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Portland's Underground

Ever hear about construction equipment falling through sink holes around Portland?  They’re not sink holes, they’re the Portland Underground, also called the Shanghai Tunnels.  Long ago basements all over Portland were connected through a vast network of tunnels.  Allowing merchants to bring goods from the docks into the city, avoiding muddy unpaved streets.  Of course, where people go, crime goes.

Kidnapping, opium dens, brothels, boot-legging, it was everywhere.  As roads were paved it was used less but the crime remained, Shanghais continued until World War 2 began.  These days it is all but gone, between earthquake proofing, businesses closing it for security reasons, and people simply not knowing it’s there, it is slowly being destroyed.

For a long time I’ve wanted to go see it, there are tours.  Finally this last weekend I went with 9 friends, the tour was almost 40 people total.  Being close to Halloween, the tour-guide told us about all of the ghosts and paranormal activity.  For someone who grew up around Portland it was well worth my $17, but the normal tours cost less.  Check out www.shanghaitunnels.info if you want to see more about it.

Factor is a programming language which has been in development for a little over 5 years. Factor is influenced by Forth, Lisp, Smalltalk. Factor takes the best ideas from Forth — simplicity, short, succint, code, emphasis on interactive testing, and meta-programming. Factor also brings modern high-level language features such as garbage collection, object orientation and functional programming familiar to users of languages such as Lisp, Smalltalk and Python. Read More…

Cocktail Cabaret at McMenamins Mission Theater

Cocktail Cabaret started when a small group of friends came together in late 2004 to form an eclectic cabaret troupe. All members of Cocktail Cabaret bring years of professional performance experience to the stage, ranging from musical theatre and dance to stand up comedy.

Cocktail Cabaret offers its audience a unique experience rarely found today. The show is reminiscent of days past when vaudeville and cabaret were the veins of entertainment. They combine dance, song, risqué innuendos, great costumes, loads of energy, and downright funny stuff to create a new era of cabaret. Cocktail Cabaret specializes in themed shows such as Tropicana, Viva Las Vegas, Broadway Baby, and Follies Bergere along with their more mixed shows that they fondly refer to as A Barrel Full of Monkeys.

Cocktail Cabaret has performed in many of Portland’s favorite music venues, including Lola’s Room (Crystal Ballroom), McMenamin’s White Eagle Saloon, and the Mississippi Pizza Pub. Because the members of Cocktail Cabaret are committed to service, the ensemble also performs for fundraisers and other charity events throughout the year.

Saturday October 25, 2008
from 8:00pm - 11:00pm
Mission Theater & Pub
1624 Nw Glisan St
Portland, Oregon 97209

Salut! Wine Port Tweet Up

This is an informal tweet up event. Invite any local Twitterers who would enjoy great company and a great tasting event. Dave at Salut! does an amazing job running this. It actually runs Friday thru Sunday. Our “unofficial” tweet up is Saturday from 3 to 5ish.

The northwest’s biggest port tasting event! 24 different Port and dessert wines from around the world will be sampled for three days of enjoyment. Your $10 tasting fee provides you with four Red ($2) tickets and a white ($4) ticket. Blue ($6) tickets also available. Each 1 oz. pour uses 1 ticket. Wines are listed in Red, White & Blue level categories. Buy additional tickets as you wish!

Saturday October 25, 2008
from 3:00pm - 5:00pm
Salut! Wine Company
16020 SE Mill Plain Blvd., Suite 105
Vancouver, Washington 98684

If you’re a home buyer in Portland there’s a ton of opportunity for you to get a great deal.  I have been looking to some statistics lately to see what things look and I see a huge opportunity if you’re a buyer.

Here is some foreclosure data of homes on the market in Portland. Read More…

The housing market nationally seems to be an area of great interest, and locally, here in Portland, a lot of home buyers are wondering whether they should make the move or not.  I decided to take a look at the current real estate market in Portland by asking Randall Palazzo, of Palazzo Custom Homes, a Portland Living Smart Developer.

First of all, don’t believe all the media reports you read on the housing markets these days.  If you look around and ask a few questions, the answers may surprise or even shock you.

Here’s an Example of a Portland Foursquare Home:

I was out researching the market here in Portland this last weekend to see if how much truth there is to all the media reports on housing.  I focused on the inner neighborhoods of Portland to see how they compared to the doomsday reports we have been reading about in  Clark County, Happy Valley, and other “burb” locations.

While doing my research, I came across a builder that appears to be breaking the mold. Actually, he is not only breaking the mold, he is crushing it.  This builder had signs up everywhere in these areas, and most of them said “sale pending”….Windermere signs with Debi Robertson and Shauna White plastered on the side.  Extreme curiosity at this wonder caused me to call the President of this company.  When I called, a deep voice of what sounded like a younger gentleman answered, on the 1st ring!  “Palazzo Custom Homes this is Randy”.

I disclosed that I was simply a curious statistics hound, not an agent, appraiser, buyer or seller.  He immediately said that he would be pleased to tell me all about the inner Portland neighborhood market.

I asked him to give me his view of the current market conditions.  In a matter of fact tone, he told me that “there is nothing wrong with today’s market at all.  I have been working in these areas for over 20 years.  The market of 2004 and 2005 was an absolute nightmare waiting to happen.  The principles that were heavily pronounced for so many years simply vanished.  Buyers were getting ridiculous loans, properties values were skyrocketing, and no one was acting realistic.  I had to step back and wait until we went back into a normal market.  Back in the late 80’s to early 90’s, you couldn’t get a conventional loan without a minimum 10% down.  The market was good, and interest rates were at 12% in 1988, and when they dropped below 10% in the early 90’s, we thought that we all had won the lottery.  Then, the conventional loans changed; you could now get one with 5% down!  Over the next 10 years, I saw some pretty ridiculous things happening, peaking when anyone with a pulse could get a loan.  I saw the demand for housing go through the roof, and knew that supply would eventually exceed demand if the loan programs tightened up.  Sure enough, they did. Read More…

Meet In Portland mingler

Every month Meet In Portland has a “Mingler” evening which is just for hanging out at a bar, meeting new members and other friends. This is very relaxed, friendly and informal - so just come along for a drink or two and meet new people! Read More…

According to The Forclusure Guru, Lenders are Aggressively Negotiating Portland Foreclosures.

The lending institution owning it is aggressively negotiating Portland foreclosures. These REO’s , synonymous for Real Estate Owned by a lender is wreaking havoc to their bottom line and must be sold quickly, in essence these banks are truly motivated sellers. All foreclosures are also called REO; this abbreviation is synonymous with Real Estate Owned by a Lender. REO’s become available when a homeowner defaults, or fails to make payments on their property. Read More…