The "Portland Mentality"

(Video and pictures below!)

We played an awesome show in Portland with our pals HOLY!HOLY!HOLY!

Members of H!H!H! were accused by perfect strangers of being unsafe, so we opted to ask the neighboring bar if they'd mind not calling the police if we played on their corner outside. They said yes, and didn't feel like interrogating strangers about rumors first. I'd expect a bar owner over a member of the "radical" "community" to play 20 damn questions with crazy looking/sounding kids, but as Adam & The Ancient Gods mentions in his set (in the VIDEO BELOW!), the "Portland Mentality" often lends to more probation-esque policing with "radicals" than what is typically considered "mainstream society."

The sentiments in the video speak for themselves, so I'll stop at reiterating the amazing time we had with our friends in portland playing music, sharing conversation, and assorted awesomeness.

(*** note: The featured "confrontation," as stated in the video, was undertaken by strangers about issues they have never been personally involved in, at a non-radical space. Myself and the 9 people on our tour have had nothing but incredible personal experiences with Michael and his family, including his two amazing kids and many housemates/friends.)























(Portland is SO PUNK that there was a GBH patch left under a car on the ground. I told everyone that I'd only continue to respect them if they resisted the urges i KNEW they were having to pick it up.)

COIN TOSSING MUFFIN SHITTERS

(PICS & VIDEO FROM SANTA CRUZ AFTER THE RANT.)

Travis here. Speaking for myself only, forever.

I really loved the show in Santa Cruz. I'm flattered that me saying "coin tossing muffin shitters" on the internet got read out loud to me by perfect strangers as a transgression of concern to the "safety" of the space. Good work, anarchists (or was he more like a CBS news interviewer complete with cue cards?). Keepin' it safe.

A big thanks to the 1 out of 10 or so actual anarchists/cool people who work with infoshops.

That said, the show outside of the Santa Cruz infoshop was super fun. We appropriated a parking lot type area to set up our table and play songs. The couple watching from atop their car and the strangers passing by to watch and participate were touches that remind me that there's nothing truly appreciable I get from infoshops that I can't get from Temporary Autonomous Zones... and there seems to be plenty I don't appreciate that I can get from the former.

Lately, I've been asking, "What would we do without infoshops?"

Well, apparently, since infoshops spring up in most towns where radicals start collaborating, the answer is "We'd start an infoshop." There are MORE answers to that question, and I'd like to see more of them being regularly explored. It hopefully goes without saying that amazing & important things come from infoshops and official radical spaces, but lately, my mind is becoming more & more critical of the "official space" model, and I'm hopeful that more creative and expressive outlets for radical expression can begin manifesting that don't involve paying rent for walls to hold zines, meetings and free internet.

For me, everywhere I go has always been my "infoshop," for giving out pamphlets, having conversation, sharing food and drinks, meetings, and shows. Again, infoshops and Spaces are good and reliable, but wouldn't it be great if more people could rely on radicals to be everywhere?

Radicalism should be where radicals go. More radicalism, less radical spaces.

From here on out, what separates me from most "anarchists" is OBSTINATE REFUSAL TO PROMISE PARADISE TO THE EXPLOITED.

<3