Dave Knows Portland

Archives for October 2009

Lineup for the 1st Annual Cider Festival revealed

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Wtextyellowbg200The 1st Annual Cider Festival at the Portland Nursery’s Annual Apple Tasting Event takes place this weekend and next, October 10-11 and 17-18.

The apple tasting event, as I’ve mentioned before, is a fantastic festival in its own right. But launching a simultaneous cider festival is a stroke of genius!

Oregon’s own Wandering Aengus Ciderworks of Salem is hosting the festival within a festival. In addition to their own ciders, the following ciderworks, from all over the country, will be participating:

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October 9-12: Fresh Hop Beer Tastival, Apple Tasting, Harvest Festival, Wordstock, and a book sale

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This weekend is shaping up nicely. The weather looks fine, though Fall is definitely here. Time for apples, books, and fresh hopped beer!

2009 Fresh Hop Beer Tastival

The Portland installment of this year’s Fresh Hop Beer Tastivals takes place Saturday, October 10th, at Oaks Park. . .

The festival runs from noon until 9pm (free Oaks Park Train Rides until 6pm, but alas, other rides will be closed). $5 tasting glass required to taste. More . . .

appleline2008-100Portland Nursery Apple Tasting Event

Over the next two weekend (Friday-Sunday, October 9-11, and 16-18) the Portland Nursery hosts the 22nd Annual Apple Tasting Event at the Stark location (5050 SE Stark).

Apple tasting, old fashioned cider pressing, apple desserts, and cooking demonstrations; normally I wouldn’t get too excited these sorts of activities, but last year Heather and I attended the festival and enjoyed it immensely. More . . .

onegreenworld100Harvest Festival at One Green World

Visit us on October 10th from 10AM to 4:30 PM, enjoy tasting unique, delicious, locally grown fruit and take home plants for your patio or home orchard. We’ll not only have fruit for tasting, but juice, preserves, and ice cream, all made from the same varieties you can grow. Plus, take a tour of our orchard and talk with plant experts. Bring children, friends, and neighbors, this is an event for all! More . . .

friendsofthelibrary10036th Annual Fall Used Book Sale 2009

The Friends of the Multnomah County Library 36th Annual Fall Used Book Sale 2009, Oregon’s largest used book sale, takes place this weekend at 1625 NE Sandy.

Over 100,000 books, CDs and DVDs, audio and video tapes, and maps and sheet music will be available. Kids’ books and small paperbacks start at $.50, large paperbacks and hardcovers at $1.50. Proceeds from the sale benefit the Multnomah County Library. More . . .

WordstockWordstock Book Fair

The Wordstock Book Fair takes place this weekend at the Oregon Convention Center (777 NE MLK Jr) from 10am-6pm Saturday and Sunday, October 10-11. More . . .

October 9-12: Wordstock Book Fair and the Friends of the Multnomah County Library 36th Annual Fall Book Sale

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WordstockThe Wordstock Book Fair takes place this weekend at the Oregon Convention Center (777 NE MLK Jr) from 10am-6pm Saturday and Sunday, October 10-11.

Other festival readings and workshops are ongoing, but good luck finding the information you need from the website, which just like last year, is thoroughly irritating (flash, awful navigation but at least they turned off the auto-play music this year!), and difficult to navigate and find pertinent information. I recommend visiting Reading Local Portland for information on the festival; they are doing a much better job relaying information about worthwhile Wordstock related (and non-Wordstock related) events.

The Friends of the Multnomah County Library 36th Annual Fall Used Book Sale 2009, Oregon’s largest used book sale, takes place this weekend at 1625 NE Sandy.

Over 100,000 books, CDs and DVDs, audio and video tapes, and maps and sheet music will be available. Kids’ books and small paperbacks start at $.50, large paperbacks and hardcovers at $1.50. Proceeds from the sale benefit the Multnomah County Library.

Members only Friday, October 9th from 6 to 9pm, but you can sign up at the door (memberships start at $30, $20 for seniors).

The regular hours for the sale are:

  • Saturday, October 10, 9am to 6pm
  • Sunday, October 11, 11am to 5pm
  • Monday, October 12, 9am to 3 pm (50% off Discount Day)

Fall 2009 Timbers Tidbits

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TimbersI won’t rehash or dwell on the exciting, but ultimately disappointing, roller coaster ride that was Sunday afternoon – these folks do a much better job than I could:

This One Oozed The Fear From the Start – Zach Dundas at Portland Sportsman

I had a very bad feeling about the whole thing, even as I walked through the carnival atmosphere outside PGE Park. The Portland Timbers’ worst-to-first revival, which earned our beloved local football team the United Soccer Leagues’ Commissioners Cup and a bye to the First Division semifinals, was just too good.

I’m Not Much of a Sports Fan – Heather at Mile73.com

I didn’t sleep all that great the other night. I tossed and turned and I couldn’t shut off my brain. Want to know why? Because I was at the goddamned Timbers game the night before.

Well, you get the idea.

In happier Timbers news, forward Mandjou Keita was presented the 2009 Supporters Player of the Year award Sunday.

Monday Mamadou “Futty” Danso was named Community Player of the Year, and also serves as the subject of an excellent Andrew Guest feature on Pitch Invasion, The Timbers, The Gambia, and Futty Danso: Stories from Africa:

The reason Mamadou “Futty” Danso wore the rather odd number 98 for the Portland Timbers this year says a lot about globalization and soccer. The story starts in his native Gambia, where he grew up carefully watching African players who found success on the international scene.

And despite the way the Timbers ended the regular season and playoffs (i.e. not in top form), the team was awesome for most of the season, and promises to be strong in 2010.

Hats off to the 2009 Portland Timbers, who attracted record attendance, won the 2009 Cascadia Cup, now own the new American soccer unbeaten streak record, and claimed the 2009 Commissioners Cup! See you next year!

Men’s Journal gets its Best Beer Town facts wrongs and slights Portland

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mj_cover100I was surprised by the choice of San Diego as top beer town in a recent Men’s Journal feature, The Top Five Beer Towns. Portland came in at a respectable #3, just after New York City and followed by Philadelphia and Chicago – all reasonable choices for a top five beer town list. I’m sure there are some excellent breweries in San Diego, and the climate certainly invites enjoying a cold one. Still, I couldn’t help but think Portland was slighted (and Denver and Seattle, which didn’t even make the list). But certainly, I reminded myself, the writers, Christian DeBenedetti and Seth Fletcher, are entitled to their opinions.

But then, in the writers’ rationalization for putting San Diego at the top of the list, I read this:

The sheer number of breweries (33) blows us away. (It has crept past Portland, which has 29.)

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