Get your motor running: It’s almost time for the 2009 Dew Tour’s stop in Portland. If you’re not familiar with what the Dew Tour is all about, here’s the scoop: It’s a big competition of all the really happening sports on wheels. There’s BMX, skateboarding, freestyle motocross, etc.

It attracts the best athletes competing in those sports so expect the tricks to be more radical and jaw dropping than you can believe. And the prizes are equally monumental (the largest in action sports apparently), with $2.5 million in booty handed out to the best.

The event also boasts live music, gaming, interactive courses for fans to try out, all kinds of cool new products to sample, etc., etc. so on and so on. Even if you don’t know Dew, your kids will. Just ask.

See you there,
Keith

I want to make it as simple as possible for family and friends this Christmas. All I’m looking for is lift tickets. Easy. I don’t even care if it’s to Timberline or Meadows or whatever. I’m not picky.

If you just don’t feel like you could sleep if all you got me was a season pass to Meadows, then I could use the following items from the following locations. Again, trying to make it as simple as possible. No need to thank me. It’s my pleasure.

Snowboard bindings – Try REI at NW 14th and Johnson.
A new shell (with a hood) – Maybe Mountain Shop on NE Broadway
Oakley goggles – I’ve seen them at the US Outdoor Store on SW Broadway

Just let me know if you need any more ideas.

Later,
Keith

Ha! This month I beat Emily to mentioning the Hotel deLuxe movie for movie night! I told her I would. You’ve got to be on the ball with her, but this month I win. You owe me a mocha. Extra chocolate.

So November’s movie is called “Freedom State” and is directed by Cullen Hoback. It will show on Nov. 16, so you have some time to get ready for it. And tell me it doesn’t sound interesting. It’s a comedy about mental hospital patients who wake up and realize they’ve slept through the apocalypse. I know, right?

It’s a road movie. They get in their short bus and go out and try to find the edge of the world. Come on. What could be better? Combine that with food and drinks from Gracie’s and the Driftwood and you’re set. See details on our Movie Night page.

Later,
Keith

Ha. You owe me, Keith. I, too, learned a couple of things last week that made me quite happy as well.

1. I don’t know if you remember but I did a post awhile back lamenting the sad passing of Portland’s Nau clothing. Alas, I was not the only one and Nau really announced that they had been purchased. By a company in Santa Barbara. Good news, and good luck, Nau!

2. You know about the first Thursday artwalk downtown and the last Thursday artwalk in Alberta. But did you know there’s a first Friday artwalk? Me either! It’s sponsored by the Central Eastside Arts District and includes over 30 galleries around SE Sandy. See their site for a handy map.

Ta Ta,

Emily

The blues festival is a good one. Charlie Musselwhite is definitely worth two cans of food. Great location there, too, beside the river.

After Rose Festival and then four days of blues guitar and harmonica, you might be ready for something a bit more on the sedate side. I know I will be. You need to decompress. Clean the palate.

So I’m thinking the Star Festival at the Japanese Garden might be just the ticket. Also called Tanabata, this event is traditionally celebrated on the seventh day of the seventh month of the year, when the two stars Vega and Altair come together.

Well, the Japanese Garden, ever the rebel, is having it on June 6 instead. Guests can take part in the tradition of writing one’s wishes, called tanzaku, and hanging them on a tree, enjoy picture storytelling, or kamishibai, as well as music and activities for the kids.

Now doesn’t that sound relaxing?

Cheers,
Emily

Speaking of bikes, a reader asked me to recommend where if you’re from out of town you can rent bikes. An excellent question. I should’ve thought of that. There are a lot of options. Here are a few:

Fat Tire Farm – This is probably closest to Hotel deLuxe. It’s at 27 NW Thurman. And it has the best name.

Waterfront Bicycle – This isn’t really too far either on 1st and SW Ash. They’re the closest to downtown. You can jump right onto the path that runs along the Willamette.

CityBikes Workers Coop – They’re on the other side of the bridge on 7th and SE Ankeny.

Wherever you go, ask for some recommended rides. You can also check out sites like OregonLive for ideas.

Cheers,
Keith

Congrats, Portland! We just earned the platinum level from the League of American Bicyclists. We’ve made gold before, but with this we become the first large U.S. city to earn platinum and join Davis, Calif., as the only other platinum Bike Friendly Community in the country.

LAB identified a bunch of reasons why. Like we have 270 miles of on-street bike lanes and paved trails, we have a city ordinance that requires bike parking in development projects and we have six bike corrals, each of which replaced one on-street car parking space with 12 bicycle spaces. And the list goes on.

About 16 percent of Portlanders use a bike as either their primary or secondary means of transportation to work. How can you not dig that? So helmet up, and join the party!

Later,
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

An interesting post in PDXArtWork about the battle for broader rules for murals in Portland. I for one say bravo. Murals are a positive expression of civic pride. When is public art a bad thing?

(Though I guess people weren’t so happy when Diego Rivera included Lenin in his mural at the RCA Building… Bad Diego.)

But if you’re a fan of the mural, and think a vibrant, modern city is not quite as vibrant or modern without them, then here are a couple not far from Hotel deLuxe to check out. Now, the skill is, um, relative, but the heart is there.

Beneath the Urban Canopy (2375 NW 23rd Place)
Friendly House Mural (2617 NW Savier) – Says even passersby helped.

See these and others at Metro Murals.

Cheers,
Emily

So, I was at Goose Hollow Inn last night after work, and I learned something I didn’t know. Goose Hollow, the neighborhood, which includes Hotel deLuxe, PGE Park, the MAC club, etc., was actually named after migrating geese that used to stop in the area in the late 19^th century.

I guess I just figured there would be more to it. Apparently there were even fights about these free-ranging birds. That led to … yup, the “Goose Wars”.

(Wikipedia has a different story. They say it got its name from people letting their own geese run around free in the area. I guess only the geese know for sure.)

I’ve got to stick with the guy that told us the story. He had an eyepatch and wore a t-shirt that was a take-off on the cover of Casablanca but with Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. You just want to believe a guy like that.

Back to it,

Zach