music promoter, musician, BE SURE TO CATCH MUSICFEST NORTHWEST SEPT. 6-9, 2007 Portland, OR!

 

 29. Trevor Solomon [64:25m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

On this day 80 years ago, two Italian immigrants were executed by the state of Massachusettes for their alleged involvement in theft and murder. Many believe the case was actually about anti-immigrant and anti-anarchist sentiments in the community. Ancient history, right?
Additional thanx to the late Kurt Vonnegut JR. for first turning me on to these events through his novel Jailbird.

More specifically, the final day of the festival, when James Marshall Hendrix gave this amazing performance. Still the best and most authentic version of our National Athem I have ever heard. Certainly the avatar (yes, I still am that hippie dippy) realized his vision of the “Electric Church” in this moment, if in no other. I wanted to use a version without the PH addendum, but it wasn’t embedable…might be new to some of you anyway-

So I just caught another great PDX film op., though this one through less conventional sources. Norge’s girlfirend Summer is part of a PDX German society and they screen films outdoors on Sunday nights. Johnny Berlin passed word on to me, sort of, and I was able to decifer his cryptic email non-sequiters enough to figure out where I needed to be. The Adventures of Prince Achmed was completely amazing! The first animated feature, made by the great Lotte Reiniger and her husband. Turned out I also knew the projectionist, artist Dan Ness, who told me he got it from netflicks, so if you’re willing to queue, you too can get your chance to see this gem – but you’ll have to supply your own brats and Grolsh. I found this sample of a screening, not the best audience video or sound, but I happen to also be a fan of the Friends of Dean Martinez who are playing the soundtrack, and it’s clear enough to get a sample of the intricate, spindley style animation, actually more like photographed shadow puppets than drawings. By chance it’s includes the cool part when the evil African magician turns into a bat.

Like many cities, Portland, OR (PDX) is changing quickly. C’est la vie – I came late to the game myself. But my personal beef is with destruction of landmarks from Van Sant’s Drugstore Cowboy. They knocked down the St. Francis hotel, one of the more dramatic examples. And while I’m not positive about this, I believe the opening ‘home movie’ shots of the crew cutting up where shot under the LoveJoy viaduct, now gone. This used to be my bike route when I worked in the bottleshop of a nearby brewery. There is still a ramp off the Broadway bridge that leads in this direction, but it isn’t the great seedy view over warehouses the Pearl district still was in the late 90’s. I’m sure all those yuppifucks enjoy their current high rents, views and conviences, not to mention those fat developer’s bankaccounts, but anyway…

The good news is: common sense did prevail enough to be sure another artistic landmark was preseved. Back in the late 40’s, Greek railroadman Tom E. Stefopoulos drew these great chalk drawing on the concrete columns that supported the viaduct during his spare moments working as a switchman. The columns were saved and now sit half a block north of NW Everett and 10th in front of some flash condo building. True, what you see are large photo reproductions encased in plexi of the actual drawing that lie beneath, but in the name of preservation, this was most likely the best route to go. You can see some more of my personal shots of the columns in their new home here. Also, for cultish fans of the film, an exploration of “hats on beds” that ties into a C. McCarthy novel.

actor, writer, functional alcoholic

 

 28. Johnny Berlin [62:18m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tell me you heard about the recent discovery in the D.F. of the exciting Aztec tomb. Not only does it turn out to be possibly the first time the burial chamber of an Aztec ruler has been discovered, but it also might be the great Ahuizotl’s, oh be still my beating heart (…jk)! It was the monolith with the image of Tlaltecuhtli that tipped them off. Why can’t I find a woman like that?