- PICTURING PICKATHON: Director Ondi Timonerâthe documentarian best known for Dig!, her award-winning 2004 film chronicling the contentious relationship between rival rock bands the Brian Jonestown Massacre and Portlandâs Dandy Warholsâreturned to Portland last weekend, training her cameras on the annual Pickathon festival. She filmed the roots-music gathering for an upcoming segment on A Total Disruption, her Web channel dedicated to producing documentaries on âinnovators and entrepreneurs who are using technology to transform our lives.â On her blog, Timoner refers to Pickathon as an âindie eco-tech festivalâ founded by âtech wizardsâ who are âinnovating balance [by] unplugging, collaborating and building in the physical world.â According to her Twitter page, Timoner filmed performances by Andrew Bird, Tift Merritt and Vieux Farka Touré, and also used Pendarvis Farm to shoot a video for the Pixies, featuring a cameo from actor-musician Shakey Graves and a giant tiger statue.
- INDIAN SOUTH: As first reported on wweek.com, David Machadoâs Indian-inflected Vindalho restaurant ended its eight-year run on Sunday, Aug. 4. Jae Kim, owner of Wild Wasabe and OâSushi, has filed for a liquor license, telling WW he plans to turn the space into a sushi and âAsian tapasâ spot called Ahi. Wild Wasabeâs Northwest Thurman Street location made the news in 2010, when a Volvo drove into its dining room, injuring two. In 2012, Machado sold Lauro Kitchen (WWâs 2004 Restaurant of the Year) to Duane Sorenson. That space now houses Ava Geneâs restaurant. Machado still runs Nel Centro, a Mediterranean restaurant in the Hotel Modera.
- A RIVER OF PHOENIXES: Two bars rose from the ashes Friday, Aug. 2âone quite literally. After a fire last year that forced it to close, Northeast Alberta dive bar the Nest held a pre-opening party for its new location at 2715 SE Belmont St., in the old Dukeâs Landing space. The bar resurrected its porch mural from the old Alberta location, and also replicated that locationâs uneven procession of â70s-era bar lamps. Slabtown dive Joeâs Cellar was back in business Aug. 3 and is, aside from some new Imperial pint glasses and new carpeting, almost entirely unchanged. Popcorn at the bar remains free.
- SO LONG, DUTCH: A former star of Portlandâs pro wrestling sceneâa once-thriving industry and precursor to todayâs cable wrestling giantsâis gone. âDutch Savageâ died Aug. 3, after a recent stroke. He was 78. Born Frank Lionel Stewart in Scranton, Pa., in 1935, Savage began wrestling in 1962. He settled in the Pacific Northwest by 1966 and was a mainstay in the pro wrestling scene throughout the â70s, performing at places like the Portland Sports Arena (now the Mt. Olivet Baptist Church Family Life Center). After retiring in 1981, he created and hosted Dutchâs Corner, a Christian ministry on Portland public-access television. At the time of his death, he was living in rural Clark County. âI have some fond memories of watching Portland wrestling when I was a kid,â said a commenter on social news site Reddit. âI will miss those days, and Dutch Savage was a part of that.â
WWeek 2015