2013.5.30. A Bright New Boise at Third Rail

Thursday, A Bright New Boise by Samuel D. Hunter at Third Rail Repertory Theatre. Bravo for a writer of 32 years old. Excellent character portraits. Question of faith, human relation. Will, a strong believer that God should come to earth NOW to burn the ugliness, gets a job as a cashier in a new city. 2 reasons: his teenage son who was put to adoption as a baby also works in this store, his own evangelical church had a scandal back in his home town.

Excellent acting. Good stage set. 90 minutes without intermission. I don't get the video that's playing throughout the play: ear or eye surgery.

My first time with 3rd Rail, and Winningstad theatre. U shaped. 2 levels. ~300 seats. Quite good for plays.

2013.5.28. Ithaka at Artists Rep

Tuesday preview. Someone left an extra ticket at the box office, which they gave it to me :)

Ithaka is a new play about returned soldiers. Commissioned for Artists Repertory Theatre by local philanthropist Stephanie Fowler and Irving Levin.Captain Elaine has just returned from her latest tour in Afghanistan. Home doesn’t feel right and everyone seems be doing/talking about stupid things. A fight with her caring husband propels her to skip town to undertake an Odyssean journey with her demons and trying to find her way home.

Good acting (especially the cat, by Valerie Stevens), simple and efficient props/stage. 90 minutes without intermission. A bit too short to dive deep. Portland playwright Andrea Stolowitz based her matierial on personal interviews. She did a good job dramatize and illustrate in a concise and clear arrangement. The play doesn't offer any solution as to how to deal with post dramatic syndrome, nor asking any questions beyond surface.

2013.5.25. Collapsed bridge on I5

Saturday. Never any news had anything to do with me until today. The I5 bridge at Mt Vernon collapsed 2 days ago after a semi struck its truss, sending 2 cars into Skagit River. All traffic is rerouted, was over an hour yesterday, even though it's a short detour. Light traffic today on my way to Canada, so not much of a delay.

2013.5.19. Rock of Ages to Bell Creek Trail

5/19. Sunday, almost didn't rain. Rock of Ages loop + Bell Creek. 8 of us walked ~14 miles! ~3500' gain. Almost 10 hours on foot.

We started up Horsetail Falls Trail #438 ~8:20am, which gains ~300 feet of elevation in ~5 switchbacks. Head left onto the Rock of Ages Trail junction. The Rock Of Ages Trail is not maintained and is somewhat steep, up to Rock Of Ages Arch to about 770' elevation for a breather and views from the Arch is excellent. 35 mins from trailhead.

Continued climbing along the ridge. Gaining elevation all the way to Devil's Backbone - a mossy spine with fantastic views, including Mt. St. Helens on a clear day (not today). On all fours! This is the best part of this hike. Too short. Another 35 minutes.

Continue up the Devil's Backbone and follow the trail into forest, still on the Rock of Ages trail. We spent sometime looking for the sign of Mystery Trail, which was nailed high on a tree. Illegible. At mile 2.6, re-join Horsetail Creek Trail #425. From here on, all is downhill. Turn right on the Horsetail Creek Trail and cross 3 forks of Horsetail Creek, (East, Middle and West).

Head to the left (south) on to Bell Creek Trail #459, to the more remote areas of the Gorge and lots of fallen trees. Met 2 people altogether. The 3.3 mile Bell Creek Trail loop contains another non-trivial creek crossing. Coming back from Bell Creek Trail, we headed to Oneonta Trail #424. The trail continues past Triple Falls to a junction with Horsetail Falls Trail #438. Turn right here, hike down to Middle Oneonta Falls, past Ponytail Falls and back down the hill to the car.

Craig is an excellent leader. Knowledgeable about the trail, and prepares everyone what's coming next. I hitched a ride with Dave and Linda, on the way back, skipped the after hike dinner.

Direction: I-84 exit #28 (Bridal Veil exit). Drive east on the Historic Highway 5.6 miles to Horsetail Falls.

2013.5.18. Mt Tabor art walk

5/18. Saturday. Drizzling all day. Checked out Mt Tabor annual art walk this weekend. Well organized. 40 artists living near Mt. Tabor park joined hands to showcase their works in their own homes. Nice neighborhood. Quite a few nice houses. Not exactly an art walk, rather than drive and walk. I may be the only person who walked all the way.
My first stop is Helen Snyder-Dickson's house which showcased 4 artists. A lovely house, full of light, snacks were provided. I talked to Rosemary Klein for quite awhile, whom I met last Sunday. She's very encouraging. In the same house, Karla Piatt's fused glass are very pretty. Chris Keylock Williams' house has an incredible garden. The view from her 3rd fl studio is splendid. I especially liked Adrienne Stacey' pottery showcased in the garden. She was very kind telling me how to make imprints. I also like the fanciful outdoor mosaic fixtures in Mark Brody's garden.

I find most of the artists welcoming. They exude enthusiasm and eager to share their knowledge and experience. Very positive atmosphere. If I lose my job this time, I'll move to Portland and pick up my brushes again.

Mt Table park is quite pleasant. Lush, big trees, plenty of trails. I cut across via SE 67th to get to the park. A couple of reservoirs, currently empty. Saw a few families picnicking in a big shelter. Kids playing in the basketball court, no one is using the 3 tennis courts, a group rehearsing.

2013.5.12. Klickitat trail: Fisher Hill to Pitt one way

5/12. Mother's day. Cloudy. A joint hike of Friends of the Gorge and Klickitat Trail Conservancy, lead by Jim Denton, Klickitat Trail Crew Boss. He's passionate about the plants and local history. Again, the organizer from Friends of the Gorge knows nothing about anything. 20+ people, most elderly. Ralph and Rosemary are quite knowledgeable about flowers. Ralph is also recording birds and butterfly species we encountered. Saw a

2013.5.10. Falstaff by Oregon Opera

5/10. Friday. Portland Opera performed Verdi's Falstaff at Kellor Auditorium. Excellent acting, especially Falstaff.

Falstaff     - Eduardo Chama
Alice Ford   - Pamela Armstrong
Nanetta      - Susannah Biller
Dame Quickly - Angela Niederloh
Meg Page     - Caitlin Mathes
Fenton       - Nicholas Phan
Dr. Caius    - Carl Halvorson
Bardolfo     - Marcus Shelton
Pistola      - Nicholas Nelson
Ford         - Weston Hurt
   
Stage Director Christopher Mattaliano
Conductor George Manahan

I won two tickets by lottery at work. Good orchestra seats. Kellor Auditorium is not the best for music. Sound is flat. The tenor and lady's voices travel better here than the lower pitches. Seats are hard, not comfortable for long operas. The audience needs some education. At one pause, many people still chatted when the orchestra started playing. A pity, only 4 performances.

On my way home, saw quite some young people sleeping on the pavement on 4th between Jefferson and Salmon. A demonstration is going on tomorrow?

2013.3.9. Rough Crossing at Venetian Theatre

3/9 Thursday. Bag&Baggage's first performance of Tom Stoppard's Rough Crossing at the classical Venetian Theatre. Excellent acting and costume. Efficient stage set. They speak a bit too fast for me. The plot within the plot is too complicated. I like Wodehouse's adaptation Play's the Thing better. Overall, entertaining. I'm sad to see that most of the theatre was empty. I hope their later performances will have better luck. I certainly will see their show again.

Turai      - Adam Syron 
Dvornichek - Ian Armstrong
Adam       - Benjamin Farmer
Gal        - Norman Wilson
Natasha    - Megan Carver
Ivor       - Peter Schuyler
Director   - Scott Palmer
Scenic     - George Caldwell
Costume    - Melissa Heller
Lighting   - Molly Browne 

Venetian Theatre in downtown Hillsboro is very nice. Full of old world charm, comfortable modern seats. A restaurant attached. Quite convenient.

2013.5.8. Ballet BC @ Arlene Schnitzer Hall

Anarchist Unit Related to Art, choreography costume & lighting by Jacopo Godani.

Aniel, choreography by Emily Molnar.

Petite Ceremonie, choreography by Medhi Walerski.

All these 3 works have the same vein of movement. Nothing remotely resemble ballet. Jerky, in a good unpredictable way. More theatrical. Contrast between group and individual. Occasional sound (apart from music). No gender distinction: 8 girls and 8 boys often wear the same clothes. Humorous. I like the center piece the most, by Molnar, Ballet BC's artistic director. Very interesting. Highly recommend you to check them out.

2013.5.5. Memaloose Hill flower bananza

5/5. No clouds. Warm, some breeze. 31°C. Hike with Friends of the Gorge in national forest. Had to cross fences a few times. Amazing flower carpets of yellow or purple.

First stop Memaloose Outlook by Mosier - The Dalles Hwy, overlooking the Columbia River. From here on, it's mostly exposed. Balsomroot is in full blast on the slope to Marsh Hill, and to Chatfield Hill. Chatfield is higher (almost 1000'), more Indian paintbrush. Nice lunch spot with a view of Columbia River. Both with view of Adams or Hood. Southeast of Marsh Hill is a flat grassland, now pinkish purple with endless vetch, plus patches of lupine or balsomroot. Warm temperature in the past week has brought intense color.

Other flowers are: ~10 chocolate lily, wild cucumber, twin colored cluster lily, fiddleneck, larkspur, false dandelion, camas, buttercup, big-head clover, desert parsley, yarrow, fairy star, miner's lettuce.

Direction: I-84 east to the Memaloose Rest Stop, just after Exit 69 for Mosier.

Debbie Asakawa is an excellent organizer, but not knowledgeable enough about either the flowers or the local history. She gave me a lecture of not keeping up with the group, because I was taking photos (once) or consulting Ralph on flowers (once), and told me to look up the flowers in my book after hike! Most of the time, plenty of old folks were behind me, and I had to wait. I guess being feeble is acceptable. But, this is advertised as a flower hike! I'm also disappointed that among the other 26 people, less than a handful know more about flowers than I do. Debbie is on the board, a very responsible leader. She scouted the route a week before the hike, and sent out detailed instruction before hand and photos afterwards. She also brought a brush to clean our boots so to minimize transplanting unwanted seeds. She drives a big suburban, comfortable for 6 or even 8. With 5 passengers, $60 gas contribution seems a bit excessive.

2013.5.4. Nesmith Point off trail

5/4. Sunny 28°C. An off-trail hike , or rather climb (needs both hands and sometimes knees, fighting against entangled branches and stingy devil's club), to Nesmith Point. Difficult, not too strenuous. ~9 miles, 3800'. The scenery at the top is disappointing: flat, all trees, not even big trees, but big enough to block views from all sides. A small opening for Mt St. Helens. You have to walk 50m or so to see another small view of Mt. Adams. Our lunch spot (~3 hours from trail head) is on a small ridge with a good view of Mt Adams and a long skinny waterfall close by. Close to the top, a geographic marker in the middle of nowhere. Then ~30 minutes walk up to the top. Off trail climb is demanding, sometimes no good foothold, have to grab on whatever is there. But watch out, I once grabbed on to a devil's club. I also slid down once. With so much growth, you don't slide far. I hit a rock, got some bloody scrapes among scratches and bruises as souvenirs. Definitely don't do this later in the season: more growth and more devil's club. Overall, this is more interesting, forcing you to think every step. You also get a full body exercise. However, we contented to hike down on the regular trail, ~4.9 miles. The entire hike is mostly shaded. So not too hot on this day.

This organizer, Rick, is quite famous among Portland hiking community to be adventurous, or crazy. He's 59, short with a big belly. But he climbs and walks faster than I can. Quite extraordinary. He's fairly easy-going, and knowledgeable of the local hikes. He took a nap after lunch! Before the hike, he sent out a helpful and updated description, encouraged long pants and gloves (for bush climbing), but not hiking poles (get entangled in tree branches, and plenty wood stick to pick near the top). However, he came with Christina who's having a cold (otherwise, fit). After about an hour, he asked Mark, who's been bushwhacking here before, to escort her out. Bad judgment at the beginning. Poor girl later went on a hike all by herself, and then waited for us (only 3 left) at the parking lot for 2 hours.

Lots of trillium along the lower half of the trail. Saw fairy slippers 4 times, about a dozen. Also a cluster of Thompson waterleaf, delicate lavender color, quite pretty.

Direction: John B Yeon State Park parking lot, I-84 east exit 35 (Dodson). Turn left at the stop sign, then immediately turn right onto Frontage Road. 2.1 miles.