BOYS' FORT

I sit on the Downtown Retail Council so it is sort of my fault. One afternoon in late spring, The Husband & his buddy Lil' Jake, the Portland Hip-Hop artist & designer, were sitting in the front room at Post Apocalyptic Bohemia, writing in their gratitude journals & sipping green tea. I walked through the room & casually tossed off: "hey, you dudes should open a pop-up shop in downtown Portland this holiday season & show this town what you've got." What I meant was you guys need to get out of the house & drum up some business, but it came out "pop-up shop".

Made possible through a patchwork of partnerships: Portland Business Alliance, Downtown Retail Council,Portland Development Commission, the Downtown Marketing Initiative, & the city of Portland offers the gift of Pop Up Shops during the Holiday Season. I work in downtown Portland & serve on the Downtown Retail Council. I know that there are a bunch of vacant commercial spaces available downtown & I think it is a brilliant idea to make use of them while the building owners search for permanent tenants. This is a totally smart & rather Portland-ish idea. The Pop Ups give talented local designers & artisans a place to sell their wares & services, something they couldn't normally afford, & it creates buzz & publicity for the spaces. So not only do both parties involved come out winners, but so do all the shoppers who love their guys because now we have more places to shop for the holidays!

The Husband & his business partner in Kenton Collective are set to open their own Pop-Up: Boys’ Fort in late autumn. BOYS’ FORT will be a shopping spot for guys & those that love them . The shop will be featuring the works of local artists & designers using re-purposed materials & found objects with other local products & treasures with a decidedly masculine bent, offered for the modern urban male. As the Husband tells it- "think 'Manthropology'!"

This project has taking up much of the Husband’s time for the past 5 months. This pleases me that he has been focused, forceful, fresh & frisky, willing to jump off the cliff into the unknown, but giving voice to his artistic zeal. The Husband & the talented Jake have been overwhelmed with the beauty & beguilement of the offerings from their artists. Boys' Fort hosted a little affair for the participating artists, designers & crafts people in the space, their first view of the wares in the store. The crowd was over the moon. 

Boy's Fort opens with a ribbon cutting ceremony on November 9th featuring our out & proud Mayor- Sam Adams, who lives in our neighborhood & with whom I am friendly. I have included photographs of some of the views.

I feel that this project is The Husband's best work yet. I am so proud to introduce myself as his spouse. I hope you will be able to visit Boys' Fort during the holiday season in downtown Portland, the do-it-yourself capitol of the USA, the Brooklyn of the Pacific Northwest, "keeping it weird", hipster heaven...

Born On This Day- April 4th... Designer & Hip-Hop Artist Lil' Jake

Today marks the birthday of my good close personal friend, the designer/ hip-hop artist- Lil'Jake.

Jake came into my life via the Husband. They became fast friends while working together at a posh, pricey Portland Pearl District shoppe that sold bedding & linens to Portland's monied, nouveau riche, & old guard. The Husband & the Jaker were held together by their mutual love for the exclusive, entitled customers who desired lavish, lush, luxurious linens... but only if they didn't need to be pleasant.

Lil' Jake & I have always gotten along. We have never had a cross word, intrigue or fight in the nearly decade of being friends. We speak a special, secret language that mortals can not hear- Show Biz Talk. Other people in our lives tune us out, but we can go for hours. One of our favorite pastimes involves recasting Broadway Shows & movies.

Emmy winning rapper & Broadway veteran, Jake France enjoys a rich, varied performing career as soloist, chamber musician, recording artist, recitalist, university professor, design librarian, editor, publisher, fine arts administrator, set designer & commercial designer. His work as a designer has been featured in Popular Mechanics, Boy's Life, Highlights, & Elle Decor Libya, NW Home Chickens, New Age Traveler & Portland Poser. He also very occasionally posts on his own site: The Kenton Collective.

Jake graduated summa cum laude, with an AA in the Hospitality Arts from Obsorbine Junior College in 2000. His senior thesis involved canning insects for fun & profit.

During the late aughts, Lil'Jake was a leader in the early 21st century Brooklyn Hipster movement & was responsible for several special facial hair selections. While living in Brooklyn, Jake released an EP- Foot & Mouth Disease which spawned the hit dance re-mix- I Wanna Touch Your Body With My Body. He is listed in Who's Who in American Women, Who's Who in Brooklyn, Who's Who in American Design, Who's Gay in America, & the International Who's Ho Is Whose. He has performed with the Biscuit Boys, The Tel Aviv Twisters, Viva Iraq!, & The Tri-Met Clown Posse Players. He was the recipient of The Minnie Maddern Fiske award for his work as Second Whore From The Left in the Chateau d' Ville Dinner Theatre production of the Christian industrial rock musical-  Babble On, Babylon!

Next up for this busy boy? He is working on a special project with my husband. I don't know what it is. Everything is hush-hush. 2011 brings the release of his long in the making Art Book-  The Annotated & Illustrated 101 Gay Love Making Positions.



Today,on this special birthday, Jake comes out as gay publicly, right here at Post Apocalyptic Bohemia!