40% Hearing Loss

Sure, yeah, I go to rock shows. Or at least I say I do, but quite often I'm actually at pop shows. or folk shows. Last night I crossed over a bright differentiating line and was definitely at a rock show. Subarachnoid Space has two guys from Ohio in it who are friends of the friends that are staying with me. I probably would not have come across them if I hadn't been tagging along. They were down in the basement of a bar, blasting instrumental psychedelic rock jams and an earthshaking volume. There were about 50 people in the room, all around my age, sending out a friendly "you must be pretty cool if you came out to see this" fraternal vibe. I recognized a couple of verifiable rock stars in the crowd. It was like this: everyone in the band was wearing white. They are led by a prog rock warrior goddess named Melynda Jackson who has the aura of a cult leader and is in charge of conducting the fantastically loud and roaring crescendos, stops, and feedback. She played the guitar with her teeth at one point. These folks are going on a tour soon and you should try to see them (or book them) if you aren't from around here. I think they play in Portland a lot. Oh, and there was this two-piece band I saw a couple of weeks ago which also blew my mind with rockness and they are called Mustaphamond. You should see them too.

Visitorville

I have been treated to many a visit this summer by friends from far and wide, and my futon couch remains booked through the end of the month. Work has been a little bit more challenging than usual, so I am extra lucky to have old pals waiting for me at home at the end of the day. And I get to show off Portland. Last night we went all over the place, the highlight for me being a gallery opening at worksound that featured a bunch of Portland photographers showing off their portrait work. Gus Van Sant was in the show, and I am pretty sure also in attendance. No time to blog with all this running around to do. So forgive me or come visit. In the meantime, there's something insane going on between two food carts near my apartment.

Just a Tuesday

I'm not sure why people in Portland aren't losing their minds for the restaurant on N. Williams called Lincoln, but I had a second really great, fairly priced dinner there tonight. AND I kicked ass and took names during my work day, AND I discovered I was born less than a mile from the Mississippi River AND I got to see Tara Jane O'Neil play esoteric atmospheric rock at Valentines AND I got to listen to an old Prince record while standing in line at VooDoo doughnut with my brilliant visitor friends from Ohio. All in all, a rather fine July day.


Tara Jane O'Neil - Pearl into Sand

Full Tilt Summer

If I ever had a better 4th of July weekend, I don't recall it. And mostly I'm keeping track of this one by the way it smelled. There was an honest to goodness seabreeze blowing down the Willamette on Saturday night, so much that I expected to look out over the water and see the Pacific. My pals and I took the max down to the river and walked across the Burnside Bridge just as the fireworks were going off. My friend Joe used to have a professional gig as a fireworks pyro guy, setting off displays with a company out of Ohio. He said the evening was perfect for the fireworks because there was just enough wind to blow the smoke away, but not so much as to mess with the rockets. With all the sanctioned and outlaw explosives going off in town, the air also smelled like gunpowder, sulfur, city and hot dogs.

We spent the day driving around the Willamette Valley visiting wineries as part of a benefit for EcoTrust and their farm to schools program, geared at getting more local produce into the school cafeterias in Portland. We went to Anne Amie, Coelho, Four Graces, and Amity Vineyards. It was mostly about the pinot grape and a few others, and it was a totally beautiful hot day. All the mountains were out. This morning was a gigantic brunch and a bike ride and now I'm just going to watch the sun go down on Sunday.


Vic Chesnutt - Independence Day


Galaxie 500 - Fourth of July


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Not cool, Ft. Worth

The gist: A new gay bar in Ft. Worth called the Rainbow Connection was raided by police last week. The lovers, the dreamers, and a whole bunch of homophobic cops. One guy is the hospital in critical condition and seven others were arrested. The cops said they went to the bar to check on whether anyone was publicly intoxicated. They claim they had to get rowdy because someone "touched" them. Uh huh.






I grew up in the area and heaven knows why I left.

The Unicycles

All of the sudden, I feel like I'm at a French circus. There are copious numbers of unicycles and unicycle related events popping up all over town. The momentum seems to be coming from a sketchy group of enthusiasts called The Unicycle Bastards. Last week, intrigued, I attended the World Championship Unicycle Polo Tournament. They are tying to build a movement here, people, so if the same 16 men women and children are switching jerseys and standing in for North Korea, Russia, Mexico, India, etc, that's fine because maybe actual unicyclists from those countries will show up to play polo on the tennis court of a Portland public park next year. For now, the Unicycle Bastards are their proxies. As a spectator, I found it very suspenseful to watch and see if the athletic, somewhat aggressive men on the court would hurt or maim any of the 12 year olds who were also playing. No one went to the emergency room while I was there.

Not to stop with the polo, I have also been seeing stuff around about unicycle mountain biking. Seriously. I am glad they wear helmets.


Bill Fox - Portland Town



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Off the wall

The Seattle boys took the train down and we simply wrung it out. Impromptu Michael Jackson dance party in the middle of Alberta St. with 200 people on Thursday night. A swing by the new restaurant Beaker and Flask in its sleek fancy space that looks like a cross between a chemistry classroom and an auto showroom, in the best possible way. We also went to a preview party for a new venue that will be opening soon called The Woods down in Sellwood. It is an old funeral home, with all the wallpaper and carpet that you would expect. The Portland Cello Project played a cover of Man in the Mirror and Loch Lomond put on the loveliest little set and I fell for them hard.

Loch Lomond - Blue Lead Fences