Thursday, July 28, 2005

lunch walk

so, i walked up to my favorite public art piece, the interactive brush head accross from Powells on W. burnside. i love that thing because i can reach it and make it move. people always stop and stare, wondering what i'm doing. i love that too. i'm such a girl. another bit of note, the old Panarama is being redeveloped into small stores called Powell Station or something. That should be a good use of that property. lunch @ Half and Half and then back to work. i did stop in @ banana republic to get my shop on. all of the new fall clothes are in (i know, it's 80 degrees out and the long sleeved sweatshirts are all the rage.) i was able to pick up some great shortsleeved shirts that will work for both work and play. i do love this fashion style of the snaps and a western cut to the shoulder. i think people get a bit wierded out when i show up with one of them and my slacks and dress shoes. then again, with the uber long hair (not blown dry once this week) and the scraggily beard, who blames them. and i want to excel? hee hee.
pio square had some really good music today - kinda rockin and such. i gave away 2 bags of dog food to a young guy and his pup who actually had a sign that said - We're both hungry. what made me feel good today was that when walking to work with my extremely conservative co-worker, he commented on my act of giving stating that i was a good guy. wow, validated in the eyes of a bushie. hmmmmm.
weekend is almost here, what are you going to do? i'm heading to the beach with our niece and nephew to go see the turtles @ the aquarium. last summer we did the zoo and they loved it. i'll photog the event and tell you all about it.
well, i just realized i'm really really hot back here in the office, so i'm gonna grab another beer and go hang with A and find out how her week was. cya.

Dog owners unite - help out where you can

as some of you know, i give away dog food on my walks to homeless dogs. this past week has been great as i have actually run out of my stash at work and had to replenish from the huge stash at home thanks to paula @ salty's dog shop. well, i have something else for you. a coworker who volunteers for Oregon Humane Society hit me up to PAWS - Portland Animal Welfare Team. PAWS is having an event on Sept. 11 and needs volunteers. Here's the info:

Greetings PAW Volunteers!

It's coming - the next PAW Team Clinic! Saturday, September 11th from 1-4 p.m.

We will need volunteers of all abilities, specializations, and interests! At the last clinic, we had to turn patients away. Let's get enough volunteers to see everyone this time!

If you're interested in volunteering, please send me an e-mail. I will work with you to coordinate times. We need at least 4 veterinarians, 5 techs, and 10 general volunteers!

Thanks and I look forward to hearing from you!
Kristi, Volunteer Coordinator

Hit the webpage above to get more details.

Also, Dove Lewis Animal Hospital sent out an urgent message asking for dog blood doners:

Dove LewisSM Blood Bank

DONATE to the Blood Bank Program

Humans aren’t the only ones who need blood transfusions in emergencies. Dove Lewis’ Blood Bank program provides enough blood every year for 1,000 transfusions for dogs and cats in the Portland-Metropolitan area.

We call all of our blood donor dogs “Superheroes".
Do you have a Dove Lewis Blood Donor Dog at home?

The Ideal candidate is:

  • Healthy
  • Between the ages of 1 and 6
  • Current on vaccines
  • Weighs at least 55 pounds
  • Has never had a transfusion or been pregnant
  • Easy-going
If that sounds like your dog, fill out the interest form now

Thank you Portland

New shoes


New shoes
Originally uploaded by dieselboi.
I got some new shoes in SFO. They are some cool new Puma Red Planet Trail. At first, they were a little stiff and tight, but this week, they have really gotten comfortable.

I also have a little secret. Do you know what it is? Don't tell anyone.....

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Jack Bog just figured it out

Jack, I am surprised you are just now figuring out that Portland is a great walking city. I walk everywhere and I'm a reader of your blog no less. I have to post this here as you're not accepting comments this week.

Walking in Portland is healthy, energetic and safe in my humble opinion.

All others, if you want to see what Jack wrote, go here.

walk walk walk.

Skate path in downtown?


Skate path in downtown?
Originally uploaded by dieselboi.
Is this real? I was walking- go figure- down 4th and came across this sign. I also saw one on SW Third pointing toward the h awethorne bridge. Strange.



Sent from my phone, probably whilst out walking...

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Hung Far Low RIP


Hung Far Low RIP
Originally uploaded by dieselboi.
I tried to go to hung far low last night for one last time before it closed and moved out to SE 82nd. I was saddened to arrive and the doors were locked. I guess they are already closed. Well, i guess my last visit with a was our goodbye. I will miss the uber dark bhudda bar lit only by deep burgendy candle holders. I will miss the strong drinks. I will miss the best pan fried noodles in town. I will miss the sign, a bastion of old town and china town that is becoming more and more clean.



Fare the well HFL. You will be missed by all.



Sent from my phone, probably whilst out walking...

news for my hoodies - nopo

this just in from another blog - New Season's on Interstate to open August 31:

Arbor Lodge Update
Construction of our Arbor Lodge store at the corner of North Portland Boulevard and Interstate Avenue is coming to completion. We can't wait to open this beautiful new store and hope that you will come visit us there. We have begun to hire a great staff in preparation for the store's opening on August 31st. If you or someone you know would like to work with us at New Seasons Market, please visit our Jobs page to find out more about available positions.

more info here.

am i that clueless

frykitty just posted that ww is owned by the O. is that true? i consider myself a well informed individual especially when it comes to portland, but i wasn't aware of that incestuous relationship. ack! my opinion of ww is falling fast.

hey, woke up this morning and you weren't there. i miss you. the pups miss you. hope your having fun and relaxing. love you.

gave away dog food yesterday. my sis and her brood showed up for a surprise lunch. i always love seeing these kids - jack and henry. jack is 3 and henry is 2. henry greeted me with a screaming crying face. oh, what fun... i just smiled and picked him up and walked around to quiet him. it works. i don't normally know this stuff being child free and all, but when henry visited as a baby, he just wouldn't stop crying. i picked him up and began walking around our house one evening and he calmed down a little. to really put him at ease, i began singing to him. first it was pearl jam's "Elderly woman behind the counter in a small town" and then it was a christmas song and then itsy bitzy spider and then . . . well you get the point. since i was standing in front of my building downtown, i chose not to begin singing to my nephew. maybe i was a little embarassed or shy or whatever. i'm ok getting up in front of unknown crowds @ bars, but i guess not in front of some of my coworkers.

so, back to the dog food. i came upon a small group of kids with a cute dog and offered a couple bags of food. the woman was so excited i think she wanted to hug me. initially, i was nervous because they appeared a bit rough and aggressive, but after she saw the food, all the tension melted away. it was when i was crossing the street that i thought - i have more than enough of these samples - i should have given her all of them to share with other doggy friend. i also thought to tell them that if they have other doggy friends to maybe have a place in downtown where i walk by at a specific time and hand out food. hmmm. i'll have to think about that one a little.

my nephew:
New photos

Monday, July 25, 2005

ww's new finder mag kinda sucks

last week, the big O shot its wad all over the owners of Ripe/clarklewis/Gotham, christening them as the "saviors" of portland's restaurant scene. well, the RIPE crew must have dirty pictures of the willamette week crowd also as the new Finder magazine pours on the praise for the restaurant chain. that's what it is at it's base right? a chain? i like clarklewis. i like gotham. i would love to hit Ripe for one of the suppers. but are they all that and a bag of chips? are they soooo much better than all the other new restaurants cropping up in pdx? no.

enough ranting about Ripe, i'll get blacklisted. so, on to FINDER. well, ww in it's infinite wisdom hired a bunch of east side hipsters to write reviews about portland restaurants, shopping and coffee houses. did they do it right? well... no. first off, the whole magazine smacks of priveledged hipsterness and trust fund white trash. other than the constant praise of the ripe crew, there are numerous references to other SE haunts as if all good stuff only occurs in SE. further, the article about N. Mississippi (my hood) begins with glowing statements about the bars and restaurants and goes on to review 2 of the 14 locales on the street. 2! why gush over such transformation, then leave the people hangin'.

and, they didn't leave the partisanship alone - quote "The Portland Mercury - Ann Romano's One Day at a time" is the highlight of this fact-challenged humor rag, an offshoot of Seattle's The Stranger." so much for jounalistic nuance. assclowns.

also, as you read through the whole mag, you get the feeling that the writers all sleep at The Palm's Hotel on N. Interstate and eat at juniors. I wouldn't set food in the Palms. It's nasty! Anywhere you rent a room by the week screams for a TSP bath. never been to juniors, but i bet few of this crowd has been to gravy or equinox or bold sky.

ack. i was sooooo looking forward to this magazine thinking that WW may do it right. well, i will check out issue 2 as they may read this blog and get the hint.

lastly - lars larson is on the radio in portland, but is not IN portland. he lives in the couve! how can one rant about oregon when they don't even live here. chuckleheads.

i'm glad i got all that out of my system. i'm happier now. on with the day!

Friday, July 22, 2005

more on Neil Gaiman

i know, i should be out walking, but alas, i'm chained to my desk. neil gaiman has a new book coming out and will be in our fair city in October.

Monday, October 3 7:30 PM PDT
PORTLAND OR
Powell’s
At First Congregational Church
1126 S.W. Park Ave.
Portland, OR
503-228-4651

we should all go and show him that portland is cool and loves him!

so, i'm bad. i have that huge burlap sack of dogfood samples at home and haven't put any in my bag for walking. i saw a little pup today with a homeless kid and my heart melted wondering if the pup was getting enough to eat. so, the moment i get home, i'm going to pack my bag full of samples to bring to work next week and hand out.

other - did anyone hear the thunder? i sleep with thunder and lightning in order to keep the little buggers from barking at every little sound the cats make during the night, so when i was awakened by the real thunder last night, i thought to myself - wow, i have that turned up too loud. alas, when i heard the real thunder again and noticed the windows rattling a bit, i knew i wasn't dreaming. sometimes i wish we got that more. in montreal, the night we met Gale Harold, we were sitting on a pedestrian street outside the restaurant and to the E, there was a continuous roll of thunder that would crescendo and then decrescendo the entire night. i was amazed by that.

Thursday, July 21, 2005

dirth of posts

so, i've been on vacation and then recently ill with the summer cold. sorry for not posting more.

just got this off KATU:

[phil] Knight on Tuesday decided to again tap into the well of forgotten names, re-christening Vinton Studios, the Portland animation studio he acquired in 2003, as Laika Entertainment. Laika, for non-space buffs, is the name of the dog the Soviets placed on Sputnik 2 in 1957.

Knight also announced the first feature film from Laika would be "Coraline," an animated take on a popular children's book by Neil Gaiman.


i'm a huge fan of Neil Gaiman and this should be a cool adaptation.

go forward mr knight!

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Joel Gion


Joel Gion
Originally uploaded by dieselboi.
how can you resist this? jet setted to san fran for the weekend - yes, right after our little trip to vermont - but i digress. yes, it was a pilgramage - to see a band no less. we were there to see the Brian Jonestown Massacre. if you don't know them, they are from sfo and lax and have a dandy warhol's sound. i know, i know, everyone is different and yes they are, but for the layman, i can only offer that comparison. the show was good. the venue was amazing. the bottom of the hill club is one of those that has probably seen bands like the ramones all the way to billy idol and elvis costello. gotta love it. when we drove by on the way to din din, there were probably 200 people waiting outside. this concerned all of us, but when we arrived a little later and still saw the crow, i chose to go to the front and ask - we have tickets, what do we do? come on in was the answer.
well, the first two bands were sub par, but brian jonestown massacre - let by anton newcomb - were great. the highlight of the show for me was the antics. i'll say it - anton is crazy - wacky, mentally disturbed - but we love him for it. the best part was Joel. Joel plays tamborine and is the center of all attention - center of the stage where normally the lead singer would be. joel has a crazy 60's beard and a personality and facial expression that rivals any studio actor. when anton was going off on the band and the roadies (did I say crazy?) Joel was goofing for the audience with the best expressions. he even cut his hands on the tamborine and bled for us. looking forward to seeing them in a month or so here in puddletown.
the trip otherwise was great. stayed with tige and allie again - we're seeing them way too much. stayed in pacifica and just hung and shopped, ate and drank all weekend. could you ask for more? we even drove over the golden gate in a convertable - way cool.

so, i'm back in the real world and now have to plan for the brettenium. oops, am i to divulge that? hmmmmmmmm. more later.

photos from SFO:
Golden Gate July 2005

IMG_5307

IMG_5300

IMG_5277

also - wish we had a Chinese Food and Donuts chain here in pdx.

Friday, July 15, 2005

Second thursday.


Second thursday.
Originally uploaded by dieselboi.
On N Mississippi.

Last night was fun. we walked down n. mississippi for the second thursday event with phoebe. she was a hit. and, there were plenty of other little dogs out there showing portlanders that they are here to stay. one thing though - for being a music walk, it was pretty quiet. last month, there was music eminating from every storefront and streetcorner, whereas this week, it was eerily quiet. it didn't help that belle epoqe salon had a huge RV from some vendor parked right in front. suggestion - next time, park on a side street or do that some other time (i.e. saturday or something.)
in my humble opinion, mississippi commons is the place to be. all the stores were open and bustling and laughing planet even got our order right this time. there were vendors and kids and everything (except music.) all in all, a great walk.

so, i'm back from vacation. you probably saw my posts about the hike and the head injury and the hotdogs. vermont is cool - small, but cool. our stay on the islands was great except for the shitty cozy cottage that we slept in. think "the beach house" and then age it by 40 years with no cleaning or updating or repair. yes, that was the cozy cottage. oh well, we made the best of it with plenty of beer, wine and liquor.
montreal was the shiznay. wow, what a beautiful city. we managed to get a perfectly located hotel, right in the latin quarter of the city. think shopping/eating street about 20 blocks long. also, while there, we came upon the Montreal Jazz Fest, the largest in the world - and it was free. mind you, i don't care for jazz, but seeing the crowds and hearing the music in the background was pretty cool. and 90% of it was free. we did catch a few instances of live music while there and enjoyed it.
highlight- saturday, when it was raining, we decided to say - fuck it, we're getting out - and we went for a walk (24000 steps I think). while walking, we came upon what at first we thought was a parade. it turned out to be a Hari Krishna celebration. There were two significant rolling carts with different people on them and most of the crowd was singing and assisting in pulling the carts up the street. everyone was smiling and happy and it gave me this warm fuzzy feeling - being in Montreal experiencing this randomly. gotta love it.
the trip back to the US was fine. the border guard let us pass with little or no hassle. back in vt., we headed for Montpellier, the smallest capital in the states. what a quaint little town. we weren't there long, but it appeared to be a narrow city in a valley. there we hung with michael and bev, my newest friends. michael has been known by a. for awhile, but this was my first real meeting (we won't count the first michael.)
they took us out and then we ended up sitting in the living room chatting about stuff - i think we could have chatted all night it was that comfortable and enjoyable. and it was the reminisient type of chat that eventually gets boring for the parties not in the know of others' pasts.
flight home was long, but not excruiating. it was great to see the dogs and snuggle with them and sleep in my bed.
so, off to sfo this weekend - more on that later. btw - bjm is coming to puddletown on sept 8 @ dante's and the tickets are only $5. also, check out SMOOSH.



Sent from my phone, probably whilst I am out walking.

Monday, July 11, 2005

For my friend tinymeat


For my friend tinymeat
Originally uploaded by dieselboi.
Is this the stand in chicago you were raving about?



Sent from my phone, probably whilst I am out walking.

OMG


OMG
Originally uploaded by dieselboi.
Wow. Tinymeat is a crazy dude. We are having a great time with m and b in the NE. Montreal was amazing .

Today we drove back into the US and got stipped searched and held for 18 hours because i had bought a bottle opener in CA. Not! Seriously, what an easy border to cross.

Back to our current world. We had a great dinner at River Run in plainfield vt. Amazing southern fried trout and catfish and hush puppies and fried pickles. We then retired back to tinymeat's house for drinks and great convo.

In the end, our trip was great. There were challenges which we will get into later, but overall, it was great.

Good night from vermont.

Sent from my phone, probably whilst I am out walking.

Sunday, July 10, 2005

Notre Dame in Montreal


Notre Dame in Montreal
Originally uploaded by dieselboi.
Amazing!



Sent from my phone, probably whilst I am out walking.

Thursday, July 07, 2005

montreal.jpg


montreal.jpg
Originally uploaded by dieselboi.
Sitting in a resto on a beautiful afternoon in Montreal. We have done some serious walking the part few days in and around the islands. Today we walked up to the jazz fest and now are serving our feet. Montreal is amazing so far. Canadians drive a bit crazy. Sent from my phone.

Tuesday, July 05, 2005

Mt philo


Mt philo
Originally uploaded by dieselboi.
We made it to the top. A and i did 7000 steps and we still have to walk down. It was a tough hike, with me walking into a down tree and cutting my head. The view is amazing. We can see lake champlain and the expansive valley below. And we are here with tige, matt and allie.



Sent from my phone, probably whilst I am out walking.

Damn tree


Damn tree
Originally uploaded by dieselboi.
I hate hiking under fallen trees. Ouchy head.



Sent from my phone, probably whilst I am out walking.

Monday, July 04, 2005

Sunset


Sunset
Originally uploaded by dieselboi.
On lake champlain. No oysters though. Yummy beer and barbqueue



Sent from my phone, probably whilst I am out walking.

Sleepy tired


Sleepy tired
Originally uploaded by dieselboi.
me. Tired. Sitting in chicago. Not done with travel yet.



weekend was fab. The party was great and there were so many people there i think i got introduced to some a few times. Joel put together an amazing fireworks show. Picture 7 people carrying suitcase size boxes of fireworks out to the dock in procession and making a few trips at that. It took them a couple of hours to hook everything together and then we lit the fuse. Everything went off at once in a barrage if super missiles and roman candles. Better than any municipal show i've seen in awhile.

The food was better than your regular catered affair, but the good stuff arrived a couple hours later in the form of 40 fresh cooked freshly caught crabs. Did i mention we were on hood canal? Mmmmm crab!!!!!!

I feel we partied well, but i didn't go overboard, so the next morn, i was just tired, not hungover. General consensus was good time had by all.



Well, it's 5am and I have to get ready for planing (opposite of deplaning?) frodo says hi and if the above photo says anything, he is interested in water to some extent.



Sent from my phone, probably whilst I am out walking.

Friday, July 01, 2005

Mmmmmmm oysters


Mmmmmmm oysters
Originally uploaded by dieselboi.
We finally made it up here to Union and the robin hood cottages. We're at hood canal, so we had to have oysters on the half shell, along with the best steamer clams.

as i drift off to bed, i wonder what beauty will i see tomorrow. All i know is it will start with the opening of my eyes first thing.



Sent from my phone, probably whilst I am out walking.

Trojan


Trojan
Originally uploaded by dieselboi.
Were on our way to hood canal and thought we would stop and check out trojan park. Wow, you would thing that on the friday before a holiday weekend, it would be crowded with campers. Not. It is huge and deserted. We have dubbed it zombietown.



Sent from my phone, probably whilst I am out walking.