Archives for September 2011

September 11, 1883: First Transcontinental Train Rolls into Portland

September 11, 2011 by Dave Knows Leave a Comment

The first transcontinental Northern Pacific Railway trip reached the end of the line, in Portland, Oregon, on September 11, 1883. Northern Pacific president, Henry Villard spared no expense on the grand excursion (Morning Oregonian, 12 September 1883).

The trip from St. Paul to Portland, made by President Villard and his invited guests, some three hundred in number, is of a character such as has never before been equaled on this continent. From the moment of the arrival at St. Paul, on the morning of the 1st of September, to the landing at Portland yesterday morning, the trip has been one series of grand receptions, banquets, speech-making and pleasant surprises.

September 10, 1846: U.S. Naval Schooner Shark Wrecks on Clatsop Spit

September 10, 2011 by Dave Knows Leave a Comment

Cannon Beach Cannon — Cannon From The U.S. Schooner “Shark”

The U.S. Naval Schooner Shark arrived at Astoria in August, 1846 to survey the harbor at the mouth of the Columbia.

On September 10, 1846, upon completion of the mission, she started for Vancouver, but ran aground on the south spit and became a total wreck (Morning Oregonian, 31 July 1899).

All on board got ashore safely, but the sloop soon began to break up. The upper portion came loose from the hull and floated away with her 12 cannon on board. A few days later Richard Hobson was walking down the beach, and directly opposite where the Austin cottage now stands he found the wreck of the Shark, or rather the portion of it that had floated away from the south spit. Three of the cannon were still on board, and he and two Indians who were with him rolled one overboard and well up on the beach. The other two they got overboard, but the returning tide made it impossible to get them ashore. From this incident the beach gradually came to be called Cannon beach.

A cannon from the USS Shark found near Arch Cape gave the town of Cannon Beach its name.

Back Fence PDX (21-September-2011)

September 9, 2011 by Dave Knows Leave a Comment

The Back Fence PDX story telling show returns to the Mission Theater (1624 NW Glisan) on Wednesday, September 21, 2011.

Story telling show? How’s that work?:

Our Back Fence Storytelling event is the kissing cousin to San Francisco’s Porchlight Storytelling Series. It is an evening with seven people telling true, unmemorized ten-minute stories based on the month’s theme. The stories must not have been performed publicly prior to their Back Fence PDX telling.

Heather and I have thoroughly enjoyed the several Back Fence PDX productions we’ve been to. For one thing free cupcakes from Saint Cupcake make the rounds at intermissions. The story tellers are always courageous and their stories are often amusing, always entertaining, and sometimes gut wrenching or cringe inducing – you really don’t know what to expect!

The theme of the September show is Mistakes Were Made. The lineup includes:

EGAN DANEHY – Host/Producer of Mortified PDX + Changer of Diapers

LAURIE NOTARO – NY Times Best-Selling Author + Scorned Train Passenger

MEG WORDEN – Former Federal Prisoner + Current Nutrition Coach and Yoga Teacher

PRISCILLA G. ROBINSON – Former Forensic Military Photographer/Photojournalist + Current Fragrance Salesperson

SARAH GRACE McCANDLESS – Author of The Girl I Wanted to Be + Comic-Con Celebrity Escort

SAURABH TAK – Born and Raised in India + Current New Yorker + Moth StorySLAM Winner

And the MOMENT IN THE SHOW you’ve come to LOVE!!!! Our super exciting LIGHTNING ROUND!! FIVE randomly drawn audience members will have a chance to strut their narrative stuff by doing their best to tell an entire CAMP story in just ONE MINUTE!

Reserve your tickets now for $12, and bring cash (for everyone’s convenience) to the show to claim them! Reserved tickets are guaranteed until 15 minutes before the show. A few non-reserved tickets ($15) will be available at the door. The show is 21 and over only. Doors will open at 6:30pm for food and drink and chair claiming, and the show starts at 7:30pm.

Video Interlude: Portland Aerial Tram

September 9, 2011 by Dave Knows Leave a Comment

This video, which I found on Vimeo, is by Litmus Films.

It had been a couple of years since I had taken a ride on this thing, and I got a couple new picture styles for my 60d so I figured I would go out and get a few shots. This was shot, edited and graded this morning. The custom picture styles for canon DSLRs are amazing, flat out awesome really. They make color grading/correction much easier and you end up with a very rich finished product. This was shot at/on the Portland Aerial Tram, at OHSU South Waterfront. Check it out, its pretty impressive.

Weekend Amusements (September 9-11, 2011)

September 9, 2011 by Dave Knows Leave a Comment

Fall is here, so of course in Portland that means summer weather! Don’t worry, you’ve still got over a month of great outdoor fests to take in before winter rains force us inside.

Ongoing

Chapman Vaux’s Swift Watch 2011

So here’s the deal. Every September thousands of Vaux’s Swifts come to Portland. They spend their days eating lots of bugs. In the late afternoon the Swifts begin flying in a giant undulating swirl in the sky about the school. Around sunset they swirl more tightly, like a ground pepper tornado, and begin disappearing, measure by measure, down the chimney. On the lawn below, hundreds of Portlanders gather on lawn chairs and blankets to stare at the sky, mesmerized. Boos erupt when opportunistic Peregrine falcons occasionally get lucky. The crowd cheers, however, when the predators are thwarted. Meanwhile unruly oblivious children scream and roll down the grassy hill. [more]

All Weekend

Muddy Boot Festival 2011

The 6th annual Muddy Boot Festival, a three-day grassroots event that promotes sustainable living, takes place Friday through Sunday, September 9 through 11, 2011 at St. Philip Neri Catholic Church (2408 SE 16th).

Health + Happiness: Sustaining Vibrant Communities is the theme of this year’s festival, which features live music, food vendors, workshops, panel discussions, activities for the kids, and an outdoor local vendor and exhibitor market. [more]

Saturday

Under the Autumn Moon 2011

This annual Portland multi-cultural festival is timed to coincide with the traditional Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival.

The Portland version features Dragon Dancers, lanterns, moon cakes, and food and games. Entertainment (pdf) includes Monmouth Taiko, Portland Chinese Children Choir, Auco Dance Troupe, and more. And you won’t want to miss the ping pong tournament! [more]

Belmont Street Fair

The 15th Annual Belmont Street Fair takes place Saturday, September 10, 2011 from noon until 8pm. The fair extends from 20th to 48th on Southeast Belmont, with car free blocks from 33rd to 37th.

This is one of my favorite Portland street fairs. Car free streets make it more pleasant than the Hawthorne Street Fair. Most of the fair activities take place within a few car free blocks between SE 34th and 37th, so it’s easy to take in the whole thing. And the Belmont Street Fair is not nearly as crowded as the Mississippi Street Fair. [more]

Widmer Brothers Oktoberfest

The 7th annual Widmer Brothers Oktoberfest takes place Saturday, September 10, 2011 from 3pm until 11:30pm at the brewery (929 N. Russell Street) – take the Yellow line MAX!

Widmer’s beers, brats, chicken schnitzel wraps, sauerkraut, and pretzels are available, but that’s where the similarities to most Oktoberfests ends.

Bands playing throughout the day include the Dr. Theopolis, The Quick & Easy Boys, Empty Space Orchestra, Hey Marseilles, and Colin Lake & Wellbottom – not a whole lot of oom-pah, but plenty of good beer! [more]

KBOO Book and Record Sale

The annual KBOO Book and Record Sale takes place Saturday, September 10, 2011 at the Eagle’s Lode (SE 50th & Hawthorne) from 2pm to 9pm.

Some of KBOO’s finest DJs will be on hand spinning some of the great records we have available. [more]

And for even more weekend events and activities, check out the Dave Knows Calendar, and visit Around the Sun, Blogging Portland on the Cheap, PDX Pipeline, and Oregon Events at OregonLive.com.

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