NEWS: Betsy Johnson’s Gun Swap. P. 8 COURTS: No Room at the Mental Hospital. P. 10 WILLAMETTE WEEK
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PORTLAND’S NEWSWEEKLY
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FINDINGS CHRIS NESSETH
CITY FAIR, PAGE 26
WHAT WE LEARNED FROM READING THIS WEEK’S PAPER
Grab all the gear you need for your next pride, camping trip, or summer adventure!
VOL. 48, ISSUE 30 Dr. Know survived COVID. 4
Betsy Johnson now wants to raise the age to buy a gun. 8 Clackamas County was more competent at counting votes in 1864 than in 2022. 9 Oregon courts receive 7,500 requests each year to civilly commit people to the state mental hospital. 10 Beatrice Gilmore was at the movies when the Columbia River started flooding her town. 12 As Vylet Pony, 23-year-old Zelda Trixie Lulamoon records music rooted in the lore of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. 16 Kenneth/Kate Marlowe became a male madam and started transitioning at age 50. 17 Portland burlesque dancer Jayla Rose Sullivan competed on the
reality series Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls. 18 The in-person return of the Rose Festival also saw the comeback of another late spring tradition: the “Rose Festival Low.” 26 A giant rhinoceros puppet is the star of Imago’s latest production. 28 You can take your dog on a three-day, nine-stop bar crawl this weekend. 29 After a 10-month hiatus, Pollo Bravo’s Spanish-style rotisserie birds are back. 30 Peak Extracts’ cannabis-infused salve is based on an ancient Chinese recipe for treating blunt-force trauma. 33 The Afro-Latino rock group Making Movies is bringing Americana to The Get Down. 34
ON THE COVER:
OUR MOST TRAFFICKED STORY ONLINE THIS WEEK:
Stories of Pride 2022, photo illustration by Mick Hangland-Skill.
Old Town homeless village will close after nonprofit operator says conditions are too dangerous.
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DIALOGUE
• •••• • • • •
TA R E B A LRO S ER E T A •••• E H T JUN 3
Last week’s edition of WW featured a yearlong investigation of a city program designed to reverse decades of gentrification that displaced Black families from the Albina neighborhood in North Portland. Supporters of the North/Northeast Housing Strategy point to the hundreds of households that have apartments and homes in the historically Black neighborhood. Critics say the policy does little to address the underlying problem: Portland remains unaffordable to most people of color. Here’s what our readers had to say:
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Making Memories:
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Using Neuroscience to Enhance Teaching & Learning
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ACOUSTIC ALCHEMY JUN 29 Chamber Music Northwest
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Frank Zappa tribute
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UPCOMING SHOWS
•••••••••••••
6/8 • CONSIDER THIS WITH JELLY HELM & NATAKI GARRETT 6/9 • PORCHELLO BAND LAUNCH + NAOMI LAVIOLETTE 7/9 • AFTERGLOW: A POST-PRIDE EXTRAVAGANZA 7/14 • SCIENCE ON TAP: HOW DO SCIENTISTS SEE BLACK HOLES?
•••••
albertarosetheatre.com
3000 NE Alberta • 503.764.4131 Willamette Week JUNE 1, 2022 wweek.com
Albina of the past in order to assuage white guilt or claim social justice victory. Who from old Albina would even want to live in new Albina now? The question is, how can we help people thrive today? Where can people build for tomorrow, feel connected, respected and part of a community. And what did we learn from the past that will prevent us from screwing up the future? “Step one…stop electing idiotic, hyper-progressive, virtue-signaling, delusional leaders with no practical leadership or business experience. They will waste an incomprehensible amount of taxpayer money trying to compensate for their inexperience.”
Dr. Know
notice that the two people in this article with the strongest criticisms of the N/NE Preference Policy, Gerard Mildner and Craig Gurian, are both white.” MACCODEMONKEY, VIA REDDIT: “Honestly—it kind of feels
like a new form of redlining to me. The city should have programs to get these families into Laurelhurst, into Grant Park, into Foster and the Pearl and Richmond and every neighborhood in the city. They should be able to benefit from the schools and parks and businesses that have had decades of investment. And we can benefit from having that diversity in our neighborhoods and our schools. “But I don’t think Portland wants to do that because that would require sacrifice, or at least uncomfortable change. That would require the neighborhoods of Portland to bring diversity to their front doors and confront a deeper history of discrimination. So it’s easier to find a corner of the city to push the problem into. Everyone feels a lot better but no one has to make changes in their own neighborhoods. “I’m also salty because Portland is still actively ripping down other minority neigh-
A THIRD WAY FOR ALBINA
WW’s useful look at Portland’s “right to return” policy ends on a confusing note: the idea that instead of atoning for displacement of Black Portlanders by building price-regulated homes in Albina, Oregon should allow more subdivisions outside of Sherwood. Frustratingly, the article perpetuates a blind spot many Portlanders have had for decades, one of those that contributed to the rapid displacement of many Black Portlanders from Albina. Our potential locations for additional homes are not just (a) farms and forests or (b) “high-rise” steel and glass towers around downtown, which the article correctly notes cost much more to construct per square foot. WW seems to have lost sight of option (c), four-story woodframe apartment buildings in the close-in low-density areas that are currently occupied mostly by white homeowners. If these less expensive housing types were allowed to exist more than half a block from our major streets, these buildings would house many thousands of Portlanders and reduce involuntary displacement. But the city doesn’t allow such homes to exist, because some homeowners would be annoyed. Michael Andersen Sightline Institute LETTERS TO THE EDITOR must include the author's street address and phone number for verification. Letters must be 250 or fewer words. Submit to: PO Box 10770, Portland OR, 97296 Email: mzusman@wweek.com
BY MARTY SMITH @martysmithxxx
Exit COVID, enter monkeypox. Makes you wish we’d saved some of the smallpox vaccine we flushed after smallpox was eradicated 40 years ago, huh? Lucky me, I was born before then, so I got the smallpox jab as a child. Am I covered for the monkey version? —Shocked by the Monkey
Rhapsodies + Alisa & Demons Amador
4
gentrification is like trying to unshit the bed, you can’t really do it. “What you can do is recognize the factors that led to gentrification (lack of building new housing, leading people with more money to outbid existing residents for the existing housing over time) and implement policies that help lower the rate of displacement going forward.”
IAIN MACCOINNICH, VIA TWITTER: “I can’t help but
borhoods but we’re not asking ourselves questions about that.”
As much as I’d like to agree with your assessment that COVID-19 has left the building, Shocked, the fact that I’m still coughing up pieces of my lungs after (finally) contracting it last week suggests that there’s still some life in the old plague yet. Not that it matters. There’s no law that says one pandemic has to be over before the next one begins; if monkeypox wants to wipe us off the planet, it can start whenever it likes. Fortunately, that doomsday scenario doesn’t seem likely—though I can certainly understand why a COVID-scarred world might be jumpy about a new virus. Unlike the coronavirus, however, monkeypox isn’t new—we’ve had a vaccine for it for years. Moreover, its resurgence isn’t a surprise; epidemiologists have been predicting it ever since smallpox went the way of the three-martini lunch (RIP). Since the smallpox vaccine also conferred immunity for monkeypox, the push that eradicated smallpox also kept the monkey version
at bay—until all the folks like you (and, ahem, me) old enough to have had that smallpox shot started dying off, leaving behind a population increasingly vulnerable to whatever ambitious young pox virus might come along next. By the way, we didn’t actually flush all that smallpox vaccine—the U.S. still has 100 million doses, presumably as a hedge against the possibility of weaponized smallpox. (Military personnel are vaccinated for the same reason.) But you wanted to know if a vaccine you got back when barbers still did amputations will stave off monkeypox. Well, if COVID has taught us anything, it’s how frequently the accepted scientific answer to a seemingly straightforward medical question is, “Who the fuck knows?” The long-standing CDC line is that you shouldn’t count on immunity from a smallpox vaccine lasting more than five years. However, some recent studies (“in the last 20 years” counts as “recent” in smallpox research) found measures of immunity only slightly diminished after as many as 88 years. Are your toothless, old-timey antibodies, shouting at the smallpox virus to get off their lawn, as good as fresh ones? No, but they’re probably better than nothing—and if they manage to form an HOA, watch out. Questions? Send them to dr.know@wweek.com.
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MURMURS MICK HANGLAND-SKILL
TEDxPORTLAND STAGE JOHNSON’S TED TALK DRAWS JUSTICE COMPLAINTS: Betsy Johnson, the unaffiliated candidate for governor, made a surprise May 27 appearance at the ideas conference TEDxPortland. As reported on wweek.com, Johnson’s parroting of National Rifle Association talking points on gun control angered some in the crowd; others objected to TEDx providing an audience of thousands to one of three candidates for governor, in possible violation of federal tax code that prohibits 501(c)(3) nonprofits such as TEDx from participating in political campaigns. In the aftermath, seven people filed complaints with the Oregon Department of Justice, which oversees Oregon nonprofits. “TEDxPortland violated IRS code by including Betsy Johnson, who is running for governor, as a surprise guest,” wrote one complainant, Howard Bales of Portland. “This is an egregious abuse of their nonprofit status. The harm done to the election process is significant. Please investigate this intentional breach of the code.” DOJ spokeswoman Kristina Edmunson said her agency would forward those complaints to the Internal Revenue Service, which polices nonprofits and determines their legal status. OLD TOWN HOMELESS VILLAGE CLOSED BY GUNFIRE: Old Town’s homeless village is closing permanently, Multnomah County officials say, after its services provider, All Good Northwest, decided it could not continue running it safely. The director of the nonprofit, Andy Goebel, blames its decision on “daily and nightly gunfire and gun activity” in the area. The decommissioning, which officials confirmed after an inquiry by WW, also comes a month after workers at All Good NW sent a letter to Goebel and other directors announcing their intent to form a union. Labor organizer Michael Rainey says he doesn’t believe the unionization effort led to the village closure. Instead, he says, both labor unrest and the closure were responses to dangerous conditions at the village, located at the intersection of Northwest Broadway and Glisan Street. Rainey says 18 of the village’s residents will move to the new Multnomah Village safe rest village, which has yet to open. Sarah Thompson, organizing program manager at Association of Federal, State, County and Municipal Employees Council 75, says she frustrated by the threat to worker 6
Willamette Week JUNE 1, 2022 wweek.com
and resident safety. “It’s hard to say what’s intentional and what’s just incompetence,” Thompson tells WW, “but it feels like where to house the houseless is a problem nobody wants to solve.” SAM BANKMAN-FRIED’S MONEY SURFACES AGAIN: In honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, NBC News published a story last week on a new national super PAC with a mission to support Asian Americans in politics. But so far that super PAC, Justice Unites Us, has made just one independent expenditure—$846,000—to support a white man, Carrick Flynn, who tried and failed to win the Democratic nomination for Oregon’s 6th Congressional District. Because of federal reporting rules, Justice Unites Us reported its expenditure in April but did not have to report the source of the funds until after the primary. Perhaps unsurprisingly, that donor turned out to be Protect Our Future, the super PAC formed by cryptocurrency billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried. That group spent $11.4 million on Flynn’s behalf, setting the record for most money spent by a single PAC on a candidate in a House primary. State Rep. Andrea Salinas (D-Lake Oswego) won that race. Bankman-Fried told a Pushkin Industries podcast last week he might spend $1 billion on the 2024 federal races, which would be another record for a single donor in a single election cycle. GOVERNOR’S RACE CASH UNEVEN: As the three candidates for governor—Republican Christine Drazan, unaffiliated candidate Betsy Johnson, and Democrat Tina Kotek—begin their sprint to the November general election, they start from very different places financially. As is normal, Drazan ($2.58 million) and Kotek ($2.36 million) spent almost all the money they’ve raised so far to win their respective primaries. Kotek has $115,000 on hand and Drazan $105,000, of which $75,000 came in two large, post-primary checks. Meanwhile, Johnson, who is seeking to become only the second governor in Oregon history not affiliated with a political party, has $5.18 million on hand, a substantial lead as candidates begin setting their strategies for the fall. Although Johnson did not have to run in a primary, she’s already spent $3.2 million this year.
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NEWS
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW THIS WEEK
She explains her sudden reversal this way: “My willingness to support new laws reflects my belief that, as governor, I need to represent the views and concerns of all Oregonians, and not merely my own,” Johnson tells WW. “If I am asking others to compromise, I must lead by example and practice what I preach.” Her switch occurred after WW asked the three leading candidates for governor how they would address gun violence. We asked:
TWO QUESTIONS
What Would You Do to Prevent Mass Shootings?
1. How would you explain the Uvalde shootings to a 10-year-old child? 2. What would you do if elected governor to prevent mass shootings?
TINA KOTEK, DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE
Last week’s murder of 19 students and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas, spurs new questions about gun control. BLAKE BENARD
1. I would assure the child that I am doing everything I can to keep them safe and that their teachers will do everything they can to keep them safe. I would say I’m going to work hard to help older children not do these kinds of things. Our niece asked, “Why would a kid hurt other kids?” We know a safer future for our children is possible. It will take common-sense gun safety legislation. In this race for governor, I am the only candidate who has supported and passed legislation like expanding background checks to keep our communities safer. 2. As House Speaker, I passed legislation to keep guns from domestic abusers and stalkers, expand background checks, create a way for families to keep guns from someone who is a risk to themselves or others, and require safe storage of guns. As governor, I will continue to support common-sense gun safety, including banning ghost guns, preventing teenagers from purchasing assault weapons, and requiring completed background checks for all firearm purchases. Both Betsy Johnson and Christine Drazan get high marks from the National Rifle Association and have a long record of opposing common-sense gun safety legislation. Oregon families deserve better.
BETSY JOHNSON, UNAFFILIATED CANDIDATE
MEMORIAL DAY: On May 30, the Raging Grannies held a “March of Sorrow” in downtown Portland to mourn victims of gun violence.
BY R AC H E L M O N A H A N
rmonahan@wweek .com
When candidate for governor Betsy Johnson appeared May 28 at the ideas conference TEDxPortland, a raucous crowd forced a question on gun control. In Johnson’s two-decade career in the Oregon House and Senate, she consistently voted against bills to regulate guns. In 2015, before the Legislature passed a comprehensive background check bill, she wrote an Oregonian op-ed against the idea: “What everybody wants, though, is to keep guns out of the wrong hands. There is no law that can do that. None. Even outright confiscation and a ban won’t keep guns out of the wrong hands.” She also voted against a 2017 bipartisan red flag law, aimed at removing guns from troubled people, and opposed a 2018 bill to keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers. And Saturday was no different. Johnson, who owns a submachine gun and describes herself as a gun collector, took a hard-line stance against gun control, saying there was no point 8
Willamette Week JUNE 1, 2022 wweek.com
in criminalizing different types of weapons: “The style of the gun does not dictate the lethality,” Johnson told the crowd, eliciting boos. But on May 31, three days after that appearance, Johnson decided she favored apparently stronger background checks than the ones she voted against. She didn’t offer specifics. “As governor, I will look to law enforcement and other experts in this field to propose improvements to our current background check system,” she tells WW. “Legislators from both parties will weigh-in with their ideas. For certain, we need better data, faster response, and more integrated information across states and among institutions to ensure guns are kept out of the hands of those who should not have them.” Johnson is delicately trying to win support from the center in her unaffiliated bid for governor. To do so, the frank-talking Johnson may need to shift. “I’ve always thought this was her Achilles heel,” says political consultant Jake Weigler, who has lobbied for gun control. “‘Hey, suburban woman, are you really going to vote for Machine Gun Betsy?’”
1. Nothing is more important to me, your family and your teachers than keeping you safe. We must prevent very violent and sick people from getting guns—with stronger background checks and raising the age to buy certain guns. We need more counselors to step in with troubled kids when they need help. Every school building should be safer so that people cannot enter without permission. And we should always support the police officers who help keep us safe. I want to reassure you that while the news may not make sense, our lives still do. 2. I will practice what I preach, rejecting the extremes and taking the best ideas from both parties to keep our schools and communities safe. While a lifelong gun owner and defender of the Second Amendment, as governor, I will support and enforce stronger background checks and raising the age to purchase certain firearms to 21. I will strengthen our failing mental health care system and put more counselors in our schools. We should intervene when warning signs of disturbing behavior are evident. We should support—not defund—our police. I will support increasing school security under local control.
CHRISTINE DRAZAN, REPUBLICAN NOMINEE
1. I remember the day my son came home from school afraid to go back to school the next day. He was anxious. We had a heartto-heart conversation about his feelings, thoughts and safety. These are the conversations you have as a parent. I told my son the truth, there are people in the world who are not safe. There are people who harm strangers, there are people who hurt the very people they say they love. And the truth is, there is evil in the world. But there is also goodness and love, and kids have adults in their lives who work every day to keep them safe. All kids deserve to be safe at home and at school, and it’s important to know that this terrible crime is rare and that kids do not have to be afraid and that school is still a safe place. 2. As governor, my budget will provide dedicated funding to strengthen school safety measures and fully fund mental health services. That includes funding local priorities to invest in school resource officers, increasing access to mental health supports, and ensuring that individuals who should not have access to a school do not gain access.
BLAKE BENARD
CLOCKED
Wait a Minute Clackamas County’s ballot snafu could set an Oregon record for longest duration between election night and final results. As of press deadline, just two votes separated Neelam Gupta from Daniel Nguyen in the May 17 Democratic primary for House District 38. That margin is so narrow it could easily trigger a recount. Which means an extension of purgatory for Gupta, Nguyen and voters. They’ve already waited more than two weeks for final results, thanks to a botched ballot printing in Clackamas County that required elections officials to duplicate each ballot by hand. By the time a recount is finished, voters in House District 38 (Lake Oswego, Southwest Portland) may have waited longer for a result than anyone ever has in Oregon, says former Secretary of State Phil Keisling. County elections offices are required to submit official results within 20 days. Clackamas County is stretching that timeline. But if the final margin is less than two-tenths of 1%, that requires counting again—and a longer wait. A recount when the first tally was delayed by a printer error? That’s a new one. “Hope for the best, plan for the worst—and, in the world of election administration, it’s a race that literally results in a tie,” Keisling tells WW. “Which is damn close to what’s happened in HD38. That will lead to an automatic recount for sure—but just when it will even start is still TBD, I suspect.” No database exists in the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office to record the longest duration between election night and the official declaration of a winner. So WW consulted several scholars of Oregon political history—Keisling,
pollster John Horvick, and Oregon Historical Society director Kerry Tymchuk—to identify the election results that kept people in suspense the longest. Here are five standouts, and how the 2022 Clackamas fiasco compares. AARON MESH.
1864 presidential election
4 days By Nov. 12, Oregon had reported official results from most of the state—including Clackamas County—that showed the reelection of President Abraham Lincoln. “Glory to God!” The Daily Oregonian rejoiced. “Lincoln elected!” Four days is not a long wait. “But interesting to see,” observes Horvick, “that Civil War-era Clackamas County was speedier and better organized than 2022 Clackamas County.”
1968 general election for U.S. Senate
45 days The longest wait we could find on the books: a statewide recount that vaulted then-state Rep. Bob Packwood (R-Portland) into the upper chamber of Congress at the expense of incumbent Sen. Wayne Morse (D-Ore.). In fact, Morse had to pay $30,000 for the recount, which still showed him trailing by 3,263 votes on Dec. 20. Even then, Morse refused to concede until after Christmas.
1992 Democratic primary for U.S. Senate 29 days
SEEING DOUBLE: Elections workers duplicate ballots by hand in Clackamas County.
U.S. Rep. Les AuCoin (D-Ore.) sought to vault into the Senate seat held by Packwood—but first he had to squeak by Bend tech entrepreneur Harry Lonsdale. AuCoin’s win was within the margin of error; a recount showed he won by 330 votes.
2000 presidential election
10 days “It wasn’t just close in Florida,” Horvick says of the George W. Bush-Al Gore nail-biter that made “hanging chads” a household phrase. By Nov. 17, The Oregonian reported, Gore’s margin of victory in Oregon had expanded to 6,700 votes, just outside the margin that would have triggered a recount. As Oregon goes, so goes the nation!
2014 Ballot Measure 92
36 days A ballot measure that would have required the labeling of all genetically modified foods set a record (since eclipsed) for the most expensive initiative fight in Oregon history. (Monsanto
THE BIG NUMBER
$250 Million
That’s how much pensioners in a regional carpenters’ union lost, thanks to fraud committed by a pension fund manager. Fortunately for Oregon members, the fund is getting some of the money back.
THE BACKGROUND
Oregonians live and work on a foundation built by members of the Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters. The organization represents 29,000 active members in five Northwestern states, including about 7,500 in Oregon.
THE MERGER
On July 1, 2021, the regional union announced the merger of pension and benefit trusts between its Oregon-Southwest Washington and Western Washington affiliates, effectively pooling all the money that employers pay into funds set aside for retirement and health care benefits for 40,000 active and retired members.
THE PROBLEM
In March 2020, according to written communication from the union’s national office to members, obtained by WW, pension and benefit funds for the Carpenters Trusts of Western Wash-
ington took a massive pre-merger hit in the stock market. The losses occurred more than a year before the merger, but many Oregon pensioners learned about it six months after the merger. “The losses total over $250 million or approximately 17% of the pension funds,” wrote Douglas J. McCarron, general secretary-treasurer of the national union in a Dec. 17, 2021, letter to local union members.
THE COVER-UP
That loss has not previously been reported in Oregon, perhaps because the losses preceded the merger and so didn’t directly hit Oregon members. Officials then leading the Pacific Northwest Regional Council guarded information about the fiasco closely, according to McCarron’s letter. “It was not until February 2021, almost a year after the losses occurred, that the executive secretary treasurer and the union trustees informed the members of the massive pension losses, and that was only after the general president informed them to do so,” McCarron told members. The regional council’s executive committee forced out leaders of the union because of the pension losses and several other alleged failures, including neglecting to obtain liability insurance to protect against the bad acts of fund
alone spent $4.6 million.) The measure was defeated by fewer than 800 votes out of 1.5 million cast. The narrow margin sparked an automatic recount and a lawsuit by the measure’s supporters seeking to reconsider more than 4,000 ballots invalidated for lacking proper signatures. Neither changed the result.
2022 Democratic primary for U.S. House
10 days Jamie McLeod-Skinner’s upset of seven-term incumbent Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.) looked likely after the first returns trickled in from Clackamas County. But Keisling shudders to think what might have ensued had a contest for national office been as close as past races. “Had this been an AuCoin vs. Lonsdale margin situation—with the screwup thus requiring the full period of time just to get a very close, ‘initial count’—then an automatic recount could well have taken us into late June, even early July,” he says.
managers. The regional union was placed under trusteeship last fall, which means the national union took over the Pacific Northwest Regional Council.
THE RESOLUTION
Last year, the carpenters sued Allianz Global Investors, the German fund management firm responsible for the pension losses. A subsequent federal investigation determined that Allianz managers suffered large losses when the stock market plummeted in March 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic. On April 14, 2022, the Northwest Carpenters Trusts notified members it had reached an agreement with Allianz that would allow it to “recoup 2020 investment losses.” Then, on May 17, the U.S. Department of Justice elaborated further. The DOJ announced the indictment of a senior Allianz fund manager on charges of “conspiracy, securities fraud, investment adviser fraud, and obstruction of justice offenses in connection with a scheme to defraud investors.” The announcement included notice that two of the indicted manager’s subordinates had agreed to plead guilty in the case. Allianz agreed to pay restitution to clients and fines and penalties of nearly $5.8 billion. That’s a benefit to all members but especially to those in Oregon and Southwest Washington, who’d seen their funds commingled with a very damaged partner. Jim Gleason, who was appointed supervisor of the regional council last November, says the union has recouped about $120 million from Allianz. “We hope to make up the losses over time,”Gleason says, “but there has been no reduction in pension payments.” N I G E L J AQ U I S S . Willamette Week JUNE 1, 2022 wweek.com
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pass joints not judgements!
NEWS
Happy PRIDE month from Gnome Grown
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A novel court case reveals yet another crisis in Oregon’s mental health system. BY N I G E L JAQ U I S S
njaquiss@wweek .com
A man referred to in court records as “R.T.” was well known to prosecutors in Lane County when they charged him with threatening two people with a knife on a Eugene street last November. Since 1986, R.T., 58, has been charged with crimes at least 34 times. Records show he suffers from serious, persistent mental illness. R.T. was charged three times in 2021 alone. All three cases were dismissed for the same reason: “The defendant is unable to aid and assist in his own defense,” wrote Lane County Circuit Judge Charles M. Zennache on Nov. 24, 2021. Defendants judged unable to aid and assist in their own defense are typically sent to the Oregon State Hospital. The state hospital’s 705 beds, however, are always full. With the charges against R.T. dismissed and no beds at the state hospital, officials tried a different tactic to get him help: A Lane County circuit judge civilly committed him for 180 days. But officials could not find a placement in the community, so they sent him to the psychiatric unit at Eugene’s PeaceHealth hospital. Records show he remained there for more than 100 days. The shortage of beds at the state hospital and community mental health facilities is a long-standing problem in Oregon—one that explains why at any one time dozens of Oregonians who may pose a danger to themselves and others are warehoused in hospitals ill-equipped to serve them. But in R.T.’s case, PeaceHealth decided to fight. In a highly unusual move, the hospital petitioned to force
the state to take responsibility for him. On Feb. 12, a Lane County judge found for PeaceHealth, citing the Oregon Health Authority’s “deliberate failure to make any placement decision.” PeaceHealth’s intervention and the judge’s ruling appear to be unprecedented in Oregon. “To my knowledge that has never happened before,” says Allison Knight, a Lane County public defender who represented R.T. in criminal cases. The decision could offer resolution for dozens of Oregonians each year who have been civilly committed then abandoned by authorities. “The failure to move people through and out of the state hospital is a big part of why the state is out of compliance” with court orders, says KC Lewis, director of the Mental Health Rights Project for the watchdog group Disability Rights Oregon. “What we’re seeing is the result of a lot of parts of the system not working properly.” In 2002, Disability Rights Oregon’s predecessor sued the state hospital for failing to accept people such as R.T. in a timely manner. Since then, those unable to assist in their own criminal defense cannot be held in jail for more than seven days while awaiting a hospital bed or other placement. For many people experiencing mental illness, the result is a revolving door: arrest, followed by a short stretch in jail and release to the streets. After R.T.’s third dismissal, officials pursued civil commitment. That’s a legal process in which a judge can make a person the responsibility of the Oregon Health Authority, which operates the Oregon State Hospital and oversees Oregon’s mental health sys-
FULL HOUSE: The Oregon State Hospital has a long list of people waiting to get in—and another of those ready for discharge.
“What we’re seeing is the result of a lot of parts of the system not working properly.”
tem. But with no beds free at the state hospital or in community settings, civilly committed patients often end up at hospitals. That’s why R.T. landed at PeaceHealth. His experience is relatively common: Administrators at both Providence Medical Group and the Unity Center for Behavioral Health in Portland recently told lawmakers their organizations have been routinely forced to accept patients that are the state’s responsibility. That ties up scarce beds and saddles the institutions with substantial costs. Melissa Eckstein, president of the Unity Center, which provides psychiatric services for four Portland hospital systems, says Unity is overwhelmed by patients who should be served by OHA. “Unity Center continues to have some of the highest numbers of civilly committed patients in our state,” Eckstein tells WW. “This is an important distinction, because while civilly committed patients are the smallest number of our admissions, they account for over 50% of our bed days.” Records show that Oregon courts grant about 550 civil commitments each year (out of about 7,500 requests). But the admittance of civilly committed patients to the state hospital has dropped precipitously. (Five years ago, about one-third of state hospital patients, or more than 200, were civilly committed. The current total is 16.) In a February motion to intervene in R.T.’s civil commitment case, PeaceHealth argued that OHA had a legal obligation to have R.T. “immediately placed at the Oregon State Hospital or a secured residential treatment facility.” Lane County Circuit Judge R. Curtis Conover agreed
warehousing R.T. at PeaceHealth was neither “medically appropriate or legally sufficient.” “PeaceHealth Behavioral Health Unit is an acute care psychiatric hospital with an approximate average length of stay of 10 days,” Conover wrote in his decision. “It is not designed for civilly committed individuals to live there for several months at a time, let alone 180 days, particularly when there is an urgent need for those beds.” The state appealed Conover’s ruling to the Oregon Court of Appeals. On March 14, that court affirmed his decision. Two days later, Steve Allen, director of behavioral health for the Oregon Health Authority, ordered Lane County Behavioral Health to find a community placement for R.T. immediately. Lane County placed him in a secured residential treatment facility in Multnomah County. PeaceHealth declined to comment on R.T.’s case but said the judge’s decision was appropriate. “Our medical centers provide essential acute care for the communities we serve, but they are not places for high-security, long-term residential care,” says Alison Taylor, a PeaceHealth spokeswoman. The case is already reverberating through Oregon’s mental health system. Soon after PeaceHealth won its case, Providence went to court and successfully made similar arguments for two civilly committed patients it was serving. Providence declined to discuss those cases but said in a statement that it should not be expected to serve patients civilly committed to state care. The hospitals argue, and the courts agree, that finding placements is the state’s legal responsibility—and OHA now has the money to make progress. Most people involved do not think the answer is more capacity at the state hospital. Advocates opposed the construction of the new state hospital in Salem and its satellite facility in Junction City a decade ago, arguing they were more expensive and less beneficial that community-based programs. There are 124 community-based residential behavioral health centers in the state with 986 beds, but they are almost always full. Funding for such programs has long been inadequate, part of why Oregon ranks near worst in the nation in terms of mental health services. In February, lawmakers asked the OHA’s Allen about the patient logjam. He attributed the problem to a lack of community placement resources. That exasperates Disability Rights Oregon’s Lewis, who applauded the Legislature’s decision in 2021 to allocate more than half a billion dollars in new spending on mental health services, only to see OHA “slow-roll” putting that funding to work. Lewis says Allen was, in effect, blaming county mental health authorities for failing to spend money OHA hadn’t given them. “Not having the resources is not an excuse for the state to violate the constitution by not timely serving patients,” Lewis says. “It’s incredibly frustrating that money hasn’t gotten spent when there are dozens of people languishing in jail waiting for mental health services.” Gov. Kate Brown’s spokesman Charles Boyle says she wants the money on the street. “It’s a priority for Gov. Brown to implement these programs as urgently as possible, and she and our office are engaged closely in this process,” Boyle says. On May 26, OHA announced a schedule for distributing the funds, some of which will go out immediately. OHA director Pat Allen attributes the delay to the need to hire 700 new employees and create systems so the money can be spent most effectively. Allen says it’s too soon to know how many new community beds the funding will create, but he’s optimistic: “The investments the Legislature made will be game-changing.”
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Please note, to attend the 2022 Oregon Country Fair you must provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination status and/or provide proof of negative COVID-19 lab test. Willamette Week JUNE 1, 2022 wweek.com
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NEWS C O U R T E S Y O F B E A T R I C E G I L M O R E ’ S F A M I LY
“I looked back and I saw a wall of water behind the car and I realized how close we were to being washed away.” Raceway sit today. Apartments floated off their foundations and cars rolled like bath toys. Gilmore, her family, and thousands of other Vanport residents grabbed a few belongings and fled for their lives. At least 15 people died. Gilmore went on to be the first Black graduate of the Oregon Health & Science University’s School of Nursing. The following is an excerpt from a 2015 interview with her, recorded by Sommer Martin as part of the Vanport Mosaic Oral History Project, facilitated by story midwife Laura Lo Forti. This is one of over 60 interviews collected since 2014, and is part of the “Lost City, Living Memories: Vanport Through the Voices of Its Residents” archive. The interview has been edited for length and clarity. My name is Beatrice Leola Gilmore. I lived in Vanport from 1944 to 1948, when the flood came. I’m originally from Louisiana. Tallulah, not very far from Vicksburg, Miss., across the river. Tallulah was a small town. Across the railroad tracks was the white population. And so, of course, we were on the other side. It was easy to leave Louisiana. It was my father’s idea. During World War II, the word got down South about other states where people needed labor. He heard about the Kaiser shipyard. They had advertised that they needed help all over the United States. So he decided he would drive to Portland.
GROUNDBREAKING: Beatrice Gilmore was the first Black graduate of Oregon Health & Science University’s School of Nursing.
Q&A: Beatrice Gilmore The last recollections of a woman who endured the Vanport Flood. BY B R I A N B U R K
and
SOMMER MARTIN
Last December, Beatrice Gilmore died at the age of 90. She left behind four children, eight grandchildren—and one of the most detailed accounts of surviving the 1948 Columbia River flood. That deluge in minutes destroyed Vanport, at one time the second-largest city in Oregon and home to Black workers who arrived to work 12
Willamette Week JUNE 1, 2022 wweek.com
in World War II shipyards. The catastrophe on May 30, 1948, is being commemorated at the Vanport Mosaic Festival, which continues through June 7. Born in Louisiana in 1931, Gilmore lived in Vanport with her parents and siblings. She was a high schooler when the rain-swollen Columbia burst through a railroad dike over Memorial Day weekend, filling the bowl where Heron Lakes Golf Course and Portland International
When we got to Portland, it was raining, and it seemed like it would never, ever stop. They had these houses—apartments, they called them. Three of us slept in one room, and my father and mother slept in another bedroom. So it was pretty close, but we got used to being there. I went to Roosevelt High School. By that time, I understood the really harsh segregation that was present in Oregon. There were stores that had signs in the doors: “No Negro served here.” But I went in anyway. It was like: This is right across the street, I’m gonna go in and get what I want. I spent a lot of my time figuring out of where I was gonna go—to either challenge the system, or just let things be. And so that was a big job for me in Portland. We had been anticipating that it might be a flood, because they were watching the dikes. There were dikes all around. Vanport was built in low land, and it was a flood zone. The Housing Department was making announcements about what the situation was. The day of the flood, the Housing Department had put notice under everybody’s door that it looked like the dikes were going to hold, and everybody could feel secure. We accepted that. The day of the flood? It was Memorial Day, a holiday. I was in the theater with a bunch of other kids, watching a movie. All of the sudden, one kid came in, ran up to the front, and said,
“The dike broke!” Everybody ran out of the theater. We lived within running distance of the theater, and I ran to our house. Tried to put some things together so we could get all in the car to get out. I remember my brother wanted to get his holster that had his little toy guns in them, and I remember my mother wanted to bring her sewing machine. I don’t know how she stacked it in the car. We got in the car and we were going up the hill. As the water was coming, we were driving as fast as we could. People were running and screaming, trying to keep up with their families and “where’s my kid?” and everybody was taking care of each other. I looked back and I saw a wall of water behind the car and I realized how close we were to being washed away. Everybody was helping everybody get up the hill. There were some people that didn’t make it. I remember I stood up with a whole crowd of people, looking at the flood just wash the housing units up and knowing that our possessions were gone. I think I ended up in the gymnasium of Jefferson High School, but I’m not sure. I don’t know if we ever fully recovered. It was so traumatic. We went to Guild’s Lake, which was a very muddy, wet part of town. We had two trailers. My mother and father were in one. I didn’t even know that much about what a trailer was. But they parked the trailers and it was low land. I remember there was just mud. My father was still working at the shipyard. Then my father found a house. I don’t know how he did it. But we moved onto Rodney Street, and that then was the end of our migration from this to that to the other. So I finished high school there. When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, it really did throw me back to the flood, and I knew how helpless those people felt. [pause] I think that was the first time I cried about what had happened to me. I thought: Here this many years have passed, and we are not taking care of them any better than they took care of people in Vanport. I felt that as a country we could have done better. They were in low land like we were. I didn’t as a child understand that, and I don’t know if they understood it either. In the years to come, I’d like to for people to remember that Vanport was an accidental experiment, because people of all nationalities were brought together, and they had things that they had to learn about each other, things that they needed to accept about each other. But the focus was that we were going to save America by building the ships. And they were proud to be able to build the ships. GO: The Vanport Mosaic Festival continues through Tuesday, June 7. Events include a bike tour of the Columbia River levees at 5:30 pm Thursday, June 2. For more information, visit vanportmosaic. org.
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team IT TAKES A
TO EARN AN MBA
2018 graduate Banning Hendriks knew he’d need an MBA to do his best work as Oregon Health & Science University’s new director of patient experience. His husband Chris Hamel was with him every step of the way. Earning an MBA is never a solo effort—especially for busy professionals. See if the Oregon Executive MBA in Portland is right for you and your family.
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Willamette Week JUNE 1, 2022 wweek.com
Five Portland artists explain what Pride means to them.
We have some people we’d like you to meet. They include the executive director of a zany theater company, a musician who mines My Little Pony for inspiration, a dancer in Lizzo’s orbit, a veteran of musical film parodies, and an acoustic mastermind whose work spans the chasm between hope and hopelessness. All five differ in terms of their backgrounds and artistic styles, but they are all storytellers in one form or another and prominent members of Portland’s LGBTQ+ community. For our 2022 Pride Issue of WW, we did something different: a package of stories about local LGBTQ+ artists—and how Pride is expressed through the sound, the movement, and the stories of their creations. Everyone interviewed was asked what Pride means to them. One word came up frequently: community. And if our roundup of local Pride events (page 25)—from
dance parties to drag brunches—is any indication, Portland’s LGBTQ+ community is as vibrant and vocal as ever. It’s easy to be pessimistic in a world where transphobic celebrities are coddled by companies like Netflix and Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill endures. But together, the artists in these pages offer visions of beautiful things that could be. Chris Pureka (page 23) says: “For me, a big part of Pride is feeling a sense of belonging and community. It is also a moment to celebrate and have gratitude for the very brave people who have, and continue to, open minds and doors and fight for equality for our community.” This issue is dedicated to the people who fight that fight with their art. —Bennett Campbell Ferguson, Assistant Arts & Culture Editor Willamette Week JUNE 1, 2022 wweek.com
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Vylet Pony, Music Maker
“I think being as loud as possible about queerness is important, year round.” @bromf3
In February of this year, internet music critic Anthony Fantano decided to give “I’ve Still Got Something to Teach You” by Portland artist Vylet Pony a listen on an episode of his online show The Needle Drop. Most viewers were initially knee-jerk dismissive before finding it impossible to deny the sweep and complexity of the seven-minute song. “The pony song slaps srry not srry,” went one comment. As Vylet Pony, 23-year-old Zelda Trixie Lulamoon has recorded and released a staggering amount of music, most of it rooted in the lore and fandom of the cult-classic animated series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. The show quickly became a phenomenon when it premiered on Discovery Family in 2010, attracting an audience far beyond its target demographic of young girls—and spawning a subculture of fervent fans. “The animation and character design is what got my attention; it’s all iconic, but what really made me fall in love with it was the music,” says Lulamoon. “It led me to watching the show and becoming acquainted with the openness and vulnerability of the stories and characters.” Most of Vylet Pony’s music is set in the MLP universe, either detailing the exploits of the show’s characters or featuring original ponies. Her albums often stretch well over an hour in length, united by brightly colored art of ponies, and a single song might toggle between dubstep, orchestral pop, punk rock, and ambient music in just a few minutes. Though fiction is the medium most commonly used by fans to invent new stories for their favorite characters, Lulamoon is not alone in setting the MLP universe to music. “In the MLP fandom, there’s an unfathomable amount of musicians and artists,” she says. (Indeed, the Ponies at Dawn label has put out 25 compilation albums consisting of several dozen pony-themed tracks each.) “I’m probably best at music, compared to any other creative medium,” Lulamoon says. “But I have all these stories and ideas I want to tell. Music is the carrier for all these concepts.” Lulamoon moved to Portland in 2019 but was born and raised in Daly City, Calif., just south of San Francisco. She first discovered internet fandom communities at age 10, gravitating toward Pokémon and furry fandoms before discovering MLP. “I often would visit smaller, community-led websites that nobody knew about and would talk to everyone in little Flash Chat rooms,” she says. After hearing the MLP song “This Day Aria,” from the 16
Willamette Week JUNE 1, 2022 wweek.com
EDEN LAING
BY DA N I E L B R O M F I E L D
2012 second-season episode “A Canterlot Wedding— Part 2,” she threw herself into both MLP fandom and music, spending nearly every moment of her free time learning about music production software and writing and recording songs. “Even during school, I would bring my laptop with me and work on stuff between classes,” she recalls. “I find it pretty easy to write lots of songs.” The MLP community was important to Lulamoon for another reason. She identifies as trans, lesbian and neurodivergent—and meeting other people on the internet from the same communities helped her understand and define her sense of self as she grew older. “Like a lot of internet fandoms, the MLP community attracted a very big queer and neurodivergent audience,” she says. “Being exposed to that was really important for my understanding myself better.”
Lulamoon’s headcanon—her self-invented ideas about the lore and characters of MLP, as opposed to the official “canon” established by Friendship Is Magic creator Lauren Faust—often takes on a queer angle. A page on her website is devoted to her argument that the character Trixie is transgender, citing her design resembling that of the stallions on the show more than the mares, among other possible clues. And then there’s her song “Lesbian Ponies With Weapons,” which frames the show’s party-loving character Pinkie as a queer anarchist revolutionary. “I think being as loud as possible about queerness is important, year round,” Lulamoon says. “Pride, to me, does a lot to reveal how much progress there still is to be made. We should celebrate each other and be proud to do so openly. But underscoring these things is that looming reality of how our world is widely hostile to queer people. So here’s to the fight. That’s Pride.”
Hot Seat: Donald Horn, Theater Icon
COURTESY OF DONALD HORN
The visionary behind Triangle Productions! reflects on his career and life. WW: I don’t think we’ve ever talked about where you come from. Donald Horn: I’m a farm boy at heart, so to do [theater] is kind of weird. I would slop the hogs—they were my friends. I had the pigs, my brother had the cows. I loved what I did. I also hated what I did. Now, [my siblings and I] were treated horribly. I have a book about this, and it’s called Crumbs of Love. We would be locked out of the house a lot of the time. My aunt, who became my stepmother, was pregnant with my dad’s child. The baby is born, and three days later, the baby dies, and she has to come home and diaper me. So there’s a lot of hate toward me. She was in depression. I get this now. She’s 92 years old now and I haven’t met her for years. So growing up, I always felt like I was not wanted. But I feel like what I do now is because I’m supposed to. And this feels right.
DON PATROL: Donald Horn.
BY BENNETT CAMPBELL FERGUSON
HORSE WHISPERER: Vylet Pony.
“I’m probably best at music, compared to any other creative medium. But I have all these stories and ideas I want to tell. Music is the carrier for all these concepts.”
@thobennett
Portland playgoers know Donald Horn—and his feet. During his decadeslong stewardship of Triangle Productions!, the theater company he founded in 1989, Horn has perfected his brand: brash, heartfelt plays, often focused on LGBTQ+ history. He has also cultivated a unique personal style, from his lustrous silver mane to his frequently bare feet. Whether dashing to his car or holding court at a performance of an original musical about Darcelle XV at Portland State University, Horn is rarely seen in shoes. It’s a choice, he says, that dates back to his childhood on a farm in Burns, Ore. “I think you have to be comfortable in your own skin,” he says. “And I’ve always enjoyed just being me. Own who you are. Don’t try to put anything in you that isn’t you.” Few people in Portland’s theater community own who they are like Horn does. Despite a staggering schedule—in addition to directing and running Triangle, he writes both plays and books—he has verve and vigor that belies his 67 years. Horn is currently preparing Mr. Madam—his one-actor play about Kenneth/Kate Marlowe, a real-life ’40s and ’50s drag performer who became a male madam and began transitioning at 50—and masterminding The Umbrella Project, an epic multimedia compendium of Oregon’s LGBTQ+ history that he estimates will be complete in 2024. In between rehearsals for Mr. Madam with star Wade McCollum (a veteran of TV, film and Broadway), Horn sat down with WW to discuss Pride, coming out, and a life in theater.
How did you discover that theater was your calling? When I was going through my first divorce, I was lonely and trying to find something, and I married my second wife. I started liking theater, not knowing why, but I missed it. I did get lead roles, I was in musicals, I had a blast. But then I got a divorce. And when I got the divorce, it was my coming out. And then I met Jeff at a bar. We didn’t see each other for six more months. I had his telephone number, I didn’t call him. I had children and I said: “I will never, ever have a revolving door. If I marry somebody, meet somebody again, it’ll be for life.” There’ve been some highs and lows, but for 36 years, we’ve stayed together. Why throw that away? You’ve talked about being taken aback when people respond positively to your work. I’m 67. I know my time is limited now. What’s 20 years? What’s 25 years? So, you know you have to look in the mirror. Somebody told me that once—they said, “Look in the mirror and love yourself first.” I’m here [at Triangle] at 5 in the morning, I’ll be here tonight. I believe in what I do. But I know there’s a time period when I’ll say, “Eff you. I’m done.” Because after a while, I have to have a life. But I’ll always love theater and probably always want to do theater. You’ve got to grab it when you can do it—and know when you have to let it go. What does Pride mean to you? It’s knowing yourself and then allowing yourself to be part of a community. Because then you find that you’re OK and you can contribute to the community. And then that becomes a bigger balloon, if you will, or bigger part of something. But if you’re insular, you don’t see that, because you’re not participating. I think Pride, to me, means that. SEE IT: Mr. Madam plays at Triangle Productions, 1785 NE Sandy Blvd., 503-239-5919, trianglepro.org. 7:30 pm Thursday-Saturday, 2 pm Sunday, June 9-25. $15-$35. 18+. Willamette Week JUNE 1, 2022 wweek.com
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Jayla Rose Sullivan, Dancer
A Portland burlesque legend discusses her journey to compete on Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls. BY A N D R E W JA N KOW S K I
Willamette Week JUNE 1, 2022 wweek.com
JAYLA ASCENDING: Jayla Rose Sullivan.
CONT. on page 23
18
For Sullivan, Pride is a time of love, freedom and acceptance, and a celebration of what LGBTQ+ people have overcome in their lives to be their truest selves. “Going through the year, I think Pride should be every single day,” she says. “But when you’re working 9-to-5’s or working in corporate America, you forget to celebrate yourself, and Pride gives you that excuse to take that moment of selfishness and just be like, ‘You know what, I’m here, I should be proud, I should be loud, I should unapologetically be myself.’ That’s the power of Pride, that overwhelming feeling of acceptance and love.”
C O U R T E S Y O F J AY L A R O S E S U L L I VA N
Lizzo stans learned earlier this year that Portland burlesque dancer Jayla Rose Sullivan would compete on the singer’s competitive reality series, Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls, which launched in March on Amazon Prime. Sullivan responded to an open casting call and was chosen as the series’ only transgender contestant. “Being a trans woman walking into a house with nine cisgender women, you don’t know how you’re going to be perceived, but for everyone to be completely on board and supportive and uplifting was the beauty of the whole project,” Sullivan tells WW. “Everyone from the production to the choreographers to the girls in the house, everyone just wanted everyone to succeed and feel comfortable.” Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls bucks tropes for female reality TV characters, showing a cast of professional dancers preparing for the biggest show of their careers, without overblown or artificially instigated conflict. Sullivan competed on reality TV in 2015, as part of the Caravan of Glam troupe for America’s Got Talent, and described the difference between those experiences and Big Grrrls as “night and day.” “Lizzo has been an advocate, not just for the gay community, but specifically for the trans community,” she says. “She’s been outspoken about [our] rights.” Sullivan’s story arc is central to Watch Out for the Big Grrrls’ overall plot. Without giving any spoilers, let’s just say she proves that self-love and self-acceptance have to be fought for daily, even when you get affirmations directly from pop’s reigning queen of self-esteem. “It’s really nerve-wracking…because I never saw myself represented ever growing up.” Sullivan says. “And it wasn’t later, until my adult life, where you started seeing openly trans women in the industry thriving, and you look up to that, and you hope that it helps to shift a dialogue. But to be in the middle of that dialogue? It’s surreal.” Sullivan has danced for Lizzo with her Big Grrrls Squad at such concerts as New York’s Global Citizen Festival and Miami’s Art Basel, but her favorite performance so far has been the season finale concert at Minneapolis’ Treasure Island Resort & Casino. Beyond life with Lizzo, her favorite performances have been all-ages events, such as a concert at OMSI before the pandemic. “It gets us out of bar settings and interacting with youth and parents and allies that want their kids to experience as much as they can, and know that just being yourself and different is OK,” she says. Sullivan came to Portland in 2011 from Buffalo, N.Y., where she taught dance and performed in studio settings. Originally a gymnast, she studied ballet, tap, jazz and hip-hop, but is best known for her jaw-dropping back flips and splits drops, often performed in small spaces like brunch restaurants.
Eventually, Sullivan met boylesque performer Isaiah Esquire at CC Slaughters and the now-closed local outpost of the bar chain Hamburger Mary’s. Esquire cast Sullivan regularly in his cabaret show BOYeurism, first billing her as the back-flipping queen viewers could see streaming on their screens. She was then cast in the Caravan of Glam alongside Esquire and his partner, Johnny Nuriel. Sullivan joins Esquire, Nuriel, and the voguing kiki House of Ada for a dance performance at the Portland Pride Festival’s main stage on Saturday, June 18. She will also return to her twirling roots at Bit House Collective’s weekend Diva Drag Brunch.
TO MAKE ROOM FOR OVER 450 RIDES, THE RECURRING RIDES ARE LISTED HERE
THURSDAY NIGHT RIDE
Salmon St Fountain, Meet at 7 p, ride at 7:30. TNR is a
year-round weekly (Thursdays)
social bicycle ride. Route varies between 10-17 miles, all through the city of Portland, & we roll at a social pace. T. J. B
SECRET ROLLER DISCO ♥ Check out
secretrollerdisco.org for our weekly location every Thursday night! 7 p - 9. Secret Roller Disco is a free, all-ages skating event with music & lights. All wheels are welcome! Secret Roller Disco
FRIDAY NIGHT RIDE AT LADDS Ladd Circle Park, in
and around circle. If raining, meet at covered area of Abernethy Elementary School at 7 p, ride 8. Join us every Friday. Some rides we will ride to other rides. Some rides we will have our own rides. Aw
PSU FARMERS MARKET RIDE ♥ SE Clinton St &
SE 41st Ave. Three meeting points: 10 a Clinton & 41 / 10:10 Clinton & 26 / 10:30 Tilikum Bridge at PDX Opera. ~10:35 leave Tilikum. Every Saturday. All-ages, all-abilities ride to the market. @hamiramani
LOOP THE BLOCKS ♥
North end of Portland Farmers Market, We’ll walk bikes to SW Park Ave & SW Market St to start if it is too crowded to ride. Gather before noon, roll & walk at noon. Every Saturday. 2 Miles. 4,000 steps. 20 minute bike ride. Meet your friends. Walk your alligator. Play with your kids. Cathy T
PDX COFFEE OUTSIDE
A Portland-area park, 9 a, Every Saturday. Bring coffee/ brew kit & treats to local park. Location announced on Instagram on Friday @pdxcoffeeoutside. Captain Caffeine
PORTLAND ON PEDALS
21+ Director Park, Meet by the fountain at 1:15 p, ride at 1:30 p. June 4, 18, Jul 2, 16, 30, Aug 13, 27. Easy paced every other Saturday afternoon ride exploring Portland neighborhoods. Great for someone new to Portland. Roy V
SUNDAYS ON GOING ♥
King School Farmers Market, Next to Biketown station at NE 6th Ave & NE Going St. Join BikeLoud PDX for a mini Sunday Parkways every Sunday this summer on the Going Greenway. Slow Roll at noon. Captain Kiel
FOSTER NIGHT RIDE
FoPo food carts, By the fire pit, Meet at 6:30 p, ride at 7:30. Every other Tuesday (June 14, 28, July 12, 26, Aug 9, 23) bike adventure, guest ride leaders come prepared for anything, have fun, pack out what you pack in, be kind to all travelers, 7-12mil no drop. Radrich
BLEEPS & BLOOPS
Normandale Park, In the shelter across from the dog park, Every other Wednesday: June 8, 22, July 6, 20, Aug 3, 17, 31. 6 p. We’ll warm up at the start point to get our bleep & bloops on, then ride off a musical flock of migratory soundbirds. Gordon & Mykle
JUNE 1 KICKOFF RIDE Laurel-
p, ride at 6:30 p. Learn how to get around long freight trains blocking your route in the Central Eastside. Not a loop, but ends near start. Josh
hurst Park, Gather near the bathrooms, Ride at 6 p. Volunteers will be selling Pedalpalooza merch from 5-5:45. You are encouraged to dress yourself & your bike up. Armando & Rudy
JUNE 8 ZWIFTAPALOOZA
Makuri Islands, Virtual ride on Zwift, Electric Loop, 1:30 p. A virtual group ride! Details on the digital calendar. Luke
SMASHING WESTWARD
The Fields Park, Departing from southwestern side of the park. Heading west on NW Overton St to NW 24th Ave, Leaving right after 6:45 p. This is a fast, drop, ride. This is your chance to cruise through Washtington Park & down Sunset Path to Beaverton Transit Center to meet up with the Westside Wednesday Ride. Cycle Cats
YEEZUS HAS RISEN!
WESTSIDE WEDNESDAY RIDE Beaverton Transit
birthdays! Katie MC
BIKE THE LEVEES
Delta Park MAX Station, Meet at 5:30 p for food & introductions, ride starts at 6. A tour of Portland’s flood protection system, & the history of the Vanport Flood of 1948. Register on the event
1599 N Fremont St, Meet on the grassy hill overlooking the park near the intersection of N Melrose Dr & N Overlook Blvd, Meet at 6:15 p, ride at 6:30 p. Concord & Greeley. Tom H
MIDDLE SCHOOL RIDE
Couch Park, 6:30 p. Dress like you did in Middle School. Bring money for a bubble tea. Sage C & Maja DK
SING-A-LONG RIDE
Irving Park, Meet at 7 p, ride at 7:30 p. It’s a sing-a-long ride. Submit your song requests. Naked Hearts:PDX
JUNE 3 PRIDE RIDE ♥ Shemanski
Laurelhurst Park, 7:30 p. Dress like a jock & celebrate the sports jams of the 90s and now! Brent & Teenage Dirtbag Bike Club
LIGHT BRIGADE: INNER CITY OMSI, Meet in the
courtyard by the main entrance, Meet at 8 p, ride at 8:30. Time for the 2nd edition of the Inner City
Shenanigans Ride. This time we start in the Central Eastside and head over to NW Portland. Scott B & Bike Fun Library
BIKE CLUB VEST HANGOVER 21+ Brooklyn City
Park, The playground, 9:30 p. It’s a bike ride with fun. This ride meant to give you a “reely bad” hangover before Chariot Wars. Bike Club Vest
JUNE 4 KID LED PRIDE PARADE
♥
Lewis Elmentary School, Meet at 10 a, march at 10:30. Honoring and supporting queer kids in Southeast Portland. Lewis Queer Student Allies & Parents
MBW CHARIOT WARS / BRUNCH Colonel
Summers Park, Brunch served next to the tennis courts, Brunch at 11 a, ride to Chariot
NE PDX, Meet at 7 p, ride at 7:30. 2S & LGBTQ+ adults who aren’t into the bar scene. Read bit.ly/PdxOpenLetter for community expectations. Thank you! PDX Non-Binary Collective
KNOW YOUR GREENWAYS 1 Overlook Park,
page. Aster M
JOCK JAMS RIDE 21+
ADOPTEES OF COLOR
Moore Alley between SE 35th Ave & SE 36th Ave, Meet at 6 p, ride at 6:30. Explore the interesting, quirky & fun things in Portland. Scott B & Bike Fun Library
Laurelhurst Park, North of the pond, Meet at 4:15 p, ride at 5. Let’s celebrate June
Park, 3-5 p. A family-friendly bicycle parade for Pride Month on World Bicycle Day hosted by celebrated drag queen Poison Waters! The Street Trust
20TH FILMED BY BIKE
PDX COOL STUFF! Moore Alley, Enter
JUNE 2 KATIE MC’S BIRTHDAY
JUNE 9 WORLD WITHOUT CARS Plaid Pantry, 2110 SE
♥ Family Friendly Wars at 1 p sharp. Potluck brunch. Ride takes you to topsecret Chariot Wars location. Prepare for battle! BYOB! Scooter McGee
LOWER SE RISING ROUTES Hampton
Opera House Plaza, East end of Tilikum Crossing, 12:15 p. Checkout possible future bike routes proposed by the Lower SE Rising project. Mark L
GET LOST! 21+ Old Velo
Cult parking lot, 1942 NE 42nd Ave, Meet in lot off NE 41st Ave at 2 p, ride at 2:30. Get Lost! is led entirely by chance. Dice are rolled to determine how many blocks to ride. Scott B & Bike Fun Library
TERRI’S NAKED DAY RIDE Coe Circle / Joan of Arc,
2 p. 7th annual ride honoring Terri Sue Webb, Oregon’s trailblazing body-freedom & naked cycling activist. PastTire & LooseNut
CIVIL UNREST BIKE CLUB Colonel Summers
Park, by the tennis courts, 3 p, roll out about 3:30. Ride with us on our monthly ride as we take over the streets of
Loop
COVID Safety Protocols
Portland. Party pace, no drop ride. Tink
ART BY MOLLY MENDOZA
LET ME BE PERFECTLY QUEER ♥
Ladd Circle Park, 7 p. Cow Funk-fun! Jef B
Eastbank Esplanade, 1945 SE Water Ave, aim for that address & gather in the gravel area off the main path, near Kerr Bike Rental, Meet at 11 a, ride at 11:20 a. Bring the whole fam and your pride flags. Read bit.ly/PdxOpenLetter to understand community expectations. Thank you! PDX Non-Binary Collective
JUNE 5 TEAM NPF CYCLE ♥
LAURIE ANDERSON RIDE Solar System
POPCARTPDX RIDE N’ RAVE Colonel Summers
Park, tennis courts, 6:30 p gather, 7 ride, 8 end. Slow 3-5 mile group ride with one stop for libations & a pop up dance party at the end. instagram. com/popcart. PopCartPDX
THE PHISH RIDE
Riverview Park, 50 C St, Independence, OR 97351, Reg opens at 6:30 a, 62-miler departs 7:30 a, others after. 8, 26, and 62 mile rides to benefit the National Psoriasis Foundation. Gavin J
FTW WEBIKE CAMPING INFO Mount Scott Park,
We’ll try to snag one of the picnic tables on the south end of the park along SE Knight St by SE 73rd Ave, 10 a. Femme, trans, women: learn all about bike camping gear, area campgrounds, routes, & more! No experience necessary. Madi C & The Street Trust
Stage, 5715 SE 84th Ave, Near SE 82nd Ave & SE Foster Blvd, meet in the backyard, at 2 p, leave at 3, back by 7. Celebrate Laurie Anderson’s 75th birthday with a ride of 4 hours of her music; Lents to downtown & back. Matthew M
THE HOCKEY RIDE 2.0
Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Meet in front/under covered area, 3 p. Wear a hockey jersey/bring out ya hockey stick if ya have one. Some sticks will be provided. Bike around & play hockey. Aaron & Derrick
SITH. LORD. VADER. SQUAD Irving Park,
4:30 p. Join the S.L.V.S. for their 11th birthday! Royal
CARGO-PALOOZA!
Splendid Cycles, 5 p meetup, ride at 5:30. For cargo bikers & the cargo-curious! Chill 5mi ride to Skidmore Bluffs. All bikes welcome! Zack (Pizza Bikes)
JUNE 6 FANCY MONDAYS PICNIC
Colonel Summers Park, Meet by the fountain, 6 p, ride at 6:30. Not Casual Fridays Fancy Mondays! Don your fancy duds for an easy, slow ride of 3-6 miles with a BYO picnic at the end. Anomalily & Sabrina
AMINÉ RIDE Ladd Circle Park, Meet in the middle park, at 7 p, ride at 7:30. Let’s celebrate one of Portland’s most talented artists, Aminé, by listening to their music and riding bicycles. Luke & Jordan JUNE 7 WRONG SIDE OF THE TRACKS Clinton St/SE 12th
Ave MAX Station, Meet near the Biketown hub, Meet at 6
IT’S ALWAYS SUNNY
21+ Ladd Circle Park, 5:30 p. Don your silliest Always Sunny & beat Boggs together. Tracksuit Kyle
Laurelhurst Park, We will be meeting in the field by Firwood Lake & the building with a stage in front of it, Meet at 5:45 p, ride at 6. Our Lord & Savior Yeezus has risen! Come celebrate the voice of a generation as we perform a pilgrimage thru Portland! Tomek
21+ Irving Park, By the tennis courts, Meet at 6 p, ride at 6:15. This ride is for adoptees of color to connect, share space, & enjoy riding bikes together! ~7.5 mile loop, chill pace. We’ll stop at food carts for food & drinks! Katy, Molly, & Whitney
Center, Across the street from the MAX station, Leaving about 8:30 p. We’re going into Portland to meet up with the Kickoff Ride. Lights, good spirits, & helmets are encouraged. Route follows Fanno Creek Trail & Portland Greenways. Cycle Cats - Rudy
JUNE 10 FILMED BY BIKE RIDE
Clinton Street Theater, Meet at 5 p, ride at 5:30. The Street Trust’s annual group ride to Filmed by Bike opening night. Madi C & The Street Trust
Powell Blvd, 4 a. Peacefully cruise Portland’s streets with not many cars in sight. We’ll head for a coffee place once traffic kicks in. Sky
DRT SOCIAL
Splendid Cycles, So many cargo bikes, 4 p. Disaster Relief Trials Supply Runners + their supporters are invited to Splendid Cycles for snacks & strategy! Disaster Relief Trials Portland
TMNT
Sewallcrest Park, By the tire swing in the shade, Meet at 4:30 p, ride at 5. Going to destroy the evil foot clan and eat some pizza and I’m all out of pizza dude! Feeder ride from SE to TNR. Cowabunga! Radrich
NEW TO PORTLAND RIDE! Salmon St Fountain,
Meet & intro at 5:30 p, ride at 6. New to Portland? Is this your first Pedalpalooza? WELCOME! Join Pedalpalooza organizers for a casual, nodrop ride to meet other first time Pedalpaloozers. Meghan S & William H
SKETCHBOOKS IN PARKS ♥ Irving Park, Dog
park, Meet at 6 p, ride at 7. Calling all people who love to draw! Bring your sketchbook & let’s draw people (& dogs!) in parks. Sarah M
♥
Hollywood Theatre, 7 p, Box office opens 1 hour before showtime. Come celebrate & watch a collection of the world’s best bike movies. Tonight is our kickoff of the three-day festival. Filmed by Bike
INTOXIGAYTED 21+
MIDNIGHT MYSTERY RIDE Laurelhurst Park,
Eastside of pond, At midnight, we ride. Follow a new leader from a different park every month to a mystery destination. MMR rides the 2nd Friday of every month, all year long. Team Midnight
JUNE 11 B ON B AT DRT Cully
Park, 9 a. B on B will be at the Disaster Relief Trials serving free coffee & goodies. Sergeant Strudel
DISASTER RELIEF TRIALS
Cully Park, 10 a - 5. A disaster relief drill in the form of a cargo bike competition simulating a day 4 supply run for neighbors in need. Disaster Relief Trials
OVERLOOK RIDE ♥
Stacks Coffeehouse, Meet at 10 a, leave around 10:10 a. Converse about transportation-related issues & solutions as well as the future of getting around in Overlook. A great opportunity to meet & chat with neighbors. Nic C
♥DISCGO
Ladd Circle Park, In the middle, Meet at 11 a, ride at noon. Disc golf & bikes, no experience necessary, mostly short range shots. Ben & Khan
♥ALCOHOL-FREE (AF)
RIDE Piccolo City Park, Meet at 2 p, ride by 2:30. Sober, alcohol-free, & sober curious folx are invited to join this ride. Amy A 20TH FILMED BY BIKE
♥
Hollywood Theatre, 5 p, Box office opens 1 hour before showtime. Come celebrate & watch a collection of the world’s best bike movies. 2 film programs. Filmed by Bike
NEVERNUDES RIDE
Couch Park, Meet on the paved area on the west side of the park, Meet at 6:30 p, ride at 7. Don your finest jorts & join dozens of us to celebrate the nevernude lifestyle! Glameron
A special thanks to our sponsor, Legacy Health-GoHealth Urgent Care, for putting this calendar in your hands
ADVERTISEMENT Willamette Week JUNE 1, 2022 wweek.com
19
Colonel Summers Park, 7 p gather, 7:30 rollout, one stop & end spot around 9 p to late. Hey shes, theys & gays! LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, allies & accomplices, let’s ride proud for the second annual Rainbow Ride! Sumi M
YOUR BURFDAY RIDE ♥
UNDERGROUND RAVE RIDE NE
SUNSET/MOONRISE RIDE Grant Park, Meet at the
RAINBOW RIDE!
Senate St & NE Hassalo St, On the south side of the I-84 sound wall, 7 p. Come get your underground rave on at a bunch of weird industrial spaces you’ve always wanted to throw a party at! Deadletter
FBB STREET PARTY!
See our website for details, 8 p. Filmed by Bike Street Party is back to celebrate our 20th Anniversary! Filmed by Bike
JUNE 12 JUNE BIKELOUD RIDE TO GOING Oregon Park, NE
Oregon St & NE 30th Ave, Meet at 11 a, ride at 11:30. Ride with us to Portland’s People Powered Block Party on Going. Paul B
FBB FILMMAKER RIDE ♥
Woodlawn Park Amphitheater, NE Dekum St & NE 13th Ave, Amphitheater is on the north end of the park along Claremont Street, near the school. If it’s rainy, we’ll be under the bridge, 11:30 a. A Filmmaker Q+A on Wheels with visiting filmmakers! Tickets required - see website. Filmed by Bike
(HULA) HOOP RIDE Laurel-
Irving Park, East of b-ball courts, Meet at 6:30 p, ride at 7 p. Happy Birthday to everyone! This ride is to celebrate you & is wholesome AF! Bday cards, balloons, presents, & more. Wendy M Beverly Cleary Sculpture Garden, Meet at 8 p, depart at 8:30 p. Sunset ain’t gonna wait for us. 5mi not-a-loop ride to mystery destination to see sunset & moonrise. Lights/layers recommended. Pizza Bandit
STRAWBERRY MOON NAKED Skidmore Bluffs, 9 p.
Moon the Moon on the first of three Full Moon Naked Rides this summer! PastTire & LooseNut
JUNE 15 MIDWEEK GORGE RIDE/ CAMP In Gresham, register to
get start point, 9 a. 25-40 mi ride along Historic Columbia River Hwy, optional overnight camping. Registration required. Shawn G
BIKES ON BUS RACK Brooklyn City Park, Meet at the picnic table along SE 10th Ave (cross street is SE Haig St), 11 a. Let’s practice putting our bikes on the bus! Multi-modal bike+bus trips open up a world of possibilities. Madi C & The Street Trust
“BOURBON TRAIL” RIDE 21+
hurst Park, We’ll find a spot south of the blue-green building. Look for the bikes & hoops!, Meet at 1 p to hoop, ride at 1:4. Hoop then ride to Irving Park & hoop some more! Chezz
Tough Luck Bar, Meet at 4 p, ride at 4:30. This is an intro to whiskey ride where learning & tasting meets bike fun! Read online for way more deets. Moriah (Mo)
D&D&D: PERIL ON THE WILLAMETTE Elizabeth
Piccolo City Park, Meet at 6:15 p, ride at 6:3. The 20s South & 19th Avenue. Tom H
Caruthers Park, 1 p. Dungeons & Dragons & Derailleurs returns for a second year as an epic summer-long campaign. In this first installment, something or someone is corrupting the Kingdom of Portland’s water supply, & brave adventurers are needed to make things right! PDHex Team
CORVIDAE BC Peninsula Park,
Meet at the fountain or gazebo (weather-dependent), Meet at 2 p, roll out at 2:45. Second Sunday Funday! Each month led by a different member. We try to focus our rides on greenways, group etiquette & silliness. Corvidae BC
SWIFT HILL SUMMIT KILL
Southwestern corner of Powell Butte, Springwater Trail & SE 145th Ave, No, you won’t be climbing Powell Butte for the challenge!! 3 p, Roll to hill at 3:10. Swift Summit NW & Hill Killerz have collaborated on a type two hill repeat challenge for ya’ll! Trevor & Maria
20TH FILMED BY BIKE
Hollywood Theatre, 4 p, Box office opens a half hour before showtime. Come celebrate & watch a collection of the world’s best bike movies! Filmed by Bike
JUNE 13 NW PDX KIDS RIDE ♥ Couch
Park, At the playground, 4:30 p, Ride at 5. Head to Wallace Park & end up at Fields Park. Bring a picnic dinner. All ages welcome! Sky
N MISSISSIPPI AVE & KENTON MURALS New Sea-
sons, N Williams Ave & N Fremont St, Meet by the front entrance at 5:45 p, ride around 6:15. Time for a Kenton and Mississippi mural ride - come & join us! Scott B & Bike Fun Library
TRAIL MIXED RIDE
Ladd Circle Park, Meet in the middle of the circle, Meet at 6 p, ride at 6:30. Trail Mixed is a collective for empowering women of color in outdoor sports. This ride is for women, trans women, & non-binary people who feel an affinity with women, & are non-white. Andrea
JUNE 14 FULL MOON NAKED RIDE 21+ Colonel Summers
park, Meet at 7 p, ride at 7:30. Naked Hearts:PDX
KNOW YOUR GREENWAYS 2
FUNKY TO FUNKY RIDE
Irving Park, Meet at 7 p, ride at 7:30. The grove is deep and groove is funky. Naked Hearts:PDX
WESTSIDE WEDNESDAY RIDE 21+ Orenco Station, 6199
NE Alder St, Hillsboro, NE Century Blvd & NE Alder St by the field. Look for lights, Leave time is in relation to people making the start point. Roughly 8:30 p roll out. This route is a bit longer so we may not make it to B.T.C. at 10 p, but should be there by 11 p. Faster pace ride. There will be at least one store stop. Cycle Cats
JUNE 16 HORSE RING RIDE Laurelhurst
Park, Meet at grassy middle near bathrooms, Leave at 5:30 p, end at 7:30. We will attach toy animals to horse rings around town. This ride used to be named pony ride. This ride ends at TNR. Joe L
BIKE PLAY
Capitalism (SW entrance to the Lloyd Center), Meet in front of Capitalism Fountain, Meetup at 6:30 p, ride & show begin right at 7. Half ride/half original play. Full of bike crashes, bike races, sweet dance moves, & clandestine love. Bike Play
JUNE 17 26″ OR DIE! The Fields Park,
Look for other people with bikes! Meet at 6 p, ride leaves promptly at 6:15 p. 26″ gravel/off-road ride through Forest Park! Ends at Pirates Cove for hitting jumps & hanging out! Nicholas S
BIKE PLAY
TALKING HEADS RIDE
Ladd Circle Park, Meet at 7:30 p, ride at 8. Come have a once-in-a-lifetime experience taking a ride to nowhere with some slippery people. By the end of the night we’ll be dancing! River Phlows
LIGHT BRIGADE: OUTER PDX
Yard at Montavilla, NE 82nd Ave & NE Davis St, Meet in the food cart pod - Bring funds if you want to eat, Meet at 8 p, ride around sunset (8:45 pish). Time for the 1st Outer PDX Light Brigade Ride! Scott B & Bike Fun Library
JUNE 18 FOLDING BICYCLE SUMMIT
UFB HQ, 7933 SE 15th Ave, Around back - driveway on SE Miller St, 11 a to 1 p. Learn what’s new in emerging technology in the folding bike world at Len Rubin’s Ultimate Folding Bicycle workshop. Leonard R
LIVE FREEWAYS GOES WILD! 21+ Parkrose/Sumner TC,
Meet at 11 a, ride after the 11:33 Red Line MAX train. Ride along freeway shoulders in Clark County open to bicycles with a route to Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge. Bureau of John R
BICYCLE KITTY ALLEY CATTY 21+ Brentwood City Park,
Picnic tables on south side of park, 1 p, Meet at 1 p, ready-set-go at 1:30 p. Ride slowly or race quickly to gather visual clues to win bragging rights & small prizes or just for fun. Maria
EARTHLAB’S TOUR DE BREW! 21+ EarthLab Liba-
at 11. Short ride, will end near lots of food options. Not a loop. @dudeluna
SUNDAZE PART 1
Irving Park, Under trees north of the tennis courts, Meet at 11:30 a, ride at 12:30 p. Ride to a beach for the day & back into town. BYOB. Mitchi M
PENNY SMASHER RIDE! Washington Park MAX
Station, Meet at the top of the elevators, Meet at 1 p, ride at 1:30. Ride bikes & smash pennies! We’ll check out a few local penny smashing machines. Bring your quarters & pennies! Becky
SKA BIKE RIDE!
Irving Park, Meet over by the tennis courts, 5 p. Nick
BIKE PLAY
Capitalism (SW entrance to the Lloyd Center), 913 NE Multnomah St, Meet in front of Capitalism Fountain, 6:45 p, Meetup at 6:30 p, ride & show begin right at 7 p. Half ride/half original play. Full of bike crashes, bike races, sweet dance moves, & clandestine love. Bike Play THINGS WILL HAVE CHANGED SINCE THE PRINTING OF THIS CALENDAR. FIND THE FULL LIST OF BIKE RIDES FOR JUNE, JULY & AUGUST ALONG WITH MUCH MORE DETAIL FOR EVERY RIDE ONLINE.
https://bit.ly/ shift2bikes
Square, Meet by the red sculpture, 2 p. Time for the yearly Splish Splash ride through Portland’s Pearl & Downtown fountains. Scott B
DAFT PUNK RIDE 21+ Somewhere in SE, Ride at 7 p. Jam out to Daft Punk deep cuts then join LCD Soundsystem Ride for live DJ dance party. Logan V LCD SOUNDSYSTEM RIDE 21+ Irving Park, Listen
for the music, Meet at 6:15 p, ride at 7 p. That’s how it starts. Groove to deep LCD cuts & ride to the combo ride with Daft Punk. Where are your friends tonight? Jesse
BIKE PLAY
Capitalism (SW entrance to the Lloyd Center), Meet in front of Capitalism Fountain, Meetup at 6:30 p, ride & show begin right at 7. Half ride/half original play. Full of bike crashes, bike races, sweet dance moves, & clandestine love. Bike Play
BITCOIN & CRYPTOCURRENCY 21+ Ladd Circle
Park, Meet at 6:45 p, ride at 7:30 p. Before & during our ride, talk about BTC, ETH, alt coins, & mining. Debate the value of blockchains vs. bicycle chains. Al S
JUNE 20 FANCY MONDAYS PICNIC
Colonel Summers Park, Meet by the fountain, Meet at 6 p, ride at 6:30 p. Not Casual Fridays - Fancy Mondays! Don your fancy duds for an easy, slow ride of 3-6 miles with a BYO picnic at the end. Anomalily & Sabrina
VEGAN PICNIC RIDE Colonel Summers Park, Meet at 6 p, ride at 6:30 pish. Let’s ride bikes & eat all the best vegan yummies! Vegan Bike Club SOLSTICE RIDE 21+ People’s
Food Co-op, Ride at 8 p. Sunset to sunrise: Let’s crank into summer on shortest night of the year! Mr.Friday
JUNE 21 SOLSTICE SUNRISE YOGA
Mt Tabor, SE 63rd Ave & SE Lincoln St, Top & center grassy area, 5 a, We will ride up at 5AM, practice yoga until 7AM. Join us for a sunrise ride & 108 sun salutations. Valerie B
SUNRISE COFFEE ON TABOR
Mt Tabor, Enter on SE 69th & head left (south) to east side picnic tables, 5:15 a, Sunrise is at 5:22AM. Celebrate the Longest Day of the Year with a Solstice Sunrise Coffee on Mount Tabor. BYO Coffee brew gear. Michael M
HIGH-VIZ / BRIGHT RIDE 21+ Ladd Circle Park,
Ride will leave by 7:35 p. Bright colored clothes & reflective gear is the name is this party ride to the sunset. Bring lights & sound! Prizes for brightest rider. Jack
PLEIN AIR NO CARES RIDE ♥ Collage, Meet at
FELINE THE PURR-RIDE
REFLECTIVE RIDE 21+
REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE NAKED RIDE 21+ Irving Park,
Ladd Circle Park, Leave at 7:30 p. Blinding glory is us! From Ladd’s Addition to sunset at the park at 9 p. Were we go from there is yet unknown! Jaco M
JUNE 19 FATHER’S DAY RIDE ♥
Laurelhurst Park, Between pond & bathrooms, Meet at 10:30 a, ride
10:45 a, ride at 11. Pack up your painting supplies & join us for a lovely ride to a picturesque painting spot!! Carla B
Meet at 7 p, ride at 7:30. This ride celebrates BODY SOVEREIGNTY (specifically, Reproductive Justice!). Body paint, a powerful pro-feminist playlist, dance breaks, GODDESS RITUALS, & transformation. Naked Hearts:PDX
SYNC IT! Woodstock Park,
45°28′58.0″N 122°36′50.7″W,
ADVERTISEMENT 20
Willamette Week JUNE 1, 2022 wweek.com
ACOUSTIC JAM RIDE
Kenilworth Park, Meet at 6 p to hang and pre-jam, roll out at 6:30 p. This is for amateur musicians & music lovers to play. Bring your instrument, chords for sharing, & a picnic blanket! Bee & Friends
KNOW YOUR GREENWAYS 3 Piccolo City Park, Meet at
6:15 p, ride at 6:3. The 20s North & 30s. Tom H
PERREO BIKE RIDE Civic Center Hillsboro, 150 E Main St, Hillsboro, Meetup 6:30 p, rideout 7 p. Second annual ride with DJs. This is a BIPOC ride only. Goodkidripcity ERASURE 80S/90S DANCE Irving Park, Meet at 7
p, ride at 7:30 p. Some Erasure and contemporaries. Naked Hearts:PDX
JUNE 23 ECSTATIC DANCE RIDE! Peninsula Park, 6 p meetup, warmup, yoga, 6:30 Opening Circle, 6:45 we ride. A conscious dance-party ride! Kalyana
DRUM N BASS RIDE
Capitalism (SW entrance to the Lloyd Center), 913 NE Multnomah St, Meet in front of Capitalism Fountain, Meetup at 6:30 p, ride & show begin right at 7. Half ride/half original play. Full of bike crashes, bike races, sweet dance moves, & clandestine love. Bike Play
Vera Katz statue, SE Salmon St & Eastbank Esplanade, Meet at 7:30 p, ride at 8 p. “Calling all queer cats, cat girls & cool cats. Bring out your pride flags, kitty ears, animal print & tails for this one. Read this meow bit.ly/PdxOpenLetter to understand community expectations.” PDX Non-Binary Collective
Center, Meet by the fountain, Meet at 5:30 p, ride just after 6 p. Time for the 2nd Mystery Ride - Bring yr curiosity & let’s find something NEW! Scott B & Bike Fun Library
RIDE Irving Park, Meet near the bathrooms in the middle, 6:15 p, Ride at 6:45. A ride to Rocky Butte for a picnic with the best sunset view in the city! Dance party after. Check listing for details. Logan V
SPLISH, SPLASH! ♥ Jamison
Covenanthurst Park, You’ll have to ride around and find us. You’ll know when you do, 2 p. Community Supported Brewing folks lead a Wandering Brew Ride. Bring a cup & something delicious to share. Irreverend
JUNE 22 MYSTERY! INNER CITY Moda
ROCKY BUTTE SUNSET
tions, Grab a beer from the big box truck! Meet at 2 p, ride at 2:45 p. Rolling to four food cart pods for bevs, snacks, & good times! Dan
WANDERING BREW RIDE
Meet between the old fountain by the playground & SE 47th Ave, at 7 p, sync up & ride at 7:30. You love rides with music but you hate too many musics all at once? Us too. One playlist, many speakers, we can do it. MJ
Powell Park, Meet in the middle near the baseball backstop, 8 p, Ride at 8:30 p. Ride into the night and respectfully shake the ground with mobile sound. Dance party at the end. Eric P
JUNE 24 BREAKFAST ON THE BRIDGES Steel Bridge,
Hawthorne Bridge, & Tilikum Crossing, Steel: east side of the lower deck; Hawthorne: west side; Tilikum: west side under the 99 red balloons statue, 7 a to 9 a. Free coffee & goodies to people biking & walking across three of Portland’s bridges. Major Muffin
PBOT SIGNALS & BIKELOUD POLICY RIDE Director
off. DJ, Dancing, & Debauchery encouraged. There will be prizes. Bad B!tch B!ke Club
JUNE 25 THE SKINNY CENTURY #7 Irving Park, 8 a. 7th year in
a row. Comprised of five clothing optional rides spread over eight hours, traveling a metric century. PastTire & LooseNut
SKYCLAD MORNING RIDE
Irving Park, 8:15 a. Opening leg of the 7th Annual Skinny Century (100 Km, sans clothing). PastTire & LooseNut
BUFF RIDE 2 WESTMORELAND Irving Park, 10 a.
2nd leg of the 7th Annual Skinny Century (100 km. buck naked). PastTire & LooseNut
DEAD FREEWAYS RIDE Start location revealed after registering, it will be in/near downtown, 11 a. 15mi not-a-loop ride exploring Portland’s’ highway history, incl. Mt Hood Fwy & Harbor Dr. Registration required. Shawn G HALLOWEEN RIDE! Holliday
Park, 1 p. Costume up! We’re playing Halloween in June for some super season fun. Sin Cero
WINTER HOLIDAYS IN JUNE
Holladay Park, Meet at 1 p, ride at 1:30, end ~3. Celebrate winter holidays with costumes & music in the middle of summer.. Of course! Yes!! Al S.
SUNNIE DAE NEKKID West-
moreland Park, SE 22nd Ave & SE Rex St, 1:30 p. 3rd leg of the 7th Annual Skinny Century (100 km. buck naked). PastTire & LooseNut
WEIRD PORTLANDFAMILIES! ♥ The Cart
Blocks, 770 W Burnside St, Meet at 1:30 p, ride just after 2 p Time for the 1st Weird Portland United Ride - join us & find the Weirdness! Scott B, Weird Portland United & Bike Fun Library
FIG LEIF RIDE Wallace City Park, 4 p. Up Leif Erickson’s 4th Leg of his 7th Annual Skinny Century. PastTire & LooseNut
BAD B!TCHES B!KE
CLUB 21+ Laurelhurst Park, In the middle, Arrive by 8:30 p, we will 100% leave at 9. 1st stop, RuPaul style performance contest. 2nd stop will have a Vogue femme battle. Last stop is a team freestyle dance
JUNE 28
HEAT WEEK BIKE RIDE Lents Park, SE 92nd Ave & SE Holgate Blvd, Meet at 5 p, ride at 5:30 p. Last year’s heat unequally affected Portlanders & this ride shows why! Followed by snacks & action with 350PDX. Brenna B & 350PDX INN BETWEEN RIDE #1 21+
Bear Paw Inn, 3237 SE Milwaukie Ave, Meet at 6:30 p, ride at 7 p. Bars named “inn” via in-between spaces. Not a loop, ~9 mi. Bring $ for drinks/food. SE ride; see #2 & #3 for others. Josh
TAYLOR SWIFT RIDE 21+
Laurelhurst Park, Meet between the restrooms & pond in the northern part of the park, Meet at 6:30 p, ride at 7 p. Are you exhausted by life & just need to Shake it Off? Come join us for the first annual T. Swift Ride! Amy & Amanda
VAMPIRE & WEREWOLVES
Irving Park, Meet for 7 p, ride at 7:30 p. Mystical fairies & the hidden woodland folk. Naked Hearts:PDX
JUNE 29 BIKES ON BUS RACK Brooklyn City Park, Meet at picnic table along SE 10th Ave (cross street is SE Haig St), 11 a. Let’s practice putting our bikes on the bus! Multi-modal bike+bus trips open up a world of possibilities. Madi C &The Street Trust
KNOW YOUR GREENWAYS 4
LOUD N LIT Irving Park, At top
Blocks, Meet in the North Park Blocks on the grass, on the north side of NW Davis St, Meet at 5:45 p, ride at 6 p sharp. The IWW, Black Panthers, John Reed, Marie Equi, Ruth Barnett, Kent Ford...PDX’s radical history is 100+ years strong. Ted L
6 p. A series of short histories, placed in context, about a few of the worst namesakes of the streets we ride on. Terry D-M
GALATIC DISCO Colonel Summers Park, South, near fountain, Meet at 6 p, ride at 6:30. Greetings, Groove-o-Nauts! Embark on a far out space mission with bumpin’ disco beats. Costumes advised! Captain Goldilost
BIKE PHOTOSHOOT Ladd Circle Park, 4:30 p - 7 p. We will be taking photos for 2.5h at Ladd Circle. Stay a while or just stop by. Creativity is encouraged. @no. lens.cap (Eric)
PORTLAND RADICAL HISTORY North Park
JUNE 27 COLONIALISTS WE RIDE ON Chapman Square, Leave at
MURALS ON ALBERTA
NAKED SILENCE Wallace City
Fountain, Meet at 5 p, ride at 5:30 p. Join Better Block PDX to hear the project history & enjoy the beautiful new bikeway! Gwen S
VEGAN TOUR Vegan Mini Mall, SE Stark St & SE 12th Ave, Meet in front of the shops. If there are more than a dozen or so people, we might shift to the park across the street, Meet at 2 p, ride at 2:30 pish. We’ll ride around the east side of Portland to visit several vegan businesses & end at a cart pod for dinner. Vegan Bike Club
ROSES & ROSÉ Peninsula Park, Meet at the south end of the park, near the rose garden, Meet at 5:30 p, ride at 6. Hey Rose City! Grab that chilled bottle of rosé, throw on some floral threads & let’s petal-palooza! Jordan & Greg
Park, Gather at 12:45 p, ride at 1 p. Learn how the city comes to light from Peter Koonce, PBOT’s Principal Engineer for Signals & Lights. Cathy T
BETTER NAITO FOREVER Salmon St
bike? I meant canoe. BYOCanoe. Whitney & Bootsie
Park, 2569 NW Pettygrove St, 6 p. 5th Leg of the 7th Annual Skinny Century. A silent ride remembering fallen cyclists. PastTire & LooseNut by bathrooms, Meet at 8 p, ride at 9 p. Thee loudest & most lit ride of Pedalpalooza. Expect fun party ride pace, & be ready to good times at end spot with music. Sysfail
JUNE 26 BIKELOUD WEST SUNDAY PARKWAYS ♥ Director Park,
Gather at 10:45 a, leave at 11. Join the members of the Westside chapter of BikeLoudPDX to ride to the Sunday Parkways event in the Northeast Cully neighborhood! During the ride, we will discuss any updates regarding BikeLoudWest. Holden R
PORTLAND SUNDAY PARKWAYS ♥ Northeast
Cully Neighborhood, NE 42nd Ave & NE Alberta Ct, 11 a - 4 p. Sunday Parkways presented by Kaiser Permanente in NE PDX! Come celebrate in the streets! portland. gov/sunday-parkways. Portland Sunday Parkways
PADDLECANOOZA
Cathedral Park Boat Launch, 2 p. Leisurely bike ride to Pirate Cove for a potluck picnic. Did I say
Wilshire Park, Meet at the shelter, Meet at 6 p, ride at 6:30. Join us for a short mural ride around NE Alberta & Williams/ Vancouver. Scott B & Bike Fun Library Laurelhurst Park, Meet by the restrooms across from the pond, Meet at 6:15 p, ride at 6:30. The 40s & 50s. Tom H
SING-A-LONG RIDE 1 Irving
Park, Meet at 7 p, ride at 7:30. It’s a sing-a-long ride. Submit your song requests. Naked Hearts:PDX
THE BIG LEBOWSKI RIDE 21+ Colonel Summers Park, 7 p, Show starts at ~7:30 p, ride out ‘bout 8. We’re back with acted-out scenes by passionate volunteers, possibly for the last time! Scotty B
WESTSIDE WEDNESDAY RIDE 21+ Beaverton Transit
Center, Across the street from the MAX station, 7:30 p, Roll out at about 7:45-8. 10-15 miles at a faster pace, but never a drop. Cycle Cats
JUNE 30 TMNT Sewallcrest Park, By
the tire swing in the shade, Meet 4:30 p, ride at 5. Going to destroy the evil foot clan and eat some pizza and I’m all out of pizza dude! Feeder ride from SE to TNR. Cowabunga! Radrich
SUMMERY STOCKING RIDE-IN SHOW
SW Multnomah Arts Center, Meet in the parking lot at 6 p, ride at 7, show starts at 8. Outdoor Vaudevillian showcase! Ride with performers to end spot where show will take place! Plenty of bike parking! Cory
J U LY 1 MR. WORLDRIDE
JULY 4 VEGAN PICNIC RIDE Colonel
Colonel Summers Park, 7 p. A celebration of all things Pitbull. AG
Summers Park, 5 p. Let’s ride bikes & eat all the best vegan yummies. Vegan Bike Club
SURLY & GRAVEL BIKES RIDE 21+ Vera Katz statue,
FANCY MONDAYS PICNIC Colonel Summers Park,
SE Salmon St, 7:30 p. All adventure bikes are welcome. No drop ride. Light off road is to be expected. There will be a beer & firewood pick-up stop. Fire & cheers on the river after all the shredding! Anna D
LIGHT BRIGADE: MAJOR STREETS RIDE 21+
Laurelhurst Park, Meet by the gym equi pent, Meet at 8 p, leave at sunset. Time to light up & cruise Portland’s major streets! Scott B & Bike Fun Library
J U LY 2 CIVIL UNREST BIKE CLUB
Salmon St Fountain, Benches by fountain, Roll out at 1:30 p. Monthly club ride, all are welcome. We will take over the streets & talk about disability justice. Party pace. Tink
DWTWN BIKEY RAISER! ♥
PSU Urban Plaza, Meet by the streetcar tracks, Meet at 2 p, ride around 2:30. Ride in support of the Cart Blocks & eat some yummies! Scott B & Bike Fun Library
SEW MANY BIKES!
Modern Domestic, Meet in the parking lot at 2 p, ride at 2:30. Love to bike & sew your own clothes? Wear your best makes & join fellow sewists on a tour of fabric shops & more. Marne D
CHAMPAGNE RIDE 21+ Ladd
Circle Park, Meet at 6 p, depart at 7 p tick tock. Slow ride through the streets. Arrive dressed & ready to impress for the Prom. Tzara
DEAD BABY BIKE PROM 21+ Colonel Summers
Park, Ride at 10 p. Dress yourself to the max for this fun party slow roll in SE to our super not-so-secret end point dance party!!! Live DJs and lube wrestling. Dead Baby Bike Club - Portland
J U LY 3 COFFEE OUTSIDE
Bipartisan Cafe, Bipartisan Cafe is NOT open at 6 a. Outer East Portland Loop from Montavilla to summit of Powell Butte for coffee brew-up. Michael M
NE UN-IMPROVED ALLEYWAYS Alberta Park,
1905 NE Killingsworth St, By tennis courts, Meet at 11 a, ride at 11:15. Riding up and down dirt alleys in NE Portland. Psycho Babble
VICTIMS OF VEHICULAR VIOLENCE RIDE ♥ SE 17th
Ave & SE Linn St - next to Post Office Depot, Meet at SE corner of intersection. Accessible from Greenway on SE 19th Ave, the Springwater Corridor, & bike path on SE 17th Ave, 11 a, Meet at 11AM, ride at 11:30AM. A ride to honor & celebrate lives lost, or nearly lost, to vehicular violence. Stella
PUPPERPALOOZA! Irving
Park, At the dog park, Meet at 1 p, ride at 1:30. Calling all fur-friends and their humans! Let’s roll around town, exploring some of Portland’s dog-friendly spots. Corvidae BC
INNER PDX SPLASHDOWN! ♥ Salmon St Fountain,
Meet at 2 p, splash for an hour, then head to next splash pad. Time for a 4th of July weekend splash adventure - bring your swim gear & get wet with us! Scott B & Bike Fun Library
LOVE WITCH RIDE Ladd Circle Park, Meet at 3:30 p, ride at 4. Literal love witches & fans of the movie all welcome. Masks required; queerness encouraged. Ev (she/they)
Meet by the fountain, Meet at 6 p, ride at 6:30. Not Casual Fridays - Fancy Mondays! Don your fancy duds for an easy, slow ride of 3-6 miles with a BYO picnic at the end. Anomalily & Sabrina
MULLET RIDE
Ladd Circle Park, Meet at 6:30 p, leave at 7. Come celebrate your mullet on National Mullet Day! Any & every hairstyle welcome. Josh
J U LY 5 HILL KILLERZ HILL KILLZ ♥ “The hill”, SE 52nd & SE Harney, We meet “in motion” anywhere on the hill, 12:30 p. Tuesday lunchtime hill repeats! Maria
DAVID BOWIE & QUEEN
Irving Park, Meet at 7 p, ride at 7:30. Oh the music & costumes! Naked Hearts:PDX
J U LY 6 CIDER RIDE 21+
Rev Nat’s Cider, The garage doors will be open, but it’s a little further than you might think, Meet to try some cider at 5, roll out about 5:30. Visit two North Portland cideries in one night. End at Swift Cider by 7. Peter K
PICNICS & PARKS & SWINGS ♥ Pod 28, Meet at
5:30 p, ride around 6:30. Join us for a ♥ picnic and park exploration! Scott B & Bike Fun Library
KNOW YOUR GREENWAYS 5 Cartlandia, Meet by the
utility tower on the west side of Cartlandia, Meet at 6:15 p, ride at 6:30. The 70s & 80s South. Tom H
INDIAN & HINDI EDM
Irving Park, Meet at 7 p, ride at 7:30. Indian EDM dance party. Naked Hearts:PDX
CLUELESS RIDE 21+
Vera Katz Statue on Eastbank Esplanade, SE Salmon, Meet at 7 p, ride at 7:30. Calling all virgins who can’t drive, Baldwins, & total Bettys. Like, Pedalpalooza is totally here! Clueless Crew
J U LY 7 4TH ANNUAL CAT RIDE 21+
Colonel Summers Park, Meet in the park at SE Belmont St & 20th Ave, Meet at 6:30 p, ride at 7. You love cats, we love cats, so let’s celebrate cats! Dress like a kitty or bring your favorite feline to the ride! Eric & Amy
J U LY 8 WONDER WOMAN RIDE Sewallcrest Park, Meet
near the community gardens, 6 p. Shine up your tiara and your bulletproof bracelets! Heroes & villains welcome for 5~miles in SE. Ends at Ladd Circle. Melanie
YACHT ROCK RIDE 21+ The
Cart Blocks, 770 W Burnside St, Meet 6 p to grab food/drinks before we head out at 7. The Captain & Tonya are back like a summer breeze to take you on a smooth, leisurely ride through the city. Food, alcohol, music & bathrooms at start. Keith J
BIKE-IN MOVIE: NO STRAIGHT LINES Books
With Pictures, Meet outside at 6 p, event begins at 7 p, screening starts between 8-9. “No Straight Lines” tells the story of pioneering cartoonists who depicted everything from the AIDS crisis, coming out, and same-sex marriage, to themes of race, gender, & disability. Collaborative comic-making at 7. Sarah M
MIDLIGHT MYSTERY RIDE: SKATER EDITION 21+ Keller Fountain, At midnight, we ride. Terry’s 3rd annual B’day ride is in celebration of longboarder Patrick (1996-2021), the best
skater TNR has ever seen. Team Midnight Member Terry D-M
JULY 9 OVERLOOK RIDE ♥
Stacks Coffeehouse, Meet at 10 a, leave around 10:10. Converse about transportation-related issues & solutions as well as the future of getting around in Overlook. A great opportunity to meet & chat with neighbors. Nic C
FRUIT FINDING FUN RIDE ♥ Parkrose Community Orchard, Parking available. Public transportation: Bus 77 or 9 minute bike ride from NE 82nd Ave MAX stop (blue, red, green lines), Meet at 10:30 a, ride at 11. Find fruit trees, send in a photo and geo-tag, help Portland Fruit Tree Project, win prizes! Tara P
BIKES & FILM CAMERAS CLUB Exact location of start
provided after registration, will be near a MAX station in N Portland, 11 a. 15mi not-a-loop cruise to St Johns, open to all film photography shooters on bicycles. Registration required. Bikes & Film Cameras Club
WHERE’S WALDO? Waldo will be riding for a 3 hour window. Find Waldo & ride as long you like, 5 p, Meet at Waldo when you find them! Somewhere in your city, Walso is riding a bike & you need to go find them! Tracker released before ride. Waldo BAD TENNIS CLUB RIDE
Grant Park, Meet at the courts, 5:30 p. Get yer rackets out, visors & head bands as we ride & play/play & ride. M&M Jenkins
GLAM ROCK / HEAVY METAL Ladd Circle
Park, 8 p. Tease up that hair & dig out that spandex, lace, & mesh outfit you’ve been dying for a good reason to wear. This bike event will be a fun, slow paced ride in & around inner SE. Linus P
J U LY 1 0 RECESS RIDE King Elementary School, 4 square courts, Meet at noon & play games ‘till we leave at 1/1:15 p. Play fun recess style games around town. Meet new friends. Be responsible. Build community. HAVE FUN! Aaron & Erika & Carly & Friends
SHAKE IT OFF ONGOING ♥
Portland Farmers Market King, NE Wygant St & NE 7th Ave, 12 p, Gather at the Farmers Market at 11:45AM, be ready to roll at noon. Calling all Swifties to a Family Dance Party! Follow the BikeLoudPDX Sunday OnGoing Block Party route & dance! Cathy T
CORVIDAE BC Peninsula Park,
Meet at the fountain or gazebo (weather-dependent), 2 p, Meet at 2, roll out at 2:45. Second Sunday Funday! Each month led by a different member. We try to focus our rides on greenways, group etiquette & silliness. Corvidae BC
SE ALLEYS RIDE Brentwood City Park, Meet at 2 p, ride at 2:30. Explore SE alleys. Cruising speed. Expect gravel. Erinne & Kirk JULY 11 7-11 RIDE ♥
Brooklyn City Park, SE 11th Ave & SE Haig St, Meet in the playground, 11:07 a gather, ride ~11:30. Ride on 7/11 to seven 7-11’s for free 7.11oz Slurpees. Route is ~11 mile loop to visit all seven in ~3hrs. Andrew B
OLD LIBRARIES N/NE Exact
location of start provided after registration, will be around Hollywood, 5:30. 10mi not-a-loop ride checking out 5 former branches. Registration required. Shawn G
BIKING & BITS Sewallcrest Park, Meet 6 p, ride 6:30. 5 mi social ride & learn about the Shift2Bikes tech stack & how you can help us connect bike funthusiasts on the web & beyond. Shift Calendar Crew
PAPER AIRPLANE RIDE Irving Park, By picnic tables, Meet at 6 p, first airplane throw at 7:06. Craft paper airplanes, ride bikes, have fun, no jerks. Aw
BIKE SONGS: IMPROV SING
Irving Park, Tennis courts, Wheels down at 7. An improvisational giggle heart playshop. Shake your soul free, be guided through singing joy, easy no drop good energy. Matt D
JULY 12 HILL KILLERZ HILL KILLZ ♥
“The hill”, SE 52nd & SE Harney, We meet “in motion” anywhere on the hill, 12:30 p. Tuesday lunchtime hill repeats! Maria
NORTH PORTLAND TACO RIDE Peninsula Park, 700 N
Rosa Parks Way (on the 4 and 44 bus lines!), Meet near the gazebo, Meet at 5 p, leave at 5:45. Tacos rule, how many can you eat while biking through the Fifth Quadrant?. Aaron
STEEL BRIDGE SKATEPARK GROUNDBREAKING Salm-
on St Fountain, Meet at 5:30 p, we roll at 6! Join us to launch the creation of this park! Skateboards, roller skates, scooters, bicycles and other active modes are welcome. Cory & Ryan
JOHN CARPENTER RIDE
Irving Park, Meet at 7 p, ride at 7:30. All the classics & deep atmospheric tones as we venture through the wooded streets, post industrial, city scapes & ventures underground. Naked Hearts:PDX
JULY 13 PLANTS & TREES RIDE De-
norval Unthank Park, Meet at 5:30 p, ride is at 6. Join the Bureau of Environmental Services and Friends of Trees for a stormwater/ tree themed bike ride in Boise-Eliot! Chase L
DOWNTOWN & PEARL MURALS Urban Center Plaza,
Meet in the large patio area, Meet at 6 p, ride at 6:30. Join us for an adventure! The Downtown & Pearl/NW is totally diverse when it comes to murals. Scott B & Bike Fun Library
EVERYBODY POP YOUR PEACH 21+ Laurelhurst
Park, We will meet in front of the bathrooms, 6 p meet up, 7 ride out. Bring whatever Peaches party suit you’re ready to rock and a speaker if you have one! The end location will be at the start of the Buck Full Moon Ride. Jayne Z
KNOW YOUR GREENWAYS 6 Glenhaven Park, Meet in
the southwest corner of the park, Meet at 6:15 p, ride at 6:30. The 70s & 80s North. Tom H
FULL MOON NAKED RIDE 21+ Colonel Summers
Park, Meet at 7 p, ride at 7:30. Naked Hearts:PDX
WESTSIDE WEDNESDAY RIDE 21+ Beaverton Transit
Center, Across the street from the MAX station, Roll out at about 7:45-8 p. Roughly 10-15 miles on the west side. Cycle Cats
BUCK MOON NAKED RIDE
Peninsula Park, 8:30 p. Celebrating bicycles, body positivity & the non-sexual nude protest of petroleum petulance. PastTire & LooseNut
JULY 14 GEOCACHE SMASH Colonel
Summers Park, Meet at 3 p to start geocaching at the meeting spot, roll out 4 pish. Bike around to a few locations to look for geocaches placed for the ride. You don’t need to have experience. Katie MC
SKATEAPALOOZA!!
Salmon St Fountain, Meet at 5 p, roll out at 5:30. Come skate in the street with us! All wheels welcome, but especially quads, skateboards, & inlines! Saul T. Scrapper
ROCKY BUTTE SUNSET RIDE Irving Park, Meet near the
bathrooms in the middle, 6:15 p, Ride at 6:45. A ride to Rocky Butte for a picnic with the best sunset view in the city! Dance party after. Check listing for details. Logan V
ZZ TOP RIDE 21+ Colonel
Summers Park, Meet at 7 p, roll at 7:30. Celebrating the Southern Rock tunes of Billy, Dusty & Frank. Panda
JULY 15 THE GRATEFUL DEAD RIDE
TBA, Wheels at 7:45 p. Celebrating the music & community of the Grateful Dead: All are welcome! Come ride bikes & dance like a hippie! The J Team
GOTH BIKE RIDE SE 26th Ave at entrance to Lone Fir Cemetery, Arrive at 8 p, ride at dusk. Light up your bikes, play your tunes, bring your gloom & doom, & let’s gather on a lovely summer evening & celebrate our Gothness...on bikes! Linus P LIGHT BRIGADE: COOL STREETS RIDE Laurelhurst
Park, Meet by the restrooms, Meet at 8 p, leave at 8:30. We’ll ride alleys, parks & sweeping, turning and twisting streets to delve into the coolest streets in Portland. Scott B & Bike Fun Library
JULY 16 BIKES! BUBBLES! BEACH!
Peninsula Park, Meet by the gazebo, Meet at 1 p, ride at 1:30. Bike to Broughton Beach (on Columbia!) from Peninsula Park for some bike community fun! Isa T
CHOKERS & SUPER SOAKERS 21+ Peninsula
Park, Near the fountain, Meet at 1 p, ride when we’re ready. 90s water party. Put on a bathing suit, don your finest choker & wield a Super Soaker. Jesse
ART IN THE BIKE LANE Sewallcrest Park, Meet in
the field by the jungle gym, Ride at 3:30 p. Leisurely ride dressed as your favorite bike lane character past, present, or aspirational! See web calendar for deets. Whitney
E-BIKE RIDE OUT 21+ Salmon St Fountain, 4 p. E-bikes take over the streets. Moderate pace (10mph). Hills, drops, parks. Nothing will stop us. Tink QUEEN RIDE - LGBTQIA+
Ladd Circle Park, Meet at 5 p, roll around 6. 37th Anniversary of Queen’s legendary Live Aid performance. Social pace loop. All Queen music. Costumes encouraged! Matt & Wayne
PORTLAND PICKLES RIDE! Sewallcrest Park, Meet at
5:45 p, ride at 6. Ride to see our favorite collegiate baseball team play! RSVP to reserve a seat by Venmo’ing $15 to @Amy-Adams-6. Amy A
80S MIXED TAPE RIDE Ladd
Circle Park, Ride at 7:30 p. The best 80s tunes in your most tubular 80s attire. Dance post ride! Pamela S
OH DEER, I’M QUEER 21+
NE, 7 p, Time may change. Please read bit.ly/PdxOpenLetter to understand community expectations. Antlers, horns, rutting, & strutting. PDX Non-Binary Collective
DRE DAY RIDE 21+
Colonel Summers Park, Meet at 7:15 p, ride at 7:45. A big speaker will lead the ride. Party pace, no drop, & the end spot will feature two DJs playing all the funky jams from Andre Young. DJ_Lo
JULY 17 FAMILY BIKE CAMPOUT ♥
SUNDAZE PART 2
Somewhere in SE, Meet at noon, roll out around 1 p. Looped Sunday Beach Spot Ride, starting in various neighborhoods of Portland. Mitchi M
XCX Skidmore Bluffs, Meet at
JULY 18 FANCY MONDAYS PICNIC
6 a. Four scenic routes through Clark County. Registration required. Charles L
Colonel Summers Park, Meet by the fountain, Meet at 6 p, ride at 6:30. Not Casual Fridays - Fancy Mondays! Don your fancy duds for an easy, slow ride of 3-6 miles with a BYO picnic at the end. Anomalily & Sabrina
JULY 19 HAMMOCK HOLIDAY 6111 E
Burnside St, 10 a, Start at noon. Bring your hammock for an all day respite. We will have a series of stops over the course of the day where we will hang our hammocks and chill. Bring a book or an instrument, catch up on your writing, or maybe you want to recite poetry? Terry D-M
HILL KILLERZ HILL KILLZ ♥
“The hill”, SE 52nd & SE Harney, We meet “in motion” anywhere on the hill, 12:30 p. Tuesday lunchtime hill repeats! Maria
FOSTER & HAWTHORNE MURAL RIDE Carts on Foster,
Meet by the Pod Bar, Meet at 6 p, ride at 6:30. Join us for an adventure! The SE Foster Blvd, SE 50th Ave & SE Hawthorne Blvd murals are a grand ride. Scott B & Bike Fun Library
ORANGE RIDE OMSI/SE Water MAX Station, Meet at the Biketown hub on the south side of the station, Meet 6 p, ride at 6:30. Celebrate all things orange — orange bikes, orange clothes, orange food! Biketown-friendly start & end; not a loop. Josh JULY 20 TRIANGLES Arleta Triangle,
5999 SE 72nd Ave, 6 p. Explore three-side parks, blocks, & other infrastructure. Email the ride leader with requests & inspiration. Chris A
COMPLETE SANDY BLVD RIDE Roseway Parkway,
Meet on the grass at the south end of the Roseway Parkway, next to the intersection of NE Sandy Blvd & NE 72nd Ave, 6:15 p, Meet at 6:15 p, ride at 6:3. Sandy is transforming to improve safety, reclaim space for bus/bike/peds, & integrate green elements. Is it enough?. Ted L
KNOW YOUR GREENWAYS 7
Cherry City Park, Meet at the west end of the park, 6:15 p, Meet at 6:15, ride at 6:3. The 100s & 130s South. Tom H
JULY 21 TEAL BIKE RIDE
Laurelhurst Park, Meet at 7 p, ride at 7:3. It’s a little green. A little blue. It’s perfect. Bring your teal bike/garb. TEAL for REAL! Teal Squad AF
JULY 22 DOWNTOWN SOCIAL SERVICES Director Park,
Gather at 12:45 p, ride at 1. BikeLoud West Policy Ride loops to some downtown social service providers. Stop meet some the helpers. Cathy T
IRIDESCENT EFFERVESCENCE Laurelhurst Park, Near the pond, Ride at 7 p sharp. Bubbles, gold, crimson, sparkles, sunset, & champagne. K.Rose
ARCADE FIRE: SYNC IT!
Sewallcrest Park, Meet in the field, Meet at 7:30 p, sync it at 8. All the hits. With a little bit of planning, a lot of speakers, we can do anything. MJ
8 p, ride at 9. <3 calling all Charli fans <3. Laura D
JULY 23 RIDE AROUND CLARK COUNTY Bike Clark County,
CF CYCLE FOR LIFE
Lady Hill Winery, Check in at 7 a, start time at 8. Get your wheels in motion, & cycle for a cure for cystic fibrosis! Allison N
NONBINARYWHALS & HOMOSEXUWHALES 21+
SE, 10 a, Time may change. Please read bit.ly/PdxOpenLetter to understand community expectations. TQNI Fat positive / body neutral ride.PDX Non-Binary Collective
PORTLAND BORING PORTLAND Grand
Central Bakery - Woodstock, Meet at SE 45th Ave & SE Woodstock Blvd, Meet at 10 a, roll at 10:30. Inspired by Paris Brest Paris. Grab a baguette at Grand Central, & let’s roll. More food stops along the way. Ken L
ASIAN SNACK & FRIENDSHIP Peninsula Park, Meet in the southeast corner of the park, at 10:30 a, ride at 10:45. A leisurely 7-mile ride visiting Asian American-owned businesses for tasty snacks, ending with a picnic at a park in SE! Vy D & David L
N/NE ALLEYS RIDE! Denorval Unthank Park, Meet in the parking lot, Meet at 2 p, ride at 2:30. Time for a N/NE alley ride. Scott B & Bike Fun Library LOVE OUR PETS! ♥ Lovejoy
Fountain, SW By the benches, Meet at 2 p, ride at 2:30. It’s time to “Love Our Pets!’ Join us with your pets & let’s ride to some splash zones! Scott B, Tood E, Ole Latte Coffee & Bike Fun Library
SPACE JAM & 2000S JAMS
Irving Park, Meet at the basketball courts, Meet at 3 p, ride at 4. Get your jersey pressed & bling up with your best 2000s fashion. We’ll shoot hoops & jam! Ladybug
XSTRAIGHT EDGEX RIDE
Salmon St Fountain, Meet at 5 p, leave by 5:30. Sober, non-violent straight-edge punk rock ride touring PDX punk historical sites & ending with a live performance. Joyanna E
LIGHT BRIGADE: FAMILIES
♥ Salmon St Fountain, Meet at 7:30 p, ride around 8:15. Join the Light Brigade for our Waterfront Ride. Light your bikey steeds & join us! Scott B & Bike Fun Library RETURN OF BIKEAROKE!
Cully Central, Meet on NE Going St between NE Cully Blvd & NE 60th Ave, Meet at 7:30 p, sing & roll at 8. Year 2 of getting a bunch of bikers together to sing their favorite karaoke jams. Light up your ride & be ready to sing! Nino
JULY 24 BIKELOUD WEST ONGOING
♥ Director Park, Gather at 10:45 a, roll at 11. Let’s meet up w the Party OnGoing! Travel 4 miles from downtown & join up w Captain Kiel’s Community Slow Roll at noon! Cathy T BIKEWON-DO Traditional Taekwon-do, 2940A SE Belmont St, Meet in the parking lot next to the school, Meet at noon, ride at 12:30 p. Kick it into gear with a ride & a light, fun martial arts workout. Open to all people who practice kicking styles. Gil J
Woodstock Park, 10 a. Two-night, family-oriented bikepacking trip to Oxbow. Skip/Bike Loud PDX
MURAL RIDE Taylor Electric
Building, SE 3rd Ave & SE Clay St, Meet inside the garage, Meet at 11 a, ride at 11:30. See Portland’s new & most powerful murals. Mel C & Meghan S
ADVERTISEMENT Willamette Week JUNE 1, 2022 wweek.com
21
TALL BIKE PICNIC The
Upper Atmosphere, 3 p. Get some perspective! Enjoy a scenic low-speed ride in pleasant surroundings, & then a picnic! Mykle
GOTH-EMO-VAMPIREWICCAN Rose City
Cemetery, Meet in the parking lot, Meet at 8 p, roll by 8:30. Cemeteries, parking garages, parks, alleys, obstacles, sidewalks, train tracks, & hopefully some delightful Misery. Depeche Mode, Joy Division, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Elliot Smith. No excessive lighting!!!! Dark is good. Psycho Babble
J U LY 2 5 AINSWORTH RIDE
Madrona Hill Cafe, Meet at seating outside, Meet at 5:30 p, leave around 5:45. Ride the length of Ainsworth to see how much it sucks & how much better it can be. Nic C
BINGO! RIDE Laurelhurst Park, Meet north of the pond, Meet at 5:30 p, first round at 5:45 pish, roll out at 6:30 pish. Let’s play BINGO! Bring a vegan-friendly white-elephant type of gift if you can - something from home/a free box. Vegan Bike Club J U LY 2 6 HILL KILLERZ HILL KILLZ ♥ “The hill”, SE
52nd & SE Harney, We meet “in motion” anywhere on the hill, 12:30 p. Tuesday lunchtime hill repeats! Maria
INN BETWEEN RIDE #2 21+ New 715 Inn, 715 NE
Broadway St, Meet at 6:30 p, ride at 7. Bars named “inn” via in-between spaces. Not a loop, ~12 mi. Bring $ for drinks/food. NoPo ride; see #1 & #3 for others. Josh
J U LY 2 7 CENTRAL EASTSIDE MURALS Oregon
Convention Center, NMeet in the large patio area, Meet at 6 p, ride at 6:30. Join us for an adventure! The Central Eastside is the most packed mural area in Portland! Scott B & Bike Fun Library
KNOW YOUR GREENWAYS 8 Gateway
Transit Center, Meet at the bike racks at the south end of the Transit Center, Meet at 6:15 p, ride at 6:30. The 100s & 130s North. Tom H
WESTSIDE WEDNESDAY
RIDE 21+ Fair Complex/ Hillsboro Airport Station, On the cement pad just north of the MAX station, 8 p, Roll out at 8:30. Cycle Cats J U LY 2 8 ¡SI, SE BICI! LATINX
Wilshire Park, 6 p. Come meet your local Latinx community. Cristina
PORTLAND RADICAL HISTORY North Park
Blocks, NW Davis St & NW 8th Ave, Meet in the North Park Blocks on the grass, on the north side of NW Davis St, Meet at 5:45 p, ride at 6 p sharp. The IWW, Black Panthers, John Reed, Marie Equi, Ruth Barnett, Kent Ford...PDX’s radical history is 100+ years strong. Ted L
J U LY 29 BREAKFAST ON THE BRIDGES Steel Bridge,
Hawthorne Bridge, & Tilikum Crossing, Steel: east side of the lower deck; Hawthorne: west side; Tilikum: west side under the 99 red balloons statue, 7 a to 9. Free coffee & goodies to people biking & walking across three of Portland’s bridges. Major Muffin
BIKE TO ICE (SKATE) Grant Park, Meet
at the Beverly Cleary Sculpture Garden, Ride out at 5:45 p, skate til 7:30. Bike to PDX’s finest dead mall that contains an ice skating rink for live DJ Rock N Skate. $17 including skate rental. AnomaLily & Sophie
BIKING QUEEN PT. 2 21+
Oregon Park, Meet at 8 p, ride at 9. Here we go again! Love biking? Love disco? Love ABBA? Dress up & join us for another ABBA inspired ride. Emily K
LIGHT BRIGRADE: NORTH PORTLAND Over-
look Park, Meet at the shelter, 8 p, Meet at 8 p, ride at sunset. Time for the 2nd Light Brigade Ride into North Portland, light up & join us! Scott B & Bike Fun Library
PEDAL TO METAL RIDE 21+ Colonel Summers
AUGUST 1 LOWER SOUTHEAST RISING ♥
Brentwood-Darlington Community Center, Meet at 5:30 p, ride at 6. We explore land use & transportation issues in Brentwood-Darlington & surrounding neighborhoods with BPS & PBOT. Scott G
FANCY MONDAYS PICNIC Colonel Summers Park,
Meet by the fountain, Meet at 6 p, ride at 6:30. Not Casual Fridays - Fancy Mondays! Don your fancy duds for an easy, slow ride of 3-6 miles with a BYO picnic at the end. Anomalily & Sabrina
AUGUST 2 BUREAU OF SILLY BIKES!!! ♥ Ladd Circle
Park, Meet at 6 p, ride around 6:30. It’s BACK!!! The Bureau of Silly Bikes returns after a Covid Hiatus. Scott B & Bike Fun Library
QUEER COUNTRY
RIDE Fernhill Park, Meet at 6:30 p, ride at 7. Howdy gender outlaws & honkytonk lovers! Join us as we two-step on two-wheels in fabulous fringe & western wear. Becky O & Sarah M AUGUST 3 KNOW YOUR GREENWAYS 9 Lincoln City
Park, Meet on asphalt, 8 p, Meet at 8 p, ride at 9. Really metal all the time. 8th year. Sysfail, Thomas & Kat
Park, Meet by the playground, Meet at 6:15 p, ride at 6:30. The 130s & 150s. Tom H
J U LY 3 0 NOPIM RIDE #1 OF 3 ♥
CRUISE 21+ Wilshire Park, Gather at the south softball field. Look for the Captain’s Caps, Meet at 7 p, ride at 7:15. Grab your best 70s/80s inspired yacht-wear, shine up your two-wheel yacht, & join us for a soft rock yachtie event. Katie Root
Columbia Park,(Just north of N Lombard, between N Baldwin & N Wichell), At the pool, Meet at 10:30AM, ride at 11AM. Join PBOT’s North Portland in Motion team on a tour of new project ideas in the mid-peninsula neighborhoods! Mike S
MULTNOMAH COUNTY BIKE FAIR ♥ Colonel
Summers Park, 12 p. The family-friendly cycling wonderland is back! Freak bikes, competitions, art, marry your bike & more! @OH_SHELL
R.I.P E.T.I.D 21+ Rose
City Park, Meet by the tennis courts, Meet at 5 p, roll around 5:30 pish. This is a ride dedicated to the recently disbanded Every Time I Die. Their discography will be on blast. Daniel V
THE GOLDEN GIRLS RIDE Cubo, 3106 SE Haw-
thorne Blvd, 5 p riders begin to assemble, ride leaves at 5:30. Celebrate National Cheesecake Day/Golden Girls Day with a bike ride, costume contest, trivia contest, & more! Arrive early to eat with us. Sarah P
PDXWNBR TBA, 8 p, Ride
at 9. Highlight the vulnerability of cyclists & decry society’s dependence on pollution-based transport by getting as “bare as you dare” & riding around with other happy protestors. WNBR Planning Committee
J U LY 3 1 GUSHERS RIDE! Laurel-
hurst Park, Around the bathroom area, 12 p, Meet at noon, ride around 12:30. Come eat delicious & VEGAN fruit snacks & ride bikes. Shade & water may be a bonus! Cycle Cats
NE COME SAIL AWAY
AU G U ST 4
THE GINGER RIDE ♥
Atlas Pizza, 6529 SE Foster Rd, Eat pizza at 6:30 p; ride at 7. Calling all gingers, or anyone who loves a ginger! The mission: gather the tribe & save the redheads. Emily H
AU G U ST 5
B ON B FLANDERS CROSSING Flanders
Crossing, NW 16th Ave & NW Flanders St, 7 a to 9. Free coffee & goodies for folks biking & walking across the Ned Flanders Crossing. Dr. Doughnut
LIGHT BRIGADE: GET LOST! Irving Park, Meet in
the basketball court, Meet at 8 p, ride at sunset. Time for the 2nd edition of the Light Brigade Get Lost Ride - Join us & GET LOST! with lights! Scott B & Bike Fun Library
AU G U ST 6
RAINBOW SHEEP 21+
Eastside, 10 a, Time may change! Please read bit.ly/ PdxOpenLetter before arrival. Thank you! TQNI+ & seeking chosen family? Us too, let’s gather. PDX Non-Binary Collective
NOPIM RIDE #2 OF 3 ♥
Paul Bunyan Statue in Kenton, Meet at the plaza in front of the statue, Meet at 10:30 a, ride at 11. Join PBOT’s North Portland in Motion team on a tour of new project ideas in the inner-peninsula neighborhoods! Mike S
SWIM ACROSS PORTLAND Register to
learn start spot, Southeast, 10:30 a, Roll time 11. Ride to a private pool, a public pool, a swimming hole, & an outdoor pool-related movie. Email to sign up. Pace 15+. Maria
CIVIL UNREST BIKE CLUB Salmon St
Fountain, Benches by the fountain, 1 p, Roll out at 1:30. Monthly ride. Take over the streets with us as we discuss disability justice. Tink
SE BIKEY RAISER!
Clinton Park, Meet by the playground at 2 p, ride around 2:30. Ride in support of the Ukrainian people & eat some yummies! Scott B & Bike Fun Library
PRINCE - THE PURPLE RAIN 8 p, Meet at 8 p, roll out at sunset. Dust off your white ruffled shirt & purple velour pants to celebrate Prince.This is a slow-roll party on wheels. We’re only as fast as our slowest rider. 4-5 miles around inner SE. Linus P
AU G U ST 7
MYSTERY OF JOHNSON CREEK Ruby Junction MAX
Station, Meet on the bike path next to the MAX station, 11 a. A bike ride to explore the mysterious origin of Johnson Creek east of Gresham.Tom H
some miles & collect some smiles while we explore the west side. Cycle Cats AU G U ST 11
SUNSET/MOONRISE RIDE Frazer Park, Meet on
the 52nd side of park at 7 p, depart at 7:30 p. Sunset ain’t gonna wait for us. 5 mi not-a-loop ride to mystery destination to see sunset & moonrise. Lights/layers recommended. Pizza Bandit
STURGEON MOON NAKED RIDE Colonel
Summers Park, 8:30 p. We celebrate the full moons with naked bike rides! PastTire & LooseNut AU G U ST 12
MONSTER RIDE
County parking lot, 921 SE 47th Ave, Look for the big bay door at the south end of lot, Meet at 7 p, ride at 7:30. Fur, horns, claws, growls & howls. Ride with a horde of monsters. James D
MIDNIGHT MYSTERY
RIDE The Fields Park, 11 p, At midnight, we ride. Follow a new leader from a different park every month to a mystery destination. MMR rides the 2nd Friday of every month, all year long. Team Midnight AU G U ST 13
CREEK COUNTRY RAMBLE Exact location of
MIDWEST IS BEST
start provided after registration, will be in the vicinity of Reed College, 10 a. 25mi not-a-loop ride exploring secret places around Johnson Creek, from near Reed to Ruby Jct. Registration Required. Shawn G
AU G U ST 8 84 +/- North end of Eastbank Esplanade, At the bottom of the stairs, near the Steel Bridge, Ride at 4:48 p sharp. You can probably catch us if you try. We’ll ride across Interstate 84 as many times as we can without repeating a crossing; we’ll take the scenic route. Fool
OVERLOOK RIDE ♥
AUGUST 9 CCC PDX ALLEYCAT
NOPIM RIDE #3 OF 3
Irving Park, Meet at 5:30 p, ride at 6. Calling all midwestern transplants to Portland, ope! Come hang out with other “midwest nice” bike riders. Megan H
CCC PDX Office, 1847 E Burnside St, 2 p. An Alley Cat Ride to celebrate CCC PDX’s 5th year in Portland! We’re gonna get rad! Ponce C
UMBRELLA 501(C)(3) RIDE Jackie’s, 930 SE
Stacks Coffeehouse, Meet at 10 a, leave around 10:10. Converse about transportation-related issues & solutions as well as the future of getting around in Overlook. A great opportunity to meet & chat with neighbors. Nic C
♥
St. Johns Plaza, Meet in the plaza near the big clock! Meet at 10:30 a, ride at 11. Join PBOT’s North Portland in Motion team on a final tour of new project ideas in the upper-peninsula neighborhoods! Mike S
Sandy Blvd, Meet on the rooftop patio, Meet at 6 p, ride at 6:30. Umbrella is a nonprofit fiscal sponsor for Pedalpalooza BIKE SUMMER & other projects; discover how to start your own project! Umbrella Board of Directors
EGL FASHION RIDE & PICNIC Palio Dessert &
AU G U ST 10
EASTSIDE MURALS Tay-
LABYRINTHS! ♥ PSU Urban Plaza, Meet by the streetcar tracks on the lower level, Meet at 5:30 p, ride around 6. After a 5 Year Hiatus the Portland Labyrinth Ride is back. Scott B & Bike Fun Library KNOW YOUR GREENWAYS 10 Creston Park, Meet by the playground on the upper level, Meet at 6:15 p, ride at 6:30. Center, Woodward, & Clinton. Tom H
WESTSIDE WEDNESDAY RIDE 21+ Beaverton Transit
Center, Across the street from the MAX station, Roll out at about 7:45-8 p. Let’s ride
Espresso, Meet out front, 12 p. Join for a leisurely lace-and-frills-filled bike ride and picnic to show off your Elegant Gothic Lolita coord. April & Lillian
lor Electric Building, SE 3rd Ave & SE Clay St, Meet inside the garage, Meet at 2 p, ride at 2:30. Join us for an eastside-focused mural ride. Scott B
INTRO TO BIKE POLO RIDE Alberta Park, At the
court, Meet at 4:45 p, ride at 5, back for polo around 6-7. If you can ride a bike, you can play bike polo! This is a short leisurely-paced ride ending with a casual game of polo. Portland Bike Polo
INTERGALACTIC DISCO
Johnson Creek City Park, SE 21st Ave & SE Sherrett St, North end of park, Meet at 6 p, ride at 6:30
pish. Greetings, Groove-oNauts! Embark on a far out space mission with bumpin’ disco tunes & dance breaks! Captain Goldilost
MISSY VS LIZZO RIDE Colonel Summers
Park, 8 p. Team Lizzo starts in one park, team Missy another, then we meet up to form one mega ride!! Brent & Teenage Dirtbag Bike Club AU G U ST 14
WORLD LIZARD DAY
Probably Colonel Summers Park, Check online for details, Meet at noon, ride at 12:30 p. Let’s celebrate how freakin’ cool lizards are by basking in the sun (like a lizard) while riding bikes! Kristie AKA LZRDMOM
CORVIDAE BC Peninsula
Park, Meet at the fountain or gazebo (weather-dependent), Meet at 2 p, roll out at 2:45. Second Sunday Funday! Each month led by a different member. We try to focus our rides on greenways, group etiquette & silliness. Corvidae BC AU G U S T 1 5
RIDE TO ROOSTER ROCK Laurelhurst Park, SE Ankeny St side, Wheels down 9:30 a. Bike out for a day at Rooster Rock State Park! Enjoy the excellent disk golf course, bathroom facilities, many trails & full beach access. The eastern beach is the largest clothing optional beach on the west coast with a very swimmable lagoon to the sandbar. Terry D-M
NOISE BIKE Col. Summers Park, Follow your ears, Meet at 5 p, ride at 6. Parade-pace ride led by a Modular Synthesizer Bicycle. Synthesizer can be played by riding the bike and twiddling knobs. Matthew FANCY MONDAYS PICNIC Colonel Summers
Park, Meet by the fountain, Meet at 6 p, ride at 6:30. Not Casual Fridays - Fancy Mondays! Don your fancy duds for an easy, slow ride of 3-6 miles with a BYO picnic at the end. Anomalily & Sabrina AU G U ST 16
THE SLOW RIDE! ♥
OMSI Plaza, SE Water Ave & Eastbank Esplanade, Meet in the plaza by the entrance at 6 p, ride around 6:30. It’s BACK!!! The Slowest Ride of Pedalpalooza is reborn. Scott B & Bike Fun Library AU G U ST 17
STICKER SWAP RIDE Ladd Circle Park, Meet
at 5 p, ride at 6. Ride around inner eastside for awhile before ending at a food cart pod to swap stickers, spoke cards, & Pedalpalooza stories. Cory & Penn
KNOW YOUR GREENWAYS 11 Ladd Circle Park, Meet
in the center of the circle, Meet at 6:15 p, ride at 6:30. Lincoln & Ankeny. Tom H AU G U ST 18
ROCKY BUTTE SUNSET RIDE Irving Park, Meet near
the bathrooms in the middle, 6:15 p, Ride at 6:45. A ride to Rocky Butte for a picnic with the best sunset view in the city! Dance party after. Check listing for details. Logan V
AU G U ST 1 9
LEATHER & LATEX 21+
Colonel Summers Park, 7:30 p, Meet at 7:30 p, ride at 8. Come out in your finest leather, faux leather, latex, or fun fetish gear for a fun evening ride. Lady-on-Fire & Fancytown_Fox
LIGHT BRIGADE: RIVER VIEW Lower Deck
of Steel Bridge, Meet at the foot of the bike path where Breakfast on the Bridges is held, Meet at 8 p, ride at sunset. Time for a Light Brigade Ride along the Willamette River, light your bikes & joint us! Scott B & Bike Fun Library
AU G U ST 2 0
BIKE SCAVENGER HUNT! Start of the
Scavenger Hunt is from your own house, 700 NE Dekum St, Complete scavenger hunt before heading to address, 12 p, Hunt kicks off at noon, party begins at 4. Solve riddles, ride bikes & party with the Community Cycling Center! Community Cycling Center
WEIRD PORTLANDADULTS! The Cart Blocks,
770 W Burnside St, Meet at 1:30 p, ride just after 2. Time for the 1st Annual 2nd edition Weird Portland United Ride join us & find the Weirdness! Scott B, Weird Portland United & Bike Fun Library
SE BIKES ROLL OUT
Salmon St Fountain, Benches by the fountain, 4 p. Swarm the streets and show off what you got. All bikes welcome. Tink
RAMBLXR RIDE: CELTIC EDM Laurelhurst Park, Meet
at the dog park, Meet at 6:30 p, ride at 7. We ride forth blasting Celtic EDM with LIVE BAGPIPES, donning our finest plaid kilts & miniskirts. Elias A AU G U ST 2 1
SUNDAZE PART 3
Somewhere in NoPo, Meet at noon, roll out at 1. Sunday ride every third Sunday, with a beach spot. Mitchi M
AU G U ST 2 2
BREWERIES BY BIKE 21+ Tamale Boy, Meet inside/ outside by picnic tables, Meet around 4:30 p for food & sips, ride around 5:30. Aw IDAHO EXPAT RIDE 21+
Overlook Park, At the top Meet at 5:30 p, leave around 5:45. Dearest expats from the land of Idaho: let's ride! This ride is geared for folks who moved from Idaho, or anywhere east! Nic C AU G U ST 2 3
HILL KILLERZ GROUP RIDE Top of the hill, SE
52nd Ave & SE Flavel Dr, Meet by the mural on the west side, 5:15 p, Roll by 5:30. Calling all hill killerz! Join a romp around Johnson Creek ridge then to Foster Night Ride. Maria
INN BETWEEN RIDE #3 21+ Goose Hollow Inn,
Meet at 6:30 p, ride at 7. Bars named “inn” via in-between spaces. Not a loop, ~12 mi. Bring $ for drinks/ food. SW/SE ride; see #1 & #2 for others. Josh
AUGUST 24 HIDDEN BRIDGES Prost
Marketplace, Meet in the food cart pod, Meet at 5:30 p, ride around 6:15. Find some
hidden bridges & salute them! Scott B & Bike Fun Library
KNOW YOUR GREENWAYS 12
Grant Park, Meet at the Beverly Cleary Sculpture Garden, Meet at 6:15 p, ride at 6:30. Tillamook, Alameda, & Klickitat. Tom H
WESTSIDE WEDNESDAY RIDE 21+ Beaverton Transit
Center, Across the street from the MAX station, Roll out at about 7:45-8 p. Ride up the Sunset Pathway along Hwy 26 to Skyline and then Zoo Bomb into Portland. Cycle Cats
AUGUST 26 BREAKFAST ON THE BRIDGES Steel Bridge,
Hawthorne Bridge, & Tilikum Crossing, Steel: east side of the lower deck; Hawthorne: west side; Tilikum: west side under the 99 red balloons statue, 7 a to 9 a. Free coffee & goodies to people biking & walking across three of Portland’s bridges. Major Muffin
SMOOTH STREETS WITH PBOT Director Park,
Gather at 12:45 p, ride at 1. Bike with the head of PBOT street maintenance. Jody Yates joins a BikeLoudWest Policy Ride. Cathy T
AUGUS T 27 PORTLAND MURAL RIDE Colonel Summers
Park, Meet by the fountain, Meet at 2:15 p, ride around 2:45. Time for the granddaddy of all Mural Rides - we’ll hit 3 of the biggest mural areas! Scott B & Bike Fun Library
ALL HAIL THE QUEENS 21+ Ladd Circle
Park, Meet at 6:30 p, ride at 7. Show love to MCs who blew the roof right off of hip-hop, from MC Lyte & Queen Latifah to Lil’ Kim, Shawnna & Remy Ma. Laura
AUGUST 28 BIKELOUD WEST ONGOING ♥ Director
Park, Gather at 10:45 a, roll at 11. Let’s meet up w the Party OnGoing! Travel 4 miles from downtown & join up w Captain Kiel’s Community Slow Roll at noon! Cathy T
PENS, PAPER & PEDALS Piccolo City Park,
12 p. Do you like stationery & nice pens? Meet other papyrophiles & ride to Portland’s small stationery shops. AnomaLily
AUGUST 29 FANCY MONDAYS PICNIC Colonel Summers
Park, Meet by the fountain, Meet at 6 p, ride at 6:30. Not Casual Fridays - Fancy Mondays! Don your fancy duds for an easy, slow ride of 3-6 miles with a BYO picnic at the end. Anomalily & Sabrina
AUGUST 31 PDX POCKET PICNIC!
Alberta Co-op, Meet in the parking lot behind the building, Meet at 5:30 p, ride around 6:15. Picnic in pocket parks. Scott B & Bike Fun Library
KNOW YOUR GREENWAYS 13 King School Park,
Meet at the southeast corner of the park, Meet at 6:15, ride at 6:30. Going, Holman, & Bryant. Tom H
CELEBRATING 20 YEARS OF BIKE SUMMER! HUNDREDS OF RIDES CREATED BY VOLUNTEERS JUST LIKE YOU. YOU CAN STILL ADD RIDES TO THE ONLINE CALENDAR! https://bit.ly/PostYourRide
https://bit.ly/shift2bikes
#PEDALPALOOZAPDX #BIKESUMMER ADVERTISEMENT 22
Willamette Week JUNE 1, 2022 wweek.com
SUBSCRIBE TO THE FULL CALENDAR USING THE IPHONE CALENDAR APP: CALENDARS > ADD CALENDAR > ADD SUBSCRIPTION CALENDAR > PASTE https://bit.ly/bikesummer2022
Chris Pureka, Singer-Songwriter
“That’s the thing about new songs, they want to be what they want to be.” BY S A R A G I Z A
SAM GEHRKE
“I do feel like my songwriting is a form of storytelling,” says Chris Pureka. “Words are important to me. That’s a big focus in my songwriting. I don’t know if that’s super common.” Artists like Pureka, who identifies as genderqueer, don’t make a living for almost two decades if they don’t have something to say. Known as a great lyricist, their songs are surprising and profound (particularly “Song for November,” which features some of Pureka’s finest lyrics: “And we made our bed in that familiar grave-
yard/between the sternum and the spine”). “I feel like that is a thing I offer,” Pureka says. “I guess I kind of consider myself as more of a poet. I try to have that as part of what I’m doing. It just works for me.” Pureka began playing the guitar—and soon started writing songs—as a teenager. “I was a closeted teenager,” they say. “I had just quit sports that I was really into and I kind of needed something to channel energy into. It felt like the right fit for me.” Pureka is known for creating songs that achieve the perfect balance between sadness and hopefulness. “I think it’s built in,” they say. “I see the world through
BRIGHT STAR: Chris Pureka.
those double lenses. It’s hard for me to write something that’s just one sided. I think it’s hard to find things that are hopeful but still meaningful.” One of Pureka’s most successful works, “Old Photographs,” was a project prompted by T Cooper’s book Real Man Adventures. The author asked different songwriters to write songs inspired by his book based on his transitioning. In the song, Pureka sings, “Old photographs, before I even knew my own name/I carry it, I carry it around/ All these boxes, but none of them will hold me/Oh lord, at least I have her hands/Finds me in the night, fear underneath my collar/What I know is right and what I know the world is/Haunted by design and the myth of the real thing…” It would be difficult to find a member of the LGBTQ+ community who couldn’t relate to those words in some form or fashion. “I kind of focused a lot on his relationship with his partner,” Pureka says. “In the book, it seemed like that was kind of the thing that carried him through. I tried to include some different snapshots of things from the book. Obviously, I have my own lived experience too in that sort of state. I haven’t transitioned, but I can relate on a lot of levels.” While Pureka doesn’t hide that they are a member of the LGBTQ+ community, it would be wrong to assume that gender or orientation defines their songwriting. Their work often focuses on the universal themes of love, relationships and grief that all people can relate to. “Most of my songs are about my own internal emotional life, but I also write songs about external things,” Pureka says. “Although, it leans more heavily into the former category.” They record and produce independently—and in between full-length studio albums they’ll create an EP with a few songs, including live versions or covers. That was their plan this past year, but it went awry. “I wasn’t planning on recording so many songs,” Pureka says. “Then I had this new song that was like a pandemic theme song, and I kind of realized everything was coming together in a different way than I thought.” Pureka’s willingness to switch gears led to their EP The Longest Year, which was released in December. The title track, with the lyrics “The longest year/We feel our lungs fill up with lead/It is a heavy time to have a beating heart/And all I know is we are enough/ So keep on and keep your head up…” is a reminder to remain hopeful and resist the temptation to give up. “I didn’t set out to write a song like that,” Pureka says. “That’s the thing about new songs, they want to be what they want to be. I don’t always even have control over it.” The Longest Year EP is full of other gems, including a hauntingly beautiful cover of “What a Wonderful World” and the highly intimate and personal “Sky Spinning.” Some of the song’s most poignant lyrics are “I don’t know how to save us/I just know how to let go…I don’t know how to save us/I just know how to save me.” Of those lyrics, Pureka says, “I think it says a thing that people say in a lot of different ways, but it says it in a way that I hadn’t heard before.” GO: Chris Pureka play the Old Church, 1422 SW 11th Ave., 503-222-2031, theoldchurch.org. 8 pm Friday, July 15. $20-$25. Willamette Week JUNE 1, 2022 wweek.com
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Hot Seat: James R. Dixon, Actor-Director
EMPOWERING LGBTQ2SIA+ BUSINESS LEADERS
“When we don’t allow people to tell their own stories, we lose a bit of ourselves.”
Meet Olivia Bormann, diversity, equity, and inclusion coordinator for the new Maverix program at Portland State University’s School of Business. Olivia Bormann brings a blend of professional and educational experience to her new role as Maverix coordinator. “My professional background paired with my lived experience as a biracial Black queer woman led me to this position,” says Bormann. “This is a labor of love.”
As part of broader investments in equity and access initiatives at The School of Business, Maverix aims to provide students with the tools to transform business and business education. “I see a huge opportunity to support students in Maverix to dream of new policies that support the most excluded in the organization. I always come back to the question, ‘How are we doing business differently?’ because the status quo doesn’t work anymore,” says Bormann. In the program’s first year, she plans to recruit LGBTQ2SIA+ students into the first cohort, provide direct student support and mentorship, and facilitate group spaces for students to build community and connection. “I want Maverix students to challenge themselves and the institutions they navigate to create equitable and inclusive work environments. I want them to use their skills and power to transform the organization so that even after they’re gone, the work continues on.”
To learn more about Maverix, visit pdx.edu/business.
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Willamette Week JUNE 1, 2022 wweek.com
GARY NORMAN
Bormann was hired to launch the new Maverix program, designed to support the development of LGBTQ2SIA+ business leaders who bring an equity and social justice lens to their work. “We held focus groups and gathered student input in the creation of this program,” says Bormann. “We learned students want to feel a sense of belonging, feel safe being out at work, learn more about LGBTQ2SIA+ history and leaders, and identify barriers and develop strategies to overcome them.”
WW: Your documentary Gender-Fication is a major act of listening to queer stories. Do you take that back into your art? James R. Dixon: It was definitely what I call a listening session. But as a director and producer, especially focusing on queer and Black theater, I take that as a moment to absorb [these stories]. There are characters I play on stage that have similar lives. You’ve said you became a director out of necessity. What was the necessity? When we don’t allow people to tell their own stories, we lose a bit of ourselves. I was in Show Boat watching a white woman in a black wig playing Julie LaVerne when we’ve got mixed-race women on stage. I needed to be a producer because I worked with so many people who didn’t give me the mentorship I needed, so I needed to get in the game so that I could remain accountable.
AN ACTOR PREPARES: James R. Dixon. BY C H A N C E S O L E M - P F E I F E R
@chance_ s _ p
Portland theater mainstay James R. Dixon likes to say that an actor’s job is to audition. Maybe in a perfect world that would be all. In this one, Dixon has found that Black and queer performers need louder voices than the platonic ideal of auditioning allows. Taking ownership of their community’s stories is how Dixon, who’s trodden Portland stages since 2014, came to direct Robert O’Hara’s Bootycandy in 2019, producing the play under the BlaQ Out banner for Fuse Theatre Ensemble—and undertaking years of equity facilitation. (Dixon is the producing artistic director of BlaQ Out, which is devoted to promoting the work of Black and queer artists.) On the heels of directing the intimate interview-based documentary Gender-Fication, Dixon (who is also a veteran of Pulp Fiction and Die Hard musical parodies) is now preparing to helm their second fully staged play, The Children of Edgar and Nina by Jarrett McCreary in late August at Common Grounds Coffeehouse. “I direct from the heart, from the body and from the community as much as I can,” Dixon says. For Pride, WW caught up with Dixon to discuss their most meaningful onstage role, how to work on equity without it being a separate job, and the influence of dearly departed Oregon Children’s Theatre artistic director Stan Foote.
What acting role has meant the most to you? We just lost Stan Foote, who gave me one of my biggest roles [as Earthworm] in James and the Giant Peach. It was a group audition…the notes were a little out of my range, but Stan said, “James, sing what’s comfortable for you.” He allowed me to be myself and be in my body. At Oregon Children’s Theatre, you always get to meet [the kids] and sign their books. I remember after one show there was this little Black kid with a white dad… [peering] around his tree trunk of a leg. I knew what that was. It changed me. Stan made a huge impact on this town, and that was a role that really shaped my career. How do you have the energy to be an equity consultant on top of everything else? Honestly, I don’t. I have a full-time job as a tech support manager and work in mental health for the Veterans Administration. I prefer to focus my energy on people that are ready to work and already engaged in [equity]. I would never tell an actor they need to be queer to be in my show. But it will be clear this is a queer show, and it would be ideal to have the least amount of conversations around what it means to be queer. Do you want to dial into a certain artistic area during the next few years? I would like to focus primarily on directing. As far as producing, I want BlaQ Out to grow. It’s more important that it’s there than that it be mine. I just want to do Black, queer work and focus on that as much as I can.
Superstar Divas Mega Showcase CC Slaughters, 219 NW Davis St., ccslaughterspdx.com. 8 pm Sundays. $15+. 21+.
Triple Nickel Drag Show Triple Nickel Pub, 3646 SE Belmont St. 7 pm Thursday, June 16. $6, tickets at Eventbrite.
The QT (Queer Talent) Show The Queen’s Head, 19 SW 2nd Ave. 9 pm first and third Thursdays. $5.
Trans-Uhh-Licious CC Slaughters, 219 NW Davis St., ccslaughterspdx.com. 9 pm Thursday, June 16. No cover. 21+.
Drag’d to Dinner Bunk Bar, 1028 SE Water Ave. 7 pm Friday, June 3, $5-$20, tickets at Eventbrite.
Keepin’ It Klassy: A New Experience Escape Bar & Grill, 9004 NE Sandy Blvd. 8 pm Friday, June 17. $15, tickets at Eventbrite. 21+.
CHRIS NESSETH
(W)horror Show The Queen’s Head, 19 SW 2nd Ave. 9 pm Friday, June 3. $10, tickets at Eventbrite. High Klass Brunch Escape Bar & Grill, 9004 NE Sandy Blvd. Noon Saturday, June 4. $15, tickets at Eventbrite.
Ultimate Pride Guide 2022 LGBTQ+ Pride is back with a vengeance, and this time it’s personal. BY A N D R E W J A N KOW S K I
It’s been a terrible year for LGBTQ+ rights. Legislators have introduced hundreds of transphobic and homophobic bills, and 2022 is on track to set a ghoulish record. Queer people still face discrimination, violence and death threats daily, with slanderous rhetoric accusing us of child abuse ramping up online and in the real world. Still, we want to party, we want to be among our people, and we are not turning back the clock on how far we’ve progressed in our own self-acceptance and understanding, to say nothing of our allies. Portland’s got more than 100 LGBTQ+ Pride-related events throughout June. We rounded up some of the best based on category to give you a clearer understanding of what’s happening to celebrate the LGBTQ+ people in your life (which might even be you).
PORTLAND PRIDE BY PRIDE NORTHWEST
Events organized or endorsed by the nonprofit Pride Northwest Inc. Pride at the Museum OMSI, 1945 SE Water Ave., omsi. edu. 6 pm Friday, June 10. $8$12. A family-friendly night where lasers set to Queen and Lady Gaga count as queer science. History of Black Drag in Portland McMenamins Kennedy School Theater, 5736 NE 33rd Ave. 7 pm Thursday, June 16. $25, tickets at racetalkspdx.com. Lawanda Jackson, Cicely, Maria Peters Lake, Sheniqua Volt enlighten in-person and digital audiences about Black drag queens in Portland’s nightlife history. Coco Jem Holiday, Nay Nay Leakes Cartier, and DJ No Bi. Es. perform. Portland Pride Waterfront Festival Tom McCall Waterfront Park. Noon-6 pm Saturday, 11:30 pm-6 pm Sunday, June 18-19. $8 suggested donation (no one turned away for lack of funds), VIP passes at portlandpride.org. Community organizations, vendors and entertainers gather to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community on Portland’s largest waterfront park for two days of fun. Expect live main stage performances by dancers, drag queens and musicians, along with the two-day Pride Pics film festival. Portland Gay Men’s Chorus Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 SW Broadway. 7:30 pm Saturday, June 18. $19-$56, tickets
at pdxgmc.org. The Portland Gay Men’s Chorus performs new music and pop standards, debuting their lockdown-era digital show “Chasing Rainbows” for a live audience. Gaylabration: decaDANCE! Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside St. 9 pm Saturday, June 18. $17.99-$24.99. Celebrating its 10th year, Gaylabration is the official dance party of Portland’s Pride Festival. Dance with hoopers, LED performers, aerialists and DJ Deanne. Dyke March Tom McCall Waterfront Park. 6 pm Saturday, June 18. Portland’s Dyke March celebrates and centers trans and cisgender lesbians, giving space for queer women and their admirers to proudly declare their space in the community. Portland Pride Parade North Park Blocks, route information at portlandpride.org. 11 am Sunday, June 19. Portland’s Pride Parade kicks off in the North Park Blocks near Old Town, still the center of the city’s queer nightlife scene. Expect floats by queer-focused or -friendly organizations, dogs in cute costumes and endless rainbows. PDX Latinx Pride! A Queer Latinx Dancy Party Candy, 904 NW Couch St., pdxcandy.com, facebook.com/ pdxlatinxpride. 9 pm Sunday, June 19. Kaina Martinez hosts Candy’s Pride Month gay Latinx dance party.
Alegría Portland Expo Center, 2060 N Marine Drive. 8 pm Saturday, June 23. $72-$96, tickets at tickets.cirquedusoleil.com. Cirque du Soleil offers a 20% discount on admission to its Pride Night performance with the code PRIDE20, with a portion of proceeds benefiting Pride Northwest. Let’s Pride Together Block Party Badlands, Northwest Couch Street between 6th Avenue and Broadway. Noon Saturday, June 25. Badlands (aka historic gay bar Embers) isn’t open yet, but Pride Northwest closes out Pride season with a block party centered on an augmented reality mural. Portland creative laureate Joaquin Lopez hosts, with performances by the Portland Lesbian Choir, the Portland Gay Men’s Chorus, and drag artists. Portland Pride Paddle Willamette Park, route information at portlandpride.org. 11 am Saturday, June 25. Pride Northwest closes out its programming with a relaxing group rainbow paddle along the Willamette River, from Willamette Park to Ross Island and back.
DRAG & BURLESQUE SHOWS
High Tea with the Queens: A Royal Invasion The Queen’s Head, 19 SW 2nd Ave. 5:30 pm Sunday, June 5. $5, tickets at Ticket Leap. Dusted Dolls Mississippi Pizza, 3552 N Mississippi Ave. 8 pm Tuesday, June 7. $10.
BOYeurism: The Pride Edition Bossanova Ballroom, 722 E Burnside St., bossanovaballroom. com. 9 pm Friday, June 10. $20$30. 21+. XXXY Hot Mix Curious Comedy Theater, 5225 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., curiouscomedy.org. 9:30 pm Friday, June 10. $5.
Black Out/Intersection Bossanova Ballroom, 722 E Burnside St., bossanovaballroom. com. 8 pm Sunday, June 19. $25$50. 21+.
Dapperlesque Alberta Rose Theatre, 3000 NE Alberta St., albertarosetheatre. com. 7 pm Friday, June 24. $25$35.
WAREHOUSE & BLOCK PARTIES Scandals Block Party Scandals, 1125 SW Harvey Milk St., scandalspdx.com. June 14-16. 21+.
Demand Drag’s Big Hats Brunch Curious Comedy Theater, 5225 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., curiouscomedy.org. 11 am Saturday, June 11. $15-$150. Pride Drag Brunch Alberta Street Pub, 1036 NE Alberta St., albertastreetpub.com. Noon Saturday, June 11. $25. Top Shelf Drag Brunch Santé Bar, 411 NW Park Ave. 2 pm Saturday, June 11. $15, tickets at Eventbrite.
Darcelle XV 208 NW 3rd Ave., darcellexv. com. Tuesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. It’s no secret that Darcelle XV, Portland’s grand dame of drag, sorely missed performing during lockdown. Her exact itinerary hasn’t been published yet, but Darcelle’s weekly shows include Tuesday’s Catch a Rising Star Revue, alternating Sunday brunches, and nightly shows on Fridays and Saturdays with some of Portland’s most revered drag queens.
Queer Happy Hour & ’90s Prom Dance Party! Zoiglhaus Brewing, 5716 SE 92nd Ave. 4 pm Saturday, June 11. $5, tickets at Eventbrite. 21+.
Diva Drag Brunch Bit House Collective, 727 SE Grand Ave. 11 am Saturdays and Sundays. $40-$120, tickets at Eventbrite. 21+.
New Mutants: An X-Men Drag Show Mississippi Pizza, 3552 N Mississippi Ave., mississippipizza.com. 8 pm Tuesday, June 14. $12.
Early Bird Drag Brunch The Nest Lounge, 2715 SE Belmont Ave., @silhouettepdx. Noon Sundays. No cover. 21+.
Melange: A Queer & POC Variety Show Clinton Street Theater, 2522 SE Clinton St., cstpdx.com. 8 pm Wednesday, June 15. $15.
Monstro Menagerie Star Theater, 13 NW 6th Ave., startheaterportland.com. 7:30 pm Monday, June 13. $15-$100. 21+.
Queer Clothing Swap & Drag Show 411 NE 18th Ave., Suite B. 2 pm Sunday, June 19. $1-$10, tickets at Eventbrite. 18+.
Juno Birch: Attack of the Stunning Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside St., dougfirlounge.com. 8 pm Wednesday, June 22. $25. 21+.
Galore! Pride Edition: Drag in Abundance! Clinton Street Theater, 2522 SE Clinton St., cstpdx.com. 8 pm Friday, June 10. $16.
Booze & Bimbos Gigantic Brewing & Taproom, 5224 SE 26th Ave. 7 pm Sunday, June 12. Free.
It’s Bolivia! (Bolivia Carmichaels’ Variety Show) CC Slaughters, 219 NW Davis St., ccslaughterspdx.com. 8 pm Sunday, June 19. $10. 21+.
Pride Bar Crawl Silverado, 610 NW Couch St. 4 pm Saturday, June 18. $15-$20. Tickets at Eventbrite. 21+. Back and Black: Juneteenth Black Queer and Trans Pride Kick-Back! Black & Beyond the Binary Collective, 5633 SE Division St., blackbeyondthebinarycollective. org. 4 pm Sunday, June 19. Free. All ages.
THEATER American Girl Script Reading Back Door Theater, 4319 SE Hawthorne Blvd., fusetheatreensemble.com. 2 pm Sunday, June 12. Free. All ages. Mikki Gillette reads from her biographical play about the life of Nikki Kuhnhausen, a trans teen murdered in Vancouver, Wash., in 2019.
MOVIES The Boys’ Love Revolution Movie Madness, 4320 SE Belmont St. 7 pm Thursday, June 9. $40. Hollywood Theatre’s Movie Madness University offers a crash course in the history of yaoi from Thailand, South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam, examining several films associated with this romantic, uplifting gay genre.
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STREET
RIGHT AS RAIN Photos by Chris Nesseth On Instagram: @chrisnesseth
After two years of scaled-down versions of the Portland Rose Festival, the full itinerary has finally returned. The city’s signature celebration kicked off with a ribbon cutting led by City Commissioner Dan Ryan and 2021 Queen of Rosaria Lili Rosebrook at Waterfront Park on Friday, May 27. Portlanders weren’t about to let a little rain get in the way—a traditional “Rose Festival Low” moved through the region, bringing chilly temperatures and intermittent downpours. But that didn’t stop festivalgoers from playing games or ordering traditional fair food. Events run through June 26. 26
Willamette Week JUNE 1, 2022 wweek.com
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GET BUSY
1022 NW Marshall Street #450 Portland OR | (503) 226-6361 | paulsoncoletti.com
GO: Sugar Town Pride Month Kickoff Patio Party When candy-colored outfits are “highly encouraged” at a dance party, you know you’re destined to have a good time. Groove to beats from DJ Action Slacks, who will spin soul from 1955 to 1975. Kenton Club, 2025 N Kilpatrick St., 503-285-3718, djactionslacks.com. 5-9:30 pm Saturday, June 4. $10 at the door (cash or Venmo). 21+.
SEE: Julia’s Place Imago Theatre has an affinity for gargantuan creatures, so it was only a matter of time before the company cast…a rhino?! OK, it’s actually a puppet. But you should still check out this world-premiere play by the great Jerry Mouawad, which is inspired by Eugène Ionesco’s 1959 classic Rhinoceros. Imago Theatre, 17 SE 8th Ave., 503-2319581, imagotheatre.com. 7:30 pm Thursday-Saturday, June 3-18, and 2 pm Sunday, June 5. $20.
wGO: State Parks Day
Get Busy Tonight 28
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OUR EVENT PICKS, E M A I L E D W E E K LY.
Get your tent and cooler ready: Oregon State Parks and Recreation is waiving all fees for camping and parking at the properties it oversees throughout the state on June 4. This year’s State Parks Day—a tradition dating back to 1998—also coincides with the Oregon State Parks centennial. That means several locations will hold special events, including Champoeg State Heritage Area, which plans to set up an authentic fur trappers’ encampment, and Valley of the Rogue State Park, where you can watch pro-
STUFF TO DO IN PORTLAND THIS WEEK, INDOORS AND OUT.
C O U R T E S Y O F K AT Y P O M E R OY
In-person hiring event at ALSO. When: Sunday, June 5th, 10 AM - 2 PM Where: 10541 SE Cherry Blossom Dr, Portland, OR 97216 Make heart work your work as a Direct Support Pro (DSP) supporting people with disabilities. Learn more about the work DSPs do and the services ALSO provides at heartworkoregon.com.
GIVE ME SOME SUGAR: Kick off Pride Month with Sugar Town’s patio party.
fessional wood-carvers create art out of logs. All Oregon State Parks, 800-551-6949, stateparks.oregon.gov. Saturday, June 4. Free.
WATCH: Twilight If you get pleasure from watching a “bad” movie, how bad can it really be? Return to Forks, Wash., where mist swirls around the trees with poetic precision and Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson brood over the exquisite agony of being young and gorgeous. Screens in 35 mm as part of the Hollywood’s #OregonMade Film Series. Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy Blvd., 503-493-1128, hollywoodtheatre.org. 7:30 pm Monday, June 6. $8-$10.
GO: Pixie Project Pup Crawl How do you make a pub crawl even better? Add dogs. A collection of bars in Portland and Beaverton will host you and your pet this weekend in an effort to support the Pixie Project, a nonprofit animal rescue and adoption center. Expect to find special kegs on tap at each location, which will benefit the organization, along with auctions and raffles with prizes. Volunteers from Pixie Project will be on hand during each bar’s three-hour window. Hit one or all nine if you and your pooch are feeling ambitious. Various locations in Portland and Beaverton, 503-5423432, pixieproject.org. 2-9 pm Friday, noon-7 pm Saturday, noon-5 pm Sunday, June 3-5.
Love (period) 717 SW 10th Ave Portland, OR 97205 503.223.4720 www.maloys.com
For fine antique and custom jewelry, or for repair work, come visit us, or shop online at Maloys.com. We also buy. Willamette Week JUNE 1, 2022 wweek.com
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FOOD & DRINK
Top 5
Hot Plates WHERE TO EAT THIS WEEK.
1. DAME
2930 NE Killingsworth St., 503-227-2669, damerestaurant.com. 5-10 pm Thursday-Sunday. Dame may be the most wonderful, underpublicized restaurant in Portland. The intimate Italian meals served there nourish the body and elevate the spirit. Its chef, Patrick McKee, is an exemplary talent, leader and human being; the kitchen and floor staff reflect a constructive culture; and the food is simply superb. When you go, order pasta, the high-water mark of McKee’s creativity and the skill in his kitchen. Typically, a half-dozen pastas are made fresh daily, and every dish is the product of painstaking flavor-building technique. Servings are generous, but order ravenously; these pastas are virtuoso performances.
Editor: Andi Prewitt Contact: aprewitt@wweek.com
2. YES PLEASE SMASH BURGER
3950 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 707-500-2117, yespleasesmashburger.com. Noon-5 pm Wednesday-Sunday. As the child of a naturopath and a herbalist, Tai Pfeifer grew up eating fresh and healthy, and was determined to bring that to his slow fast food. The Yes Please Smash Burger is grass-finished (as opposed to “grassfed,” a term that still allows grain consumption), and until recently, Pfeifer ground the meat himself, using a mixture of brisket and heart. He also makes his own American cheese from real cheddar, which doesn’t have the dozen-plus ingredients you’ll find in Kraft Singles. It’s also actually a cheese sauce, which gets poured directly on the burger during cooking, resulting in an almost fricolike crusty, crispy cheese halo.
3. PHUKET CAFE AARON LEE
1818 NW 23rd Place, 503-781-2997, phuketcafepdx. com. 5-10 pm Monday-Friday, 10 am-2 pm and 5-10 pm Saturday-Sunday. Rocketship Earl has catapulted skyward again. Phuket Cafe, located inside the compact former Ataula space in Northwest Portland, is Akkapong “Earl” Ninsom’s newest restaurant and co-venture with bartender Eric Nelson. After barely a month, waits can run long for Ninsom’s new, twisted take on Thai cuisine, a niche he owns. It’s a challenge to describe the menu, but it reflects the pair’s recent travels in Thailand, and includes everything from oysters on the half shell to bacon bites to paella to a glorious pork chop—a massive 18-ounce Tails & Trotters cut, sliced from the bone for service.
4. RINGSIDE STEAKHOUSE
2165 W Burnside St., 503-223-1513, ringsidesteakhouse. com. 5-9 pm Monday-Thursday, 4:30-9:30 pm Friday, 4-9:30 pm Saturday, 4-9 pm Sunday. For the first time since the start of the pandemic, RingSide will be open seven days a week. The iconic steakhouse remained closed on Mondays and Tuesdays once it resumed indoor dining, but let’s face it: Sometimes you really need to carve into a dry-aged, bone-in rib-eye to get your week started on the right foot. The $48 three-course prime rib special has returned to its normal Monday slot, and June just happens to be National Steakhouse Month, giving you another excuse to drop in.
5. BLUTO’S
2838 SE Belmont St., 971-383-1619, blutospdx.com. 11 am-10 pm daily. Bluto’s, named after John Belushi’s hard-partying character in Animal House, comes from Lardo and Grassa mastermind Rick Gencarelli and the ChefStable restaurant group. Like Lardo and Grassa, it aims for that fancy, fast-casual niche, with counter service and midrange prices belying some seriously tasty cooking. Bluto’s portion sizes are perfect for sharing, so covering a table in a variety of dishes and allowing the flavors to mingle is the right way to eat here. The zippy citrus and sour labneh in the chicory salad should be eaten in between bites of the savory skewers and hummus scooped up with pita bread.
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Coming Home to Roost Pollo Bravo’s Spanish-style rotisserie birds are back in a new stand-alone location. BY JA S O N C O H E N
@cohenesque
P H OTO S BY T H O M A S T E A L
Pollo Bravo in 2022 feels like an especially happy ending to two not especially happy Portland dining stories. One was the pandemic and its effect on the entire restaurant business. The second was the dissolution of John Gorham’s Toro Bravo restaurant group in 2020, although on that front, Pollo Bravo was actually unaffected. While the rotisserie chicken spot was started by Gorham and longtime Toro Bravo chef Josh Scofield in the spring of 2016, it became independently owned by Scofield and his wife, Sarah (who’d managed Toro Bravo), at the end of that same year. In terms of the pandemic, Pollo Bravo stuck it out for a while with takeout and delivery out of Pine Street Market, with the downtown food hall—built on crowds and conviviality, to say nothing of tourists
and office workers—largely emptied out. Now, after a 10-month hiatus, it’s a stand-alone restaurant in North Portland, taking over the former Garagiste Wine Bar space on the same stretch of North Killingsworth Street as Haymaker and Up North Surf Club. The signature chicken and stalwart sides (radicchio salad, patatas bravas, sauces) are back, and so are select tapas and Toro Bravo favorites, including padrón peppers, chicken-and-ham croquettes, and a rebooted Bravo burger. Pollo had its roots in a research trip to Spain that Gorham and Scofield took in 2013. In search of Toro inspiration, they were struck by the ubiquity and simplicity of the country’s rotisserie chicken, spiced with pimentón de la vera, and thought Portland could use more of that sort of thing—an observation that proved to be correct. Pollo Bravo opened two years after the original location of the Mexican-inspired Pollo Norte, and around the same time as Providore’s Arrosto, but preceded Big’s Chicken
Top 5
Buzz List WHERE TO DRINK THIS WEEK.
1. PORTLAND CIDER CO.
3638 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 971-888-5054, portlandcider.com. 3-9 pm Wednesday-Thursday, 1-10 pm Friday-Saturday, 1-9 pm Sunday. 8925 SE Jannsen Road, Building F, Clackamas, 503-744-4213. 3-9 pm Wednesday-Thursday, 3-10 pm Friday, noon-10 pm Saturday, noon-9 pm Sunday. Back by popular demand, Portland Cider’s Tangerine Dreamsicle was designed to trigger summertime notalgia with its bright, tangy fruit juice swirled together with rich vanilla from Singing Dog in Eugene. It’s one of the brand’s most requested small-batch beverages ever, and you can get your hands on it again starting this weekend. Drink up. Summer is too short.
2. FLORA
4500 SW Watson Ave., Beaverton, 503-372-5352, exploretock.com. 6 pm-close Thursday-Sunday. You can now reserve a stool inside the hidden bar perched above the new Beaverton Loyal Legion taproom. Flora is an intimate and refined cocktail-focused venue, serving concoctions in crystal glassware in a swanky setting—here the lights are dimmed and the wallpaper depicts mythical creatures. Customers can expect an eclectic, plantbased drink menu that’s as playful as it is colorful. Opening offerings included a Caribbean horchata, a Tang-based cocktail, and a whiskey-Aperol mix with a kick thanks to the addition of cayenne simple syrup.
3. TOPWIRE HOP PROJECT
8668 Crosby Road NE, Woodburn, 503-765-1645, topwirehp.com. 11 am-8 pm Thursday and Sunday, 11 am-9 pm Friday-Saturday. The average beer nerd can’t score a badge to the Craft Brewers Conference, the brewing industry’s largest annual gathering. But you can get a taste of some of the same beers that were only available to attendees of this year’s event. TopWire Hop Project—the beer garden that opened in the middle of Crosby Hop Farm in 2020—has announced it will kick off its third season with a selection of special collaboration beers, many available only at the 2022 convention in Minneapolis. Even when those kegs have tapped, return for the view of the hop bines, which grow 18 feet tall and surround the space like emerald green curtains.
4. STEEPLEJACK BREWING PIZZA & BEER
Of course, in the end, you’re going to get some chicken. The heirloom bird (sourced from Cooks Venture, which Sarah Scofield says is a “leader in sustainable regenerative farm practices”) is available in multiple configurations, from the whole-chicken Familia Dinner, with a large salad, patatas bravas and two sauces ($49), to the Winner Winner Chicken Dinner ($15), which is a quarter chicken with a small salad and one sauce. You can also get it à la carte (quarter $9, half $16, full $30). Flavorful but not aggressively spicy, the chicken is cooked on a Rotisol rotisserie and gets its juicy tenderness from an overnight rub/marinade using both the restaurant’s house-fermented hot sauce paste (made from chiles, onions, carrots and spices) as well as brine from fermented padróns. Both the chicken and the radicchio salad—a longtime Toro/Tasty favorite—travel well if you’re getting takeout or delivery (the latter is only just about to be available again), though the patatas bravas might need some re-crisping. And here’s the real secret to Pollo Bravo: the sauces, which include the aforementioned hot sauce, decadent aioli, creamy green goddess and romesco, as well as bone broth and brava sauce. Nearly everything on the menu is ready to be dipped. In fact, most dishes are more or less condiment-delivery vehicles. “Some might say it’s all about the sauces,” Josh Scofield acknowledges. EAT: Pollo Bravo, 1225 N Killingsworth St., 503-477-8999, pollobravopdx.com. 11:30 am-9 pm daily.
5. SUCKERPUNCH COURTESY OF SUCKERPUNCH
and more recent spots like Mama Bird and Rotigo (there’s also El Inka Peruvian Cuisine, a Portland rebirth of the longtime Gresham restaurant Pollos à la Brasa el Inka). Experientially, the new location takes Pollo almost full circle, back to its short-lived second location at Southwest Alder Street (at what is now called Yalla, and had been Shalom Y’all). It’s a perfectly casual little counter-service space with an open kitchen, indoor and outdoor seating and a mere nine items on the food menu, plus three cocktails, six beer and wine choices, eight wines by the glass or bottle, and extensive non-alcoholic options (kombucha, ginger beer, CBD, Italian and New York Seltzer sodas). You can also order drinks from Up North Surf Club. In its Toro Bravo incarnation, the Bravo burger was one of Portland’s OG fancy burgers, with appearances on numerous “best” lists, in addition to taking first in the bistro category of WW’s 2017 “Burger Madness” bracket. Briefly available in Pollo’s early days (before Bless Your Heart became the Pine Street burger option at the time), it comes with manchego and romesco sauce, as always, but instead of bacon, a more delicate slice of speck, and instead of bread-and-butter-style zucchini pickles, a pile of zesty pickled padrón peppers ($12). In some ways it is a burger that is all about the toppings, but with a very strong foundation: fresh-ground Angus chuck cooked on the rare side of medium rare, and an excellent Dos Hermanos sesame-seed bun. Pine Street Pollo Bravo fans will also be glad to hear the rotisserie pork loin sandwich with griddled manchego, caramelized onion, and romesco ($10) is also back. For additional vegetables, there’s broccolini a la plancha ($10) and rotisserie cauliflower ($10).
4439 SW Beaverton Hillsdale Highway, 503-7196241, steeplejackbeer.com. 3-10 pm Monday-Saturday, noon-10 pm Saturday-Sunday. First they rehabilitated a century-old church and turned it into a brewery. And while the SteepleJack owners’ second construction project—the former IBU Public House on Southwest Beaverton Hillsdale Highway—wasn’t quite as ambitious, the end result is just as exciting for beer lovers on the other side of town. The company’s pizzaand-beer-focused pub opened in mid-May, which mirrors the original location’s Craftsman aesthetic. The beer offerings are also similar to what’s on tap at the Northeast Portland flagship, which includes two beer engines, one of which is currently pouring Alewife, an English dark mild that won gold at the Oregon Beer Awards.
1030 SE Belmont St., 503-208-4022, suckerpunch. bar. 6-10 pm Thursday-Saturday, 6-8 pm Sunday. You will leave Suckerpunch as sober as you were when you walked in, but the thing is, Portland’s first non-alcoholic bar still works its magic: It’s a place where adults can enjoy some complex yet balanced cocktails in a cozy place and catch up with friends. Andy McMillan, who founded the business because he was desperate for better zero-proof concoctions around town, recently changed the three-item menu, so you’ll find some new options if you’ve already been.
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POTLANDER
High on
Pride
Here are five of our favorite local LGBTQ+ cannabis brands to support this June. BY B R I A N N A W H E E L E R
Gay potheads and allies, this Pride season is arguably the most critical to date. Trans kids are under attack in multiple states, Florida literally banned the word “gay” from schools, and rights to bodily autonomy are being threatened nationwide. Over 200 bills that would limit the rights of LGBTQ+ Americans have been filed this year, and many big brands that funded the politicians behind these proposals are now gearing up to spend the next month pandering as hard as possible to the LGBTQ+ community. In anticipation of a month filled with corporate rainbow-washing, we thought it would be a good time to give a shout-out to some of our favorite, homegrown queer-owned cannabusinesses. My weed budget has no gender, no biology, and certainly no sexuality, but it does have the power to support members of my own LGBTQ+ community.
Sway Blunts For the low-dose smoker who still enjoys an ultra-rich exhale, Sway Blunts should be your new favorite indulgence. These cigars are hand-rolled with sticky, fragrant hemp-cannabis with a THC of 3% or lower, and are sold as minis, traditional wraps, or cured-and-layered Thai sticks. Founded by Melody Wright and led by partner Sonia Fay Wright, Sway is a brand that is easy to support because it combines both wellness and recreational goals. Bonus: The weight, density and heady perfume of these blunts give them an almost ritualistic, ceremonial vibe when smoked. BUY: swayblunts.com
Peak Extracts Peak Extracts was one of the state’s first producers of infused chocolate, but it also makes one of the most effective cannabis salves on the market. Both its confections and its topicals are born from the expertise of founders Katie Stem and Kate Black. Stem, a Chinese medicine practitioner based her salve on an ancient recipe for treating blunt-force trauma, while Black is the resident chocophile. Peak is another company that skillfully walks the line between therapy and recreation, with strain-specific chocolates that can meet the needs of medical patients as well as low-maintenance, snacky stoners. BUY: peakextracts.com
Empower BodyCare Founded by Trista Okel, Empower BodyCare sells cannabis-infused skin care products that are functional and luxurious. From the soaking salts to the oils to the lotions, this collection
can be used by the whole family, not just adult potheads. Pro tip: The roll-on oil applicator is great for on-the-go medicating, is back-pocket and fanny-pack friendly, and is absorbed by the skin without leaving a greasy residue. BUY: empowerbodycare.com
Oracle Wellness Helmed by onetime WW cover model Megon Dee, Oracle Wellness produces therapeutic tinctures, salves and hempherb blends from a culinary point of view. Dee, who began her work in cannabis as a chef, uses her kitchen skills to develop products that are as valued for their balanced, thoughtful flavor profiles as they are for their efficacy. That combo has given her flagship tincture a cult following. Dee’s line is rounded out by a selection of cannabis accessories that includes candles, joint
clips, oil spritzers and herb bundles. BUY: oraclewellnessco.com
Green Box Green Box is a cannabis delivery service, online dispensary, and line of curated subscription boxes serving the greater Portland area. Founded by Adrian Wayman, who’s poised to become the industry’s next multihyphenate, Green Box is a digital one-stop shop for both the weekly reup and the occasional extravagant gift box. Expect to find all your favorite products you could get from your neighborhood dispensary as well as the latest drops and top-rated accessories. Customers shopping for subscriptions or gift boxes can customize their hauls. BUY: pdxgreenbox.com
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MUSIC
Editor: Bennett Campbell Ferguson | Contact: bennett@wweek.com MAKING MOVIES
Shows of the Week What to see and what to hear. BY DANIEL BROMFIELD // @BROMF3
THURSDAY, JUNE 2: Dallas, Texas, singer-songwriter Joshua Ray Walker is a strong candidate to bridge the divide between country’s traditional, straightlaced mainstream and the iconoclastic, progressive “yeehaw agenda” that gave us Lil Nas X and a fullblown Sturgill Simpson anime movie. Just look at the “Sexy After Dark” music video, which is yeehaw all the way, next to “Canyon,” which might halfway convince you this guy could share a stage with the Dierks Bentleys and Jason Aldeans of the industry. Either way, his name is about to be on a lot of lips, so be sure to catch him while he’s still on the club circuit. Polaris Hall, 635 N Killingsworth Court, 503-240-6088, polarishall.com. 8 pm. $15. 21+.
CROSSING THE LINE: Making Movies.
Here Come the Moves Making Movies brings its unique brand of Americana to Portland. BY M I C H E L L E K I C H E R E R
A few years ago, the Afro-Latino rock group Making Movies was on a U.S. tour that hit a hiccup in Tulsa, Okla. The venue they planned to play was dead set on not letting the band perform, insisting that they only allowed Americana music. “But our music is Americana,” says Panamanian-born songwriter and lead singer Enrique Chi. “We’re rock ’n’ roll and we add congas and speak Spanish sometimes, but we’re still Americana.” The Tulsa incident was not unique. It’s been an interesting and often challenging experience for Making Movies to play in predominantly white spaces, where they are often the only band on the bill with a Latin vibe. But that has only strengthened their mission. Countless stories are woven throughout Making Movies’ newest album, Xopa (out June 17 on Cosmica Artists). Their newest single, “Porcelina,” is a collaboration with the indie-pop band Tennis—Chi is a longtime friend of Tennis singer Alaina Moore—and it came at the perfect time. “Alaina had always wanted to do something in Spanish, and I felt like this song was just too normal,” Chis says. “So I said, OK, what about something really far out for this bridge?” Tennis brings a sexy, retro style to an already seductive tune, resulting in a standout track that reflects Moore’s sixth-sense wisdom and encouragement. “Alaina has always been there for me when I’m having these fork-in-the-road moments in my life,” Chi says. Xopa also encapsulates Chi’s growth as an artist. Sophisticated and sensual, the songs come running at you—and sometimes make you laugh. Plus, “Sala de los Pecadores” embodies the dramatic and sarcastic energy of a lot of Panamanian music. “We just call it típico,” says Chi. (“Música típico” is a term usually ascribed to Panama’s contempory folkloric music.) 34
Willamette Week JUNE 1, 2022 wweek.com
Making Movies’ lyrics occasionally have an over-the-top, soap-operatic quality. The main character described in “Sala de los Pecadores,” for instance, is a poor fellow who feels like he’s dying of a broken heart—and begs the doctor for any sort of remedy (a drink, a cigarette, a pill!). Some of the songs are in English, many are in Spanish, and all urge your body to move. “We hope Portland comes ready to dance,” Chi says of their upcoming show at The Get Down, one of Portland’s newest venues. “I want it all,” says owner Blake Boris-Schacter, whose passion for music and hatred of TicketMaster led him to open a venue with transparent, low-fee tickets and a space that was designed for dance. “I want hip-hop, blues, jazz, rock…we’re not built for seated shows. These shows are meant for dancing.” That’s perfect for Making Movies, a band that can bring any crowd to its feet. Although the group feels most at home in multicultural cities like Los Angeles and Austin, where Latino culture is already woven into the cloth of the city, they want to play everywhere. “It feels like part of a calling at this point…we want to create a little more empathy,” says Chi. After founding the Kansas City music education nonprofit Art as Mentorship, he sees the bigger picture that his music fits into. “Our stories are so much longer than the last 100 years of humanity. Music is a way to tap into that,” he says. “The music we’re playing has thousands of years of history. In using these rhythms we’re grabbing something ancient, but placed in the context of something current…it’s important to reconnect through our stories.” SEE IT: Making Movies plays The Get Down, 615 SE Alder St., Suite B, 503-847-9037, thegetdownpdx.com. 8 pm Thursday, June 16. $12-$15.
FRIDAY, JUNE 3: Bay Area duo Faun Fables delivers as much flute-centric, rococo prog-rock action as its name promises. Both members have enjoyed long careers in the freakiest corners of the American underground: Nils Frykdahl as a former member of art-metal band Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Dawn McCarthy as one of the most reliable foils to the horny, hirsute singer-songwriter Bonnie “Prince” Billy. Together, they make music that satisfies the brain’s craving for complexity and theatricality. It’ll either curl your toes or set fireworks off in your brain, and if you’ve read this far, you probably know which one. Misdemeanor Meadows, 6920 SE 52nd Ave., 503-206-8556, misdemeanormeadows.com. 7 pm. $15. THURSDAY, JUNE 2: Portland is one of the epicenters of the past decade’s meeting of New Age music and the experimental underground. If you’d like to dive deeper into that scene, look no further than Holocene’s 19th anniversary party, featuring an all-local lineup that includes Crystal Quartez—a New Aage musician who’s hooked up sensors to plants and made music out of the resulting signals—and Patricia Wolf, who put out her new album SeeThrough on Balmat this month. The show opens with a “sound bath” by Moss Wand and concludes with DJ sets by Carly Barton and Floyd Vader, plus visuals by Reliqs. Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison St., 503-239-7639, holocene.org. 8 pm. Free. 21+.
MOVIES
STREAMING WARS
Editor: Bennett Campbell Ferguson Contact: bennett@wweek.com
UNIVERSAL PICTURES
SCREENER
YOUR WEEKLY FILM QUEUE BY B E N N E T T C A M P B E L L F E R G U S O N @thobennett
PORTLAND PICK: M AT T MCCORMICK
HAT TRICK: Cliff Robertson.
Raiders of Jacksonville The lost stories of Philip Kaufman’s 1972 Oregonshot Western The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid. BY C H A N C E S O L E M - P F E I F E R
@chance_ s _ p
INDIE PICK:
Released in 2018, Carlos López Estrada’s Blindspotting could have been a somber meditation on the politics of interracial friendships. Instead, it’s a cinematic explosion of color, wit and bro-mantic passion—political, yes, but never didactic. Written by its two astounding stars, Daveed Diggs (Hamilton) and Rafael Casal. Free on Amazon Prime.
HOLLYWOOD PICK:
After he jumped on Oprah’s couch but before he starred in Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol, Tom Cruise played Col. Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg in 2008’s Valkyrie, about a real-life plot to assassinate Hitler. Set aside the “Tom Cruise plays a German” jokes and enjoy a suspenseful, meticulous thriller about a man who puts morality above country until his last breath. Free on YouTube.
INTERNATIONAL PICK: WILD BUNCH
As smalltown legends go, moviemaking isn’t quite Jesse James holding up your local bank. But some in Jacksonville, Oregon, still recollect when the stars rode in. Released 50 years ago, The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid resides quietly in the upper echelon of Oregon-shot Westerns. With mythmaking on its mind and a drizzle on its face, the film reinvents the tale of Jesse James (Robert Duvall) and Cole Younger (Cliff Robertson) attempting an 1876 hit on what they dub “the biggest bank west of the Mississippi.” Raid stands as one of the most memorable instances of Oregon going undercover for a movie set elsewhere. Directed by a burgeoning Philip Kaufman (The Right Stuff, 1978’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers), the film subsumed Jacksonville for six weeks. Streets and businesses were closed, granite was poured, power lines were buried, and local landmarks were adorned with Southern Minnesota signage. Jacksonville’s historic boomtown aesthetic—which is still visible to this day—was what attracted the Universal production in the first place. “The town looks better than any back lot construction could,” wrote Medford Mail Tribune arts journalist Al Reiss in March 1972, paraphrasing Kaufman’s interest in Jacksonville. They weren’t wrong. While the poster’s claim of “The West the way it really was!” is undercut by historical chicanery in the script—and Robertson’s movie-star charm—soft focus, natural light, straggly beards and Wild Bunch-influenced editing place Raid squarely in the postButch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid era of increasingly vivid Westerns. When rain and snow arrived immediately on set in 1970, Kaufman committed to the mood, even simulating precipitation via fire hoses with sprinkler heads on clear days. The result is a Western uncommonly overcast and foreboding, complete with constant steam billowing from a calliope, the musical instrument stationed outside the Northfield bank to attract business. “Why they picked November [to shoot], I don’t know!” says Larry Smith, a semi-retired Jacksonville grade school teacher who visited the set with his students at every opportunity in 1970. From his vantage, Smith observed that Cliff Robertson was the production’s benevolent leader, riding high on
a recent Oscar win for Charly (1968). Duvall, two years short of Godfather fame, enthusiastically snapped photos with local kids. Smith remembers director Kaufman as quieter, almost stoic, letting cinematographer Bruce Surtees do most of the talking while developing a raw but aggrandizing visual style he’d soon lend to Clint Eastwood Westerns like High Plains Drifter (1973) and The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976). Despite a few hokey imperfections—including an interminable baseball scene filmed off Applegate Highway and narration laid on thick—Kaufman’s script thrives in the deep, unfurling contrast between gang leaders James and Younger. Played viciously by Duvall, James builds upon his bandit legacy by any means necessary. Meanwhile, Younger almost gawks at his outlaw stature in a country evolving around him. With twinkling eyes, Robertson trots out his favorite word (“wonderment”) to describe the spectacles of steam engines, titanic Northwest logs and his own fame. In fact, the film is so alternately thoughtful and cheerful, first-time viewers may doubt its guts to attempt a compelling heist. Rest assured, that’s the money scene, scored deafeningly by the calliope’s dissonant scream, which Smith remembers reverberating on California Street for hours. Seen today, the movie’s ruminations on legacy versus memory mirror its own journey to relative obscurity. Duvall’s star quickly eclipsed Robertson’s. Only cowboy aficionados know Cole Younger anymore. Kaufman’s later work, including co-writing Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), outshined his earlier films. Raid’s legacy is intimate, living under the radar and beneath Jacksonville’s sidewalks, where all the power lines buried for the movie remain. Turns out the city’s historic main drag benefited from this undergrounding of its utilities. “That was the best thing to come out of it,” laughs Smith. Inspired by watching Robertson deliver the line mere feet away, Smith still sometimes exclaims, “Now that’s a wonderment!” in his classroom when a student “does something that really sparkles.” Legends can be lost when half-centuries slip by, but here’s to wonderments. Remembered by some.
Matt McCormick’s 13-minute documentary The Subconscious Art of Graffiti Removal, which debuted at Sundance in 2002, remains a classic of DIY Portland cinema. Its defining argument—that expunging art is an art in itself—may be perverse, but the film’s dreamy authenticity can’t help but inspire belief. Free on Vimeo.
The Hollywood Reporter recently dubbed French star Léa Seydoux “the queen of Cannes.” But did you know she’s one of only four women to win the festival’s coveted Palme d’Or? In 2013, she and co-star Adèle Exarchopoulos shared the award, which they received for the controversial and emotionally explosive romance Blue Is the Warmest Color, along with the film’s director. AMC+, IFC Unlimited, Roku.
SEE IT: The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid streams on Roku, Starz and YouTube TV. Willamette Week JUNE 1, 2022 wweek.com
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MOVIES
It Is Not the Homosexual Who Is Perverse, but the Society in Which He Lives (1971)
Top Gun: Maverick is a jingoistic tribute to America, the Navy and the delightfully demented charisma of Tom Cruise. But above all, it is a monument to the power of big-budget cinema—to thrill, to move, and to unleash images so sweeping that they nearly shatter the screen. Directed by Joseph Kosinski (TRON: Legacy), the film chronicles the frantic efforts of Capt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Cruise) to train a squadron of Navy aviators for a mission to obliterate a uranium enrichment facility. “You think up there and you’re dead!” Maverick rants. Fair enough, but there’s nothing thoughtless about Kosinski’s direction. He sends planes soaring over sand and snow, making them twist through the air with the force of heavyweight boxers and the grace of prima ballerinas. After the airless thrills of recent superhero films, Top Gun: Maverick is like a lungful of oxygen, but it has soul to go with its spectacle. Unlike Ethan Hunt, the semi-celibate spy Cruise plays in the Mission: Impossible series, Maverick lives for more than the mission. Watching his plane hang in the heavens is bliss, but so is watching him embrace the woman he loves (Jennifer Connelly) on a beach as waves gently lap against the shore. Top Gun: Maverick’s glamorized portrait of military service may be morally irresponsible, but the film reminds us what movies—and life—can be. PG-13. BENNETT CAMPBELL FERGUSON. Academy, Bagdad, Cedar Hills, Cinemagic, City Center, Eastport, Fox Tower, Laurelhurst, Living Room Theaters, Lloyd Center, Pioneer Place, Roseway, St. Johns, St. Johns Twin, Studio One.
In a prime-time landscape that has relegated the graying dreams of drearily washed-out American families to animation (see The Simpsons, South Park and Family Guy), Bob’s Burgers has quietly thrived over 12 seasons detailing the hum-drummiest of all prole-toon heroes. Save for glimpses inside the vivid inferiority of daughters Tina (the libidinal mope voiced by Dan Mintz) and bunny-earstopped firebrand Louise (Kristen Schaal), most every Sunday with Bob Belcher (H. Jon Benjamin) revolves around desperate, doomed efforts to maintain a failing eatery amid trad-familial upheavals and the sort of show tune-laden melancholia more apt to spawn box sets than feature films. From The Bob’s Burgers Movie’s start, when our hero finds a burst water main (soon to become police line once Louise discovers a corpse) blocking access to the restaurant’s door, there’s a familiar sense of desperation beneath the burbling farce—but left to bounce long enough, the creative team reaches unforeseen heights. Stretched out to just a shade over 100 minutes, the film’s interwoven narratives breathe and nestle, allowing the sentimental beats to flourish organically. Best of all, series founder and co-writer/ co-director Loren Bouchard orchestrates the manic riffs of Bob’s wife, Linda (John Roberts), and the non sequitur fusillade of son Gene (Eugene Mirman) for the best possible version of a comfort staple rendered fresh, flavorful and well done. PG-13. JAY HORTON. Bridgeport, Cedar Hills, City Center, Clackamas, Eastport, Evergreen Parkway, 36
Laurelhurst, Lloyd Center, Mill Plain, Oak Grove, Pioneer Place, Progress Ridge, Studio One, Tigard, Vancouver Plaza.
MEN
Let’s talk about the dress. It’s pale pink, it’s long sleeved, and it’s worn by Jessie Buckley, star of Alex Garland’s dreamy and blood-chilling thriller Men. An archetypal symbol of femininity, the dress is the first of many clues that Buckley is playing not just a woman, but all women—just as her co-star, Rory Kinnear, is playing all men. Haunted by the death of her husband (Paapa Essiedu), Harper (Buckley) flees to an English country estate to recuperate. Almost the moment she arrives, she’s tormented by seemingly everyone in the area with a Y chromosome, including a little boy who calls her a “stupid bitch,” a silent stalker who appears in her garden naked, and a priest who hides his predatory nature behind courtly manners and long locks. All of these men are played by Kinnear, but it doesn’t seem strange to Harper that they have the same face. Why would it? The idea of a woman being persecuted by males who represent a single malevolent force feels sickeningly real. It could be argued that Men’s points about gender are obvious—and that its attitude toward topics like race and mental health is offensively glib—but like Garland’s previous films, Ex Machina and Annihilation, it digs impressively deep under your skin and into your psyche. Harper may be afraid, but she isn’t powerless. And as she goes from fleeing to fighting, the film solidifies its power over you. R. BENNETT
Willamette Week JUNE 1, 2022 wweek.com
B AVA R I A F I L M
TOP GUN: MAVERICK
THE BOB’S BURGERS MOVIE
G ET YO U R R E P S I N
PA R A M O U N T
TOP PICK OF THE WEEK
CAMPBELL FERGUSON. Academy, Cedar Hills, Cinema 21, City Center, Clackamas. Eastport, Evergreen Parkway, Fox Tower, Hollywood, Laurelhurst, Living Room, Lloyd Center, Mill Plain, Studio One, Tigard.
MONTANA STORY
The horizon may stretch romantically in this family drama from directors Scott McGehee and David Siegel (The Deep End, What Maisie Knew), but the film doesn’t revise the Western so much as trap two characters inside one. Owen Teague and Haley Lu Richardson star as estranged siblings Cal and Erin, who reunite on their family’s Montana ranch when their dad suffers a stroke. Because the plot finds its skeleton key in off-screen family history, the dialogue suffers from lead-weighted exposition that challenges Teague (It). But as the family outcast who’s unafraid to speak viciously, Richardson (Support the Girls, After Yang) fares better as the siblings tread on eggshells toward reconciliation. Past trauma aside, the film works best when observing banal yet loaded interactions touching on class, race and rural authenticity, like Cal giving a property tour or Erin buying a truck on a nearby reservation. Here, the film lets us see the kids for who they are—the embarrassed offspring of cowboy tourists. They’ve been molded by Big Sky Country, but they’re also hoping for a redemptive exit. Despite its genre trappings, Montana Story is ultimately an anti-Western: an ode to stunning, rugged country best left and loved. R. CHANCE SOLEM-PFEIFER. Bridgeport, Fox Tower, Living Room.
Told exclusively with voice-over narration and no diegetic sound, this 67-minute avant-garde German documentary-drama hybrid is a historic, underseen landmark in gay cinema. It’s the story of a gay man disillusioned by both straight and queer aspects of Berlin’s society. Clinton, June 1.
But I’m a Cheerleader (1999)
Featuring Natasha Lyonne as the titular cheerleader, deliciously candy-colored production design by Rachel Kamerman, and RuPaul in a supporting role, Jamie Babbit’s unapologetically lesbian rom-com staple tackles the traumatizing subject of conversion therapy with good-natured, campy humor rather than exploitative drama. Clinton, June 2.
The Godfather (1972)
“Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.” Francis Ford Coppola’s definitive mobster masterpiece about an aging mafia don (Marlon Brando) and the intricate power dynamics within his New York-Sicilian family (James Caan, Al Pacino, John Cazale) has been newly restored for its 50th anniversary. Hollywood, June 3-4.
MURDER and murder (1996)
Another underseen landmark of gay cinema, this one centers on a middle-aged lesbian couple who set up house together, exploring the pleasures and uncertainties of later-life emotional attachment and lesbian identity in a culture that glorifies youth and heterosexual romance. Screens in 16 mm. 5th Avenue, June 3-5.
Twilight (2008)
We all know the story: Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart, star of Cronenberg’s upcoming Crimes of the Future) moves to Forks, Wash., and falls for brooding vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson). Shot in the Portland area, this supernatural melodrama is an indisputable PNW classic. All hail the Twilight renaissance! Screens in 35 mm as part of the Hollywood’s #OregonMade series. Hollywood, June 6. ALSO PLAYING: Clinton: Paris Is Burning (1990), June 6. Hollywood: Bronco Bullfrog (1969), June 1. Stone (1974), June 2. Cape Fear (1962), June 4-5. Mystery Train (1989), June 5. Silent Assassins (1988), June 7.
OUR KEY
: THIS MOVIE IS EXCELLENT, ONE OF THE BEST OF THE YEAR. : THIS MOVIE IS GOOD. WE RECOMMEND YOU WATCH IT. : THIS MOVIE IS ENTERTAINING BUT FLAWED. : THIS MOVIE IS A STEAMING PILE.
JONESIN’
FREE WILL
B Y M AT T J O N E S
"Study Time's Over"—we're missing some conclusions
ASTROLOGY ARIES
(March 21-April 19): "It takes a spasm of love to write a poem," wrote Aries author Erica Jong. I will add that it takes a spasm of love to fix a problem with someone you care about. It also takes a spasm of love to act with kindness when you don't feel kind. A spasm of love is helpful when you need to act with integrity in a confusing situation and when you want to heal the past so it doesn't plague the future. All the above advice should be useful for you in the coming weeks, Aries. Are there any other variations you can think of? Fill in the blank in the next sentence: It takes a spasm of love to _____________.
TAURUS
(April 20-May 20): "The great epochs of our life come when we gain the courage to rechristen our badness as what is best in us," wrote philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. When I read that ambitious epigram, I didn't know what he was referring to. By "badness," did he mean the ugly, pathological parts of us? That couldn't be right. So I read scholars who had studied the great philosopher. Their interpretation: Nietzsche believed the urges that some religions seek to inhibit are actually healthy for us. We should celebrate, not suppress, our inclinations to enjoy sensual delights and lusty living. In fact, we should define them as being the best in us. I encourage you Bulls to do just that in the coming weeks. It's a favorable time to intensify your devotion to joy, pleasure, and revelry.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): It's an excellent time to
ACROSS 1. Oscar follower? 5. Nutini with the upcoming album "Last Night in the Bittersweet"
50. Aluminum foil alternative
23. Realize, as profits
52. It's full of -ologies
28. Time's 2019 Person of the Year Thunberg
54. Mathematician/ philosopher Pascal
25. Not quite
29. Aoki of the PGA
10. Perform terribly
56. Explanations
14. Dutch cheese variety
57. Soft shoe, informally
30. Post-punk fan's group, maybe
15. Actor Elgort of "The Goldfinch"
58. Bldg.'s rental units
33. Nothingness
59. Option to take during "Choose Your Own Oration"?
34. "Behold!" to Caesar
16. Peace Nobelist Wiesel 17. Offices of a N.Y. conglomerate (as opposed to their online services)?
62. Fence around a racetrack
35. "_ _ _ bleu!" 36. Confections first made in the 1930s 37. Part of a 2022 U.S. women's soccer negotiation
19. Tip slightly
63. Discussion group
20. Kind of squad or rally
64. "Heads up" abbr.
21. Title fish in a Pixar movie
65. "Auld Lang _ _ _"
38. One way to prepare potatoes
22. He's (spoiler alert) "The Monster at the End of This Book"
66. Night, in Napoli
42. Altoids purchases
67. R&B artist who got his nickname from a producer who made comparisons to "The Matrix"
43. "In my dreams!"
24. "Chains of Love" duo 26. DÌa de Martin Luther King Jr. month 27. Moves, in real estate jargon 28. Prefix meaning billion
DOWN 1. Sneeze inducer 2. Stick
31. Bran muffin bit
3. Venmo's parent company
32. Bad thing to say at a driving test when asked to put it in neutral?
5. 1970s AMC car
36. What tempeh might replace 39. What a time zone might be named after
4. Wake-up times 6. "What's in _ _ _?" 7. World capital on a fjord
47. Time doer 48. "Star Trek" engineer 49. Synthpop kin 51. Passage in a plane 52. Bedding layer 53. Washing machine stage 55. "30 for 30" airer 56. Took off 60. Kung _ _ _ shrimp 61. Pizza option
8. Table part 9. Couturier Cassini
40. Pub potables
10. Back with money
41. Underwater version of a Britney Spears hit?
11. Popeye's paramour
44. Shag, e.g.
12. Gym class challenge, maybe
45. Inkling
13. Promises to wed
46. Carpal tunnel locale
18. Occupied
©2022 Jonesin’ Crosswords (editor@jonesincrosswords.com) For answers to this puzzle, call: 1-900-226-2800, 99 cents per minute. Must be 18+. Or to bill to your credit card, call: 1-800-655-6548. Reference puzzle #JNZ990.
last week’s answers
correct and uplift your self-image. I invite you to speak the following affirmations aloud: "I am not damaged. I am not on the wrong path. I am not inept or ignorant or off-kilter. The truth is, I am learning how to live. I am learning how to be a soulful human and I am doing a reasonably good job at that task. I do a lot of things really well. I'm getting to know myself better every day. I constantly surprise myself with how skilled I am at adjusting to life's constant changes. I AM AMAZED AT HOW MUCH PROGRESS I HAVE MADE IN LEARNING HOW TO LIVE."
CANCER
(June 21-July 22): In the Tibetan language, the term *nyingdu-la* means "most honored poison of my heart." Many of us know at least one person who fits that description: an enemy we love to hate or a loved one who keeps tweaking our destiny or a paradoxical ally who is both hurtful and helpful. According to my analysis, it's time for you to transform your relationship with a certain *nyingdu-la* in your life. The bond between you might have generated vital lessons for you. But now it's time for a reevaluation and redefinition.
LEO
(July 23-Aug. 22): "Don’t pray for the rain to stop," advises Leo poet Wendell Berry. "Pray for good luck fishing when the river floods." That's useful advice for you, my dear. The situation you're in could turn out to be a case of either weird luck or good luck. And how you interpret the situation may have a big impact on which kind of luck it brings. I urge you to define the potential opportunities that are brewing and concentrate on feeding them.
VIRGO
(Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Virgo writer Julio Cortázar (1914–1984) once remarked, "How tiring it gets being the same person all the time." That's surprising. In fact, Cortázar was an innovative and influential author who wrote over 30 books in four genres and lived for extended periods in five countries. It's hard to imagine him ever being bored by his multifaceted self. Even if you're not a superstar like Cortázar, Virgo, I expect you will be highly entertained and amused by your life in the coming weeks. I bet you will be even more interesting than usual. Best of all, you will learn many fresh secrets about your mysterious soul.
LIBRA
(Sept. 23-Oct. 22): The blogger Frogbestfriend says, "One of the biggest problems with society nowadays is that I am so, so sleepy." Frogbestfriend is humorously suggesting that his inability to maintain good sleep habits is rooted in civilization's dysfunctions. He's right, of course! Many of our seemingly personal problems are at least partially rooted in the pathological ways the whole world operates. Our culture influ-
WEEK OF JUNE 9
© 2022 ROB BREZSNY
ences us to do things that aren't always healthy and wise. I bring this to your attention, Libra, because now is a favorable time to meditate on society's crazy-making effects on you. Now is also a pivotal moment to heal yourself of those crazy-making effects.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Poet Maggie Smith
writes, "We talk so much of light. Please let me speak on behalf of the good dark. Let us talk more of how dark the beginning of a day is." I offer her proposal as a fertile theme for your meditations. Of all the signs in the zodiac, you Scorpios are most skilled at teasing out the good stuff from shadows and secrets and twilight. And your potency in these matters is even higher than usual right now. Do us all a favor and find the hidden redemptions and potential regenerations.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): When actors and
other creative people in film win Oscars at the Academy Awards ceremony, they come on stage and deliver short talks, acknowledging their honor. These speeches often include expressions of gratitude. An analysis revealed that over the years, Sagittarian director Steven Spielberg has been thanked by winners more often than anyone else—even more than God. Based on my reading of astrological omens, I believe you deserve that level of appreciation in the coming weeks. Please show this horoscope to everyone you know who may be willing to carry out my mandate. Be proactive in collecting tribute, credit, and favors.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): In the ancient
Greek story of Odysseus, the hero leaves his home in Ithaka to fight in the Trojan War. When the conflict is over, he yearns to return to the beloved life he left behind. But his journey takes 10 years. His tests and travails are many. The 20th-century Greek poet C. P. Cavafy offered advice to Odysseus at the beginning of his quest: "As you set out for Ithaka, hope your road is a long one, full of adventure, full of discovery . . . Keep Ithaca always in your mind. Arriving there is what you're destined for. But don't hurry the journey. Better if it lasts for years, so you're old by the time you reach the island, wealthy with all you've gained on the way." As you begin your new phase of returning home, Capricorn, I invite you to keep Cavafy's thoughts in mind. (Read the poem: tinyurl.com/HomeToIthaka. Translated by Edmund Keeley.)
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): "I have never, ever,
EVER met anyone who has regretted following their heart," writes life coach Marie Forleo. But what exactly does she mean by "following their heart"? Does that mean ignoring cautions offered by your mind? Not necessarily. Does it require you to ignore everyone's opinions about what you should do? Possibly. When you follow your heart, must you sacrifice money and status and security? In some cases, yes. But in other cases, following your heart may ultimately enhance your relationship with money and status and security. Anyway, Aquarius. I hope I've inspired you to meditate on what it means to follow your heart—and how you can do that intensely during the coming months.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Actor and author Jenny Slate testifies, "As the image of myself becomes sharper in my brain and more precious, I feel less afraid that someone else will erase me by denying me love." That is the single best inspirational message I can offer you right now. In the coming months, you will earn the right and the capacity to make the same declaration. Your self-definition will become progressively clearer and stronger. And this waxing superpower will enable you to conquer at least some of your fear about not getting enough love.
Homework: What part of your life would most benefit from redemption and regeneration? Newsletter.FreeWillAstrology.com
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