Gossip Should Have No Friends

[August 23rd, 2006] IRON GIANTS A dusty NoPo parking lot, the blare of a chainsaw and the glare of hot glue guns proved no match for the determined teams vying for SCRAP 's fourth annual "Iron Artist" Cup held Saturday, Aug. 19, behind SCRAP's (School and Community Reuse Action Project) North Williams Avenue HQ. Ten teams, including Wieden & Kennedy's "WK12 " students and the spectacular Sprockettes (a traveling all-grrrl bike performance troupe) went head-to-head in a daylong competition to create the best piece of "art" from reusable materials—including wooden table legs, floppy disks and old copies of National Geographic. Real local artists dotted several of the teams' rosters—including "Gamatron's" Elise Wagner and "Fear of Elvs [sic]" Michael T. Hensley . But a team called "Used" outdid everyone with two artists currently featured in the Portland Art Museum's Oregon Biennial : Chandra Bocci and David Eckard .

TIME FOR TIMER Craig Giffen has too much time on his hands. Recently Time magazine named the Portlander's website, humanclock.com, one of its "50 Coolest Websites" of 2006 (check out time.com). Each minute, Giffen's site displays a new picture of the current time. Many of the pics, posted by people all over the world, are of handwritten signs, but the time has also been spelled out in seashells , human bodies and Scrabble tiles ; it has been written across eyelids , front teeth and fogged mirrors . Anyone can send in photos—if yours gets picked, you can tick off one of your 15 minutes of fame.

HOT TYPE Hooking up is going wireless at Portland's homo-friendly CC Slaughters Nightclub. Guests can now send text messages that appear on TVs throughout the club . These randy dandies can make advances in the safe anonymity of screen names. Guests can also use their phones and PDAs to request songs and vote during club contests. Gawd, text messaging is so gay.

RAPPER'S D-LIGHT When Laz D took the stage last Tuesday night at Lola's Room, it was immediately clear that the 24-year-old was not your average rapper. But everyone at the invite-only party already knew that. Sure, Cam Lasley (as he's known offstage) is white and from Lake Oswego, but what really distinguishes Lasley is an extra chromosome 21. He has Down syndrome, but that hasn't held him back—the Lola's show celebrated the release of his first album, The Man Himself. Laz's rhyme schemes are simple, and his voice isn't always clear—he honestly sounds a little like DMX—but his lyrics are genuine. When he raps, he means it—something else that sets Laz D apart from many rappers. To buy the The Man Himself, go to laz-d.com; a portion of the sales goes to charity.

WHAT YOU MISSED AT WW'S LOCALCUT.COM THIS WEEK Portland Radio Authority launches call to arms requesting Portland local-music lovers cooperate to establish a legit indie-music FM station. >> Local garage-punk quintet Swimmers steal some of Sleater-Kinney's thunder by revealing their dissolution. Portland punks weep tough-man tears. >> A gut-busting Q&A with King Buzzo of the Melvins, in which Buzz considers going back to school and joining a frat, playing shows in Portland, and an accusation that he runs a record store in Santa Fe, N.M. >> Casey Jarman shares a video from the U-Krew, a.k.a. The Untouchables, that astounds with tiger stripes and keytars. >> Byron Beck continues his Storm Report; this week's Supernova update involves the phrase "camel-toe." >> The Clorox Girls write home from Mexico and South America. >> Our Local Cutters serve up piping-hot MP3s.