Sunday, July 29, 2012

Grimm Interview: All about Nick & Juliette's House

I had the opportunity to do a Q&A with the owner of the house used as Nick & Juliette's place in Grimm. Your questions answered, and more. Enjoy!

Nick & Juliette's house on Grimm (photo from reader)
1. How did your house come to be used on Grimm? did NBC approach you?      

We had just had our offer accepted on the house when our realtor told us that NBC would like to meet with us regarding using our house for a pilot TV show. We had never bought a house before, but were pretty sure that this was not standard!
- We were asked to meet with them in an office building in NW, and walked in to find pictures of every angle of our house plastered all over the walls. It was bizarre. 
- They explained that they had found our house driving around Portland and scouting and would like to use it for the pilot. 
- We agreed and they did a few renovations (mostly demolition of a few things that we wanted) and filmed the week before we moved in.
- Once the show was picked up as a series, they built the inside of our house on a set in NW Portland and now they just come to film exterior shots. We were able to visit the set last year and it was really strange! It's definitely different than our real house, but similar enough for TV.

2. What was it like having a film crew in your house and how long/often were they there? 

The filming crew is very professional and respectful of our space. 
They initially filmed for 3-4 full days for the pilot episode before we moved into the house. Since then they have returned every 2-3 months on average for 4-6 hours to film an exterior shot, usually after dark.

3. Are they still filming at your house? 

Yes. They were here 2 weeks ago. 
We never have much notice when they are coming as they film each episode in 8 straight days. They don't plan each episode until the week or two before filming starts. Each episode has a different director and I think that there are two different crews so that one can be filming while the other is planning.


4. What does NBC pay for house usage? 

I won't give specifics, but they do pay us.


5. Did NBC digitally enhance the house color and surroundings? 

Not that I know of!


6. Any other facts or comments you think would be of interest to viewers/readers?

- Everything is fake! They use fake trees, fake doors, fake everything! When they initially used our kitchen, none of the cabinets or drawers opened as it was just a facade. 
- There are so many people involved, it is incredible. When they come, there are blocks and blocks of semi trucks, lifts, lights, prop managers, makeup, wardrobe, etc. Lots of people stand around a lot and they film each little scene over and over. 
- David, the main actor in the show is very nice. He remembers our names and goes out of his way to say hello.


************
Thanks to the owners of "Nick & Juliette's house" for their time and information! And for those of you Grimm tourists doing drive-bys and walk-bys, please continue to be respectful of the real people living in this home and others around Portland. 


Friday, July 27, 2012

House of Grimm exclusive coming soon

It's Friday night; are any of you missing Grimm yet? Well, Season 2 is around the corner and I have a cool post coming up with more of the inside scoop on Nick & Juliette's house.

Apparently it is becoming a regular tourist attraction. I've heard from some of you fans, as well as the owners of the house, regarding the amount of Grimm fan street traffic.

There are even fans all the way from California stopping by.

http://sfonewb.wordpress.com/2012/03/23/adventurin-the-grimm-house-portland-or/

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Light Rail Construction

Light rail construction powers on, along Moody Ave. Steel girders were delivered this week.

KPTV Fox 12 Oregon was there to document the girder delivery yesterday. They posted a cool slideshow of aerial shots on their site.

My (not as cool) shots from this afternoon below:
Steel girders installed
Underneath I-5

More girders to come

Peaches & Fava Beans

Today at the Farmers' Market:


And the CSA delivery brought us a boatload of Fava Beans...I seek recipe recommendations!

Fava Bean Hummus: http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=85129

SFGate: Fava Beans: Roasting Pods Simplifies Preparation


Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Meriwether courtyard work

Meriwether courtyard work starting - July 12, 2012



Another view, Meriwether courtyard - July 21


Courtyard update - July 27


Saturday, July 21, 2012

Boil Advisory Today

The Portland Water Bureau just issued a "boil notice" for most of Portland's west side, due to e. coli found in the supply. This affects the South Waterfront.

http://www.portlandoregon.gov/water/
"All tap water within the defined area used for drinking, food preparation, and ice should be boiled at a full rolling boil for at least one minute. Ice or any beverages prepared with tap water after Thursday, July 19 should be discarded.  The bacteria found were total coliforms and E.coli. "

For more info, visit their website: http://www.portlandoregon.gov/water/59137

Map here of the affected area:


(Note: I tried to embed the map they provided but it gave me errors, so here is a screenshot.)

What to do if you've already drank a bunch of the water since Friday (like our household)?  Not sure...I guess we just wait and see. So far so good.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Roman Holiday Rain-Out

The progression of tonight's Movie Night in the Park (Elizabeth Caruthers Park) below...

7:30 - Staking out spots, enjoying the nice evening, picnic-ing

8:00 - spots are filling in, band is playing
 8:30 - Sunset

 8:40 - Uh oh a few folks run for cover from the rain

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Bye Bye Jamal

Last week, Blazers guard Jamal Crawford signed a 4 year, $21.7M contract with the LA Clippers.

oregonlive.com
Today, the official moving van for the LA Clippers was parked out on Bond Ave in front of the Ardea. It had a parking ticket on the window. I guess he can afford it.

Grand Opening event

Looking for storage options in the South Waterfront? Here is your chance to check out the new neighborhood heated storage facility...and enjoy some Free Food.

South Waterfront Heated Storage Grand Opening Celebration
This Saturday, 7/21: Noon-6pm
0680 SW Bancroft St (corner to the Spaghetti Factory)



Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Video: Barge launch July 16

Another Zidell barge launch took place yesterday afternoon, amid the Dr. Oz excitement. The Dr. Bonnie W. Ramsey wins best barge name ever and sailed off into the great blue yonder.

A SWF resident, Bob French, of the Mirabella, captured this video of the event.


I received some additional photos of the event, here:





In addition, some barge shots from May on this Flickr stream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/terry_frederic/7297991412/in/photostream/

More on the actual Dr. Bonnie W. Ramsey here:

Monday, July 16, 2012

Dr. Oz in the House

Taking parking seriously @ OHSU CHH
Dr. Mehmet Oz stopped by OHSU today to tell us how we (Portland) are doing healthwise. 

It turns out Portland is surprisingly obese but doing better than expected in diabetes...or at least these are the highlights as told to me by an OHSU cardiologist who attended the event. Our biggest problem is high blood pressure and a bi-modal distribution -- one group with a highly active lifestyle and healthy fresh foods, and another without.




From the KATU report:
"After Oz gave a few people physicals, he delivered his diagnosis for Portland, based on the results of Monday's approximate 500 health screenings. 


Oz said the No. 1 issue in Portland is hypertension, also known as high blood pressure. he said 40 percent of the people who showed up Monday had high blood pressure, up from the 25 percent health screeners expected. 

Oz said hypertension is the No. 1 cause of aging and the No. 1 cause of death in America. He said the results were the tales of two cities. The first -- people perhaps with more money who can access the bike trails and gyms. The second? Those who cannot. Maybe they're uninsured and non connecting with a healthy lifestyle and fresh produce."

The Mirabella crew captured some very nice pictures here on their Facebook page:

Dr Oz up close and personal, via Mirabella Facebook page

There's a cart at the end of that bridge

A new food cart, actually "Portland's most delicious food cart" per their website, is taking advantage of the newly opened Gibbs St Bridge. At the west end of the bridge (SW Gibbs & Kelly), the brightly colored cart settled in to prime position in time for the grand opening of the bridge this weekend.

Jaffles & Wraps - "An Australian hot pocket sandwich with your choice of fillings"








Looking for reviews...I have not had a chance to try it yet - have any of you? any recommendations out there?

Photos: Gibbs Bridge Opening

The long-awaited bridge is OPEN. The grand opening ceremony took place this weekend, with Sam and many others.

Here are some photos from opening day:




Monday, July 9, 2012

Relay for Life @ Willamette Park

Coming up this weekend in Willamette Park, your chance to support a good cause, and help science! The Cancer Prevention Study-3 team will be there to enroll volunteers for their study.
 
2012 Relay for Life of Portland 
- Saturday, 4:00pm @ Willamette Park

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The American Cancer Society’s Epidemiology Research program is recruiting men and women across the United States and Puerto Rico for CPS-3… men and women who want to see an end to cancer. Enrollment is taking place at select locations across the country.

Members of our community will have an unprecedented opportunity to personally participate in Cancer Prevention Study-3.  Individuals who are willing to make a long-term commitment to the study (which involves completing follow-up surveys at home every few years for the next 20-30 years), are between the ages of 30-65, who have never personally been diagnosed with cancer are eligible to enroll.

Join us at Relay For Life of Portland to participate in this amazing opportunity!!

The Details
Event Date / Time: July 21, 2012 from 3:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Event Location: Willamette Park, Portland alongside the Relay Track

Want more information? Email cps3pdx@gmail.com or visit http://cancer.org/cps3.
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Sunday, July 8, 2012

Proposed Grimm locations (season 2)

What locations would you like to see on Grimm this season?

I suspect many locals who watch Grimm have a few locations in mind which they think would be perfect for the show. Actually, it's not really a suspicion... I have heard from several of you already regarding some favorite spots.

My vote goes to Sellwood Park - wouldn't it make a great setting for an episode?






Saturday, July 7, 2012

New dining at RiverPlace

It looks like RiverPlace will be getting another new casual dining option. In the former Stanford's location (1831 SW River Dr), there is new life. These liquor licenses were posted on the window; responses needed by: July 14, 2012.
Lil Cooperstown Bar & Grill
Lil Cooperstown currently has 4 other locations, sports pub-y bar and grill type joints with corresponding menus and lots of TV's. Looks like a little competition for McCormick & Schmicks... 

By the way, the Lucier property is still available. It has been a hotly speculated upon and rumor-milled spot but as of yet, too high-end for the current economy. Some folks have talked about putting in a more casual, family-oriented, brewery-type establishment...thoughts?
urbanworksrealestate.com

Bikers, take note of the new traffic pattern at RiverPlace. No more biking through the path between The Strand and the old Lucier. Walkers, you're OK. There's a gate.

Gated path at The Strand