Three Doors Down Cafe

I hadn't been to Three Doors Down in over ten years. When we first moved to Portland it was one of the better restaurants in town, specializing in Italian fare. The good news is it seems to have progressed with the times and is still a vibrant and relevant place. Located just off SE Hawthorne on 37th Street it is easy to miss if you are walking or especially driving by.

I can't really remember what the place was like the first time I was there, but it is open and airy now, with a clean and elegant palate. You can sit in the dining room or get the full menu in the bar, they also have a nice wine and cocktails list. We started with the cured meats, cheese and olive plate that was very nice. For entrees we tried a pasta dish and the grilled chicken. Both were huge plates with plenty of food to take home. The highlight of the meal though was the banana cream pie desert. It was truly delicious.

So next time you are shopping on Hawthorne or catching a movie at the Baghdad Theater, make the extra effort to find Three Doors Down for a great meal.

Three Doors Down Cafe

1429 SE 37th Ave.

Portland, OR 97214-5103

503-236-6886

Tuesday through Thursday 5 pm - 9:30 pm
Friday - Saturday 5 pm - 10 pm
Sundays 4 pm - 9 pm
Closed Mondays

College Football Bowl Breakdown

All the bowl games have been selected and I have listed them all here. I have to say there are lot of games that I am excited about and looking forward to watching. There are still way too many bowl games, but over all this should be a fun year. My initial pics are in bold (some games I passed on).

New Mexico
Fresno State vs. Wyoming
Dec. 19 - ESPN
I have seen both these teams and if the team that beat Houston shows up, Wyoming should win

St. Petersburg
UCF vs. Rutgers
Dec. 19 - ESPN

R+L Carriers New Orleans
Southern Miss vs. Middle Tennessee
Dec. 20- ESPN

MAACO Las Vegas
Oregon State vs. BYU
Dec. 22 - ESPN
This should be a good game, I hope OSU wins, but my money is on BYU

S.D. County Credit Union Poinsettia
Utah vs. Cal
Dec. 23 - ESPN
Another good game, I think Cal bounces back and wins this one

Sheraton Hawaii
Nevada vs. SMU
Dec. 24 - ESPN

Little Caesars
Marshall vs. Ohio
Dec. 26 - ESPN

Meineke Car Care
Pitt vs. North Carolina
Dec. 26 - ESPN
I will be watching this one, Pitt should have beaten Cinci, they'll win this one

Emerald
Boston College vs. USC
Dec. 26 - ESPN
I can't see Pete Carrol not getting his team up for this

Gaylord Hotels Music City
Kentucky vs. Clemson
Dec. 27 - ESPN
Clemson looked good in the ACC Championship game and KY won't be able to keep up with them

AdvoCare V100 Independence
Texas A&M vs. Georgia
Dec. 28 - ESPN2
If the good Aggies show up this will be a good game, if not it's a blow out

EagleBank
Army or UCLA vs. Temple
Dec. 29 - ESPN

Champs Sports
Miami vs. Wisconsin
Dec. 29 - ESPN
I thought Miami would be a lot better this year, a chance to finish well

Roady's Humanitarian
Bowling Green vs. Idaho
Dec. 30 - ESPN

Pacific Life Holiday
Arizona vs. Nebraska
Dec. 30 - ESPN
This should be a great game, the Holiday Bowl is usually a wild affair

Bell Helicopter Armed Forces
Houston vs. Air Force
Dec. 31 - ESPN

Brut Sun
Oklahoma vs. Stanford
Dec. 31 - CBS
Another great game on paper, I hope the good OU shows up, but I am not betting on it

Texas
Navy vs. Missouri
Dec. 31 - ESPN
Fear Navy, they beat Notre Dame and will give Mizzou a great game

Insight
Minnesota vs. Iowa State
Dec. 31 - NFL Network

Chick-fil-A
Virginia Tech vs. Tennessee
Dec. 31 - ESPN
Great match up, we'll see how the ACC stacks up against the SEC

Outback
Northwestern vs. Auburn
Jan. 1 - ESPN

Capital One
Penn State vs. LSU
Jan. 1 - ABC
I believe a decent SEC team always beats a good Big 10 team

Konica Minolta Gator
West Virginia vs. Florida State
Jan. 1 - CBS
Another good match up, sadly WVa will send Bobby out a looser

Rose Bowl Game presented by Citi
Ohio State vs. Oregon
Jan. 1 - ABC
Another Big 10 embarrassment

Allstate Sugar
Florida vs. Cincinnati
Jan. 1 - FOX
This is a tough call, Cinci will be up for this, hopefully Fla is too

International
South Florida vs. Northern Illinois
Jan. 2 - ESPN2

Papajohns.com
South Carolina vs. UConn
Jan. 2- ESPN

AT&T Cotton
Oklahoma State vs. Ole Miss
Jan. 2 - FOX
The two preseason darlings that didn't live up to the hype, should be a great game

AutoZone Liberty
Arkansas vs. East Carolina
Jan. 2 - ESPN

Valero Alamo
Michigan State vs. Texas Tech
Jan. 2 - ESPN

Tostitos Fiesta
Boise State vs. TCU
Jan. 4 - FOX
Awesome match up with two undefeated teams, a must watch

FedEx Orange
Iowa vs. Georgia Tech
Jan. 5 - FOX
The crappy BCS game that no one cares about

GMAC
Central Michigan vs. Troy
Jan. 6 - ESPN

Citi BCS National Championship Game
Texas vs. Alabama
Jan. 7 - ABC
If the Texas offense and defense both show up for the same game, this should be fun; if not, it's a walk for Bama.

Big 12 Championship

The Big 12 championship game was a big letdown. To be fair the Texas defense played great, but it should also be said that the Nebraska offense was pretty miserable. Barely more miserable than the Texas O. With three interceptions I think Colt McCoy lost his place as the Heisman Trophy front runner. I hate that he ended the season like that, but he did not get much help. Nebraska was able to get an amazing pass rush from their four down lineman, so they could drop as many as seven back into coverage. This led to nine sacks, 4-1/2 by Ndumakong Suh, Nebraska's amazing defensive end, who has to be considered a top three pick in the NFL draft.

I think all the hard hits and pressure got to Colt as he looked a little out of it in the forth quarter. On what could have been the last play of the game, instead of calling a time out to get the field goal team on the field, Colt took the snap and threw the ball away as time ran out. Luckily the referees conferred and correctly put one second back on the game clock. In the post-game interview Colt said he had it the entire time, but neither ESPN nor any other TV talking head agreed.

While Texas fans all got to exhale and feel good for a few minutes after Hunter Lawrence made the field goal to win the game, it soon became apparent that the close call hurt the Longhorns BCS Championship bid. Instead of everyone talking about a clear #1 vs. #2 game, the door was now open for speculation on how TCU or Cincinnati got shafted. While it is hard to hear this, clearly a more decisive win or even a more offensively exciting game would have made a huge difference.

Clearly Alabama will now be the big favorite in the BCS championship game. Shadows of 2005.

NW Film Financing: Movie Marketing

Today I made my way down to the Red Lion to sit on a panel about movie marketing. The funny thing is I have only marketed one film in my life, so I am not sure I was super qualified, but it was interesting none the less. I was on the second panel of the day that consisted of four people. The others were experts in social marketing, film festivals and getting your movie exhibited (in movie theaters). The panel before mine was all local film makers. I am sure this was a lot more interesting and probably more pertinent to the people in the room as they were all making or aspiring to make movies. That said, I think the presentation went pretty well.

I showed a short video that gives an overview of the marketing we did for Coraline, and then gave an overview of my involvement. I got a lot of questions about social marketing and how people could get the word out. While most of these people are making movies for $100,000 or less, less than what we spent on making our trailer, I think there are a lot of parallels. There is no doubt you are going to have to make a good film to get it widely seen and you are probably not going to make money. Once you come to terms with this, there are a lot of things independent film makers can do to get their movie seen.

Instead of investing a lot of money in a website, I suggested they try to get attention where people may have natural connections to their films. For example, I talked to one person who is making a film about street dogs in Chile and the people who try to help them. She was looking for funding help, which I am no expert on, but I suggested there would be a huge audience across the US of people involved in animal rights. If she were to go on tour and screen the finished film to people involved in these types of organizations, I am sure they would help promote it for her. I was surprised at how little people had thought about the potential audiences for their movies, as everyone I meet seems to have an opinion on how they could do my job better.

One of my favorite panelists was Kelley Baker. He is a local film maker that Barbara knows and he has been quite successful, i.e., he doesn't make any money, but this is his full-time job. I should clarify that by saying I doubt he makes any money on his films. He has been the sound designer on several of Gus Van Sant's features and he uses that money as well as his constant fundraising efforts to make his own films. In fact, he once sent out 100 letters to friends asking for $100 to make a movie, all he offered in return were tickets to the premier. We contributed to that effort as did 48 other people. If you want to check out Kelley's films or buy his book on making the extreme no-budget movie check out his website, the Angry Filmmaker.

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Another soundtrack? That's only two out of one hundred records, and surely you'll allow O Brother, Where Art Thou? as it went way beyond a typical soundtrack. It was actually more popular than the amazing movie that inspired it. It also spawned a separate tour, featuring artists from the soundtrack as well as other like minded musicians. I think it is safe to say that this record single handedly brought back old time music and started the onslaught of re-releases we saw from record companies trying to cash in. So, to the radio show American Roots and to Arhoolie records, I say sorry, I know you have always been there for American heritage music, but this record put it back on the map.

Meet Jackson

We have a new edition to the W+K dog family today. Dez adopted a beautiful black lab/healer mix from the Oregon Humane Society over the weekend. He was pulled in by the "Black Friday" promotion, which offered a discount on all predominantly black animals. Even though Jackson was too young to qualify, they could not resist.

Win Nike Golf Stuff for Christmas

If you are on Facebook, you have the chance to win free Nike Golf stuff every day from now until Christmas. Just become a fan of Nike Golf and click on the "Holiday Giveaway" tab to enter. They are giving away lots of equipment, autographed stuff from all their athletes and a grand prize trip to the Oven in Ft. Worth to get custom fit for a set of golf clubs. Sadly, I am not eligible, but I won't be bitter if you win.