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.

such a powerful noise

No naps today. Midday green tea is a huge help for that.

This lady in Morgan's class had her easel partially in my way the whole time. Well she was in the way. I couldn't move because it was crowded. She needed to move back more. It pays to get there really early (except I was there early and she was just being a cad!). We learned about how to set up our easels so that we saw both paper and model at the same time, how to stand, how to hold our implement, and how to realize 3D space. Morgan has a great way of dividing lecture and practice. Gestures were drawn as were longer poses. He says that practice makes habit, it doesn't make perfect. So you have to practice GOOD habits to get better. My figure drawings are not too shabby; I am falling into the work really well after the long break. My shading looks very soft.

Karen and I loitered about after class. I am loaning her some space in my locker till she finds her own (she has one, she just doesn't know where it is). I put the third season of The Wire on hold. I called Brynne to make sure we are still on for the Tea Zone tomorrow at 12:30. Saw Jim. Ate lots of free red vines. MMmm red vines. I stopped eating them for a while after I vomited up a large quantity of them after a boat ride. Now I like them again. Karen and I walked to Utrecht. Their watercolor blocks seem cheaper there but the people are still such jerks that I don't want to support them.

Eventually it was time for free lunch at PNCA. And by that I mean pizza at some meeting. This one was for the Global Studios programs.

I am officially stating that I will not be going to Hogeschool Sint-Lukas in Brussels, Belgium as part of my education at PNCA. I would have to find my own place to live (and pay for it), the city is nice but it didn't really strike my fancy, the school seemed great and while I think I could manage to self motivate, I like the class environment and don't know how I would feel in a foreign studio, not just yet anyway, and the language barrier is an extreme challenge. I will, however, ask about the programs where you go somewhere in the USA or Canada for a semester. Same deal (pay PNCA tuition) just somewhere else. Yeah!

After being fed on pizza I went home and indulged in my secret shame for an hour (I won't say what it is, but it is bad).

Then it was time for fun fun painting techniques. On the way there I rode along side Karen when I saw her migrating to school. I left her at Burnside. Farel gave a lecture on scanning. He showed us some beautiful children's books illustrated by Lizbeth Zwerger. We painted some still life's for a start and after break we were allowed to work on whatever so I added a little to that diptych I've been working on. I treated myself to an ice cream during break. Our first assignment is to design a CD cover. The band can be made up. We are to do 10 thumbnails and 3 larger sketches by Tuesday. Also we are doing a self portrait.

Farel asked if we are seeing anything during First Thursday and I said, "Yes, there is a great show at Tender Loving Empire, I'm going to see that." Or something, that isn't quite right. He asked who was the artist and we giggled and indicated Miss Jen Lee. She is so bashful, except not. Karen also has a show in the library. Everyone is having shows!

After class was over there was the First Thursday hullabaloo to experience. There were doughnuts in the Yes Men exhibit so I went to see that. Ran into Matt and Jason. Chatted with Jen while she waited for Noel (who is all mohawked now). Then I chatted with Karen while she waited for Adam. When there was no one else to wait with I headed up to Tender Loving Empire to see Jen's show. The sun was right in my eyes as I strolled up Lovejoy. Ran into Jason and Craig and chatted about good movies and the summer. While Jason's hair has gotten longer, Craig's has lost considerable length. When Jen showed up I gave her a big hug. Her pieces look nice. They play well off of Aidan's which play well off of the other woman in the show. Jen's work is line heavy, Aidan's is line and color swatches, and the other lady is mostly swatches. It is a great show.

When I went to PNCA to retrieve my bike, this guy giving out free compliments was in front of it. He said, "Oh am I blocking your bike?" and scooted about five inches forward. It was a great struggle to free my bike without injuring him. He couldn't be bothered to stand? The crowd was thick but I did break free and get home safely.

I started in with my initial ideas in terms of thumbnails. I'll flip through some art books and see if any more things pop into my head. I think right now I am being heavily influenced by the crap women's mags and pulpy men's mag illustrations.

In the morning I wore clunky shoes but I changed into the sharp leather shoes that I got from Celia so I could rock the First Thursday scene. I love those shoes and the noise they make when I walk.

some people knocked on our door and borrowed our ketchup

Whew am I glad that I had the day off. I was completely passed out till noon. Need some time to adjust.

Cecine and I walked to Art Media to pick up art supplies. I just needed a newsprint pad, some brushes and charcoal for now. I am loaning her my cloth portfolio so she didn't have to get the foundation kit. I overshot the store so we ended up doing a loop to find it. It was a good day for walking. With all our supplies we took the Max back. Bellagio's was gained for dinner.

I watched Silence of the Lambs for the first time today. The night vision part scared the hell out of me.

Karen stopped by briefly to collect the syllabus for the Figure class.

...and he's my teacher!

So I came home at about 6:15, ate some soup and then took a great nap. I am wiped out. You can tell I am tired because I am blogging at 9:00pm instead of midnight. Blimey. Well, let's start at the start.

The Figure with Morgan Walker:

Diana is in my class even though she hasn't taken any of the 200 level drawing classes. What? She is talented sure but still, eh? Silly me, I brought drawing supplies but no big paper. We had two models today and drew. He found a pad of paper to share between us. I have not been with the figure in a while so I was out of shape. I just tried to have fun. Lindsay, Daniel's girl, is in my class. Terry, Natalie, and Lacey are there as well. It is half and half people that are familiar and people that are not. He gave us a lecture on isotropic perspective (or something), assigned some homework, gave us a little lesson on figures, and we talked about the final project a little. Karen is in my class but she called me sounding all sick like so I collected an extra syllabus for her. We used up all the time and I am looking forward to more. I just have to lug my drawing board to school.

History of Graphic Design with Margaret Richardson:

Jen, Charley, and Daniel are in my class. The legendary Chevelle Supersport is in it as well and a few others I am familiar with. The professor gave us her life story for the first hour and let us out to lunch early. I waited a long long time in the locker line. I like Meaghan but she was going super slow. The pizza line was quick. After lunch we listened to some people that are a part of TBA speak. This guy was talking about his movie that he made. It is playing but as he talked it became more and more complicated and all over the place. The people were not that exciting to listen to though, too many artistic buzzwords like "process" "reconfiguring unfound objects" and the like. It is a bit much to listen to.

Between classes I ran into Bekka, who I went to the pre-college program at PNCA with back in 2006. We hugged and exchanged numbers. We are in the studio together. We are so going to rock that! Karen showed up when I was talking to her. She looked sick but healthy enough to get to school. I had to swing by my locker and she joined me. Mel is in a design class with 4 people, but one of them is Jim so that should be cool.

Illustration Painting Techniques II with Farel Dalrymple.

Do you see who is teaching my class? DO YOU SEE? When I came in and same him, he was instantly familiar and when he brought out samples of his work I was beyond ecstatic. I've seen his show at Floating World Comics! I own one of his comics! He is amazing and he is going to be my teacher! And it looks like the class will have a lot of honing what you want to hone and applying it towards are you want to do. Which seems perfect for me. He will also show us how to scan and alter our work with the computer. He hasn't taught before but I think he knows enough about variety and skill that he will be able to help us (all nine of us: Bryan, Karen, Alaska Erin, Bartender Erin, Jen, Amina, Lee, James, and myself). It will be a great class I suspect. Very tight knit and focused. He gave a little demonstration of how he paints and let us off early if we wanted to. I hung back and chatted with him. I didn't mention I'm a fan but by the huge stars in my eyes he probably figured it out.

During lunch there was a performance by Reggie Watts.

He gave us a little speech about how awesome we are and some advice. He sang and answered questions. His hair is huge. His music is pretty much all his own vocals recorded in looped. He improvises a large number of it and I was stunned by how easily he got it to flow together. It was a wonderful thing to have on the first day of school. Jumping right in.

Afterward school I went to PSU to pick up my textbooks for History of Design. Together they came in at under $30!! And they look reasonable as well. And for Science Friction I only need to buy two books as I already have Watchmen, Sandman, The Man in the High Castle, and The Handmaid's Tale.

On the way up the hill my feet slid off my bike pedals when I was pedaling standing up. I didn't fall off the bike but I did fall on it. I feel bruised and sore in a place I don't want to be bruised and sore.

a new year starts

Tomorrow tomorrow! The first day of a new year of school! And Auntie Brynne is going to buy me lunch on Friday so that will rock.

Also the Time Based Arts festival begins next week. That will be interesting.

Slept in further than I normally do. It is my last day to sleep in till Wednesday. Have to get used to my three days of 6:45am alarm clocks.

Finished the second season of The Wire. Watched Jesus Camp, which is the scariest movie I have ever seen. It is about this Evangelical summer camp. The kids praise Bush, weep while begging for forgiveness, speaking in tongues, the whole nine yards. It greatly disturbed me. But after the movie I think the camp was shut down, it was far too radical.

Jim came over in the evening. We looked through that Men's Adventure book and did our usual chatting. He met Cecine. I made tuna melt sandwiches.

Finally got around to getting one of those newfangled laundry cards. No I no longer need quarters but fives, tens, and twenties. Why the machine doesn't take change or ones is beyond me.

everyone and my hairdresser knows for sure

I went to Bishop's to redeem the free haircut card that Cecine was kind enough to give me. It was pretty vacant when I got there; only one man was getting a cut and there were four people on duty. I looked through some magazines but I couldn't decide on how to explain what I wanted. A pretty punk lady was going to cut my hair but this other woman, Amberleigh, took over instead. Which was for the better as she had more of a style for what I was looking for versus the huge Mohawk punk (who was probably a good hairdresser as well). We talked about what I sort of wanted and what I preferred and how I was about my hair and she listened. And she cut my hair superbly. I love the new style. It is airy and flowy and easy. She cut out most of the volume that was going on at the bottom and layered it. The front is still long enough to tuck behind my ears (which is good for me). I was amazed how she listened and understood how to give me just what I wanted but couldn't express accurately. No wonder she has been on a haircutting reality show! She also told me about some way cool shampoo that doubles as a styling product. I think I'll get it when I run out of shampoo. I tipped her well but that doesn't count. I still haven't actually paid for a hair cut in well over a year. And the place, Bishop's, I think I'll return because it would have just cost me $25 for the cut which is a lovely price for such a good job. I think I may have found my Portland hairdresser. When I got back, I spent time prancing about and making noises like the wind was flowing through my hair.

Rainy rainy day. My seat got a little wet. the sky was a beautiful purple than a dark velvet blue.

Karen, Diana, Robin and I took a brief excursion to Powell's. I was mostly just there for company (and left my wallet at home to insure this). Diana is looking for a dress but she shot down my idea, which I still think was a good idea. Karen splurged on the Shepard Fairy "Make Art Not War" poster. It wasn't a big or bag splurge as it is a great poster.

I watched Lars and the Real Girl. It really touched me. I thought it would move slowly but it had a good pace. I'm not sure if I would have liked a little more explanation about the characters but as is, it was ok. I would have liked to have seen more of the things that happened after the ending but my imagination can fill in the blanks. Ryan Gosling is an amazing actor. He will still be getting great roles decades from now.

Tomorrow is my last day of summer.

bleach and ink

So Psychology Today has an article about the "Cult of Clean". I haven't got to it yet but I breezed through it last night and woke up with a hankering to do some sanitizing. I whipped up some bleach and cold water and did the counters and handles and bathroom. Mmm everything smelt really clean.

I need to start forcing myself out of bed earlier. I managed, with some nice asking, to get the free haircut card for Bishop's. They gave all the Freshmen a freebie but Cecine probably wouldn't get her hair cut before it expires so score! Going in bright and early tomorrow.

Psychology Today is fascinating. The article about style is summed up by saying how to have style is to go against consumerism because you are buying things that you actually want versus what people tell you that you need. I like that idea. Style is to be aware of yourself. Also I am a "taste hunter" and go after an eclectic variety of things and prefer to surround myself diversity. I'm open and creative. Yeah!

The new people in the Goose just LOVE being loud. And they sure enjoy doing it right outside my door.

Cecine and I watched Wristcutters today. It is about this land where you go when you commit suicide. It is a place where no can smile and there are no stars. I wasn't expecting that at all. Tom Waits is in it, but mostly as a background character. I really liked the format of it, I think more slightly supernatural movies need to exist. Looked like it was filmed around Joshua Tree. It ended up being really sweet and it didn't try to force a message (it was there but subtle). I maybe recommend it for mom.

For lunch we shared a Bellagio's pizza. I was stunned when we finished the whole thing. Even when I get it with Jim, I've never been able to finish a small with breadsticks before. Ohh but it was good pizza, my favorite (feta and chicken).

And then we were off to get Cecine all inked up something fierce! We caught the streetcar but a ticket checked boarded on Johnson so we dashed off. I can't afford to be caught. It was a quick trek from Johnson & 10th to Lovejoy & 17th. We had to buzz the lady to let us in. The tattoo place, Above the Pearl, is a part of a large building reserved exclusively for art, business and craft. Her studio was very white and sterile looking with lots of nice art. The tattooist's tattoos were classy looking. Some forms were filled out, Cece's shoulder was shaved, the stencil was put on her shoulder, and in just over an hour of buzzing she was permanently inked! It went super fast but the line quality remained nice and neat. She didn't even whimper! Very brave. I've never seen someone get a tattoo before. A great experience. Not that I suddenly want to jump in and get one...