verite, and EasyStreet as a sponsor of the premiere of Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation at the Hollywood Theater here in our fair city, April 18-19.

We have 2 free tickets to Saturday evening’s show @ 7pm. Just answer the following trivia question and we’ll get you on some list:

“In addition to Mustachiado Magnum hunk Tom Selleck, which other famous actor took only 48 hours to turn down the role of India Jones before it eventually went to Harrison Ford?”

Leave your answer in the comments.

UPDATED:  MikeVogel won the tickets.  Well done sir.  Geebee, as Matt stated, sorry, there aren’t any more free tickets available, but since you were only 4 minutes behind Mr. MikeVogel, Metblogs would will host you 2 tickts to Saturday evening’s show.  We’ll be in contact.  Thanks for playing!

Greetings Portlanders and wish-you-were Portlanders (I know you’re out there, I was once one of you.)

My name is Derrick and I’m new here. I’m an east coast transplant on year 3 in PDX. That’s out of the way now, good.

I like beer, wine, food and the occasional spirit and will probably write about those things a good deal. I also dig sports and faux sports (I’m looking at you, ultimate fribsee). I have some interest in civics and development and I’m intrigued by the sweeping impact of the sustainability/green trend. I profess expertise in none of these things.

So that this post has some use to you, let me pass along a few events I’m geeked about.

First, if you like beer and aren’t a complete and utter hermit, you probably know that Deschutes Brewery, the impeccable central Oregon brewery that’s a master of classic NW style ales, is opening a new public house in the Pearl (NW Davis and 11th). But what you may not know is that there’s an opportunity to get in the door before the masses. Oregon Trout and Deschutes are hosting a pre-opening extravaganza on April 26 from 7-10 p.m. $50 gets you in the door, two brews, food and entertainment. For more info, visit www.oregontrout.org/db/. Not having to drive to Bend to get public-house-only-small-batch-brews from one of the best breweries in the nation? … count me in.

Deschutes will have some competition in the Pearl on the weekend of May 2, as the annual Portland Independent Wine Festival will be running May 2-4 from 3 - 6 p.m., each day. This is a great chance to meet the winemakers at over 30 small craft wineries throughout Oregon and drink their splendid wine. There will also be classes and tastings. Check www.indiewinefestival.com for more info.

Speaking of independent wine makers, I’ve got one more event for you. Anne Amie Vineyards in Carleton will be hosting a tasting of estate pinot noirs from the Yahmill Carleton AVA on April 26. Sixteen wineries, many without there own tasting rooms, will be participating. I was at Anne Amie Saturday … bright, clean whites and some damn tasty pinots, to go with top notch service. $10 gets you in the door. check www.anneamie.com/news.

So, there’s a little about me and a few events to get you started. Now I want to know, what do YOU want to know about? Why do you come here? What do you want to read about? Events? Openings? Tech happenings? Music? Hit up the comments and give the new guy some initiative to go forth and gather.

Well, I guess my first post here will be neither fluffy nor too “journalism-y”, but more general notification type info.

First off, the BTA is looking for feedback from those of us who bike around town - not necessarily only for those who commute on their vélos, but anyone in the metro area who is interested in putting in a word regarding comfort on the ever-changing paths on which we ride. Important why? This will hopefully help with the planning of the future East-side streetcar lines and other community planning. Take the survey here.

Secondly, Powell’s is having a poetry contest! The challenge: write a poem (less than 20 lines) in some way about Portland. The reward: a chance to win 26 books (!!!) of poetry and an awesome rucksack. Caveat: by entering, your email will be placed on the Powell’s new poetry email list. You can find the details here on the Powell’s site. I’ve won enough stuff completely randomly by being one of the few to actually enter, and while I doubt that will be the state of this contest, you can’t get the goods without entering, people.

Thirdly, hi! I’m “clevergirl” and I’ll be writing here now. I moved to Portland last July, and while I’m still getting used to the city, I already have my favorite places to eat (Masu), drink beer (Tugboat, so far), and have fun (section 107, PGE Park). I’m sure I’ll be writing about things that may be new to me, but possibly not so new to the natives, so I beg forgiveness beforehand. More info can be found in my profile (eventually), and maybe I’ll see you guys at the Green Dragon next week.

 Do you have an opinion about Portland politics?  Have you had a wonderful or horrible meal somewhere in Portland?  Did you see some ironic or just plain cool graffiti somewhere in and around Portland?  Did you happen to see an urban chicken wandering down your sidewalk?  Are you a recent transplant who want to ask Portlanders why we do things the way we do?  Want to write about it?  Well, we here at Portland Metblogs would like to give you the opportunity to tell your Portland story here on the blog.  You can write pretty much anything, we only ask that your post be related to Portland and that you own your words.  Authors for Portland Metblogs come and go and everyone is appreciated.  We always enjoy having new and fresh voices join the fold.

If you are interested in writing for us, please email me directly at dieselboi@gmail.com and we’ll chat.

Let’s hear it for another successful Big Turkey season courtesy of the fine folks at Underdog Sports Leagues. Underdog organizes a number of co-ed adult leagues for various, uh, sports, such as bowling, mini-golf, and the ever-popular dodgeball (a sport which I haven’t played as an adult, but can still remember the sweet sweet *ping* after a successful head shot with the big red ball).

Next week is the final week for us bowlers. This is my first season as a member of the mighty force that is known as the Easy Cheeze elite bowling squad. You could say that we’re in a rebuilding year. But no matter. Big Turkey is not the league for super-competitive folks. It’s a league for those who just want to, in the immortal words of Joe Walsh “drink a few beers, bowl a few frames”. Sure, every now and then you’ll run into someone who gets all John Goodman in “Big Lebowski” about things, but for the most part, people are just in it to have fun.

And fun it is. It’s a great way to get out of the apartment, meet new people, and blow off some steam.

Check out the league listings. There’s probably something there that piques your interest.

Yup. I am indeed one of those people who loves dogs more than kids. People at work bring their kids in, friends have new babies, I look once, say “oh cute” and walk away. These tiny shriveled (really - all babies are weird looking) pooping things hold no interest for me. But someone gets a new puppy or brings the dog into the office - I’m all over it!

So when I heard my friend’s dog slipped out of his collar on a walk last week and disappeared for nearly 10 hours, I felt her pain. Thank God little Andy came home after his long run - he knows where the kibble and the love is at! And what’s even scarier is that because the reason he ran was because his new collar was too loose, that means that when the collar came off, so did his tags. Luckily he is micro-chipped - so if he’d been found by someone who knew about this - they could have taken Andy to any vet in town and found his sad owner.

Our pets are like family - and keeping them safe and healthy is important. This Saturday, April 5th is “Tag Day” according to the American Humane Association. If you live out west in Washington County - that means that on Saturday at the Bonnie Hays Small Animal Shelter in Hillsboro you can get rabies shots, distemper shots and microchips for $10 each or $25 for all three. A nice discount on the normal cost. And if your dog isn’t registered - you can do so on Saturday and they’ll waive the late fees.

I can’t find any info that Multnomah County is doing the same - but regardless, if you need to microchip or even just register your pet - take this time to do it now.

Besides, how can you look at this face and say no?