At the Woods, the folks behind the documentary podcast series Destination DIY present an evening of music and skill sharing—the event promises "live demonstrations and interviews about how to make radio, how to make a terrarium and how to make bacon," as well as a silent auction that'll include the terrarium built in the demo. Plus, music from Leviathian, and music/animations from billygoat , who created the animation above, and will be explaining their process tonight. That's tonight at 8 pm, $10-20.

Local "dark fiction" publisher Underland Press hosts a party at the Press Club for author Jeff VanderMeer, and his new novel Finch—in addition to VanderMeer, Underland rounds out a predictably weird roster with Jeff Johnson (author of Tattoo Machine, a great read about his time working in Portland tattoo parlor the Sea Tramp), sci-fi/fantasy author Jay Lake, and Fantasy Magazine co-editor Cat Rambo. Whew. That starts at 5:30 pm tonight—VanderMeer's also doing an ol' fashioned reading tomorrow at 4 pm at the Cedar Hills Powell's (which has mellowed out of its big-box newness into a really great store, FWIW).

Hand2Mouth officially debuts their current show Everyone Who Looks Like You tonight, after a typically long workshopping & revising period (it had a short run last spring). The Big O's got a brief preview right here—I'll have a review next week. Theater! Theatre, 8 pm tonight-Sun, $15.

Hot Little Hands opens Ill-Starred, a new dance performance that, if the production photos on their website can trusted, should be awfully pretty. That's at 7:30 tonght-Sat at the IFCC, $12-15. Tune in next week for a writeup of that as well.

More performance listings are here, readings info is here, and visual arts listings are right here.

• Augustine Kofie

Hey guys, aside from tonight's openings at Sequential Art and the Street Roots show at Albina Community Bank, there are a ton of visual art happenings this weekend. Here are some of them, broken up by day for your ease of use, and posted after the jump.

If you're heading down to First Thursday tonight, check out the Street Roots sponsored show at Albina Community Bank (430 NW 10th Ave).

The paper for "those who can't afford free speech" teamed up with local photographers to take portraits of its homeless vendors. The photos I've seen are pretty powerful stuff and, besides that, you'll have the chance to meet some of the people who put the paper together every two weeks.

• ken hawkins

• BENJAMIN YOUNG'S Material Affair

BOOKS:

Local "dark fiction" publisher Underland releases Jeff VanderMeer's fantasy/noir Finch, about malevolent fungi that will invade your brain and kill you.

I can't think of anything to say about Augsten Burroughs' new book that isn't a lame David Sedaris joke. So. Our review of the Christmas-themed story collection You Better Not Cry is here.

THEATER:

Canta Y No Llores , the Miracle Theater's new Day of the Dead show, isn't perfect, but it has a ton of heart—it's easily my favorite show of the season so far.

Atomic Arts' new adaptation of Nosferatu might disappoint audiences expecting the goofy good times of last summer's Trek in the Park—but it's got its good qualities.

VISUAL ARTS:

Matt Stangel reviews Appendix Gallery's challenging Material Affair.

In addition to music from Red Fang and the Bugs ("metal," I'm told), the Mercury's Halloween party at the Doug Fir tomorrow will feature short performances from some of Portland's most exciting companies:Hand2Mouth, Action/Adventure Theater, and tEEth,

Hand2Mouth Theater's family-themed show Everyone Who Looks Like You has been in development for a while now—tomorrow's a chance to catch a sneak excerpt of the show before the full premiere on Nov 6. Hand2Mouth's best show to date, Repeat After Me, had a Fourth of July theme—who knows what they'll pull out for Halloween....

Action/Adventure Theatre is stealthily building an entertainment empire, with a new web series called Fothing that piggybacks on the success of their semi-improvised theater serial Fall of the House. New episodes of Fothing premiere every Wednesday night at the Woods, and hit the web on Thursdays. Of their Halloween performance, Mercury Food Editor Patrick Coleman (himself a former Fall of the House cast member) says, "We have A/A doing confrontational stuff in the crowd, which I hope doesn't lead to anyone getting hurt... 'Cause it totally could."

I'm a huge fan of dance company tEEth—and they have a native creepiness that makes them perfect Halloween entertainment. Here's an excerpt from last year's Grub:

And finally, the Portland Mercury Players present will present a zombie-themed travesty that promises to shock, offend, and/or make you slightly embarrassed on our behalf.

Performance fun starts around 7:30 pm—that's tomorrow night at the Doug Fir!

(*and the Portland Mercury players .)

BOOKS:

I interview Jonathan Safran Foer about his new non-fiction book Eating Animals. Foer gives an exceptionally good interview—I didn't have room to print it all in this week's paper, but the full transcript is online now. His book is refreshingly non-polarizing, offering a potential bridge between vegan/vegetarian and "ethical meat eating" communities. As he put it in our interview, "I thought [my book] was going to be a straightforward case for vegetarianism. Which it isn’t. It’s probably a case for vegetarianism, but it’s not altogether straightforward."

Courtney Ferguson, our resident expert on all things disgusting, reviews Zombies: A Record of the Year of Infection.

John Irving has a new book out. Ned Lannamann's verdict? Not terrible! Pretty good, in fact. Irving will be reading at the Bagdad next Wednesday—$28 admission gets you a copy of the book.

And finally, a short review of Jess Walter's The Financial Lives of the Poets, a poppy new novel that borrows its plot points directly from today's headlines (mortgage crises, collapse of newspaper industry), yet avoids being as depressing as it probably should be. Also, proposes "pot dealer" as new career path for displaced journalists. (I'm listening....) Walter is reading tonight at Powell's downtown—also tonight, at the Cedar Hills Store, Artemis Fowl author Eoin Colfer reads from And Another Thing..., his new authorized Hitchhiker's Guide sequel. (Skimming it, it struck me as sort of rote and stilted, but admittedly I didn't spend much time with it.)

And if you're out and about, tonight is the 16th anniversary of In Other Words Bookstore, featuring readings from Ariel Gore Ariel Gore and Hope Hitchcock, and music from This Charming Man and Marisa Anderson. That's at the Q Center, 4115 N. Mississipi, 6 pm, $7-30 sliding scale donation

THEATER:

Did you know that the affable nerds who brought you Trek in the Park have a new show—an adaptation of the 1922 silent film Nosferatu? (And in imminent conflict-of-interest news, my boss Wm. Steven Humphrey will be trading off "special guest star" duties with former KUFO DJ/current Mercury freelancer Fatboy Roberts.) This and other Halloween-themed productions are previewed right here.

Plus, CoHo Productions continues to impress with their new production of Sam Shepard's Fool for Love.

VISUAL ART, ETC
No visual art review in the paper this week, but openings tonight include an installation from Benjamin Young at Appendix Project Space, and Vinyl Killers 7 at the Goodfoot.a

The art of Trish Grantham is to me a quintessential piece of Portland's visual culture. Not only is it publicly visible on the Fresh Pot sign, and on the walls of many a local collector, but her animal themes are also probably at least partially responsible for the animal-portrait obsession still prevalent as an art and design theme. (Birds! So many birds!) Now she's bringing us "The Secret Society of Our Hearts," and exhibit of new work on vintage paper and wood. It's taking place at Land, the new Buy Olympia brick 'n' mortar at 3925 N Mississippi, Friday Nov 6 at 6 pm, and will be up on the walls until December 6.

Lots of shows this weekend, if you need a palate cleanser after Hump!.

The Beggar's Opera, co-written by occasional Mercury freelancer Stephen Marc Beaudoin, reworks the 18th-century opera of the same name, shifting the setting and the satirical focus to Portland, circa now. The show runs this weekend at the Someday Lounge, and next weekend at the Woods—more info at operatheateroregon.com.

Hair metal musical Chariots of Rubber is now in its third run, with shows this weekend and next at Theater! Theatre!, Thurs- Sat 10:30 pm, $15-20, buy tickets on the website.

Now that it's raining, I feel fully comfortable recommending the Northwest Classical Theatre Company's production of Henry IV Part II, which opens tonight and runs through Nov 22nd. This company is made for rainy Sunday afternoons, so I'd suggest the 2 pm matinee. That's at the Shoe Box Theater $15-18, nwctc.org

Sunday's a good day for nerds (and battered women). Jonathan Lethem is reading at Powell's at 7:30 pm; and before that, Excalibur Comics (2444 SE Hawthorne) hosts the fourth annual Wonder Woman Day, a benefit for Raphael House of Portland, Bradley Angle, and the Portland Women's Crisis Line. There'll be a silent auction with tons of original art, "costumed superheroes on-site," and a slew of artists and writers signing prints, including Love & Rockets creators Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez, and Birds of Prey/Wonder Woman writer Gail Simone. That's from noon-6 pm.

(everyone else is doing it!)

• Days on the Cotton Candy #4 © Maleonn

VISUAL ART

Marjorie is duly impressed by China's clear economic and artistic superiority, currently on display in the Portland Art Museum's China Design Now.

In conjunction with the exhibit, tonight and tomorrow the art museum is hosting a concert of contemporary Chinese music, performed by the Third Angle New Music Ensemble.The concert features special guests "Professor Ye Xiaogang, the Beijing Olympics composer; with zheng virtuoso Haiqiong Deng"; a Q&A w/ Ye Xiaogang will follow the concert. That's at 7:30 at the Fields Ballroom, $20 for museum members & seniors, $10 for students,$30 for everybody else.

BOOKS

I review Jonathan Lethem's great new novel Chronic City, an ambitious stoner epic that reads like a Charlie Kaufman script as directed by Woody Allen.

Ace intern Jane Carlen introduces straight-parented Portland to the term "queerspawn," in her review of Melissa Hart's Gringa.

THEATER

Imago Theatre relaunches their ever-popular production of No Exit, which sets Sartre's infernal parable on a tilting stage. This iteration of the long-running show features two of my favorite local actors, Tim True and Maureen Porter.

The Re-Theatre Instrument has hands-down produced some of the worst plays I've seen in Portland. But after receiving an email from Re-Theatre director Jason Zimbler offering to let me "smack him in the face" if I didn't like their new show... well, I still didn't go see it. But I sent another writer, and was pleasantly surprised by her conclusions about the show.

Magnus Muhr! He's the Swedish photographer who created Fly Humor:

• Magnus Muhr

• Magnus Muhr

• Magnus Muhr
• As translated by my Swiss roommate: "Oh shit! I've gotta sneeze!"

Now it's official, when I die I want to come back as a fly so I can die again and become arts and crafts.

For more Fly Humor check out Muhr's website (and be warned, he also posts nudes— so if you travel away from the link you might be entering NSFW territory).

• Image Stolen from the Stock blog
• Stock, August 2009

Y'all hear about this thing called Stock? It's a monthly dinner series hosted by Gallery Homeland where people eat soup, consume art, and collectively pick an art presentation to be shown at the next month's dinner. Profits from the dinner's $10 entry fee are given to the artist who designed the night's winning project proposal.

In August, over 70 people attended Stock, and Portland Healing Project's Mariah Maines and Jess Hirsch received a $500 grant to fund their September presentation on Ayurveda medicine.

Stock is currently accepting project proposals through the 11th for it's October 18th edition. If you're interested in submitting a proposal, check out the Stock blog for guidelines— and be sure to act quickly as Stock uses the first ten proposals they receive.

Remember a few months back when we printed a piece about the Regional Arts and Culture Council's (RACC) grant process? Well, I've got a quick follow-up on that story.

Tonight at Second Nature Gallery (811 E Burnside), Abraham Ingle— one of last year's RACC grant recipients— is officially unveiling the Buckman edition of Neighborhood Diaries, his series of neighborhood-specific audio tours that are free to all, downloadable, and ready for your MP3 player of choice. Last night, the ON Gallery hosted the release party for Neighborhood Diaries' Downtown tour, and on the 11th the Boise/Elliot neighborhood tour will be made official with a release event at Waypost (3120 N WIlliams Ave).

Though, to make tonight even more special, Ingle will also be pulling the curtain back for Papergirl, another project he's been working away on. Papergirl, which started in Berlin back in 2006, works like this: people donate art; the art is hung in a gallery; a few weeks later people pull the art down, roll it up, and ride around on their bikes playing Santa (throwing art at people).

Ingle has received over 200 pieces of donated art from folks around the city, and those will be up at Second Nature until the 18th when they'll be distributed. The whole process is being documented, so when the gallery goes bare, people can come and watch videos and what-have-yous of the art that's been pedaled off into the community.

Pretty neat, aye?

(And while you're checking out all the huzzah at Second Nature, be sure to stop in at Grass Hut for the Mel Kadel and Lori D. opening— also located at 811 E Burnside.)

• Jennifer Parks
• Jennifer Parks' ARTCRANK contribution

Well, it's that time of the month again: arts walk time. That's why I've spent the afternoon finding some First Thursday openings that are right up your alley, Blogtown resident.

Bikes, sex, mountains, and other First Thursday-ish stuff— it's all happening tonight in the Pearl. Details after the jump!

Every week the Mercury busts its' balls hiring radical illustrators to make art that makes your crappy week a wee bit brighter. Then you wipe your ass with the fully-illustrated Mercury and never look back.
That's why it's so shocking when readers send us emails asking, "Can I buy that illustration you guys ran last week?" I always reply, "Get in line, loser." Usually its people asking about the taco cart illustration by Wilder Schmaltz.
So I thought you might want to know that the original cover art for the very first Mercury ever published showed up in an art show this month at Grass Hut. It's by Martin Ontiveros, he's done a couple covers for us, but this one was the first.
Enjoy!

• Bruce Forster

But now the American Institute of Architects, of all places, is hosting a photography show commemorating the astounding graffiti that covered almost every inch of the squalid structure. Bruce Forster, whose portfolio contains mostly documentation of much more mainstream places, is showing "Graffiti Funhouse: A Tribute to the Artists of Pirate Town" at the AIA building downtown this month.

"The graffiti writers are not what you'd expect. They are not pre-teens scribbling their names on bridges," says Forster on Portland Architecture. "The artists would come into the space with a huge variety of paint and a concept. Their work is beautiful."

I'm not sure what the grungy cyclists who hosted events like the Chariot Wars in Pirate Town or the graffiti artists who tagged the place would think of the site being commemorated in the halls of the AIA, but it's an interesting notch in the timeline of a building that has already experienced several lives.

The AIA gallery at 403 NW 11th Avenue and is open 9-5, Monday-Friday. via Portland Architecture

Tonight at the Woods, the creators of Back Fence, PDX bring you an evening of storytelling, sketch comedy, and music:

Back in April, Melissa Lion and Frayn Masters laid out to the Mercury what they vowed to do. The two founders of Back Fence PDX, Portland's answer to storytelling nights like New York City's The Moth and San Francisco's Porchlight, promised to keep it unique, aim for a broad audience, and to never stop changing. So, after a summer-long hiatus, Back Fence is back with something different, simply and aptly titled Entertainment for People, a new series kicking off this week with an all-star roster of stories and performances from guests that include The Moth fixture Dan Kennedy and Porchlight co-founder Beth Lisick

Read more. Or just buy tickets.