Keep up with the comics industry as local retailers and teen comics fans share their favorites. Panelists include the owners of Guapo Comics, Bridge City Comics, Cosmic Monkey Comics and Floating World Comics

Saturday, May 17th at 3 p.m.
In US Bank Room at the Central Library

Made possible by the National Endowment for the Humanities Fund of The Library Foundation.

I met Alan at the Bonfire Lounge a couple weeks ago and he told me about his Trike Racing events at Mount Tabor Legacy (formerly Sabalas). He did mention some past topless action, but they are not normally (specifically, always?) topless (or bottomless) from what I understood. However, looking over last week’s results on Myspace, I found this…

Trike Racing Results, Week Six… May sixth, 2008

Tim became our first 3 time champion, and first time defending champ for the men. out of a field of 8(phil gets honorable mention as the runner-up on his first real try)Tim is also working on some modified trikes, as well as a couple of mini-bikes for future exhibitions/events.Check him out at A BETTER CYCLE.

Speaking of exhibitions, 2nite it was a co-ed pants off/tops off race. One raced topless, one raced bottomless…. Who was who? Wish you had been here?…..

As for our women’s division, the Lovely Lady Lisa Marie was our champ, out of a field of 4. A gorgeous one at that, all decked out as a pin-up model, pumps, fishnets and feathers, oh my!! I love this country!!!

Alan
P.s. TWISTER COMING SOON!!! As well as cheerleaders!!!

Mount Tabor supplies the trikes, but you can bring your own as well. There are cash prizes and costumes are highly encouraged. Will tonight bring more topless/bottomless action or possibly cheerleaders and Twister? I’ll guess you will have to go up Hawthorne to find out

From Chris Haberman:

Akin to the New Modern Zoo, this collective week long show incorporates music, film, art and installation within two buildings. Pretty awesome….30 plus artists included in 30 plus rooms, a temporary complex of mini-galleries with different shows in each one! Its also totally FREE and a defining group of artists from all walks of art in Portland

30 Rooms at Milepost
5900 NE 81st Ave
(503) 724-6933

Opening Reception: Friday, May 16, 7-11pm with live DJ sets by:
Jellyfish & Bubbles and more …

Opening Party: Saturday, May 17, 7-11pm with live music by:
Boy Eats Drum Machine
Y La Bamba
Celilo
St. Frankie Lee
Closing Party: Saturday, May 24, 7-11pm with live music by:
Musee Mecanique
Per Se
Silverhawk
Invisible Rockets

Director: Gavin Shettler, Portland Art Center
Curators: Chris Haberman (PortlandCityArt) and Ben Pink (Launchpad Gallery)
Music Director: Theo Craig

Artists/Organizations Exhibiting:
Chuck Bloom, Jennifer Mercede , Ephemeral Temple Ltd, Angela Gay, Richard Schemmerer, Anna Todaro, Damon Ayers, Ryan Burns, Dan Ness, John Brodie, Josh Arseneau, Jason Graham, Katie Simpson, Richard Cawley, Jeremy Tucker, Together Gallery, Roxanne Jackson, William Shouse, Chris Haberman, Nikki Kress, Gallery Homeland, Tim Karpinski, Seth Neefus, Mark Warren Jacques, Julia Gfrorer, Todji Kurtzman, Charlie Alan Kraft, Carl Annala, Sarah Cruse, Amy Jorgensen, SD Elliott, Brent Wear, et al.
tons of rooms, nooks, crannies, music, art, installation and a beer garden!!!!

Portland bands have to pay a third party, Sonicbids, to apply for a slot at this year’s MusicFestNW [this may have been the case last year too.] You’d think after the debacle with the CMJ conference where folks paid Sonicbids to enter the lottery and apparently no one from CMJ bothered to listen to the bands’ submitted songs, that MusicFestNW would not make Portland’s bands jump through such a ridiculous hoop… here’s but one lament from the CMJ application process - “Apart from the fact that we are now open to a bunch of spam, it has also brought to my attention that Sonicbids has collected the $45 fee from at least 670 bands ($30,450) knowing full well that you could never accommodate all of the bands.” Here’s the full story from GhostMedia.

And here’s what I wrote about this year’s SXSW conference and those companies who try and sell bands and musicians the snake oil. “One five minute trek through the trade show proved to me everything that I already know - the cornerstone of this conference and the business upon the back of which the music conference was originally founded, the recorded music industry, is being swept aside by a tsunami of technological advancement - that’s not hyperbole by the way, no the hyperbole lies with the companies who are promising to be the saviors of the music business by helping you, the musician, make a living making music - if you are willing to take the snake oil that’s being sold…

Let’s call them the www.we-can-save-your-career.coms. Here’s a list of just a few of the companies promising untold riches or something to bands and musicians (add .com to the end of each name here..) SongNumbers, Myxer, ArtistXite, BandFarm, mTraks, SonicBids (the one I dislike the most), Muzu, Gydget, ArtistForce (SonicBids part 2), aaahhh the list goes on and on.” Full post here. And Benjy who works for Sonicbids left his comments about SXSW here.

So the question is - will MusicFestNW be transparent about the number of available slots for local bands and musicians or not? If not you will never know how many bands have applied for however many limited slots are available. Sonicbids will continue taking applications regardless of the number of slots available - It’s a lottery - good luck, someone’s going to get rich… Here’s the “opportunity” link. You have to become a member. MusicfestNW 2008/Sonicbids Combo Package: Cost $12.95 (US) Transparency is a major force on the internet so it’s time for Sonicbids to open up the doors to the “opportunities” that they offer bands and musicians so they can make an educated decision before applying and paying good money. It’s the right thing to do.

From Homynyn:

3M Presents,
Sloppy Seconds: May Day Edition

It’s spring time and 3M is here to shake off the dew and let spring reign

Birds be singin, flowers be bloomin
A lot of brand new cars be zoomin
Fly girls lookin the best they can be
And the guys be dukey dukey Dan you see
Besides all that I like the warm weather
Cause that’s when you can get yourself together

Yes, Biz will be played amongst other classics of the hiphopfunksoulrock variety.

Featuring DJ’s
Pete Moss
Atom 13
Me the ‘Nym

As well as unconfirmed but possible guest spots from DJ C Rhodes
and the microphone fiend MC’s from THE LIBROS (Look out these cats just won a championship this week, really!)

And if this wasnt enough we have all kinds of former PDX locals in town as well……

Beulahland
28th & NE Couch
21+
No Cover

AND they got rid of the pool table for room to dance as well as a 2nd Pinball Machine - Brand new Family Guy

Lets get this party started right?!

It’s all the rage - you know you want to learn!

Learn the basic steps of swing with instructor Joan Ormsby. Comfortable clothing and leather-soled shoes suggested.

Hosted in the third floor Collins Gallery at the Central Library
Saturday, May 10th, 2-4 p.m.
Made possible by The Library Foundation.

From PSU Film Committee:

Thirty-Two Short Films About Glenn Gould
(1993 Francois Girard)

FORMAT:  35mm Film
RUNTIME:  98 mins
WHEN:     May 9 & 10 at 7 and 9:30pm
May 11 @ 3pm
WHERE:    5th Ave Cinema, 510 SW Hall St. @ PSU
ADMISSION:   Free for PSU Students, Faculty and Staff with ID; $2 for
Other Students, Seniors and Children; $3 General Admission

SYNOPSIS
In the control room of a recording studio, the engineers discuss the merits of taking cream in their coffee, only half-noticing the enraptured figure behind the soundproof glass. There, Glenn Gould (Colm Feore) begins by casually testing his blood pressure, then listens to a playback of his recording of Bach. To the sounds of the English Suite No. 2, he begins swaying and floating in the throes of esthetic ecstasy, his white shirt billowing in gravity-defying slow motion. Far removed from the engineers’ prosaic talk, he seems truly to have passed into another dimension. The audience for “Thirty-Two Short Films About Glenn Gould,” a brilliant and transfixing cinematic portrait by Francois Girard, can look forward to enjoying much the same sensation. For an hour and a half, without repeating himself or resorting to tactics that are even slightly familiar, Mr. Girard, thoughtfully holds the viewer in thrall.

–NYTimes.com

Hey, it’s me - C-Block from TriMetiquette - the TriMet riding etiquette blog. When I’m not writing about Portland public transportation news and the like, I’m surfing the internets (it really is a series of tubes).

Looks like I beat Julian AKA Ambassador Jules AKA Ich bin ein Pipeliner to the punch today: an image of Voodoo Donut’s bacon maple bar is currently one of Yahoo’s most emailed photos today. I’d definitely go for it if it had turkey bacon on it…

So to celebrate, why don’t you ride the MAX or local busline down to Voodoo Donuts and try this delectable delight?

Map to Voodoo Donuts

Horsefeathers perform live at Portia and Slim Moon’s BBQ from Dave Allen on Vimeo. I spent Sunday afternoon out in Washington state, near Battle Ground actually. Portia from Kill Rock Stars and her husband Slim held a BBQ at their house and invited many people who had at least a tenuous connection to the indie music scene. Mecca Normal performed and for me that was a first as I had never seen them and I know they have had a heavy influence on many musicians in the Northwest indie rock/riot grrrl movements. Amongst the crowd were Hutch and Kathy of The Thermals, Carrie from Sleater-Kinney and Rachel Blumberg who was telling me about touring with Bright Eyes and working with M Ward and how she really enjoyed his She and Him project with the actress Zooey Deschanel. And as you can tell by the video, Horsefeathers performed a set too. I also edited some footage from the day to a Horsefeathers song Hardwood Pews - watch it here.

Mark your calendars! This Wednesday, May 7, 2008 at 7 p.m., film lovers will gather at the Hollywood Theatre (4122 NE Sandy) to watch the premiere of eight short-format documentaries created by Portland filmmakers as part of this year’s International Documentary Challenge. Two of these Portland entries were of the 14 films that were chosen as finalists and competed for Grand Prize in the 2008 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival in Toronto April 26. As for the May 7 screening here in Portland, the list of films, along with short synopses, is listed at the end of this post. Tickets are $6 and can be purchased at the Hollywood Theatre Box Office or can be purchased online here.

Portland tied for second at having the most entrants of all the cities in the contest (Toronto had the most at 14; Portland, Seattle, and LA all had 8 teams compete) Portland’s presence in the competition is partly due to founder Doug Whyte’s residence in town, though he moved here less than a year ago from St. Louis, Missouri. Doug has set out to increase the presence of this film experience in the City of Roses, but he hopes the competition will continue to gain popularity across the globe. In 2006, the first year of the challenge had 75 registered contenders. “I am amazed at the quality of films we got from the Portland area,” Doug said. “Out of the 101 total films from 16 countries, three of the Portland entries made the top 16.”

In alphabetical order, the showcase of short films that will be screened at Hollywood Theatre May 7 are listed below. The list includes all Portland entries to this year’s challenge, including the two Portland finalists, as well as the Doc Challenge Grand Winner, “Click Whoosh” and the POV Short Film Winner, “Ars Magna,” both made by Seattle teams; “Beholder,” the film that won Best Writing and the Doc Challenge Original Vision awards from Brooklyn, NY; and an international entry from Sydney, Australia. Two of the Portland teams also had wins in music categories: “The Mixtress” won best soundtrack and “Jetty” won best original score. Please note, the list below is not the order of the screening schedule, so be sure to get there before it begins at 7pm, to catch the full 90 minutes of film pleasure!

March 6 marked the gunshot start for the 2008 International Documentary Challenge, a 5-day filmmaking contest where 122 filmmakers from 16 countries attempted to make a documentary in only 5 days. The challenge, much like the 48-Hour Film Project and other insomniac filmmaking adventures, gives all us filmmakers out there the opportunity to wipe the Portland-winter grog from our bleary eyes and come out at the end of an intense week with a completed product.

The Challenge operates likes this: At 8am local time on the first day, the filmmakers who registered for the contest are emailed two genres from which to choose for their film. Genres range broadly and include experimental, music, nature, and history. Once the genre is decided, the filmmakers get busy writing their script, securing their music, and capturing their picture. Requiring efficiency, skill, and buckets of coffee, the final, edited film must be postmarked within five days, or the team will be disqualified. This year, 101 teams made the deadline.

Rules require the teams to prove their production lasted within the time frame allowed, have all rights to the music and images used, and create a film that has a total running time between four and seven minutes.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008 - 7 p.m.
Hollywood Theatre
Films, in alphabetical order:
“8veu”
Team: Willamette Valley Film Collective
City/Country: Monmouth, OR, USA
Genre: Music
8veu is about a house shared by music majors at Western Oregon University and the monthly concert series they host.

“All The Eights, 88”
Team: Sholi
City/Country: Sydney, Australia
Genre: Biography/Character Study
88-year-old Betty Van Acker, champion bingo player, shares her secrets to finding luck in life.

“Ars Magna”
Team Juicebox
City/Country: Seattle, WA, USA
Genre: Biography/Character Study
Cory Calhoun, creator of the famous Hamlet anagram, is an average guy with an obsession for finding meaning in jumbled phrases.

“The Art of Artificial Nature”
Team: Cingulate (fka EG Productions)
City/Country: Portland, OR, USA
Genre: Nature
Explore the Oregon Zoo’s creative process as they build an Asian rainforest for their Orangutans and Gibbons.

“At Their Own Pace”
Team: Nexus
City/Country: Portland, OR, USA
Genre: Biography/Character Study
Students of Parkrose High School’s Alternative Center of Education set the record straight on P.A.C.E., and reveal how it changed their lives for the better.

“Beholder”
Team: Boss and Coder 34
City/Country: Brooklyn, NY, USA
Genre: First Person
An autobiographical film about a photographer’s evolving perspective of New York City.

“Click Whoosh”
Team: Reel Grrrls
City/Country: Seattle, WA, USA
Genre: Historical
An homage to a familiar fixture of popular culture that now teeters on obsolescence.

“Ghost Bikes”
Team: PDXFCPUG1
City/Country: Portland, OR, USA
Genre: Social Issue/Political
A documentary that examines the growing phenomena of impromptu roadside memorials springing up at the scene of fatal accidents involving bicyclists and motorists.

“Jetty”
Team: Fly On The Wall
City/Country: Portland, OR, USA
Genre: Social Issue/Political
A “Mom and Pop” fishery on the Oregon Coast is threatened by an ecologically unsustainable crabbing policy.

“Meet The Freegans”
Team: Shields Films
City/Country: Portland, OR, USA
Genre: Social Issue/Political
Steve is an educated man. A school teacher. A homeowner. He also enjoys eating food from dumpsters.

“The Mixtress”
Team: wideshot studios
City/Country: Portland, OR, USA
Genre: Biography/Character Study
Changing the world of music one mix at a time.

“Thorns of the Rose City”
Team: PDXFCPUG2
City/Country: Portland, OR, USA
Genre: Historical
Portland, Oregon is often regarded as one of the most liberal and progressive cities in America, but this short documentary takes a look at the dark history of it’s treatment of African Americans as
well as the residual effects on the community.

Please join Oregon Literacy for our fun Spring Scrabble Tournament! We have a great new venue and spaces are starting to fill up. Here are the details:

What: Oregon Literacy’s Spring Scrabble Tournament!

Why: To have fun while promoting awareness and raising valuable funds for Oregon Literacy.

Where: Ringler’s Pub (downstairs at The Crystal Ballroom on S.W. Burnside)
When: Sunday, May 18th, 2008 from 12:00pm - 5:00pm

Who: You and any other Scrabble players!

More information can be found on our website:

www.oregonliteracy.org

Event sponsorships for businesses are still available and come with a complimentary team entry. Please let us know if you have any questions and feel free to spread the word. Your support is greatly appreciated and we hope you’ll join us!

Oregon Literacy, Inc. - Advancing literacy through access, advocacy and alliances since 1966.

www.oregonliteracy.org

We’re also on Myspace!

myspace.com/oregonliteracy

(P) 503-244-3898

(F) 503-244-9147

(Literacy Line) 800-322-8715

From Monkeytek dj:

Various- dubstep inna dancehall style!
Come gather round for Portland’s premier Dubstep party featuring top ranking selectors
E3, Struggle, Monkeytek, Ryan Organ and hosted by Seattle’s Deejay Collage on the mic.
Sound courtesy of the mighty H.A.S. Systems.

Branx
320 se 2nd avenue
Portland OR 97214
(between Pine and Oak )

$5 , 21+, 10pm

http://www.pdxindub.com/
http://www.myspace.com/dj_e3
http://www.myspace.com/djcollage
http://www.myspace.com/kralism
myspace.com/monkeytekdj
http://www.myspace.com/ryanorgan

Help kick off the Werner Herzog Film Series by getting out to the NW Film Center to watch the Portland premiere of Encounters at the End of the World Friday, May 2 at 7pm in the Whitsell Auditorium (1219 SW Park Avenue). General admission is $7.

This newest film from Herr Herzog will be a 99-minute examination of McMurdo Station, Antarctica’s largest research community, and its interesting human inhabitants. The station, which lives on the volcanic rock of Hut Point Peninsula, is full of research characters, including scientists who contort or guitar jam to celebrate scientific discovery. In larger context, the film shows the universal needs of humanity while the last unexplored continent is conquered.

Werner Herzog, the German filmmaker who made Rescue Dawn and Grizzly Man among more than forty others, is a filmmaker that pushes boundaries and uses cinema to continuously seek the truth. A regular eccentric, Herzog was once known to eat his shoe after promising a young film student, who turned out to be Errol Morris, he would dine on the item if the kid ever made a movie he always talked about. Evidence of the ordeal can be seen here, in Les Blank’s 1980 film Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe.

The Quest for the Sublime: The Films of Werner Herzog, put on by the NW Film Center, includes 15 total flicks and runs through May 29. All films screen in the Whitsell Auditorium at 1219 SW Park Avenue. Schedule follows:

For a synopsis or more information on any of these films, go to the NW Film Center website.

PORTLAND PREMIERE
ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD
2007 (99 minutes)
Fri May 02 7:00 PM
Buy tickets to this show

FITZCARRALDO
1982 (158 minutes)
Sat May 03 7:00 PM
Buy tickets to this show

THE GREAT ECSTASY OF WOODCARVER STEINER
1974 (45 minutes)
Sun May 04 7:00 PM
with
LESSONS OF DARKNESS
1992 (50 min)
Buy tickets to this show

WOYZECK
1979 (82 minutes)
Thu May 08 7:00 PM
Sat May 10 9:00 PM
Buy tickets to this show

COBRA VERDE
1987 (111 minutes)
Fri May 09 7:00 PM
Buy tickets to this show

AGUIRRE: THE WRATH OF GOD
1972 (93 minutes)
Sat May 10 7:00 PM
Buy tickets to this show

ECHOES FROM A SOMBER EMPIRE
1990 (91 minutes)
Sun May 11 7:00 PM
Buy tickets to this show

THE ENIGMA OF KASPAR HAUSER (aka EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF AND GOD AGAINST ALL)
1974 (110 minutes)
Fri May 16 7:00 PM
Buy tickets to this show

GRIZZLY MAN
2005 (103 minutes)
Fri May 16 9:15 PM
Sat May 17 7:00 PM
Buy tickets to this show

HEART OF GLASS
1976 (93 minutes)
Sun May 18 7:00 PM
Buy tickets to this show

LITTLE DIETER NEEDS TO FLY
1997 (80 minutes)
Fri May 23 7:00 PM
Sat May 24 9:30 PM
Buy tickets to this show

STROSZEK
1977 (115 minutes)
Fri May 23 9:00 PM
Sun May 25 7:00 PM
Buy tickets to this show

RESCUE DAWN
2006 (126 minutes)
Sat May 24 7:00 PM
Buy tickets to this show

NOSFERATU THE VAMPYRE
1979 (124 minutes)
Thu May 29 7:00 PM
Buy tickets to this show

Hey Guys.

Just wanted to let you know about our art opening this Friday at The Destroy Store. We’re stoked to be featuring the work of Jesse Reno. Jesse has made quite the name for himself over the last several years and we are honored to have the opportunity to feature his work in our space. Come through and check out his latest works and snatch up one of our Artist Series t-shirts designed by the man himself.

Also, Jesse will be live painting throughout the night. For all you aspiring artists, here’s your chance to see how its done.

When: Friday May 2nd 7-10 PM
Where: The Destroy Store 1712 E. Burnside Portland

Artwork by Jesse Reno
Clothing by Destroy
FREE BEER FROM WIDMER BREWERY
DJ sets DJ BigTop

Adam
The Destroy Store

Nemo Design presents Furry Kama Sutra, a photography/Video exhibition by New York based photographer Michael Cogliantry, opening on May 02, 2008. The show will run through Tuesday, June 01, 2008 at Nemo Design: 1875 SE Belmont Street in Portland, OR. Furry Kama Sutra is the title for a new project by New York based photographer / director Michael Cogliantry.

For this series, Cogliantry captures the little seen world of Furry in a series of photographs and videos that are part position manual, part sexual sub-culture exploration. Dressed as an animal of their choice, Furries are considered the ultimate explorers of anonymous sex. In the fur suit, one can leave the confines of the computer room and venture out into other’s bedrooms, remaining totally anonymous.

Groups are based largely online, but hold conventions all over the world, usually barring the media. The collection of seven 40 x 50” color photographs poses and three video episodes were shot at various “by-the-hour” motels around Las Vegas. Nemo Design (Nemodesign.com) is a Portland-based integrated branding, marketing and design shop. Nemo Design’s capabilities include brand strategy, design, motion graphics, interactive development, film, video, print and photography production. Nemo Design is located at 1875 SE Belmont Street in Portland, OR.

From The Moose