Apr 26th @ Rotture
RISK VS. REWARD ANTI GENRE DANCE PARTY
DJ METRONOME BIRTHDAY EDITION

GUEST DJS!
DAVE ALLEN (Bass player for seminal post punk group GANG OF FOUR)
DJ IZM

Live Performances by:
WOW AND FLUTTER
THE AX

DJ SETS:
Tobias, Metronome and The Paperbacks

315 SE 3rd Ave (Behind Office Depot)
$6. Adults Only. 9:00p - 2:30a

Shopping Cart Chaise Lounge

This is the Shopping Cart Chaise Lounge created for my furniture design class at AIPD which was taught by John Brehm. The assignment was to use a recycled or re-purposed material and use it as the major structural element of a piece of furniture. We began developing 3 concepts by sketching and making scale models. Then we chose one of the 3 designs to develop in to a 1/3 scale, then 1/2 scale, and finally a full scale prototype. We were also to include basic construction drawings detailing the locations where the repurposed material was fastened to any added material.

My repurposed item was a metal shopping cart, and Albertson's grocery was kind enough to donate 3 junked up old shopping carts. During the original concepting stage I had not yet acquired the shopping cart, so while it was good exercise I really didn't have anything that ended up relating to the final product. I spent several hours on this early design phase and I think that had I acquired the cart from the beginning I would have been able to be much more productive in these initial studies.

When I finally acquired the shopping carts I took them to my friend Will Lolcama's shop, Studio Concepts. After a design phase of 10 minutes of sketching and staring at the cart we knew we were on to something with an entirely new concept, the chaise lounge, and we got right to work. Will is an accomplished welder and metal worker so he guided and instructed me in the techniques of construction. We both took turns welding and chopping the cart. One word of advice for anyone who plans to weld or heat shopping carts or anything that has been chromed: Chrome is really toxic and nasty stuff and proper ventilation and respiration masks should definitely be used.

The whole process from here happened really organically. Will and I have very fluid communication and we bounced ideas back and forth rapidly coming up with many design solutions on the fly. We produced one full size prototype which you can see in the pictures below that is just rails.

On the second and final trip we created a new full scale piece with 3/4" marine grade plywood slats spaced evenly across the rails. One challenge we came across was fastening the slats to the metal seat rails. After much deliberation and some frustrating moments trying to drill around the handrails and in to the seat rails directly below, Will came up with the ingenious idea of welding individual hex nuts to the inside of the seat rails and using them to hold wood screws in place that were then drilled in to the underside of the wood. You can see the detail in the construction drawings. In further versions of this chair we would probably want to bolt all the way through the wood, but with the resources we had this was the best solution and also very attractive for presentation as the screws did not penetrate the top surface of the wood slats.

All of the drafting and 3D computer models were created in Rhino and the construction documents were then edited in Adobe Illustrator. The Shopping Cart Chaise Lounge was designed and constructed by Tobias Berblinger and Will Lolcama. All construction of the full scale prototype and fullscale model took place at Studio Concepts, Inc. The shopping carts were generously donated by Albertsons.

Feb. 25th RvR w/ Starfucker, Fist Fite, Tobias, Metronome, The Paperbacks @ Rotture.

Feb.28th @ Rotture
RISK VS. REWARD ANTI GENRE DANCE PARTY

Live Performances by:
Starfucker
Fist Fite

DJ SETS:
Tobias, Metronome and The Paperbacks

315 SE 3rd Ave (Behind Office Depot)
$5. Adults Only. 9:00p - 2:30a

Spectrum ft. Sonic Boom w/ Jackie O Motherfucker, Plants and Tobias

This just in!!!

Rotture!

Wednesday,
February 20

Spectrum featuring Sonic Boom of Spacemen 3 & E.A.R.

Jackie O Motherfucker

Plants

Tobias

9pm.



Rotture
315 SE 3rd
Portland, OR
Adults Only

Risk vs. Reward, Thursday Jan. 24th. Live: Efft, The Vivian. DJs: Metronome, Tobias, The Paperbacks. Genre/Anti-Genre Dance Party.

Jan.24th @ Rotture
RISK VS. REWARD

Live Performances by:
EFFT
the Vivian

DJ SETS:
Tobias, Metronome and The Paperbacks

315 SE 3rd Ave (Behind Office Depot)
$5. Adults Only. 9:00p - 2:30a

Dec. 22. Bodhi and GOvsGo. Risk Vs. Reward @ Rotture!

Dec. 22nd @ Rotture
RISK VS. REWARD

Live Performances by:
BODHI
GOvsGO

DJ SETS:
Tobias, Metronome and The Paperbacks

315 SE 3rd Ave (Behind Office Depot)
$5. Adults Only. 9:00p - 2:30a

OSKAR - Illustrator Renders

This is OSKAR. It is the product of my Design Studio 01 class at AIPD. I ended up designing, of all things, an SUV and this is what I came up with... at approximately 18' OSKAR is inspired by Woodies, Landcruisers, Mark Newson's Ford 01c concept car, Austin Minis, the Citroen Pony, the Mystery Mobile and psychedelic music. It's large trunk can accommodate all the needs of a traveling psychedelic band, and still seat 5 people. Here are some of the renders done in Illustrator and my original technical drawings. There are sketches and pen renderings to come, but they are currently being used by the school on the student wall. (woo hoo)...

Letter to the Governor's Office

Dear.... (person unnamed)
I was calling specifically to protest the proposed LNG pipelines that will run from terminals on the Columbia River Estuary to a California pipeline in central Oregon. There are a number of reasons I oppose the pipeline that span both my personal and political philosophies, but I would like to be concise, so I will try to keep things short.

First off, the the proposed pipelines will import 4 times the amount of gas that Oregon already uses. In truth, the pipeline is not for Oregon at all but perhaps for energy interests in California or Texas.

Second, the pipeline threatens our beautiful and irreplaceable Oregon environment. The pipeline requires a 40 mile clear cut through the Mt. Hood National Forest crossing the Clackamas River and the Pacific Crest Trail. The proposed terminals threaten the Estuary habitats that are critical for salmon and a broad diversity of native fish, wildlife, birds and plants. The serious pollution and public safety impacts these facilities would have also make these projects a serious threat for communities around the Columbia Estuary.

Thirdly, the pipeline furthers our reliance on fossil fuel from the Middle East. The source of the gas is Middle Eastern countries like Qatar and Iran as well as Russia.

I voted for Kulongoski based on his promises of energy reform, particularly regarding increased uses of alternative energy and an end to reliance on foreign fossil fuels. This is from his website:

http://governor.oregon.gov/Gov/sos2006/energy.shtml
"Governor Kulongoski has committed to helping Oregon achieve real energy independence, and has set the state on the path to aggressive pursuit of energy options that maximize economic, environmental and consumer benefits. This means keeping energy prices competitive over the long haul, reducing dependence on energy sources from overseas, and protecting Oregonians from expected spikes in the prices of fossil fuels. The Governor seeks to reduce emissions that lead to global warming. He also seeks to invest in clean energy and create new jobs; for every $100 million invested in clean energy, Oregon creates more than a thousand new jobs. "

I really believe that in order to stay consistent with this, his campaign and other public statements, he must vocally oppose the proposed LNG pipelines. At the very least, he should have the Oregon Dept. of Energy prepare a Needs Analysis to consider if there is even a "need" for more gas in Oregon before any state agencies issue permits for the proposed LNG plants.

The final issue to me is deeply personal. The proposed pipelines run directly through my families' farm in Gales Creek. Gales Meadow Farm is a family run, Oregon Tilth Certified Organic Farm. We provide fresh, organic produce to a number of Portland restaurants, as well as to the people who visit us at our booth at the Hollywood Farmer's Market. Many of our customers are seniors, people with special dietary needs, and people who rely on food stamps to acquire healthy meals. We also donate substantial amounts of produce to the Oregon Food Bank, in fact we delivered almost 1 ton of food this year.

If the proposed pipeline proceeds our farm will be destroyed. My family has spent 15 years carefully nurturing and tilling the soil to get it to its current productive state. The damage that would be done by the digging of the pipeline would completely undo all of our hard and loving work and would take 15 years to repair. In the meantime our ability to grow produce would be fatal. The proposed pipeline runs lengthwise through our farm, and requires a 120' easement. Our fields are 100' in width, thus our entire farm would be affected by this. In addition we grow all year round, so there is never "a good time of year" to rip through our farm. Finally, we would lose our Oregon Tilth Organic certification. In essence, our farm would be destroyed.

The bottom line is that the proposed pipeline is bad for Oregon. It is bad for Oregon farms, bad for the Oregon fish and wildlife, and bad for Oregon forests. Not only is it bad for Oregon, but there is no upside. It increases our dependance on foreign fossil fuels and Oregon doesn't even need it! It's for California, who, incidentally, have rejected proposed pipelines in their state.

Sincerely,
Tobias Berblinger


Also... a reminder to my readers that the protest of the LNG Pipeline is next Wednesday...

Wednesday, December 12th, 12noon
NW Natural Gas Corporate Headquarters
220 NW Second Ave. (two blocks north of Burnside)
Portland

See you there.
Cheers!
Tobias

Chicago New Year's Eve!

Darkroom, The Beta Theta & Dark Wave Disco Present: Class '07
NEW YEAR'S EVE
Monday December 31 @ Darkroom
Party Starts at 9! till 2! • Adults Only • 2210 W. Chicago Ave, Chicago, USA
$60 tickets in advance through Going.com • $75 Day of
Premium Open Bar! Champagne!



Featuring the Dark Wave Disco DJs:
TRANCID, MARK GERTZ & GREG CORNER
And The Beta Theta Resident DJs:
BROCK & TOBIAS

Annual Yearbook Photo Booth courtesy of David Schmelzer
drscreative.com



CHICAGO, Illinois - Investigators have recently uncovered evidence that the single most delicious and depraved night in Chicago is scheduled to occur, once again, at The Dark Room on New Year's Eve.

That's right, The Beta Theta is back to give you an alternative to paying $100 for the privilege of drinking Cristalino while while some lazy bastard presses play on a Best of the 80s compilation CD. Meeting in small caves and Howard Johnson motel rooms, The Beta Theta has quietly been recruiting DJs and sex slaves into a terrible cabal of the damned. A portion of the fire and brimstone speech given to the faithful in order to incite this raucous celebration of sight and sound has been obtained by investigators and is printed here in its entirety.

_________________________________________________________________


Day turns into dusk on 2007, and we find ourselves in the homestretch of the first decade of the new millennium. I'd congratulate you on making it this far, but, frankly, I'm disappointed. You haven't tried hard enough. There have been 365 days and you've made the most of perhaps a dozen, two dozen if you were lucky. We stand precariously on a cliff's edge, saddled with a president hellbent on starting another world war, no end in sight to economic woes, the rise of a theocracy and we dissenting minority cry out with a voice lost utterly in the din of bat-shit fanatics. All of this, and you just sit there most of the time watching Everybody Loves Raymond as you spoon Chunky Monkey into your useless mouth, brain cells dying off from disuse. Consider this a call to arms. Consider this a challenge. Consider this an invitation to your own personal finest hour - a graduation from entropy to the rest of your life. This is your chance to crap on the naked chest of the ordinary and embrace pure celebration. Join us to party like it is the end of the world, like it is the last party you'll ever attend. You never know when it will be.

To carry you aloft on gossamer notes, so graceful that you barely notice your eyes bleeding, we bring you the historic union of The Beta Theta DJs and the Darkwave Disco DJs. This is something akin to Captain America, Santa Claus, Thor and Abraham Lincoln teaming up to fight the nazis with space weapons and flaming battle axes. Yeah, it's that big. We will not go quietly into 2008. We will not stand for dependency on hundred-dollar barrels of crude, illegal wiretaps, rampant sobriety and the deadly embrace of mediocrity. We will fight and we will win. Join us.

_________________________________________________________________


Calls to DJ Brock yielded indecipherable responses seemingly in the form of belches punctuated by blood-curdling screams. When reached at his remote mountain villa, DJ Tobias did explain his position eloquently and effectively, but in a language nobody knows. Arunas sent a telegram reading, "plz snd mor wmn, kthnx." Finally, John B's press secretary reiterated that her client was both irresistibly charming and unavailable due to his unfortunate incarceration in Vladivostock until, "end of time."

Please help to save my families' farm and protect Oregon farms against the LNG Pipelines

Please read the below, and help to save my family's farm by protesting the LNG pipeline that travels through Oregon. This is so important not only to us, but to the future of Oregon farms, and Oregon's environmental stability! As of this moment our governor has not come out against the pipeline, which directly contradicts his campaign promises for environmentally responsible energy.
-Tobias

Please join Forest Grove's Citizens Against the Pipeline, as well as
Columbia Riverkeeper, Columbia River Clean Energy Coalition, Cascadia
Rising Tide, Landowners and Citizens for Safe Communities, Wahkiakum
Friends of the River, and many others and take action to protect Oregon farms, forestland and communities from proposed LNG pipelines to California!

Wednesday Dec. 12th at 11:45 a.m. @ NW Natural Gas's corporate
headquarters - 220 NW Second Ave. Portland (2 blocks north of Burnside)

Help us say no to Liquefied Natural Gas(LNG) terminals and their
high-impact pipelines across Oregon! Don't let Oregon become the "gas
tank" for California!

Energy speculators from Texas, New York and California want to use
proposed LNG terminals in the Columbia River Estuary to import more than 4
times the amount of gas that Oregon currently uses with the goal of
sending this gas to California. NW Natural has become an active
participant in this scheme by proposing to build the 220-mile long Palomar
pipeline that would rip across Oregon from the Columbia Estuary, across
the family farms of the Willamette Valley, through the Mt. Hood National
Forest and over the Deschutes River. Oregon LNG has a similar pipeline
planned that would also put farms and communities at risk. All this in
order to send gas from the proposed LNG terminals on the Columbia River to
a California bound pipeline near Madras.

California has repeatedly rejected the type of high-impact LNG terminals
and pipelines that energy speculators are planning for Oregon, but many of
Oregon's elected leaders have been timid in responding to the serious
threats that the proposed LNG project and pipeline would cause. At a time
when Oregon should be working to decrease our use of foreign fossil fuels
the proposed LNG project and terminals would be a multi-billion dollar
investment that would greatly expand west coast use of fossil fuels while
putting our Oregonians at risk and seriously impacting Oregon's farm and
forestland, water, and air.

Come help say "no" to one of the largest fossil fuel projects in Oregon's
history and join Oregon farmers, fisherman and conservation allies for
next Wednesday's rally. If you can bring a farm tractor or fishing boat
on a trailer to the event please contact Dan Serres at 503. 890-2441 for
more information on how you can help.

Also- please take action today to contact your elected leaders and urge
them to oppose the proposed LNG terminals on the Columbia River and in
Coos Bay.

Please ask Governor Kulongoski to have Oregon Dept. of Energy prepare a
Needs Analysis to consider if there is even a "need" for more gas in
Oregon before any state agencies issue permits for the proposed LNG
plants.

Gov. Ted Kulongoski
60 State Capitol
900 Court Street
Salem, Oregon 97301

Tim McCabe, Gov.'s Energy Advisor (503) 986-6520
tim.mccabe@state.or.us

Michael Carrier, Gov.'s Natural Resource Policy Advisory (503) 986-6525
michael.carrier@state.or.us

Please ask our federal representatives to oppose the LNG projects and
require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to consider all of the
Oregon LNG projects in a single environmental impact statement that
specifically addresses why Oregon should host an LNG plant that is
intended to send California gas.

Sen. Ron Wyden
Phone: (202) 224-5244
Fax: (202) 228-2717
Email: http://wyden.senate.gov/contact/

Rep. David Wu
Phone: (202) 225-0855
Fax: (202) 225-9497
Email: http://www.house.gov/writerep/

Sen. Gordon H. Smith
Phone: (202) 224-3753
Fax: (202) 228-3997
Email:
http://gsmith.senate.gov/webform.htm

Rep. Darlene Hooley
Phone: (202) 225-5711
Fax: (202) 225-5699
Email: http://hooley.house.gov/

In addition to calling your elected leaders, please visit Onward Oregon's
website to have an email automatically sent to your state and federal
elected leaders.

http://www.onwardoregon.org/siteapps/advocacy/ActionItem.aspx?c=ffIOIRMEG&b=
121846&aid=9180

Also- to use your address find out the contact information to call for
your Oregon state senator and representative visit
http://www.leg.state.or.us/findlegsltr/

Thanks for your support and help,
Columbia Riverkeeper

Please visit www.columbiariverkeeper.org to learn more about the proposed
LNG projects or to make a contribution specifically to help stop the
proposed LNG terminals and pipelines on the Columbia River. Or contact
Dan Serres at dserres@gmail.com for more info.

Please visit www.citizensagainstlng.com or www.nocaliforniapipeline.com
to learn more about the Coos Bay pipeline or support the effort to stop
it.