Dave Knows Portland

Archives for October 2010

The Dave Knows Portland Trailblazers 2010-2011 Preview

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Portland Trail BlazersWelcome to the 4th Annual Portland Trailblazers Season Preview at Dave Knows Portland. Normally I would now proceed to provide my analysis of off season moves, speculate on rookie potential, and provide a wins and losses prediction for the new season. But I have a confession to make, I haven’t been paying attention. What with the Portland Timbers final season in the USL and, oh, my wedding, I didn’t spend much time this summer considering the Trailblazers. But fear not! My brother Steve, the biggest Blazers fan in Elko, Nevada, is on the case – here are his thoughts:

I’m excited about the new season. There has been a lot of offseason drama, like always. Jeff Pendergraph tore his ACL, Wesley Matthews is overpaid, Greg Oden and Joel Przybilla haven’t recovered completely, Brandon Roy and Andre Miller hate each other, and Rudy Fernandez is sad. But I think all that’s done is reduce expectations and give the team a little bit more of an “underdog” feel to them. I’m optimistic about this season, but not quite as excited as I have been in the past. I’m hoping for 50 wins, any more than that would be icing on the cake. If the Blazers don’t make the playoffs, I think McMillan gets fired. Just what I think.

Read the rest at his site, Elko Steve: Sunday Morning Musings – Blazer Edition.

And in any case, Go Blazers!

NBAStore.com

October 23-24: Great American Distillers Festival 2010

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Great American Distillers FestivalThe 2010 Great American Distillers Festival takes place Saturday and Sunday, October 23 and 24 2010 at the Tiffany Center (1410 SW Morrison), 11am until 7pm both days.

Small distillers from around the country come to offer samples of spirits and share schwag in the form of buttons, stickers, and brochures. Once again the festival also features the Portland Cocktail Invitational, a competition sponsored by the Oregon Bartenders Guild and Imbibe Magazine. Two dozen star bartenders from across the country compete for the $1000 grand prize.

A one day pass, which includes 3 taster tickets, is only $10. $16 gets you in both days. Additional taster tickets can be purchased of course. The list of participating distilleries is impressive; it includes all the well known locals (except Clear Creek – why doesn’t my favorite pear brandy purveyor participate in these events?!), plus distilleries from as far away as Vermont (Vermont Spirits), New York (Tuthilltown Spirits), and Central America (Ilegal Mezcal).

Heather, our friend Diane, and I attended the festival last year, and enjoyed quite a few samples of interesting distillations, including several absinthes, New Deal‘s newly OLCC approved (at the time) Mud Puddle Chocolate Vodka, and Bend Distillery‘s Cofia Hazelnut Espresso Vodka, which would have been great on top of ice cream!

A Mean Spirited Non-Foodies Food Guide in the Oregonian

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Contrarianism is the Willy Week’s métier, but The Oregonian has jumped into the fray with their Non-foodies Food Guide.

When they canned Roger Porter this past summer we learned that the Oregonian’s A & E editor, DeAnn Welker, envisioned something different for the paper’s coverage of local restaurants. Porter explains in an August conversation with Eater PDX:

“We are radically changing the way we cover dining and restaurants.” That changing direction means, as Welker told me in person, that The Oregonian intends its restaurant coverage to be aimed at ordinary people. It will henceforth meet the needs of readers who go to the places where most of the people go […] we had had some disagreement over the paper’s forthcoming increased attention to restaurants in the suburbs and to chains.

Despite the nod to ordinary people, I suspect the motivation for the the shift in coverage is actually that small restaurants and food carts don’t have large advertising budgets, so they won’t be buying Oregonian ads anytime soon. Where most of the people go includes larger restaurant chains, which have advertising budgets. So basically the O is going the tea party route, i.e. faux populism.

And if my supposition is correct, that explains why the businesses represented in the Non-foodies Food Guide are, with the exception of Sayler’s Old Country Kitchen, large corporate (though putatively local) chains: Dutch Bros. Coffee, Old Spaghetti Factory, Shari’s, and Taco Time. (And evidence is gathering that my suspicion is correct, because as I type this I see a leader board ad for The Old Spaghetti Factory atop the OregonLive.com webpage, and a Shari’s 99 cent Breakfast special coupon on the PDX BEST DEALS sidebar.)

The Non-Foodie Food Guide articles (I’ve found three on OregonLive.com) penned by Lee Williams drip with sarcasm and condescension. I understand the cynical decision (i.e. $$$) to editorialize on behalf of advertisers, but to insult readers? Not so much. But I suppose since there’s not much of a story there (we all know about these chains – we see them every day alongside the road and in advertising, and virtually all of us have patronized them before), snark is their last refuge.

October 15, 2010: Happy 25th Birthday Portlandia!

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PortlandiaIn October of 1985 Portlandia (the hammered-copper statue, not the IFC series) was installed and dedicated above the front entrance of the Portland Building.

It’s her 25th birthday!

The Regional Arts And Culture Council and Mayor Sam Adams invite the public to the Standard Plaza across the street from the Portland Building (1120 SW 5th) from 3pm until 3:30pm for a celebration that includes cupcakes!

Portlandia, by renowned artist Raymond Kaskey, is made of hammered copper sheeting about the thickness of a dime formed around a steel armature. At 34’ 10”, She is one-third the size of the Statue of Liberty, the only larger statue of this kind in the nation.

Portland Timbers Roundup (10/15/2010)

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TimbersWrapping up the 2010 USL Timbers season

2010 Season Recap – Looking back over the end of the USL Timbers by Kip Kesgard at OregonLive.com

2010 was a strange season for the Portland Timbers for obvious reasons. While the team had goals of securing a USSF Division 2 championship and success at the box office, the team was also laying the foundation of the MLS club that starts play in 2011. [more]

Looking forward to the 2011 MLS Timbers

Portland Soccer Roundup: Transition to MLS Begins by Rob Morse at Rose City Roots

As one era of Timbers soccer comes to an end, a new era of soccer in Portland is set to begin. This week’s links roundup looks at what the future of MLS in Portland might provide, and the new opportunities in store for the U.S. Men’s National Time. [more]

Timbers look toward 2011 and MLS by Geoffrey C. Arnold at The Oregonian

As The Portland Timbers played their way through the 2010 season, the season itself transformed into a near afterthought.

Yes, there were goals to score and games to win, but everyone had one eye on the 2010 season and another on 2011, when the Timbers join Major League Soccer. [more]

Timbers to Sign Current Players Before End of October by mao at the Portland Timbers USL Blog at The Offside

Before the end of October, Portland Timbers Football Club will announce which of its current players will be retained for the inaugural season in Major League Soccer. Though the club is allowed to carry as many as a dozen players upward, the more likely scenario is no more than a handful enjoying promotion. With the expansion draft coming in November and SuperDraft following in January, the Timbers will have ample opportunities to bring in new players with MLS experience and younger players with great promise. [more]

MLS expansion draft on the horizon for Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps by Steven Goff at Soccer Insider at The Washington Post

With the MLS regular season set to end next weekend, the eight clubs not competing in the playoffs will begin turning attention to the 2011 roster and the expansion draft, which will supply 10 players apiece to the Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps. [more]

First MLS Timbers to be Announced Tuesday by Dan at Dropping Timber

Well, they didn’t make us wait too long. An email was sent to season ticket holders this evening, inviting them to the announcement of the first signings (note the plural) of the MLS Timbers. Since this announcement comes on the heels of a report that returning Timbers would be announced in October, we are expecting this means that it will be players returning from last season’s team. [more]

At Prost Amerika Soccer, a two part interview with Merritt Paulson:

Paulson: The fans of all three teams will be pleased – part 1

Paulson: This is more of a Yankees-Red Sox rivalry with Seattle – part 2

In 2010 player news

DT Awards – 2010 Portland Timbers by Dan at Dropping Timber

Welcome to the 2010 Dropping Timber Awards- The DT’s for short. The fan votes are in, the Dropping Timber team has voted, but don’t go scrolling down the page without reading about the format: The fans get one vote, and each member of the Dropping Timber team gets a vote. I get to break ties since I’m writing the post. If you have an issue with that you can create your own not-very-important web awards blog post. [more]