Dave Knows Portland

Strip City’s Storied Sex Worker Specters & Midnight Cowboy (26-October-2012)

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Strip City’s Storied Sex Worker Specters AND Midnight Cowboy!Kick Ass Oregon History presents Strip City’s Storied Sex Workers Spectre… a.k.a. Portland’s Dead Prostitutes plus a screening of Midnight Cowboy, this Friday, October 26, 2012 at the Mission Theater (1624 NW Glisan).

Ribald Historian Doug Kenck-Crispin will be on hand to share ghostly tales – about sex worker from Strip City.

Some are ghosts, yes, but some are just whores of yore – famous sex workeres from our city’s past who deserve a little retelling . . .

We will talk about these ladies that have graced Portland’s past, and examine a few establishments haunted by their specters. We will discuss why sex workers are particularly vulnerable, and disappointingly, seemingly expendable.

(For a preview check out the most recent episode of the Kick Ass Oregon History podcast: Portland’s Dead Whores.)

The nights activities also include a costume contest: dress like a Pimp or Whore, from ANY era. The grand prize is a night’s stay at The White Eagle, one of Portland most famous former haunted whorehouses.

And finally, stick around for the 35mm print screening of one of the classics of the prostitute film genre, Midnight Cowboy, staring starring Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman [the “I’m walking here” scene is one of my favorite scenes in all of film!].

Tickets are $8 at the door, or $6 in advance. Doors open at 8 p.m., Doug begins the Kick Ass Oregon History at 9 p.m., and the film begins at 10:15 p.m. This show is 21 and over only!

Portland Humanist Film Festival (October 26-28, 2012)

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Portland Humanist Film FestivalThe third annual Portland Humanist Film Festival (PHFF), 35mm closer to reality, takes place Friday, October 26 through Sunday, October 28, 2012 at Cinema 21 (616 NW 21st).

Sponsored by the Center For Inquiry, the PHFF was established to be a provocative and enlightening cultural experience indicative of the rapidly growing Humanist movement in the Pacific Northwest.

Its mission is to provide, through the medium of film, an expansive window into many of the aspects of existence, morality, history, science and philosophy that reflect the Humanist perspective. By presenting a fusion of film genres that affirm the Humanist philosophy, the Portland Humanist Film Festival offers a meaningful dialogue for those who are curious about Humanism and its societal impact.

Films featured this year include Flatland, Kumaré (this is the Oregon premiere), Chocolat, Homeopathy: Cure or Con, and more – check out the full schedule on the website.

Tickets for individual films or single and mult-day passes are available online.

OMSI Science Pub: “SPILLOVER: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic” (October 22, 2012)

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Omsi Science PubOMSI Science Pub presents a special author event on Monday, October 22, 2012 at the Bagdad Theater (3702 SE Hawthorne) – SPILLOVER: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic:

In this age of speedy travel, we hear troubling news reports of diseases that could threaten a worldwide pandemic: Ebola, SARS, AIDS, and something called Hendra killing horses and people in Australia. What those reports fail to mention is that such phenomena are part of a single pattern: the bugs that transmit these diseases all originate in wild animals and pass to humans by a process called spillover.

The presenter is David Quammen, author of Spillover and The Song of the Dodo, among other books.

The science begins at 7 p.m. but arrive early to secure your beer, grub, and a seat! There’s a $5.00 suggested donation/cover charge. Minors with adults are welcome, otherwise this event is 21 and over.

Kick Ass Oregon History Vol 5 #6: Portland’s Dead Whores

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KAOH5.6: Portland’s Dead WhoresKick Ass Oregon History is the latest series of podcasts from the enthusiastic historians behind ORHistory.com.

And volume 5 #6 just dropped: Portland’s Dead Whores.

In which we learn that neither death nor shitty pizza can prevent Portland’s restless prostitutes from walking the streets of Stumptown.

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.

The Kick Ass Oregon History podcast covers 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.

History Pub: “Miss Doris, Driving: A Roaring Twenties Teen from Portland Hits the Road” (15-October-2012)

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The Doris DiariesMiss Doris, Driving: A Roaring Twenties Teen from Portland Hits the Road is the theme of the special bonus History Pub at the Kennedy School (5736 NE 33rd), on Monday, October 15, 2012.

It’s 1925, and Doris Bailey, 15, has chopped off her hair, raised her skirts, climbed out a window and driven off after a cute boy. True story! Award-winning journalist and blogger Julia Park Tracey presents a fascinating program that draws from the real-life diaries of Doris Louise Bailey, a Portland girl who started writing in the Roaring Twenties. Whirling around a dance floor, kissing an a-dor-a-ble boy, getting into Daddy’s gin stash, or driving off into the sunset – Doris reveals all and pulls no punches.

“These delicious diaries provide a colorful portrait of the Jazz Age as seen through the eyes of a teenager. Doris would have fit right in with Gatsby himself,” according to author and San Francisco Chronicle book critic Jonah Raskin.

The presenter is Park Park Tracey, the great-niece of the diary’s writer, Doris Bailey Murphy (1910-2011), and an award-winning writer and editor. Read more about her writings, and her great aunt, at TheDorisDiaries.com, and follow @TheDorisDiaries on Twitter!

The show begins at 7 p.m., entrance is free, and this event is all ages.