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  Donovan's neighbor's hip hop juggernaught Celebrity Justice Saturday night saw the premiere of the locally made sitcom pilot for Delusional Donovan a story of an 8-year-old boy and his hallucinations induced by witnessing a shocking event. Writer/Director/Producer duo Mark “Zebra” Thomas and Devan McGrath (whom we interviewed last week) are currently shopping around for networks interested in airing the offbeat comedy so you will likely have to wait awhile to see the show screened again, but get ready for its TV release, because it’s a big success.
One of the crew told me just before the screening grab several drinks, as it would make the show funnier. But mere sips into my first cocktail I was already shaking with laughter. In fact, I think I’m lucky vodka wasn’t coming out of my nose.
Much ado is made of the backstory, that young Donovan is in a fragile mental state due to trauma, but Stray Cat doesn’t actually address that at all. Instead it jumps right in and introduces us to an amazing cadre of characters. This might be a tad confusing for those who haven’t followed the active Portland hype, but could be easily remedied with a title sequence makeover. Though I’m a fan of the short and sweet, and Donovan‘s opening animation is simple yet effective, there’s got to be some background available once it makes it to the wider television audience.
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Last week, Logo (LGBTQ cable network) announced Portland as “Sexiest Spot” for its third annual New Now Next travel awards. The panel of global travel experts determines the best up and coming destinations and hotels. Added this year, were writers from Lonely Planet, New York Magazine, Travel & Leisure, NY Dailey News and Town and Country Travel. There were two new categories of the awards also added this year; […]
  Major league soccer player David Testo came out publicly this week The latest news in the intersectional world of queer people and sports is that American soccer player David Testo has come out. Testo played D1 college soccer at the University of North Carolina as well as at the University of South Carolina, and has played in the NASL and USL (lower-level pro leagues) and in MLS.
After being released from the Montreal Impact about a month ago, Testo publicly came out. He was already out to his friends and family as well as to his teammates and coaches.
Testo’s coming out is kind of a big deal for a lot of reasons.
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 Need a good first date idea? This is not it. It’s more like the third date when you’re ready to see what your person is made of.
Smutty Clown Comedy at Saratoga Bar isn’t for the faint of heart, nor is it for the politically correct. Seriously. Do not bring that special someone who is canvassing for any sort of human rights. You will be dumped. Immediately.
But if you’re looking for a fun and kooky way to spend a Thursday night and you can handle straight cisgender guys yelling “you all are cunts” into the microphone, this may just be your place.
Billed as a monthly X-rated open mic, Smutty Clown is hosted by Sterling Clark and Whitney Streed. Clark is pretty much adorable – on this night she was wearing a floral dress and cardigan, hair in a head scarf with large glasses aka Sally Jessy Raphael. Streed was walking around in a suit, looking like she knew everyone in the place.
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  Portland may not be a film and television capital on the scale of New York or LA, but we’ve got an increasing number of small screen shows filming here. And while we’re excited for the big releases, everyone knows Portland’s heart lives with the indie production. It’s only one of the many reasons I’m so excited to see Delusional Donovan a new locally made TV show premiering its pilot this Saturday at Mississippi Studios.
The darkly humorous sitcom follows the hallucinations of 8-year-old Donovan, who lives in in an imaginary world after witnessing a traumatic event. He is aided by his enabling mother, who tries to craft the world to his delusions, and his stoner neighbors. Writer and Producer Mark “Zebra” Thomas described it to sponsor publication BePortland:
The story is based on this overbearing very bizarre mother who does everything she can to manipulate the world around her, so Donovan only sees these sweet innocent visions. It’s not about her building a bridge between the real world and his world, it’s about making the entire world what his world sort of really is, and bringing that world to him.
qPDX took a break to sit down with Thomas, along with Director Devan McGrath to tell us more about the Episode 1: Stray Cat and people behind the scenes of DD, including producer and writer John Camacho, production manager Allison May, director of photography Josh Kletzkin, production designer Eric Sellers and actors Amber Martin, Splendora, and Dylan Hall as Donovan.
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  Brownstein belting it out at Wild Flag's record release party at the Doug Fir Wednesday Nov 9th. Photo by Taylor Hatmaker Local super group sensations Wild Flag have just released their self-titled debut album and are still in the process of celebrating it will a string of 3 shows. Yesterday saw an all ages in store at Jackpot Records as well as the first of two shows at the Doug Fir.
Tonight sees the second that the bands and audience are gearing up for as we speak. So to get excited for those of you who are going, to relive for those of you there last night, or to catch a glimpse for those of you not able to attend at all (i.e. me) fellow blogger Taylor Hatmaker was able to catch some really great snapshots of last night’s show the she was willing to share here below the break.
I’m finding their Freshman release to be good, though not as earth-shattering as what I may have hoped from a lineup that includes some of my most treasured high school band crushes. Then again, I’m much more cynical and discerning than I was in high school so maybe the album is every bit as good as I thought Sleater-Kinney was in the 90s. Judge for yourself. You can stream the whole Wild Flag album at on their Merge record label website.
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 Mayor Sam Adams announced this morning at City Hall that the encampment of the Portland occupation is scheduled to close at 12:01 am Sunday morning. The Portland occupation has been a relatively peaceful one, setting an example for the rest of the country. However, lately there have been safety concerns from the Chief of the police (Mike Reese) and Adams himself. Chapman and Lownsdale squares will remain closed after Saturday while repairs to the parks are made. During this time and after, all city laws and park violations will be enforced. Commissioner Nick Fish and the mayor both urged people in the camp who need shelter and services to call the city’s human services hotline at 2-1-1.
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  Corrina Bain performs Friday as part of Q Poetry's Award Open Mic. Thursday
Hot Mess Grand Finale – Whether you’ve been attending religiously for the past 12 weeks or just want to see how it all turns out, tonight’s final contest is sure to be a knock down drag out fight to the hot mess death. With 1st, 2nd and 3rd place prize packages starting at $700 you know these queens are going to be giving their all and putting on a good show. But who will win? Jackie Daniels? Jam N Toast? Allie McQueen? One of the other 6 contestants with or without an odd drag/stage name?
Wild Flag record release show – This one’s a bit of a non-starter. Not only is it the second night of a 2 night set, but it’s already sold out. However, I’m sure there’s a scalper or two out there and with regular tickets a reasonable $12-14 they shouldn’t command too much of a premium. But if you’re not willing to risk it these locals are sure to play again soon. In the meantime check out Wild Flag videos and news in earlier posts.
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 Basic Rights Oregon announced early yesterday morning that they will not be putting the legalization of gay marriage on the ballot for the 2012 general election. During the month of October, television ads were ran in support for the initiative. However, the Oregon equality advocates stated that there is just not enough of a majority to risk such a costly campaign. BRO has been advised since the beginning of the Marriage Equality effort to not move forward in 2012 without a solid chance of victory. After an online poll, which resulted in more than a 1,000 respondents, BRO stated that the increasing support for the freedom to marry will only get better in the next two years.
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  Homomentum season 3. Photo Credit Zaq Banton. Design Credit Motherwit.com The 3rd Season of Homomentum approaches and we are seeking performers! Homomentum will re-launch on Friday, January 6th, 2012 and will be happening 1st Fridays of the month at the Fez Ballroom!
Dates & Themes
Jan 6th: Myths & Legends
Feb 3rd: Love Knots
March 2nd: Singin’ in the Rain
April 6th: Science/Fiction
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