Imagine my surprise when I made my over to Physical Element at 11th and NW Lovejoy for some new workout stuff to find that they were gone. Well, not exactly gone. The store was still there, but no more fitness gear.

Turns out Physical Element has changed ― and dramatically ― from a place to get running tights to one where you’ll find European A-line chemises and V-neck ribbon dresses, among other striking fashionable fare.

I saw items from Cop.Copine, Moyuru, Deca, Casch Copenhagen, and there was also a lot from local designers. OK, I was disappointed to find the workout stuff gone, because I liked what they had. But the store looked great and the lines they’re carrying are top of the line and beautiful.

I didn’t really want to go to the gym anyway…

Cheers,
Emily

Roller derby. You read it right: roller derby. Does your town have it? I don’t know what to tell you if you don’t. It’s really one of the benchmarks of modernity. Like city-wide WiFi and electric cars, which we also have.

OK, I’ll confess, I’ve never seen the Rose City Rollers play, but I can still love that they’re here. They were founded in 2004 and have absorbed and administered an untold number of bruises, scrapes and contusions since that time.

They have their “bouts,” as they call them, at the Expo Center against six visiting teams like the Axles of Annihilation and the Heartless Heathers. You gotta love the names.

But then maybe you go and you’re not content to just watch. You want to mix it up. Lucky for you they have tryouts every couple of months. So sharpen those elbows.

Cheers,
Emily

I’ve wondered what the Roadside Attraction was. You can’t tell from the street. I was just in that neighborhood for a birthday party at Grand Central Bowl, which I obviously hadn’t been to in awhile. It’s, um, changed a little.

Gone are the days when you needed a gang affiliation and a tetanus shot to get in. I applaud their creativity. It’s time we reclaimed the bowling alley and made it a classy place that serves not chili cheese fries but pear and gorgonzola salad and garlic prawns. (They do.)

Grand Central now also has conference rooms, a private sky box, fireside lounges (seriously) and private luxury seating in something called a VIP bowling lounge. And I’m not going to lie, we had a good time. Though my Pacific Crab Stack did need more wasabi aioli.

Cheers,
Emily

Speaking of classy upgrades and posh VIP stuff. Or at the very least opportunities to drink. There are two events coming to the Pearl on May 2 that you should be aware of. The first, as Keith surely already knows, involves the opening of the Deschutes Brewery pub in the Pearl (NW Davis and 11th).

The second is a little thing we like to call the Portland Independent Wine Festival. The festival runs from till the 4th and gives you a great chance to taste the wines and meet the winemakers from more than 30 small craft wineries throughout Oregon.

It all makes me wonder about our fascination in these parts with the act of drinking. Coffee, beer, wine, distilled spirits, we don’t care. You’d think with as much rain as we get we’d favor a specialty in something dry, like crackers or Bundt cake.

Cheers,
Emily

Went to not one but two great bars last Friday that I’d never been to before. I don’t think it was just the weather, but these are important discoveries I’ll get back to.

So after work I went to meet a friend at this other place and he called and said, “Let’s meet at the Green Dragon.” “Is it karate school?” I asked. It wasn’t. It is actually a great spot in S.E. on 9th with an incredible beer selection. They have mead! Who serves mead! And they’ve got pinball.

Just up the street the Roadside Attraction doesn’t have the same beer selection, but it’s just plain cool. Like a New Orleans bordello mixed with a junk yard. It’s like a bar in a Quentin Tarantino movie. I want to live there. Great patio and more personality than three other places combined.

Later,
Keith

I don’t know if you checked out my post about Raiders of the Lost Ark: the Adaptation, but I went to see it and was blown away. It played at the Hollywood Theater and raised $9,200 for the Austin Miller Scholarship Fund.

If you haven’t heard of it these three teenage boys reshot Raiders of the Lost Ark scene for scene! Two of the guys were at the Hollywood and explained how they did it. Amazing.

The most incredible scene was the one where Indy is hanging off the front of the truck. They pulled their truck from some swamp, took out the engine and rigged a braking system. These are teenagers. I was playing PlayStation at that age.

Anyway, if you have a chance to see it, go. And Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull opens on May 22!

Later,
Keith

My name is Keith and I play dodgeball. No, I don’t just show up at neighborhood schoolyards and start picking off fourth graders. As fun as that sounds. This is fierce big kid action.

Remember, this is Portland. Things are different out here. We have a little thing called Underdog Sports, where you can channel your inner grade schooler to play organized mini-golf, kickball and dodgeball. Or bowling, flag football, ultimate and volleyball.

You laugh, but I’m telling you you paste some guy and hear that delicious ping sound from the ball and you can’t stop. You want it again, and again. You’re chasing the dragon after that.

But a warning: you do not want to be on the other team if I’ve just had to sit in traffic on the Sunset.

Cheers,
Keith

Here’s your friendly reminder about our Hotel deLuxe Sunday night movie. If you haven’t been before, here’s how it works: We invite talented local and regional filmmakers to screen their movies in our Screening Room off the lobby the third Sunday of each month.

If you want to come, doors open at 6 p.m. and the movie begins at 6:30 p.m. It’s free. Just RSVP at 503.219.2093. And food and drinks are available from Gracie’s and the Driftwood.

This month, on April 20, we’re showing Solving Immigration, a political documentary by award-winning filmmaker and Smithsonian inductee, Mike Shiley, that explores illegal immigration in the United States.

I haven’t seen it, but Mike directed last month’s movie on Hurricane Katrina, which was really moving. So I say bring on immigration.

See you there,
Emily

Have you read about these kids who did a shot by shot remake of Raiders of the Lost Ark? They re-did the movie with themselves as the actors and using whatever props were around. Pretty incredible.

Jump forward to these guys in their 30s and their movie is getting all kinds of press, partly I think because of the Jack Black/Mos Def movie where they re-shoot different movies. But also because they got props from Steven Spielberg!

Now they’re bringing their movie to the Hollywood Theater April 18-19. The cool part is all the money goes to a local charity called the Austin Miller Scholarship Fund at Film Action Oregon, a non-profit arts organization.

Austin attended their 2006 Project Youth Doc program and was killed in February 2008 while riding his bike. He was just 15. Just a few years older than the kids who made the movie.

Later,
Keith

Got some kids who you just can’t convince to walk the halls of the Portland Art Museum for the Degas, Forain and Toulouse-Lautrec exhibit? Can’t get them to sit still for the “4×4 Ballet” at the Schnitz either? (Your son might have even got angry when “ballet” followed the initially promising “4×4”.)

Now ask them if they want to see some really old stuff. And when then say “No way” say “OK, I thought you might like the dinosaur exhibit.”

Because OMSI is hosting the China’s Ancient Giants exhibit made up of the largest ever collection of Chinese dinosaur fossils. It includes 20 complete dinosaur skeletons (including a 67-foot-long Mamenchisaurus), interactive stations and even a “dig pit” where kids play at being real-life paleontologists.

That should buy you some time.

Cheers,
Emily