Dave Knows Portland

Portland Weekend Amusements (June 14-16, 2013)

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Welcome, once again, to your weekend itinerary. I can’t think of any better way to spend a weekend than with books, pride, and a good old fashioned pagan festival (with beer garden!).

Friday-Saturday

Rose City Used Book Sale

Rose City Book FairThe 2013 Rose City Used Book Fair takes place Friday and Saturday, June 14 and 15 at The Double Tree Lloyd Center (1000 NE Multnomah). The fair runs from 2 to 8 p.m. Friday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. Admission is only $2, or $1 with a can of food for the Oregon Food Bank.

Sponsored by the Portland Area Used Booksellers’ Association, this unpretentious book fair features thousands of books from independent booksellers from Portland and beyond. Over forty exhibitors will be displaying and selling used books, bargain books, collectible books, prints, and ephemera. Experts will be on hand for appraisals, several seminars are scheduled, and there are door prizes.

Visit the fair website and Facebook page for more details, including a map and list of exhibitors.

Saturday-Sunday

Portland Pride Festival & Parade

Pride NorthwestPortland’s official LGBTQ Pride Parade and Festival, Portland Pride, takes place Saturday, June 15 and Sunday, June 16, 2013.

The Portland Pride Parade takes place Sunday, June 16 downtown – kicking off at 11:00 a.m.

The Waterfront Festival Saturday and Sunday at entertainers, vendors, and more at Tom McCall Waterfront Park along Naito Parkway in Downtown Portland between SW Pine and the Morrison Bridge.

Find more information at the official site and the Facebook page.

Sunday

Portland Scandinavian Midsummer Festival at Oaks Park

Scandinavian Midsummer FestivalThe 85th annual Portland Scandinavian Midsummer Festival takes place Saturday, June 15, 2013 at Oaks Park.

Midsummer in Scandinavia’s northern climate is the biggest coming out celebration of the year and everyone is invited. At Portland’s Scandinavian Midsummer Festival, it is a celebration of fertile fields, warmer and longer days with games, dancing, food, Scandinavian crafts and of course the raising of the Maypole.

Scandinavian roots are not required to celebrate at this summer solstice festival. As all people of Nordic descent know, it’s always a fun, family friendly and important day no matter your personal traditions.

Festivities begin at 11 a.m. Admission is $6 for adults, $3 for kids (6-12), and $15 for families (2 adults, 2 kids). Enjoy food and crafts, entertainment on two stages, and a beer garden. The Maypole will be raised at 1 p.m.

For more weekend events and activities, follow me on twitter, check out the Dave Knows Calendar, and visit Around the Sun, Blogging Portland on the Cheap, PDX Pipeline, and Oregon Events at OregonLive.com.

Die-Oh-Ram-Ahs! The 2nd Annual Kick Ass Oregon History Diorama Contest

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The 2nd annual Kick Ass Oregon History Diorama Contest has begun.

As everybody knows – Dioramas Kick Ass! Those awesome little cardboard boxes detailed with globs of glue and faded construction paper that make history just jump to life! And do you know what kinds of Dioramas Kick the most Ass? Why ones about the History of Oregon, of course!!

Here’s how it works: Create a diorama depicting a Kick Ass Oregon Historical event (check out the podcasts and website for inspiration), take photos of your masterpiece, and email them to oregonhistorian@gmail.com by February 14, 2013 (Oregon’s Birthday!). The winners will be announced at the Stumptown Stories show at the Jack London Bar (in the basement of the Rialto at 529 SW 4th) on Tuesday, February 19, 2013. Winners will bask in fame and glory and gain a whole gang of fourth grades who HATE YOU and constantly sing-song “my diorama was better than yours” each and everytime they see you at Freddies. Oh – AAANNDD win some prizes!!

Entries will be judged on four categories, each worth 10 points:

  1. Kick Ass-ness
  2. Oregon Historical Significance
  3. Originality
  4. Ass Kicken-ness!

And if you bring your diorama to the Jack London show on February 19th, you’ll earn 5 bonus points!

The winner of the top diorama entry wins:

A Complimentary Guest Pass to an upcoming Kick Ass Oregon History Tour!!! AND Internet Fame AND the panache to tell Suzie Snotgrass at the 15th Reunion, “Oh shut your trap, Bitch!”

Stay tuned to @Oregon_History on Twitter and check out the post on ORHistory.com for photos of last year’s entries and more details.

World Toilet Day 2012

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World Toilet Day 2011World Toilet Day 2012 is an annual celebration of the importance of sanitation, designed to raise global awareness of the struggle 2.6 billion face every day without access to proper, clean sanitation. It takes place today, Monday, November 19. Activities are planned throughout the world.

In 2010 Portland’s celebration 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:

Portland, Oregon is in the the Cascadia Subduction Zone that Scientific American calls “the biggest seismic hazard in the U.S.” The United States Geologic Survey says that Oregon faces a 37% chance of a magnitude 8.0 or greater earthquake within the next 50 years. So PHLUSH is launching a fall emergency preparedness campaign in conjunction with World Toilet Day, November 19. 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.

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.

US Forest Service Waiving Fees on Veterans Day Weekend (November 10-12, 2012)

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Forest ServiceThe U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management are waiving fees at most day-use recreation sites around the country on the Veterans Day holiday weekend, November 10 through 12, 2012.

This is our way of saying thanks to the brave men and women – past and present – who put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe at home,” said U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell. “We encourage veterans, their families and all visitors to take time out over the holiday weekend to enjoy the benefits that nature provides at forests and grasslands throughout the country.

Find regional recreation options here.

OE History Night: Of Casts and Characters – the Early Years and Collections of the Portland Art Museum (5-November-2012)

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Of Cast and Characters - the Early Years and Collections of the Portland Art MuseumThe Oregon Encyclopedia, in conjunction with McMenamins, the Northwest Examiner, and the Portland Art Museum, presents Of Cast and Characters: the Early Years and Collections of the Portland Art Museum. Monday, November 5, 2012 at the Mission Theater (1624 NW Glisan).

Journey back to late 19th century Portland and the founding of the city’s art museum to learn about its earliest art collections including hundreds of plaster casts of Greek and Roman sculpture. At the time few people could afford to travel to Europe, fledgling museums such as Portland’s acquired reproductions of important monuments and works of art to establish the basis of their collections. Art schools collected plaster casts so students could study and draw from the best examples of classical and Renaissance sculpture.

The presenter Prudence Roberts, Instructor of Art History, Portland Community College and former Curator of American Art at the Portland Art Museum.

Admission is free to this, and all the OE History Night events. Children are welcome if accompanied by a parent or guardian. Doors open at 6 p.m., presentation starts at 7 p.m.