I don’t know about you, but I loves me some sleep. I really, really love it. Yeah, I’ll say it: I love sleep in…that way. Sleep? I’m so into it, dude.

In fact, if I could spend my days dozing off to the dulcet sounds of rain bouncing between the lonely wisps of hair on the balding head of my worst enemy (you know who you are, Skipper), followed by a nicely warmed meat sandwich (perhaps a Reuben from Kenny and Zukes, or, oh, anything from Meat Cheese Bread), followed by more drool-inducing anti-insomnia action, only to wake up leisurely for a smattering of #afterhours, maybe the occasional StrangeLoveLive episode, a snack, and then back to Winkysnoreyland for 18 hours (somewhere in Iceland I think), I would so take that. (I might also have to pee somewhere in there, but that can be worked around.)

In other words, when it comes to sleep: I’m a fan. In fact, I’m more than a fan – I’m your biggest fan. Sleep, you are so hot. I would totally do you.

Seriously, in a heartbeat.

Where was I?

Oh right. So here’s the deal: As a citizen (give or take) of our fair city, I am imploring you, You, the non-sleeping marginally-employed semi-awake readers and ever-vigilant defenders of the right to cross arms (and nap), to help me do one thing:

Save. Portland.

That’s right. Save the town from being overrun by a new cult that is invading like a Sunday parking ticket infestation. This dangerous group of fiends hates one thing, and one thing only: My beloved Sleep. I know, it’s hard to believe. (See these spots? Well if you could, you would see they are tears.)

In particular? This Cad, this Bounder, who goes by Rick “EyesWideShut” Turoczy, and this…this…brazen antisleeper, Cami “WakingLife” Kaos (observe them in typical form – Kaos wide awake running the show; Turoczy asleep at the wheel):

Take a good look, fellow citizens. Wake up and open your eyes, because they are… [whisper]everywhere…

Rumor has it that that these two and their handler, “Herr Dokterr” as he is known, originated as members of the Philippine mafia, but they have very recently relocated to Portland to wreak havoc and disrupt rapid eye movement for men, women, and children alike. In Portland they have a public front: they are known simply as members of the 30 Hour Day.

In underground anti-sleep circles they are known by their secret cult Twitter name of #30HD. On the streets of our glorious city they go by any number of names: Sleep-haters; Lid-lifters; Toothpick Tanglers; or my personal favorite:

The No-Doze Hos. (I might have made that last one up.)

This den of heartless thugs is giving the figurative finger to my everloving sleepytime maiden, in whose ample bosom I take such great…comfort. They are refusing sleep altogether for 30 torturous hours, as if sleep is something that they detest, as if sleep could be denied, as if sleep was as easily dismissed as the trite, meaningless wedding vows of an unimaginably wealthy golfer.

And WHY? Why why why would they do this thing? Commit this grave abomination? Be as cruel as Tommy Baldingas on the middle school bus beating the crap out of me while I slept (…wait. I’ve said too much…)?

They claim that it’s for charity. They assert that it is, “an effort to raise money and materials for charities like Free Geek, the Oregon Food Bank, and Toys for Tots.” To which, fair citizen I say a hearty Hhhhyeahhhright. As. If.

In fact, the press release goes as far as to say, “Beginning December 18 at 4 PM PT and running through December 19 at 10 PM PT, Portland podcasters will be taking the concept of the charity telethon and updating it for the Web age with “30 hour day” <http://30hourday.org/>, an effort to raise money and materials for charities like Free Geek, the Oregon Food Bank, and Toys for Tots.”

“The live Web-based telethon — which will use streaming media services to deliver the content, the Causes Facebook application <http://www.causes.com/causes/415137> to collect donations, and Twitter to spread the word — will consist of 30 consecutive hours of music, variety acts, podcasts, and other entertainment, all accessible from a typical Web browser. Most importantly, the creators are making the live webcast — which can easily be embedded in any Web site with a few lines of code — available under Creative Commons, allowing any organization or person to use the live event to raise money for charities of their own choosing.”

Can you believe that? Yeah me neither.

So what can we do to stop this? According to the local authorities, there is nothing that can be done officially (although one officer *may* have slipped me a leaflet for “counseling services”, which everybody knows is law enforcement code for the black-ops services of one Blackwater International…), but as citizen police? That, dear friend, is an entirely different matter.

We, the defenders of sleepytime, can do one thing: We can be vigilant. The public eye is everywhere. In fact, we’re not just gonna’ keep an eye on ‘em – We’re gonna’ watch the Hell out of ‘em.

Join the crusade against anti-sleep thuggery by watching every minute, here: <http://30hourday.org/>. You can also follow 30 hour day on Twitter at <http://twitter.com/30hourday> (and study their insidious, evil ways), or join the Facebook fan page at <http://facebook.com/30hourday/> (double agent goodness). For ideas on how to use the content to support your favorite charity (and break the backs of this evil organization in the process), visit <http://bit.ly/30HDideas>.

Band together with me, marchers of the Sleep Brigade. We shall defeat thine enemies with our ever watchful eye. We shall destroy the scourge of wakefulness arm in arm, even if we have to march our way to hell and back. Onward, Napping Soldiers! Bring pillows!

—

If you want to know how you can fight against this horrible, horrible thing, here’s some more info (just be sure that it doesn’t infect you too):

“Some of the guests include representatives from the selected charities, as well as scheduled appearances by Portland Mayor Sam Adams; noted pioneer in the use of social media for nonprofits Beth Kanter; Stephanie Stricklen of KGW; Tara Hunt, author of The Whuffie Factor; Brian M. Westbrook of KXL; Pete Grillo of Iterasi; Scott Kveton of Urban Airship and Bac’n; the Portland Sucks podcast; Cort & Fatboy; Courtenay Hameister of Live Wire Radio; reggae band Red Eye Soul Tribe; Renny Gleeson; Pete Krebs Trio; and ska band Target for Tomorrow. In an effort to give the event more international impact, the producers have also lined up guests from Australia, Brazil, England, and Malaysia, with more locations signing on every day.

Current sponsors include Anne Bocci Boutique, Blue Hour, BootsNAll Travel Network, Bridgetown Printing, Comcast, Hot Lips Pizza, Iterasi, Locket2You, NedWater, Reser’s Fine Foods, Tinymeat, Whiffies, Voodoo Doughnut, and Yelp, among others.

The telethon will be hosted by Kaos of Strange Love Live, a popular tech-oriented web talk show, and Rick Turoczy of Silicon Florist <http://siliconflorist.com/>, a blog that covers the Portland startup scene. The studio will be provided by the Portland Incubator Experiment and on-site video event streaming services will be provided by Blaze Streaming Media.

The telethon and instructions for embedding the content will be available at <http://30hourday.org/>.”

Related Posts

• December 18, 2009 -- 30 Hour Day: (no longer) LIVE NOW! (0)
• December 1, 2009 -- We’ve Got Talent, Yes We Do! But Not Quite Enough. (4)
• November 14, 2009 -- OurPDX shared links for November-ish (0)
• November 9, 2009 -- SLL: Locketman (0)
• October 19, 2008 -- SLL: The Sexisode (0)

Here’s what we’ve found as we’ve traveled the local PDX web (complete with our comments) from November, oh, 5th, no 10th, no…screw it, let’s just call it a November-ish roundup, shall we? I’m starting with the most timely first, more contemplative posts closer near the end…

• November 15: Steve’s Cheese and Foster and Dobbs anniversary parties | Dave Knows: Portland
  Dave just finished planning out my Sunday afternoon – thanks, Dave! "On Sunday, November 15 Steve’s Cheese (2321 NW Thurman Street), home of one of the best selections of cheeses in town, and also the best logo in the cheese mongering business, is hosting a Fourth anniversary party.
  …
  I haven’t found many details on this year’s event besides the hours (1pm to 5pm), and that Square Deal Wines will be breaking out some bottles and everyone is welcome to come help us celebrate the great paring for wine and cheese under one roof."
• As The Crappy Weather Arrives, Portland Shelters Make Room for More Homeless | Willamette Week
  Nearly 600 shelter beds are available year-round for families, adults, youth and those fleeing domestic violence. But up to 422 beds will be installed at local emergency shelters to provide more space for those expecting to sleep outside this winter.

  The increase comes as a response to the 585 people — 220 children — left out in the cold during Multnomah County’s One Night Shelter Count last year. (An estimated 1,600 people sleep on Portland streets every night.)

  If you’re interested in helping, Multnomah County is in dire need of supplies, including blankets, pillows, food and winter coats. Visit www.humansolutions.org or call 503-548-0228 to donate.

• Electrotainment
  Stop by every single day throughout the entire month of November to catch up with Doc Normal's daily podcast for NaPodPoMo (where he rants about things during the aptly-named CrazyTalk.) He's even got special guest starts on every episode.

  Take, for example, Cami Kaos & Rick Turoczy talking about the upcoming 30HourDay telethon. (We’ll have more on 30HourDay shortly, of course – and yours truly helped bloviate via Skype call-in for the inaugural show, no less. But you'll want to skip past that one…)

  In fact, YOU could be part of the show!

• 10 more things newspapers can learn from tech companies | Nozzl Media, Inc.
  Steve Woodward, ex-Oregonian reporter, clearly Gets It. Here, a taste: "9. Play offense, not defense. Too many newspapers continue to pour the bulk of their resources into the paper, even while proclaiming an Internet-first philosophy. But this is war. The paper is nothing but a rear-guard action now, to be protected by a small, but sufficient garrison of troops. The front lines are online and mobile, where the paper’s best and brightest should be driving forward with energy and intelligence."

Related Posts

• December 17, 2009 -- 30 Hour Day: Charity event? Or Insidious Cult of Anti-sleep? (0)
• November 5, 2009 -- OurPDX shared links for November 5th (0)
• January 7, 2010 -- OurPDX Shared Links for 1/7 (0)
• December 1, 2009 -- We’ve Got Talent, Yes We Do! But Not Quite Enough. (4)
• November 30, 2009 -- OurPDX shared links for 11/29 (2)

Friday night we were joined in studio by Scott McCarty and the entire Locket2You team. While we chatted with Scott on the couch Miranda and MeaganKate kept everything in check from the sidelines.

During the Tech Edition we talked about the business end of Locket2You. Where, When Why and How they built their handmade jewelry company and used Twitter and other social internet tools to strengthen it and get the word out.

SLL Episode 145: Locket2You

Watch the Tech Edition

But afterhours was a whole different thing. A schtick was prepared a month ago and carried out in the first half of Afterhours, then there were the custom drinks I made for the occasion: The Locket, The Pocket, The Rocket and Big Purple. With the skit (featuring the voice talent of MeaganKate and Miranda) and drinks out of the way we got back to the business of afterhours and chatted our hour away.

SLL Episode 146: Afterhours with Scott McCarty

Watch Afterhours

**

Tune in Friday night at 10 PM for an evening of music and a dash of tech with Duo Chronicles‘ John Nastos and Clay Giberson.

***

With the holiday season fast approaching, you may have noticed we’re doing things a bit differently around SLL. We wanted to start celebrating early which is why this week we featured Locket2You (a great holiday gift solution, I’m just sayin) and next week we’ll be featuring some fantastic music with John and Clay. Then we’ll move on to gadgets with Brian M. Westbrook which will satisfy your craving for tech and give you a peek into what’s hot and techie for the holidays. Staying with that good for the holidays theme we’ll also be joined by Foodgeeks (get some holiday menu ideas) and Simler (because you need a new site to play on with all that Holiday downtime) in early December.

We’ll Round out the year with 30 Hour Day, a livestream telethon the likes of which the world has never seen, A Kaos family Christmas with my daddy, Daddy Kaos. Then we’ll kick off the new year with a review of 2009 and predictions for 2010 with Rick Turoczy. As you can see we’ve got a full plate for the next couple of months, I hope you’ll come along for the ride.

Related Posts

• October 19, 2008 -- SLL: The Sexisode (0)
• September 3, 2008 -- Who’s This Week’s Guest on Strange Love Live? (3)
• December 17, 2009 -- 30 Hour Day: Charity event? Or Insidious Cult of Anti-sleep? (0)
• November 10, 2009 -- Food Carts Portland on NBC Nightly News (3)
• August 9, 2009 -- SLL: Turoczy and the Tiara of Truth (0)

Here’s what we’ve found as we’ve traveled the local PDX web (complete with our comments) for November 5th:
(yes, it’s really long and bloated; I’ve had no time for actual writing lately, but have found cool stuff in the last day or so…)

• A new way of supporting Mercy Corps | Mercy Corps

  A Mercy Corps staffer writes: “In the past few weeks we've quietly been rolling out a new feature on MercyCorps.org: personal fundraising pages.

  Personal fundraising pages allow Mercy Corps' supporters to set up their own pages on MercyCorps.org. Those pages can be customized with your own text or photos for any event or purpose. You can also set an optional goal for your fundraiser, and there are built-in tools that make it easy to share your fundraising page with your friends through Facebook, Twitter, or email.”

• Welcome to Eater Portland!
  A national outlet opens a local outpost. My question? How's it diferent from Yelp, PFD, PortlandFood, etc. etc. etc.? But I'll let you judge for yourselves….

  "At this time, we'd like to extend you a warm welcome to Eater Portland, the very latest in restaurant blogging technology and your new one-stop shop for all things related to dining and drinking in Portland, the greatest dining city in the universe.

  The quick back story on Eater: we've been wreaking havoc in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco for awhile now, and we recently launched a National edition. Here in Portland, you're going to get obsessive hourly coverage of restaurants, bars, chefs and the assorted other characters who make the business tick. You'll also get the very best of what the rest of the web is serving up, by way of links as far as the eye can see. If it's not on Eater Portland, you don't have to know about it."

  Maybe. But that last sentence? Made my stomach a bit queasy…you?

• pdxsucks.com podcast – november 5, 2009

  From Robert’s wrapup post: "Who needs topics when you’ve got Cort and Fatboy in the studio talking about their upcoming podcast plans, the lives of the busy unemployed, the midnight movie, and other fun crap?"

  Side note: I managed to listen to this live via streaming iPhone via car stereo, then headphones as I walked to office, then via web browser without missing a single beat. Very slick technology setup there!

• Oregonian editor: layoffs are inevitable | Oregon Media Central

  A few other online outlets have the entire text of Sandy Rowe's email; here, we link to Oregon Media Central's take: "Oregonian Managing Editor Sandy Rowe warns in an email to staff that "a layoff is inevitable," but that there's still time to take the paper's most recent buyout offer…"

  Now, can we tackle the buzzword 'hyperlocal' in her memo? Hyper-wha, Ms. Rowe?

• Get Baked: The Sugar Cube is back starting Thursday. | Willamette Week

  Kelly Clarke has the scoop: "As you might have heard, celebrated local baker Kir Jensen’s cute-as-pie downtown dessert cart The Sugar Cube—home of the addictive Highway to Heaven and Amy Winehouse cupcakes—is back from the dead after a seven month absence…Follow The Sugar Cube on Twitter (@TheSugarCube) for more updates.

• It’s Time to Pick the Best! | An Exploration of Portland Food and Drink
  Food Dude needs your help: "I get an email along these lines every few days. ” I am hoping you can recommend restaurants for me to go to. I am very open about cuisine, price, atmosphere…I just want to eat good food!”

  You'll be happy to share your favorites, right? RIGHT?

  Rather than send my regular list, I thought I’d work with you all to come up with our own list. We’ll start with “expensive” and “very-expensive” choices, and we’ll drop down a price tier every week until we have a good list of recommendations.

• Electrotainment

  Stop by every single day throughout the entire month of November to catch up with Doc Normal's daily podcast for NaPodPoMo (where he rants about things during the aptly-named CrazyTalk.) He's even got special guest starts on every episode.

  Take, for example, Cami Kaos & Rick Turoczy talking about the upcoming 30HourDay telethon. (Yours truly helped bloviate via Skype call-in for the inaugural show, no less – but you'll want to skip past that one, of course…)

  In fact, YOU could be part of the show!

Related Posts

• December 8, 2009 -- OurPDX shared links for 12/8 (0)
• February 2, 2010 -- LOST? Found… (1)
• November 14, 2009 -- OurPDX shared links for November-ish (0)
• October 9, 2009 -- OurPDX Shared Links for October 9th (0)
• May 18, 2009 -- OurPDX shared links for May 18th (0)

WARNING: This episode of Strange Love Live contains explicit content.

Friday night the Strange Love studio played host to two very sexy guests and one very sexy audience member… As stunning as they all were to look at, their real sex appeal on Friday was their calm frankness in discussing sex. There were so many topics that we didn’t cover I think we’ll have to do this all again in a few months if the girls are up for it. Join Cami Kaos, Melissa Lion, Missburrows and KamBam (and the occasional peep from DrNormal) and listen in on nearly 2 hours of girl talk about sex.

As always you can listen to the show here, download it, subscribe or pick us up on iTunes so you can always be the first to know when we’ve released a new episode…

***

Join us Friday October 24th at 10 PM for another episode of Strange Love Live. Next week we welcome back music man John Borroz. We’ll talk about the album he and DrNormal are working on and no doubt hear a few more stories about the Portland music scene in days gone by.

Related Posts

• November 9, 2009 -- SLL: Locketman (0)
• September 3, 2008 -- Who’s This Week’s Guest on Strange Love Live? (3)
• December 17, 2009 -- 30 Hour Day: Charity event? Or Insidious Cult of Anti-sleep? (0)
• November 10, 2009 -- Food Carts Portland on NBC Nightly News (3)
• September 14, 2009 -- SLL: The Miracle in July… In September (0)

Why, that would be Yours Truly.

What will I be talking about this Friday at 10 pm at the house of our own Cami Kaos & Doctor Normal?

Why, OurPDX, of course!

I hear we may even have a studio audience. I know I’m bringing some tasty munchies and a bottle or two for our hosts (I hear that Cami Kaos mixes a mean dry & dirty gin martini; I’ve always stuck to the chilled vodka version myself, but may need to expand my boundaries here.)

What’s Strange Love Live, anyway? A weekly streaming podcast (via UStream) in two parts – first, the official question and answer session with someone who’s part of Portland’s web and/or tech scene. Then, after a brief intermission, it’s the afterhours portion of the show, where the studio audience gets involved, we field questions from the chat room, and generally loosen up a little (or a lot, depending on how freely the martinis are flowing.)

(While Cami promises in this week’s promo “and then we’ll go wild,” um, I can’t guarantee it – I’m an old and decrepit type, don’t you know.)

We’ll kick things off at 10 pm this Friday night. Drop by live if you’re not doing anything, will you? (Or you can catch the archived podcast via UStream or iTunes later if you’d like.)

Just be kind – no hair, wardrobe, or other appearance critiques, thanks. I’ll tell you right now that while Sarah Palin and I might be approximately the same age, the comparison (on all fronts, thankfully) ends there (no one would ever mistake me for a babe, although I may occasionally get the pitbull designation…)

Related Posts

• November 9, 2009 -- SLL: Locketman (0)
• October 19, 2008 -- SLL: The Sexisode (0)
• December 17, 2009 -- 30 Hour Day: Charity event? Or Insidious Cult of Anti-sleep? (0)
• November 10, 2009 -- Food Carts Portland on NBC Nightly News (3)
• October 25, 2008 -- SLL: John Borroz (0)