je vais où?

There are a lot of reasons I like what I do, and one of them is putting together crazy events like this one:

Ready to get wild this holiday season? Well, look no further. Break out your uber-hawt jungle safari costumes and boogie on down for a night of fashion and celebration to save elephants.

Portland’s fashion elite have joined forces with the conservation community to throw a wild couture fashion show featuring local, eco designers in an effort to save wild African elephants from the illegal ivory trade. So, paint yourself up like a zebra, grab some cash money for a hot limited-edition Looptworks elephant t-shirt and make your way to Boothster on 521 NE Davis for the party of the season.

Who: Elephant Ivory Project — fueled by EP Films

What: Go Wild! A Night of Fashion and Celebration to Save Elephants! Here’s the gist: Elephants are being killed by poachers at a rate of 10 percent per year. That means that in just a few years wild elephant populations may not exist anymore. So, in January, EP Films is embarking on a forensic biology expedition to the remote jungle of the Democratic Republic of Congo with the goal of saving wild elephants from the illegal ivory trade. You can learn more here. And do your part — come to the party!

$10 gets you a cup and beer for the night, $5 glasses of wine

$15 gets you a sweet limited-edition Looptworks elephant t-shirt

$5 gets you 3 raffle tix for great prizes from Sierra Designs, SPOT Messenger, NAU and more!

Photo booth — strike a pose and get wild for photos by RM Photo! All images will be uploaded to Flickr and Facebook the next day for free download.

Costume contest! That’s right, we know you like to dress up. So find your inner animal and do it up right. Best contest gets a fabulous prize!

When: December 10 – Doors – 8pm, Fashion Show – 930pm, Party – All the time!

Where: Boothster – 521 NE Davis in PDX

Why: Hawt fashion, drinks, dance party, safari costumes, photo booth… All in the name of a good cause. Need I say more?

Photo courtesy Artcrank

Artcrank hits Portland tomorrow. Bike and art lovers unite! The poster show has been making its way around the world this summer, and it’s yet another example of how bike culture is growing more and more popular; which is great for those of us that believe in getting more people on bikes and supporting cities that believe in investing in infrastructure that supports life on two wheels.

Read the rest of this entry »

Fabulous event next Thursday for the wonderful Epic Wheel Works. A female-operated custom wheel building company… love it!

Via Under Solen:

For our Portland friends, here’s an event you’ll definitely want to check out. We’ve mentioned Mountainfilm before, but what’s really cool about the film festival is that they take the whole thing on tour, giving people that can’t make it to Telluride to experience some of the amazing films and inspiring messages. Mountainfilm on Tour will be in Portland this Thursday, January 28, 2010, hosted at Portland State University. Check it out!

What: Portland State’s Outdoor Program and Portland Mountain Rescue are hosting the Mountainfilm on Tour festival on campus. It will include four hours of films that celebrate the great outdoors—especially mountains and mountaineering culture. In addition to the festival screenings, the Outdoor Program will hold a raffle and silent auction. Both Portland State students and the public are welcome to attend.

Where: Portland State University, Smith Memorial Student Union Ballroom, SMSU 355

When: Thursday, January 28, 2010, 6-10pm.

Cost: Students $7 advance, $10 door
Faculty and public $10 advance, $12 door

More info here.

Photo by Jennifer Koskinen

I heart Mountainfilm Festival, an amazing festival of film, art and culture, and I’m so excited about attending the real deal this year (don’t worry, I’ve been to the one on tour)! So here’s a little something from the Under Solen blog to inspire all you creative types:

Art + Adventure + Culture + Environment. Does it get any better than that?

In its 32nd year, Mountainfilm Festival is so much more than a film festival. It’s a four-day six-senses experience of all those things we love: art, adventure, culture and environment. With the motto “Celebrating the Indomitable Spirit” it’s hard not to get excited.

The festival takes place over Memorial Day Weekend (this year May 28-31), and although it might seem a little early to be making travel plans, if you’re a filmmaker, you’ll want to pay attention. Submissions for the 2010 festival are still being accepted, and if you submit before January 12, 2010 the submission fee is only $60. Submit by February 12, 2010 and your fee bumps up to $70. (Short films — 20 minutes or less — have a submission fee of $25 and will be accepted until February 12, 2010).

Why submit? Because Mountainfilm “is America’s premier festival celebrating achievement in mountain, adventure, culture and environment.”

What do they accept? Mountainfilm accepts and screens films – doc and narrative, feature and short – on a broad range of subjects. They’re particularly into quirky causes and indomitable spirit. Learn more about submitting here. To get a feel for the festival you can also check out a list of last year’s films, and others, here.

At about this time two years ago I was busy wandering around Southeast Asia. After several weeks in Vietnam, I made my way into Cambodia, and immediately fell in love. The perseverance of a people that had gone through a horrific history is enough to bring tears to your eyes, and despite decades of hardship, there is a genuine love and happiness that every Cambodian exudes. I was in awe.

Travel opens our eyes, and often it opens our eyes to those who are in need; Cambodia happens to be one of those places. Last year some amazing travel bloggers came up with the idea of Passports With Purpose, a fundraising campaign that would harness the power of travel bloggers and raise some money for a good cause during the holiday season. The campaign was so successful that it’s taking place again, this year raising funds to build a school in this most eye-opening of countries that I have traveled to: Cambodia.

The 2009 Passports With Purpose fundraising efforts is supporting American Assistance for Cambodia, an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to improving opportunities for the youth and rural poor in Cambodia. If PWP raises $13,000, a new school gets to be built in Cambodia… obviously, I couldn’t resist in taking part. Which is why we got Under Solen involved as well… we’re all excited about working on the project. And you should too!

How to partake:

For each $10 donation that you make to AAfC, you will will be entered in the giveaway(s) of your choice. The fundraiser closes on December 21 and all proceeds go directly to AAfC. Check out all of the prizes up for grabs here.

What you can win:

You can’t take on epic adventures without good shelter, so what better prize to inspire some amazing travels than a Sierra Designs XT 4 Ultralight Tent? Thanks to Under Solen for hooking it up!

So for donating some dollars to an excellent cause you can be entered to win this amazing tent which retails for $449. There are tons of other cool prizes as well, so check them all out and donate a few bucks to AAfC. It might just be the best use of your money this holiday season.

Now get to donating… And if you want to keep up with the action, head over to the Under Solen blog where we’ll be tracking everything that’s going on with PWP!

Photo by Mark Gamba

Saturday I joined about 150+ other paddlers, water enthusiasts and eco superstars for the River of Action. The goal was to make a huge floating 350 in support of 350.org’s International Day of Climate Action. Rounding up and organizing almost 200 paddlers and boats is no easy task, but somehow we managed, and the end product was amazing. It feels good to be part of a global movement!

Read the rest of this entry »

This dispatch is cross-posted from Wend Magazine.

Donning a dry suit and paddling out into a grey and stormy Pacific, on a day where you know your boat is going to be constantly beaten by salty swell, the rain will pour right into your face and the wind will force you to engage all of your muscles, possibly leaving you sore for days, might not sound like everybody’s idea of fun. But here in the Northwest, it’s the name of the game.

When I headed out to Pacific City for this past weekend’s Lumpy Waters Symposium, sponsored by local paddling shop Alder Creek, I didn’t really know what I was in for. In fact most of my paddling experience has been reserved for calm afternoons to check out wildlife and get a mild sunburn. Sure, there have been some multi-day trips thrown in here and there, but no epic “surfing the Pacific” kind of stuff. But when it comes to enjoying the outdoors, sometimes you have to push yourself and get out of your comfort zone. And there’s no better weather to do so than stormy wind and rain.

After a night of listening to the glorious sound of rain pelting the tent, Saturday morning we downed some bacon, eggs and coffee — breakfast of champions! — and suited up in various layers of polyester quick drying shirts, fleece, drysuits and booties. The ultimate outfit made for a sea of bright candy-colored groups placed along the beach shore, a stark contrast to the gray waters and sky.

My first outing for the day was intended to be an exploration of the Nestucca River, which, thanks to the elements, looked less like a river and more like the ocean that it feeds into. While another group experimented with rescue scenarios, we paddled directly into the headwind to explore some of the local wildlife. “Paddle” might be the wrong word as it felt more like cranking a very, very heavy piece of machinery. Even the seagulls back at the parking lot could barely stand still without getting blown to the side by the wind. But braving the incessant headwind and rain in my face paid off, as we saw a huge flock of pelicans skimming the water as well as a stoic Great Blue Heron undisturbed by the inclement weather. In fact from the comfort of my dry suit, I really had no place to complain; call me crazy, but being from the Northwest, I actually like the rain. And with pizza and beer as the consolation prize for working my shoulder muscles and core, the day couldn’t have been any better.

Sunday was a different story.

Read the rest of this entry »

Caught this at Oregon Manifest two weekends ago; the uber hip and cool bike show that any two-wheel lover should make sure to attend is going on through the rest of the month. (Plus the exhibition on Danish cycling culture — which features this quote — is fantastic!)

Things are gearing up big time for 350.org’s October 24th International Day of Climate Action. If you’ve been living in a cave and have somehow missed what 350.org is, it’s pretty simple.

From River of Action:

In 2007, NASA’s chief climatologist, Jim Hansen, released a study marking 350 parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as the safe upper limit for humanity. Much more than that, and we risk dangerous temperature increases. Unfortunately, we’re at 390ppm and rising 2 ppm each year. Writer and activist Bill McKibben launched 350.org in response. The goal is to organize a grassroots campaign designed to educate the world about the runaway CO2 levels, and then motivate people to do something about it. Thousands of communities around the world will represent the number 350 as prominently as possible to send a message to world leaders bound for the UN Climate Change Conference this December in Copenhagen.

With actions planned for all over the world, it’s hard not to take part. Last night in Portland, River Action, along with help from Keen, Nau, Wend Magazine and Hopworks, hosted an October 24th pre-party. Basically an event to get people revved up on the need for climate change action and reminding us all not only to take part on the 24th, but in our everyday lives. [That and drink free beer BYOC style -- Bring Your Own Cup]. On the 24th River of Action will be harnessing the power of paddlesports communities all around the world and having them form “350″ on waterways. A creative idea that’s certainly getting some attention… can’t wait to get out on the river and take part!

Great event with an uber fabulous 350 cake. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Find out what 350.org action is taking place near you here.