When Sockeye was asked to work on Blackstone’s new identity we jumped at the opportunity. How often do you get to help reinvent an icon? The new identity touched on Blackstone’s great stories and gave nod to their roots. And it seems all that jumping helped land Blackstone Hotel a Mohawk Show Finalist nod. Sweet!

Next time you’re in Chicago stop by. Check it out. Soak in the history. Enjoy.

Mohawk Show 11 Finalist: Blackstone Hotel Identity « Mohawk News.

We basically do the same thing, but as a team. Go Team!

Push-Ups!

Curious to know the history of Portland’s name? When Portland hosted the World’s Fair? Best restaurant deck during the winter? We can help. And with good reason. Many are born and raised Oregonians, during the UO vs OSU rivalry week the weather isn’t the only thing that’s a little frigid, and we travel around to experience the great state of Oregon every chance we get.

I asked the team to take some pictures of their weekend. I was half-expecting some pictures of TV watching, bar hopping or lots and lots of napping. Not this school of Sockeye. We traversed all over Oregon, from weddings to festivals to popsicle parties, from mountains to the ocean to everywhere in between. Here are a couple places you could have found a Sockeye over the weekend.

Now we’ve mentioned before that we prefer not to brag about ourselves too much, however…in our first official Sockeye Bocce game we came from a 0-4 deficit to rock the pit and win 11-5. Good times.

Check out Laura taking a turn and our winning shot.

Sockeye streaming up Columbia at record pace
Count of 353,000 and growing tops 1947 mark
By Allen Thomas
Columbian staff writer
Thursday, July 8, 2010

Sockeye salmon have returned to the Columbia River in record numbers this summer, more than tripling the forecast of state and tribal biologists.

The count through Tuesday at Bonneville Dam was more than 353,000 sockeye. The old record — a combination of the Bonneville count and lower Columbia commercial catch — was 335,300 in 1947.

The final tally could be 375,000 or more.

Cindy LeFleur, Columbia River policy coordinator for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, said it is too early to say why the sockeye return is a record high.

The sockeye are headed for the Wenatchee and Okanogan rivers, with a tiny percentage of the salmon headed for the upper Snake River.

The vast majority of this year’s record return is destined for the Okanogan, she said.

“There’s something good going on in the Okanogan to help these fish,’’ LeFleur said.

Sockeye are the smallest of Columbia River salmon, averaging 3 to 5 pounds, but are considered as excellent a table treat as spring chinook. Kokanee, a popular sport species, are landlocked sockeye.

Sockeye are caught incidentally by sportsmen fishing for salmon and steelhead, but do not bite well.

An estimated 135 sockeye have been kept and 1,025 released from 36,954 angler trips for chinook and steelhead between June 16 and Monday. Sockeye did not become legal for sportsmen to keep until June 26.

Under the 2008-2017 Columbia River management agreement, non-Indian harvest of sockeye is limited to 1 percent of the run. The treaty tribes are allowed a 7 percent or higher harvest rate at runs this large.

Washington and Oregon have not scheduled a commercial fishery for sockeye in the lower Columbia River. The net fleet has caught its allocation of summer chinook, and would exceed its chinook share while fishing for sockeye.

State, tribal and federal biologists initially predicted a run of 125,000 sockeye to the Columbia River. More than 200,000 sockeye were counted between June 20 and 27 alone.

Ready to learn more? Sockeye salmon are well-known for their strikingly red flesh and high protein, vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids content. Other interesting facts about Sockeye include: they are anadromous Pacific fish, change colors during migration, are endangered in some areas, and surprisingly, they LOVE coffee.

Even if we don’t realize it, the Port of Portland plays a huge role in every Portlanders life. In short, they help make things move.

Ever wonder how your french fries got from a farm in Idaho onto your plate? Or why our airport is ranked as one of the Best in the Nation? Or ever wonder about who directs all the barges cruising the river? Yep, the Port helps make that happen.

Well, not only are they lovely people that help our beautiful city run, they also care about artists and art. They recently asked some NW artists to create pieces for their new headquarters (which also happens to be one of six U.S. structures recognized as the world’s most high-tech green buildings). These pieces ranged from enormous movable metal sculptures to traditional woodcarvings. And we were fortunate enough to make a short film about it. Very inspirational.

Enjoy.

Port of Portland Artist Video

CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYONE!!!

Including but not limited to: Travel Portland (Greg Newland, Courtney Ries, Jeff Miller), the entire Sockeye team (Andy, Pete, Erin, John F., John G., Laura, Mr. Westby, Me), Tom Grissom, Joe Spencer, Brad Reeb, Alfonz Swinehart, all our friends, family, random acquaintances, and basically anyone that helped us make it happen. Congratulations.

Truly a labor of love. And what’s not to love—it’s about Portland. While it’s not here yet, we have already designated a special spot right next to our other Telly’s. Good times.

The Sockeye team decided to nerd it up by commingling our childhood entertainment with adulthood debauchery: video games and beer. But we didn’t stop there. We cranked it up to 11 by including a contest, complete with a 1st place trophy and loser ribbons. The 1st Annual Sockeye Donkey Kong Challenge.

For those of you not in the know, Donkey Kong not only changed the video game universe, but it’s pretty damn difficult for a game involving a jumping plumber, a giant ape and some high-speed barrels. So a preparatory link was sent to everyone to get back into the groove. Many otherwise productive hours mysteriously disappeared that week.

Try for yourself: http://www.donkeykonggame.net/

The day of reckoning was upon us. Rules were simple: Everyone was given one quarter and highest score won. Some people tried to race up the ladders as fast as possible, some tried to build their score by jumping as many barrels as possible and some people simply didn’t have a chance. It went down like this:

Laura – 100
Shellie – 500
Pete – 600
Rob – 600
Fish – 2000
Erin – 2100
Andy – 2400
James – 4200
Shawn – 4500
Albert – 4800
Kim – 9300 (winner)

Kim (the newbie) took home the trophy and everyone else received their “Sportsmanship” ribbon in begrudging, unsportsmanlike manner while secretly plotting and practicing for next year’s contest. Muahahaha!!!

Let the games begin!

How to make your own awesome Cinco de Mayo Party

1 Part Sombrero
1 Part Guacamole
1 Part Salsa
2 Part Chips
1 Over-Stuffed Donkey Pinata
Lots of Tequila

Cue the Mariachis…

Being the great co-workers we are, we had to do something. Stop using her mug? Not a chance. Stop drinking coffee? Never in a bajillion years. Play a prank on her? Bingo!

Seeing that Laura was getting testy, Shellie ordered identical I Heart NY mugs for everyone in the office, but didn’t tell her. We awaited the mug delivery with bated coffee breath. They arrived. Mugs were secretly dispersed. Then the next morning, everyone simply walked by and chatted with Laura while holding their brand spanking new I Heart NY mug. You could see the confusion in her eyes. Had her mug been multiplying as she anticipated? Was everyone sharing the same mug? What was going on? Then the light bulb went off…

“I HATE YOU ALL!!! YOU ARE HORRIBLE PEOPLE!!!”

Laughter ensued. Mission Accomplished.