19 Apr 2008 No Comments
in portland, or area, thistledown
There’s definitely something funky going on with the weather when it snows on April 19th.
Last year (2007) saw a record low for this day at 35 F. Today just about matches that. Oddly enough, 2005 holds the record high temperature of 68 F. Weird.
14 Dec 2007 No Comments
At my last job there was an established group that met every Friday during lunch to play euros. I was a regular participant. This is something that I have definitely missed since starting my new job downtown. So I did something about it.
I posted a message to one of the Portland games related email lists and to a local Portland forum on the geek. I suggested meeting weekly in the mezzanine of my building. I didn’t get a huge response, but of the few people that did express interest, a couple of them have become regulars. Once it looked like this would happen, I started a google group for us.
So far we have had 2-3 people each Thursday. We’re played Ra, Yspahan, Category 5 and Blue Moon so far. The space is actually pretty nice with a lot of tables and chairs. There’s plenty of room for more people.
The group still feels a bit tenuous with only 3 of us, as it’s hard for all of us to get there every week. I need to publicize this a bit so that we can get a few more regulars. I may sign up with meetup or try to find a directory of local gaming groups that I remember seeing once.
Regardless, it’s been great to get a bit more gaming squeezed into my busy schedule and meet some new people. Drop by sometime, we meet at 11:30.
25 May 2004 1 Comment
in games, photos, portland, or area
Kug came up with a great idea for my b-day party this year – a digital camera scavenger hunt. Teams get a list of things and have 2 hours to take pictures of as many items on the list as they can. Kug created the list to be challenging, but not impossible – taking into account the potential advantage that I would have given my familiarity with the immediate vicinity of our house.
We ended up with 3 teams. Our friend Pricilla (who lives a mile from our house) was on one team and that mitigated any edge that I would have given my team. As it turns out, I’m not sure there was any benefit to being local given how well the third team did.
The Rules:
The Items:
FYI: We live out in the country (sort of), so finding a tractor in a field is not especially difficult. We’re also 10 minutes from a relatively small town, so the more urban-ish items are reasonable as well. If you use this list, feel free to adapt it as appropriate to your locale.
After the teams returned we displayed a slide show of the photos on the TV and anyone who didn’t participate in the hunt could vote on any questionable pics.
The Teams and their Scores:
Check out the pics here. I’m trying to keep the search engines out, so you’ll need to login using Username: guest and password: thistledown. Just click the [login] link in the upper right corner of the page.
04 Apr 2003 No Comments
A friend who recently moved out of Oregon for a job sent Kug a news story about a proposed Oregon state law that would classify war-protesters as terrorists.
…Dubbed Senate Bill 742, it identifies a terrorist as a person who “plans or participates in an act that is intended, by at least one of its participants, to disrupt” business, transportation, schools, government, or free assembly…
Kug’s response:
Ah, likely they’ll be coming for me any day now. Just yesterday I disrupted my baby’s transportation down the kitchen stairs on his scooter by locking the kitchen door. Not ten minutes later I disrupted the transportation of a dead ladybug to his mouth via his hand. Last week I disrupted my mom’s embroidery business by showing up unexpectedly to take her out for lunch, and certainly I intend to disrupt the business of other designers by offering a better design package to prospective clients. I may even disrupt the free assembly of chicks by cancelling chick night for some secret evil purpose of my own (why I can’t say, or you know what I’d have to do). Will the law work retroactively, do you suppose? I’m quite certain that I intended to disrupt high school on any number of occasions.
03 Apr 2003 No Comments
in food/drink, portland, or area
I’m writing this from a coffee shop in Sherwood that is recently under new management. Besides decent coffee and a comfy couch, they have free wi-fi. Considering my broadband impedament at home, this may become a regular stop.
The guy who bought the place talked my ear off once he found out that I’m a computer geek – he told me he’s been in the industry for the last 26 years. Apparently this is one of those things that he has been treatening to do for years. Excellent.
It’s located in Six Corners on Tualatin-Sherwood road. http://perk-systems.com/
01 Apr 2003 No Comments
My friend J.J.’s current band Secret Squirrel is playing Thursday April 3rd at the Mississippi on N. Mississippi. They go on at 8:00 followed by The Martindales. I haven’t heard this iteration of the group, but if previous versions are any indication, it should be a good show. If you’re in the Portland area…
01 Apr 2003 No Comments
in food/drink, portland, or area
Cafe Lena is gone but a good restaurant has replaced it. Kent recently sent around an email about his cousin who opened up a restaurant on Hawthorne. It turns out it’s where Lena’s used to be. Went there for breakfast last Sunday and had a pretty tasty meal.
Before I go into the review, I want to share one of my favorite stories about Lena’s that epitomizes the feel of the place. It was several years ago and John, Steve and I were getting lunch there. One of the specials was a calzone. John ordered it and the waitress asked him if he wanted it vegetarian or meated. This last word was spoken with such intense bitterness and hostility that we all shuddered. I think that John wanted the evil meated version, but chose the safer option.
Anyway, we went there for breakfast to check it out. There was a bit of a wait, but the host (Kent’s cousin, we found out later) was happy to bring us some coffee while we waited – Stumptown, no less! They were fairly baby friendly with the typical free standing high chairs, but I didn’t notice a changing table in the restroom. Service was good considering that all 10 tables were full, but the kitchen fell a bit behind. Steve and I had the breakfast sandwich: egg, cheese and a garden sausage patty on an e-muff served with hash-browns. Definitely a thumbs up. Kelle ate, but was not impressed by her scramble with feta and tomatoes. Jeff had a wrap/burrito sort of thing that he enjoyed and Stacy seemed pleased with the daily special scramble that she ordered.
Overall the prices were reasonable. Not especially cheap, but you get a decent amount of food for a $6-$7 breakfast. I would recommend this place and will go back. One bonus is that parking is a lot easier on this part of Hawthorne – nothing like the 30th to 40th blocks.
Jam on Hawthorne
2239 SE Hawthorne
503-234-4790
T-F 7-3, S/S 8-3
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