I’m here to talk movies today. A week of movies. Though I guess I should say “films.” You’re not likely to see Ashton Kutcher or what’s her name from “Sex in the City” in these (she has too many names; I can never remember.).
This is the NW Film Center’s 35th Annual NW Film and Video Festival, which bills itself as a “showcase of new work by regional media artists.” This year, from Nov. 7-15, it will show 44 feature, short and documentary films made by people from Oregon, Washington, B.C., Montana and Idaho.
Everything is chosen by a panel that in the past has included names like Gus Van Sant, Matt Groening and Todd Haynes. Big hitters. So it should be a tad different than your multiplex fare. But too hip to serve popcorn? Let’s hope not.
Hey, it’s that time of year again word nerds. Wordstock. If you’ve been, you know the delights of a few days devoted to books and writers. If you haven’t been before, pull yourself away from “Weeds,” Season 2 and get yourself over to the Convention Center.
This year it runs from Nov. 7-9 and still offers its bounty of activities, from the book fair, to readings and workshops, to something called the Night of Literary Feasts. Not exactly sure what that is but it sounds delicious.
And I would read the list of visiting authors for you, but the Internet isn’t big enough to support that size of post. Highlights in my, um, book include Andre Dubus III, Ehud Havazelet and local Lee Montgomery.
It’s that time of year again when a range of Portland artists agree to open up their studios for art voyeur types to wander through and gawk, and hopefully spend a little money along the way.
I talked about it last year and am really trying to get people to go and support local art. Called Portland Open Studios, it gives you a great opportunity to see how different artists work and maybe start your collection with a personal connection.
This year there are almost 100 artists participating, including emerging talents and well-established artists from just about every media, including acrylic, ceramic, collage, drawing and colored pencil, furniture, glass, jewelry and photography.
It costs $15 and runs Oct. 11-12 for the westside and 18-19 on the eastside. Doors are open from 10 to 5. Check the website for a tour map.
Looking for that new outfit that no one else has? Something to go with that cute skirt you just bought? Try Fashion Week. What the tube top is Fashion Week? That’s a good question since fashion is really a year-long commitment.
This annual event (from Oct. 8-12) gives independent designers a chance to introduce their spring/summer 2009 collections here in Portland in a week-long series of runway shows, this year in the Pearl.
And you thought we were a fashion backwater, all fleece and Gore-Tex. It’s actually the second-longest running fashion week on the West Coast. Just a few of the designers on hand include: In Harmony, Dimitri, Saffrona and Amai Unmei.
Best of all, the event benefits the Children’s Cancer Association and is earth friendly and sustainable from the lighting to the recycled fabric, to the organic food and transportation.
This seems an appropriate time to offer up my top three moments of our fast expiring summer. I’ve been thinking about it, and have consulted my friends and my diary to compile this definitive list. I recommend printing this out and filing it away for next year.
Drum roll, please…
No. 3 Beijing Olympics — I know this isn’t about Portland, but we had a fencer win a gold medal. That’s something. Plus this was my list idea so I can include what I want.
No. 2 Rooftop films fest — Thursdays were no longer the Jan Brady of the week. Our rooftop series was like having two Fridays every week.
No. 1 TBA — This event would make my list every summer. It is a smorgasbord of creativity and art that never fails to challenge, engage and inspire. Kudos, Portland.
You’ve had a long day at some boring business meeting. You’ve been trapped at a wedding for a member of your spouse’s family you’ve never even met. You just need a break, a moment to breathe.
Well, if you’re in town between Sept. 14 and 16 you might head over to the Portland Japanese Garden. I’d say it’s always a good solution for a tough day (especially the rock garden, which will take the edge off as well as any pinot). But on these nights they welcome visitors for O-Tsukimi, or moon viewing.
If my calendar is right, the full moon falls on Sept. 14, but all three nights are likely to be good viewing. Check the forecast. And if you’re dubious that merely taking in the moon will do the trick, try a cup of sake as an accompaniment. That should do it.
I can’t believe I’m writing again about TBA — where the heck did the year go? It’s astonishing to me sometimes how quickly time flies by. You put your head down in May and lift it up and it’s September. The upside is it doesn’t seem like we had to wait all that long for one of my favorite events to come back around.
They call it the Time-Based Art Festival but I don’t think “festival” quite captures it. It has more of an organic feeling to me than that. And it’s just so eclectic. There’s theatre, dance, music, film and all kinds of different exhibitions, all from local and international artists. I can’t think of another event like it anywhere.
It runs from Sept. 5 through Sept. 14 all over town. Check the website for what’s happening and where.
I didn’t think I would but I’ve got to confess that I miss the Olympics. It doesn’t help of course that all the junky TV has returned. Ugh. But there was just something about this year’s that grabbed me.
Who knows, maybe there’s just so much ugly stuff going on in the world that we, or at least I, just needed the break. It’s time for something positive, where the stories don’t involve people blowing up other people. So I enjoyed it, and I’m really sorry it’s over.
Now I guess all I’ve got to look forward to is the upcoming Art in the Pearl. Check it out over at the Park Blocks on Aug. 30 and Sept. 1. And if you also miss the Olympics, you’ll be happy to know that at least there’s jury judging.
Ever heard of Michael Curry? Probably not. No, that’s Tim Curry. But unless you completely missed the 90s, you’ve heard of TheLion King, and those are his incredible puppets that really made the show the huge hit that it became.He’s also lent his genius to Walt Disney, the Olympics, Cirque du Soleil and a number of other high-profile clients as part of his company Michael Curry Design. And he lives just up the road in Scappoose.
Well, in a peculiar but much appreciated departure from displaying dusty old things, the Oregon Historical Society is showing an exhibit of Michael’s creations from the Julie Taymor Broadway production of TheLion King.
I haven’t been yet, but I’m going, if only to prove to myself once and for all that those puppets aren’t actually alive.
Here’s something you might not know, and thanks to PDXArtWork for pointing it out: Among its many public statues Portland boasts a bust – why I don’t know – of former South Vietnam president Ngo Dinh Diem.
Portlandia, I understand. The elk (though oddly proportioned) on SW Main, OK. But an 800-some-odd concrete memoriam to the former leader of South Vietnam? That’s about twice normal size? Hmm. And speaking of elks, the pedestal of the statue is apparently adorned with the antlered beasts. Does Vietnam even have elk?
Anyway, if you want to add this peculiarity to your must-see list while you’re in town, you’ll find the monument in the front yard of a home on NE Columbia Blvd, where PDXArtWork says it is “overseeing thousands of trucks and trains each day.” Diems da breaks.:-)
