What’s Going on @ Sillydog Media

After a bit of a health-related hiatus, I’ve put several reviews up on wCities. I’ll try to catch up here.

For starters, I finally made it down to the Brooklyn Park Pub a few months ago, to watch a Vikings game. I cannot tell you what a friendly neighbourhood place this was. I spent the whole game talking to a fellow Vikings fan and had a great time. They had the New Deal Hot Monkey Vodka behind the bar and, get this: Whiskey Around the World Club. The neighbours down the street are well on their way to getting $1 off all their whiskies for LIFE. Moreover, the bartenders were soooo friendly, I asked them if I could just have a plate of mushrooms, and they gave ‘em to me for free. Heck, she even bummed me a smoke, not knowing me from Eve. Please, if you like a neighbourhood sports joint now and then or whiskey, give these folks your money.

If you’ve ever been tempted to go the Bear Paw Inn, turn around and go to the Brooklyn Park Pub instead. If you choose not to follow this advice, don’t say I didn’t warn you. They have several flat-screens and if anything from football to curling to the dog show is on, they’ve got it, and will happily tune in whatever you came there to see. I consider it a neighbourhood jewel.

As for the other reviews, I noticed the other day that The Yarn Garden continues to expand, now covering three storefronts over on lower Hawthorne. As this is the northern end of my stomping grounds, I’ve spent some time watching this place grow up. I’m pleased to see it’s doing well, especially w/ their reasonable (I think) hippie hours.

They’ve got about a billion types of yarn, though I think Abundant Dye Works over on 17th (in Sellwood) actually has more natural fibres. Regardless, if you’re trying to match a colour or looking for the right gauge of needle, this is your superstore. For 20-year amateurs such as myself, they have classes. Knitting is a very Portland thing, though I hear that only old folks do it elsewhere. I frequently see 20-year-old in combat boots and black lipstick knitting and purling with the best of ‘em.
Swing on by, have a cuppa in the attached cafe, The Sippery, and get a load of the adorable preemie hats they have in the window. As I said, the cafe is normal for Portland, which means it’s pretty damn good for just about everywhere else. And, you can kick back and bask in the community of yarn. Carry two.