Je préfére l’Espagne, but nevertheless, Saturday July 14th is Bastille Day!
So in addition to the Portland International Beerfest and the Mississippi Avenue Street Fair, make your way down to Jamison Square for the 2007 Bastille Day Festival for waiter races, pétanque exhibitions, probably some cheese, and French music!
And don’t forget: J’ai une grenouille dans mon bidet!
Well no, but if you’d like to pass as a local when you’re traveling in the British Isles, here’s the book you’ll want to read: Passport to the Pub: A guide to British pub etiquette.
It’s published by the Social Issues Research Centre, and the entire book is available free in html or pdf format.
Though it’s aimed at the tourists, much of it applies at almost any drinking venue; especially chapter 5, which covers the “Dos and Don’ts” of round buying, for example:
Don’t wait until all your companions’ glasses are empty before offering to buy the next round. The correct time to say “It’s my round” is when your companions have consumed about three-quarters of their drinks. (Beware: the natives tend to drink quite fast, and may have finished their drinks when you have barely started.) The exception to this rule is at ‘last orders’, when another round of drinks must be purchased even if everyone’s glass is full (see the next chapter for an explanation of this strange custom).
Do participate whole-heartedly in the round-buying ritual. Any sign of miserly penny-pinching will be noticed and frowned upon. There is no need to be excessively bountiful – in fact, ostentatious displays of wealth will not impress the egalitarian natives – but you must be seen to play your full part in the ritual.
Bailey’s Taproom is opening in August, according to the website. It’s in the old Lamthong spot.
I look forward to checking it out, as it’s a block from my office and I like beer and chocolate and cheese.
Oh, and I’ll buy a beer for the first person to tell me what the heck River Phoenix has to do with anything.
The Oregonian has created a cool Flash movie that lets you scroll across the Portland skyline and click on particular buildings to get details on renovated, new, and future buildings.
The Portland Chinooks Sunday beat the Santa Barbara Breakers to advance to the International Basketball League title game against the Elkhart Express.
The title game is Saturday the 21st. I doubt there is any local television broadcast.