Gossip That Should Have Gone To Rehab.

1. FUTURE DRINKING: The owners of newish St. Johns restaurant Cathedral Park Kitchen have applied for a license to open a distillery, Pure Lush Spirits, in the same building. The infrequently updated blog mentions calvados. All together now: Ooooh! >> Sapphire Hotel co-owner Shannon McQuilkin and her husband, Eric, have applied for a license for a bar called the Box Social at 3971 N Williams Ave.—the space at the corner of North Shaver Street that recently held an art installation of twigs and red twine by Cascade Aids Project. >> Ground Kontrol wants to serve more than wine and beer. I may finally be able to sip a Manhattan while destroying Manhattan in Rampage World Tour. >> Steakadelphia has applied for a beer license. Beer! At Steakadelphia! I’m gonna get in line right now. >> Bonus: in eating news, Southwest Portland maple-bar slinger Coco Donut just opened its second shop at 814 SW 6th Ave. Now you can get an old-fashioned a block from Jeld-Wen Field and Pioneer Courthouse Square.

1. CURTAINS: Excellent free-beer-loving theater company Portland Playhouse is being forced by the city to vacate its space on Northeast Prescott Street because the company’s venue, according to board chair Harold Goldstein, is “not zoned for a community space.” The building, a 105-year-old church, is zoned residential.

1. BAAA FEET: This weekend’s second-annual Sock Summit at the Oregon Convention Center (Thursday-Sunday, July 28-31, socksummit.com) will play host to more than hand-knitters of footwear. It will also host three live sheep. Organizers are promising the first “Foot to Fleece” challenge Sunday in which teams will compete to see who can card, spin and knit the sheeps’ woolly goodness into socks the fastest. Shearing starts at 9 am sharp. Admission is $5. There’s also knitting-technique demos, vendors, a fastest sock-knitter competition, a $25 “sock hop” party and a sock museum. But come on. You’re going for the sheep.

1. PDX POPPED: The PDX Pop Now! festival went off without any major hitches this past weekend, debuting a bigger, badder outdoor stage and new indoor digs at Refuge. Still, the minor hitches proved interesting: Nurses singer-guitarist John Chapman had broken his hand before the show, so he subbed Motown-style dance moves for riffs (at one point he led the crowd in a one-armed clap) as Wampire’s Rocky Tinder took guitar duties. During Guidance Counselor’s fest-closing set, frontman Ian Anderson announced he’d be moving to the Bay Area, citing sexual frustration as a reason for his move. Then, as if to serve as a punch line, the band experienced extended technical difficulties. Up-and-coming rock acts the Reservations, Blouse and Radiation City each lived up to their respective buzz, but honorable mention should be awarded to the Chicharones, Dusu Mali, Purple & Green and Brainstorm—all of whom got festival-goers dancing en masse. 

WWeek 2015