tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58950032008-11-18T17:41:07.334-08:00Another blog. About Portland, Oregon. And pancakes. And absinthe.Brandonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05274373779641646859noreply@blogger.comBlogger1879125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895003.post-2888380116117490662008-11-17T22:46:00.000-08:002008-11-17T23:13:49.489-08:00

Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.....nope. I can't say that I like it. This proposed redesign for the main entrance of Powell's Books is currently in the planning stages and looks, let's be honest here, very Pearl District-y. It makes sense that Portland's premiere "retail attraction" wants a facelift that reflects its surroundings. Nonetheless, when you toss out the admittedly interesting art

Brandonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05274373779641646859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895003.post-53727483372175166692008-11-17T21:56:00.000-08:002008-11-17T22:44:26.388-08:00

Last Saturday's Oregon vs. Arizona game at Autzen Stadium was an emotional roller coaster. Or at least an emotional Tilt-a-Whirl. After leading by four touchdowns, the Ducks nearly blew their lead and the entire game in the second half. The team's near collapse probably had the most profound effect on the Oregon Duck himself. At several points during the fourth quarter, it seemed as if his

Brandonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05274373779641646859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895003.post-320191912963214542008-11-12T17:16:00.000-08:002008-11-12T18:00:09.844-08:00

I caught a segment about this on KGW earlier today. A school in east Portland is considering a name change and a few students have suggested renaming the building after Barack Obama. Like many liberals in the US, my head is filled with visions of Camelot 2.0 sugarplums and I'm overjoyed that in a few months we'll have someone in the Oval Office that can form complete sentences. Nonetheless, the

Brandonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05274373779641646859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895003.post-29956802199908642252008-11-12T16:58:00.000-08:002008-11-12T17:15:51.102-08:00

"Hey, hey, HEY, people of Portland! Man, the timin' of this blog couldn't be any better, because I just got back from the PDX (home of my gracious host this week, Powell's Books), and I got to tell you that your city cold rocks a man. From all the rose gardens (just kidding) to the mad-crazy legislation you got which makes every block illegal if it ain't got a bar with dancers (Holla, Kimmy H at

Brandonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05274373779641646859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895003.post-80321903848180300442008-11-11T10:47:00.000-08:002008-11-11T10:47:00.700-08:00

There are several drawbacks that come with residing three blocks from a small liberal arts college/law school/state park. I currently live three houses down from a psuedo-frat house that hosts bonfire parties every few weekends, objects ranging from plastic beer cups to street signs to live coyotes to abandoned cars routinely wind up in my bushes and, with all the undergrads zooming around on

Brandonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05274373779641646859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895003.post-68216305456995526422008-11-10T22:33:00.000-08:002008-11-11T00:08:00.955-08:00

...with the exception of the 'peace and prosperity' part." Cut to the 3:30 mark in this clip for a fairly brilliant bit of political punditry. I don't think anyone in this country wants to see Kenneth Starr's career resurrected at any point in the coming future.

Brandonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05274373779641646859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895003.post-76141943351841880992008-11-07T13:30:00.000-08:002008-11-07T13:35:54.925-08:00

*urp* This photo would have been more relevant three days ago but....meh. For the record and amazingly enough, this year marked the first time I've sent in a ballot with pint-sized ring stains on it. Hooray for democracy! Also: voting is much more fun in a pub. Next week: posts that have nothing to do with politics.

Brandonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05274373779641646859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895003.post-62844016828407828662008-11-06T21:09:00.000-08:002008-11-06T23:17:14.663-08:00

She's secretly a British hacker and Obama's really a jewel thief and...I won't ruin the rest of it. Click here to watch last night's fairly brilliant episode of South Park. I'm now convinced that the show's staff must use some sort of magical stopwatch in order to crank out satire so quickly. On the other hand, I guess it wasn't so hard to predict ahead of time how both sides were going to react

Brandonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05274373779641646859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895003.post-10705746380128099312008-11-05T16:06:00.001-08:002008-11-05T16:12:04.556-08:00

The crowd that was standing around the Benson Hotel last night? Well, instead of starting a conflict with the police, they hung around for a few minutes, waived a few signs and marched back down to Pioneer Courthouse Square to sing "The Star Spangled Banner." It at least felt like the last two minutes of Return of the Jedi. Sure, no gigantic space stations blew up but, hey, some of those

Brandonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05274373779641646859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895003.post-52394029696893845512008-11-05T16:00:00.000-08:002008-11-05T16:03:39.039-08:00

The crowd's reaction outside the Doug Fir after CNN announced that Obama had won the presidency.

Brandonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05274373779641646859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895003.post-83915829955258125272008-11-05T15:14:00.000-08:002008-11-05T15:54:15.788-08:00

Scenes from around town on Election Night '08: The Bush countdown clock hanging behind the reception desk at the Doug Fir. A group of people watching Obama's victory speech in one of the Doug Fir's side rooms. A photo of the lingering crowd at the Oregon GOP's party for Gordon Smith at the Benson Hotel. Meanwhile, the scene outside. If you squint you can see a few Republicans

Brandonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05274373779641646859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895003.post-41286397079393163522008-11-05T01:01:00.000-08:002008-11-05T01:24:53.006-08:00

The scene in the basement of the Doug Fir Lounge tonight. More photos and videos tomorrow. Time to go pass out.

Brandonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05274373779641646859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895003.post-38556343367390075822008-11-04T16:28:00.000-08:002008-11-05T01:32:54.053-08:00

Midnight - Things are dead at the White Eagle. The band stopped playing about ten minutes ago. I'm about to clear out my tab and call it a night. Whatever ever happens tomorrow. Whatever happens in the next four years. Everything in America right now is golden. I want to hang on to this as long as I can. I haven't felt any semblance of pride in my country for far too long. Here's hoping the

Brandonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05274373779641646859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895003.post-310859940762658382008-11-03T23:46:00.000-08:002008-11-04T02:04:07.920-08:00

I had planned to spend Election Night much like I did in 2004 and live blog the whole thing like some kinda wannabe journe-mo-list. Sadly, it looks like the party the state Democrats are hosting will be a "ticketed volunteer appreciation event." I don't think that constructing a hideous Palin pumpkin will be enough to land me an invite. Do they give out press credentials for serious *ahem*

Brandonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05274373779641646859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895003.post-86036265519618228672008-11-03T22:48:00.000-08:002008-11-04T02:22:30.117-08:00

Four years ago I spent Election Night buzzing around various events arranged by the state's political factions. I remember walking into the Marriott on Naito to discover a long line of Republicans trying to squeeze into a celebration in the basement. Sometime later, across the river, things were taking a sad turn in the Convention Center. I was standing in a large banquet hall with a few hundred

Brandonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05274373779641646859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895003.post-16552903120536488172008-11-03T21:45:00.000-08:002008-11-04T00:48:22.909-08:00

My current work schedule allows me a three-day weekend. Unfortunately, these three days are Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I can't say I'm overjoyed with it but this does free me up to do super exciting things like...drive to Oregon City with my sister on a Monday afternoon. She didn't receive a mail-in ballot despite updating her address twice earlier this year. A lost mail-in form prevented

Brandonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05274373779641646859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895003.post-66251684369419221262008-10-31T13:54:00.000-07:002008-10-31T15:03:27.435-07:00

I began "The Palin Pumpkin Project" an hour late but with the best of intentions, ie, to carve a pumpkin that would best exemplify the persona, beliefs, biography and very essence of the candidate herself. As you can see below, the end result looks more like the love child of Slimer and Dr. Zoidberg than Sara Palin. This pumpkin is ghastly, ungodly and difficult to look at for longer than five

Brandonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05274373779641646859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895003.post-82534835055907083572008-10-31T13:50:00.000-07:002008-10-31T13:54:15.580-07:00

I missed this past weekend's Zombie Walk because I was stuck at work. Here's a clip of the crowd "attacking" a MAX train downtown last Saturday. Photos of the event and more can be found over at Monitor Mix.

Brandonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05274373779641646859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895003.post-24437595761157586772008-10-31T13:40:00.000-07:002008-10-31T13:50:14.642-07:00

The jack o' lantern cheeseburger pies. Of course, there's more calories in each of these than your average beef cow or that 1,000,000 calorie eclair on that old episode of The Simpsons. The pumpkin my mother carved. The pumpkin my sister's boyfriend carved. The Obama pumpkin my mother created with a stencil off yeswecarve.com.

Brandonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05274373779641646859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895003.post-2518279947138166512008-10-29T19:55:00.000-07:002008-10-29T19:55:00.628-07:00

This year I'm going to attempt to make a Sara Palin jack o' lantern because, honestly, I can't think of anything scarier to carve into the side of a pumpkin (*groan*). I will fail. The end result will be absolutely terrifying, in all the wrong ways, and not nearly as good as this one: Yeah, it's been done but it's either this or the standard three triangles and a mouth. Photos forthcoming..

Brandonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05274373779641646859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895003.post-22521585898038116822008-10-29T19:25:00.000-07:002008-10-29T19:25:00.429-07:00

Heading over to the Davis Graveyard in Milwaukie has become an annual tradition for various family members and I. I've been out there twice this year and I'll probably make one last trip before everything gets taken down. It really is cool, as far as intricate Halloween yard displays that required hundreds of hours of man labor to create go. New this year: a talking "Ghost Host" skeleton and

Brandonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05274373779641646859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895003.post-88121936809442635042008-10-28T22:49:00.000-07:002008-10-29T11:21:56.676-07:00

The first thing that springs to mind when people think of corn mazes and pumpkin patches around Portland is "The Maize" out on Sauvie Island. It's the state's most elaborate and popular patch but also the one most likely to force you into spending two hours stuck in traffic. Myself, I prefer the setup at Lakeview Farms in North Plains, which offers a maze, a pumpkin patch, a train ride, a boat

Brandonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05274373779641646859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895003.post-83645122877337061642008-10-28T22:36:00.000-07:002008-10-29T10:49:11.225-07:00

Another thing that Portland has a plethora of this time of year: haunted houses. There's Scream at the Beach up north, Fright Town at the Rose Quarter, The 13th Door at the Washington County Fairgrounds and, while I'm not willing to do a Google search to prove it, probably at least two "Hell Houses" at a few local churches. But last weekend's "XXX at the Mansion" (that link? Kinda, sorta NSFW)

Brandonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05274373779641646859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895003.post-90086677924274339002008-10-28T22:15:00.000-07:002008-10-29T10:35:00.898-07:00

It seems like you can't drive outside of the city during the month of October without coming across a harvest festival, a corn maze or a pumpkin patch every 100 feet. Last week, a few colleagues and I hit up a festival outside of Wilsonville. In addition to the usual stuff, the organizers built a Noah Ark-themed petting zoo, a huge hay slide and my two favorites: a corn cannon shooting gallery

Brandonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05274373779641646859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895003.post-38106084759988149142008-10-22T20:25:00.000-07:002008-10-26T10:24:38.576-07:00

The mother in Halsey who made national news after claiming that she would burn a local library's copy of The Bunny Suicides has come to her senses. Today she decided to return the book but, had she gone through with it, I wonder if her actions would have started a chain reaction of other outraged locals burning books they find offensive. While I'm a pretty staunch advocate of the First Amendment,

Brandonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05274373779641646859noreply@blogger.com