The Good, The Bad & The Ugly – 1.27.10

The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly for January 27, 2010:

The Good: Portland’s City Council ended the last day of public testimony and comment regarding the proposed renovation of PGE Park into a soccer/football facility. While they will not cast their actual votes until next week due to a procedural requirement, 4 of the 5 Commissioner’s have promised YES votes. This is, as Mayor Sam Adams put it, “The end of the very beginning” for MLS2PDX.

I was at City Hall for the testimony and it was mostly interesting, mostly positive, and sometimes hilarious (conspiracy theory about toilets FTW!). There was an after party at the Bitter End, with the pub laying out a spread of food for us. Good vibes, they do abound.

The Bad: After the afternoon of Timbers mania, Audrey and I headed to the Rose Garden for the Trail Blazers vs Jazz game. Without going into too many details: the Blazers got chumped from the get go, going down 21-2 in the first quarter, and by as much as 26 during the first half. They fought back and made a respectable game of it, pulling to within 5 points with 6 minutes left in the game; but they were unable to get over the hump and lost 106-95.

There are two things that mitigate the “Bad”-ness of this for me: One was that Audrey was with me, marking the first time she’s joined me for a Blazers game in 3 or 4 years. It was great to watch a game with her, despite the result.

The other thing that made the Blazers mess less “Bad” was when the fans booed continuously and very loudly during the entire break between the 1st and 2nd quarters, to express displeasure over a string of shitty calls, including a phantom technical after the buzzer. I just found it refreshing to hear a genuine and spontaneous display of emotion – be it anger or joy – in an arena where the crowd’s every utterance is normally controlled by the onerous and inane shit coming out of the jumbotron.

(edit to add another thing that made the Blazers game less “Bad”: namely Nicolas Batum. The young Frenchman is only 2 games back from a shoulder injury he suffered during the preseason, and even in limited minutes thus far he is looking out of sight. I am very happy to see Nico back in our injury-annihilated lineup, and before the midseason break, even!)

The Ugly: The asshole who sometimes sits next to me at Blazers games – not Ricky, haha, on my other side, in Section 308, row A, seat 2 – is a drooling, racist, and flat out stupid turd of a person. Normally he’s annoying enough, screeching out his incoherent, spittle-flying rants; but usually I can tune him out with the little dialogue Ricky and I have during a game. Last night he was in rare form though, booing the Blazers players during introductions and literally spraying hatred after every missed shot (this just in, you cologne-drinking, submental fuckwit: every player in NBA history has missed a lot of shots). It just bugs me that I have to sit next to this guy – who on at least one occasion called Travis Outlaw a “jigaboo” – and while I’m not normally the type to go in for physical confrontation, my tolerance tank is running on empty.

Books Oh-Ten

A new year, am I right? Time for another reading list. I just finished reading The Maltese Falcon, which, since I began it last week during the way-way-back time of two-thousand-nine, will be cataloged with the books I read in that year.

But enough of the past! It is now the Future!

I’ve got a new copy of Blood Meridian on the night stand, which I intend to crack open right now. Though it won’t actually *crack* because it’s a trade paperback. Which is a nice enough format but doesn’t fit in my pocket and that can be a drag….

Anyway! On with books! There will be some blurb reviews here with this list, and links to longer reviews as the mood strikes me. Feel free to comment with reading recommendations, brilliant and/or scatological insights, harsh ad hominem attacks, or whatever else you like.

Books!

1. Blood Meridian, or, The evening redness in the West – Cormack McCarthy (1985)
Intense, nihilistic brutality rendered in some of the most stunningly beautiful prose you’ve ever read; that’s the best way I can describe this book. I imagine McCarthy presenting this one to the populace and saying, “You like Cowboys & Indians stories? Fine: here’s a Cowboys & Indians story for you. Enjoy it, assholes.” It is not something I would recommend to most people – I don’t even feel comfortable talking about it in so-called polite company, but I’ve definitely benefited for reading it. McCarthy is a master artist and I am already craving more of his writing…

…but not quite yet. Right now I need a lighter fare, something enjoyable on a visceral, and not just an intellectual level. So I am going to re-read:

2. Good Omens – Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett (1990)
A very funny book about the apocalypse, written by two of my favorite authors. The anti-christ is a likable kid, and demons and angels are big chums. Any fan of either Pratchett or Gaiman has probably already read it; for anyone else it can be a good intro to both authors (as was the case for me when I first read it 10 or so years ago).

3. Nightwood – Djuna Barnes (1936)
This seminal piece of lesbian fiction contains rich, deeply layered language, some very clever turns of phrase and a few wry-smirk-worthy moments; but having set it down at about 2/3 finished and gone a full weekend without picking it back up, I must admit to myself that I probably don’t intend to finish it. With more philosophizing and ruminating than genuine character building (to say nothing of the plot – which is what it appears to be: nothing), I just can’t bring myself to read any more about the tragic sexual malaise of wealthy world-traveling bohemians (woe!). The best comparison I can make for Nightwood, in my reading experience, is another brilliantly empty novel, Justine (though I was at least able to finish that one).

4. The Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes – Neil Gaiman (1991)
Having spent a good chunk of my adolescence strenuously fanboying over comic books, I went nearly 20 years without picking one up (NB: ‘fanboy’ is now a verb). A couple years ago I finally read Watchmen, and I enjoyed it enough that it had me wanting to read comics again. Cut to now, and I’ve finished the first volume of the much more massive (but possibly less brilliant) The Sandman. It’s like the horror comics I used to read as a kid (Twisted Tales, Tales of Terror, e.g.), but with much bigger ambition, and far more mature and coherent (if surrealistic) characters and plotlines. I’m glad I picked this one up and look forward to the next volume (of 10!), even if the main characters – the anthropomorphized figures of such “Endless” concepts as Death and Dream – do have silly looking 80s rock hair.

The Lathe of Heaven

2009.36 – The Lathe of Heaven, Ursula K. Le Guin (1971)

This was the first adult-targeted Le Guin book I’ve read. I had previously read the first two Earthsea books and enjoyed them somewhat; but I am never the biggest fan of young adult fiction, and I’d let a number of years pass before I again decided to read Le Guin (despite the positive recommendations of many friends whose opinions on literature I much respect). One day I was in need of a new book – I don’t know if I was on my way out the door to work, or what – and Audrey recommended The Lathe of Heaven.

I am happy that I read it, because it was as good as advertised, or better. I am tempted to say, based on just this book, that Le Guin is as good a science fiction writer as I’ve read. Most sci fi is, let us face it, no matter how clever the plot or how inspiring the setting and premise, poorly written. Much as I love Isaac Asimov, Frank Herbert, Larry Niven and the rest of that bunch, they are more professional “what if?” artists than they are prose craftsmen. I can probably count on one hand the number of sf writers I have read whose skill with prose matches the strength of their imagination; in this group I would include William Gibson, Neil Gaiman (who isn’t strictly speaking a sci fi writer), Philip K. Dick (only when he is “on” – which is perhaps less than half of the time), Ray Bradbury and maybe Harlan Ellison (though see: Dick); in addition to some wonderful one-offs like Frank Herbert’s Dune, Walter Miller’s A Canticle for Liebowitz or Arthur C. Clarke’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. To that group I hope to now add Ursula K. Le Guin.

The Lathe of Heaven is set in Le Guin’s (and my) home town of Portland, Oregon, and without going into much by way of specific plot details, Le Guin has imagined a pretty bleak future (set roughly 5 years ago, in 2003 or 4); where this book differs from most other dystopian visions is that it isn’t nuclear war or some other cataclysmic event that’s caused the world to fall into disrepair or decay. Le Guin instead uses a combination of less sexy but (these days) more believable causes for the apocalypse: pollution, over-population, the hubristic agricultural and industrial practices of the world’s governments (and, yes, some war as well). This is probably what most impressed me about Lathe, apart from the characters and dialogue, and the overall high quality of the writing itself: for a book written nearly 40 years ago (when a nuclear holocaust actually *was* a legitimate and real fear) to have foreseen a deterioration of human society caused by a much more nuanced collection of circumstances (which are perhaps, individually, seemingly less threatening than the sum total).

The characters, and their interactions with one another and with their setting, also are more nuanced and believable than one might expect from a literary genre where “lantern-jawed captain” and “buxom redhead” are often the closest you can get to rounded characterizations (I should be fair here and say that characters are artificial and flat in most books – full stop – and not just science fiction books). There is the milquetoast protagonist who wants to live in comfort and peace; a doctor (a mad scientist?) who really, at heart, does want to help people; and a lawyer who isn’t as cynical and callous as she lets on. I think there was also an eight-foot turtle from space who spoke through his elbow (I did mention this was a sci fi book, yes?).

I think what I liked most about Lathe of Heaven was everything about Lathe of Heaven; which is to say that Le Guin has here employed a number of popular sf tropes – speculation about the future, space aliens, psychic powers and fantastic technology – along with enough psychedelia and surrealism and “what horrors lurk in the human psyche” type stuff – and she has done so with a thoroughly entertaining and masterful grasp of her prose craft. I for one find it immensely satisfying if the words “prose craft” occur to me at all during the reading of any sci fi novel, and so I have to give this one a hearty thumbs up or gold star or whatever it is you’re supposed to give to a book you really like.

Extreme camping fail

Two of our past four nights of intended camping here on Vancouver Island have been washed away by (apparently) unseasonably heavy rains. The hilaaarious part, aside from our both nearly going mad, are the “Extreme Fire Hazard” signs posted at all the campgrounds.

We’ve spent more money than we’d intended, and we’ll have a bunch of extra food we won’t be able to eat, but the upshot is we got a few nights in a nice B&B in Sooke, and an extra night in a hotel in Victoria, right by the Legislature Buildings. And we now have a full weekend in Victoria to end our trip; and it’s sunny out…

Portland Timbers Away Games – Pub Guide

Watch the MIGHTY PORTLAND TIMBERS bring the Axe to the Road at the following locations:

Scroll down below the list of bars to see the Timbers away schedule — PTFC has only one away match on Fox Soccer Channel (FSC) this season, so bars that are able and willing to show USLLive games will get priority on this list.

***************CONFIRMED VIEWING SPOTS***************

Beulahland Coffee & Alehouse :: 118 NE 28th Ave :: All Ages :: 503.235.2794

They’ve got the posters up and their events calendar is current. Beulahland has a big projection screen for USLLive games and another TV for FSC/FSC, and will be showing every away game.

Rogue Ales Public House :: 1339 NW Flanders St :: 21+ :: 503-222-5910

Rogue is scheduled for all away USLLive games (no FSC)

Cheerful Bullpen :: 1730 SW Taylor St :: 21+ :: (503) 222-3063

The Cheerful Bullpen is officially up and running for all away games. They have a laptop behind the bar hooked up to USL Live, and then they can project that to any number of TVs in the pub except the two HD ones up front.

St. John’s Theater & Pub :: 8203 N. Ivanhoe St :: All Ages :: (503) 283-8520

St John’s Pub is a go for all games except Fridays. See this thread on talktimbers.com for details. Future dates TBD.

Leisure Public House :: 8002 N Lombard St :: 21+ :: (503) 289-7606

Leisure will be able to show the rest of the away games (as of July 17). He has a projector and comfy seating for ~12 and ‘overflow’ seating for many more. See this thread on talktimbers.com for more details.

***********TA FRIENDLY – NO USLLIVE (for now)***********

Bitter End Pub :: 1981 W Burnside St :: 21+ :: 971-222-2000
De facto TA headquarters. No FSC at Bitter End, at least for now (they definitely used to have it, but must have changed service providers because it definitely ain’t there now).

Triple Nickel Pub :: 3646 SE Belmont St :: 21+ :: (503) 234-7215
They have FSC and other soccer channels, but no wi-fi (unless you sit by the front windows and poach bandwidth from Stumptown across the street).

Marathon Taverna :: 1735 W Burnside St :: 21+ :: (503) 224-1341
They have FSC, and I think they do have wi-fi, but not much room for any projector.

*****************AWAY SCHEDULE******************

TIMBERS away schedule (all games shown on USLLive only unless indicated – all times Pacific)

04/25/2009 07:00 PM @Vancouver Whitecaps (L, 1-0)
05/09/2009 04:00 PM @Cleveland City Stars (D, 0-0)
05/22/2009 05:00 PM @Puerto Rico Islanders (D, 1-1)
05/24/2009 03:00 PM @Puerto Rico Islanders (W, 1-2)
06/11/2009 04:00 PM @Carolina RailHawks (D, 0-0)
06/13/2009 04:30 PM @Charleston Battery (D, 1-1)
07/04/2009 05:05 PM @Minnesota Thunder (D, 1-1)
07/11/2009 05:30 PM @Austin Aztex (W, 1-2)
07/17/2009 05:00 PM @Miami FC Blues (D, 1-1)
07/19/2009 03:00 PM @Miami FC Blues (W, 0-3)
08/01/2009 05:05 PM @Minnesota Thunder (D, 1-1)
08/12/2009 04:45 PM @Montreal Impact
08/15/2009 04:35 PM @Rochester Rhinos
08/28/2009 05:00 PM @Charleston Battery (Fox Soccer Channel only)
09/07/2009 04:00 PM @Austin Aztex

******************************************************

Please leave suggestions for other pubs in the comments (including any pubs in North Portland, SW, West Van, Beaverton, etc.), and if you have a local where they know you, don’t hesitate to get in touch with them and be the point of contact.

(this post is intended as a mirror to this thread on talktimbers.com)

On the road again

Here I am in Eugene Oregon, where I will spend the next three days for work. I left home at 5am today and moseyed down the I-5, accompanied by the strains of my iPod and the misty morning views of the Willamette Valley.

I have no laptop, and it’s unlikely there will be wifi or any net access at my hotel anyway; so thank god for my s-m-r-t phone, upon which I am now blogging while I wait for the workday proper to begin.

8:37am – Free truck stop coffee FTW.

10:51am – I have to pee. Breaktimes are infrequent and I worked through the last one. *squirm*

So far this is fun. I don’t get the chance to travel for work very often, so it’s a bit of a treat for me. If I were on the road 15-20 days a month like some of my coworkers, I might feel differently about this.

Starting to daydream about post-work plans: grocery store, liquor store, check in to hotel, find dinner, see if my friend Aram is in town as he said he might be, and if so get a beer with him. Hopefully my room is at least comfortable enough for drinking and reading.

12:11pm – lunch = sandwich. So far all I’ve seen of Eugene is the inside of this building (school district type place). After I get checked in I think I’ll go find the Ninkasi brewpub.

12:17pm – looks like the Ninkasi brewery is about 10 blocks from my hotel…but it’s not a pub! Noooooooooooo!!

2:14pm – fading hard after lunch. Thankfully I’m out of here in less then 2 hrs. I desire libations in the supine position.

6:09pm – At the hotel room now: a faceless friendly place near downtown Eugene. When the nice lady handed me my key and I saw the number I grinned: I’d gotten room # 107. If you know me you know why I nearly burst into song.

After checking in I had to get some food (and liquor) so I hit Freddies (et cet), and in a manic hungry daze I ended up with bananas, yogurt, peanuts, orange juice, club soda (to mix with the Scotch I bought), two bottles of Ninkasi Radiant summer ale (a new one to me, I’ve yet to open one), and some frozen vegetarian chicken nuggets. Upon returning ‘home’ I hastily devoured a couple handfuls of peanuts and a cup of yogurt – no spoon? no problema: just sort of dump the stuff in my mouth, use the fingers, there’s no shame in a hotel kitchenette. The chix nugs were OK (bit rubbery thanks to the microwave).

Now I’m watching the home run derby and feeling like it’ll be an early night for Luke. Sleep beckons, but not before I have a little taste, maybe read a few chapters of the Jasper Fforde book I just started, and maybe dump some more food in my head.

8:09 – I’m depressed to discover no Gideon’s bible in the room. A phone book is the extent of the gratis reading material, which is a poor showing if you ask me.

9:06 – I watched last night’s Colbert Report. Comedy.

I left the channel on and saw the beginning of a stand up show with the guy from king of queens. Opposite of comedy.

Day 2 – 10:34am – eating yogurt without a spoon is fun, so is waking up in a strange room and barking the hell out of my shin on the coffee table. Speaking of coffee, I’m on my 5th or 6th cup of the morning. This just in: caffeine still works.

Found out that I don’t have to work here tomorrow, but can’t cancel the last night of the hotel, meaning I’ll just mosey home in the morning and put in half a day at the office. Tonight my friend Aram will be in town, so we’ll get some beers, have a relaxing night in Duckville.

USA 2 : 0 España

The United States defeated Spain 2-0 today in Bloemfontein, South Africa to advance to the final of the Confederations Cup.  Sure, the tourney as a whole is just a tune-up for next year’s World Cup, but that was Spain’s first team out there today.  Spain, the FIFA #1 ranked team in the world and current European champion, which hadn’t lost since 2006, were shut out by a US team that opened the tourney with losses of 1-3 and 0-3 and struggled just to get results in recent World Cup qualifiers against the likes of El Salvador, Costa Rica and Honduras.

I was at work during the first half, when Wunderkind Jozy Altidore opened the scoring 26 minutes in with a blast that Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas managed to get a finger on, but went in off the left post.  At halftime I went to a nearby pub and watched the second half, which featured relentless pressure and attack from the Spaniards.  US keeper Tim Howard and his defenders made some incredible saves, coach Bob Bradley bunkered 8 in the box, and they kept Spain off the scoreboard.  Then in the 74th minute Landon Donovan sent in a cross that pinballed off a couple defenders, and Clint Dempsey was there to deftly punch in the second goal.  The US endured another nearly 20 mintues of Spain attack and won 2-0, much to the joy of the 10 or so people watching at the bar with me. [highlights here]

Deuce celebrates his goal.

Incredible.  Frankly incredible.  Definitey one of the biggest wins in the history of US soccer.  I was starting to get worried about their recent form in WC qualifiers, and figured they would be rudely dumped out of this tournament (which looked set to happen after humiliating losses to Italy and Brazil, before they defeated Egypt to advance).  Now I’m looking forward to seeing the lads take on either Brazil or South Africa in the final this Sunday,

A Day of Soccer and Family Fun in the Rose City

Sunday June 28: Timbers, Timbers and more Timbers.

1:00 PM – Portland Timbers U23 vs Vancouver Whitecaps Residency @ PGE Park

• Tickets for this match are $8, and can be bought at the stadium on game day (or from me, if that’s your thing)
• This game is being hosted by the Timbers Army, meaning that all proceeds (after operating costs for the Park are taken care of) will be split 50/50 between the Timbers Army Tifo Fund and a local charity to be determined – in the past we have volunteered and donated to a number of charities, notably Habitat for Humanity and Doernbecher Children’s Hospital.
• Children under 10 admitted FREE with paying adult.
• Ticket stubs are good for a $2 discount on tickets to the senior game at 5:00 PM (see below)
• Portland Timbers U23 are a youth squad in their first season competing in the Premier Development League. They are currently 3rd in the table, having lost only 2 games this season.

3:00 PM – Potluck BBQ Tailgate @ SW 18th Ave & Salmon St (parking lot between PGE Park and Lincoln High School, behind the Cheerful Bullpen).

• This is like a regular Timbers Army Tailgate, only BETTER. There will be players and coaches from the U23 squad in attendance (plus any senior team players who won’t be on the squad vs Montreal later in the day).
• There will be grills where you can grill your grillable food, and cups for you to imbibe your imbibe. Bring your favorite food/drink/snack, enjoy a kickaround, and soak in the love.
• Tailgates are fun.

5:00 PM – Portland Timbers vs Montreal Impact @ PGE Park

• Tickets are $12 if you buy them on gameday, but they will knock $2 off that price if you buy a ticket to the U23 game earlier in the day (see above).
• The Portland Timbers are currently 4th in the table, only 2 points out of first with 2 games in hand. This is good. We’re having a great season so far, with a great backline and keeper, a vastly improved midfield, and after a slow start offensively the goals are now starting to come (the last game was a 5-1 whooping of Minnesota last Friday). Yay!
• The Montreal Impact are a perennial USL-D1 powerhouse. They are owned by some guy named Joey, subsidized by the government of Quebec, and last weekend they threw a game against Toronto FC, losing 6-1, just to shaft their league rivals Vancouver out of a spot in the CONCACAF Champions League. Boo!

Hillbilly Blonde

Hillbilly Blonde

Originally uploaded by totalnerd

I admit, I bought this bottle for the novelty aspect of the label. I don’t normally even like blond ales. But Hillybilly Blonde (from Pale Horse Brewing in Salem, Oregon) is a light crisp ale with a decent aftertaste. Pretty much exactly what I want on a lazy Sunday summer afternoon.

Anatomy of a long Saturday

6:30 am - I wake up, perform ablutions, chug a quart of water, and leave the apartment.

7:00 am - I walk to Beulahland, where I meet some friends to watch the FA Cup final. I have a sesame bagel with cream cheese and tomato and about 5 cups of Stumptown coffee, and Chelsea defeats Everton 2-to-1 (3 beauty goals, but a slightly underwhelming game otherwise).

9:30 am - Audrey and I go to the Portland Farmers Market, where we buy asparagus, onion, bread, strawberries, peas, and lamb kebab meat; we also have a pleasant encounter with my boss.

11:30 am - I join a half dozen other Timbers Army at PGE Park to meet with Portland Timbers manager Gavin Wilkinson, assistant coach Amos Magee & other Timbers front office fellows. Topics discussed are: the June 28 Timbers U23 game being hosted by the Timbers Army; the Timbers vs Burnley friendly in July; and continuing efforts by both the TA and FO to support and cross-market one another. A genial meeting as usual, with everyone in good spirits (dampened somewhat by the impending funeral service for Howie later in the day).

12:30 pm - Dave, Trask and I split a white pie and some Pacificos at Eat Pizza.

1:00 pm - I attend the final funeral service for Timber Howie at PGE Park. About 40 people are in attendance and a few make some very nice remarks about Howie. For the second time in a week I’m in tears. Kurt then scatters Howie’s ashes beneath the stadium in Feral Cat Alley (Howie was a great cat lover, and one of his beloved cats’ ashes are scattered along with his own).

2:00 pm - We have a wake for Howie at Bitter End Pub. Bushmills, vitamin R, and love.

3:30 pm - A few of us walk to Goose Hollow Inn for a pitcher of Hopworks Lager.

5:00 pm - After a stop at the store we walk back to 18th & Salmon to join the Timbers Army tailgate. Wursts, carne asada, bottles of Pliny and Hop Stoopid, and plenty of love (mixed in with some good natured mockery of a Brian’s favorite team).

6:45 pm - I head into PGE Park for the Portland Timbers vs Vancouver Whitecaps match. The Whitecaps keeper trips Johan Claesson in the box in the 6th minute, and should be given a red card; the referee produces only a yellow, but does award a penalty, which Ryan Pore buries in front of a jubilant Woodshed for a 1-0 Timbers lead. George Josten finishes the scoring in the 41st minute with a beautiful run and shot. I had remarked earlier in the evening that I thought Josten was a trickster, a real Dennis the Menace, and that he’d do good things for us this season, and sure enough he doubles the lead.  At halftime a handful of us migrate to section 222, above the visiting Whitecaps supporters, to watch the Timbers attack the goal in the 2nd half; by my count the Timbers miss three very solid goal scoring chances, but still have enough posession and attack to make one hopeful.  Final score 2-nil to the Rose City. [report | report | highlights | highlights | stats]

Ricky, Lendog, Steven & JT

9:30 pm - After a brief walkabout for some fresh air and head clearing, we head to the post-match celebration back at the Bitter End Pub. Many of the ~20 Whitecaps supporters who made the trip are in the pub, and even though there’s some gentle ribbing (“you drove all this way just to see a loss” etc.) there are also camaraderie and shared pints and cheer.  We run into former Timbers GM Jim Taylor at the pub; it is great to see him, and to know that he’s still coming to Timbers games.  The man is a legend and no two ways about it.

11:00 pm - A handful of us end our evening with fried pies and frites at the food cart cluster at 12th & Hawthorne. I eat the BBQ brisket pie, and it is excellent; I get a strawberry pie to take home to Audrey (and upon sampling, it is also excellent).

12:00 am - After checking the web for match reports and highlights, I am off to the land of zzz…