A Little Evening Buzz

by zanger on February 9, 2010

in Food/Drink

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I have a long-standing rule: no coffee after 11am.

Unless, of course, it is accompanied by delicious chocolate. Come to think of it, I’m good with chocolate just about any time of the day.

So, it was clear I couldn’t resist heading over to Slow Food Portland’s “From Bean to Buzz: Coffee + Chocolate Tasting” at Ecotrust last week. This was a round-robin event with some local (and kind of local) chocolate and coffee artisans. Despite our best intentions, we ended up a little late so we missed a part of the proceedings. However, we felt as though that we ended up getting the “best of the buzz” with the two and-a half (out of four) stations we sidled up to.

We caught the end of the Xocolatl de David and Cellar Door Coffee Roasters team from Portland. The chocolate was divine and the coffee was delicious, bold and smooth. Sadly, we missed the meat of the conversation.

Then, it was on to Missionary Chocolates of Portland and Portland Roasting Coffee. Melissa Berry, the chocolatier, gave out many, many (all vegan truffles) samples. First, it was salted caramel. Delicious. Next a lemon truffle. Out of this world. Then, a peanut butter number. More hyperbole. Then, a raspberry truffle shaped in a heart. Superb. What stood out was not just the flavor, but the fact that these vegan truffles, using coconut milk as a base, weren’t heavy — so one could eat an entire box and not feel like saying “oooof.” Pairing it with Portland Roasting’s Guatemalan coffee was just perfect. And Martin Barrett of Portland Roasting was highly engaging and informative.

What also stood out in this Portland group was the good being done. Berry is hoping to fund a new natural healing center. Portland Roasting, with their Farm Friendly Direct™ program funds important projects in communities where they source their coffee. So sure, it’s tasty chocolate and coffee — further enhanced by knowing that there is something bigger going on.

The most entertaining speakers we saw were Aubrey and Jesse from Cacao in Portland. Clearly passionate about chocolate, they were great fun to listen to as they described what we were sampling — and there was plenty to taste. Their pairing partners (both from Seattle) were very good but the Cacao folks stole the show with their enthusiasm.

We missed Stumptown Coffee and Claudio Corallo (from Seattle). But we had the chance to taste both and, even though the palates were fried, it was still delicious. I suppose the good news is that each morning, I brew up some Stumptown with Portland pride, so I am deeply familiar with the brilliance of their beans.

Sure, I broke my big rule about having coffee after 11am. But, when there’s great coffee and chocolate to be had, count me in every time!

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Winter Olympics in the NW

by Travel Geek on February 4, 2010

in Events

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In case you have been living in a small cave for the past few years, the 2010 Winter Olympics, hosted in Vancouver, British Columbia (that’s in Canada!) begin Friday, February 12. Though I don’t follow professional sports, I have always been a huge fan of the Olympics in general, and the Winter Olympics in particular. I even took figure skating lessons when I was young, though being a 5’8”, 135 pound 12 year old effectively ended any dreams I had of Olympic glory.

With Portland’s proximity to Vancouver, BC, it is only natural that Olympics fever should begin to infect the city. At Portland International Airport, Alaska Airlines employees sported stick-on soul patches, in honor of local Olympian Apollo Anton Ohno’s signature facial hair.

To celebrate the Opening Ceremonies, Oregon Sports Authority and KGW are hosting a free public viewing event at Pioneer Courthouse Square on Friday, February 12. There will be two giant LCD screens, and they will show local Olympic programming beginning at 5pm. The official NBC broadcast of the Vancouver 2010 Opening Ceremony begins at 9pm. The event also includes interviews with Oregon Olympians, warm drinks and a hockey goal-scoring challenge. What a perfect way to celebrate the Opening Ceremonies with fellow Olympics-loving Portlanders.

In conjunction with this event, you can also visit Winter Celebration at the Square for your chance to win a trip for two to the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, including men’s cross-country skiing and the Closing Ceremonies! Entries must be submitted by February 11, 2010, so enter soon!

(Editor’s Note: Travel Geek is another brand-new author here at OurPDX. Please welcome her!)

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LOST? Found…

by Betsy Richter on February 2, 2010

in Events

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LOST – The Final Season | PDX.FM As LOST fans already know, the season premiere starts at 9 pm this evening. But instead of huddling around your own little television in your own little hovel, why not go out, drink beer, eat tots and have a communal viewing experience at the Bagdad Theater? (If I were a LOST fan, I'd be there…)

As ever, this is yet another labor of love presented by Cort & Fatboy (with an assist from PDX.fm and the man who loooooovves to see his name in print on OurPDX, RobertWagner/@pdxsucks. Oh, and the Merc’s also on board here…). Admission is free, of course — which means no one gets a cut of anything, so you may want to share your tots with Cort and/or Fatboy — but you must be 21 or over to attend.

Can't make it tonight? The entire final season of LOST will be presented live at the Bagdad.

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Fight! Fight!

by Cosmic Charlie on February 1, 2010

in Events

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Ever miss the good ol’ days when you’d spend Saturday night down at the watering hole, getting hammered and belligerent to the point where you had to clean the floor with everyone in the bar? Okay, me neither. I made it a point to get out before closing time, because that’s when the real action begins.

If you’d like to vicariously experience all the fun and frolic of hanging out in a rowdy bar with obnoxious hooligans, check out Cort and Fatboy’s Midnight Movie, Road House. You can bring a date: It’s got Patrick Swayze in it!

I like how at the bottom of the poster it says “Be nice.” If not? Swayze will come back from the grave and kick your ass.

He has Ghost powers, you know.

ROAD HOUSE
Bagdad Theater
Friday, February 5th
37th & SE Hawthorne
Doors at 10 PM
Movie at 11 PM

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@mayorsamadams: Twitter On!

by jgx on February 1, 2010

in News/Views, People

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If we are not part of the conversation or listening to the conversation, then what are we here for? For me the conversation takes many forms today. My personal preferred way is face to face. But that’s not always the way it happens or needs to happen.

We have at our fingertips tool after tool to have a conversation with people that we might not otherwise be able to have a conversation with. Those tools seem to grow in number as much as in controversy, Twitter, Facebook, FriendFeed, LinkedIn, Foursquare, Yelp, Brightkite, Text … do I need to list more? And any site you can go to that offers a tool or tools to communicate or measure communication is about listening to the conversation.

Yesterday, I saw this tweet:
pdxsucks

So, of course I click the link for OregonLive to read Anna Griffin’s post on OregonLive. “Sam Adams needs to toss Twitter and get back to the big picture for Portland” By Anna Griffin. Really? I disagree. I sometimes wonder what people are really annoyed or mad about when they write something like this? He is the Mayor. Twitter is one of the most transparent communication tools today!

“This is attention-deficit governing, driven by insecurity and enabled by the iPhone. In the short term, it creates the false sheen of engagement. Over the long haul, it’s no way to build public support for the hard and expensive decisions to come.”

False sheen of engagement? Engagement is engagement, Twitter is immediate and it’s timely. And why not use any tool available to build public support?

It would be like me saying: “I think the radio creates a false sheen of engagement because they are driven by sales and their advertisers have agendas contrary to mine. So Mayor Adams should dump any communication with radio.” Right — dumb, ill advised and limiting. Not to mention narrow-minded.

I find it so curious that people will participate in the very thing that they are complaining about. Instead of accepting the change and adapting to progress they fight it. The conversation is going to happen whether any of us want it to or not. So will we participate in it and use it for good? Or will we fight it and try to limit how we connect and tell others how they should communicate?

Email opened lines of communication like never before. We could read an article on line, email the author, and they would respond. Now we can mention a favorite author or individual on Twitter and the chances of you getting that “@someone is now following you on Twitter”, is pretty high. They are listening! And they’d better be!

If you’ve read the book “Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work & in Life, One Conversation at a Time” by Susan Scott, you are familiar with “Our careers, companies and relationships succeed or fail, gradually then suddenly—one conversation at a time.” and “No one engages; nothing changes.” If you haven’t read the book, I recommend it!

Susan writes, “Yes, the conversation is the relationship. One conversation at a time, you are building, destroying, or flatlining your relationships. It is possible, however, to create high-intimacy, low-maintenance relationships – one relatively brief conversation at a time.”

Are you listening to the conversation?

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My Portland Timbers Tryout

by zanger

This past weekend was my tryout for the Portland Timbers. As mentioned before, there were a few things that were standing in the way of my potential run for glory — mostly my age: 40.
The two-day trial started Saturday morning and as I checked in, I noticed that I was clearly the oldest one there. [...]

01.25.2010 See the rest → 2 comments

Looking For Tales of Portland Parking Woes

by Betsy Richter

I’m working on a piece for tomorrow about experiences parking in downtown Portland.
Yes, it’s a follow-up to this piece. Yes, it involves a towing story or two. And yes, I’ve already gotten a ton of feedback in email, thanks to a Twitter call out earlier today. But I want to [...]

01.23.2010 See the rest → 14 comments

A Portland Flyer’s Lament

by Rabbi David

I have a little secret. At least, I think it’s a secret. At least, I’m pretty sure not everyone knows about it. My “secret” is that I’m an aviation buff. I love airplanes. I love reading about airplanes. I love looking at pictures of airplanes. I even still like riding in airplanes, despite all the [...]

01.22.2010 See the rest → 8 comments

Measures 66 & 67: Let’s Do The Math

by Gil Johnson

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: “Businesses don’t pay taxes; they just pass the cost of taxes on to—“
OK, so you’ve heard that. Most recently, you probably heard that from the opponents of Measures 66 and 67. One of their arguments is that Measure 67 in particular is nothing more than a sales [...]

01.20.2010 See the rest → 6 comments

Fitness Role Models? How’d *That* Happen…?

by MizD

On Tuesday, January 5th, we woke to the alarm at 4:15am
Holy crap, what were we thinking? Last time Dave (aka @chefchopper) and I crawled out of bed that early, we were sprinting to make the redeye ferry off of San Juan Island and back to our beloved Portland. We are NOT early morning [...]

01.20.2010 See the rest → 3 comments

From Our Mailbox: Gardeners Go Road-Trippin..!

by Betsy Richter

My friend LeLo (a Master Gardener, don’t you know) sent along the following information in hopes that those interested in traveling to the Seattle for the Garden Show would rather travel by bus with a bunch of fellow local gardeners.
The Northwest Flower and Garden Show in Seattle is the kick off for spring [...]

01.16.2010 See the rest → 3 comments
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