Feb. 11: Marvel's Luke Cage, Shy Girls, Eugene Opera, Liz Vice, Portland's Aerial Tram & More

OPB's State of Wonder

Grab your rain coat and take a ride on the aerial tram, head out to the International Film Festival, support your art-loving neighborhood watering hole, or stay in and listen to Shy Girl's bedroom music — there's something for everyone this week. Marvel to Release New Luke Cage Series by Portland Writer David Walker - 1:23 The Netflix series has thrust the unbreakable superhero Luke Cage into the national spotlight, although he's been around since the early ‘70s as Power Man. Portland writer David Walker grew up on Cage, one of the only black comic book characters at the time (despite the fact, Walker says, no black people talked anything like the comic characters). So it was a dream-come-true for Walker to resurrect the character in the Marvel series “Power Man and Iron Fist,” with art by Sanford Greene. Then news broke this week that Marvel will wrap up PMIF in April, and Walker will pen a stand-alone Luke Cage series to begin in May. opbmusic Session with Shy Girls - 10:11 There’s music for dancing, there’s music for dinner parties or quiet, solo listening, and then there is bedroom music. Shy Girls is bedroom music — pull the blinds, light the candles, and bask in the voice of Portlander Dan Vidmar bedroom music. Shy Girls’ debut album, called “Salt,” revels in the silky smooth R&B that’s made Shy Girls a favorite in chill rooms all over, but it also reveals some of his non-R&B influences like Joni Mitchell. Eloise Damrosch Announces Retirement from RACC - 19:18 Eloise Damrosch has led the Regional Arts and Culture Council since 2004, and served as public art director for seventeen years prior. She announced this week that she will be retiring at the end of June. During her tenure, RACC has grown to a $10 million operation and taken on different jobs across Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas counties, including the distribution of key operating support from the Portland city budget and the regional arts tax, as well as taking care of the city’s sculptures and public art collection and creating programs like Work for Art. RACC says it will make a national search for her replacement. Soul Singer Liz Vice - 20:51 Portland-born singer Liz Vice says did not choose to pursue music. Rather, music chose her. Combining American gospel and ‘60s soul, Vice’s music is simply magnetic. Her first album, “There’s A Light,” came out on Ramseur Records, the label known for bringing the Avett Brothers to national attention, and peaked at number six on Billboard’s Top Gospel chart. Portland's Aerial Tram: From Controversy to Icon - 28:21 It’s hard to believe Portland’s aerial tram just turned 10. What started as a controversy has grown into an icon, not to mention a major driver of residential and commercial development in the South Waterfront. Our columnist-in-residence, Randy Gragg, took us for a ride on the modernist silver bubble to look back on its transformation and peer out into its future. Likewise Bar Asks Art Loving Drinkers for Support - 37:48 Likewise is not your grandaddy's neighborhood bar, although he might’ve gotten a kick out of it. It’s a watering hole created by a couple of artists to house all sorts of quirky cocktails and hi-jinks. If you can dream it up, it could happen at Likewise. But its owners are now saying they have to close at the end of the month unless they can recruit 150 members by Feb. 20 to keep the bar and art space going. Membership gets you discounts and monthly field trips. No word yet on bedazzled Members Only jackets... Portland International Film Festival - 45:15 The Portland International Film Festival is always a fun way to shake the winter blahs. It showcases a huge range of world and domestic cinema. The festival turns 40 this year, and the NW Film Center’s director, Bill Foster, has been there since the beginning.