Dave Knows Portland

Archives for March 2011

National Corndog Day (19-March-2011)

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corndog150Invented by two dudes from Corvallis 19 years ago when a 24 pack of corn dogs was discovered in their freezer while they were watching the first day of the NCAA basketball tournament (four basketball games in a row on the same channel!), National Corndog Day 2011 takes place Saturday, March 19.

Corndog Day is now a national secular holiday, with a website, a wikipedia page, and even corporate sponsors. And this year it’s official (in Oregon at least)!

And there are several officially sanctioned public events in the Portland area.

Read about the Oregon pedigree of the corn dog here, and for more Corndog Day history, see this 2009 Oregonian story: Corn dog lovers, it’s your day (thank two Corvallis guys).

Portland Timbers Season Opener (19-March-2011)

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TimbersThe Portland Timbers start the 2011 season on the road this Saturday, March 19th, when they face the defending Major League Soccer champion, Colorado Rapids.

You could watch the match on ROOT, Fox Soccer Channel, or listen to the play by play on KXL 750. But what you should do is join the Timbers Army (minus the 300 or so members who traveled to Colorado) at the Bagdad Theater (3702 SE Hawthorne Blvd) for a live, free, all-ages screening of this historic match. Doors open at 4:30, kickoff is at 6pm.

Are you ready?

7th Planet Picture Show: Lifeforce (17-March-2011)

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LifeforcePortland’s weekly answer to MST3K, the 7th Planet Picture Show, takes place at 7pm this Thursday, March 17, 2011 at Mount Tabor Theater (4811 SE Hawthorne).

This week’s film is the 1985 science fiction classic, Lifeforce (which I first reported would be the film on March 3, but there was a change of plan!)

Director Tobe Hooper adapts Colin Wilson’s edgy novel The Space Vampires in this in this horror/sci-fi epic with a cult following. The story concerns a joint British-American space probe of Hailey’s Comet. Inside the comet, the astronauts, headed by Carlsen (Steve Railsback), find a spaceship that contains the dead bodies of several aliens, along with the naked bodies of three human-like creatures in suspended animation. They bring the aliens aboard the ship for examination, but the specimens are sloppily guarded and soon the trio spread contagion among the population of the ship. Returning to earth, the beautiful space vampire (Mathilda May) escapes into London and begins to feed on the bodies of the unwary Britons, turning the city into a zombie-populated wasteland. It is now left for Carlsen to stop the vampire invaders.

Show is free, but there’s an entirely optional suggested donation of $5. There’s a bar too, so you must be 21 and over to attend!

Help Johnson Creek Watershed Council Win $30,000 Grant

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JOHNSON CREEK WATERSHED RESTORATION from Karen Wrenn on Vimeo.

Milwaukie, Oregon based Johnson Creek Watershed Council is an environmental non-profit dedicated to inspire and facilitate community investment in the Johnson Creek Watershed for the protection and enhancement of its natural resources.

Right now they are competing against five other causes for a $30,000 grant to be awarded by the The River Network.

Project summary: The Johnson Creek Watershed Council and its partners plan to enhance salmon habitat and restore streamside forests at the mouth of Johnson Creek. To enhance fish habitat, we will construct sixteen engineered log jams throughout a quarter-mile reach of Johnson Creek and place logs and boulders in two areas of exposed bedrock. At the north end of Milwaukie Riverfront Park, an interpretive overlook and trail are planned for construction. The overlook will provide information about salmon and other wildlife that use the site and benefit from the project.

Project benefits: The project will provide a much-needed refuge for migrating Willamette River salmon just upstream of Portland’s “downtown gauntlet” where dense industrial development and cement sea walls have left few resting areas and little protective cover for fish. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists highlight how all the threatened Coho and Chinook salmon and Steelhead trout in the middle and upper Willamette Basin – an area with over 11,000 miles of rivers and streams – pass by the mouth of Johnson Creek, and will benefit from this project.

Place your vote by March 20, 2011 to help them win! Winners will be announced on Thursday, March 24th.

March 16, 1973: Fremont Bridge Span Lifted Into Place

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Fremont BridgeConstruction of the Fremont Bridge took several years, starting in the late 1960s, and it was opened in November, 1973. Perhaps the most dramatic part of construction, however, took place on March 16, 1973 when the central span, built in California and barged to Portland, was lifted into place.

The Oregonian reported the next day:

The biggest bridge lift in U.S. History ended at 5:30 pm Friday as 32 hydraulic jacks took their final bite on the 6,000-ton Fremont Bridge center span and hoisted it the final 2 1/4 inches into position.
Ironworkers immediately began fastening side plates to the 902-foot center span and the bridge approach ironwork so the arch would not sway over the weekend.
Engineers and ironworkers were told as soon as the plates were fastened that they could knock off for the weekend.

The Fremont Bridge is the second longest tied arch bridge in the world, only the Caiyuanba Bridge in China is longer. Until Tilikum Crossing opened in September 2015, the Fremont was the newest bridge spanning the Willamette River in Portland.