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This is piggybacking on Betsy’s post about Black Friday and whether or not we opt to get up before the crack of dawn to get discounted products at the big stores around town.

My mother is one of those people who make it a tradition to awaken at a ridiculous hour the day after Thanksgiving to venture out to various stores in Baltimore that are open and hoping people will buy, buy, buy.

Not I. Never have, never will. Simply put, I’m an insomniac and the thought of intentionally altering my sleep patterns for shopping seems a step too close to masochism.

Since moving to Portland, I’ve been absolutely amazed by the amount of local artists and artisans who sell a variety of items. Sorry, but you’re not going to find vegan chocolate truffles at Wal-Mart. And that’s just one of many examples. (more…)

Documenting the construction or destruction of a building is an interesting process. Both involve a lot of planning, but there’s also an opportunity to be creative. Case in point, Mississippi Studios is in the midst of a huge renovation and expansion project.

As the project moves forward, they are inviting local bands to perform amongst the wreckage and are posting the videos on Razing Mississippi.

This process reminded me of what’s been done in the Burn to Shine series, which started in DC, and has traveled across the country, including Portland, to show area bands performing in structures that will be destroyed at the end of that day.

The estimated venue opening date is March 2009, but in the meantime, check out some of the great artists who call Portland home.

This weekend, Barberama/Javarama will host two events. They’ll mark a new beginning of sorts for the shop. As previously mentioned, Barberama’s owner Nicole Cathcart put the salon up for sale a few months back. The salon now has a new owner, Brian Fuqua. To mark the occasion, the salon is hosting a party on Friday, November 21 from 7PM - 10PM.

Nicole is still around and is the proprietor of Javarama, which is conveniently in the same space as Barberama. Cool hair and good coffee can’t be beat!

In addition to Friday’s party, Brian and Nicole are hosting an open mic night on Sunday, November 23 from 8PM - 11PM. If you’ve got a song or poem you’d like to share with the world, this would be the perfect opportunity to do so. There will be a PA system on hand as well as beer in case you need some liquid courage to get in front of an audience.

Last week, we learned that BlogHer wouldn’t be visiting our city in 2009. But guess who will be visiting? MEETin!

MEETin will hold its annual celebration in PDX next August 13-16.

In case you’re going, “Er, who?!?”

MEETin, an organization based in Washington, DC, has over 90 chapters across the globe with each chapter run locally by volunteers with the primary goal of bringing people together through various events planned through the site. (Disclaimer: I’m an active member in the Portland chapter.) The organization is free to join and open to people over the age of 21. There are all kinds of events and activities from dancing to volunteering to happy hours to checking out the opera, and much, much more.

And, even better, the Portland chapter is one of the largest and most active in the organization. There are nearly 10,000 members in our area.

The announcement of the 2009 celebration was made today with more details to be provided in the coming months.

First, cue up the Sad Trombone.

BlogHer, a online community for women who blog, will not be coming to Portland…or any of the other finalists selected for the 2009 conference. As you’ll recall, the final three cities, as voted on by members of the BlogHer community as well as thousands of others across the Web, were Portland, St. Louis, and Philadelphia.

This morning, after a prolonged deliberation, the organization announced it would be holding the conference as well as its BlogHer Business Conferene in Chicago next July. The 2007 was also hosted there.

In a post on the site, some of the rationale behind the decision not to go with one of the three finalists were given:

But as we investigated the three top cities from the poll, we found that one city didn’t have a single facility big enough for us (Portland); one city had only one facility big enough that was available during either of the last two weekends in July…and it was way more expensive than we expected, and management displayed little willingness to negotiate (Philly), and the final city actually wasn’t that easy to get to and had more limited facilities for lots of tracks and lots of unique sponsor activities (St. Louis).

I’m definitely bummed that Portland wasn’t selected so we could show off our fabulous tech scene and city to others. However, I do understand their need for seeking a space large enough to house everyone. Being able to have a hotel with enough conference facilities and hotel rooms to host us all was definitely one of the best parts about the 2008 Conference held in San Francisco.

But it’s also sad as this news comes on the heels of the OSCON Conference leaving Portland in 2009.