Thanks Spirit Mountain Fund!

Good news!

Our proposal for funding for Alien Boy to Spirit Mountain Community Fund has been granted.

This adds $10,000 to our current bankroll of about $7000.

We just finished two days of shooting interviews in October adding nine additional interviews for a total of 38.

Interviews included school friends of James Chasse, playmates from his childhood, neighbors and roommates, fellow church goers, a unusual and dramatic analyst of use of force, a high school teacher, a well-known witness to Jim’s beating, and a friend of Jim’s who is a established artist.

This additional funding will get us through the rest of shooting and well into our editing process.

Join Alien Boy on Facebook

Our friends and admirers got us hooked into Facebook, and it’s a terrific way to stay abreast of dozens or – in the case of gregarious teenagers -  hundreds of friends and collegues.

We created a Facebook site for our September Benefit at Wonder Ballroom – and quickly made over 160 friends.

So this week we’re launching our Alien Boy Facebook group – which be updated beyond the benefit group.

Drop in or join up at Alien Boy: The Documentary

What’s the advantage of Facebook over this blog?

The Facebook group has several distinctions.

• We can send all the members of the group a quick message
• All the members of the group will see all the past messages.
• Members of the group can meet each other and interact to some extent.

So join us on Facebook, and by returning to this blog which will continue to be updated.  Don’t forget to make a donation to help the film get finished.

Alien Boy – a zine about the life of James Chasse

Alien Boy - a new zine by Erin and Icky

Alien Boy – a zine about James Chasse, produced by Erin Yanke and Icky Ciccone, is now available for $8 at Reading Frenzy, at the shop and via their web site.

Printed by Eberhardt Press in September 2008, this 36 page zine includes reproductions of Jim Jim’s writing and fanzine, Oregon Organism from 1978 or 1979.

Erin and Icky included remembrances and pictures from those times, made or collected by Fred Noize, Greg Sage, Randy Moe and Mike Lastra, Katie Kincaid, Steve Doughton and X J Eliot, and a recent interview with the makers of Alien Boy, the documentary.

Erin Yanke, creator of Life During Wartime, and Icky Ciccone, creator of Nosedive, made this beautifully designed zine that collects a selection of writing and art by James Chasse, as well as interviews with the filmmakers and information about the case.  It includes a CD with two lengthy KBOO radio programs created by Erin about what happened to Jim Jim.

The zine was released the night of the September Alien Boy benefit show.  All proceeds from sales of this zine go to benefit the Alien Boy documentary film.

Yoga Shala and Reading Frenzy have sponsored this project.

Alien Boy – September 17 Benefit

Come to the benefit for Alien Boy – a documentary film about the life and death of James Chasse, September 17, 8 PM at Wonder Ballroom.

All about Alien Boy and James Chasse at www.alienboy.org.

Here’s a MAP to the Wonder Ballroom. This is a all ages event.

Tickets available at Reading Frenzy, Jackpot Records, Wonder Ballroom, Ticketmaster.

Playing on September 17 are Ah Holly Fam’ly, Tender Forever, and Calvin Johnson.

Alien Boy Poster

Pinball Publishing has finished creating Mike King’s poster for Alien Boy.

The poster is in the hands of the distributors now. Watch for it as it goes up around town over the next few days.

From Pinball’s blog, CoinOp - “Alien Boy is a documentary about the horrific killing of James Chasse by Portland Police in 2006. The film documents the investigation, as well as, the life of James Chasse. It is an event not to miss. “

The design, printing and distribution of the Alien Boy Benefit poster is another contribution to the film by folks at the Wonder Ballroom and Reading Frenzy.

Thanks!

Alien Boy Benefit Poster

The poster for the upcoming Alien Boy Benefit, September 17 at Wonder Ballroom, is at the printers today, but we have a proof you can look at.

The artwork is by Mike King of Crash Design. Thanks Mike!

Alien Boy Benefit on Facebook

The upcoming September 17th benefit for Alien Boy has found a home at Facebook and over 100 people have signed up for new information about the show and to show solidarity with the documentary film.

Do you Facebook? See and join us at Alien Boy Benefit.

And if you join – please consider inviting your friends to join the benefit event as well.

Fundraiser raises $2700

Many thanks to the generous donors who contributed $2,700 to Alien Boy at a fundraiser on Wednesday night at home of Allen and Nan Whitaker-Emrich.

Donors heard from the film’s director Brian Lindstrom and producer Jason Renaud to learn the latest about the film’s progress and watched a portion of Brian’s film Finding Normal.

EXTRA – if you’re a member of Facebook, join the Alien Boy Benefit group. Currently there are 100 members and the list is growing!

Helping “Alien Boy” Reach the Finish Line

I’ve blogged before about the production of “Alien Boy,” the documentary that Brian Lindstrom is making about the death of Jim Chasse at the hands of Portland Police Officers in 2006.

Brian is best known for his brilliant film “Finding Normal,”which he made as a one-man show. This time, he has more help, including Portland Mercury muckraker Matt Davis, former Pond front man Charlie Campbell, and several figures from the Mental Health Association of Portland.

But the production could use even more help in the form of Benjamins — i.e., money — and so a benefit will be held at the Wonder Ballroom on Sept. 17 to raise funds to complete the film.

Some details of the event have been released. And while I must admit that these performers don’t mean terribly much to me (what, Steve and Eydie were booked somewhere else?), I can state without reservation that this is a damned worthwhile cause.

Alien Boy Benefit Lineup

Unbelievably cool.

DJ Calvin Johnson – listen to – I’m Down – mp3

From Spin.com – He’s a revered college-rock icon as a musician, producer, DJ and label head. His deadpan monotone voice and blues-mired guitar elicits a nostalgic assault upon the listener. He’s unleashed the lo-fi in Beat Happening, brought the funk in Dub Narcotic Sound System and spun softly swirling melodies in the Halo Benders.

So it should come as no surprise that Calvin Johnson [pictured] took his Selector Dub Narcotic project out for a spin last night — DJ style – for Club Pop at Chop Suey. Is there anything this guy can’t do?

Read the rest at Spin.com

Ah Holly Fam’ly – listen to – Swimmers - mp3

From wweek.com – Ah Holly Fam’ly is quickly shedding their “new kids on the block status” (as the Merc lovingly put it less than a year ago). Joining the ranks of regular rotation here in PDX, the band brandishes saws, accordions, banjos and bells: All the tools needed for a delicate, moody and sometimes dreamy trip through avant-folk.

Read the rest at wweek.com

Tender Forever – listen – How Many – mp3

From Venus Zine – If French is the language of love, then that explains why the French are masters of writing clever pop songs about love and heartbreak. From Serge Gainsbourg to Stereo Total, the French have had a long, illustrious history with the tricky subject. French ex-pat Melanie Velera [pictured], the one-woman mastermind behind Tender Forever, first explored the subject on her 2005 debut, The Soft and the Hardcore. Her frankness and unsentimental take on falling in and out of love combined with a lo-fi approach to recording earned her comparisons to fellow K artists Mirah and The Blow.

Read the rest at Venus Zine

Meet me at the Wonder Ballroom – September 17