Many blogacious things to note here at the Dabbler. Hope I can remember them all...
Last Saturday (Nov. 7) was a perfect example of a great Dabbler day. K, Ian, and I went to our favorite French bakery in a.m., St. Honore (in Lake O [also in Nwst]) for coffee and almond croissants, then proceeded to George Morland's where we investigated faucets. Ian was in absolute heaven, fiddling around with all the fixtures, the rows of bath tubs, and the toilets with automatic seat lifters. We noticed, too, that there was a frame shop and gallery across the street, Katayama, so we ducked in there after Morland's and found it to be a wonderful place--great displays of Oregon artists both past and present (Hank Kowert, Maude Kerns, Amanda Snyder, James Lavadour, among others), and an excellent gallery attached, Murdoch Collections, exhibiting the works of NYC/PDX sculptor and painter David Hacker.
Here's wikp on him http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hacker.
Here's the Murdoch site: http://murdochcollections.com/.
And here's a little something on Katayama: http://katayamaframing.com/. Love their front door!
Ian discovered Tinker Toys in a kiddie korner at Katayama and let us know in no uncertain terms that separating him from them was an atrocity unparalleled in human history. (We know what he's getting for Xmas!) After the wonderful Katayama visit , we wandered next door to the building's open garage and found a new--less than a month old--fish 'n' chips stand: The Frying Scotsman. We had excellent haddock and chips, served up by a freshly arrived broguing son of Alba.
But the big event of the day was the arrival of Jeff Koehler for his book party at Vino. He arrived mid-day with his folks, Joanne and Bill--great to see them. We met down at Vino, where he'd read later at 7:00, and visited with Bruce Bauer, Vino's proprietor, and ate tacos from Kiko's, the fab cart across the street. We then went home and let Jeff relax and settle in; we drank a bottle of Beaux Freres 2005 Pinot Noir, which was effing gorgeous. At close to 7:00 we were at Vino again and greeting people coming to the reading (many were friends and relatives of Jeff), sipping Bruce's wine, and flipping through the Jeff's book Rice, Pasta, Couscous. He gave his talk from 7:30 to 8:30, telling great stories about how the book came to be, the research process he went through, including travelling to many amazing Mediterranean locales, and reading some of the short narratives that accompany the recipes. It was a hugely entertaining talk and Jeff is a great storyteller. He sold 40 plus books, too.
After, we went to dinner with Bruce and his wife Wendy. Our reservation at Beaker and Flask got lost in the shuffle, so we ended up in the cafe section of Castagna, which was just fine. More wine flowed, conversation followed; I ate Alsatian sausages in a broth; K had coq au vin, Jeff a good ol' American hamburger, which he'd been craving.
All in all, what a terrific day: we got to discover new art and new food, see old friends, and hear great stories. What more could we ask?
***
In the a.m. Sunday, fueled by K's amazing rosemary buttermilk biscuits, Jeff and I visited Powell's where we surreptitiously snapped photos of his book on the shelves and planted advertising cards in various spots around the store. I bought 3 more of Paul Collins' books (more on this later, perhaps). We met Joanne and Bill again at the Pearl Bakery, and there I said goodbye to Jeff. He's off to SF and Seattle for more readings. He was going to see our old friend Tod Marshall read poetry in Seattle later that day. Good timing, eh?
Adeu,
CD
Last Saturday (Nov. 7) was a perfect example of a great Dabbler day. K, Ian, and I went to our favorite French bakery in a.m., St. Honore (in Lake O [also in Nwst]) for coffee and almond croissants, then proceeded to George Morland's where we investigated faucets. Ian was in absolute heaven, fiddling around with all the fixtures, the rows of bath tubs, and the toilets with automatic seat lifters. We noticed, too, that there was a frame shop and gallery across the street, Katayama, so we ducked in there after Morland's and found it to be a wonderful place--great displays of Oregon artists both past and present (Hank Kowert, Maude Kerns, Amanda Snyder, James Lavadour, among others), and an excellent gallery attached, Murdoch Collections, exhibiting the works of NYC/PDX sculptor and painter David Hacker.
Here's wikp on him http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hacker.
Here's the Murdoch site: http://murdochcollections.com/.
And here's a little something on Katayama: http://katayamaframing.com/. Love their front door!
Ian discovered Tinker Toys in a kiddie korner at Katayama and let us know in no uncertain terms that separating him from them was an atrocity unparalleled in human history. (We know what he's getting for Xmas!) After the wonderful Katayama visit , we wandered next door to the building's open garage and found a new--less than a month old--fish 'n' chips stand: The Frying Scotsman. We had excellent haddock and chips, served up by a freshly arrived broguing son of Alba.
But the big event of the day was the arrival of Jeff Koehler for his book party at Vino. He arrived mid-day with his folks, Joanne and Bill--great to see them. We met down at Vino, where he'd read later at 7:00, and visited with Bruce Bauer, Vino's proprietor, and ate tacos from Kiko's, the fab cart across the street. We then went home and let Jeff relax and settle in; we drank a bottle of Beaux Freres 2005 Pinot Noir, which was effing gorgeous. At close to 7:00 we were at Vino again and greeting people coming to the reading (many were friends and relatives of Jeff), sipping Bruce's wine, and flipping through the Jeff's book Rice, Pasta, Couscous. He gave his talk from 7:30 to 8:30, telling great stories about how the book came to be, the research process he went through, including travelling to many amazing Mediterranean locales, and reading some of the short narratives that accompany the recipes. It was a hugely entertaining talk and Jeff is a great storyteller. He sold 40 plus books, too.
After, we went to dinner with Bruce and his wife Wendy. Our reservation at Beaker and Flask got lost in the shuffle, so we ended up in the cafe section of Castagna, which was just fine. More wine flowed, conversation followed; I ate Alsatian sausages in a broth; K had coq au vin, Jeff a good ol' American hamburger, which he'd been craving.
All in all, what a terrific day: we got to discover new art and new food, see old friends, and hear great stories. What more could we ask?
***
In the a.m. Sunday, fueled by K's amazing rosemary buttermilk biscuits, Jeff and I visited Powell's where we surreptitiously snapped photos of his book on the shelves and planted advertising cards in various spots around the store. I bought 3 more of Paul Collins' books (more on this later, perhaps). We met Joanne and Bill again at the Pearl Bakery, and there I said goodbye to Jeff. He's off to SF and Seattle for more readings. He was going to see our old friend Tod Marshall read poetry in Seattle later that day. Good timing, eh?
Adeu,
CD
Here's a painting by Hacker. Somewhere in the DeKooning, Pollack, Johns, Dine universe, eh?:
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