Now, almost two years later, Judy and I are still together. I have work and Podcast Hotel still has a future. Last weekend, Judy and I told the children we are getting married. Next week I move to Judy’s house in St. John’s. The wedding will be sometime next summer. I’ll miss my beloved SE. But I have a feeling I am going to dig North Portland. And now I have a car. Somehow, it seems, I found a new way or the way found me. I’m not sure. Judy would say it’s in the hands of the gods. It has been so wacky these past few years, I am starting to believe Judy is right. You just can’t fight it sometimes. It’s in the hands of the gods.

I thought about Palio but they don’t have decent outside seating. Tiny’s in SE has a back deck. It could be an option but I quit smoking so that seems out. Perhaps Crema? They have outside seating on the north side of their shop. Muddy’s could be a good spot simply because you can sit in the shade.

Heck – I will expand a bit. How about a nice, shaded place that serves beer where I can get some wifi. A guy has to get his work done!

My children are Harry Potter fans. My daughter once told me she would go to Hogwarts if she could. We’ll wait in line at Powell’s next week. And, on Wednesday night. we’ll be heading to Pioneer Place for the premiere of of “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.”

My kids have grown up with these books. They’ve seen all the films. Opening night can not be missed. Are you going?

We’ll be there with animator from around the world to talk about blogging, online video, podcasting and all the different ways people may use the web now for publishing their work.

Please let us know if you’d be interested in attending. You may rsvp at Upcoming: http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/211869/?ps=5

Congrats, OSU. This is so big for us here in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. Thank you for being such a class act and showing us all what it really means to be a team. I know that sounds corny but its true.

But Durant looks like a winner. He kind of reminds me of Derek Jeter in a way. He just gets the job done. You go out on the court and you win. That’s it.

I think I am leaning toward Durant. He is just such a solid player.

And we saw tons of other folks out, too. The tennis courts were filled. People played croquet.

What a great night! You did get out, didn’t you?

The Audubon Society did a survey of the Portland region. Here are some of the findings accoding to the Seattle Times:

The meadowlark — the state bird — has nearly vanished as grassland habitat gives way to housing and parking lots.

The rufous hummingbird that winters in Mexico but returns to the wooded Northwest to breed has declined 79 percent in Oregon over the past 40 years. Even the familiar red-breasted robins have declined nearly 3 percent per year in the Portland metro area over the same period.

Development is the obvious culprit. Cats raid nests. Pesticides are widespread, reducing the number of insects that birds eat.

But we can make a difference. Planting native trees and shrubs provide habitiat. Creating refuges for birds helps a lot.

We’ve lost millions of birds in Portland. I’d sure like to see some of them come back if not but anything to find a home in Judy’s beautiful garden.

On our way west on SE Stark yesterday, what did we see but undoubtedly the first riders out for last night’s World Naked Bike Ride!
More than 1000 people were expected for the dance party last night and at least 700 for the Naked Bike Ride, which started at 606 SE Madison. headed downtown, up to NW 23rd and then back across the Burnside Bridge.

It was like seeing some rare, beautiful sight when we saw those riders yesterday. Naked men on little bikes hollered at us to get out of our car. A woman yelled something about Pedalpalooza.

What a great way to celebrate bike culture.

Pedalpalooza, in case you were unaware, is a 16-day bike event running through June 23. It is as much an event about Portland as is the Portland Rose Festival. Even better, Pedalpalooza is an entirely non-commercial event. Just look at the Portland Rose Festival and how much it has been sodden by commercial interests. It’s like the event has lost all of its imagination.

But not Pedalpalooza — it’s all about imagining the possibilities. It’s an expression of what bike culture means to people here in Portland. Funny, the Portland Rose Festival is such an event about patriotism, civic culture, welcoming soldiers home, military style parades. It’s all about the past. Pedalpalooza, in contrast, is like this event that blossomed from some other world yet firmly represents Portland and its future.

There are so many events scheduled for Pedalpalooza:

Pizza ride, taco rides, karaoke to karaoke bar, sexy cyclist ride, mini-bike steeplechase, recycle a bicycle, morning coffee on the bridge….And that’s just a smattering of what’s happening for Pedalpalooza.

I’ll be there at least for a few of these events. Will you?

Viva Pedalpalooza!

I’m curious. I find Second Life a bit curious. But I know people who are so into it. And so I am going to check out this gallery opening tonight at the Portand Art Center:

Alter Ego: Avatars and Their Creators by photojournalist Robbie Cooper and the illustrated works of Basil Wolverton and curated by Kenny Scharf. Here’s a bit about Cooper and Wolverton:

In ALTER EGO, Cooper’s images explore the motivation to create and inhabit virtual worlds, from the social needs of a recluse to online laborers earning pennies a day creating character points for other gamers. Dressed as superheroes, elves and quite often themselves, Cooper’s subjects participate in a multibillion-dollar industry that crosses time zones and borders, creating a new global community.

A prolific comic creator, Wolverton gained national prominence when his interpretation of character Lena Hyena debuted in the popular Al Capp comic. With grotesque and distorted characters, Wolverton is considered the father of “spaghetti and meatballs” illustration, influencing a generation of artists, most notably, R. Crumb. Converting to Herbert W. Armstrong’s “Radio Church of God” in the 1940’s, Wolverton created some of his most outstanding work, apocalyptic illustrations for pamphlets, publications and bible, a number of which are included in this collection.

PAC is at 32 NW 5th Ave. on the corner of Couch St. The opening runs from 6 pm to 10 pm. The show run through June.

The opening is also a promo for Platform, the international animation festival, scheduled for June 25-30 in Portland.

I’ll be participating in Platform, doing a mini-Podcast Hotel event. Idea is to hang out around the bar with folks who can teach animators about the whole blogging, podcasting, vlogging kind of thing.

If you are blogger, podcaster or vlogger and would like to attend Platform, drop me an email: alex at podcasthote dot com. We’ll have loads of fun. You’ll get a pass to some screenings. All I ask is you bring a video camera, a laptop, really whatever you can so we can make a little media and show folks what this world is all about.