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.

Debate Night

Looking forward to watching those debates tonight over at Roots Brewery so I can scream at the flat screen with a bunch of other lefty weirdo Portlanders. One of a long list of places to gather in our collective rancor.