Top Things to Do This Weekend: July 23–26
Splash! It's your weekend itinerary—plus more picks below!— courtesy of Portland Monthly’s weekend-by-weekend Summer Guide:
Portland Geek Olympathon: yup, this weekend.
Now in its 28th year, Waterfront Park’s massive Oregon Brewers Festival is a suds party on steroids—sweaty, sticky, and a little cranky. Thursday afternoon is your best bet: queuing is quicker and the tap handlers are fresh. Feeling extra bibulous? Friday kicks off McMinnville’s annual three-day International Pinot Noir Celebration; absorb wisdom from “University of Pinot” seminars, then toast your education with more wine at the IPNC’s Grand Dinner under the stars at Linfield College. If last night’s wine extravaganza dulled your superpowers, Saturday’s Portland Geek Olympathon is your whetstone. The all-day cross-town tourney challenges with top-secret contests (announced just days in advance) that last year entailed circuitboards, narwhals, and whipped cream; by late afternoon, champions walk away with passes to Seattle gaming fest PAX Prime, sets of Liar’s Dice, and socks.
Hoop time! Photo credit: Rip City 3-on-3.
Maybe you want a Saturday with a more athletic bent? Head to the third annual Rose Quarter Rip City 3-on-3, where teams of all ages and abilities face off to benefit the Special Olympics. Cheer lustily, but save some for the Bard: at 3 p.m., the Portland Actors Ensemble takes over Laurelhurst Park’s knoll for its free alfresco performance of The Taming of the Shrew. On Sunday, grab your inner tube and head to the fifth annual Big Float on the Willamette. Fun can be had on land, too, at the Lents Street Fair, Northeast Portland’s freewheeling Sunday Parkways, and local indie music showcase PDX Pop Now!
Image courtesy: Morrissey
MUSIC
Morrissey
Thursday at 7:30 pm, McMenamins Edgefield
Pitchfork calls World Peace Is None of Your Business—the latest album from the former Smiths front man—“hilarious,” “multi-dimensional, and “deeply sour.” We’d expect nothing less!
FILM
Top Down Film Festival: Sexy Beast
Thursday at 9 pm, Hotel deLuxe
NW Film Center’s alfresco series continues with film screenings—and bands, beverages, and BBQ—atop the Hotel deLuxe’s parking garage.First up: Sexy Beast. Ben Kingsley stars—menacingly so—in this 2000 British heist film from Jonathan Glazer. Things start off in a sunny Spanish villa, and then go south (well, actually, north).
COMEDY
Hari Kondabolu
Thursday at 8 pm, Friday & Saturday at 7:30 pm and 10 pm, Helium Comedy Club
You’ve seen this comic on Comedy Central, Jimmy Kimmel, and John Oliver’s New York Standup Show. Even Terry Gross wanted a piece of this Indian-American born and raised in Brooklyn—probably because it sure ain’t easy mix human rights and social justice (he’s no fan of Bobby Jindal, for one) into a stand-up set.
Uhh Yeah Dude, its these guys.
Uhh Yeah Dude
Saturday at 8 pm, Aladdin Theater
Snake handlers. Hand sanitizer. Mr. LA Leather. For nearly a decade, Seth Romatelli and Jonathan Larroquette have broadcast their weekly comedy podcast of weird Americana to legions of fans on iTunes. Join their Portland live recording for more backtalk and trash talk.
THEATER
The Elixir of Love
Thursday & Saturday at 7:30 pm, Keller Auditorium
Snake oil, cowpokes, and echoes of Tristan and Isolde: this Wild West version of Gaetano Donizetti’s 1832 love story caps the Portland Opera’s golden anniversary season with a 10-gallon hat and plenty of bel canto from stars Matthew Grills and Katrina Galka.
VISUAL ART
Opening this week at Upfor: a pretty great debate about art.
OPENING The Great Debate About Art
Thursday–Saturday from 11 am to 6 pm, Upfor Gallery
Uh, so after Dada, what is art anymore—institutional, ideocentric, conceptual? Upfor’s group show aims to answer the “empty questions that contemporary society can no longer answer” in this response to the titular 2010 treatise from recently deceased semiologist Roy Harris.
BOOKS & TALKS
Northwest Book Festival
Saturday at 11 am, Pioneer Courthouse Square
Meet cute at the seventh annual outdoor trade show, as nearly 90 area writers (spanning genres from Christian nonfiction to urban fantasy) gather in Portland’s Living Room, hoping to catch the wandering eyes of eligible publishers.
