Dave Knows Portland

Archives for September 2012

OMSI Science Pub: How to Succeed with Physics…or at Least Look Great Trying (10-September-2012)

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Omsi Science PubHow to Succeed with Physics…or at Least Look Great Trying is the topic of the latest OMSI Science Pub on Monday, September 10, 2012 at the Bagdad Theater (3702 SE Hawthorne):

Are you an aspiring runway model or secret agent? Would you like to have the elegance and confidence of one? If so, you must become familiar with basic physics concepts. Christine McKinley will show you how a knowledge of physics is crucial in everyday situations like first dates, stage dives, and arson.

Maybe you didn’t pay attention to physics in high school because you didn’t think the subject was relevant to your life goals, but there is no escaping gravity. Whether you want to be a stunt woman, a rock drummer, or a martini critic, being on friendly terms with physics will help you get there in style. You can’t change the laws of physics and you can’t escape them. So, why not put them to work for you? Apply your knowledge of momentum, atomic bonding, and thermodynamics to ramp up the glamour factor in your life. Come and find out how.

The presenter, Christine McKinley, is a mechanical engineer, musician (formerly of Portland’s Dirty Martini), and co-host of History Channel’s Brad Meltzer’s Decoded.

This event begins at 7 p.m. but arrive early to secure your beer, grub, and a seat! There’s a $5.00 suggested donation/cover charge. Minors with adults are welcome, otherwise this event is 21 and over.

“One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest” 50th Anniversary Party (16-September-2012)

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One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Join the Kick Ass Oregon History crew and the fine folks from Nestucca Spit Press on Sunday, September 16, 2012 as they present the “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” 50th Anniversary Party at Mississippi Studios (3939 N. Mississippi) – the celebration begins at 7:30 p.m.

In 1960 or so, Ken Kesey was volunteering to take hallucinogenic, psycho-active drugs while working the night shift at Menlo Park Veterans Hospital. He would talk to the mentally ill, and drop acid, and write. Kesey began to play with themes of sanity and insanity, society and the fringes, The Combine and non-conformity. He set his novel in the Oregon State Hospital in Salem, and the narrator was a Native American from Celilo, who’s life was irreversibly changed with the damming of the Columbia River at The Dalles.

Fifty years ago this novel was published. Oregon is an inseparable component of this selection. So on the eve of what would have been Ken Kesey’s 77th Birthday, we are going to have one big fuckin’ party!

The celebration includes readings from the book, discussions with Matt Love and Doug Kenck-Crispin, live music by the 1939 Ensemble, a trivia contest (with lots of prizes – grand prize is a night stay in the Kesey room at the Sylvia Beach Hotel!), AND to finish off the evening, after everyone has had a share of adult beverages, Matt Love will lead us in a classroom debate worthy of your senior year American Lit class!

Tickets are a mere $8 at the door, and $6 in advance. Find more details about this event, the novel and film, and Oregon’s sordid history when it comes to taking care of the mentally ill at OrHistory.com and at the Nestucca Spit Press website.

OE History Night: The Martha Washington Hotel & The Women Who Built Her (10-September-2012)

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History NightThe Oregon Encyclopedia, in conjunction with McMenamins and the Northwest Examiner, presents The Martha Washington Hotel & The Women Who Built Her: A History of the Portland Women’s Union, a screening of a documentary film and discussion by filmmakers Dana Plautz and Miles Sprietsma, on Monday, May 7, 2012 at the Mission Theater (1624 NW Glisan).

In 1887, 100 women, all volunteers, started the first women’s boarding house in Portland, with the intent of providing safe housing and cultural benefits for young women coming to the Rose City to work. Through a series of video interviews of historians, residents of “The Martha Washington,” housing experts, and past presidents of the organization, the film traces the Portland Women’s Union and how it raised the monies, managed and actually built the hotel.

Admission is free to this, and all the OE History Night events. Children are welcome if accompanied by a parent or guardian. Doors open at 6 p.m., show starts at 7 p.m.

Kicking + Screening Soccer Film Festival and K+S Word (September 12-14, 2012)

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K+S Word 2012The Kicking + Screening Soccer Film Festival, an annual series of events that bring together soccer and film enthusiasts to celebrate the beautiful game, touches down in four cities this year: Liverpool, New York City, London, and Portland, Oregon.

K+S Portland 2012 is the festival’s first time in the Pacific Northwest, but festival organizers anticipate it may become an annual Portland event – naturally.

On Thursday and Friday films, including Argentina Futbol Club, Loucos de Futebol Gringos at the Gate, A Most Improbable Life, and more will be screened at Urban Studios (935 NW Davis St.) – check out the K+S website for more details including ticket options and other event details.

K + S Word literary event

On Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. Bazi Bierbrasserie (1522 SE 32nd Ave) hosts Kicking + Screening Word, a special literary event.

“Our goal at Kicking + Screening is to facilitate the telling of great soccer stories, no matter the medium,” said Rachel Markus, Kicking + Screening co-founder. “We couldn’t think of a better way to kick off K+S’s first festival in Portland than with K+S Word.”

The theme of the night is Rivals/Derby day, in honor of the Cascadia rival match between Portland and Seattle on Saturday, September 15. 5 Minutes to Kickoff hosts Bob “Roberto” Kellett and Steven “Nevets” Lenhart will emcee, readers include NBC Sports’ Noah Davis, film critic Shawn Levy, author Zach Dundas, Bazi Barbrasserie owner Hilda Stevens, and University of Portland professor Andrew Guest.

Admission to K+S Word is free, but organizers ask you to please consider a $5.00 donation to Operation Pitch Invasion, or bring a pair of new or slightly used soccer cleats to donate. A raffle will also take place to benefit OPI (and Dave Knows Portland has donated one of the prizes!).