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Go: Oaks Amusement Park
After remaining dark for the entire 2020 amusement park season for the first time in its history, Oaks Park is now ready to fire up the Ferris wheel. The association that operates the 116-year-old fun park at the east end of the Sellwood Bridge has just reopened all of its rides and midway games and the miniature golf course. That includes a brand-new attraction: AtmosFEAR. The pendulum-style ride swings side to side, or you can opt for the 360-degree experience, which shoots passengers 100 feet in the air before dropping them back toward the earth on the other side. Oaks Amusement Park, 7805 SE Oaks Park Way, 503-233-5777. See oakspark.com for hours, tickets and COVID safety information.
Watch: Leave No Trace
Set in Portland’s Forest Park, this highly acclaimed 2018 drama from Debra Granik centers on a father and his 13-year-old daughter who have been living off the grid for years in the urban-adjacent woods. The film is based on a true story and impressively grounded—the only improbable aspect is that the duo isn’t constantly running into teens smoking weed out of soda cans. Streams on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Hulu and other platforms.
Do: Virtual Earth Day Cooking Class
The pandemic changed the way we ate throughout 2020, first by turning us into obsessive home chefs, then later into takeout junkies who rarely left the couch. All those to-go orders ultimately generate a lot of non-recyclable garbage, so in honor of Earth Day this year, reacquaint yourself with your stove top with the help of a pro. Current Portland-set Top Chef contestant Sara Hauman, head chef at Soter Vineyards in Carlton, Ore., is hosting a virtual cooking class that will focus on sustainable techniques. Demos include how to create dishes that use an entire fish (head included) to reduce waste and a Spanish tortilla recipe that is meant to use up whatever leftovers might be lingering in the fridge. 6 pm Thursday, April 22. Venmo $10 to @sara-hauman to receive a Skype link to join.
Stream: Rhythm Nation’s Green New Deal Party
Throughout the pandemic, Rhythm Nation has been hosting upbeat livestreams of beloved local musicians to bring attention to political issues. This time, the music will be preceded by a panel of speakers discussing the Green New Deal. For the second time this spring, Rhythm Nation has booked rapper and dancer Maarquii for the headlining slot. There’ll also be buoyant techno from DJ Cay Horiuchi and Portland-via-Chicago DJ Cee White. 7 pm Thursday, April 22, at twitch.tv/holoceneportland.
Stream: Fuzz LIve
Garage rock is arguably one of the least appealing genres for livestreams—it’s meant to be experienced while slamming tallboys in the middle of a sweaty crowd, not sitting in your living room. But out of Ty Segall’s insanely long discography, his new album with side project Fuzz is the most couchlock-conducive yet. The trio’s first album in five years, III, is full-of psychedelic-tinged metal bangers, and it’s fun as all hell. Hopefully, the live setting and the dark, trippy visuals that will be projected over the band will encourage Fuzz to flesh out some of III’s jammier sections. And at less than $4, tickets are a bargain compared to the $20 virtual sets that other midsized touring bands have been offering. mississippistudios.com. 5 pm Saturday, April 24. $3.98.
Watch: Evil Dead II with Live Commentary by Bruce Campbell
At this point, no horrorphile worth a bucket of corn syrup hasn’t seen Evil Dead II, the 1987 cult classic that’s less a sequel to the original six years prior than a darkly comic slash-stick reimagining that would establish the tone of director Sam Raimi’s career for the next three decades. But unless you live near his property in Southern Oregon and got lucky one wild night, chances are you’ve never watched it alongside star Bruce Campbell. At this special event, presented by Portland’5, Ash Williams himself will provide live commentary, sharing stories from the set, answering questions from fans, and almost assuredly dropping a wry one-liner or 70—it’s what he does best. 6 pm Saturday, April 24. See portland5.com/virtual-online-event for tickets. $25 and up.
Watch: The Academy Awards
Yes, it’s the stodgiest and often most infuriating of the major award shows, and yeah, it was a weird-ass year for movies, to put it charitably. But at least the field of nominees is diverse, and few categories have a clear, runaway favorite. And besides: What are you doing on a Sunday night in a pandemic other than live-tweeting snarky jokes about whatever Renee Zellweger is wearing and how weird Rami Malek is? Airs 8 pm Sunday, April 25, on ABC.
Listen: Luvbalm by Roane Namuh
In the same way that there is a fine distinction between smut and erotica, there are chill beats and there’s instrumental hip-hop. Portland producer Roane Namuh’s Luvbalm is decidedly the latter. A sprawling, double-sided cassette bursting with jazz guitar, squirmy synth leads, and layers of congas, the music hearks back to the early Brainfeeder days, when producers approached beat music through the lens of spiritual jazz, challenging funk, and smooth soul. Stream at liquidbeat.bandcamp.com.
Read: This is How They Tell Me the World Ends by Nicole Perlroth
See review here.
