Thanks Whitey for taking me to the Blazer Laker game this week! A great show, fantastic seats, and a Laker victory made for a very enjoyable evening. I have signed up this week to do the first annual Hale Pele event in May. Great drinks, live music, and talk of a roasted pig should make for a fun day. The following week I load up the van and head to Palm Springs for the Tiki Caliente extravaganza, which was a blast last year. I will be doing a live carve at the Tiki Kon here in Portland in July, then a very local show here at the Gresham Artwalk the following Saturday. Still waiting to here if they have room for me at Tiki Oasis in San Diego come August. This will be my busiest year yet, but I really like taking my work out and talking to people who are into tiki.

I am going to sign up for the Hale Pele event here in Portland come May. They are a local tiki bar that makes the best tropical drinks you can imagine and I will be there, selling my wares the week before Caliente in May. Live music, mai tais, and vendors should make for a fun time so drop by if you live in the area. Also heard from Tiki Oasis in San Diego and it seems like I will be invited for this celebration of tiki extravaganza in August. It's a huge event and I am hoping to be a part.

I left my warm, cozy home last night to drive into Portland for the Chelsea Light Moving show at the Doug Fir and it was well worth the trip. Fronted by ex Sonic Youth guy Thurston Moore, they brought a great sludgy yet fast paced concoction that had me wanting for more. With the biggest, meatiest hands in rock and roll he seems to squash chords out of his guitar like he's squeezing a lemon and it makes for a sound that is hard to duplicate. His backup band is top notch with a female bass player that doubles on violin. I thought the highlight was the song "Groovy and Linda". Opening was a pleasant, personable little threesome from San Francisco called Grass Widow.

Thanks to the Reverend Horton Heat for making me feel like a cool dude and putting me on the guest list at the Wonder Ballroom Saturday! Guttermouth opened with a strong and energetic fun-fest, followed by one of my favorite Rev shows. The addition of Jello Biafra for a few songs really added to the scene and my man Hoss on stage for a song wearing a Frog Island Tiki t shirt made my chest bulge out with pride. I stumbled out with the happy, sweaty crowd sometime after midnight thinking that after all these years they are hard to beat in the live show arena.

I sure do like the Mississippi Studios venue and a local band that I have wanted to see for some time was playing there last night. Nucular Aminals plays a grungy, psychedelic, dreamy sort of sound, and I really liked the way they destroyed music's conventional structure and timing. Very entertaining. The surprise for me was the opening band For The Lash, a nice foursome with a great primitive drummer, heavy bass, psych guitar and an excellent singer. Sandwiched in between was Stay Calm, a cotton candy, beats-oriented threesome that complained too much about monitors and lighting.

Two of my favorite musicians, Mike P. and Trevor D. were in town yesterday so it was with great anticipation that I went to see Tomahawk at the Wonder Ballroom. It pains me to give them a bad review but I gots to call 'em as I sees 'em. Uninspiring, expensive, routine, with the only spontaneity coming when the singer's mike went dead for a few seconds, it seemed this show was the exact show they will do tomorrow and exact show they did the night before. They played as individuals rather than as a team and add to that the obnoxious 20 minute continuous loop of the tomahawk chop chant they played before coming on that made for a rather disappointing evening. Trevor is still the best bass player I have ever seen though, and I did like the opening band Retox.

We tried to get into Hale Pele, a new local tiki bar, on opening day but after 20 minutes and no movement in the line we decided to try again. Another 3 pm New Years Eve attempt revealed a 5pm opening time so it was with great pleasure that me and my wife gained entry on her birthday this past week. The drinks and appetizers were fantastic with an atmosphere to match. We were even treated to a rare, sudden indoor thunder shower, and would advise anyone in the area to visit this eclectic bit o' Portland. Thanks Kerri for purchasing "Toma", as you know he is one of my favorites and will be missed!