Wow

The 3D space design plan has been colored and printed.

It looks pretty unbelievable. We did finally get our 501-C3 non profit status paperwork settled. So we are in business as a non-profit entity as of Monday.
Our paperwork has been turned in to the Portland Development Commission. While they're evaluating our plans we'll be starting to plan our fundraising events. We would like to start raising money to build this place as early as we can.

a stimulated memory

There are a good number of songs in my music library that come with a strong emotional connection / memory each time I listen to them. I've tried to make a compilation of those songs with the strongest, most specific memory locked into them.
Trapped In My Sense Memory Mix
Depeche Mode - Behind The Wheel
1989. I was 12 years old, my sister 15. We lived in our first house as a family. I had my own room with my own waterbed (I got to pick out my own bed!) My sister's room was across the hall and she LOVED Depeche Mode. She would play Music For The Masses and Black Celebration over and over. I remember falling to sleep hearing this song through the vents.
Dinosaur Jr - The Wagon
1990 - I was a teenager now and spent all my time skateboarding. An Alien Workshop Video ("Footage") had Rob Dyrdek skating to this song. I soon became obsessed with Dinosaur Jr and had to get everything they ever released... and I did. I remember practicing one-foot tail grabs at the Elementary school by my house (where I skated every day).
The Odd Numbers - It Makes No Difference To Me
1991 brought the New Deal skate video Useless Wooden Toys into my life, and with it - the Odd Numbers. I didn't find any actual cds of this band until 1998. Chris Hall's section of Useless Wooden Toys has this song in it. Me and my friends would study his part and became obsessed with this song. I taped it (on cassette) with my boom box held up to my TV's speaker. Ollie shifties, nose bumps and big spins a plenty!
Milk - Knife Song
That same year Blind came out with the amazing skate video "Video Days". Jason Lee skated to this song and it was impossible to find. I think it surfaced on the internet sometime in the early 2000's. Ogden Utah had a thursday night skatepark at the Classic Rollerskating rink. Video Days played there and I learned half-cab railslides on the slider bar while this song was playing.
the Dead Milkmen - Instant Club Hit
1992 I was 15 and interested in girls. I had seen the Dead Milkmen play live and was now a huge fan. I tried to get all my girlfriends to appreciate the Dead Milkmen. I remember Tara Julander enjoyed this song. She's the first girl I remember making out with. Ahhh young love.
Zoinks! - Carcinogen (not about smoking)
fast forward two years. 1994. I'm living in the south suburbs of Chicago and not enjoying life as much. I was a popular kid in Utah, now I'm going to a high school dominated by sports fans and the "alternative" scene hasn't hit yet, so me and my dyed hair and baggy clothes are the opposite of cool. Thank goodness for Drop In skatepark in New Lennox Illinois. I spent my entire summer there in 1994. Zoinks! was my soundtrack for that year.
Oblivion - We Had To Say It Again
1994 again. I finally found some friends at school and learned about the Chicago punk scene. If you were in Chicago in the early 90's and enjoyed local punk music, Oblivion was the best live band to see. I got this 7" and listened to it as often as I could. I miss shows at the Fireside Bowl... I must have seen oblivion 15 times that summer.
Sunny Day Real Estate - Seven
1995. I graduated High School and had to split up with my first serious girlfriend. Not really split up, but our first year of college we went to different schools. I listened to this album a lot that first year of college. I was young and emotional, and Sunny Day Real Estate are one of the godfathers of the emo scene. We stayed together for another few years, but this year was a little tough.
Cathrine - Songs About Girls
I will always remember my college roommate Joe when I listen to this song. He turned me onto Cathrine. This is such a great pop song. Thanks Joe. I hope you're doing well.
the Rentals - Friends of P
Again, first year of college. Joe and I had a ritual on Sunday nights. We would watch the Dukes of Hazzard, Batman and 120 minutes. We were both fans of Weezer, but when the video for Friends of P debuted we both went a little nuts and got obsessed with the simplicity of this stupid song. I have a videocamera taped recording of this video, so we could watch it whenever we wanted.
the Get Up Kids - Don't Hate Me
1998. I left college without graduating. I hated it. My girl stayed in school and I would make the three hour trek fairly regularly. This album (and particularly song) would play on every ride to and from. It's three hours from Chicago to Charleston Illinois, but it feels like 40.
Mates of State - Nice Things That Look Good
2000. Living in Chicago with the same girl. I remember standing on the Redline platform at Belmont, in the snow - watching it come down. Walkman on and this song on repeat. It's perfect for watching the snow fall in Chicago.

the NEXT british invastion

I'm convinced the music world is going through another British Invasion. All the best new music I've been getting into is coming from the UK. I just finished my review of the new album by a band called the Chap. They're from North London and they are weird.
The make electronic/pop music, but they have a sense of dry sense of humor and it works(?)
example:


to recap my current british invaders:
the Last Shadow Puppets
Bombay Bicycle Club
Candie Payne
Foals
Jamie Lidell

adde to the list containing:
Radiohead
Portishead
Blur
Fujiya & Miyagi

That's an invasion!

the Unsustainable Lifestyle

I recently caught up on all things happening with one of my favorite DC bands Beauty Pill. Seems singer/songwriter/producer/mastermind Chad Clark had an infection in his heart earlier this year. Apparently a heart infection is just as likely to happen as being struck by lightning. The heart isn't made to handle infections, so his swelled, resulting in him needing open heart surgery. This was in March. Everything worked successfully and he has been recovering well.
I've met Chad Clark on a few occasions in Chicago when Beauty Pill came through. He is a genuine person with a strong sense of all things music. He has produced a great deal of music out of his studio in DC. He's darn good at pushing the boundaries of the creation of music.
Looking back, it's hard to believe that this song (the first Beauty Pill song I heard) came out in 2001. Seven years ago and I still listen to it (and include it in mixtapes for friends) all the time. Good luck with the recovery Mr. Clark.

I'm happy that Chad Clark is recovering well and can't wait to hear the new creations from this terribly creative band.

3D Rendering

This is the plan for our space. We just got this drawings today. I'll add this to the excitement pile.
(these pictures of the prints were taken with my phone, I'll be getting emailed drafts of them soon.)

The NorthWest Rain

Even the statues around Portland carry umbrellas. The weirdest thing about this statue (other than the nice watch on his wrist) is that this figure is facing Pioneer Square (the street is behind him). Pioneer Square is kind of a central plaza in downtown Portland. He's not hailing a cab on the street - he's hailing the homeless sitting around Pioneer Square. Weird.

It's been grey since the day before my birthday. Welcome to 31, I guess.
I've made a new goal to write something every day. Not a blog post, but write a review, or a sketch, or some good idea - something. Write at least one thing every day. Hopefully that will last.

This theater business

Sheesh,
It's getting closer to getting done. The business plan and year long show schedule, financial plan - all of it - is due on the 30th of this month. We deliver it to the Portland Development Commission and wait. They will have 30 days to look it over and give us the "OK" or the "NO WAY". We're pretty sure we'll get the OK. Stacey has been putting a heck of a lot of work into it, making all the plans and getting everything as good as it possibly can.
This is not the part I'm good at. I give my little info. here and there, mainly with show schedule and space planning, but overall - I know none of it. With the shows we've scheduled, I don't see how we won't be making money. We've got a lot of different ideas 5 nights a week, as well as classes. Soon enough, the Curious Theater will open its doors. This is the stressy time when we're driving each other crazy... I hope these next few weeks pass quickly.

No matter how good it all looks to us, it will still make me nervous...

Birthday Weekend

Stacey surprised me with a trip to Bend, Oregon to see some good bands play. Bend is a three and a half hour trip southeast of Portland. It wasn't a bad drive. The music venue is a huge, outdoor summer fest type of place, so it's not ideal, but it was fun nonetheless.
Here are some far away pictures from my camera phone (barely worth it):

Mates of State


Decemberists


Death Cab For Cutie


Us weirdos

Happy Birthday to me.

Top News Story

This is a top news story today on CNN.com

really? There isn't anything more important happening in the world?
Oh wait, yes there is. Here:

Thanks AP.

Mo'Bama...

Yesterday Stacey and I trekked to Portland's waterfront to see Presidential hopeful Barack Obama speak to an estimated crowd of 75,000 people. It was a warm day (upper 80's) and the two of us have the red arms / necks to prove the sun was out. The speech was pretty darn good. He made a lot of promises I'll be interested to see if they come true (Universal health care in his first term?)...

While I'm not much of a political person, I enjoy Barack Obama's personality. Of all presidential candidates (and presidents) over the past 20 years - he seems the most real. While Bill Clinton had some charm, he still seems like a stiff old(er) man with puppet strings the right (rich) people could pull. Barack Obama doesn't seem to have that type of personality. He seems real and he hopefully keeps that up as he moves into the white house.

On the way home we were trying to come up with some Tshirt slogans that would sell. Most of them were terribly offensive, but we're trying to be funny. Some highlights:

A snapshot of Barack Obama with Dee Snider (of Twister Sister): I Want Barack!


A picture of Barack Obama with the Wayans brothers with the caption: Mo'Bama, Mo'Bama, Mo'Bama!!!

A picture of the white house with the caption: Barack Obama - Lets us white folks give this black man a job!

Scarlett JoJo & the Hobo Ghost

I have had Scarlett Johansson's debut album Anywhere I Lay My Head for a few weeks now. After my first listen I did not like it. A day later I forced myself to listen to it again and I've slowly fallen in love with it.
I put a little research in and found that David Sitek (producer and member of TV On The Radio) dubbed the sound of the album "Tinkerbell on Cough Syrup" - which is perfect... especially in this song:

Green Grass. One of my favorite songs on the album. You can certainly hear the TVOTR-style production - and while Scarlett Johansson doesn't have the greatest voice, it certainly fits in with the production around it. At times the voice is buried under reverb and effects, but what more would you expect from a Tom Waits cover album?

Full review here:
Anywhere I Lay My Head

work?

I finished my second job after losing my regular job on April 21st. I first tempted at a small, strange office in SW Portland for two days. I could have stayed longer, but it was weird and not creative at all.
For the past 3 days I have been working with Portland Center Stage - taking down the set at one of the main theaters in Portland... and helping to assemble and put up the next set. It was interesting work, creative and in theater, so that helped... but now that the set is up - I'm once again looking for work.
Instead of work though, everyone knows:

Portland Things

I haven't talked about how great Portland is in a while...
This is the tree our bedroom window faces. The flowers on the tree are pink. It's like Stacey's Princess Fantasy every morning.
Speaking of the bedroom...
There's are cute little guy Arlo on the bed. He really is the smartest, cutest and best almost-two-year-old dog in the world.

This is my favorite street sign I have found in Portland. In NorthWest Portland there is a trolly that drives around. There are also a lot of bicycle riders commuting around the city. Here's is our friend "fuck-up guy" showing bicycle riders what not to do around the trolly tracks.

And finally, a slightly out of focus picture of the ring Stacey is now wearing...

More Shadow Puppets

I still love this album/band
Here they are on Pitchfork TV

New Show

We were contacted through a very nice man named Dan - to organize a show for a new theater type place. There isn't a lot of comedy in Portland, so Dan wanted to create / produce a show that will appeal to the public and help give comedy a home here in Portland.
We organized the Portland Comedy Co-Op. This Saturday is the first show. We have a mix of stand up and longform improv. I hope we get a crowd.

Tejas

Stacey and I just got back from her brother's wedding in Dallas Texas. What a different world Dallas Texas is. The wedding was great and the people were nice, but the city was... weird. The one and only time I had previously been to Dallas was flying back from Paris. My international flight checked into the country at Dallas/Fort Worth airport which, as far as airports go - is really nice. It's huge and clean... but it's Texas. I don't like the idea that a person from anywhere else in the world - coming to America for the first time, touches down in Texas first. The people are Texan. The bumper stickers and T shirts that say "Don't mess with Texas" are serious. The people take their home state (and their pride) very seriously.
While I got that feeling and I make that statement, I don't have a specific incident that will shed light on it. It is a feeling you get when you talk to anyone/everyone there. Everyone has a friendly face in Dallas, but you get the feeling that that is where it ends. Friendly things are said, but a warm feeling of friendship is missing.
When I first came to Portland I was taken aback by the friendliness of the people. When you put your turn signal on the show that you're about to change lanes - the people behind you slow down to let you in. It's friendly almost to the point of frustration here... but it's genuine. I got the feeling from all sides that it wasn't genuine there. Surface Friendliness.
We did meet some great (now, family) people from Virginia who felt genuine to talk to. I hope to keep in touch with them.
Overall, the food was delicious (and plentiful) and the houses (and churches, and hotels and cars and public) were huge. I just don't see myself wanting to spend any of my own time there. I'd still like to visit Austin at some point - I hear that place is a different type of Texas.