Washington Park’s amphitheatre will be invaded by a few Munchkins, flying monkeys, witches, winkies and other assorted creatures over the next few weekends. Yep, the sixty kids participating in this year’s musical theatre camp (a joint collaboration of Grout Elementary’s SUN School program, Portland Parks & Rec and the tireless crew from New Moon Productions) will be performing The Wizard of Oz in several free performances:

Saturday, 7/14 and 7/21 at 10 am and 12 noon.
Sunday, 7/15 and 7/22 at 12 noon.

(Shameless kid promotion alert: my own nine year old will be in both Saturday 10 am performances as part of the ensemble.)

If that’s not enough, the adult cast will be performing on Tuesdays through Sundays at 6:30 pm from 7/12 through 7/28 – so pack a picnic & bring the family out for the show!

** I had a much better headline waiting in the wings, but LeLo gave it the big hook last weekend, grrrr….! But I like LeLo (plus didn’t want her to get her panties in a bunch), so I refrained…

We mentioned this to you last year and I would be neglecting my duties as purveyor of OMG FREE ICE CREAM info if I didn’t mention it this year too.

Ben and Jerry are giving away scoops tomorrow from 12-8pm at all their locations. You might want to check them out, even if you buy something instead of just get the free scoop. It’s also the tenth anniversary of Phish Food (that’s right, TEN YEARS!) which they are commemorating with a new milkshake. I want them to bring back the phish food sundae! That was the stuff, I tell you. Exclusive to the scoop shops, it was Phish Food covered in caramel and marshmallow sauces and sprinkled with even more fudge fish (or is it phish?). It was SO FREAKING GOOD! And I can’t believe I’ve been eating that for ten years now!

Anyway. Free ice cream tomorrow afternoon. Maybe the weather will be crummy and the line will be shorter. Whether it is or not, I’ll be in it, you can be certain. I hope I see you there!

As is (apparently) customary on Fat Tuesday slash Mardi Gras, your friendly neighborhood health club is giving away pancakes.

Perhaps I wasn’t clear. I must not have been because you’re still here reading.

I said FREE PANCAKES!!!!!!ONE!!!!1!!!!!

Yeah. It’s for the Children’s Miracle Network and other local charities apparently. So go eat some pancakes and give them some cash. Here’s how you pitch it:

Let’s go out and have some pancakes.
Why pancakes?
Well they’re free and it’s for a good cause.
What cause?
Cause I’m HUNGRY! Now get in the car!

And if you’re on the eastside, I’ll see you there. mmmm. Pancakes. As long as they don’t bring me coffee for 15 people* I’ll probably be ok…

* Mildly nsfw if a little bad language will get you in trouble.

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.