The Multnomah Villager

Title pretty much says it all there - Journeys will be closed tomorrow for Memorial Day, and on Tuesday which is their usual schedule. Guess I’ll have to go get my Monday night beer tonight!

So several weeks ago I got the heads up in my comments that a new boutique called “anne bocci” would be opening up in the old G/M Galleries space along the Village’s main drag. We noticed the storefront window filled with all kinds of cool-looking stuff after leaving O’Connor’s one recent Sunday morning.

Here’s a lousy picture of the front window with way to much reflection….

So a couple days ago Anne sends me an email and introduces herself, and asks me to stop by sometime and introduce myself. In the “careful what you ask for department”, today I stopped by at lunch to say hi. Quickly getting over the shock of having some big nerdly guy hanging ’round her hip boutique, Anne and I had a nice conversation about her store while a woman fresh off the plane from Chicago took full advantage of Oregon’s lack of sales tax to pick up several pieces of jewelry and perhaps an outfit as well. Anne turned her on to several of Portland’s hotspots while she was there. This is a great little store filled with all sorts of unique pieces of jewelry, artwork and clothing by local independent designers. It’s a great addition to our Village, another oasis of hip shopping that contributes to our overall mix of unique and fun places to buy gifts or that certain something. And within walking distance of our house!

Here’s a blurb about Anne, by Anne, cribbed from her MySpace page:

The doors are open to my boutique in groovy little Multnomah Village, in SW Portland, Oregon. I’m happy to be showing the work of one of the most amazing photographers, Elisa Lazo de Valdez. I adore her imagery, art deco aesthetic, romantic vision, and sense of light, and fashion. She has won many photography awards, and participated in many juried shows. I’m lucky to have her lovely images in my gallery.

My boutique is in the heart of lovely Multnomah Village, close to the super cool, independent bookstore called Annie Bloom’s Books.

For me, it’s all about supporting indie designers, apparel designers, jewelry designers, handbag designers, photographers and artists. You’ll find silk dresses from Black Label San Francisco, crisp looks from Suzabelle, Seattle, and retro bags from Mugwump, Portland. Stop by, say hello, and shop indie.
Oh, by the way the boutique is called “anne bocci.”

And those of you who get the Portland Picks e-newsletter have certainly seen this today but Anne is featured in today’s “issue”. (Unpaid placement, for those of you wondering. In fact, the Picks writer bought something while visiting Anne’s store). For those of you who don’t get “picks” - here’s the blurb:

We’re fond of Multnomah Village. Its narrow streets and small-town feel remind us of the good things in life. And now there’s one more good thing to add to the area, so good that we classify it as fabulous: Anne Bocci. Anne’s known round town for her jewelry designs, and now she’s finally set up shop in SW Portland to showcase some of the best indie designers around.

The new boutique is positively brimming with coolness, full of truly one-of-a-kind exquisite items like Anne’s Tahitian pearl earrings, Dolce purses from Seattle, adorable dresses by independent designer Suzabelle, hand-screened t-shirts of the perfect softness, bags made from board games and recycled fabric, snappy trenchcoats in time for the June rains—all this stuff you’re going to want, and you’re going to want it now.

Stop by Friday, June 1, starting at 6 pm for First Friday, showcasing the works of photographer Elisa Lazo de Valdez. And whew! It’s a good thing that Anne gets new stuff in every day—we don’t have to wait long to get our fix.

Anne Bocci
artisan boutique & gallery
7824 SW Capitol Highway
Portland, OR 97219
503.452.3711

This is not necessarily Village-related, although we have Two Rivers Montessori in the Village and  West Hills Montessori over on Vermont street….

If you’ve ever wondered what a “Montessori School” is, here’s an informative article at Slate.com about the format.

We have a great deal of private, charter and non-traditional schools in and around the Village, and I’ve been long meaning to write a post about WHAT exactly they are, if for no other reason than to learn the info myself. Perhaps I’ll get to that this summer.

A few months ago, I got a comment from Kelly Reed, who is the “Kelly” in “Kelly’s Flowers” announcing the opening of her shop within “M” Antiques, down on Multnomah Boulevard. Lately, I’ve been seeing her cards and posters all over the Village, and on the tables at O’Connor’s and everywhere else. I’ve ben meaning to stop by. To make this a total cliche, we went on Mothers’ Day.

Mrs. V came home from a walk on Staurday and mentioned that Kelly had some very nice looking boquets out in front of the store, for only $10 and we made plans to head on over there after breakfast and grab one on Sunday morning. Well, we went a little later in the morning and by the time we got there, the place was pretty much cleaned out! This is to be expected since everyone else had gotten their flowers ON TIME for Mothers’ Day morning, but that’s not the point here.

After a nice talk with the friendly Kelly about what brought her to the Village and how business was going, we left with the arrangement seen above!

An aside: The “M” stands for Heather McDonald, sorry guys, it’s not “MANtiques”. I may be the only one disappointed about this. Although I did snout around a bit while Mrs. V was talking to Kelly and there are some pretty cool things in there, at least capable of keeping the average non-antique-buying man interested while your companion is searching for just the right thing.

Oh by the way Kelly, stay away from Red Bull.

So I’ve been sitting on this for a week or so, since Jessie asked me not to post anything until info is finalized… And it’s a good thing that I didn’t since the movie I was MOST EXCITED ABOUT has been removed from the schedule and replaced by some random dinosaur movie. Now, I know how much drama can be associated with showing this particular replaced flick, so this is not a total surprise…..

Here’s the info!

The Multnomah Neighborhood Association is excited to announce the return of the Multnomah Outdoor Cinema! Come join us on the courts of the Multnomah Arts Center (7688 SW Capitol Hwy) for another season of FREE outdoor movies starting with First Friday in June. That’s just around the corner folks, so mark your calendars now for an fabulous season of great summer flicks!!!

2007 Multnomah Outdoor Cinema
Friday, June 1 - Shrek2 - The adventures of an Ogre and talking Donkey continue…

Friday, July 6 - Back to the Future - A flashback to the ’80s and beyond…

Friday, August 3 - Jurassic Park - Join us for this great Sci-Fi thriller from Spielberg

Friday, September 7 - O’ Brother, Where Art Thou? We’re doubling the fun and entertainment with a live bluegrass jam before the movie. Stay tuned for more info…

Gates open at 8:15; Movies start at Dusk

Snack Shack is Back!
The MOC Snack Shack will be open for business again this summer, serving up our popular Bottomless Bag of popcorn and other sweet snacks. The lowest concession prices you’ll find!

Volunteer with the Cinema!
If you’d like to share your community spirit and support the cinema for 1 night or the entire 4-night season, we’d love to have your help. Please see our website for more information about volunteer opportunities or contact Jessica (multnomahoutdoorcinema@yahoo.com). Also, if you have a talent that you’d like to contribute to the cinema, please let us know!

Help us Spread the Word!
Tell your friends, family, neighbors, co-workers by sharing this email or link to our website
www.multnomahoutdoorcinema.org

We look forward to seeing you at the movies!

Multnomah Outdoor Cinema - Free community entertainment and fun for all!
MOC is a joint community building initiative of the Multnomah Neighborhood Association and Southwest Neighborhoods, Inc. with support from numerous community partners and businesses.

And thanks to the major efforts of Jessica Wade, this is now a grant-supported community activity, so we’re not a risk of losing money by holding this great community activity. I went to most of the movies last year and had a great time. Spent about $50 on snow cones… Think if I volunteer to dish them up, I’d be able to get away with eating on the job?

Seems like a good place to spend an hour or so sipping something from a coffee shop and watching the Village go by. These are the benches outside Loaves & Fishes.

The Backstory: A month ago, I got an email from Don Snedecor, editor of the Multnomah Village Post, asking me if I would be interested in writing a column in the paper. I’ve posted about this previously, here. I haven’t seen the issue yet, but Mrs. V has a couple copies so apparently it’s on the street. Kind of a kick, it’s been a while since I’ve been in the print media. I will post the columns to this site after the Post is on the street, so here’s the column that’s in this month’s paper. Pick up a copy of you have a chance, but not just for my broken prose. It’s a difficult and often thankless job to publish a neighborhood newspaper, especially one that relies on the local business community for advertising support. Don’s got to walk a difficult line between servicing potential and current advertisers and covering local news. I’ve enjoyed the Post over the years and am happy to be adding some content to the paper.

Where’s Your Center?

Over the last year or so, there’s been lots of talk at various meetings of the Multnomah Neighborhood Association about the Village needing a “center” to serve as a gathering place, like the proverbial “town square” from some midwestern state, or more likely, a movie set.

When I think of these types of places, I think of college campus quads, or some of my favorite central-city gathering places such as Bryant Park in New York. The collective drive toward creating these sorts of experiences is generally referred to as “place-making”.

I’ve been peripherally aware of the place-making movement since my time at Portland State University in the late 80’s. More recently, the movement’s standard-bearer locally has been a group called the City Repair Project, and since “city repair” seems to involve a lot of cob houses, communal kiosks, and dreadlocked folks eating lentil potluck, I’ve pretty much tuned them out as a bit too hippy for even the Portland mainstream.

Besides, while I understand the appeal of a central heart to a neighborhood, a place where everyone meets, where it all happens, where events are staged and where everyone know your name, I’m not sure this is really something we truly strive for Village-wide, since for a lot of people, the Village itself is a center.

Perhaps there would be more of a push for this sort of thing if we weren’t so close to Gabriel Park and the Southwest Community Center. Wow, remember the park back BEFORE that community center was built? How flippin’ BIG the park seemed? But I tell you, I really like that facility and I’m glad we have it.

Is it my “center”? No, but it definitely serves that purpose for many people. I don’t think Multnomah Village can lay claim to the Mittleman Jewish Community Center, but that’s definitely a center for hundreds of people in more than just name. Measured by number of different groups served, the Multnomah Center is the closest we have to the ideal.

Look how many people come into our neighborhood on First Fridays, or during Multnomah Days, or your average sunny Sunday morning. I’ve often heard the Village referred to as “Portland’s most popular secret spot” by people who regularly escape here to meet friends and family at Marco’s, or eat out on the deck at O’Connor’s, or take over an outdoor table at the Lucky Lab or Thai Herb.

Remember what Gertrude Stein famously said about Oakland, “There’s no there there!” Well, we’ve got lots of “there” here. It’s just different for everyone. Look around; the Village has lots of “centers”.

Are you part of the crowd at Sip D’Vine that regularly fogs up the windows during colder nights? Is the Starbucks in the Village your go-to meeting place whenever setting up time to talk to a friend? Or maybe Village Coffee’s more your style, they certainly have a core group of regulars who have done quite a bit of place making out front for some time now!

My center is the corner bar seat at Journeys’ — just now. A lot of people’s centers are at the various church incarnations that have popped up in the Village over the last couple of years. Maybe The Ship, or Bingo Night at Renner’s is more your style.

Yeah, I know…. Many of those are businesses, and a REAL center is a public place that isn’t trying to get you to enrich the Man while you’re meeting up, and by that measure you’re right. We don’t have a great public space to fill that role.

I don’t know though. When the weather’s right, I’ve been up on the hill at Gabriel Park watching the sunset with a group of other folks who just happened to pass by and stop to watch. Having that kind of space available to us, where you can stop for a minute or two and share a beautiful sunset with your family, a few neighbors, and some folks you’ll never see again, it’s that kind of impromptu and impermanent place-making that makes this such a great place.

I get this question today in my email:

I was just curious, have you considered endorsing any of the school board candidates on your blog? Or have you done so and I missed it?

The short answer to this is. “No”, I have not considered endorsing any candidates.

Here’s the long answer, and the explanation of why I haven’t been blogging on this subject.

I would need to have a far more developed sense of my own importance to “endorse” someone, and think it would carry any weight with my readership, such as it is. We’ve got so many papers and websites and organizations that are busy telling us how we MUST vote, that one more is really not necessary. I specifically avoid overtly political posts - mainly because I don’t want to have to deal with the comments associated with those kinds of posts, and also because it’s just not something I’m terribly interested in blogging about. Don’t get me wrong, I vote - I have an opinion, etc. So what is it you ask?

I suppose, if pressed, I’d have to say I echo the recommendations of (I think it was the Trib) one of the papers when I say I’d vote for Ruth, and David. I served a year on the SWNI schools committee, and can testify firsthand to Ruth’s dedication and competence with seemingly all school related issues particularly in Southwest. I do share the paper’s concern with how she will transition from the role of an activist/advocate/gadfly to an active member of the board and deal with the inevitable compromises that will ensue. As for David Wynde, I agree with the editorial stance that his financial expertise is needed on the Board. Beyond that - anyone who can block out the type of time that being on the school board requires for NO PAY should be commended.

However, I am also concerned that any of these finer concerns about whether or not someone is more or less “open to communication” or “active in the peace movement” are all moot considering the next board will likely spend the majority of its time attempting to replace the Superintendent.

As for politics in general, you’re not getting it here, sorry. If you’re looking for political posts, try The Red Electric, Bojack (Jack Bog’s Blog), or Amanda Fritz - all of which I read. All but Amanda, I should say, are frequently pretty anti-government and often overly alarmist but can be the source of some good information you’re certainly not going to get from the Oregonian. My capsule review of those three blogs is: Amanda is more liberal than Bojack, who is very anti-developer and no fan of the City government. The Red Electric is the strongest voice against the power of the media, the war, and the Bush Administration. Amanda will give you hard information about the specifics of what’s happening at the city government level and she’s personally involved in lobbying her agenda to various councils, etc. Bojack will give you the widest range of subject matter, and all the Blazer news you need.

They’ve got us covered. It’s not balanced, but it’s mostly fair, it’s their viewpoint and they’re putting info out that all of us should at least be aware of, so we can make our own decisions. I believe that ALL of those blogs have endorsed the candidates and measures.

So that’s enough politics for now.

Yesterday I got an email from Don Snedecor expanding on a concept he introduced at the bar last week. Which is a very dry way of saying that Don is interested in starting a Jazz festival in the Village. Not necessarily one of those multi-day outdoor affairs involving lawn chairs with umbrellas and fans mounted on them, but sort of a round-robin club affair, and to do it in partnership with the Woodstock neighborhood for good measure. Well, let’s let Don’s own document explain this.

Click the image to download the PDF flyer (1.2MB)

So if you see some cat walking around the Village tonight in a zoot suit, it’s Don. I should point out that my introduction to the Zoot Suit came from watching Tom & Jerry back in the day, specifically, that one classic episode which also introduced me to the song “Is you is, or is you ain’t my baby?” Tom’s zoot suit was yellow, with a matching hat. He’ll be talking up this concept tonight at the “afterparty” following the MNA meeting. The “afterparty” is at O’Connor’s.

I’m a pretty big jazz fan, although I prefer “trad” jazz which means the old trio stuff and artists like Miles Davis (in the early years), Kenny Burrell, Oscar Peterson, Dave Brubeck, and Ella. Much to the horror of Mrs. V, I have a long-standing love of traditional New Orleans jazz and a weakness for dixieland. Don’t get me started about “smooth jazz” or music that’s actually R&B - which is usually fine music, but NOT jazz. For some reason I don’t like Jazz vocals as much as I used to, but when I do listen to vocalists, it’s artists from the rat-pack swing era like Frank, Louis Prima or the great female jazz artists like Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald or Nina Simone (who, granted, is more of a soul singer). Oops - off on a tangent. If you’re into this idea of Don’s, drop him a line @ don@multnomahpost.com. Now is the time to get involved.

Yes, it’s that time again. The Multnomah Neighbrohood Assocaition will be holding its monthly meeting this Tuesday night (May 8th) at 7PM in the Multnomah Center. That’s tomorrow night. So for those of you that haven’t been to one of these yet, and are just longing to dive into the scintillating world of zoning, cryptic city regulations and plans for village-wide events, now’s your chance! Don’t worry - it’s not really that dry. You’ll get a chance to meet some neighbors, and put faces to the names that often show up attached to local events and news. We’ll <b>try</b> to get Brian to hold the meeting duration to a respectable hour.