I’ve neglected updating Stonethorn simply because I wanted to take the time to return to blogging sufficiently. In order to do this it warranted some rethinking of how to return. Creatively occupying my mind while keeping up on syndication technologies is the main goal of the site with keeping friends and enemies apprised of my actions and events being the secondary. The main problem was that for the first five months back in Portland my mind was occupied with integrating into the agency lifestyle and process. Then after that I was just so busy I couldn’t devote time to updating.

So, I’m going to start blogging again and I’m going to start by answering the question that plagues my inbox from everyone: what exactly is it that I do now? I’ve intentionally not answered these emails because I wanted to give a full complete answer. People know I’m busy, but they also know I’m not designing anything, I’m not programming code, I’m not working with IT infrastructures, nor photography. So what the hell am I doing and what is this ambiguous Project Manager thing? Well, I intend to clarify that.

Also I’ll be posting a mad cap ton of things I’ve written this past year that never got posted.

As I make this jaunt, I walk past Union Station, Greyhound and a few homeless shelters. Fifth Ave downtown is also a big wide bus lane, making the street a prime residence for many less fortunate. They approach anyone they see, hand out and begging.

But I’ve noticed a trend: when I’m walking with my white iPod ear-buds in – they make for me, then see the phones and stop to turn away. With music blaring in my ears, I can’t hear them calling out to me for change I don’t have, and they know it.

They aren’t on my friends list, I’ve never met them but they are a member of one of the LJ community lists I am a member of.

Now understand that I know that LJ and blogging etc is a narcissistic hobby. It’s all about me, myself and I. It’s about voicing your opinions, keeping people aware of what you are doing etc. However, I have rarely seen such expansive elitism regarding such heterogeneous topics. I’ve never seen a person so utterly encapsulate such an opposing force of myself; a near nemesis. Everything they say makes me ill. Their opinions (in some cases have actually critiqued ME and my friend Sharon) put me into defense-mode.

However, I enjoy hating this person. I read their journal and smile and say, what a (insert gender-insulting-title here). Then I go about my day and briefly think, thank god I’m not like that person.

I don’t ever want to know this person. I hope they don’t know anyone I know, but I know that’s an improbability. I don’t want to humanitize them, I want them to remain: That Person on LJ I Enjoy Hating. I’ve actually found myself wondering how I’d act if ever introduced to this person.

Now how fucked up is that? [sniggle]

I figure that it’s about time for the cyclical threads to begin again soon, and time for me to bail ship.

Two ‘fond’ memories of the P.I.G. list.

• Getting sick of DJ Catalyst’s ignorant criticism of a scene he isn’t involved with anymore, asking him why he must pollute everything and then getting my ass handed to me via 4 emails from 4 different female members of the list.

• Being mistaken for another member and then being ‘brushed off’ by a member of the list at The Cruxshadow show.

I’m happy to be rid of that drivel!

For months now I’ve been dodging the subject every time Audra and Miky brought it up. “Are you coming? We’re renting a vehicle! You HAVE to come!” I’d side step it with a brief, “We’ll see!”

After my Skanska USA interview on the Nike off-Campus Business Center, while I was on the MAX heading back into Portland, Audra called me with a funny-funny problem of hers regarding a message she had fired over to the P.I.G. list. After some initial panicking, I was able to sooth her fears to rest and assure her everything was ok. She mentioned she was in town meeting up with Miky at a coffee shop in the Pearl to distribute funds for the Front 242 concert. Since this is in my neighborhood I figured I’d sneakily stop in and bug them. It was cool seeing Miky’s fashion drawings and after Audra ran off to get to work, I walked Miky back to Portland Art Institute and we discussed portfolios, which is something I’ve never really conversed about. It was refreshing.

Still, I hadn’t told anyone that the chance was high I wasn’t going.

So, Friday rolls around and Audra pops into my place really early with a yummy double shot espresso (none of that Americano crap for me! Straight up espresso thank you!) and some doughnuts. We layed around for an hour and half, feeding each other doughnuts and laughed about random shit until I stood up and walked to my balcony to see the evil-evil parking lot attendant ticketing her vehicle. I yelled, and grabbed my jacket as I ran out the door. By the time I had run down to my management office and got the day pass for the tenant loop, and got to her car – he was gone and the $50 ticket was in place. So, I pulled the ticket, plopped the day pass on her dash and headed back up. She was straightening her hair. While I was running around, Miky had shown up. I stuffed the ticket into my pocket and assured Audra that I would take care of it and she shouldn’t worry about it at all. Lynn was on the case!

Then came the moment of truth; I had to break it to both of them I wasn’t going. Miky’s face fell and I dared not look at Audra. I felt so bad, but more so – I felt anger at Portland and how little opportunity there is here.

This was the worse part of my day. Not all the phone calls, CV addendums and cover letter writing, but the look in their faces as I had to tell them.

They started gathering up their stuff and I pulled my 40Gig iPod (Smive) out of its cradle and snapped the iTrip into place. Once we were downstairs in the car, I showed them how to use Smive, I had to say my goodbyes.

Once they left, I ran upstairs and called the parking patrol and got them to clear the ticket (yay). Then I set about working the next job prospect from all angles and then did some much needed groceries and house supplies shopping. I was on the phone pretty much all day pounding the virtual cellular pavement.

Later that night I received a call from the Fenix and it was fireesin calling to say that everyone missed me! Len yelled hello in the background once Audra took over the phone. It was cool hearing from everyone. HI back at everyone! I did miss ya all. I’m sad I missed Derek’s set, he always spins good current stuff!

Audra knocked on my door at 6 this morning after Miky dropped her off. I’m glad everyone got home safe and sound, that’s some dedication to the scene to drive to-and-fro all in the same day and night, just to get back to work the next.

But, of my busy day – that was the worse, having to say goodbye to everyone. I’m not a huge Front 242 fan, but I am a fan of my friends.

DJ Carrion’s Opening Playlist for Front 242 in Seattle:

01. Netz – Zeit
02. Snog – Real Estate Man(Hecq remix)
03. Pail – The Rage of The Angels
04. Analogue Brain – Fly In An Amber
05. Soman – Divine(remix)
06. Reaper – JagD(I-Rec-C2 remix)
07. X-Fusion – Guilty Mass
08. Centhron – Front Angel
09. Unterart – Just You Wait(Feil/Stein)
10. Infekktion – Human Nature(X-Fusion remix)
11. Terrorfakt – Arsenal(E-Craft remix)
12. Genital-A-Tech – Suck Hysteria(Long & Dirty remix)

Unter Null 9:30-10:00pm

Dj Carrion:
13. Solitary Experiments – Fast Forward(Total Rewind)
14. Les Anges De La Nuit – Reborn
15. Lights of Euphoria – One Nation(Le=Rav Vs. Massiv In Mensch remix)
16. Combichrist – Like To Thank My Buddies
17. E-Craft – Gerichtet
18. Powder Pussy – Cryogenic Pussylover

From time to time I’d pull out the camera and snap a pic, but it was mostly dance-dance-dance. Then we moved upstairs to the bar area above. It was all black lit and was playing some awesome Psy-Trance. Was introduced to a friend of Audra’s, then it was dance-dance-dance. That girl is an animal. She’s in shape, however I am not, and I thought my heart was going to explode just as she finally tired out and decided we should go do something else. (by this time it was 4:30AM, 5:30AM if you don’t account for Day-light-savings)

The best costume I saw was someone dressed as the villain from The Incredibles. He made the hair in a color so under the black lights it looked just like the crazy fire hair he had in the movie. The guy’s body was the same stubby kind of figure and it was awesome. I had to tell him how much I loved it. I didn’t get a picture though.

Bartender Jason @ Noir had said the previous day that he seriously hoped he saw a Storm Trooper this year. Well, I saw this one and took some photos for him. I love the one of him getting some ‘action’.

* Audra made it herself; some say she did it just so she could play with the double-boning.

…We all know how to interpolate what boob looks like, but there is something amazing about having a second layer of mystery…

…So how can we combat the summary execution of bushiness? First off, I think we need to unleash a public relations campaign unseen since the days of the “Syphilis Isn’t A Greek Philosopher” campaign of the 1950’s. …

It is for this reason I pushed Frosty to start up his own blog. The man is one funny S.O.B, honest to a point of hilarity.

I’ve been begging Woofie and Mike to come see me in Portland for a few months now. I have a big project I need their help with but they just seemed to busy to take the one and a half hour drive over.

Yesterday they finally showed up! It was great.

We first headed to Old Town Pizza, just up the street from me and while drinking a pitcher of beer we talked about old times. Considering the project I am working on is related to our old Dungeons & Dragons campaign we played in high school, the table talk was pretty verbose in high jinks and geek speak.

The Plan was for us to drink a few drinks and then end up at The Backspace playing some X-Box. The Plan never came together. Instead, we walked up to Ringler’s Pub and had more beer and French fries. Talked more but this time the subject was sex and Woofie’s new favorite body part (well, not NEW). [sniggle] I ran and grabbed a Mercury to root for something to do. Mike is like me, more open to dancing and socializing, while Woofie is quiet and likes hard rock. So, I was trying to find a balance for all of us, but then I noticed that The Mercury I was using wasn’t good until the next day. I though maybe The Fez, but Woofie might not enjoy it. When I was putting The Mercury back I noticed a huge truck with all these big men hauling equipement out of it, then it struck me! That Redhead Girl (Audra) had mentioned a head-banging rock concert and it was just up stairs from us. I threw the idea out to see if they wanted to do that. It was go.

We bought tickets and headed up to the Crystal Ballroom. Opeth was just hitting the stage, and Mike leaned over to me and said, “I feel a bit out of place”. He was wearing a bright orange outdoor jacket, while everyone else in the venue were wearing black. I giggled at that, and we moved over to the 21+ crowd and started drinking more. I walked over to an attendant and asked if I could take pictures and they were unsure, but didn’t see a problem. So I pulled out the 20D and started snapping pictures. In about 5 minutes a big tall security guard came over to me demanded I stop taking photos, because no professional photography was allowed. I retorted that I wasn’t professional, but just an amateur and he said: if it has a lense, it’s professional. Oh well, I managed to snag a few good shots before the smack down.

Woof loved it. He was bobbing his head in no time and I was happy to be there with them and the drummer for Opeth can kick some skin. I enjoyed how conversational the lead singer was, he engaged the audience between almost every song. One funny comment was “I’m going to play 13 Minutes of the same beat at differing variations.”

After Opeth finished up, Mike was antsy and wanted to hit another place, so we ducked out and grabbed a taxi to The Devil’s Point. Mikey had mentioned it when we stopped in to say hi while he was working at Spartacus. If I’d have known it was as far out as it was, I’d probably have just had the taxi take us to Acropolis. Oh well, it was fun! I drank more and had a lapdance from Stormy. I was pretty buzzed at this point and ended up just talking her ear off in the private dancer room instead of ogling her body, and when I came out both Mike and Woofie said to me, “Did we hear you giggling in there?!” While I was at the stage, Mike and Woofie pulled out my camera, took pictures, and quickly got into some trouble. I later apologized to the bartender and DJ who both were really cool, and just wanted to see some photos on the camera. I showed them the shots from the Cruxshadow show and when the bartender heard what kind of music I liked, he handed me a flyer for some of his events. Yay for future funness!

We then took a taxi over to what was once Doc’s, but is now The Safari Club. Woofie, all night, had been sheepishly sitting in the back and didn’t seem to be really having that much fun after we left the Opeth show. Here he got right up in front and the dancer loved him! So much so that the bouncer came up and told HER to quit dancing on him, she pouted a bit and then whispered into Woof’s ear a question. “Do you mind getting a little wet?” Who’s Woof to stop a naked woman? She poured his drink in his crotch via her leg – like Salma Hayek in From Dusk ‘Til Dawn. [sniggle]

From there we headed home and were generally dorks taking embarrassing photos of ourselves until 4AM.

It was a lot of fun to see them, but next time we need to just go play video games, my head hurts and so does Mike’s wallet!

I’ve never been a huge fan of The Cruxshadows. I can’t put my finger on the reason, they are a lot of things I love and enjoy all bundled together, but there is something… missing and empty about them for me. Some EBM, some goth, some violin, some guitar and now… some go-go dancers? I listen to their albums over and over and can still never pick out one favorite, because there just isn’t any. However, I continue to listen because they are unique and talented, and that’s why I went to the show at Sabalas Mt. Tabor in Portland.

I decided I wasn’t going to show up dressed all in black, so I threw on my jeans, a tan shirt with a black tie and pulled my Luke Skywalker Empire Strikes Back jacket over it all. Threw my 20D into my satchel and headed out.

I arrived just as Written In Ashes were starting their second song. Coradee and I chatted for a bit and took in the tunes. I was impressed by WIA, not what I was expecting at all. Portland has some fabulous local acts, and while not always my taste, very talented! It was also great seeing Adam (Fuck you Adam!), Derek, Roger and Carolee, Jeremy, Rachel, Aristai…goodness I’m really starting to meet people huh?!

While on the subject of chatting, I want to say that many of the Portland gothic people that showed up were damn disrespectful. When Ego Likeness moved into a slower and more melodic tune, the background talking was nearly as loud as the music. There was a particular obnoxiously loud group right in front of the bands merchandise counter. I nearly wacked them alongside the heads (sort of like a Six Feet Under reality-flash sequence). If people want to talk so badly and have to scream over the band, just go sit at the Sabalas Sideshow room and let the people enjoy the music they paid to hear.

Cruxshadows took the stage and I must say they had some wild energy! The lead singer had a wireless headset and he would walk around the concert hall getting the people in the back engaged. While it annoyed some, I thought it was pretty cool to hear the little voice hitting the mic and then big voice pumping out the speakers. Very entertaining and damn talented. However, like I mentioned earlier I’m on the fence with Crux’s music. The volume levels there were some of the loudest I’ve ever been bathed by. Even KMFDM in Boise at The Big Easy wasn’t this loud, and that was painful! After 3-4 songs I moved over to the Sideshow part of Sabalas and watched a Hammer film over Jeremy’s shoulder while Rachel vented some much needed venting on us.

I then headed home. I was pretty tired from getting up at 6:30AM so I could hit a Kinkos and then be early for my interview at Dark Horse (which went well, but I’ll know more tomorrow!)

As for the attached photos: I didn’t take to many this time around. The reason being that there were so many people there and I couldn’t get in a good place to take a single decent photo. Not only that, but when I did manage to get into somewhat of a fair position, I’d look around me and everyone had cameras and where flashing photos like crazy. I hadn’t seen that yet. (Circle 23 fuzzily has named them, The Gotharazzi) So, I just moved around and watched/listened to the bands and the people snappity snap away.

I hate the fact that in order to take a photo I have to pull a hunk of hardware out in front of my face and be so obvious about it. I want to blend in and not be noticed, to catch a good unposed shot etc. It’s just not possible yet.

I had been chatting with Frosty when I mentioned I was going to the Mindless Self Indulgence concert that evening with Aristai. Frosty wasn’t aware of the band, so I sent him the URL to their myspace account. (Go there and listen to Shut Me Up)

In just a few moments he started copy-pasting users comments, that included gems such as:

erect square(ILSE)!!!!
fuck jimmy urine i would tottaly fuck you and im 16 oh yeah and your music tottaly rocks like fucking sex

miss sharon stoned is an actress. duh.
MSI IS THE AWSOME-SEXXX. i fucking ♥ you fuckers

Then add about 3000 comments that were variations of “fucking awesome” “fucking kicked-ass” etc.

The mentality of those posts should have given me a good indication of what to expect from the audience. Frosty was right when he said, “…if that’s their audience, have fun sight seeing!”

We arrive to the venue (Loveland in Portland Oregon on the east side of the river) and the first thing to greet us is a busted door with no handle. Honeybucket about broke his nails off getting the ghetto-worn door to even nudge. Then when he mentioned it to the lifeless and judging ticket taker, she looked at us like we were stupid. Granted, it was an obvious charge, but we couldn’t get in, and she sat there and watched us attempt to open it! After a quick Q&A, I find that there isn’t an ATM in the building, so I have to run 4 blocks to the Slow Bar for cash. Once back at The Loveland, I find out it is an all age club with no alcohol. Then it hits me. Oh god, Frosty is going to be right. I look around and sure enough notice that Honeybucket and I are the oldest in sight. From ages 13-18 (I swear some were even younger) all out on a Sunday night, with no supervision. I wanted to stop a few and ask them where their parents were. Even Jimmy Urine, the lead singer later took to task the audience and show promoters, “Who let these 12 year olds in here, look at all of them!!”

The audience wasn’t the worse part of the evening, the venue was. I will say right now that I will never attend another act at the Loveland no matter who it is. The Loveland in Portland is the worse I’ve seen for performances. The sound was so nasty that Mindless Self Indulgence actually all sat down and listened to their own CD, for a track, in defiance of the muffled and warbled Loveland setup. Blistering humidity heat and sweat because of ZERO ventilation. I will never be critical of Noir’s ventilation again, Loveland was hell.

Some girl puked up an oatmeal like puddle of stomach, that everyone ignored and simply walked through. Their juvenile enthusiasm kept their heads up high and their feet dragging liquid and chunks all over the venue. Coupled with the heat, it quickly dried and soon the place reeked of acid and bile.

I can not overstate my contempt for The Loveland, its owners and the promoters of the show.

I would have left, for I didn’t want the venue to taint a band I enjoy, but I didn’t drive. So, I sat in the back sandwich and beverage shop, watching a 14 year old girl cry for an hour while her boyfriend sat there and worthlessly patted her back. For a complete hour!

I want that part of my life back.

From time to time when she visits you’ll see us make these faces. Make your own title, what was this one?

On the corner of Washington and Grand in Portland on the east side of the river is nestled a jukejoint with a dark cold wood bar. The chic dim lit and sparse layout would normally be designed to pull in the elitist Doug Fir types, but there is a little box in the back of the bar that pulls in a different crowd. For you see this box has the best selection of retro punk classics and alternative in the city, hands down.

This last visit of Sharon’s (I am working on a detailed chronicle for your digestion), we walked into the bar, threw in a couple dollars worth of tunes and ordered a Corona from the bartendress. We sat in the massive, dwarf-feel inducing (a feeling I’m comfortable with) booths and watched Valley Girl with Nicolas Cage while rocking out to Decendants etc.

I never stay too long, just long enough to absorb a few songs, drink a beer, smile about the comfort and energy the bar brings me; then exit.

Slow Bar: Home of The Best Juke Box in Portland. I highly recommend (and have before).

You know the scene in Willow, where Madmartigan is caged at the crossroads between the warring human Daikini lands and the lush landscapes of the wee-folk known as Nelwyns and he curses Willow for not freeing him? That’s where my second nick came from. Who of the gang first threw it out, I can’t remember. It stuck, and after 10 years of not hearing it, I’m back and it’s one of the first things that is to greet me.

So, I’ve been struggling with Stonethorn over the past few weeks. With so much time on my hands I want to post little blurbs, or messages that aren’t quite full post material. It’s daunting to come up with full submissions for Stonethorn with that big House Industries font declaring that it’s an important post; so daunting, in fact, that I wanted another outlet to post my trivial waxings.

The solution is what I’m calling: PeckPosts!

PeckPosts are something you won’t get the usual email reminder telling you this site has been updated, because these little posts really aren’t that significant. They’ll be smaller book recommends, movies to see, idiots I collide with and criticize, things of that nature. Little Things. Peck Things. So, if you want to read them, you’ll have to check back without a cutsie reminder.

You can see them from now on: here.

Watched Infernal Affairs (American Trailer). This is an Chinese movie I’ve been intending to watch for two years now. Martin Scorsese is making a ‘rip off’ of it currently, and now that I’ve seen it, I can fully understand why Martin (used to be good) Scorsese is dying to get some of this amazing movie’s mojo.

It’s a cop vs. drug dealer movie, but far more interesting. You see the drug dealer has a mole in the police HQ and the police have a mole in the drug dealers organization. So, The chief of police and the drug tsar both declare a war on each other to find the mole and destroy the other. So, you have two moles looking for each other while trying to best the other side, but look like they aren’t. Complex yet terse like most Chinese films.

I’m dying to watch it again. It’s not a big shoot-em-up bang bang of a picture, it does have some gun play, but this is more of a cat and mouse on the edge of your hips type of movie.

There are two sequels that is said to be as good, hmmm… guess I’ll be watching those this week!

Current Music: Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Rockets Fall on Rockets Fall

DJ Uberlush pumped out some very tweaky-twitch-dancy tracks; I always enjoy his music choices and his bobbing enthusiasm to his own sets. (I swear that Xlover’s Aneurysm would have fit in there somewhere and not killed the floor) I managed to snag some good photos of him finally.

DJ Carrion’s set was dark dark dark. The mood he laid down early was very impressive. At the end he spun out two requests of mine: Battery Cage – State Machine (Stromkern Mix) which was a lot slower than I had remembered it. Oops. Then, when I was grabbing my bag to go pay my tab he growls at me: “you’d better dance to this one Lynn!” Then I listened and he was playing Red Cell – Related Skin from the Born-Evolve-Progress comp – ahh, that track is so good. (Sounds even better at the volume, its tough going from living alone in a house in BFE Montana to an apt downtown Portland… volume levels stay much lower.)

The crowd was very diverse, for every familiar face there was one I’d never seen out. The place really was packed for the last few hours and getting a drink was crazy, even with two bartenders the drink demand was unquenchable! I helped bar-back a few rounds of drinks from around the bar at one point. Great sign of Dementia’s popularity! Lots of dancing people!

UPDATE:

Chris Randall had this to say on his blog about the night @ Noir, which confirms what I say above about Portland IGs not dancing:

I’ve proved once again that I can kill a dancefloor faster than anyone ever imagined. What I don’t understand is as follows: I play Joy Division and everyone just stares, then the DJ after me, his first track is some current band that sounds _just_ like Joy Division, and it packs the floor. There’s some wannabe goths out there, I just want to warn you.

For a complete playlist of the evening click for

Dementia playlists from 09/03/05

Artist/Song

* – Specific request
** – Artist request
_________________________________________________
Atomica “Metropolitan” from 9:00pm-10:00pm

Dj Carrion:
01. Monstrum Sepsis – Trojan Horse
02. Spies – t:d:r:o:s
03. Pressure Control – Biogod
04. Terrorfakt – Hate Like This(Displacer remix)
05. Skorbut – Paradise Parasites
06. Framework – Kill Switch
07. Stromkern – Televised
08. Necro Facility – Methane View
09. Suicide Commando – Dead Call
10. Gridlock – Wound
11. *Christian Death – Cervix Couch(Spahn Ranch remix)
12. Die Form – Rain of Blood
13. **Coil – Love’s Secret Domain
14. *Broken Fabiola – Japanese Callgirl(Manufactura remix)

Dj Chris Randall:
15. Einsturzende Neubauten – Installation
16. Beautiful Assasins – Hellbent
17. KMFDM – Liebesleid
18. ARF – Sonda
19. Siouxsie & The Banshees – Monitor
20. Atomica – Larsen
21. Bauhaus – Third Uncle
22. Eco-Head – Land of The Free
23. Joy Division – Digital
24. Manufactura – I’ll Tear Your Fucking Head Off

Dj Uberlush:
25. Christian Death – Romeo’s Distress
26. Coil – Windowpane
27. Ministry – The Land of Rape & Honey
28. Thrill Kill Kult – A Daisy Chain 4 Satan
29. Oil 10 – Lost In Metropolis
30. Kraftwerk – The Robots
31. Covenant – Tension
32. Benny Benassi – Satisfaction
33. Berlin – Sex(I’m A)
34. P.T.P. – Rubber Glove Seduction

Dj Carrion:
35. *Snog – Corporate Slave
36. Front 242 – Rhythm of Time
37. Pop Will Eat Itself – Ich Bin Ein Auslander
38. *Feindflug – Stukas Im Viser
39. **Death In June – Leopard Flowers
40. **QNTAL – Name Der Rose
41. **Depeche Mode – Stripped
42. Wolfsheim – Touch
43. Camouflage – Close(We Stroke The Flame)
44. **Tactical Sekt – VX
45. *Psyclon Nine – Behind A Serrated Grin
46. Agonoize – Sick
47. Stromkern – Slow Cascade
48. *Battery Cage – Statemachine(Stromkern remix)
49. *Red Cell – Related Skin
50. Centhron – Tanz Im Strernen Feuer

So, when I limped up to the venue there was big line of polo tucked into the dockers, baseball cap adored late20-30some-things and my hopes of a fun night started sinking. I really didn’t want to spend money on a cover and have a shit night.

I had my iPod plugged into my head and was jamming to some mindfluxfuneral, and after standing there a few minutes waiting for the line to move along, I removed the plugs and instantly recognized the music pulsing from inside: it was theStart. theStart is a band I had heard a lot about but couldn’t gain access to until one night at a Jenny and Janessa’s Afterhours party, while Janessa was off in another room on the phone, I dug through her CDs and found it nestled in her case. Later I asked to borrow it and she relented. Overall a fair band, only one real stand out track on the CD, but it was something new at the time. Girl bands fade pretty quickly in my memory; they just don’t have the longevity for me. However, I was a bit excited to see them play live once I heard the vocals from outside the venue. When I approached, the big burly bouncer took my ID and then stated there was no photography allowed inside. I had intended on bringing my 20D, but decided not at the last second out the door, but did bring along my Olympus. I told him, I did have a camera, but promised not to take any photos. He looked at me, probably weighed me in his mind a bit and then stated: “Alright, if you keep it in you satchel and don’t remove either of them, I’ll let you in – I usually confiscate cameras and bags until you leave, but I’ll take your word.” I paid the $6 dollar cover and entered.

I watched theStart finish up one song and then they launched into their final piece before taking down the equipment. I had made it just for the end of their set. I wandered around looking for Miky or any familiar faces. Soon Miky came bounding up to me. He introduced me to a few coworkers, I remember Nicole but the other lady’s names escape me. (meep)

After theStart cleared the stage out came Dante’s answer to an MC. An obnoxious booze peddler, who looked a lot like the hypnotized hero in Office Space, and introduced each act with ‘cute’ little jingles like, “Booze, Boobies and Titties”. Don’t forget he made sure to keep pimping the booze between each set. “Drink up and grab the crotch beside you ladies!” (sigh)

Suicidegirls.com was highly present with three models. Stormy opened up with a stage crossing, high energy set, which showed she was used to more ‘small band venue’ stages and not the typical stripper stage. She moved around a lot (To Electric Six‘s Naked Pictures of Your Mother) and on all fours, often commanding the attention of all sides of the stage. She was such a tiny little thing for those huge high heels. The two go-go dancers that drew the in-between acts attention were London and Marie. London was my favored, with far smaller burlesque style staccato hip swings and lots of smiles. When a song played that she didn’t seem to enjoy, the more she sort of trotted around. Great body; very muscular in a very feminine way. I’d have stared at her endlessly if it weren’t for the crazy, swirling, wiggly dancing of Marie. From the distance I was sitting her tattoos complemented her womanly bits quite well, and her facial tattoos did just the same for her eyes. Her hand to neck and downwardly gaze towards the audience was her staple, plus all that swirling and wiggling. It’d be fun to watch her dance with her clothes on!

The two authentic adult dancers that I saw in the time I was there, were just that: authentic. The minute they took the stage, they slowly teased the crowds, showcased their stripper-pole acumen and showed measures of grace the younger Stormy couldn’t match. One even had a snake she played with while performing. I wondered about the snake as she quickly merry-a-go-rounded down the pole, does it get dizzy? I get dizzy watching that!

As all of this played out, the room temperature began to steadily rise. I had shown up in a long sleeved shirt under my bondage jacket, with my rubber Russian gasmask bag around my shoulders and I was a glisteny-white-thing under all of it. I was roasting. Hrpukensheet and Aloneindarkness arrived and it was awesome to catch them outside of Noir/Dementia. Hrpukensheet’s sense of brutal honesty is massively refreshing. The man will sum up a complaint like no ones business. H:“Jesus, it’s fucking hot in here!” H:“I fucking hate this venue.” H:“Fuck it’s crowded” H:“Fuck them!” H:”What the fuck?! (This one was used when T.A.T.U’s cover of The Smith’sHow Soon Is Nowpiped over the speakers.)

Malice image (C) PDXBlackbook and Carl Geers

When Malice took to the stage, it was adored with a metal surgery gurney, an assistants brushed steel surgical utensil tray and the entire floor was covered in a thick white plastic. On the surgery gurney was a hospital robed girl. She was laying flat and ‘lifeless’ when Malice walked out, the booming introduction to Dr. Thodt by :wumpscut: blasted from the speakers. Malice proceeded to take utensils form the tray and pry the girls chest open and saw away her ribs, exposing her internals so that she could scoop them up and rub them all over her flesh. Huh? She didn’t really right? No, it was all faked, but the energy was there and she was using real pigs intestines and blood. It was pretty gross. The girl on the gurney sat up, zombie like and struggled with Malice, who proceeded to bend her over the gurney and have her faux-way with her. After some more bloody chunk rubbing to performer flesh. The music faded with the lights and the act was over. Over all, like I said: the enthusiasm was there and it was interesting to see something different than just go-gos or the splits etc. However, my criticisms are that she had her back to the audience the entire time she performed the faux-surgery, so as she pulled the stringy chunks of matter from the kangaroo sack around the girls belly, we couldn’t see it until she turned around and displayed it. Then it seemed too detached from the horridness of the girl on the gurney. Additionally, when the zombie-girl struggled, only to get bent over the gurney, she again did this with her buttocks to the audience. If the struggle would have been more choreographed and more strangely sexy, it could have moved around to the side, so the crowd could see more of what was being implied. Lots of fun and sexy strong women, but could have been executed better with some stage direction.

Just when things couldn’t get more H:“fuck, I’m sweating to death”. Out came: Peach. Peach was a bald, tattooed, muscular toned crazy man! His specialty was fire! The DJ, who looked like he would fit right into an episode of The Sopranos, cranked up Rob Zombie’s Living Dead Girl (Exorcism Mix). I’m sorry, but I can’t really think of better music to swirl flaming balls and ropes around yourself too… can you? (I also can’t help but hear that song and see Faith (Eliza Dushku) dancing to that song and romping around stealing boyfriends and kicking some Sunnydale ass.) It was great! They dumped alcohol onto the plastic mat and lit on fire, with the swirling and smoking three foot flames around him, he shirtlessly whipped balls and long flaming cords around him. His finishing set was sort of a backfire. I’m not sure if it was the humidity of the room, or what, but he would drag an alcohol saturated flaming sponge across his bare chest and arms and the flames wouldn’t stay lit. Right after you’d see just a glimmer of a blue flame, and then nothing. He was growing frustrated with it and I felt for him. It would have been a cool ending.

Somewhere in here these two drunken jocks started horning on our table, that Miky and Nicole and friends had arrived VERY early to control. They moved in with their ever (not) so subtle and suave come-ons to the girls at our side. The girls were not impressed and were getting annoyed by them. Once a seat had opened up, the grungier of the two quickly filled it with his ass. He looked around our table for another chair for his buddy. He looked up to me, I had my arms on the back of one of the chairs, but I had it pushed in so that HRpukensheet and Aloneindarkness could stand behind me and not be all scrunched in. I saw him giving me the universal eyebrow raise of ‘is it cool we snag that chair’ I looked away and he got the hint. So, what does his buddy do? He puts his drink down and climbs up the huge pillar beside us. Storm, the head bartender at Dante’s, freaked, she threw handfuls of ice at him screaming for him to “get the fuck down!” Now, I know wha tyou are thinking, she couldn’t have thrown that hard, it’s only ice. I tell you, ouch, that guy must have had bruises on the side of his body the mext day, because I got hit in the side of the head with one of the peices and youch! It about knocked me over. She then hosed the guy down with a bar spiggot until the boncers arrived and escored them both out. Heh, that’s what you get for leeching into our turf!

But the best act of the night was a couple called: The Trained Professionals; a married couple who did a tease performance where they balanced on each other. She’d get on his shoulders and stick a leg out and he’d do the opposing motion below. It proceeded to get far more complicated then that. He’d bury his head in her thighs, she’d stand and squat, leaning back, then he would straighten his body out until just one of her legs was anchoring them to the ground, while they were both vertical, a foot off the ground. Incredible.

From there I followed behind Hrpukensheet and Aloneindarkness up to The Fez for HIVE. Very interesting venue… with air conditioning! That’s my one big complaint about Noir, is its lack of forced dance-heat removal. The Fez had interesting areas to sit and gawk at dancers and pretty black-dressed things. Talked with a few people, got some contact information of others. Received some praise for the photos I’ve been taking, which I still am not keen on, but I know one day I’ll knock it out of the park.

I think I drank ten glasses of water before setting off home. Dante’s inferno had nearly baked me!

From time to time when I’m talking to S, we talk about our pasts. How when I was a square hard-working diligent Fred Meyer prole on the Oregon coast, she was a club-kid hard-working hotel cleaning lady on the Oregon Coast. We laugh about how, back then, I’d probably think she was a crazy punk-rock chick, and she’d mock my conservative twelve-year-old-looks. Well, here is proof of my lameness, the dazzling colors of the rainbow I tell you. Wheew! MY how we change!

Here are more photos, taken by Woofie back at old Warrenton High School (WHS Warriors!) and also at my father’s business on the airport.

Just when I think things can’t get any more lonely, they do: I lost my fcuking cellphone on the journey home from Noir. I think I did it at the club, but we’ll see tomorrow. Until I replace the phone: no talky to Lynny. I’m sure thats a blessing for most.

(UPDATE: Sun. Sept 04) In a last futile attempt at finding my $270.00 phone, I struck out today. I took a few photos in the same spots as I did the other night. So, here they are!

For those who don’t know what the Allies section of the site is all about: it’s a resource for everyone to be able to put faces to names when I talk about different people from my past or now in my present. There are Allies, with acquaintances, maybe even some Axis! The goal isn’t to measure who my friends are, but a simple pictorial guide of those people in my life!

Playlist:

Dementia Playlist 08-27-05

curatix
——-
human league – being boiled
oneroid psychosis – prurience
cocteau twins – all but an ark lark
skeletal family – so sure
wolfgang press – so long dead
cadra ash – call to rememberance
the sixteens – community people
katzenjammer kabarett – lies suck not
legendary pink dots – lisa’s party
xmal deutchland – hand in hand
gary numan – we are so fragile
chris connolly – get down here
peter murphy – marlene dietariey’s favorite poem
submarine fleet 0 sea of chance

medusa
——
tones on tail – when you’re smiling
monolith – matrix a
pow[d]er pussy – n rot
pal – discoroad
black lung – karmaggeddon
asche – riding the atomic ice
implant dont like them noizey
haujobb – less rmx
pzycho bitch – eden
kmfdm – loving can ba an art
kompressor – rappers we crush
pigface – fuck it up

adam
—-
g. jones- libertango
gogol bordello – dogs were barking
madness – isaerlites
op ivy – freeze up
bad religion – inner logic
evil’s toy – vicitm of the sun
qntal – flamm
rezillos – somebody’s gonna get their head kicked in tonight
dead kennedies – forward to death
misfits- turned into martian
dropkick murphys – captain kellys kitchen

nevermore
———
collide-halo
natacha atlas-yalla chant (banco de gaia mix)
broken fabiola-japanes call girl
combichrist-this shit will fuck you up
prodigy-smack my bitch up
snake river conspiracy-lovesong
miss kitten-rippin kitten
vnv nation-kathys song

horrid
——
numb-blood
wumpscutt-dark chamber
cop shoot cop $10 bill
crash worship- triple mania
di-richard hung himself
bow wow wow-i want candy
ministry-breathe
virtual embrace-fuck you

Zufall
——
Wolfsheim – Once in a Lifetime
Rotersand – Undone
Apoptygma Berzerk – Until the End of the World (Dan Framtpton Remix)
Seize – Don’t Let Me
Covenant – Dead Stars (Club Version )
Boole – Blow Up the World
And One -Wasted (Radio Edit)

burn
—-
little computer people – electro pop
spektrum – kinda new (tiefschwarz dub)

uberlush
——–
ministry – so what
dieform – savage logic rmx

burn
—-
icon of coil – shelter
dot alison – substance (felix da housecat rmx)

uberlush
——–
fpu – in the night
*benni banassai – satisfaction

burn
—-
tok tok – love and lust
underworld – bruce lee (the micronauts rmx)

uberlush
——–
june sex – fast food meshia (carl a, finlow rmx)
dirty sanchez – dig it

burn
—-
dj assault – ass and titties
alma x – a forest

uberlush
——–
praga khan – lonely

burn
—-
audio bullies – bang bang

carrion
——-
VNV Nation – Chrome
Combichrist – This Is My Rifle
**Skinny Puppy – Pro-Test
*Psyclon Nine – As You Sleep
X-Fusion – Nothing To Lose
Funker Vogt – Fallen Hero

valence
——-
*:w: – wreath of barbs
snog – corporate slave
*corvus corax – mille anni passi sunt
leaether strip – anti us
*ministry – new world order
*rammstein – zwitter
haujobb – eye over you
*this morn’ onina – epoch
pow[d]er pussy – icomeinpeace
tactical sekt – soulless
decoded feedback – EVOlution
dive – behind the sun

NoN
—
bio god 20 – Sick

Nestled in the warm underground stone speakeasy Noir tonight will be a grand ball of epic proportions, and all of Portland is invited! For tonight is the Second Annual Dark Alice in Wonderland Ball, celebrating the one year birthday of Dementia‘s wonderful taste in chilling tweaks, whispy vocals and bombastic throbbings.

Each hour of the evening will present a differing DJ that Dementia usually couples up, but here, unleashes them all; showcasing the differing sub-genres that are nourished each weekend in her red-depths.

Familiar faces and new blood will vie for best costume, while presents out of Pandora’s Box will handed to the first 20 to support the night.

Details:
21+ Only
7-9PM, Free (Lush musical backgrounds provided by DJ Curatix and Dj Medusa)
9PM-3AM, $5

Noir; 203 SE Grand Ave Portland, OR (503) 231-2925

Dark Alice @ Dementia line-up:

DJ Curatrix (7-8pm)
DJ Medusa (8-9pm)
DJ MohawkAdam (9-9:30pm)

DJ Nevermore (9:30-10pm)
DJ Onitako (10-10:30pm)
DJ Horrid (10:30-11pm)
DJ Zufall (11-11:30pm)
DJ Burn Vs. DJ Uberlush (11:30pm-12:30am)
DJ Carrion (12:30-1:10am)
DJ Valence (1:10-1:50am)
DJ NoN (1:50-2:30am)

I was invited to Noir’s monthly fetish night, found out it was queer fetish night, but there weren’t a lot of queers there. Over all it was a pretty timid night. Had dinner and talked business with DJ Non, galloped around the block with DJ Adam Mohawk*, and was served drinks by the lovely bartendress Michelle. The Cancer Fags played a set, but I couldn’t help but constantly look at the lead singer and think: “He looks like the villain from Hudson Hawk. ‘I’ve got myself a new goal…….World..DOMINATION!!!‘”

* UPDATE: I wanted to flesh this out a bit. MohawkAdam and I walked down the street to a pretty cool bar called: The Slow Bar. What makes the Slow Bar stand out isn’t the nice atmosphere, the cool massive-sized old-school bar, the big deep cavernous circular booths, but it’s the jukebox. This thing is great! (So, great I took photos.) Electric Six, Minor Threat, Descendents you name it. Ahhh.

Aug 24 2008 – Noir was closed (some time ago) and a new venue has emerged in it’s place: “East End”. I no longer frequent the club, so please note this information is simply historical.

Looking for me on a Saturday night? I’m more than likely here, at Noir. Saturday nights Noir houses Dementia, a very social and spunky goth/industrial night. Some nights it’s not even really goth/industrial – sometimes it’s psychobilly mixed with dark(cold)wave. While it’s not a larger club like place, I really enjoy the small social nature it exudes, the music starts out in a low volume so it’s easy to speak with some of the residents. It’s open till after 3AM so keep your dancing shoes on!

Photos are from 17 Aug 05.

This week raced past like a smiling, rape-ready bum!

First, a little background: Last October, prior to my jaunt to Boise to see Ministry and Hanzel Und Gretyl (damn Thrill Kill for not being there!); I called Sarvas while I was in town and we spent some time at a pub having a beer. As we prattled on like ninnies, I handed Sarvas (myspace) my PDA and he started scrolling through the images I had stored on it. He stopped at one particular image and asked, “Who is this woman?” and pointed at an image of Sharon.

“That’s Sharon! That’s who I’m going to see this week.”

Sarvas got really excited. “There is a guy in Portland who showed me a picture of her when she was a model in Italy, and asked me if I knew her. I said that she looked familiar, but I wasn’t sure!”

“Really? What was his name?”

“Aristai.” Sarvas answered.

Hmmm. I picked up my cellphone and called Sharon, “Sharon do you know anyone named Aristai?” The other end was silent. “Sharon?”

She blurted back, “Are you screwing with me?”

“No, Sarvas is sitting here telling me there is a guy named Aristai, who lives in Portland looking for you.”

“Oh my god, that’s K! My best friend from when we lived on the Oregon Coast and were club kids! He kept his club kid name!!”

That’s where it started, via Sarvas; that Sharon and Aristai began communicating after over a ten year absence. This past week, they met here in Portland for the Run Hit Wonder. They never made it to the run.

Instead we had a blistering week of shopping, gaining weight via great food, hitting the bars and dancing like freaks (I simply CAN NOT dance to anything but my music – I look so silly out of my element, to the enjoyment of others.)

It all started out Thursday at the airport as Aristai and I picked Sharon up, then it was straight to the Oregon town of Seaside, where they both worked in the summer of yore to make enough money to travel into Portland and hit the clubs. We booked into our hotel and headed down the Seaside promenade, past the aquarium, down the street to this little narrow concrete wall enclosed pathway that ended at a rickety door. This is where they had lived. After a nostalgic moment we headed back to the strip and gorged ourselves on ice-cream, fudge and taffy.

My father and Woofie drove down from Warrenton and hung out with Sharon and I in the restaurant, where tales of my troubled-youth surfaced.

The next day Sharon, Aristai and I drove back to Portland.

Friday Night: Ember’s & Egyptian Room.
Ember’s was ‘dead’. Sharon and I arrived and met up with Honeybucket. The dance floor had maybe twenty people on it and the side bar – where the drag-queens do their stand up routine – was equally as lame. Honeybucket suggested we leave and head to the Egyptian room. Once we arrived there (after a long drive) we found the company there less than epic. One woman wouldn’t stop hitting on Honeybucket and Sharon and I both wanted to deck her in the head. We left and called it a night.

Saturday Night: Saucebox – Dementia – Spring Roll – Dan – Jenny – Viper Room – The Tube – CC Slaughters

There was so much crammed into this evening. Sharon and I had a utterly stunning dinner at Saucebox.

While we were there we met a couple that was Sharon and I in 35 years. They were seated at a table right beside us when a waiter attempted to take the man’s bowl of salad. He stated that he wasn’t done yet, and the waiter apologized. Sharon and I really were doing nothing but getting our napkins settled into laps when he said pointedly to Sharon, “Did I offend you which what I said?”. We were confused and answered that, no he had not offended us in anyway.

He looked at me and asked where I was from and I answered in the typical, “I’m originally from Warrenton, but I just recently moved back here to Portland from Montana.”

He paused, sighed sharply as he said to me, “I was born in Transylvania.” The woman who was sitting with him shuffled and made noises like he was pulling my leg.

“Really?” I retorted, knowing that he was playing with me, but he nodded in confirmation and continued.

“Actually my mother was born in Transylvania, that’s where she had my sister and me. My mother was a vampire.” The lady with him just smiled at him, shook her head and continued to drink her water.

I quickly asked, “where you born before or after she became a vampire? Because in one way you could be a ghoul.”

He turned to me, looked me up and down, “Boy, you’ve really thought about this haven’t you?”

“Well, I am dressed all in black. I myself may be a vampire, or a ghoul.” He simply nodded at me.

As our dinners proceeded, from time to time, our conversations would cross again and more information was gleaned from them. He and the lady, were but friends; friends for the past 40 years who were in town for a funeral of a work colleague. He made a quip about her abandoning and not supporting him when he was trying to stop drinking. She said they fought from time to time, and he gruffly responded, “but making up is sooo much fun.” She blushed. It was all a very cute encounter and really made my and Sharon’s night start out on a good note.

From SBX we wandered around waiting for Jenny and Dan to show up, who were walking downtown from their apartment on 23rd, both very drunk. Jenny kept calling me and asking, “Where are you?”, “We’re at Saucebox, just like I said already 5 times silly!” We ended up meeting them at Dante’s, a bar on Burnside that has yet to impress me at all – but for some reason people really like it. From there we grabbed a taxi to Noir, my favorite bar, where on Saturday nights they hold a Gothic Industrial dance night. I had been really excited for Sharon to come to this event. Once we arrived, Honeybucket showed up with his friend Spring Roll. The bar was really dead, which was a great disappointment to me, because usually it was really lively (I found out later it was because of a SCA event). Spring got bored quickly and so I got up and danced with her while Honeybucket and Sharon watched us. From there we attempted to get into the Viper Room, but there didn’t seem to be anything going on worth paying a cover for, so we scrammed.

While Spring Roll talked on my cellphone to Sarvas (myspace), we drove across the river to The Tube. What a joke this place is. It houses about 40 people in this cramped room that glows like a TV tube. It once was a tube for skaters to get drunk and skateboard in, I hear (like there isn’t ENOUGH places for skaters to do that. Where’d all the straight-edgers go?). Anyway, the manager of Tube is a real bitch, and kicked us out because of a mistaken identity issue with Honeybucket (she believed that Honeybucket was responsible for throwing a martini glass at the bartender, when it was really just some other jerk in the party. The crappy part is, that dude is allowed back in, because they can’t remember his face, but HB isn’t. Everyone always remembers the drag queen!)

Sunday Night: Crush – Hive

Dinner was nothing special, considering our previous nights was the best, we ate sushi at a sushi resturant in the Pearl. Eh. From there Sharon and I walked over to a little Italian restaurant and had deserts before rushing across the bridges to Crush.

Crush had just reopened after a renovation, and I must say I loved the place! They made the yummiest Ginger Ale I’ve ever had. It was real ginger root. Mmmm. Sharon was additionally happy because of the clientele and the fact they had alternative drinks besides alcoholic beverages. Soon Honeybucket and his friend Andrea arrived. We had a few delicious drinks called: Green T and Black T (I loved the Black T drink) and then all of us scooted off to Hive.

Hive was everything I had told Sharon to expect and a bit more. There was a ‘safari’ man that continued to creepily, lustfully stare at Honeybucket. Andrea bitched out a boy, in the girls bathroom. That same boy then decided he wanted to get to know Sharon a bit more and moved to her shoulder and said into her ear, “I want too get to know you [insert breathy pause]…” Honeybucket saved the moment by hauling him away and saying that Sharon was his girlfriend. The music was terrible and undancable. Just when one good dancey gothic track would load, the next song would be a deadpan, slow floor killer. I moved up to the request list and was going to write down a few songs I figured they’d play, before I wrote mine down I glanced above to see what others had desired to hear and written across the sheet in HUGE LETTERING was the following request: STOP PLAYING SHIT! I chuckled, and wrote my request down. As the evening winded down, and the last booze kicked in, people started to exit.

This is where mayhem erupted.

Honeybucket and I were exiting just ahead of Sharon and Andrea, when to our left we saw a really tall guy and a little goth/rivet girl ‘rolling on the ground. At first, I thought they were playing. Then the guy kicks the girl in the hip, so hard, that it launches her up into the air and upright to her feet. I gasped and started to move towards it to see what was going on, Honeybucket took the same initiative. Moving towards them Honeybucket asked what was going on and the goth/rivet girls response was a scream of: “Back off you TRANNY BITCH!” Now I fully realize that everyone was drunk, Honeybucket, this girl, her boyfriend (who ‘heroically’, slammed Honeybucket into some people and then scampered away like a little coward) and the guy that kicked her; so I understand her response. If I had just got attacked and then a really tall drag queen came walking towards me to help (how am I to know?), I’d probably scream out something defensive too. But Honeybucket really was only trying to help the girl from this tall guy. I see no fault by anyone except the guy that kicked her, unless she had attacked him first (and still…) There were words exchanged, but it all smoothed over in the end. As we walked away, the creepy ‘safari’ guy started following us, or more exact: Honeybucket. So, Sharon turned around and confronted the guy: “Where are you going? Why are you following us?!” “I’m not, my car is over here.” “Really? Where are your keys? I don’t think so, you back the hell off and leave us alone.” He did. Hell, I would too. Sharon and her new guns, who wants to be on the receiving end of those suckers? Not even women in Disneyland. After that we took Honeybucket home and woke up poor Foofie. On the taxi ride back to my place, the driver mentioned he knew Aristai. Small world. It had to do with the lead singer from Interpol. Like I said: a very full evening of events.

Monday: Sharon misses her flight home – Night Light

The next and last day of Sharon’s trip, we walked around Portland, got insulted by Saks Fifth Ave employees (lost some commissions there – and future purchases) had a GREAT lunch with Aristai (I had nummy pesto basil gnocci) and then headed to the airport. Well, that didn’t work out so well, Sharon missed her flight. Not that we complained, that meant she got to play one more night! So, Aristai took us to the Night Lite Cafe where we met up with Andrea and played Connect 4 and consumed more fattening good food. Sharon and I couldn’t stay late because her flight was leaving really early in the morning, so we bailed out relatively early.

I had so much fun, and I can’t wait for Deviltissue to come back!

The best places we went to:
Crush
Saucebox
Andina’s

Maybe better on another night? places we went:
Egyptian Room
Viper Room

Not so cool places we went to:
Tube
CC Slaughter’s

I’ve always tried very hard to keep on the edge of the musical curve, even while I was in Montana. I’ve found, since moving to Portland, that I didn’t do too bad keeping up. If anything, it’s been disparaging in Portland seeing how many people here are so shamelessly rooted in a single era of their particular genre. They criticize both new music they are aware of and heard, and music they haven’t heard but aren’t willing to. Progressive DJs that play the latest tunes from European labels are criticized for not playing what the customers know, which means: what they have already been exposed to via radio. (The local radio is far superior from what I can tell [KPSU is great], but most channels are controlled by the ever present Clear Channel and of the three times I’ve turned on the radio – it was what I expected.) A successful night is measured simply by how many people get out and dance. (I fully understand the joy a DJ feels seeing an actual physical response to the tones they are choosing to play. However, sometimes a successful night for me, is a night where I go home with a song in my head I hadn’t heard before and am dying to get my hands on first thing the next day; yet I had never left my position of belly-up-to-the-bar. Compensatory, I tend to praise DJs vocally when I haven’t danced, just so they know: it has been a great night.)

I’ve yet to goto a true Industrial night. I’ve yet to goto a true Goth night. I’ve yet to goto a true Industrial-Rock venue. I’ve however been to quite a few fabulous venues that mix it up by playing across the genres. The crowds tend to have many familiar faces, which is good. I hear and see far more vocal lovers of the Goth genre, but they seem unwilling to progress past the 80-90s era of the scene (The Cure and Siouxsie/Creatures are as over played here as AC/DC and Manfred Mann are in Montana) I had expected more moving from a town of 14,223 to a city of 545,140. I figured the scenes I enjoyed would have had a specific club dedicated to the appeasement of said followers, not just one-two night events that bar owners allow so they can fill dead nights.

Over all, lots of fun – with frustrations mixed in. Nothing is ever perfect and there are exceptions to everything.

On a side note – I’ve been working on an online resource I’m going to call: Strudelmärz!. Hopefully I’ll have it complete in a few weeks.

Here’s a small list of new stand-out tunes I’ve bought since I moved here to Portland that I either had the pleasure of hearing via a DJ or through the typical rooting-through-the-internet-for-new-shit I’ve been doing for years:

Rotersand – Welcome to Goodbye
Melotron – Cliche
Editors – The Back Room
Death From Above 1979 – Your A Woman, I’m A Machine
5x – 5x
Pow[d]er Pussy – Six Ways From Sunday
Project Pitchfork – Kaskade
Unter Null – Sick Fuck
Stark – Brave New Desire
Xlover – Pleasure & Romance
Dope – American Apathy
Noise Unit – Vouyer
Belladonnakillz – Kill Belladonna
Combichrist – Everyone Hates You
Kill Memory Crash – American Automatic
Stromkern – Light It Up

Friendly and eager. You are The Pool Boy.

A teen at heart, you anxiously move about your daily tasks, hoping, praying for a good, instant lay. You’re carefree, enthusiastic, and rarely discouraged. Love is cool, but it’s not for you right now. You know what is? Crotches.

You’re a fun person in both big and small groups, and your friends trust and love you. Inside you, meanwhile, your lust is only growing. Imagine your beating heart sprouting pubic hair. Exactly. Try shaving that.

If you’re not scoring enough–which you aren’t–you should adopt new strategies. Lower your standards. Be aggressive. Pool Boys are often submissive and hope (desperately) sex will find them. Realize that passiveness will not hook the horny girls you desire. A bolder approach and sheer repetition will.

When browsing OkCupid, consider both The Dirty Little Secret and The Playstation.

LOWER MY STANDARDS? Sure, then maybe I’d be stuck in a horrible relationship with someone that embarassed me or I disliked, but at least I’d be getting laid!! Right? Sheesh. Lower my standards. Woofie did you write this thing?

I made an embarrassment of myself as I pulled my camera out and I couldn’t figure out how to adjust it for the dark lighting (If it’d have been Kimber’s Nikon D100, it wouldn’t have been such a pain). Cedric gave me a hand and soon I was snapping pics. Here are a few of them for everyone’s viewing pleasure.

One thing about being in an actual city is the choices! One thing I’ve come to love is Beamish Irish Stout. DAMN. Bye bye Guinness. Beamish is the bee’s-knees! (I’m sure Nimue can attest, after all it was bottled at the Cork, Ireland brewery.) The head utterly devestates Guinness in creamyness and flavor. Mmmmm.

The view from my patio in Kalispell:

The view from my patio in Portland:

Now that I’m all settled – peeps that haven’t heard from me for awhile should expect a phone call soon. Apologies, but I’ve been running from here to there.

Here is a brief itinerary from Kali to Pdx.

I left Kalispell for Boise. Hung out there for a little over two weeks with Sharon, where we danced our asses off on Sundays at Industria @ The Balcony (“I like to get fucked up.” “I like to get fucked up too!” “Yea, I bet you do.“) . I nearly had the opportunity to go home with a sexy woman and her… wheelchair bound husband. Met the bass player from Dishwalla. Nearly broke my sternum on the kid’s new trampoline – but looked funny doing it! Worried when the elliptical blinked that I needed to slow down or my heart was going to explode! (ok, it didn’t say that but it felt like it.) Watched the wife-beater clad “Doug” whirl his pool stick on the dance floor in an attempt to dance to “this modern music” (we were listening to late 80s-90s goth).

From there I headed to Portland and hung out with Danielle for a week in Sellwood. Ate at some great food joints and watched a few movies. Her roommate took me to a “house party” that had dueling DJs and four freestyle rappers in the basement with speakers piped all over the house. Lots of beer and booze.

After that I headed to the coast for 4 days and saw my father, Mike and Woofie. Ate great seafood – but was dying to leave. Nothing to do there.

After that I headed to Seattle where the drama of possible working for a potential employer began. Nightmare and infuriation ensued. Thankfully my friends where all there and we had a blast (see pics). I stayed around for two weeks but really disliked Seattle. I longed to be back in Portland, and so I left – much to the dismay of my friends. (sorry! I’m not to far away now!)

Once back in Portland I stayed a few days with Jenny and Dan out in Hillsboro (which is a dead town out in the middle of nowhere and they need to get out of there ASAFP). Drank some beers watched some Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace (rulesville!). The usual.

Then I finally found a place to live. It’s ok, but it is downtown and it has an awesome view. (the view on TOP of my apt is even better – but I haven’t walked up the steps with my camera yet. So for now you’ll just have to live with the photo I took off my patio.)

Fell is an 8 year old Warforged Artificer. He was created in the Creation Forges of Karrnath, and during the war he was under the leadership of Voldorv The Pike. During the Battle of The Lurching Tower at the Thrane & Cyre front, new born Fell was struck and incapacitated. He laid on the field for weeks until, under heavy attack, a group of mercenaries from Breland (Under the command of House Deneith) required assistance and repaired him to fight with them. Fell has continued to assist this merc group to this day – changing allegiance.

Fell, Male Warforged Artificer5: CR 6; Medium Construct Living (Living Construct); HD 5d6+5(Artificer) ; hp 29; Init +2; Spd 30; AC:18 (Flatfooted:16 Touch:13); Atk +5 base melee, +5 base ranged; +5 (1d8+2, Mace, heavy); +1/+1 (1d8+2, Mace, heavy; 1d8+1, Mace, heavy); +5 (1d3+2, Unarmed strike); +5 (1d4+3, Slam); +5 (1d6, Acid (flask)); +5 (1d4, Acidic fire (flask)); +5 (1d6, Alchemist`s fire); SQ: Immunity: Poison (Ex), Immunity: Sleep Effects (Ex), Immunity: Paralysis (Ex), Immunity: Disease (Ex), Immunity: Fatigue (Ex), Immunity: Exhaustion (Ex), No Natural Healing (Ex), Immunity: Nausea (Ex), Vulnerability: Chill Metal (Ex), Vulnerability: Heat Metal (Ex), Vulnerability: Repel Metal or Stone (Ex), Vulnerability: Repel Wood (Ex), Vulnerability: Rusting Grasp (Ex), Can be raised or resurrected (Ex), Light Fortification (Ex), Immunity: Energy Drain (Ex); AL LN; SV Fort +2, Ref +3, Will +5; STR 15, DEX 15, CON 12, INT 16, WIS 12, CHA 17.

Skills: Appraise +4, Concentration +5, Craft (Alchemy) +8, Craft (Blacksmithing) +10, Disable Device +12, Knowledge (Arcana) +9, Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering) +4, Open Lock +9, Search +11, Spellcraft +13, Use Magic Device +11.

Feats: Armor Proficiency: light, Armor Proficiency: medium, Brew Potion, Craft Construct, Craft Magic Arms and Armor, Craft Wondrous Item, Mithral Body, Scribe Scroll, Shield Proficiency, Simple Weapon Proficiency, Two-Weapon Fighting.

Infusions Known (Artificer –/4/4/2): 1st — Armor Enhancement, Lesser, Energy Alteration, Enhancement Alteration, Identify, Inflict Light Damage, Light, Magic Stone, Magic Vestment, Magic Weapon, Repair Light Damage, Resistance Item, Shield of Faith, Skill Enhancement, Spell Storing Item, Weapon Augmentation, Personal; 2nd — Align Weapon, Armor Enhancement, Bear`s Endurance, Bull`s Strength, Cat`s Grace, Chill Metal, Eagle`s Splendor, Fox`s Cunning, Heat Metal, Inflict Moderate Damage, Owl`s Wisdom, Repair Moderate Damage, Toughen Construct, Weapon Augmentation, Lesser; 3rd — Armor Enhancement, Greater, Construct Energy Ward, Inflict Serious Damage, Magic Weapon, Greater, Metamagic Item, Power Surge, Repair Serious Damage, Stone Construct, Suppress Requirement.

Infusions Prepared (Artificer –/4/4/2): 1st – Armor Enhancement, Lesser, Armor Enhancement, Lesser, Magic Weapon x2, Repair Light Damage; 2nd – Bull`s Strength, Repair Moderate Damage; 3rd – Stone Construct x2.

Possessions:
Weapons: Mace, heavy (12 gp); Acid (flask) (10 gp); Mace, heavy (12 gp); Acid (flask) (10 gp); Acid (flask) (10 gp); Acid (flask) (10 gp); Acidic fire (flask) (30 gp); Acidic fire (flask) (30 gp); Alchemist`s fire (20 gp); Alchemist`s fire (20 gp); Alchemist`s fire (20 gp); Alchemist`s fire (20 gp).
Armor: Mithral Body (feat) (0 gp).
Goods: Coin: gp (193) (193 gp); Warforged repair kit (50 gp); Blacksmith`s tools, Masterwork (55 gp); Thieves` tools, Masterwork (100 gp); Alchemists`s tools, Masterwork (55 gp); Case, map or scroll (3) (3 gp); Letter of marquee (500 gp); Arcane signet ring (150 gp); Rope, silk (50 ft.) (2) (20 gp); Flint and steel (1 gp); Grappling hook (1 gp); Paper (sheet) (10) (40 sp); Parchment (sheet) (10) (20 sp); Sealing wax (1 gp); Flask (20) (60 cp); Torch (5) (5 cp); Coin: sp (3) (3 sp); Coin: cp (5) (5 cp).
Magic: Wondrous: Elixir of Truth (500 gp); Wondrous: Bag of Holding, type I (2,500 gp); Wondrous: Arcane Key (500 gp); Ring: Protection +1 (2,000 gp); Wand: Magic Missile (3) (Charges: 48) (2,160 gp).

UPDATE: In answer to the question, “What happened?” I’ll let the person who had it happen to answer that.

Zoltan (Z) wrote:

It was on Saturday, May 1st, late at night. Past midnight, so technically it would be Sunday, May 2nd. My bedroom is above the garage in the house, and I ‘fell’ through the window and landed in the driveway below. I shattered three vertebrae in my back. Two thoracic vertebrae (T11 & T12) and one lumbar vertebrae (L1). I also smashed my spinal cord, but did not sever it. But I smashed it good, and that was enough. I am now paralyzed from the waist down. [Click here to read his full journal post]

“We may be the generation that sees Armageddon”
~Ronald Reagan.

09. Hunting is about hunting for some killer new club to hang out at.

08. Looking for a Rave doesn’t get you directions to the hair spray asile at Wal-Mart.

07. Suicidal girls doesn’t initiate Mental Health & Law Enforcement agencies being dispatched.

06. Gothic dress is hip during the day – it’s not just for night paint ball games.

05. Dying your hair gray is normal.

04. Most Montanan’s think MP3 is a fuel additive.

03. Trench coats left fashion status in Montana with the death of Lonesome Dove.

02. They don’t offer “Black Nail” manicures within 300 miles of Kila.

and the number one reason why Lynn is suited for big city living…..

01. There is no way Dwight would move to a metropolitan area. ]]> http://www.stonethorn.com/archive/rick-ohs-top-ten-reasons-why-lynn-is-suited-for-big-city-living/feed/ 0 http://www.stonethorn.com/archive/somewhat-damaged/ http://www.stonethorn.com/archive/somewhat-damaged/#comments Mon, 25 Apr 2005 08:33:48 +0000 Lynn Twiss http://www.stonethorn.com/archive/somewhat-damaged The day I saw Wade’s brother Joel, exiting the plane, I had my left ear full of cellphone. My attention was elsewhere and I only gave him a brief acknowledging wave and smile. I didn’t realize where he was returning from; I didn’t know he was returning from Seattle where my friend Wade had been hurt. Joel nodded at me and continued forward towards his luggage. Later he stated to me that he was thankful that I was on that cellphone so he didn’t have to recant the story to me.

Wade had been smeared across a car by a SUV. After the collision his sneaker was left sitting inside the interior of the car along with shattered glass and blood, while Wade laid outside. The bicycle he had been riding – damaged – his body along with it. I’ll leave the details to him (email).

The first time I spoke to him over the phone after that accident, through a lisp of sucking saliva, he humoringly said: “My scars kick your’s ass!” (In reference to my lawnmower leg aka: hoof) In the midst of it all, we both laughed and smiled.

Keanu said it best Wade: “Pain heals. Chicks dig scars. Glory lasts forever.”

I want that button: Chicks Dig Scars.

Here are the pictures I promised to put up for ya. I’ll see you soon buddy.

I am all alone this time around.
Sometimes I’ll decide I hear a sound,
Places parallel I know it’s you.
Feel the little pieces bleeding through.

Now that I’ve decided not to stay.
I can feel me start to fade away
Everything is back where it belongs
I will be beside you before long.

And on
This goes on
And on (x6)
This goes on
And on (x6)

[03:39 Beside You]

We will never die
Beside you in time

Monday (5 hours): 27 games.
Sat-Sun ( 2 days): 84 games.

For a total of : 111 games in three days.

A true moment of glory can be seen here.

UPDATE: In the annals of Halo2 time, there are moments so glorious, that a warcry is warranted. Here are a few of ProfX’s warcries:

“SNIGGIDY SNIPED!“, after sniping.

“I beat down day-old-pussy!”, after pistol-whipping.

“Due-blay!”, after scoring a double-kill.

Unrivaled friend.

I love that. That is a fantastic way of describing a true friend.

These sometimes, in passing social forums, are called ‘best friends’. I have always had a problem with the term, it has always seemed a fleeting title for someone. Depending on your location and time from one another, you can have diffrent ‘best’ friends involved in your life. I’ve had many people that were the very center of my life in regards to interaction and they greatly affected my decision making process. It changes though. Distances grow greater, both physically and emotionally over time. They move away. Trust is sundered.

Unrivaled friends to me are not unlike the cosmos. No matter the distance, they are always there and affect your decisions.

That is staggering to me. I love it.

I feel a bit guilty, because he was so excited to go and eat lunch away from the building and have me pay. He really had no premonition of what was to transpire there at the Applebees in Kalispell. I had tactfully waited for our orders to be taken before I quickly threw the subject out onto the table; from the look on Dwight’s face, you’d think I had threw it straight at him. It didn’t take but a second for the sentence to sink in that I’d quit, but it took a bit longer for him to coherently begin discussing the matter.

Once we had returned to the office and he was confronted with his computer screen of work, it must have finally sunk home. He asked me into his office and directed me to close the door. His face and eyes were puffy and red, he brushed his eyes as he stated that he seriously, personally, wanted me to remain at the company.

I was kind, and stated there was no way I was staying. I have put so much of my life on hold for a company I helped build, but never saw any of the rewards for.

I am surrounded by examples of how much good this company has done for people. In the eight years I have been in Kalispell Montana, I have seen so much change and growth happen to the people around me even beyond Kimber. Ryan is now married and has a wonderful newborn baby boy named Lander. Sharon has moved to a new town, transformed her body and begun a business to call her own. Mark has completed school, is a fireman with his wife and has moved into a new home. Robyn is in her last year of college and is awaiting a new life as an actress. My comrades from Kalispell have carved a niche for themselves in Seattle, and are enjoying the life that city brings them. Me? I am still living alone making the same amount of money and am hiding in a town that has no entertainment for me. It’s time I put me ahead of everything else. It’s time I started living.

I have no regrets at this point, but I hope that I am rewarded someday.

The prom was not unlike it’s 2002 incarnation, that was held to benefit a local girl with cancer. The bands were pushed into a little corner of a cramped room, the humidity was high as well as the volume. This year the bend had a lottery month earlier and whatever band they pulled out of that hat, they covered two of their songs. It wasn’t just an event for the masses, but the bands enjoyed hearing reinterpretations of their own songs, performed by differing genred bands. My personal favorite was Bacon & Egg’s cover of Ass-End Offend’s: Skateboardings Not A Sport.

After cleanup and a few drinks down at the Union Hall, we made our way over to Tom’s house for an after prom party. click for images &

Here’s what Wantage had to say:

Just this past Friday was the Punk Rock Prom, the fundraiser to help get Ass-End Offend to Eastern Europe this Summer, went down really positively! 6 bands played, and with the exception the beneficiaries’ botching of one of their covers (insert akward laugh-cough here), the music was par excellence. Highlights are hard to hand out, but mine go like this:
the International Playboys handled some Live At Leeds styled Young Man Blues, Bacon and Egg slammed out a killer version of Becoming Our Destruction, Sasshole tore up Playboys Incorporated, Oblio Joes played Super Confident Guy without cracking an ironic smile, Volumen slayed the Sasshole theme, and Ass-End Offend’s take on Roll On Kentucky Moon was a fist pumper. The photo booth was great fun, the raffle was sweet too. Muchas gracias to all the bands, organizers and business sponsors.

Kimber Information

From: HILAKES@[edited].com

Sent: Saturday, November 02, 2002 9:06 PM

To: info@kimberamerica.com

Subject: Disgusted

You people are pathetic. I sent my Pro Tac back to you a couple of months ago to be repaired, thinking that the company that made the gun should be able to fix it properly. Boy was I wrong.

I sent it in because the grip screw plugs kept coming loose, it ejected brass into my face, and the plunger tube was loose. Well, guess what? The grip screw plugs still come loose, it still ejects brass into my face, and the plunger tube has come loose again. You people are fucked up.

Not only can’t you even repair one of you’re own guns properly, when I talked with Dennis on the phone he exemplifies why people around the country understand that people from New York are all a bunch of cock sucking assholes. He was rude and basically a smart ass. He told me that these were all man made problems. Well no shit! As I told him then that since God didn’t make the gun that was pretty obvious. What a dumb ass. I considered asking you to replace the gun with a new one, but I have the attitude now that I will NEVER…EVER own another Kimber firearm. As soon as I get these problems fixed by my competent gunsmith I’m selling it. Right now I feel like a great big sucker. I will never spend another dime with you people. I paid $825 for that piece of shit you call a gun. What a huge mistake on my part. I recently had a custom .45 made for a Caspian frame and slide and specifically told my gunsmith that no Kimber parts were to be used. Now I know what a real gun is supposed to be like and compared to the shit you put out of you factory, it’s like night and day.

If I worked in a factory that put out that kind of garbage, I’d be ashamed to tell anybody where I worked. I build houses for a living and if I built with the lack of quality that you do I’d be out of business. I’m surprised that you’re not. I see you’re ads in gun mags and I just laugh. You people suck and so do your firearms.

I shoot IPSC and IDPA and I can’t wait until I get really good so I can go out and kick someone’s ass shooting a Kimber. I’ll know I’ll have an advantage because they’re shooting a piece of shit and I’m not.

In conclusion, you all can kiss my ass. I hope you post this letter on you’re employee bulletin board so you all can read this. Also, I’m leaving my name address and phone number so if any of you get out to Oregon you can look me up so I can tell all of this to you to your face!…YOU FUCKED UP ASSHOLES!

I’ve owned a $60 Marlin .22 rifle for years that’s works better that your crap. Too bad the terrorists didn’t fly a plane into your factory!!!!!!!! EAT THAT MOTHER FUCKERS!

SINCERELY,

Douglas J Snyder
[edited]
Medford, Or. 9705
541 772 [edited]