Dave Knows Portland

Stumptown Stories: Oregon’s Top Five Dirtiest Elections

by Leave a Comment

Five Dirtiest ElectionsThe Stumptown Stories: Free Tuesday Lecture Series, geared to anyone who is curious about the world and community in which we live and loves to learn new things, takes place most Tuesdays at Jack London bar (basement of the Rialto, SW 4th and Alder). Free to get in, but must be 21 or over – there’s a full bar!

This Tuesday, September 11, 2012 Finn John, author of the Offbeat Oregon column and recently published book, Wicked Portland: The Wild and Lusty Underworld of a Frontier Seaport Town, presents Oregon’s Top Five Dirtiest Elections: We’ve been through some crappy times before.

Join Finn J.D. John as he discusses the dirty politics of 1890s Oregon.

Including a “hold-up session” – a 40 day drunken party Jonathan Bourne threw to stop Senator Mitchell from being sent back to Washington.

Why would anybody want to prevent Senator Mitchell from going back to Washington? Find out more on Tuesday, September 11th.

The presentation begins at 7:30 p.m. Always free. Always fascinating.

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

by Leave a Comment

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.

Stumptown Stories: Mythological Creatures & Fantastic Biology (28-August-2012)

by Leave a Comment

Stumptown Stories, an event geared to everyone who loves this city we live in, takes place most Tuesdays at Jack London bar (basement of the Rialto, SW 4th and Alder). Free to get in, but must be 21 or over – there’s a full bar!

The topic of the installment this Tuesday, August 28, 2012 is Mythological Creatures & Fantastic Biology, presented by mythology expert, Dr. Kate Bruner.

She’ll be covering a lot of territory at this lecture, and we’re very curious to learn!

* Composites–centaurs, sirens and their reverse-Darwinian evolution.

* Fauns and satyrs, green men, Robin Hood, Pan and
nature, and Panic and the Devil

* Myths that are actually real–manticores, basilisks, vegetable lambs, cameleopards; house spirits

* Scary Animals–black dogs, cats of all colors, phookas, headless horses, death coaches, and gabriel hounds.

And lots, lots more.

Doors open around 7 p.m. for this free event (21 and over only). Presentation begins at 7:30 p.m.

OMSI After Dark: “Chic Geeks: Fashion, Music, and the Science of Style” (29-August-2012)

by Leave a Comment

OMSI After DarkChic Geeks: Fashion, Music, and the Science of Style is the theme OMSI After Dark on Wednesday, August 28, 2012.

PDX-come and flaunt your thick-framed glasses and peg-legged little hipster jeans! See what curious forms a sub woofer can coax from Oobleck, get a Henna tattoo, and make a duct tape wallet. Check out the future of fashion with local designers and go old-school with music on the Gameboy with chiptunes.

The OMSI AFter Dark Summer Concert Series continues as well, featuring performances by Lost Lander and Blue Skies for Black Heart.

Visit the OMSI Cafe for special menu items from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Four bars throughout the museum feature beer and wine and cocktails.

Featured science demonstrations and activities include Gimme Distortion!, What’s the Frequency?, and Chladni Plate. Coffee, spirits, chocolate, and beer vendors will be on hand.

Hours are 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. Admission is $15 for non-members, $9 for members. You can buy tickets online, or at the door (no reservations necessary). 21 and over only!

Shanghaied in Portland!! Or: The Shanghai Tunnels Are Bullshit! (21-August-2012)

by Leave a Comment

Shanghaied in PortlandThe Stumptown Stories series, geared to everyone who loves this city we live in, takes place most Tuesdays at Jack London bar (basement of the Rialto, SW 4th and Alder). Free to get in, but must be 21 or over – there’s a full bar!

This Tuesday night, August 21, 2012, Kick Ass Oregon History‘s inimitable resident historian, Doug Kenck-Crispin, will be debunking a banal Portland chestnut: Shanghaied in Portland!! (or: The Shanghai Tunnels Are Bullshit!).

As you have come to expect from this site, Kick Ass Oregon History delivers you the straight shit. In addition, we like to cover the exciting stories of Oregon’s past. So it was with a shit-ton of anticipation and frankly, excitement, that we began the researching and writing process to thoroughly cover our next topic… “Shanghaied in Portland!!” Which was a thing. And of course, we looked into these “Shanghai Tunnels…” which I really don’t think were a thing.

Prep yourself for Tuesday with the straight shit, Kick Ass Oregon History podcasts:

Presentation begins at 7:30 p.m.