This seems an appropriate time to offer up my top three moments of our fast expiring summer. I’ve been thinking about it, and have consulted my friends and my diary to compile this definitive list. I recommend printing this out and filing it away for next year.

Drum roll, please…

No. 3 Beijing Olympics — I know this isn’t about Portland, but we had a fencer win a gold medal. That’s something. Plus this was my list idea so I can include what I want.

No. 2 Rooftop films fest — Thursdays were no longer the Jan Brady of the week. Our rooftop series was like having two Fridays every week.

No. 1 TBA — This event would make my list every summer. It is a smorgasbord of creativity and art that never fails to challenge, engage and inspire. Kudos, Portland.

See ya,
Emily

I was complaining to someone here that back where I’m from Oktoberfest is a big deal but that people out here don’t seem to get down with the sausage and polka stuff. Someone pointed me to a place called Mt. Angel, but that’s too far for drinking frothy steins of grog and driving.

But then today someone told me that Oaks Park, the amusement park in S.E., has one. The all-knowing Internet confirms this. It’s from Sept. 19-21 and mentioned sausage eating, chicken dancing, pretzel kissing. And oom pah bands.

Or, it’s the Pirate Festival (Sept. 20-21) at Cathedral Park. (Portland is mental about pirates.) They say there’ll be music, dancing and reenactment, and Rogue beers, which is the next best thing to a bottle of rum.

Later,
Keith

Hey people, I hate to tell you but summer is just about out of here. It was great. I don’t care where you’re from, you spend a summer here and it’ll become your new favorite city.

But nothing lasts forever. And come on, most of us wouldn’t want it to anyway. Because fall is beautiful around here, too. It’s my second year out here and I already love how the air changes. There’s that cold in the morning and at night.

And there’s also something called the corn maze. That’s right, the MAiZE, with its cool hip-hop spelling, is back again at the Pumpkin Patch on Sauvie Island. This year they say it “features the city’s bridges, rivers and mountains”. I don’t know what that means but it’s five acres of disorienting fun.

Later,
Keith

You’ve had a long day at some boring business meeting. You’ve been trapped at a wedding for a member of your spouse’s family you’ve never even met. You just need a break, a moment to breathe.

Well, if you’re in town between Sept. 14 and 16 you might head over to the Portland Japanese Garden. I’d say it’s always a good solution for a tough day (especially the rock garden, which will take the edge off as well as any pinot). But on these nights they welcome visitors for O-Tsukimi, or moon viewing.

If my calendar is right, the full moon falls on Sept. 14, but all three nights are likely to be good viewing. Check the forecast. And if you’re dubious that merely taking in the moon will do the trick, try a cup of sake as an accompaniment. That should do it.

See ya,
Emily

Hey speaking about the Ecotrust building, Hotel deLuxe is doing a new package that I think is really cool. (The hotel has a bunch of different special deals. If you haven’t seen them, check out Special Offers.)

This one is a “green” package. I don’t know who came up with the idea but it’s smart I think. It starts with you leaving your car and getting free valet (that’d be me). Then you get two all-day Tri-Met passes, which work on buses, Max light rail and the streetcar around Portland.

Then the hotel provides a reusable tote bag for your shopping convenience, the “Easy Being Green Handbook,” which is full of stuff on sustainability, and a $10 gift certificate to World Cup Coffee in the Ecotrust Building. Which I guess is the first historic building in the city to get LEED certification. There ya go.

Later,
Keith

You know, I think I wrote about this one last year, too. From the sublime to the sweet. I’m talking about the Northwest Chocolate Festival. If it’s about chocolate you’re likely to find it at the Ecotrust Building Sept. 12-14.

I’m not kidding. It really is a literal chocolatopia over there. There’s chocolate-making classes, keynote addresses on chocolate, chocolate pairings with wine and beer, chocolate workshops and tastings aplenty. There’s even something called “Healthy Living with Chocolate.” Hmm…

So I’d recommend checking out some of the TBA stuff going on and then find your way to NW 9th for dessert. And bring the kids. I hear they go crazy for the stuff.

See ya,
Emily

I can’t believe I’m writing again about TBA — where the heck did the year go? It’s astonishing to me sometimes how quickly time flies by. You put your head down in May and lift it up and it’s September. The upside is it doesn’t seem like we had to wait all that long for one of my favorite events to come back around.

They call it the Time-Based Art Festival but I don’t think “festival” quite captures it. It has more of an organic feeling to me than that. And it’s just so eclectic. There’s theatre, dance, music, film and all kinds of different exhibitions, all from local and international artists. I can’t think of another event like it anywhere.

It runs from Sept. 5 through Sept. 14 all over town. Check the website for what’s happening and where.

See ya,
Emily

It’s time to rock, Portland. One word, one abbreviation and one acronym: MusicFestNW. This is Portland’s indie rock all-you-can-eat buffet. A friend and I went the first time I visited Portland and I think I drove everyone back home crazy talking about it afterwards.

So MusicFestNW brings all these bands and artists together for a bunch of shows at venues all over the city. The way it works is you buy a wristband for $50. This gets you into everything over four days. The challenge seriously is deciding what to see so you don’t miss something else.

This year the lineup includes, well, everyone: Britt Daniel of Spoon who lives in Portland now I think, Crooked Fingers, Fleet Foxes, M Ward, Vampire Weekend, even Sir Mix-A-Lot. There are a crazy number of acts. Better start studying.

Later,
Keith

I didn’t think I would but I’ve got to confess that I miss the Olympics. It doesn’t help of course that all the junky TV has returned. Ugh. But there was just something about this year’s that grabbed me.

Who knows, maybe there’s just so much ugly stuff going on in the world that we, or at least I, just needed the break. It’s time for something positive, where the stories don’t involve people blowing up other people. So I enjoyed it, and I’m really sorry it’s over.

Now I guess all I’ve got to look forward to is the upcoming Art in the Pearl. Check it out over at the Park Blocks on Aug. 30 and Sept. 1. And if you also miss the Olympics, you’ll be happy to know that at least there’s jury judging.

See ya,
Emily

OK, all, just a reminder that this year’s Top Down Film Festival is about to finish up this coming Thursday, Aug. 28.

The finale arrives in the form of “Super Argo and the Faceless Giants.” What in the world is that? Well, I don’t know exactly, but it involves a professional wrestler turned superhero/spy who fights a mad scientist who plans to kidnap the world’s best athletes to turn them into robots. I’m in.

The Top Down festival is put on by our friends at the Northwest Film and held on the rooftop of our parking garage. If you’ve never seen a movie on a garage, don’t miss this last installment. The evening also includes a live music pre-show at 8 by Will Carpenter’s Towering Trees as well as food and drink. Our grappling hero gets started at dusk (9ish).

See you there,
Emily