Arts & Culture

We’ve all seen it. The stickers that grace the backs of street signs. The striking murals covering rows of abandoned warehouses in inner Southeast. Street art is a force of cultural significance the world over. I found myself wondering, though—what is the state of street art in the City of Portland?

Hundreds of costumed crawlers will take to the streets this Saturday for the third annual Superhero Pub Crawl, for which participants dress as superheroes and trek from bar to bar, all in the name of charity.

Told in reverse chronological order, Gaspar Noe’s Irreversible is a story of violence and revenge. The film follows the events of a single horrific night in Paris. After his girlfriend Alex is beaten and raped in a highway underpass, Marcus embarks on a bloody and cruel journey to find the man responsible.

London. A city filled with life found in pubs, archaic architecture, a happening night scene and crowds of fun-loving Brits. On the day of my arrival, I passed through customs and was immediately confronted with a scene that could have been from a comedy show on the BBC. As I showed my information to the security guard at the immigration desk, I received a series of questions filled with sarcasm and skepticism, stereotypical of English comedy. All very fun for me, by the way.

From beginning writing classes to novelist question-and-answer sessions, one of the most common pieces of advice given to writers is to “write what you know.” It explains why so many authors choose to write about themselves. What does one know better than oneself?

By the time this edition of the Vanguard goes to print, my novel for the Camp NaNoWriMo writing challenge should be at roughly 16,150 words. As of now, I’m about halfway there, working my way to the 7,000-word mark on my fifth day of writing.

Keep It Safe is more than just another stellar moment in what has been an exceptionally strong year for Portland music. The new album by Portland fixture Wild Ones is the perfect illustration of a vibrant facet of the city’s music community.

PlanetSide 2 is a game that probably shouldn’t work. I came to that conclusion shortly after getting into my first big fight in the game. The outfit I had temporarily joined up with had just captured a small base and was looking to expand deeper into enemy territory. I hopped aboard another player’s APC (armored personnel carrier), while the more skilled operators took to tanks and aircrafts. The outfit leader spotted a shortcut through a nearby valley. We would come around from the side and catch our foes unaware.

Portland Actors Ensemble will begin the second leg of this summer’s Twilight Tragedie production by bringing The Merchant of Venice to Portland’s Washington Park.

Neil Gaiman was born, as far as most are concerned, under normal circumstances in Hampshire, England. He spent the majority of his childhood roaming the local library’s halls, where he discovered the works of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and Ursula K. LeGuin. Now, many years later, he has joined the ranks of these authors, writing books that are often described as “odd,” “creepy” or “twisted.” His stories take on dark subject matter, often subverting those themes and turning them on their ears. Some of his works include American Gods, The Sandman graphic novel series, Coraline and The Graveyard Book.