pdx…oxo!

NB: This post was partially written a few weeks ago (egad! slacker), and I am now writing from Indonesia, where, in light of the beginning of a (hopefully) new America, kids from Obama’s old school in Jakarta say it all.

BOOYAH

Beloved Oregon. Since the next show was over a month away from when we first arrived to Portland, we had some time catch up on some of the luxuries of a stationary life. To supplement our stay in the city of roses,  Jacob Perkins and the Nobody branched out to the business of house sitting. And most people only need house sitters when they have pets, thus this enterprise lead us to pet sitting.

Our first client was Turtle the rescue dog with no front teeth. She lived in a wee little studio, loved to eat cat poop and walnuts, and hated being bored. Within half an hour of arriving in Oregon we were faced with Turtle alone in her apartment and she just stared at us and barked, howled, mooed even. We worried about the neighbours and took her on a night walk. Or she took us. We tried to take Turtle out as much as possible while we were staying with her: to Sauvie island where we picked blackberries and played with babies by the river, to pizza parties and barbeques, libraries, cafes, garage sales, college lawns and even the faraway lot where the van got towed to on one unfortunate night.

Meanwhile we basked in the glory that is summer in Portland. We biked familiar streets in the dark on balmy nights, found friends and friends of friends on all kinds of corners, and spent a shit ton of time putting together plans for the next album and accompanying animation. (watch this space)

While staying at Turtle’s house, and after a day trip to the coast, Jake made this short animation about crab love.

Soon enough it was time for Audiocinema’s annual AC/VC (Visual Collective), with over 50 of Portland’s bands and artists. Jake played on a stage 12 feet off the ground while people milled around below looking at various art-ifacts and the like, followed by a swim suit fashion show.

After Turtle’s owner came back from camping we moved out to the countryside to take care of Buddy the diabetic golden retriever who liked to eat berries and apples on the sly, play catch and keep away, and had the sweetest habit of grabbing the leash by his teeth at the slightest hint of running. We also had to keep two elderly sheep alive (we also fed them apples) and Sheba the tailless cat fed and watered.

During this time we were both working way on the other side of Portland, in two giant hangars where, incidentally, Magic Is Made in the form of giant animatronic puppets for the likes of Cirque du Soleil and Disney. Work started early in the morning so Buddy’s first walk entailed a run down a grass covered country road where, on days off we went to pick blackberries. Staying out here was diiiiivine. The gardens, orchards and bushes were so bountiful that we ate most of our meals straight off the plant. And when the berries got too much for smoothies and pies, we made jam. Buddy Jam.

We moved back into town to stay with Domino the jack russel terrier and Dexter the incredibly large and fluffy cat just in time to welcome all our incoming friends who were converging from near everywhere to celebrate the much anticipated wedding of T-REX. This blessed day marked the union of two brilliant friends with enough cunning to pul off a sixty deep bike parade – complete with synchronised boomboxes and sangria filled sports bottles – and a brilliant party starring the groom, the groom’s mother and Jacob Perkins & The Significant Others. So many familiar faces from past adventures and dancing as if we hadn’t stopped since we started about eight years ago.

spot the dog (amidst crafty frenzy)

summoning the rex

jp and the significant others

Pretty soon it was getting near time to leave Portland, and the U.S.A for that matter. Things were winding down, leaves were falling, fires were starting. Jake played a second last show with two great Portland bands The Ascetic Junkies and St. Frankie Lee. Then finished off the tour by playing with our favourite duo The Terrordactyls, on the first show of their tour (check them out, they make animations too!).

Since we were set to fly out of San Francisco we left Portland in Champ to head south yet again. We assured him though that this time we weren’t going all the way around the country and back.

On one sunny morning in Berkeley, our friend Scott jumped in the driver seat, took Champ round the corner and kept going all the way to Eugene, Oregon. So stay tuned for the new offshoot series: “Champ Moves to Eugene.”

In the meantime, it’s all GO here in Indo and the spirit of Champ promises to take us to newer worlds. We’ll keep you posted asap. New songs being recorded as we speak.

the parting shot