Thebeerchaser’s Year-end Stocking Stuffers

Posted on January 1, 2026 by Thebeerchaser

Well, Beerchasers, I’m going to start the New Year with some unfinished business and with belated Christmas greetings and miscellaneous tidbits I’ve been saving for the year-end. (External photo attribution at the end of the post #1)

I have not succumbed to using ChatGPT or equivalent for any writing and AI conceptually scares the heck out of me, but I figured using it for images like these two was a good compromise.

My wife who had admonished me that if I got on a ladder, she’d leave me, agreed to hire somebody to put Christmas lights on our house this year and they did a great job.

I decided to supplement it with AI and loved the result. Some people even asked me if that was real. I asked Janet if we could send the image as our Christmas card…So much for that idea. (#2)

Greetings from Thebeerchaser!

Revisiting Jerry’s Tavern

In a recent blog post, I told you about a wonderful “new” Portland dive bar I discovered. Jerry’s Tavern – less than two years old, has already established itself as a premier Northwest dive. Even on its entrance, it purports to be “world famous.”

Portland Monthly Magazine asserted that Jerry’s had the best Bloody Mary in Portland.

“It’s the best Bloody Mary I’ve ever personally consumed in Portland, full stop, and an emblem of the perfected-classics ethos that guides Jerry’s Tavern.”

Since I had only consumed a Miller High Life on my first visit, I returned with my former colleague at the Schwabe Williamson law firm, Margaret Hoffmann. After we both downed a Bloody Mary, we agreed that it was pretty good, but the amount of testing to validate that premise at other bars was impractical.

Then in mid-December, Oregon Live food critic Michael Russell, in his column – “The Best Thing I Ate This Week” states emphatically:

“I thought I had a decent handle on Portland’s wing scene…In a single visit, Jerry’s Tavern upended all that.

The friendly Midwestern dive, tucked between the breweries and strip clubs of industrial Northwest Portland, serves the best wings I’ve had in Portland: big but not flabby, fried until the edges go all crispy, coated in a pitch-perfect Buffalo sauce.” (emphasis added)

Although it will be a challenge to pass up another meatloaf sandwich, Margaret and I agreed that we need a return trip – this time to try the wings.

Connections!

As I’ve stated before, I’m an Oregon State University Beaver and my wife, Janet is an Oregon Duck. The tradition of the Civil War Rivalry goes back to 1894 and has been contested 128 times through 2024. So, it’s hard for me to root for the Ducks – especially now that they’re in the Big Ten and the PAC12 is decimated.

That said, I admire former Duck and now Los Angeles Charger quarterback, Justin Herbert. He’s a true competitor and evidently a great teammate and leader. I was therefore interested to see that his current girlfriend is singer, Madison Beer. (#3 -#4)

The name Madison Beer vaguely rang a bell and then I remembered when we first ran into that moniker – the City of Boston in 2024. We had just finished a cruise from Montreal to Boston and had an extra day in Beantown, so we decided to hit Fenway Park where the Red Sox had an afternoon game with the Washington Nationals.

We didn’t want to rent a car and decided to brave mass transit. The hotel maître d’ gave us directions for using public transportation to get to Fenway. First, we had to take a bus to South Station. There are three levels to South Station and for help, we groveled and got a grumpy edict from a Transit Authority Officer:

“Take the Red Line to Park Street then the Green Line to Kenmore. Don’t screw it up or you’ll end up at Boston College.” Then he grinned (a little) and said, “Worst case is you’ll never return and your fate will be unknown….”

Well, after a bus trip and two subway lines, we finally walked about four blocks to Fenway and joined an excited throng about two hours before game time.

When I say, “excited throng”, I have to clarify because I realized that a significant portion of the crowd – lined up for several blocks – was not in line for the baseball game – they were waiting with great anticipation for a concert at the MGM Music Hall at Fenway.

“(It’s) a state-of-the-art, multi-purpose live performance venue that occupies roughly 91,500 square feet on four levels and accommodates 5,005 patrons.” (#5 – #6)

It was somewhat chilly and I wondered why most of the adolescent girls in line were dressed in tutus – in many cases supplemented by capes and tiaras. And most were without coats. I asked a security guard, and he said they were waiting for a Madison Beer concert scheduled to start at 7:30.

I thought Madison Beer was a micro-brewery in Wisconsin. I found out, however, that she’s a twenty-five-year-old singer- songwriter with ties to Justin Bieber. Fenway was one of sixty-three concerts on her 2023-2024 “Spinnin” world tour. These hardy kids had lined up five hours (or more) early for the evening concert for which they paid an average ticket price of $143.

Janet laughed and said, “Well, that’s one event at which you’d be way out of place even though you are Thebeerchaser!”

While Madison Beer and Canadian singer.Justin Bieber, had been good friends in the past, I would suggest that she picked the correct Justin for a more meaningful relationship! The quarterback is much better at the naked bootleg than the singer. (#7)

“The rain has its beauty, but my heart longs for the clear skies beyond it.”

We Oregonians are used to a wet environment. It’s usually either cloudy or rainy from late October through March. Most Oregonians don’t carry umbrellas – we get used to walking hastily through the drizzle. This year is different, however:

“(Up to) two-thirds of an inch of rain is likely for Portland by 12/5, while the coast could see between 1½ and 3 inches and the Cascades up to 4 inches of rain. Oregonians can handle rain, usually, but wind is another story

….Add the threat of winds up to 30 to 40 miles an hour, and Santa might want to do more than keep his wind surfboard handy. Willamette Week

How rainy was it? (#8 – #10)

Well, the term, “Atmospheric River” became part of the lexicon of Portland first graders.
Elementary school students became more concerned with hearing about landslides than the slides on their playground?
Last week, heavy rains triggered a sewage overflow advisory for the Willamette River because Portland’s Big Pipe hit capacity.

What seems somewhat paradoxical on the meteorological front is that winter temperatures so far have been very mild. But that has been economically catastrophic for Oregon ski resorts:

“Oregon ski areas typically open for the season around Thanksgiving, but here we are in mid-December and the runs on Mounts Hood and Bachelor are still alarmingly snow free.

The multiple atmospheric rivers that swept through the Willamette Valley last week did nothing to help the mountains’ snowpack because it was too warm. It all fell as rain, just like it did down here. Willamette Week 12/15/25 (#11 – #12)

I’m finishing this post still on the topic of weather and relating a story about my late friend, author, Brian Doyle. He passed away from brain cancer, far too young at 60 in 2017. Acclaimed for his essays and novels, he was also Editor of the award-winning Portland Magazine published at the University of Portland.

More importantly, people loved Brian for his humor, compassion and sense of spirituality, family and nature. He also had a unique writing style that made his work captivating.

We became friends and Beerchasing buddies in early 2013 when I wrote to him after reading about the “Brian Doyle Humor Scholarship” at the University of Portland where my younger daughter attended.

“No joke – you could earn one of five $3,333 Brian Doyle Scholarships in Gentle & Sidelong Humor for students who propose a way to bring some laughs to the (UP campus.)

…The application should include a brief but detailed idea for a humorous project, which can be anything — videos, comic books, comedy nights, websites, performances, graphic novels, you name it!”

My letter stated that I was intrigued and impressed with this way to enhance campus life and wanted to “honor” him by naming him my next Beerchaser-of-the-Quarter – an accolade he could put on his resume right below Notary Public.

All it required, was for him to meet for a beer and an interview. Although a very busy guy, he agreed to meet me at the Fulton Pub. Brian drank wine, we had a wonderful conversation and a number of Beerchasing expeditions followed after that.

This talented author was also known as a gifted speaker. One reviewer wrote in 2010, “He’s an insanely intense and achingly vulnerable speaker who laughs and cries at his own stories.”

Brian spoke at a dinner of the Lang Syne Association in Portland in 2015. He gave one of his characteristic lists – things he appreciated about Oregon. Halfway through the inventory was this item: “A thorough patience and even appreciation for rain and mist and mud.” (emphasis supplied)

Brian and Dr. Sam Hollway at the St. John’s Pub

The next time we had a beer – at the St. John’s Pub on a stormy, yucky day, I chided him about paying tribute to our seemingly never-ending precipitation. Early the next day, I received a very short e-mail with only the words:

“Heh, Heh…”,

He attached an essay that was published in The American Scholar and included this excerpt:

“It has been raining so hard and thoroughly that the moss has moss on it. It has rained since last year, which is a remarkable sentence. Even the rain has had enough of the rain and it appears to be pale and weary when it shuffles to the lobby to punch in and out every day…….

Slugs have congregated in the basement and established a new religion complete with tithing expectations and plans for expansion into Latin American markets. Mold is now listed in the stock exchange.” (#13)

My tribute to Brian written in 2017 can be found here Brian Doyle – Beerchaser Eternal. It’s gloomy in Oregon today, but just remembering Brian, brightens up this and any day.

Happy New Year

External Photo Attribution

#1. – #2 AI Picsart

#3. Wikimedia Commons (File:Justin Herbert presnap against the Washington Commanders.jpg – Wikimedia Commons) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Author: All-Pro Reels – 16 October 2025.

#4. Wikimedia Commons (File:Madison Beer @ Grammy Museum 01 17 2024 (53835126344) (cropped).jpg – Wikimedia Commons) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. Author: Justin Higuchi 17 January 2024.

#5. Wikimedia Commons (File:MGM Music Hall at Fenway (54924676699).jpg – Wikimedia Commons) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Author: ajay_suresh – 8 November 2025.

#6. Wikimedia Commons (File:Madison Beer @ The Wiltern 11 28 2021 (51783561891).jpg – Wikimedia Commons) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. Author: Justin Higuchi – 28 November 2001.

#7. Justin Herbert Nation (https://www.facebook.com/groups/justinherbert/posts/1461114941857787/).

#8. Expedia.com (ski lift)

#9. Wikimedia Commons (File:Timberline Lodge – 226 (8409305012).jpg – Wikimedia Commons) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. Author: Mt. Hood Territory – 5 July 2005.

#10. Wikimedia Commons (File:February 4th Atmospheric River.png – Wikimedia Commons) This media file is in the public domain in the United States. Author: GOES-West satellite – 4 February 2024.

#11. City of Portland Government (https://www.portland.gov/bes/about-big-pipe).

#12. Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Downpour_in_Accra.jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Author: Fquasie – 22 March 2023.

#13. Wikimedia Commons (File:Nacktschnecke auf Steinen.jpg – Wikimedia Commons) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Author: Perennis – 10 September 2019.

McMenamins’ Old Church and Pub

Posted on October 1, 2022 by Thebeerchaser

(Welcome back to Thebeerchaser. If you are seeing this post through an e-mail, please visit the blog by clicking on the title above to see all of the photos and so the narrative is not clipped or shortened.)

Since starting Thebeerchaser blog in 2011, I’ve avoided reviewing bars or breweries that are primarily restaurants rather than neighborhood watering holes or dives. I’ve made a number of exceptions for the McMenamin venues based on several factors. (See the end of the post for pictures and reviews of those exceptions)

First, the McMenamin venues I’ve reviewed are all historic structures or are significant in the development of Oregon’s Craft Brewing Industry. Secondly, the McMenamin brothers have made incredible economic, cultural and social contributions to the Northwest.

The fact that Brian and Mike are both fellow Oregon State University graduates also doesn’t hurt. (Photos #1 -2 below – attribution at end of the post.)

And I fondly remember working with their dad, Robert, at both the Oregon State Bar and the City Club of Portland when he was on the boards of those organizations.

The late Bob McMenamin was an outstanding lawyer (he received the Bar’s highest honor – the Award of Merit in 1975 ) and wonderful man known for his contributions to his profession and community.

The elegant “Bob’s Bar” in the basement of McMenamin’s Grand Lodge is named his honor. He loved Hammerhead Ale and once said:

“When you’re out of Hammerhead, you’re out of beer!” (Bob can be seen holding his favorite beer in his namesake bar below. #3)

Their commitment to history is commendable as reported in The Oregon Encyclopedia article by Tiah Edmundson-Morton. (How many breweries have their own historian on staff?):

“Historic preservation is integral to McMenamin’s business model. A small history department, led for nearly thirty years by historian Tim Hills, researches the buildings and neighborhoods and gathers community memories.

Their work is incorporated into each property’s art, food, and architectural details. The department also sponsors a well-established program of public talks, with presentations that range from science to social justice to Oregon history.” (#4)

The Oregon Encyclopedia provides definitive and authoritative information about the State of Oregon and its history.

The Wilsonville Old Church

As with Steeplejack Brewing in NE Portland in 2021, a more than century-old church was saved from demolition for condos or a shopping mall by transformation into a brewery and pub which retained the historic structure.

(When the congregation moved in the 1990’s, the property was sold to Fred Meyer Corp.)

“The simple, but graceful church, which literally celebrates its centennial during the same month of its opening as part of the new McMenamins’ location, was completed in August 1911 by the Wilsonville Methodist Society.

It’s just like poetry to learn that its first minister, John W. Exon, had formerly been (and would be again) a respected riverboat captain, whose career had taken him on many journeys up and down the Willamette River, with regular stops at Wilsonville.” (McMenamin’s History Flyer) (#5)

I laughed when I read that the brewery is located in the church basement where the nursery used to be operated during Sunday services. And the expansive structures and grounds are more than just a brewery and pub:

“Linking the old and new is a grassy amphitheater, ideal for quiet conversations and rollicking music performances…”

There is also event space for weddings, reunions and anniversary parties. They haven’t had live music since COVID “but we’re working on bringing it back.”

I didn’t have the chance to explore the grounds in depth, but there is a wealth of nice patio space and the inner eating area – in a separate building in back of the church – is nicely maintained and comfortable.

(You can see by the sign below at the entrance that hiring food and beverage industry staff is still a real challenge.)

My friend and former Beerchaser-of-the-Quarter, Dwight (The Godfather) Jaynes and I had lunch inside and the service was courteous and efficient. Check out his new gig on Rip City Radio – 620 with Chad Doing in the afternoons from 3 to 5 PM.

What About the Food?

Dwight had a two-piece Fish and Chips ($20.50) and I had a large Blue Bayou Salad (romaine, bacon, chopped egg, blue cheese crumbles, tomato, blue cheese dressing) – $17.50 – I took almost half of it home – for our lunches and both were very good and presented well.

A Tillamook Cheddar Cheese Burger is $17.25 and I was almost sorry I didn’t order it because I could have told my wife that in the interest of budgetary prudence, I got the Tator Tots as a side because a green salad was an extra $1.75!

Their Happy Hour is daily from 3 – 6pm and 9pm until close. A pint of any of the McMenamins’ ales is $1 off and they have a good offering of bites and appetizers. (#6)

Happy Hour – It’s always 5:00 somewhere….

I always check out the reviews on Yelp and Trip Advisor just to get a sample of comments and with the realization that a number of people who do these ratings should have adult supervision when writing them based on the substance of their comments. But I was impressed with the assessments overall.

McMenamins’ has sometimes been viewed as having good food and great beer, but service which is slow. That doesn’t seem to be the case at the Old Church Pub and the majority of the reviewers appreciated the attentiveness of the servers – even during the pandemic.

I’m always impressed when there are complaints on social media and Management responds (when they appear to be legitimate) and either apologizes or takes steps to remedy. Such was the case with this McMenamins’.

Cajun Tater Tots and Starters

The most emphatically positive comments on food were about the “Starters” and included the Soft Pretzel Sticks ($14.25) and Cajun Tots. ($10.25 and $15.25)

“I ordered the pretzel sticks as an appetizer just because I was starving, and man… they did not disappoint. The cheese sauce here is absolutely delicious! I ordered an extra order of the cheese sauce to go and took home the leftover pretzels.” (Yelp 5/8/22) (#7)

Now, I learned something from the review below. Although banks, schools and government offices aren’t closed, each February 2 is National Tater Tot Day:

“We stopped by to celebrate Tater Tots Day and a birthday dinner. We love the Cajun Tots and always split a Small basket between us; by the way a large Tot is 2 lbs of Tots! “ (Yelp 2/3/22)

Even going back to August 23 2019, people were effusive about the Cajun Tots:

“But what really stole the show, was the Cajun Tots. HOLY COW THESE ARE THE BEST TOTS IN THE WORLD IF YOU LIKE TOTS ORDER THESE RIGHT NOW BECAUSE ITS LIKE CRISPY HOT CAJUN HEAVEN IN YOUR MOUTH. Not joking guys. We shared a large order for the 5 of us and it was a large serving and even the pickiest eater of the group enjoyed them.”

So I plan to return to the Old Church and have a beer and some tots at Happy Hour in the Undercroft Bar which is in the basement and has been closed because of COVID. One can’t go wrong at any of the McMenamins’ and the Wilsonville Old Church Pub certainly affirms that premise.

Previous McMenamin Establishment Reviewed by Thebeerchaser

McMenamins now has more than 60 establishments throughout the Northwest and I’ve been to a number. The following are those I’ve reviewed with historic significance. To see the review, click on the link over the name.

And I encourage you to visit them not only to enjoy the food and beer, but to grasp the historical import of these buildings that are preserved due to Mike and Brian’s efforts.

The White Eagle Saloon – 2012

We visited with friends Pat and Leona Green to see his brother, Beerchaser-of-the-Month Forrest Green, play a gig at the bar during JAM-O-Rama.

“The White Eagle originally opened in 1905 and is now on the National Historic Register. Did you know the White Eagle is called ‘one of the most haunted places’ in Portland?

……. Set in North Portland’s industrial neighborhood, underneath the mighty span of the Fremont Bridge, the legendary White Eagle Cafe and Rock ‘n’ Roll Hotel echoes with tall tales of resident spirits, poker games and Shanghai tunnels……”

The St. John’s Pub – 2015

Two former Beerchasers-of-the-Quarter, who both worked at the University of Portland nearby, joined me for an afternoon drink. Dr. Sam Holloway, a professor of business and also an internationally recognized consultant on the micro-craft industry, and the late and critically acclaimed author, Brian Doyle and I enjoyed the historic ambiance with our drinks.

“Built in 1905 as the National Cash Register Company’s exhibit hall for Portland’s Lewis and Clark Exposition, this spectacular building was barged down the Willamette River after the expo to its current location.

It’s subsequent incarnations included a Lutheran church, an American Legion post, a bingo parlor and a home for Gypsy wakes. The ever-evolving domed structure was later reinvented as Duffy’s Irish Pub and finally, St. Johns Theater & Pub.”

The Fulton Pub – 2016

I didn’t review this historic pub opened in 1988 by the McMenamin brothers until 2016 although my initial visit in 2012 was the first time I met Brian Doyle for an interview and when we struck up a friendship.

Brian said it was his favorite bar, in part, because he loved Hammerhead Ale. According to the McMenamin website, “…..legend has it that the brew’s hallowed recipe (Hammerhead) was perfected here.”

“(The pub) dates back to 1926, when it was a Prohibition-era hangout serving home-cooked meals, pinball games, stogies, candy and ice cream. Speculation says that during Prohibition the pub might even have provided patrons the odd pint as an unadvertised special.”

In Closing

Every time I reminisce about my Beerchasing exploits and interaction with Brian Doyle, it is with profound sadness that I reflect on how this remarkable human being left us far too soon in 2017 from brain cancer.

His accomplishments transcend what most people could do in three lifetimes as does the impact he had on those who knew him. My tribute to him was in the post:

https://thebeerchaser.com/2017/06/09/brian-doyle-beerchaser-eternal/

The post will give you an idea of his wonderful writing talent and sense of humor and I’ll leave you with the words of Fr. Mark Poorman, then President of UP, where Brian worked for twenty-six years.

“He was a man filled with a sense of humanity and wonder, who was interested in everyone’s story and who saw everyone’s potential. His warmth, humor, and passion of life will be deeply missed and his loss will be acutely felt here and beyond.”

External Photo Attribution

#1. The Oregon Encyclopedia (https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/mcmenamins/#.YzeHvXbMKUk) Article by Tiah Edmundson-Morton. (Oregon Historical Society)

#2. McMenamins’ Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/mcmenaminsbreweries/photos/10159113704914864)

#3. McMenamins’ History Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/McMenaminsHistory/photos/a./)

#4. The Oregon Encyclopedia Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=532027042257551&set=a.532027008924221)

#5. Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Methodist_Church_Wilsonville.JPG) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license. Author: M.O. Stevens 14 May 2009

#6. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Happy_Hour.jpg) The copyright holder of this work, released this work into the public domain. This applies worldwide. Author: Hovev 2008

#7. Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tater_tot_hotdish_8286689740_o.jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Author: Tony Webster 9 March 2014

Beerchaser Miscellany – College Bars and College Professors……

Posted on March 20, 2015 by Thebeerchaser

Best College Bars

Number 19 on the Top 25 College Bars

Last falI, I posted some pictures and information from our trip to Colorado. One of the bars we visited was The Sink – an historic dive bar (Thebeerchaser Does Colorado – Part II) in Boulder, near the campus of the University of Colorado.

It was recently selected as one of the “Top 25 College Bars in America.” Some under-achieving college student may have toured the country developing this list for The Daily Meal, but The Sink, a ninety-three year old watering hole for CU students should clearly be on this list.

The Sink interior

As described by Dr.Thomas Noel in his book, A Liquid History & Tavern Guide to the Highest State:

“During the 1960’s and 1970’s when I was at CU, students sat around here in puddles of beer, smoked pot, and watched Batman and Star Trek…..Mobs of students consumed oceans of beer by the quart.

After a 1995 restoration, the reincarnated Sink still lives in this two-story house with a tacked-on storefront. Among gobs of graffiti, the place’s crowning achievement is a re-creation of Michelangelo’s The Creation of Man, with God holding down a Sinkburger to Sink Rats in the “Sink-stine Chapel.”

You Probably Don’t Want to Take a Class or Have a Beer with This Guy!

And while we are on the subject of higher education, it is fitting to revisit another topic addressed briefly in this blog in May 2013, in an excerpt entitled, “Emotional Disequilibrium, Rotating Metaphors and ‘On Bullshit.’” I took exception to what I viewed as extremely pretentious behavior by one, Dr. David Shields, an author and literature professor at the University of Washington.

The Quad at the University of Washington – a great institution of learning

Now UW is a great institution – one of the finest on the West Coast (both my oldest daughter and son-in-law are alums….), but a quote from an interview in which the good professor was quoted astounded me:

“What I am good at, I think, I hope, is meditating with rigor and candor on my emotional disequilibrium and trying to rotate that out as metaphor so it comes to feel, God forbid, somewhat universal and it makes the reader feel as Phillip Lopate says, ‘less freakish and more human.’” (For the unwashed, Phillip Lopate is a writer, media critic and professor of English at Hofstra University.)

Here’s a more recent Shields quote:

“So many of these formal gestures seem to me a way to get beyond self. I marry the self, through braided collage gestures, to the cultural warp and woof. That seems to me one of collage’s blessings, its potential for multiplicity of investigative modes…..”

Dr. Shields is no slouch – he graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Brown and has written fifteen books – one of which made the New York Times best-seller list and has received numerous writing awards. But I would suggest that the good professor’s humility quotient needs to increase. He appears to validate the premise put forth by one scholar – possibly a classic Greek philosopher: “A damned fool with a Ph.D., is still a damned fool!”

To validate my visceral reaction, I checked out some of the student reviews of their esteemed lecturer. For example, one student wrote: “I never got the impression that he actually wanted to be there, or had any interest in helping students improve, and certainly didn’t seem to want to actually read any student writing. He only wants you to listen in awe while he muses about why fiction is so useless. He thinks everything he has to say about writing is gospel and it gets old fast.”

On Bullshit – A Wonderful Book by another Academician from Princeton

A quote from Princeton Emeritus Professor Dr. Harry Frankfurt, author of the brilliant book, On Bullshit, who I named as January 2012 Beerchaser-of-the-Month, seems appropriate to describe the above statements by Dr. Shields:

“When we characterize talk as hot air, we mean that what comes out of the speaker’s mouth is only that. It is mere vapor. His speech is empty, without substance or content. His use of language accordingly does not contribute to the purpose it purports to serve.”

Dr. Frankfurt - an educator who could filter the hot air

Dr. Frankfurt – an educator and author who could filter the hot air

———

This is not to suggest that I have a problem with academicians. I have had some wonderful professors both at Oregon State and at Portland State. I even singled out my graduate school Public Finance professor at PSU – Dr. John Walker, as the Beerchaser-of-the-Quarter in June 2012, for his dry wit and pithy statements. I learned a bunch in his class and loved going to his lectures for such gems as:

“It’s much more economically efficient to bury people vertically rather than horizontally.”

Dr. John Walker – An economist with a sense of humor and common sense

“It is my opinion that we could lower the defense budget to zero and the Russians would not attack….However the Mexicans would.”

“Under the Oregon fraternal organization statutes, something has to be given to charity each year to be exempt from property taxes. The law doesn’t say how much — all you have to do is give $1 to any deserving midget once per year. When the Department of Revenue conducts an audit and asks what your charity is, the organization simply replies, ‘Marvin.’”

Dr. Melody Rose – President of Marylhurst University and former Oregon Chancellor of Higher Education

Two Ph.D.’s – both the current and a former President of Marylhurst University – Dr. Melody Rose and Dr. Nancy Wilgenbusch – with whom I have raised a mug and martini, respectively – on multiple occasions are shining examples. They are leaders who have not only risen in the academic world, but are educators who convey their wisdom clearly and articulately – even in casual conversations over a beer or cocktail.

Dr. Nancy Wilgenbusch – President Emeritus of Marylhurst U and sought after corporate board member

Back to Dr. Shields – well, his ostentatious style appears to continue – at least as opined by one 1/27/15 review in The Stranger – a weekly Seattle newspaper, who takes issue with Dr. Shields’ latest book I Think You are Totally Wrong. as evidenced in the following excerpt from his scathing review:

“…A handful will swoon over his genius, but more likely you’ll hear a rant about his endless lectures, which my many accounts are packed with self-promotion, name dropping and smug proclamations.”

“The most unbelievable aspect of (this new book) is that everyone involved in its publication somehow thought it was worthy of publication.”

“Shields and (his co-author) simply talk for a little over 250 pages. One man is the closest thing to a celebrity you’ll find in academic circles; the other is a failed writer……….(The book) serves as a blooper reel of 21st century literature failings, with its elevation of two privileged white dudes talking about beer and pop culture, its mistaken belief that a postmodern acceptance of your own flaws somehow serves as absolution for them.”

Students are good at measuring this factor….

Perhaps an apology should be forthcoming for my rant, and it may be an overreaction, but there are shining examples of university faculty who are both brilliant teachers and good writers – who have a sense of humor and a refreshing perspective that motivates students.

Portland Magazine

If you want an example, just read Portland, the award-winning quarterly magazine of the University of Portland edited by Portland author, Brian Doyle. Contrast David Shield’s writing with a brief excerpt from a wonderful essay entitled, “What is Quantum Mechanics?” by Dr. Max Schlosshauer, professor of physics at UP:

“Quantum mechanics also made me a humble scientist, because it tells me that while nature may at some point be fully describable, nature will never be fully knowable.

But quantum mechanics is also emporwering for it tells us that our interaction with the world – our choice of which door to open, which question to ask – brings forth genuinely new events that were in no way determined by anything that has gone before. And thus every one of our actions helps write nature’s eternally unfinished story.”

Scientist (and writer) Dr. Max Schlosshauer

This is the kind of guy with whom you want to have a draft PBR at the Twilight Room near the UP campus or, heaven forbid (for a political science major) even audit one of his courses!

A toast to Quantum Mechanics from a Beaver

And perhaps if Dr. David Shields is tired of teaching, he should focus on just being an author and attending book signings. There are evidently many individuals more intelligent and cultured than Thebeerchaser who love his writing, but Abe Lincoln’s quote summarizes this reader’s opinion:

“He can compress the most words into the smallest idea of any man I know.”

Thebeerchaser

Bars, Breweries and Watering Holes – An Exploration

Tag Archives: Brian Doyle University of Portland’s Portland Magazine

Thebeerchaser’s Year-end Stocking Stuffers

McMenamins’ Old Church and Pub

Beerchaser Miscellany – College Bars and College Professors……