I saw Y La Bamba last night at the Mississippi Studios. It was their newest record release debut. What a great show they put on. I love the sound of their alternative indie / latin / folk rock tunes. I think I lost count for how many instruments their members’ played; bass guitars, acoustic guitar, snares, tamborines, bells, xylophone, and a few more.
I took these 2 photos with my iPhone 3Gs. They turned out noisey, but I like what I captured. I’m really diggin’ all this local northwest music. I’ve seen 4 Live shows in the past month. Madonna who? Prince who? Lady Gagaaaa huh?
Tags: iPhone 3Gs, missippippi studios, music, musicfest nw, photography, y la bamba
Went to the Jade Lounge last night for some “Cocktail Friday” sippin. Wow! they put a helluva lot of fresh grated ginger in that simple syrup! As the weekly anxieties of work dissolved into my tall glass of the “stumptown girl”, I started tappin my feet to the live solo artist performing at the front of the lounge. Jason Lyle is his name. He sounds a bit like a male version of Mazzy Star; dreamy, drunk, and reminiscent of days past. Disappointingly so, his gig only lasted for an hour. As he passed us on his way out the front door, guitar case strapped on his back and all – I kindly told him how much I enjoyed his music. It was cool to see that he was actually quite humbled and appreciative of me giving him praise. He even struck his hand to his chest and said, “Wow, thank you!”
Ahh, it’s the little things in life I tell ya. Next stop!… DRAGON BOAT RACES!
Tags: jade lounge, jason lyle, music, photography, portland
I can’t take any credit for these photos, other than it was my camera. Kari took these photos last weekend while we were out on Hawthorne at the McMennamin’s Bagdad Pub. It was looking like the day would turn out to be quite nice outside and then *BAM* — downpour…….
Look at those rain drops. Note to group: Portland usually doesn’t have downpour. It typically gets that pissy pissy misty rain that never ends. This down pour seemed kinda flukey, but was kinda fun!
For more about Kari, go to her fabulous Blog at http://penni4urthoughts.wordpress.com
Tags: big rain drops, life, music, news, photography, portland, rain drops, shoes, street
Yesterday was annual Record Store Day. In celebration of this special day, we walked over the mtn and through the woods to Hawthorne’s “Jackpot Records”. Rad store it is. Of course I tried out both listening stations.
My album pick of the day (crappy photo, but here it is) is Solid Gold’s “Synchronize”.
Tags: annual, east, hawthorne, jackpot records, life, listening station, music, new, news, oregon, photography, portland, record store day, solid gold synchronize
Every year around this time, Kari and I somehow create our own pub crawl. Little did we know when we stepped out of the house and onto the Tri-Met Bus #4 that yesterday was the 2010 pub crawl day.
..And we ate and crawled, and drank and crawled, and crawled some more. Oh, and I discovered the juke box at North Bar. The juke box is full of awesome music from all over the Northwest, NYC, and even some down home bluegrass.
I have to say that the true highlight of the day was Kari’s rake. In the middle of our day, she decided that we needed to check out a True Value store on SE Hawthorne to see what we might need. We ended up buying a 24′” rake. I wanted to cut our day short and bring the rake home, but Kari insisted that we take it with us onthe crawl. Little did I know that the rake would actually become a great talking piece at each stop we made. Who knew?
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Tags: bluegrass, deer, juke box, life, music, news, North Bar, oregon, photography, portland, pub crawl, rake, se hawthorne, True Value
What a great night we had last night with friends at the Doug Fir. Shoeshine Blue set the mood to “chill-zone”. They are super mellow, folk, Bob Dylan type band. I really like them! The other band, Peter Bernhard jammed out to some up-beat Paul Simon type tunes. Rad rad rad!
Doug Fir, I think I luuuuuuuuuv you.
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Tags: bob dylan, burnside, doug fir, folk, life, music, news, oregon, paul simon, peter bernhard, photography, portland, rock, shoeshine blue
I know I should be complaining about this flukey 60degree week, long weather that we’re having in Portland. This is more than likely a true sign that global warming has amounted to climate change. It really is terrible what humans have done to expedite the warming of the earth. However, you’ll need to pardon me for a moment.
Can I just say that it has been such a treat to have the sun warm up my bones and pull me outta my Portland-wintery-funk for a few days. I ain’t complainin’ one bit!
Thank you, Mother Nature! Bring on another week of sunshine!
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Tags: climate change, february, life, mt tabor, music, news, oregon, portland, sunset, sunshine, warm weather
We started the year with this sunset, and we’ll end the year tonight with a full/blue moon.
2009 was a mixed bag. I accomplished some major feats. For starters, I moved my family from Charlotte back to the west coast in what economists say are the probably worst economic times in decades. I remember that golden day early February when Kari and I made a promising hand-shake – agreeing that we would do everything in our power to find the next wagon to hop on destined for the Oregon Trail and to never look back. Our family & friends called daily throwing caution to the wind that it would take much longer to move back since the recession was so bad. I laughed really loud that day in April when I got an interim job offer in Portland and said, “Honey, pack your bags, cuz we’re moving to Portland, Oregon!”
Here we are in our warm little cottage in Portland, Oregon. We’ve settled in quite nicely; meeting some new friends and re-connecting with family. We both landed awesome jobs. I dove further into my photography and created this blog. I think a daily photo blog challenge for myself was just what I needed. Kari picked up a new guitar. She’s learning the A, E, and D chords. We both tried out yoga for the first time. And, we definitely both agree that it’s a great workout for the body, mind, and especially our Spirits.
Through all of the other rough patches we encountered this year, I think what we both learned above everything else is that we’re both very lucky to have each other. Our bond is tight. Our trust is great. Our loyalty and faith in one another is amazing. Our love is intense and passionate. We’re only just getting started!
Bring it on, 2010!
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Tags: 2009, beach, daily photo blog, music, new years eve, news, pacific ocean, photography, portland, project 365, relationships, same sex marriage, sunset
Tags: abstract, art, glow, lights, music, oregon, photography, portland, thanksgiving, thinking outside of the box, trees, twinkle, wreaths
Kari has always wanted to learn to play the guitar. Other than jamming out on the faux guitar on Rock Band at our friend Becca’s house in Charlotte, she has no idea if she’ll be good at the real thing. Although, she has been telling me and everyone else that she just knows she’s gonna be awesome at it!
Way to go with building great self-confidence, honey!
And, so we decided to check out the Portland Music Company on Saturday to see what her options would be for buying a starter acoustic guitars. The moment I walked into the store I was overwhelmed by the sight of the wall of electric guitars. How gorgeous they all were; so shiny and colorful in all shapes and sizes. Of course, I had no desire to pick any of them up off the wall to demonstrate a Jimi Hendrix imitation, but rather I immediately pulled my camera out from my purse and clicked a few shots of that wall.
If you’re interested in knowing what guitar she decided to go with- it is a beauty. She’ll be getting a Godin guitar of the Art & Lutherie – Ami series. Check it out http://www.artandlutherieguitars.com/amicedarantiquebst.html
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Tags: acoustic, ami series, art and lutherie guitar, camera, electric, godin guitar, guitar, jimi hendrix, music, photography, photos of guitars, portland, portland music company
I drive by this mural every morning around 7:22a.m. when I take Kari to work. Yah, I know, I’m a good girlfriend. Every single time I drive by this mural which is alongside a wall of a music center in Portland called Music Union - I think to myself, “I must stop for a quick shot of its beauty.” So, it looks like yesterday was the golden day when I did just so.
I always think to myself when I look at this part of the mural, “Sing it, baby!” And, then I hear her say in a sexy, sultry voice, “Baby, you’ve got to do a lot more than shout from your car window like that to get ME to sing…” 
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Tags: drive by, drive way, mural, music, music union, ne 20th, photography, portland, sandy blvd, street, wall
