Holy crap, it's October.

Hello, Fall! Which means it's out with the old and in with the new.

• one photo walk a week - ehhh... my intentions were good... see below
  
• weekend at the coast - check!
  
• survive Hood to Coast - check!
  
• anything on The List -#31 should happen any day now... and if this doesn't I have another plan lined up... it's all work-related, but it counts!
  

I wasn't really feeling the photography goal over the past three months. I won't make too many excuses, but it was pretty darned hot for a while there (and I hate hate hate the hot, so I tend to stay immobile), and there's not much excitement in my 'hood these days (though I did go out of my way to get that one shot), and I think my weekend excursions sucked up all my photography creativity.

Otherwise, I'm quite pleased with my accomplishments over the last three months.

4Q2011 goals:

• write something, anything, every single day - yes, this goes against everything I believe in as far as these goals are concerned but I am quite serious about this, so even if it's work-related or an email to a friend or FTTDS or a mere 17 syllables, it will count
• reduce my energy bill by $3 every month - at $32/month it's not exactly breaking the bank, but there has to be more that I can do... like turning my modem/entertainment center/computer power strip off when I go to work and remembering to unplug all the kitchen appliances I use sporadically
• re-establish my gym routine - after Hood to Coast I completely slacked off, and while this has been good for my wardrobe (which hung off me pre-May but has started to fit really nicely now that I've gained several pounds), it has wreaked havoc on my sleeping habits and general mental health
  
• anything on The List!
  

And here... we... go! What are YOU going to do by the end of the year?

Also embarrassed for Ben Folds.

embarrassed to say
i watched the whole episode
hoda is a freak

Three point five hours shy of a Wednesday three.

Three films I saw over the weekend, in no particular order:

• Pearl Jam Twenty: probably only for die hard fans so it's good that I am one - Cameron Crowe did a really, really great job.
  
• My Own Private River: a compilation of extra shots from My Own Private Idaho that Gus Van Sant (in a possibly ill-advised state of mind) consented to James Franco making into a movie.
• My Own Private Idaho: to remind myself that the original was really brilliant and I miss River Phoenix.

I can't leave the last two at that though. The original was filmed in Portland twenty years ago, so the "remake" screening was a benefit for a local nonprofit theater, and I happily paid a hefty price to be able to sit 10 feet from James Franco and Gus Van Sant for 30 minutes while they explained Franco's interpretation of the film. The film itself... Well, I hadn't seen the original in years and I meant to watch it before the benefit but didn't get around to it, so I'm sure some of it was lost on me.

(Digression: As a result, after the viewing I tried to Netflix the original ($^%& new Netflix! NOTHING WORTH WATCHING IS STREAMING!) and then drove to the local rental place to snag the last VHS copy they had.

Yes, I still have a VHS player. In case you needed more proof that I am behind the times. End of digression.)

All in all, I thought Franco did a much better job capturing the intimacy between the two main characters and explaining the overall story... but I also thought it was about an hour too long. A combo of the two would have been amazing.

The original is still brilliant, although somewhat misguided in its attempt to incorporate Shakespearean dialogue. (Our street folk are good, but they're not that good.)

I was actually a bit surprised to learn it was filmed in downtown Portland. One of their frequent run-down haunts is a frequent more-upscale happy hour haunt for us twenty years later.

Kinda neat.

Kinda weird.

Little me will start a joke.

Normally I would think this is weird-bordering-on-annoying, but this particular evening* I find it charming that Ritchie is wearing his own band's t-shirt in this clip.

And the clip makes me wish I was their neighbor so that I could see stuff like this all the time.

And I want one of those t-shirts.

________________
* I did spend a few hours cleaning mold out of my windowsills today, after spending the last few days hacking up a lung or two and getting dizzy when I stood up too fast. So take this opinion with a grain of salt.

Not even remotely Wednesday three.

Three movies I saw in the last week, for $3 at our local pizza pint picture house, and my favorite new way to review them, in no particular order:

• Super 8: JJ Abrams has officially redeemed himself for Lost: Season 6 (and maybe 5), and it fills me with joy to know that today's youth have the equivalent of ET and The Goonies.
  
• TrollHunter: Adding Norway to the list of places to visit in the near future, and Norwegian Ninja to the list of movies to see immediately.
  
• The Tree of Life: I have probably seen about 500 movies in the theater and never once fallen asleep... until yesterday.
  

I think it's called "middle."

i have reached that age
where hiking downhill hurts more
than hiking uphill

Serene Lake Loop ~ Mt Hood National Forest

I laughed out loud when she said it tonight at the end of yoga class.

the best magnet I've seen all year

Belated Friday five.

But this one is OK because it wouldn't have made sense to do last Friday, and if I wait until this Friday I will have forgotten everything. So. Five good decisions I made during this year's MusicfestNW, in no particular order:

• Stayed on the east side, mostly. I wandered over to Backspace for a decent rock show Saturday night and headed downtown briefly Sunday for one set, but otherwise I parked in about the same southeast spot every night and wandered. In that area there are at least six venues I frequent within a 10 minute walk (and another dozen featuring music I don't usually listen to). I love Portland.
  
• Ditched numerous sad bastard indie pop shows Saturday night for mix-mastry and related dance fun instead. (I know, right, who am I and what have I done with me?) Local faves Boy Eats Drum Machine and Jeffrey Jerusalem were really fun, and Y4CHT was amusing for the extra 20 minutes I could bear to stand in that unventilated warehouse when it was 90 degrees outside. I need to do that more often... in the winter.
• Ditched the Pioneer Square show after a good set by Morning Teleportation and saw Hey Marseilles instead. (You may remember them from such festivals as MFNW 2009.) I was supposed to see Cass McCombs and Band of Horses that night, but after such good loud fun the nights before, and a particularly dull start to Cass McCombs' set*, and learning that HM was doing a free set in southeast, I wasn't in the mood. The crowd at the Square seemed like they were only there because they got a ticket with their MFNW wristband, but the large group of people in front of HM was there to see them, and it showed, and it was great fun.
  
• Gave live Helio Sequence another try. You may recall from the above MFNW 2009 link that I was underwhelmed last time I saw them, but I do love them and the Doug Fir was the perfect venue Saturday night. The bar brawl during the set was amusing - a confused hipster flew past me followed by a drunken angry frat boy, the chaos lasted about 60 seconds while beer flew and audience members tried to figure out what the hell was going on, and then it was back to this. Their drummer gives Animal a run for his money.
  
• Met up with some random people through a Meetup group for some of the shows. Didn't hit it off with all of them but a few were pretty awesome and I hope to see them again soon.

Thus ends another fine festival. Good job, Portland.

________________
* He's a Baltimore guy and I really, really want to like him. Just isn't happening...

Oh, and also? Thursday is the new Friday.

Five things that did not suck today:

• Thursday is the new Friday.
• Thursday is the new Friday.
• Thursday is the new Friday.
• Thursday is the new Friday.
• Thursday is the new Friday.

Once again I packed a full 48 hours in advance. I was antsy and distracted all day. I fear this using-long-weekends-to-make-up-for-a-9-to-5 could become a habit. If only I had more vacation days...