Blather...
April 5, 2008 Last night I went to see Immad Wasif at Plan B. I've got a lingering cold but pushed myself out the door at 11PM and I was thoroughly entranced by the show. There were not a lot of people there, likely due to the fact that there some other big shows in town (Kill Rock Stars artists @Holocene for one). I find his music mesmerizing. Here's a shot of Imaad Wasif on flickr -- not by me, though.
Margaret Cho is coming to Portland soon. She's a riot, and I can't wait to see her live. Also on the upcoming show list is a solo Colin Meloy show. I'm looking forward to a stripped down version of him. At the end of April there is the Stumptown Comics Fest. I've become a big fan of the graphic novel since moving to PDX and I can't wait to attend this festival. I just finished reading Black Hole and Big Baby by Charles Burns. Amazing!
I've been back from Palm Springs for nearly a week and I am still thinking about floating in that pool, the mountains off in the distance and the palm trees all around. Sigh.
March 22, 2008 Totally slacking on writing, but I've been quite busy and the weather has turned nice enough that I'm more inclined to go for a walk than to sit inside and write. I love that spring comes so early here, it keeps my chin up when it's been raining for days, I just look at all the lush blooms happening around me and the dampness seems much less daunting.
I saw Dengue Fever last night at the Wonder Ballroom. They were an amazing combination of fun and incredible talent. I would have been dancing but I was carrying a big clunky bag, not conducive to that! I also saw The Gutter Twins there a few weeks back. The show was good, very rock'n'roll, black wearing, chain smoking, deep voiced rock'n'roll. As I've said before there is never any shortage of amazing music here in town. This includes both local and out of town folks. I'm really looking forward to seeing a local band in a few weeks, The Golden Bears. I discovered them thanks to a Portland Mercury Podcast and I immediately bought their CD. Really good, go out and get it, experience some fantastic music and support local artists along the way.
I saw Atonement a few days back at the Laurelhurst, very lovely film. Romantic and pleasurable to watch. Also, it stayed quite true to the novel by Ian Mcewan. I've got a bunch of DVD's lined up to watch, but I have been so focused on dealing with my iPod that I have not been able to watch them. The hard drive I had all my music on broke when I was traveling out there and I had to retrieve the music off the iPod. I looked for some simple hardware but nothing seemed to work well with my setup. Anyway, it's on a new (and very pretty little portable Toshiba) HD. I am rather enjoying the process of weeding through 4 years of music, getting rid of the stuff I could less about anymore (Tori Amos, Indigo Girls, Bob Marley, and a ton of books on CD). Letting of the past, which truly, for me, means music, is very satisfying feeling.
March 2, 2008 Do you play Srabulous? I do, and I can't get enough of it. Apparently I'm not the only one. According to the NY Times there are over 700,000 players a day! I've always been a fan of the board game but I'm wild for the online version. It seems the companies who own the board versions are not thrilled with the popularity of the online version and have talked about shutting it down. That seems rather short sighted to me. They could make their own version, including an app. for Facebook. I'm all for any game that gets people thinking about spelling, writing, language, etc.
Into the Wild was an outstanding film. I finally saw it and found it very moving. The AV Club had a piece about the difference between the film version and the book that Krakauer wrote. It's been a long time since I read the book, but I agree with the article's basic premise. However, it seems to me that the film would have been a completely different experience if it had been more like the book, it would have been more of a documentary and not nearly as bright or compelling. Sean Penn did an outstanding job of capturing Chris McCandless from his point of view, that is to say, from McCandless'. What I did walk away with was the sense that even though McCandless does not survive in the end, the time he spent in the wilderness was truly his own, and until the end, it was exactly what he had been looking for (the Great Alaskan Adventure). Perhaps that was enough for him?
Video of the moment.....Everything Will Be Fine. More coming soon!
February 19, 2008 The Laurlehurst is one of my favorite places in Portland. I'm sure I've said it here before, but it bears repeating. I went this weekend and caught Michael Clatyon. George Clooney was good but I thought Tilda Swinton stole the show. It was a well done thriller, without being gory or obvious. Combine that with pizza and some fine beer from The Lucky Lab, and it made for a perfect night.
Last night I went to the Portland Spelling Bee. It was great -- I know I am a geek when hanging out and watching other adults spell is fun! There were some interesting words I had never heard, my favorite was kraken (Norwegian sea monsters!).
Upcoming shows that I am interested in/attending -- The Gutter Twins. The band is a project of Mark Lanegan and Greg Dulli. X is playing at the Crystal next month and Ghostland Observatory are playing there, too. I have been listening to Hello Menno a lot -- I got a copy of the CD from one of the band members. They are not on a label yet, but they should be. I can't stop playing them. It's beautiful, catchy and fun.
February 10, 2008 I've had the flu for what seems like one long day, an endless stretch of flannel sheets, tissues and movies on the iBook. I miss anything and everything out in the world at larger, like say, the coffee shop or bookstore, but tomorrow is a new day and I am on the road to wellness.
The Helio Sequence came out with a new CD, Keep Your Eyes Ahead, it's really quite good.
January 31, 2008 Usually when I see a show I write it about immediately. However, last week's Ryan Adams & The Cardinals concert is an exception. The show was in Salem at the beautiful Elsinore Theater. The historic theater has been restored over the last 5 years and I was impressed. The sound was excellent and the atmosphere was even better. The band was fantastic, really tight and they were obviously having fun. My seat was in the front row, probably the best seat I have had for any band. The oddest part of the show for me was when Ryan actually started talking to me/about me? I was taking pictures (see my flickr set) and he commented on that. I'm not much for the fame game (aka celebrity obsession) but that was a night I won't easily forget.
Hat tip to Carrie Brownstein for turning me onto Immad Wasif and his upcoming CD, Two Part Beast Strange Hexes. It's available to stream now and wow, this is the kind of thing that I am going to listen to, A LOT. I hear Jeff Buckley, and plenty of psychedelic beauty in his lyrics and notes.
Do you live in Portland? Do you play music? Well, submit a track to PDX POP Now!. The deadline is Feb 29th. See the site for more details.
January 21, 2008 Californication is the best show I have seen on TV (well, it's on cable, but that's still TV) in a long time. I love the character of Hank Moody. A native New Yorker finds himself in LA and the results are hilarious. I love the show because Hank is a cynical east coaster dealing with the adjustment of being on the west coast. I can relate, though I am not nearly as wild as him! Well worth renting on DVD when it's available.
January 19, 2008 I first heard Joy Division in 1981, and was immediately smitten with their music. My teacher and now friend, Brit, turned me onto them. I remember listening to them while walking around campus, leaves under foot and walkman turned up loud. The impact of the band's story did not hit me then, I was too young to fully comprehend it. Tonight I went to see Control, a film about Ian Curtis. Ian was the lead singer and much of the creative genius behind this incredible (I believe way ahead of their time) late 70's band. I did not know all the details of his life or what pushed him towards suicide at such a young age. It was beautifully filmed -- and very well acted. I love that it was done in black & white, I wish more films were made that way. Go see this one.
Here's a video of Transmission.
January 10, 2008 Last week's video - Scout Niblett. What a beautiful song. The video is oddly compelling.
January 2, 2008 Another holiday spent in southern CA and I can't say I mind one bit. I could get used to 70 degree weather when it's cold and snowy (or rainy) elsewhere. I've been in Palm Springs for 8 days and I'm smitten. The desert has a very wondrous feeling -- warm, very bright days and chilly starlit evenings. I spent last weekend in LA. It's a great city, I ranted about this very topic last year, I know! I love the hills with city views, the huge merging of cultures and I love the people I've met there. Writers, artists, animators, musicians and teachers, so many good folks. I saw Hello Menno this weekend, an excellent LA band, check them out.
January and February in Portland mean lots of movies! I am looking forward to seeing the new Paul Thomas Anderson film -- There will be Blood. I am a big fan of his, Magnolia and Boogies Nights are some of the few DVDs I actually own.
Ignite Portland is on February 5th at the Bagdad Theater on Hawthorne. Mark your calendar.
