4/29/2010

an experience


an experience, originally uploaded by G C Lee.

I wonder if they'll let me sell ironing board grilled cheese sandwiches in the lobby.

front page


front page, originally uploaded by G C Lee.

Top: News story regarding a recent accident involving a city bus running over a group of pedestrians, killing two of them.

Bottom: A picture.


Stay classy, Oregonian.

4/27/2010

I wasn't there, either



Last night, the Jackpot Records film festival screened the documentary You Weren’t There: A History of Chicago Punk, 1977-1984. As the subtitle states, it is indeed a history of the Chicago Punk scene from it's small beginnings as a weekly record party inside a failing gay bar, to its inevitable surge and fractioning: the old guard giving way to the kids giving way to the then~rising hardcore scene giving way to the suburban embracing and co~opting of the "punk" image, etc.
Watching it last night brought back a lot of my own memories of being a teenager during the death rattle of the Mobile, Alabama scene. The scene that had existed just a few years before ~~ with local heroes the Vomit Spots in their prime, and which saw then young, upstart bands such as Southern Culture on the Skids and L7 passing through town ~~ was long gone. Few local bands were starting up, so a lot of the stuff that was going on was from bands on the road. Biloxi, MS's the Grumpies, Montevallo, AL's Nowhere Squares, even San Francisco's !!! passed through town in their infancy (when they were still being billed as "former members of the Popesmashers and the Yah Mos"). Granted, it was a fun time, but watching the documentary last night made me long for those days when scenes weren't so "scene" oriented: when you didn't have to have a mohawk or a spiked leather jacket to exist, when a multi~act bill wasn't just slight variations on the same sound/theme/approach, when people were still eager to experiment rather than emulate. And granted, I haven't explored much in the way of Portland's "punk"/DIY music scene, but what little I've heard coming out of it all sounds like the stuff I was listening to 15 years ago.
And while it seems that Mobile, AL's scene is experiencing a bit of new life, I'd be surprised if it wasn't just more of the same.





SCF 2010





This past weekend was my first experience with the annual Stumptown Comics Fest. The past few years, I've been slowly rediscovering my love for comics, as well as trying to catch up on the nearly~15 years I haven't been reading them. Back then, like most kids and teenagers of my day, I went into the shops with blinders on: I only wanted books from the big, major companies: Marvel, DC, Image, etc. Indie comics were rarely, if ever, on my radar. But with age ~~ and with living in Portland, one of the most comics~saturated cities in the country ~~ has come an interest/admiration/respect for all of the artists making their way through whatever independent and subversive channels they can find. And while Stumptown doesn't ignore the big players in the industry (Marvel wunderkind Brian Michael Bendis usually shows up every year; and this year featured guests Paul Pope and Kurt Busiek among many others), its main focus and goal is to bring attention (and hopefully, some much~needed cashflow) to the folks out on the fringes: the self~published, often handbound, creations from the people that most comics readers wouldn't know about if it weren't for such events as the Stumptown Comics Fest.

I started my day with a volunteer shift. Over the past year or so, I've learned that volunteering at events of interest is the way to go: you usually only have to give a minimal amount of time, and in return you get complete, free access to the event. So, for Stumptown, I ended up working the first three hours of the festival: keeping lines in order, checking handstamps at the door to the panel discussions, etc. Pretty easy.
Then afterwards, I was able to make my way around the room, meeting the likes of the wonderful Ed Luce, Liz Prince, Kate Beaton, Hope Larson, and many, many others. I came away with a stack of amazing comics from some highly talented people, a sketchbook with some equally amazing sketches (hope to get those scanned soon), and ridiculous amount of free stuff (most of promotional, but featuring some incredible artwork nonetheless).

Indeed, it was a wonerful experience that I hope to be a part of again next year.

4/23/2010

NOM!


NOM!, originally uploaded by G C Lee.

strawberries, waffle, various types of cream :: from the Waffle Window, behind Bread & Ink Cafe, SE Hawthorne, Portland

Waffle and Records


Waffle and Records, originally uploaded by G C Lee.

Whipped cream, chocolate sauce, bananananananananas, nutella, waffle :: from the Waffle Window, behind Bread & Ink Cafe, SE Hawthorne, Portland.

Records by Dub Narcotic Sound System, Noisecandy, & Pond :: from Fabulous Jackpot! Records, SE Hawthorne, Portland.


, originally uploaded by G C Lee.

rabbit


rabbit, originally uploaded by G C Lee.

4/22/2010

woohoo!





I just received my volunteer confirmation email regarding this weekend's Stumptown Comics Festival. I'll be working a few hours on Saturday, and will hopefully have a grand time. Ed Luce, Liz Prince, Hope Larson, Kate Beaton, Craig Thompson, Paul Pope, that one girl who left the first incarnation of Xiu Xiu in order to start Little Otsu press...etc.

4/12/2010

04-12-10_1348.jpg


04-12-10_1348.jpg, originally uploaded by G C Lee.

another angle, showing the back legs and tail

04-12-10_1347.jpg


04-12-10_1347.jpg, originally uploaded by G C Lee.

a third kitty; this one will be sent to my nephew this month

04-12-10_1346.jpg


04-12-10_1346.jpg, originally uploaded by G C Lee.

finally put a nose on the dog I've been working on; he'll be sent off to my nephew this month