First of all, I'd like to extend a sincere a request that new media purveyors dispense with the bullshit language around their products. It's not magic. You are not voodoo priests putting me in touch with mysterious forces beyond my ken. You made a website. I think by "create new synergies," they might mean "strengthen brand loyalty," or maybe even "encourage collaboration," and that's cool, but as far as I can tell, at its core this is a very well-designed marketing tool which will help arts organizations sell tickets.

Moving on, the site seems useful: It consolidates community arts calendars, provides a clean template for arts organizations to upload information about their shows, offers handy ticket buying links (through Box Office Tickets, natch), and allows artists to create profiles.

As far as the social networking component, it's a bit desolate so far. (The site ostensibly launched at a fancy Sam Adams-attending party on Monday, but as far as I can tell it didn't go live until this morning, which probably accounts for the empty feeling.) So far I managed to synch my Twitter updates with my profile, but can't actually find any other users, so I'm networked with myself at this point. I'm hoping the blog feature takes off, there's a real dearth of online conversation about local theater in particular. Check it out.

• Jim Lommasson

Recently I checked out Oaks Park Pentimento, a photo exhibit by Jim Lommasson which documents paintings that were found on the carousel at Oaks Amusement Park, circa 1982.

To summarize the show's press release: In 1912, "German and Italian immigrants" painted the carousel with "Edwardian-era scenes." Then in 1944, two brothers from Washington painted Oregon landmarks over the original images. When Lommasson photographed the paintings in 1982, the upper images where chipped and faded, and both the older and newer paintings could be seen, though in co-mingled, happenstance compositions. A few years later, the original paintings were restored and today the carousel's compound images are no longer visible.

But we have Lommasson's photos to take us back to the mixed images of 1982. In one of these images, an elegant woman in a white dress holds a parasol (the "Edwardian-era" original), and a highway loops around her ankles and knees, climbing up her legs towards a gazebo that's situated over top her crotch. While the mixture of these two compositions isn't a pure pentimento— a distinction designated for overlaid images created by a single artist (as opposed to several artists, which is the case here)— the accidental interplay between these images is fascinating, especially in person, at a large scale.

Tonight at 7:30 at the Burnside Powell's, Lommasson's Oaks Park Pentimento is being celebrated in its book form. Additionally, you can see large-format prints of the images at the New American Art Union through December 20th (located at 922 SE Ankeny, and open Thursday through Sunday from noon to 6 pm).

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.

• Tony Morgan

The other day I got a copy of Throwing Bones in the mail— it's a book of short stories written by Anthony Alvarado and illustrated by Tony Morgan of Gunbaby Graphics. I cracked it open, saw the above image, and began reading the accompanying story, "The Penis," which starts with the brief declarative, "Ryan was a hipster." The following tongue-in-cheek description of hipsters walks in the footsteps of Fitzgerald's flapper model. I was mildly humored, but when I read this,

"The night became a blur. He woke up the next day with no idea how he had gotten home ... His stomach was in turmoil and he headed straight for the bathroom, grabbing a copy of the Mercury from off the kitchen floor before unbuckling and sitting down, and that's when he noticed it. His penis was gone."

and the subsequent tale of Ryan's runaway penis, I was sold. Gotta say, anything involving genital-based magical realism, wiping your ass with the Mercury, and non sequitur flying-paratrooper-cyclists is... well... bound to catch my attention. Narcissistic acknowledgment of Merc references aside, Throwing Bones is a pretty interesting collaborative project— and it's best with a little back story, which Morgan gave me yesterday when we met up at a coffee shop in SE.

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.

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

In short:
The first part of the event is a moderated panel discussion on trends, design, consumer insights, culture and collaboration with 3 pretty amazing design leaders, all of whom have extensive experience working in China: Greg Stobbs | Retail Director for Nike, Doug Cooke | Co-Founder of Tinder Lab: A design research company, Greg Mitchell: Sr Project Manager/Design for LRS Architects, which just opened an office in Shanghai.
The 2nd part of the event is a networking/shopping party: complimentary cocktails, networking, shopping, art viewing, etc. We have selected a nice grouping of all new and cool design books about China that will be for sale that evening (shown below and online now) along with our usual 20% off portfolio sale, which we reserve just for events.
Per usual - it's free - RSVP not required but kindly requested to shop@officepdx.com - there's still room to attend the panel discussion, too.

I've seen the list of questions the panelists will be fielding, and they encompass everything from recommendations of design inspiration (take notes for your next vacation) to comparisons of the office culture in both countries. Plus the books on Chinese design look gorgeous, and New Deal Vodka will be splashing out free cocktails—holla!

(And don't forget to see the exhibit first so you have a sense of context, okay?!)

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.

• Jared Castaldi

Few images, punk or otherwise, are as lasting as Black Flag's "The Bars" logo. The simplistic and stark design created by Raymond Pettibon has long since outlasted the band and is a favorite tattoo for those who enjoy getting punk band logos permanently inked into their skin.

Stewart Ebersole is one of those people, and now he has launched Barred For Life, a website devoted to his documentation of "The Bars," plus a blog that follows him in his travels around the country as he photographs the various tattoos. He's currently making his way West and will be in Portland on Wednesday, October 28th, at Discourage Records (737 SE Morrison).

Not only is this project fun for me, but it is fun for the participants because if you (you meaning anybody) has The Bars tattooed on them, and you know about these events, you might simply show up and we will photograph and interview you.

This looks like a lot of fun. Too bad I'm stuck with my damn Henry Rollins tatoo.

End Hits: Personally, I'd rather get a tattoo of Greg Ginn's 80 cats.

• 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

• 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.

Stop by the shop from 6-8 pm (don't forget to huff on some of the amazing small-batch fragrances they've got and maybe pick up some fabulously simple soap, mayonnaise in a tube, or one of the other many Francophilic delights) tomorrow evening for added schmoozing, and hop over to MOD for more local fashion and store happs, including coverage of Portland Fashion Week month.

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!

Thanks to the poor play of Santonio Holmes, my fantasy football team (The Dillon Panthers, "Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can't Lose") was defeated in a head-to-head match against a team managed by Mercury freelancer, Hannah Carlen. The punishment for my inept fantasy football skills? A night with the Juggalos.

Actually, it wasn't so bad. The music was horrific, but that night made for some of the greatest/scariest people watching I have ever experienced. But while I pat myself on the back for my faux Juggaloness, Matt O'Brien is the true hero here. The local photographer went deep into the clown's mouth and risked death by Faygo—or stabbing—by setting up a photobooth outside of the Roseland during the Insane Clown Posse set. The results are both hilarious and oddly hypnotic, photo after glorious photo of Portland's thriving Juggalo scene.

End Hits: We're down with the clown.

White Nights is screening at Pix North tonight. It's a 1985 dance movie whose wildly creative casting has Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines playing a Russian ballet dancer and an American tap dancer, respectively. I think the Cold War is involved. Potentially awesome, based on the above clip, if you like cheesy shit and can't wait for Fame to open. ALSO! The event is sponsored by White Bird, who will be giving away a pair of tickets to their sold-out season opener on Oct 1, featuring Baryshnikov himself. That's tonight at Pix's North Portland location, 8:30 pm, free—and I think that former Mercury news editor and current White Bird managing director Phil Busse will be hosting the ticket raffle, how's that for a curly-haired cherry on top.

Tomorrow night brings yet another installment of storytelling series Back Fence, PDX—seven Portlanders will tell stories on the theme of "temporary insanity." (There's nary a Mercury employee on the roster this time, though I do believe Patrick's angling for it, and the world could use a few more Patrick's stepdad stories, amirite?). Plus free cupcakes.* Details and tickets here.

Also tomorrow night, the Loggernaut Reading Series at Urban Grind East—which has become something of a destination for performance and literary events recently, between Loggernaut, the New Oregon Interview Series, and Favorite Show. Loggernaut presents Suzanne Burns, Emily Chenoweth, and Emily Kendal Frey, with fiction and poetry based on the prompt word "score." That's 7:30, $3-5 suggested donation.

And finally, my #1 arts pick of the week is Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. See it in 3D. For real. (And no, you totally don't have to get high first, but if you choose to do so, I won't insult your intelligence by reminding you to bring snacks.)

*I'm not sure at what point the paradigm shifted completely, but there were regular-sized cupcakes at the office the other day, and they seemed all bloated and monstrous.