I wish you and yours a fabulous Festivus.
Today, Friday December 23rd 2011, is Festivus, the Holiday for the Rest of Us. Gather around the Festivus Pole, air your grievances, and be sure to limber up before the feats of strength – you don’t want to pull a muscle.
Dave Knows has made a charitable donation in your name to The Human Fund.
Monday, December 5, 2011 marks the 78th anniversary of Repeal Day, the day in 1933 when three quarters of the states ratified the 21st Amendment to the Constitution and thus repealed the federal prohibition on the sale, manufacture, and consumption of alcoholic beverages!
Toast to our brewers, vintners, distillers, distributors, publicans, bartenders, waitrons, and friends on this anniversary. Head to to your local drinking establishment or throw a cocktail party!
Some local area bars are getting into the spirit of the occasion:
Teardrop Lounge (1015 NW Everett) is throwing their annual Repeal Day 2011 bash. Period dress encouraged – and you must know the password: “I’m here to see a man about a horse.”
Saraveza (1004 N Killingsworth) is celebrating with a special presentation of the film Prohibition’s “A Nation of Scofflaws” – in the Bad Habit room. Doors open at 5pm, film begins at 6pm. No cover!
At all Rogue pub locations Repeal Day means Double Taster Day.
And Imbibe Unfiltered has a five drink recipes suggestions to toast your right to imbibe.
For more information about my favorite secular holiday, visit RepealDay.org, a site created by local bartending and mixology blogger Jeffrey Mogenthaler, one of the first individuals to propose treating the anniversary as a holiday.
December 4 marks the anniversary of Frank Zappa‘s death, and the beginning of the Festival of Zappadan. Zappadan ends on Frank Zappa’s birthday, December 21st.
Visit The Aristocrats and Fried Green al-Qaedas, both of which traditionally do some Zappa-blogging throughout the festival. And follow @Zappadan on Twitter. iVoryTowerz is sadly, now defunct, but in the archives you’ll find an excellent history of the festival: Zappadan 2008.
The festival is a creation of Zappa fans in the blogosphere, and runs virtually from Dec. 4 (the date of FZ’s death) until Dec. 21 (the date of FZ’s birth). So you see, the end of Zappadan is neigh. Best to dig through that vinyl collection for Hot Rats or Weasels Ripped My Flesh, and quickly.
Frank Zappa resources to get you started:
As tradition dictates, I present to you this Portland moment of Zappa:
The holiday bazaars are already upon us, plus two Timbers Army events, a film fest, World Toilet Day, and this weekend’s featured event: D.B. Cooper Night!
All Weekend
Northwest Filmmakers’ Festival 2011
The 38th annual Northwest Filmmakers’ Festival kicks off Friday, November 11, 2011 with an opening night party at the Portland Art Museum’s Fields Ballroom (1119 SW Park). The film screenings, panels, and parties continue through November 20 at numerous venues. This is the Northwest Film Center‘s 40th anniversary season. [more]
Friday
Celebrate the 25th anniversary of the creation of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area at the Gorge Birthday Bash this Friday, November 18, 2011 at the Leftbank Annex (101 North Weidler).
“The Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area encompasses 292,500 acres, the entire length of the Columbia River Gorge.” [more]
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, November 18, 2011, is no exception – the Offbeat! This Friday! FREE! Fun! Fiercely Awesome Lineup! Woo! Get Some! [more]
Saturday
World Toilet Day 2011, an annual celebration of the importance of sanitation to raise global awareness of the struggle 2.6 billion face every day without access to proper, clean sanitation, takes place on Saturday, November 19. Activities are planned throughout the world. [more]
SCRAP Holiday Bazaar & Port City Bizarre Bazaar
Portland’s non-profit organized creative reuse center, SCRAP (2915 NE MLK Jr. Blvd.), is hosting their annual Holiday Bazaar this Saturday, November 19, 2011 from 10am to 6pm.
“Give your loved ones SCRAPpy gifts this holiday season! For one day only, we will host 18+ local artisans selling their wares made from a minimum of 75% reused materials.” [more]
The 31st annual Wild Arts Festival, presented by and benefiting the Audubon Society of Portland, takes place this Saturday and Sunday, November 19 and 20, 2011 at Montgomery Park (2701 NW Vaughn).
The Wild Arts Festival celebrates nature in the work of regionally and nationally-known artists and writers . . .[more]
The first ever MLS post-season Timbers Army 3rd Saturday takes place November 19, 2011.
“Holy schnikees! It’s the off season! That means it is time for Third Saturday (and catz and raves and speculating and then more catz) and all of it’s drunken hijinks! . . .” [more]
Sunday
Sunday Lecture: Matt Love on the Yaquina Bay Bridge
The Oregon Historical Society (1200 SW Park Avenue) presents a Sunday Lecture by Matt Love on November 20, 2011 at 2pm. He will be discussing his new book, Love and the Green Lady: Meditations on the Yaquina Bay Bridge: Oregon’s Crown Jewel of Socialism. [more]
Timbers Army 2011 MLS Cup Final Viewing
Join the Timbers Army and 107ist on Sunday, November 20, 2011 for a special screening of the MLS Cup Final at the Mission Theater (1624 SW Glisan).
Watch the Cup Final matchup between the LA Galaxy and the Houston Dynamo live, and enjoy the company of your fellow Timbers supporters. An assortment of Timbers Army merchandise will available to buy as well. [more]
Featured Event!
Kick Ass Oregon History Presents: DB Cooper Night
Join the geeked-out history folks of Kick Ass Oregon History for D.B. Cooper Night at Mississippi Studios (3939 N. Mississippi) on Sunday, November 20, 2011. The edifying fun, co-sponsored by Lost Oregon, Jennifer Wells Design Glass Studio, and Dave Knows Portland [that’s me!] begins at 7:30pm!
“DB Cooper Nite will (honor? celebrate? recognise? condemn?) note the 40th anniversary of the only unsolved skyjacking in United States Aviation History.” [more]
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.
2012 World Toilet Day info here!
World Toilet Day 2011, an annual celebration of the importance of sanitation to raise global awareness of the struggle 2.6 billion face every day without access to proper, clean sanitation, takes place on Saturday, November 19. Activities are planned throughout the world.
Last year’s celebration in Portland included the Portland Loo unveiling, and though this year’s celebration is perhaps less exciting, it is no less important. Public Hygiene Lets Us Stay Human (PHLUSH), Portland, Oregon’s public restroom advocates, recognizing that Portland’s location in the Cascadia Subduction Zone puts us in considerable risk of a devastating earthquake in our lifetime, has launched a fall emergency preparedness campaign in conjunction with World Toilet Day:
Through information, public workshops and exhibits, Portlanders will reflect on needs and build simple urine separation bucket toilets. Most Americans’ see urine and feces as “waste” rather than as nutrient-rich resources vital to the planet. Disaster preparedness is an appropriate context for putting people at ease with talking about the issues; simple emergency toilets are both important in themselves and an intermediate step toward ecological sanitation and nutrient-cycling.
PHLUSH is working with the Old Town Chinatown Neighborhood Association, Neighbors West Northwest, the Collaborative Design Studio in Emergency Sanitation at the Pacific Northwest College of Art. The Sustainable Sanitation Alliance provides valuable technical resources. The Christchurch Twin No-Mix Emergency Toilet was developed in collaboration with the Compost Loo Team of the New Zealand Permaculture Emergency Response Network Our campaign publicity partner is World Toilet Day.
Visit the World Toilet Day website for more information on the global effort, and visit PHLUSH.org for more information on World Toilet Day , and ongoing, sanitation advocacy.
