KONE HEADS: Able Brewing—the
newish name for Coava Coffee’s line of coffee-brewing products and
accessories—is doing some of the most innovative work in Portland’s
coffee scene. Last year, we wrote about the Kone (“Building a Better Brew,” WW, Jan. 18, 2011), its reusable, stainless-steel filter for the Chemex brewer,
which was released to great acclaim in 2010. Able is about to release
the third generation of Kone, which has smaller holes and fewer pointy
bits, along with an entirely new brewer to go with it. The Able Brewing System
is a two-piece ceramic pot made by local Mudshark Studios. The Kone
sits in the top half of the pot, which is removed at the end of the
extraction, and a lid fits over the bottom half to create an adorable
little jug. The filter and system are being pre-sold exclusively on
Kickstarter—the project has raised $91,378 so far and runs until June
30.
OH, THE DRAMEDY: The 33rd annual Drammys,
an award ceremony honoring Portland theater, was held last week, and
the big winner was...well, everyone, really. With multiple winners in 28
categories, it’s hard for any one play to dominate. Portland
Playhouse’s ambitious trilogy The Brother/Sister Plays and Broadway Rose’s Hairspray picked up six awards apiece, including Best Production, an honor they shared with Miracle Theatre’s Oedipus el Rey, which won five awards. Jane Unger, founder of Profile Theatre, received this year’s Special Achievement Award. Overall, 60 individual awards were handed out.
GET BETTER: Portland artist and designer Joshua Berger,
co-founder and creative director of Plazm design studio and magazine,
was in a bike accident in Southwest Portland on May 18, suffering a
traumatic brain injury. Friends have set up a fund to help his family
with medical and rehabilitation expenses at tinyurl.com/joshfundraiser.
SOUNDS OF SUMMER: The Wu-Tang Clan
will play Refuge in Southeast Portland on July 6. The mid-sized venue
recently received a sonic makeover and this show—the biggest in the
dance/hip-hop-centric club’s two-year history—will be its coming-out
party. No word yet on which Wus will be present, but we’re pretty sure David Wu (aka Tigersuit Killa) is out. Dead Prez co-headlines. >> Legendary Swedish hardcore act Refused makes its Portland debut at the Roseland Theater on Aug. 29, and the third incarnation of the Great Idea, an annual music festival held at Enchanted Forest in Turner, is Aug. 10 with Quasi and Typhoon headlining.
SUNDAY RIDE:
Who says the Clackastanis can’t be reasoned with? Wilsonville, a sleepy
burg in Clackamas County, will be the first Oregon suburb to kick cars
off the street for an afternoon. Wilsonville’s “Sunday Streets” will be
Aug. 19 unless Tea Partyers get their Truck Nutz in a twist and start
bitching about “Portland creep.”
WU - IMAGE: WW Illustration
