Archives for November 2014

Oregon History 101: Immigration and Ethnicity (1 December 2014)

November 25, 2014 by Dave 1 Comment

Oregon History 101: “Looks Like a Good Beginning”: Immigration, Ethnicity, and Exclusion in Oregon, 1850-1910. will be presented by Dr. Jacqueline Peterson-Loomis at the Kennedy School (5736 NE 33rd Ave) on 1 December 2014 at 7 PM.

Oregon History 101 is a nine-month public history program series designed to give Oregonians a basic understanding of the state’s significant people, places, and events. Each month, historians will present a chapter of Oregon History, beginning with the earliest peoples and ending with the turn of the twenty-first century. The series will emphasize Oregon’s connection to historical themes in American History, including Native history, early exploration, western expansion, race, gender, and social justice, and the post-industrial economy.

The 101 series was designed by Dr. Carl Abbott and Dr. William Lang. Each presentation features images from the Oregon Historical Society archives and will be filmed and made available online (watch September’s presentation on Native Life and Pre-Contact here). The Oregon Encyclopedia and Oregon History Project are also preparing research guides and other digitized material for the project.

Presenter Dr. Jacqueline Peterson-Loomis is Emeritus Professor of History, Washington State University. This all ages event is free and open to the public.

Clear Creek Distillery Open House (22 November 2014)

November 20, 2014 by Dave Leave a Comment

Clear Creek Distillery (2389 NW Wilson), a Portland artisan spirits pioneer, is hosting an Open House on Saturday, 22 November 2014.

Although we do not offer tours of the distillery, we do occasionally host an Open House, during which we open the production area to visitors. The distillery staff pours samples next to the stills and gives tours throughout the day. Meet the people who transform fruit into brandies, see where we do it, and sample our wares.

Though bourbon is my spirit animal, Clear Creek’s Williams Pear Brandy and Apple eaux de vie are two of my favorite spirits.

This is your rare chance take a tour. No reservations are required. Saturday’s open house runs from 11 AM to 5 PM.

Science Pub Portland: Shaping Light with Folded Surfaces (18 November 2014)

November 18, 2014 by Dave Leave a Comment

Science Pub Portland presents Shaping Light with Folded Surfaces tonight at the Empirical Theater at OMSI (1945 SE Water Ave.).

Light reveals our visual universe. Light shapes how we perceive form and the boundaries of space. Light gives vitality to immutable form, revealing the familiar in new ways. Small adjustments in light intensity, composition and viewpoint can yield big changes in highlights and shadow patterns.

Nancy Cheng experiments with how sheet materials can be cut, creased, or crimped to generate lighting effects that change with the sun’s movement, while blocking unwanted heat and glare. Her Shaping Light project explores how physical prototyping and digital methods can be combined to foreground material properties in design. She seeks the creative possibilities that stem from a material’s stiffness, shininess, translucence or color. She has used digital modeling for geometric variations, kinetic studies and lighting simulation in both open-ended studies and interior installations.

Presenter Nancy Cheng is Portland Program Director and an Associate Professor at the University of Oregon. The program begins at 7 PM, and there’s a $5.00 suggested cover charge.

Revolution: DB Cooper (22 November 2014)

November 13, 2014 by Dave Leave a Comment

For the fourth year in a row, the geeked out history folks at Kick Ass Oregon History give us the straight shit on the NW’s most famous hijacker. Revolution: DB Cooper takes place Saturday, 22 November 2014 at Turn! Turn! Turn! (8 NE Killingsworth).

Revolution: DB Cooper is the exploration of the themes of counter-culture actions found in the DB Cooper caper, explorations conducted beyond a speaking of historical words. Ransom notes cobbled from Playboy magazines, clues in film and grooves from vinyl might be used to help shed light to this 43 year old case. Or might not in the least, either.

The evening includes a presentation by Resident Historian Doug Kenck-Crispin examining the D.B. Cooper case evidence in light of the themes of revolution, beating the system, and even Cascadia.

Film scholar Jeff Jaeckle will lead a hypothetical (and completely unsubstantiated) tour through the movies D.B. Cooper may have watched in 1971 to psych himself up for the heist of the century.

You won’t want to miss the raffle, and some Historical Interpretation. Through Vinyl.

DJs Hern Pong and Tommy Gunn have been digging through crates of crates to reconstruct possible radio sets from 1971. Cascadia Soul Alliance will be putting on their best drinking caps to sonically place you back in a time when AM was king, and 8-tracks were not a website but rather tangible objects. In doing so they are doing their part in attempting to help get inside the head of a person many fellow Cascadians desire to identify with.

Admission is only $6. Turn! Turn! Turn! is a small venue though, so buy tickets in advance if you can. Visit OrHistory.com for all the details.

Made in Oregon: 16mm Industrial Films from the Pacific Northwest (12 November 2014)

November 11, 2014 by Dave Leave a Comment

The Oregon Historical Society presents Made in Oregon, an evening of 16mm films produced by local area businesses on Wednesday 12, November 2014 at the Hollywood Theatre (4122 NE Sandy Blvd).

From the vaults of the Oregon Historical Society comes Primarily from the 1960s through the early 1980s, these films were created as public service announcements, training films and as plain old goofy advertisements. Learn why it might make sense to open an Organ Grinder franchise, how Son of Hibachi makes the party or why Homer Groening thinks we can make the world a better place. Some of the local institutions that will grace the big screen with their weirdness include: The Organ Grinder, The Oregon Zoo, Tektronix, Jantzen Swimwear, Blitz Beer and more.

The screening begins at 7:30 PM, admission is $8. Advance tickets are available.