It shouldn't surprise anyone that Portlanders are dying to drop their drawers for a cause. Well, not exactly a cause. OK, not a cause at all. But perhaps a case can be made that the "No-Pants on Max" event scheduled for Jan. 12 is a big, creative international improv event. Yeah, that's it! We're not flashers, we're artists.
News of No-Pants on MAX trickled down to writerly shut-ins like myself via a helpful news update on Metroblogging Portland. A headline like "The Party's In Your Pants" is enough to make anyone stop Googling old enemies and take notice. That post was prompted by Willamette Week's story on the subject.
(Please do not confuse this with No Pants Day, which you should know by now is a totally different thing.)
For those of you out of touch with the arts, No-Pants on MAX was inspired by Improv Everywhere, a group with the memorable site slogan: "We Make Scenes." Facebook users across the world are banding together to share info on how to join in this historic event, which in Portland will take place aboard the light-rail MAX trains in downtown's Fareless Square.
So far, improvniks in several cities are planning to ride public transportation on Saturday afternoon for the sole purpose of calmly dropping their pants. No political significance, no connection to the presidential primaries. All participating artists are supposed to wear underwear and act natural. Anyone disregarding those two rules is, to my way of thinking, just one more transit-riding perv taking advantage of the situation.
So far the other cities on board for the event include: Boston, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Chicago, Toronto, Adelaide (Australia), Baltimore, and Salt Lake City. (Yes, Salt Lake City surprised me, too.)
Apparently, Seattle is not yet with the program, which is sad, really sad.
