Cinco de Lebowski!

Friday night was the 4th annual Cinco de Lebowski here in the Rose City, an event that's become as much of a tradition in some circles as driving poorly in the rain, expounding endlessly on why Ptown is better than Seattle, complaining about Californians moving up here, riding the MAX, and hitting up VooDoo doughnuts after a hot night out in downtown.  I run in those circles.  The event is hosted by Cort and Fatboy, your friendly afternoon djs on the local rock station.  After pre-Lebowski-ing at the Green Dragon with mucho white Russians and Candyland(?.  A really boring game.  And before you comment and say "It's for little kids, idiot!" the box says 3 and up.  There's zero strategy involved.  Once you learn to identify colors, a three year old has just as good a chance to win as a 75 year old.  If I'm going to play a children's game against a child, I want my superior intellect to give me a decided advantage), we migrated to Laurelhurst Park where the March of the Lebowskis started (after mixing some more Caucasians for the Nalgene at Anne's car).  There was only one way to get into the movie at the Baghdad Theater this year.  You had to wear a robe in honor of the Dude, and you had to participate in the march.  Our group, 12 strong, got our bracelets right before they ran out (phew!) and waited around for the march to begin.  And while waiting, a plan was hatched.  The plan was designed to remedy the fact that we were at the very end of a 600 person line, thus ensuring that our group would not be able to sit together.  So when the march left the park and began to move down 39th, we took off out of a side gate to the park and began power walking (this was specifically part of the plan) down 37th.  We moved quickly 4 or 5 blocks, then cut up to 39th and joined the march within the first hundred people.  Our deviousness was delicious.  The march was crazy.  600 Lebowskis will not march quietly on the sidewalk, and we ended up taking over a lane of traffic.  The number of cars driving by and honking, or rolling down their window and yelling 'Hey Lebowski!' was large and very cool.  We arrive at the Baghdad and secure a great block of seats in the front of the balcony.  Not long after the Troublemakers started rockin' out their brand of rock/swing tunes.  We danced, we watched the middle aged ladies hit on the guitarist, I bought a cd.  Finally it was time for the movie.  The favorite quotes were yelled loudly and it is definitely a movie that holds up upon repeated viewings.  The night ended with a great walk back to the cars in the pouring rain.  Which I didn't mind, because I had thought ahead and thrown my rain coat in my back pack.  I'm sure we'll be back next year...

Balloons on the MAX...

The guy with the expressionless face actually made the ballon animals
Buddy riding on top of the divider glass

As I was riding the yellow line downtown on Friday to catch the Blazer game I saw this guy on the train making balloon animals (it's actually the creepy looking guy with the hat and sunglasses in the first picture).  He seemed like a nice guy and volunteered that people should take them.  He had an assortment of small dogs and bigger creations that I think were flowers.  And because of the static electricity they would just stick to the glass (SCIENCE!).  I grabbed the red dog in the second photo on my way off the train and I believe he ended up being dubbed Buddy.  I was hoping he'd become a good luck charm for the Blazers to win, but that obviously didn't work out...thus it's probably fitting that he got left at the Living Room Theaters.  I was going to ask him if he could make a balloon Rudy, but he got off the train before I had a chance.  And I don't think he had any spanish balloons.

Objectified

Did you ever see the documentary Helevetica?  Probably not.  It's a film by director Gary Hustwit an entire design style and movement being born from one font (Helvetica).  It's pretty good.  Check it out if you're into graphic design.  Anyway, Mr. Hustwit has a new documentary coming out called Objectified.  I've been hearing about it for some time and it sounds pretty interesting.  The film is mainly based around interviews with people who design the stuff we use every day and never stop to think about the fact that someone actually had the idea to make it look the way it does.  Some one worked very hard to try to strike the perfect balance between form and funtion in the lamp next to your bed, or the gear shift in your car (or bike;-).  Hustwit interviews numberous big names in the industrial design industry, although the interview I'm most interested in seeing is with Jonathon Ive, Apple's Cheif Designer.  He's the guy responsible for designing Apple's Macbook line of computers, as well as other products of theirs.  Here's the trailer for the film:

And what's cool is that there will be a screening of the film in Portland at Cinema 21 on June 9th.  And even cooler is that Gary Hustwit will be there for a post-film discussion.  Here's the info about the screening.  Go see the film and let me know what you think, because I'll be out of town then ;-)

Grilled cheese genius

After getting enjoying my free beer while getting my haircut at Bishop's, I was riding home and passed a new establishment on the corner of 11th & Alberta.  It's called The Grilled Cheese Grill and after a first visit I recommend it highly.  The premise is simple: take an empty lot across the street from the Alberta Street Public House.  Put in an Airstream trailer for cooking and order taking.  Add an old school bus with a new paint job and renovate it to put in booths.  Put in about 12 picnic tables to take advantage of the coming nice weather.  Then keep the menu simple with a variety of grilled cheese sandwiches and ala carte toppings that can be added.  I had 'The Jersey,' which is swiss cheese and mushrooms grilled just right on some tasty rye bread.  This place fits the quirky-ness of Alberta (and Portland) perfectly, and hopefully will be a big hit during the summer months when a grilled cheese sandwich and a cold drink on a warm summer day sounds just about right.