Dave Knows Portland

Kick Ass Oregon History Vol 4 #3: Mad Max

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Don’t forget, this Tuesday, March 20, 2012 – you won’t want to miss the Humanity On Wheels: An Evening of Mass Transit Tales!, brought to you by Kick Ass Oregon History and TriMet Diaries!

KICK ASS OREGON HISTORY VOL 4 #3: MAD MAXKick Ass Oregon History is the latest series of podcasts from the enthusiastic historians behind ORHistory.com.

And volume 4 #3 just dropped: Mad Max: Portland’s Death Trolley.

In which we learn that a ticket to ride is a ticket to doom.

The brains behind this Kick Ass project are the crack hustlers of Oregon History Doug Kenck-Crispin and Andy Lindberg. Doug is a graduate student studying Public History and Pacific Northwest History at PSU, and Andy, though a Portland native, is currently working as an actor in New York City. Doug does most of the research and writing for the podcasts with input from Andy, who voices the broadcasts with a thespian’s flair.

With the Kick Ass Oregon History podcast they plan to cover just the good stuff: Sex, Drugs, Rock and Roll and Earth Shattering, Devastating Destruction.

Ultimately, our goal is to take Oregon History out of the hallowed halls of the academy, get folks excited and enthused about this shared history, and get them out into the state, digging it and experiencing it. Get them to embrace it, and get their boots muddy in the process. It’s all OUR History; nobody owns it.

Visit ORHistory.com and stay tuned to @Oregon_History on Twitter for further details on specific episodes and the series. Catch up on missed episodes at the Kick Ass Oregon History archives.

St. Unicorn’s Day 2012

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Unicorned BeefHappy St. Unicorn’s Day!

On St. Unicorn’s Day, we drink to remember, instead of our usual reason, drinking to forget.

Those wise words were penned by unicorn scholar Mike Vogel, whose research has also uncovered archeological bones and horns in dirt type of evidence which supports the theory that Portland, Oregon was built upon an ancient unicorn burial ground. Contemporary observations corroborate that there is definitely more to this legend than naysayers will admit. Fortunately the unicorn word continues to spread.

In addition to consuming copious libations, it is traditional to feast on [uni]corned beef and boiled cabbage and root vegetables on this day (if some of this sounds familiar, it is because, like so many religious holidays, St. Patrick’s Day is actually based on an old pagan celebration: St. Unicorn’s Day).

And in 2012 St. Unicorn’s Day is particularly auspicious, as we celebrate it on the same day as National Corndog Day. After [uni]corned beef, I can’t think of any foodstuff more appropriate for celebrating our unicorn forefathers.

So, to all Portlanders everywhere, I wish you a fantastic St. Unicorns Day – and National Corndog Day!

The Art and Science of Shoemaking (March 16 & 17, 2012)

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ExIT ShoesJoin shoemaker Jeff Mandel this Friday or Saturday, March 16 or 17, 2012 from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. each day, for a free lecture on The Art and Science of Shoemaking at Halo Shoes (938 NW Everett).

Come learn about the interdisciplinary pursuit that is making shoes by hand. I will show how measurements lead to a last which gives rise to a pattern that can be made into a shoe. Along the way we’ll visit the diverse world of of shoemaking including design, drawing, sewing, sculpture, biology, chemistry, physics and math.

Drop in or stay for the whole presentation. Jeff runs ExIT Shoes, a one man custom handmade shoe shop in Portland, Oregon.

Think & Drink: Future of Social Movements (14-March-2012)

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Oregon HumanitiesOregon Humanities‘ Think & Drink, a happy-hour series that sparks provocative conversations about big ideas, presents Future of Social Movements and Citizen Power this Wednesday, March 14, 2012 at the Mission Theater (1624 NW Glisan).

The 2012 Think & Drink series explores how technology is shaping the future by looking at social movements, food, artificial intelligence, and robotic warfare. Richard Read, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, covers economics and international affairs for The Oregonian and will serve as moderator for the series.

Guests are David S. Meyer, Professor of Sociology, Political Science, and Planning, Policy, & Design at UC Irvine, and author of The Politics of Protest: Social Movements in America; and Bob Liebman, Professor of Sociology at Portland State University, with research interests in social change, social movements, religion, and identity.

All of the Think and Drink events will take place at the Mission Theater this year. Doors open at 5 p.m., and the program runs from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Minors are allowed when accompanied by an adult. Admission is free.

Stumptown Stores: Hindu and Chinese Mythology (6-March-2012)

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Stumptown Stores: Hindu and Chinese MythologyStumptown 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, March 6, 2012 is Hindu and Chinese Mythology:

Kate Bruner will be speaking on various Asian mythologies, including Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist, Shinto, and other stories and beliefs. She will discuss, among other ideas, the Hindu Trimurta, what an omphalos is, what orientation really means, where we get the word “thug”, what Indiana Jones has to do with the death goddess Kali, the differences between Eastern and Western dragons, goddess worship in India, China, and Japan, why the Chinese have a woman in the moon and who she is and how she got there, Chinese alchemy, ancient beliefs about jade, the Chinese kitchen god, the Feast of Hungry Ghosts, avatars, and the Indus Valley civilizations of Harrapa and Mohenjo Jara (sic).

Doors open at 5pm for this free event (21 and over only). Presentation begins at 7:30pm.