Portland, OR

So, if you must know, I am down with all kinds of non-profits and NGO’s, so I tend to get maybe thirty to fifty emails a day from such groups. I ran across this one today, and thought I’d share…

A very good organization, the Center for Health, Environment & Justice wants to stage a small protest against the Disney Corporation’s refusal to “go green” and switch over to non-toxic cleaning products for the all Disney theme parks, hotels and restaurants. It seems the Chairman of the Disney Board will be in Portland to accept some award and the CHEJ wants to distribute some flyers and perhaps have some people outside the award ceremony at the Oregon Convention Center. To that, I say huzzah, as I think it is sometimes necessary to urge larger companies to remember their responsibility to the public to use safe products as well as sell safe products.

To be fair to Disney, I think it may be safe to say that most American household have a toxic cleaning product around, maybe under the sink, but that is not excuse as there is truly little to no need to have toxic cleaning products when there are so many better alternatives. But if you must know, bleach is considered a toxic cleaning product — it is listed as a pesticide by the EPA for heaven’s sake.

However, especially as Disney not only caters to children, but also that Disney has a worldwide reputation, it is a bit remiss for Disney not to take the lead (well, if this were tens years ago) and show the world that you can own just about everything but still worry about the kiddies and the ol’ employees. You can still push your evil consumerist agenda, but with some environmental friendliness.

Ah, no matter. I think it is a good idea to protest. Will it do any good? Only if something really bad happens so that it can make the news. But hey, if we don’t say anything at all, then we are also to blame. Good luck, CHEJ. I cannot make it, but then I highly doubt that standing outside in late October Portland handing out flyers to disinterested passers-by will be a “fun and exciting event” as the email promises.

To find out how you can help…click here.

Center for Health Environment Justice, CHEJ, Disney, toxic, cleaning products, theme parks, parks, resorts, Portland, protest

Just ran across this in the New York Times…Thought I’d Share.

Steve Friess for The New York Times

A couple of Oregonians won the recent Escape from Berkeley Race, an “eco-race” requiring participants to travel over one thousand miles on anything but petroleum. The winners, Sharon Westcott and Jack McCornack, arrived at the finish line, in Las Vegas ironically enough, three hours before their nearest competitor, a Dodge running on burning biomass driven by Wayne Keith of Alabama. Mr. Keith actually finished the race first, but in terms of total travel time, Westcott and McCornack of Cave Junction were named the winners and received the $5,000 prize for first place. The winning time was 1418 minutes (a wee bit shy of 24 hours). The total mileage was roughly 800 miles. It’s funny that the article mentions the exact number of minutes for the race, but not the exact mileage. Good job, NYT.

Originally, the Berkeley to Vegas race was supposed to be 600 miles, but a snowstorm shut down the Tioga Pass, resulting in the race’s reroute and extra two hundred miles.

Jim Wilson for the New York Times

A little about the cars and their makers from the two articles in last week’s Times:

Jack McCornack, part of the Prisoners team and the owner of Kinetic Vehicles, a maker of alternative cars in Cave Junction, Ore., said his roadster could go 72 m.p.h. — and get 70 miles to the gallon — using nothing but vegetable oil.

“It’s extremely no-frills,” Mr. McCornack said of his car, which has no windows or doors. “It’s everything you always wanted in a sports car, and less.”

And for the guy who came in second, but really first, kind of…

Not all of the racers are Bay Area cognoscenti. Wayne Keith, 59, is a cattleman from Springville, Ala., who decided five years ago that he wanted to be independent from gas.

“When gasoline hit $1.75, I bailed out,” Mr. Keith said. “I’m a hostage to no one.”

His adapted lime-green Dodge Dakota pickup burns wood in a pair of burners in the pickup bed and uses the gases created by the combustion — primarily hydrogen and carbon monoxide — to drive the engine. He said the ready availability of scrap wood on his farm made his energy expenses almost nil.

On Saturday, Mr. Keith’s truck was also towing a table saw, in case he happened on any particularly large branches. “I don’t know if it makes me good or guilty,” he said. “But the wood’s going to rot if I don’t use it.”

Mr. Keith said the truck’s top speed is about 90 miles per hour, making it a favorite to win the race.

The other competitors included a Mercedes also running on vegetable oil, a recumbent bike for two, and a steam-powered carriage.

This part gets me. The race’s sponsor, Jim Mason, of Shipyard Labs in Berkeley, an open-air garage for tinkerers which creates workspaces out of shipping containers, chose the race’s terminus, Las Vegas, “largely out of contempt for the tourist destination, he said.”

“Vegas is a place of excessive spectacle and consumption of other peoples creativity,” he said. “This isn’t a place of production, of citizens making, expressing, creating….Vegas is the biggest contradiction of what we just did.”

Nice, but you are still contributing to Vegas just by being there, so not sure how well that message gets across, but still good for you, Mr. Mason for sponsoring such a race, and congrats to McCornack and Westcott for making it to the finish. Another stipulation for the race was that the racers could not purchase any fuel for the trip. Everything had to be found or donated. Luckily for Team Prisoners, people were more than happy to part with fry oil.

eco-race, biofuels, oil, vegetable oil, recycled fry oil, biomass, cars, racing, Berkeley, Las Vegas, Oregon, California. Nevada, Alabama, Dodge, Mercedes, recumbent, bike, bicycle

If you live in Portland, chances are that you know someone who makes wine, or at least makes their living off of wine. Portland lies in the middle of two rather important wine regions, the Willamette Valley and the Columbia Valley. The Willamette Valley is known for top-drawer pinot noirs and the Columbia, being a bit hotter, produces some truly brilliant syrahs and cabernets, along with pinots. Please note I am generalizing for the purposes of not making this post a two-thousand word essay on Oregon and Washington wine. Both regions produce many other grapes, in addition to there being other regions within both Oregon and Washington that I am not intending to omit for any reason other than brevity.

I spent my Sunday sorting grapes at a winery out in Yamhill County. In the picture to the left, I would have been standing on the left side of the table from the point of view of the camera, but obviously, I am missing as I am taking the picture. The others in the picture include (from left) Bob, Chris, Mike and Andrew. Andrew, a Brit, is one of the interns working this harvest, or crush, as they call it in the wine-making biz, with the rest of the sorting crew being volunteers, working for the sheer pleasure of being involved in the process. Also, as the winemaker is our friend, it is also a pleasure to help out a friend. As the winery is a smallish one (producing approximatiely five to six thousand cases of wine a year, depending on the year and the amount of grapes coming in), the extra hands are usually only needed the days that the grapes come in.

This is the time of year that many of my friends are either paid employees of a winery or a particular winemaker working at a “studio” or winemaking facility, or day-volunteers working for wine and food. It really is a fun process, although getting up early in the morning on a Sunday may not sound like a whole lot of fun. And of course, it is actual work, but work in a very good, honest way. You know, getting back to our agrarian roots, becoming more acquainted with the land and its bounty, and any other cliche about farming you can think of.

We had a full day yesterday, processing about nine tons of grapes. The morning started with chardonnay grapes, and then we moved onto the pinot noir grapes that took up the rest of the day. Sorting grapes means picking out underripe and damaged grapes, leaves, stems, sticks, and stones. White wines are generally easier when it comes to the grapes, as the white grapes tend to be less finicky and fragile, whereas pinot noir grapes are very fragile due to their think skins, and they are more susceptible to water damage. And as it is the beginning of the rainy season, it is crucial to pick the grapes before too much water causes them to burst. Some years, rot plays more of a role in damaging grapes, but the “veterans” at the sorting table were happy to see so little rot, if any at all. Rain is a major factor in rot, but even with the rains we had in the last two weeks, a rainy day was usually followed by a dry day or two, thus allowing the grapes to dry out and avoid rotting on the vines.

We did have a longer-than-intended lunch break, as the last batch of grapes, about four or five of the nine tons, were late in arriving. This is what happens when the grapes are late. I love this picture. It’s Leonardo (another intern, from Argentina), Andrew, and Bob, catching a few z’s in the afternoon sun.

If you are interested in volunteering at a winery, you should contact a winery and offer your services. Obviously, this year is taken care of, and I would recommend contacting a winery during the summer, maybe in August. You can also check out craigslist. Not all wineries need the extra hands, as some of the larger wineries already employ pretty big staffs, but you never know unless you ask. It is a interesting process that can illuminate the winemaking process that perhaps many of us boozers take for granted.

Portland, Willamette Valley, Columbia Valley, wine, winemaking, Oregon, Washington, harvest, crush, sorting grapes, pinot noir, pinot, pinots, syrah, cabernet, white wine, red wine, chardonnay, intern, volunteer, Argentina, winery

As I sit here watching a Project Runway marathon on Bravo today, I thought it would be an appropriate time to give a shout out to Leanne Marshall, a finalist on the show.

And yes, despite the fact that I have already seen every episode this season, I am happily re-watching every one of those same episodes. For some reason, I find Project Runway immensely re-watchable. Same with Top Chef, which is starting its new season November 12. Mark your calendars.

Anyway, back to Leanne. I didn’t really see her going all that far at the beginning of the season. But unlike so many of the contestants (read Daniel and Keith — was anyone else totally peeved when Keith came back for the Zodiac challenge? Come on, we finally get rid of him and he is back like, what the next challenge!!), Leanne took the judges comments to heart. Not so much to change her own aesthetic, I would think, but rather to win the damn game, am I right? That’s what it is all about. The judges are your clients, so make them happy and they will reward you for it, with cold, hard, less and less valuable cash. Ah, I kid. Not really, the dollar has been tanking for a while, and with the current crisis I don’t see it coming back anytime soon, but another day, another post.

Leanne Marshall’s designs since the third episode have pretty much rocked. I especially liked the third episode’s black skirt (at left), as well as the dress she made out of Saturn parts (below). She deservedly won that challenge. I did like the Diane Von Furstenberg purple dress she made, but I liked Korto’s dress a little better, but just a little better. There were some designs that missed the mark along the way, but even when I was really scared for her, say in the college grad make-over challenge, she smartly listened to Tim Gunn’s advice, and edited/re-designed wisely.

But beyond my little ol’ opinions, I think it is wonderful that we have a Portland designer represented on the fifth season of PR. It seems that the most interesting designers have been coming from cities outside the fashion meccas of NYC and LA. It’s not like Portland is BFE Ohio whence Jay McCarroll comes from, but when people think of Portland, I am sure fashion is not one of the first things that comes to mind.

Congratulations, Leanne! I really look forward to seeing your whole collection in the season finale next week, and I hope you win. I really, really hope that you at least beat out Kenley, because I cannot stand her. How annoying that you and Korto had to finish up the season with her. I seriously think that PR focuses too much on creating a villain, instead of just letting the designs speak for themselves.

Possible spoiler alert: Leanne is not taking any new orders as listed on Etsy, due to large volume. Could this be because of a PR win or simply due to the added publicity? Also, her website is rather outdated, with nary a mention of Project Runway. I did email her, and she oh so sweetly responded, telling me that her website is simply out of date, and she has a new person taking it over for her. I didn’t press the issue, and I really, really hope that she is hiding the win. (I have not searched for any spoilers elsewhere, so someone out there may know who the winner is, but I don’t want to know. I prefer conjecture and patience. I accidentally stumbled upon the Top Chef winner two seasons ago and it totally sucked watching the finale, knowing that Ilan Douchebag Hall won.)

Portland, Project Runway, Leanne Marshall, Leanne, Top Chef, Bravo, design, fashion, reality show, Daniel, Keith, Korto, Kenley, Diane Von Furstenberg, Jay McCarroll

Seriously.

Some days, I choose to look at Portland through an anthropologist’s lens, and something that is becoming increasingly clear to me is how ubiquitous the Apple iPhone has become. And in a fairly disturbing way. Is it that the price has come down, because that is what caused the crack epidemic in the ’80’s. A cheaper way to get a cocaine high and voila, the inner city is decimated. I’m being glib, of course, but it must have something to do with the now suddenly semi-affordable iPhone. It must.

In that, I am speaking of iPhone addiction.

Yeah, I know the picture thing is cool, but I still don’t really feel like looking at your pictures. And I can pull up the same information on my ol’ regular cellphone web browser that you can, too. Oh, wait, I do not feel the need to google something in the middle of our conversation. That said, iphones are becoming a nuisance, an invasive species that is choking out conversation.

I work in a restaurant, and I cannot begin to tell you how many people at tables, with other people, spend most of their meal, not talking with their companions, but instead peering myopically down at their iphone.

And there is something in that, too. All iphone users seem to huddle over the device, inwardly craning their bodies as if trying to squeeze themselves in their new BFF. Or instead caving into the need for constant email connectivity.

It’s ok to be offline. It’s ok to be a phone call away instead of instantly at someone’s command to read and respond to their every communicative desire.

That is what phones are for. Texting is great, too, I am all for texting. But we all need to unplug from our new tamagotchis. The iPhone won’t die if you don’t play with it.

apple, iphone, iphones, Portland, addiction, cell phones, cocaine, google, invasive species, tamagotchis

Hey Portland, our representative in Congress made the pages of Outside Magazine, talking about biking and how the government can encourage more people to bike both recreationally and as commuters.

Photo provided to Outside by Blumenauer’s DC office

Seems that bow-tie wearing, biking to work in DC Blumenauer is a biker’s silent assassin in Washington. Ok, not really, but he did tell Outside that the recent Energy Act (which opens up the coasts to off-shore drilling) has some sneaky clauses providing bicycle-riding commuters fringe benefits for riding to work on two-wheels-sans-motor. Neat. I ride my bike to work, so what does that mean?

I just read the text of the bill, the Comprehensive American Energy Security and Consumer Protection Pact, and it’s true that there is a small “rider” (he he) that would allow employers give a $20 a month reimbursement for bicycle-related expenses. Here is the main chunk of the text as it relates to this fringe benefit.

QUALIFIED BICYCLE COMMUTING REIMBURSEMENT- The term `qualified bicycle commuting reimbursement’ means, with respect to any calendar year, any employer reimbursement during the 15-month period beginning with the first day of such calendar year for reasonable expenses incurred by the employee during such calendar year for the purchase of a bicycle and bicycle improvements, repair, and storage, if such bicycle is regularly used for travel between the employee’s residence and place of employment.

As this benefit won’t start until 15 months after the beginning of the first calendar year after this benefit can begin, which is January 1st, 2009, so really, bikers won’t see any real benefit from this until, I believe, April 2010. I could be way off on this, and if Congressman Blumenauer stumbles across this little post, maybe he can clear things up for me. Is this a benefit that my employer can offer me, or does my employer have to offer me this benefit? Who actually pays the monies going to commuters? Is it the employer that then gets reimbursed by the government? Why not give the tax benefit directly to the employee, rather than making the business owner the middle man?

Seriously, I need these questions answered, so if anyone out there wants to clear this up, that would be just super. And I can pass on the information, of course.

Still, kudos to Earl for taking his message to the streets, er, rather the pages of a considerably more and more trendy magazine that I used to enjoy, but now only tolerate. I think it’s the “fashion spreads” that seem to adorn every issue. If I want to look at lame models faking it, I would read Vogue or some other lame rag. I read Outside because I want kewl pics, interesting adventure stories, practical advice, equipment reviews and guides, and not stories about some former pro-snowboarder that now sells real estate and hangs out with his trustfund college friends.

/End/ rant.

Earl Blumenauer, Congress, Washington DC, representative, Portland, Oregon, Third District, Energy Bill, Comprehensive American Energy Security and Consumer Protection Act, Outside Magazine

A somewhat unique aspect to Portland is the roach coach scene. When I refer to a roach coach, I speak fondly of food carts or wagons.

Obviously, food carts or wagons are found across the country and for that matter, the world. A mobile restaurant is quite handy when following a carnival or festival circuit. Well, in Portland, they are everywhere and rather permanent.

I cannot say that I am a mobile food wagon connoisseur by any means. I eschew festivals and carnivals, so for most of my life, I simply have not had the opportunity to try these places out. You don’t see a whole lot of food carts in Chicago. There is that crappy pizza cart outside the Wicker Park/Bucktown triangle, outside of Underdog and Flash Taco, in a “bar-muda triangle.” Unfortunately, I did get a slice from that cart late one night, and as it wasn’t good, it underscored my rather snobby opinion regarding food carts.

But then, there is a big difference between a food cart and a food wagon. A “wagon” can be either a truck, but usually more of a trailer. But it has power and water. There is equipment to cook food, rather than simply keep it warm before serving. So Portland is a food wagon town.

I am almost done trying every one of the wagons in Sellwood, on SE 13th Ave and Lexington. First, I had a burrito at Uruapan, a small wagon farther down on Lexington, and when I say farther down, I mean twenty feet, maybe. The burrito was good, as good as a Chicago taqueria. Sorry to keep comparing to Chicago, but one) it is my background and two) Chicago is heavily hispanic in its street food (whereas I would say that Portland is much more Asian in its street food scene — there is bento everywhere). The steak tacos were authentic, with onion and cilantro only. No shredded lettuce, no cheese, no white people tacos.

The next visit, I tried the BBQ wagon, perhaps Chuckwagon BBQ, if I can remember correctly. Really tasty pulled pork sandwich. Almost went back for that one today, but instead tried Garden State. I found a picture of the guy who runs the wagon, so I am guessing this one is better known, or he put the picture up himself. I kind of remember seeing some laminated newspaper pages hanging up, and the picture looked familiar, so it is probably from that. Anyhoo, I had the chicken sandwich, which I really wasn’t that excited about, as I am not one of those “chicken sandwich, please,” kind of girls, but it was really, really good. It had slices of cured lemon on it, with arugula and a goat cheese cream that was tas-tee. My BF had the meatball hero, and though I tend to require veggies on a sandwich, it was damn good. Good choice of rolls on both, and that is so important, which makes it so sad when sandwich chefs overlook the bread. The guys behind the counter were charmingly Jersey. Wait, is that an oxymoron?

I also had fish and chips at Sellwood Pub’s wagon. Two pieces of battered halibut, almost greasy chips, really light and crisp slaw. I will return there, and I am not big on fried food, so that is a significant recommendation from me. Now, I wouldn’t eat fish and chips every day, mind you, but why would I when I have so many choices on a 1500 square foot area. I have yet to try My Sister’s Soup. I am waiting for a rainy day…which, hi, this is Portland, and it has rained like two days in the past three months it seems. I’m confused and sick of watering my garden.

Portland, food carts, food wagons, Chicago, roach coach, mobile restaurants, Sellwood, Chuckwagon BBQ, BBQ, Garden State, Uruapan, Sellwood Pub, My Sister’s Soup

I honestly don’t know what McCain was thinking, saying that he had important work to do in Washington, with the financial “crisis” — considering he has admitted as much as not knowing anything about said economy, but whatev. He has decided to grace us with his attendance at the first Presidential Debate tonight in Oxford, Mississippi.

Anyhoo, I did get an email from the Obama campaign with an invite to join others in watching the debate, a “debate watching party” as it were. One, it is best if I watch things like a presidential debate by myself as I am very obnoxious when it comes to politics. Luckily, I have a boyfriend that either enjoys my rants or tunes them out effectively. Two, I have to work. And that brings me to the point of today’s post.

Besides, writing and teaching, I also work in a restaurant. It is good for me as it gets me out of the house and off my computer, but also I get to spend time with adults. Well, relatively speaking. Restaurant people can be in a sort of “arrested development” in terms of what a lot of people call “real jobs”, but most restaurant industry people are fairly committed to their craft. No matter here though, as I have a bit of a gripe with the Federal Elections Commission for scheduling a debate on a Friday night.

Let’s look at this from an economic point of view. Friday nights are a big night for restaurants across the country. So to schedule a debate on a Friday night is rather foolish, as you may run the risk of cutting into a small business’ go-to night. Not only that but with the debate scheduled for 9pm EST, which is 8pm Central (the time zone for Mississippi), it underscores the “shaft” that we West Coasters get time and time again when it comes to television programming.

At 9pm, plenty of people have plenty of time to get a meal at their favourite restaurant and then go home or to someone else’s home to watch what may turn out to be a very interesting debate. 8pm, sure, you still have time for an early bite. But once you hit the Mountain and Pacific time zones, you are cutting into what is considered prime time for the restaurant biz.

That is reflected in the reservation book of “my” restaurant. Sure, you could say that once the debate is over, people will go out for a meal and a drink. But once you watch the debate, and then the tireless commentary that will no doubt follow, how many people are going to head out to a sit-down restaurant, after all the snacks and booze that will be served at those “debate watching parties?” I’m sure that there will be some, but I am more sure that tonight will be a slow night for restaurants in Portland. I could say the same for restaurants all along the West Coast, but I am not entirely sure how other cities view the importance of politics. Portland is a politically active city, so I am simply surmising about Portland right now. True, it is a rather historic and entertaining election season, but I just don’t know how many people actually plan their lives around presidential debates.

Personally, I will watch the repeats of the debate on CNN. For anyone else who refuses to let NBC decide their Friday night, CNN is airing repeats at both 9pm and 12am.

McCain, presidential debate, Oxford, Mississippi, Obama, restaurant industry, restaurants, business, financial, economy, small business, Federal Elections Commission, West Coast, Pacific Time Zone, Mountain Time Zone, Portland, NBC, CNN

My youngest cat went missing this last weekend. Now, I know that cats are independent and have a habit of taking off for a few days, but in the case of my cat, Kubrick (yes, named after the director, Stanley Kubrick — he is the youngest of a three kitten litter that I named Huston, Welles, and Kubrick) he is a special kitty that needs a special diet in addition to the antibiotics he is taking for an eye infection. The eye infection I can handle, and even the whole special diet thing doesn’t freak me out, except that the reason he is on a special diet is 1) he is fat and 2) he has urinary blockage issues that can kill him in 24 to 48 hours if untreated. So, I don’t get to take trips away from him without boarding him, and therefore he doesn’t get to take off on his own for more than a few hours.

Anyhoo, he went outside in the backyard Friday. I went to work, and came home — no Kubrick. Same thing Saturday, and I started officially freaking out. If it had been my other cat, Hot Texas-Style Chilly, I wouldn’t bat an eyelash. He is a badass and preternaturally healthy, so he can go off on a “catcation” — except that he is too lazy to leave our block. But maybe Kub was sick and I couldn’t get to him. My mind is a wee bit overactive when it comes to worst-case scenarios…

But I digress.

If your pet goes missing, there are some resources for you. First, I recommend getting your cat or dog registered and tagged by the County you live in. Before moving to Portland, I registered my cats online with the Multnomah County Animal Services from Chicago, so it is really easy. In fact, you get a thirty-day free license before you even have to pay for the tags. The prices are reasonable if your pet is neutered/spayed, and become even cheaper if you purchase the 3 year tag. It is actually illegal to have pets in Multnomah County that are not tagged, and you can get a ticket if you don’t acquire tags within thirty days of moving here or getting a new pet. But just between us, as I have been a little underemployed since moving here, the nice people at MCAS are very understanding and continually renew my tags for me without payment. That is really sweet. And if I may add, very typical of Portland. Bureaucratic entities in this town are still nice, friendly, and helpful.

The MCAS website is also great because if someone finds your pet or you find a lost pet, you can enter the tag number on the site and immediately get the owner’s phone number.

If your pet goes missing, make sure to file a lost pet report at MCAS. Also, post a picture and other relevant information on Craigslist. I listed my lost pet under both Lost & Found and Pets. There is a website called AnimalAidPDX that allows you to post a lost pet/found pet ad for free. Also, try Petfinder and Pets911. These organizations that I have just mentioned are also sites where you can find a pet to adopt.

There is also the Oregon Humane Society. The only problem with the OHS is that they get so many cats that an appointment is required for anyone turning over a lost pet. A girl I knew had to wait almost three weeks for her appointment to take in a stray cat, so if you are looking for your pet at OHS, it may take a while — that is why I suggest posting online and putting up flyers (always keep some current photos of your pet on hand in case they disappear) around your neighborhood and at places like local vets and pet stores. Also, at OHS, strays/lost pets are only kept as strays for three days before they become available for adoption. That is why it is important to have current tags or other identifying measures like the microchip on or in your pets.

Me, I am getting a homing device for my cat. But then he is never going outside again so maybe it is not necessary, but it would be neat to see where a cat goes when out and about. I’d put one on Chilly but the device would show me that he is on my front porch. I can see that.

lost pets, pets, found pets, Portland, Oregon, Multnomah County, Animal Services, MCAS, Petfinder, Pets911, AnimalAidPDX, craigslist, Oregon Humane Society

A friend of mine, an almost recent transplant from Salt Lake City, told me an alarming tale. She had flipped her mattress found spots of mold on the side that had been on a floor. She scrubbed the spots with bleachy water, and decided to keep the mattress off the floor now. She’s 28, and finally bought her first bed frame when she found the mold. She joked that she’s finally an adult. No more college decor schemes using cinder blocks, either.

This isn’t my friend’s place. I just really dig this picture. Gross.

Anyway, it underscores the problem of mold, a spore-borne growth, in our homes. Some of us are quite sensitive to our little green, orange, and black friends, and my friend reported that she had been really lethargic lately and prone to sleeping all day, uncommon for her normally.

Personally, I cannot breathe out of my nose due to severe congestion, and I have totally lost my sense of smell since moving here to Portland. Also, when I moved here, I ended up in the hospital within ten days of my arrival due to a severe asthma attack (not having health insurance, the most awesome people at Legacy Good Samaritan took excellent and generous care of me — another post, another day). So yeah, I would think it is safe to say that Portland has it’s fair share of allergens.

My last summer in Chicago was also a tough time for me and my nose. I pretty much stayed inside an air-conditioned apartment for an entire summer. Lame. My doc there said that a mild winter failed to kill off the molds and the counts were astronomical that summer. Super.

Well, guess what? I moved to Portland, and it is always a mild winter that fails to kill off molds. If I am wrong about that, please correct me. I am simply using logic to develop this hypothesis.

When I look back on my life, I see a pattern. I lived in Southern California, twice, for a touch less than a year each time. I didn’t like it the first time, but thought maybe it was just my bad attitude, so tried it a second time — no, it just sucks. But one thing I never had a problem with while residing in that dry Mediterranean-like climate were allergies nor did I have any issues with my asthma. Even on the really smoggy days, but then I lived in the hills, close to the Pacific, and most of the smog seemed to settle inland in the valleys.

No matter. I am not moving back to SoCal. Ever. Ever.

I really love Portland, don’t get me wrong, but come on with the mold and fungi and lichen and moss everywhere. It is really, really lush here. Is that why my darn allergies are crazy here?

I did meet someone recently who told me that she had bad allergies for her first year here and then got over them…so maybe I just need to be patient. Or move closer to the ocean…

mold, spores, fungal growth, allergies, asthma, Portland, Oregon, Chicago, Southern California, Pacific

So maybe I am just really out of touch with the news and all (at least on the local level), but did you know that alfalfa sprouts have been recalled and taken off shelves in some stores in the Portland area?

I went to the Sellwood QFC, a generally pleasant store, and I was looking for alfalfa sprouts or whatever else they call them nowadays — onion sprouts, salad sprouts, radish or broccoli sprouts, I can’t keep up. I stood in front of the little area with the rest of the lettuce and salad stuff, and starting thinking I was just blind as I didn’t see them. Luckily, there was a QFC staff member nearby. I asked him if they had sprouts. He informed me that all sprouts had been removed from the shelves due to a recall.

Huh…didn’t hear about that one. Maybe I have become so numb to constant produce and meat recalls that I missed this one.

For anyone else who missed this story…copied from KOHD news, the ABC affliate in the Bend area.

09/04/08

Oregon State Public Health Division and U.S. Department of Agriculture officials today announced a recall of Sprouter’s Northwest brand alfalfa sprouts due to a Salmonellosis outbreak. Also, Public Health officials said that while most cases of salmonellosis do not require medical treatment, people who have eaten sprouts and develop severe symptoms should check with their doctors.

“These alfalfa sprouts have been identified as the cause of an ongoing outbreak of salmonellosis,” said Dr. Paul Cieslak, an epidemiologist with the Oregon Department of Human Services State Public Health Division. “Consumers who have them in their refrigerators should discard them immediately and if you develop severe symptoms call your doctor. ”

As of Tuesday, 13 outbreak cases had been identified in Oregon and Washington. All cases reported becoming ill since August 1, 2008.

The recalled sprouts were distributed through a number of wholesalers to grocery stores, restaurants, and other retail outlets in Oregon and Washington.

The recalled sprouts were sold in packages labeled “alfalfa sprouts,” “salad sprouts” or “onion sprouts” or were sold as mixed varieties that contain alfalfa sprouts as an ingredient.

“Sprouter’s Northwest has agreed to voluntarily recall its alfalfa sprouts and is cooperating fully with our ongoing investigation,” Dr. Cieslak said.

State and federal agencies are working with the Kent, Wash.-based grower to remove potentially contaminated sprouts from distribution. Retailers and wholesalers who hold any of the recalled sprouts should segregate them from other produce and contact their suppliers for additional information. Restaurant and delicatessen operators should check their stock immediately to identify and pull any of the recalled products.

Salmonellosis is an acute bacterial infection that can cause diarrhea, fever, and vomiting. Symptoms usually develop within one to five days after eating contaminated food. Most cases resolve without the need for medical attention, and antibiotics are not recommended for persons with uncomplicated diarrheal illness. The risk of severe illness is particularly high among the elderly, the immunocompromised, and the very young.

People who have eaten sprouts and developed severe symptoms should discuss this exposure with their doctor. Some persons with salmonellosis develop serious illness that can lead to hospitalization and even death.

Raw sprouts have been repeatedly identified as the cause of outbreaks of salmonellosis, Escherichia coli O157:H7 infections, and other diseases. This is at least the seventh sprout-caused outbreak that has sickened Oregonians since 1996.

Oddly, this KOHD story is lifted verbatim from an Oregon Department of Human Services press release. So, KOHD didn’t even bother writing a story on this, just passes along the recall announcement as if it were their own. The site has a video option, but it doesn’t play. I may have too many things going on on my laptop. So perhaps before I start calling anyone out on plagiarism or lazy reporting, I should simmer down and give the station the benefit of the doubt. Still, they could have cited the press release on the report…

That being said, this is what the KOHD article left out from the press release:

The following is a list of package sizes of the affected Sprouters Northwest, Inc., products: •Alfalfa Sprouts 5-ounce cup •Alfalfa Sprouts 4-ounce clamshell •Salad Sprouts 5-ounce cup •Salad Sprouts 4-ounce clamshell •Onion Sprouts 5-ounce cup •Onion Sprouts 4-ounce clamshell •Alfalfa Sprouts 1-pound bag •Alfalfa Sprouts 2-pound tray

I highly doubt that anyone would still be using any sprouts from a week ago much less two weeks ago when the recall was reported, but just in case, you may want to toss any sprouts you have around. If you have any questions, I would recommend contacting your doctor or county health office. As the Sprouter’s Northwest brand comes from Washington, it is likely that a store near you is out of sprouts, whether you are in Portland or not.

Also, may I put in a plug to grow your own sprouts…You can buy a kit for around thirty or forty dollars. I saw some in Territorial Seed Company’s catalog this last winter, and thought about getting one. But sometimes, I get lazy and forgetful. I guess I will view this latest recall as a wake up call to finally order one. I love me some sprouts on my sandwiches.

alfalfa sprouts, recall, salmonella, salmonellosis, e coli, Oregon, Washington, Portland, Bend, food safety, health, onion sprouts, salad sprouts, Sellwood, QFC, Territorial Seed Company

Scientific name: Araucaria araucana.

This is a picture of a Araucaria Araucana that can be found on 39th Avenue, south of Hawthorne in the SE. I took this picture from underneath the huge tree that is missing it’s tip-top.

I had been told that the tree was the Umbrella Pine, which it most definitely is not. The Umbrella Pine is a Japanese pine that looks very much like a pine tree. Unlike the araucaria aruacana. Which is a far removed relative from the pine family, despite the rest of the Araucaria genus does look rather pine-like.

When I moved into the Reed neighborhood, I noticed this tree on SE Schiller between 35th Ave and the Trader Joe’s on 39th Ave. It is a striking tree. Instead of needles, the tree has these terrifying scales with razor-like tips. I have kind of fallen in love with these seemingly prehistoric trees.

So today I bring you what I have discovered about this very unique tree.

The Araucaria araucana is native to Chile. It is in fact the national tree of Chile. And yes, it is indeed prehistoric, tracing it’s origins back to the The Araucaria araucana’s home range also spills over into western Argentina. The tree likes to live in temperate rainforests. And yes, you can say that Portland, Oregon is a temperate rainforest. Additionally, it likes acidic and volcanic soils. No wonder the monkey puzzle enjoys it here.

It was in botanically-obsessed Victorian England that the Araucaria araucana got its common name, Monkey Puzzle. The story goes that someone looked at the tree and commented on how the tree would be a puzzle for a monkey to climb. Good thing that monkeys do not live in the same area as araucaria araucanas. Another common name is the Chilean pine. The native people in the habitat range, the Pehuenche, that have a long history with these trees and their delicious pine nuts call the tree the Pehuen, with an accent over the second ‘e’. The tree’s pinones, the seeds contained in the female cones that grow upright on the outer ends of the tree’s branches, are a valuable source of carbohydrates for the Pehuenche.

Due it’s odd and striking appearance, the monkey puzzle has become a cultivated garden species in Europe and here in the US. In it’s native habitat, the monkey puzzle can be in mixed deciduous and evergreen forests and also in stands by themselves or even alone along cliffs like in these images. The monkey puzzle can live up to a thousand years, and can provide valuable information about the climate during the trees lifetime.

The Araucaria araucana is listed as a “vulnerable” species by the Global Trees Campaign and other conservation groups. The problem is loss of habitat due to logging and also increased pressure from fires. Fires have destroyed large portions of the forests and some say that the fires were started intentially by loggers trying to get protections lifted. The tree produces really strong wood that is naturally resistant to fungal decay in its straight trunk that can reach 50 meters or over 160 feet in heighth.

As the monkey puzzle belongs to the Araucaria genus, I checked out the 18 cousins spread across the Southern Pacific, especially in New Caledonia, and there doesn’t seem to be any other tree that quite looks like the araucana. Maybe the Araucaria hunsteinii when it is a young sapling, but most other Araucaria species have more exposed wood instead of being covered in the scales. However, when I first noticed the trees, I thought they rather looked like Norfolk pines (which my mom used to decorate around Xmas) in the tree’s shape. Wouldn’t you know it, the Norfolk Pine is a species of the Araucaria genus.

Most species of the Araucaria genus are vulnerable, threatened or endangered. It’s trade and export are regulated by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). You can find responsible sellers of seedlings if you would like to preserve your own part of prehistoric flora.

monkey puzzle, araucaria araucana, araucaria, pine, Chile, Argentina, Oregon, temperate rainforest, Norfolk pines, Chilean pine, endangered species, genus, species, vulnerable, threatened, tree, trees, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, CITES

Or October 4 if you are a Washington resident.

Women have only been voting in national elections since 1920…chew on that.

Many thanks go out to an especially astute reader, Geeba, who suggested that I remind people to get registered to vote by the appropriate deadlines. Oregon is Tuesday, October 14, 2008 in person or by mail. To vote in Oregon, you must by a United States citizen, as well as a resident of Oregon, and 18 years old by November 4th. I registered to vote back in March or maybe February before the primary, and it was really easy, so you have no excuse not to vote. Especially because in Oregon, you don’t have to go to a polling place, you simply mail in your ballot. Strange, I know, but true. Oregon only votes by mail, so really even the laziest of us have absolutely no excuse to not vote. You don’t even need a stamp…

All I did was print out a voter registration form, provide the last four digits of my soc, and signed it. I did have to use a stamp for that, but I wonder if the elections office would “return to sender” if you didn’t put postage on it. I wonder.

If you fill out the online registration form, you can also give your drivers license number or state ID number, but I still have my Illinois ID, so I had to go with a valid social security number. If you are ID-less (like me) and you don’t have a social security number, there are other ways. This is from Vote411.org, a great website to check out for the easiest way to find out anything you need to vote.

* Valid photo identification
* A paycheck stub
* A utility bill
* A bank statement
* A government document
* Proof of eligibility under the uniformed and overseas citizens absentee voting act (UOCAVA) or the voting accessibility for the elderly and handicapped act (VAEH)

Now, here is a funny story. The year was 2004, and I just happened to be visiting my parents in Lowell, Michigan. I go to the fire station to vote with my mom, and for some reason, I am not in the register as a registered voter. Like I wrote before, I am an enthusiastic little politico, and I always vote. I had also always kept my parents address while I apartment hopped during school. Long story short, I had accidentally changed the address when I renewed my license plates on my car, and was no longer register in that county. Oopsy. I had a registration card, but not a valid ID to show my actual address. I was not allowed to vote. Luckily, Kerry won Michigan in ‘04, so my vote was not necessarily needed in that race.

Anyway, long story short, if something comes up when you go into vote and they cannot confirm that you are supposed to be voting (I didn’t get to vote because of my little mishap), then you can file a provisional ballot. I doubt this comes up in Oregon, but maybe in Washington.

Yep, I just checked. In Washington, if your name is not in the register or you don’t have ID, you can cast a provisional ballot.

Use a provisional ballot if you go to a polling place and find one of the following.
Your name is not in the poll book.
Your name is there but records show you were sent an absentee ballot.
You have a question about the people or issues on which you can vote.
You did not bring identification.
Then:
Vote.
Put your ballot into the security envelope.
Put the security envelope into a provisional ballot envelope. Your ballot will be counted if you
are eligible to vote. To find out if
your provisional ballot will be counted, contact your county elections department:
www.secstate.wa.gov/elections/auditors.aspx

Here’s a link to Washington State’s official elections and voting information.

And Oregon’s elections website.

But seriously, Vote411.org is a great site to check out or point your friends to.

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I think it is safe to say that living in Portland, Oregon, or just Oregon in general, usually includes more than just a little political activism, and so today I bring to you news of impending changes to the Endangered Species Act.

If you remember as far back as your HS civics/government course, or even a US history class or two, you may have heard the term, Lame Duck. If I am going a little too elementary for you right now, I apologize, I am simply trying to add some context to what is happening in our federal government right now and for the next few months (as of this writing, that’s 133 days, 19 hours…courtesy the Official Bush Countdown clock). Lame ducks can be either of the benign and benevolent variety, a la Bill Clinton, or of the ignorant and downright irresponsible variety as we are seeing in George Dubya Bush.

By the way, has anyone seen this yet? I love it. There are others, but I think this one is really well-done, for the most part.

Back to the subject, as the issue of endangered species and their protection has come in in regards to our newest, extremist Vice presidential candidate (if you didn’t hear, she doesn’t think the polar bear should be listed as endangered since it would be inconvenient for oil and gas companies in the Arctic), I come to you today with a little advocacy. It would not be a Portland blog without some advocacy.

There is one week left to comment on proposed changes to regulations pertaining to interagency checks and balances within the Endangered Species Act. Here is a paragraph from a letter drafted by the Center for Biological Diversity for their members to send to the Secretary of the Interior, Dirk Kempthorne.

The regulations you recently proposed would eliminate interagency consultation on thousands of federal projects that pose a risk to endangered and threatened species each year. The changes will almost certainly result in detrimental impacts on endangered and imperiled species and a higher propensity to overlook opportunities to avoid such impacts.

The problem with this change in particular is that the Department of the Interior or Bureau of Land Management can lease out mineral rights to the highest/lowest but someone’s friend’s coal-mining company so that public lands can make someone rich with kickbacks to whichever congressman got the company the job. Well, as the rules stand now, the BLM would have to consult with other agencies, like the Fish and Wildlife Service in order to approve mining or digging operations. That interagency “checks and balances” is a great way to ensure that a mine doesn’t open up upstream from a rare species of salmon’s spawning grounds. But if these new rules do go into effect, that requirement for multiple agencies to weigh in on what could be environmentally-devastating projects is thrown out the window. Other rule changes would limit and re-define what “effects” may be deemed harmful as well as reducing the scientific input period from 90 to 60 days. If scientists cannot or do not give an opinion in that 60-day period, the project is automatically greenlit.

This may not seem to be a big deal, but then you are living in a fantasy land if you think that oil, gas, gold, coal, silver, and anything-else-that-can-make-someone-a-profit companies would stop raping the earth because they may be harming or killing a rare and endangered bird or fish, mammal or reptile.

If you want to add your email to what should be a flood of emails to Kempthorne’s office, visit the Center for Biological Diversity here. By the way, Kempthorne cut the usual 60-day comment period to only 30-days, and he said emails wouldn’t be accepted. Why does he hate the Earth so much? Screw that guy. Email him over and over. Copy the letter from CBD and re-send it again and again.

Portland, Oregon, politics, advocacy, activism, Endangered Species Act, Department of the Interior, Dirk Kempthorne, Bureau of Land management, Fish and Wildlife Service, Center for Biological Diversity, lame duck, Bill Clinton, George Bush

I don’t think I am going out on a limb by saying that Portland is a rather liberal town. When Barack Obama was here last time, he drew a massive crowd of nearly 75,000, so yeah, I think it is safe to say that Obama will be the choice for many Portland voters come this November. To put that in perspective, the recent crowd at the Democratic National Convention for Obama’s acceptance speech was around 80,000.

That said, I would like to discuss the current climate in Presidential politics this day after the final day of the Republican National Convention. I am not going to bring up Governnor Sarah Palin, who frankly scares the sh*t out of me. At least, I won’t bring her up today. Instead, I would like to point out some of the odd things brought up by Senator McCain during his acceptance speech.

I know this really isn’t “about Portland,” per se, but I think that anyone who would be reading this little blog may be a person who is interested in politics and specifically, veering off the road to ruin that our great nation has been on for the last 8 years. Besides, we all know that there is no way in heck that McCain will be campaigning in Portland. Portland isn’t called “Little Beirut” by Republicans from as far back as Reagan for no reason.

Did it bother anyone else out there that McCain’s solution to education was simply to allow parents to choose a better school for their kids? So that effectively does nothing to remedy the current educational crisis that the United States is facing, and don’t kid yourself, it is a crisis. I am not being melodramatic in that choice of word. Instead of addressing the problem of bad schools, just don’t go to them any more. Wow, why didn’t we think of that before?

Here is exactly what he said:

When a public school fails to meet its obligations to students, parent — when it fails to meet its obligations to students, parents deserve a choice in the education of their children. And I intend to give it to them.

Some may choose a better public school. Some may choose a private one. Many will choose a charter school. But they will have the choice, and their children will have that opportunity.

Yep, nothing about making our educational system better as a whole…just go to a charter school. Or a private school. Guess what? Parents already have that choice. Next issue.

Also, what in the world was he talking about when he was saying that workers could be supported by the government covering the pay difference during re-training?

We will prepare them for the jobs of day — of today. We will use our community colleges to help train people for new opportunities in their communities.

For workers in industries — for workers in industries that have been hard-hit, we’ll help make up part of the difference in wages between their old job and a temporary, lower paid one, while they receive re-training that will help them find secure new employment at a decent wage.

What temporary, lower-paid jobs? And no offence, Mr. McCain, but I want a leader who sets their sites a little higher than a community college education for our citizens. Not that a CC education is bad, but why not make it easier for everyone to receive a full four-year degree?

Sorry to be a little off-topic from Portland proper, but we are a politically active city, and a well-informed one at that. To live in Portland is to be political. And we wouldn’t have it any other way…

Transcript of McCain’s speech courtesy of CNN.

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