Yup - it’s the time again!

Tuesday, July 22
5pm - ???
Plan B
SE 8th & Main

We had a great group of people last month - including several of our new authors and commenters, as well as our old friends and regulars. And what do we do at these things? Let’s see, we talked about about: beer, bikes, bacon wrapped foods, vegetarian restaurants, crazy neighbors, kids, iPhones, Zip Cars, blogs, bands, humidity, why we live in Portland, the East Coast…..

We hope to see you all again next week. Come on down for some food and drinks and talk about all things Portland…or anything else!

I sat here for awhile trying to figure out the best title for this post. Alas, there it is. I have decided to leave Portland Metblogs and try something new. I want to thank Metroblogging for the opportunity to write here over the years. I especially want to thank all the readers and commenters who have come and gone leaving behind amazing discussions. YOU are why I wrote. Now off to another adventure. Take care. Be well. Live long and prosper. So say we all. Best of luck. Godspeed. Keep on Keepin’ on. Just deal.

Your Portland blogger,

Dieselboi (aka Brett)

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Originally uploaded by dieselboi

All, there will not be a meetup this evening due to the conflict with Ignite Portland.  Normally we do have our meetups on the 3rd Wednesday of the month.  We’re pushing it out until next week and also changing the venue.  Next week we’ll give Plan B a chance to win our hearts and minds.

Metblogs Meetup - June 25, Plan B

Come one - come all - it’s time again for the monthly Metblogs Meetup!

We’re hoping the weather will hold so that we can sit out on their spacious patio, but if not we’ll be inside at Rontoms - located on the corner of E 6th & Burnside.

Writers, commenter’s and silent readers are all invited to come and chat about Portland, Metblogs, or what you’re going to do on your summer vacation.

Don’t be shy - come on over and say hello - we’ll even spring for the fondue!

Wed. May 21
5:00pm - ??
Rontoms
600 E Burnside St.
Portland, OR 97214
503.236.4536

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.

 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.

Hey all you readers and commenters, we’re gonna have a meetup, so mark your calendar.  The last meetup we had at the Green Dragon was awesome with about 20 people.  I can’t tell you how great it was to see authors and readers mix and mingle and startup new friendships.  Isn’t that what this is all about?  As usual, Portland Metblogs will spring for some appetizers, but the drinks are on you.  We’re going to stick with the Green Dragon for now, but when the weather warms up…..yep, it will be patio time.

Portland Metblogs Meetup

March 19, 5:30ish

Green Dragon

SE 9th/Yamhill, one block south of Belmont

As you can see, Portland Metblogs, along with the entire Metroblogging network got a face lift over the weekend. We’re pretty excited about the new interface and hope you are too. There are some great new features, but honestly, I haven’t figured them all out.  This week, we’ll post more information about the site and how you can become more involved.  Thanks for sticking with us during the outage yesterday.

Update: Yes, you will have to log in with a legit email address to post comments (although you don’t need to use your real name.) We’ll have more info on just what this means later…

If you are curious what we look like, what we like to drink, or just want a chance to look a Metblogger in the eye and say, “What WERE you thinking!?” you will have the opportunity to do so tomorrow night.

You should have seen Dieselboi’s announcement a couple of weeks ago. If not, here’s the scoop:

Wednesday, January 23 beginning at 5:30pm
The Chesterfield
1101 E. Burnside (across from Hippo Hardware and next to Portland Rock Gym)

We will be there from like 5:30 until we’re done, and you (yes, you!) are welcome to join us. In fact, we’re looking forward to it!

At 13:16 PM GMT (5:16 AM Pacific), former Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto was killed during a suicide attack shortly after an election rally outside Islamabad. News reports are noting at least 15 others were killed as shots and an explosion were part of the attack.

Visit our friends at Metroblogging Lahore, Karachi, and Islamabad for local reaction and commentary.