He even sent a picture:

• Joe Hallett

Intoxicase. Now you know.

...you're retweeted by HumbleBrag.

Clyde Common's Jeffrey Morganthaler is interviewed on Esquire's Eat Like A Man blog. Humble or not, his cocktails deserve to be bragged about.

It's true... Asian kids really know how to party. And they can hold their suds, as evidenced in this Japanese commercial for "Winter" beer. But how dare they allow a snowman to drink? That's... just... wrong.

• Patrick Long
• This illustration doesn't really relate, but I love it.

The regulation changes will be up for a vote at the OLCC commission in March and would allow liquor stores to sell beer and wine, plus allow corporations to apply for wholesale liquor-selling contracts. Currently, only individuals can apply to run liquor stores, but under the new rules, businesses like Safeway, Fred Meyer and the Portland Mercury (yes, please) could apply to open a "store within a store" to sell hard alcohol by the bottle. Two of these stores already exist as a pilot-project in the region, on a large scale, they would be like in-store Starbucks or bank branches, which are operated independently from the grocery stores they inhabit.

The OLCC has been working on developing the new rules for about two years, says OLCC spokeswoman Christie Scott, noting that they're not motivated by Washington's recent privatization of liquor sales.

As a person who likes to consumes alcohol in responsible quantities, the current geographic segregation of beer sales from liquor sales is frustrating. The OLCC's reasoning for keeping the two sales separated is that a proliferation of stores selling hard liquor could lead to higher crime rates. Changing these rules would not lead to a flood of new liquor stores, it would just allow corporations to apply to run liquor stores whenever a slot opens. The state has contracts with 246 liquor stores in the state, says OLCC spokeswoman Christie Scott, and has opened about six new contracts in the past two years.

Since this is essentially creating a process to build a loophole into state law to allow sales of liquor in grocery stores, why not just go all the way and scrap the liquor segregation law? Scott explains that rewriting liquor law to that extent would require the legislature to pass a bill changing state law. Instead, the OLCC is working to change its regulations without needing sign-off from the state.

• Richard Thompson,

The newest arrow in the Chefstable quiver, a bar called Interurban (named for the old trains that ran up and down Mississippi), is having a soft opening tonight. The collaboration between Eater's "Empire Builder Of The Year" Kurt Huffman, John Gorham of Toro Bravo/Tasty & Sons, and Dan Hart of Prost are setting up in the former Lovely Hula Hands space on at 4057 N Mississippi Ave. It's definitely more focused on the beverage end than Gorham's other properties, but if those restaurants are any indication, I imagine his take on "grown up" bar food will be reason enough to stop by. Tasty N Sons bartender Jeremy Mielen will be handling the spirits, and there will be 12 beers and five wines on tap.

I always liked that space—even back when it was just a hollow shell of a building, before Lovely Hula Hands took on the renovation—and from the look of it, the Interurban crew have done a nice job. Tonight, from 6pm to 3am, they're having an open house (with free food). The rest of the weekend will be friends and family only until 9pm, then open to the hordes the rest of the evening. The official, grand, no-longer-soft opening will be December 1, at which point they'll be open from 4pm to 2am, seven days a week.

Blogtown Nostalgists: remember that guy Ezra? Worked here for a couple years or so? Wrote about music and basketball? Something about a pug? Well, his sophomore effort—a Stryper-themed, Rasheed Wallace-themed bar called The Old Gold—dropped this weekend.

If you're still pissed about Ezra's Floater or Dandy Warhols coverage, now's your chance to tell him what you think. I'm looking forward to stopping by The Old Gold is located at 2105 N. Killingsworth, and hours vary enough to justify little yellow pull-quote box:

Sunday: 12pm until 12am
Monday: 4pm until 12am
Tuesday: 4pm until 12am
Wednesday: 4pm until 1am
Thursday: 4pm until 1am
Friday: 4pm until 2am
Saturday: 12pm until 2am

File this under "sads": The Guild Public House, a bar started on East Burnside last year by former city council candidate Jesse Cornett, is closing down. And its closing party is on Cornett's 36th birthday.

Their press release about the closure is all upbeat, but I think it's depressing. Blarg. A

fter nearly a year in business, we’ve realized that we’re unable to continue the business if we’re going to have the lives we value.

I’ve joked many times that the MPA I earned in grad school doesn’t stand for Master of Pub Administration. I miss the ability to work to support causes that help the public good and look forward to returning to my passion, regardless of whether I remain in the private sector or return to the public realm.

The birthday/closing celebration/funeral is next Saturday, October 29th from "4 to late."

"One drinks a right and proper amount; everyone else drinks either too much or not enough. One's own drinking preferences exhibit refinement and sophistication; everyone else's are suspect, as are everyone else's snobberies, recipes, rules, brands, and styles." -Daniel Handler, from his introduction to The Hour: A Cocktail Manifesto.

There are those among us that take drinking a little more seriously. For some, proper glassware and Kold Draft ice are essential to the experience. For others, nursing a bottle of Early Times in front of the TV is just fine. I'm not here to judge. But if you find yourself a little closer to the former camp, you might be interested in Portland Cocktail Week. Some of the best bartenders in the country are in town to mix, shake, sniff, taste, discuss and (likely) puke up finally crafted cocktails.

The festivities kick off tonight with a swanky party at Wilf's, but all through the weekend there will be celebrations, seminars, tastings, and drink specials. Most events take place at the Jupiter Hotel and Leftbank, but there are plenty of bar-centric happenings around town as well (a full list is available on the PCW website).

One the most bizarre (and intriguing) events pits—in some kind of boozy Kasparov-vs.-Deep-Thought fashion—human bartenders against robots. Some of Portland's best and brightest will be on hand to convince us that we shouldn't give their jobs to Siri. 42 Below Vodka, the event's sponsor, have offered me a couple pairs of tickets to giveaway (Normally $40 a pop!), so if you're interested send me an email with a good guy-walks-into-a-bar joke (or if you're boring, Portland Cocktail Week in the subject line) by 3pm tomorrow, and I'll choose two entries at random. After the jump, a Silver Jews song I'm reminded of.

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