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Oregon Uses 'Twilight' to Encourage Drivers to Buckle Up

Oregon's Department of Transportation is leveraging the popularity of The Twilight Saga to bring attention to an important safety. Billboards have started popping up on Portland highways that say, "You Are Not Immortal. Buckle Up." And, its no coincidence that the message is written in a Twilightesque font. Some are arguing that the signs may actually be a distraction to Twihards, while they will be lost on everyone else. But the ODOT is hoping the signs will make wearing a seat belt as popular as Robert Pattinson.

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Food Festivals / Food Travel / Festivals / Oregon Travel / → All Tags

What the Heck is 'Elephant Garlic?' Oregon Knows.

According to the folks in North Plains, Oregon, fun stinks. It's the philosophy behind the town's signature event, the World's Largest Elephant Garlic Festival, which will be stinking up the place August 6 and 8.

Elephant garlic is so named because of its size. Its bulbs are as big as softballs, though elephant garlic tastes more like a leek than regular garlic. The tasty food is grown right in North Plains.

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Beer Travel / Drinking Travel / Brunch / Beer Festivals / Festival Travel / Events / Oregon Travel / Portland Travel / → All Tags

Belly Up To Portland's Beer Brunch And Festival To Toast Holiday Brews

The holiday season is full of extra calories thanks to delicious cookies, chocolates, and candy canes. We’re also big fans of getting some extra nourishment from holiday beverages—eggnog anyone? If drinking gets you in the Christmas spirit, then Portland needs to be on your to-do list for this weekend. The city is getting ready for its Holiday Ale Festival today through December 6 in Pioneer Courthouse Square—don’t worry about getting chilly, its inside heated tents. It’s a good deal too, just $20 will get you ten tasting tickets and a souvenir mug.

There’s going to be over 45 different holiday brews from all over the globe, but there will be plenty of local beers from Oregon as well. Each day there will be a limited selection of specialty beers, so make sure you check out which day might be best for your porter palette. We want to attend this Thursday to take on the Ho Ho Homo Erectus from Walking Man Brewing. It’s an Imperial IPA that’s been aged in Jamaican rum barrels—there’s only a quarter barrel of this one, so get there early to try it out.

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Music Festivals / Music Travel / Portland Travel / Events / → All Tags

Rock And Roll Is Here To Stay...In Portland, Oregon

A scene from last year's MFNW

As a destination, Portland is best known for being calm, idyllic, and very, very, very green. Though it's not a swarming metropole, it has, for years, also enjoyed a reputation for being a major culture hub in the Northwest.

What the city lacks in grit and grime it makes up for with a music scene to rival that of Seattle and San Francisco. Just ask the likes of The Dandy Warhols, The Decemberists, and The Shins, all of whom have ties to Portland. In other words, it's a lot more rock 'n' roll than the Beverly Cleary Sculpture Garden lets on.

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Pirate Travel / Events / Festivals / Portland Travel / → All Tags

Love Pirates? Portland Pirate Festival Loves You Back

What do you call it when a bunch of pirates get together? Well, call it this fall's Portland Pirate Festival, which needs your help setting a world recARRRRRd for the most fully dressed pirates in one location.

The salty sea dogs will board Cathedral Park September 19th and 20th for two days of kraken riding, sea chanteys and grog. Watch an exhibition of Samoan fire knife dancing or pirate belly-dancing (which we must see to believe), or play a role-playing game called Pirates of the Cursed Seas. Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the gate ($6/$8 for children under 12).

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Airport News / Animals / Bird Strikes / Oregon Travel / → All Tags

One Airport's Plan To End Bird Strikes And Rid Runways Of Frisky Fowl

People are sick and tired of birds screwing things up not only at New York-LaGuardia, but also at the Eugene, Oregon airport, and they are going to do something about it. Instead of nets or supersonic noisemakers, airport officials are evicting the foul fowl. After all, it’s the airport’s land now, so if you don’t pay the rent you’re out at the end of the month.

The airport is considering filling in a couple of ponds around the runways. The thought is, that without a place to call home, the troublemaker birds will pack up and get the hell out of town. They can’t just call the local dirt dude though, they are requesting permission from the US Army Corps of Engineers and the State Department of Lands—who knew you had to get so much permission?

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Dave Chappelle / Pioneer Square / Portland Travel / Celeb Travel / Flash Mobs / Twitter / → All Tags

Dave Chappelle Breaks It Down for Portland's Pioneer Square

Our favorite comedian before he abruptly left the public eye, Dave Chappelle, is apparently still crazy but this time, his crazy actions benefited thousands of folks who crowded Pioneer Square in Portland, Oregon to see him do a sort of flash mob stand-up routine after rumors lit up Facebook and the Twitterwaves.

The comedian, who suddenly dropped out of a lucrative $50 million contract for his Comedy Central sketch show and the comedy scene altogether, stepped on stage just after midnight and performed for nearly 90 minutes.

From the Oregonian:

Chappelle seemed surprised by the scene.

"This has never happened in my entire career," he said, to a huge cheer. "I'm grateful everybody came out."

Chappelle did squeeze in some comedy. He compared one guy working on the sound system to Scotty from Star Trek, and took an OPB reporter's microphone and said, "Support Oregon Public Broadcasting." At one point, a woman and two men atop Starbucks began stripping as Chappelle gaped and the crowd cheered and jeered.

By 2 a.m., it was clear the sound system wouldn't go, and Chappelle wound things down. He thanked the crowd and shared a few things he learned, including: "Don't tell a secret in Portland."

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Baseball / Sports / Sports Travel / Ballparks / Oregon Travel / → All Tags

The Minor League's All-Star Game Takes Portland Tomorrow

If you were busy watching last night’s Home Run Derby, the contest to see which big leaguer was able hit the most dingers, then tonight you'll be similarly glued to the tube when the All-Stars try to impress their fellow players and fans. This year, however, we say give some love for the AAA All-Stars. They are trying their best to make the jump to the majors, so their game will be even better because they want it so badly. Also, their team nicknames are far more amusing than those in the majors—Isotopes, anyone?

The 2009 Cricket Wireless AAA All-Star Game will be held in Portland at PGE Park tomorrow night, July 15. Future stars from the International League and Pacific Cost League will face off against one another in a friendly little competition. Many current big leaguers were all-stars during their time in the minors, so make sure you stay after the game to score some autographs to sell on eBay.

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Dunkin' Donuts Alternatives / Donuts / Food Travel / Portland Travel / → All Tags

Portland Has America's Craziest Doughnuts

Chicago has its street dog vendors. DC has jumbo slice. New York has Pommes Frites. Every half-decent drinking town has that one late-night, greasy, calorie-ridden eating option that any sane, sober person would avoid like the plague, but at 2 a.m. after a particularly arduous bar crawl, sounds like the very best idea in the world.

In Portland, Oregon, that option is doughnuts. Specifically, VooDoo Doughnut, a tiny, 24-7 downtown bakery outfitted with a disco ball and quirky duct tape mural, where a rowdy line inevitably starts forming once the bars start closing.

These hot, freshly baked treats could probably have attracted a following just by keeping it simple, and indeed, their basic frosted chocolate doughnuts rank up there with the best. But what keeps the late-night crowds streaming in here are the much, much crazier options, including doughnuts covered in oddball toppings of the day, from mini-marshmallows to Lucky Charms to bacon strips.

Are you going to feel good about eating a bacon-covered doughnut the next morning? Absolutely not, but that's hardly the point.

Related Stories:
· Voodoo Doughnut [Official Site]
· Get Dat Donut [Jaunted]
· Do-Nuts So Old School, They Won't Drop the Hyphen [Jaunted]

[Photo: kimberly marie lawson]