THURSDAY, AUGUST 20
It’s been a summer crammed with big
tickets, but this may be the biggest ticket of all: The epic,
legendary, downright batty the Flaming Lips turn the Edgefield lawn
into a space carnival, previewing material from the upcoming
Embryonic double album. They’re bringing some seriously
impressive opening acts with them, too: fellow Oklahomans Stardeath and
White Dwarf, plus a little band from Idaho called Built to Spill.
Built to friggin’ Spill! NL
Edgefield, 2126 SW Halsey, Troutdale, 6 pm, $42-47, all
ages
Pietopia is not where pies go when they die,
it’s where they go when they transcend. Free pie and art connects you
to the lives of pie bakers in this unique Portland baking contest.
Agent Dale Cooper would be proud. PAC
Eastbank Farmers Market, SE 20th & Salmon, 3:30 pm, FREE, all
ages
FRIDAY, AUGUST 21
It’s time for the SMMR BMMR, a chaotic punk rock
meltdown spanning the entire weekend, allowing you to finally get back
at all of those stupid vowels that did you wrong. Dozens of crazy
underground bands—with evening shows at Rotture and afternoon
matinees at BC’s—will leave you beer soaked and disemvoweled. Hll
yh! PG
Rotture, 315 SE 3rd, Fri-Sun 5 pm, $12 ($28/weekend pass); BC’s
American Saloon, 2433 SE Powell, Sat-Sun 1 pm, FREE
Ghostbusters is officially
Portland’s favorite movie from 1984, which is officially the best year
of movies in American cinema history. In a citywide vote, Slimer &
Co. beat out 1984 hits The Karate Kid, Gremlins, and even
Sixteen Candles (R.I.P. John Hughes) to snag the last slot of
the free Flicks on the Bricks summer movie series. Bring on the
ectoplasm! SM
Pioneer Courthouse Square, SW 6th & Morrison, dusk,
FREE
SATURDAY, AUGUST 22
Milepost 5’s epic 10-day arts
blowout The Manor of Art continues this weekend. Tonight features some
of the best music of the festival, with performances from Dirty
Mittens, Blue Skies for Black Hearts, Jared Mees and the Grown
Children, and more. AH
Milepost 5, 900 NE 81st, 3-9 pm, see milepostfive.com for complete schedule,
FREE
Every year the gravity-driven creations at the
Portland Adult Soapbox Derby get stranger and faster, and every year
the winding Mt. Tabor track puts them in their place. Speeds in excess
of 45 mph, beer, metal, and rubber? My idea of a good afternoon.
PAC
Mt. Tabor Park, SE 60th & Salmon, 10 am-4 pm, FREE, all
ages
SUNDAY, AUGUST 23
The combination of color-coordinated
guitarsturbator Jack White and surly howl of Alison Mosshart (of the
Kills) seems like a match made in rock heaven, but new rock
supergroup the Dead Weather is just okay. But who cares? It’s Jack
White! Mere feet away from the legendary White Stripes performance at
Satyricon in 2000 that you probably did not attend because you are
so not cool. EAC
w/Tyvek; Roseland, 8 NW 6th, 8 pm, $30-35, all ages
With his appearances on Comedy
Central’s The Daily Show and Important Things, as well
the lead role in the new Ang Lee movie Taking Woodstock, Demetri
Martin is getting recognition as one of the funniest comedians around.
But more importantly, he has amazing hair, and that is really all that
matters. NL
Newmark Theatre, 1111 SW Broadway, 7 & 9:30 pm,
$41.75
MONDAY, AUGUST 24
While Quentin Tarantino’s newly released
Inglourious Basterds continues his disappointing streak of
self-absorbed failures, don’t miss this chance to check out the film he
stole his title from—1978’s The Inglorious Bastards! Enzo
G. Castellari’s WWII classic follows a motley crew of American soldiers
on a life-or-death mission, and it’s at least 10 times more
entertaining than whatever that hack Tarantino’s trying to sell you
this time. EH
Clinton Street Theater, 2522 SE Clinton, see Movie Times for showtimes, $6
Borrowing a title—and little
else—from an utterly forgotten, totally insignificant Italian
flick from the ’70s, Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds is
the pulp auteur’s latest chunk of witty, inventive, ultra-violent
brilliance. At once familiar and shocking—and always madly,
daringly entertaining—Basterds follows several plotlines,
all set in France in WWII. EH
Various Theaters, see Movie Times for showtimes
TUESDAY, AUGUST 25
Get ready for a night of seriously fun
“gal power” with this outdoor concert at Edgefield that features the
awesome punk power pop of Pretenders, the unpredictably
entertaining Cat Power, and actor/musician Juliette Lewis. WSH
Edgefield, 2126 SW Halsey, Troutdale, 6 pm, $39-79, all
ages
Following the tragic death of Kris Jensen,
mother of Rachael Jensen from the Parenthetical Girls, the generous
Portland music community set up an all-star benefit for her memorial
fund. Included are sets from YACHT, Au, Copy, and May Ling, and
there will be an art auction as well. Please dig deep for this noble
cause. EAC
Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison, 8:30 pm, $5-15 sliding scale
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26
Have you ever seen that movie Hoop Dreams,
where inner-city kids have big dreams of playing in the NBA? Well,
Kings of the Road is just like that, only instead of inner-city
kids, it’s Canadian professional athletes, and instead of basketball,
they play hockey! Before we had the Trail Blazers, Portland’s sports
heroes were the Buckaroos, and they were winners. JC
Northwest Film Center’s Whitsell Auditorium, 1219 SW Park, 7 pm,
$8
The New Oregon Interview Series
explores Portland’s creative culture by interrogating those
responsible. Tonight, local author Jon Raymond gets the
probe—Raymond penned the short stories behind the films Wendy
and Lucy and Old Joy. Also on deck: Clown Girl author
Monica Drake, and Write Around Portland co-founder Ben Moorad. AH
Urban Grind, 2214 NE Oregon, 7 pm, $5