Yesterday we went to the eternally rapidly gentrifying Foster Road for the Foster Soiree. Always interesting to see what's coming in and pushing out the sketchy businesses that dotted the area when we lived there. We got to hang out with Friend of Tape Mountain Alison D, whose Xtreme Twee business empire continues to get weirder and greater, get very nice kulfi-flavored ice cream (dairy for JL, non- for me), check out a new record store (not my thing) and the new-ish book store Word Virus (very much my thing).
Today I did Bridge Pedal, in which one bikes across most of Portland's bridges and tries not to crash into bicycles in front of one. Today JL and the boy also did the kids' ride - he needs a bigger bike very much - and I was able to catch up with them after I finished the main ride. I was so proud of how well he was keeping to his lane and not running over smaller children. It felt good.
People had speakers on their bikes, which is... a choice. Here are my awards for best and worst songs overheard:
BEST: When I got to the finish line, someone was playing Shonen Knife's "Cycling is Fun" (the original and better version) Obvious choice, right, but a delightful song and the timing couldn't have been better. I shouted "hey!" along with them and startled another rider.
Left-field choice: Someone was playing Buffalo Springfield's "Broken Arrow" on the Marquam Bridge, a mysterious twisty banger from my dad's record collection, and somehow not among the top search suggestions on YouChoob:
