best eight bucks I have ever spent

Just got back from seeing Neal Medlyn and Ice Rod with Averie. Great great show. I want my TBA to have this energy and not be a quiet contemplation about meaning. Feeeh.

Averie drove because the shows were at the Works, which is on North Broadway. The traffic was minimal and we got across the bridge okay. We missed the turn for the parking so there was a little looping action but be got a spot no problem. Tabitha and a friend were outside the venue. We loitered with them. I saw so many familiar people: Aidan, Craig, Matt W and Matt G, Israel, Joey, Seamus, Savannah, Nikolaii (I think), and others. They didn't see me as they all vanished into the beer garden. Portland establishments are CRAZY about their booze. There were two velvet ropes keeping the under 21's on their side, big buff guards watching both age checking stations about about 6-8 staff between the two places making sure everyone kept in order and had ID's. They made this girl (who must have been 10) ditch the drink her dad got her because it MIGHT HAVE HAD ALCOHOL IN IT. It was juice, what kind of day gets booze for his preteen? They kept an insane eye and did everything but pat us down for flasks.

The venue was fairly empty but around five minutes to show it became packed. I can understand why. A show described as, "The Neal Medlyn Experience Live! is a faithful re-creation of Beyonce's 2007 hit concert dvd...". It was the full deal, there were backup dancers and costumes changes and glitter. Did I mention that Neal Medlyn is a skinny white guy in his mid to late twenties? He was in spandex shortie shorts and other tight things and belted his heart out. He danced and grooved and clapped. He never broke character for a second (as Averie noted). Flawless in his execution. He only had two backup dancers: a tall muscled black man who did back flips on stage and small Asian man who booty shaked with the best of them. All the songs, all the motions, all the attitude and life. I wish it lasted longer than 45 minutes.

This old and rotund couple got in front of us and the little girl. They were oblivious to being in any ones way. They should have squished in with the 21+ crowd. Come on. My view wasn't the best but what I saw was more than enough.

We had a 30 minute breath of fresh air between the shows. It was perfect. I had brought a coat but it ended up being very much not needed.

The next show was Ice Rod and his crew. Ice Rod is also white and his rapping was very crude to say THE VERY LEAST. Seriously, that stuff was nasty but hilarious. His crew were three very Portland guys hopping about and doing background vocals and playing with inflatable balls of various sizes. He was also fun but more in the, "what am I hearing?" sort of way versus Medlyn's "what am I seeing?" Since this was for "mature" audiences, our side was very vacant and thus not as stuffy. Both guys were serious about what they were doing. It was very subtle but it was in the feelings they emanated that separated them as performance artists.

It was a cinch getting home and now I am winding down and ready to sleep the sleep of the very weary.

Earlier today:

Science Friction is off to an interesting start. Daniel is loaning my Frankenstein so now I only need to buy one book. There is a midterm multimedia project that seems a bit complex. It has to be on some concept within a scifi show or game. Digging meaning out of something that may or may not have intended for that meaning. We spent about 10 minutes discussing Space Invaders and the Jetson's opening. I ate cocoa krispies. Craig and Nicole are in my class. Tomorrow I am setting aside for text reading. I don't have much but I shouldn't be slack with it.

Illustration Studio I: Word + Image has a large, strong group. I'm a little confused about the projects and when they are due but that should be sorted out by next class. Right off the bat we were drawing. We had 20 minutes to do an "autobiographical animal". Mine was this feathered thing with long arms and webbed feet and wings. It had some symbolism that was sort of intentional, sort of made up to go along with what I felt like drawing. Marilyn is in my class as well as Robin and Bekka. Most of the people are completely new faces so that is very exciting for me. We had little interview sheets and we introduced each other based on the questions. Marilyn's last meal would be sloppy joe's and onion rings with Alpine Rose chocolate milk. Mine is Ikea meatballs and gravy, Pocari Sweat, pot stickers, and cheesecake. After lunch we had to play illustration balderdash where we had to say who did the pieces, what medium, etc. Marilyn and I ended up with the Ralph Steadman. We bluffed the dates and what the piece was for. Robin had Lautrec and even though she was telling the truth about why his legs were shortened and that his parents were related...no one believed her! It was a fun game.

During lunch I hobbled over to Tea Zone and met Auntie Brynne and Cousin Averie for lunch. I had my standard panini and iced tea. We gabbed and caught up. Gave examples of the crazy goings on around town and school. Devoured my sandwich. This was the first of our three meetings of the day. I squeezed in a lot of face time with my dear relatives. I showed them PNCA quickly. There was a lot of hustle as the students migrated to class. Brynne later said that they look very much like "starving artists" and I said, "It is because they are all vegans."

After class got out I swung by PICA to redeem one of my TBA vouchers. I now have a ticket to see Mike Daisey on September 11th. One voucher left to use. I plan to go to some more shows at the Works this weekend. They have fun stuff there, even though I will have to pay.

Brynne and Averie are staying at Hotel Lucia. It has a very artsy interior with a large number of high quality Pulitzer photo prints and sculptures around. As well as piles of delicious green apples. We went to Powell's real quick and wandered down towards Skidmore Fountain in quest of a poster shop so Brynne can get some to decorate her class room. The poster shop was in a building that is now half gone. She did get the Make Art Not War Shepard Fairy poster, which is always a good choice.

The few hours to relax at home were what kept me going all night. I had almost gone to a show at 6:30. I think I would have been TBAed out had I done so. I was really happy that Averie shared a part of the Time Based Arts experience with me. Celia came down last year for the Some Cats from Japan show. That was a wonderful experience. A week ago I was doing nothing. Now it feels like I am doing everything. Except sleeping.