Portland is a pretty incredible place full of creativity, adventures, art and a constant stream of new things to be discovered. This is the story of my PDX Adventure.
A couple days ago we went out to Kruger's Farm on Sauvie Island with some friends who were in town from Seattle. We actually went out there because the rainclouds looked like they might drift off for a bit and leave us with sun and since Left Coast Country was playing a show out there, it seemed like a perfect late fall afternoon.
What we hadn't expected was a massive Cyclocross race to be in effect. It was muddy. REALLY muddy. It was packed with people jeering good-naturedly at passing riders as they sloshed beers around in one hand and violently shook cow bells with the other. The Captured By Porches beer bus was present, the last of fall crops on display for purchase and parents, kids and dogs all running around like mad, dressed up, covered in mud and having a great time.
Below are a bunch of images from the day. If you're really into cyclocross... or dogs... or people falling down in the mud you can check out the full set on my flickr.
Some images from the recent Committed Alternative Bridal Show. Kelly Goode (of June Lion Photography) and I went and checked out some cool stuff that's happening in the world of wedding vendors. While some of the stuff seemed awefuly mainstream for my taste there were some really cool themed scenes set up and a lot of cool people (and a lot of free chocolate)
It's been a pretty brilliant 2 and a half years living in the Irvington neighborhood but now it's time for some new adventures. G and I have moved up to the Mississippi neighborhood and while we'll especially miss having our most favorite bar/ homework space The Rose and Thistle Pub right down the street, there are opportunities for a whole new realm of local watering holes.
The move was a treacherous double load in the u-haul and 4 weeks later we're still trying to suss out what to get rid of, where to put it, and how to arrange a space that's only marginally larger than the apartment but with double the occupants. That's right, we have roomies! It's hard to say no to saving over $200 a month on rent plus the roomies are musicians and artists, which is something I've been craving to be around.
Monday night marked two notable occasions. One, 4 years of good times hanging with G, the best friend you could ask for and 2. The first ever B-Movie Bingo at The Hollywood Theater.
Now usually this is where I would insert a description about what exactly it is I'm talking about but the title of the event pretty much covers it. You watch a horribly cheese B-movie, you mark off the squares on your bingo card, if you get a bingo, you win.
The genius of the game is that the bingo cards are the same every week. There's really not that much variation between cheesy movies... I know, hard to believe. All the good requisite stuff is present in any good b-movie so that things like "shooting while dying", "long boring scene", "male ponytail", "blown away by an explosion", "fight mano y mano" or "teamed up with rookie or animal" work well for just about any of them.
The only reason the theater wasn't completely and utterly packed to the gills is because this is the first time HT has put this on. I'm pretty sure as word gets out about how awesome it is, advanced purchase of tickets will become a necessity. Keep your eyes open for upcoming B-movie Bingos
If you missed this week's movie, Samuri Cop, you should definitely try to hunt it down and check it out, it's retchedly rad!
"The Japanese Katana Gang have a death grip on the city of Los Angeles, and who better to deal with the problem than Joe Marshall, the “Samurai Cop”. Matt Hannon, who was once Sylvester Stallone’s personal bodyguard, stars in the title role. This is a man that looks like a Dorito. For half of the movie, he wears a woman’s wig with a baseball hat because he got a haircut during production. And regarding his police work: let’s just say… he can “read eyes”. Robert Z’dar co-stars as the evil samurai henchman bent on taking out Marshall. His beard obscures his enormous jaw. This movie has totally awesome music, the best dialogue (hands down) and one of the weirdest fight scenes ever. Be ready for burning humans, severed limbs, gun and sword fights, and lots of long awkward love scenes. Join Joe “The Samurai” Marshall and his sidekick Frank as they take on the minions of the crime underworld. A work of total genius. Written and directed by Amir Shervan."
It's been a good long time (as in never) since we just wandered around town. We hopped the max to W Burnside to check out the ships that were in town for fleet week. As happens with most anything in Portland that's free, the wait to tour the ships was completely insane even in the middle of the day on a Friday. So we wandered people watching, snapping photos and chatting and it was really actually quite exciting. One of those many moments that make me feel so attached to this city.
As we checked out the ships we meandered further and further south till we got to Hawthorne bridge. Walk across to see the ships from the bridge and also managed to capture a man on a Segway hearding a small group of young boys who were marching along in front of him. Immediately after that a woman passing by pointed out the coast guard boats escorting a 2 person kayak past the Navy gun ships.
We continued to Lucky Lab pub for a pint; snapping shots of train graffiti, rooftop art and wheat paste posters along the way. Looking to walk the couple miles back home since we were already on the east side anyway we shot over to Produce Row to meet up with a friend to celebrate her masters graduation. All in all a perfectly fantastic day in p-town.
So it may be a bit premature to claim the sun is back for good (is it ever really?) But this weekend was a great little jump start into that sunny awesomeness as we did a little geocaching in the neighborhood. SO GOOD!!!
It's been a long road back to PDX for O'Death. Nearly 2 years after the first time we saw them G and I finally had the opportunity to share one of our all time favorite live bands with some friends. Check to see if they're playing near you soon and be sure not to miss them!
