Attended a Classical Chinese Medicine (CCM) lecture series last night, held at the Lucky Labrador brewpub in NW Portland. The education I’m getting at OCOM is Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), which is basically CCM standardized and sanitized after the Cultural Revolution by removing all those messy spiritual aspects of the medicine. So I’m supplementing my OCOM education. Plus, free beer. How can you go wrong?

The series is sponsored by the Chinese Medicine Database, founded by Jonathan, about 6’7” with a shaved head. Since he’s a regular at the Lucky Lab, the help there just refer to him as “Viking.” Our bartender for the event, a new guy, thought his name was Johathan Viking, and kept referring to him as “Mr. Viking” all night. Ironically, he had the opposite track of mine, starting as a student at OCOM and ending at Five Branches. A self-described “alpha male,” he felt he didn’t get enough respect at OCOM, which is overrun by lesbians, apparently. Life is tough.

The lecturer was an instructor at NCNM, and in addition to having a challenging Chinese accent, was extremely soft-spoken and really difficult to understand. He presented esoteric info on the role of the six paired channels (Tai Yang, Yang Ming, etc.) and the best times of day for treating their corresponding illnesses. For instance, the hours of the Tai Yang, which is in charge of opening, are between 9am and 3pm. Therefore, this is the most effective time to needle or sweat patients for an exterior condition.

Next time, I’m going to wait to drink my free pint at the end, during the discussion. My attention tended to wander after the first half-pint, and I was too tongue-tied to ask many questions. (I highly recommend the Superdog IPA.)