Crunk

Emily, Leah, The Shark, and Matt @ Pal's Clubhouse 

One of the "magic" features of Holga cameras is their capacity for multiple exposures.  Most cameras  advance film automatically, but Holgas require a manual twist of the spool to differentiate individual frames of film.  If one is artistically savvy, they could forgo advancing the reel and use the multiple exposure technique to create surreal works of High Art.  Or, if one is completely and utterly crunk and spaces out the basic necessity of advancing film entirely,  they may create surreal works of HIGH art.   

The latter happened to me between 3 am & 5 am at this raging house party.  I remember bits and pieces of these interactions, but not in vivid detail.  Here is the rundown of what went down:

1)  Emily (pink hair/glasses) and I blew each other's minds with Folk music trivia.  I told her that Elizabeth Cotton was Pete Seeger's nanny and taught him how to play guitar when he was a child.  KABOOM!  She responded by turning me on to a sister act called Yvon & Yvette, who are world famous gospel singers and also conjoined twins.  KABOOM!

2)  Leah (highlighted in green) told me her family history.  She is descended from the original owners of Quaker Oats.  At one point, the Quaker Oats C.E.O also owned a lion, whose grave she visited as a child.  All I could think about was that Quaker guy from the oatmeal boxes, wearing his tricornered hat and strutting about the amber waves of grain with his faithful lion by his side. 

3)  The Shark (look for him in the center) was this flamboyantly gay Asian dude who had a cool pompadour and a leather jacket.  He looked like he just walked off the set of West Side Story.  I don't recall his name or what we talked about, but I do remember him screaming, "Why the FUCK does everyone always talk about HOW COOL MY HAIR IS?!?!"  

4)Matt displayed his cards from behind a door he saw leaning against the porch.  Neither of us thought to ask why there was a door leaning against the porch.  It certainly wasn't there earlier in the evening.

Ah, revelry!  Have a great New Year's Eve everybody and crunk wisely, if not responsibly!

The Snake We Ride

Kaydia Briggs @ Pal's Clubhouse

The background of this photo is kinda blah, but Kaydia's smile lights it up!  This gal is down; she understands what it means to "ride the snake".  The central card she holds is traditionally called The Wheel of Fortune, but I affectionately call it "The Ride the Snake Card".  In the Grand Etteilla series, the wheel is a bizarre rendition of an ouroboros, the archetypal symbol of a serpent devouring it's own tail.  This specific wheel/ouroboros connects the cyclical movement of time with the cyclical movement of the mind; our experience of the world as it relates to the ebb and flow of conscious and unconscious processes.  In Jungian theory, the mind is like the crank on an old movie projector:  As the crank of the unconscious turns, it's interior becomes known through the projection on the screen.  Through the projections of the ego and the attitudes which you ascribe on the world,  the unconscious becomes conscious.  Similarly, synchronicity occurs when an underlying pattern makes itself known through chance, through co-incidents, revealing organizing principles that transcend simple cause/effect... chaos as the unconsciousness of temporal reality.  

But that's pure abstraction.  The snake we ride is beyond words and concepts; it's a cosmic thing.  Kaydia knew right away what I meant; she knew it in her heart.  She lives it, she digs it, she rolls with it.  Attitude is the serpent's saddle and an open-mind is it's reins.  Drugs help too if you're heir to The Lizard King.  With or without "better living through chemistry", we're all first class passengers on the slithering wave.  The question is:  Do we resist?  Or do we ride?   

Horse + Feathers

Justin Ringle @ Doug Fir

Sam Cooper, Nathan Crockett, and Catherine Odell @ Doug Fir

Horse Feathers may just be the hardest working band in the PDX indie-folk circuit.  2010 marked the release of their third album, "Thistled Spring", as well as a slew of European tour dates and stateside shows.   After their sold-out run at the Doug Fir, they would have only a few days to cool their jets before hitting the road again for a wrap-up tour of the West Coast.  

This session was unique in that I did not have to interpret any of their Tarot spreads.  Nate (a.k.a Sgt. Pepper-era Paul McCartney) asked if he could read the cards for the band.  He had no idea what the Tarot represents symbolically, but used his "beginner's mind" and sharp wit to provide some hilarious (and passable) interpretations for the group.  Being obliged to add context, I surmised that the cards were advising Horse Feathers to listen to Kanye West's  cra-mazing new album, "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" and consider moving their fragile, forlorn tunes forward towards the brave, new world of Folk-Crunk.  So far, they have yet to heed the call of Yeezy, but I'm still pushing.  Why?  Because Horsefeathers are a band of badasses.  They might sing bitterweet songs about heartbreak and doomed love and all that, but just look at them:  Justin practically radiates inspiration like he was Chernobyl; Nate and Cat look deadly serious and ready to fucking rule this gig; and Sam... well he's so badass, he can fall asleep in the middle of a photo shoot.  That's how Horse Feathers roll.  Mr. West, where you at?    

Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus... In Fact, There Are Many of Them and They're All Drunk

Rich Mackin @ Paul Bunyan

Ah, it's that time of year again... gifts, goodwill, lights and tinsel, roving posses of drunken Santas meandering through the streets.  I met Rich at Santacon, a holiday themed barhop that is nothing short of excess.  Rich is a Zen Buddhist, social organizer, musician and all around rabble-rouser.   In the days following Santacon he had scheduled a meditation retreat, so he described his holiday season thusly:  "Debauchery>Intense Inner Experience>Debauchery>Shopping".  Now that's holiday spirit!

Mauricio & Gang @ Paul Bunyan

Merry Xmas everyone!  Hope your holiday is as festive as Pimp Nicholas and his entourage!

Patriot

                                  Sgt.  Micaiah Dutt @ His Home                            

This is the type of picture you should carry in your glovebox at all times.  If you get pulled over on some desolate stretch of highway, you can say, "Sorry officer I can't find my proof of insurance, but here's a picture of a Marine in front of a Christmas tree!"  The sheer patriotism alone will overwhelm the patrolman, possibly bringing tears to his eyes,  and he'll let you go along your merry way.

Micaiah Dutt contains multitudes:  Soldier, social theorist, international playboy, hardcore atheist, theologian, black sheep of the Military-Industrial Complex, bookworm, and all around free spirit.  Dude's an ox, a jarhead with a sharp mind.  In the course of a conversation he is apt to explain Pagan influences in Christian ceremony (Christmas trees), recount the utter dickishness of Blackwater operatives in Iraq (Marines HATE Blackwater), or regale you with a hilarious story about attempting to use a Kuwaiti toilet.  Micaiah currently works in the propaganda industry (PsyOps) and is partly responsible for grounding North Korea's airforce.  The man has scruples though and he stands by them; he follows no leader blindly.  He may be complicit with the system, but he's critiquing it from the inside out, changing it piece by piece through information, history, and humor.  Respect to him & respect to the guys and gals spending their Xmas in some god damned warzone.

Candy Cane

Laura Willette @ Pal's Clubhouse

"Hey, you look like a candy cane!  Can I take picture of you holding some tarot cards?"
"Um.... YES!"
Smooth.  Olivia's cards (The Empress, The Five of Wands) form a paradox of conflict within support, the grand conundrum of "selling out".  Hypocrisy is enmeshed in the human condition, it's at the core of Nature, so we might as own it.  Olivia associated "selling out" with her modeling career.  Modeling is her bread and butter, she loves it, but acknowledges it's dangerous tendency to manufacture desire.  She is saddened by people's desperation to conform to phantasms... torturing their body for a "beauty" they will never own, embracing annorexia, bulimia, and depression over the thought of being ugly.  Women (and men) transforming themselves into candy canes:  shiny, rail thin, saccharin fetish objects.

But Olivia's beauty is her own.  I had a wonderful time talking with her and was struck by how joyful she is, laughing and smiling even in the midst of a slightly heavy conversation.  She keeps it real and treats herself well, which I think is the most any of us can do in this world of contradictions.

Andre the Giant Has a Cousin

Stirling Myles@ Mississippi Studios

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you "dapper lad" and ever-evolving artist, Stirling Myles,.  I lived with this guy back in Colorado when he was fronting "tragically beautiful" post-art/rock band Strangers Die Everyday.    When I moved to PDX a few years back he let me crash at his pad and introduced me to a bunch of people who have since become friends. Stirling has seen some of the most fascinating art and some of the most fascinating bullshit of my life and we've had a lot of fun times together so I could go on a long time describing him.  I'll leave it at this:  He is a distant relative of Andre The Giant, was once cursed by a Tanzanian soap opera he found on the bus (Jahari!), and he currently sings and plays guitar in "tragically beautiful" folk band, Alameda.

Texans

 Lauren & Andrew @ Jolly Roger

When Lauren and Andrew told me they were Texas natives, I thought they would have to be from Austin.  Nope, they were from Dallas.  When I think of Texans, I think of good old boys who'll shake me down at Subway if I don't order American cheese.  These two were way cool, so I guess Texas has a silver-lining.  I met Lauren and Andrew  at the Jolly Roger where they were watching their Cowboys play the New Orleans Saints.  I jokingly asked if they had it in extra hard for The Saints because of all the Katrina evacuees who made a permanent home in Dallas after the levees broke.  What they have a moral compass too?  It was like an alternate universe!  These two almost made me a Dallas fan, but when New Orleans eked out a win  I was glad for them.  Sports are probably the only bright spot the Gulf has right now      

Help!

 

Geoff Brandenburg @ Goodfoot

Some of my musician friends joke that they are actually in the t-shirt business.  Big money there:  Fans are more likely to buy an image of the band that they can flaunt in real time, rather than an album they can stream for free online. Geoff is one of the artists behind the screen.  He is a freelance illustrator and owns a printshop called Saint Valentine Clothing.  Even though Portland is supersaturated with bands, Geoff says that gigs are sporadic.  He works hard and keeps the wheels turning, but transforming graphics into profits is easier for musicians in the t-shirt industry than for printers in the t-shirt industry.   Geoff's cards didn't lend any insight to this high stakes world of graphic design, but they did indicate a great propensity for love.  He's been single for a while (the curse of art!), but his spread is encouragement to put himself out there.  In conjunction the cards he's holding  (The High Priestess, Ace of Cups, Queen of Cups) represent a transformation from a period of deep introspection to deep intimacy, so long as Geoff put's himself out there.

Doot! Doot!

Yuko Koshinuma @ Mississippi Studios

I met Yuko last summer through my buddy Celso, when the two of them showed up at my Naked Bike Ride Pre-Party.  It was pretty wild:  whiskey and body painting and all of us stripping down in the front yard to the delight/chagrin of not-so-shocked onlookers.  She didn't make it to the even-wilder after-party (of which there is still a sizable pink paint stain in my back yard).  This photo was taken when I finally ran into her again several months later.  We caught up about the ride and she told me she had a great time, even though she was really nervous beforehand at first.  I told her about how our friend Jonas broke his collarbone and was rescued by a naked paramedic.  Despite her willingness to attend the Naked Bike Ride again, Yuko won't be around for it because she is returning to Japan before then.  Maybe there's one in Tokyo?

Anarchist Portrait

Macio @ The Water Heater

Macio represents AK Press, a worker-owned collective dedicated to the distribution of free press and independent media.  Some of the titles I saw at the AK table included:  Pretty in Punk, Macho Sluts, Vulvamorphia, Black Bloc/White Riot, Geek Mafia, and Granny Made Me an Anarchist.  Quality reads, all, and many more.  At first, Macio was hesitant to have his "anarchist portrait" taken; he's a little camera-shy.  I offered to obscure his face for the sake of anonymity and he decided to roll with it:  "Nah, it's fine.  You can get my face too."  Whether he thought I was a bluebottle or a tourist at first doesn't matter, he rolled with it, so props to him & props to AK.  It's a dangerous world for those who utilize the First Amendment with earnestness and conviction, especially those deemed radical in the eyes of the Military-Industrial Complex.        

Anarchist Child Care

Orin @ The Water Heater

These kids today with their Pokemon and their Magic Cards and their pet rats.  They're so hyper!  These two were just bouncing off the walls, moving, moving moving... it's amazing they stood still for a photo at all.  I talked to Orin at the children's area at an Anarchist Book Fair.  The place was thrashed:  Crayons, paper and cards all scattered about; the rat peeing uncomfortably close to a half-eaten hot dog.   After a prolonged series of distractions, the kids finally posed for a photo.  I like Orin's style, but was kinda taken aback when he demanded to see the picture I had just shot. I explained that I don't use a digital camera, but film that'd have to be developed before he could see it.  He didn't buy it and refused to give the cards back until he could see his picture.  His chaperones tried to reason with him, but he would not release the hostages.  A deal was brokered when I offered him a slip of paper with my blog address on it, pinky swore that it was legit, and swapped him the info for the captive cards.  He was tempered, but stern:  "If this is a website that hurts my mom and dad's computer... you will REGRET the day you asked me to pick tarot cards!" he chided as he clomped away back to his friends.