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.

We still have a few more days of the $20 Project…so I was able to get out and have my night at the Low Brow!

I realized last night that for once my early work hours don’t benefit me with getting to Happy Hour right when it starts – which at most places is 4pm. At the Low Brow it doesn’t start until 5pm (and lasts ’till 7.) It’s cheap eats and a buck off beers and well drinks though, so I decided to take photos of what we ordered in one round – and see if we could do it in under $20.

For $11.25 we got 3 pints of Laganitas IPA and one Greyhound, then for $9 got a basket of mini-corn dogs, a basket of fries and chicken strips…so we went over by a quarter… but we got pretty close to drinks and snacks for all with $20.

(Sorry for the dark photos – but not being overly lit like many places in town is one of the Low Brow’s charms!)

So just myself I totally made the $20: 1 Greyhound at the $4 regular price, 3 more @ $3 each during happy hour = $13, plus chicken strips for $5 leaves me with just enough for a tip.

Then I had a nice buzz to go watch the Joe Strummer movie that the Merc wrote the worst review of ever.
But don’t worry – I already told them that.

President Musharraf suspended the constitution and declared a state of emergency in Pakistan today. While select mainstream news and media outlets in Pakistan have been forcibly unplugged/gone dark and news from inside the country is spotty, our colleagues are still posting to Metroblogging Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad.

We wish them all the best..

I was lucky enough to get invited to a blogger barbecue this evening, The food was to die for (my daughter says the ribs were ‘better than Podnah’s’; her mother concurs!). And the conversation? Thankfully devoid of any of the following

a) explaining just what a blog is,
b) justifying just how much time a blog (reading, writing, commenting, etc.) can suck out of one’s life, or
c) judgment and/or analysis and/or critiques of each other’s blogs, American Idol-style

You, too, can discover just how much fun hanging with bloggers can be at Rontom’s this Thursday night (starting at 5:30 pm.) And we’ll even lure you there with the promise of free food, to boot.

We can’t promise you ribs as good as Podnah’s – but you might just discover that you might kinda like talking to us offline as much as you do here. So if you’ve commented here before – come on down and meet us in person, won’t you?

I can promise you that we don’t bite. Honest…!

Our ISP is reporting that we’re having major server issues for the entire MB network.

As a result, you may not be able to comment on posts, may find that you can’t always reach the site, and our authors may not be able to write new posts today.

We hope to have the situation resolved soon….!

Our fellow Metbloggers over in Karachi, Pakistan are experiencing an event none of us would want to experience ever. The city is in the midst of a civil war. If you would like to follow the news from a first hand experience, check out Karachi Metroblog. They are doing a wonderful job. Good luck to all the civilians who are caught in the middle of the fighting. Imagine gunfire and army tanks rolling down the streets of Portland outside your door.

Karachi Metblogs

…and our MetBlog colleagues have the latest updates, including video.

Be well, stay safe. We’re thinking of you all…

Our friends down south are experiencing an amazing fire close in to LA. Metblogs Los Angeles has been tracking developments and has some amazing photos of the fire that is coming close to an American Icon – the Hollywood sign. Good luck LA. Fight that fire.