If I ever left the Portland city limits I might know that there is actually a city in Oregon named Rhododendron. It’s off Highway 26. Wait, there is a Highway 26?

Anyway, the Into the Woods crew packed up their van with Explode into Colors, and some pals, to head to a rural cabin in Rhododendron. It’s a fascinating video with lots of well-shot live footage of XIC (including a Ramones cover duet with Zac Pennington of Parenthetical Girls!), sparkling fireworks, and plenty of giddy dialogue along the way. Watching this makes me sad that I wasn’t invited. Is it because I didn’t know where, or what, Rhododendron was?

End Hits: Starting my own city called Brododendron. You are not invited.

Ezra Ace Caraeff is the former Music Editor for the Mercury, and spent nearly a third of his life working at the paper. More importantly, he is the owner of Olive, the Mercury’s unofficial office dog....