Dave Knows Portland

One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest – 40th Anniversary Screening (3 September 2015)

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One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

The Portland Film Festival presents One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest – 40th Anniversary Screening Thursday, 3 September 2015, at the Clinton Street Theater (2522 SE Clinton).

Celebrate the 40th Film Anniversary of the Oregon classic, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” by Oregon author Ken Kesey with a special talk by resident Historian Doug Kenck-Crispin—he will introduce the film with some happy, huggy stories about the Oregon State Hospital.

The films producer gave us permission to screen a special edition of the film classic. Don’t miss this opportunity to see it on the big screen!

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a 1975 American drama film directed by Miloš Forman, based on the 1962 novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey, and starring Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, and Will Sampson. The supporting cast features William Redfield, Brad Dourif, Danny DeVito, Christopher Lloyd, and Scatman Crothers.

The film was the second to win all five major Academy Awards (Best Picture, Actor in Lead Role, Actress in Lead Role, Director, and Screenplay) following It Happened One Night in 1934, an accomplishment not repeated until 1991 by The Silence of the Lambs.

Now considered to be one of the greatest films ever made, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is No. 33 on the American Film Institute’s 100 Years… 100 Movies list. In 1993, it was deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

Presentation starts at 8 PM. Tickets start at only $10 and can be bought in advance.

The Portland Film Festival: The Storytellers’ Festival & Conference runs September 1 through 7. Portland Film Festival is a non-profit dedicated to nurturing filmmakers and audiences, and to celebrating the power of a good story. The focus of the annual festival is on the people, ideas, technology, skills and artistry behind filmmaking and provides both entertaining and educational opportunities to the public.

History Pub: A History of the Bagdad Theater: Hawthorne’s ‘Oasis of Entertainment’ (16 August 2015)

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Almost Real Camel for the BagDad Theater (Sunday Oregonian, 2 January 1927)

McMenamins Historian Tim Hills presents A History of the Bagdad Theater: Hawthorne’s Oasis of Entertainment on Sunday, 16 August 2015 at the Bagdad Theater (3702 SE Hawthorne) at 11 AM until noon.

From “Her Big Night” on January 14, 1927, to “Fantastic Four” that’s playing tonight, the Bagdad Theater has endeared itself to generations of Portlanders, and endured the colossal volatility of the movie industry over the past 88 years.

Few expenses were spared and a church and cider mill were sacrificed to create this Eastside movie palace, dubbed an “Oasis of Entertainment.” Capitalized by the deep pockets of Universal Studios, the Bagdad was called “a triumph of artistry and craftsmanship.” In 1927, it stood as the city’s largest theater outside of downtown.

This event is part of the Hawthorne Street Fair, which will be happening outside the theater all day.

This History Pub is all ages and free. Doors open at 10:30 AM.

Stumptown Stories Presents: Burnside Vice (11 August 2015)

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Stumptown Stories: Burnside Vide

Join Kick Ass Oregon History’s Resident Historian Doug Kenck-Crispin and JB Fisher, co-author of Portland on the Take as they present the next edition of Stumptown Stories Presents: Burnside Vice – 7 PM on Tuesday, August 11, 2015 at Jack London bar (basement of the Rialto, SW 4th and Alder).

JB Fisher will take you on a virtual walking tour of Burnside’s vice-ridden past in the 1940s and 50s. He’ll tell you about the card rooms and taverns, the whorehouses, the bad hotels, and he’ll throw in some juicy stories about the crooked dealings that went down in the district back in the day.

Doug Kenck-Crispin has been working on the public art project in the new Innovative Housing project at the old Erickson’s Saloon building. With the help of others, he has archived more photos (many from private collections) of this storied establishment than have been gathered in at least a generation. He’ll show them ALL to you – many never before publicly presented – as well as photos of the project, and a few “new” stories that he was able to drag up.

Stumptown Stories, batshit crazy stories from the murkiest, weirdest, and nuttiest corners of Portland history, takes place the second Tuesday of every month at Jack London bar (basement of the Rialto, SW 4th and Alder).

Admission is usually (including this month) free. Doors open at 7 PM, 21 an over only.

Building the Panama Canal – OMSI Science Pub (3 August 2015)

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OMSI Science PubOMSI presents Building the Panama Canal as part of the Science Pub Portland series, on Monday, 3 August 2015 at the Hollywood Theatre (4122 NE Sandy Blvd).

During the early 20th century strategic control of the oceans was essential to all of the great industrial powers of the world. In 1904 President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt would commit the brains of American engineering and the brawn of America’s industrial machine to build a canal of unprecedented scope and challenge.

Panama Canal’s successful construction was the result of the convergence of extraordinary men, machines, and methods. In the decades preceding Panama Canal’s construction, tremendous advancements were realized in every discipline of engineering. In the realm of heavy civil construction, these collective engineering advancements provided the construction technology that made Panama Canal possible. This presentation highlights how the right men, the right machines, and the right methods all came together in 1904 to build a project of unprecedented scope and challenges.

Presenter Raymond “Paul” Giroux is a construction engineer and civil engineering historian.

The Hollywood Theatre Science Pub takes place monthly and is open to all ages. There’s a $5 suggested cover charge.

Know Your City – New Projects in 2016

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Updated: They did it!

Know Your CityKnow Your City does great things – they lead fascinating walking tours, create thought-provoking and informative publications, and organize creative placemaking projects. All of their programs are built around scholarship and art, and emphasize social justice.

And they have three days left on their kickstarter campaign, Know Your City: Sustain our new projects into 2016! Give them a few dollars (check out the most extensive selection of kickstarter donor rewards I have ever seen!), and consider a membership too!