Here's a bonus event that didn't make it into the print edition of WW this week. This Saturday, Portland State University will host a speech by writer renowned travel writer Paul Theroux .

Theroux first came to prominence for his 1975 tome, The Great Railway Bazaar . It's considered a landmark book of travel writing and helped to launch a mini-renaissance in the genre. In the book, Theroux documents his travels by train from London to Western Europe, then across Eastern Europe, through the Middle East, though South Asia and into East Asia and Japan before crossing back through the USSR on his way home.

Ghost Train to the Eastern Star is his newest book. It covers his return to the Eastern Europe he trekked through all those years ago to see how the decades have changed its formerly communist landscape.

However, all those journeys were merely preparation for his latest voyage...warm-ups, if you will. Now, he faces his toughest task yet: Portland, Oregon. If he thought the Eastern Bloc was a bitch, wait until he sees our rag-tag collection of hippies, punks, eco-freaks, alcoholics, junkies, tattooed transvestites, political clipboard wavers, militant vegans and other assorted latte-drinking liberals.

Also, for those who can afford to shell out a little extra cash, there will be a pre-event luncheon.

Saturday, Octber 18. Noon to 2 pm. Smith Memorial Student Union, on the corner of Broadway Ave. and SW Montgomery St. Luncheon costs $30. General admission for $10 ($5 for students).