Archives for November 2011

Where to Watch the Grey Cup in Portland (2011)

November 22, 2011 by Dave Knows Leave a Comment

The 99th Grey Cup, the Canadian Football League‘s championship game, takes place this Sunday, November 27, 2011.

This year BC Place Stadium will host the game. Unfortunately the half time entertainment is provide by Nickelback. The home-town BC Lions will be facing the Winnepeg Blue Bombers!

Canadian Football and American Football share a pedigree, and mostly follow the same rules. Some of the difference:

The field in Canadian football is 110 yards long and 65 yards wide, not the 100 yards by 53⅓ yards used in American football.
Canadian football plays 3 downs, not 4.
In Canadian football all offensive backfield players, except the quarterback, can be in motion when the ball is snapped.

There are other differences too, but these are some of the most obvious to American football fans. As a casual observer (I grew up watching American football but have only watched maybe half a dozen Canadian football games in my entire life) my take is that the Canadian football game is faster paced and higher scoring and there is more passing of the ball and less running. Compared to the NFL, CFL football players are smaller and faster. I don’t care much for gridiron football, but if I had to choose between NFL and CFL I’d go Canadian every time.

Where to watch in Portland

Again this year the Canada America Society of Oregon has organized a viewing of the game at Macadam’s Bar & Grill (5833 SW Macadam Ave). Meet at 3pm, kickoff is at 3:30pm. Poutine may make a special appearance on the menu!

Please leave a comment below if you know of other spots the catch the game in Portland!

Portland Art Museum Free Day (25-November-2011)

November 22, 2011 by Dave Knows Leave a Comment

Though the Portland Art Museum (1219 SW Park) is closed on Thanksgiving Day, enjoy free admission on Friday, November 25, 2011 from 5pm until 8pm.

The museum offers free admission ever fourth Friday (5pm-8pm) of the month, so if you can’t make it this week, mark December 23, 2011 on your calendar!

Regular adult admission is $12 ($9 for seniors 55 and up and college students, 18 and up, with ID; free admission for children up to 17).

Tannenbaum Madness 2011

November 21, 2011 by Dave Knows Leave a Comment

Alberta Main Street‘s Tannenbaum Madness is a walking window tour of whimsical, wacky and artistic trees.

Tannenbaum Madness is an event, inviting families and art lovers to bundle up and take a stroll up Alberta Street this holiday season. Businesses up and down NE Alberta Street create a walking tour of whimsical, artistic, and unique holiday trees on display it in their front windows.

Thirty business between NE 13th and 31st Avenues are participating in the celebration through January 1, 2012. Download the official walking map (pdf) to guide your holiday stroll.

And don’t miss opening night on Friday, November 25, 2011, from 4pm to 8pm. The street will be hopping with carolers, festive lights, gallery openings, restaurants serving some of the best food in town, and a little of the usual madness.

In conjunction with Tannenbaum Madness many retail locations on Alberta Street will be open until 8PM on Fridays in December. Alberta Main Street invites you to join the fun and consider walking, biking or taking public transportation to Alberta Street.

Clear Creek Distillery Thanksgiving Weekend Open House (November 25-26, 2011)

November 21, 2011 by Dave Knows Leave a Comment

Portland artisan spirits pioneer, Clear Creek Distillery (2389 NW Wilson), will be hosting their annual Thanksgiving Weekend Open House this Friday and Saturday, November 25 and 26, 2011.

We will be hosting guests in our production area, which is usually closed to the public, explaining our production process and providing tastings. Visitors can see the stills, fermentation tanks, etc., and see what we are currently making, as well as talk with the people who actually make our spirits.

Clear Creek’s Williams Bear Brandy and Apple eaux de vie are two of my favorite spirits. This year, Heather and I hope to make it to the open house!

This is your only chance of the year to take a tour. No reservations are required. Open house is from 9am to 5pm each day.

November 21, 1970: Bomb Rips through Portland City Hall

November 21, 2011 by Dave Knows 2 Comments

In the early morning hours on Saturday, November 21, 1970 a powerful explosion ripped through the east entrance of Portland’s City Hall (The Sunday Oregonian, 22 November 1970).

The blast, which went off shortly after 3am Saturday on the SW 4th Avenue side of the 75-year-old structure caused heavy damage to the building, destroyed a replica of the Liberty Bell, and shattered windows in several other buildings in the vicinity. . .

The City Hall custodian, 62-year old Leslie Graham, of 733 NE Couch St., said he was just off the central corridor of the first floor, about 50 feet from the blast, when it occurred.

“I couldn’t figure out what had happened at first,” he said afterward. Dust and smoke were so heavy he could not see anything, Graham said. “So I went up to the second floor, and it was just as bad up there.”

In the second-floor council chamber, directly over the blast, Mayor Schrunk’s heavy, wooden desk was upended and desks of the four city councilmen were jarred several feet from their original spots. Wind whistled through gaping windows and twisted venetian blinds.

No group or individual ever claimed responsibility for the Liberty Bell bombing, and the culprits were never identified.

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