* * * Built to Impress * * *
 Perfectly situated near the mountains, the ocean, and the desert, slightly funky Portland is naturally eclectic. Known for a thriving art scene, some gullet-pleasing microbreweries, and a climate that grows the world's most gorgeous roses, this vital city also boasts some rubberneck-worthy architectural gems that we think you ought to see. — Becca Hensley
Michael Graves’s Portland Building, 1980
Like the witty teapots Graves designs for Target, this postmodern office building bears classical references and grandiose adornment. A robust structure awash with small, square windows, it has blues, browns, and dusty reds that dramatize its vanilla-colored background, and a whimsical concrete garland adds élan. Controversial from the beginning, the Portland Building has its naysayers, who note its structural and stylistic flaws (such as cracks in upper floors and small, drab work spaces). Regardless, at the time of its completion, then-mayor Frank Ivancie referred to it as “Portland’s Eiffel Tower.” 1120 SW Fifth Avenue
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Lawrence Halprin’s Lovejoy Fountain Plaza, 1966
Perhaps Portland’s finest outdoor plaza, this celebration of waterfalls and geographical features of the Pacific Northwest consists of stair steps, whooshing water, and organic shapes. Its creator also designed the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial in Washington, D.C. SW Third Avenue and Harrison Street
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 A.E. Doyle’s Multnomah County Library Central, 1913
A bibliophile’s fantasy, this icon of American architecture is an adventure in grandeur. Huge windows, a towering ceiling, and an elegant staircase inside convey permanence, and the outside exemplifies the architect’s fascination with European styles. The Georgian-influenced exterior is a symphony of red brick and white stone. 801 SW 10th Avenue, www.multcolib.org |
Pietro Belluschi’s Commonwealth Building, 1944–1948
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 Frank Lloyd Wright’s Gordon House, 1964
The only Wright-designed building in Oregon, and the only one open to the public in the entire Pacific Northwest, this tiny house exemplifies Wright’s Usonian model. Less than an hour away from Portland, it manifests elements such as floor-to-ceiling windows, an open floor plan, and a cantilevered roof with a broad overhang. 879 West Main Street, Silverton, Oregon; www.thegordonhouse.org
Photos by Lincoln Barbour - www.lincolnbarbour.com
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It’s a Whole New Ball Game
You stomp into the clubhouse, disgusted with the round you just played, only to hear some guy bragging about the game he put together when he was in London last week. He says that from the tee, he hit the ball straight and true on every single hole. Then he says that on his second shot, he aimed for the rough and whacked the ball up into a netted goal. Wait — a netted goal? There’s no netted goal in golf!
Well, what that fellow was playing wasn’t golf but rather GolfCross, a variation of golf that’s steadily gaining popularity worldwide. The brainchild of a wacky inventor named Burton Silver (who’s also responsible for the  best-selling Why Cats Paint), GolfCross came about in the late ’80s as a way to bring golf to Silver’s rural New Zealand community, which couldn’t afford the typical course, as fairways and greens are expensive not only to build but also to maintain. Thus, in place of fancy mowers, Silver let native sheep take care of the fairways. He ditched the holes in favor of raised, netted targets. And to top it all off, he introduced an oval-shaped golf ball. That idea was born when Silver, who is a rugby fan, noticed that a rugby ball, which flies end over end, bounces farther than a round ball.
“If played in the upright position, the oval ball cannot be hooked or sliced. It goes perfectly straight every time,” says Paul Martin, the managing director of GolfCross Limited. “People are genuinely surprised at how much more control they have with the oval ball. If you turn it right on the tee cup, it goes right. If you turn it left, it goes left. The ball does exactly what you want it to do.”
That may well explain how the game spread from its tiny New Zealand origin to include courses in England, Ireland, Scotland, Germany, and Argentina. And more courses are opening up nearly every month — London alone built three this summer. The UK will also be the site of the first-ever GolfCross World Championships, on September 29 and 30 at Whittlebury Park Golf & Country Club in Northhampton. As of late July, the event had drawn almost 3,000 interested participants as well as international media attention.
To find out where you can try it out for yourself, visit GolfCross.com. Next time maybe you’ll be the one bragging about your game in the clubhouse. — Jill Becker
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The Sky’s the LimitWhen you’re using the world’s largest telescope, anyway. — J.B.  It’s July, and Brian May, lead guitarist for the ’70s megaband Queen, is slaving away on a new project called “Radial Velocities in the Zodiacal Dust Cloud.” For inspiration, he’s spending time on a mountaintop on the Spanish island of La Palma in the Canary Islands.
But “Radial Velocities” isn’t the name of a new song he’s writing; it’s the title of the thesis he’s penning in order to earn his PhD in astrophysics. And what’s atop that mountain isn’t a recording studio but the Roque de los Muchachos observatory, where May is studying and observing the formation of the zodiacal dust cloud, an orbiting veil of interplanetary particles formed primarily by asteroid collisions and debris from comets.
The observatory also happens to be home to one of the newest and most powerful telescopes in the world — the Gran Telescopio Canarias, a.k.a. the GranTeCan. This $179 million astronomical marvel, a project 20 years in the making, opened its shutters for the first time in July and is expected to be fully operational by May 2008. Its vantage point of more than 7,800 feet above sea level is in one of the most stable atmospheres on the planet and allows 12 of the telescope’s eventual 36 mirrors to focus on the night sky with a nearly unrivaled precision.
When the GranTeCan becomes fully operational next spring, it will be able to focus on the weakest and most distant objects in the universe. “With this [telescope], it will be possible to capture the birth of new stars, to study more profoundly the characteristics of black holes, and to decipher the chemical components generated by the big bang,” says a spokesperson for the acclaimed Canary Institute, which oversees the project.
There to celebrate the telescope’s official grand opening next year — and to unleash what’s sure to be a new and exciting look at the final frontier — will, of course, be Brian May. In fact, he’s currently putting the finishing touches on a musical score for the festivities. Rock on.
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CHOW DOWN
Forget Tilt-a-Whirls and Ferris wheels. When we want to go for a ride, we head to a food festival for flavors that will send us swirling. Here are two months’ worth of festivals that feature protein, produce, and sweet potatoes aplenty. Now that’s tasty tourism. — Jenna Schnuer
Overheat at the eighth annual Houston Hot Sauce Festival. If you want respect from the locals, there’s only one thing to say to the various vendors: “Hurt me.” Then, if you can still write, cast your vote for the hottest hot sauce of the year.
Festival must-try: The limited-edition, made-for-the-festival hot sauce
Details: September 22, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and September 23, noon to 5 p.m.; $5 per person, free for children 12 and under; Houston Farm & Ranch Club, just off Highway 6, a mile and a half north of I-10; www.houston hotsauce.com
Open up and let ’em slide. The Washington State Seafood Festival (a.k.a. OysterFest) hosts the annual West Coast Oyster Shucking Championship. Watch the competitors crack those puppies open. Then squeeze on a little lemon, and you’re good to go.
Festival must-try: Bacon-wrapped oysters
Details: October 6 and 7, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; $5 per person, free for children under 6; Mason County Fairgrounds, Shelton, Washington (about an hour and a half southwest of Seattle); www.oysterfest.com
Orange is the color of happiness on the streets of Darlington, home of the South Carolina Sweet Potato Festival. Join the 25,000 people expected at the festival’s 25th showing to find out what makes the state’s crop of sweets so special.
Festival must-try: The Pilot Club of Darlington’s sweet potato pie
Details: October 13, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; free; on the public square of Darlington (about an hour and a half from Columbia); www.visitdarlingtoncounty.org/darlington_events.html
The bayou fishermen of Niceville, Florida, get mighty busy in the days leading up to the annual Boggy Bayou Mullet Festival. They have to pull up nearly 10 tons of the area’s beloved bottom-feeder to satisfy the festival’s more than 100,000 attendees.
Festival must-try: Smoked mullet
Details: October 19 to 21, noon to midnight on Friday, 11 a.m. to midnight on Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday; $10 per person on Friday and Saturday, $5 on Sunday; Mullet Festival grounds, State Road 85 North at College Boulevard (about 30 minutes northeast of Fort Walton Beach and just over an hour from Pensacola); www.mulletfestival.com
While many food festivals offer fare that’s far from healthy, the Boston Vegetarian Food Festival focuses on the greener (and beaner) things in life. Guest speakers and healthy-cooking demos will pack your brain with good-for-you info.
Festival must-try: Vegan caviar
Details: October 20, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; free; Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center, 1350 Tremont Street; www.bostonveg.org/foodfest
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Join the Teal Fight
Don’t think teal is your color? Then it’s time you give the brilliant blue (or is it green?) a second chance. You’ll add a pop of color to your life — and if you buy one of the products below, you’ll help fund ovarian cancer research and awareness programs. That’s right: Teal is the official color of National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month (which just happens to be September). Ovarian cancer is the deadliest of all gynecologic cancers, according to the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance, and during our lifetime, it will be diagnosed in one in every 69 women in the United States. For more information about ovarian cancer, visit the Alliance’s website, OvarianCancer.org, or the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition’s site, Ovarian.org. And, of course, load up on teal! — J.S.
1. CALLAWAY GOLF FT-I DRIVER, $875, and matching golf balls, $35. (877) 225-5292, shop.callawaygolf.com 2. TEAL RIBBON BRACELET, $20. (952) 938-5344, www.goodybeads.com 3. TEAL RIBBON NOTECARDS FROM NOTECARDS BY MER, $23 for a set of 10. www.notecardsbymer.com 4. OVARIAN CANCER NATIONAL ALLIANCE LONG-SLEEVED SCOOP-NECK TEE WITH LOGO, $22. (877) 735-2974, www.ovariancancer.org 5. TEAL AWARENESS RIBBON FLIP FLOP SLIPPER CHARM WITH 18-INCH CHAIN, $18. www.tealwemeetagain.com6. L’ORÉAL PARIS WEAR INFINITÉ LONG-WEARING SILKY POWDER SHADOW IN CELEBRATION OF STRENGTH, $9, and LE KOHL CHARMING EYELINER IN BLACKENED TEAL, $10. Available in October. Visit www.lorealcolorofhope.com for product information. 7. TEAL RIBBON CHECKS, $25 for 150 single checks. (800) 771-2439, www.chkusout.com
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