What is it about you?

Oooooh... N - Y - C - !



There and back in five days. United O'Hare Late Zonked Early x 3 Chambers Kicks Tiger Kingston C-Listers Chop'd Shop'd Hair Love Surprise Ace Champers Polaroid Sealion Camarones Cab Birfday Junior's Paper Pride. Etc.

Photos to follow.

A year later

Reading through my blog diagnostics this week, I noticed an interesting trend: lots of visitors landing here from searches for "Jason Ogan."

Now I'm remembering why: today marks the one year anniversary of when Jason's lifeless body was recovered from the Willamette River.

Jason's tragic suicide shook me to the core. I wasn't especially close with him - although I did briefly share the closeness of potential collaboration, and several meals and passionate conversations - but even in that short time got to know much of the man: a budding impresario and accomplished musician, and one also clearly struggling with his own demons. I suppose I saw pieces of myself in him, too. Maybe that's another reason his suicide struck me as it did...

I think it's important he's remembered one year later. And so: a toast for Jason - a lusty Brindisi all around. And a toast, too, for all of us creatives that remain, struggling from project to project and care to care.

Humility parade

Here's my take, in today's Portland Mercury, on last week's Portland Pride parade. Please take note of the especially awesome iPhone photo, by yours truly. Happy reading!

Another Marty Hughley FAIL

Now, listen.

I totes repsect that the big O is pulling out the big guns in its critical arts coverage of late: it seems all their staff writers (including the untiring Barry Johnson!) are working overdrive to cover each corner of the metro Portland arts scene. Golden! I love that.

But! WTF Marty Hughley? Earier this week, Hughley - the paper's theatre critic - published a little story on the results of a new awards ceremony in town for the Portland musical theatre community called, ugh, the "PAMTA"s. (PAMTA = Portland Area Musical Theatre Award = "pam-tuh" = gross).

But Hughley fails hugely in his report on the awards ceremony by simply not including some basic facts: namely, who produces the awards, and how are they selected?

If he had, the decisions of the "PAMTA Committee" - a self-described volunteer base of theater buffs with no formal theater training or critical eye themselves - would have come into sharper view. For instance, Hughley doesn't mention that the entire PAMTA awards were founded and are funded by local philanthropist slash theatre impresario Corey Brunish.

Brunish produced and directed a lukewarm production of Stephen Sondheim's musical, "Company," this past winter: the show was received with universal yawns from Portland critics. And yet! The show walked away with four (!) PAMTA awards at this week's ceremony. How interesting!

So why doesn't Hughley bother with providing any of this context or reporting in his piece? Why would he bother "covering" a new theatre awards ceremony that is pretty plainly an exercise in big-money vanity? Who knows... my only guess is maybe Hughley's just totally checked out at this point. Or maybe, because his pop critic counterpart Luciana Lopez recently departed the paper, he has eyes on returning to the pop critic's seat?

Now read this - and this - and this...

Some good reads of late:

1) Matt Davis @ the Mercury breaks news of one of Portland mayor Sam Adams' properties landing on a foreclosure short list. Yipes.

2) Some of my quick n (somewhat) dirty pics from last weekend's Portland Pride, over at Blogtown PDX. Look for my inimitable take on the parade (here's a hint: yawn!) in this Thursday's street edition of the Merc.

3) Barry Johnson's Portland Arts Watch blog, over at the big O, is a now-daily stop of mine. Go! Read!

Admission

I really have a hugely difficult time getting things started, getting the wheels turning. Sure - once I'm going, it's full speed on and easy breezy and all of that... it's just getting the damn thing to move in the first place that is such a chore with me.

In writing, especially. Tonight I've written and rewritten a lede at least ten times (!), for what should really be an easy piece to get rolling. Even writing this blog post. I stared at the page for five minutes - teeth grinding away - before typing a single character.

Gah!!!!!!!

I probably have the worst writing habits of anyone I know.

Apologies

I've been neglectful of you, blog. And I'm sorry.

Good things are happening. Plentiful things. I'm grateful, and also trying to sort through it all and choose the right good things to do, and when to do them.

And, to be honest, I'm behind deadline with The Beggar's Opera. I may likely be turning my attention here, with increasing frequency, to that marvelous project. I'm having trouble writing good dialogue. That's about to change.

Meanwhile, today was gay pride here in Portland, and I did my required homosexual duties by drinking champagne for brunch; marveling at a long procession of parading queens; and being pitched at by canvassing corporations (wireless internet! fabulous vacation cruises!! etc).

Thanks for sticking with me.