The rumblings began on February 1st, when the O ran a little story on gifts to Mayor Tom Potter. As the O reported yesterday, after reading that story, Potter’s people realized that they probably needed to report that Potter had also received some courtside tickets to a Blazer game.

It seems that some are gearing up to argue that this is a major issue. I think how major it is depends mostly on what you think of Potter.

Now, I’m tremendously disappointed with Tom Potter as a mayor. As a sports fan, he’s proven to be unfriendly to some of my ideas for civic improvement, and as a citizen, his “let’s have a task force and talk about problems until people forget about them and never solve them” system of governance is annoying. (As a side-note, imagine putting him in charge of the whole city in the charter “reform” and watching the whole works grind to a halt…). But I’m also a pretty fair-minded guy (in my own opinion) and, as such, I don’t see that it’s such a big deal.

Why?

Well, first, it’s pretty well established (if Potter’s people are to be believed) that Potter tried to pay for the tickets and was refused. Second, it’s also clear that the tickets weren’t for sale. Noone was using them, or at least paying for them. By any reasonable use of the term, therefore, the tickets had no value. If they could not be sold, and could not be bought, there is no way to say that Potter should have to report them.

Potter reported the $34 the team provided for entry into the buiding. In my opinion, that’s fair. Enough said.

Now, the real crime (in my opinion) was Potter’s reaction while at the game. According to today’s O, “S pectators who saw Mayor Tom Potter at the one and only Portland Trail Blazers game he has attended this year were struck by how exquisitely bored the man looked. More than once, he seemed barely able to stifle a yawn.” What a jerk. Tommy Boy, you’ve got a freakin’ front row seat to an NBA game. If you’re not going to enjoy yourself, have the decency to make a run for the rest room and not return. Portlanders are passionate about their Blazers (whether with pride or disgust lately), and the face of Portland should reflect that.

So, is it a big deal? Discuss…

Yeah, I know it’s not yet Halloween, but it’s not too early to mark November 8th on your calendar. For the first time ever, the Capitol Christmas tree to be displayed in Washington DC is coming from Washington state, and will be on display on November 8th in Vancouver on Main Street (between 8th and 9th).

For more information on the tree, or the fact that schoolchildren from the area get to create the decorations, check out the official website.

What I want to know is this: if Washington is “The Evergreen State”, how come this is the first time in the 42 year history of the Capitol tree program that we’ve supplied the tree?

Since the wacky weather this week (it’s raining! it’s sunny! it’s 40 degrees! it’s 70 degrees!) has already got the pumpkin I carved last weekend in a state of near-rot, I give you instead virtual pumpkin carving with which to waste your lunch hour, which was just sent to me by a friend. Enjoy!

I’ll probably shlepp over to the store this weekend to get a new real one to carve and leave on the front porch for the trick-or-treaters to admire (or smash, as the case may be) as my first one will be a goopy puddle by next Tuesday.

And just for kicks, this is pretty much the best jack-o-lantern ever.

Originally uploaded by russ.

At 11 a.m. tomorrow morning, the Portland Streetcar’s route officially lengthens to include the South Waterfront stop.
Politicos, speechifying, celebrations, woo-hoo-edness.
And free rides all weekend, throughout the Streetcar’s entire length from Good Sam, down and through downtown, past RiverPlace and up to the emerging concrete canyons where rich Californians have invested.
Can’t wait for the Portland Aerial Tram, which you will be able to catch at the South Waterfront Station when the Tram starts sailing thru the big wide open next year.
Now, if they’d only tie in the Portland Streetcar directly to the Willamette Shore Trolley to Lake Oswego.
After all, that tourist line’s northern terminus is less than half a mile away @ Moody and Bancroft.

Just a reminder that tomorrow is First Thursday in the Pearl, and that means screw the art, it’s time to get your zombie on!

I may recycle last year’s Halloween costume and show up as Shaun in what is sure to be a vain attempt to take back the night.

Eat more brains!

It’s a beautiful fall Friday. The sun is shining, a gentle breeze is blowing, and the sound of drums resonates through downtown. Drums? Yes, drums. And singing. The sounds echo off the walls of the concrete arroyos that lead to Pioneer Courthouse Square, like the soundtrack for one of the Westerns I watched as a child. It’s just another example of the surreal living mash-ups that Portland offers up on a daily basis.

What I’m hearing is an American Indian Day Celebration, put on at The Square by the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board and other local American Indian organizations. The celebration will be held from 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm, and will include “Northwest Tribal leaders, Indian advocates, drum groups, dancers, and arts and crafts vendors who will share their talents and experiences with the Portland community”. And the event is free and open to the public.

It sounds like a cool way to end the work week, but there is also a serious message behind the celebration: It’s intended to help raise the level of awareness concerning the challenges that American Indians continue to face in this country.

MC Chris, he of the many animated voices, among other talents, is doing a signing tonight before his show at Dante’s at Bridge City Comics from 6-7p.m.

Come meet the man behind Hesh and get him to sign some stuff, you know you want to! And check out this video of him performing Fett’s Vette. Gotta love a man who raps about having jets on his backpack.

Bridge City Comics is located at 3725 N. Mississippi Ave.

Looking for something educational and free to do this weekend? Tomorrow is museum day, where select museums throughout the country are partnering with the Smithsonian and offering free admission for one day.

The only “catch” is that you need to go to the Museum Day website and print out a free admission card.

Participating local museums include:

• Oregon Historical Society (Portland)
• Pittock Mansion (Portland)
• World Forestry Center Discovery Museum (Portland)
• Schnitzer Museum of Art at the U of O (Eugene)
• Science Factory Children’s Museum & Planetarium (Eugene)
• U of O Museum of Natural and Cultural History (Eugene)

Thanks to damnportlanders, I just found out that, through the Oregon Food Bank, Oregon Regal Cinemas are offering a free movie (and popcorn!) today only if you take three cans of food to the theater.

Though I’ve heard rumors that if you ask to see Jackass Number Two, which I can’t believe I haven’t seen yet, they’ll make you perform some sort of hilarious self-flagellating and possibly death-defying trick with at least one of the cans before they’ll hand over a ticket.

zombiewalk!
Originally uploaded by jonashpdx.

I got an e-mail from a friend earlier today who was perusing damnportlanders about the upcoming Zombiewalk on October 5th to correspond with First Thursday in the Pearl.

Per the Zombiewalk originator, her gallery will be showing work from an upcoming zombie comic by John Worsley. Sounds like a bloody good time to me. So get your zombie on, people! How cool would it be to have a horde of zombies stumbling through the Pearl District that night?

*More info about the zombies and the art here.*