Arts, Entertainment, and other civilized endeavors.

It’s the St. Johns pre-turkey twitter tweet meet at Leisure! We’ll be making turkey paper puppets, which well may end up in the Portland Code Trips vLog series. (You’ve been forewarned.) This series is the baby of @podcasthotel (aka Alex H. Williams), who is a proud St. Johns neighborhood resident. So am I. I expect several St. Johns “celebrities” to make an apprearance, schedules be damned. (You know who you are. Ahem.)

For the rest of you nay-sayers, I present to you the Top 5 Reasons You Should Haul Your Carcass to St. Johns (recycled from a post announcing a very fun Beer and Blog held at Leisure recently…hence the references to Beer and Blog…just roll with it):

1. Happy hour is from 4-6pm, as is Beer and Blog. Coincidence? I think not. Beer and booze are a $1 off and pitchers are $2 off, as are the bruschetta (applewood smoked bacon, marinated artichoke, build your own)
2. The Leisure Public House has a very cool bar that must be fondled. It is curvy and made of reclaimed wood and metal. The bar top is concrete sculpted and pleases me greatly. If you have a thing for functional art you have to check this out.
3. St. Johns is not “too far away.” Seriously, let’s put this misconception to rest! It is less than 5 miles from I-5 North, and if you get there via Willamette Blvd., your journey will mostly traffic light free with gorgeous views. (No views for the driver, though. Keep your eyes on the road, buddy!)
4. History rocks! This is a neighborhood full of character…and characters. We won’t be too far into the main retail district, but the building has some stories to tell. And some of them are even true!
5. The miscellaneous, yet delightful, discoveries: jukebox, generous outside patio, ping-pong table, bocce, wifi, and a sleepy and snuggly pub cat.

Happy hour runs 4-6 pm, and we’ll be there until 8pm. RSVP on upcoming.org if you’d like, or just show up. We’d love to Pre-Turkey Tweet Meet you in St. Johns!

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Did you notice a peculiar locomotive today? Wondering WTF was up with a locomotive painted with the name of our 41st president? As a railfan and a photographer, I’m always on the looking to point my camera in the direction of interesting railroad subjects. While out and about yesterday morning I heard through the grapevine that this locomotive was in town and if I got on the road, I might be able to catch it for a photo before it headed south.

This is Union Pacific locomotive 4141, painted in 2005 into a special color scheme (inspired by the colors of Air Force One) for the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library. It’s one of a kind, and it’s a rare catch in this part of the country since this unit is typically in service in the southern part of the country.

No, our rails haven’t been taken over by ex-presidents. Despite the fact that the elder George Bush wasn’t a big fan of Portland, I found this to be a refreshing treat from the usual motive power seen on northwest rails. I shot this photo at Willsburg Junction, between Brooklyn and Milwaukie.

If you have an doubts that the bad economy is having a very real impact on Portland, look no further to the ever growing ‘dead pool’ of restaurants who have closed in recent months.

The list keeps getting bigger:

• Rocket - Closed November 8 after a few challenging reviews. Now serves as a private function venue.
• Kalga Cafe - Closed at the beginning of November, owner Sukhdeep Singh moves to Brazil.
• Banh Cuon Tan Dinh - Even this Fubonn tenant wasn’t immune to the bad economy and it closed.
• Genoa - 30 years of doing business in Portland comes to a crashing end after the stock market crash.
• Nutshell - just added to the list on November 16th!

If there ever was a time to get out and support your favorite restaurant, NOW is it. This list is sure to double by the end of the year.

Curling up with a good book on a rainy day sounds perfect, right? But you’re thinking, “I don’t know what I want to read!!”

Enter Wordstock, Portland’s annual festival of books, writers, and storytelling. Now in its fourth year, the festival starts tonight with a poetry slam at the Bagdad Theatre in SE Portland as well as a graphic comic novel First Thursday event at the Fuzzy Glamour Gallery in NW Portland.

A list of nearly 200 authors who will be in town participating on panels and in the exhibition halls through the weekend is available on the Wordstock site. Panel discussion topics include publishing your first book, Queer Portland, and food writing. The panels as well as the exhibition will take place on Saturday and Sunday at the Oregon Convention Center.

Details such as where and how to buy tickets, schedule of events, that impressive list of authors and much more can be found on WordstockFestival.com.

This festival has something for just about everyone, so go forth and find that curling-up-worthy book!

I can’t believe I am not going to be in Portland this weekend for such an amazing opportunity.  On Saturday, House Spirits is opening their doors for a tasting and then on Sunday, the Sons of Norway are having a Lutefisk dinner.  Holy Crap.

We had the wonderful opportunity to visit House Spirits last year when they had their open house.  We were able to taste a plethora of spirits including Vodka, Grappa, Whiskey, Gin and AquaVit.  They know what they are doing down there, so you should make a point to visit and support local distillers.

As for the Sons of Norway….who could pass up Lutefisk.  Actually, it is a Lutefisk and Meatball dinner.  Never thought the Norwegians were big meatball people, but heck, you learn something new each day.  I’m gonna have to call my mom to confirm that.  See, I grew up with Norwegians and spent a fare amount of winter holidays in Minnesota eating dinners of Lutefisk or Oyster Stew.  As a kid, I hated them both.  Hated with a passion.  These days, my palate is a little more open to new things.  I have had Lutefisk in the recent past and it isn’t as crazy icky tasting as it sounds.  Lutefisk is a traditional Norwegian/Swedish dish of whitefish that has been preserved in lye. It is then soaked to get the lye out and then steam cooked. Yes, it is an acquired taste. My grandfather would be proud that I’m pimping Lutefisk.

House Spirits open house
2025 SE 7th
Saturday, Nov. 8 1-4pm. Free. 21+

Sons of Norway Lutefisk and Meatball Dinner
Sons of Norway Grieg Lodge
111 NE 11th, Portland
Sunday, Nov. 9 - Reservations @ 2, 4, and 6pm
Call 503 771 2689 for reservations.  $20; $10 for kids