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.*

Bored? Downtown? Apparently there’s going to be a huge pillow fight this Friday at Pioneer Square at 8pm.

According to the rules, you can’t have hard objects inside your pillow. It’s all fun and games until someone’s unconscious…

Put it on your calendars now, people, there’s going to be live kung fu demonstrations at the Cinetopia the weekend of September 22-24th to celebrate the opening of what’s sure to be the most ass-kickingest movie of the fall (and most likely the year), Jet Li’s Fearless.

According to the Cinetopia event site, Portland’s own US Wushu Center is showing off some live wushu, and one of the practitioners even went to martial-arts school with Jet Li.

The movie’s been on my radar for ages– one is not to be missing the combination of Jet Li (in supposedly his last martial arts epic EVER) and the fight choreography of one Yuen Woo-Ping, the man behind the fight scenes in The Matrix trilogy and tons and tons of fantastic fights in many Hong Kong extravaganzas. I may cancel my vacation plans to go to this event; kung fu onscreen is one of the few things that gets me out of the house on a regular basis, but live, are you kidding me? Too awesome.

If you’ve wanted to look behind the scenes at emergency services or meet representatives from the various public service organizations that respond when there’s a problem, head over to Clark Regional Services Agency (710 W 13th Street, Vancouver) on September 9th between 11am-2pm. In honor of National 911 Day, they’re hosting a public safety event featuring games, food, simulators, special emergency units, and representatives/demonstrations from 20 different emergency response organizations that serve Clark County. They’ll also be distributing free ID kits which parents can use to gather a photo, fingerprints, DNA hair sample, and other information that could be useful in locating a missing child. Come on down, enjoy a free hot dog, and learn about local emergency services.

If you’re looking for something to do in Vancouver next Sunday, the East Town Fest might just be the thing. From 12-5pm on the 27th at the Firstenburg Community Center, there will be a bunch of free events and entertainment for everyone from toddlers to grandparents. Highlights include games and free family swim (three 1.5-hour sessions). Check out the information on the Columbian’s website for more details.

If you Flaked on The Bricks, and you don’t live in the Couv, and Beaverton isn’t for you, or you just didn’t like those movies, here’s the deal:

Multnomah Outdoor Cinema is showing THE GOONIES on Saturday night. Not only did I almost pass out based on that news alone, but they are going to show it FOR FREE at the Multnomah Arts Center (on the basketball courts). So get some rich stuff to buy concessions (all the proceeds go to making more events like this happen), grab some blankets and pillows, and don’t forget your Mama (Fratelli) and head down there Saturday night. Maybe if we’re lucky they’ll have a Truffle Shuffle Contest…

And since I’m already on the free movie thing, don’t forget you still have a little bit of Free Family Film Festival time too.

If you’re looking for something different to entertain the family, the Port of Portland is hosting a Seaport Celebration at Terminal 6 on August 26th. You can take a tour, learn about the port, listen to a pirate band, and enjoy assorted games and activities for the kids.

For more information and directions, check out the event flyer from the Port of Portland.

via Portland Transport

I just wanted to remind everybody that the Bite of Oregon is this weekend, and I learned last night (thanks, free promotional copy of The Oregonian that shows up on my doorstep every week and usually goes straight into the recycling!) that from 11a.m-2p.m. on Friday only, admission is free! **Of course, that well-edited promotional paper also says the free entry applies to the “first two hours of the festival,” which in my math-addled brain would mean 11a.m.-1p.m., so it might be best to show up earlier rather than later.**

You still have to pay for the tasty treats, however that sure beats the usual $7 admission fee just to wait in line for some grub.

Looks like the weather should be pretty good for the Bite this year, at least until Sunday; there’s some chance of showers on Friday, but Saturday looks like it’ll be the day to go, as Sunday’s weather appears to creep over that 90-degree mark again.

I know where I’m having lunch on Friday.