Halloween!

Halloween used to be a big production, with months of forethought. My mom sewed multiple costumes for me, which were frequently used for several years. One year, she made me a Wendy dress out of an old sheet, and I went with my neighbors Peter Pan, Captain Hook and Tinkerbell.

I miss trick or treating, and I miss dressing up. My neighborhood doesn't have enough kids for me to stay home with a bowl of candy either.

This year, I discovered something fun to do: Trick or Vote. With Halloween just four days before the big election, Portland (and 50 other cities in 40 states) are doing a fun get out the vote campaign. I get to go door to door in costume, but this time, I'm asking for a pledge from people that they will vote their whole ballot and get it in by the deadline. There are a lot of important issues on the ballot in addition to the president, so we hope to encourage people to look at all the candidates and measures. It's nonpartisan, which makes it easier to reach out to everyone.

After much deliberation, I finally settled on dressing as Beethoven because my hair is just right for it. I've compiled a black coat, white tights, short pants, a white frilly shirt, and a red scarf.

Take It In--Imbibe

Last week, I went to dinner at Imbibe, on Hawthorn and 22nd or so. I hadn't been there since the last time I played music there, which was over a year ago. Although everything looks just as it did, things have changed. Overtly, what's different is the the menu, but my hunch is that the menu is just a sign of greater evolutions behind the scenes. I definitely like the new menu, which has many items to please both meat eaters and non-meat eaters (like me). Apparently, the menu is still in flux, meaning your input would be welcome. Sunday is all day happy hour, so cheap eats and drinks abound. My only lament is the obvious-- I miss jamming there each Sunday with my friends. Perhaps the new management will come round eventually and invite us back. For now, it's definitely a place I'll recommend to friends and visitors.

I like the Rhododendron Garden

Rhododendrons are at their peak right now in Portland. I see them everywhere, and they are brilliant. Their home base is the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden across the street from Reed College in SE Portland. It only costs $3, and is free after 6:00 pm. Now that it's staying light until around 9:00, this is a pretty good deal. Although rhodes are the claim to fame, this place is really nice year-round, and has lots of other blooming things to appreciate in the spring, including cherry trees. It's nine and a half acres, and feels even bigger because it shares a border with a golf course. It wasn't crowded when I went, and that was on a weekend when the flowers were at their best. Check it out!

Do You Remember Yahtzee?

What to do on a Tuesday evening? My friend and I brought our own game of Yahtzee to a casual restaurant and set up shop for an hour or two while we enjoyed the good food and atmosphere. I may not have played Yahtzee in at least fifteen years, so it was fun to rediscover an old favorite. It's a bit like poker, but a lot simpler. And Yahtzee, which means rolling a five-of-a-kind, comes up more than I would have guessed.

Locked Out

I left my keys at work today, but didn't realize it until after coming home for dinner, leaving again for class and returning to a then empty apartment. Fortunately, I'd picked a really lovely evening to be locked out. In addition to perfect weather, it was the first Thursday of the month, and art galleries in the Pearl district were open late. So, I picked myself up off the porch, and headed through downtown to enjoy an evening out.

Backdoor Kitchen

Last week, I was lucky enough to go to a conference at the Friday Harbor labs on San Juan Island (off the coast of northern Washington). This is close to paradise in the summer. Although a bit cold, being there in early spring was nice because we missed the huge tourist waves. Searching for someplace to eat out for my birthday, the baristas at a coffee shop suggested the Backdoor Kitchen. As the name suggests, this little reastaurant is tucked behind a nursery warehouse on a side street. Outdoor seating in a serene garden would be ideal in warmer months, but huge windows let indoor dinners appreciate the outdoor light. Many of the tables next to windows were already reserved on that mid-March Thursday. It was surprisingly hard to find vegetarian-friendly food in Friday Harbor, even on the Backdoor Kitchen menu. But, as I've found now that I know to ask (generally at nicer restaurants), the chef can put together something great. Roasted yams, squash, mashed potatoes, spring greens and some white bean soup. The veggies were colorful, sweet, tasty and not overcooked or drowned in sauce. I'm sure the stuff on the menu is equally good, but ordering vegetarian turned a $27 entree into a $13 entree. Not bad, as far as this tourist town is concerned.

Great Young Fiddlers

Darol Anger asked me to help publicize this upcoming concert. I don't think posting it here will have any effect whatsoever, but it won't hurt either. It should be great-- these are fine young musicians, doing some creative stuff.

Concert: Fiddle Summit: State Of The Art
with Aoife O’Donovan, Alex & Tatiana Hargreaves,
Tristan & Tashina Clarridge & more.
7 PM- $12 suggested donation
Community Music Center
3350 SE Francis St Portland, OR 97202
503-823-3177
www.CommunityMusicCenter.org

A contemporary fiddle concert with the best of the new generation of acoustic music players, with members of Crooked Still and Darol Anger’s Republic Of Strings.

Some of the country’s finest young fiddlers will gather here in Portland on March 23 for a freewheeling display of some of the new (& old!) acoustic string music which is moving audiences all over the world. Picking up their cue from artists such as Bela Fleck, Darol Anger, and Mark O’Connor, these young virtuosos are already making their mark nationally in venues from concert halls to bluegrass festivals, and have forged a tight community of committed artists at the age when most kids are still trying to figure out wardrobe issues and master Facebook.
Convened in Corvallis the previous week for a self-organized group teaching clinic, some of these young master musicians will perform a concert at the Community Music Center in southeast Portland, in a small, excellent-sounding hall, perfect for acoustic strings.
Complete list of musicians:
Aoife O’Donovan,
Alex & Tatiana Hargreaves,
Tristan & Tashina Clarridge,
Simon Chrisman, Paul Kowert.

Vocalist Aoife O’Donovan is considered by many to be the successor to Alison Krauss as Queen of the younger folk music community. Her pure and agile voice can be heard on many different recordings, including her own group, Crooked Still.

Tristan & Tashina Clarridge, Grand National Fiddle champions, make a brilliant brother-sister team and have performed and recorded extensively all over the U.S. They have created music educational events all up and down the west coast, and perform regularly with Mark O’Connor, Natalie MacMaster, Tony Trischka, and Darol Anger.

Alex Hargreaves at age 15 is one of the most talented jazz fiddlers ever, and is fluent in a variety of other styles as well. in 2007, Alex was awarded a Belle Foundation Cultural Development grant for his musical achievements and won an Alternative Styles award from the American Strings Teachers Association. In 2005, Alex was awarded the Daniel Pearl Memorial Violin.

Alex’s 11-year old sister Tatiana Silver Hargreaves is also a startling prodigy, one of the finest old-time appalachian fiddlers ever, and a riveting protege of Bruce Molsky.

Up and coming hammer-dulcimer virtuoso Simon Chrisman is one of the few young players to successfully integrate his instrument into the New Acoustic scene.
The astonishing acoustic bassist Paul Kowert is an Edgar Meyer protégé; ‘nuff said.

Community Music Center
3350 SE Francis St Portland, OR 97202
503-823-3177
www.CommunityMusicCenter.org

Winter Market

One of my favorite weekly rituals is walking to the Saturday farmers market near my house. For the food, the entertainment, the walk, all of it. But the market is only April-December, and I am having a hard time being patient. So, today I checked out the year-round market at People's Food Coop on SE 21st. It's tiny, but it's there. Wednesdays from 2-7 pm. Mostly greens and some root vegetables this time of year. They also have a baker and some other local food vendors. I enjoyed the people watching, particularly the kid watching.