One Giant, Decontextualized Blob of Blog

Since moving to our new blog 'n' website, 2GQ hasn't ported over all the old-blog's content. It'd be a huge pain in the butte, and hardly worth it. So for now, for the search engines and for those of you who like badly-formatted old content about bands and performances and stuff, here's the Decontextualized Blob o' Blog from the blog formerly known as 2GQ.

         

2GQ Blog                            2GQ AT THE HEATHMAN - THIS THURSDAY NOV. 3                            2GQ & the Enteractive Language Festival present ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  REGARDING LANGUAGE ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~      readings ~ word games ~ performance ~ music ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ November 3, First Thursday at the Heathman Hotel Tea Room 1001 SW Broadway at Salmon (the Tea Room is through the hotel lobby to the left) 7-10 pm ~ Please dress exquisitely Free/suggested donation $5-15 featuring: * Haiku Inferno * Lauren K. Newman/LKN * Word of Mouth * Angelle Hebert & Philip Kraft * Julian Tulip * Yvette Tourangeau * with your hosts, Tiffany Lee Brown & Nora McCrea 2GQ.org for info on 2 Gyrlz Quarterly 2gyrlz.org for info on the Enteractive Language Festival (EL-fest) Sponsored by the Heathman Hotel and Plazm Media ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  ABOUT THE PERFORMANCES: ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  * Haiku Inferno is Kevin Sampsell, Frayn Masters, Frank D'Andrea, and Elizabeth Miller -- The Ramones of Haiku. * Critically acclaimed multi-instrumentalist/song-noise composer Lauren K. Newman (LKN) is known for her out-of-control stage presence and emotionally resonant guitar technique. For 2GQ, the founder of Stellamarie and former drummer of Vanishing Kids promises to do something a little different. * Angelle Hebert & Phillip Kraft -- known for their work at Conduit, Performance Works NW, and others -- present performance art involving language, movement, and music. * Yvette Tourangeau leads you, the audience, in an ongoing game of Ahnamanna. This language was created especially for tonight's show, and the booklets at your tables will help you speak it with each other. And oh: it can also be played as a drinking game. * Word of Mouth is a found poetry project conceived by Scott Allen Smith. He recruits people to collect words on a certain day -- this time, on Day of the Dead. The resulting poems will be read by Scott himself and Zea Ewert-Bean. * Julian Tulip has a wicked way with singing, spoken word, and neo-new wave stylings. At our show, this Julian Tulip's Licorice and Cancer Fags founder will entertain from the bench of the Tea Room's sleek grand piano. He'll also be creating a special song/spoken word piece for infamous free speech advocate and arts attorney Kohel Haver, who won the song as a prize at 2GQ's September fundraiser.                          posted by magdalen             : Tuesday, November 01, 2005 : 2005-11-01              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Full Calendar Now Available for EL-fest 2005                            The Enteractive Language Festival calendar is now available on the 2 Gyrlz website. Join us for one last fantastic month full of performance, music, art, workshops, readings! This is the very last EL-fest-as-we-know-it. The Enteractive Language series will return in a different form in 2007. And don't forget: 2GQ will host a very special night of readings, performances,  and word games at the Heathman Hotel Tea Room on First Thursday, November 3. Dress exquisitely! For details, click here.                          posted by magdalen             : Monday, October 17, 2005 : 2005-10-17              : Permanent Link                                                                                 EL-fest 2005 Upcoming Events                            This is your last chance to see the 2 Gyrlz Enteractive Language Festival in the form it's taken the last four years: a month full of events around Portland. Oct 27 through Nov 27, performers, artist-activists, writers, and musicians will stun the city one last time. Hope to see you there. Calendars are available around town (online version isn't quite up yet, so stay tuned). The 2GQ event, with readings and performances, "Regarding Language," happens First Thursday, November 3, at the Heathman Hotel in downtown Portland. Dress exquisitely! Photo of Tamara Yeskel by Steve Fritz.                          posted by magdalen             : Thursday, October 13, 2005 : 2005-10-13              : Permanent Link                                                                                 EL-fest Fundraiser this weekend at Holocene - plus Spacefairy's last show ever!                            Thanks for coming to the 2GQ reading/benefit and for buying raffle tickets. This Friday in Portland you can support our festival of performance & arts: EL-fest Preview Party: A fundraiser for the Enteractive Language festival '05 Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison St 21+ September 30, 8pm-1:30am Sliding Scale Admission $5-$5000 (Whatever you can pitch in!) with: SPACEFAIRY (THEIR FAREWELL SHOW!) MICAH PERRY (interactive performance art) SORIAH (Tuvan throat singing extraordinaire!) THE ROSWELL SISTERS (1940's crooning trio from another world) HEATH & FRIO (Senior Frio of Ainu) (live PA/electronica) SARDONIK GRIN (post-Asiatic sound sculpture) SOCIETAS INSOMNIA Nightmare Ensemble plus VISUAL ART from some of Portland's most respected photographers, painters, and BODY ARTISTS on display and available for direct sale. VIDEO of some artists involved in EL-fest will be mixed live by MurkVisuals. Come get a sneak peak at this year's Enteractive Language festival, featuring live performances by local artists who have been part of past fests, or will be joining us for the first time this year. Several local body artists (tattoo, piercing, scarification, etc) will be displaying their work in support of the festival's philosophy of exploring the boundaries of identity and culture. More about 2 Gyrlz Performative Arts and EL-fest: http://www.2gyrlz.org                          posted by magdalen             : Wednesday, September 28, 2005 : 2005-09-28              : Permanent Link                                                                                 2GQ RAFFLE + PARTY - NEW LINKS                            List of fabulous prizes you'll win How to buy tickets Raffle party September 22 details                          posted by magdalen             : Monday, August 29, 2005 : 2005-08-29              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Come to Our Party + Buy a 2GQ Raffle Ticket Online                            Get your raffle tickets here! 2GQ Raffle Party September 22, 8-10:30 pm Free admission * DJ's READINGS: KEVIN SAMPSELL + RICHARD SPEER + JEMIAH JEFFERSON Ground Kontrol * 511 NW Couch Street, Portland 21+ * Beer, wine, & sexy retro arcade games available DJ AFROBOT ('80s buttrock + electrofunk) DJ CURATRIX (swirlygoth + ethereal + darkwave) DJ TRY MY CABBAGE (far-out eclectic shit) For raffle prize details, click here (new).                          posted by magdalen             : Thursday, August 25, 2005 : 2005-08-25              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Thanks for buying raffle tickets!                            Thank you for buying raffle tickets online -- 2GQ luvs yr support! If you have questions about your order, email 2005@2GQ.org. And come to the raffle party/reading on September 22 if you're in Portland.                          posted by magdalen             : Tuesday, August 23, 2005 : 2005-08-23              : Permanent Link                                                                                 The Gone Orchestra to Reunite on KBOO                            This Friday night July 1 at midnight, several members from the Gone Orchestra will reunite to perform on KBOO 90.7FM. Performers to include Mike Mahaffay, Scott Steele, Shannon Steele, David Heal, Eric Hausmann, Tiffany Lee Brown, Michael Walsh, Bill Larimer, Jamie Price, Joe Niski, and possibly, Ric Stewart, Stan Wood, and Mike Lastra. It's gonna be just like Coke Classic. Features past and present members of Smegma, the Gone Orchestra, Brainwarmer, Black Orchid, Tres Gone, the Jesters Marching Band, and a bunch of other stuff. Tune into KBOO 90.7 FM in Portland, or find it online: kboo.fm.                          posted by magdalen             : Wednesday, June 29, 2005 : 2005-06-29              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Word of Mouth                            Scott Smith recently put together a lovely project called Word of Mouth. A couple dozen writers, many in Portland, were asked to create a found poem of sorts, out of random conversational snippets and other happenstance sources during the course of one day (Memorial Day plus a "make-up day" on summer solstice).Writers including Scott, Katrina Arcadia the Rose, Jacob, Bob Seitz, and yours truly gathered at the Red & Black Cafe to read/perform the results. (Well, okay, I cheated because I thought Scott was bringing my poem, so instead I wrote a new one out of conversations around the cafe. Got a few dirty looks for that.) Pictured here: Scott, Katrina. Keep an eye out for the next Word of Mouth. --Tif                          posted by magdalen             : Monday, June 27, 2005 : 2005-06-27              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Kaosmosis, How to Destroy the Universe, & Other Excellent Ways to While Away Yr Weekend                            This weekend, June 24-25, some of Portland's most indubitably talented performers can be seen at Mobilization's How To Destroy the Universe Festival in Berkeley and San Francisco. Gyrlz including Soriah, Llewyn Maire, Lisa Newman, and Noah Mickens  (with Thee 999 Eyes ov Endless Dream group) join forces with such notables as Skip Arnold, Savage Republic, Mike Watt, F Space, and The Extra Action Marching Band at the Shipyard. Expect fire, insanity, and mayhem. Portland sounds kinda tame in comparison, but we do in fact have some interesting stuff to do if you can't make it to the Bay Area. Friday night offers a sneak preview of a new non-smoking gothish club that will soon be opening in the old I.C.Mummy/Backroom space. Details below. Or check out the McLibel movie at the Clinton Street Theater. Saturday finds Kaosmosis and the March Fourth Marching Band opening the new Wonder Ballroom space on NE Russell. Sneak Peek: Friday June 24th 2005 DJ's Carrion, Uberlush, NoN, & Curatrix. 9 pm. $5 (and a friend gets in free). 332 NE San Rafael. 21+.                          posted by magdalen             : Thursday, June 23, 2005 : 2005-06-23              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Pirate Authority -- Streaming or Radio Broadcast                            The Portland Radio Authority broadcasts local micropower pirate radio on 96.7 FM, but now you can check their site for online streaming, too. PRA actively seeks local musicians to submit their warez for potential play. Check 'em out!                          posted by magdalen             : Thursday, June 16, 2005 : 2005-06-16              : Permanent Link                                                                                 We Got Yr Pride *Right Here*                            Arrr, mateys. Your friends from Portland's Booty Queer Night present an alternative Pride party on Saturday the 18th at the Bossanova Lounge, 722 East Burnside. Expect DJs and live music, plus performance from Sissyboy and electronica/spoken word/improv madness from Cancer Fags (featuring 2GQ contributors Julian Tulip and Corban Lester). All the deets are on puppdx.com.                          posted by magdalen             : Thursday, June 16, 2005 :              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Defining Disjecta                            The Templeton Building on the Burnside Bridge is filled with visual art and events through June 19, as Disjecta shows Portland its new look. Disjecta brought life to NE Russell Street as an ad hoc live/work space hosting various music, performance, and visual arts events. While the space was known for putting the art in party, founder Bryan Suereth is heading in a more ambitious direction with the latest incarnation of Disjecta. Now a non-profit organization, the currently-homeless Disjecta hopes to create an enormous arts center and a widely-respected curatorial reputation. They've found a beautiful, raw space in the Southeast industrial district and invited curators such as Nan Curtis (director of PNCA's Feldman Gallery), Stephanie Snyder (director of Reed College's Douglas F. Cooley Gallery), and Cris Moss, who presents the 9th edition of his Donut Shop series. If they meet their high fundraising goals, the space may be theirs for a much longer stint in the future. --Tiffany Lee Brown. Photo by Joshua Berger. DISJECTA DEFINED * June 4-19 * 230 E Burnside Entrance under the Burnside Bridge on SE 3rd Avenue Music & performance events at disjecta.org                          posted by magdalen             : Friday, June 10, 2005 : 2005-06-10              : Permanent Link                                                                                 2 Gyrlz wins RACC Grant & needs your help...                            2 Gyrlz just won a RACC grant! Yay, and huge thanks to RACC. Fulfilling the grant does require us to raise additional funds and produce over 100 extra copies 2GQ. To help, DONATE ONLINE and specify "2GQ" in the Designation field. Every dollar helps! Plus: Thanks to all who made our Powell's reading last night a freakin' blast. And big thanks to our Boobie Auction supporters, who helped raise funds for this fall's EL-fest.                          posted by magdalen             : Tuesday, June 07, 2005 : 2005-06-07              : Permanent Link                                                                                  New Posts, No Posts.                            2GQ.org and the 2GQBlog will not be updated for the next several weeks. We're working on a re-design & appreciate your patience. In the meantime, check out the Strategy review, performance announcements, and other chewy nougaty goodness below on the 2GQBlog. Fiction and digital arts are available in our Freezone section. And the 2GQ homepage will set you up with interviews of Wipers frontman Greg Sage, Portland poet Leanne Grabel, experimental musicians Smegma, and other fine stuff. Oh! We also have a NEW mailing list for sending out the occasional announcement about our site & events we put on. Please send mail to 2GyrlzQuarterly-subscribe@2GQ.org.                          posted by magdalen             : Tuesday, March 09, 2004 :              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Strategy: Drumsolo's Delight                            Chicago-based Kranky-- one of the best indie labels in the entire universe-- trades mostly in atmospheric, sometimes jazzy, experimentally-tinged, or quietly interesting fare. They put out indie bigshots like Low and Godspeed You Black Emperor! along with lesser-known bands like the NW's Growing and Fontanelle. Portland-based Strategy-- solo project of DJ/laptop maestro, Emergency alum, and Nudge/Fontanelle collaborator Paul Dickow-- trades in airy layers, repetitive loops, and subtle rhythms. Live dub mixing and digital soundscaping combine on Drumsolo's Delight to create an entirely pleasant album. Pleasant isn't always what you're looking for in music, however, and it's hard not to be disappointed by the way Dickow quickly plunges brief moments of expert noise tweakage and unusual sound exploration into predictable, e-friendly fare. "Final Super Zen" establishes a base of minimalist hush, then seemingly incongruous beats with a hollow, wooden sound stagger around the reverb chamber. All too soon, they're swallowed up by standard-issue bleepy-bloopy noises and whorls of melodic repetition. A similar buildup pattern is repeated on many tracks; on "Walkingtime," which features the vocals of CARO, it actually works, grabbing with emotional and melodic hooks lacking elsewhere. And Dickow's vague sketches transform into confident sculptures on album's dreamy closer, "The Jazzy Drumsolo." Close listens turn up neat-o synthesized or sampled sweeps of sound, but they tend to be used in a generic background fashion. Half the album could be the easily-ignored soundtrack to an evening of drinking Piafs and gabbing with friends at Holocene; a shame, because the rest deserves the listener's full attention and a pair of top-notch speakers.                          posted by magdalen             : Tuesday, March 09, 2004 :              : Permanent Link                                                                                 SRS: Stations Remain Structure                            Our own Gyrl Grip performance group, as embodied by 2 Gyrlz directors Llewyn Maire and Lisa Newman, will perform Wedesday as part of the Gender in Conflict presentation at Lewis & Clark College. The piece is described as "a conceptual/endurance score, exploring the medical, cultural, and psychological endurance of a transsexual male(?)-to-other(?) process....through action, video and sound." 23rd Annual Gender Symposium. 10 MAR 2004, Lewis & Clark College, 0615 S.W. Palatine Hill Rd., Portland... 3:30 P.M., Council Chamber. FREE.                          posted by magdalen             : Tuesday, March 09, 2004 :              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Spalding Gray's Body Found                            Influential performer and writer Spalding Gray has been missing for weeks. His body was found in the East River today. As his self-penned epitaph put it: "An American Original: Troubled, Inner-Directed and Cannot Type."                          posted by magdalen             : Monday, March 08, 2004 : 2004-03-08              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Write Dangerously                            The Dangerous Writers community includes Northwest author Tom Spanbauer (The Man Who Fell in Love with the Moon) and workshop leaders Joanna Rose (Little Miss Strange), Joe Ponce, and our own Stevan Allred. Alumni of their workshops, held in and around Portland and out at Cannon Beach during the delightful Haystack program, include such dignitaries as Chuck Palahnuik (Fight Club), Jennifer Lauck (Blackbird), and local writers like Monica Drake. (And let's not forget ME.) Anyhoo, they've finally put up a web page. Find out about upcoming workshops, events, buy special editions of books, and all manner of good stuff at www.dangerouswriting.org.                          posted by magdalen             : Saturday, March 06, 2004 : 2004-03-06              : Permanent Link                                                                                 CC Future now available online, retail                            The groovy anthology in which you will find my fish story is now available at Buy Olympia. The Clear Cut Future includes contributors Stacey Levine, Charles D?Ambrosio, Steve Weiner, Emily White, Rebecca Brown, Robert Gl?ck, Pravin Jain (a former Enron executive), Casey Sanchez (a fish slimer), Wouter Vanstiphout (winner of the 2002 Masskant Prize for young architects), photographers Robert Adams and Ari Marcopoulos, and painter Michael Brophy.                          posted by magdalen             : Tuesday, March 02, 2004 : 2004-03-02              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Call for Performers & Artists at The Ohm in Portland                            Sunday nights at the Ohm are dedicated to showcasing up-and-coming DJs in the Portland area. With an early start at 8 pm, there's no cover charge, and artists and performers will present their work gratis. "We would like this night to turn into a literal circus of performers all to the tune of electronica beats throbbing with the pulse of our hearts," says Jason. He's looking for visual artists, fire performers, artistic dancers, stilt walkers, pole dancers, and any imaginable performance-related thing you can do with music happening. Email jandrews@columbia.comif interested.                          posted by magdalen             : Tuesday, March 02, 2004 :              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Gertrude Stein's Tender Buttons & Ted Berrigan's Sonnets                            Coming March 1, a team of "twelve tenacious tellers to twine together these two terrific texts" make their way to Kalga Kafe for a marathon three-hour reading. Eat organic international veggie food while listening to the good stuff! Featuring Lisa Radon, Chris Piuma, mARK oWEns, Michael Nicoloff, Matthew Marble, Maryrose Larkin, Laura Feldman, Ashley Edwards, Amanda Deutch, Joseph Bradshaw, Linda Austin, and David Abel . Presented by Passages and Spare Room; organized by Joseph Bradshaw and David Abel, who will also be reading. Monday night, March 1, 9:00 pm to midnight. Kalga Kafe, 4147 SE Division. Free. Beer & wine for 21+.                          posted by magdalen             : Thursday, February 26, 2004 : 2004-02-26              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Clear Cut: Followup                            You shoulda been there at Powell's last night: good readings, good turnout, and even a bit of drama. Yep, one of the readers, wrestling with that giant weird goofy Powell's podium, flung his water bottle to the floor and it erupted into great wateriness. A pretty awesome, well-acted piece of theatre. It was Grant Cogswell, whose demi-epic poem "Pacific Bell" will knock yr socks off. Howard Robertson read from his new book about long-haul truck driving; dreamy stuff, speaking of Western roads and places I know well, interspersing trucker talk with the literary and philosophical musings characteristic of Robertson's previous job: librarian. Casey Sanchez, a Portland native, was visiting from Chicago and read some gripping but funny stuff about working the "slime line" in an Alaskan salmon cannery. (He'll also read at Fisher Poet's in Astoria this weekend; see previous entry.)                          posted by magdalen             : Thursday, February 26, 2004 :              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Clear Cut Readings & Fisher Poets                            Poet Howard W. Robertson will be reading at Powell's downtown with fellow Clear Cut authors Casey Sanchez and Grant Cogswell, whose excellent, hand-bound poem you may've seen in "The Hanged Word" installation at The Language of Print or in the 2GQ Hail Santa fundraiser last year. The Powell's reading celebrates the publication of Robertson's Ode to Certain Interstates and Other Poems on Astoria, Oregon's own, incredibly fabulous Clear Cut Press. Chicago-based Casey Sanchez will also read at Astoria's annual Fisher Poets Gathering, which sees hundreds of fish workers coming to Astoria for three days of events. Feb 25 at Powell's, 1001 W. Burnside, 7:30 pm, free. Sanchez at Fisher Poets: February 27th at 7:40 pm.                          posted by magdalen             : Saturday, February 21, 2004 : 2004-02-21              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Dark Arts Festival on Valentine's Day                            Wend your way to Astoria for the Dark Arts Festival this weekend, which sounds more shpooky than it is. This annual fundraiser for Astoria Visual Arts features music from Mesmer and Passiflora, along with Tarot readings, fire performance, belly dance, and palm readers.  Dark Arts Fest also celebrates the black magick of tasting yummy Stouts microbrewed around the Northwest, thanks to Jack Harris, master brewer of the much-beloved Bill's Tavern in Cannon Beach.  AVA Gallery is currently showing Roger Hayes and other outsider artists. Saturday, February 14, 3-8 pm, at AVA Gallery in Astoria -- 160 Tenth Street (at Commercial, along the Columbia River).                          posted by magdalen             : Monday, February 09, 2004 : 2004-02-09              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Gyrlz, Licorice, Smashing Televisions... Feb 6th                            2 Gyrlz presents another fabulous, free event with music, performance, art, and the smashing of televisions. It's Perpetuating Response VI at the CO7 Gallery Cooperative, on February 6th. Come by as you experience the east side First Friday festivities. Featuring Alysa Volpe (paintings), Nate Hudson (charcoal), and "Passion/Obsession Quilt," selected works from the students of Horatio Law at PNCA. The Feb 6th opening of this month long exhibit will feature performances from Julian Tulip's Licorice, Hellebore, Legerdemain, Pecos B, Analogue Priest & Alex Lily's Television Smasher... First Friday 06 FEB...7:30 - 1 pm...CO7 Gallery Cooperative (2000 SE 7th Ave)...Beer with 21 + ID courtesy of Pike Brewing.                          posted by magdalen             : Friday, January 23, 2004 : 2004-01-23              : Permanent Link                                                                                 ANOMALOUS SILENCER 6                            Any discriminating noise fans out there - and don't you dare ask whether I mean harsh noise, ambient noise, breakcore, noise-rock or industribal. I won't have it. Anyway, these and many other miniscule sub-divisions of the Noise genre are represented on a spruce new comp CD called Anomalous Silencer 6. This is the 6th and possibly final installment in Radek Kopel's lauded international series, pressed in the Czech Republic and featuring artists from 12 nations. Radek made exactly 1000 copies of this CD, and sent 20 of them to each artist on the comp. With 7 U.S. bands on the comp, that means there are 140 copies of Anomalous Silencer 6 available in the United States. Only one of these 7 bands is from Portland, Nequaquam Vacuum (HEL-LO everybody!); which means there are exactly 20 copies of this CD available here in town. Actually, I already sent three more on the road with Scott Nydegger; and of course I'm keeping one for myself. So I guess that makes 17 copies available, two of which are at Everyday Music and one of which is at Ozone UK. If any of you are curious, groove your way down to one of those fine emporiums and score a copy. It's real, REAL good. I direct your attention in particular toward Ultretomba, K2, and Discotheque Gronland. 5000. - N.                          posted by Noah             : Wednesday, January 21, 2004 : 2004-01-21              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Sultry Sounds at the Sapphire                            The subtly swank, seductive Sapphire Hotel, where the temps feel terribly, terrifically perdu and the drinks spill down smoothly, hosts the sultry sounds of Tim duRoche & his Sang-Froid Trio every Thursday night, beginning January 8. What a perfect way to chase the winter greys and Mean Reds... Witness the poster for more details.                          posted by magdalen             : Wednesday, January 14, 2004 : 2004-01-14              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Pipe Bomb at Powell's                            Detonate a PIPE bomb with us at Powell's tonight! The Portland Independent Press Experiment presents short readings & introductions to area publishers and publications. I'll be representing for 2 Gyrlz Quarterly (2GQ). I'm not sure who-all's on the slate tonight, but i think Verse-Chorus Press, Gobshite, Motion Sickness, Pinball Publishing, and Too Much Coffee Man may be involved. Monday, Jan 12, Powell's downtown Portland Oregon, 7:30 pm, W Burnside at 11th; free. and if you're into the whole text/word/lit thing, you may be interested in our new list of resources & links. Check "Word & Media" here on the 2GQ weblog.                          posted by magdalen             : Monday, January 12, 2004 : 2004-01-12              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Portland Gamers on MTV this Week                            Portland's super-awesome-rad-bitchin' retro arcade, Ground Kontrol, hosts the premiere of MTV's Ultimate Video Game Countdown tonight at 8 pm. How can you resist the lure of Galaga, Frogger, King Pin pinball circa 1973, and two Tetris machines? Seanbaby officiates the proceedings. Can't catch it tonight? Fear not, the show re-runs on MTV and M2 throughout the week. Check the links above for specifics.                          posted by magdalen             : Friday, January 02, 2004 : 2004-01-02              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Online Audio Luv -- at Diagram                            You gotta love the sparse, smart, delicate stylings of Diagram, the online magazine and print book. This issue they're up to something special: an all-all audio format featuring MP3s of various intriguing sound compositions and tone poems. "Like the schematic/diagrammatic work we present, these pieces are intended to function as poetry, rather than addressing poetry, or (god forbid) relaying it. They describe and illuminate and confuse and thresh and hum and re-read and snowmelt and annotate and re-describe. They do not illustrate or translate (though some pieces attend to illustration or translation as a subject of inquiry or soft pink plaything)." Thus spake Diagram's Sonics Editor, Shannon Fields.                          posted by magdalen             : Friday, January 02, 2004 :              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Born Free                            Born is giving birth again, so head on over to bornmagazine.org to see their beautiful, interactive interpretation of literary arts in action. It's cool & it's free. Born is also accepting proposals for installations for their interactive literary arts event, slated for May 2004 in Seattle, WA. Contact gabe@bornmagazine.org.                          posted by magdalen             : Friday, January 02, 2004 :              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Satellite Video                            What's tiny and makes you weep if you're in an autumnal mood? The beautiful, simple new video from Human Genome Project, that's what. Sniff. HGP is the electronically-enhanced side project of piano-wielding singer-songwriter Amoree Lovell, mistress of "goth ragtime," a feminine Cole Porter/Kurt Weill for 21st century Portland. Come hear her play at our HAIL SANTA 2003 fundraiser on Saturday, Dec 13 at The Jasmine Tree (info below). Hit the headline above to check out the viddy.                          posted by magdalen             : Monday, December 08, 2003 : 2003-12-08              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Dec 13: HAIL SANTA!                            Featuring Live Music, Santa Babes, Bellydancing, Raffle, Pirates, CD Grab Bag, SantaCon Special, Twisted Xmas Mashups, and Portland's Only Real Live Raffle Elf!! Holy smokes, can ya beat that?? Saturday, Dec 13, 8:30 pm - closing The Jasmine Tree Tiki Lounge SW 4th & Harrison near PSU 21+, $5 admission benefits 2GQ.org LIVE MUSIC: Captain Bootybeard, Amoree Lovell, Tim DuRoche, Morgan Grace, Glamourous Pat, & more more more. It's Super-Santa-Fragilistic!! RAFFLE: Gift Certificates... Original artwork... Signed special editions of books & zines... THE C.D. GRAB BAG: Pay a trifling donation, reach your hand in the bag, and walk away with a lovely compact disc! It's Santariffic! (Let us know if you have something fabulous to donate -- email 2003@2GQ.org.) TWISTED XMAS MASHUPS ON CD: Courtesy of DJ Brokenwindow - Freaking hilarious! Bring five bucks for your own copy. It's a Santa Spectacular! SANTACON: Persons dressed in full Santa regalia receive a FREE raffle ticket! Mention the SantaCon Special as you walk in the door.                          posted by magdalen             : Thursday, December 04, 2003 : 2003-12-04              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Kate Bornstein + Language of Print + Con$umption                            EL-Fest continues unabated! The fabulous Kate Bornstein performs at the Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center (IFCC) on Friday and Saturday nights, Nov 21 & 22... The Language of Print offers prints, readings, installations, guerrilla readings, and of course, crepes, beer, & wine, at La Palabra this Sunday the 23rd... The day after Thanksgiving, folks from Adbusters, the Cacophony Society, and 2 Gyrlz get together to help you celebrate International Buy Nothing Day. You can just guess how much it costs to get in -- and hit the Confessional Bar -- at The Language of Con$umption, Nov 28. Click the headline for deets of all shows. Just hit the calendar links at the top of the page.                          posted by magdalen             : Friday, November 21, 2003 : 2003-11-21              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Jesus Has Two Mommies: SMYRC Benefit                            The Boston hit schlock opera "Jesus Has Two Mommies" written and directed by Faith Soloway will be making its west coast premier December 10th at the Hollywood Theater! The play was recorded live at the Sommerville Theater in Massachusetts, and Faith has been kind enough to grant us the right to show the film here in Portland as a fundraising effort for SMYRC (Sexual Minority Youth Resource Center-click headline above for info). Watch the movie trailer. Advance tickets $8 at In Other Words bookstore. Movie: December 10th at the Hollywood Theater (NE 45th & Sandy). Doors at 7:30, movie at 8. Raffle (with rocking prizes including a custom made harness and pussy pucker pots vegan lip balm).                          posted by magdalen             : Thursday, November 20, 2003 : 2003-11-20              : Permanent Link                                                                                 SLUMBER, MOVE, & SPARE NOISE                            We've been so busy making The Enteractive Language Festival happen that no one's had time to update 2GQ about it. In brief: the thing has been rockin'. Amazing performances & freaking great times have been happening. Catch more this weekend, Nov 13-16: Thursday, Spare Room twists the word in delightful ways... Friday, members of Smegma and other West Coast noise collectives unravel The Language of Noise... Saturday, Kaosmosis (familiar to many a local Burning Man devotee) presents The Language of Movement at Mt.Tabor Pub... and last but not least, slide into your pajamas and bring a pillow on down to Itisness on Killingsworth on Sunday night. Hit El-Fest.info for details. The Language of Slumber features live trippy-spacey music (including Legerdemain, Mugwort, Rudement,  Pulse Emitter, and me, Passiflora), dream machines, herbal elixirs, and a nice chance to come down from all the excitement of the week.                          posted by magdalen             : Thursday, November 13, 2003 : 2003-11-13              : Permanent Link                                                                                 KAISERPHILIA                            Yay for Portland! We get a free show November 25 with the extraordinarily talented Jeff Kaiser. Kaiser's last two releases, 13 Themes for a Triskaidekaphobic and 17 Themes for Ockodektet, build shivering walls of sound around his luminous trumpet, creating a lush, sophisticated mood that manages to remain lighthearted. Both records were released on pfMENTUM and--bonus!-- come with really sweet packaging. Jeff Kaiser plays trumpet and electronics with Portland guitarist Tom McNalley for an evening of improvised music on Tuesday, November 25th, from 8:30-11pm, the Tugboat Brewery (SW Park and Ankeny).                          posted by magdalen             : Thursday, November 13, 2003 :              : Permanent Link                                                                                 FICTIONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION                            The Pacific Northwest-based mutating anthology, Northwest Edge, has just dropped its second payload of innovative, experimental, and literary short fictions, with Fictions of Mass Destruction. 2GQ Advisory Board member and upcoming Guest Freezone Curator Lidia Yuknavitch and 2GQ contributor Trevor Dodge are editors; contributors include yr ever-lovin' gyrlz Llewyn Maire, Lisa Newman, and Tiffany Lee Brown. Special discount price at Amazon is $8, or support your local independent bookstore & buy it there. What they say: "Edited by Andy Mingo, Trevor Dodge, and Lidia Yuknavitch, the book showcases works by established Northwest authors such as Jeanne Heuving, David Shields, Rebecca Brown, Steven Shaviro, Shamina Senaratne, Billie Livingston, Caitlin Sullivan, Lance Olsen, Doug Nufer, and Leon Johnson alongside new emerging voices such as Mia DeBono, Fern Capella, Grant Olsen, and Shannon Densmore. Inspired by the zip-lip, search and siezure, police state antics of the current administration, Northwest Edge refuses to settle for the typically overdone environmental salmon scenarios, memoirs of life set in a Charlie Russell painting, or tired references to tree spirits. Fair warning from the militant left: In Dubya's Amerikka, the pen is, indeed, mightier than the sword. From the fringes of the Pacific Northwest's salmon canneries, potato fields, and tree farms the literary proletariat is calling a spade a spade. Duck and Cover."                          posted by magdalen             : Wednesday, November 12, 2003 : 2003-11-12              : Permanent Link                                                                                 EL-FEST II KICKS OFF                            2 Gyrlz second annual Enteractive Language Festival, aka EL-Fest, is ready to rock Portland beginning tonight during Last Thursday Artwalk on NE Alberta Street. The festival brings local and international artists, musicians, and performers together for 23 events throughout November. Bonus: many are free and all are accessibly priced (that means affordable for all us marginally-employed Bohos). "The Language of Terror" deals with citizens' responses to post-911/War on Terrorism America, and is at Optic Nerve Arts (1829 NE Alberta, Suite 11). The opening is this evening; show will be up all month. 2GQ photography editor Christopher Rainone shows photography of PDX graffiti, Josh Berger of Plazm presents an installation of Anti-War.us designers, plus MB Condon and Rhoda London. FREE Friday night, we have "the French GG Allin", Jean Louis Costes, performing at "La Langue du Culte: Porno-Social Ritual," a H3llow33n-fest extraordinaire at IC Mummy (International Club Mummy). If you like sex, blood, and mayhem, we'll see ya there. International Club Mummy, 322 NE San Rafael, (3 blocks north of NE Broadway, west of MLK/Grand Ave). Doors at 8 pm, 21+ with ID, $5 to $15 sliding scale. Saturday evening, celebrate your ancestors and the Day of the Dead, at "The Language of Ancestors," at and behind Hi-iH Lamp Shop on NE Alberta at 29th. Food, music, fire dancers, and generally rocking good times. Bar with ID. FREE, starts 7:30 pm. Music and performance from Sikhara, Children of Paradise, Romulus & Remus, Zanne, Try My Cab?iste, Sati Fyre, and members of Proyecto Fuego with Soriah. Early Sunday evening, it's everybody's favorite youngsters, The Black Peppercorns, courtesy of Rock & Roll Camp for Girls. P:ear teams up with 36 Invisibles to present "The Language of Youth," featuring artwork and performance by youth from P:ear, Outside In, and the Fuego project. this oughtta be fantastic. FREE, all ages. 809 SW Alder, 6:30 pm. Hit www.el-fest.info for details and the whole month's schedule.                          posted by magdalen             : Thursday, October 30, 2003 : 2003-10-30              : Permanent Link                                                                                 NEWBORNS                            Hey little dogies, git on over to Born and check out their Autumn 2003 release. Five literary interpretations, three new additions to The Birthing Room. Digital art + Lit = one of Portland's best literary zines.                          posted by magdalen             : Friday, October 17, 2003 : 2003-10-17              : Permanent Link                                                                                 PARTY WITH THE BEAR. OR HIT THE GROUND RUNNING.                            Yay! Enviro-art-lit freaks Orlo dish up a new issue of The Bear Deluxe, and have a launch party at Fez this Thursday Oct 16 to celebrate, featuring Reclinerland. Git on over there! Click the headline above for deets. And walk uptown a couple blocks, also Thursday, for a free event at everybody's favourite retro-riffic hangout, Ground Kontrol. Kommander in Chief Anthony Ramos says this party, featuring the band CART, is a "trial balloon" for more bands at GK.                          posted by magdalen             : Wednesday, October 15, 2003 : 2003-10-15              : Permanent Link                                                                                 YUKNAVITCH, PINBALL NAMED FINALISTS FOR OREGON BOOK AWARDS                            Participants in 2GQ's upcoming EL-Fest event, The Language of Print, have been named finalists for the Oregon Book Awards. Lidia Yuknavitch -- current Guest Editor of 2GQ's Freezone and co-founder of our predecessor, Two Girls -- is a finalist for the H.L.Davis Award for Short Fiction for her collection, Reel to Reel (FC2). The Casey Kwang-authored Copia, published by Pinball Publishing, is up for the Stafford/Hall Award for Poetry. Lidia will read at our Nov 23 show, and Pinball will show printed visual art. Congratulations to them and the other nominees for Literary Arts' prestigious awards.                          posted by magdalen             : Friday, October 10, 2003 : 2003-10-10              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Gus's Elegant Elephant                            Shots so pretty, so dazzlingly perfect, they make your skull ache. Kids so real, you never wanna see another Hollywood-generated actroid on the screen again. A simple, elegant presentation of an intricate play on time and space. Violence on a slow boil. Hitchcock on Oxycontin. Portland's homegrown genius filmmaker, Gus Van Sant, has produced a calm, spacious masterpiece about American high school students, American high school life, and American high school shootings. Making a film about the Kip Kinkels and Columbines of this world is right up there with miming about 911: aim for pathos and you may hit melodrama; aim for objectivity and you might pay inadequate due to the emotional immensity of the situation. Filmmakers run the risk of glorifying violence by dealing with it in the first place. Elephant gently presents moments in the lives of students during one ill-fated day, alluding here and there to the ultra-violence of films like A Clockwork Orange and Natural Born Killers, but refusing to moralize in any predictable way. This emotionally expansive, aesthetically mesmerizing approach slowly pierces the psyche, leaving images and moments there which will take weeks to work out. Van Sant's brilliant decision to use regular ol' kids from around Portland, rather than actors, enabled the writer/director to create an utterly self-defining and self-sufficient world. Not only did the crowd at the North American premiere last night love Elephant -- so did the judges at Cannes, who awarded the film the Palme d'Or and also gave Van Sant props for Best Director. Van Sant's still the cool guy he was when he made the Portland premiere of My Own Private Idaho a benefit for the city's homeless youth agency, Outside In. Last night's screening at the Schnitz benefited the same cause. Following the usual boring, elitist, and generally annoying tradition of American cultural purveyors keeping big city audiences ahead of regional and smaller-town ones, Elephant opens in Los Angeles and New York on October 24. The rest of you should get a taste shortly thereafter. Don't pass it by.                          posted by magdalen             : Sunday, October 05, 2003 : 2003-10-05              : Permanent Link                                                                                 WowWee Zowee! October 8                            Yr friends at 2 Gyrlz need a little love -- and money -- to grease the wheels of our 2nd annual, month-long international festival of performance, music, and arts. So come to the Enteractive Language Fundraiser, October 8th at Portland's Viscount Ballroom! Witness performances from WowWee Zowee Shadow Cinema, Acme Tiger Dance Co., Pete Kuzov & Edie Tsong...hear music by La Orquesta Lengua (featuring moi as one of the players) and To-Ka-Ge... see the trippy-ass live video mixing of Murk... purchase art at shocking prices in the Silent Art Auction... win cool stuff in the raffle... check out the verbiage of the incomparable Pecos B.... eat, drink (full bar), and be merry! Wednesday, Oct 8, Viscount Ballroom at 722 East Burnside. Admission on a sliding donation scale from $7 to $70. Formal & Costume attire encouraged!                          posted by magdalen             : Saturday, September 27, 2003 : 2003-09-27              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Literary snap, crackle, and plop.                            The Cereal Box Review is a lovely zine cleverly shaped as a cereal box. Not only do you want one (available at La Palabra), but you might want to contribute as well. Poetry, prose, and photography are accepted; they're particularly looking for philosophy and cultural criticism, cereal-style. Email cbr@lapalabracafepress.org for more info. PS: I have a piece in the current, fall '03 edition. Yay! Technorati Profile                          posted by magdalen             : Tuesday, September 23, 2003 : 2003-09-23              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Tribute to the Man in Black                            Guitarist Joe Patterson reports that Buck Dagger & the Big River Band have been rehearsing rehearsing a re-creation of Johnny Cash's Live At Folsom Prison for some time.  "What was originally planned as a good time tribute is now a little somber with Johnny's passing," says Patterson, who performs along with Buck Dagger, Erik Clampett, Nathan Murphy, Jen Stefanick, and Marley Gaddis doing June's vocals. "However, that won't stop us from having a blast while celebrating one of the best live events ever. We will be performing the actual show of 19 songs in sequence, not the shortened 13 song LP version." It's this Saturday night at Duff's Garage in Portland on SE 7th Ave, about 2 blocks south of Hawthorne.  $5; Lisa Miller & Her Kin open.                          posted by magdalen             : Wednesday, September 17, 2003 : 2003-09-17              : Permanent Link                                                                                 More on TBA...                            PICA's TBA Festival invoked all sorts of opinions, from festival media sponsor Willamette Week's glowing raves to 2GQ's decidedly erratic views. While yours truly found the ultra-hyped The Badger King to be an abysmal experience, thanks primarily to the vocalist's incompetent whinging & irritating lyrics, Godfre Leung previewed it favorably -- see our REVIEWS section. That's where you'll also find Melissa Logan's praise for Vijay Iyer and Co. Scroll down on this weblog page for more thumbs up (David Greenberger and 3 Leg Torso), thumbs down (the opening party), and half-n-half reviews (Shelley Hirsch). As for the rest? We couldn't pry full reviews from the rest of our gossip squad, but here's the summary of their reports: Eiko and Koma: amazing. Bill Shannon aka Crutchmaster: cool, but overrated. Ros Warby: beautiful and complex. Silt: bland and uninspired. Coco Fusco: obvious. Peripheral Produce: greatest hits couldn't be greater... And that's erratic opinion for you. As part of an organization that also puts on an ambitious performance festival, I can assure you that this kind of thing ain't easy to pull off! While the shows may have been hit-or-miss, TBA in general was an impressive event for Portland.                          posted by magdalen             : Tuesday, September 16, 2003 : 2003-09-16              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Rhizomatica II in Portland Sept 20                            Sometimes a press release is so delicious, you just gotta let it speak for itself: "Expect a succulent blend of celluloid fantasy, curveball cubism, flying reams of paper, careening trombones, a mobile audience, ferocity, friendliness, vituperative poetry masquerading as a cozy sweater, and galvanized 10-penny nails. The evening features interdisciplinary, sometimes improvisational, sometimes interactive (and other words that begin with the letter "I") performances that leap/straddle/grow from the cracks between movement, music/sound, word, images--The poem might be silent. In fact it might move. The dance might be a sound piece…things might just go boom. Many of the performers are accomplished improvisers who walk that high-wire with aplomb and often breathtaking results- cannonball headfirst into a pool of new experience!" Dig the second installment of Rhizomatica: An Occasional Cabaret on Saturday, September 20 at 8 pm at Pacific Switchboard, 4637 North Albina St. Five bucks gets you in. Collaborations & performances by acclaimed LA-based poet Dorothea (Dottie) Grossman and local flavorites of the musical, dance, video, sound, & word arts: Rob Blakeslee, Michael Vlatkovich, Tim DuRoche, Lisa Radon, Elizabeth Ward, Andrew Blubaugh, Joseph Bradshaw, and Jonathan Sielaff.                          posted by magdalen             : Monday, September 15, 2003 : 2003-09-15              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Speaking of Performance Festivals...                            ...This year, I'm co-curating the November 23rd event at 2 Gyrlz' second annual, month-long performance fest, the Enteractive Language Festival. The Language of Print happens at La Palabra Cafe-Press. Our visual art and readers are booked, but we are still looking for Northwest-based zines, chapbooks, and book arts to feature in a show entitled "The Hanged Word". Qualifying works must be published, written, and/or illustrated by creators living in Oregon, Washington, Montana, Idaho, or BC. Please send mail to 2003 (at) 2GQ.org if you're interested in participating.  Thanks!                          posted by magdalen             : Monday, September 15, 2003 :              : Permanent Link                                                                                 World Premiere: Legibly Speaking                            Men in black appear calm behind their accordions, horns, drum kits, xylophones.  Sheet music is rustled. Writer and monologuist David Greenberger gives an unamplified introduction before fading into shadow. Courtney von Drehle's accordion grins, Bela Balogh's trumpet swoons, and we're off on another dizzyingly delicious evening with 3 Leg Torso. It's more than that, of course: it's also the world premiere of Greenberger's "Legibly Speaking," a delightful reading of characters developed from interviews with residents of Portland area senior centers. Brilliant, short snippets of life stories rapidly unveil a world of humor (especially in women who didn't much care for their long-gone husbands), absurdity (one subject's pajamas catch on fire), and grace (a centenarian's moving homilies). Greenberger's characters speak of pets, snooty in-laws, airplanes, art, and beauty. His plain vocal delivery carries the stories with perfect grace, bouncing off the impeccable skill and rakish musical charm of 3 Leg Torso. While Greenberger claims to be concerned with presenting the elderly as individuals, rather than as "the elderly," the work could be interpreted as exploitative. What to make of it when someone else's dead husband is your source for a cheap laugh? But the overall effect is humanizing and triumphant -- and, miraculously enough, Greenberger avoids sounding corny. Aided by 3LT's ability to segue effortlessly between the touching and the wry, "Legibly Speaking" is no after-school special. Still, only the most deadened heart would fail to be moved by the immigrant who says, "Tomorrow, I ask for poison. This is no life. This is very unhappy life." Greenberger developed this work during a residency at PICA, producers of the TBA Festival and Friday evening's invigorating performance at Portland's Scottish Rite temple. According to percussionst Gary Irvine, the band worked intensively with Greenberger during the previous week, using both composed material and new themes. 3 Leg and Greenberger will record the piece this week; 2GQ.org will let you know if a CD is released. --Tiffany Lee Brown 3 Leg Torso, pictured top, is online at 3legtorso.com. David Greenberger, pictured right, has published The Duplex Planet since 1979 and can also be heard on National Public Radio's All Things Considered. (Full disclosure: I've had the honor of playing music a few times with members of 3 Leg. And I am not worthy. -Tif)                          posted by magdalen             : Monday, September 15, 2003 :              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Vilkommen to Portland!                            What is this, Berlin? Nope, just lil' PDX. But it is an unusual opportunity to catch some top-notch local and regional talent doing hopefully top-notch, cool-weird stuff all in one week. And yes, there are parties. PICA has taken over a warehouse at NW 15th & Northrup for parties & cabarets during the TBA festival. While the opening party was unimpressive -- my high point was playing one of Johnne Eschleman's Casio SK101 keyboards on the sidewalk outside, where he was busking for the party's entrance fee -- the Cabaret lineups at the Machineworks warehouse look to be excellent. Hip-hop poet and multimedia artist Tracie Morris shakes up Sunday night with "Afrofuturistic" at 10 pm, followed by avant composer John Moran and dancer Eva Muller. Monday finds the much-ballyhooed Portland duo The Badger King unveiling "The Showering Dragons," listed as a conceptual electronic art-pop opera. Details about other shows, which include Sean Byrne (Bugsküll), Steve Doughton, "Ten Tiny Dances" with multiple choreographers, and inimitable singer/songwriterSarah Dougher (left), can be found in Willamette Week's TBA insert or at pica.org. So what was up with the opening party? It wasn't too bad: I saw some friends, talked with artists, etc. But overall it just wasn't my personal sort of thing: a few art patrons moving to hyper-loud dance music, drinking five-dollar Cosmos in plastic cups. It lacked the, well, FUN vibe you want in a party. On the occasion of PICA's last Dada Ball, an amazing party was happening across town on NE Alberta, at and behind the talented lamp artist Lam Quang's shop, Hi-iH. Free of charge, promoted by word-of-mouth, piled with local art & beautiful chill tents & choreographed fire performers, the Doo Doo Ball burst with creative chaos. Same thing happened last night: Hi-iH hosted the Blue Bash, where inexpensive brews fueled blue-haired, blue-painted, and blue-dressed partiers who spilled out into the street, dancing to the March Forth marching band. High-intensity astral travellers Spacefairy also played, and fire dancers performed. TBA has a whole week to whip festival-goers into a collective froth and up the ante for its final cabaret and party on Friday night... aided by House of Cunt, pictured above right, who will perform that night at 10 pm.                          posted by magdalen             : Sunday, September 14, 2003 : 2003-09-14              : Permanent Link                                                                                 The Chirps of Shelley Hirsch                            Shelley Hirsch combines birdcalls, staccato breaths, toning, and various vocal tricks with melodic jazz and storytelling. Very personable and accessible, she presented four rehearsed pieces at the Wieden + Kennedy atrium last Saturday, as part of PICA's first performance festival, TBA. Technically adept at working within her self-defined medium, Hirsch entertains the audience, but fails to consistently transfix and transform us. It must be a tough row to hoe, however, since the strangely female vocal-tweakers/song/story performance sub-genre is known to many of us primarily through exposure to its utter geniuses. Modulated screams invoke the gut-punching, cathartic intensity of Diamanda Galas; oddly-phrased stories punctuated by interesting sounds inevitably draw comparisons to the uncanny Laurie Anderson. Fun but emotionally uncommitted vocal noodlings sound tiresome by contrast. Hirsch shines when she takes herself out of comfortable, rehearsed zones, especially when she stops worrying about giving directly to the audience, and concentrates on simply making the music or telling the story in the moment. "Home," a straightforward work-in-progress, works effectively because its core narrative connects emotionally with the artist, and therefore with us. Elements of the whimsical and banal weave through an adventurous coming-of-age story, with a few oddball vocal highlights thrown in to keep things interesting. The zenith of the evening was a raw, improvised duet with Daniel Bernard Roumain (performing solo later in the week), who played violin. The two had never played a note together, and quickly found the supernatural place traversed only by skilled improvisers who can listen, as well as play or sing. The results were exciting and brilliant, with certain passages sounding like long-lost Iva Bittova tracks. Hirsch would do well to bring that spirit of concentrated immediacy to her solo act. In the meantime, her act is amusing, clever, and self-conscious, but lacking in depth and power.                          posted by magdalen             : Sunday, September 14, 2003 :              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Dark Rain Festival this weekend                            Well, we tried to hook y'all up with The Black Sun Festival earlier this summer -- a rare opportunity to watch Goths and dark-clad neo-tribal peoples laugh in the warm Northwest sun and splash in the river, and to see lots of top-notch music, ritual, and performance. The event was cancelled and returns this weekend, September 12-14, for $18 pre-sale or $23 (of course, 23) at the gate. Gates open at noon Friday, and campsites are first come, first served. In addition to DJs, live performers at this year's festival include Circus Pandemonium, Lovecraft Technologies, The Day of the Zombie, Mortal Clay, Entropic Advance, Spaz Collective, Nequaquam Vacuum (featuring our own Noah Mickens), Abraxis, Cypher Sothis Ritual Theater, Red King, and many more.                          posted by magdalen             : Wednesday, September 10, 2003 : 2003-09-10              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Vintage shirts-cum-art                            There're a coupla new fashion outlaws in town: art-shirt creators Bonnie Heart Clyde (aka Shaun Deller and Emily Katz). They find vintage and modern shirts for boys and girls and use them as the canvas for their embroidered drawings. Drawings of what, you ask? Everything from rollerskating cowboys to anthropomorphic tables and chairs, girls walking dinosaurs, fields of bottles, text-based creations -- an endless number of themes. And since they don't use patterns in the process, each shirt is one-of-a-kind. They are darling pieces of art+clothing, and you can get one somewhere on Alberta street for Last Thursday or at Bonnie Heart Clyde's gallery space in the E-Street Lofts where Nada Fine Arts used to be on 625 NW Everett #110. I just want to eat them. Melissa BHC.                          posted by mk.logan             : Thursday, August 21, 2003 : 2003-08-21              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Soundvision, Blackbird To Go Silent                            Multimedia artist TJ Norris and his gallery, Soundvision, in the Everett Station Lofts, have embraced unusual explorations of sound, form, media, gender issues, and more, taking a much-welcomed role in presenting aural, multimedia, and experimental work in often-traditional Portland and bringing it to the public's attention. We're very sorry to report that SoundVision will close in its current manifestation on October 18. You have nearly two months to seehear its final presentations. Genometrics, a collaborative series between Norris and such luminaries as noise artist Illusion of Safety and the Netherlands' Beequeen, opens September 4. After it's all over, don't try to drown your sorrows with Pabst and indie bands at Blackbird: the latest word is that they will close on August 29. No news yet on what the Mercury will write about instead.                          posted by magdalen             : Tuesday, August 19, 2003 : 2003-08-19              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Squeeze Box at Holocene in PDX                            Holocene hosts LA Holocene hosts LA's Ann Randolph, performing her award-winning play "Squeeze Box," this Monday, August 18. The one-time-only show benefits the Hells Canyon Preservation Council. The PR sez "Ann Randolph, who has been compared to the late Gilda Radner, wrote the one-woman show during an eight-year stint working at a homeless shelter for mentally ill women. Using her elastic face and few props, Randolph skillfully weaves together stories of characters living on the edges of society. While primarily a comedy, this play touches on deep issues of spirituality, self-acceptance and sexuality." Sounds pretty hot, eh? That must be why it costs fifteen bucks pre-sale (by phone at 541-963-3950, or at Holocene), and $20 at the door. At least it goes to a very good regional environmental cause. Show at 8 pm, raffle & reception at 6:30.                          posted by magdalen             : Saturday, August 16, 2003 : 2003-08-16              : Permanent Link                                                                                 The Crunch Pod has landed                            Crunch Pod Media, a long-standing noise label headquartered in Sacramento; will be paying us a visit this Friday at The Jasmine Tree. A VERY NOISY VISIT! For you see, Crunch Pod are veterans of the home-taping scene that spawned the world noise movement; and the artists represented on this tour are four whose work contributes daily to the meteor shower of new underground electronic music that's punching holes in Clear Channel's rusty tin roof. You got 15 Degrees Below Zero, Free Death, Sleeping With the Earth,  and label founder C/A/T, aka Ben Arp. Big noise, rhythmic noise, ambient noise, harsh noise. Noise. 5000. - N.                          posted by Noah             : Thursday, August 14, 2003 : 2003-08-14              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Burritos, Love, & a Better Planet.                            City Repair is one of those weird, kinda hippy, but too cool to be dippy, sorta Burning Man flavoured, Portland-stylee things that you just gotta love & support. The project gets people together to reclaim public space, make their neighbourhoods beautiful and interesting-looking, redefine urban community... or to flop around on the grass drinking tea under the wings of a strange vehicular creation called the T-Horse. Check out their singular trip by clicking the headline above, and then hit their Burrito Benefit at the Laughing Planet Cafe on Aug 20 in PDX. 3320 SE Belmont, 6:00-9:00 PM.                          posted by magdalen             : Thursday, August 14, 2003 :              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Butoh in PDX, Aug 11-15                            Iwashita Toru, principal dancer for the noted Butoh group Sankai Juku, will be teaching a workshop next week at PSU, followed by a free public performance with himself and students at Imago Theatre. Presented by PSU Center for Japanese Studies, Aug. 11-15, workshop fee: $150. Registration Info: 503-72-LEARN. Catch the performance, too: August 15, Friday at 7 pm, Imago Theatre, 17 SE 8th - FREE!! Thanks to Linda Austin for the tip.                          posted by magdalen             : Sunday, August 10, 2003 : 2003-08-10              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Cereal Box Review Launch = Saturday Brunch                            Coffee, crepes, conversations, & a few readings... plus a zine printed as a cereal box. What more couldja want? The Cereal Box Review launches Saturday, August 9, 10 am- 2pm at La Palabra Cafe-Press in Portland. 4810 NE Garfield Ave, one block south & west of Alberta & MLK. I'm one of the poets in this issue, so I'll be there & maybe read. C ya!--Tiffany                          posted by magdalen             : Friday, August 08, 2003 : 2003-08-08              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Trade Your Sins for Zines                            We hitchhiked. Took TriMet, trains, bikes, planes. And you didn't make it to the Portland Zine Symposium at PSU this weekend? No worries; we were fine without you (heh, more coffee and bagels for us). We'll forgive you, but can you ever forgive yourself? Representing over 120 registered zines, plus several other kids camped in hallways with their work, keen 'n' crafty DIY-ers gathered under stacks of self-published materials in order to network, circulate, attend kickass workshops, and participate in the general snubbing of professional publishing and commercialization. Take that, New York. Overall, the 3-day conference seemed like a kamikaze crash course in autonomous living, engulfed in a community of like minds. I think from now on I will open every broom closet I come across; not to disturb anyone inside,but to offer what meager resources I can. Because everyone has the right to do whatever the hell they want, more or less. This conference has my stamp of approval -- and my new print gocco patch of a girl getting a shot has a home on my back pocket. Redeem yourself and volunteer for next year! The 2004 Portland Zine Symposium can only happen with your help. Subscribe to the pdxzines newsletter, save your soul, spread the love. --Tina Ramirez                          posted by magdalen             : Thursday, August 07, 2003 : 2003-08-07              : Permanent Link                                                                                 San Diego Industrial Performance Troupe Cozies Up to the Jasmine Tree                            Recant is a youthful tribe of Southern California electro-industrial musicians and video artists who have been working together in various forms for the past two years. The core members of Recant are Brian H and David Hurtt; whose multimedia performances in and around California have earned them a rabid goth culture fan following, and a recently-released CDR on Immanence Records. A Recant show is a combination of silent film shorts, often incorporating stop-motion animation and multilayered digital graphics; live theatrical performance; and complex blends of live and recorded sounds invented through a process of tireless improvisation both live and in the studio. A rich sensory and cerebral experience that will stay with you long after Recant has moved on to the next town. As exciting as all of this is, do not be blinded to the fact that Lori Bravo, former bloodthirsty lead screamer of grindcore legends Nuclear Death; is bringing her new band, Raped, to jack up the party for everyone. And, not to be left out of such an unholy union, Nequaquam Vacuum is bringing our own heavy metal. Like, a half ton of it. What a show. Being put on by me, featuring my band, in the most offensive conflict of interest breach in my tainted blogging career. 5000. - N.                          posted by Noah             : Wednesday, August 06, 2003 : 2003-08-06              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Drug-Fueled Fundamentalist Christian Plunderphonics                            Wiped out from the weekend? Stay in tonight, and listen to "The Holy Trip," radio theater on KBOO 90.7 fm in Portland or online. We're told "the Holy Trip begins like some sort of fundamental Christian drama, but then degenerates rather quickly into drug-fueled eroticism, weird sounds and preacher plunderphonics." Monday night, Aug 4th, 11pm - midnight on KBOO. Part of the Ubu Hour, a monthly experimental radio theatre program hosted by new 2GQ contributor Rolf Semprebon.                          posted by magdalen             : Monday, August 04, 2003 : 2003-08-04              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Documentary & Experimental Film Fest Highlights                            Peripheral Produce presents the best of the 2002 PDX Film Festival Sunday and Monday, August 3-4 at 7:30 pm $6 at The Guild Theatre in downtown Portland. A recap of the first-ever Portland Documentary and eXperimental film festival (Dec 2002). The show consists of short films and videos including Jim Finn's hilarious commercial for communism 'Comunista!,' Eric Mast's animated short 'Ghosts in the Fireworks Factory,' Vanessa Renwick's 'Nine is a Secret,' Trevor Fife's award-winning 'Meridian Days,' and Deborah Stratman's 16mm experimental documentary 'In Order Not to be Here.' Click headline above for deets.                          posted by magdalen             : Friday, August 01, 2003 : 2003-08-01              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Josh Skins benefit 8/2 at The Fez                            Before we were known as the epicenter of the Creative Class War; before we were known as the West Coast's cradle of noise/experimental music; before artists from other cities called us "the unstoppable juggernaut of independent film"; Josh Skins and his peers at BSI Records put P-town on the map as the home of the greatest dub band in the U.S. - Systemwide.  Tragically, we may have seen the last of Systemwide in its founding incarnation. On July 14, Josh Skins joined a disturbing and inexplicable list of forward-thinking Northwest musicians who have recently been killed or maimed in automobile-bicycle collisions. I speak of Matt Sperry, Caroline Buchalter, Orion Satushek, and Jason Sands. There is no telling why their lives were burned or broken in the name of sleeping in an extra half-hour before work; but they have been caught at ground zero of the bike wars, and one must wonder if the city's hostility toward the bicycle movement at Critical Mass and in the legislature has enabled the dehumanizing of those of us who choose to live in the world rather than driving through it. To help Josh Skins and his family with the rising costs of medical bills (he suffered a broken leg and ankle, and a completely shattered pelvis); BSI is putting on a benefit show this Saturday at the swank Fez Ballroom, site of some of Josh's finest moments. With performers Easy Tiger, Alter Echo & ERS (aka DJ Magneto, DJ S-Dub & DJ E3); and a managable price tag of $10 (though no one will be turned away from the sliding-scale door); this is a fine chance to voice your love and support for Josh, and the many others who have and will been needlessly sacrificed. Sell your car. 5000. - N.                          posted by Noah             : Thursday, July 31, 2003 : 2003-07-31              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Come together, right now (or at 7:24 pm)                            Meet someplace, with strangers, and maybe props. Confuse innocent bystanders. Consider it revolutionary cuz it's facilitated by technology. What's not to love about flashmobs? Tonight, look for umbrellas on Pioneer Square in Portland, from 7:24-7:34 pm. Better yet, bring one yourself. Keep abreast of the Dada Lite urban eFun via PDX Flashmob.                          posted by magdalen             : Wednesday, July 30, 2003 : 2003-07-30              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Holocene: A feast for the eyes, ears, and stomach                            I am in love with a new bar called Holocene on SE 10th and Morrison. I may even propose to it. Reason 1: It has a special room for installation art, and what other venue in Ptown supports installation? None. Well, besides those crazies at the Portland Center for the Advancement of Culture (did I mention I work for them?). Reason 2: The music lineup: Holocene books a bunch of locals mixed in with some outsiders -- from DJ Brokenwindow (who played at 2GQ's Hail Santa bash last December) to bigger acts like Momus. Reason 3: The food. Try the roasted golden yukon potatoes with fruity dipping sauce. Especially good after four whiskey-cokes. Shall I go on? Art covers and comes out of the walls in this large and open space, with films often looping in the background. The installations will be changed whenever they feel like it. Their site at www.holocene.org has menus, events, and links to local artists and musicians. There's no sign outside telling you where it is, so watch for the building number. Become a Holocene junky: 1001 SE Morrison, Portland. 503-239-7639. It's bound to become a Portland epoch.                          posted by mk.logan             : Wednesday, July 30, 2003 :              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Rubber-O-Cement (or, My Obsession With Giant Monsters Continues Unabated)                            Continuing down the list I brought back from California scribbled on the back of a pack of Red Kamels using Dame Darcy's eyeliner; we come to Bay Area lunatics Rubber-O-Cement. If anyone out there is paying attention, you're already aware of my obsession with giant monsters. Until now, the closest I've been able to come to bringing together this first love with my current paramour (anarchic experimental noise music) has been watching GWAR videos with the sound turned down and blasting the latest Ripit CD. But no longer. Rubber-O-Cement spun off from a larger project, also featuring giant monster costumes, called Caroliner Rainbow. The band appears to be a two piece. One member sits inside of a big sectional cardboard computer (The CIMEVOX 30084), presumedly manipulating some species of electronic noisemaker; while the other tortures a homemade switch-handed string instrument that sounds like secret underwater bases being destroyed by giant padded feet. Not to be missed.  We're trying to bring them to Portland this Fall, so watch the skies. 5000. - N.                          posted by Noah             : Wednesday, July 30, 2003 :              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Afrirampo - 100% Genuine Osaka Noisegirls                            I have returned, fair Gyrlz, from The Road; and brought with me many tall tales and slick subjects for the 2GQ Blog. Of these, the most pressing is the legend of Afrirampo - two polite 19-year-old girls from the fertile noise node of Osaka who hurt their guitar, drum set and vocal chords like KK Null's martial arts teacher spinning Yamatsuka Eye's mike stand straight toward your fragile American skull. I didn't get their names, but I'm making a point of staying on top of their activities. Both masterful noisicians - the drummer in particular rocks my face - and, in a point not lost on many of the nightclub's denizens, they're the hottest thing to emerge from Asia since Michelle Yeoh went at it against Zhiyi Zang in that temple fight scene. And they perform in a state I could only describe as... well, naked, or nearly so. So if you're the sort of person who would get off on watching two smokin' teenage nihonjin screaming like enraged oni and shoving rock and roll right through the wood chipper, and if you can find them, maybe you should hire... Afri Rampo. 5000. - N.                          posted by Noah             : Wednesday, July 30, 2003 :              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Corpus Delicti: Butoh for Peace                            Corpus Delicti took to the streets of Los Angeles earlier this year, hoping to gather people "in a collective ritual based on the dance-theatre of Butoh." World peace may not've resulted, but some k-rad photos did. Butoh is a form of movement originating in post-WWII-Japan in 1959 as an expression of protest to U.S. occupation & the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Recognizable by slow-motion, grotesque body contortions and its signature white or ash body makeup, Butoh most often reveals itself to Portland locals via the P.A.N. group. Find out more at Somavox. Thanks to Ninah of Ollalapodridafor the link.                          posted by magdalen             : Tuesday, July 29, 2003 : 2003-07-29              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Michelle Tea edits Blithe House Quarterly                            Blithe House Quarterly, a top-notch site for gay short fiction, brings in guest editor Michelle Tea for a smashing summer season. Click the headline to check it out.                          posted by magdalen             : Monday, July 28, 2003 : 2003-07-28              : Permanent Link                                                                                 After Hours Club/Pan-Zen benefit next weekend                            2 Gyrlz and Pan-Zen are heading to Autonomous Mutant Festival, presenting the music and performance of Sleighted, Sati Fire Theatre, Rudement, DJ Pedro, Acroyear, Sardonik Grin, Greenstar, and yr very own Passiflora, aka me. Rumour has it that 2GQBlog writer Noah may also appear, with his delightful band of merry noisemakers, Nequaquam Vacuum. Many of these folks will play a benefit Fri, Aug 1 and Sat, Aug 2 at HYBRID on NW 30th and Nicolai in Portland, 2 am-6:30 am. It's an electro-industrial after-hours club, nudge nudge, wink wink. So plan to buy your membership at the door, about $10-20. Murk Visuals (very trippy & cool) will be in effect both nights. Friday lineup: Acroyear.1, Pedro, TMC, Sleighted. "Listening to this duo/sometimes trio is like eating mushrooms while wandering disused subway tunnels or climbing among the ruins of a long-abandoned insane asylum -- and we mean that in a good way. --2GQ." Sat. Lineup:Try My Cabbage, Acroyear w/ DJ Papercuts, Pedro, Rudement. For more on Pan-Zen, hit www.panzen.net. For more on 2 Gyrlz, hit www.2gyrlz.org. For more on AMF, see Festivals, bottom right of this page.                          posted by magdalen             : Sunday, July 27, 2003 : 2003-07-27              : Permanent Link                                                                                 PCAC: Call for entries                            PCAC opens a call to artists for its 2004 juried exhibition, deadline August 31. Artists of all visual mediums working in Oregon, Washington, or Idaho are eligible for submission. Visual mediums include but are not limited to painting, sculpture, print making, constructions, video/digital art and film, installation art, mixed media and photography. Hit the headline above for the application.                          posted by magdalen             : Saturday, July 26, 2003 : 2003-07-26              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Sekrit free Wet Confetti show tonight                            July 25 in PDX -- check out the beauty that is Wet Confetti for free tonight, playing with The Motive and Santa Rosa's Escape Engine beginning at 9:30 pm. WC imbue indie/emo rock with explorational, Sonic Youth tendencies and shots of splended passion. In the old loft above La Canita on W.Burnside, 503 W Burnside. Entrance is on 5th street, 2nd pink door.                          posted by Pollyanna Fishwrap             : Friday, July 25, 2003 : 2003-07-25              : Permanent Link                                                                                 NW Drizzle sizzles yr summer                            Dig the current NW Drizzle website: Kurt Dahlke's account of "megabyte hippies" doing their techno-thunderdome thing at Nocturne; Jeff Jahn's thoughts on the iconoclastic tendencies of NW artists and, er, icons; the Oregon Biennial; abstract painter Alena Hennessy; poetry; personal musings; more.                          posted by magdalen             : Thursday, July 24, 2003 : 2003-07-24              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Blogathon This Weekend                            The 2003 Blogathon will raise money for various organizations; Portland participants got a shot in the arm when the event was covered in today's Oregonian (free site, requires marketing info to access; and yes, you can put in 2003 as your birth date); the Portland Bloggers group was also mentioned. Sadly, the newspaper's online article fails to publish online info about either one. The Blogathon itself, which lets you sponsor a blogger to keep posting for 24 hours and pledge money to charity, is at www.blogathon.org. 2GQBlog and Magdalen Sez are not participating this year, but we hope to raise money for 2 Gyrlz Performative Arts next year. Portland Bloggers meet up at Kells Pub in real life, and online via email.                          posted by magdalen             : Thursday, July 24, 2003 :              : Permanent Link                                                                                 'TALK TO ME' sign attracts NYC gab                            From folding chairs, two friends soak up the stories of New York City It is evening rush hour in the Times Square subway station -- perhaps the most frantic time of day at the most hectic place in the busiest city in the country. Everyone is racing somewhere -- everyone except Liz Barry and Bill Wetzel, who have settled into two folding chairs against a wall. Before them is their only prop, a 2-foot-high sign that reads, in large white letters, "TALK TO ME." The pair, fresh-faced and in their 20s, tried the gab gig last summer as a two-week experiment, fueled by what Wetzel calls "rabid curiosity." What they found was that hearing the stories of the city is highly addictive.                          posted by Admin             : Thursday, July 24, 2003 :              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Saturday: Mad Geniuses & Dead Science                            The beautifully bipolar Amoree Lovell on rollicking piano with emotive voice and terribly brilliant, clever lyrics. The hauntingly disassociative Derek Ecklund, whose divine Mesmer shows induce deep trance states. These and other luminary Portland "mad geniuses" will shake Madison Underground at 111 this Saturday, July 26 - $5, all ages. The lineup also features Painted Birds (haute shoegazer vocalist Kaitlyn ni Donovan and guitar charmer Clint Sargent of High Violets), Sumerland frontman Dorien Campbell, and passionate diva Winter. 111 is located at 111 SE Madison, under the Westbound ramp to the Hawthorne bridge. Over at Blackbird on NE 37th and Sandy, Dead Science will be celebrating their CD release, as previously noted on the 2GQBlog.                          posted by Pollyanna Fishwrap             : Wednesday, July 23, 2003 : 2003-07-23              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Youth Photo Collaborative Opening Thurs in Portland                            Young students who learned photography for 9 weeks this summer will show their work July 24-30 at Newspace, 1632 SE 10th Ave. The opening is Thursday, 7-9 pm. The Youth Photo Collaborative is a community organization of photographers and educators whose mission is to empower youth who might not otherwise have the opportunity to explore and share their views of the world through photography.                          posted by magdalen             : Tuesday, July 22, 2003 : 2003-07-22              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Skervy's Baby Birthday Party this Friday                            Skervy celebrates their queer to the bone one-year anniversary Friday, July 25th, at the Cobalt Lounge in Old Town PDX. Queers and their friends are mixing it up at Skervy with deejays: Puppet, Zanne, Ali, Five, Hilary, Stormy and DJ Faggotpants who keep it interesting with punk rock, riot grrl, electro, breakbeat, hiphop, topless dancing, samba, rai, funk, electro, glam, disco, funk and eighties hits! Skervy is every FRIDAY from 9 pm to 2 am at the Cobalt Lounge, 32 N.W. Third Ave., (503) 225-1003 $3.99, 9 pm - 2 am, free before 9 pm. Discounts for fashion excess! Happy hour from 8-9 pm.                          posted by magdalen             : Tuesday, July 22, 2003 :              : Permanent Link                                                                                 San Diego Indie Darlings Bring the Pop to You!                            Three utter sweethearts from the happy-sunniest town West of the Rockies will arrive in mopy Portland next Wednesday in their most colorful Summer costumes. Ascendant avant-pop aggregate Bunky, smoky post-gospel siren Liz Janes, and somber balladeers The Castanets are touring as a single hybrid unit; sharing sets and players and equipment to spread their message of spiritual harmony. Their bio sounds suspiciously Christian, I'm afraid; but if they can leave us with a little of their cheery goodwill, I'll gladly send them home with a little of my existential doubt to chew on for the next album. Hear samples of all three bands here. If you're picking up what they're laying down, meet them Wednesday July 23rd at The Blackbird (3728 NE Sandy Blvd) or Sunday July 27th at Meow Meow (527 SE Pine St). 5000. - N.                          posted by Noah             : Wednesday, July 16, 2003 : 2003-07-16              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Amps for Christ on KBOO July 17; at Blackbird Friday                            When Henry Barnes spun off from seminal noisecore band Man is the Bastard in the middle 1980s; nobody could have guessed that he would arrive at anything like Amps for Christ. Presaging and informing what would come to be known as "wyrdfolk" or "post-folk" or whatever you want to call it; AFC explores the affinities between analog noise and the traditional war musics of the world. Working over the years with a veritable Rainbow Coalition of folk and electronic artists from Japan, the US, Europe and the Third World; Barnes and company have turned out a prodigous amount of brilliant, form-shattering music that serves to make both minds and pulses race. When Jennifer Robin parted ways with seminal freakjob band A Nat Hema, nobody could have guessed that she would arrive at anyplace like KBOO. But there she is, hosting the strangest hour of music on the air - Night of the Living Tongue! This show takes place every Thursday at 11 pm on 90.7 FM. This week, July 17, features special guests Amps for Christ. See how it all fits together? If you like what you hear, I can only URGE you to attend Amps for Christ's first ever show in Portland, this Friday, at The Blackbird, with Smegma and Steve MacKay. And me, playing with the Radon Ensemble and producing the event with 36 Invisibles. 5000. - N.                          posted by Noah             : Tuesday, July 15, 2003 : 2003-07-15              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Indie Film for the Forgetful                            Don't want to miss the Spelling Bee documentary or the rare screening of Matthew Barney's Cremaster Cycle? Cinema 21 in Portland lets you decide which specific movies it should remind you about via yr email box, and when the reminders should go out. Don't you just love it when your local, independent venues get all technological and stuff? Great for the ADD-impaired and those who've temporarily misplaced their short-term memories (ahem).                          posted by magdalen             : Monday, July 14, 2003 : 2003-07-14              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Boyce viddies at The Know, Sunday the 13th                            Peripheral Produce brings in San Francisco video artist Bryan Boyce, whose work combines "political satire, found footage, and cutting edge digital manipulation" to create work that is "both gut-bustingly funny and socially relevant." Boyce will show new work, works in progress, and past hits like Election Collectibles and World's Fair. It's all at The Know, NE 20th & Alberta, 8:30, $5. Click headline above for more about the artist, including video samples. For more events, check out what else but our EVENTS section!                          posted by magdalen             : Saturday, July 12, 2003 : 2003-07-12              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Roq la Rue Gallery, Seattle, WA                            Roq la Rue Gallery (Seattle) is very pleased to present a group show for the month of July. The show features paintings and drawings by several artists returning to the gallery, as well as a fresh new group of talent! All of the work revolves around the title's theme, "Dark Fairytales." The artists were asked to work with existing fairytales - either the "classics" (such as the Grimm Brothers, or Hans Christian Andersen's stories) - or stories from myths and legends around the world. They could even make up a fairytale of their own. Fairytales are usually dark by their very nature, and every culture has its supernatural stories to inspire or frighten its inhabitants, including our own (these days in the form of "urban legends" or films like "Lord Of The Rings" or "The Matrix").                          posted by Admin             : Friday, July 11, 2003 : 2003-07-11              : Permanent Link                                                                                 KAIJU BIG BATTEL!                            Kaiju Big Battel is many things to many people. The pinnacle of the amateur wrestling movement. The ultimate pean to a lost literature of giant monster movies and surreal Japanese culture tangles. The last line of defense from a race of space creatures who will lay waste to our cities is their rage is not carefully harnessed and contained. At home in Boston or on tour throughout the East (no Battels have thus far occurred west of the Rockies), the master otaku of Studio Kaiju fight in steel cages populated with city dioramas; taking on the roles of radioactive dinosaurs, planet-devouring aliens, giant plantains, a can of soup, and a despicable square-headed mad scientist named Dr. Cube. And that's just scratching the surface, my friends. I assume, at this point, that you've realized Kaiju Big Battel is the Greatest Thing in the History of the Universe. Won't you click through to greatness? 5000. - N.                          posted by Noah             : Friday, July 11, 2003 :              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Friday Night: DK-PDX, BCO, NBC, and KBOO                            Contrary to popular media calendars, the undoubtedly smashing appearance of Portland's drag king troupe, PDX DK, will occur tonight, Friday July 11, not on Thursday. Hie thee to sKeRvY at the Cobalt Lounge, NW 3rd and Couch. It's a weekly, Friday night, queer freak DJ night produced by 2G collective crush object DJ Zanne. GLBTO* on rye, it's all there. $6. Def Leppard was mentioned in the press release, so you know it's gonna be good. The home-bound may prefer a little KBOO 90.7 fm action at midnight. Friends are visiting from parts south: Molly and Rob of Big City Orchestra and Neighborhood Bass Coalition.  "We'll be playing lots of BCO and NBC and other odd treats," they promise. *That's GayLesbianBisexualTrans and "Other"                          posted by magdalen             : Friday, July 11, 2003 :              : Permanent Link                                                                                 THE DEAD SCIENCE CD Release Party                            The Dead Science have been collecting rave reviews and broken hearts since their self-titled, self-released, self-involved first CD began insinuating itself into the outer reaches of indie rock. "Tortoise fronted by Chet Baker", they said. The first of many projects spawned by the songwriting duo of Sam Mickens (my kid brother) and Jherek Bischoff (Tyler Armstrong's boyfriend), they were known as The Sweet Science until these assholes sent them a cease-and-desist letter; delaying the release of their second CD on Absolutely Kosher records. Now that unpleasantness is behind them, and they're celebrating the release of Submariner with a big show at The Blackbird July 26th.  Joining them will be three fellow stretchers of the rock-n-roll taffy - Good for Cows, Destro Yellow Swans, and Ghost to Falco.  I'll be missing this show, myself, so somebody take pictures.  Mom will be so proud! 5000. - N.                          posted by Noah             : Thursday, July 10, 2003 : 2003-07-10              : Permanent Link                                                                                 The Prids Hit a Snag on the Road                            Portland-based The Prids, whose live shows offer a glorious, adrenaline-cranked collision of darkwave, goth, rock, and pop elements, are back on tour. A blown power amp set them back during this week's British Columbia and Washington shows, so the kids cancelled their Missoula gig and returned to PDX today. But have no fear, they'll be at Neurolux in Boise Wednesday night, July 8, and then across the country throughout the summer (click the headline above, then the heart shape on the far right of their site, for all dates). Enrique Ugalde, known to 2G fans as the musician behind Soriah, sits in as their touring keyboard player.                          posted by magdalen             : Tuesday, July 08, 2003 : 2003-07-08              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Call for Entries: NW Annual at CoCA                            Painting, works on paper, photography, sculpture, mixed media, and video are eligible for the Center on Contemporary Art's Northwest Annual in Seattle. Esther Luttikhuizen, co-founder of Esther Claypool Gallery, is the juror; entries must be received by August 15th. All "professional" artists living in USA, Canada, and Mexico are eligible. The show itself happens in Oct/Nov of this year. Thanks to Jeff Jahn for the pointer.                          posted by magdalen             : Monday, July 07, 2003 : 2003-07-07              : Permanent Link                                                                                 411 Collective's Ad Hoc Pot Luck                            The 411 Collective is a loose association of free musicians from the outer edges of what was once known as "jazz" (see Burns, Ken); who congregate in a hard-to-find space at 411 SE 6th Ave. (look for the shark). Though many great happenings spontaneous and premeditated occur there every day; what has really captured my attention are their weekly Ad Hoc Potlucks. Since elements of 411 have, in the past, been responsible for some of the great ad hocs in the recent tribal memory of Portland; it's no surprise to find the action has relocated and agglomerated even as have the participants. For those unfamiliar with the "ad hoc" concept: what we're dealing with are an indeterminate number of musicians who don't make a habit of playing together, gathering in one place for the purpose of playing music without planning ahead. The residents of the space serve as directors of a sort, suggesting combinations as well as allowing people to breeze in and out at their own discretion. The results are, uniformally, new and unexpected. What else could they be? The whole thing is like a system for imposing creative spontaneity - for an improvisational musician, it's a dream come true. For an audience member... well, I could never stop playing long enough to say. What makes this the Ad Hoc Pot Luck, by the way, is that the musicians and observers also bring food to eat. They'll also accept Ad Hoc Pot Latch, if you've got possessions to burn. Ahem. 5000. - N.                          posted by Noah             : Monday, June 30, 2003 : 2003-06-30              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Can I Get a Witness?                            So you were in the original touring production of Jesus Christ Superstar. Or you had an insane epiphany whilst smudging oil paints in an absinthe-propelled frenzy. You and 300 of your best friends were arrested for dressing up like Santa Claus and going on a drunken rampage. Share yr personal story with us! Email 2003@2GQ.org -- and don't be scared. We'll even find editors and writers to help you tell your tale.                          posted by magdalen             : Monday, June 30, 2003 :              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Break the icy, apathetic hipster grip on Portland, Sat June 28th.                            The Experiment and Perilymph Records present the Everything Show at Portland's Newspace tonight, Saturday, June 28. Musicians, painters, filmmakers, and poets will represent for Portland and Eugene (including Eugene's entire slam team and part of Portland's). The show's producer assures me that "these artists were selected for their high degree of talent and have been woven into an outline which will manifest itself as a subconcious dialogue between the genres and artists in the subconscious of the audience." Uh, okay. He also let on that "We're hoping to help break the icy, apathetic 'hipster' grip on Portland and help foster a vibrant and conducive Renaissance community." Now that sounds like a good science project! Poets Martha Grover, Emily Riley, Mike Molotov, Trevino Brings Plenty, Treysi, Jahan Khaligi, Jerry Wagner, and Lisa Wells.... Music from The Binary Dolls and Maybe Happening... Painters Jonathan Andersen, Jarrett Arnold, Leslie Englert, Josh Arseneau, Mike Kadera, more... Filmmakers include Lisa Wells, Peter Bauer, Chris Bennet (no relation to Newspace founder Chris Bennett, weirdly enough)... Newspace is at 1632 SE 10th, 1.5 blocks south of Hawthorne. 8:30 pm, $5 advance, $7 at door.                          posted by magdalen             : Saturday, June 28, 2003 : 2003-06-28              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Electro-Freaks Take Over the JT this Saturday                            Our very own blogger Senor Noah de la Mickens-Cruz and his 36 Invisibles present an evening of electronic beauty and mayhem at the one & only Jasmine Tree, the best tiki bar in Portland. (Get a mai tai, folks.) Great lineup! Don't miss Bob Bellerue of Halfnormal, playing as half of the duo Improvisatyrs. See Events for a 2GQ preview of Sleighted. SATURDAY, June 28th, 9:30 pm, at The Jasmine Tree, SW 4th and Harrison. IMPROVISATYRS, SLEIGHTED, and SLEEPING WITH THE EARTH, $5, 21 and over.                          posted by magdalen             : Friday, June 27, 2003 : 2003-06-27              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Chuck Swaim & Dead Air Fresheners: Thursday Radio                            In anticipation of the 9th Annual Olympia Experimental Music Festival, Chuck Swaim and his merry masked bunch the Dead Air Fresheners (featuring 2GQ's own Jim McAdams) will be performing a live set on Portland's community radio station KBOO tonight, also available as an online stream. The fun starts at 11 PM Pacific time Thursday June 19, during Jennifer Robin's weekly program Night of the Living Tongue. You may listen at 90.7 FM in the Portland, OR vicinity or anywhere in the world via the Internet on Shoutcast.                          posted by magdalen             : Thursday, June 19, 2003 : 2003-06-19              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Trade Up at Everett Station Lofts                            So I'm wandering First Thursday in Portland, checking out the usual eclectic grab bag of Everett Street installations, when I walk into Trade's exhibit of new work at the Shift gallery... and stop breathing. Beautiful women's faces with African features, carved in wood and other media, radiate beatifically from every surface. Some are partial faces, incomplete masks emerging from the walls; full busts brimming with wire and wood chips gaze serenely from pedestals. These "Nubian Magdalenes" seem to be simultaneously trapped by and emerging from their various frames of wall, wood, and wire, each one a loving miracle of texture and detail. Accessible without being at all pedestrian, Trade's new work and Shift's capable hanging skills make for a great combination. Go there now.                          posted by magdalen             : Wednesday, June 18, 2003 : 2003-06-18              : Permanent Link                                                                                 THE FALL                            The saddest thing about the Old-School Punk-Rock Reunion-Tour Trend (or OSPuRReTT, as it's known in the trade) is that; amidst the Fears and the Specials, the Stitches and the Kennedys; a few of the giants of the early 1980s post-punk wave are being lost in the static. Signal to their peers' noise, these bands (Pere Ubu, Savage Republic) followed the thread of new rock music not to the impersonator's wasteland of hard-core, but to their own territory of jangled structure and home-brewed virtuosity. The Fall, who have consistently recorded in various line-ups since 1977, are emblemic of this era in music. And they make their first Portland appearance since 1994, this coming Monday the 23rd at Berbati's. I may need to miss this show, because I understand it costs money to get in; BUT YOU WOULD BE FOOLS TO MISS IT! THEY ARE THE FALL! IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF INFINITY! It was the time of the Giant Moths! It happens! It happens! Instincts lost! It happens! Lost through purple blossoms! It happens! The desire will turn rotten! THEY ARE THE FALL! IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF INFINITY!      5000. - N.                          posted by Noah             : Wednesday, June 18, 2003 :              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Liberate Yr Ears                            It's local, it's free, and it's pretty darned good reading! That would be David Also's groovy new freebie, Music Liberation Project: A Journal of Portland Music, which shows up once a month around PDX. Features include articles about Portland transplant Dave Allen (currently of Squall; formerly of Gang of Four, Shriekback, and the really goddamned fabulous indie label World Domination), Mission to Mars, Jackpot! Studios, Tim Jensen, Kung Pao Chickens, and Two Guys (the yang to the 2 Gyrlz yin, I suppose?). While some of MLP's content will be interesting to any music fan, much of it is relevant primarily to musicians and scenesters, which means the welcome inclusion of articles about engineers, indie/industry matters, and venue profiles. Keep yr eyes peeled and your ears open for the MLP zine!                          posted by magdalen             : Tuesday, June 17, 2003 : 2003-06-17              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Dangerous Writers Read on KBOO                            OK, all you lit geeks, it's Bloomsday. If you're too lazy to do a reading from Ulysses or fly to Dublin for the Bloomsday walk, you can at least tune in for some current-day writing shenanigans on KBOO (90.7 FM in Portland, or click the headline above for their webcast). From 9:30 to 11 pm, local proponents, writers, and teachers of the "dangerous" approach to writing will hold forth. Grand high poobah danger man himself, Tom Spanbauer, will share wisdom and words, along with talented writers and workshop teachers Joanna Rose and Joe Ponce -- plus our very own Guest Fiction Editor Stevan Allred. Tom kicks ass; if you're not familiar with his work, you've probably felt the danger in NW lit via such writers as Chuck Palahniuk of Fight Club fame.                          posted by magdalen             : Monday, June 16, 2003 : 2003-06-16              : Permanent Link                                                                                 24 Hour Throbbing Gristle Special on KFJC                            Noise/experiment label Mobilization Records and college-radio-station-turned-international-phenomenon KFJC join together to present a 24 hour celebraton of the history, mystery and impact of Throbbing Gristle. This radio broadcast, scheduled for Sunday the 22nd of June, will also be webcast at http://www.kfjc.org/netcast.html; and will feature new interviews with Chris Carter, Genesis P-Orridge, Cosey Fanni Tutti, Peter Christopherson, Monte Cazazza, and other members and collaborators of this immeasurably influential performance troupe; along with the new Throbbing Gristle live CD and every other live and studio release in their discography, and historical interviews and media circa 1979-80. If you happen to be in the Bay Area that weekend, there will be a live gathering at Foothill College in conjunction with this broadcast event. Visit Mobilization.com for more details, and a chance to win a special CD recording of thee entire program. 5000. - N.                          posted by Noah             : Sunday, June 15, 2003 : 2003-06-15              : Permanent Link                                                                                 FLUX                            Flux, a free dance-oriented club held every Saturday at The Cobalt Lounge, is presently the best choice for one's Entertainment District social habit. Ideal population density, good goth-industrial-dancecore DJs, lots of pretty pierced freaks for potential lust/heartbreak/rejection, diffuse yet comfortable lighting, cheap strong booze, pinball, billiards (look out for that little guy in the vinyl pants - I've seen him pluck pigeons all night), condom machine, local spooky culture celebs, jovial tough-guy barstaff, and convenient proximity to crack dealers. Seriously - all those punks at the Shanghai Tunnel and XV are wasting their time. Walk a few blocks North and dig the haunt du jour before they find it. The Cobalt Lounge, mysteriously lacking a website that we or Google can find, is located at 32 NW 3rd in Old Town Portland. Image courtesy DJ Ophelia  -- 5000. - N.                          posted by Noah             : Sunday, June 15, 2003 :              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Berlin Suicide as Act of Performance                            Visitors to a off-beat Berlin arts center thought a dead woman on the ground was a performance art act rather than a suicide. Authorities said the 24-year-old woman, who apparently leapt from a window, discussed suicide in a videotaped interview with a group of artists the day before. "A group of visitors to the center at first thought the body lying on the ground at the art center was part of an art performance," said police spokeswoman Christine Rother. "It took a while before anyone realized it was not an act but a suicide." (Gee, who ever knew the line was so clear?) Artists at the Tacheles art center had videotaped the woman the evening before when she told of her suicide plans. They tried to talk her out of it and drove her home, but she returned to the arts workshop later in the evening. This occurred on Thursday, December 11, 2002, and I cadged the story from my close personal friend, the Comtesse de Spair of Morbid Fact du Jour.                          posted by magdalen             : Saturday, June 14, 2003 : 2003-06-14              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Friday the 13th, 8 pm PST, Drink a Toast with us!                            If you can't come to the Portland launch party of our new webzine at 2GQ.org, join our friends & lunatics around the globe for a big toast to our success. No, really! It'd give me such a serious case of the warm fuzzies. 8 pm Pacific Time, Friday the 13th of June 2003, lift your glasses and shout Huzzah! Cin cin! Skol! Cheers! and drink a toast to the health and happiness of 2 Gyrlz Quarterly and our non-profit parent organization,2 Gyrlz Performative Arts. Yay. PS: No, that's not us in the photo. Complete strangers.                          posted by magdalen             : Thursday, June 12, 2003 : 2003-06-12              : Permanent Link                                                                                 The Eugenics Council (are horrible people)                            The Eugenics Council, seen often in the company of spoken word harpy Rosemary Malign, is far and away the most dangerous live band on Earth. They do things like set off bombs in tiny clubs that are big enough to blow holes in the ceiling, then they fire teargas shells into the audience or pour molten aluminum over the edge of the stage onto the dancefloor. They cover the entire floor of the club with copper wire and hit the wire with a police taser. Their music is about as harsh as one could ever hope for music to be, largely built out of the processed noise of explosions and heavy machinery, and of course the psychotic caterwaul of Ms. Malign. They have the kind of artwork (above) and song titles ("Spic Christ", "Hitler's Brain", etc.) that inspire one to write cautious disclaimers; and their lyrics are principally devoted to race hatred, misogyny, genocide, and the destruction and degradation of all living things. I can't really tell if they mean it or not. The whole thing is like Survival Research Laboratories, but for real. I believe that someday I will be killed by The Eugenics Council.  5000. - N.                          posted by Noah             : Thursday, June 12, 2003 :              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Thrill Rides!                            Thrill Rides is the greatest collection of environmental videos ever e-mailed to me anonymously in serial. And by a wide margin, I might add. The filmmaker must be named Jennifer McMackon, because her name is all over the site. As far as I can tell, she just finds sublime views of carnival rides, sets up her camcorder, records natural sound and visuals for about five minutes, then packs up and heads home. Then she e-mails the video to me, and I goggle at it and try to explain its genius to all the bozos at work. Maybe I'll have better luck with you guys, huh? 5000. - N.                          posted by Noah             : Thursday, June 12, 2003 :              : Permanent Link                                                                                 The People's Tongue Plays Speedwalk Fantasy                            The People's Tongue is a long-distance collaboration between two insane alcoholic geniuses (Laszlo Jamf and Franz Cough) who share files via the Internet. Though they refuse to ever play live, they have at last compromised with their teeming mob of confused fans by posting the fruit of their first collaboration online. This was the project that united Franz and Laszlo in the first place, thanks to their mutual love for The Greatest Song Ever Written: "Speedwalk Fantasy." Thus their first project, The People's Tongue Plays Speedwalk Fantasy, which consisted of producing 23 distinct versions of this song: "I can speedwalk just like you... I can speedwalk too... You can speedwalk just like me... It's a speedwalk fantasy..." Their second release, The People's Tongue Play Saturday Night Fever, will feature yours truly on lead vox for "If I Can't Have You". Yvonne Elliman was a girl. 5000. - N.                          posted by Noah             : Thursday, June 12, 2003 :              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Spring Heel Jack, live                            Lordy! I can't ever get enough of them fine free jazz 'n' electronics freakouts masterminded by those British boys, Spring Heel Jack. Now here's one recorded live, with Matthew Shipp, Evan Parker, J Spaceman, William Parker, and Han Bennink. It ain't the purdy, swirly stuff of "Masses," but "Live" sure catches that crazy, Christ only know what's gonna happen next, auricular knockout sensation of live in person improvisation. Gotta love it.                          posted by Pollyanna Fishwrap             : Wednesday, June 11, 2003 : 2003-06-11              : Permanent Link                                                                                 Drowning the Rat                            Several persons related to 2GQ were spotted recently at a heathen festival in the woods. Called Drowning Rat, it is often accused of being a mere glorified camping trip in the rain for a handful of silly, soggy people. 2GQ did not return calls about this matter in time for publication.                          posted by magdalen             : Wednesday, June 11, 2003 :              : Permanent Link                                                                                 genet sez                            Claire - dash upstage center to altar. Solange "I'm ready. I'm tired of being an object of disgust.I hate you, too." cross center. Solange cross upstage of Claire, right of altar: "I hate your scented bosom. Your ... IVORY bosom! Your ... GOLDEN thighs! Your ... AMBER feet! I hate you!" Claire (aghast): Oh! ... Oh! .. But!... Solange: (rise up altar, push Claire into sacrifice position) ... Claire move descend altar, cross downstage center Solange push Claire to knees (Claire falls center) and that, my dear, is just page 44, without most of the dialogue. it doesn't include the part where Solange chases Claire around the feet and faces of the half-circular audience, many of whom are, poor beasts, sitting on the floor, with the actors in their faces (literally), Solange whipping Claire with a most loud belt...