Pink Martini

Lucky ME! A colleague at work gave me tickets to go see the sold out Pink Martini show last night at the excellent Crystal Ballroom. They are perfect for a ballroom because they are a 40'sesque small orchestra, lots of good musicians. It was very danceable, though I, myself, did not dance. On the way in the door, I ended up on an elevator with the lead singer China Forbes, who is something like 8 months pregnant and made that look really good. The band's from Portland and people get pretty unhinged about them. Now I know why.

Black Cab

So maybe I was the last one to know, but this Black Cab series is pretty cool. See indie rockers in the back of a cab that drives through London while they perform an acoustic set. How about that?

Eartha Kitt RIP

Love me some Eartha Kitt.

Eartha Kitt - I Want to be Evil

Texas Hiatus, Xmus Missus

Go West Young Tex has gone to Texas. See you when I get the chance. Much to report. In the meantime, ponder that Portland is the reigning champion city for men with beards.

Arctic Blast 2008!!

1. Watching the kids use the Max like a chairlift, riding the train up to the top of Washington Park with their snowboards, riding down, doing it again.

2. Walking into downtown and confirming that they don't plow in Portland AT ALL. not one street or sidewalk, so far as I could tell. Only a handful of businesses shoveled their walks. It seems that Portlanders have a very hands-off approach to this kind of weather. Close down, go home or to a bar, wait for it to be over. The amtrak station is closed because the switches are frozen, the airport is closed, and POWELL'S is CLOSED! In Portland, that's like closing the hospitals. What are people going to read?!!? I was planning to buy xmas cards at Powell's. So if you don't get a card from me, it's because of the weather.

3. Shuffling over to Clyde Common which was open and warm. I sat by myself at the bar and ordered The Board. Its sort of like a happy meal for foodies. Its a plank with a hole bored into the corner. My board (it changes) had a some toast, braised pork belly and pickled romesco. In the hole, I found a little manhattan in an ice cold little shot glass. Not bad for $13.

It's nasty out there, y'all. Last night it snowed about 5 or 6 inches. This morning, freezing rain landed on top of it. So all of portland has a frozen coating, and I'm stuck on my hill. I'm doubtful about how I can even walk out to civilization. The weather lady says it won't thaw today. I have discs 1 & 2 of the first season of The Wire. I have several cans of sardines and oatmeal, but no half and half. I'm out of firewood but I'm getting caught up on laundry. I'm hunkered down in hoodie on couch and slippers for the foreseeable future.


Whispertown 2000 - Old Times

The midwesterner in me gets a little conflicted about this. But it's still funny.

Locked Out/In

Far be it from me to question the wisdom of the federal judiciary, but court has been closed an awful lot this week. I am told that they close if Portland Public Schools are closed. Okay. I can see it being pretty impossible to staff the building if enough people have kids at home. But the thing is, it's just not that bad out. Sure, there's a little snow coming out of the sky, but it's not sticking in inches or anything. People told me Portlanders are generally wusses about the snow. True that. I, for one, hustled to court this morning, only to find the doors locked (and therefore my clients are locked and can't be heard on a motion for release). And so i shuffled back to my office, put my suit on its hook on the back of my door, changing into jeans. and now and am watching the snow fall and swirl outside my 16th floor window. Ahhh...


Last Christmas - Pas/Cal

When Water Comes to Life - Cloud Cult

White Winter Hymnal - Fleet Foxes

Bbbbrrrr

That storm brought cold cold weather and my furnace is running at full tilt at all times to keep up. There's ice on all the streets and the courthouse shut down yesterday, scuttling two of my hearings. Word has it that tomorrow the weather is going to get snowier. All I know is that I'm not driving until it all melts. They don't do salt or plows here. It's a studs and chains place. I live on a hill and I'm on foot for the foreseeable future.

Icy Demons - Miami Ice

Brittain Ashford - Snow

Frightened Rabbit - Keep Yourself Warm

Coos Bay

I have an aunt and uncle who live in Coos Bay.  Very sadly, their granddaughter (my second cousin), Amy Young, passed away two weeks ago from mesothelioma. She was only 22 but lived a pretty amazing life. I went down to Coos Bay for the memorial service on Saturday morning. I wore one of my lawyer suits and that was not the right thing. Tie-dye was the order of the day. Luckily, her brothers and cousin made all manner of tie-dye t shirts, neck ties and crying hankies, so that we could all get in the proper spirit.   Her brothers are very brave and strong and I am honored to be their kin. 

Coos Bay is fairly remote and there's only one flight in and out each day.  With some time on my hands I drove down the coast in the morning to Shore Acres.  Along the way I passed through an idyllic little fishing community called Charleston.  There were 15 ft piles of oyster shells on the sides of the road, many ocean going fishing boats, and a couple of bars.  Not a gift shop in sight.  Once I got out to the ocean, you could tell there's a storm coming down the coast, (they say from the Bering Strait!).  My friends say its snowing in Portland.  With the weather coming, the waves were gigantic and the white caps reached all the way back to the horizon. People were standing at the viewpoint looking for whales through giant binoculars.   A very Oregon day of green, black, grey and blue. 

There's a Hole in My Soul

I know I said whitewater rafting is the most fun you can have. But it's off season. And late. And so the NEW most fun you can have is to go dancing at Rotture at There's a Hole in My Soul which is a bunch of kids shaking their asses to 60's and 70's motown for hours and hours. You want to kiss the DJ all over for hoarding that vinyl. I am a bit of an R&B afficionado an i think all night I only heard one song that I knew (love that) but it was all terribly danceable and it just got more and more crowded and more sweaty and more funky and I was just out in the middle of it by myself doing the mashed potato. I deeply wish you had been there.

One Day Love - Tommy Dodson

Mr. Henry - Eula Cooper

I've Got Reasons - Mary Jane Hooper

Cookie Folk

I went and saw Laura Gibson play at the Doug Fir tonight. You know what? She made everyone cookies. Little jelly thumbprints. I had one and they were very, very good. There are some bad xmas cookies out there. and not only were her cookies good, but she was great. She sang a shortish set, was accompanied at one point by a man playing a saw, and it was just very enchanting. Loving on Portland again!

It Came Upon a Midnight Clear - Laura Gibson

All the Pretty Horses - Laura Gibson

Wintering - Laura Gibson

My New Pets

I went to Pistils garden store on Mississippi this weekend and picked out some little plant pod friends to hang in my windows. I got inspired and also ended up building a terrarium in a giant flower vase that i never use. And Canup also sent up some plant clippings to get me going in the greenery department. Bachelor Tex will endeavor not to kill.

Heavy Hands - No. 6

Up the Falls

It was another gorgeous December day in Portland on saturday so Billy and I drove down the Columbia Gorge to Multnomah Falls. It wasn't too crowded and we hiked up across the Benson bridge all the way to the top. I am feeling it in my legs today for sure. One of these days when I have more time, I want to go on the full seven mile trail up to the top of Larch Mountain. And then I can make up some fictional peril in my head and Escape from Larch Mountain.

Happy Repeal Day

Billy is coming to town and we are going to a speakeasy party, a theater performance, and then maybe another party. And we are so glad that Eliot Ness won't be at our heels.

Something New

Here's something you don't see everyday. I was in the lockup with a client yesterday and somehow the handcuffs jammed and the marshals couldn't get them off of my guy. They went and got a huge pair of bolt cutters that they keep around saying, "this happens more often than you think" and snipped the cuffs off. Pop. The spanish interpreter who was with me mentioned that the word in spanish for handcuffs is the same as the word for wife. Esposas. How grim is that?

David Bowie - Be My Wife

Powell Butte

Getting back to town, I re-organized and laundered, but was in serious need of a geographic re-calibration. So off I went to Powell Butte, though it was a little cold and threatening rain. It is in a not-so-great corner of Portland (Powell and 162nd). The entrance to the park abuts a trailer park and I saw more than one working girl out that sunday morning. But once I was into the park, I never would have guessed I was in a city and it was great for a meandering 2.5 hour hike. And I wasn't even expecting it, but when I got to the top of the butte, i had an amazing view of the surrounding river valleys, which were packed with low thick clouds. And on the horizon, five mountains: Hood, St. Helens, Rainier, Adams and the tippy top of Jefferson. People were riding around on mountain bikes and horses, but most of the trails I was on were just for people feet. After I worked myself up, I went to Best Baguette, a vietnamese $3.00 french bread sandwich place that is tucked away out in deep SE.

And this is two-thirds of the way to being a funny joke.

and my city was gone.

Not really. But it's impossible to think of going back to Ohio without thinking about the Pretenders song. Couldn't find it to post, so instead, I put on the saddest Ohio song I know, which makes me cry most times I hear it for a variety of little reasons and one big one.

Sun Kil Moon - Carry Me Ohio

But there were friends galore, babies to meet and hold, TWO thanksgiving dinners, many reunions, a little bit of shopping, a trip to my old YMCA and I'm glad I went.

Jason Brabbs took today's picture and I'm a fan.

Incoming....

In a time honored tradition, I haven't started packing yet, haven't called most of the people i need to call, and am generally unprepared. BUT I am getting on a plane tomorrow morning for Ohio and I can barely wait.

Looks like I'll be driving that rental car around in the snow, and what, with my excitement, i need to be extra careful and summon skills of the road heretofore untapped.

Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky - Claudia Lennear

Pictures

Canup, Daniela and I went shopping on Alberta yesterday afternoon and came across a new shop called Ampersand. Its a gallery and shop specializing in vintage photographs. The owner, Miles, has boxes of old snapshots, displays with the old stereoscopic viewers, books on photography, and many matted pictures ready for sale. He calls it "an organized mess of books, objects, ephemera, fine art, design & photography." I bought a small piece involving a very old black and white snapshot of the sky. You can rummage through his photos on line and buy one for yourself for five bucks.

favorite prop 8 poster

The Good Fight

There's a tradition at my office of hanging an old pair of boxing gloves on the door knob of the attorney who most recently did something awesome at work. And the gloves have been on my doorknob for a few days now on account of getting that guy out of the clink and another thing. YAY! I'm getting into my groove maybe. And then tonight I went to a "young lawyers" function put on by the local bar association and ended up meeting some interesting smarty people and they asked me to lunch. it's all coming together.

To Remake the Young Flyer - Guided by Voices

text message break up cross stitch

this is brilliant.

Anti Prop 8 Rally

Here's homo mayor-elect Sam Adams speaking at the anti-prop 8 rally yesterday. I heart Portland.

Beautiful

I took a great hike today up through Washington Park. Usually, I take the max to the top of the park and then meander up and down the trails until i get home. Today, because the sun was out and because I skipped the gym and felt like it, I walked from my place to the top of the park. My legs hurt now, but it was terribly fun and there was an amazing four-mountain view up there. Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainier, Mt. Adams and Mt. Hood, all stunning white in fresh snow. Not sure when the next day will come where they are going to glow in the sunset like that.

The Deals

Kim and Kelley were vibrant last night, having a grand old time playing their rock and roll with The Breeders. Last time I saw them was around memorial day, outside in the wind when they hadn't rehearsed in quite some time and didn't have their groove. But they sure as heck have it now. This was probably my sixth time to see them over the years and the best, at least in terms of their energy and musicianship. Happy band!


The Breeders - Walk it Off

The Breeders - Bang On

God Loves a Power Trio

As you may know, I go see a lot of live music. And tonight was something really special. Walk through walls and bribe public officials to get to the next Heartless Bastards show. The lead singer, Erika, has such an amazing voice and its a power trio and i just can't write anything that would be sufficient. it would just be dancing about architecture. All the better, it was at the Doug Fir, the bar with the best sound people in the known universe. it was a monday night, packed.

The Heartless Bastards - All This Time


The Heartless Bastards - Pass and Fail

The Heartless Bastards - Done Got Old

Sonoma

This weekend was a vineyard adventure with Kara. We went to Ledsen, St. Francis and Kaz. I bought a couple of bottles and had an all around good time. The weather was gorgeous today and we look a long walk through the vines and woods. Last night, we went and saw music at this little bar in the middle of nowhere called The Black Cat. There were bras stapled to the ceiling and the music was unexpectedly good, despite the inclusion of a french horn and a bagpipe. you just never know.

Opening Doors

Why yes, I do go to work in addition to my other adventures and tribulations, though I rarely write about the juicy parts. Confidentiality forbids it. But I think it is safe for me to report a big victory last week, getting a client out of custody by arguing that prison officials miscalculated his sentence by 15 months. The nature of a criminal law practice does not involve a lot of my clients walking out of their cells because of something I did, so when it happens, that's pretty exciting. YAY! He was released this morning and called with an estatic thank you.

Pinch me.

Voting Day

In Oregon, its not so much an election day, as a period of days. the county mails you a ballot and you fill it out at home and drop it off or mail it back in. I delivered my ballot to pioneer square yesterday morning. I sort of miss going to the polls on election day, but it sure makes voting easy. and it beats standing in the rain.

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

Izakaya

I learned something new tonight. A Japanese sake den with food is called an izakaya. It was the Rev. Shayla's birthday and we drove bravely beyond the city of Portland to Hillsboro. The ladies knew about an izakaya called Syun. It was so delicious. Lots of grilled fish, sushi, raw vegetables and sake. I didn't think I liked sake, but this must have been the good stuff.

Guy Fawkes and Scientology

I saw the funniest damn thing today. I was at the gym and out the window we could see about 20 odd protesters, standing in the rain in Guy Fawkes masks, holding signs protesting scientology. Apparently, one of the local scientology offices just moved into the building that also houses my gym. but it just happened this week so there's no sign or anything. And so, from my third floor perch, I watched the protesters go up and down the block in a confused fashion, trying to find the new scientology place so they could hate on it. First they protested across the street at a senior center. Then it was closer in, in front of a beauty school next door, but still the wrong building. They got frustrated and dispersed.

Not bad for a thursday.

1. Alberta Last Thursday- firedancers, zombies on stilts, art I liked in galleries with snacks. Lots of interesting people. Beer with a buddy.

2. Drag show/karaoke with various and asundry queers.

3. Frightened Rabbit at Holocene.

The Twist - Frightened Rabbit

The Greys - Frightened Rabbit

Last Night at Powell's

Mia Kirschner from the L word just finished a very interesting book project called I Live Here. Last night she was at Powell's with an artist that helped her with it. Its a actually four smaller books about Malawi, Ciudad Juarez, Chechnya, and Burma, respectively and incorporates a lot of first person narrative and zine-style art. She apparently went all these places with a group of other writers with the goal of telling the truth about the terrible, forgotten or ignored things that are happening there. And she paid for it with her actress salary. Otherwise, she is tiny in person and cusses a lot. And knows a lot about human rights crises. The website is pretty fantastic.

Jolie Holland

Seeing Jolie Holland last week was pretty awesome, by the way. I got to rub some fancy elbows with some musicians that were there and Ellen Page was there and Herman Dune was fantastic to see live and Jolie Holland knocked my socks off.

Jolie Holland - Palmyra

Jolie Holland - Mexico City

Seattle and slacking.

Hi. I know I've been slacking a little. I've just been doing a lot. And I got my music hard drive situation sorted out so I've been messing with my mp3s instead of blogging. and obsessing about politics. I'm driving back up to Seattle for a party tonight for some artist friends there. This week i went to a new restaurant and a cafe, both of which were dark, moody and captivating. Alu is either German or Austrian and is more or less a wine bar. I had the most delicious spaetzle and they make their own foie gras. And then last night I went to a tea and dessert place, The Pied Cow, in a big victorian shamble with interesting music and a big shrine of some sort in the closet. So anyways, I am going to get on I-5 north now. And next week I'll try to be a better correspondent.


Highway Robbery - Unicycle Loves You

Who me?

I am loathe to say a discouraging word about Portland, but I got the most unpleasant piece of mail when I got home from Seattle. It was a picture of me, looking like a complete tool, talking on a cell phone. the text beneath revealed that I was radar photographed going 41 miles per hr across the four lane hawthorne bridge, at approximately 11:43 in the morning on a sunday in september. The speed limit is apparently 30 miles per hr. (Seriously?) and so now I will be separated from $145.00. Down with the totalitarian state and its surveillance apparatus.

Question

How many queers can you fit in a mini cooper in seattle in the middle of the night? Answer: 8.

Two Beers Veirs

Made it out for a free happy hour show this evening at the Laurelthirst Pub featuring a bunch of country-railroad-bluegrassy goodness by Laura Veirs. She was backed up by Chris Funk from the Decemberists and someone else that I'm sad to say I couldn't identify. Hard cider and free music makes for a happy Tex. Way better than watching the debates.

Laura Veirs - Wildwood Flower

Greta and Kristy

I've never been to a real live legal lesbian wedding before and this one sure was classy and perfect. A thousand billion blessings on the new california wives and their four cats.


School of Seven Bells - Face to Face on High Places


The Organ - Love, Love, Love

Not Burnt

I survived the fires of LA quite nicely, thank you, and returned to my beloved damp Portland where I am safe from such disasters. Ahhh. Although I do not think I will be able to grasp or raise my arms tomorrow because I was tortured at my gym, my feet still work so I'm going out dancing tonight. One of the big highlights of my trip was the plane ride down to California from a connection in Seattle. The pilot took us directly over Mt. St. Helens and it was SO COOL to see that, after a first dusting of fall snow. You couldn't see any volcanic activity but the enormity of the last eruption in the 1980 was very apparent from up there and just amazing to behold.

But now I'm back and I have Jolie Holland and Herman Dune tickets for this friday which I am super looking forward to. They are playing at the Doug Fir which is about the best place I have ever seen a show. No bad views and the sound is perfect.

Los Angeles, I'm Yours until Monday

Just got to my hotel after a harrowing trip on the 110. LA is real different than Portland, but the weather is beautiful, I saw the hollywood sign, and I'm about to get my rehearsal dinner on. I even brought my cowboy boots.

Led Zeppelin - Going to California

The Decemberists - Los Angeles I'm Yours

Tim in the house.

What I would have given to see Tim Gunn on a tandem bicycle in Laurelhurst Park.

Man on Wire

The Living Room Theater was hosting the debates tonight and I watched that for a while (and maybe because it was a movie theater, people were so politely quiet). But then I went and saw Man on Wire which makes me want to do the rest of this post in a french accent. Starting now.

Man on Wire is the story of Phillipe Petit, a crazy frenchman who did an unauthorized guerilla tightrope walk between the two towers of the world trade center in 1974. "These Americans, they ask me why, why did you do this Phillipe?" "Because it is magnificent!" Lots of crying compatroits, goofiness, and derring-do.

Ohio Show

i got an email from the webhost that said I posted material that violated a copyright in my sunday report. odd. blogger.com erased my weekend.

But I'm feeling kind of jealous today of my Ohio peeps, seeing how the Deal sisters are going to fight for Obama on fountain square. I almost got arrested on fountain square about 13 years ago for trying to take down a kkk cross with a bunch of rowdy refuse-and-resist kids. good times. would have been better if the Deal sisters were there though.