Retro Swimwear by Popina not only brings you rad summer gear, but also gets you totally equipped for all your summer wants, needs and desires.

Everyone needs an official summer theme song.  I officially declare this the official Popina Summer Theme Song:

The Cool Kids “Swimsuits”

I saw the Cool Kids last summer at Berbati’s Pan, an awesome venue for high energy shows.  Though, sadly, the venue side of the building has seen its last days, the restaurant and lounge is still in operation.

Nonetheless, check out this smooth soul-style track from the Cool Kids.  Love it!

503.282.5159

Michael Franti and Spearhead will be coming to Portland Thursday September 10.  I am very excited to see him perform, it is been a bit too long since I saw him last.  I am actually very fortunate because I am going to see him in Boise at the Idaho Botanical Garden on September 22 as well - at that show will be outside!

It is so cool to see that Spearhead has broken the Top 25.  Hopefully this will expose more people to their music.  It has such a positive message and the music is so groovalishious.

Michael’s music inspires me.  The first time I saw Michael and his band play he opened for  Blues Traveler at Red Rocks Amphitheater outside of Denver.  Carl was wearing a shirt with big lettering UNFUCK THE WORLD.  There music was political, spiritual, with great infectious grooves, soulful and poppy and rockin as well.  The set at Red Rocks was shorter but it was enough of a taste for me.  I slowly became a HUGE Spearhead fan.

My two favorite Spearhead shows where Steamboat Springs, Colorado and in Anchorage.

Steamboat was great, first of Steamboat is home to my favorite hot spring Strawberry Hot Springs.  Developing Hot Springs is a tricky proposition.  The best thing about Hot Springs for me is that it is a naturally occurring feature, too often natural hot springs turn into swimming pools.  Strawberry Hot Springs is everything a developed hot spring should be.  Made out of native materials to the area, a minimum of concrete, divided into pools of different temperatures with a nice pebble bottom.

Obviously that is a digression but it was part of what made the weekend so great.  Steamboat is a great mountain, we skiied all day then at night a huge tent was set up for the show.  What an amazing vibe at that show, total love fest.  I hooked up with a new friend Dave who lives in Steamboat and an avid taper, after the show I got an amazing copy of what I just heard.  I just about cried when he did Bob Marley’s “Get Up Stand Up” so damn inspiring and moving.  Here is a link you can download to Spearhead at Steamboat in 2005 unbelievable show.

Second favorite show was in Anchorage.  I basically talked my boss into vising customers (we did some business in Anchorage).  It was very untypical for me to fly first class, but my boss was a frequent flyer and was able to get me upgraded.  First class of course gets seated first, then I saw who I thought was Carl, then I saw Dave - Spearhead was on our flight!  I was waiting in anticipation then finally Michael came through (I forgot to check if he was wearing shoes).  I greeted him excitedly when he came by and told him we were going to see him, he said “Cool, what do you do for a living?”  Perhpas bemused that I was sitting in First Class.  Given that Michael’s music is anti corporate, perhaps anti first class I kind of felt caught with my hands in the cookie jar.  It was interesting, I felt like a deer caught in the headlights.  A bunch of thoughts went through my head, first, I felt like I should give up my seat to Michael, but I was thinking that could be weird, so I opted not to (what about the rest of his band).  So I pondered his loaded question of what my occupation is.  At the time I worked for a financial institution that I did not particularly feel proud about, so I just tried to keep it as neutral as possible and hope he didn’t judge me for working in the “Real Estate Investment Field”.  But his presence inpired me to consider what I was doing professionally and that it did not necessarily reconcile with who I am.  As painful as yet exciting that moment was it was helpful in fertilizing the idea that I needed to get out of that Rat Race.  The Alaska show was great, at a Brew Pub outside of town called the Bear Tooth.  He did two nights there, we saw the first.  The anticipation before that show in the crowd was amazing.  Alaska in the summer is a party time.  The weather like Portland is not great most of the year, but when summer comes it is sublime and in Alaska that means the sun basically does not set.  I got a sense that the croud might have some component of people just wanting to be entertained - good music does not come to Anchorage often.  To my surprise the crowd was full of Spearhead fans it was great milling about before the show talking about how they could not believe Spearhead was in Alaska.  The two Alaska shows became a live album for Spearhead.  The one painful downside was that we had a flight back to Portland at midnight - it is typical flying to/from Alaska that you need to take a Red Eye one way or the other.  So we had to leave the show early.  I believe we left at 11pm, it was still twilight out.  Of course when we got to the airport our flight was delayed an hour!  We could have seen the rest of the show!!  That was painful, I was having such a great time when we had to leave.  I now always check for flight status before I leave.

I do wonder now that Michael is in the top 25 - maybe he flies first class as well………..

Post your favorite Spearhead stories if you have one.  If you are going to the Portland or Boise Show I will buy you a beer before the show.  Hope your able to make it - Are you ready for Spearhead!!?

Sunday Parkways is happening today Sunday July 19th in Northeast Portland.  The route is a loop that goes as from NE 17th to NE Ainsworth to NE 47th and hits Alameda.  Part of the route will cross NE 42nd Avenue at NE Going, one block from Popina Swim the Portland Swimwear Boutique.

To celebrate Sunday Parkways Popina will offer 20% off for anyone making a purchase who rides on their bike and mentions this blog posting or twitter posting.  Be forewarned we do not have a lot of opportunities to lock up bikes yet (we are due to get new bike racks within the next couple of weeks).  However my husband Will said that he will be available for look out duty to keep an eye on all bikes parked in front of the shop that can not find a suitable lock up space.

Look for the Popina A-Frame sign that points you to the left when you cross NE 42nd Avenue!

Here is a picture of the front of Popina.

Boat and Yacht Charter Portland is available at Sail Scovare.  Before I had a chance to talk to Shane over the phone do arrange a Summer Swimsuit promotion Popina is doing with Dosha Salon and Spa I had no idea that a private or semi-private Boat or Yacht Charter in Portland was so reasonable.  Definitely within reach for a special occasion.

Sail Scovare offers everything from morning Coffee Cruises for $39 to a 4-week voyage to Hawaii in Oct. for $4900.  In between they provide Romantic Dinner Cruises for $199 per couple, a Family of four Dinner Sail for $299 and sailing instruction for beginners to expert.  Scovare also offers custom cruises (for weddings or family adventures) for $99 an hour or $599 a day on our Catalina 250 and $390 an hour or $1590 a day on our 50′ Ketch.  Portland Boat Charter Pricing

 Captain Shane St. Clair has over 25 years of maritime experience, 15 years holding a 100-ton masters license with sail and towing endorsement.  Shane earned a B.A. in Management and Organizational Leadership from George Fox University and his Masters license from the US Coast Guard. He spent four years captaining a 71′ aluminum sailing catamaran that delivered medical and dental services in the remote Pacific and became the organization’s development director in 1992. 

In 2001 Captain Shane captained the “Stanhaven” through the Caribbean for the production of the reality television series “Dream Chasers” for five-time Emmy award winning Director, Lee Stanley.  Shane has spoken at graduations, events, corporate audiences and has been featured in over 100 newspapers, magazines and television spots for his unique voyages.  Shane won a Toastmasters International speech contest and has worked with over 30 sponsors during his voyages.  Shane is a Captain for the 150′ Dinner cruise ship “Portland Spirit”, an ASA Certified Sailing Instructor (through ASA 205) and is Captain of Scovare, an Explorer Ketch that specializes in small group sailing expeditions.

Shane has two daughters, Amber and Emma, who bring true joy to his life. Shane was born in Salem and now lives in Portland Oregon.

Back Fence PDXwill feature Portland’s Popina with a Retro Swimwear Fashion Show!  Back Fence PDX is the mastermind of B. Frayn Masters  and Melissa Lion  together they host a Portland Storytelling Show for Adults which features eight minute unscripted stories by all sorts of interesting people. 

This Wednesday June, 17th at the Mission Theater

Back Fence PDX will be celebrating their 1st anniversary.  Popina was invited to the very first Back Fence Show one year ago so why not have us back to celebrate year 1! (great decision by Frayn and Melissa).

Last years fashion show was by far the most fun we have had with a fashion show, it included an impromptu q&a of the models and great commentary by the Back Fence Babes.

Show starts at 7:15pm this weeks theme……Caught Red-Handed, should be fun!

A lot has been said about Storm Large in Portland, she is the gal who was on the reality talk show who was in the raunchy band.  Without knowing too much about Storm I had to admit that when she was chosen to have a role in Portland Center Stages production of Cabaret that my reaction was that it was PCS capitalizing on the heat of the Storm Large brand of the moment to but butts in seats (and maybe to introduce her local audience who might not typically go to PCS to check it out).  Obviously this move to bring Storm in was a bit controversial locally in Portland, Oregon.

This past season after having an amazing experience at the play Sometimes a Great Notion we got a season membership to Portland Center Stage.  Funny thing for me about having a season pass, after having one I realized I do like theater a lot but a full season of plays might be too much for me right now - I may not be sophisticated enough yet - hopefully some day.  There were a few shows in the season that I did not relate to, it is tough when you spend a good chunk of change on a show that you don’t get (and to be completely fair some nights I was feeling a bit tired and I don’t do very well in theater seating when it is dark. 

Or I should say that was my experience before seeing Crazy Enough.  Because of my preconceived ideas of Storm Large as unfair as they were (just getting in with PCS because of her notoriety), I probably would not have seen her production if I did not get a season pass, and I was really blown away with Storm as a performer.  So I still don’t think I will get a season pass next year, but I will go back and be sure to take a risk or two and see a play I might not have seen otherwise.

Storm did talk about her very interesting life in Crazy Enough, and she does have an amazing voice. However, in my mind she really could have talked about virtually anything such as changing the water in her fish tank and she would be interesting to watch.  I now understand the overused cliche “This person was born to be an entertainer”, because I really feel like she was.  Storm has such amazing charisma and is a great story teller. 

So as far as PCS in Cabaret decision, PCS are obviously not pure opportunists, in fact I really respect the risk that PCS took bringing Storm in to share her with Portland.

So let me just say I am now a huge fan of Storm Large (I really can not believe that is her real name but apparently it is - wow).  But that really sums my eye opening experience with Storm Large up.  It is hard in life to have have preconceived ideas about one thing or another, you have your life experiences you store them away and try to protect yourself against things you have done in the past.  But often situations smell similar but are actually different.  From Storm’s name to her out of the box persona, Storm has reminded me to keep an open mind about things and not to judge a book by its sexy cover.

Storm if you read this please contact me at info@popinaswim.com I would love to hook you up as a token of appreciation for the great job you did with your amazing production in our Portland Swimwear shop.  The sound track was also great, congrats.  I hope you keep a home in Portland your potential is unlimited.

P.S. Great news I see that Storm’s show has been extended through June 28!  People of Portland, treat yourself to see this great show to meet one of Portland’s coolest residents!

Tri-Met Line #75 is a great north south bus route in Portland. So how about a shout out for the bus line that goes right in front of our Portland Swimwear shop Popina. From Woodstock to Hawthorne through Hollywood all the way to Popina Swim. Some personal highlights of the 75 line starting in Hawthorne:

Popina Swim is an easy 20 minute bus drive from the Hawthorne business district, home of the Bagdad Theater and Dosha Salon. The Bagdad is an awesome historic restoration, owned by McMenamins Portland’s hero’s of preservation served with their home brew a movie and a slice of pizza. If you really want to treat yourself to escape your worries without getting out of town, try getting a massage at Dosha. Their massages are very reasonably priced, be sure to show up early (at least 45 minutes) to enjoy their second floor soaking pool and steam room, it is transporting. As you cruise North out of Hawthorn you will pass Laurelhurst Park which has a beautiful duck pond and lots of room for running your doggie.

Bagdad Theater

Next you will arrive at the Hollywood Transit Center, across the street is Trader Joe’s an awesome new supermarket, adjecent to the Hollywood Transit Center is 24 Hour Fitness, also pretty darn new. 24 Hour Fitness is a brutal process to sign up, sort of like your worst used car nightmare, but once you make it through the process the gym is very nice, the instructors for the classes are great. Huge downside is parking - but if your on the ol’ 75 you get front door service. If you crane your neck towards downtown as you cross Sandy Boulevard you may catch a glimpse of the Hollywood Theater. Where Bagdad shows popular second run movies, The Hollywood shows first run indie flicks, I have seen many movies at the Hollywood and have only been disappointed once by a very flat comedy, anyway, this historic theater was chopped up into three theaters I believe in the 1960’s which is very unfortunate, but the upside is more movie selection. The theater is owned by the not for profit Film Action Oregon which helps promote independent film and education in Oregon.

Then up the Alameda Ridge into the Beaumont Wilshire Neighborhood, if you get off right at the Fremont stop you can get a killer coffee at Ristretto Roasters for some micro brew coffee (they roast their own beans). The other must visit is Jim and Patty’s coffee for some great baking including their unreal calorie busting breakfast sandwiches, try the sausage and egg biscuit the first time you visit then try the bacon and egg the next, if you ever move past the breakfast sandwiches try the pastries then hit 24 hour fitness.

Back on the bus heading north you are almost at your destination Popina. On 42nd Avenue be sure to visit Delphina’s for great freshly baked breads, Roses Ice Cream for homemade ice cream and Rocket Pizza for some awesome pie, all within a block of Popina Swim.

Why not take the bus to Popina, take your time, and enjoy the ride!

Back Fence PDX is back in Portland tonight! The fun and hip Frayn and Melissa  host a story telling session by adults for adults.  The stories are simply magnificent and the storytellers are remarkable. This month’s intermission features belly dancersMiriam, Kalila, and Mahira of Bellypalooza.  Popina Swim was invited to Back Fence this past summer to show off our Bathing Suits in a fashion show.  I can not wait to go back to not have to stress out about a swimwear fashion show and just relax and be a part of the fun crowd.

Purchase tickets here until 3pm. They will only take cash at the door.  Flyer Below…..

Tickets are $7 in advance, $8 at the door, buy tickets here.

This time there will be seven storytellers including San Francisco author and Porchlight co-founder Beth Lisick.

Announcing the storytellers:

San Francisco author and Porchlight co-founder, Beth Lisick. Beth Lisick is the author of two books, Everybody into the Pool and Helping Me Help Myself.

David Bragdon became the Metro Council’s first regionally elected President on January 6, 2003, representing the voters of the metropolitan region. Under David’s leadership as Council President, the Metro Council has undertaken new initiatives to preserve natural areas and protect water quality, support thriving neighborhoods, create jobs and economic prosperity, and improve our transportation network. He drove a taxi right here in Portland.

Sarah Gilbert was once an investment banker. Her transition to the dotcom world looks prescient in retrospect. Now she works from home managing financial blogs for AOL and writes away the wee hours after her three little boys fall asleep.

Sadie Medley has her finger in a whole bunch of pies. By day, she is a freelance graphic designer and creative thinker-chick. By late afternoon she can be found teaching people to stay calm while standing on their heads. In the early evenings she sings opera, and lately, she is obsessed with becoming a voice over actor. Her mutable, and restless personality make this type of life feasible.

Slim Moon still thinks of himself as a punk rocker, after all these years. After 17 years at record labels as founder of Kill Rock Stars and later briefly working as an “A&R guy” for the Warner Music Group, Slim is happy to now be pursuing his true calling in life - helping artists he loves - in the way that best suits him - artist management. Notable artists that Slim has worked with in his life include Bikini Kill, Sleater-Kinney, Elliott Smith, Miranda July, The Decemberists, The Gossip, and Deerhoof, among literally hundreds of others…

Tina Newton is the founder and color genius behind Blue Moon Fiber Arts, the company that makes the perpetually popular sock yarn, Socks that Rock. Tina has a fertile imagination and the practical creativity to support it. This energy is contagious and inspiring. She loves sharing her vision and working with others. This is the spirit of Blue Moon.

Dave Jarecki founded Breakerboy Communications to provide strategic messaging, copy and grant writing services to small businesses and non-profit organizations. Writing workshops started in 2005. He likes working with kids because they’re smarter and funnier than adults. Recently, a student in one of his workshops said, I have three weekends between now and next Sunday.

Bellypalooza consists of members from local belly dancing troupe Tigerlillys and solo-dancer Miriam. They enjoy shiny objects, phat beats, and womanly forms.

It’s going to be a great night!