It’s all over now but my favorite part of Time Based Art is the booklet they put out each year. I was dissappointed not to be able to pick it up at my local library, like I have in years past, but obsessed enough to ride my bike down to the TBA box office to pick up a copy. Each year I look through it to see photos of people doing strange things in the name of art. This year’s booklet includes shots of people wearing sheets, emoting in front of microphones and cellos and breaking out limb twisted dance moves. My imagination ruminates on the people and what they’re expressing. With an entertainment budget relegated to Netflix and Truckstop Cinema (more on that someday), I balk at 20 dollar show tickets.  While not too pricey, a vicarious experience of Time Based Art is just right for my budget and schedule.

Here’s a link to something that caught my eye in the booklet. Get to know your stand up comedians:

www.portlandstandupphotoalbum.tumblr.com

Frogman Pdx is a Portland superhero. I don’t know what his powers are other than to host a damn good show called Weird-Landia. In episode 2, subtitled Little Beirut, a silver metallic clad marching band called LoveBomb Go-Go struts into view. Throughout the show, Frogman Pdx roams Portland talking to various political activists. The episode cuts back and forth from the band’s performance with horns bleating and dancer hips swinging to political types who speak in earnest to our hero clad in his green skinned costume and frog-eyed mask accessorized with rubber gloves and a speedo—both purple. The interviews add a deeper dimension to local concerns while the show captures the west coast energy that I hoped to find when I moved here.

LoveBomb Go-Goes!

Weird-Landia 2: Little Beirut aired on Oregon Public Broadcasting and can now be seen at the link below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOkvodFoTn0

My favorite festival in Portland is NoFest. In part it’s due to my fondness for the St. Johns neighborhood but also because this festival is always filled with random and eclectic musical offerings and there’s no admission fee. Yes you can pin it down by looking at the website, but in the past I’ve squeezed it in between other commitments so I’ve ended up running through the streets to get a feel for it. This Saturday, September 6 is the 7th annual, all day, taking over downtown St. Johns–NoFest. The event runs from noon until after 1am and there will be an art happening as well, so put on your loudest shirt, wear a disguise, if you have to, and check it out.

www.nofest.net

Hear part of a performance by Derek Ecklund at last year’s NoFest:

I don’t get out much, but last week, during a lunch break while serving jury duty, I was walking the streets of downtown Portland when I heard a woman say, “Do you think I took a whole day off from work to look at some tiny waterfall.” And then while leaving the store Tender Loving Empire someone cried out “Oh my God, what are the mushrooms?” Along with an encounter with the artist Michael Patterson Carver, the streets could not have been more entertaining.