Archives for January 2012

Weekend Amusements (January 20-22, 2012)

January 19, 2012 by Dave Knows Leave a Comment

Pie Day isn’t officially until Monday, January 23, but several Portland pie purveyors will be celebrating this weekend – visit Make Me Some Pie for a detailed list. For more weekend events, check out the lovingly and carefully curated list below!

All Weekend or Ongoing

Fertile Ground 2012

The Portland Area Theatre Alliance presents Fertile Ground: A City-Wide Festival of New Works, January 19 through 29, 2012.

“This city-wide festival is focused on new work in the Arts. It will feature world premiere projects, staged readings and a myriad of other arts events from the Portland creative community.” [more]

ChocolateFest

The 7th annual Portland ChocolateFest, a benefit for the World Forestry Center takes place this Friday through Sunday, January 20-22, 2012. The fest moves to bigger digs this year – exhibit hall A at the Oregon Convention Center.

“ChocolateFest promises you the opportunity to sample, taste, savor, and delight in some of the finest chocolate from the Northwest and beyond.” [more]

Friday

Offbeat Belly Dance

Every third Friday of the month the Blue Monk (3341 SE Belmont) hosts the Offbeat Belly Dance collective, a club rocking, good timing, genre-defying gang of badass belly dancers.

This Friday, January 20, 2012 is now exception: Offbeat Belly Dance! Inaugural 2012 Edition! Fun! Fabulous! Free Show! [more]

Where to Watch Portlandia In Portland

Updated for 2012: season 2!
Don’t have a TV? Don’t have the Independent Film Channel? Watch Portlandia, if you’re into that sort of thing, at the Portland venues listed below.
Portlandia season 2 airs of Fridays, beginning on January 6, 2012. [more]

Saturday

2012 West Coast Mustache & Beard Championships

The Stumptown Stash & Beard Collective presents the 2012 West Coast Mustache & Beard Championships this Saturday, January 21 at the Crystal Ballroom (1332 W Burnside).

“If you made it out last year, then you saw a packed house, with friendly folks (even those without face fur!) sharing drinks, and showing off some fantastically creative beards and mustaches.” [more]

CellarFest 3 at Bailey’s Taproom

The 3rd annual CellerFest at Bailey’s Taproom (213 SW Broadway) takes place this Saturday, January 21, 2012, from 4pm to 11:30pm.

Some of the high octane, rare beers making an appearance at this year’s fest:

Alameda ’09 Papa Noel’s Moonlight Reserve (Old Ale Aged in Bourbon Barrels – 7.5%)
Alaskan ’09 Baltic Porter (9.8%) . . . [more]

Timbers Army Third Saturday

Come out to the old stomping grounds this Saturday, January 21, 2012 when the Timbers Army Third Saturday returns to the Bitter End (1981 W Burnside).

Yes you get to try to ease off that sense of Timbers withdrawal by supporting one of our greatest game day drinking holes!! [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.

If You Are Afraid to Ride TriMet, You’re An Idiot

January 18, 2012 by Dave Knows 10 Comments

Joseph Rose‘s Friday Hard Drive column hit the nail on the head: MAX beating was ugly, but the reaction by some has been just as bad.

And it also disseminates some telling statistics:

The assault of Karley Buckland was one of just 36 reported on a light-rail system with 41 million boardings last year. By comparison, the Bay Area’s BART system – with turnstile access and its own police force — had 19 last month alone. In 2011, there were about 20 carjackings in Portland and 319 Oregonians died on the road. Does that mean we should discourage our 16-year-olds from learning to drive? Frankly, I worry more about my 17-year-old daughter – who isn’t in a rush to get her license — getting hit in a crosswalk than her being a TriMet crime victim.

Your odds of being assaulted on MAX are about one in a million. About the same as your odds of drowning in your bathtub, or being struck by lightning (no, really).

The crime rate has been declining on TriMet for years (though there was an uptick in 2010 when the Green Line opened), and the rate of violent crime nationwide is at a nearly 40 year low.

Your odds, in any given year, of dying in a workplace accident are 1 in 48,000, so your transit commute may actually be the safest hour(s) of your work day. Transit is also far safer than driving – in 2008 the passenger death rate on buses was .08 per 100 million passenger-miles (as opposed to .55 for automobile passengers).

Humans are bad at risk assessment, so it would be natural if a report in the news triggers a fearful reaction. That doesn’t make you an idiot, it makes you human. But you ARE an idiot if, upon learning how rare the risk is, you still cling to your irrational fear, or perpetuate the myth that riding the MAX is “dangerous.”

Note: Please review the Dave Knows Portland Comments Policy before commenting. Thanks!

National Pie Day (23-January-2012)

January 18, 2012 by Dave Knows Leave a Comment

Monday, January 23 is National Pie Day 2012, so declares the American Pie Council.

As part of our American heritage, this day is a perfect opportunity to pass on the love and enjoyment of pie eating and pie making to future generations. The American Pie Council® is encouraging pie lovers across the nation to throw a pie party in celebration of National Pie Day. Hosting a pie baking – and pie tasting – party for friends or coworkers, or to raise money for a favorite charity, are all delicious ways to celebrate on Monday, Jan. 23, 2012. Why is National Pie Day celebrated on Jan. 23 or 1/23? Because celebrating the wholesome goodness of pie is as easy as 1-2-3.

For Portland-area pie-related events, once again the indispensable Make Me Some Pie has done the footwork: 2012 National Pie Day Rundown for Portland!

What are you doing to celebrate pie day?

CellarFest 3 at Bailey’s Taproom (21-January-2012)

January 17, 2012 by Dave Knows Leave a Comment

The 3rd annual CellerFest at Bailey’s Taproom (213 SW Broadway) takes place this Saturday, January 21, 2012, from 4pm to 11:30pm.

Some of the high octane, rare beers making an appearance at this year’s fest:

Alameda ’09 Papa Noel’s Moonlight Reserve (Old Ale Aged in Bourbon Barrels – 7.5%)
Alaskan ’09 Baltic Porter (9.8%)
Anchor ’08 Old Foghorn (Barleywine 8.8%)
Block 15 ’10 Belgian Bruin (Belgian Brown 8%)
Bear Republic ’10 Ebeweesner (Sour 6.5%)
Cascade ’08 Sang Noir (Sour – 9.5%)
Deschutes ’09 Black Butte XXI (Imperial Porter 11%)
Fish ’09 Monkfish (Tripel – 8.5%)
Golden Valley ’09 Tannen Bomb (Strong Ale – 8%)
Lagunitas ’09 Brown Shugga’ (Strong Ale – 9.8%)
Laughing Dog ’09 Dogfather (Cask conditioned Imperial Stout – 11%)
Laurelwood ’08 Old Reliable (Barleywine – 10%)
Lompoc ’08 Brewdolph (Belgian Dark – 8.8%)
Lucky Lab ’07 Old Yeller (Barleywine 11.4%)
Mad River ’08 John Barleycorn (Barleywine – 9.5%)
North Coast ’09 Old Stock (Old Ale 11.5%)
Oakshire ’08 Angry Little Gnome (Strong Ale – 7%)
Russian River ’08 Salvation (Belgian Brown – 9%)
Sierra Nevada ’09 Celebration (Winter IPA – 6.8%)
Stone ’09 13th Anniversary (Imperial Red – 9.5%)

Admission is free, but you’ll have to buy the souvenir glass and beer samples (4 an 10 ounce pours will be available, no sample trays).

ChocolateFest (January 20-22, 2012)

January 17, 2012 by Dave Knows Leave a Comment

The 7th annual Portland ChocolateFest, a benefit for the World Forestry Center takes place this Friday through Sunday, January 20-22, 2012. The fest moves to bigger digs this year – exhibit hall A at the Oregon Convention Center.

ChocolateFest promises you the opportunity to sample, taste, savor, and delight in some of the finest chocolate from the Northwest and beyond. Ticket price includes admission to ChocolateFest, all the presentations, and free samples that vendors are giving out.

The exhibitors list includes, as always, a who’s who of local wine, dessert, and candy purveyors.

Presentations throughout the weekend include Wine and Chocolate Pairings, Dark Chocolate Fettuccine with Balsamic Cherries and Cocoa Nibs with Jeff Shepherd of Lillie Belle Farms, Quail in Chocolate Sauce, Chocolate Cocktails, the Ecology and Natural History of the Chocolate Tree, and more.

Tickets can be purchased online, or at the door. Saturday and Sunday admission is $10 for adults, $9 for seniors, $8 for students (13-college, student ID required), and $7 for children 5-12. Admission to the special Premiere Night event Friday, 21 and over only, is $20.

Visit the event website or Facebook page for more details.

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